Love in Cthulhu

Chapter 4 Dead Or Alive
It was already past midnight when I got back to the courtyard of the cultural center.

It was really hard to find any shops still open at this time of day. I rode my bicycle around for a long time before finally finding a small shop that was still open, which took up a lot of my time.

I imagine the woman at home must be getting impatient and restless. She's never been very patient; she's like an untamed wildcat.

But that's just right. We hadn't known each other for very long before, and we were all so caught up in the joy of her resurrection that we didn't pay much attention to whether there was anything wrong with Jian Xi in front of us.

You can act for a while, but can you really act for a lifetime? Sixteen years of living together day and night, growing up together since birth, and the familiarity of having only a wall separating our two families, I can always find out her true colors and distinguish between good and bad.

Zhou Nan touched the fruit knife he had discreetly tucked into his waistband, then carried his bags and pushed open the door to enter.

Surprisingly, the old house was dark. After entering, you could walk around the small living room in just a few steps and see the backyard from the corridor. Jian Xi should have been taking a bath there. Even a pig would have washed itself clean by now, so she should have stayed at home obediently. But now the house was pitch black.

A pair of hands silently emerged from the darkness, reached around the back of Zhou Nan's neck, and covered his eyes with great force, even causing a slight pain on his face.

Zhou Nan thought to himself, "This is bad! This guy has finally revealed his evil nature." His mind was filled with images of horror movies he had watched before.

The female ghost loves to play the dark humor of lust being a double-edged sword, and she has a particular fondness for gouging out the eyes of lecherous men who stare at them. With such force, is she trying to gouge out their eyeballs and eat them?
Before he could even reach for the knife at his waist, he heard the voice behind him say, "Guess who I am, guess who I am?"

That tone didn't sound like a vengeful ghost at all; it was a little mischievous and coquettish. Those soft hands were covering him so tightly not to hurt him, but because they didn't want him to get away easily.

In this kind of weather, her palms were practically ice-cold, and she deliberately wanted this latecomer to experience the bone-chilling cold. For this, she didn't hesitate to curl up under the table and wait for a long time.

"Is that Nie Xiaoqian?"

He gently took her hand, and his nervousness instantly cooled down considerably. This was indeed a game that Jian Xi loved to play. Only very young children would enjoy this kind of guessing game, but even after ten years, she still loved it.

In the past, Zhou Nan would honestly call her by her name, or say something like, "Stop messing around, how childish!" Jian Xi would get very unhappy. From then on, she knew to guess something cute or adorable.

I've been thinking about her the whole way, and the topic of the female ghost just slipped out of my mouth. Luckily, it's a well-known female ghost like Nie Xiaoqian, so I guess it won't be exposed.

"Heh, so you still know to come back to me, Ning Caichen!"

The lights came on, and a pleasant scent filled the air. It was clearly the fragrance of shampoo, but coming from such a bright and cheerful face, it seemed to create a ripple effect.

Jian Xi rushed in front of him and glared at him fiercely: "It's just buying some things, why did it take you so long? You must have been out gallivanting somewhere! Are the wildflowers outside really that fragrant? You forgot you have a little fox at home crying for food as soon as you stepped out the door!"

After taking a shower, Jianxi, whose skin felt great, returned to her long-haired self. Instead of tying it up, her hair was naturally loose, with the longest strands reaching past her waist. Whenever she bent over or moved slightly, her hair would sway gently, always reminding people of Dove's silky smooth advertisement.

She was wearing Zhou Nan's clothes. Her body, which was a size smaller, looked like a dress in the men's overcoat. The zipper was not zipped up, deliberately left open to reveal the striped sweater underneath.

Indeed, if you're good-looking, even if you're wearing rags, people will still think you're a star walking the red carpet, dressed in the latest Paris Fashion Week styles.

"Hunting is very difficult... especially since I'm just a weak scholar, with no strength to even kill a chicken." Zhou Nan placed the things he brought back on the table.

As soon as I got back to her, I immediately fell into a state of nonstop complaining.

One second he was thinking about how to resist, but once she started the conversation about how to fight back peacefully, he naturally started to follow suit.

What's this called again? Habit becomes second nature? Sure enough, the "Queen of Trolls" trait is contagious. When one person in a group is an expert in this area, everyone will unknowingly be infected and begin to fall into depravity.

Jian Xi snatched the plastic bag and poured it all out in one go. Her expectant expression instantly turned half cold.

"So, you weak scholar, all you brought back from hunting were instant noodles, AD calcium milk, wafers, spicy strips, and crispy noodles?"

