On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Jiang Nuan’s parents were already busy preparing lunch because Lu Ran’s parents were coming over to visit.
Jiang Nuan was sleeping soundly. Last night, she stayed up until nearly one o’clock reading the One Piece manga that Lu Ran had left behind, and now she had no intention of waking up.
But it wasn’t long before her mom woke her up.
“Oh my little ancestor! Do you know what time it is? Why aren’t you up yet? Uncle Lu and Aunt Yuan are here, and Lu Ran too! Get up quickly!”
Jiang Nuan had always respected Uncle Lu, her dad’s old rival turned good friend. So, she crawled out of bed, brushed her teeth, washed her face, and made her way to the living room, where she greeted Lu Ran’s parents with a sleepy smile.
“Uncle Lu, Aunt Yuan, Happy New Year!”
“Aww, Xiao Nuan is so well-behaved!” Aunt Yuan pulled Jiang Nuan closer. Judging by how good-looking Lu Ran was, it was clear that his mother had to be quite a beauty herself.
“Sleeping until ten and just now getting up. You sure are well-behaved, like a little lazy pig.” Lu Ran’s tone had a teasing lift, and his eyes were fixed on her.
“If you were a little lazy pig like Xiao Nuan, I’d find you adorable too.” Aunt Yuan said, then handed a red envelope to Jiang Nuan. “Wishing you peace, joy, and academic progress in the new year.”
“Thank you, Aunt Yuan!”
Before Jiang Nuan could even stuff the red envelope into her pocket, Lu Ran stretched out his hand in front of her.
“What?” Jiang Nuan asked.
“You want to have peace, joy, and academic progress this year, right? That’ll all depend on me. Don’t you think I deserve a fee?”
“Ugh!” Jiang Nuan turned away and walked off.
Since both Jiang Nuan and Lu Ran’s dad wanted to have some huangjiu (yellow wine), their parents sent the two of them out to buy it.
The wine jar was quite heavy. After Jiang Nuan paid for it, she assumed Lu Ran would carry it, but he stood there with his hands in his pockets, showing no intention of helping.
Jiang Nuan pouted. “Can’t you carry it for a bit?”
“Do you know what you look like from behind when you carry that jar?”
“What do I look like?” Jiang Nuan figured it wouldn’t be anything good.
“A baby polar bear. That’s why I’m enjoying watching this episode of Animal World from behind.”
“…”
He was calling her fat! Saying she was round!
Jiang Nuan hugged the wine jar, huffing as she walked ahead.
Yesterday, she had just started to think that he wasn’t so annoying after all!
Lu Ran followed behind her at a leisurely pace.
After carrying the jar for quite a distance, Jiang Nuan’s arms were starting to ache. The wine wasn’t heavy, but the jar certainly was.
“Jiang Nuan!”
Lu Ran’s voice rang out above her. She looked up just in time to see a group of motorcyclists roaring past on the street, their engines blaring obnoxiously. Suddenly, a hand grabbed her shoulder and pulled her to the side.
The wine jar smashed onto the ground with a crash. The group of bikers paid no attention as they sped off.
Sadness washed over Jiang Nuan—after all that effort, the wine jar was now wasted!
“Don’t you watch where you’re going? I can’t always be this lucky…” Lu Ran’s words trailed off, like a crack in a bottle that had been sealed shut once again.
Jiang Nuan looked up at him, and from his eyes, she could tell that she had just scared him.
Years later, when she grew up, she would understand that what Lu Ran meant by “I can’t always be this lucky” was “I’m worried that I won’t always be there when you’re in danger.”
“Well, if you’d carried the wine, this wouldn’t have happened!” Jiang Nuan retorted unhappily.
“Wait here. I’ll go back and buy more wine.” Lu Ran said.
Hearing this made Jiang Nuan feel a bit better.
At least now Lu Ran would have to carry a heavy wine jar all the way back.
As she watched him walk away, Jiang Nuan, bored of waiting, went into a nearby fireworks and firecracker shop and bought some small novelties.
When she stepped out of the shop, she saw Lu Ran walking back from a distance, carrying a bottle of wine.
Jiang Nuan narrowed her eyes, staring at the bottle in his hand until he got close.
“Hey! Why did you buy a bottled one?”
“It’s all Shaoxing wine. It’ll taste the same to them. You really think they’ll be savoring it?”
