Drifting on a String - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Summer at An University was an ordeal for anyone who couldn't stand the heat. The fan on the ceiling whirred, looking like it was about to fall at any moment.

Chen Piaopiao sat on a chair, wearing a pilled, long-sleeved nightgown. She hugged her knees, her bare calves straight and fair. Lightly propping her feet on the edge of the chair, she raised a hand and opened a webpage.

She pursed her lips, deep in thought, typed two words, then stopped, tilting her head and blinking.

Then she typed another line in bold:

"Let's be real, does anyone else think the plot of Falling Feathers is total garbage?"

Her brow furrowed as she furiously typed in the reply box: "It's a ten-year-old trope. The guy plays the hero saving the damsel, sweeps her up for a spin, then—oops!—they fall, and their lips just happen to smack together. Then the heroine's hat falls off, and the hero is shocked. Gasp! So you're a girl!"

"Even a bald man could tell I'm a girl."

Enter. Send. Chen Piaopiao shifted her shoulders.

The lock clicked, and her roommate, An Ran, returned, carrying an eighth of a watermelon and bringing the summer heat in with her. "Piaopiao, you're awake?"

"Mhm." Chen Piaopiao leisurely lowered her feet, letting out a soft hum.

"What are you up to?"

"Doing homework," she said, her voice barely a whisper.

Chen Piaopiao was very quiet and frail, but that didn't mean she was inconspicuous. On the contrary, she always seemed to sparkle in a crowd, thanks to her skin, which was as white as snow.

Everyone who met her for the first time marveled at how someone could be so fair. Her skin seemed translucent, carefully cradling the veins beneath. With skin like that, her facial features hardly mattered.

Combined with her long, ebony-like hair and naturally graceful figure, no one bothered to think about the face nestled within such a frame. A deep-seated impression was already imprinted in their minds—a true beauty.

Often, a person's figure is far more striking than their face. Even when she wore a pilled nightgown, the stretched-out collar revealed a hint of allure. Even when she went to the showers, in the hazy steam, there was never a shortage of gazes that lingered on her silhouette.

Chen Piaopiao stood up, sniffled, and prepared to take her thermos to get hot water.

"You still haven't replaced that plug. Don't go and burn yourself again." An Ran frowned. Being older, she tended to worry about things. "Leave it. I'll take it when I go later."

"Okay." Chen Piaopiao compliantly set it down and accepted the slice of watermelon An Ran handed her.

If she had really wanted to go, she would have gone herself before An Ran returned. But as she leaned against the edge of her desk, slowly eating the watermelon, no one could tell if she was doing it on purpose.

An Ran finally had a moment to relax. She changed her clothes, let out a comfortable sigh, and started tying up her hair. "The club recruitment fair is this afternoon. Are you going?"

"No. I don't even know what clubs there are."

When Chen Piaopiao said something like that, it meant she was interested.

"Here." An Ran handed her a few flyers.

She took them and began to flip through them slowly while nibbling on her watermelon.

Hiking… Photography… Drama… Guitar… Musical Theater…

"You should probably skip the Musical Theater Club. A lot of people want to join, and you can't stand the heat or crowds." An Ran pulled over a chair and sat across from her, holding out a hand for Chen Piaopiao to return the flyers she was done with.

"A lot of people?"

Why were college students these days so interested in musical theater?

An Ran smiled, shaking her head and fanning herself with a flyer. "The Musical Theater Club has Tao Jin."

Tao Jin.

Perhaps every freshman in the Finance Department of An University had heard her name. She was popular, beautiful, tall, and had top grades—the kind of girl chosen to speak as a student representative. Good temperament doesn't necessarily come from a good family background, but in Tao Jin's case, the two were linked.

"You don't know who Tao Jin is, right? At the freshman orientation gala, she was there. The one talking to the counselor," An Ran explained.

At the time, Chen Piaopiao had been playing on her phone, seemingly oblivious to the stir and the heads turning as people around her whispered to each other.

Normally, an exceptionally beautiful upperclassman would be called the "campus belle," but that term didn't quite fit Tao Jin. People didn't call her the campus belle of An University; they just called her—Tao Jin.

