Little Duckling - Chapter 11

“You raise Call Ducks too?” Yan Lu’s seemingly sarcastic remark momentarily left Jian Xin speechless.

But after thinking it over, she realized it was only natural for her ex to give her the cold shoulder. If an ex were warm and gentle, would they still be an ex?

Rather than dwell on such trivialities, she should focus on what truly mattered.

Speaking of changing tastes, she suddenly remembered something crucial!

Her duck… no, Cauliflower’s duck feed needed a temporary adjustment.

But since these were Yan Lu’s ducks, how could she inquire about their well-being without raising suspicion?

The drama on her phone continued playing, but Jian Xin had long lost interest in the plot.

Noticing her friend’s sudden distraction, Yao Wenqian thoughtfully paused the show and rewound the progress bar a bit. “Do you and your cousin have something you want to discuss? Should I leave you two alone?”

“No!” Jian Xin replied sharply.

“No,” Yan Lu echoed.

Their simultaneous denials froze Yao Wenqian’s half-risen butt in mid-air.

The atmosphere grew momentarily awkward. Jian Xin quickly cleared her throat twice. “There’s nothing you need to leave for. We just haven’t seen each other in years and wanted to catch up… Please, sit down.”

Yao Wenqian blinked and carefully settled back into her seat.

Jian Xin let out a silent sigh of relief—that was close! Her cousin almost left.

She and Yan Lu were unlikely to find common ground, making it difficult to steer the conversation toward duck feed.

But her cousin was different—she was so talkative! It would be easy to guide the conversation!

“Haha, it’s so quiet here,” Jian Xin said with an awkward laugh, awkwardly steering the conversation toward her desired topic. “Do you guys like animals?”

Yan Lu didn’t respond, pulling out her phone instead.

Yao Wenqian, however, eagerly chimed in, “I love them! I follow so many cute pet bloggers and spend hours ‘cloud-petting’ cats and dogs every day!”

“Right? Me too!” Jian Xin quickly seized the opportunity. “After cloud-petting for so long, I really want to get one myself!”

“Exactly!” Yao Wenqian agreed enthusiastically.

“But then I think about the furniture getting ruined, the mess of cleaning up poop and pee, the fur shedding everywhere, and how I’m already so busy I barely have time to breathe… I just can’t imagine taking care of a furry little one right now.”

“Exactly, exactly, exactly, exactly!”

“People with pets at home must be so happy!” Jian Xin said, unconsciously glancing at Yan Lu.

Yan Lu remained focused on her phone, head bowed.

Thankfully, someone else knew the answer to the question.

“My cousin has a Corgi!” Yao Wenqian exclaimed, her face lighting up as she talked about the dog. “I’ve petted that Corgi before—it’s so lively and adorable!”

“A Corgi…” Why only mention the Corgi? What about the Duck?!

“Yeah, my cousin’s Corgi hasn’t had its tail docked. Its tail is long and fluffy, sticking up like a foxtail grass!” Yao Wenqian suddenly remembered something, her eyes sparkling even brighter. “Oh, and the Corgi’s name is Xin Xin, just like Sister Jian Xin’s name! What a coincidence!”

“Ha ha ha—that’s quite a coincidence,” Jian Xin said, her lips twitching slightly.

What a “coincidence”! Want to guess why it’s such a “coincidence”?

So annoyed, but I have to keep smiling.

Yan Lu, who had been silent for a long time, couldn’t help but cough softly. “Jian Xin is afraid of dogs.”

Yao Wenqian froze for a moment, suddenly realizing she had said something she shouldn’t have. Panic flashed across her face.

After a brief moment of panic, she quickly deployed her ultimate topic-shifting technique.

“Hey, Sister Jian Xin, do you know about Call Ducks?”

“Call Ducks!” Finally hearing the keyword, Jian Xin nearly teared up with excitement.

Of course I know! she thought. I know them better than anyone in the world!

Yao Wenqian continued, “My cousin’s family has a Call Duck. It waddles around all wobbly and always gets into playful fights with their dog—it’s so funny to watch them chase each other around!”

“Wow!”

So funny… Jian Xin thought, gritting her teeth.

“I have a video of them! Let me find it!” Yao Wenqian grabbed her phone and started scrolling through her gallery.

