After their short lunch break, the afternoon schedule began. Sister Shao and Sister Zhu went to their pre-booked embroidery booth, while Luo Jingyu started demonstrating how to make yellow roses.
Having skipped the drawing and flower-cutting steps, he began with color mixing and dyeing, working methodically.
Their booth’s location was indeed a bit off the main path, with less foot traffic than the main corridor, but quite a few people still wandered over, attracted by the Chinese-style decorations and the beautiful Zhan Xi. Many would stop to watch after seeing Luo Jingyu’s live demonstration.
Zhan Xi knew this was both the charm of pressed flowers and Luo Jingyu’s own charm. Beautiful things paired with beautiful people always brought joy to people’s hearts. His calm demeanor and unhurried movements gave people an indescribable sense of security – they felt that this person was highly skilled and wouldn’t make any mistakes. Those small pieces of fabric would eventually become vivid, lifelike flowers in his hands – how magical.
A row of ready-to-buy pressed flower works was displayed at the front of the table, including flowers, decorative pieces, and small accessories. Each item was labeled with a price – not cheap – and Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu had even mentally prepared themselves to not sell a single piece.
Unexpectedly, while Luo Jingyu was still dyeing materials, a lady in her thirties took a liking to a violet pearl brooch priced at 580 yuan. She bought it from Zhan Xi without any haggling.
While Zhan Xi was packaging the brooch in a jewelry box, the lady asked, “Did this teacher make all of these by hand?”
“Yes, pressed flowers are purely handmade. Except for the metal components in the jewelry, everything else is made by Teacher Luo himself,” Zhan Xi answered proudly.
“This brooch is very beautiful, it’ll match perfectly with one of my dresses. That dress is quite plain, and I’ve been looking for the right brooch for it,” the lady said as she accepted the gift bag. “Do you have an online shop? I’d like to look at other items in the future.”
Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu didn’t have an online shop, so she could only point to the QR code and ask customers to follow their official account and Weibo, saying they would release new products there.
She said this without much confidence, as she hadn’t figured out how to handle “Xi-Yu Pressed Flowers” going forward, especially since Luo Jingyu was still collaborating with Fang Xu, and “Little Fish Fish Handmade Pressed Flowers” was his main business.
Zhan Xi thought that at most, they could use “Xi-Yu Pressed Flowers” just for showcasing Little Fish’s work, and direct purchases to Fang Xu’s online store with a link.
After their first spontaneous sale, things seemed to pick up. Two girls wearing hanfu booked the afternoon experience class to make spring orchid berry hairpins. They understood the market – buying a ready-made hairpin would cost about the same, but making it themselves would be more meaningful.
Zhan Xi thought the afternoon class would just be these two girls, but two more came wanting to book as well. She discussed it with Luo Jingyu, and they felt too many people would be dangerous. She asked if they’d be willing to make camellia brooches the next afternoon, or small rose combs on the third day, but after discussing, the girls still wanted to make hairpins.
Zhan Xi thought for a moment and said hesitantly: “Teacher Luo usually offers experience classes on weekends. The times and locations will be posted on our official account. If you’re interested, you can follow us. Regular experience classes will be more expensive than this event, but since you’re customers from the Makers’ Festival, I’ll give you the current price, and afternoon tea will be provided. How does that sound?”
The two girls agreed, followed the official account, and added Zhan Xi’s WeChat to stay in touch.
After they left, Zhan Xi touched her chest in relief. She had made up quite a story, not knowing if Little Fish would agree. But turning away customers could harm their reputation. For customers they couldn’t accommodate on-site, they needed to find a way to arrange follow-up sessions. After all, they were exhibiting to help develop Little Fish’s career, and finding a place to run experience classes didn’t seem impossible to Zhan Xi.
Luo Jingyu was still focused on pressing rose petals, with a crowd gathered around the booth watching. Some praised his work, others asked questions, and Zhan Xi would immediately answer and introduce their work.
Teacher Luo remained completely focused on his work, truly carrying himself like a master craftsman, absorbed in his task. With the morning’s experience, he was no longer nervous about having so many people watching.
