As the city lights began to glow, Cen Jin returned to the office with that carton of milk.
A designer was sitting at her workstation sharing a bowl of grilled cold noodles with Lù Qíqí. Seeing her approach, the designer immediately vacated the spot, leaving behind only a lingering aroma.
Cen Jin set down her bag, settled back into her chair, and placed the milk on the desk.
Her workstation was tidy, featuring only an all-black desktop computer and a white bookshelf for documents. Aside from these, there were only eye drops and a tissue box.
She pulled out a tissue and dabbed her nose, which had been dampened by the wind, before picking up the carton of coffee milk again.
Just as she was about to peel off the straw, she paused, propped the milk back up, took out her phone, adjusted the angle, focused, and snapped a photo.
Only then did she lock her phone, pierce the foil opening, and begin to savor it.
Lù Qíqí, sneaking glances at her series of actions, felt her curiosity piqued. "You really have a strong sense of ceremony," she remarked.
"What kind of milk is this? Is it that good?" Her stomach began to growl with craving.
Cen Jin took another sip. The coffee flavor was faint, and it was overly sweet. She looked at Lù Qíqí and told the truth: "It doesn't taste great."
Lù Qíqí blinked, confused. "Then what's with all the fanfare?"
Cen Jin didn't answer, only giving her a smug look that spoke volumes without words. She set the milk aside, curled her lips, and turned her gaze to the monitor.
After typing a couple of words, she suddenly remembered that Li Wu's dinner issue hadn't been resolved. She opened an app and ordered a Japanese set meal to be delivered to her home address.
After payment, she took a screenshot and sent it to Li Wu: I ordered dinner for you. Remember to eat.
The boy replied quickly: Okay.
He then asked: Have you eaten yet?
Cen Jin replied from her computer: Not yet, but I've had a drink.
He didn't reply instantly this time. After a short while, a new message appeared: Is it good?
Cen Jin raised an eyebrow slightly and asked: Haven't you tried it?
Li Wu: No.
Cen Jin: It's not bad.
He was as sparing with words as ever: Mm.
Not wanting to disturb his studies, Cen Jin said no more. She closed the dialog box, looked back at the densely texted screen, and began revising the content according to the annotations in the document.
...
After finishing the revisions and edits, Cen Jin sent the new version to Lì Fēi, only then remembering to check the time. The numbers in the lower right corner of the monitor showed it was already nine o'clock.
She placed a hand on the back of her neck, massaging the stiff and sore area as she checked on Lù Qíqí's work progress.
Unexpectedly, the girl was already slumped over her desk, dozing. Her arms hung limply under the desk, her cheek flesh squished into a lump against the surface, her mouth slightly agape, and her eyelashes utterly still—clearly, she was fast asleep.
This girl had only graduated two years ago and still retained a careless, youthful innocence and spirit.
Cen Jin watched her for a moment, suddenly feeling a twinge of envy. Nowadays, she would never allow herself to sleep in such an undignified manner in public.
But...
She withdrew her gaze, grabbed the now-cooled milk by the keyboard, and drained it in one go as if to distract herself.
Thanks to Li Wu, she could still catch a whiff of that campus youthfulness.
—
It was nearly ten o'clock when Cen Jin finally returned home.
As soon as she stepped inside, she froze. The entryway light, unusually, was on, casting a soft, gossamer-like veil.
Her heart warmed a degree. She leaned over to change her shoes, then walked further in, glancing around.
Something caught her attention in her line of sight.
It was a bag of unopened takeout, placed right in the center of the coffee table, still tied in a tight knot—clearly untouched.
Cen Jin frowned and called out, "Li Wu."
The study door was tightly shut; there was no way anyone inside could hear her.Cen Jin had no choice but to walk down the long corridor to knock on the door. The moment her knuckles tapped once against the door panel, hurried footsteps sounded from inside, as if afraid of being too slow.
Cen Jin listened carefully, the corners of her lips quietly curving upward.
She steadied her expression the moment the barrier disappeared, calmly meeting the gaze of the boy inside.
Li Wu stood there, his pupils naturally carrying a dawn-like brightness: "You're back?"
"Mm," Cen Jin tilted her head slightly backward, "Why didn't you eat dinner?"
"Forgot," he replied without hesitation, "Got too caught up doing homework."
Cen Jin pressed her lips into a polite smile, her words carrying hidden meaning: "How come you didn't forget to pick it up then."