She pouted like a child, opened a bottle of AD milk, tilted her head back and took two gulps, then slammed it heavily on the table, looking just like a disappointed person at a dinner party.

"What I want to eat is rice, you understand? I mean something that you can eat and chew, not this kind of junk that's just filling your teeth!"

"Look at the time! Do you think I'm going to conjure up some simple home-cooked dishes for you? Besides, even landlords don't have surplus grain. We're lucky to have this much to eat. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have bought this food. You're so picky."

Zhou Nan sat down and tore open a bag of Kyushu scallion biscuits. The God of Wealth on them seemed to have never changed since he could remember, and they had always tasted the same over the years.

"Didn't you love eating this when you were little? You'd hold a piece in your mouth without chewing, let it melt in your mouth before eating it, saying it tasted like cookie paste."

Jian Xi took the food but didn't eat it. Instead, she asked, "How old am I this year?"

"Sixteen? That's a joke. We share the same birthday, but it just ended during summer vacation."

"Do you think I, at sixteen, should like the same things as I did when I was six?"

Jian Xi sighed, staring at the cookie in her hand: "I've heard that some fathers don't even know what grade or class their kids are in. It seems like you're starting to show signs of that, which makes me really worried about your future emotional intelligence..."

"You were born five minutes earlier, and you use that little bit of time to act all high and mighty every day." Zhou Nan snatched the cookie from her hand and swallowed it in one gulp.

“No, it’s not 5 minutes, it’s 5 minutes and 40 seconds. Rounding up, that’s 6 minutes, then 10 minutes, then 600 seconds, then 1000 seconds, then 16.67 minutes, then 20 minutes! So I was born 20 minutes earlier than you, breathed 20 minutes more air, and experienced 20 minutes more of life. That won’t change in the past, won’t change now, and will never change in the future!” She spoke each word clearly, her gaze intense, as if uttering the greatest truth in the world: “Therefore, I will always be your older sister! You have to follow me; I have the right to protect you!”

Zhou Nan thought to himself, "Damn, it's not that hooligans are scary, it's that female hooligans are scary. She's educated too! She's clearly no match for him in academics, but when she talks about twisted logic, her thoughts are endless."

You're shorter than me, your grades aren't as high as mine, and you're a soft girl. In the future, I'll have to settle down and start a family, while you're going to marry someone. Everyone says that once a daughter is married, she's like water spilled from a cup. You've been spilled to who knows where on Earth, and you might not even come back once a year. How are you going to protect me?

He should have given her a good thrashing to stop her from getting too cocky, but he couldn't bring himself to say it.

He used to be very slow to develop, and he was still the shortest in his class until the sixth grade of elementary school. Unfortunately, he had a bad temper back then, like a short-legged corgi. For all those years in elementary school, if anyone laughed at him for being short, he would rush over and bite them, even if he knew he couldn't win, he still had to save face.

In contrast to him was Jian Xi. Girls naturally develop earlier than boys. Jian Xi was not only tall but had also been in dance class since she was a child. Standing there, she looked like a little adult. Her aura alone was extraordinary. She was even more ruthless when she fought, daring to throw bricks at people directly.

Back then, she really was protecting him. A few silly kids made faces and said, "Zhou Nan, Zhou Nan, little bean sprout, what a spineless little bean sprout, all he can do is hide under the girl's skirt and bark."

Jian Xi, hands on her hips and glaring, said, "What? You guys don't like it? With your pathetic state, nobody's going to listen to you even if you want someone to protect you. If you're not happy, come and fight me one-on-one! You can't even beat a girl? I'll still kick you all down even in a skirt!"
Zhou Nan charged forward, starting the battle. Jian Xi, being a girl, was not intimidated at all. In short, the result of their fierce fight turned into a group brawl, and both of them were injured and had to endure the scolding together.

Grandma Jianxi was heartbroken. While applying the best medicine to her face, she said, "What if such a beautiful face is left with a scar that will never heal?"
Jian Xi tossed her hair and said, "If that doesn't work, then let Zhou Nan marry me! He's mine. I got hurt because of him, so he has to repay me with his body!" Zhou Nan jumped up in embarrassment and said, "Who's yours! Who wants to marry you! I'm a man, I don't need you to protect me!" Jian Xi said, "Fine, then you have to pay me back for the dress. I bought it for you, and it ripped after only one day." Zhou Nan was speechless and could only sit down silently. Jian Xi said triumphantly, "That's more like it. You want to follow me?"

With that domineering and devilish air, she's always aspired to be a female knight-errant.

