OHHACOM Chapter 12

Jiang Nuan didn’t know what had come over her today. It was just a matter of a firecracker. She was the one who did wrong, trying to pull a prank on Lu Ran but ending up worse off. Her mom didn’t even really scold her, but whenever it involved Lu Ran, she just couldn’t keep it together.

There was this lingering sense of grievance in her heart.

It was like that wine jar, once cracked, the liquid just kept pouring out, and she couldn’t stop it.

“Oh dear, Xiao Nuan, sit down, sit down. Your dad and mom definitely love you the most. If you have something to say, just sit down and talk it out! If it doesn’t work, you can tell Aunt Yuan, and she’ll have a good talk with your parents for you.” Lu Ran’s mom hugged Jiang Nuan.

But Jiang Huai, caught off guard by his daughter’s sudden outburst, reflexively said, “It’s not like we’re just listening to Aunt Chen. You’ve had a history of throwing firecrackers…”

Under the table, Jiang Huai’s wife kicked him.

But those words—“a history of throwing firecrackers”—stabbed at Jiang Nuan again.

Suddenly, she remembered something her friend Rao Can had mentioned over the phone: how Li Shuyue got caught talking to her during class, and their English teacher, Ms. Cai, made her stand as punishment instead.

Though she didn’t remember it clearly, she knew that even if she told her parents, they’d probably just say, “Why didn’t you just ignore Li Shuyue when she talked to you?”

She envied those kids who were pampered by their parents, even when they made mistakes. But with her parents, it always seemed like she was the one in the wrong.

Jiang Nuan stood up. There was no way she could continue eating this meal.

“Xiao Nuan, where are you going?” Luo Chen asked.

“I’m going to buy more firecrackers and blow up every chicken in the world!”

With that, Jiang Nuan stuffed her hands into her pockets and walked out.

“Xiao Nuan! Xiao Nuan!”

“It’s okay, let her cool down. She’s just throwing a little tantrum. I’ll save her meal for later.” Luo Chen sighed, realizing that their daughter was truly upset this time and needed some space.

Always comparing her to Lu Ran, over time, they had really hurt their daughter.

Jiang Huai sat there, watching his daughter’s back, wanting to say something, but his fatherly pride held him back, leaving him unsure of how to start.

The door closed, and half a minute later, it opened again.

Jiang Huai thought it might be his daughter coming back, but to his surprise, Jiang Nuan just came in to grab her knitted gloves from the sofa before heading out again.

Luo Chen looked at Jiang Huai’s longing expression and gave him a glare. “If you don’t know what to say, just don’t say anything! Were your records spotless growing up?”

“And it’s not like you’re any better at talking. The moment Aunt Chen called, you were already sentencing Xiao Nuan!”

It was obvious that neither Jiang Huai nor Luo Chen had the heart to continue eating.

At that moment, Lu Ran suddenly stood up.

“What’s wrong, Lu Ran?”

“She’s a great person.” This was what he had said earlier, but no one seemed to have taken it to heart. It wasn’t until now that the adults finally paid attention.

Lu Ran walked over to the coat rack, took his scarf, and wrapped it around his neck.

“What?” Jiang Huai didn’t quite understand.

“She’s more open-minded than me, more forgiving, and she knows exactly what she wants. All the good qualities I lack, she has.”

With that, Lu Ran left.

Jiang Huai sat there in a daze, while Luo Chen gave him a push. “See? Even the kid is more understanding than you! Lu Ran mentioned this when he called from Beijing, remember? He said, ‘Auntie, please don’t compare me to Xiao Nuan anymore. When she’s confident, she can do anything.’”

“Lu Ran… did he really say that?” Jiang Huai looked regretful. “I… I didn’t mean anything by it. I wasn’t actually trying to compare her to Lu Ran.”

Meanwhile, Jiang Nuan wandered the streets with her hands in her pockets, breathing in the cold air. The wind blew against her nose, making it feel like it was freezing on her face.

She felt like she had said too much back there, making things awkward.

But… even after saying it all, she didn’t regret it.

Because if she hadn’t had that burst of courage, she might never have gotten those words out and would’ve just kept bottling them up inside.

But why did she remember to grab her gloves and forget to bring a pack of tissues?

