Zhan Xi added Du Hengzhi on WeChat and told Luo Jingyu and her brother about it. Zhan Jie immediately opened his phone and asked, “Du what? How do you write it? Let me search.”
“The ‘heng’ from ‘permanent’ and the ‘zhi’ from ‘knowledge’,” Zhan Xi said as she leaned next to her brother to look at the page. Luo Jingyu also quietly walked over, bending down to peek.
Du Hengzhi, male, twenty-nine years old, graduated from XX Fashion School in France. Previously worked at French companies XX, YY and other major brands. Returned to China three years ago to establish a design studio and created the LucienDu brand, which includes custom services and high-end menswear.
As an independent emerging designer, he has designed red carpet gowns multiple times for artists and directors attending various international film festivals.
Personal achievements: Named Best Designer of 201X by X Magazine Selected as one of 15 Global Emerging Designers by Y Magazine in 201Y Won Best Fashion Designer Award at XXX in 201X Won Designer of the Year at XX Fashion Ceremony in 201Y Served as Guest Menswear Director for Z Magazine Chinese Edition since 201Z …
The webpage had Du Hengzhi’s photo – a small one showing him with a mustache, black-framed glasses, and permed curly hair in a hipster style.
Zhan Jie, Zhan Xi, and Luo Jingyu: “…”
This Du Hengzhi person, though young, seemed quite famous.
Time being of the essence, Zhan Xi went back to the couch to coordinate meeting details with Du Hengzhi. Zhan Jie looked at Luo Jingyu and asked, “Do you have any presentable formal wear?”
Luo Jingyu tugged at his t-shirt and sweatpants, honestly shaking his head.
Zhan Jie asked again, “What kind of clothes do you have?”
Luo Jingyu pointed at the master bedroom door, indicating for Zhan Jie to follow him in to take a look.
When the closet opened, Zhan Jie almost knelt down. Luo Jingyu’s closet was clean, neat and fragrant, like a clothing brand’s showroom. However, there weren’t many clothes, and the colors were very plain – mostly black, white, grey and blue, with at most some brown, camel and dark green. There wasn’t a single piece in bright colors like red or yellow.
Zhan Jie took a quick look and guessed that Luo Jingyu didn’t go out much, preferring loose comfortable clothes suitable for work. His seasonal clothes were mostly t-shirts, hoodies and sportswear.
“You need to buy some formal wear,” Zhan Jie turned to tell Luo Jingyu. “Have Huanhuan accompany you shopping. We’re meeting a big designer – how can you dress like this?”
Luo Jingyu was still processing Du Hengzhi’s impressive resume, feeling slightly anxious. That person was so accomplished! Only twenty-nine and already so successful, much more famous than Xu Qingyan. He was the most impressive person Luo Jingyu had ever encountered.
Zhan Xi also walked into the master bedroom, tapping Luo Jingyu’s arm with her phone, saying, “It’s set – the day after tomorrow at 3 PM, we’ll meet at Du Hengzhi’s studio.”
She also looked him up and down, then at his closet: “Little Fish, we’re meeting a menswear designer. You need to dress sharp, let people know your taste isn’t bad!”
Zhan Jie stroked his chin and said, “With Little Luo’s height and build, we can just go to the mall and buy whatever looks good on the mannequins – get a whole set. Also get your hair done, don’t look like a student. A master needs to have a master’s presence.”
Luo Jingyu: “…”
He swallowed, not having worried much before, but now feeling quite nervous after the siblings’ comments.
For this meeting, Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu went on a big shopping trip at the mall the next day. Luo Jingyu not only bought himself a new outfit but also got a dress for Zhan Xi. Since Huanhuan would be accompanying him, she needed to look pretty too.
On the day of meeting Du Hengzhi, Zhan Xi carefully put on makeup, suddenly realizing she hadn’t worn makeup in a long time. Working at home with Little Fish every day, she usually just wore t-shirts and shorts, casually tying up her hair however was comfortable.