Now, times have changed. The little devil she used to be famous far and wide has grown into a graceful young woman, and he is no longer the little bean sprout in the compound. Although he calls himself a weak scholar, he has not forgotten any of the Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) he learned from his coach.

Now it's his turn to protect her. Such a beautiful girl, there are always many eyes that intentionally or unintentionally take a few extra glances when she goes out. There are always some street thugs of varying ages squatting on the way to the internet cafe. Every time, they always hold hands, as if declaring their ownership of each other.

But before he could say that he was now the older brother, she had already left inexplicably.

The person in front of her was not her at all, but something that had her memories, personality, and behavior—a fake Jian Xi.

Zhou Nan constantly reminded herself not to confuse the two of them just because they looked so alike. She didn't even know whether this person was truly good and beautiful or just fake, evil, and ugly.

He picked up the instant noodles from the bag, and just as he stood up, Jian Xi yelled, "What? Trying to hog it all? Have you no humanity?! I've shared half a pack of spicy strips with you for so many years, and you won't even give me any instant noodles!"

"Who's trying to steal your food? I still have some eggs, wouldn't it be better to cook them together?" Zhou Nan said irritably.

"Yay! Fried egg! Fried egg! Fried egg!" Jian Xi's expression immediately changed, and she clenched her fist and banged on the table.

A fire was lit in the dimly lit kitchen stove in the backyard. There was neither a modern stove nor an exhaust fan; it used the traditional brick and mud chimney, and the stove was an earthen stove that relied on burning firewood to cook.

In my memory, when my grandparents were still alive, the people who cooked here always ended up covered in dust and dirt, with old, greasy, and black marks everywhere on the walls and beams.

It is said that when they first moved here, the county's cultural center had only been established for a short time. At that time, the Dankou Reservoir began to impound water, and the entire county had to be moved north and rebuilt in a new place with higher terrain.

Cultural institutions like these should be put on hold for now, as there isn't enough space or manpower. These rows of old houses were built on the spot with funds raised back then and have been occupied for so many years.

Now it's a place that's been in disrepair for years, with black mold spots and faded paint everywhere. The old house at the end next door had its beams washed away by a heavy rain last year, but thankfully no one lives there anymore. The buildings in the museum are all small buildings built in the 1990s, and they were recently repainted.

It's only a matter of time before this old house is completely razed to the ground.

All childhoods are like this. Even if it's only a few years, when you want to reminisce about it, you often find that there's no place left to hold your memories. Now, those childhood friends whose names you can still remember have disappeared one after another without you even knowing when. But the girl beside him is still with him all this time.

When Zhou Nan brought out two bowls of noodles, Jian Xi was already asleep on the sofa.

These old-fashioned artificial leather sofas are not comfortable. After long-term use, the artificial leather covering the wooden frame will become shiny and hard, even shinier than the whiteboard of a mahjong tile, and cold and slippery.

Sleeping on this place is hardly a pleasant experience, but Jianxi was sleeping peacefully with her legs drawn up to her chest and her head resting on her knees, her fine eyelashes thick and like a curtain.

She wasn't even wearing socks; her bare feet were tucked into her trouser legs, with only the crescent moons of her toes showing. Her long, flowing hair enveloped her like a soft veil, and in the light hanging from above, her skin had a jade-like texture, as if it were cool to the touch.

If you ignore the drool dripping from the corner of her mouth, it could actually be considered a captivating scene.

Zhou Nan knew she had this problem; when she slept too soundly, she would unconsciously open her mouth slightly, and if her posture was wrong, saliva would naturally flow out.

As a result, Jian Xi developed the habit of never taking a nap during lunch break at school. She hated letting others see her in such an embarrassing state. She could only sleep peacefully when Zhou Nan was her deskmate, because Zhou Nan would put a wad of tissue near her mouth and cover her face with a pile of books to help her hide it.

Didn't you sleep for so many days before? Why are you sleepy again now?

Zhou Nan wasn't sure if this was a trap, but it was the worst possible situation. It was hard to tell. Even the former Jian Xi was no different from a manipulative female ghost. They were both just pretending to be nonchalant in their flirting. The only difference was that Jian Xi was just teasing Zhou Nan, while the evil ghost wanted to kill the scholar.

But she was really sleeping soundly. Wasn't she drooling? You know best, that means she was sleeping very comfortably. Look at her silly face, completely unguarded. If this could be acted out, what chance would anyone else have at the next Oscars?
Zhou Nan put down the bowl, pressed one hand against the fruit knife hidden in his waistband, and approached step by step.

(End of this chapter)