ATLAS TRANSLATES

On the winding mountain path, two young people were climbing up.

They wore matching outfits – white short-sleeved t-shirts with gray athletic pants, dressed cleanly and refreshingly.

The man was tall, wearing sneakers and carrying a large backpack.

The girl was also tall, traveling light with her ponytail swinging behind her as she was pulled along by the man’s hand, breathing heavily.

After climbing another section, the girl tugged at the man’s hand. He turned back to see her face flushed red, forehead covered in sweat, grimacing as she said: “I- I’m done, let’s- let’s take a break.”

Luo Jingyu sighed internally, knowing Huanhuan loved hiking but didn’t expect her to be this unfit.

How tall was this mountain? He could reach the top in two hours by himself, but pulling Huanhuan along, they’d been at it for two hours and only made it halfway.

Zhan Xi practically rolled over to sit on a roadside rock, completely abandoning her image as she sprawled out panting heavily with limbs spread.

Luo Jingyu found it amusing and pulled out a bottle of water from his bag to hand to her, then signed: [Hungry? Want to eat something?]

Zhan Xi shook her head. Right now she was so exhausted she couldn’t eat anything, just wanted to drink water and rest.

She lifted her eyes to look at Little Fish – his face was also flushed and there was sweat on his forehead and nose, but he looked in much better shape than her, like a proper athlete.

Zhan Xi was impressed. She rarely saw Little Fish exercise at home, occasionally he would use the treadmill in the guest room or play with dumbbells, how was his stamina so good?

Thinking about their intimate moments, his stamina was good then too – one round a night wasn’t enough. Zhan Xi felt even more deflated, wondering if she should also start exercising more.

They were currently in a coastal tourist city in southern China, exactly one week after the Y City International Film Festival.

This past week had been like a dream for Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu. Because Yun Xi won the international Best Actress award, there was widespread praise in China, with trending topics on Weibo for many days. And because of her Weibo post, the niche art of hot-pressing flowers entered the public eye for the first time.

“Xiyu Hot-Pressed Flower Art” caught the wave, with follower count soaring. Zhan Xi checked her previous Weibo posts – besides promoting hot-pressed flowers, she had also shared photos of their cats, plants, and Little Fish’s cooking… keeping it down-to-earth.

She had also posted photos of Luo Jingyu, acknowledging he was deaf. Though Little Fish’s face wasn’t clearly shown, you could still tell he was a handsome young man.

Many netizens commented asking to see his full face, making Zhan Xi sigh that looks really were everything. Their store had become an internet sensation – or rather, had Little Fish become an internet celebrity first?

Zhan Xi dutifully reposted Yun Xi’s Weibo, praising the Best Actress profusely, sincerely thanking Du Hengzhi, and finally saying Teacher Luo would continue working hard to bring everyone more excellent works.

The Qiantang local TV station somehow found out that “Xiyu Hot-Pressed Flowers” was based in Qiantang and came to interview Luo Jingyu.

Zhan Xi thought about it – though this was when they had peak attention, for Luo Jingyu the tea room renovation wasn’t finished yet, so there wasn’t much meaning in doing a home interview. She asked the reporters if they could wait half a month to do the interview at Teacher Luo’s newly opened tea room incorporating hot-pressed flower elements. They agreed.

This news also reached their hometown.

Zhan Jie called to tell their dad that the news of Yun Xi winning Best Actress was in the newspapers. Though she was an actress who had been in hit TV dramas, even if the elderly weren’t familiar with her, they understood what it meant for a female celebrity to win an international Best Actress award.

Soon, all their relatives, neighbors and friends knew about this.

Yin Li told Zhan Xi on the phone that many relatives had met Luo Jingyu at their engagement ceremony. In their impression he was just a tall handsome young man, refined, an artist, but unfortunately deaf and mute… who knew he was so amazing! Even collaborating with female celebrities!

Yun Xi oh, international Best Actress oh! The dress she wore when accepting the award was made by Huanhuan’s boyfriend oh!

Zhan Xi was dumbfounded after hearing this: “The dress was made by my boyfriend! The hot-pressed flowers on the dress were designed by my boyfriend and handmade by him. Oh my god, Lili jie can you help clear this up!”

