Luo Jingyu wore a black wool coat with the gray scarf Zhan Xi gave him. Though his coat didn’t have a hood, he still wore a mask. Through his curved eyes, Zhan Xi could tell he was smiling.
“Little Fish!” she exclaimed in surprise and delight, her eyes shining. “Why are you here?”
Luo Jingyu placed his right hand under his chin, then pointed at Zhan Xi – the sign for “waiting for you.” Zhan Xi understood and felt warmth flood her heart.
Luo Jingyu had already taken the cloth bag from her hands and was weighing it with a questioning look.
“Heavy, right?” Zhan Xi smiled. “There are chestnuts, honey, dried bamboo shoots, and sweet potatoes – all heavy stuff. Half is for you.”
After reading her lips, Luo Jingyu waved his free hand several times vigorously. Zhan Xi knew what he meant – it was too much. She said, “Take it! I can’t eat it all by myself.”
They walked toward the roadside. Zhan Xi had planned to take the bus since the West Station was far from Qingque Gate and a taxi would be too expensive. But Luo Jingyu took out his phone, gesturing at the black cars parked nearby. Zhan Xi asked, “Did you call a car?”
Luo Jingyu nodded and stopped at the roadside. After setting down the bag, he showed Zhan Xi his phone – he had called a ride-share that would arrive in 5 minutes.
Zhan Xi asked, “Why did you come pick me up? It’s so far. I thought you were cooking at home.”
Luo Jingyu didn’t answer, just smiled again with his eyes curved into crescents above his mask.
Zhan Xi pouted and pointed at her face: “Can’t you take off your mask?”
Luo Jingyu obediently removed his mask. Seeing his face, Zhan Xi said somewhat awkwardly, “You’re such a handsome guy, why do you always wear a mask?”
“?” Luo Jingyu seemed to not catch her lip movements and furrowed his brow slightly.
Zhan Xi couldn’t hold back anymore and turned her head away: “Never mind if you didn’t understand.”
Now Luo Jingyu wouldn’t let it go. He stepped closer to her face, bending down to try to read what she had said.
The distance between them suddenly shortened. Zhan Xi panicked and leaned back. Seeing her reaction, Luo Jingyu realized his mistake and quickly straightened up.
In the awkward silence, his phone vibrated.
Luo Jingyu looked down at his phone – it was a call, probably from the ride-share driver.
He handed his phone to Zhan Xi, making a “6” sign by his ear – the gesture for making a phone call.
Zhan Xi answered for him. It was indeed the driver. She confirmed their location, hung up, and returned the phone to Luo Jingyu.
“What do you usually do when you need to call a ride?” Zhan Xi asked clearly.
Luo Jingyu pointed at his phone, shook his hand, then mimicked typing on it.
Zhan Xi understood – he would text the drivers, though some would still call anyway.
Luo Jingyu typed a message to show her: [The location is correct, I was waiting for you.]
Zhan Xi laughed and gave him a thumbs up.
Soon the car arrived and they both got into the back seat.
During the ride, Luo Jingyu opened his phone gallery to show Zhan Xi photos and videos from the past few days. He had taken many but hadn’t been able to send them to her, so now he was eagerly showing them off.
“Wow!” Zhan Xi pointed at a video and looked up. “Gift is walking so well now!”
Luo Jingyu raised his eyebrows proudly, like a father being praised about his child.
“Looks like it’s grown a bit,” Zhan Xi said as she carefully looked through each photo and video until she reached the first video of Gift – Luo Jingyu sitting in the bay window, feeding it milk before smiling at the camera.
Zhan Xi pressed her lips together, glanced up at him and pointed at the video saying, “Send me this one.”
Luo Jingyu: “?”
“I… accidentally… deleted it the other day,” Zhan Xi said with an embarrassed smile.
Luo Jingyu made an “OK” sign and immediately sent her the video. Zhan Xi felt moved. When she saw him selecting from the gallery, she leaned over to tap his arm and pointed at some other photos.
“?” Luo Jingyu didn’t quite understand, so Zhan Xi took matters into her own hands and selected the photos and videos she wanted.
She stammered an explanation: “That day… accidentally, deleted quite a few…”
Luo Jingyu smiled helplessly and made a sign: pointing at Zhan Xi, curving his right thumb and four fingers into a “C” shape, then making a heart with both hands.
A heart! Why suddenly make a heart? Zhan Xi stared at him with wide eyes. Luo Jingyu knew she hadn’t guessed the meaning, so he had to type: [Careless.]
Oh… so he was calling her careless. Zhan Xi pouted unhappily, thinking “I did it for you!”
Still, under Zhan Xi’s “supervision,” Luo Jingyu obediently sent her the photos and videos in groups of nine.
Zhan Xi was overjoyed. Even though the chat history was gone, at least she could salvage some photos, especially those showing Little Fish’s beautiful hands – she loved those so much! She wanted them all.
When they reached their destination, they got out and walked into the apartment building.
The elevator came up from the basement garage and opened on the first floor. Inside stood a family of three – Gu Xinchi and his parents.
