That day, Jiang Wenshu ran into Lu Huan on the road and waved to greet her. “Huanhuan, what a coincidence to see you here.”
Lu Huan gave a faint “Mm” in response, her expression indifferent.
Jiang Wenshu felt a bit awkward and scratched her nose. “Are the students in your class still spreading rumors about you? I’ve already explained it to them. It would be too much if they keep talking.” She laughed nervously after speaking.
But Lu Huan remained expressionless. Jiang Wenshu forced a couple of dry laughs before indignantly adding, “Those people are just so bored, daring to spread baseless rumors.”
“Wasn’t it you who told Dong Sisi?” Lu Huan suddenly spoke up.
Jiang Wenshu’s expression froze.
Lu Huan continued, “So I’m not going to thank you for defending me in the group chat.” After all, if it weren’t for her loose lips, Dong Sisi wouldn’t have started the rumors, and there wouldn’t have been all that messy drama not to mention having to compensate Dong Sisi for medical expenses.
When Lu Huan arrived at the teaching building and entered the classroom, her classmates immediately fell silent. Seeing her, they felt awkward and guilty. The more vocal they had been in the group chat, the more they now avoided looking at her.
Lu Huan didn’t react much and simply walked over to Wei Jia and the others.
Wei Jia asked, “Why are you so late? Didn’t you leave home early?”
“I ran into someone I don’t like,” Lu Huan replied.
This was the first time Wei Jia had heard her mention disliking someone. After a moment’s thought, she guessed, “Did Dong Sisi come back to school?”
Lu Huan shook her head. “It was Jiang Wenshu.”
At the mention of Jiang Wenshu’s name, Wei Jia’s face twisted with disdain.
Just then, Jiang Wenshu walked in from outside. Her first glance was directed at Lu Huan, but the latter didn’t even look her way.
When it came time to fill out college applications, the original host had reluctantly chosen the same major as Jiang Wenshu after being pestered endlessly. Fortunately, it was only the first semester, so there was still time to change majors.
With only two classes in the afternoon and no evening self-study session, Lu Huan took advantage of her free time to approach a teacher about switching majors. To her surprise, when she knocked on the door, she found Dong Sisi inside, accompanied by a middle-aged couple her parents.
Dong Sisi hadn’t expected to run into her there either and glared at her with a dark expression.
Lu Huan turned to the woman behind the desk. “Teacher.”
The female teacher looked puzzled. “Lu Huan, what brings you here?”
“I’d like to talk to you about changing majors,” Lu Huan said, then glanced at Dong Sisi and her parents. “If you’re busy, I can wait.”
“Alright,” the teacher nodded, though she was clearly curious about Lu Huan’s request to change majors. But with Dong Sisi and her family waiting, she had to prioritize them first.
Lu Huan sat down on a single sofa to wait. During this time, she learned that Dong Sisi had brought her parents to apply for a leave of absence from school.
While the teacher was discussing matters with Dong Sisi’s parents, Dong Sisi walked over to Lu Huan. A shadow fell over Lu Huan, who had been looking at her phone, and she glanced up.
“You must be feeling pretty smug, huh?” Dong Sisi said.
Lu Huan didn’t understand what she meant and chose not to respond.
From across the room, the teacher and Dong Sisi’s parents glanced in their direction as they continued their conversation.
Dong Sisi continued, “All the outstanding people revolve around you, yet you look down on them from your high perch.”
Lu Huan spoke up, “Do you really know me?”
“What?” Dong Sisi was taken aback.
But Lu Huan went on, “You don’t know me, so what gives you the right to judge me so arbitrarily? You say outstanding people revolve around me. If I may be so bold, I consider myself among the outstanding. The kind of person you are attracts the kind of people you get, do you agree with that?”
Dong Sisi was momentarily speechless, not because the other was being unreasonable, but because she actually agreed with the statement.
“And besides, I’m not looking down on anyone from a high perch,” Lu Huan added. “I already said last time on Huangshan that I just want to focus on my studies. As for making friends, I believe in only befriending those who share the same ideals. Right now, we’re just students. Handing in a satisfactory answer sheet before graduation is the best response to all those years of hard work we’ve put in.”
Dong Sisi left, following her parents, her mind in a whirl, filled with everything Lu Huan had just said.
By the time Lu Huan stepped out of the office, the sun had already set.
When she reached the ground floor, her phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out, glanced at the screen, and answered happily, “Sis.”
“Are you done with class?” came a woman’s voice from the other end, with the background noise of a tattoo machine.
“Class ended a while ago. I just went to see a teacher,” Lu Huan said. “Sis, have you had dinner yet? Let me treat you to dinner.”
“Sure.”
By the time Lu Huan reached the school gate, Lou Qing had just pulled up in her car.
“Sis!” Lu Huan ran over.
“Slow down,” Lou Qing said, rolling down the window.
Lu Huan opened the passenger door and got in. She glanced at the woman, then mustered the courage to give her a quick hug before pulling away just as fast.
The sudden embrace caught Lou Qing off guard. After a moment, she crooked a finger at the girl, who was about to fasten her seatbelt.
Lu Huan hesitated, then leaned in. Lou Qing placed a hand on the back of her neck, drew her close, and kissed her lightly on the lips before letting go, smiling as she said, “One good turn deserves another.”
Lu Huan protested, “Then it should’ve been a hug.”
Lou Qing crooked her finger again.
