Mr. Lizard Outside the Window - Chapter 9
Chapter 9: Night Return
Xiao Lian, Xiao Lian. Come out and play, Xiao Lian.
Perhaps it was because she had been thinking about him, but Banxia's dreams that night were filled with someone calling this name.
The fragmented dreams all seemed to take place in the sweltering heat of summer, the sunlight so bright that the world seemed veiled in a hazy white gauze.
A young Banxia was perched on the wall, tossing a live caterpillar into the neighbor's window.
The boy inside, his face flushed with anger, stood up abruptly from the piano. "You!"
Little Banxia, clinging to the grapevine, made a silly face, feeling quite pleased with herself. "Hey, Xiao Lian, you just played a wrong note."
Distracted by her words, the boy momentarily forgot about the caterpillar wriggling on the floor.
"You…you can actually tell? That's Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier."
The boy's porcelain-white face showed a hint of surprise. He knew she was right; he had indeed played a wrong note.
But the annoying girl outside the window was just a new student of his grandfather's. She probably didn't even know who Bach was.
"Of course! It's easy! You didn't play it the same way as you did with Grandpa this morning," young Banxia boasted, still unaware of how to hide her talent. "Stop practicing and come out to play with us, Xiao Lian."
The little boy hesitated for a moment, then resumed his disciplined practice.
"No, I won't."
Banxia stuck her tongue out at him and disappeared from the wall.
From the other side of the wall came the girls' giggling voices. "Xiao Lian won't come."
"Oh well, he never wants to play with us."
"Let's go catch mud snails today!"
"Okay! Follow me! I know a place where there are tons of them!"
The disciplined piano music in the courtyard was gradually replaced by the receding sounds of playful chatter. The carefree laughter, like the summer breeze, stirred restless thoughts in the boy's heart.
The scene shifted to a small pond filled with lotus flowers. The children, freed from school for the summer, were running wild.
Some were catching fish, some splashing in the water, some wearing lotus leaves as hats.
A handsome little boy stood at the edge of the pond, seemingly drawn to the unfamiliar liveliness, yet hesitant to approach.
He wore a clean and tidy shirt and shorts, black leather shoes, and white socks peeking out from the edges. He looked out of place among the mud-covered children.
A group of boys, covered in mud, surrounded him.
"A boy named Xiao Lian? Hahaha, that's hilarious!" The leader, a chubby boy, like most of the boys there, wore only a tattered tank top and no shoes, his feet caked in mud.
"I heard you're from the city. You dress fancy."
"And you're pretty, prettier than my little sister. Maybe you're a girl!"
The boy's face flushed crimson. He clenched his fists and turned to leave.
Someone immediately blocked his path.
"You're not going anywhere! Let's pull down his pants and see if he's a boy or a girl!"
"Haha, yeah! Pull down his pants!"
Children were often innocent and naive, but that innocence could also make their malice pure and cruel.
The boys in the pond started hooting and whistling. Even the girls giggled and watched the spectacle.
Emboldened by the support, the chubby boy rolled up his sleeves, ready to bully the newcomer.
Suddenly, a small figure charged from behind and kicked him squarely in the backside, sending him sprawling face-first into the mud.
"Banxia! What are you doing?!" the chubby boy yelled, his face covered in mud, as he scrambled to his feet.
"Fatty! Who said you could bully Xiao Lian?" Little Banxia, her face puffed up with anger, retrieved her sandal from the mud.
The chubby boy protested, "Stupid Banxia! You bully him all the time! I saw you throw caterpillars into his yard yesterday!"
"Xiao Lian is my teacher's grandson, which makes him one of my people," Banxia declared, her logic impeccable. She slung her muddy arm around Xiao Lian's clean shoulder, leaving a muddy handprint on his pristine white shirt. "Only *I* can bully him! Who do you think you are?"
Banxia was the undisputed leader of the village girls. As soon as she appeared, other girls started coming out of the pond, gathering behind her.
At that age, girls weren't afraid to fight boys.
A small brawl erupted in the mud by the pond, ending with half of the children running home crying.
Covered in mud, Banxia and Xiao Lian walked home together in the fading sunlight.
"Why did you get involved? I told you to just stand there and watch," Banxia said, scraping the mud off her sandals with her foot.
