Extra 6. Spring 2017
Jiang Xi was enrolled in a joint program between Yucheng Academy of Fine Arts and Dicheng Academy of Fine Arts, spending her first year studying in Yucheng.
Jiang Xi was excited, and also worried. The schoolwork was heavy, and she would not be able to take care of Jiang Tian’s daily commute. Xu Cheng told her not to worry. Back when she had been preparing for exams, he had already been the one picking Jiang Tian up and dropping him off, and he was used to it.
Only then did Jiang Xi feel at ease preparing to apply for a dorm. The moment Xu Cheng heard, he was unhappy. “You’ve got a home, why are you staying in a dorm?”
“The school’s in Langui District. It’s so far.”
“I’ll drive you.”
“But during rush hour, if there’s traffic, it’ll take an hour.” Jiang Xi felt bad for him. “You’re already busy and tired from work. Wasting two hours a day on commuting, there’s no need.”
“You’re only coming home once a week? Absolutely not.”
He said it with finality. Jiang Xi felt happiness bubbling up inside her, though she muttered, “I’m going to Dicheng in my second year. Then what are you going to do?”
Xu Cheng’s gaze turned dangerous. “I’ll figure something out. Hey, why do you look like you can bear to leave so easily?” He pinched her cheek. “Hah. So carefree. As expected of the eldest young lady.”
Jiang Xi: ???
In the end, she happily decided to live at home.
She said she didn’t need him to drive her, she could take the bus and subway, just two transfers. Xu Cheng rejected that outright.
But Xu Cheng still had her apply for a dorm anyway, so she would have somewhere to rest at noon if she needed.
Before Jiang Xi started school, Xu Cheng took her to buy everything she needed. Not just the mattress, quilt insert, and full bedding set, but even small items like pencil cases, notebooks, paper clips, nothing was missed. He added a pile of pretty pens, even bought new hair ties and headbands. Not just My Melody, but Kuromi, Kitty, Pochacco, all of them.
When Jiang Xi walked into campus carrying a backpack covered in plush charms, she felt like a primary schooler going to school for the first time.
A new life, new experiences, unfolded before her. All the unknowns seemed so beautiful.
The moment her dormmates saw her, they greeted her enthusiastically. “Are you Cheng Xijiang? Ahhh, I can’t believe we’re in the same dorm!”
“How are you so amazing, goddess!”
“And you’re way too pretty.”
Jiang Xi was not only ranked first in her major, but because her work during the exam had been so outstanding, it had been exceptionally published by the school’s official account.
Jiang Xi laughed brightly. “Mm. I’m Cheng Xijiang.”
“Which art prep institute did you study at? Who was your teacher?”
“I studied back in my hometown, many years ago.”
“Talent. To reach this level, her talent is incredible.”
Jiang Xi pressed her lips together, her eyes shining. “Actually, I worked really hard too.”
Though her dormmates were younger than her, once girls gathered together, they quickly became familiar with one another.
It was not until the parents came in to help settle things that Xu Cheng arrived as well. He gave a brief greeting to those present, then went to Jiang Xi’s single bed and started laying out the mattress and sheets.
For some reason, the room suddenly became very quiet. It was full of people, yet so silent a pin could be heard dropping.
Xu Cheng and Jiang Xi did not notice. The two of them worked together to put on the quilt cover. Halfway through, he grew playful and pulled the cover over her entire body, wrapping her up like a caterpillar. She got annoyed and lightly hit him.
The newly bought bedding set had been washed and sun-dried two days ago. It carried the scent of the laundry detergent from home.
She wriggled out from inside, her hair all messy.
Xu Cheng placed a My Melody plush by her pillow.
After making the bed, he went out to carry water so she could wipe down the desk, chair, and cabinet. As soon as he left, a roommate asked, “Xijiang, who is that?”
“A relative?”
Jiang Xi said, “My boyfriend.”
“He’s way too handsome.”
Jiang Xi smiled happily. “Thank you.”
“So nice. Finally, a beauty paired with a handsome guy.”
“Is he a student too? Graduate school?”
Jiang Xi’s tone carried pride. “He’s a police officer.”
“So cool! He’s actually a police officer.”
“He really looks like it, that kind of spirit and presence. How did you meet? How did you even come into contact with a police officer?”
“A long time ago. Back when I was in high school, he modeled for me, and that’s how we met.”
“A campus couple? Wow. You two look so close. After being together for so many years, can your relationship still be this good?”