Little did she know, her mission had already been accomplished. Sister Jian Xin no longer needed her, at least for now.

Jian Xin turned to Yan Lu. “Do you have a Call Duck too?”

Yan Lu looked up. “You have one?”

“Not exactly,” Jian Xin replied, shaking her head and launching into a fabricated story. “But I have a friend! And she has a Call Duck!”

“Oh,” Yan Lu responded coldly, clearly uninterested in stories about strangers.

Jian Xin didn’t care whether Yan Lu wanted to listen or not. She opened her mouth and started chattering away—

“Speaking of which, her duck used to be so healthy, eating anything you gave it. But recently, it suddenly lost its appetite. She tried several different duck feeds, but the duck barely touched them. Even after taking it to the vet, they couldn’t find anything wrong. My friend was so worried!”

Jian Xin paused for breath, her eyes sparkling with anticipation. “Guess how she finally solved the problem?”

Yan Lu’s interest piqued slightly. “How?”

Perfect! This is exactly what I wanted to hear!

Jian Xin cleared her throat. “She switched the duck feed to finely chopped fresh vegetables and fruits, mixed with breadcrumbs and shrimp. The little duck devoured it instantly!”

She finished with a relieved smile, as if she had finally fulfilled some grand ambition. She turned her gaze away from Yan Lu, focusing instead on Yao Wenqian’s phone screen.

Yan Lu doesn’t want to talk to me, and I don’t really want to talk to her either.

That’s just the kind of person Jian Xin is—always striving to win, even in a cold shoulder contest.

Beside them, Yao Wenqian muttered, “I can’t seem to find the video…”

“No worries,” Jian Xin said. “Let’s just keep watching the show!”

“Okay!” Yao Wenqian closed the photo album and placed her phone back on the tray table.

Perhaps the brief conversation had eased the tension. The atmosphere in the room finally felt less awkward as the three of them naturally resumed watching the show together on the small phone screen.

Yan Lu never imagined she would one day sit so calmly by Jian Xin’s bedside, watching her intently follow the drama adapted from her novel, occasionally guessing at plot twists.

Jian Xin’s curious and earnest expression reminded Yan Lu of how she used to be…

Several times, Yan Lu felt a sense of unreality, as if this moment couldn’t possibly be real.

That evening, Yan Lu returned home first, while Yao Wenqian reluctantly bid farewell to her new drama-watching companion late into the night.

Since Jian Xin couldn’t use her phone anyway, she asked Yao Wenqian to take it to the repair shop for a screen replacement.

Even knowing they can’t use their phone, people still feel a strange sense of disorientation when it’s taken away.

The hospital room was quiet, punctuated only by the occasional cicada’s song from outside the window.

Lying in bed, Jian Xin smelled the medicinal ointment on her skin. She wanted to sleep but was afraid to close her eyes, terrified that she would wake up back inside that duck’s body.

But no matter how hard she resisted, drowsiness gradually crept in.

As her consciousness blurred, she sighed and decided to let go.

After all, she had already said everything she needed to say to Yan Lu. The duck’s diet should improve. As for everything else…

As long as she didn’t starve, any problem, no matter how troublesome, could eventually be overcome!

With these thoughts, Jian Xin closed her eyes, as still and peaceful as a corpse.

Yan Lu arrived home at nine o’clock that evening.

Pushing open the door, she found the house relatively clean, save for a few duck droppings on the floor.

In the study, the two mischievous little ducks were huddled together in their cramped nest, curled up and sleeping peacefully.

Gouzi’s food bowl was empty, and the duck feed seemed to have been touched. Cauliflower hadn’t eaten much, but at least he’d had a little.

Yan Lu sighed in relief and turned to the kitchen, placing the newly purchased frozen shrimp in the refrigerator.

I’ll try giving Cauliflower a different flavor tomorrow, she thought, opening her phone and navigating to Lin Xiyu’s Weibo page. She silently scrolled through the photos of the famous actress.

After a few minutes, she turned off the screen and tossed the phone onto the table, her face expressionless.

Everyone likes young, beautiful, and vibrant girls.

She barely had time to cater to her own ducks’ tastes. Why should she care about that woman’s preferences?

She shouldn’t care.