Climbing Into the Blanket: Together It's Not So Cold

Who would have thought that the honest, unassuming Jiang Erya could be so wicked? The first person at school to actively strike up a conversation with her turned out to be someone like this.

Jiang Xu was certain her exam paper bore Jiang Erya's name, and she was furious. Good thing she had never considered Jiang Erya a friend. But she found herself unable to say anything. For some reason, the moment she saw Liang Xiaoqing's face, the words died in her throat.

Liang Xiaoqing stood up from her chair, stretched her back, and set the paper on the desk. "Alright, I'll grade the rest tomorrow when I get back—there and back in a day. It's getting late now. You need to sleep." Her feigned sternness was transparent at a glance.

Jiang Xu said, "But it's Friday."

Liang Xiaoqing said, "Even if it's Saturday, that's not allowed. Starting to stay up late at your age? Look, you've already got dark circles under your eyes..."

"..."

Liang Xiaoqing half-tugged her to the bathroom. "Hurry up, wash up and go to bed."

During this period living at Liang Xiaoqing's, her sleep schedule had never been more regular. She really was at the point of feeling sleepy. Pushed along by Liang Xiaoqing, she said nothing, and even because of Liang Xiaoqing, the anger over Jiang Erya impersonating her on the exam had considerably subsided.

She looked for an opportunity to tell Liang Xiaoqing the truth, but she never did.

Out on the balcony, Liang Xiaoqing brushed her teeth alongside her, the mirror reflecting a large figure and a small one. Liang Xiaoqing was quicker, filling a basin with water for washing her face. The red lacquered wooden stand was as tall as Jiang Xu. Liang Xiaoqing wrung out the washcloth, the enamel basin splashing with water.

Jiang Xu rinsed her mouth beside her, and just after she finished, a warm cloth wiped across her face. Jiang Xu held still, and Liang Xiaoqing rinsed the cloth again, wiping her face a second time.

Steam still rising from her skin, Liang Xiaoqing cleaned the cloth in the enamel basin. "Did you wash your feet?"

Jiang Xu answered with a "No," then pulled out a larger enamel basin from the bottom shelf. "I've got the water ready."

"Mm," Liang Xiaoqing said.

After washing her feet, it was just about time. The thick night made her eyelids heavier and heavier, and the lamp in the room went dark. The light from the school filtered through the thin window screen, leaving faint traces in the room, the furnishings reduced to blurry outlines. In the dimness, Jiang Xu opened her eyes and stared at the pitch-black ceiling.

The colder the weather, the warmer the bed. The thick, soft cotton wrapped around her, leaving only her head poking out. The bed was already warm from her lying in it—unlike the bed at home, where the cotton was hard and damp, leaving her feet cold even after a full night. Jiang Xu turned over a few times. Outside the window, a drizzling night rain began to fall again.

The faint noise mixed with rain was the most sleep-inducing, yet Jiang Xu felt her drowsiness slipping away bit by bit.

"Why aren't you asleep yet?"

Jiang Xu immediately froze, not daring to move.

From the floor mattress came another voice: "Xiao Xu, is something on your mind?"

She heard a rustling sound, tilted her head, and by the faint light, she saw Liang Xiaoqing lying on her side, facing her.

"I..." Jiang Xu's voice was small. "Did I wake you, Sister Xiaoqing?"

"Mm..." Liang Xiaoqing hummed drowsily, as if about to fall asleep. "Don't keep things bottled up alone—say them out loud. You're so young, why so gloomy and old-fashioned... And at school, you must interact more with your classmates, say a few more words. Over time, you'll naturally become more talkative, understand? ...Sister Yang told me you don't talk much in class... No matter what, you should be a bit livelier..." Then came a long, even breath, Liang Xiaoqing's voice growing softer and softer, and Jiang Xu listened quietly.

She thought Liang Xiaoqing would continue, but after waiting a while, there was no sound from beside her at all.

"Sister Xiaoqing?" Jiang Xu's voice was gentle, her eyes still open, staring into the vague darkness. "Are you asleep?"