Perhaps it was because he had confidence – what was there to fear when doing what he did best?
The first day of the exhibition ended smoothly. Zhan Xi tallied up their achievements:
They sold four finished pieces, including the yellow rose made during the demonstration, which an elderly lady who had watched the entire process bought for 300 yuan;
Two experience classes went very well, the next morning’s rosebud class was fully booked, and the afternoon had one slot reserved;
Many people followed their WeChat official account, expressing interest in future experience classes and new product releases;
Countless people took photos of Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu. Zhan Xi didn’t know if they would post them on social media – there were too many people to keep track of, so she eventually just let them take photos and smiled sweetly at the cameras.
Sister Shao and Sister Zhu had a great time, even trying VR projects and virtual fitting rooms at the Tech Whirlwind section. They returned with bags of purchases and bought matching T-shirts as gifts for Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi.
After Zhan Xi changed back into regular clothes, the four left the exhibition hall, and Luo Jingyu treated the two sisters to local Qiantang cuisine. At dinner, they talked about the booth of the girl surnamed Guan who also did pressed flowers – nothing special, just another experience booth making roses.
Then they discussed October’s Hanfu Festival. Sister Shao had already started preparing inventory, Sister Zhu was still getting ready, and they said Teacher Xu would open shop too this time. After all, for their school of pressed flowers, the week-long Hanfu Festival was their biggest business of the year – even Teacher Xu wouldn’t want to miss it.
Sister Shao said to Luo Jingyu: “Little Fish, you need to hurry up! After the exhibition, start designing quickly, or we’ll steal all your customers!”
Luo Jingyu just smiled shyly, but felt confident inside. His hanfu accessory designs had a different style from Sister Shao and the others, and after all these years, he had a group of loyal fans following him. With handmade pieces like these, each artist could only produce limited quantities, so even if he started a few days late, he wouldn’t go hungry after opening shop.
After dinner, the sisters returned to their hotel while Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi took a taxi home.
The day had been like fighting a battle, and they had both been tense. Only now could they truly relax.
Zhan Xi showered on the eighth floor first, not bothering to dry her hair, letting it hang wet on her shoulders as she walked up to the fifteenth floor wearing a nightgown.
Luo Jingyu had also finished showering and was petting the cat on the sofa.
He had already cleaned the litter box, so there was no odd smell in the living room. He had lit a scented candle that gave off a gentle grapefruit fragrance, like a cool summer night breeze, making everything feel fresh and comfortable.
Zhan Xi let herself in, and Luo Jingyu watched her from the sofa while holding the cat, seemingly waiting for her to come over. Instead, she sat down at the workstation and opened her laptop.
Luo Jingyu: “?”
After waiting a while longer and seeing Zhan Xi staring at the screen and typing away, he couldn’t help but pout. He put Gift down and walked behind her to see what she was doing.
She was… writing an article…
Luo Jingyu: ?_?
He tugged at Zhan Xi’s arm. She looked up at him, and Luo Jingyu looked pitiful as he signed: [Aren’t you tired?]
Zhan Xi burst out laughing and held his hand, saying, “I want to write up today’s exhibition post for our official account. We took so many photos, it would be a waste not to share them.”
The account could only post one article per day, and Zhan Xi didn’t want to waste the opportunity.
Luo Jingyu shook her hand like a child throwing a tantrum.
Zhan Xi finally stood up: “You’re so annoying, won’t even let me work?”
Luo Jingyu frowned – how had she suddenly found him annoying?
Taking advantage of Zhan Xi’s distraction, he wrapped one arm around her back and slipped the other under her knees, suddenly lifting her up. Zhan Xi screamed in surprise, her feet kicking: “What are you doing? Put me down!”
Luo Jingyu refused to let go and even spun her around in circles. Zhan Xi got dizzy and wrapped both arms around his neck, begging: “Good Little Fish, put me down!”
Luo Jingyu laughed his characteristic “he-he” laugh but still didn’t put her down. Instead, he carried her to the sofa, raised his eyebrows, and pretended he was going to throw her onto it.
