Born at the Right Time

Because Xia Xuzhen had left a sizable amount of child support money, Xia Ying was eventually able to let go of her anger and allow Gu Yiran to stay with them. And she also didn’t intend to make things more difficult due to Xu Guoan’s concern for Gu Yiran.

Gradually, Xia Chun also began to get used to living in a home with one more person.

Throughout the sweltering summer, Xia Chun rode her bicycle with Gu Yiran through the county’s streets and back alleys to help him become familiar with the local roads and to allow him to make some acquaintances.

It was only that Gu Yiran was always quiet and reserved, didn’t like to laugh, and didn’t want to socialise, no matter how often Xia Chun dragged other kids his age over.

In actuality, Xia Chun disliked Gu Yiran’s solitary and icy demeanour a lot. She was a chatty and lively girl, so occasionally she would find that Gu Yiran was boring. She tried several tricks to get Gu Yiran to talk more, but she was unsuccessful. So when she accidentally got into trouble, she blamed Gu Yiran.

However, Gu Yiran wasn’t angry with her, and he even helped her fold the quilt, wash the socks, and clean the room. Moreover, at such a young age, his handwriting was extremely delicate, which was many times better than Xia Chun’s. Therefore, Xia Chun’s task of copying new words during the summer vacation was also assigned to Gu Yiran.

So as a reward, she took Gu Yiran to eat ice cream as soon as she got the pocket money, but most of the time, Gu Yiran silently watched Xia Chun ate two people’s portions by herself.     

Gu Yiran was just a cute, honourable, and competent little melon in Xia Chun’s eyes.     

The summer vacation had come to an end in the blink of an eye, and tomorrow Xia Chun had to report to school. Although she had 60 days of holidays, she hadn’t completed the homework given by the school. Except for copying new words, she hadn’t touched a single page on other subjects.

“I’m going to die. I’m going to die. How can I finish writing so much?” Xia Chun buried her head in a pile of scattered papers, threw her pen away, and cried desperately. “English papers, maths papers, Chinese weekly diary, ten sets of history questions—I can’t finish so many in one day even if I just copy the answers.” She looked at the clock hanging on the wall, and she was even more desperate. “It’s three o’clock, and when my mother comes back, I’m finished.” 

Gu Yiran, who was sitting beside Xia Chun, was already helping her answer the English papers.

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After writing for a while, Xia Chun felt tired. “Oh, God! I can’t write anymore…”

Gu Yiran: “Hurry up and write. Grandma will be back in two hours.”

“Why don’t you have homework?” Xia Chun scratched her hair depressingly. “Oh, oh, I’m going crazy!”

“I transferred to another school, so I don’t have any homework,” Gu Yiran replied.

Xia Chun sat up straight and looked at Gu Yiran pitifully. “Of course, I definitely can’t finish writing today… Otherwise, you can tell my mother to transfer me to another school. Then I don’t need to hand over my homework tomorrow. Otherwise, the head teacher will kill me. How about that idea?”

Gu Yiran glanced at Xia Chun as if he were looking at a fool. “Then grandma will kill you first,” he said indifferently.

Xia Chun, who became more pitiful hearing Gu Yiran’s words, picked up the pen dejectedly and muttered, “I’ve been writing for a whole day and I haven’t finished…”

Gu Yiran ignored her again, finished writing answers on the paper in his hand, and took another one silently.

                                                                         ……………………

After Xia Ying and Xu Guoan came home from work, the family had dinner. Xia Chun and Gu Yiran moved from the living room to Xia Chun’s bedroom, and the two of them worked on Xia Chun’s homework carefully.     

When they were in the bedroom, Xia Ying came twice to check whether her daughter was doing her homework, and it made Xia Chun panic, but Gu Yiran calmly pretended to read comic books.

In fact, Xia Ying didn’t quite believe that with Xia Chun’s virtues, she could finish her homework on time before the end of the holiday, but she didn’t say anything else, she just told her to go to bed early, switched off the light, and went out of the room.

Xia Chun and Gu Yiran huddled in the dark room until they heard the sound of the next room’s door being closed. 

After that, Gu Yiran took out two flashlights that he had prepared in advance from under his pillow, turned on the switch, and the two of them sat face to face on the ground and started to do the remaining homework.

It was already the beginning of autumn, and the night was cool and breezy, but the cicadas on the old elm tree outside the yard were still shouting non-stop.

After some time passed, Xia Chun put down her pen and looked at Gu Yiran, who was silently doing his work. Feeling her gaze, Gu Yiran paused the writing and looked up at her suspiciously.

“Gu Yiran…” She suddenly asked in a low voice, “Are you still sad?”

“Not sad.” Gu Yiran lowered his head and answered quickly and calmly.

“Then why do you never laugh or play with others?”

“Because I like to be myself.”

“You’re obviously lying.” Xia Chun looked at Gu Yiran suspiciously.

“You can think whatever you like,” he said indifferently. “If you talk more, you can do your homework alone.” 

“Then I won’t ask any more questions, ok?” Xia Chun frowned. She could tell that Gu Yiran was a little unhappy.

Gu Yiran gave a faint “hmm”.

“School will start tomorrow. Although I am in junior high school and you are in elementary school, our schools are close to each other. If anything happens, you can come to me. I’m in class one, third grade.” Xia Chun said.

Gu Yiran: “En.” 

“You don’t know anyone in the new school. Are you afraid?” Xia Chun picked up the pen, copied the answers, and said, “I transferred schools once when I was young, but it’s not good. There were no familiar ones in the new place, and I couldn’t even find a toilet at first. But fortunately, I love to talk to others, and I quickly made friends. However, you also need to make more friends, otherwise, it’s hard to be alone. You… know, you have a bad personality, you have to be more cheerful and smile more, you are good-looking, and you will look better when you smile…”

“I’m used to it.” Gu Yiran interrupted her lightly.

Xia Chun was a little unresponsive. “Huh?”

Gu Yiran explained quietly, “I had to switch schools after a while when we were hiding from the debt owners. My mother moved in with different uncles afterward, and I had to switch schools regularly. So I’m used to it.”

“What about your own father? I’ve heard others say that your father…” Xia Chun asked with a doubt. 

Gu Yiran said, “He is dead.”     

Xia Chun: “Oh, I…”

Gu Yiran stopped speaking and mechanically wrote the answers.

Xia Chun couldn’t imagine what kind of life he had lived. She didn’t say anymore, just stretched out her hand gently, and gently placed her palm on the top of Gu Yiran’s head.

Gu Yiran sat up stiffly, his eyes as calm as autumn water, and looked at the girl across from him in fright.

Years later, he vividly recalled that scene.

Xia Chun was dressed in a white nightgown, her long, wavy black hair had fallen to her shoulders, her warm hand rested on top of his head, and the rose scent of her shampoo was lingering around her nose. 

Gu Yiran instantly recalled the passage from a fairytale he had just finished reading. “After the storm, the drifting boat was finally anchored in the harbour.”