Yin Li was puzzled: “Clear up what? Letting them know how awesome your boyfriend is isn’t a good thing? Oh let me tell you Huanhuan, Second Aunt may not show it but she’s so proud inside, she was telling my mom privately…”

She cleared her throat and imitated Ji Guilan’s tone: “That young Luo is quite capable after all.”

Zhan Xi: “…”

Yin Li laughed heartily: “So there’s really no need to clear anything up! The adults all use Weibo now, word just spreads around, and now they all know your boyfriend is super amazing. I think that’s great.”

Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi’s mutual friends were all happy for them. Pipi Xia said Little Fish definitely needs to treat everyone to a fancy dinner! At least 500 yuan per person!

Luo Xinran’s support was quite unique – she wrote an article on her own official account as the gossip-loving Teacher Luo Ran who follows celebrity news every day.

She first analyzed the red carpet looks of various female celebrities, highly praised Yun Xi, and finally wrote about Luo Jingyu’s hot-pressed flowers, proudly stating that the floral elements on the Best Actress’s dress were created by her IRL friend, encouraging interested followers to check out “Xiyu Hot-Pressed Flower Art”.

At Qiantang School for the Deaf and Blind, Luo Jingyu overnight became an idol for all the deaf students. Luo Xiaomei and Zhou Lian were surrounded by many students asking:

[Has Senior Luo met Yun Xi in person?]

[Where did Senior Luo learn hot-pressing flowers?]

[Can I learn from Senior Luo?]

[Does Senior Luo have a girlfriend?]

…

Xu Qingyan, Sister Shao, Sister Xiao Zhu, Sister Xiao Ding and others all sent congratulatory messages to Luo Jingyu.

This kind of exposure opportunity was truly rare. Yun Xi’s win was quite unexpected – even Xu Qingyan who had collaborated with luxury brands many times had never received such attention.

This level of attention also brought more opportunities to Luo Jingyu. In just a few days, several fashion brands both big and small contacted Zhan Xi – some with specific collaboration projects, others inquiring about applications of hot-pressed flowers.

Zhan Xi was busy alternating between online chats and phone calls.

The tea room she and Luo Jingyu were jointly running was under renovation, with a designer hired for the design.

Each to their own expertise – Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu were humble and wouldn’t presume to direct the designer on professional matters. They just shared their ideas and future operational direction with the designer, who began taking measurements and drafting plans after their discussion.

Luo Jingyu drew a small logo to give to the designer for the storefront sign – it was a cartoon whale head with a round, smiling egg on top.

A whale and an egg? What a strange combination!

The designer was puzzled but said nothing, promising to design the storefront sign well.

Taking advantage of the first few days of renovation, Luo Jingyu asked Zhan Xi if she wanted to go on a trip?

They had been busy for several months with barely any rest, and would surely be busy again once the tea room opened, so they could take a vacation now.

Zhan Xi was naturally happy – going on a long trip with Little Fish! She had been looking forward to this for so long!

So, they packed a bunch of summer clothes and headed south to the still-hot seaside.

This was Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu’s first time flying together, giving them a honeymoon feeling.

The destination was chosen together, the itinerary planned together, but the hotel was picked by Luo Jingyu. This time, he chose a five-star beachfront hotel that had been open for over a year, going for luxury.

Luo Jingyu thought about his previous hotel stays with Huanhuan – express hotels in Shanghai and Fucun Town, a guesthouse in Xizhen, another express hotel near Du Hengzhi’s studio… he couldn’t stand it anymore!

He had been so poor, so this time he must pick a good hotel! Four nights cost over five thousand yuan – Zhan Xi was pained but Luo Jingyu didn’t even blink before paying.

When traveling alone he didn’t care where he stayed, but with Huanhuan, he wanted to give her the best.

They landed the previous afternoon and checked into the hotel. The next day’s plan was hiking.

Zhan Xi looked at the mountain height information at the hotel and declared proudly that such a small height didn’t need a cable car! She could climb up herself.

Before starting the climb, Luo Jingyu asked her again if she really didn’t want to take the cable car?

Zhan Xi confidently answered: “No need!”

And then… two hours later, here she was sprawled on a rock like a panting dog, nearly in tears.