Gift was crouching on the sofa watching them.
“No no no… don’t throw me!” Zhan Xi clung tightly to his neck, repeatedly begging for mercy.
Of course, Luo Jingyu wouldn’t really throw her. He gently set her down, and Gift meowed once before jumping off the sofa. Unhappy about losing its spot, it circled around Luo Jingyu’s feet.
Luo Jingyu had no time to care about the cat. Before Zhan Xi could get up, he had already knelt on the sofa and leaned down to embrace her slender body.
In such an intimate position, with their faces so close, their breaths mingling with familiar yet enticing scents… Zhan Xi gave up struggling. Her large eyes seemed to brim with moisture as she gazed softly at Little Fish’s face, reaching up to tug at his damp hair.
“Bad boy,” she said.
A dangerous glint appeared in Luo Jingyu’s eyes.
But Zhan Xi wasn’t afraid and continued to provoke him: “Rogue.”
Luo Jingyu: “…”
Fine then, he’d show her what a real rogue was like.
He suddenly lowered his head to kiss her – not a gentle kiss, but passionate and intense, with rare aggression. He kept his eyes half-closed as he tasted the cool toothpaste flavor in her mouth. Zhan Xi’s body quickly softened, and gradually she began to respond to him.
His lips occasionally left her mouth to explore her earlobe and chin, then her clean, slender neck and visible collarbone…
Gift crouched by the coffee table, staring intently at them, as if not understanding what these bipeds were doing.
Zhan Xi closed her eyes, the grapefruit fragrance surrounding her breaths, along with Little Fish’s familiar scent – the clean, fresh, vibrant scent of a young man…
They hadn’t enjoyed such relaxed intimate moments for a while. They had both been too busy, counting down the days as they prepared various things. Before the exhibition started, everything had been uncertain, but now after the first day, they realized all their efforts hadn’t been wasted – they had received good feedback as they’d hoped.
So Luo Jingyu became a bit impatient, his love for Huanhuan, his gratitude to her, his dependence on her… all transformed into this passionate kiss.
“Mmm…” Zhan Xi felt the change in his body and gently pushed him away.
Luo Jingyu naturally knew what was happening. He stayed pressed against her for a moment longer before reluctantly releasing her lips and sitting up.
His breathing was rapid, his chest visibly rising and falling, and he tugged at his sweatpants trying to hide something.
Zhan Xi’s face was bright red. Little Fish was a young man in his prime, she knew very well. By now, this situation had occurred several times during their intimate moments. She still felt shy but wasn’t too panicked.
Luo Jingyu had told her he wouldn’t do anything to her until they were married.
He respected her, and Zhan Xi truly wasn’t ready yet, so they had a tacit understanding about this matter and didn’t plan to go further for now, at most just skating around the edges.
When the situation arose, they couldn’t just keep suppressing it. Luo Jingyu no longer hid it from her and would go to the bathroom alone for a while.
Zhan Xi sat on the sofa hugging her knees, thinking about the physical sensations from earlier, her face burning up again. She felt that Little Fish had it quite hard – he was really good at holding back, that fish.
When Luo Jingyu came out of the bathroom, his ears were still bright red. Zhan Xi held back her laughter and didn’t look at him, already sitting at the computer continuing to write her article. Luo Jingyu pulled up a chair beside her, propped both long legs on the seat, and rested his head on Zhan Xi’s shoulder like a big bird seeking affection, watching her type.
Wow! Huanhuan could type so fast! Luo Jingyu was very impressed. He couldn’t help looking at his own hands, feeling discouraged – why was he so slow at typing? Sigh… he really wasn’t cultured enough.
Zhan Xi organized photos from the entire day – ones she took and ones Sister Shao helped take – selecting suitable ones for the article.
The article was very easy to write with so much material! She didn’t use any front-facing photos of herself and Little Fish. In the few photos with people, Little Fish was always looking down making flowers, while she was shown in profile, displaying her ethereal hanfu dress. There was also one close-up of her hairstyle taken by Sister Shao, showing an exquisite small lotus flower hairpin.
