WSL Chapter 5

Gu Jianian was stunned.

He gave her the name?

Now that she thought about it, her parents had never told her about the origin of this name, or maybe they didn’t know either. Gu Jianian was a left-behind child. When she was a child, her parents went to Beilin to work, leaving her, who was only a few months old and only had a nickname, in Yunmo Village.

Gu Jianian had always liked her name. It was the first character she learned to write as a child, taught stroke by stroke by her grandmother.

Jia, Nian.

She had complained about the many strokes in the character “Jia,” but she still diligently remembered and practiced it over and over, writing it crookedly.

As she grew older, she had gained a good impression from many people due to her name. After transferring to Beilin, passing the entrance exams for middle school and high school, many new classmates would ask about her when they saw her name on the class roster.

They said her name sounded beautiful, festive, and elegant.

Although the novelty and positive impression from her name didn’t last long, Gu Jianian was still grateful. She felt that this name was a rare stroke of luck in her otherwise uneventful life.

She never expected that he had given her that name, the person she thought she had only met twice.

Could it be that she knew him when she was a child?

Gu Jianian secretly looked at Chi Yan.

He was sitting behind a large desk, in a very relaxed posture. One hand was leaning on the desk at an angle, with his knuckles resting against his temple.

The other hand opened a brown notebook, and he pulled a pen from a bamboo pen holder, uncapped it with one hand, and started writing on the paper with a “rustling” sound.

The sound was like dry rose branches scraping against a rough stone path.

Shortly after, he switched to another pen of a different colour, circled a word he had written in a particular line, as if confirming something important. The soft light from the crystal chandelier in the living room cast a gentle glow on his profile, his deep eyes and faint expression harmonious.

Her grandmother had once said that before she was three years old, she was called “Tingting,” and her birth registration only had the nickname.

After three years, it was changed to “Gu Jianian.”

How old was he at that time?

Did he, like now, tilt his head, purse his lips, and use a pen to write different names on the paper as candidates, then circle one of them with a red pen, finalizing the name that would accompany her for over a decade?

Her heart felt as if it had opened a tiny aperture, letting out an imperceptible wave of emotions that flowed into her bloodstream, heating up her ears.

The air seemed scorching, and Gu Jianian suddenly felt flustered and agitated, so she averted her gaze.

Time passed like this for quite a while.

The nervous tension started spreading in the room. Gu Jianian couldn’t quite explain why she was nervous. She just felt her heart racing and her breath becoming laboured. Even the spacious sofa no longer provided her a sense of security.

Fortunately, her train of thought was interrupted by a sudden vibration from her pocket.

Gu Jianian took out her phone and unlocked it.

Her eyelids twitched.

It was a call from her mother.

This was the first call she had received from home since leaving Beilin.

Clutching the phone, countless possibilities flashed through her mind in that instant, and her heart seemed to plummet.

She couldn’t afford to ignore it, so after hesitating for a moment, she glanced at Chi Yan.

He had already put down the pen and paper and was now typing on the keyboard, fully concentrated.

Gritting her teeth, Gu Jianian turned to the side, gently covering her lips with her hand, and pressed the answer button, lowering her voice, “Hello, Mom.”

There was a momentary silence on the other end.

The tranquil few seconds on the phone felt like they had sucked all the air out of her surroundings.

Subconsciously, Gu Jianian tightened her grip on her clothes, held her breath, and forced herself to prepare mentally.

But then she heard her mother ask, “Have you had lunch?”

No other questions were posed.

Gu Jianian let out a sigh of relief and slowly released her clothes. “Not yet, I’ll eat later.”

Her mother paused for a moment upon hearing that, seemingly trying to discern her surroundings.

After a while, her voice sounded cautious, “Where are you?”

Gu Jianian turned her head and glanced at Chi Yan.

He was still engrossed in his computer.

She turned back and vaguely lied, “I’m at… the town library reading, can’t talk loudly.”

There was silence on the other end of the phone, and her mom said again, “Then take a picture for me.”

Gu Jianian felt her chin and lips trembling. She moved the phone away, trying not to let her shaky breathing be heard. After a long time, she said, “Okay.”

After hanging up the phone, for the first time, Gu Jianian didn’t ask for Chi Yan’s permission. Instead, she put her phone on silent mode, quickly found the angle, and took a selfie in a corner of the living room.

She felt that explaining this matter would be very absurd.

For example, why did her mom ask her to take a picture, and why did she lie?

