WSL Chapter 4

Early the next day, Gu Jianian woke up in the sunlight-filled room.

She sat up in bed, wrapped herself in the covers, and listened to the chattering of birds outside for a while. She felt in high spirits.

After changing out of her pyjamas, making the bed, folding the covers, and tying back the mosquito net onto the metal hooks on both sides of the wooden bed were things she rarely had time to do.

Gu Jianian smoothed the wrinkles on her pillow and felt as though she had only been here for a short three days, yet everything from the past seemed like something from a previous lifetime.

It was as if she had travelled to a parallel world—another version of her in that world was being awakened by the alarm clock, mechanically brushing her teeth and combing her hair. She would then grab the breakfast her mother bought and rush to catch the bus. Occasionally, the bus would be late, and she’d have to stand at the classroom door as punishment for being tardy.

The phone on the table vibrated, its screen lighting up with several new messages.

Her heart tightened slightly, and she took a slow deep breath before opening them.

It wasn’t her parents, nor was it her teachers.

It was just a classmate in the class group who had posted photos of a trip with his girlfriend, sparking a flurry of comments.

Gu Jianian put her phone down with a sense of relief, opened the window, and took a breath of the fresh mountain air.

Outside the window was the river, and beyond the river were the bamboo-covered hills that surrounded the area. The bamboo swayed in the wind, as if waving a greeting to her.

She waved back and softly said, “Good morning.”

Yunmo was a mountain village, located in the hilly region of the southern province. It was surrounded by mountains on all sides. Due to its location, it was probably a secluded village in ancient times. Fortunately, thanks to the new rural development in recent years, a few mountain roads had been built to connect it.

Gu Jianian looked down into the courtyard through the window.

Her grandmother was already awake, sitting on a bamboo chair and sewing clothes. She was wearing reading glasses, the frame hanging around her neck with a red string.

Beside her was a stove with a brown clay pot on top, emitting a gurgling sound as steam rose from it.

A tangerine-coloured cat lay on her grandmother’s lap, its mouth gaping open in an extremely lazy yawn.

A cat?

Gu Jianian hurried downstairs in three steps.

Although her grandmother was old, her hearing was good. She heard Gu Jianian’s footsteps and turned around, smiling as she put down her needlework. She pointed to the pot beside her, “I’m cooking porridge. It’ll be ready soon.”

The porridge was mixed vegetable porridge, made from glutinous rice, golden-yellow millet, and a few wild vegetables. It looked appetizing.

However, Gu Jianian’s attention was drawn to the cat.

She widened her eyes and approached it cautiously.

The cat was covered in orange patterns, with a white patch about the size of a bottle cap around its nose. It had long whiskers, a not-so-plump body, and sturdy limbs. Sensing someone getting closer, it flipped over from her grandmother’s lap and lazily glanced at Gu Jianian before turning its head, seemingly indifferent.

Gu Jianian widened her eyes. Except for the spots on its face, this cat looked exactly like the one she had imagined she would raise in the future.

“Grandma, whose cat is this?”

“This is our cat, named ‘Gulu.’”

“Our cat?” Gu Jianian looked at the cat in surprise. “Why didn’t I see it the past two days?”

Her grandmother scratched Gulu’s chin, and Gulu squinted contentedly, making a “gulu gulu” sound from its throat, as if explaining the origin of its name to Gu Jianian.

“Generally, cats in the countryside are allowed to roam freely. They can’t be kept indoors. Gulu only comes back to eat and sleep at night. It spends the day playing outside, so you didn’t see it the past two days.”

Gu Jianian was amazed. No wonder Gulu was so bold, not afraid of her at all. When she used to go to her tutor’s house, the cats they had were very timid, hiding under the bed when they saw strangers and not daring to go outside.

“So, when it comes back at night, Grandma has to open the door for it?”

“No need. The back door of the hall is never locked; it’s ajar. Gulu knows.” Her grandmother smiled and then pointed at the cat’s back. “Come and touch it, it likes being petted on the back.”