Luo Jingyu stood quietly beside her, even taking out the scenic area brochure to fan her.

After sitting for seven or eight minutes, Zhan Xi finally caught her breath. She stood up, stamped her feet, and reached out to Luo Jingyu: “Okay, let’s go! Pull me along.”

Luo Jingyu immediately broke into a smile, showing his beautiful white teeth, and took her hand as they continued towards the summit.

The mountain wasn’t particularly steep and the scenery wasn’t especially remarkable, but the brochure said you could see the ocean from the peak, which motivated Zhan Xi.

Luo Jingyu was like an ox pulling a plow, laboriously dragging Zhan Xi up to the summit observation deck. After climbing the last step, Zhan Xi was almost collapsed. Seeing a small shop, she pointed with trembling fingers: “I- I want, a cold drink…”

Luo Jingyu let her rest on a stone bench while he went to buy drinks. He took two bottles of sports drinks from the cooler and put them on the counter. The shopkeeper barely glanced up from his phone and said: “16 yuan.”

Two young women in their early twenties who had just paid were unscrewing their bottle caps by the counter. Luo Jingyu saw the shopkeeper’s lip movements, knew to scan the QR code after seeing the amount, but the shopkeeper didn’t look up.

He felt a bit awkward and turned to look at the two women with a pleading expression. The women understood but just stared blankly at him. Luo Jingyu had to type on his phone and stretch his arm to show the shopkeeper: [How much?]

The shopkeeper finally looked up: “I already said, 16 yuan.”

Luo Jingyu nodded and paid.

After he took the drinks and turned away, the two women whispered:

“Is he deaf-mute?”

“Probably.”

“You can tell, but he’s so handsome.”

“Oh, with his girlfriend.”

“The girlfriend must be deaf-mute too, look look, they’re using sign language.”

…

After drinking the cold drink and resting for a while, Zhan Xi came back to life and went sightseeing around the platform with Luo Jingyu.

Luo Jingyu took out his DSLR camera from his backpack and started photographing the scenery and Huanhuan.

Zhan Xi saw him pointing the camera at her and shyly tried to block the lens: “Don’t take my picture, I look so ugly right now!”

Luo Jingyu smiled happily – in his eyes Huanhuan wasn’t ugly at all, he liked her however she looked, most beautiful when she was natural.

They held hands walking to the edge of the platform where they could see the vast ocean.

Zhan Xi leaned against the railing looking out at the sea. The mountain wind was strong, making their clothes billow. She watched the tiny boats on the water and glimpsed part of the city in the distance, buildings looking like matchboxes.

The sky was brilliantly blue and the sun bright, making the sea surface glitter. After sweating so much, Zhan Xi felt refreshed. She turned to look at Little Fish and found him leaning over the railing with his head stretched out looking down.

Zhan Xi copied him and also stuck her head out, but immediately got scared and pulled back. Luo Jingyu noticed her movement and signed: [High? Scared?]

“Mm.” Zhan Xi pointed at her legs, pretended to shake them, and signed back: [Legs weak, scared.]

Luo Jingyu smiled and pointed at her, shaking his finger: [You didn’t need to.]

“I’m just afraid of heights.” Zhan Xi went to hug his waist and act cute. “Will you still take me hiking in the future?”

That was truly a good question. Luo Jingyu rolled his eyes, holding back a smile as he shook his head.

“Hmph.” Zhan Xi was happy. “You can go hiking by yourself in the future, I won’t accompany you.”

Luo Jingyu stroked her face and pointed to a sign: Cable car station 100 meters ahead.

After seeing it, Zhan Xi: “…”

Perhaps because it was noon, there weren’t many tourists on the platform. After walking around with Zhan Xi, Luo Jingyu took her to a deserted corner and signed: [Before, when I hiked alone, I would shout at the summit.]

“Ah?” Zhan Xi understood but asked: [Shout what?]

Luo Jingyu looked around – there was no one. He put both hands on the railing facing the sea and suddenly shouted: “Ah– Ah–“

Zhan Xi was startled at first, then burst out laughing.

This uninhibited Little Fish was one she had never seen before.

Luo Jingyu turned to look at her and signed: [You shout too.]