She carefully checked the photo. The densely packed bookshelf did give a somewhat library-like feeling. Then she clicked send.

After sending the message, she anxiously turned her head back, looking towards the desk area, but met Chi Yan’s gaze.

Gu Jianian felt uneasy.

Did he hear her words?

Did he see her taking the picture?

Unable to help herself, she stood up from the sofa, racked her brain to find a topic, and said, “Um, Chi Yan, do you drink mixed vegetable porridge? Grandma asked me to bring it for you.”

Chi Yan’s gaze lingered on her face for a moment before nodding, “Should have said it earlier.”

Gu Jianian breathed a sigh of relief and took out the porridge from her bag to give to him.

Chi Yan opened the lid and scooped a mouthful of porridge into his mouth with an enamel spoon.

He ate quickly but with excellent manners, and the enamel spoon made no noise when it touched his teeth.

Only after he had eaten most of the porridge did he stop, “Tastes good, thank your grandma for me.”

Gu Jianian hurriedly waved her hand, “No need, no need. Grandma said I would often come to your house to study in the future, so it’s only right to bring some food. Grandma is teaching me how to cook, and desserts… like the plum pastries last time, Grandma was teaching me how to bake while I did it.”

She felt a bit absurd after speaking, as if her words were a sudden and inexplicable self-expression.

“Oh, that’s impressive…”

Chi Yan complimented slowly, but his tone didn’t sound sincere.

He closed the lid of the mixed vegetable porridge box, stood up, and picked up a bottle of wine from the makeshift wine cabinet next to the bookshelf.

Gu Jianian sat back on the sofa, watching absent-mindedly as he poured the light brown liquor into a glass, but she was still anxious.

Since she sent the photo, her mom hadn’t replied.

Did she not believe her explanation?

Gu Jianian forced herself not to overthink and shifted her focus to Chi Yan.

He took a sip of wine and then placed the glass aside, starting to type.

The tapping of the keyboard sounded like piano keys, his long fingers effortlessly covering every key on the keyboard, dancing casually.

Gu Jianian stared at him absent-mindedly, feeling the turmoil in her heart gradually subsiding amidst the intermittent tapping sounds.

Until the person in her sight slowly raised his eyes, coolly looking over.

Chi Yan leisurely picked up the wine glass and swirled it around, “What are you looking at? Good students aren’t allowed to drink.”

Did she look like a good student?

“Who wants to drink…” Gu Jianian said, feeling annoyed and upset as she stood up, her face stiff, “I’m leaving. If you’re done eating, give me the bowl and chopsticks.”

She realized after speaking that her tone was somewhat aggressive.

Chi Yan raised an eyebrow, as if trying to discern the source of her sudden and unexpected mood.

After a moment, he lazily drooped his eyelids, indifferent, and pushed the porridge box towards her, giving a slight tug at the corner of his mouth.

That expression seemed to say, “Capricious child.”

Gu Jianian also knew that her emotions were very inexplicable.

She felt that she shouldn’t take her anger out on others, so she rubbed her face and added in a low voice, “I mean, I have to go now, Grandma is waiting for me to eat.”

She walked over, put the porridge box into her bag, and took out the green velvet box from inside, handing it to him, “Also, Grandma said you took the wrong thing, such a valuable necklace, you should keep it safe next time.”

Chi Yan’s expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

He was silent for a moment, reached out to take the box, and opened it to take a look.

The pearls were lustrous, and the red gemstones sparkled even more under the crystal lamp.

He confirmed with her, “Your grandma said, I took the wrong thing?”

Gu Jianian nodded, not understanding what he meant by asking this.

Chi Yan closed the box and put it in the drawer of the desk, “Then… let’s consider it as me taking the wrong thing.”

Gu Jianian was puzzled, feeling that both Grandma and Chi Yan were like playing a riddle, one saying “maybe it’s the wrong thing”, the other saying “let’s consider it as the wrong thing”, so was it wrong or not?

Adult matters are really complicated, she couldn’t understand.

Not to mention adults, sometimes she couldn’t even understand herself.

Gu Jianian absent-mindedly walked out of the courtyard, still not receiving any new messages on her phone.

Suddenly, someone called her name from behind, and she turned around in a daze.

Chi Yan was standing on the stone steps at the door, raising his arm to shield his eyes from the intense sunlight. After adapting for a while, he walked out barefoot, furrowing his brows as he walked into the sunlight.