Gu Jianian felt a bit apprehensive. She had never raised pets before. Her mother had cleanliness issues and said that cats and dogs were dirty, so she was never allowed to have one.

When she was younger, a classmate had a pet turtle, and Gu Jianian had begged her parents to buy her one. They said they would only get her one when her math score reached 95.

Gu Jianian still remembered that at the end of that year, she scored a 94.5 on her math exam. That half point felt like a predetermined fate, no matter how hard she tried, it was never enough. It seemed she had always struggled to get what she wanted.

Looking at Grandma’s encouraging gaze, Gu Jianian reached out and gently touched the fluffy back of Gulu.

The touch was extremely soft, furry and warm. A cat’s body temperature is usually a bit higher than that of humans.

Gu Jianian wanted to touch it again, but she felt the fur on Gulu’s back tense up alertly, which startled her. With a gasp, she quickly withdrew her hand.

Grandma laughed, “You, back then you dared to chase after snakes, now you’re even afraid of cats.”

Gu Jianian felt embarrassed, but she couldn’t imagine herself chasing after snakes. She always felt that her childhood self-lacked a sense of fear, daring to do anything.

She reached out to touch Gulu’s back again, waiting for it to adjust before gently stroking back and forth. From the nape of the neck to the back, two or three times later, Gulu made a “purring” sound again, no longer rejecting her.

Gu Jianian squatted down to get closer to it, scratching its forehead.

Gulu turned over comfortably, exposing its round belly to her.

Gu Jianian’s heart was melting, “Little Gulu, I’ll buy you delicious food from now on.”

Grandma gently touched its round belly with one hand, “It’s not Little Gulu anymore, it’s going to be a mother.”

*

After eating vegetable porridge, Gu Jianian helped Grandma wash the dishes, and then carried her backpack to the ivy-covered villa to report.

The morning sun was gentle, and the wild roses emitted a faint wild fragrance. Gu Jianian felt relaxed and couldn’t help but hum a tune until she reached the door, already sweating slightly.

The doorbell was pressed a few times before it opened.

The man was wearing a dark-coloured home outfit, similar to yesterday’s style, just a different colour.

His hair was messy, and he stood barefoot in the darkness behind the door.

Gu Jianian saw his beautiful long eyebrows furrowed, his chin covered in stubble, his eyes full of tiredness, looking annoyed as if he had been awakened from a dream.

He glanced at her, “Why are you up so early? Don’t you kids need to sleep?”

Gu Jianian looked at her watch, it was already nine in the morning.

But his attitude seemed to imply that it was five in the morning.

Gu Jianian apologized, “Are you still sleeping? Then… do you want to go back to sleep? What time do you usually wake up? I can come back after you’re awake.”

The man stared at her in silence for a moment, then turned and walked back into the house.

“You read your book, I’m going to sleep, don’t disturb me.”

“Oh, okay…”

A strange feeling rose in her heart again.

This person was different from any adult she had ever met before.

Irritable and casual.

He casually sent out such an expensive piece of jewellery as a gift, and on their second meeting, he let her stay at home unsupervised while he went to sleep.

What if she was a bad person? What if he woke up and found the house emptied?

Gu Jianian imagined him waking up, looking bewildered at the empty hall and the thousands of missing books, and couldn’t help but chuckle.

The man heard the laughter and turned back, lifting his eyelids to give her a glance, “What are you laughing at?”

Gu Jianian quickly waved her hand and said seriously, “Nothing.”

He didn’t bother with her anymore, taking out a pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet and tossing them over.

Gu Jianian looked at the brand new grey cotton open-toed slippers on the floor, still with tags on them. She immediately felt that the treatment this time was much better.

“The bathroom is the first door on the right in the corridor, and the water dispenser is in the kitchen.”

After a moment’s pause, he said again, “Don’t touch my computer, don’t go upstairs, don’t make noise.”

