Dating Myself - Chapter 49

Drip.

A drop of water leaked from the faucet, falling into the basin used for washing sea cucumber, spreading ripple after ripple. Chen Han’s beautiful profile, reflected in the water, continually twisted with the movement.

The kitchen wall tiles were white, the floor tiles polished, reflecting the cold, white ceiling light. Outside the dark window, distant streetlights alternated with the passing car lights. Faintly, the sound of children running and playing could be heard from downstairs, and someone in the opposite apartment opened a window and shouted down, “Bring me a pack of Zhongnanhai (cigarettes).”

The commotion outside was separate from the inside. The room felt isolated from the rest of the world, strangely quiet.

Jian Yixi stared blankly at Chen Han, a thousand thoughts racing through her mind, still unable to fully process Chen Han’s astonishing words.

What did she say? That she liked An Mu? That An Mu had confessed to her, only to be fiercely humiliated and rejected?

The tomato in her hand was squeezed into a pulp, and the scarlet juice dripped from her tightly clenched palm like blood.

Jian Yixi didn’t even notice she had crushed it, just staring intently at Chen Han, her eyes growing wider, her chest heaving more and more violently, uncontrollably.

No! Calm down, Jian Yixi!

An Mu said she had never liked anyone, and that Chen Han was just someone she dragged in as an excuse. If she believed Chen Han, then she wouldn’t be believing An Mu.

She didn’t know much about Chen Han; everything she knew was from the internet, and its credibility was questionable. But An Mu was her friend, someone she had spent an entire semester with, someone who had helped her with nothing expected in return. Wouldn’t it be too stupid to distrust An Mu and instead trust someone she had just met for the first time?!

Right! Trust An Mu!

Chen Han was clearly lying!

Although Chen Han was indeed beautiful and capable, An Mu was no less.

Wait, that’s wrong. An Mu was more beautiful, smarter, and would be more capable in the future!

Most importantly, An Mu was still very young, while Chen Han was nearly thirty. By what right did she claim An Mu liked her?

While Chen Han’s sudden return from France was certainly suspicious, she trusted An Mu. An Mu wouldn’t lie to her.

Jian Yixi lowered her eyes, noticed the crushed tomato in her hand, quickly turned around and threw it into the trash can. She walked around Chen Han, turned on the faucet to wash her hands, then grabbed a rag and crouched down to wipe the dripping tomato stains off the floor.

Chen Han waited for a long time without a response but didn’t seem annoyed. She turned and continued washing her sea cucumber.

“If you don’t want to help me, I won’t force you. After all, your relationship with An Mu is closer. If a friend of mine were treated this way, I wouldn’t want them to forgive the other person, either.”

Jian Yixi wiped the floor tiles expressionlessly. She hadn’t wanted to talk to the liar, but she remembered that Chen Han had helped her in the past. Even if Chen Han was lying, she couldn’t burn her bridges. She pursed her lips and finally replied.

“Is Teacher Chen playing a scripted role-playing game?”

Jian Yixi looked up and smiled at Chen Han; at first glance, it seemed quite sincere.

“My classmate played one with me. She pretended to be a fragile little flower being stalked by a pervert. At first, I was really worried about her. Every day she would tell me the pervert was following her again, that the pervert had smashed her bedroom window, or that the pervert had tied a used Durex to her front door.”

“Durex?”

“Surprised? Teacher Chen couldn’t possibly think students in China are so innocent they don’t know anything, could you? With how developed the internet is now, how many of us don’t know? If we only relied on the school’s inadequate sex education, girls wouldn’t know how to protect themselves at all.”

“The internet taught us how to protect ourselves, and it also let us know that the world is far less simple than we imagine. People’s hearts are sinister. Across the network, no one knows if the person sitting opposite you is a person or a dog. Across the belly, no one knows who is good or bad.”

“One shouldn’t have the heart to harm others, but one must guard against being harmed by others. You agree, right, Teacher Chen?”

These words were met with Chen Han’s silent gaze. Her eyes behind the gold-rimmed glasses were deep and unreadable.

Jian Yixi broke into another sweet smile, her little dimple charmingly visible.

“Later, that classmate told me she accidentally killed the pervert and hid the body in her home’s sewer, asking me what to do. That’s when I realized she was lying, because she lives in a multi-story building. How could she hide a body in the sewer?”

“I was angry then, thinking she was playing a trick on me. She quickly apologized, saying she was playing a scripted game, and the rule was to reveal the plot that same day, but she got carried away and played for a few more days.”

“Even though she apologized and treated me to bubble tea as compensation, it still left a knot in my heart. Now, whatever she says, I subconsciously question it first.”

“So, Teacher Chen, while scripted games might look fun, they do more harm than good, especially a solo script like this. It’s essentially deceiving the other party. If you really want to play, find a few more people and play openly. Then it’s a test of acting skills; whoever acts the best will last until the end.”

“Or, after dinner, I can search for a script online, and we—you, me, and An Mu—can all play together.”

The classmate was, of course, a fabrication; she didn’t actually have anyone that bored or malicious around her.

After saying all this, the floor tiles were clean. Jian Yixi washed the rag and hung it by the sink, then went back to peeling the tomato skin.

Chen Han’s gaze followed her. After a thoughtful pause, she smiled and said, “You said you guessed your classmate was lying because she said the body was hidden in the sewer. So, what about me? Why do you think I’m playing a scripted game?”

“Of course, because An Mu told me.”

“Told you what?”

