Drifting on a String - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

From the library to the dorm, and from the dorm to the study hall, Chen Piaopiao felt like she was tracing the annual rings of An University.

Perhaps many girls have had this experience: wanting to leave a subtle impression on the person they like, to give themselves a memorable label. People might not remember who told a brilliant joke at the table, but they probably wouldn't forget a first-year girl who ate fifteen bacon rolls in one go.

Everyone was astonished.

Even as they were leaving, a second-year male student said, "Bacon girl, don't forget your bag."

There was good-natured laughter, and Chen Piaopiao smiled too. Just as she walked up to Tao Jin, she felt as if a feather had landed. Tao Jin reached out, put an arm around her shoulder, patted her, and gestured for her to walk forward.

She didn't like people giving classmates nicknames and was also worried Chen Piaopiao would be upset.

You see, she was just that kind of meticulously thoughtful person.

Chen Piaopiao had observed her for a long time and knew this aspect of her personality well. That was why, when they were sitting at opposite ends of the table, she had loudly ordered ten skewers of barbecue. She knew Tao Jin would definitely notice her, would definitely cast inquisitive glances her way from time to time.

And her own sudden silence was another hook to bait Tao Jin's concern.

The final five bacon rolls were to deepen the impression.

In the future, when she came to this restaurant, she might think of Chen Piaopiao. When eating barbecue, she might think of Chen Piaopiao. At every club gathering, she might even wonder if this first-year girl had eaten enough.

Her stomach still hurt. Chen Piaopiao squatted down, a little dejected.

She opened the forum app and went another thirty or forty rounds with the creep she hadn't finished arguing with that afternoon.

She thought, I might really be in deep. Eating fifteen bacon rolls for love was no different from the psychos on the forum.

Chen Piaopiao let out a soft sigh, stood up inconspicuously, and walked back to the dorm, holding her waist.

Clutching her queasy mouth, she entered the dorm. Before she could even sit down, she received a WeChat message. It was, surprisingly, from Tao Jin.

A photo of Jianwei Xiaoshi Tablets.

The second message: "Come up and get them."

She couldn't hold it back and almost threw up. Chen Piaopiao covered her mouth tightly, as if muffling a secret heartbeat.

She found out again?

She'd lost count of how many times this had happened. Chen Piaopiao, having accepted her fate of being exposed, changed out of her sticky clothes, slipped on a pair of flip-flops, loosely wove her hair into a side braid, and headed for the 11th floor with her phone.

Seize every opportunity to meet. Even a casual dorm look was a complete outfit.

When she reached the elevators, she found they had stopped running for the night. She climbed the stairs, panting slightly, her fair cheeks faintly flushed. Arriving at 1105, she saw the dorm room door was open. As she stood by the door about to knock, Tao Jin, who was further inside, saw her first. She picked up the Jianwei Xiaoshi Tablets from beside her and walked over.

She was wearing a loose white T-shirt and long pants, her hair still damp, her entire being enveloped in a clean, fresh scent.

"Here."

Chen Piaopiao took them. "Thank you."

"I saw the elevators had stopped before I told you to come up. Climbing the stairs helps with digestion, too." Tao Jin smiled, looking down at her slightly. With her semi-dry hair tucked behind her ears, she had more of an aura than usual.

Chen Piaopiao tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "You showered?"

"Yeah."

The shuffling of slippers echoed in the hallway. People passed by from time to time, fetching water or visiting other rooms. From the hot water room came the clatter of basins and the gurgling sound of hot water pouring out.

It was clearly the same as the 9th floor, but Chen Piaopiao felt the hallway on the 11th floor was a bit cooler, and the upperclassmen's footsteps were a bit more languid.

"I just went to the track to walk off my meal. The bathhouse was closed, so I couldn't shower." Chen Piaopiao glanced at her, her eyes sparkling.

The hallway light wasn't very bright, but she was still strikingly pale, a radiant figure standing in the doorway.

One of her roommates returned, carrying a basin, and gave Tao Jin a questioning look. Tao Jin smiled and stepped aside to let her roommate in.

"I'm heading down now." Chen Piaopiao held up the medicine box and gave it a little shake.

"Okay. Good night."

"Good night."

The sound-activated light in the hallway was awakened by footsteps. After a flurry of noise, it returned to darkness.