An hour later, Zhan Xi checked over the article, posted it to their account, and glanced at the backend stats. She excitedly pointed to a four-digit number and told Luo Jingyu: “Look Little Fish, we gained so many followers!”
It was almost midnight and Gift was already asleep on the bed when Zhan Xi finally decided to go home.
The next two days were the weekend, and there would be even more visitors. She and Luo Jingyu couldn’t relax yet.
Luo Jingyu walked her back to the eighth floor but didn’t say goodbye at the door. Instead, he took off his shoes and ran straight to her bedroom. Before Zhan Xi could react, he came running out with the big whale plushie, made a face at her, put on his slippers, and ran away.
“Stingy!” Zhan Xi poked her head out the entrance door. Luo Jingyu stood by the elevator holding the big whale, turning back to look at her with a mischievous smile.
He signed: [See you tomorrow, good night.]
Zhan Xi smiled and signed back: [Good night, Little Fish.]
After closing the door, Zhan Xi walked to the middle of the living room and suddenly spun in a circle, raising her arms to dance a few steps.
Her body was extremely tired, having stood all day until her feet were numb. If Luo Jingyu could hear, he would know her throat was a bit hoarse too.
But her spirit wasn’t tired at all – she was still excited and full of energy.
So this was what it felt like to work hard together with someone you liked?
Zhan Xi felt extremely satisfied and wished the exhibition could last a few days longer.
—
The second day of the exhibition went just as smoothly. As expected, there were more visitors than the first day. Zhan Xi was so busy she didn’t even have time to drink water, and Luo Jingyu hadn’t stopped either – except for bathroom breaks, he was glued to his chair.
Almost all the finished pressed flower accessories were sold out. Luo Jingyu said he had some stock at home they could bring for emergency use on the third day.
After blocking all her family members, Zhan Xi posted on WeChat Moments, sharing the article about their first day at the exhibition. Luo Xinran, Pipi Shrimp, Zhao Qingqing, Teacher Qiu, Dong Cheng, Mrs. Wu, Zhou Lian, and many others helped share it.
Luo Jingyu posted too, so on the second day, many friends came to their booth. Besides Sister Shao and Sister Zhu, Luo Xinran and Pipi Shrimp came to show support. Zhong Peng, Mo Yang, and several high school classmates came together, sculpture student Little Li brought his girlfriend, and even Yuan Sichen came strolling by with her boyfriend.
“Oh my god, little Zhan! You look so ethereal!” Yuan Sichen circled around Zhan Xi. “We shouldn’t have done that hot dance at the company party – we should have done a classical dance instead! Looking at you makes me want to wear hanfu too. I’ve never worn it before!”
Zhan Xi had changed into a light lotus-green summer Song dynasty dress that made her look even more fresh and cute, with two little buns in her hair – another of Luo Jingyu’s masterpieces.
Yuan Sichen wanted to try the pressed flower experience, but Zhan Xi apologetically said: “All slots are full, all three days are completely booked!”
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” Yuan Sichen was disappointed.
Zhan Xi said: “We’ll have weekend experience classes later too. If you really want to try, come then – my treat.”
“Oh ho! Really acting like the boss’s wife now.” Yuan Sichen glanced at Luo Jingyu behind the table. He was pressing flower petals with his iron, many people bending over to watch, trying to see more clearly – you could only see heads squeezed together.
Yuan Sichen pulled Zhan Xi’s arm and asked quietly: “In the future, you’ll be doing this with your boyfriend?”
Zhan Xi was startled and shook her head: “No, I’m just helping him with this exhibition. After it’s done, I’ll look for work. He has a business partner he’s worked with for four years – there’s no place for me.”
Yuan Sichen asked: “Then why isn’t his business partner involved in this exhibition?”
“Hmm.” Zhan Xi answered, “Maybe he’s busy. That person doesn’t understand pressed flowers or sign language, so he couldn’t help much with the exhibition.”