No sound.

Jiang Xu pressed her lips together and curled up her body.

The night seemed especially long, especially in the rainy season—one rain after another, the sky always gray, no clear day in sight.

Jiang Xu threw off the tightly tucked blanket Liang Xiaoqing had arranged for her and tiptoed. Wearing only her thin clothes, she slipped quietly off the bed and crept into Liang Xiaoqing's blanket.

Too bad she was too big; crawling in made quite a bit of noise. The blanket was completely infused with the warmth of Liang Xiaoqing's body, and it warmed her own as well.

Liang Xiaoqing's head shifted against the pillow. Jiang Xu watched Liang Xiaoqing's sleeping face—the dim light casting a gentle glow on her soft features, long lashes leaving fan-shaped shadows beneath her eyes. It was the first time Jiang Xu had been this close to her. At this moment, her heart was extraordinarily calm. She didn't know why she had done it; by the time she snapped back to herself, she was already lying in Liang Xiaoqing's blanket.

Time slipped away to the sound of her own heartbeat.

She waited patiently.

Liang Xiaoqing opened her eyes.

"Xiao Xu?..." The sleepiness in her eyes faded considerably. "Why are you..."

But Jiang Xu closed her eyes and leaned closer into Liang Xiaoqing's arms. She mumbled, "Cold... Sister Xiaoqing, together it's not so cold..." Her voice was barely louder than a mosquito's buzz.

Liang Xiaoqing recovered from her shock and stroked Jiang Xu's messy hair, dazed and a little at a loss. "...Alright."

And so, Jiang Xu felt even more at ease.

She closed her eyes, feeling the warmth seeping in around her body, her eyelids growing heavy. She felt Liang Xiaoqing's hair brushing her face, the bedding around her tucked tighter again, her head gently lifted and then set back down, as if resting on something.

Her hand absentmindedly grabbed something, and with the sound of rain outside the window, she finally fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, before dawn, when Liang Xiaoqing woke, Jiang Xu woke with her. She rubbed her eyes and saw Liang Xiaoqing changing clothes.

Seeing her awake, Liang Xiaoqing said, "Xiao Xu, did I wake you? Sleep a little more. You don't need to get up this early today."

Jiang Xu shook her head, saying she wasn't sleepy anymore. She sat up from the blanket, grabbed her clothes, and slipped them on swiftly. Just as Liang Xiaoqing usually did, she turned on the old, battered secondhand radio by the headboard; the signal was poor when it first came on.

Jiang Xu slapped it twice before it recovered, and the broadcast played the morning news. By the time Jiang Xu finished dressing, the news had ended and the weather forecast began.

Jiang Xu listened patiently. When the forecast finished, she said to Liang Xiaoqing, "Sister Xiaoqing, it's going to rain today. Remember to bring an umbrella."

Liang Xiaoqing was still pulling on her socks and hummed a few times in acknowledgment.

Jiang Xu watched her slightly flustered manner, and while she was washing up, Jiang Xu went to the kitchen, lit the stove, boiled two eggs, and warmed a pack of milk.

By the time Liang Xiaoqing was heading out, Jiang Xu hurriedly grabbed an umbrella and the eggs and milk. The eggs were just the right temperature. She caught Liang Xiaoqing at the door and handed them over. "Sister Xiaoqing, this is for you." As she said it, she stuffed the umbrella into the bag.

Liang Xiaoqing gave her an extra glance. "Thank you, Xiao Xu. Stay home and behave today. There's food in the fridge—make yourself some lunch. In the evening, wait for me to come back, and I'll bring you something good." As she spoke, she peeled an egg and took a bite.

Jiang Xu nodded and said alright.

The weather forecast was sometimes accurate, sometimes not. Take today, for instance. In the morning it looked like rain, but once the clouds scattered, the sun came out. Jiang Xu was also peeling an egg. She had boiled two for Liang Xiaoqing, but Liang Xiaoqing said she couldn't finish them, so Jiang Xu had to eat the leftover herself.