"That was my…first fight. It wasn't…so bad, was it?" The boy's clothes, once neat and tidy, were now as muddy as everyone else's. His voice was still slightly breathless, but his tone held an unusual excitement.
"A few days ago, you were lecturing me about how precious my hands are for playing the violin, how I shouldn't do anything that might injure them," Banxia teased him. "Who was it who said that even if I fell, I should land on my face rather than my hands?"
The boy just smiled. He was a very handsome boy, and even covered in mud, his smile seemed to radiate light.
As beautiful as a lotus flower in the pond.
Young Banxia stared, mesmerized. No wonder his parents gave him such a beautiful name—
Xiao Lian.
When Banxia woke up in the morning, she lay in bed for a while, trying to recall her dream.
That's right, his name was Xiao Lian. How could I have forgotten?
We were such good friends back then.
After all these years, I wonder where he is now, how he's doing.
Perhaps it was because I still remembered him, subconsciously, that I blurted out the same name.
Banxia rubbed her head and sat up. The first thing she saw was a soft, high-quality men's shirt draped over the chair by her table.
The white silk shirt was buttoned up, its sleeves folded halfway up. A pair of chopsticks lay on the table next to a plate with a few bites taken out of the breakfast it held.
The breakfast, compared to the elaborate meals of the past few days, was simple: toasted bread, two fried eggs, and some lettuce.
It looked as if someone had hurriedly made breakfast, sat down to eat, then vanished into thin air, leaving only their clothes behind.
Banxia's gaze shifted downwards. Sure enough, in the familiar terrarium by the wall, she saw her "Xiao Lian."
The little black gecko lay fast asleep on the white paper towel.
Banxia tiptoed over and crouched beside the terrarium. She had no idea where he had gone last night. He must have been exhausted. Usually so alert, he hadn't even woken up when she got out of bed.
The first rays of morning sunlight streamed through the trees outside, illuminating the small, dark figure, softening its edges.
As if dreaming of something sad, the sleeping gecko twitched its tail, and a single tear rolled from the corner of its closed eye. The teardrop glistened in the sunlight before falling onto the absorbent paper, leaving a faint mark.
Banxia sighed, picked up a soft cloth, and gently covered the tiny, tearful figure.
Xiao Lian had always been quiet and well-behaved. He was reserved, rarely spoke, never complained, never asked for anything. Only in the warm glow of the morning light, in his sleep, did he reveal this vulnerability.
It made Banxia almost forget how, on that first rainy night, he had climbed up to her window and pleaded, "Please, help me."
Now, she realized that his cooking skills and his meticulous cleaning habits were likely a reflection of a difficult life. Children who grew up pampered by their parents rarely developed such a quiet, resilient nature.
Just stay with me, she thought. Don't wander around anymore.
Banxia sat down at the table and started eating her breakfast. Then, she blinked, noticing the man's shirt draped over the chair.
Several times since Xiao Lian had arrived, she had resolved to stay up late and secretly observe his human form. But whether it was due to exhaustion or the strange atmosphere, she always fell fast asleep, missing her chance every time.
What did Xiao Lian use to cover himself when he transformed? She had never considered this, never thought to provide him with clothes.
Banxia licked the bread crumbs from her fingers, her gaze shifting between the apron in the kitchen and the bath towel she had used to make Xiao Lian's nest. A wave of belated embarrassment washed over her. He needs clothes too.
But where had this finely tailored, soft shirt come from? And why did it look so familiar?
Suddenly, something clicked. Banxia jumped up and looked out the window at the neighboring apartment.
Sure enough, several similar shirts were hanging in the window. And on the side closest to her window, an empty hanger swung on the clothesline.
So, Xiao Lian couldn't find anything to wear and stole a shirt from the neighbor's window?
Feeling guilty, Banxia picked up the shirt, smoothed out the wrinkles, climbed onto the windowsill, and carefully slipped the shirt back through the gap in the bars. She even pushed it further in, making it look like it had blown off the hanger.
Though the neighbor's window was half-open, thankfully, there was no sound from inside.
Banxia held her breath, her heart pounding. After a moment, seeing that she hadn't been discovered, she finally relaxed.
It would be mortifying if her new neighbor discovered that his shirt had been stolen in the middle of the night and then returned, worn, the next morning.