Lu Ran carried the bottle and kept walking.
Jiang Nuan wasn’t happy.
A glass bottle of Shaoxing wine couldn’t possibly have the same feel as wine poured from a ceramic jar, right?
Lu Ran was taking the easy way out! That was cheating!
The more Jiang Nuan thought about it, the angrier she got. If Lu Ran could get away with buying wine like this, then what had all her effort carrying that heavy jar been for?
They entered their apartment complex, walking past Aunt Chen’s ground-floor apartment.
Aunt Chen had a small yard where she kept a bunch of chickens that clucked noisily.
Jiang Nuan glanced at the chickens with a mischievous smile—Lu Ran, you’re always the proper goody two-shoes, aren’t you?
She pulled out the firecrackers she had just bought, threw them into Aunt Chen’s yard, and with a loud “bang” the chickens squawked in panic, flapping their wings and sending feathers flying everywhere.
“Which little brat did that?!” Aunt Chen yelled, storming out of her yard, only to see Lu Ran standing at the entrance with the bottle of wine.
As for Jiang Nuan, she had already run off and was peeking around the corner of the courtyard, grinning triumphantly at Lu Ran before ducking back.
“Oh, Lu Ran, is that you? Did you see who threw those firecrackers into my yard?” Aunt Chen’s fury subsided when she saw Lu Ran.
Lu Ran raised his chin slightly, hinting toward the corner of the yard. Jiang Nuan perked up her ears, fully expecting Lu Ran to deny it, but before he could say anything, Aunt Chen started ranting on her own.
“Was it Jiang Nuan? That little troublemaker! She’s always up to no good! Back in the day, my grapevine grew over the fence, and she’d pick off all the grapes! When she was younger, she loved to throw firecrackers into my yard with the other kids!” Aunt Chen sighed, patting Lu Ran’s shoulder. “You didn’t get scared, did you? Did it explode near you?”
“No, it didn’t. Aunt Chen, I’m heading upstairs for lunch now.”
“Oh, alright, go ahead!”
Jiang Nuan, still hiding around the corner, was fuming.
What kind of logic was that? Aunt Chen sees Lu Ran standing at the door and doesn’t even suspect him?
Aunt Chen had no sense of logic at all!
Lu Ran didn’t wait for Jiang Nuan and went straight into the building.
Jiang Nuan peeked out, making sure Aunt Chen had gone back inside before she quickly ran back to her own building.
But little did she know, Aunt Chen was watching from her window. “Jiang Nuan! So it really was you!”
Fearing that Lu Ran might get home first and tell on her, Jiang Nuan had to catch up with him.
Just as Lu Ran pressed the doorbell, Jiang Nuan caught up behind him.
Her mom, Luo Chen, opened the door and took the wine from them.
“You’re both back! Lunch is ready, come on in.”
Jiang Huai and Lu Jingfeng also came in, and Jiang Huai picked up the bottle of wine that Lu Ran had bought, smiling as he said, “This must be from Lu Ran, right?”
“Huh? How did you know?” Jiang Nuan was about to complain that Lu Ran had taken the easy way out by buying a glass bottle.
“I usually drink wine that costs 68 yuan per jar, but your Uncle Lu has a picky taste and insists on drinking the kind that costs 108. Of course, only Lu Ran would know to buy this one. Looks like I’ll get to enjoy some high-quality wine today.”
“What? Isn’t the wine in jars more expensive?” Jiang Nuan was confused.
So Lu Ran didn’t buy the bottle just to save effort—he chose the better one?
Lu Jingfeng came over and patted Jiang Nuan on the shoulder. “With wine, it’s all about the vintage.”
It’s not like it’s red wine. What vintage? What’s next, a Château Latour 1852?
The point was, Lu Ran knew exactly what their dads liked to drink, yet he hadn’t said a word when she had been carrying that heavy wine jar the whole way back!
In fact, why didn’t he mention it when she was picking out the wine in the first place?
It was like the two of them were doing a test, and Lu Ran, instead of putting in the effort, simply watched her. And when she got the answers wrong, he didn’t tell her—he just went ahead and turned in the correct answers himself, getting praised by the teacher!
It was infuriating!
During lunch, Jiang Nuan didn’t feel like talking to Lu Ran at all. The atmosphere at the table was lively though, with Jiang Huai and Lu Jingfeng reminiscing about their old glory days, apparently having become good friends after their competitive rivalry. Even their moms were laughing and having a good time.