“No way, it’s so silly.” Zhan Xi thought about it – looking around, no one else could hear anyway, shouting so loudly like an idiot.

Luo Jingyu still looked at her with bright eyes full of anticipation. Seeing the hope in his eyes, her heart softened.

She took his hand and pressed it to her throat, then also shouted at the sea: “Ah–“

Her vocal cords vibrated clearly. Luo Jingyu closed his eyes to feel it. After Zhan Xi shouted several times, he opened his eyes and looked at her with incredibly tender eyes.

Their hair was completely messed up by the wind. Luo Jingyu tucked Zhan Xi’s loose strands behind her ear, but as soon as he let go the wind blew them back. After trying several times without success, he shook his head and sighed, lovingly tapping her forehead.

Zhan Xi tilted her face to look at him, suddenly standing on tiptoe to kiss his lips.

And so, they shared a romantic kiss in this deserted corner.

Going down the mountain, Zhan Xi finally agreed to take the cable car.

At the cable car station, the two young women Luo Jingyu had met at the shop were right behind them.

Zhan Xi overheard their conversation:

“Oh, it’s that deaf-mute couple.”

“Shh… keep your voice down.”

“What are you afraid of? They can’t hear anyway.”

Zhan Xi secretly smiled, saying nothing and only using sign language to communicate with Luo Jingyu.

They had planned to take a cable car alone, but the staff made them let the two women ride with them.

The women were quite nervous, pushing each other back and forth until the staff shouted: “Get in quickly!”

They had no choice but to enter and sit opposite Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu, looking at them strangely.

Luo Jingyu knew nothing of this, lowering his head to look at photos in his camera for a while before putting it in the camera bag and back into his backpack. He looked up at the two women and politely smiled at them.

Zhan Xi opened her phone and pouted while taking some selfies, then pulled Luo Jingyu over to take photos together with their heads touching.

Luo Jingyu had no objection, fixing his hair to look more handsome for the camera.

One of the women across covered her mouth and said: “They’re both so good-looking, it’s just such a pity.”

The other woman lowered her head, moving her lips minimally: “Stop talking sister, this is so awkward.”

“I’m so awkward too…”

“Should’ve waited for the next car.”

“Mm, I’ve never been this close to deaf-mute people before.”

“Sigh…”

The cable car ride down took over ten minutes. Seeing how awkward they were, Zhan Xi decided to maintain her “deaf person” act, but unfortunately heaven didn’t grant her wish – her phone rang just then with a call from Du Hengzhi.

Zhan Xi had to answer: “Hello, Teacher Du?”

The two women’s expressions instantly changed. Zhan Xi smiled apologetically at them while taking the call.

Du Hengzhi said a friend wanted to meet with Luo Jingyu to discuss collaboration. Zhan Xi explained that she and Luo Jingyu were traveling out of town, and arranged to meet after they returned to Qiantang before hanging up.

The atmosphere in the cable car became even more awkward, with only Luo Jingyu unaware as he relaxedly enjoyed the scenery outside.

Zhan Xi decided to salvage the situation, handing her phone to one of the women with a smile: “Could you help take a photo of us?”

The woman tremblingly accepted: “Oh- okay, s-sure.”

Zhan Xi tugged Luo Jingyu’s hand. Seeing the woman holding up the phone at them, he put his arm around Zhan Xi’s shoulders, beaming a brilliant smile.

After taking several photos, the woman returned the phone to Zhan Xi who accepted it: “Thank you, wow! These turned out great.”

“J-just now, I-I’m sorry,” the woman was so nervous she stuttered, “I know…”

“It’s fine, my boyfriend is deaf, I’m not,” Zhan Xi pointed at Luo Jingyu, “I use sign language to communicate with him.”

The other woman asked curiously: “Is sign language hard to learn?”

“Not too bad, I’ve only been learning for about half a year but can communicate with him without problems now,” Zhan Xi thought for a moment and said, “Actually, it’s just like learning a foreign language. Like if you had a boyfriend who spoke a foreign language – either he learns Chinese or you learn his language, as long as you two can communicate, the language doesn’t matter. For me and him, sign language is just another language, there are just fewer people who know it.”

“That makes sense.” The woman nodded, “You two look really good together.”

