Back to Auntie’s School Days - Chapter 31

Tan Yanqing was not right.

It wasn’t just the fact that she hadn’t said goodnight; it was her overall state. Jian Hao froze for a moment, then, like a streak of fire, she dashed upstairs.

Standing before Tan Yanqing’s door, she caught her breath and knocked. “Are you going to sleep?”

“Just about to.”

Tan Yanqing’s voice was muffled—it was hard to tell if it was just the door between them or if she was in a bad mood.

Jian Hao let out an “Oh,” lowered her hand from the door, and started to turn back downstairs. But after a pause, she turned back and said to the door, “Then… can I sleep with you?”

Silence followed the question.

Without waiting for an answer, she turned the handle and walked in.

Tan Yanqing was sitting at her desk, her back to the door. Jian Hao addressed her silhouette: “Since you’re not talking, I’ll take that as a yes.”

Three.

Two.

One.

Jian Hao spoke again: “Wait for me a bit. I’m going to wash my feet and bring my blanket up.”

The sound of slippers “pitter-pattering” away echoed behind Tan Yanqing. A moment later, the same sound approached again. The whole trip took less than three minutes.

Tan Yanqing hadn’t moved from the desk the entire time.

Jian Hao tossed her blanket onto the bed and looked over. Tan Yanqing had listened to her leave and re-enter, yet hadn’t uttered a single word.

So cold.

Hmph.

Only a single desk lamp was lit in the room. In the dim, yellow glow, the helpless look in Jian Hao’s eyes softened into tenderness. She pulled a pack of “Sour Girl” candies from her pocket, walked slowly to Tan Yanqing’s side, and held one out in front of her. “Here, have some.”

Tan Yanqing glanced at it but didn’t move.

Jian Hao leaned down, propping her elbows on the desk. She pinched out a purple candy and held it to Tan Yanqing’s lips. “It’s sweet and sour, perfect for when you’re in a bad mood.”

Tan Yanqing’s eyes lifted slightly to meet hers.

Jian Hao smiled. “If I hadn’t already brushed my teeth, I’d definitely have a couple with you.”

Tan Yanqing lowered her gaze to the candy in Jian Hao’s fingers, then lifted her eyelids again. “Did you wash your hands after washing your feet?”

Jian Hao: “…”

She snapped upright, her eyes wide. “You’re actually judging me!” She thrust her hand forward, the candy directly touching Tan Yanqing’s lips. “Hehe, now it doesn’t matter if you eat it or not, it’s touched you.”

Tan Yanqing stared at her silently. One second, two seconds… just as Jian Hao felt a bit embarrassed and prepared to pull her hand away, Tan Yanqing opened her mouth and took the candy.

As she took it, her lips brushed gently against Jian Hao’s fingertips.

A jolt of electricity surged from her fingertip straight to her heart. Jian Hao’s hand paused in mid-air before she set the whole bag of candy down on the desk.

“My hands are clean.”

She hid her hands behind her back, rubbing the two fingers together as if she could still feel the warmth of Tan Yanqing’s lips.

“Just have a couple.”

She gave a dry cough and turned away. “I’ll make the bed. You… go wash up.”

Tan Yanqing watched her kneel on the bed, shaking out their blankets. Her gaze slowly moved to the candy on the desk. She picked it up, poured a few into her hand, and chose a purple one. The sourness flooded her mouth instantly—so sour that it brought a prickle of tears to her eyes. She wasn’t crying; they were just tears forced out by the tartness.

She stuffed the rest back into the bag, stood up, and went to the bathroom.

When she returned, Jian Hao was nowhere to be seen, but two blankets were neatly laid out on the bed. Tan Yanqing glanced at them, opened her wardrobe, and pulled out a set of pajamas. Standing by the bed, she began to pull off her hoodie and the T-shirt underneath.

“I washed your pajamas for you, they just finished drying.”

Tan Yanqing froze. Her hand reached for the pajamas on the bed more quickly, but it was too late to put them on. She turned her head and saw Jian Hao standing at the door holding the usual gray pajamas. Their eyes met, and then Jian Hao’s gaze fell on her chest.

Tan Yanqing turned around and pulled the pajama top on at high speed.

Jian Hao cleared her throat at the door, suppressing a smile as she walked in with the clothes. “I thought you only had that one set of pajamas.”

“I don’t.”

“Mhm.”

This seemed awkward for Tan Yanqing, but for Jian Hao, while it wasn’t a daily occurrence, she had “experience.” Not only had she seen Auntie Tan change many times, but they had even shared a showerhead at a public bathhouse once.