“Xiao Nuan, you’ve hardly touched any of the food! Your mom’s Eight-Treasure Chicken is my favorite!” Lu Ran’s mom said, hinting that her son should get along with Jiang Nuan.
Lu Ran picked up a chicken wing from the Eight-Treasure Chicken and placed it in Jiang Nuan’s bowl. He lowered his voice and, with a serious tone, said, “This chicken probably wasn’t scared by any firecrackers before it was sacrificed.”
His expression was so calm and sincere.
“You seem to like firecrackers so much. Should I treat you to some?” Jiang Nuan whispered back.
“Huh? What firecrackers?”
Jiang Nuan turned to glare at Lu Ran, warning him not to speak out of turn.
Lu Ran, as if nothing had happened, lowered his head and continued eating.
Just then, the phone rang. Jiang Nuan’s mom got up to answer it, repeatedly apologizing to whoever was on the other end. When she returned to the table, she crossed her arms and looked at Jiang Nuan.
“Um, Mom… what is it?”
“Jiang Nuan, Jiang Nuan… You really are a troublemaker! When you’re not getting into trouble, you’re causing chaos! Why did you have to scare Aunt Chen’s chickens with firecrackers?”
Jiang Nuan froze. She hadn’t expected Aunt Chen to call their house and complain.
“She didn’t see me do it…” Jiang Nuan knew she had been in the wrong, but Aunt Chen’s blind trust in Lu Ran, and how she had just assumed it was Jiang Nuan because she ran out from the yard, was just frustrating.
“Aunt Chen said she saw you. Why would she make that up on New Year’s?” Luo Chen wasn’t actually angry.
That last part made Jiang Nuan feel even worse.
“When will you ever be as sensible as Lu Ran? Your grades aren’t as good as his, you don’t understand your parents, and you’re always causing trouble…”
Before Jiang Huai could finish, Lu Ran, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up.
“Uncle, Jiang Nuan is great.”
“What’s so great about her?” Jiang Huai shook his head, helpless.
“I don’t want to eat anymore.”
Jiang Nuan started to get up, but Jiang Huai stopped her.
“Alright, it’s just a small matter! We have guests over! Don’t be so willful!”
Yeah, it was just a small matter.
But she had only lived for so many years and hadn’t gone through any major events, so small matters felt like big ones to her.
And besides, it always seemed like Lu Ran held an unshakable, exalted place in her parents’ eyes. As for her, Jiang Nuan, it felt like she was born just to serve as a comparison to him.
“Dad, if one day my teacher says I was talking in class, would you believe them? If someone said I wouldn’t get into college, would you believe them too? And if someone said I lacked speed, explosiveness, and technique, and couldn’t excel at fencing, would you just forbid me from ever practicing again? Just because Lu Ran gets good grades and is perfect in every way, does that mean everything he does is a model example? And because I don’t get grades as good as his, nothing I do is worth believing in?”
Jiang Nuan stood there, looking at Jiang Huai.
Jiang Huai was stunned. He hadn’t expected his daughter to ask him such questions, almost like she was accusing him.
“Xiao Nuan, how can you talk to your parents like that?” Luo Chen tried to pull her back to sit down.
But for some reason, when her mom said there was no doubt that Lu Ran had seen her throw the firecracker, Jiang Nuan, deep down, had hoped her mom would ask, “Did you really throw the firecracker?”
Even though her mom knew her so well that she could tell if Jiang Nuan was heading to the kitchen for a snack or to the bathroom just by the way she moved, Jiang Nuan still wished her mom would ask her instead of just assuming what she had done based on someone else’s words.
“I don’t even know how to talk to you guys so that you’ll actually listen to what I’m saying. Dad, you said I can’t practice fencing anymore. Fine, because I don’t get grades as good as Lu Ran’s, I might not get into college if I’m distracted. You’re right. During the subject selection period, you said that choosing liberal arts would limit my career options, that your dream was to study engineering in college, and that mom studied medicine. There’s no one in our family who studied liberal arts, and that studying liberal arts would lead nowhere. So, I stayed in the science stream. But did any of you ever stop to think about how much I’ve struggled? Did anyone consider that while there may only be ten majors in liberal arts, I could probably do well in any of them? Whereas there are a hundred majors in science, but I’m struggling with all of them?”
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