Upon hearing the three “don’ts,” Gu Jianian immediately nodded to indicate her understanding.

Having only met twice, Gu Jianian could already tell that this person was extremely unwilling to be disturbed.

Allowing her to read books at home was already a miracle, showing some tolerance towards her, but not much.

Lazy, he walked up the stairs on the left side of the hallway.

It seemed like the bedroom was upstairs.

Gu Jianian hesitated and called out to him, “Um, I haven’t asked your name yet?”

Leaning against the wooden handrail of the stairs, the man turned around.

The light in the room was only on its lowest setting, casting a dim yellow tone, and the grating of the handrail divided the light into countless fractions.

The light that was not cut off by the handrail magnified his profile, casting a larger shadow on the wall behind him —

Clear eyelashes, a well-defined nose, and a sharp jawline.

Gu Jianian’s heart suddenly beat uncontrollably several times, as if there was an echo in the confined space.

She immediately averted her gaze, looking at the bookshelf, the heavy and sacred books helping her snap out of the inexplicable sense of strangeness. The silence lasted for a few seconds, and she thought he was waiting for her to introduce herself first.

“So… my name is Gu Jianian, meaning a lucky year.”

“I know.”

Gu Jianian was puzzled, thinking she had misheard, “You know my name?”

“Yeah,” his voice lazily entered her ears as he introduced himself, “Chi Yan, long days and clear waters.”

Chi Yan.

Gu Jianian repeated it in her mind, looking up at him again after a while, but his figure quickly turned the corner at the entrance of the second floor and disappeared.

How did he know her name?

Did Grandma mention it to him?

Grandma should know him.

Did Grandma mention that she had failed the college entrance exam and came here for the summer?

Gu Jianian inexplicably didn’t want too many people to know about her.

Perhaps even if others knew, they wouldn’t think much of it, but for Gu Jianian, who had lived a shallow seventeen years and considered studying her mission for half her life, giving up on herself and failing the college entrance exam meant being exiled here as a failure.

She couldn’t figure it out.

Gu Jianian sat in the single sofa she had sat in yesterday, turning back to find the book she had read last time, only to discover that the row of bookshelves behind her had been rearranged.

The third and fourth layers neatly displayed the “Human Comedy” series, while the rest of the layers contained other popular and easy-to-read realistic novels, highly coinciding with the book list she had mentioned before.

Looking around, she found that the other bookshelves remained untouched, still messy.

A strange feeling rose in Gu Jianian’s heart. She looked towards the second floor, only to see the white walls and entrance cabinet.

She shook her head, finally throwing out the messy thoughts.

It turned out to be two hours just like that. During this time, she poured herself some water, went to the bathroom, and dared to stretch her arms and legs around the sofa within a meter or two — just like a cat gradually getting familiar with its surroundings.

At eleven o’clock, the clock in the hall struck.

Footsteps came from the stairs, and Gu Jianian picked up her book, looking up.

Chi Yan changed into a new outfit, a white round-necked linen shirt and smooth grey pants.

He had just washed his hair, a towel in one hand wiping his damp hair, a few drops of water that escaped the towel’s fibres trickling down along his earlobes, flowing into his collar along the smooth neckline.

Gu Jianian asked the question she had been holding back for a long time, “Um… how did you know my name? Did my grandma mention me to you? What did she say?”

Chi Yan was annoyed by her series of questions. He lazily walked behind the desk, sat down, stretched his waist lazily, and then propped up his chin, his voice hoarse as if he had just awakened from a deep sleep.

“Jianian.”

His tone was calm, as if murmuring her name, but also as if simply monotone reciting the word.

“Your grandma told you the meaning of your name, but probably didn’t say that I gave you your name, did she?”

“At that time,” Chi Yan said, comparing the height of the table legs with his hand, casually chuckling, “you were just this tall.”

The author has something to say: Chi Yan: Hurry up and call me daddy, your name was given by me.

Gu Jianian: Dad.

Chi Yan: …

Six years apart in age!