By now, Zhan Xi had become familiar with Luo Jingyu’s kitchen. When she came over for meals, she would stay by Little Fish’s side watching him cook, knowing where all the pots and utensils were kept.
While he cooked, Zhan Xi would tug at his sleeve to make him turn and look at her when she wanted to talk – though she never had anything important to say, just casual chatter. Zhan Xi knew he couldn’t easily use his phone, so she’d tell him to just listen and not worry about responding.
She would ramble on about things at work, how she had to dance at the annual party – and it was a hip-hop dance, so hard to learn! She’d talk about studying for next month’s exam, how reading gave her headaches. She mentioned a difficult accountant at work who was very picky, probably going through menopause. Oh, and New Year’s was coming up – she wasn’t sure whether to travel for a couple days. Plus Gift’s appetite had grown lately, she wondered when the kitten could start eating dried fish and canned food, she heard all kittens loved those, but wow they were expensive…
Luo Jingyu couldn’t understand everything she said, much less respond, but Zhan Xi just enjoyed talking to him. She even refused to go play with Gift, huffing: “I’ve severed my mother-daughter relationship with that cat!”
Luo Jingyu would shake his head and smile.
When he made something tasty, he would give Zhan Xi chopsticks to try it first. His cooking never disappointed her. Each time she would say: “Little Fish, you’re wasting your talents on pressed flowers, you should open a private restaurant! You’d definitely make money!”
In comparison, Zhan Xi’s cooking skills were quite ordinary, and she only knew how to make a few dishes.
Today for lunch with four people, she made a big pot of braised chicken wings – over twenty wings – along with her signature tomato and egg stir-fry, a soup with vegetables and fish balls, and lastly some sugar-glazed lotus root bought from a deli.
Though only four dishes, each portion was generous. Zhan Xi felt this was the peak of her culinary skills. After tasting, everything was passable – at least not lethal.
When it was time to eat, she signed to Zhong Peng and Mo Yang: [The food is ready, we can eat.]
These were simple signs Little Fish had taught her. The two boys grinned at her. Zhan Xi pointed to Luo Jingyu’s bedroom, telling them to go get rice while she went to wake him up.
The curtains were drawn in Luo Jingyu’s room, but he had left a desk lamp on. He was sound asleep wrapped in his blanket.
Zhan Xi sat on the edge of his bed and saw Gift dozing next to him. The cat noticed Zhan Xi’s arrival, twitched its ears and narrowed its eyes, unmoved.
Zhan Xi didn’t mind the cat’s attitude. She tilted her head to study Luo Jingyu’s sleeping face, thinking this was the first time she’d seen Little Fish asleep! He was lying on his side facing the edge of the bed, still wearing his clothes. His long dense eyelashes rested on his lower eyelids. He must have been exhausted, making light snoring sounds.
This was also the first time Zhan Xi had heard Luo Jingyu’s “voice.”
Though it was just soft snoring, without clear tone or timbre, compared to his usual silent state even when laughing heartily, his current “voice” was clearly masculine.
Zhan Xi stared at him blankly, knowing that Little Fish’s vocal organs were fine – he couldn’t speak only because he had been unable to hear from a young age, and thus couldn’t learn.
She also knew that many hearing-impaired children started language training very early with help from professionals or parents – this was all information she had looked up online after meeting Little Fish.
While researching, Zhan Xi couldn’t help wondering: had Little Fish undergone speech training as a child? Had he tried to speak? Had he worn hearing aids? Could he still get cochlear implants?
Was there still a chance he could hear… even just a little bit of sound?
Luo Jingyu had been sleeping for over an hour. Though Zhan Xi was reluctant, it was time to wake him for lunch. She patted his arm that was outside the blanket, lightly at first with no response. Zhan Xi had to pat a bit harder, and couldn’t help calling out: “Little Fish, wake up.”
“Uh ah…” The sleeping man was suddenly startled awake, unconsciously letting out a low moan.
Zhan Xi’s body trembled. She heard it clearly – this sound was different from the earlier soft snoring. It was a sound produced by Little Fish’s vocal cords, not loud or clear, just an instinctive sound rolling from his throat due to being startled.