Chen Piaopiao chewed on a Jianwei Xiaoshi Tablet, feeling a little annoyed. She still hadn't managed to ask Tao Jin to shower with her. If that roommate hadn't suddenly come back, if they hadn't been interrupted...

She rolled over and hugged her pillow, her stomach pressed against the hard bed board, and silently counted sheep.

---

For the next week, the club had no rehearsals, so the two of them naturally had no chance to meet. Chen Piaopiao's life was a straight line between the academic building, the cafeteria, and the dorm. Hearing that Tao Jin liked the breakfast at Cafeteria 1, she even dragged An Ran there twice to order small wontons. She ate until her head was covered in sweat, but she never ran into her.

People often have a perverse streak. The harder something is to get, the more it takes root in your heart. It becomes hard to tell if it's love or obsession; either way, it occupies more and more of your time.

Tao Jin became the thought that occupied most of her time outside of class.

On Tuesday afternoon, the sun was like a submachine gun, completely gunning down everyone's spirits. Qi Mian came in wrapped in a wave of summer heat, sucking on the last dregs of her lemonade. She bumped the door shut with her butt and stood under the fan, desperately trying to cool down.

"You didn't go to class?" She let out a huge sigh, as if trying to exhale the sparks from her pores.

"Nope. You didn't go either?" Chen Piaopiao rolled a thin workbook into a tube and fanned her face with it.

Qi Mian grabbed her hair with one hand and flapped her collar to get some air. "Nah. Wang Xing, the upperclassman, asked me to lunch. We ate at the roast duck place off-campus."

They ate for a little too long and missed the big lecture.

Wang Xing was very attentive to Qi Mian; the two of them often video-chatted until lights out. It seemed Qi Mian would be the first in their dorm to get a boyfriend.

Chen Piaopiao smiled and used the workbook in her hand to fan Qi Mian as well.

Qi Mian accepted Chen Piaopiao's cool breeze with an expression that said, "Sisters in this life, mother and daughter in the next." Then she pulled out An Ran's chair and sat down. "But this time it wasn't just me and him. There were a few third-year upperclassmen there too. And, uh, Tao Jin was there."

Tao Jin? Chen Piaopiao's fanning hand paused.

She hadn't heard anything about her for a few days. It was like a stone skipping across a river, bouncing away in a series of ripples.

"Yeah, and we talked about you." Qi Mian took her lemonade and sucked on it for dear life.

"What did she say about me?" Chen Piaopiao asked slowly in a low voice.

She sniffled.

Qi Mian said, "She said she likes you a lot."

Her eyelashes trembled. From under her straight bangs, Chen Piaopiao's eyes gazed softly at Qi Mian.

"She said," Qi Mian recalled, still radiating heat, "that among the new members in her club, you're outstanding, very clever, and also very diligent. Everyone really likes you."

"Oh..." Her eyelashes drooped, and Chen Piaopiao's gaze fell.

"Yeah, and she also said you're cute." Qi Mian laughed, looking Chen Piaopiao up and down from her slumped position. "How are you cute? I told her you barely say a word in the dorm, just sit there with your laptop doing homework every day. And she actually said you're clever and cute."

"Show me how cute you are," Qi Mian teased with a grin.

Chen Piaopiao turned away, her ears bright red, and flopped onto her desk in a daze.

"Cute. Chen Piaopiao is cute." Qi Mian was still savoring the thought, sipping her lemonade and staring at the ceiling as she rocked her chair back and forth, making it creak.

Chen Piaopiao took out her phone, its corner tapping against the desk. She opened her chat with Tao Jin. The last message was still from the previous week.

She then opened Tao Jin's Moments, scrolled from top to bottom, and tapped on a few pictures. They didn't even need to load; they popped open at the touch of her fingertip.

She put her phone away and opened her laptop to do homework.

Then she went on the forums to browse some celebrity gossip. After finally making it past nine o'clock, she sat on the edge of her bed and sent Tao Jin a WeChat message.

"Are you there?"

Chen Piaopiao "patted" Tao Jin.

"What's up?" Tao Jin was never slow to reply.

"Have you showered yet?"

The other person is typing...

"Not yet."

Chen Piaopiao's heart pounded. With one shoulder hidden behind the bed curtain, she felt like a thief.

"I can't find anyone to go shower with me. Can I go with you?"

She typed slowly, methodically, holding her breath.

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