Drifting on a String - Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Playing cards?"

"Yeah, mahjong. We're short one player." The senior student hung on the doorknob, looking up at Chen Piaopiao from below as if giving a secret signal.

"Short one?" Isn't there four people in the dorm?

"Oh, it's me, Lao Hai, and Tizi. The three of us."

Chen Piaopiao remembered this senior student was named Xiao Ma. The three of them together were called the "Hippocampus," the ID photo trio.

Not hearing the name she was waiting for, Chen Piaopiao asked softly, "What about Tao Jin?"

"She doesn't know how to play," Xiao Ma said casually. "We're playing Xindu mahjong. I heard her say you're from Xindu, so I came to find you. Do you know how?"

I should, right? Everyone in Xindu knows how to play mahjong, and every family raises giant pandas.

"I do, but… is she not in the dorm?" Chen Piaopiao didn't quite understand. Couldn't Tao Jin have just sent her a WeChat message? Why send a senior student she barely knew downstairs to invite her?

"Oh," Xiao Ma replied out of habit, "she went to take a shower. She'll be back in a bit. Just come on up. We visit each other's rooms all the time, we all know each other."

"What, does she have to be there? Aren't we senior students good enough for you?" Xiao Ma huffed, feigning displeasure.

Chen Piaopiao smiled faintly and said in a low voice, "Then wait a moment. I'll come up in a bit. My roommate went out to shower, so I need to leave her a note."

"Alright, alright. We'll set up the table first. Hurry up, okay, sweetie?" Xiao Ma closed her eyes and made two exaggerated kissing sounds before shuffling upstairs in her slippers.

The door was open, the light from the dorm room and the hallway merging into one. Chen Piaopiao scraped her chair back and left a sticky note for Qi Mian: Mianmian, I'm upstairs in 1105.

If you can't get in when you get back, come upstairs to get the key.

After writing it, she stuck it on the door. Chen Piaopiao grabbed her keys and phone and headed out. As she turned off the light, she saw the water cup on her desk and wondered if she should take it. Playing mahjong for a few hours would definitely make her thirsty. She pursed her lips, shut the door with a "click," and went to the elevators.

Room 1105 always felt cooler than hers. She didn't know if it was psychological or because it was two floors higher. The door was ajar. Near the balcony, a humidifier with essential oils was running on one of the beds, smelling faintly of green tea. A square folding table was set up in the middle of the room, with four chairs placed at the north, south, east, and west positions. The three senior students, dressed in pajamas, were already seated, toying with the mahjong tiles while playing on their phones.

"You're here." Tizi was the first to see Chen Piaopiao and greeted her warmly, waving her over.

Chen Piaopiao smiled and acknowledged her. She walked past Tao Jin's desk. A small desk lamp was on. On the bookshelf to the right, textbooks were neatly arranged alongside a few daily skincare products. The computer was on but the screen was black, and an open notebook lay beside it.

She wasn't there, but the small, quiet corner seemed to be waiting for someone to pass by, which inexplicably made Chen Piaopiao's heart flutter.

"Junior, you can sit here." Lao Hai pulled out the chair that was facing away from the door.

Chen Piaopiao noticed there was no chair by Tao Jin's desk; it must have been "requisitioned." She hesitated. "Um…" Maybe I should go get my own chair.

"It's Baby Jin's chair, just sit," Xiao Ma said while shuffling the tiles. "You think she'd have the heart to scold you?"

...

"Pfft." Lao Hai and Tizi both laughed.

Chen Piaopiao sniffled and sat down, her face a little red.

Only then did Xiao Ma belatedly realize, looking up in confusion. "What I meant was, aren't you two on pretty good terms?"

Tizi burst out laughing.

"Speechless," Lao Hai said, laughing as she tossed a mahjong tile at Xiao Ma. "What kind of weird stuff are you saying?" It wasn't a big deal at first, but the more she tried to explain, the weirder it got.

Chen Piaopiao kept her head down, building her wall of tiles without a word.