Luo Jingyu would never say she lived roughly. He was very sweet with his words, often complimenting her beauty, liked pinching her cheeks, saying they were white and soft like eggs, calling her the most beautiful girl in the world.
Zhan Xi was almost dizzy from his compliments, nearly believing them – until they walked into Du Hengzhi’s studio and saw several young, fashionable, lively, and strikingly beautiful girls. She soberly realized she might have become too much of a homebody, and this state couldn’t continue long-term.
Little Fish’s homebody nature was due to his congenital deafness and his special work requirements, needing to work quietly alone.
But Zhan Xi wasn’t deaf, so why had she been so enthusiastic about working at the craft fair and coffee shop experience classes? It was because she also had social needs.
Little Fish was the same – he also had social needs, and having Zhan Xi around had clearly made him much happier. But with Zhan Xi only having Little Fish, who couldn’t even speak, she had quit her job three months ago and experienced many things with Little Fish. She might not feel it much now, but what about later?
Watching those busy working girls, Zhan Xi felt a subtle worry in her heart.
Du Hengzhi’s studio was in a villa in a creative park, with beautiful surroundings – lakes, trees, birds singing and flowers blooming. The studio’s decoration style was as Zhan Xi had imagined – full of design sense, modern, minimalist, dominated by cold tones that men tend to like.
When they finally met Du Hengzhi, both parties were surprised by each other’s appearance.
Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi hadn’t expected Du Hengzhi to look nothing like the man in the small webpage photo. He was tall and thin, with very short hair, no beard at all, and a clean white face – only the black-framed glasses bore any resemblance to the photo.
He wore a linen shirt and casual pants, holding a cup of hot tea, looking like a gentle and handsome middle school teacher.
Du Hengzhi also curiously observed Luo Jingyu. This young handsome man wore a light beige shirt under a smoke-grey casual suit, brown leather shoes, with a tall frame, neat hairstyle, and eyes that were clear yet shy. Fortunately, he wasn’t wearing a tie – a tie would have ruined this outfit.
The girl beside him had shoulder-length hair, wearing a navy blue mid-sleeve dress, with delicate features and a bright smile, with a small brooch pinned to her left chest. Du Hengzhi glanced at it, guessing it was made with pressed flowers.
Zhan Xi made introductions for Luo Jingyu, explaining that Teacher Luo was hearing impaired but could read lips, and she would translate his sign language.
Du Hengzhi wasn’t surprised at all. He shook hands with Luo Jingyu and smiled, saying, “I’m quite embarrassed to admit this, but I’m quite nosy and had already read up about Teacher Luo online before meeting him. Miss Zhan writes very well, explaining everything clearly. Teacher Luo encountering such a terrible situation – as a fellow designer, I truly understand how you both feel.”
Zhan Xi said, “Thank you, but that incident is in the past now. It won’t affect Teacher Luo’s future work state.”
“I naturally believe that,” Du Hengzhi tilted his head. “Um, am I dressed too casually? I don’t even look like a designer anymore, do I?”
Luo Jingyu quickly shook his head, actually feeling that he himself was dressed too formally and looked foolish. Zhan Xi noticed his discomfort and jokingly asked Du Hengzhi, “Mr. Du, from your professional perspective, how is Teacher Luo’s fashion sense?”
“Quite good, very handsome,” Du Hengzhi gave Luo Jingyu a thumbs up. “Designers won’t have bad taste – I’m 100% certain of that. Come on, let’s go to my office to talk. I’ve been worrying about this matter so much lately I was losing hair, but when I saw that cherry blossom tree the other day, it was like a breakthrough – suddenly I felt this problem could be solved!”
Du Hengzhi’s office was on the second floor of the villa. The three sat down on the guest sofa, and Du Hengzhi personally made tea for them. Without further small talk, he briefly explained the situation.