The difference was that back then, Auntie Tan didn’t think much of it and didn’t hide, while Jian Hao was the one blushing and not daring to look up. Now, Jian Hao had become “desensitized” and looked on without a change in expression, while Tan Yanqing was the one blushing and looking away.

This gave Jian Hao the feeling of being the one in control. Her playful side emerged. After a couple of breaths, once Tan Yanqing had mostly composed herself, Jian Hao said, “By the way, your chest is quite big, almost the same as mine.”

“…”

Jian Hao winked her right eye at Tan Yanqing. “Reciprocity is a virtue—want to see mine?”

“…?”

Seeing the visible shock on Tan Yanqing’s face, Jian Hao’s eyes curved with laughter.

“You took me seriously?” She chuckled. “I’m not a casual person.”

Those words sounded familiar. Tan Yanqing lowered her gaze, not looking at her. Jian Hao noticed that the back of Tan Yanqing’s neck had turned bright red.

She felt a surge of joy—finally getting a taste of your own medicine, huh? Hahaha.

Seeing Tan Yanqing pick up her pajama bottoms and a pair of underwear to head out, Jian Hao hopped onto the bed. “Just change here, I won’t look.”

With that, she lifted the blanket and dove in, leaving only a large, lumpy mound on the bed.

“I’m done.”

Hearing this, Jian Hao pulled back the blanket with both hands, her hair a bit messy from static. She let out a long exhale toward the ceiling. “I nearly suffocated in there.”

Tan Yanqing said, “I’m turning off the light.”

Jian Hao turned toward her. “Okay.”

Click. The room went dark.

The eyes didn’t adjust immediately to the sudden darkness. Jian Hao couldn’t see Tan Yanqing and was afraid she’d lose her way. She whispered, “Tan Yanqing, I’m over here.”

“Mhm.”

“Don’t trip over anything.”

“I won’t.”

Feeling Tan Yanqing sit on the bed and slowly lie down, hearing the buckwheat in the pillow rustle, Jian Hao felt relieved. She adjusted her own pillow and faced Tan Yanqing. “I can’t believe you actually let me sleep with you. I thought you’d say no.”

Tan Yanqing didn’t answer.

Jian Hao felt like she was pushing her luck. She was already in the bed, yet she kept bringing up things to make their hearts race. Well, she was doing it on purpose to satisfy her own little vanity.

As her eyes adjusted, she could see the faint silhouette of Tan Yanqing’s face. Tan Yanqing’s breathing was steady; she couldn’t tell if she was asleep.

Jian Hao cleared her throat and spoke: “While you were gone, I kept going to the hospital with Jian You to see Tiantian.”

Tan Yanqing wasn’t asleep. “Her name is Tiantian?”

Jian Hao gave an “Mhm.” “The aunties at the orphanage named her. They said ‘bitterness followed by sweetness’—she’s already had the bitterness, so her new life should be sweet. (Tiantian means ‘Sweet’).”

Tan Yanqing asked, “Is she doing okay?”

“She’s mostly recovered. The doctor says she can be discharged in a few days.” Jian Hao sighed. “It was just a normal lung infection, not contagious, and not that hard to treat. But… that family clearly just didn’t want her. Otherwise, no matter how hard it was, they wouldn’t just leave her at a station.”

“Did the police catch them?”

“They did.”

“Mhm.”

Jian Hao licked her lips, hesitated, then asked, “And you? Where did you go these past few days?”

Tan Yanqing waited a few seconds before replying: “Back to my grandmother’s house.”

Her tone was flat, revealing no emotion. Jian Hao wasn’t sure if Tan Yanqing’s “off” state was related to this. She followed up: “Where is her house?”

“Jiangcheng.”

She’d never been there. “Is it fun there?”

“I don’t know.”

“…Then what did you do there? You didn’t go out to play?”

“She passed away,” Tan Yanqing said. “I stayed at the funeral hall the whole time. I didn’t go anywhere.”

“…”

The space beside her went silent.

Tan Yanqing stared at the ceiling, her eyes blinking. She felt a pang of regret. Jian Hao was easily scared; talking about this late at night might frighten her. Her lips moved to say something, but then she felt something crawl into her blanket.

In the next second, her arm resting by her side was grabbed. The palm was hot, like sunlight. The hand moved along her arm until it interlocked with her own, gripping tightly.