It was more distinctly the voice of a young man.
Gift was now fully awake, placing its front paws on Luo Jingyu’s upper body and meowing “meow meow.”
The brief cry still echoed in Zhan Xi’s mind. She felt no discomfort, rather she was delighted – this was Little Fish’s voice! She even wanted to hear more.
However, after Luo Jingyu opened his eyes and regained consciousness, seeing it was Zhan Xi, a smile appeared on his lips. As usual, he made no more sounds.
He sat up and rubbed his hair lazily, making a lazy hand gesture. Zhan Xi didn’t understand, so Luo Jingyu sighed helplessly and took out his phone to type: [How long did I sleep?]
Before Zhan Xi could answer, his index finger pointed to the time in the top right corner of the phone, then tapped his right temple, indicating he understood.
“It’s time to eat, we were just waiting for you,” Zhan Xi said. “Go to bed earlier tonight, don’t stay up late.”
Luo Jingyu smiled and nodded, getting up to leave the bedroom with Zhan Xi, not forgetting to bring Gift along.
When the four of them ate lunch together, Luo Jingyu led in giving Zhan Xi a thumbs up, with Zhong Peng and Mo Yang quickly following suit. Zhan Xi felt like she was just showing off her poor skills in front of a master chef. The chicken wings were too salty, the fish ball soup too bland – only the tomato and egg stir-fry turned out well, being her only signature dish. It was indeed the most popular, quickly finished by the other three.
In the afternoon, Luo Jingyu worked with the two boys, using the pressing iron on cherry blossom petals.
The three of them worked seriously at the workbench while Zhan Xi stayed by Luo Jingyu’s side watching him press flowers.
The cherry blossoms were pressed petal by petal. A huge pile of dyed petals lay beside him. While Zhan Xi found it overwhelming just looking at them, Luo Jingyu showed no signs of irritation.
He kept his head down, left hand holding small tweezers to grip the petals, right hand carefully ironing with the pressing tool. His expression was especially focused, his movements graceful and confident, clean and decisive.
Zhan Xi rested her chin in her hand watching him, thinking how handsome and charming a man is when working seriously! Even though he was just repeatedly pressing cherry blossom petals, she couldn’t take her eyes off him.
Unexpectedly, it was Luo Jingyu who became uncomfortable with her watching, occasionally turning to glance at her. Zhan Xi smiled at him, and Luo Jingyu typed on his phone with pursed lips: [Don’t watch me, it’s like having a teacher supervise an exam, I’m nervous.]
Zhan Xi still wanted to tease him: “But I am your Egg teacher!”
Luo Jingyu was speechless. Zhan Xi loved seeing him at a loss with her. She giggled into her arms, then looked up saying, “Okay okay, I won’t bother you anymore. You work, I’ll go read over there.”
She moved the orange chair next to the glass sliding door, curling up in it and actually taking out a civil service exam prep book to study.
The living room was warm, with unknown flower fragrances wafting over from the flower rack beside her. Gift initially lay on a cushion, but seemingly got bored later and went to paw at Luo Jingyu’s legs. Not wanting the cat to disturb his work, Zhan Xi took Gift onto her lap, stroking its fur rhythmically.
Before long, she and the cat both started yawning. When Luo Jingyu turned to look, he found Zhan Xi had fallen asleep with her head tilted.
She’ll catch a cold sleeping like this — Luo Jingyu remembered when he first met Egg teacher, she had gone to the hospital for an IV due to a cold and fever. He quickly got up to grab a jacket, gently draping it over Zhan Xi, but unfortunately Zhan Xi wasn’t in deep sleep and was drowsily awakened.
Luo Jingyu pointed to the master bedroom, putting his palms together against his cheek and tilting his head in a sleeping gesture. Zhan Xi wrinkled her little nose: “I don’t want to sleep in your bed!”
She sat up straight and stretched, holding Gift as she stood up saying, “I’m going home, so boring.”
Luo Jingyu looked at her, his expression somewhat conflicted, brows slightly furrowed, lips parted as if wanting to say something.