When he was still a novice designer, he had taken on designing a red carpet gown for a new actress. At that time, the actress was completely unknown, her status too low to borrow designer brand dresses, so she could only find small brands to borrow or buy from, which led her to Du Hengzhi.
Unexpectedly, the dress Du Hengzhi designed for her made her stand out on the red carpet, earning praise from all media and netizens.
This made Du Hengzhi famous overnight, and the actress later received several good film scripts. Due to her excellent acting skills, she rose to become a top national actress.
Over the years, she had attended countless award ceremonies and entertainment industry events, naturally no longer worrying about designer dresses. However, she never forgot Du Hengzhi’s designs, requesting him to design her red carpet looks several times each year. Amazingly, each time received overwhelming praise.
Even the media and her fans had complete confidence in Du Hengzhi, feeling that only he could better bring out the actress’s beauty.
In late October, the actress would be attending a globally-watched international film festival in Country Y, bringing a competing work as she was nominated for Best Actress. After confirming her attendance, her team contacted Du Hengzhi, requesting his help in designing her red carpet gown.
“The pressure is enormous,” Du Hengzhi scratched his hair, explaining, “Her status now is completely different from before – every public appearance is scrutinized. Originally, I was very clear about what kind of dress suited her temperament and figure, always designing to match her essence, which always worked well. But this time, her team made very specific requests – they want dreamlike, flowing, light, fresh… I…”
Du Hengzhi smiled bitterly with helplessness, “To be honest, these aren’t styles I’m good at, and they’re all different from what I usually design for her. I’ve always felt she suits simple, elegant, graceful styles, but her team is very insistent on going with a youthful style this time. As a designer, I should indeed accept challenges, but I’m just afraid that if I don’t get this balance right and the red carpet look fails, it would greatly impact both her and me.”
Since Du Hengzhi was a stranger to Luo Jingyu and was saying so much at once, Luo Jingyu found it very difficult to read his lips, so he soon turned to look at Zhan Xi instead.
Zhan Xi listened while signing to translate for him, skipping unfamiliar words and focusing on key points. As Luo Jingyu watched, he generally understood.
After Du Hengzhi finished, Zhan Xi curiously asked, “Mr. Du, may I ask… who is this actress?”
Du Hengzhi pulled down the blinds, took up the remote control and turned on the office projector to reveal the answer to Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu.
Many red carpet looks of an actress appeared on the projection screen, and Zhan Xi exclaimed, “Oh my god! It’s Yun Xi! I really like her, her acting is so good!”
Luo Jingyu didn’t recognize Yun Xi, but he had his own focus. This actress indeed had a rather cool temperament, tall and thin figure, very fair skin. Du Hengzhi was showing them the red carpet looks he had designed for Yun Xi over the years, and they were indeed all elegant and graceful styles, without a single youthful look.
Du Hengzhi pointed at the projection screen and continued, “I had previously proposed several ideas to Yun Xi, but she and her team didn’t like them, saying they wanted freshness, not glamour. I now have a new idea of using pressed flower elements on the dress, but it’s just a rough concept – I haven’t even figured out what flowers to use! I’ve hardly ever used any flower elements in my previous designs. Those huge flowers… just thinking about it is scary, impossible to use, and small floral prints… wouldn’t they look too common? Teacher Luo, do you have any ideas? What kind of flower pattern on clothing could create that ethereal, flowing feeling?”
Zhan Xi translated his words into sign language for Luo Jingyu. After watching, Luo Jingyu lowered his head in thought for a while, then looked up again at Yun Xi’s image on the screen.
He had never watched any of this actress’s dramas or movies, didn’t know her at all, had no preconceptions.
Seeing her for the first time, he observed her appearance and temperament, expressions and mannerisms, imagining what kind of light, youthful style she wanted.
His eyes moved to her name – she was called Yun Xi.
