Drifting on a String - Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Your place?"

Chen Piaopiao squinted, her ears twitching like a fox hearing human speech for the first time.

Tao Jin laughed at her expression, shrugging as she pushed herself off the wall. "It's an apartment I rent near the university, but I don't stay here often."

Chen Piaopiao had always known that Tao Jin came from a well-off family. In truth, Chen Piaopiao's own family wasn't bad off either; otherwise, she wouldn't have noticed Tao Jin's Valentino and Van Cleef & Arpels.

Before her parents divorced, she could have been considered a little princess. She had inherited her vanity from her mother.

She had also inherited half of her mother's beauty.

Her mother loved to dress her up. While her classmates were still comparing whose candy wrappers were prettier, Chen Piaopiao was already wearing imported skirt sets.

Her mother was especially fond of her whenever the aunties praised how tastefully Chen Piaopiao was dressed.

Later, after the divorce, her mother found something that could better satisfy her vanity: she accepted the advances of a retired vice mayor and started living like a princess herself.

As for her ex-husband, who cheated with mistress after mistress more frequently than he ate meals, he had always been as good as dead to the family, from before the marriage until after the divorce.

After her mother remarried, she had a new family and a new child more worthy of being doted on. On their social media, they attended summer camps in the UK, in America, in France.

She would also periodically send some money to Grandma for Chen Piaopiao's upbringing. But not too much.

Because she didn't have a job, the vice mayor would be unhappy if she spent too much on Chen Piaopiao. Once, her mother called Grandma, saying she'd fought with the vice mayor again, and complained about why that ex-husband, who was addicted to playing dead, wasn't giving them any money when custody had clearly been awarded to him.

Grandma wasn't used to cell phones and habitually pressed the speakerphone button. Her hearing wasn't great either, so she didn't think it was very loud.

Therefore, Chen Piaopiao didn't lack money, nor was she particularly sheltered; she had seen many brands during her occasional visits to her mother's house. But she had to be frugal with her mother's money. She felt like she was guarding a nearly empty rice urn, with tiny grains of rice occasionally falling through someone's fingers.

Those hands belonged to her mother, and also to her half-sister. They held a wholehearted love, and a little of it leaked through their fingers for Chen Piaopiao.

She didn't like the rice that fell from others' hands. That was why she said she really needed the scholarship. It was true.

That would be a handful of rice she held herself.

Sitting in the car, they traveled from old, narrow hutongs to the brand-new city. The neon lights of the bustling nightlife flashed across her face, and soon they arrived at Tao Jin's residential complex.

The complex Tao Jin rented was like her—it had a relaxed feel. In Beicheng, it was too easy to be surrounded by tall, dense "pigeon coops," where a glance upward revealed a dense cluster of lights containing a dense cluster of lives. But the building Tao Jin rented was short, only about ten stories, with just two units per elevator. Large windows were loosely set into the English-style red brick walls. The buildings were spaced far apart, shrouded by lush foliage. All this ease pointed to one underlying logic: the rent was very expensive.

Tao Jin's apartment was on the sixth floor. When she opened the door, the fresh scent of solid wood greeted them—a clear sign that the place wasn't heavily lived in.

It was a two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment. Not huge, and simply decorated, but the layout was open and airy, and the furnishings were quite comfortable. It was obvious she didn't cook, as the dining table was covered with a few books, serving as a desk.

Tao Jin got a pair of slippers for Chen Piaopiao, briefly pointed out the layout, and finally opened the floor-to-ceiling windows to air the place out. "It's been a while since I was last here," she said.

Chen Piaopiao sat down on the fabric sofa. "You live alone, but you rent a two-bedroom?"

Tao Jin fell silent for a moment, a rare, less-than-forthright expression on her face. Then she said, "Occasionally, my mom comes to stay with me."

To make soup and things.

Oh. Chen Piaopiao suddenly remembered that Tao Jin was afraid of the dark. She probably didn't live alone often.

Tao Jin didn't elaborate. She went into the bedroom to make the bed for Chen Piaopiao. Chen Piaopiao followed and naturally lent a hand. Then Tao Jin went to the closet to find her some pajamas. "A T-shirt I've worn before, is that okay?"

"Is it convenient for me to stay here?" Chen Piaopiao asked in a small voice.

Tao Jin, squatting in front of the closet, looked up at her and smiled. "The bed's already made. Isn't it a little late to be asking that question?"