Lu Huan leaned in and hugged her, asking, “Is that better now?”
She didn’t pull back, her eyes fixed on Lou Qing, tracing her gaze from her eyes to the bridge of her nose, then to her lips.
Lou Qing found herself holding her breath under the girl’s intense stare. When their lips met, their eyes locked, and for a moment, neither moved. Lips pressed together, their breaths intertwined.
It was the sound of a car horn from the roadside that snapped them out of it. They pulled apart, neither daring to look at the other.
Lu Huan’s face was flushed, while Lou Qing’s ears had turned red.
“What do you want to eat?” Lou Qing’s voice was hurried, her breathing slightly unsteady.
“Grilled fish,” Lu Huan whispered, clearly not faring much better.
It wasn’t until they reached their destination that the awkward atmosphere between them began to ease.
Having grown closer, the way they looked at each other now carried a certain tenderness. To an outsider, it would seem as if their gazes were intertwined.
“Earlier, you said you went to see a teacher was it about your accommodation?” Lou Qing asked.
Lu Huan nodded. “And about changing my major.”
“You’re in business, right?” Lou Qing recalled, having heard the girl mention it last time at the shop.
“Mhm,” Lu Huan said, “I talked to my teacher today about switching to the art major.”
It was only when the conversation reached this point that Lou Qing realized she didn’t know the girl well enough.
“How many years have you been studying art?” Lou Qing asked carefully.
At this, Lu Huan also realized she hadn’t shared much about herself. She set down her chopsticks and replied seriously, “My dad is a painter, and my mom is a pianist, so I was required to study from a young age. As for art, it’s been over ten years.”
Lou Qing hadn’t expected the girl to come from a family of artists. Thinking of her own background and a mother like hers, she felt a complex mix of emotions and didn’t know what to think.
Lu Huan, being perceptive, could easily sense the other’s discomfort. She smiled and said, “Although my parents’ professions are a bit different, our family is just an ordinary one. As for my choice of partner, my parents are very supportive.”
Lou Qing understood that the girl was trying to comfort her. Worried that continuing the conversation would make the atmosphere awkward, she quickly changed the subject. “Let’s eat quickly, or it’ll get overcooked.”
“Okay,” Lu Huan agreed, not pressing further.
She didn’t regret what she had just said. She genuinely wanted to be with her sister and didn’t want to hide anything.
After leaving the grilled fish restaurant, Lu Huan reached out and took the woman’s hand, only to realize that her hand was larger and covered with calluses. Interlacing their fingers, she looked toward the park across the street and suggested, “Sister, let’s go for a walk.”
“Alright.”
The weather had turned cold, and there were fewer pedestrians on the street. A few people were jogging on the park’s running track.
The two walked along the edge of the track.
Since the conversation during dinner, the woman had been unusually quiet. Lu Huan glanced at her several times before finally mustering the courage to stop her. Meeting the woman’s questioning gaze, she looked directly at her and asked, “Sister, will you abandon me?”
Lou Qing’s hand unconsciously tightened, squeezing Lu Huan’s hand painfully. But the latter was so focused on the woman that she didn’t even flinch, her eyes fixed on her, afraid to miss any change in her expression.
“No,” Lou Qing’s voice was slightly hoarse, as if suppressing something. She took a step forward and pulled the tearful girl into her arms, burying her face in the girl’s neck. After a long while, she said, “I just need some time to adjust.”
Lu Huan clutched the back of the woman’s clothes, holding her tightly as if she might disappear at any moment. “Sister, I like you.”
This was the girl’s second confession. Lou Qing also held her tightly, feeling that she was too fragile, always letting the girl take the initiative.
After a long time, her emotions settled. She stepped back and looked down at the girl seriously. “Huanhuan, do you have any regrets?” Do you regret being with me? She didn’t dare say the latter part aloud.
But Lu Huan had already understood her meaning. Shaking her head with a smile, she gazed intently at her and said, “Sister is wonderful.”
Lou Qing shook her head with a bitter smile, took the girl’s hand, and the two continued walking. As they walked, she said, “I haven’t told you this before, but I started working right after middle school. My dad passed away when I was in middle school, and my mom is addicted to gambling. She even gambled away our family home.”
Lu Huan held her hand tightly, silently comforting her.
Lou Qing didn’t dare look at the girl and continued self-deprecatingly, “I have to send her money every month. Sometimes when she’s dissatisfied, she demands extra, threatening to kill herself if I don’t give it to her.”
Lu Huan never imagined that her sister’s mother could be such a person.
“Did Auntie make you start working right after junior high graduation too?” Lu Huan asked.
“No.” At this, Lou Qing lowered her eyelids and let out a soft laugh. “I wanted to leave on my own.”
Back then, she was desperate to escape that fatherless home. Her mother gambled all day and would come back to beat her, unless she had earned money that day, only then could she avoid a beating.
Sensing her sister’s unhappiness, Lu Huan wrapped both arms around hers, resting her head on her shoulder, and said, “Don’t cry, Sister.”
Only then did Lou Qing turn her gaze, forcing a smile as she replied, “I’m not crying.”
Lu Huan reached out a finger, gently tapping her chest, and looked at her. “You’re crying here. I can hear it.”
Instantly, Lou Qing’s eyes welled up with warmth. To hide it from the girl, she tilted her head back slightly, blinked rapidly twice, then softly ruffled the girl’s hair and whispered, “Good girl.”