Drifting on a String - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Nine-thirty, wait downstairs?"

Tao Jin directly set the time.

Chen Piaopiao turned off her phone, suddenly feeling a sense of anticlimax. The kind you feel when a long-awaited little goal is achieved too easily.

So it was this simple, no different from someone from the next dorm coming over to borrow a nightlight.

She stood up and opened her wardrobe.

Beside her, An Ran and Qi Mian were arguing.

"Qi Mian, how many times have I told you? Stop jostling my chair for no reason. One of its legs is about to break."

"When did I jostle your chair? Which one of your eyes saw me do it?"

"If it wasn't you, who else could it be? Everyone knows you love to rock your chair."

"Your chair was already wobbly!"

The two went back and forth, their mouths practically on each other's faces. But then they saw Chen Piaopiao, her back to them, suddenly slip off her nightgown.

Her back, as white as soft jade, was completely exposed.

Qi Mian kind of forgot what she was going to say. Puffing out her cheeks, she muttered, "How come her back doesn't have a single pimple?"

"You have a lot of pimples on your back?" An Ran offered a suggestion. "Maybe it's too oily. Try washing it with sulfur soap."

Chen Piaopiao picked through her clothes, changed into a cool slip dress, and carried her basket toward the stairwell.

9:25. She waited leisurely for the elevator to stop on the 11th floor, then pressed the down button. The elevator doors opened. Not her.

The second time they opened, not her.

The third time they opened, Tao Jin was standing inside, leaning against the wall opposite her. The moment the elevator doors rumbled open, she lifted her downcast gaze.

Their eyes met. Chen Piaopiao blinked and smiled.

She sauntered into the elevator and stood next to Tao Jin. Tao Jin was still wearing a white T-shirt and gray lounge pants, which were held up by her tall frame and carried the warm scent of a good night's sleep on a pillow.

"Have you been waiting long?" Tao Jin turned her head to look at her.

"Oh, I thought you were going to say, 'What a coincidence.'" Chen Piaopiao didn't want to pretend anymore.

How did she see through her every time? But it made sense. There wasn't a trace of surprise on her face, so how could she fake a chance encounter?

There were a few coughs in the elevator, and an upperclassman answered a phone call. It wasn't a good place to chat, so the two didn't talk anymore, just leaned against the wall and waited for the elevator to slowly descend.

The northern bathhouses had once been like a nightmare for Chen Piaopiao. In the swirling steam, naked white bodies stood under the spray of the showerheads like slabs of pork hung up straight. When the water was hot, they would even turn faintly red, as if they'd been scalded. That was why she didn't like to shower with her roommates or classmates; she didn't want to be a piece of pork in their eyes, or for them to be one in hers.

But Tao Jin was different.

Chen Piaopiao didn't want to look at her either, because that would be pretty creepy, but she wanted Tao Jin to look at her.

She had a good figure that many people had praised. It wasn't much of an asset, but if Tao Jin had even the slightest interest in her, maybe, possibly, just in case, could it add a few points?

A young vixen, not yet skilled at seduction, but already vaguely aware of how to cast a line.

Tao Jin had called her cute, and though she didn't know what was so cute about her, there were still many more parts of her that Tao Jin hadn't seen.

Her wild thoughts followed her up to the second floor. Enduring the smell of the wash-cut-and-blow-dry from the hair salon next door, she had to admit she was still a little nervous.

Tao Jin stopped and, over the buzz of a hairdryer, asked her, "You, second floor?"

Hmm? Chen Piaopiao didn't register it at first.

"Then I'll go to the third floor. I'll wait for you downstairs when I'm done," Tao Jin continued.

The little vixen's expression froze again. Her quick mind, like an old electric fan, slowly whirred round and round.

So, when Tao Jin talked about showering with someone, she didn't mean on the same floor?

The fine hairs behind her ears stood on end. The nonchalant air she had painstakingly cultivated was starting to crack.

Tao Jin tilted her head slightly to look at her and suddenly smiled. The pretty curve of her lips twitched slightly as she chose her words tactfully, "Your expression…"

Her eyelashes fluttered twice. It looked like… disappointment.

It was disappointment. Even the smile she gave before turning to enter the bathhouse couldn't hide her awkwardness. Chen Piaopiao woodenly took off her clothes, woodenly showered, woodenly got dressed, and then waited downstairs, shrouded in steam.

Her basket dripped, drip, drip, drip. She suddenly understood a great truth.

No wonder Tao Jin was so popular.

She kept people close, but she never allowed them to get close enough for her to be disenchanted. She would warmly invite someone to shower with her, then naturally separate them by a floor. If anyone had improper thoughts about her, then every single whoosh of the gushing water would become a fantasy.

It was tantalizingly frustrating.

I hope she wasn't doing it on purpose. If she was, she was truly terrifying.