Zhan Xi knew his expressions well by now and asked, “What is it, Little Fish?”
Luo Jingyu thought for a moment and typed a long message for her to see: [Huanhuan, I want your help. Next Saturday I need to teach Chi Jiang. I’ve never taught someone with hearing before, I don’t know if Chi Jiang will understand. I want to try teaching you first, is that okay?]
Oh! What kind of thing was this to worry about!
Zhan Xi smiled and said: “Of course! You’ve been busy lately, I didn’t want to say it, but I’ve actually wanted to learn for a while. I find pressed flowers really interesting.”
Seeing her readily agree, Luo Jingyu was very happy and typed: [Making simple flowers takes two-three hours.]
“That’s fine, I have time,” Zhan Xi was eager to try. “What will you teach me to make? Lilies? Roses? Cherry blossoms?”
Luo Jingyu smiled and typed: [Lily petals are big, roses have many petals, cherry blossoms are small. I’ll teach you to make snowflake flowers – less fabric, simple, cheap.]
Zhan Xi: “…”
Simple was fine, but what did he mean by “cheap”? Was he worried she’d waste his precious fabric?
They got right to it. Zhan Xi happily moved her chair next to Luo Jingyu, across from the workbench. The two boys quietly observed them, exchanging knowing glances.
The snowflake flower’s shape was indeed simpler. It used four types of fabric: georgette for petals, thin silk for the flower base, and two types of satin for the stem and leaves. Luo Jingyu typed the fabric names for Zhan Xi to see. Being her first time, Zhan Xi naturally couldn’t remember or distinguish them.
Seeing her confused look, Luo Jingyu smiled and demonstrated, drawing the shapes of petals, base and leaves on white fabric. After Zhan Xi copied his drawings, Luo Jingyu taught her to cut out each fabric piece and prepare for dyeing.
For Zhan Xi, dyeing was fun, like painting. Luo Jingyu laid out newspaper and arranged the small fabric pieces flat on it. He mixed very light yellow using lemon yellow dye with water, held the petal fabric with tweezers in his left hand, and used a brush in his right hand to paint all the fabric pieces.
This was easy, and Zhan Xi did it along with him.
Then, while the fabric was still wet, Luo Jingyu mixed light green to brush on the petal bases, and added subtle purple-red along the petal edges, creating a gradient effect.
This time when Zhan Xi tried, she showed her limitations – either too much green or too much purple-red, the colors looked wrong, immediately ruining two petals.
“I admit I’m clumsy,” Zhan Xi looked at her chubby hands, then at Luo Jingyu’s beautiful hands that could be hand models, feeling very discouraged.
Of course Luo Jingyu didn’t blame her, cutting two more petals for her.
Zhan Xi didn’t dare continue, pouting: “You do it yourself, I’m afraid I’ll ruin them again.”
Luo Jingyu shook his head and typed: [When I teach Chi Jiang, he does it, not me.]
Zhan Xi knew she was the guinea pig for his one-on-one teaching, but still played coy with him: “What if Mr. Chi Jiang is smarter and more skilled than me? That has nothing to do with the teacher’s level, my hands are just too clumsy!”
Seeing her righteous expression, Luo Jingyu didn’t know what to say, looking at her helplessly.
Seeing him at a loss, Zhan Xi turned her eyes thoughtfully, tugging his sleeve. Luo Jingyu looked carefully at her face as Zhan Xi bit her lip and said: “How about… you teach me to color hands-on?”
Luo Jingyu: “…”
Luo Jingyu: “???!!!”
So the two boys opposite witnessed an astonishing scene — their broad and stern Senior Luo actually stood behind little Miss Zhan, left hand on her chair back, right hand holding her right hand, the two of them together using the brush to color the fabric!
That posture made it look like he was teaching calligraphy!
The two boys sharply inhaled, both lowering their heads almost simultaneously.
Mo Yang reached out to touch Zhong Peng, signing under the table: [When Teacher Zhou taught you coloring, did he teach hands-on?]
Zhong Peng replied under the table: [Of course not! I’m not an idiot! Did you?]