Li Wu fell silent instantly.
Cen Jin knew exactly what he was up to: "I already ate at the company."
Li Wu: "Mm."
"Go eat," Cen Jin sighed softly, "You must be starving."
"Not hungry."
"Then you're past hungry," she turned toward the bedroom, leaving instructions behind: "Heat it up before eating."
After removing her makeup and changing into loungewear, she came out to find Li Wu already eating in the kitchen.
Cen Jin sat back on the sofa, and he glanced over from afar. Cen Jin made a shoveling motion with her hand to signal him to continue, and the boy immediately lowered his head to focus on his meal.
Cen Jin didn't look away. Whether due to the lighting or not, his skin seemed fairer, his hair had grown longer, with dark fringe falling down, covering a small part of his forehead.
He already looked like a city kid.
It seemed he was adapting well. Feeling somewhat reassured, Cen Jin withdrew her gaze and began scrolling through Weibo.
In the profound silence, only the sound of Li Wu eating remained in the room, neither hurried nor slow.
The sound made Cen Jin drowsy. She lazily sank back into the cushions, inexplicably enjoying the peace of this moment.
After a while, hearing the rustling of him organizing plastic bags, Cen Jin turned to see Li Wu already standing, methodically cleaning up the takeout containers.
He'd probably grown taller again—the somewhat narrow kitchen made him appear particularly lanky.
Cen Jin couldn't remember the measurements from when they ordered his school uniform, so she asked: "Li Wu, how tall were you measured last time?" The boy lifted his eyelids, his slender fingers deftly tying the plastic bag handles into a neat knot without looking: "One meter eighty-four."
"Oh..." Cen Jin became thoughtful.
Li Wu half-squatted to clean the trash can, and the dining area light suddenly seemed brighter.
Watching him carry the gray bag outside and gently close the door behind him, Cen Jin finally spoke: "I'll buy you a few more pieces of clothing."
After all, the kid had just given her a box of hot milk that provided great comfort.
Li Wu paused in surprise, stopping by the shoe cabinet: "You've already bought several, and I wear the school uniform at school anyway."
"Aren't you cold? You'll need down jackets and winter coats for outside soon." Cen Jin remembered how she'd been shivering just wearing her coat to get the car.
He walked back: "It's fine."
Cen Jin gestured for him to sit on the chair while she shook out the blanket and sat cross-legged: "Is it as cold here as in the mountains?"
Li Wu said: "Different."
Cen Jin became somewhat interested: "Which is colder?"
Li Wu didn't specify which was colder, only replying: "Yishi is a bit warmer."
Cen Jin smiled, rather pleased with herself, and was about to respond when she heard the boy explain seriously: "There's urban heat island effect here. The mountains have higher altitude and more vegetation, so the temperature is lower."
Cen Jin's expression froze, swallowing back her self-praise, only uttering coolly, "Oh."
"Mm." Li Wu noticed her suddenly dampened mood. Though he didn't know the reason, he didn't speak further."Finished your homework?" Cen Jin intended to end the conversation with this question.
Unexpectedly, he replied, "Yes."
Cen Jin asked, "Then what were you doing in the study just now?"
Li Wu said, "Memorizing history and politics."
Cen Jin swiped her phone screen and suddenly remembered, "Are you about to take the academic proficiency exam?"
Li Wu nodded.
Cen Jin said, "Next month?"
Li Wu nodded again.
"It shouldn't be too difficult for you," Cen Jin thought for a moment, then looked up, "Your learning ability is so strong."
Suddenly praised, Li Wu uncomfortably touched the back of his neck, "Not everything comes easily."
"Hmm?" Cen Jin flipped her phone over, no longer looking at it, "Which subject is giving you trouble?"
Li Wu said, "English."
Cen Jin frowned slightly, "But that's not part of the academic proficiency exam."
"It's just..." the boy reverted to his stammering state, "My English isn't good."
He slightly clenched his hand and asked, "Are you good at English?"
Cen Jin casually touched behind her ear and said lightly, "I studied in England for two years."
Li Wu was stunned.
Suddenly struck by a desire to show off, Cen Jin gazed at Li Wu for a moment before casually reciting a moderately long English passage.
Exquisitely standard British English flowed from her pale red lips - casual yet elegant, coherent and fluent, like a musical score, like poetry recitation.