She had half a mind to check if her parents were coming after her, but instead, she spotted Lu Ran’s figure approaching, which startled her so much she immediately ducked around the corner by Aunt Chen’s yard and crouched down to hide.

The adults must’ve felt awkward and sent Lu Ran to find her.

No way! She didn’t want that!

Just go away! Go back and eat your meal!

Jiang Nuan sniffed, thinking she would buy some tissues with her five cents in a bit.

At that moment, a pack of tissues appeared in front of her.

“Hurry and wipe your nose.” Lu Ran said.

Jiang Nuan turned her head and nearly twisted her ankle in surprise when she saw him.

“Who asked for your tissues?” Jiang Nuan swatted Lu Ran’s hand away.

How did this guy find her so easily? Did his eyes have x-ray vision? She thought she had hidden herself so well.

“If you don’t wipe it, are you planning to eat it?”

“You’re the one who eats tissues!”

“…I meant your snot.”

Looking at his face, Jiang Nuan suddenly burst into tears, feeling overwhelmed with sadness.

“Why can’t you just let me have some peace for a moment? You’ve already won, alright? I can’t beat you at anything! I’m not even eating with you anymore, so why did you have to come after me and remind me of your existence?”

Tears and snot were streaming down uncontrollably. Jiang Nuan felt like rubbing all of it onto Lu Ran.

Lu Ran was silent for half a minute before speaking quietly.

“Once, I had a rival. When she stood in front of me, I thought I had every advantage and would naturally win in the end. But when she struck me with her sword, it felt like everything I had worked for over the past ten years crumbled away. After that, I could only focus on her. There are so many outstanding people in the world, but I could only see her—perhaps because she gave me such an astonishing start.”

“Really… a rival?” Jiang Nuan’s eyes were blurred with tears, making it impossible to see Lu Ran’s expression.

Was Lu Ran talking about Jian Ming? But Lu Ran wouldn’t underestimate Jian Ming.

“It was only after I lost that I realized this wasn’t even a competition.” Lu Ran said, his voice as cold as ever, but somehow different from usual.

Jiang Nuan grabbed the tissues and blew her nose furiously, glaring at Lu Ran.

“Why did you stop talking? What rival? You’re just trying to trick me into going back, aren’t you? Every time my parents compare me to you, you have no idea how much it hurts! You’re standing so high up, while I’m just so ordinary, so ordinary that nothing I do can ever satisfy my parents!”

Jiang Nuan thought she heard a soft sigh, which was quickly swept away by the wind and scattered by her breath.

“You don’t remember anything.” Lu Ran said, placing the tissue back to her nose. Jiang Nuan blew into it again, as if venting her frustration, but Lu Ran didn’t seem to mind, holding onto the tissue calmly.

“Remember what?” she asked irritably.

“I don’t like fencing. But my father used to be a fencer, and he always wanted to defeat your father. But in every major competition, he never succeeded. So, he placed his hopes on me. But I’m more interested in telecommunications engineering. I told him I didn’t want to fence anymore. I wanted to study abroad, choose my own path, and live the life I wanted, not the one he expected me to live. My dad was so furious that he ended up in the hospital with high blood pressure.”

Jiang Nuan was stunned. Did that really happen? She couldn’t remember.

“It was outside the hospital room that I realized I could never truly live the way I wanted. His expectations were like a net, trapping me inside. My struggle would only hurt him. If I didn’t love them, why would I care so much about their expectations?”

Jiang Nuan couldn’t understand how Lu Ran managed to control his emotions and speak so calmly.

“But that day, you told me that there was nothing you could surpass me in, except for fencing. If I gave up on fencing, you wouldn’t know how to prove to your dad that you could be better than me.”

Jiang Nuan froze for a moment. Indeed, when it came to studying or gaining the favor of elders, she had no advantage over Lu Ran.

But fencing was different. Jiang Nuan knew that Jian Ming had always been like a towering Himalaya in front of Lu Ran.

“That day, you were actually delivering food to me in the hospital on behalf of your mom, but you ended up eating it all yourself.”

Jiang Nuan was embarrassed. Lu Ran wasn’t making this up; it did sound like something she would do.