“Really?” Zhan Xi looked at Luo Jingyu then touched her own face, “Probably because we’re both pretty good-looking? Hahaha…”

“Hahaha…” The two women also laughed, “You really are both very good-looking.”

Luo Jingyu hadn’t paid attention to their conversation content, only knowing that Huanhuan was chatting with them. He thought Huanhuan was amazing, able to talk with anyone – he couldn’t do that, still getting nervous around strangers.

The cable car reached the bottom of the mountain. Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi got off, the two women saying friendly goodbyes. Watching them walk away, Luo Jingyu asked Zhan Xi: [What were you talking about just now?]

[Talking about how handsome you are.] Zhan Xi signed with a grin, [They said you’re so handsome and asked how I managed to catch you. I said by being thick-skinned and brave, since you’re very shy and timid.]

Luo Jingyu blinked, doubtful – how could they have talked about that?

Besides, while he was indeed shy, he wasn’t that timid. The things he’d experienced this past year would have been unimaginable to his past self – he felt his courage had grown a lot.

They left the scenic area to return to the hotel, then went out again, curling up in their 1000+ yuan per night luxury room for an afternoon rest.

Zhan Xi brought her laptop and wrote some travel posts to update on her official account and Weibo, sharing scenery and seafood photos, plus one of Teacher Luo’s silhouette at the summit railing.

Legs 2.8 meters long! Hahaha!

Followers enjoyed the content immensely, now knowing that the handsome Teacher Luo was photographed from his girlfriend’s perspective, and the Weibo updater was Teacher Luo’s girlfriend Little Assistant Zhan.

After dinner, they went to the hotel’s outdoor pool to swim.

Zhan Xi never imagined that this person called “Little Fish” could actually swim!

A fish that could swim?

She could swim too! Her brother Zhan Jie taught her when she was young.

Little Fish! Actually! Could! Swim!

Luo Jingyu was aggrieved – wasn’t being able to swim normal? Qiantang was also by the sea, he just never had the chance to go to swimming pools.

The shallow end of the pool was 1.5 meters deep. Luo Jingyu stood in the water watching Zhan Xi swim back and forth, feeling a bit envious. He signed asking Zhan Xi to teach him, so she first taught him to hold his breath and float.

Luo Jingyu took a deep breath before submerging his head – he wore swim goggles but still had to close his eyes.

His hands held the pool edge, legs leaving the bottom as his whole body floated on the surface.

The sensation was strange – he couldn’t see or hear anything, only warm water flowing around his body.

Without anyone touching him, Luo Jingyu suddenly panicked, remembering a long-ago feeling – he had sunk into the deep sea, pitch black all around, silent and still, he was the loneliest whale.

Bubbles escaped his mouth when suddenly someone grabbed his hand, pulling him up from the water. He steadied himself, slowly opening his eyes, wiping water from his face to see the smiling girl before him like seeing light again.

[You did wrong, you…] Zhan Xi hadn’t finished signing before Luo Jingyu pulled her into a tight embrace.

He wore only swim trunks, showing off his fair, toned muscles. She was held tightly against his body, touching his slippery skin, trying to break free but not asking what he was thinking in that moment.

Late that night, they made love passionately in the huge round bathtub in their room.

After over a month, they had become quite intimate in this regard, understanding each other’s preferences and knowing how to bring pleasure to themselves and their partner.

Zhan Xi increasingly felt Little Fish was good, very good, extremely good! He would still foolishly ask her [Was I good?], probably because he always got positive answers, showing a spirit of perseverance.

This time, Zhan Xi definitively answered him: [You were amazing!]

So the amazing fish became even more amazing – the kitten’s waist and legs were already sore from hiking all day, and now she could barely climb out of the bathtub from his intensity.

—

On the third day of their vacation, Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi finally went to the beach.

Zhan Xi had been to the beach before, but Luo Jingyu hadn’t – he had always believed beaches were places to visit with lovers. Previously perpetually single, he never thought about going to the beach, always hiking instead.

Now he had a girlfriend! He could finally openly go to the beach and play in the waves, he was so happy.

They both dressed casually but colorfully – Luo Jingyu’s red floral shirt was picked by Zhan Xi, the first time she’d seen him wear red since they met.