A flower pattern appeared in Luo Jingyu’s mind. He blinked and signed something to Zhan Xi, who immediately asked Du Hengzhi for paper and pen. Luo Jingyu bent down to write on the coffee table: [Evening Mist Flower]
When Du Hengzhi saw the three characters he wrote, he immediately searched online. The moment he saw the evening mist flower, his mind seemed to become clear as well.
He asked urgently, “Which color? Wait! Let me write it down, you write it too, let’s see if we’re thinking the same thing!”
He jumped up to get paper and pen, turned around to write.
Evening mist flowers come in many colors. Looking at Yun Xi’s photos, Luo Jingyu wrote: [Purple]
Du Hengzhi turned back around, holding up his paper to show them. He had written two big characters: [Purple]
“Brilliant!” Du Hengzhi looked very excited. “Teacher Luo, can you make evening mist flowers using the pressing technique?”
Luo Jingyu nodded and signed a long sentence. Zhan Xi translated: “Teacher Luo says he can do it, but evening mist flowers are a rather difficult pattern, almost never used in accessories, let alone on clothing. They’re mostly used as complementary flowers in displays, so he’s not sure if they’ll look good on a gown.”
Du Hengzhi paced back and forth, suddenly stopped, and snapped his fingers: “How about this – I’ll roughly sketch out the design first and show it to Yun Xi’s team. If they approve, I’ll invite Teacher Luo back so we can modify it together, okay? I know we can’t just go by my drawing – if we can’t create that effect, even the best drawing is useless, so Teacher Luo must be involved. Is that okay? Is that okay?”
Zhan Xi had never seen a designer’s inspiration burst out like this before. After all, Little Fish was always gentle – even when inspiration struck, he wouldn’t jump around and shout like this. This was quite eye-opening, so she quickly said, “Yes, yes, of course.”
“Thank you so much, Teacher Luo!” Du Hengzhi completely shed his previous refined image, rushed over and pulled Luo Jingyu up, hugging him forcefully. “I have a feeling Yun Xi will like this design, she’ll definitely like it! I understand her! Ah! I can almost imagine what this dress will look like! It’s exactly the dreamlike, flowing, youthful style she wants! Perfect!”
He released his embrace, leaving Luo Jingyu stunned. Du Hengzhi told Zhan Xi, “I’ll pay you for today’s consultation, and if Yun Xi’s team agrees to this design, I’ll sign a contract with Teacher Luo – this will be our joint design and creation! Oh, could Teacher Luo please make some pressed evening mist flowers for me to see when you get home? I must see them, must see them! Once I see how the evening mist flowers look, I can draw the dress! Hahaha…”
“O-okay,” Zhan Xi was sweating, looking at Luo Jingyu who also looked shocked and somewhat at a loss. If she hadn’t been present, she suspected Little Fish might have run straight out the door.
They… really hadn’t seen much of the world.
Du Hengzhi talked more details with Luo Jingyu, then warmly invited them to stay for dinner. Zhan Xi didn’t decline.
The villa had an auntie who handled cleaning and cooking. Not many people were working overtime that day. After counting the number of people, the auntie finished cooking, and six young people gathered around the table to eat.
Du Hengzhi didn’t act like a boss, chatting and laughing with his employees. Luo Jingyu quietly ate from his bowl while Zhan Xi chatted with the others.
“Are you two a couple?” Little Lu asked with a grin.
“Yes,” Zhan Xi glanced at Luo Jingyu, who was also looking at her.
Another girl, Little Zheng, said, “I noticed when you came in – holding hands, so sweet!”
“So full of dog food, I can barely eat. I want to date too,” Little Lu pouted at their boss. “Boss, can you stop overworking us? We don’t even have time to find partners!”
Little Jin, the male employee, said, “Don’t bring up the boss, he’s single too.”
Du Hengzhi had meat in his mouth and glared at him. The young people all burst out laughing.
