Empty-Nester Xixi's Loneliness and Resentment
Sigelica woke up shivering.
The bed beside her was empty, and the blanket had been folded into a perfect tofu block.
On the nightstand lay the candy wrapper from yesterday's little brown bear tag.
Her terminal screen was lit up with a message from 6:01 that morning.
"Yaya: Xixi, Xiao Yu and I went to the back mountain to watch the sunrise. He brought me soup dumplings fresh from the steamer, and I left your share in the insulated box. ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ"
Sigelica tossed the terminal back onto her pillow and pulled the blanket over her head.
(╬▔皿▔)凸
She didn't want soup dumplings at all right now.
She wanted to bundle Zhou Yu and his soup dumplings together and throw them out of Solaris.
In the afternoon theory class, Professor Moning drew a huge pie chart on the blackboard.
"Today, we'll discuss how to slack off on the clock without compromising our core KPIs."
The whole class fell silent.
Moning adjusted her glasses and swept her gaze across the classroom, finally settling on the corner.
"Sigelica, tell us what you think."
"Suppose a key contributor to your S-rank project suddenly falls in love, doubling your workload. How should you manage upward and remain backward compatible?"
Sigelica jolted to her feet, her mind a complete mess.
"I..."
"Your thinking has stalled, and your cognition is blocked."
Moning tapped the blackboard with her pointer.
"Your sixty-thousand-word self-criticism was a logical mess. I rejected it."
"Rewrite it."
Sigelica felt as though a wad of cotton were stuck in her throat.
Moning said, "Sit down. Don't stop the other students from thinking about how to slack off."
At lunchtime in the cafeteria, the Slacking Squad had a rare full gathering.
The smile never left Dania's face. Sweet-and-sour ribs and a serving of cheesy baked rice sat in front of her.
"You don't know, that popcorn yesterday really did bloom."
She scooped up some baked rice and gestured as she spoke.
"Xiao Yu said that was called sublimation of physical form."
As if showing off a treasure, she offered Sigelica a heaping spoonful.
"Xixi, try some. It's super delicious."
Long strands of golden cheese stretched from the spoon.
Sigelica looked at the spoonful of rice, then at Dania's utterly innocent eyes.
The fork in her hand scraped across her tray with a piercing screech.
"I'm not eating it."
The others fell silent at once.
Dania held up the spoon, looking a little lost.
(o´･_･`o)
Sigelica put down her fork and stood up.
"Enjoy your meal. I have something to do, so I'm leaving."
She turned and walked away, her back stiff.
Linnai and Aimis immediately followed her.
In the little grove behind the cafeteria.
Linnai said, "All right, out with it. Who upset our Xixi? I'll go put a sack over his head right now."
Aimis leaned against a tree and unwrapped a lollipop.
"You've had a low-pressure system hanging over you all morning. Trying to make it rain?"
Sigelica folded her arms, her eyes reddening.
"She wasn't like this before."
Her voice was thick and nasal.
"We used to talk before bed, about training and the future."
"And now?"
"Now she just hugs that bear and giggles in bed, and all she talks about in her sleep is popcorn and crab roe buns."
The more Sigelica said, the more aggrieved she felt.
"When I woke up this morning, the bed was empty. Zhou Yu would bring breakfast and wait for her downstairs."
She squatted down and buried her face in her knees.
"I feel like... an old nanny who's been kicked out. I worried about what she ate and wore, worried about her safety, and now that she's fallen in love, I'm the one paying the bills and writing self-criticisms."
Aimis crunched the candy in her mouth.
(-‸ლ)
"Girl, I know those symptoms."
Chisaki had appeared behind them at some point, streams of data flickering across her tablet.
[¬º-°]¬
"Based on heart rate fluctuations and frequently used words, the database has provided a preliminary diagnosis."
"Acute stress-induced separation anxiety, accompanied by early-stage empty nest syndrome."
Linnai sucked in a breath.
"Requesting a Chinese-to-Chinese translation."
"It means the cabbage she raised got snuffled by a pig, and she's upset about it."
Aimis kept it short and to the point.
"No, I'm not!" Sigelica snapped her head up in protest. "I'm happy for Yaya, really, it's just..."
"It's just that you feel like you've been replaced, right?" Aimis hit the nail on the head.
Sigelica fell silent.
"That's easy to fix." Aimis tossed away the lollipop stick. "I know a place that specializes in all kinds of hang-ups."
"What place?"
"The Resonance Medical Department. A new counselor just arrived there, named Lu Hesi."
Linnai's eyes lit up.
(✧∀✧)
"I know him! The campus forum calls him walking hormones. His smile is especially healing, and he's a super-popular heartthrob!"
"I'm not going!" Sigelica refused at once. "There's nothing wrong with me! I'm just a little annoyed!"
That evening, Sigelica skipped training and returned to the dorm early.
She waited until nine, then ten, then eleven.
Her terminal vibrated.
"Yaya: Xixi! You'll never guess! Xiao Yu took me to find the legendary glowing cotton candy! I'm not coming back tonight. We're going stargazing! [Attachment: image.jpg]"
Sigelica opened the picture.
Under the night sky, Dania held up a giant ball of cotton candy glowing a soft pink, her eyes curved with her smile.
Zhou Yu stood behind her, affectionately smoothing her disheveled hair.
Sigelica stared at the photo for a minute.
Then she switched off her terminal and dug her academy medical insurance card out of a drawer.
The card's icy metal texture calmed her down a little.
She stood up, put on her coat, and, wearing the tragic, resolute expression of someone heading to the execution ground, opened the door and walked out.