“Oh my, stop talking so much!” Yuan Sichen frowned. “Your voice is hoarse. Do you want some throat lozenges? Should I go buy you some?”
Zhan Xi said: “No need, I have lozenges. I’m taking them.”
Several small incidents happened that day:
First, in that day’s local newspaper, there was a two-page special report on the Makers’ Festival. Zhan Xi had hoped the reporter would describe their booth in words, but instead, her photo was published!
This made her a bit worried. Although the photo in the paper was tiny and she was wearing hanfu, making her face hard to recognize, the photo in the mobile news was high resolution and could be enlarged.
Zhan Xi could only hope her family wouldn’t see the report. At least her mom and Zhan Jie didn’t read newspapers, and her dad… well, her dad had a lifelong habit of reading the paper. She could only hope his aging eyes wouldn’t recognize his own daughter.
Second, during his free time, Luo Jingyu made a lotus flower hairpin on-site. It was very unique, and he planned to give it to Huanhuan so she could wear a different hairpin on the third day.
Unexpectedly, when he returned from a bathroom break, Zhan Xi had sold this hairpin for 600 yuan! Luo Jingyu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He pinched her face hard but couldn’t do anything about it – it was his fault for not telling her beforehand.
Third, a male ceramics artist wandering away from his booth saw Zhan Xi and chatted with her for half an hour.
Luo Jingyu didn’t notice at first, thinking he was just a regular customer, but by the fourth time he looked up and saw the man still talking to Zhan Xi, he started to lose his composure.
The young man was tall and handsome, wearing a potter’s apron, smiling brightly at Zhan Xi, his mouth moving constantly, accompanied by gestures, saying who knows what.
Ah! And Huanhuan was smiling back at him!
Luo Jingyu: “…”
Before leaving, the young man invited Zhan Xi to try pottery for free at his booth, and she agreed. After he left, she turned to look at Luo Jingyu and found him staring at her with a pitiful expression. When she looked over, he lowered his head. Zhan Xi bent down to look at him and was shocked to discover her Little Fish was unhappy!
Later, it took Zhan Xi a lot of effort to figure out why Little Fish was unhappy, and then a lot more effort to cheer him up.
She was secretly delighted – who would have thought! Student Luo Jingyu could actually get jealous?
That night at home, Luo Jingyu made a pot of pear water for Zhan Xi and massaged her feet on the sofa for half an hour.
Zhan Xi asked him why he made pear water, and Luo Jingyu signed back: [Your throat is hoarse.]
“How did you know?” Zhan Xi asked with a smile, holding the fragrant, slightly warm pear water and taking small sips.
Luo Jingyu tenderly touched her face, pointed to himself, then circled his temple a few times before signing: [I asked Li.]
He had thought of it himself and confirmed with Little Li. Zhan Xi found it very heartwarming.
Luo Jingyu reached out to touch her throat again. Thinking of the ceramics artist from earlier, he opened his mouth and made a series of unclear sounds, all in the first tone.
“Na o ma, na, o ma…”
His voice was very familiar to Zhan Xi by now. At first, she thought he was just making unconscious sounds, but after hearing it several times, she realized he was repeating three syllables.
The final “ma” was very clear, but she couldn’t guess the first two syllables.
It seemed like he was asking her a question.
Zhan Xi patiently asked: “Little Fish, what are you saying? What ‘ma’?”
Luo Jingyu immediately pressed his lips together, not daring to speak anymore, knowing Huanhuan couldn’t understand what he was saying at all.
He signed: [Does my speech sound bad?]
Zhan Xi shook her head: “Not at all. I’ve told you, your voice sounds very good. I really like hearing it. I just truly couldn’t understand that sentence just now. Can you tell me what you were asking?”
Luo Jingyu lowered his eyes to think for a moment, then took out his phone to type: [Are you sad?]
After typing, he touched her throat again.
Zhan Xi put down her teacup and leaned forward to hug him.