Zhan Xi thought he looked so good, saying she would buy him a bright red sweater. Luo Jingyu imagined it and felt strange, seeming somehow reluctant which made Zhan Xi pout.

Luo Jingyu quickly signed: [Buy buy buy, I’ll wear it, I will.]

They took many photos at the beach wearing sun hats and sunglasses. Zhan Xi posted them all on WeChat Moments.

These days she posted on Moments every day, sharing food, scenery, and Little Fish.

She no longer needed to set group permissions to hide posts – she proudly displayed their intimate photos together, arms around waists, shoulders, holding hands, even kissing.

Everyone could see, there was nothing to worry about or fear anymore. Her Little Fish was so wonderful, the whole world should see!

Zhan Xi begged Luo Jingyu to post too, and though she had to persuade him, Luo Jingyu did post.

His choice of photos was much more artistic than Zhan Xi’s, almost all taken with his DSLR with great composition and lighting, capturing Zhan Xi with an artistic flair. Even her red, sweaty face from hiking looked vivid and alive in his lens, not showing her panting dog-like state at all.

Their Moments got likes and comments from many mutual friends. Zhan Xi found it amazing – in just a year, she had gotten a boyfriend and made so many new friends. Looking back at her state a year ago, she could barely remember.

What was she doing then?

Oh, living at her brother’s place while he was getting divorced, often arguing with Qin Fei.

She was doing odd jobs in HR, studying for the civil service exam, occasionally going on blind dates with government workers introduced by her mom.

In relatives’ eyes she was still an obedient, sensible girl who had never given her parents any trouble.

She learned dancing but not sign language or hot-pressed flowers, she wasn’t good at anything, just went home after work, rarely socialized, spent free time watching dramas and reading books and spacing out, a true “elevengirl”.

She wanted to find her Mr. Funny, someone eloquent who could make her laugh, and have a sweet romance.

Now, she had found him.

This person might differ somewhat from her imagination, but it didn’t matter – she was certain she had found him.

Zhan Xi looked at Luo Jingyu.

The dazzling sunlight shone on him, his hair tousled by the sea breeze. Noticing her gaze, he held her hand and smiled – the warmest smile in the world.

—

One staple of coastal tourist cities is – the aquarium.

On their fourth day here, Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi visited the aquarium.

After viewing countless colorful fish both big and small, walking through the long underwater tunnel, watching divers play with sea turtles and sharks, they came to an exhibition hall to see the aquarium’s crown jewel: a sperm whale skeleton specimen over ten meters long.

Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi held hands standing before it, quietly gazing together.

This whale was even bigger than the one Luo Jingyu remembered seeing at the Qiantang Natural History Museum, so big! Who knew how freely it must have swum in the ocean when alive, occasionally surfacing to spout water like a tiny island.

Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi sat on a rest bench at a distance from the whale skeleton, watching it as he began signing to her.

Now, he could express long sentences to her in sign language.

Luo Jingyu: [Have you heard a story? About a lonely whale.]

Zhan Xi shook her head.

Luo Jingyu continued “speaking”: [Long ago, marine biologists tracked the sound of a whale in the ocean. It was healthy but had no companions, mates or children, which made the scientists very curious.]

[It turned out normal whales vocalize at 12-25 hertz, but this whale sang at 52 hertz. This meant other whales couldn’t hear its signals.]

[Driven by instinct, this lonely whale migrated between the Arctic and equator every year, singing its lonely song in the vast ocean, never meeting another of its kind.]

Zhan Xi rested her chin in hand watching him, watching his beautiful hands form a string of graceful symbols before him.

She suddenly realized he was like that lonely whale, always searching for someone who could understand his song.

At this point, Luo Jingyu lowered his eyes and smiled gently.

He signed his final sentence to Zhan Xi: [I think it will find one, just like I did. Don’t you think?]

Watching his fingers trace a little question mark in the air, Zhan Xi also smiled, took his hand, and nodded firmly.

This day was November 11th, their last night in this city, and also Zhan Xi’s 24th birthday.

Luo Jingyu treated her to a lavish birthday dinner. Zhan Xi asked about her birthday gift, and he said naturally that it was in the room, he’d give it to her when they got back.

