Rooftop Rumors and Lengleng’s Future Burden

Evening fell.

Chen Ran had initially intended to pull Jiang Lengleng to the rooftop for dinner once more, but the girl refused, instead dragging him to a small park commonplace within the school grounds.

They settled onto a bench.

There, Chen Ran listened as the pretty girl beside him spoke in a warning tone.

“Don’t go to the rooftop anymore, Xiao Ran.”

“Why not?”

Chen Ran asked, puzzled, as he retrieved the bento boxes Jiang Zilin had prepared for himself and her sister from his school bag.

“Because… well… because there are vengeful spirits there, you see…”

“Huh?”

For a moment, he was at a loss for words.

Chen Ran looked at Jiang Lengleng’s serious young face, realizing the girl wasn’t joking with him.

But…

‘In this day and age, who still believes in feudal superstitions?’

‘Even that supposedly great monk from Kyoto (TL Note: A common trope referring to a charlatan or fraudster), was nothing more than a scam artist.’

Chen Ran pursed his lips.

‘This was probably just one of those standard spooky urban legends every school seemed to have.’

‘Like the Seven School Mysteries.’

‘Never use the last stall in the restroom;’

‘Or the building with twelve steps by day, where a thirteenth step mysteriously appeared at night;’

‘The forty-fourth student who appeared during a field trip;’

‘The masked woman who would ask if she was pretty on your way home;’

‘The sound of a basketball bouncing in an empty gym, or a piano playing in an deserted music room, or dancing sounds echoing from an unoccupied dance studio…’

‘They were all variations of the same theme, anyway.’

“So, why shouldn’t we go to the rooftop?”

Chen Ran opened his bento box, eating a fried egg as he questioned Jiang Lengleng, who had also begun her meal beside him.

“Because…”

Evidently.

Jiang Lengleng had only recently heard the rumor about vengeful spirits lingering on the school rooftop from her friends—they had mentioned it precisely because he had taken her there.

“They say two girls once jumped from the rooftop and died.”

“Oh.”

Chen Ran continued eating.

“Why did they do that?”

“Apparently, one of the girls met a ‘boyfriend’ online, only to discover one day that her ‘boyfriend’ was actually a classmate in disguise.”

“You know, the kind of prank girls play on each other, where someone pretends to be a boy, chats with her online, and they even become a couple, but then it all comes out.”

“So that girl arranged to meet the classmate who played the prank on the rooftop, and then…”

‘And then what happened?’

Chen Ran stared at Jiang Lengleng, thinking, ‘Did the pranked girl get so enraged that she killed her classmate and then jumped to her own death?’

‘That seems a bit extreme.’

‘Or did she accidentally push her off the rooftop?’

‘Or perhaps…’

“The girl said something like, ‘Even if you’re a girl, you’re still my boyfriend!’ Then she embraced the other girl and jumped off the roof, calling it a lovers’ suicide.”

“Huh?!”

Chen Ran couldn’t grasp the logic of the entire story.

Because.

‘There seemed to be no logic to it at all!’

‘What on earth was that?!’

‘He had expected a classic yuri (TL Note: A genre focusing on romantic relationships between female characters) ghost story, the kind often found in all-girls’ schools, but how did it end up… so messy and nonsensical?!’

He had a strong feeling that the rumor Jiang Lengleng had heard was likely a version that had been altered countless times.

Moreover, it was uncertain whether such an event had even truly occurred.

“In any case, Xiao Ran, you’re not allowed to go to the school rooftop anymore!”

“Alright, alright, I get it.”

Looking at Jiang Lengleng’s earnest young face, Chen Ran couldn’t help but feel that the girl before him possessed a charmingly silly side—remarkably similar to Jiang Zilin, who, upon hearing rumors of ghosts haunting their neighborhood, had insisted he sleep with her and her sister.

However, upon closer reflection.

He had been to the school rooftop several times, and it seemed that, besides himself, he had only ever seen a red-haired girl there.

He had seen no one else.

That was indeed strange.

And it was the same whether it was his own teaching building or the one Jiang Lengleng was in…

‘Huh!’

As he pondered it, Chen Ran began to feel a chill creep up his spine.

‘Perhaps it would be best not to go to the rooftop anymore.’

Engaging in such desultory conversation with Jiang Lengleng, they finished dinner, then spent some time reading at the library, and finally accompanied the girl back to the study room to work on exercises and practice tests.

While sitting beside Jiang Lengleng.

Chen Ran could always only observe her diligent concentration, fully immersed in her studies.

And the incessant ‘shhhk-shhhk’ sound of her ballpoint pen gliding across the paper.

By the time they were ready to head home.

It was already nine o’clock in the evening.

Chen Ran walked alongside Jiang Lengleng down the long summer street; the bustling Xijing stretched out before them, adorned with flashing neon lights.

Since it wasn’t the last train and still a weekday, the subway was teeming with people, packed to the brim.

Having left the school, they no longer needed to pretend to be a couple.

Yet, Jiang Lengleng still habitually held onto his hand, perhaps fearing they might get separated in the surging crowd.

Even while waiting for the subway.

The girl still pulled out a small booklet, put on her earphones, and began memorizing foreign language vocabulary…

****

“Lengleng-jie, why do you study so hard?”

As they returned to the old streets of Linzhou City.

Chen Ran and Jiang Lengleng walked toward their home, chatting as they went.

“Because my sister won’t be working in the future, and Mom will get older, so I need to study hard to get into a good university and find a good job…”

Jiang Lengleng replied, her expression unwavering, as if stating the most obvious truth.

‘Hmm.’

‘For her, it truly seemed to be a matter of course.’

‘Her sister “had issues” and couldn’t possibly go out to work; their mother would also age, so in the future, she would need to step up and bear the responsibility for the family.’

“That’s a lot of pressure, Lengleng-jie.”

“It’s fine.”

The girl spoke softly, seemingly accustomed to such a life.

“So, Lengleng-jie, what have you decided about Saturday?”

Chen Ran inquired.

This Saturday, Rinzi-san had invited him to accompany her to an “event” in Xijing—specifically, it seemed to be a TV program, along with an on-site book signing.

It was reportedly the final awards ceremony for a new novelist competition—not like a singing contest where a group of people perform on stage, judges score them, and the highest scorers advance to win.

Instead, the guest participants of the program would offer their insights on the nominated novel entries and cast their votes for the grand prize winner.

It felt more like a talk show, inviting several author-guests to discuss and appreciate the novels of new authors.

And Xueyuan Rinzi was one of the invited guests for the program.

“Rinzi-san seems to be a very famous author, have you heard of her, Lengleng?”

“No.”

Jiang Lengleng shook her head truthfully, but then pointed out.

“Rinzi-san’s pen name is probably not her real name.”

“That’s true.”

Chen Ran scratched his head, only then remembering that he hadn’t actually asked Rinzi-san what her pen name was.

‘Never mind, I’ll ask her in a couple of days.’

“So, are you going?”

Chen Ran pressed on.

He recalled that the first time he had mentioned it to Jiang Lengleng a few days prior, the girl’s face had been full of interest—she genuinely loved reading novels, or rather, it was her sole hobby.

But…

“Hmm…”

The girl remained silent for quite some time, visibly wrestling with a decision.

Ultimately.

She shook her head.