They were still talking when the door opened, and the room instantly fell quiet again.
Xu Cheng and Jiang Xi finished wiping down her small desk, chair, and cabinet. She would only come here occasionally for a noon rest, and she did not have many belongings, so they finished tidying quickly and left.
There was no traffic on the way back. The car moved fast. Jiang Xi asked, “Xu Cheng?”
“Mm?”
“Tell me, ten years from now, will we still be this good?”
Xu Cheng found it amusing. “Haven’t we already been together for more than ten years?”
Jiang Xi laughed.
She said happily, “Ten years from now, I’ll still like you as much as I do now. No, I’ll like you even more than I do now.”
He curved his lips. “I know.”
He loved her very much, and was certain of her love for him.
But love was one thing, jealousy was another.
After Jiang Xi started school, she stopped coming home at noon.
Xu Cheng, who had grown used to going home every day at noon to eat with her, found it hard to adjust. For no reason at all, once noon came, he felt as though he had nowhere to go. Like a drifter.
So he went to find Jiang Tian to eat.
Before, when he had been picking Jiang Tian up and dropping him off every day, the time he spent with his would-be little brother-in-law had greatly increased. They talked about everything. Jiang Tian was very talkative, telling him about his octopus, his teachers and classmates, his flute.
Xu Cheng could always keep the conversation going, and he cared about what Jiang Tian had learned and how he was feeling. Of course, he would also ask about Jiang Xi.
Xu Cheng had always been curious about Jiang Xi’s past. Through Jiang Tian, he could come to know many details and facets of her earlier life from the side.
Although he had long known that she had lived a hard life, she always found joy in hardship, sometimes discouraged, but more often light. Still, he liked listening to Jiang Tian talk about those past moments.
For example, she had tied a small, pretty bell onto the rope she used to keep Jiang Tian close, thinking it looked nice.
For example, she had turned an old piece of clothing into a new dress, spinning in circles in the cabin in front of an old mirror…
He listened with great interest.
Of course, from time to time, Xu Cheng would still ask about Xiao Qian. He remained curious about how Xiao Qian had treated her.
Jiang Tian would always answer everything in detail, saying that Xiao Qian knew his sister liked pretty hair ties and headbands, and would bring them back for her when he went to the market; that his sister liked fish, so Xiao Qian would go early in the morning to find fishermen and buy the freshest catch…
That noon, as the two of them ate together, Xu Cheng peeled an orange and asked about Xiao Qian again.
Jiang Tian said, “Xiao Qian-gege knew jiejie liked oranges, so he planted an orange tree. But it hadn’t borne fruit yet, and we left for the boat. Three years later, jiejie carried Xiao Qian-gege’s box back. The tree had grown oranges. So many oranges. Jiejie cried.”
“Jiejie picked a lot, eating and crying, said they were very sweet.” Jiang Tian recalled, “I ate some too. Very sweet.”
Xu Cheng fell silent.
Jiang Tian said, “Xiao Qian-gege treated jiejie very well.”
He always ended with that sentence.
After a long while, Xu Cheng said, “He was a very, very good person. It’s a pity I never had the chance to know him. Of course, your sister is also very, very good. She deserves for everyone to treat her well.”
“Xu Cheng-gege, you also treat jiejie very, very well,” Jiang Tian said.
Xu Cheng did not speak. He was always afraid it was not enough.
“Jiejie only likes you,” Jiang Tian said. “Xu Cheng-gege, jiejie likes oranges because you like oranges.”
Xu Cheng froze. From that moment on, he stopped asking about these things.
The past was settled, yet new jealousy came cup after cup.
After Jiang Xi started school, Xu Cheng drove her every day. The two-hour round trip was perfect for talking.
Everything at school felt new to Jiang Xi. Whatever she encountered or felt each day, even the smallest thing, she wanted to share with him.
Xu Cheng loved listening all the more. He found every story she told, every thought she had, interesting. Sometimes she spoke with animated excitement, gesturing with her hands, and he found it endlessly delightful. They would always talk until they were reluctant to stop, and then they would arrive at their destination. Afterward, they continued chatting on WeChat. Only, he had work and she had painting, so it was never very convenient.
As Jiang Xi shared every detail of her days with him, Xu Cheng quickly grasped the entire network of her relationships at school. Teachers, classmates, roommates, club members, he knew them all clearly.