“You were excitedly talking about how you analyzed every move of mine in my match against Jian Ming on TV, regardless of whether I won or lost. You said that if I didn’t keep going, there might never be another rival like Jian Ming in any other field. That night, I was really happy because there was someone who was rooting for me, aside from my parents and coach. To this day, whenever people mention me—whether it’s my father, my club, or the sports magazines—they always bring up Jian Ming. I’m seen as Jian Ming’s backup, his safety net.”

At that moment, Jiang Nuan’s heart clenched. In the world of competitive sports, second place never holds as much value as first.

Lu Ran was viewed as Jian Ming’s substitute, his backup. When coaches and magazines made such remarks, no one cared whether Lu Ran’s feelings were hurt. He couldn’t even vent his anger like she could.

“So don’t worry about other people’s opinions anymore. We can’t live however we want, but at least we can hold our heads high in the face of their judgments.”

“What about that rival you can’t forget?” Jiang Nuan asked.

“She… she’s probably looking at Jian Ming now, no longer looking at me with such seriousness.”

Lu Ran’s voice was soft. Someone like him, so proud, would never lie.

For some reason, Jiang Nuan’s eyes began to burn with tears again.

“I’m telling you, I’m not going back!” Unable to find words of comfort, Jiang Nuan could only say that.

“I know. You wouldn’t have any face if you went back now.”

“Huh?” Jiang Nuan turned to look at Lu Ran.

Lu Ran smiled slightly, the corners of his eyes crinkling with a gentle warmth, as if he was looking at a child who was being unreasonable, but a child he would always treasure for her innocence and naivety.

She suddenly remembered a comment left by someone on that blog: “May you always be a little ugly duckling who never grows up.”

At this moment, she finally understood that such a wish could only come from someone who had been hurt by the skies.

If the ugly duckling never grows up, it will only be ridiculed for being ugly. But once it becomes a swan, it will have to compete with all the other beautiful swans and bear the pain of falling from grace.

“Might as well make the most of this opportunity to blow things up a little. If you don’t, going home now would make it all seem pointless.” Lu Ran said.

“I never thought about it that way!”

“Of course. Your brain doesn’t work that way.”

“Mind your own business.”

Jiang Nuan turned and continued walking.

Now that she had calmed down and thought about it, wasn’t this just about scaring some chickens with a firecracker? She hadn’t even hurt Aunt Chen’s chickens. Getting scolded by her parents wasn’t a big deal. The real issue was… Lu Ran and his parents had been there, making it all so embarrassing.

After a few steps, Jiang Nuan turned around and saw that Lu Ran, with his hands in his pockets, was following behind her.

Annoyed, she said, “I don’t need you to follow me!”

“Wanna go to ‘Mars World’?” Lu Ran asked.

Jiang Nuan’s eyes lit up. Mars World was a chain of internet cafes with super-fast internet speeds. She had only secretly gone there with Rao Can and her friends once.

“You know about ‘Mars World’?” Jiang Nuan asked in disbelief.

“Killing time. Or would you rather freeze out here in the cold?”

Suddenly, Lu Ran was walking in front, and Jiang Nuan was the one following behind.

“Slow down! So what if your legs are long?”

“I thought you didn’t want to admit you’re ‘Square Root of Two’?”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re 1.88 meters tall, the best!”

How about I treat you to some poop?

Even during the New Year, Mars World was still open for business.

Jiang Nuan and Lu Ran’s computers were side by side. This guy hung his scarf on the back of the chair and sat down. He didn’t even play games when he went online, just watched videos of world fencing championships or did online practice tests. How boring.

That scarf was an eyesore. “Hey, you don’t have to wear that scarf. You’ve got other ones, don’t you? Aren’t you worried about the wind slipping through the gaps and freezing your neck?”

“This is the only scarf I have.” Lu Ran replied.

Jiang Nuan didn’t want to argue with him anymore and dove straight into a game, teaming up with her friends for an all-out rampage.

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Author’s Note:

Jiang Nuan: I’m going to buy firecrackers and blow up every chicken in the world!

Lu Ran: The girls think I’m too hard on you, that I’m not nice enough. So, I’ve decided to help you.

Jiang Nuan: How are you going to help me?

Lu Ran: Wherever you blow up chickens, I’ll stand at the door and tell them it was me who did it.

Jiang Nuan: I’m not buying firecrackers anymore. I think I’ll buy some medicine for you instead…

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