Drifting on a String - Chapter 13

Chapter 13

A person can refuse something good, but they can never refuse something that's "just right."

When Tao Jin said this, her tone wasn't particularly profound, but to Chen Piaopiao's ears, it held many layers of meaning. It didn't seem to be about a plan B, but a backup. A way out, a support system, a "don't be afraid."

It wasn't just about not being afraid to come home late; she could stay at Tao Jin's place. And there was more to it.

Chen Piaopiao's breathing hitched. She watched her quietly, but a piece of music was composing itself in her heart. After a rich, dramatic prelude came a passage as thin as a stream, the drumbeat light and fast, forming a small vortex.

Swirling at the bottom of her heart.

"Then wait for me," Chen Piaopiao said.

She then stood up, walked around Tao Jin, went to the wardrobe, and pulled open the wooden door to start looking for clothes.

The wardrobe door was narrow, blocking half of Tao Jin's view, but she could still clearly observe Chen Piaopiao pull out a pair of denim shorts and slip them on. Then, she took off her slip dress. Her back, illuminated by the incandescent light, glowed. Even the slight tremble of her shoulder blades seemed alive.

She bent over, the soft curve of her chest partially visible, and slowly encased it in a bra, fastening the clasp behind her back before pulling on a white T-shirt.

Her roommates were used to her changing like this; the only one who seemed awkward was Tao Jin.

As Chen Piaopiao changed, she listened to the faint sound of Tao Jin's freesia-scented breath from behind the wardrobe door. Finally, Chen Piaopiao raised a hand and closed the wardrobe. With a creak, her fair, delicate, makeup-free face was fully revealed to Tao Jin.

She was now completely covered, making the act of dressing and undressing just moments before seem like a sensual illusion.

Tao Jin's gentle gaze flickered over Chen Piaopiao's lips before she looked down and hooked a finger around the drawer handle.

"Are you bringing anything?" she asked.

"I'll just take a small bag." Chen Piaopiao crouched down and pulled a shoulder bag from the back of a shelf. She bundled up her slip dress, put it in a plastic food bag, balled it up, and stuffed it into her bag.

Tao Jin smiled. It was the first time she'd seen someone use a plastic food bag for clothes.

"Let's go." Chen Piaopiao finished packing and stood up, poised and graceful.

Tao Jin moved away from the desk, about to leave, when An Ran leaned back in her chair and looked at them. "Not coming back tonight?"

"Yeah," Chen Piaopiao answered softly.

She blushed slightly as she said it, like a scene she had fantasized about countless times in middle school. After hearing those malicious rumors, her classmates would look at her with the whites of their eyes. As she did her homework, she would imagine a popular student, or even a popular teacher, calling her out of the classroom, saying, "Chen Piaopiao, come on, let's go eat."

Then, under the astonished and envious gazes of her classmates, she would calmly put down her pen and walk out like a princess.

The fantasy had never come true.

Fantasies always come true eventually.

Chen Piaopiao also waved to Qi Mian and Luo Yue. She heard Luo Yue say, "Shouldn't you take your books for tomorrow? You have class second period. Will you make it back in time?"

"Didn't you hear them say they're going to the Snack Street? Carrying two huge books," Qi Mian retorted. "Piaopiao, you go ahead. If you can't make it back, I'll grab your books for you."

"Thanks." Chen Piaopiao smiled, holding her bag as she left with Tao Jin.

The two walked side by side down the hallway, an arm's length apart. A younger student eating spicy gluten sticks snuck glances at them. Chen Piaopiao tucked her hair behind her ear.

Pushing open the door to the emergency stairwell, the motion-activated light flickered on. Tao Jin suddenly stopped and smiled.

"What's wrong?" Chen Piaopiao looked at her.

"It just feels a little strange." Tao Jin tilted her head, still smiling, as if recalling the attitude of Chen Piaopiao's roommates.

"Does it?"

"Isn't it strange?" Tao Jin met her gaze.

Neither of them spoke. The motion-activated light went out again. Light from the hallway filtered through the glass pane on the door, landing perfectly on the corner of Tao Jin's mouth.

Chen Piaopiao's breathing deepened. She desperately wanted to kiss her.

She took half a step closer. Tao Jin pressed her lips together. Another half step, and the light came on.

Tao Jin cleared her throat and turned her face to look into the distance, a pink blush creeping up behind her ears. "Let's go."

"Okay, wait." Chen Piaopiao took her phone out of her bag, turned on the flashlight, and aimed it at the descending steps for her.

Tao Jin was afraid of the dark. Although the stairwell had lights, they weren't bright enough, and the one on the 8th floor was broken.

She consciously stepped down one stair, like a small, gentle knight waiting for her princess to descend.

Tao Jin smiled again, her eyes and brows animated with delight.

Then she said, "It is a bit dark. I'll be walking rather slowly."

So cute, Chen Piaopiao thought. She considered it for three seconds, then held out her hand. "I'll hold your hand."

Tao Jin gave her hand. It was cool, and her fingers brushed against the lifeline on Chen Piaopiao's palm.

She was indeed a slow walker, and she was indeed afraid of the dark, watching her feet carefully. Neither of them spoke again. Hand in hand, they passed the 8th floor, then the 7th, moving from one-behind-the-other to side-by-side.

Five, four, three, two, one.

Chen Piaopiao let go of Tao Jin's hand as they left the stairwell and headed off campus.