Zhan Xi was so curious what kind of birthday gift Little Fish would give her.

Back in the room, she eagerly asked about the gift. Somehow Luo Jingyu’s face turned red, and he finally dug out a small box from his suitcase to give her.

Zhan Xi opened the box with great anticipation – the first thing she saw was a hot-pressed flower hairpin.

It was very simple – an egg flower.

Zhan Xi: “…”

She wasn’t really disappointed, just puzzled: “We’re leaving tomorrow, why didn’t you give it to me earlier? I could have worn it to the beach. Now that you’re giving it to me, I won’t have a chance to wear it!”

Luo Jingyu looked flustered, biting his lip and scratching his head, having no choice but to point at the box again.

Zhan Xi looked down at the box again – under the egg flower were decorative colored papers. She dug through them for a while before finally discovering the secret!

Hidden in the papers were two platinum couple rings.

Zhan Xi: “!”

What- what does this mean? Is this a proposal?!

Of course Luo Jingyu was proposing.

Or rather, he would propose eventually, but not right now.

Right now, he just wanted to give Huanhuan a ring.

Come to think of it, since meeting until now, he hadn’t given Huanhuan any expensive gifts. Besides hot-pressed flowers, among bought gifts he had given her some clothes and shoes, aromatherapy items, skincare products, food… and one strange pressure cooker.

It would probably be laughable if others knew.

So, for Huanhuan’s 24th birthday, he had long decided to give her a ring.

Luo Jingyu took out the women’s ring from the box, set the box aside, and took Zhan Xi’s left hand.

He was so nervous, so so so nervous, his heart pounding chaotically, breathing uneven.

Zhan Xi knew why he was so nervous, his hands trembling – could this really be a proposal?

It seemed like one – for a proposal, shouldn’t he get down on one knee first?

Luo Jingyu’s face was a bit pale, repeatedly swallowing, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. Finally, he steeled himself, opened his mouth and said: “Huan-huan, I love you.”

The air around them stopped flowing.

Zhan Xi stared at him in shock, her mouth also falling open, as if she had heard wrong.

Luo Jingyu nearly went crazy, immediately closing his mouth. Zhan Xi was dumbfounded and shouted: “Say it again!”

Luo Jingyu: “…”

“Say it again, say it again! I- I just- I didn’t hear clearly, I want to hear it again!” Zhan Xi’s eyes grew wet as she anxiously stomped her feet. “Little Fish, say it again for me.”

Luo Jingyu steadied his heart and opened his mouth to say it again: “Huanhuan, I love you.”

These five syllables were all first tone, without proper tones, but anyone could understand.

He said it so well, extremely well! Using his throat, his mouth, his tongue and teeth to personally speak the words! Each word clear and distinct, not muddled – the voice may not have been pleasant to hear but it was her most beloved Little Fish’s voice.

Tears rolled down Zhan Xi’s cheeks. Seeing her suddenly cry, Luo Jingyu panicked and hurriedly wiped her tears while signing: [What’s wrong? I said it well right? I know I said it well, I practiced for so long, I know how I sound, don’t cry, don’t cry, I’ll say it again.]

Zhan Xi shook her head, holding his hands and signing back: [No, you said it so well, so so well, it’s the most beautiful voice I’ve ever heard, the most beautiful words. Say it to me every day from now on, I love hearing it, I want to hear it for a lifetime.]

After seeing her signs, Luo Jingyu’s eyes also reddened as his heart relaxed.

Those three words “I love you”, he had practiced for almost a month, learning from Gao Yuan.

Initially he wanted to say “Zhan Xi, I love you”, but later found “Zhan Xi” too difficult. He already knew how to say “Huanhuan”, so Gao Yuan said just use “Huanhuan” and don’t torture himself.

Later, Luo Jingyu also wanted to learn the proper tones for “I love you”, and Gao Yuan tried hard to teach him, but his little brother-in-law just couldn’t get it. He had no concept of the four tones – how were “wo” and “ni” supposed to change tones? How to change them?

Gao Yuan said forget it, first tone is fine – being able to pronounce the words clearly was already great.