Tan Yanqing pursed her lips. Her other hand, resting on the far side, clenched into a fist. Her nails dug into her palm until it hurt, then she let go. But Jian Hao didn’t let go of her.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Jian Hao said.

“Mhm.”

Tan Yanqing replied. Hearing no further sound from Jian Hao, she said, “You don’t have to think of ways to comfort me.”

“They didn’t approve of my mother’s work. Her relationship with them was very strained, so I haven’t been close to them since I was little. I’m not that sad.”

She worried she sounded too cold, but it was the truth. After her mother died, some distant relatives came to find her, asking her to live with them. But Tan Yanqing knew they didn’t care about her—they just wanted her mother’s company compensation and this house.

To make sure her mother could find her way home when she missed it, Tan Yanqing wouldn’t go anywhere. She stayed here, guarding this house. She had always been alone. So her grandmother’s death was simply one fewer person to contact.

“But you’re still unhappy,” Jian Hao said.

Tan Yanqing went silent. But soon, her eyelids jumped. “What are you doing?”

Under the blanket, Jian Hao’s other arm had somehow slipped in, wrapping around her waist. Then came her feet, then her legs, and finally, Jian Hao’s entire body crawled into her blanket.

Jian Hao hugged Tan Yanqing, holding her tight. “I’m telling you, you still have me to keep you company.”

Since Tan Yanqing said she wasn’t sad, Jian Hao didn’t know how to use words to comfort her. But she knew the truth wasn’t as cold as Tan Yanqing made it out to be. Otherwise, how could she have seen that Tan Yanqing was “off” at a single glance?

If she had no words, she would express it through actions. She hugged her even tighter.

Cough.

Tan Yanqing’s cough echoed in the dark. Jian Hao immediately asked, “Do you need water?”

—It’s because you’re hugging too tight.

If she said that out loud, Jian Hao would probably let go and retreat from her blanket. “No need.”

Tan Yanqing raised her right hand and gently patted the hand around her waist. “Is it comfortable, sleeping like this?”

Jian Hao’s head was pillowed by Tan Yanqing’s shoulder, her right eye socket resting against the joint. With her eyes closed, her nose nuzzled the area just below the shoulder. “You smell so good, and your stomach is soft. Hugging you is like hugging a plushie, but one that generates heat. It’s very comfortable.”

“I’m a person.”

Jian Hao laughed. “Who said you weren’t? And you’re a top student—don’t you know what a metaphor is?”

“I know.”

Jian Hao’s hair brushed against Tan Yanqing’s jaw—fuzzy and ticklish, like a kitten’s tail swishing back and forth. “What I mean is, a plushie will let you hug it however you want. But I’m a person. Do you think it’s appropriate to just hug me like this?”

“…” Jian Hao’s ears went hot. “I’ll just hug you for a bit, then I’ll go back to my side.”

She moved her head, her lips pressing against Tan Yanqing’s arm. Tan Yanqing was wearing short-sleeved pajamas tonight. Jian Hao’s nose nudged the sleeve up a bit. Her lips pressed against Tan Yanqing’s left arm, right where the small “flower” scar from a childhood vaccination remained.

Jian Hao kissed it gently, then again. She closed her eyes and murmured, “Don’t worry, I won’t do anything to you. I just missed you.”

Even holding you like this, I miss you so much. So much, so much…

“Why did you miss me?”

Jian Hao whispered: “Did you not miss me?”

“In what capacity should I miss you?”

Tan Yanqing’s cool voice pierced the silence of the night. Jian Hao’s heart skipped a beat.

“As a classmate or a friend, I did miss you.”

Tan Yanqing spoke slowly. In the darkness, every sense was heightened. Every word that reached Jian Hao’s ear was like a small spark of electricity, the crackle-crackle of the current stimulating her heart.

“I wondered if your homework was finished for the start of school the day after tomorrow, and if you’d be able to hand it in on time. I wondered who you were playing with this holiday, and what you were doing.”

“But as Tan Yanqing, I also missed you. I wondered what you meant by the words you said before you went home.”

“But I didn’t call the house, because I didn’t know what you were thinking.”

Jian Hao: “…” Her eyelashes fluttered, and her eyes drifted open. Looking at Tan Yanqing’s blurred jawline and breathing in her scent, her lips moved to say something.

But Tan Yanqing wasn’t finished.

Jian Hao saw Tan Yanqing’s lips moving, and at the same time, she heard her say: “Now, I think you can do something to me.”

Jian Hao’s eyes snapped wide.