BSS - Chapter 110
Chapter 110
The first rays of the new year's sun shone with a hazy light on the other side of the blackout curtains. The room was quiet, save for the occasional hum of the air conditioner. The person, the book on the bedside table, and the green plant by the window all seemed to be deep in slumber. The only creature awake was perhaps the black-and-white cat. Zhou Liu lay at the foot of the bed, sunk into the soft bedding, eyes half-closed as he contentedly licked his paws.
The person on the bed showed no signs of waking. Zhou Liu waited, half-asleep, his upright ears twitching. His half-closed eyelids gradually drooped, and he finally fell completely asleep again.
In the long morning light, Deng Chuan was awakened by the vibration of her phone on the nightstand. She frowned slightly, reached out to grasp the phone, and composed herself. After seeing who was calling, she answered with a clear "Hello."
On the other end was Lao Deng, who had returned to his hometown. Deng Chuan could clearly hear the lively chatter and laughter of relatives in the background—early in the morning, everyone had already started visiting family.
Before Lao Deng could speak, Deng Chuan greeted him first. "Happy New Year, Dad."
Lao Deng's voice was sullen. "Happy New Year." He exchanged a few words with Deng Chuan. Someone seemed to be calling him from the kitchen, and he passed the phone to Tang Lijuan. "You chat with your mom for a bit, I'm going to help out."
Tang Lijuan's voice seemed to carry the vibrant spirit of the new year. "Baby! Happy New Year!"
"How are you kids doing? Are you having fun? Mom bought you new clothes this year, but you haven't even had a chance to wear them. Did you buy any new clothes for yourself?"
Her voice, carrying into the air, seemed to wake Xu Wei, who was sleeping beside her.
"I didn't buy any new clothes. We cooked for ourselves last night…"
Deng Chuan slowly sat up, and as she spoke, she reached out to tuck away the stray strands of hair on Xu Wei's face.
She was sleeping peacefully beside her, half of her fair profile visible beneath her dark hair. Her features were relaxed, her red lips moist and full.
Deng Chuan couldn't resist gently touching her lips. They were soft, like a gummy candy.
"Alright, alright, as long as you're having fun… By the way, your dad was asking yesterday, when does your semester start?"
The holiday notice had been issued at the end of last semester. It had been a while, so Deng Chuan had forgotten. "I'll check in a bit. I think it's before the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, right?"
"Mhm, make sure you check the date."
"I know."
Tang Lijuan chatted with her a little longer, reminding her to get up and eat breakfast soon, and also telling her to remember to come home for a visit and not to go too wild. Then she prepared to hang up. "Okay, okay, Mom's going to chat with your aunt. That's all for now."
Deng Chuan's voice was gentle. "Okay."
Tang Lijuan, as usual, acted cute with her daughter. "Mmm—I miss you, Mommy's baby, give me a kiss…"
Deng Chuan hesitated for a moment before making a soft "mua" sound.
Tang Lijuan hung up, completely satisfied.
The call ended, and the room returned to silence. Deng Chuan let out a sigh of relief and withdrew her fingertips from Xu Wei's face, thinking about going back to sleep for a bit. She glanced at Xu Wei sleeping beside her, only to find that she had already opened her bright, dark eyes.
Xu Wei stared at her, her eyes full of amusement. She had probably heard the entire conversation between mother and daughter. For a rare moment, Deng Chuan felt a little shy. "You're awake?"
"Mhm." Xu Wei blinked, her voice still a little husky from just waking up. "I want a kiss too."
Deng Chuan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
Xu Wei hadn't finished speaking. She stared into Deng Chuan's eyes. Deng Chuan couldn't understand how someone who had just woken up could look so beautiful. In the dimly lit room, Xu Wei's silhouette was exceptionally distinct, like a paper-cut shadow on the wall. Her eyes held a hint of charming slyness, the silhouette of a little fox. "Mommy's baby girl."
The kid pounced, biting her lip out of flustered annoyance.
Xu Wei laughed and wrapped her arms around her, gently stroking the kid's back with a light touch. With the sudden closeness, Deng Chuan was able to gaze into Xu Wei's shimmering, watery eyes. Her own face was reflected in Xu Wei's dark pupils. Those two black pools merged with the room's dimness, transforming into a deep sea. Deng Chuan lost herself in that gaze. She reached out, took Xu Wei's hand, and gained the courage to sink.
Xu Wei's gasps were like small ripples on the sea's surface.
Their movement woke Zhou Liu, who was sleeping on the quilt. He opened his eyes in confusion and watched them for a good while, bewildered. Then, he stretched out listlessly, jumped off the bed, and went to eat.
A little kitty has its own little kitty joys. After eating, Zhou Liu lapped up some water, then jumped back onto the bed. He patrolled back and forth at the foot of the bed before picking a comfortable spot to lie down.
The first day of the new year. Sure enough, a large bruise had formed on Deng Chuan's knee. Xu Wei checked it over and was actually relieved—as long as the bone was fine. She didn't let Deng Chuan walk around much and went to the kitchen herself to heat up last night's leftovers, preparing for a simple meal. The kid, however, stubbornly followed her all the way, clinging to her and trying to hold her hand. "I'm fine, really. It'll be better in a few days."
