In the evening, the main dining room had changed its lighting. The crystal chandelier shattered the light and scattered it across the white tablecloths, like scattered silver coins.
I had changed into a light blue blouse and a navy-blue pencil skirt. Dianzi had changed into a light pink blouse and a white pencil skirt.
She took the squirrel out of her bag and placed it on the table, facing the window. The squirrel's round little body, clutching the acorn, its black-bead eyes reflecting the lamplight.
Beyond the floor-to-ceiling window, moonlight spread across the sea in a silver-white path. The sea was calm, the moonlight cutting a straight, bright ribbon across the water. I brushed my fingertips across the armlet; the floating interface lit up, the livestream automatically framing the dining table.
"The moon is very bright tonight, darlings." I turned the camera toward the window. The silver-white ribbon of light on the sea extended from the ship's side all the way to the horizon, its edges shattered by the waves.
[chat] So beautiful 🌕
[chat] The moonlit sea is absolutely stunning
[chat] Daughter is so gentle tonight
[chat] The ambiance is off the charts
Dianzi cut her steak into small pieces, speared one, and put it in her mouth, chewing twice. "Sister, this steak is better than yesterday's."
"Yesterday you ordered fish."
"The fish was also good. But the steak is even better." She speared another piece and popped it into her mouth.
I raised my champagne flute. The amber bubbles rose in the light, a fine condensation of water droplets clinging to the glass. Dianzi also raised her glass. The rims touched, a clear, ringing sound echoing for a long time under the crystal chandelier.
Moonlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling window, spilling over the white tablecloth and plating the cutlery in a cold light.
The ribbon of silver-white light on the sea outside still stretched, its edges broken by the waves, like an endless road. The low murmur of conversation from other tables floated distantly, filtered by the crystal light into a vague background hum. Dianzi's fingertip traced a light line on the glass wall, leaving a faint trail of mist.
"This girl here says cheers."
"Cheers."
[chat] Cheers, wifey 🍷
[chat] Moonlight makes the beauties even more beautiful
[chat] The vibe tonight is so good
[chat] Cheers 🍾
Dianzi set her glass down and nudged the squirrel half an inch closer to her. "Sister, this girl here thinks it doesn't need to find a job." Her voice grew slightly softer, as if afraid of being overheard.
I looked at her. "Why do you say that?"
"Because it just lies there every day, doing nothing, and yet someone gave it a name, gave it an acorn to hold. People can't do that. People have to find a job, send out resumes, get interviewed, get rejected, and do it all over again." She paused. "It's so much better off."
"It doesn't have hands."
"This girl here doesn't have hands either."
"You do."
She looked down at her own hands. Ten fingers, fair and clean, the nails coated with transparent nail strengthener. "This girl here has hands, so this girl here has to find a job. It has a tail, but it doesn't need to. A tail is more useful than hands."
"A tail can't submit resumes."
"It could stick its own tail into the claw machine and grab someone else out."
I laughed. "Then it wouldn't be a squirrel anymore. It'd be a monster."
"Monsters don't need to submit resumes either." She tilted her head, thinking. "A monster just needs to stand there, and people will come looking for it."
"To fight it."
"Still better than submitting resumes." She speared a piece of fruit with her little fork and stuffed it into her mouth, her cheeks puffing out. She ate with an earnest expression, as if completing a very important task.
I watched her, lifting my glass for another sip. The bubbles burst on the tip of my tongue, a faint prickling sensation. Outside, the moonlight was still spreading, the ribbon of light on the sea growing brighter and brighter.
[chat] Daughter is so cute
[chat] Squirrel philosopher
[chat] "Monsters don't need to submit resumes either" LOL
[chat] A tail is more useful than hands haha
— She doesn't know. Squirrels actually do submit resumes, writing with a pen curled in their tails.
I raised my champagne glass and took a sip. The bubbles burst on the tip of my tongue, a tiny, prickling sting. "So, do you want to be a monster?"
"This girl here doesn't want to. This girl here just wants to be a squirrel that doesn't have to submit resumes."
"Then you'd need a big, fluffy tail."
"Sister, you have two legs. You submit them for this girl here."
"Submit them yourself. I'll help you revise."
She paused, then laughed. "Okay. This girl here submits the first draft, Sister revises the second."
"Then it's settled. You submit the first draft, I'll help you revise the second."
She speared another piece of fruit and held it up to my mouth. "A reward."
I opened my mouth and took it. It was a strawberry, very sweet. The sweetness spread across my tongue, mixing with the sour-bitter notes of the champagne.
The moonlight continued to blanket the sea. I turned the squirrel over, face down. It struggled on the tablecloth. Dianzi reached out and flipped it back, making it face her.
"If it's face down, it'll suffocate."
"It doesn't have a nose."
"So it still wouldn't suffocate?"
"No."
"Then this girl here will also become a squirrel." She held the squirrel up to her eyes, black-bead eye to black-bead eye. "Lychee, take this girl here as your apprentice."
The squirrel's black-bead eyes stared at her.
"It's not saying anything. That means it agrees." Dianzi placed the squirrel back on the table, nodding with satisfaction. Moonlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling window, falling on her face, tracing a soft silver edge along her profile.
[chat] I could watch Daughter talk to the squirrel a hundred times
[chat] Lychee has an apprentice 🐿️
[chat] This chapter is so healing
[chat] I want to be a squirrel that doesn't have to submit resumes too
"That's all for today, darlings. Goodnight. See you tomorrow." I waved at the camera.
The chat was still scrolling, but I brushed my fingers across the armlet, and the floating interface dimmed.
Dianzi put the squirrel back in her bag, leaving only its head poking out. "Sister, do you think there really is a Chang'e on the moon?"
"No."
"Then what's there?"
"Rocks."
"How boring." She adjusted the bag strap on her shoulder.
She stood up and brushed the creases from her skirt. I stood up and followed her. As we left the main dining room, the lights in the corridor had dimmed a notch. The sea outside the porthole had shifted from silver-white to a deep gray; the moon was hidden by clouds.
Only footsteps remained in the corridor. Moonlight leaked through the portholes, cutting the deep red carpet into blocks of light, just like in the morning, but in the opposite direction. Dianzi walked half a step ahead, reaching out to trace the embossed wallpaper on the corridor wall. The friction of her fingertips against the wallpaper made an extremely faint, rustling sound.
She didn't look back, but her pace slowed, waiting for me to catch up and walk beside her. Our shadows moved side by side on the carpet, one long and one short.