“Told me a lot of things, including your relationship.”

“What is our relationship?”

“It used to be teacher-student, and now it’s friends.”

“That’s just a formality. Some things can’t be openly discussed.”

Jian Yixi finished peeling, picked up the fruit knife, and cut the tomatoes in the bowl. Soon, the bowl was full, containing both pulp and juice—perfect for scrambling with eggs.

“My relationship with An Mu is probably better than you imagine, Teacher. She could transfer a house worth hundreds of thousands to my name without blinking an eye, and she ran to a place that’s practically a red-light district in the middle of the night just for me.”

“She has slept in the same bed as me, eaten from the same bowl, and even though we’re separated now, she contacts me every day.”

“When I had a fever, she would even blow on my forehead to cool me down, saying childish things like ‘The pain flew away.’ We are practically inseparable and tell each other everything. Even the bandeau in my bag was bought for me by An Mu.”

As she spoke, Jian Yixi shook the red koi bracelet on her wrist.

“And this, one for her and one for me. We agreed we aren’t allowed to take them off until we both get into Tsinghua University. When that happens, I’ll give her an even better gift, one that won’t break even after wearing it for a lifetime.”

The red string on An Mu’s wrist was hidden in her sleeve, and Chen Han hadn’t known about it. Hearing Jian Yixi’s bragging, her gaze grew deeper, but the smile on her lips never faded.

“It certainly sounds like you two have a very good relationship.”

“Best friends for life.”

“Best friends? Are you lying to me or lying to yourself?”

Chen Han fished the cleaned sea cucumbers onto the cutting board one by one. As she began to slice them, she said, “Have you seen the messages An Mu and I exchanged?”

“That’s personal privacy. Even best friends shouldn’t just look at that.”

“That’s true. After all, there’s a difference between best friends and lovers. Lovers can check each other’s phones anytime, but best friends can’t.”

“An Mu and I are just friends.”

Chen Han made no comment, but instead, she recited a sentence word-for-word.

“An Mu, if it were you, I think I could like you. Seriously, please don’t ignore me.”

The words sounded incredibly familiar. That day, when she couldn’t reach An Mu, Jian Yixi must have read the message she sent countless times, regretting it each time. She wanted to recall nearly every message she sent shortly after sending it, but unfortunately, they had all timed out.

Chen Han only recited the first half of the sentence, but Jian Yixi immediately recognized the WeChat message she had sent. Being young and inexperienced, her face instantly went pale.

Chen Han glanced at her out of the corner of her eye and continued: “You also said you wanted to love each other forever, and you sent a picture of a table full of dishes you cooked. That steamed fish looked pretty good.”

Jian Yixi blurted out subconsciously: “You peeked at An Mu’s phone!”

“Peeking is something only children do.”

“Then you saw it accidentally!”

Jian Yixi didn’t believe An Mu would casually show that kind of information to anyone, even if that person was Chen Han.

Chen Han finished slicing the sea cucumber, then took out the saury wrapped in an ice pack, cleaning it methodically.

“An Mu loves my grilled saury the most. Unfortunately, the supermarket here doesn’t have fresh ones; I can only use frozen, so the flavor will be a little different.”

Was this a change of subject or an evasion?

Jian Yixi was flustered. She pursed her lips and glared at her, unconsciously deforming the caps of the shiitake mushrooms in her hand.

The more agitated Jian Yixi became, the calmer Chen Han remained.

“I didn’t originally want to tell you this. Kids your age have strong self-esteem, but I also don’t want you to go astray. After all, An Mu couldn’t possibly like you. The person she loves is me. She’s just sulking right now. Haven’t you noticed? She accepted the Mobius necklace.”

At the mention of the necklace, Jian Yixi’s heart instantly settled back down.

She finally took her eyes off Chen Han and calmly plucked the mushroom stems.

“Oh, you mean that? An Mu told me all about it. That was a gift from Liang Sirui. You two just happened to have a matching one.”

“And you believe that?”

“Why wouldn’t I believe it?”

Chen Han said no more. After quietly finishing cleaning the saury, she washed the fishy smell off her hands, dried them, took out her phone, and deliberately showed it to Jian Yixi. She navigated to Liang Sirui’s number, clicked, and dialed.

The phone rang for a long time before it was hesitantly answered.

“You, is something wrong? I’m busy right now; talk later.”

Having lived under the same roof as An Mu for so long, Jian Yixi had often overheard An Mu’s video calls with Liang Sirui, so she naturally recognized the voice.

It was indeed Liang Sirui.

Chen Han wore a faint smile and said casually, “Of course, I have something to talk about. Wait for me, no matter how busy you are.”

“Then be quick.”

“An Mu’s friend, Jian Yixi. You know her, right?”

“I know her.”

“She saw the matching Mobius necklaces I have with Mu Mu, but she insists that Mu Mu’s was a gift from you, and mine just happened to match Mu Mu’s. I can’t explain myself with a hundred mouths. How about you explain it to her?”

“I’m very busy! I have class this afternoon. I…”

Chen Han remained calm, offering only two words: “Explain it.”

Liang Sirui took a deep breath. “What is there to explain? I didn’t send it in the first place.”

Chen Han looked at Jian Yixi, her smiling lips seemingly saying, “See? I told you so, and you didn’t believe me.”

Jian Yixi still wouldn’t believe it!

She leaned toward the phone, her voice shaking involuntarily.

“An Mu showed me the express packaging. It definitely had your name on it!”