Xu Wei ladled the cooked congee into a bowl, turned her head, and said sternly, "You will sit down properly."
The moment Teacher Xu put on a stern face, Deng Chuan immediately obeyed, sitting down at the dining table. Zhou Liu, who had been following Xu Wei, was also shooed away several times by the stern Teacher Xu. "Get away, don't trip me."
After fussing about until noon, the two finally started to eat. Xu Wei served Deng Chuan some food and asked casually, "When does your semester start?"
Deng Chuan let out an "ah," grabbed her phone, and checked. "The sixteenth day of the first lunar month."
"Then I'm a bit earlier than you. I think ours is the eleventh."
Deng Chuan nodded. "Should I go to school with you then?"
"What for?" Xu Wei's lips curved. "Weren't three years of high school enough?"
She leisurely placed another piece of fish-flavored shredded pork in Deng Chuan's bowl. "You should go home and rest for a few days. You've been away from home for so long, 'baby girl' is about to become an empty title."
"Okay." Deng Chuan unconsciously bit her chopsticks and was tapped by Xu Wei. "Will you come see me off then?"
"I won't go…" Xu Wei lowered her eyes for a moment. "We can just find a time to meet."
Seeing the look on Deng Chuan's face, she smiled again. "Why the long face? Isn't there still more than a week left?"
The kid's drooping mouth was just too obvious. Xu Wei pointed at her bowl, signaling for her to keep eating, then continued, "What does your mom like? You've been out for so long, remember to bring her back a gift."
Time flew by, not pausing for anyone's feelings or reluctance. On the ninth day of the first lunar month, Xu Wei had to go back to school for a meeting to arrange the attendance system and teaching tasks for the semester. Deng Chuan tagged along, mooching a meal from the teachers' cafeteria, where she ran into many of her former teachers.
Most of the teachers still remembered her. Seeing Xu Wei leading her to eat, they came over with smiles to greet her. "Long time no see, Deng Chuan."
"Hello, teachers." Deng Chuan carried her tray and sat down across from Xu Wei. At school, Xu Wei always maintained a cool and detached expression. As everyone gathered around their table, she only showed a hint of a helpless smile, secretly raising an eyebrow at Deng Chuan.
Xu Wei's meeting lasted until evening. Deng Chuan finally waited until she got off work. In the car, she hugged her. A faint fragrance wafted from Xu Wei's collar—the perfume Deng Chuan had picked for her that morning. She let Deng Chuan hug her for a good while before patting her head. "What's wrong?"
Xu Wei was sending her home tonight, and in a few more days, she would have to go back to university. Deng Chuan buried her head in Xu Wei's scent, her heart heavy. "I can't bear to leave you."
Xu Wei stroked the kid's fluffy head and sighed quietly in her heart. She was the adult; she couldn't let Deng Chuan see her own reluctance and willfulness. But she found that she couldn't say anything either. She could only remain silent. After a long moment, she finally murmured, "Be good…"
She wanted to say, I'll come see you when I have time. A few months will pass quickly. We can have voice calls, video calls… But just as the time they spent together was so fleeting, the time they would be apart was bound to be very long. Xu Wei silently caressed the head in her arms—the fluffy hair, the round, thin ears, the moist eyes, the small bump of a nose bridge, the warm mouth—all of it was hers.
Deng Chuan heard Xu Wei's soft sigh next to her ear. They were holding each other so tightly that Xu Wei's sigh was like a breath passed during a kiss, meant to travel through Deng Chuan's body and become Deng Chuan's own sigh.
Xu Wei was silent, her voice falling beside Deng Chuan's ear, so soft it was almost inaudible. "I can't bear to leave you either."
Deng Chuan caressed her slender back and noticed that Xu Wei was trembling slightly. She suddenly realized that of course Xu Wei was reluctant too, but her reluctance was so restrained. Because it was restrained, it was heart-wrenchingly profound, almost to the point of sorrow.
And she didn't want to make her sad anymore.
She was supposed to make her happy. Whether in love, in life, or in general, if Deng Chuan were to search for her personal value, then the quickest way to realize it was simply to make Xu Wei happy.
That sigh was like a long nail piercing through their bodies, propping up Deng Chuan's entire soul and connecting them together.
Deng Chuan suddenly began to understand the meaning of some hardships.
Separation, long distance, reality, the future—these were all, of course, very bitter. Entanglement, helplessness, reluctance, sadness—these were also, of course, very bitter.
Deng Chuan couldn't deny or ignore the bitterness that lay before her and Xu Wei. Reality was not a fairy tale, much less an illusion; it left no room for imagination. But what Deng Chuan gained came precisely from this pain. In her perception, pain had truly become the fertile ground for their love; she hurt because of love, and loved because of the hurt. Pain tempered her, allowing her young heart to borrow a bit of brilliant light. Don't be stingy with love for fear of pain; one must love with all their might within the pain. Deng Chuan began to learn to restrain her sadness and her pain. She knew that it was precisely because of this love that she felt pain and was brave. Is this growing up? You could certainly say this is a young person's powerless and naive excuse in the face of hardship, but if you were to ask, when can a person feel the happiness of having given their life's full value?
Then, she would surely say.
When I welcome both love and pain into my kingdom.
Comments
Post a Comment