As if it were a nickname, or an adjective.

"Oh," Chen Piaopiao said, raising her eyebrows nonchalantly. "I don't really remember her."

"You're always on your phone, you don't pay attention to anything," An Ran said, shaking her head.

Chen Piaopiao just smiled.

She didn't remember, except for the fact that Tao Jin had a voice like a gentle breeze, was wearing a new Valentino sweater, and had a Van Cleef & Arpels watch on her wrist.

As for her looks, Chen Piaopiao had seen them on the school forums long before she enrolled. It wasn't that she was more beautiful in person than in her photos, because the photos were already stunning enough.

Back then, Tao Jin had been standing right next to Chen Piaopiao, leaning down slightly to speak with the counselor.

"An Ran," Chen Piaopiao said, swallowing the last two bites of watermelon and tossing the rind into the trash can, "will you come with me to the Musical Theater Club audition?"

"Huh? You want to join the Musical Theater Club?"

"Mhm. I studied music in middle school, but I had to stop for the college entrance exams. It's such a shame." Chen Piaopiao pursed her lips and wiped her hands.

"Alright. We'll go after dinner."

The club auditions were held in the Small Lecture Hall in Academic Building 2. It was slightly larger than a normal classroom, and though they couldn't see inside, the line already snaked out onto the railed steps. It was even hotter and stuffier in the building than in their dorm, probably because of all the people. An Ran had been right; Chen Piaopiao always felt short of breath in situations like this. She smoothed her meticulously cared-for hair, feeling like the stuffy air was already making it stink.

"How was it?"

An Ran stopped a student coming down the stairs. "What did they ask in the interview?"

"Nothing much. Just some simple questions. If you want to sing, you can sing a few lines, or perform something. You can even say you don't know how to do anything. The person ahead of me couldn't do anything; they just said they wanted to come in and learn," the student said, fanning himself with his hand.

"Oh, who's conducting the interviews? Is Tao Jin there?" An Ran asked.

"No." The student shook his head.

An Ran was clearly a little disappointed. She pouted and nodded at the student.

After waiting a while longer, An Ran was starting to get sleepy. She pulled out her phone to find someone to chat with. Before she could even finish her yawn, she heard the usually quiet and patient Chen Piaopiao click her tongue with a frown. "Forget it, there are too many people."

She sighed, ready to leave, but suddenly let out a small "Hm?" and froze.

An Ran heard a sharp intake of breath that didn't belong to the crowd.

She looked up. Chen Piaopiao, who had been turning to leave, had bumped right into Tao Jin, who had just arrived.

"Sorry, sorry," Chen Piaopiao said quickly.

Tao Jin pursed her lips. "It's fine."

Her voice was very gentle. After speaking, she glanced at her again, then turned to look at the long line behind them. "Are you not lining up anymore?"

Chen Piaopiao seemed deflated. She touched her curly hair, which she had just washed at noon. "There are too many people, I'm tired of waiting. Besides, I can't sing or act. They probably wouldn't want me anyway."

An Ran blinked beside her, momentarily confused by the situation.

"How will you know if you don't try?" Tao Jin smiled, her eyes falling on the flyer in her hand.

"Besides," Chen Piaopiao said, looking into her eyes and lowering her voice, "I came for Tao Jin. They said she wasn't here."

"Oh." Tao Jin blinked a couple of times and nodded. "You came for her? Do you know her?"

"Mhm."

"Mhm?"

Tao Jin lowered her head, seeking confirmation again.

Holy shit… An Ran froze on the spot. What… what was happening?

"No, I don't know her," Chen Piaopiao said with a smile, shaking her head. "I just heard she was famous and wanted to see if she was pretty."

Tao Jin didn't say anything more. She lowered her lashes and blinked softly a couple of times. "Just wait a little longer. It'll be your turn soon."

With that, she headed into the lecture hall.

Once her figure had disappeared, An Ran tugged on Chen Piaopiao's dress, her voice squeezed out of her throat. "Are you an idiot? That was Tao Jin!"

"Was it?" Chen Piaopiao blinked as if the realization was just dawning on her. After a pause, she asked in a small voice,

"Why didn't you tell me?"

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