Mo Yang: [I didn’t either, and Senior Luo never taught us that way!]
Zhong Peng: [Even if he wanted to, I wouldn’t agree!]
Mo Yang paused, cheeks turning red: [I would be willing.]
Zhong Peng: [You’re crazy, you’re not little Miss Zhan!]
At this time, the two people across the table were immersed in their own world, neither noticing the boys’ peeking.
Zhan Xi sat in the chair, her heart beating so fast, thump-thump like a drum, her left hand holding the tweezers trembling slightly.
Her eyes secretly moved to her right hand, seeing that hand covering her back, fingers so long, veins clearly visible on the back, and moving!
His warm palm pressed against the back of her hand. Zhan Xi felt her palm becoming sweaty.
The man’s figure was right behind her, so close, so close. That grassy woody scent almost enveloped her, making her afraid to breathe deeply, worried she might sneeze if she took a big breath.
Zhan Xi thought she was really bold to make such a request! How could Little Fish actually agree? Without any hesitation at all.
Couldn’t he tell she was joking?
Or perhaps she didn’t really sound like she was joking?
She was just… knowingly mischievous.
Luo Jingyu wasn’t feeling any better than Zhan Xi. He stood behind her, bending over, seeing her smooth long hair with its fresh shampoo fragrance before him.
He couldn’t hear her breathing, nor his own, but he could feel his heart beating strongly.
Unbelievably, he was touching Huanhuan’s hand!
That hand he had seen countless times, white and soft, chubby fingers and back just as she said.
But this was the first touch!
So soft, so smooth, and a bit cool, so small, much smaller than his hand – he could completely envelop it.
Zhong Peng and Mo Yang were very curious to see what kind of stunningly beautiful petal would result from such an innovative pressed flower dyeing teaching method!
As a result, amid their secret anticipation, the experienced Teacher Luo made his first mistake in years, dyeing a petal even uglier than what Zhan Xi had done herself.
Zhong Peng, Mo Yang: “…”
Luo Jingyu fell silent looking at this petal, while Zhan Xi lowered her head without speaking. Luo Jingyu cut another piece, but this time Zhan Xi absolutely refused to dye it herself. Luo Jingyu had no choice but to help her finish dyeing.
After all the fabric was dyed, it needed to air dry naturally.
Because of what happened earlier, Luo Jingyu didn’t dare look at Zhan Xi, and Zhan Xi didn’t dare look at him. Her two hands fidgeted together under the table, the back of her right hand seemingly still retaining the warmth of his palm.
To ease the atmosphere, Luo Jingyu made coffee for everyone.
At his home, Zhan Xi now had her own mug – white with a Hello Kitty pattern.
Zhong Peng and Mo Yang used identical plain mugs. When they saw Zhan Xi’s mug, they exchanged glances, feeling there was nothing left to say – if this wasn’t solid proof, they’d be insulting their own intelligence!
After finishing the fragrant coffee, the fabric had dried. Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi sat down at the workbench again as he taught her to make the stem and stamen.
No verbal communication was needed – Luo Jingyu demonstrated and Zhan Xi followed along. During this process, their eyes met several times, but each time they would startle and look away as soon as they made contact.
The remaining one – she, or he – would then boldly gaze at the other. Looking at those downcast eyes, thin eyelids, eyelashes blinking frantically; looking at the blush rising on those cheeks, the color like the cherry blossoms on the workbench; looking at those slightly parted lips, wondering if they had countless thoughts to express, just like their own.
Finally it was time for the pressing iron.
Luo Jingyu laid out the pressing pad and took out a small iron, typing to Zhan Xi: [This is a single-line iron, very hot, be careful.]
Zhan Xi nodded, watching Luo Jingyu heat the flower pressing tool and change to a single-line iron, then after heating, press curves into the back of each petal and flower base.
Pressing was the most core step in making pressed flowers, and the step that best showed a craftsperson’s skill. Each type of flower’s petals had their own curling pattern and degree. The craftsperson needed to be very familiar with the flower type and practice countless times before being able to handle the pressing smoothly, allowing the flower to present most perfectly.