“Brother Fish, Sister Zhan, Happy New Year!” Gu Xinchi called out before they even entered.
Zhan Xi smiled at him: “Happy New Year.” She then pulled out a jar of honey from her bag and handed it to him. “I just got back from my hometown today. This is honey from our area, it’s for you.”
“Oh my, Xiao Zhan, you’re too kind,” Gu Xinchi’s mother said, embarrassed.
“Thank you, Sister Zhan!” Gu Xinchi was delighted to receive the gift and started chattering away. “My parents just took me to see a movie! It was so good! We wanted to eat out but all the restaurants were packed so we have to eat at home. I really wanted pizza…”
Gu Xinchi’s father held his head in despair: “Why don’t you just tell her your ID number while you’re at it!”
This was Zhan Xi’s first time meeting Gu Xinchi’s father, and she smiled politely in greeting. She and Little Fish were going to the 15th floor, so she hadn’t pressed any buttons, but Gu Xinchi squeezed over to help press floor 8: “Sister Zhan, I pressed it for you!”
Zhan Xi: “…”
Just as she was considering whether to cancel the 8th floor button, a hand reached out and long-pressed it until it went dark. The family of three looked at the owner of the hand. Luo Jingyu stood tall, looking straight ahead as if nothing had happened.
Zhan Xi’s face turned red, thinking this elevator must be cursed.
Gu Xinchi looked dejected, pouting and wondering why doing a good deed was so hard.
Gu Xinchi’s father had a sudden realization! So this pretty girl lives on the 8th floor? No wonder…
They reached the 15th floor and everyone went their separate ways. Luo Jingyu opened his door and a wave of warmth flowed out. Zhan Xi quickly changed into slippers and called out: “Gift! Mama’s home! Where are you?”
There was no sign of Gift in the living room. Luo Jingyu, experienced now, went straight to the master bedroom and got down on his knees to look under the bed. Sure enough, the cat was hiding there.
Zhan Xi followed him into the bedroom without thinking about it being Little Fish’s room. She also got down on the floor and exclaimed in surprise: “Gift! Why are you under the bed? Come out, it’s dirty in there!”
Gift did come out, but instead of going to Zhan Xi, it went straight to Luo Jingyu. Once in his arms, it instantly transformed from an agitated cat to a sweet little kitten, its bright eyes full of innocence.
Like the crying cat meme.
Zhan Xi: “…”
Ah! This ungrateful little thing! Choosing looks over loyalty! If she had known, she should have gotten a male cat! Zhan Xi was nearly in tears internally.
Gift’s intention was crystal clear. Luo Jingyu looked apologetically at Zhan Xi, his eyes asking what she wanted to do. Zhan Xi’s lips were pursed high as she asked, “Won’t you find it troublesome?”
Luo Jingyu shook his head firmly.
Zhan Xi asked again: “Do you really like it?”
Luo Jingyu nodded emphatically.
Zhan Xi said: “Then… how about this – Gift stays at your place on weekdays, and I’ll take it back on weekends? You’re usually home and can keep it company. What do you think?”
Luo Jingyu smiled and nodded. Gift, as if understanding, gave a sweet “meow”.
Zhan Xi sighed, took out the local specialties she had brought for Luo Jingyu from her bag, and bid goodbye to him (and her cat) before dejectedly taking the elevator back to the 8th floor.
It wasn’t until the elevator started descending that Luo Jingyu remembered he had forgotten to give Huanghuan the marinated duck.
Then he thought, maybe it’s better this way – it gives him another excuse to see her.
In a good mood, he sat back in the chair holding Gift, stroked its head, and signed to its big eyes: [Good baby, you did great today! Daddy didn’t spoil you for nothing.]
—
After leaving her hometown and Chi Guilan, Zhan Xi’s life returned to its normal track.
When registering for the provincial exam, she applied for a clerk position at the Qiantang District Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports. She chose it because among the required majors, besides Chinese Language and Literature, it also accepted Network and New Media majors. Although they were only hiring one person, Zhan Xi stubbornly applied anyway.
If she could get this position, she would be willing to work there.
As for other positions matching her major – like the Administrative Law Enforcement Brigade, grassroots judicial offices of the Justice Bureau, Health Supervision Institute, District Spiritual Civilization Construction Guidance Center… she didn’t like them just from their names.
Zhan Xi knew it was because she was still young and had some ambition for her career. The iron rice bowl didn’t attract her that much, and eligible young bachelors only existed in her mother’s dreams.
She felt her future had unlimited possibilities, not just “find a stable job, marry a good husband, have one or two children.”
She wanted to make her own way, like Qin Fei, like Luo Xinran, like Little Fish! Even if she failed, she wouldn’t regret it. Only not trying would leave her with regrets.
This year’s Chinese New Year Eve was in late January. The company’s annual party would be held at the end of February after the holiday, so the HR department was especially busy before the New Year, even odd jobs like Zhan Xi’s position required frequent overtime.
