一池金鱼，和一个说好只是交易的夏夜

一个废弃的游泳池，一池子五颜六色的金鱼，两个十八岁的少年，干脆跳进水里，在鱼群中间游来游去。

An abandoned swimming pool, a poolful of brightly colored goldfish, and two eighteen-year-olds who simply leap in and swim among the fish.

那一刻，什么补习、什么交易，好像都被这一池水冲淡了。

In that moment, the tutoring, the transaction — all of it seems to dissolve into that pool of water.

但要讲清楚这个夏天怎么走到这一步，我们还得往回倒一点。

But to explain how this summer got here, we need to rewind a little.

上次说到，周挽为了给重病的奶奶凑药钱，主动接近了有钱却没人管的陆西骁，用一场英语补习，把两个人绑在了一起。

Last time: to scrape together medicine money for her gravely ill grandma, Zhou Wan deliberately approached Lu Xixiao — rich but neglected — and an English tutoring deal bound the two of them together.

这段时间，他们几乎每晚都要凑在一起上课。

During this stretch, they had lessons together almost every night.

可学校里的系主任和保安，一直盯着学生之间的私下来往，两个人只好跟老师打起了游击，东躲西藏。

But the department head and security guard were always watching for students meeting in private, so the two had to wage a kind of guerrilla war with the teachers, dodging and hiding.

有意思的是，越是这样偷偷摸摸，两个人反倒放松了下来。

The funny thing is, the more they had to sneak around, the more they actually relaxed.

就是在这一次次的躲藏里，他们第一次卸下防备，说了很多真正的心里话。

It was in all that hiding that, for the first time, they let their guard down and truly opened up.

有天晚上下课，陆西骁干脆骑上摩托车，把平时挤公交车回家的周挽，一路送到了家门口。

One night after class, Lu Xixiao just got on his motorbike and drove Zhou Wan — who normally squeezes onto the bus — right to her door.

夏夜的风裹着蝉声，两个人谁都没多说，可空气里的东西，已经悄悄变了味。

The summer night wind carried the sound of cicadas; neither said much, but something in the air had quietly shifted.

而真正的高潮，是他们最后一节补习课。

But the real climax was their final tutoring session.

陆西骁记得，周挽随口说过喜欢金鱼。

Lu Xixiao remembered Zhou Wan once casually mentioning she loved goldfish.

那天，他一声不响，把路边摊上所有的金鱼一次性全买了下来，然后一股脑全倒进了学校那个荒废已久的游泳池。

That day, without a word, he bought out every goldfish at the street stall in one go, then dumped them all into the school's long-abandoned swimming pool.

原本死气沉沉的一池水，一下子被搅成了一个五颜六色的童话世界。

The once-lifeless pool was instantly stirred into a colorful, fairytale world.

两个人索性跳进去，在满池的金鱼中间游来游去，那种快乐，和什么补习、什么交易，再没有半点关系。

The two of them just dove in and swam among the poolful of goldfish, a joy that had nothing at all to do with tutoring or any deal.

怕周挽着凉，陆西骁翻出两件社团的短袖，让她换上。

Afraid Zhou Wan would catch cold, Lu Xixiao dug out two club T-shirts and had her change.

就在换衣服的间隙，周挽问了一个憋了很久的问题：你为什么非要一个人出国？

As she changed, Zhou Wan asked a question she'd held in for a long time: why are you so determined to go abroad alone?

陆西骁答得很轻，却很扎心：这里，没有什么值得我留下来的人。

Lu Xixiao's answer was soft but cutting: there's no one here worth staying for.

他反过来问周挽，那你以后想过什么样的日子？

He turned it around: and what kind of life do you want for yourself?

周挽怔了怔，只说，我没有你那种可以随便挑选的底气。

Zhou Wan hesitated, and only said: I don't have the security to pick and choose the way you do.

你会突然意识到，这两个看起来什么都不缺、什么都敢干的少年，其实都才十八岁，却早早撞上了一个选择并不多的世界。

You suddenly realize that these two kids, who seem to lack nothing and dare anything, are really only eighteen — and have run headlong into a world that offers them few choices.

可惜好景不长。

Sadly, the good times didn't last.

金鱼这事很快被学校查了出来，老师把两人叫去，狠狠批评了一顿。

The goldfish stunt was quickly uncovered by the school, and the teachers hauled them in for a harsh scolding.

就在这个节骨眼上，陆西骁站了出来，把所有责任一个人全揽了下来，自始至终没提周挽半个字。

At that critical juncture, Lu Xixiao stepped forward and took every bit of the blame himself, never mentioning Zhou Wan once.

周挽看着他这样护着自己，心里说不出的滋味。

Watching him shield her like that, Zhou Wan felt something she couldn't put into words.

为了谢他，她拉着他钻进路边一家小面馆，请他吃了一碗面。

To thank him, she pulled him into a little roadside noodle shop and treated him to a bowl of noodles.

本该是这个夏天里最暖的一个晚上。

It should have been the warmest night of the summer.

可周挽没料到，这一幕，全被另一个人看在了眼里，一个一直把她放在心上的男生。

But Zhou Wan didn't expect the whole scene to be witnessed by someone else — a boy who has always kept her in his heart.

他很早就喜欢周挽，眼看着她跟陆西骁越走越近，心里堵得慌。

He has liked Zhou Wan since long ago, and watching her grow closer and closer to Lu Xixiao left him aching.

一转身，他就跑去周挽奶奶那儿告了状，于是周挽前脚刚进家门，后脚就被奶奶劈头一顿数落。

He turned on his heel and ran to tattle to Zhou Wan's grandma, so the moment Zhou Wan stepped through the door, grandma laid into her.

你看，这个夏天，表面上不过是一场补习、一桩交易。

You see, on the surface this summer is nothing but tutoring and a transaction.

可周挽心里，还死死压着对那个抛弃自己的母亲的恨，和对钱的焦虑。

But deep down, Zhou Wan is still crushed under her hatred for the mother who abandoned her, and her anxiety over money.

而陆西骁这一次次笨拙又认真的维护，正在不动声色地，把这笔本该冷冰冰的买卖，一点点煮成了别的东西。

And Lu Xixiao's clumsy but earnest protection, time and again, is quietly simmering this cold bargain into something else entirely.

最微妙的是，连周挽自己都开始分不清了。

The subtlest part is that even Zhou Wan herself is beginning to lose track.

她对陆西骁的靠近，到底还是那个报复计划里算好的一步，还是，她真的动了心。

Is her closeness to Lu Xixiao still a calculated step in her revenge plan, or has she genuinely fallen for him?

夏天还很长，这场说好只是交易的关系，才刚刚开始变得难以收场。

The summer is still long, and this relationship — agreed to be nothing but a deal — is only just starting to spin out of control.