Those Sweet Times
Chapter 57 Part 1
Lin Chuyan finished playing the first song and was about to say something when Xiang Nuan hastily bid him goodnight and quickly turned off the video chat before Lin Chuyan could react.
Leaving Lin Chuyan rather dejected.
What he didn"t see, after the video cut off, was Xiang Nuan burying her head under the blanket and screeching: “Wu, wu, wu. It"s an illusion, an illusion, an illusion……”
After a while, Xiang Nuan came out from under the blanket and rubbed her slightly burning face.
She threw away her cell phone, put on some clothes, and got off her bed to head out. She felt the need to get some fresh air.
As she was going downstairs, Xiang Nuan cautioned herself: “No, no, no. I can"t be captivated by good looks. I can"t repeat my mom"s mistake.”
Ren Danyan was walking upstairs and heard Xiang Nuan murmuring on the staircase.
“Wait a minute.” Ren Danyan said: “Say that again. What do you mean my mistake? When did I make any mistakes?”
Xiang Nuan opened her mouth but nothing came out. She hadn"t recovered from her earlier shock.
Ren Danyan saw her daughter s.p.a.cing out and asked: “What are you doing?”
“I"m going out for a walk.”
“Go back and put on something heavier! Do you plan to freeze into an icicle before coming back in?”
Xiang Nuan had no choice but to go back up and put on her coat. She then opened her closet, figuring that she might as well grab a scarf.
She saw a dark gray checkered scarf with white lines, it was a man" scarf.
The scarf belonged to Lin Chuyan. He had left it in her house last time he was here. Xiang Nuan was planning to return it to him after she returned to school.
Xiang Nuan blinked, took it, and wrapped it around her neck.
The scarf was soft, yet thick, and seemed to have the remnant of his scent.
Xiang Nuan immediately felt embarra.s.sed at what she had done. She took the scarf off with a red face and put it back into the closet. She took out another beige colored scarf with small deer prints on it and after putting it on, ran down the stairs.
It was very cold outside.
Xiang Nuan squatted down inside the large vat used to grow lotus flowers in the summer but now empty in the winter. She watched the lights near and far in the dark night. Occasionally a car would pa.s.s by, the headlights illuminating her face between the gaps in the fence.
The night breeze blew against her face. The cool sensation calmed her.
Xiang Nuan leaned against the rim of the vat, pouting while in a daze.
Xiang Daying opened the window to look down into the yard and saw his daughter huddling inside the vat. Confused, he shouted: “Nuannuan, what are you doing there?”
“I"m looking at the moon.”
“Silly kid, there"s no moon on the first day of the New Year.”
Xiang Nuan then discovered that the sky was pitch black. There was no moon.
She sheepishly climbed out of the vat and returned to her room as if nothing had happened.
Xiang Daying closed the window and turned to ask his wife: “What happened to her?”
“Not sure. She hasn"t been acting normal ever since she came back for the winter break.” Ren Danyan couldn"t stop herself from complaining: “She won"t go out. She just shouts kill, kill, kill all day into her cell phone. I even dreamt that she killed someone and went to jail. I was so scared.”
Xiang Daying wasn"t as concerned about that, but comforted his wife: “I think our Nuannuan knows what she"s doing. She"s still young and likes to have fun…..And her grades last semester are still pretty good.”
“Among the 30 plus students in her cla.s.s, she"s 20th place. How good can that be?”
“It"s college. It"s good enough that she hasn"t failed any cla.s.ses.”
Ren Danyan was speechless: “You…...Is that what a professor should be saying? You"re spoiling her.”
“I don"t expect her to achieve anything spectacular anyway. As long as she"s happy, then I"m satisfied.”