In all her time at Liang Xiaoqing's home, she still didn't dare touch things carelessly, let alone boil eggs for herself. In her own home, eggs were a rare treat—only when Jiang Daguo was in a good mood, or when Jiang Lun came home, would Wang Cai boil a couple extra and let her have one.

The egg wasn't very hot anymore. Jiang Xu peeled half of it and took a bite. She sat at the desk, staring at the test paper for a while, then pulled out the paper bearing her name from a thick stack. This one showed no signs of erasure on the name—just the crooked scrawl "Jiang Xu." The handwriting was identical to the big characters reading "Jiang Erya."

Jiang Xu quickly finished the egg. She compared the two papers side by side, stared for a while longer, then rolled the papers up, tucked them into her sleeve, and headed out the door.

Jiang Xu had already made up her mind: she absolutely had to tell Liang Xiaoqing about this. Jiang Erya was too despicable. Fortunately, Jiang Xu had always been calm and composed when faced with problems. Having been through worse things, Jiang Erya's actions didn't seem all that significant.

Jiang Erya's home was at the far end of the village. Her family was poor—compared to the cement walls of other people's houses, they only had two rammed-earth rooms that barely kept out the wind and rain. The place was shabby and rundown. Because it sat close to the mountain, the wild trees behind it had grown huge, their canopies pressing directly against the roof beam of Jiang Erya's house. If a tree ever fell, Jiang Erya's house would be smashed in two.

The few neighbors around also knew of this hazard. They had saved up money and organized the villagers to help build new houses elsewhere, and they had already moved away. Only Jiang Erya's family remained, standing there without a care.

Jiang Xu had been to Jiang Erya's home once. That time, Jiang Erya had borrowed her exercise book for reference, forgotten to bring it back the next day, and after school, Jiang Xu had to follow her to the house for Jiang Erya to return it.

Guided by memory, Jiang Xu made it to Jiang Erya's home without trouble. Since there were no other houses around, she could spot the ramshackle building at a glance.

The muddy path was still wet from the rain. With every step Jiang Xu took, she left a muddy footprint, the whole narrow trail covered in crooked tracks. The dew on the roadside weeds soaked her trousers.

Jiang Xu looked down at the mud caked on her shoes and slowly knitted her brow. Her canvas shoes were so old they had faded to white, but they had been clean until now. Covered in mud, she had no idea how she would get home. She looked up at Jiang Erya's doorstep again.

She shouldn't have come at all.

"Study my ass! Jiang Erya, do you have any idea what kind of condition this family is in? Where would we find the money for you to study?! Even if we let you study, you don't have the brains for it!"

Just as Jiang Xu was hesitating about turning back, Jiang Erya was shoved out by a plump woman.

"If you want to study, earn the tuition yourself! I, Wei Shufen, will act like I don't have a daughter like you! Don't you know how things are at home? You don't think about the family at all! If you use up all the family's money, what's your little brother supposed to do?! I've already talked to your Uncle Li Er. If you marry his son Daniú, you won't need to study anymore. Isn't settling down and living a proper life good enough? Your Uncle Li Er is coming to pick you up the day after tomorrow. If you don't agree, how am I supposed to explain it to him? Feeding you through all these years of schooling is already more than enough, isn't it! Eating porridge for free without lifting a finger—where in the world is there such a good deal!"

"Mom! Didn't you say if I did well on this exam, I could keep studying! I promise I'll do really well this time. Once I finish my studies, I'll make lots of money and take care of you! Mom, how can you go back on your word!"

Jiang Erya, who was always so easygoing around Jiang Xu, now looked cornered, shouting in a rough voice. Shoved to the ground by the woman, a flock of chickens flapped their wings, clucking and scattering across the yard.

Jiang Erya was covered in mud. Her heavy body struggled up from the ground and grabbed her mother's arm. "Mom, I'm your daughter. Are you really going to sell me?" Mud splattered across her face, but her eyebrows were unusually well-shaped, slanting downward, looking pitiful. "I... I'm only fifteen this year..."

