Back to Auntie’s School Days - Chapter 22.1

A short while later, Jian You and Zhu Xinsui came down from the balcony.

Jian Hao, still lying on the coffee table, stole a glance at them and immediately sensed the heavy, low-pressure atmosphere surrounding Jian You. She pursed her lips and didn’t ask anything; instead, after Jian You and Zhu Xinsui sat down, she said to Jian You, “Let’s head back, it’s already dark.”

“…Mhm.”

Jian You began packing her schoolbag.

Jian Hao followed suit but turned to ask Zhu Xinsui, “Xinsui, do you want to come with us?”

Zhu Xinsui kept her head down. Hearing the question, she stole a glance at Jian You. Seeing that Jian You wasn’t looking at her, she then looked at Jian Hao. “I’m staying at Yanyan’s tonight.”

She likely had things to say to Tan Yanqing. Jian Hao nodded. “Okay, see you tomorrow then~”

Zhu Xinsui didn’t reply.

Jian Hao then looked at Tan Yanqing. “We’re leaving.”

Tan Yanqing gave a quiet “Mhm.” At that moment, as Jian Hao finished packing her bag and stood up, she suddenly leaned in close to her.

Tan Yanqing instinctively tried to dodge, but as Jian Hao approached, her body stiffened belatedly. She remained motionless, listening to Jian Hao whisper in her ear:

“I’ll coax Jian You, you coax Xinsui.”

Having said her piece, Jian Hao stood up and left, leaving Tan Yanqing sitting there in a daze as the tips of her ears slowly began to burn.

Only after the door clicked shut did Tan Yanqing finally snap out of it. Remembering Jian Hao’s request—and having learned earlier that morning that Zhu Xinsui was going abroad—Tan Yanqing looked at her friend and managed to squeeze out a word of comfort: “Since it’s happening, you just have to let nature take its course.”

“…”

Pushing the bike out of Tan Yanqing’s small courtyard and onto the road, Jian You didn’t say a single word.

Jian Hao automatically took over the task of riding. As she pedaled with Jian You on the back, she asked naturally, “Should we go find Auntie, or head to the market for groceries first?”

“Whatever’s fine,” Jian You replied, her head resting on Jian Hao’s back, her voice very low.

Great, Jian Hao thought to herself. Jian You was usually the one with all the ideas and loved making decisions. Giving up the choice now only proved she was completely lost.

Jian Hao didn’t ask further. She biked to the market, bought two potatoes and some peppers, and went home. By the time she had finished stir-frying the potato shreds, Jian Sihong had returned.

“Where’s Youyou?”

“In her room.”

“Why are you cooking? Don’t do that anymore; it makes me feel quite bad.”

“I’m living in your house; I have to do something, otherwise I’m the one who feels bad.” Jian Hao put the heated buns and vegetables on the table. “Auntie, go ahead and eat. I’m going downstairs to buy something.”

“Aren’t you two eating?”

“We had burgers at Tan Yanqing’s; we’re not hungry.”

“Burgers again?”

“Tan Yanqing lost a bet to Jian You and bought them.”

Jian Sihong smiled, then suddenly grabbed Jian Hao’s hand, pulled her close, and asked in a low voice, “Lailai, do you know which girl Youyou likes?”

Jian Hao blinked in surprise. “Youyou-jie has someone she likes?”

“You didn’t know?” Jian Sihong stared at her.

Jian Hao shook her head. “No idea. Youyou-jie and I haven’t discussed that.”

Looking at Jian Hao’s wide, honest eyes, Jian Sihong figured the child wasn’t lying. She asked if Jian Hao was still going to eat and if there was any news from the police station before letting her go.

Jian Hao breathed a sigh of relief as she turned away. She never thought she’d see the day where she’d have to cover for her own mother.

She went downstairs and walked two streets over to an old pastry shop to buy some of the treats Jian You liked. Jian You loved the pastries from this shop, especially when she was upset.

By the time she returned, Jian Sihong had gone downstairs to play mahjong and wasn’t home.

Jian Hao walked to Jian You’s door, knocked twice, and after five seconds, pushed it open. The lights were off. Aside from a faint glow from the window, the room was pitch black. As Jian Hao opened the door, light from the living room spilled in, illuminating the space slightly.

The light on the floor was the shape of the doorway, and the top hit the bed, allowing Jian Hao to see the figure lying on its side. As Jian Hao closed the door, that figure was draped in a thin layer of moonlight.

She knew Jian You wasn’t asleep. But she didn’t turn on the light. She simply carried the pastry bag to the bedside. “I bought pastries; they’re on your cabinet.”

Following the rustle of the plastic bag being set down, Jian Hao looked at Jian You and prepared to leave. But before she did, she asked softly, “Do you need me to stay with you for a bit?”

The person on the bed didn’t answer but scooted over toward the wall.

Jian Hao climbed in.

She lay flat on her back, hands on her stomach. Her gaze naturally fell on the window; outside the lattice frame, there was no moon, only a deep blue-black. The room was quiet enough to hear the TV next door and the voices of people downstairs.

After three minutes, Jian You’s voice broke the darkness: “She’s going abroad.”

Jian Hao pretended not to know. “Why so sudden?”

“Her parents’ work was transferred overseas. They don’t want her here alone, so they’re taking her with them.”

“When is she leaving?”

“Early October. Only half a month left.”

Jian You’s voice sounded like shattered glass—the shards falling all over the floor, clattering, but drawing no blood.