When learning to speak, Luo Jingyu sat face to face with Gao Yuan, his fingers pressed against Gao Yuan’s throat as Gao Yuan broke down each word, letting him see clearly how his lips moved and where his tongue was positioned, teaching him to make sounds over and over.

Two grown men sitting face to face saying “I love you” countless times until Gao Yuan burst out laughing, nearly blowing a snot bubble.

Luo Jingyu was embarrassed. Gao Yuan held back his laughter and continued teaching. After basically teaching him, he let him practice at home, checking his progress daily via voice messages or video calls.

Every night, Luo Jingyu would secretly practice in the bathroom, repeating “I love you I love you I love you I love you…”

He would send voice messages to Gao Yuan: “I love you.”

Gao Yuan would reply with a thumbs up.

Then send him videos: “I love you.”

Gao Yuan would respond: [Make your mouth smaller for ‘wo’.]

One day, Luo Xiaomei messaged him: [I converted the voice message you sent your brother-in-law to text today. What are you two doing?]

Luo Jingyu: “…”

He simply sent another voice message: [Huanhuan, I love you.]

Luo Xiaomei must have converted it to text again, sending back a “covering face” emoji.

“Huanhuan, I love you.”

This was the first sentence Luo Jingyu learned to speak in his life.

Though he couldn’t hear himself and didn’t know how it sounded, Gao Yuan said it was fine – Huanhuan would definitely understand.

How could Zhan Xi not understand?

She cried loudly, not from sadness or disappointment, but because she was too happy, too happy – both overjoyed and heartbroken.

She didn’t need Luo Jingyu to learn to speak – this was supposed to be an impossible task. He had no hearing at all, learning to speak was much much harder than her learning sign language. Almost no deaf person at his level would try to learn speech.

But he learned, learned for her. Zhan Xi was incredibly moved and heartbroken. She threw herself into Luo Jingyu’s arms, sobbing loudly against his chest.

Luo Jingyu seemed to understand her feelings – Huanhuan was happy, probably just too happy. How wonderful that his practice wasn’t wasted, she liked it and even said she would listen every day, listen for a lifetime.

He held her, gently stroking her hair and back. After crying for a while, Zhan Xi finally calmed down and let go, taking his right hand – the women’s ring was still in his hand. She sniffled and gave him her left hand.

Luo Jingyu lowered his lashes, carefully sliding the ring onto Zhan Xi’s ring finger. She smiled, showing her teeth, and took the men’s ring from the box to put on his finger.

Two rings, perfectly sized, glowing on their left ring fingers.

Zhan Xi suddenly thought of something and looked up to say: [The landlord called me a few days ago, said 802… lease ends this month.]

“?” Luo Jingyu was startled and signed: [Need to pay rent? I’ll help you pay.]

Zhan Xi nearly spat blood, thinking what was going on in this person’s head? Was he really dense or just pretending?

She pouted and hit him: “Idiot!”

Luo Jingyu thought for a moment before finally understanding her meaning. His eyes grew wide as he raised his hands to ask: [Huanhuan, will you move in with me, live together?]

Zhan Xi blushed and nodded slightly, then touched the ring on his left hand.

Luo Jingyu was so happy! Though Huanhuan had mostly been staying in 1504 these past two months, occasionally going downstairs to sleep, her clothes already moved up.

After 802’s lease ended, she would move all her belongings up! She would live in his home, in his bedroom, put her clothes in his closet, wake up together, go to bed together, eat together, play with the cats together every day.

They would be like a married couple, truly living together.

Thinking of this, Luo Jingyu couldn’t hold back anymore. He swept Zhan Xi up in his arms, spinning several circles in the spacious room while laughing “ho ho ho”.

Zhan Xi heard his laughter and felt so sweet inside, but when he put her down he immediately carried her to the bed, laying her on it.

Seeing him eagerly press down, Zhan Xi shouted: “Wait! Shower first! We sweated so much today!”

Luo Jingyu’s movements stopped as he blinked and signed: [Shower together?]

Zhan Xi looked at him shyly.

He smiled, taking her hand to stand up, tilting his head to kiss her left cheek and whispering in her ear again: “Huanhuan, I love you.”

He used her mother tongue.

And she let her hands dance gracefully through the air, using his mother tongue to answer: [Luo Jingyu, I love you too.]

[The End]