The courtyard is overgrown with weeds, roses sway wildly, and mulberry flowers flaunt themselves.

The summer insect chirps come from a faraway place, a group of crows startled and flying off in droves into the mountain forest.

Mysterious castles, desolate gardens, and unrealistically handsome men.

Everything is beautiful yet absurd, like ancient nightmares from medieval grotesque stories.

This impactful scene brought Gu Jianian back to reality, momentarily forgetting her troubles, but suddenly recalling the words of Chen Xi —

“Could it be… a vampire disguised as a human?”

She involuntarily held her breath, slightly nervous, and cautiously leaned over to confirm the ground behind him.

As he walked up beside her, Cheng Yi handed her the keys, his face full of impatience under the direct sunlight. “From now on, open the door yourself and don’t wake me up. Don’t lose the keys, and don’t give them to anyone else.”

Gu Jianian awkwardly took the keys, murmuring, “There’s actually a shadow…”

Cheng Yi: “…”

Then his face darkened instantly, scoffing, “What are you thinking? I’m not a vampire.”

*

For lunch, Grandma planned to make fried rice with the leftover rice from the day before.

She took out the rice and used chopsticks to loosen it bit by bit, instructing Gu Jianian to beat the eggs, “For fried rice, it’s best to use leftover rice to get that dry and distinct texture. Freshly steamed rice is too sticky.”

Gu Jianian absentmindedly beat the eggs with two chopsticks. Over the past few days, she had become quite skilled at it.

Grandma started cooking the fried rice.

She poured oil into the pan first, intending to explain to Gu Jianian, but saw her lost in thought.

Grandma stopped, handed her the spatula, and said, “Hold on, why don’t you do it today?”

Gu Jianian came back to her senses, uncertainly pointing to herself, her voice lacking confidence, “Me? Should I?”

She had never cooked alone before.

Encouragingly, Grandma nodded, gently guiding her to stand by the stove.

Gu Jianian was forced into action, following the steps Grandma had taught her to add ingredients, eggs, and rice.

But soon, things went awry.

Perhaps the heat wasn’t right, or maybe her stirring technique was off. The rice quickly stuck to the bottom of the cast-iron pot, forming a hard crust.

The upper layer of rice was unevenly heated and stuck together.

Gu Jianian looked at the mess in the pot, feeling disheartened. She glanced up at Grandma, as if she had made a mistake in a math problem as usual.

However, Grandma calmly covered the pot with a lid, mysteriously saying, “Don’t worry, wait a moment.”

Gu Jianian nodded hesitantly.

A few minutes later, Grandma lifted the lid, scooping up the steaming rice from the top.

In just a few minutes, the previously sticky rice had absorbed the steam, becoming fragrant and soft, as if it had been enchanted by time magic.

What surprised Gu Jianian even more was that after Grandma scooped up the rice, she also took the thick, solid crust from the bottom of the pot, which had become thicker and more intact after simmering for a long time, and placed it in a plate on the side.

Grandma smiled and said, “Thanks to you, we’re adding an extra dish of crispy rice cakes for lunch today.”

Gu Jianian suspected that Grandma was comforting her, hesitatingly picking up a piece of the broken rice cakes and putting it in her mouth.

After the scalding heat subsided, the crispy texture mixed with the aroma of eggs and rice filled her mouth, along with a hint of the burnt flavour from the wood-fired stove. Surprisingly, it was delicious.

Her mood suddenly improved.

The mountains surrounded them, locking out the overly intense sunlight, only allowing just the right amount to enter.

The gentle breeze blew the grapevines entwined on the rack.

The grandmother and granddaughter moved the table and chairs to the courtyard, basking in the sun, leisurely eating a simple lunch together.

Gulu didn’t go running around but instead lay down to sleep deeply beside the water tank under the eaves.

Grandma ate a lot of crispy rice cakes.

Despite their hardness, she chewed them unbothered with her dentures, praising the unexpected delicacy. Her praise made Gu Jianian’s anxiety and frustration disappear without a trace, almost making her think she was a talented cook.

After finishing the last bite of fried rice in her bowl, Gu Jianian’s eyes sparkled, and she said, “Grandma, what if I become a chef in the future?”

“Sure. When I take you to your Fourth Uncle’s house one day, he used to be a chef at a restaurant. You can learn from him.”

Author’s note: Cheng Yi: This kid… tricked me into giving away my house keys.