The commotion finally woke Xiao Lian. His black head emerged from the towel, staring at Banxia.
"Xiao Lian, where did you go last night? You didn't even tell me. I looked everywhere for you!"
Banxia put a finger to her lips, signaling him to be quiet. "And if you need clothes, you can tell me! I'll buy you some. You can't just steal from the neighbors!"
"We don't even know who the new neighbor is. What if he's a weirdo who likes to roast and bury lizards? You're so brave!"
Xiao Lian, the guilty party, simply gave her a look, then crawled out of his nest, wagging his tail, and headed for the bathroom.
After emerging from the bathroom, ever the tidy creature, he carefully picked up a tissue from a box on the floor, meticulously cleaning his tiny claws and tail before returning to his clean nest.
Banxia, amused, reached out and stroked his sleek, black back. "I'm not mad at you. I'm glad you're back. I was just worried you might get into trouble outside."
At her touch, Xiao Lian's tail twitched involuntarily, trembling in the air.
He turned his little black head and stared at her for a long moment, then quickly burrowed back into his towel pile, refusing to come out.
Later that afternoon, during Yu Anguo's class, Banxia couldn't help but think about the trembling little tail.
Yu Anguo's teaching rod slammed against the music stand, startling her.
"Diminuendo! If your eyesight is that bad, get glasses! Can't you see the diminuendo marking?" Yu Anguo jabbed his finger at the sheet music. "How many times have I told you, you must be faithful to the score! Do you even understand what that means? Listen to yourself! Can you even call that Bach?"
Banxia stuck her tongue out sheepishly, apologized, and focused on the sheet music, playing Bach's Minuet carefully.
Sight-reading was her weakness. When she was younger, relying on her excellent ear, she would memorize a piece after hearing her teacher play it once or twice, practicing from memory at home, never bothering to read the music. It wasn't until six months into her lessons that her first teacher discovered, by chance, that she couldn't really read music.
"Stop, stop, stop! Go back and practice!" Yu Anguo resisted the urge to slap her, stopping her mid-performance. He couldn't bear to hear a student butcher his beloved Bach.
Banxia was a rare talent he had discovered in the academy in the past two years. As the other teachers privately put it, she had a special spark. A music student with talent and a willingness to work hard had a bright future. She was the kind of student every music teacher dreamed of.
The only problem was that whoever had taught her when she was younger had allowed her talent to run wild. When she played a piece, it was anyone's guess whether it would be good or bad. It all depended on her mood.
Sometimes, when she was inspired, she would take a piece, whether it was a serious Baroque work or a Romantic piece, and improvise wildly, taking it in completely unexpected directions.
She looked demure and obedient on the outside, but inside, she was as wild and tenacious as a weed. Scolding her had no effect. She would apologize sweetly, then go right back to playing however she pleased the next time she felt like it.
As Banxia packed up her violin, ready to leave, Yu Anguo pulled out an application form and handed it to her.
"The National Collegiate Cup Violin Competition. The school selection rounds start next week. Each professor gets one recommendation, and I'm giving mine to you. Prepare yourself."
"Me? I'm going?" Banxia hesitated, fingering the application form.
Participating in the competition meant intensive practice, which meant she might not be able to earn much money for a while. That meant she and Xiao Lian might go hungry, and that made her hesitate.
"The Collegiate Cup represents the highest level of violin performance among music students nationwide. Prepare well and make me proud," Yu Anguo said, sensing her hesitation. He rubbed his temples and added, "If you win the school selection round, you can use the 'Adelina,' the violin donated by an alumnus, for the competition. Also, the first prize is 8,000 yuan, second prize is 5,000, and third prize is 2,000."
Banxia's eyes lit up. She clutched the application form tightly and stood up straight. "Thank you, Professor, for this opportunity! I'll definitely prepare well! This year's Collegiate Cup first prize belongs to our school!"
After the soundproof door of the music classroom closed, Yu Anguo could still hear the girl's excited cheers in the hallway.
He shook his head. Most music students came from well-off families. They participated in these competitions to boost their resumes, not for the few thousand yuan in prize money. Last night, someone had even offered him a hefty bribe for his recommendation.
A student who needed to be lured by prize money to participate in a competition… She was probably the only one in the entire academy.
Comments
Post a Comment