In her spare time, she enrolled in an online civil service exam preparation course, bought textbooks, attended classes on time, did practice questions, and completed assignments.
Chi Guilan was pleased with her study enthusiasm and told her to focus less on company matters and spend more time reviewing. Her mother’s exact words were: “What does the annual party have to do with you? After you finish the exam in late February, you might quit anyway!”
Zhan Xi didn’t dare tell her mother that the annual party did have something to do with her, because the women in her department had unanimously chosen her to perform, which gave her quite a headache.
Everyone argued for several days. Zhan Xi said she really couldn’t sing, but she could dance, though not alone. Finally, the younger Yuan Sichen and Qian Yun agreed to dance with her. Wen Qin waved her hand and told them to rent a dance studio on the company’s dime and hire a teacher for dance lessons and choreography. Only then was the matter settled.
After becoming busy, Zhan Xi couldn’t see Luo Jingyu every day, only occasionally going to his place for a meal and playing with Gift for a while.
During this time, Luo Jingyu also became very busy with the cherry blossom tree project.
Mrs. Chi’s birthday banquet was on February 9th, after the Lantern Festival, so time was tight.
Luo Jingyu was very organized. Through his pressed flower mentor Teacher Zhou Lian, he found two hearing-impaired high school seniors from a school for the blind and deaf to help. They had both learned basic pressed flower techniques from Teacher Zhou.
Because there were so many petals, small twigs, and leaves to make, Luo Jingyu assigned the two children to cut shapes and dye materials, while he handled all the pressing work himself. After all, the essence of pressed flowers lies in the “pressing” – the pressing technique can determine the final quality of the work.
After two days of teaching, the two hearing-impaired students, one boy and one girl, could work independently. They reported to Luo Jingyu’s home at 9 AM and finished at 6 PM. Luo Jingyu paid them daily wages, and the two children worked very enthusiastically.
Meanwhile, Luo Jingyu gave up on using flower stands and foam boards for the cherry blossom tree trunk. With sufficient budget, Luo Jingyu had Fang Xu contact a sculpture student from the Art Academy to make it with sculpting clay, which would make the trunk’s texture more realistic.
And there was still the double-layered cherry blossom hair comb that needed to be taught to Mr. Chi before the New Year.
Luo Jingyu’s comb design was simple, making it easier for Mr. Chi to complete. The significance of this comb wasn’t in its design but in its completion. After Mr. Chi approved the design, Luo Jingyu contacted Dong Cheng and set the teaching time for January 19th, a Sunday.
A week before Mr. Chi was due to visit, also on a Sunday, Zhan Xi had a day off. After sleeping in late and not wanting to review, she went to the market, bought a bag full of vegetables, picked up Gift, and went up to the 15th floor to check on Little Fish.
Little Fish’s home was now in complete disarray with no way to tidy up, so Gift was forced to return to 802 and depend on Zhan Xi. The cat was very upset and didn’t give Zhan Xi any pleasant looks for the first few days, until Zhan Xi took it to Little Fish’s place – only then would Gift become more docile.
Luo Jingyu opened the door for Zhan Xi, and person and cat entered.
At the workbench, the two eighteen-year-olds were busily cutting fabric and dyeing materials. Luo Jingyu wore sportswear and had dark circles under his eyes, giving Zhan Xi a faint smile.
His tired appearance made Zhan Xi’s heart ache. She said, “Take care of your health, you’ve gotten thinner. Let me cook lunch for you all today?”
Luo Jingyu took the vegetables from her hands, shook his hand, and pointed at himself.
Zhan Xi pouted: “You think my cooking isn’t good, is that it?”
Luo Jingyu looked at her with a dizzy head. He was really tired, having only slept four hours the night before. He had planned to order takeout for a simple meal and get some more sleep, but now that Zhan Xi was here, he immediately abandoned those plans.
Looking at her coquettish expression, Luo Jingyu couldn’t control himself and reached out to ruffle her head. Zhan Xi stared at him stunned, and only then did he realize what he had done.
Luo Jingyu: “…”
Zhan Xi: “…”
She took back the vegetables from his hands: “Let me cook after all. You’re too tired. Go rest for a while, I’ll call you all when the food is ready.”
This time, Luo Jingyu didn’t insist. He took Gift and went to the master bedroom to catch up on sleep.
The two young people at the workbench watched curiously as Zhan Xi entered the kitchen, and started gossiping in sign language.
Zhong Peng (the boy): [Brother Luo still says Sister Xiao Zhan isn’t his girlfriend! Who believes that!]
Mo Yang (the girl): [Right! He even did the head pat!]
Zhong Peng: [And she cooks for him!]
Mo Yang: [And helps him raise a cat!]
Zhong Peng: [Still being stubborn about it!]
Mo Yang shook her head and sighed: [You can never wake someone who’s pretending to be asleep.]
Zhong Peng scratched his head: [What are you talking about? Brother Luo is about to pass out, he’s really sleeping, not pretending!]
Mo Yang stared at him in exasperation: [Read more books! Illiterate! Get back to work!]
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