But Chen Piaopiao was just that slow. Standing in the shadows beside the closet, her heart began to race with a delayed reaction. Only now did she realize that she was really going to stay at Tao Jin's place. She would wear her clothes, use her bathroom, sleep in her bed, right in the room next to hers.

It was hard to describe Chen Piaopiao's current mood. She wasn't overly excited, but a numbness spread through her heart.

If, at the beginning, liking Tao Jin was like liking a priceless piece of jewelry—liking how dazzling she was, how expensive she was, how she was surrounded by so many gazes—then the Tao Jin she liked now was the one squatting before the closet, speaking softly, her face bare of makeup.

Still so beautiful, but not so high and mighty. Her own shadow fell at Tao Jin's feet; if she shifted just a little, it would envelop her face.

After all this time together, Chen Piaopiao's affection had changed. At first, she chased after her glamour; later, she began to long for her thoughtfulness and gentleness.

Chen Piaopiao thought, If I could have a home with Tao Jin…

If only.

After her shower, Chen Piaopiao, dressed in the white T-shirt and long pants Tao Jin had found for her, leaned against the doorframe, watching Tao Jin tidy up her vanity. Tao Jin had changed into a gray form-fitting tank top and loose cotton athletic shorts, her fine lines looking as if they'd been sketched with a pencil.

So, Tao Jin had a great figure, too.

Noticing the movement, Tao Jin turned to look at her, tucking her hair behind her ear with a slight smile. "What is it?"

"Um…" Chen Piaopiao said.

"Hm?"

"I don't know."

"What don't you know?" Tao Jin raised her eyebrows, straightening up and leaning against the sink as she pulled out a tissue to dry her hands.

"I want to talk to you," Chen Piaopiao said, staring straight at her, "but I don't know what to say."

Her voice was very soft. The little fox, so skilled at deception, was using a trick called 'baring one's soul' for the first time.

She wondered if the reason she was so captivated by Tao Jin was that she didn't have to pretend in front of her.

Or perhaps, because she had told such a monumental lie, she couldn't be bothered with anything else.

"Then, shall we talk?" Tao Jin smiled, patting her on the head as she led her toward the living room.

What Tao Jin didn't tell Chen Piaopiao was that the club had unanimously approved the inexperienced Chen Piaopiao because she had a strong, story-like quality about her. Anyone interested in acting would easily be drawn to a face like that. Some people's faces have no substance; their expressions are like mechanical switches. But with others, even if they try their best to appear as a blank slate, their expressionless face still holds a reaction to the world.

She doesn't need to cry, nor does she need to laugh. All she needs is a spotlight. When the camera is on her, you can read so much in her face.

Tao Jin turned on a floor lamp, its light spilling onto Chen Piaopiao's face like an opening line.

But they said nothing. They sat side-by-side on the sofa in silence for a while before Tao Jin picked up the milk tea she'd bought on the way and took a sip.

Chen Piaopiao also reached out, picked up hers, and put the straw in her mouth.

Tao Jin sipped her straw; Chen Piaopiao nibbled on hers.

Then, she carefully touched Tao Jin's thigh with her knee, rubbing against it unconsciously.

Tao Jin didn't pull away. Perhaps she didn't even notice, because she was concentrating on drinking her milk tea.

"Have you thought of a topic yet?" Chen Piaopiao tapped the straw with her teeth. She didn't look at Tao Jin as she asked, gazing instead at the night sky outside.

"No."

It was rare for Tao Jin to be unable to think of a topic, but right now, for some reason, she didn't want to.

Perhaps it was because the atmosphere was so nice. She turned sideways, resting her head on the back of the sofa. Her supple body was like a lazy fish, long legs drawn up, curling up beside Chen Piaopiao.

Chen Piaopiao was reminded of her profile picture—a wave by a cliff's edge. She felt as if she were sitting on that cliff right now, and her burgeoning desire for Tao Jin was the deep tide crashing against it.

"What do you want to eat tomorrow?" Chen Piaopiao turned her head to look into Tao Jin's eyes. "Let me treat you to a meal, since you're letting me stay at your place."

She had finally thought of a topic, but she used her usual tactic of feigning retreat to advance.

Usually, this tone had a purpose.

Tao Jin was beginning to understand her a little, so she smiled and asked, "What about you?"

"I want to eat roast duck," Chen Piaopiao said softly, biting her lower lip.

"Okay," Tao Jin nodded.

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