Her Little Fish would never know what it felt like to have a hoarse throat from talking too much. It made her heart ache, but he cared about her. Even though he couldn’t experience it himself, he still thought of her.
Moreover, from initially resisting making sounds, to later relaxing enough to make sounds in front of her, to now trying to mimic normal mouth shapes, wanting to call her name, even trying to say simple words to her – all of this moved Zhan Xi to tears.
She held Luo Jingyu’s face and said to him: “Little Fish, I don’t want you to learn to speak. I know it’s very difficult for you. It’s okay – sign language is also speaking. I can already chat with you now. I just want to hear you call my name, call me Huanhuan. Nothing else matters.”
Luo Jingyu blurted out: “h.”
Zhan Xi giggled and nodded: “h, that’s right, very good. When we have free time, I’ll continue teaching you how to say ‘Huanhuan.’”
Luo Jingyu’s cheeks reddened slightly, and he nodded: “h.”
“I really like you, Luo Jingyu. How can you be so cute?” Zhan Xi didn’t know what else to say. Seeing Little Fish open his mouth again, she said, “I know you want to say you like me too, right? I know, I know you like me too, of course I know!”
She was right.
He wanted to say “I like you” out loud.
It was so difficult – he couldn’t do it. Would he ever learn?
Luo Jingyu’s gaze became very soft. He stopped trying to speak and opened his arms to pull Zhan Xi into his embrace, stroking her back firmly as he closed his eyes helplessly.
The third day of the exhibition was uneventful. After two days of fun, Sister Shao and Sister Zhu went to visit other attractions in Qiantang. Luo Jingyu’s booth attracted mostly new customers, including some who had specifically come after seeing the previous day’s newspaper.
Nobody had heard of pressed flowers before – it was everyone’s first time seeing them. Some people asked if these weren’t just silk flowers? Zhan Xi explained no, the tools and techniques were different. Mass-produced silk flowers, even handmade ones, used assembly line processes and looked crude and fake, while pressed flowers were unique pieces of art.
Most people who spent long periods watching Luo Jingyu make flowers were women, from white-haired grandmothers to eight or nine-year-old girls, all watching intently.
Actually, over the three days, only the experience class customers knew Luo Jingyu was deaf. Others probably thought he was just aloof. It seemed normal for an artist to be a bit eccentric, and anyway, the pretty girl in hanfu beside him would promptly answer any questions.
Luo Jingyu had told Zhan Xi he didn’t want his deafness to be used as a selling point – he hoped people would focus more on his craftsmanship. Zhan Xi felt the same way, and they had implemented this quite well.
Unfortunately, there were too few experience class slots. Zhan Xi added many WeChat contacts, telling them to follow the official account for future activity notices. She had a feeling Little Fish’s weekend interest classes would definitely take off!
In the afternoon, Luo Jingyu was giving his final pressed flower demonstration, making a dahlia brooch. Before he even finished, it was already reserved by a female customer.
While Luo Jingyu was demonstrating, Zhan Xi didn’t need to explain, only answering when customers asked questions. She had some free time and leaned against the booth fanning herself.
The venue had air conditioning, but with so many people, the temperature was still high. Zhan Xi happily thought about how she and Little Fish could finally rest for a few days after today. She needed to sleep well, have Little Fish cook her feasts, go on a date with Little Fish… ah no, no, Little Fish had to start preparing for the Hanfu Festival – he was already many days behind others…
While lost in thought, someone suddenly stood in front of her.
Zhan Xi stared at him for a few seconds, then quickly raised her fan to cover her face.
The person grabbed her wrist and pulled down forcefully. Zhan Xi winced in pain, her hand loosening, and the fan fell to the ground.
She didn’t dare pick it up, nervously looking at him. He kept a stern face, his cold gaze scanning her up and down before moving to Luo Jingyu.
Luo Jingyu was still absorbed in making flowers, hadn’t looked up, and didn’t know what was happening here.
The person took two steps toward him.
Zhan Xi’s back was covered in sweat, her face gradually turning pale. She grabbed the person’s arm and said urgently: “Brother! Why are you here?”
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