Luo Jingyu naturally pressed skillfully, with even the two boys gathering around to watch.
After watching, Zhan Xi’s brain said: I’ve got it!
When she actually tried pressing, her hands said: No, you don’t.
She was still fumbling, but the iron couldn’t be taught hands-on – too dangerous. Luo Jingyu could only watch her intently, not worried about her ruining petals but afraid she would hurt herself.
Finally, all the petals and flower bases were pressed, showing very clear shapes. The snowflake flower’s leaves were long and thin, not needing a blade iron to press veins. Luo Jingyu took out soft glue and began teaching Zhan Xi how to assemble.
Zhan Xi felt the whole process was like taking arts and crafts class as a child, very interesting.
The stem, stamen, petals and leaves gradually came together under Luo Jingyu’s deft hands, becoming a pure and elegant snowflake flower.
Zhan Xi’s flower also successfully emerged. Though not entirely made by her alone and not as beautiful as Luo Jingyu’s, it made her happy enough. She pinched the mainly white little flower between her fingers, turning it over and over to look, smiling so wide she couldn’t close her mouth.
Before they knew it, the sky had darkened and it was past 6 PM.
Zhong Peng and Mo Yang hadn’t dared disturb the two lovebirds earlier, but now seeing the flower finally finished, they were relieved. Zhong Peng signed to Luo Jingyu: [Senior, we need to get off work.]
Only then did Luo Jingyu realize how late it was, quickly replying: [Thank you for your hard work, you can leave now, be safe on your way home.]
The two boys pushed and shoved each other out the door, leaving only Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi. They looked at each other and both blushed in sync.
Luo Jingyu asked if Zhan Xi wanted to stay for dinner, but Zhan Xi’s heart was too chaotic and she declined politely. Luo Jingyu also felt it wasn’t appropriate for them to be alone together right now. He didn’t know what Zhan Xi was thinking, but he urgently needed some fresh air to calm the bubbling thoughts in his mind. The afternoon had been so hard to endure – he could barely breathe!
Zhan Xi took Gift home. After entering, she put the snowflake flower in a glass vase.
She stared at the flowers in the vase for a long time, then suddenly collapsed onto the table, burying her head in her arms.
That night, Zhan Xi couldn’t fall asleep until very late.
She knew things had gotten out of control.
Unconsciously, her heart had experienced a kind of flutter she’d never felt before.
Someone had quietly walked into her heart.
He was quiet, considerate, gentle, understanding… and very shy, very cute.
Though not the witty and humorous type she had imagined, he still often made her laugh.
He was very tall, had a clean fresh temperament, and incredibly good looks!
And he was an artist! The super impressive kind!
But still, it wouldn’t work!!!
Zhan Xi pulled the blanket over her head, her legs kicking under the covers as she thought what to do what to do what to do what to do???
Luo Jingyu was deaf and mute.
If her mom found out, she’d probably turn him into spicy dried fish!
—
In the following week, Zhan Xi restrained herself, only going to Luo Jingyu’s house for dinner once mid-week, and that was because Zhong Peng and Mo Yang were working overtime. Little Fish had made several dishes and called her up to eat together.
Other than that, they hadn’t met alone.
Zhan Xi actually missed Little Fish very much, but didn’t dare see him. She went for that dinner partly to verify something.
After seeing him, her heart started pounding wildly again, almost scary enough to make her run, yet she couldn’t bear to leave. In the end she still lingered awkwardly in the kitchen watching him cook, keeping him “company.”
Little Fish’s attitude toward her was equally confusing.
Though Zhan Xi had never dated, she wasn’t stupid. If someone said Little Fish had no feelings for her at all, she definitely wouldn’t believe it.
She just didn’t know exactly what Little Fish was thinking. Their current relationship was still safe – but did he want to take it further?
Had he thought about the consequences? Had he thought about the future? Had he thought about the difficulties and obstacles? Or was his view of love like Luo Xinran’s — just enjoy the present?
Even knowing there’s no future, if you like someone, dare to get close, who cares what happens tomorrow?
