Zhuan Zhu (1)
T/L: Sial Joans
E/D: Larky
P/R: You! Please comment if you spot any mistakes.
The school building was bright and green.
Lin Zhao Xi, dressed in Hongxing Primary School’s uniform, stood at the gate of Anning Primary School, looking inside.
The sun poured down on the vibrant faces inside the gate.
Boys in suits and ties and girls in short skirts and white socks. At that time, schools carried out uniform reform one after another, but only the best primary schools would let students match the whole set.
If we are to say that the loneliness of the past belonged to Little Zhao Xi, then the loneliness of the present must belong to Big Lin Zhao Xi.
The beautiful courtyard in front of her was her former school, but now the gates were as far as she could go. After all, the best primary school in the city was no place for a penniless orphan. The likes of her belonged to the Hongxing Primary School, a school that didn’t even make it to the city rankings.
Wasn’t it only a few hours ago that she complained that even though she and Pei Zhi were always in the same school, their paths never once converged in life? And now, even that little bit was snatched away from her.
Sigh, the Cheese World is truly cruel.
Hit in the face by reality, she was so depressed that she absent-mindedly bumped into the stainless steel railing, banging right into it.
The gatekeeper of the primary school not far away was startled. However, instead of coming over to check on the girl who had just hurt herself, he simply waved, telling her to leave quickly.
She looked down at her school trousers and gray sneakers, which had been washed ragged, and silently turned away. Clothes really did make a difference…
Although the two schools were only 700-800 meters away from each other, the distance between them was insurmountable. Hongxing Primary School was neither the focus of the city nor the focus of the district. It was a very normal school, receiving zero attention. Needless to say, it wasn’t much.
It sat on a large expanse of land with little to no infrastructure. The multitude of students barely fit inside the dilapidated buildings in the premises.
Standing by the gates of Hongxing Primary School for a while, she let her thoughts wander, trying to come to terms with the twists and shocks her life had served her. She woodenly watched tall kids bullying young schoolmates, stealing pocket money.
With that, she turned away without hesitation and continued her journey to find her father.
She was a college student. To her, skiving was as common as eating and drinking water, leaving not the slightest sense of guilt behind.
…
Zhuan Zhu Lane was close to the two schools, only a five-minute walk away.
Once upon a time, Old Lin spent tens of thousands of yuan to send her to a private school. After saving up, he had rented a courtyard next to the primary school just so she could get some extra sleep every day.
When he had rented a house that year, Old Lin took a fancy to the alleys at a glance.
Zhuan Zhu was a legendary ancient assassin in the Spring and Autumn period. He had hid a dagger in the belly of a fish in order to kill the king. But…
[T/N: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuan_Zhu]
Old Lin was a mathematician, a man of science… he didn’t know a thing about literature.
At that time, the real estate agent was enthusiastically narrating the story of “Zhuan Zhu”, boasting that this alley had a long history when out of nowhere Old man Lin lamented…
“Oh, there was a river nearby, I didn’t see it before.”
The intermediary reacted only after a few seconds, turning pale then angry, so much so that he almost didn’t rent the house to them.
Thinking back to the day brought a smile to her lips as she strolled down the alley lined with pink walls on either side. Gradually, her pace slowed down and Lin Zhao Xi was stunned yet again.
She had a poor sense of direction and couldn’t remember where she lived. When she first moved here, she had knocked twice on the wrong door and was sent back by her neighbor. To avoid a third time, Old Lin wrote a mathematical formula with red paint on the door and made a road sign for her.
Walking from No. 1 to No. 299, Lin Zhao Xi did not see the door painted with the mathematical formulas, and suddenly she felt discomfited.
She felt lost, unable to find her father. The only solace was that she might be the only Lin Zhao Xi in the Cheese World.
Thinking she may have missed, she walked up the lane again, compelling herself to remember where they lived. Eventually, she did find the courtyard she had lived in with Old Lin.
The door did seem to resemble the one in her memory, an iron door with a brass knocker. The family next door had a Chihuahua, which yelped and barked all day long.
When she heard its bark, she stepped back, looked up, and continued to observe the courtyard from a distance, comparing it with what she remembered.
The design and color of frosted window paper? I don’t remember…
What was the style of the door lock? I don’t remember…
The shape of the moss on the wall? How can I remember that?!
Finally, she looked at the grapevines adorning the walls of the courtyard since long. It was lush green, trembling at the slightest touch of wind.
Well, it seems familiar so far.
However, she couldn’t be sure by just looking from a distance. As she stood there trying to ascertain, her sharp eyes noticed a hole in the window paper.
She looked around and found some bricks. One upon the other, she laid them under the windowsill. Then, making sure there was no one around, she gingerly stepped on them, aligned herself and peeked through the hole.
The room was dark and succinctly furnished. Besides a bed, desk, and a very old wardrobe there was nothing else.
In other words, there is no one inside.
In the past, although Old Lin lived in this room, it was full of her useless teaching books and children’s books, very much like a garbage dump. Now, looking at the clean and tidy room, it felt very unfamiliar.
In other words, there seemed to be no sign of a little girl living here. Even if Old man Lin were to still live here, he likely didn’t have any other children!
Lin Zhao Xi forced herself to take comfort in that.
…
From the scorching sun in the sky to up until it set, Lin Zhao Xi stayed at the gate of the courtyard. She didn’t see the owner of the house, let alone her own father.
Having waited for such a long time in vain, Lin Zhao Xi gradually came to a realization.
If Old Lin weren’t here, then he was most likely studying abroad… right?
Actually, it’s not bad. After all, this was the life Old man Lin should have in the first place.
Who knows, her future might be like the movies… she, a long-lost, rich second-generation heir, reuniting with her family? That’s how the tropes worked, didn’t they?
Before she knew it, Lin Zhao Xi was already approaching the doors of the orphanage. She had an inexplicable foreboding.
It wasn’t because she possessed any special powers. When she dragged her feet to the entrance of the alley, a little boy squatting under the streetlight roared…
“Lin Zhao Xi! Come back, come on!”