Chen Piaopiao looked at herself in the mirror—rosy lips, white teeth, a delectable sight. A figure appeared on the stairs behind her, even more eye-catching, more radiant and captivating.

After being washed clean, Tao Jin looked translucent, like a piece of ice submerged in water.

She was drying her hair with a towel and greeted her naturally. Her gaze fell on the dripping ends of Chen Piaopiao's hair and the damp spot on her chest.

She sniffed lightly, her voice gentle. "Drape your towel over it before you go out."

"Oh." Chen Piaopiao looked down and covered the spot with her towel.

Walking along the tree-lined path, she swung her basket, sloshing the remaining water around like flowing moonlight.

When the two of them were together, Tao Jin didn't say much. It was usually Chen Piaopiao who spoke first.

She was going to seize this opportunity, not knowing if there would be a next time.

"I heard you're afraid of the dark, so you like to ask people to come shower with you."

Tao Jin nodded. "Mhm."

"Then," Chen Piaopiao lowered her eyelashes, her words laced with a bit of intention, "why don't you have your boyfriend accompany you every day?"

The footsteps stopped. Chen Piaopiao's heart gave an abrupt leap.

Bathed in moonlight, Tao Jin looked at her, tilting her head slightly as if seriously considering the question. But shrouded in the faded light of the streetlamp, she was as beautiful as an illusion.

"What's wrong?" Chen Piaopiao grew inexplicably nervous, watching her with every breath, her hand clutching the towel over her chest.

Tao Jin smiled softly. She reached out and draped a corner of the towel back onto Chen Piaopiao's shoulder. Her words, even lighter than her touch, followed her gaze to the edge of the towel. "Do I look like I have a boyfriend?"

This was a clever line. It could mean that there was no trace of a significant other in Tao Jin's daily life.

It could also mean that Tao Jin didn't look straight.

She didn't seem like the type of person who would have a boyfriend.

Tao Jin's hand withdrew. Chen Piaopiao's hand followed, pressing the towel on her own shoulder as she shook her head. "You don't."

She couldn't imagine Tao Jin holding hands, kissing, or hugging a man or a woman. Just thinking about it made her jealous.

Quietly biting the inside of her lip, Chen Piaopiao walked forward. She didn't want this outing to end, so she suggested buying a one-eighth slice of watermelon for her roommate and asked if Tao Jin would go with her to the little store.

Tao Jin nodded and went with her to the fruit stand, then stood to one side while Chen Piaopiao paid.

Chen Piaopiao took the plastic bag and suddenly felt very happy.

It was as if she had stolen the identity of Tao Jin's girlfriend. Tao Jin waited patiently with her, and when classmates they knew passed by, Tao Jin would nod in greeting. She didn't introduce Chen Piaopiao, but in others' eyes, they were standing together.

It was a small, insignificant emotion, but it truly nourished Chen Piaopiao.

Reaching the end of the tree-lined path, she could see the lights of the dormitory in the distance. Chen Piaopiao slowed her pace and said deliberately, "Today my roommate, Qi Mian, said she had dinner with you."

"Mhm, that's right."

"She said," Chen Piaopiao stopped, "that you called me cute."

She still wanted to say it out loud, waiting with unblinking eyes for Tao Jin's reaction.

She smiled openly. "You are very cute."

"But it's strange," Tao Jin furrowed her brow slightly. "Your roommate said you're usually quiet and don't talk, that you just bury your head in your books."

"Is it strange?"

"It's not quite the same as what I've seen."

Tao Jin blinked.

What she saw was a little girl in line who first glanced at her from the corner of her eye, and then bumped into her;

who, while waiting for her interview, peeked through the door to locate her, but then only looked at the Vice President after coming in, not sparing her a single glance;

who, at the welcome party, silently looked at the denim overalls Tao Jin was wearing, then looked down and fiddled with the small flower on her own denim skirt;

who, during rehearsal, was originally sitting to the side enjoying the breeze, but after seeing the Vice President tell the newcomers not to move chairs, stood up and ran outside to move a table;

and also, the dinner party.

Even though she looked like she was about to throw up from eating so much, when she noticed Tao Jin's thoughtful gaze on her, she still kept eating relentlessly.

Every time her little schemes were seen through by Tao Jin, she wasn't annoyed or embarrassed, still maintaining that same placid expression.

She would just try something else next time.

Wasn't that cute? It was like she was rehearsing an elaborate performance to deceive everyone, playing the part of a quiet girl who didn't like to talk in front of everybody else, while only Tao Jin could see her secret little actions.

It wasn't just because Tao Jin was exceptionally observant, but also because…

"If I'm not mistaken, you really want to get close to me."

"Why?"

Under the streetlamp, Tao Jin quietly asked Chen Piaopiao.

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