Little Zheng asked Zhan Xi, “Is pressed flower craft hard to learn? I’d never heard of it before.”
Zhan Xi said, “Getting started isn’t hard – complete beginners can take experience classes to make the simplest flowers. But going deeper is quite difficult. Our Teacher Luo has studied for nine years and still takes classes every year to learn new patterns.”
Little Lu asked, “So where can we go to try it out?”
Zhan Xi answered, “In Qiantang, you can follow our public account, Xiyu Pressed Flowers. We have experience classes from time to time.”
“Where are the experience classes held?” “How much does it cost? How long does it take?” “What can we learn to make in experience classes?” “I’m really clumsy – do you guarantee we’ll learn it?” …
They had many questions, and Zhan Xi patiently answered them all. Du Hengzhi listened the whole time, then casually commented, “You could actually find a fixed location for experience classes. It doesn’t need to be big – add some coffee, desserts, maybe Western food. Could become a themed café.”
Little Zheng said, “Right, regular cafés have fierce competition, but themed cafés like this have a unique selling point. Many internet-famous shops are like that. Though physical stores are hard to open now – location is very important.”
“Isn’t Qiantang developing a cultural and creative street?” Little Jin said. “Great location, high foot traffic, with malls, university towns and several big internet companies nearby. They have high requirements for businesses, must be in the cultural and creative industry. My sister inquired about opening a regular dessert shop but they wouldn’t approve – very picky.”
Zhan Xi took in all these words and asked, “If a café had pressed flower experience elements, would you want to go there as customers?”
Little Lu pointed at Luo Jingyu: “If all the teachers are as handsome as Teacher Luo, I’ll definitely go!”
Everyone laughed.
Luo Jingyu: “…”
Zhan Xi knew she was joking, but this topic really stuck in her mind.
After dinner, Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu said goodbye to Du Hengzhi and left his studio.
Walking from the villa to the creative park’s main gate to get a taxi required going around the beautiful lake in the park. The two walked slowly hand in hand. It was very dark around them, with a cool breeze making the temperature much lower than during the day.
Luo Jingyu noticed Zhan Xi’s arms were a bit cold, so he quickly took off his suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders.
Zhan Xi occasionally looked up, saw the moon hanging in the sky, and pulled Luo Jingyu’s hand, pointing at the moon and telling him, “Look, the moon is almost full. It’ll be Mid-Autumn Festival in a few days.”
Mid-Autumn Festival was a time for family reunion, and this year it coincided with National Day.
Luo Jingyu thought of something and signed: [My sister’s birthday is coming up. She’s turning thirty-one. Every year on her birthday, our whole family eats together.]
Zhan Xi watched him, waiting for him to continue, but Luo Jingyu lowered his hands.
“Then what?” Zhan Xi asked, “When is your sister’s birthday?”
[September 30th.] Luo Jingyu’s hands moved again to answer, [I need to go home for dinner.]
Zhan Xi nodded: “Oh…”
Luo Jingyu stopped walking, pressed his lips together, and gently pulled Zhan Xi’s arm.
Zhan Xi turned to look at him. In the night, Luo Jingyu’s eyes were bright, carrying small hopes and small anxieties and uncertainties. He slowly signed: [Huanhuan, would you… like to come home with me for dinner?]
Zhan Xi smiled and hugged his waist, standing on tiptoes to kiss him.
The wind blew in gusts by the lake as they kissed deeply in the tree shadows. Luo Jingyu’s left arm tightened around her waist, pulling her body close against his, while his right hand pressed the back of her head as he closed his eyes to savor her sweet taste.
A night bird flew across the lake surface, stirring up a few splashes that finally woke Zhan Xi from this long kiss. She opened her eyes to look at the man before her, touching his face, which was warm – she knew he must be blushing and his heart racing, just like hers.
She said, “Okay, I’ll go home with you to meet your mom, dad and sister, as… Little Fish’s partner.”
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