The Snack Street was located at the back gate of the university, near the men's dormitories. It was past eleven, but the street was still brightly lit. Food from all over the country was crammed onto both sides of the narrow road. The shoulder-to-shoulder signboards didn't need to compete for attention; the aromas were enough to draw in customers.

Chen Piaopiao walked and looked around: Jinzhou's stinky tofu, Qingcheng's freshly wrapped wontons, grilled cold noodles, grilled gluten, grilled scallops... and the steaming hot mala tang from Lugugu.

At this moment, she was most like an eighteen-year-old girl. After all, the craving for good food is a spell cast on humans from birth.

"What do you want to eat?" Tao Jin asked her.

Chen Piaopiao blinked. "Didn't you say you were hungry?"

Tao Jin thought for a moment. "Well, can you drink alcohol?"

"Huh?"

Chen Piaopiao was a bit stunned. Did Tao Jin seem like the type to drink?

That expression was truly endearing. Tao Jin couldn't help but curve her lips into a smile. "Let's go."

She expertly led Chen Piaopiao to the middle of the Snack Street and turned into a small alley. There was an old, established mala tang shop there, which seemed to be renting the narrow space between two storefronts. It was long and thin, with only enough room for two people to stand. A few young students were sitting against the wall, with one or two others standing around.

Tao Jin led Chen Piaopiao inside. Surprisingly, it had air conditioning. The auntie skewering ingredients seemed to be an old acquaintance. Her face bloomed into a smile like a chrysanthemum. "Jinjin."

"Auntie."

"Brought a classmate?"

"Mhm."

"Find a place to sit. It's a bit crowded right now." The auntie put some broccoli into the pot. "I'll cook up some crown daisy for you. What does the little beauty next to you want to eat?"

Chen Piaopiao was hesitating when she heard Tao Jin laugh. "She likes bacon rolls."

Chen Piaopiao was speechless. She glanced at Tao Jin, who looked back at her and quirked an eyebrow.

She looked quite pleased with herself.

"Aiyo, we're all out," the auntie said, wiping her apron. "You didn't tell me on WeChat. If you had, I would've saved some for you. We're really out for today."

"Oh."

Tao Jin looked down to grab a plate and explained, "The bacon rolls here are especially good. They sell out fast."

So... she wanted to make me happy and brought me here specifically. Can I interpret it that way?

Chen Piaopiao didn't say anything and focused on picking other ingredients.

"That side is spicy. Eat from this side." Tao Jin loosely put an arm around Chen Piaopiao's shoulder.

Chen Piaopiao's ears turned a little red, probably from the steam.

There were no seats inside, so the two of them carried their trays out and sat on small stools by the steps. Tao Jin grabbed two ice-cold beers, opened them with the bottle opener hanging on the door, and handed one to Chen Piaopiao.

...And it was beer.

Chen Piaopiao's gaze swept over Tao Jin. No matter how she looked at it, it just didn't fit.

"Look at the beer, not me," Tao Jin said softly, tilting her head back to take a sip of the cold beer.

Her tone was still just as gentle, but Chen Piaopiao felt that the Tao Jin before her now was a little different.

Before, she had been considerate to everyone, her popularity astonishing, but a sense of distance always remained. But today was different. The bright sun had set on the concrete ground, and even her expensive shirt was wrinkled.

It seemed she was allowing a weary fellow traveler to rest their head on her shoulder and speak drunken words.

Chen Piaopiao drank her beer in silence for a while. She really was getting a little dizzy, and she really did rest her forehead against Tao Jin's shoulder.

In the distance, there were couples walking hand in hand, bustling vendors, the indifferent moon of Beicheng, and lamps that held dreams.

She remembered the childish fantasy she'd had when she first boarded the plane. The two-hour journey had felt like a forced incubation; by coming from Xindu to Beicheng, she could truly become an adult.

Her irresponsible parents, her uncle and aunt who always whispered behind her back, the classmates who said she must have been slept with because of the way she walked with her legs apart—all of that belonged to a past life.

Those eighteen years hadn't been very good, but thousands of miles away, she could put on a disguise. She could pretend to be innocent, to be fragile, to be worldly-unaware. She had locked all her dark sides away in Xindu, just as she hid them behind a forum ID.

School hadn't been in session for long, but she was very popular. Her roommates all thought she was easy to talk to, and the upperclassmen liked her too.

When she was harassed by a suitor, everyone cursed the guy out for being sick in the head.

And then there was Tao Jin, the Tao Jin who said, "You have a plan B."

She had given Chen Piaopiao a choice, not an order.

Chen Piaopiao sniffled softly. Just as the alcohol began to blur her thoughts, she heard that pleasant voice by her ear. "Are you... facing any difficulties?"

Chen Piaopiao was silent.

Suddenly, she understood. She knew why Tao Jin had brought her out here, why she had chosen this Snack Street, thick with the smell of cooking and life, to sit with her on the dirty steps and drink 3.5-yuan bottles of beer.

People are always more willing to confide in those they see as their own kind. Tao Jin had the ability to make anyone believe she was on their side, if she wanted to.

"Tao Jin," Chen Piaopiao didn't answer her question. Instead, she lifted her head and narrowed her eyes. "How can you be so smart?"

Tao Jin took a sip of beer and looked at her gently.

So smart it made one want to ravage, destroy, and possess her.

Chen Piaopiao propped her cheek on her hand and studied her carefully. "Everyone says you're wonderful."

"But... are you really this good to everyone?"

Previous Table of Contents Next