And as long as she mentioned a boy more than twice, Xu Cheng’s attention would shift toward him. Years of criminal investigation skills came into play. Circling around, probing indirectly, he would gather information from all sides. He would not stop until he had a full picture.
Jiang Xi was the kind of girlfriend who put him at ease. Of course, this did not mean that few people liked her.
On the contrary, from just fragments of her words, Xu Cheng could infer which boys around her had feelings for her. The methods he used to judge people at work were more than sufficient here. Her popularity was entirely within his expectations. In his eyes, Jiang Xi was close to perfect. In the past, she had been limited by her circumstances. Now that she had returned to campus, she naturally shone brightly. Whether in appearance, character, or talent, a girl as wonderful as her was bound to be admired by many.
His peace of mind came from Jiang Xi’s love for him, pure and without impurities, as simple as she herself was. It also came from how simple her university life was. Her purpose was clear. To study, to make friends, to paint, to paint more.
She had always been focused and simple. She could not pick up on any signals outside her line of sight.
Even when a male classmate was practically confessing, she did not think much of it, assuming he simply appreciated her paintings. By the second semester, Jiang Xi was already a well-known painter at the school.
And precisely because her mind was so undistracted, her progress in learning was astonishingly fast.
Xu Cheng understood all of this clearly. Every time he realized that her antenna had once again failed to receive certain signals from the outside world, he could not help but laugh, could not help but pull her into his arms and kiss her fiercely, throwing himself onto the bed with her and rolling around.
He often felt lucky too, that her antenna could only receive his signal. They were each other’s only one.
However, in the spring, Xu Cheng noticed that Jiang Xi kept mentioning a boy named Gu Xin. This person had far too many points of contact with her.
For group assignments, he had been left without a partner and came over to ask to join her.
When her turpentine went missing, he helped her find it.
He also asked her for advice on painting techniques…
Xu Cheng remained outwardly calm. Only before she left each day, he would casually have Jiang Xi wear their matching couple shirts, or put on their matching bracelet or necklace.
Sometimes, he would leave a strawberry mark on her neck. Of course, the strawberry was not intentional, it was simply that the two of them had gotten carried away the night before and could not help themselves.
But this person’s presence remained strong. Before long, Jiang Xi mentioned that the teacher had assigned them to draw classmates.
That class, Gu Xin happened to be sitting next to Jiang Xi, and he took the initiative to suggest they pair up and draw each other. Jiang Xi, simple-minded as ever, just said okay.
But Gu Xin went on, “Still, if you draw other men, your boyfriend won’t get mad, right?”
When Xu Cheng heard this, his brow lifted slightly, his fingers tapping once against the steering wheel. “What do you think?”
Jiang Xi answered bluntly, “No, he won’t. He really respects my profession. Uh, why would you think that? If you’re worried, I can just pair up with xx.”
Xu Cheng smiled without a sound.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Jiang Xi sipped her milk tea and said, “He’s so strange. I don’t get what’s going on in his head.”
Xu Cheng’s smile widened. While waiting at a red light, he suddenly leaned over, cupped the back of her neck in one hand, pulled her closer, and kissed her firmly on the lips. “Jiang Baobao, how are you this cute!”
Jiang Xi blinked, a little dazed. “Huh?”
“You taste like milk tea right now.”
She immediately broke into a grin and held the cup out to him, delighted. “Take a sip. Mine has mochi in it. It’s super good.”
Xu Cheng stopped paying any attention to that person.
Not long after, Jiang Xi’s school held its spring sports meet. It fell on a Saturday. Xu Cheng went with her to campus, and they watched the competitions together.
Jiang Xi was very happy. For a brief moment, she had the illusion that the two of them were attending university together, as if some kind of absence had been momentarily made up for.
She was excited, linking her arm through his the entire time, bouncing along in bursts of cheer more than once. It made Xu Cheng a little nervous, afraid her foot might start hurting.
That day, Xu Cheng had made a careful effort with his appearance. A pilot jacket, camouflage pants, tall with long legs, upright and handsome, as eye-catching as one could be. The matching couple shoes had to be worn, the couple necklace had to be put on. He was practically radiant, dazzling enough to make others feel inferior.
That night, they happened to have dinner plans with Du Yukang and Yang Su. The two of them laughed like crazy, calling him a secretly showy peacock.
Xu Cheng didn’t care. He truly couldn’t be bothered.
Anyway, after he had strolled around flaunting his girlfriend in his arms, all those strange signals being sent his way disappeared.
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