Completely different from the rote memorization they used to cope with studies in class or during morning readings. Li Wu was completely dumbfounded.
"Can you understand?" Cen Jin asked with a smile.
Li Wu snapped back to reality, "Could you say it again?"
Cen Jin readily agreed, repeating the same passage at a slower pace.
Li Wu mostly understood, though not entirely certain, "Is this about 'The Ugly Duckling'? Andersen's fairy tale?"
Cen Jin laughed, "Yes, this is my favorite story."
She didn't dwell on this topic, instead turning her attention to his study problems, "If needed, I can hire a professional English tutor for you."
"No need," Li Wu felt instantly discouraged and disappointed, almost reflexively refusing before softening his tone, "Don't spend the money, I'll work hard on my own."
Cen Jin made an acknowledging sound and stopped speaking, returning to her phone.
The living room fell into silence.
That seemingly legitimate little scheme having failed, Li Wu, afraid Cen Jin might become suspicious, sat uncomfortably for a while before saying, "Teacher Zhang changed my seat. I'm now sitting with the English class representative."
Cen Jin glanced at him, "Which row are you in now?"
"Fourth row."
Cen Jin teased, "Then the people behind you must be suffering."
Li Wu was puzzled, "Why?"
Cen Jin suddenly straightened her back, crossed her arms, putting on an exaggerated serious expression.
The woman had a unique and rare kind of spirit. Li Wu understood and lowered his eyes with a slight smile.
They fell silent again. Cen Jin returned to looking at her phone, casually tucking stray hair behind her ear.
Li Wu watched her for a moment before standing up, "I'm going to study."
"Okay." Cen Jin glanced at him and nodded.
―
At noon on Monday, Li Wu didn't rest.
He went to the school library. Yi High School's library was open all day and quite spacious, but its utilization rate was inversely proportional to its size. Unless classes specifically organized visits, very few students came voluntarily to borrow books. Especially during this time period, looking around, there were hardly any people - just mountains of books and dust motes dancing in the sunlight.
The white-haired elderly librarian sat at the front desk, somewhat surprised to see a student approach.
"Which grade?" He reached out for the student ID card.Li Wu handed over his campus card from his pocket: "Second year of high school."
The old man swiped it and tilted his head to signal him inside.
Having no extra time to search slowly, Li Wu simply asked directly: "Sir, I’d like to ask if there’s an English-only reading section here. I’m looking for a book."
The old man glanced at him in surprise and turned to the computer: "Which one?"
"‘Andersen’s Fairy Tales.’"
The old man chuckled, clicked the mouse several times, and found the result he wanted: "Yes, on shelf B5."
Li Wu thanked him and walked in.
With a good sense of direction, Li Wu stood still for a moment analyzing the arrangement of the shelf numbers, then quickly found the target location.
There were two identical copies of "The Complete Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen" on the shelf. He reached out and pulled one out, finding "The Ugly Duckling" from the table of contents.
The boy’s finger slid to the page number, and he swiftly flipped to the corresponding page. The airflow from the turning pages ruffled his hair.
The story was accompanied by illustrations.
Soon, he found the passage Cen Jin had mentioned.
...
After leaving the library, Li Wu was momentarily blinded by the glaring white sunlight. Squinting, he took a moment to adjust before smiling and running down the steps.
On the walkway, the boy’s shadow stretched long, blending with the shade of the camphor leaves, making it hard to distinguish where the person ended and the branches began.
Back in the dormitory, a package had inexplicably appeared on his desk. Just as he was about to ask, Lin Honglang, who was sitting there flipping through a comic, looked over: "I saw it when I went to pick up my package from the guard, so I brought it along for you."
Li Wu thanked him and checked the shipping label. The next moment, his heart skipped a beat—it was from Cen Jin’s address.
Li Wu quickly opened the package. The box bore the Sony logo and contained a small, all-black MP3 player, along with the instruction manual, earphones, and a charger, but nothing else.
He sat down and adjusted the device according to the instructions.
The playlist had been preloaded with several English literary works, the first of which was "The Ugly Duckling."
Li Wu was momentarily stunned. He put on the earphones and pressed play. Immediately, a male voice began reciting with professional and fluent pronunciation.
He heard the sentence he had just confirmed in the library:
"To be born in a duck’s nest, in a farmyard, is of no consequence to a bird, if it is hatched from a swan’s egg."
Li Wu smiled.
She was encouraging him, he was sure of it.
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