The clattering of mahjong tiles dispelled the strange awkwardness. While stacking her tiles, Chen Piaopiao listened intently for any sound behind her. After a short while, the door was pushed open by footsteps. Xiao Ma broke a stack of tiles and glanced at the doorway. "You're back?"

"We're using your chair," she said casually, her eyes fixed on her tiles. "Why don't you go lie on your bed for a bit?"

Chen Piaopiao stopped what she was doing and turned sideways. "Do you need the chair?"

Tao Jin smiled and shook her head. "You play."

Then she dried her damp hair, a few wisps of steam trailing her as she walked to the table. She leaned her back against the edge of the table and picked up her phone to reply to a message.

Chen Piaopiao glanced at her again before turning back to the game.

She heard the "clack" of a phone being set down behind her, and then a familiar body wash fragrance drifted over. A gentle shadow fell across the mahjong table. Tao Jin was standing beside her.

"Do you know how to read the tiles?" Chen Piaopiao looked up at her, her voice soft and gentle.

Tao Jin placed a hand on the back of the chair and shook her head. "No."

"Oh."

"It's your turn to discard," Tao Jin reminded her softly.

Across the table, Lao Hai rested her chin on her hand, watching the two of them.

Chen Piaopiao discarded a "Three Characters." Tizi excitedly slammed her hand down on it. "Pong."

Xiao Ma, having been intercepted twice in a row and unable to draw a tile, was a little annoyed. She pouted and said, "Tao Jin, don't just stand there."

"What's wrong?" Tao Jin asked.

"You're standing there looking at all four of our hands. Who does that?"

"But I don't know how to play." Tao Jin tilted her head, looking a little innocent. What's the harm in looking?

"Whether you know how or not," Xiao Ma said, drawing a tile, "aren't you on Piaopiao's side? You can't look at other people's tiles."

Tizi was shocked. "Huh? But she's not even playing."

Is she really trying to pick a fight over this?

"Her chair is in the game," Xiao Ma said, slotting the tile into her hand. It completed a sequence. She looked satisfied.

...

There was silence, both at the table and away from it.

Lao Hai couldn't stand it anymore. She handed over the cup beside her. "Jin, can you get me some water? Thanks."

"Okay."

Tao Jin bent down at the water dispenser. Chen Piaopiao received a WeChat message. She opened it. It was from Qi Mian, saying that Luo Yue had just come back, so she was already inside. She told Chen Piaopiao to have fun.

Chen Piaopiao replied: "Okay."

Just as she sent it, she heard Tao Jin ask, "Do you want some water?"

"I didn't bring a cup," Chen Piaopiao said, shaking her head.

Tao Jin handed her a water cup, having loosened the lid, and placed it to Chen Piaopiao's right.

"Thanks." Chen Piaopiao picked it up and took a sip. Just like at Tao Jin's house, it carried the faint, clean scent of her lips.

After two more rounds, Tao Jin's legs were getting a bit tired, so she went to the next dorm to borrow a stool. She sat down between Chen Piaopiao and Xiao Ma and watched Xiao Ma's hand for a while.

Xiao Ma was having a good run, so she didn't mind Tao Jin watching her tiles anymore. While waiting for her turn, she reached out and touched Tao Jin's face. "What face mask have you been using lately? Your skin is even fairer."

"Really?" Tao Jin raised her eyebrows. "It's the same one I bought with you before."

Xiao Ma stroked her face a couple more times. "For real. It's so smooth."

Tao Jin laughed and turned her head to dodge the touch. "Maybe it's because I've been going to bed earlier."

Chen Piaopiao played her tiles in silence, an unspeakable fantasy surfacing once again. She wanted to press Tao Jin down on the mahjong table, to trace her face meticulously from the tail of her eyebrow to the corner of her mouth, and then bite down on her chin, just to hear her hiss in a pained frown.

"Pa." Chen Piaopiao reached out and took the Two Bamboos that Lao Hai had just discarded. "Mahjong."