“It’s okay; Xinsui will come back,” Jian Hao comforted her softly. Even though she knew it would be many, many years before Zhu Xinsui returned, at this moment, she had nothing else she could say.

And those words were exactly what Jian You had spent the whole night thinking about after accepting the news.

“Do you think… I should confess to her once before she leaves?” Jian You asked.

“What do you think?”

“I don’t know what to think. My head is full of her leaving, of not seeing her—or maybe never seeing her again.” Jian You stared at the black wall in front of her, as if staring at her own path of love. “If I say it, I’m afraid we won’t even be friends.”

“…What if she likes you too?”

“Then after I say it, she’ll definitely be even more reluctant to leave. She’ll be unhappy once she’s there, right? Even if we were together, how long could a long-distance relationship last? On days where we can’t see each other, love might be deep, but suspicion and fear grow alongside it. If you don’t see each other for a long time, eventually even the memory of their face becomes blurry.”

As she said this, Jian You turned over to look at Jian Hao. Every question Jian Hao asked was something she had played over and over in her head. Jian Hao was helping her organize her thoughts. She hadn’t found an answer, but at least she had said it out loud.

Jian Hao also turned on her side, propped on her arm, looking at Jian You in the dim light. “You sound like you’ve experienced this before.”

“That’s how it plays out on TV,” Jian You said. “But actually, during past winter and summer breaks when we couldn’t see each other, I already felt this way.”

“Have you liked her for a long time?”

“Mhm. Since tenth grade. Back then I thought, how can someone be so dorky? And then, ha… she turns out to be the top of the grade.” Jian You gave a dry laugh, which slowly faded. “…If it were you, would you confess?”

“I don’t know.”

In the darkness, Jian Hao’s eyelashes fluttered. Accompanied by the TV next door and a puppy barking downstairs, she spoke slowly: “Sometimes a confession is just a moment of courage. A rush of blood to the head. When it hits you, you just stop caring about the consequences.”

Just like her own confession to “Auntie Tan.”

In truth, confessing to Tan Yanqing hadn’t been planned. She had only planned how to spend her birthday. She wanted to leave herself one beautiful day before reaching adulthood. But the fireworks had exploded in the sky, and those falling sparks acted like a catalyst for happiness, ripening the thought she’d suppressed for years: Should I tell Auntie Tan I like her?

When the biggest, most beautiful firework went up, her confession had simply tumbled out. For a moment, amidst the nerves, she had prayed Tan Yanqing hadn’t heard. She was afraid—afraid of failure, afraid of a rift forming between them, afraid the woman would avoid her.

In the end, Fate played a joke and sent her back to 2008.

Jian You: “You sound like you have quite a bit of experience yourself.”

Jian Hao: “I also learned it from TV dramas.”

Jian You laughed: “So what do we call this?”

Jian Hao: “100% theoretical experience, but 0% combat record.”

Jian You laughed again. “You always come up with these novel terms. Is a ‘fresh brain’ after amnesia really this useful?”

Jian Hao let out a hiss. “Why do I feel like you’re insulting me?”

Jian You hummed a laugh, though it sounded bitter.

Afterward, the two talked about other things, turned on the light, ate the pastries, and went to brush their teeth and wash their feet together—as if the unhappiness of the evening had never existed.

However, because Zhu Xinsui had to prepare for studying abroad, once school started and the teacher announced she wouldn’t be returning to class, Jian You’s feigned composure vanished. She began sleeping through every class, and after school, she let Jian Hao go home alone while she biked off to God-knows-where.

The sports meet had passed, and the school added an extra self-study period for seniors, so they only had tutoring sessions during their days off. Originally a group of four, it was now just Jian Hao following Tan Yanqing to study.

From Nanqing No. 1 High to Tan Yanqing’s house, you could take the No. 9 bus. Jian Hao had taken it a few times in her two years of high school, but this was the first time she had taken the bus home with Tan Yanqing.

Many people were boarding, but fortunately, Jian Hao stood at the front and squeezed on. Seeing two empty seats in the back row, she pulled Tan Yanqing over to sit down. They weren’t side-by-side, but one in front of the other by the window. Jian Hao proactively took the back seat. After sitting, she watched the crowd still entering at the front, then her gaze settled on Tan Yanqing’s back.

As the bus slowly started moving and the scenery outside began to shift, a strange feeling suddenly welled up in Jian Hao’s heart. She had seen Tan Yanqing in many ways: in a police uniform, in casual clothes, in dresses, with her hair loose, tied up randomly, or in a low ponytail… but seeing her in a school uniform with a high ponytail was something she only got to see after traveling here.

The bus was noisy with chatter, but Jian Hao’s ears only held one thought: It would be wonderful if time could stop at this moment.

She leaned forward, hands resting on the armrests of Tan Yanqing’s chair, and called softly: “Tan Yanqing.”

“Mhm.”

Tan Yanqing had been silent since leaving school. Jian Hao asked, “What are you thinking about?”

“Your new study plan.”

Jian Hao: “…”

Right, time should stop exactly now, before the plan is finished.

Emboldened, she reached her hands forward, brushing past Tan Yanqing’s hair, and let them hang by Tan Yanqing’s cheeks, forming a heart with both hands.

“You’re working so hard, but instead of the study plan, should we think about what to eat later? I’m so hungry.”

“We’ll go to the market and see what you want.”

Jian Hao made an ‘OK’ sign with her right hand. She loved the wet market, especially during after-work hours; it was full of the “smoke and fire” of daily life. Even better, going with Tan Yanqing made it feel like they were a couple living their lives together.