No! No no no no no no, Zhan Xi wasn’t Luo Xinran. She understood that view of love but couldn’t accept it.
Moreover, from what she knew of Little Fish, he wasn’t that kind of person either.
Another Sunday arrived. This was the day Mr. Chi Jiang was coming to Luo Jingyu’s home to learn how to make cherry blossom hair combs.
Zhong Peng and Mo Yang had the day off, and naturally Zhan Xi wouldn’t go up to disturb them. Dong Cheng accompanied Mr. Chi Jiang to Qingque Garden, along with Ji Hongzhe, who as the indispensable sign language interpreter was once again invited by Luo Jingyu to help.
Having experience teaching Zhan Xi, Luo Jingyu appeared much more confident teaching Mr. Chi Jiang to make the hair comb. Going through each step of the process, with Ji Hongzhe and Dong Cheng’s translation, Mr. Chi Jiang was quite enthusiastic and learned very happily.
Several diamonds were set in the metal stamens – this was Luo Jingyu’s first time helping make diamond jewelry, which gave him some mixed feelings.
He thought Mr. Chi Jiang must really love his wife, going all out for this birthday banquet – a kimono worth over a million yuan, diamonds that looked quite large in carat size. No wonder he hadn’t haggled over the price of the cherry blossom tree.
The whole lesson went very smoothly. At 3 PM, the eight-petal cherry blossom diamond hair comb was complete. Luo Jingyu first found a simple gift box to help Mr. Chi Jiang pack it. After Mr. Chi Jiang sincerely thanked him, he left with the hair comb and Dong Cheng.
Ji Hongzhe had been busy all day and was very interested in Luo Jingyu’s home/workshop, touring every room. Luo Jingyu signed to him: [Do you have a date tonight? If not, stay for dinner. Thank you so much for today.]
Ji Hongzhe squinted at him and signed back: [I want to eat your beer duck, haven’t had it in ages. Can you still make it?]
Luo Jingyu smiled: [Of course I can. But can I invite another friend to eat together? She lives downstairs.]
Ji Hongzhe asked: [A woman?]
Luo Jingyu: “…”
Ji Hongzhe burst out laughing, patting Luo Jingyu’s shoulder and saying, “Go ahead and invite her, as long as you don’t mind me being a third wheel.”
After reading his lip movements, Luo Jingyu quickly explained: [There’s nothing between us, don’t say weird things later.]
Ji Hongzhe nodded repeatedly: “I understand, I understand. I was dating girlfriends before you even had facial hair!”
This guy had always talked wildly since they were young. Luo Jingyu had no way with him. He left Ji Hongzhe waiting at home while he went out to buy ingredients for beer duck.
After buying groceries, on his way home Luo Jingyu messaged Zhan Xi, inviting her up for dinner, saying his childhood friend was visiting. With three people it would be livelier, and he could make more dishes.
Thinking there would be a third person present so it wouldn’t be too awkward, Zhan Xi agreed.
By the time Luo Jingyu got home, Zhan Xi had also come upstairs carrying Gift.
Luo Jingyu was handling food in the kitchen when the small doorbell light lit up. Luo Jingyu poked his head out, indicating his hands were dirty and asking Ji Hongzhe to help open the door.
Ji Hongzhe meandered to the door and opened it, coming face to face with Zhan Xi outside.
Zhan Xi: “…”
Ji Hongzhe: “…”
Luo Jingyu dried his hands and came over, happily taking Gift into his arms, then getting slippers for Zhan Xi.
He pointed to Zhan Xi and signed to Ji Hongzhe: [This is my friend, you two introduce yourselves.]
Ji Hongzhe regained his composure, clearing his throat and politely smiling at Zhan Xi: “Hello, I’m Little Fish’s childhood friend, Ji Hongzhe. Ji from ‘commemorate’, Hong from ‘Xu Beihong’, Zhe from ‘philosophy’.”
Zhan Xi also forced a smile: “Hello, I’m Little Fish’s… neighbor, my name is Zhan Xi.”
Luo Jingyu: “???”
Huh? How did she become just a neighbor? Weren’t they friends?
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