"Wow, that was fast," Lao Hai exclaimed, lamenting her bad luck. "A basic hand? Any doubles?"

"A small win." Chen Piaopiao reached back, gathered her loose hair, twisted it into a ponytail with her hand, held it for a moment to let her neck breathe, and then let it fall again.

She heard a contemplative breath beside her, and Tao Jin asked softly, "Do you want to put on a T-shirt?"

"Hm?" Chen Piaopiao turned her head to look at her.

"It might be more convenient for reaching for tiles and things."

Chen Piaopiao's slip dress was a little loose. Her skin was fair, so any large movement was eye-catching. The contrast between the lustrous fullness and the deep shadows was exceptionally stark.

Xiao Ma overheard their quiet exchange. She glanced at Chen Piaopiao—it was a bit revealing, but: "It's no big deal, right? We're all girls here."

Tao Jin only looked at Chen Piaopiao and asked again, "Do you want one?"

"It's hot." Chen Piaopiao tucked a slightly damp strand of hair behind her ear.

Tao Jin stood up, took a hair tie from a drawer, and began to tie up Chen Piaopiao's hair. Her eyelashes lowered. Past Chen Piaopiao's sharp chin, her gaze probed into the gully between the peaks. She reached out, lifting a strand of hair stuck to her collarbone. The end of it was tugged gently, like a thin snake slithering out from the gully.

Chen Piaopiao felt a slight itch. She turned her head to glance at Tao Jin, her mouth opening silently.

The hair, pulled from the gully, created an itch that felt like it was grazing her very heart.

Tao Jin understood her meaning. She smoothed out the damp strand and carefully tied it up.

"Should I find you some clothes?" After finishing with the hair, she let her fingers rest naturally on Chen Piaopiao's collarbone and tilted her head to look at her.

"No, it's still hot." Chen Piaopiao looked up at her, reached out to hook her finger, her voice thin and slightly hoarse.

Then she lowered her head, looked at her tiles, discarded one, and muttered under her breath, "It's not like I'm at your place, with air conditioning."

With her head still down, she heard half a gasp, which seemed to come from Tizi. The others were silent. Xiao Ma raised a hand to scratch her ear.

It was a risky thing to say, a blatant, calculated move, but Chen Piaopiao wanted to test Tao Jin's reaction. She was the one who started it. She was the one who asked if I wanted to wear a shirt. She was the one who tied my hair.

Tao Jin, however, didn't seem offended. She gave a faint smile, her voice still gentle. "Mm, okay."

They played for a while longer, until it was almost time for lights-out. The game wasn't very intense; they were even starting to yawn. When the game ended, Chen Piaopiao helped clean up the mahjong set and the table, then politely said her goodbyes.

Back in her dorm, she checked her phone and saw two missed calls from her Aunt.

She quickly called back, closing the door behind her to take the call in the hallway.

"Piaopiao," her Aunt's voice was as loud as ever. "Did you get my message? Grandma wants to see you during the National Day holiday. I said we'll get her to the plane, and then you have to remember to pick her up, okay? Grandma rarely flies."

"Grandma… is coming to Beicheng?" Chen Piaopiao walked past the elevators, pushed open the fire escape door, and entered the empty stairwell.

In the vast stairwell, her Aunt's voice sounded like it was on a loudspeaker.

"Yeah. We're all going out of town for the holiday, so there's no one to stay with Grandma. Your Uncle said she might as well go see you. You're so far away, Grandma misses you every day. She said she'd call you herself, but I was worried she wouldn't explain it clearly. After I book the ticket, I'll send you the flight number. You can show Grandma a good time. She loves the capital."

Chen Piaopiao was silent. She missed her Grandma very much, but…

She was living in a dorm herself, how could she accommodate her Grandma? Hotels during the National Day holiday were so expensive, and this was so last-minute.

It was always like this. With this family, Chen Piaopiao was only ever given a notification.

Previous Table of Contents Next