"Smack!"

"Sell?!" Wei Shufen slapped Jiang Erya across the face, even angrier now. "What do you mean, sell! Jiang Erya, if I were going to sell you, I'd have done it long ago! Maybe my life would be better off! Your dad and I haven't done wrong by you. Money's tight at home, but we still let you go to school. And what have you made of it? What about being fifteen? That Tian girl next door is a year younger than you, and she's already settled down with so-and-so, living life just fine now! You just don't want to contribute to this family! We feed you, we clothe you, and you still act like you're hard done by?"

"I refuse to go to Uncle Er's place! I want to study, I want to keep studying!" Jiang Erya was furious too, five clear finger marks red across her face. But her eyes welled up with tears. "I want to study... Why can my brother study and I can't...!"

Wei Shufen shoved her twice more. "Get out, get out! If you want to study, pay for it yourself! Who's stopping you?! All you do is eat up the family's food and take what's ours, you good-for-nothing! We can't afford you anymore. Leave on your own—go wherever you want, do whatever you want! Go study then, go ahead, nobody's telling you not to!"

Wei Shufen was flushed with anger herself. To be fair, she had treated this daughter of hers decently enough, letting her go to school for a couple of years against the pressure. But her daughter's grades were poor—she simply wasn't cut out for studying—and still she brought up school. There were two boys in the house now, and every which way needed money. She would work herself to death and never get a day of rest!

Wei Shufen stormed back into the house. In the main room, her younger brother, who had just learned to walk, sat on the ground wailing, demanding that Jiang Erya hold him. Jiang Erya also had a brother in elementary school who skipped class every day to run to the back mountain and catch wild bugs.

"Cry, cry, cry! So annoying!" Wei Shufen grumbled. Her husband worked away from home, coming back once a year with a bit of money. Besides the three children at home, there was also a bedridden mother-in-law who couldn't take care of herself, lying on the bed waiting for her.

Bang! Wei Shufen practically slammed the door open. In the dim, damp room lay an old woman who could only move her eyes, a strong, unpleasant stench wafting out.

The old woman's withered hand raised slightly. Wei Shufen's face darkened with resentment, the wrinkles on her face forming a bitter line. The heavy burden of life had long drained her body—someone in her thirties looked over ten years older.

She glanced at the old woman on the bed with disgust and drawled: "What do you want now! Can't you stop torturing me!"

"I really owe your Jiang family everything!"

The old woman made a gurgling sound in her throat, staring at the doorway. Wei Shufen ignored her and went into the inner room. The faded wooden cabinet banged open. She grabbed a handful of Jiang Erya's clothes, along with the textbooks on the headboard that served as a desk, carried them out in a hurry, and hurled them at Jiang Erya.

The clothes and books scattered across the ground.

"Jiang Erya! If you want to leave, then leave!"

Jiang Erya was stunned by the impact. "Mom!"

Tears as big as beans rolled down her cheeks. "Give me another chance, please! I promise I'll get first place this time!"

Wei Shufen walked into the house, mechanically picked up the child from the ground, sat on a small stool, set the child on her lap, and fed him spoonful by spoonful. She didn't spare Jiang Erya another glance.

Jiang Erya felt like a helpless little animal abandoned. She couldn't believe Wei Shufen meant it. She picked up the clothes from the ground, trying to walk back into the house, but Wei Shufen shot her a resentful look, set the child down, and let him wail.

Bang! She slammed the door.

"I'm not fit to be your mother! Don't cling to me anymore!"

A voice came from inside.

Jiang Erya paused, suddenly at a loss. She turned around, looking at the clothes and books scattered on the ground. Tears flowed endlessly from her eyes. She sobbed, her body trembling uncontrollably.

The sunlight was bright and glaring, blurring her tear-filled eyes. The way her shoulders shook made her look a bit comical.

She wiped her tears, and through the haze, she saw a slender figure walking toward her.