The class was still going on in the dance studio. Teacher Qiu told the students that the girl was her friend and might not be feeling well. The class would be postponed and would not be affected. No one had any objection.
Luo Jingyu helped Zhan Xi put on his coat, zipped it up, nodded to Teacher Qiu to express her gratitude, and left the dance studio holding Zhan Xi's hand.
After arriving on the street, Luo Jingyu looked at Zhan Xi. Her face was pale, her lips were bloodless, and she walked unsteadily. He immediately squatted with his back to her, turned around and patted his back.
Zhan Xi leaned forward without saying a word, wrapping her arms around his neck. Luo Jingyu lifted her legs, stood up, and carried her home.
She was on his back, and they couldn't chat while walking. Luo Jingyu was extremely worried.
It was during the afternoon break that he saw Huanhuan’s WeChat message. He did not ask her what happened, but only said a few words of comfort, telling her not to be sad and to try harder next time.
After class at around 4 o'clock, he returned to the hotel and checked his phone. Huanhuan didn't reply to him, so he sent her a few more WeChat messages. After waiting for a while, she still didn't reply. Luo Jingyu felt flustered for some reason, and without hesitation, he took a taxi directly to Shanghai Hongqiao Station.
He bought the nearest high-speed train back to Qiantang, but he didn't have a seat ticket and stood all the way back. He kept sending messages to Zhan Xi while the high-speed train was moving, but she ignored him. Although she said she wanted to be quiet for a while and not reply to WeChat, Luo Jingyu was still very worried.
He was with Zhan Xi every day and knew how hard she had worked for this job transfer. She must have been very upset if she didn't pass. He thought that no matter whether she was okay or not, he would come back to see her, even if it was just for a few hours, it would be good if it could make her feel better.
After the high-speed train arrived at Qiantang, he took a taxi home. It was already past 7:30, but Zhanxi was not at 1504. No one opened the door when he knocked on 802. Luo Jingyu was really worried, wondering where Huanhuan had gone. Did she go to see her college classmates because she was in a bad mood
After sending dozens of WeChat messages without any reply, Luo Jingyu didn't care anymore and directly sent her a video call request. No one answered the first two times, but someone finally picked up the third time.
He didn't see clearly what the girl said, he only saw Huanhuan kneeling on the ground with a few people around him. Luo Jingyu was terrified and panicked, not knowing what was going on over there, he couldn't hear, and couldn't talk to the other party. In a hurry, he rushed to 1501 and knocked on the door, asking Gu's father to help him make a call, and finally found out where Huanhuan was.
Qiufeng Art is not far from Qingque Jiayuan. Zhan Xi lies on Luo Jingyu's back with his head on his shoulder. He is wearing a black long-sleeved T-shirt. Zhan Xi sniffs and finds that there is no scent of cypress hangings on his body.
This discovery made her very sad, as if the little fish was fake. Her heart felt sad and she started crying again with a "woop". She hugged him tighter in her arms.
Luo Jingyu had been in Shanghai for more than ten days, washing clothes in the hotel room every day. How could she smell like cypress? He could not hear Zhan Xi's crying, but he could feel the girl on his back trembling. After a while, his shoulders were wet with her tears.
He sighed softly, supported her legs with both hands, looked straight ahead, and continued to walk forward step by step.
It was not until they walked into the unit door that Luo Jingyu put Zhan Xi down on the ground. She turned around to look at her and found that her eyes were red from crying again.
Luo Jingyu wondered how much injustice Huanhuan had suffered? Why was she so sad? Fortunately, he came back, otherwise she would be so pitiful to be alone. He bent down slightly, raised his hand to help Zhan Xi wipe away tears, his eyes full of pity.
Zhan Xi looked at him infatuatedly, grabbed his hand and held his fingers tightly.
She thought she was so stupid. How could the little fish be fake? There was only one such gentle little fish in the world.
The two returned to 1504. Zhan Xi was exhausted and sat down on the dining chair. Luo Jingyu squatted in front of her and looked up at her, asking in sign language: What's wrong? Do you want to talk to me
Zhan Xi smiled at him with tears in her eyes and said, "I'm hungry and I haven't had dinner. Can you cook me a bowl of noodles?"
Ah, so you are hungry? Luo Jingyu nodded immediately, stood up and replied in sign language: OK, wait a moment.
Before going to the kitchen, he bent down and kissed Zhan Xi's forehead, then touched her face, held her head against his stomach, and rubbed her hair. Zhan Xi knew that Xiao Yu was comforting her, and she might not understand his long sign language, so it was better to use actions to reassure her.
Luo Jingyu cooked a bowl of fried egg noodles for Zhan Xi. There were no vegetables at home, so he sprinkled some shredded pickled mustard tubers to enhance the flavor and also added a few Tempura spinach.
Zhan Xi ate the bowl of hot and fragrant noodle soup while shedding tears. Luo Jingyu sat beside her, rubbing her hair and caressing her back from time to time. Zhan Xi felt much better. After her stomach was not empty, she regained some of her spirits. She turned to Luo Jingyu and asked, "Why are you back? Don't you have to go to class every day?"
Luo Jingyu sign language: get out of class is over, come back.
Zhan Xi asked again: "When will you go back?"
Luo Jingyu thought for a moment and replied: Tomorrow morning, 6 o'clock.
You’re only staying for one night, and you’re leaving so early... Zhan Xi looked at him and started crying again, tears dropping from his eyes and sobbing sounds coming out of his mouth.
Luo Jingyu felt distressed. He put his arm around her shoulders and hugged her tightly. After thinking for a long time, he took out his cell phone and typed to her: Tomorrow is Friday, and the day after tomorrow is Saturday. Do you want to go to Shanghai to be with me
Zhan Xi stared blankly at his phone, then looked up at his face and asked timidly, "Is it okay?"
Luo Jingyu nodded heavily, bent four fingers of her right hand and replied: Yes.
Zhan Xi smiled suddenly, with tears still hanging in the corners of his eyes, and nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go to Shanghai with you. I don't want to be alone. I miss you so much, Xiaoyu, I miss you so much."
Now that the decision has been made, they have to hurry. After Zhan Xi finished his noodles, he went to the eighth floor to pack up his things alone. Luo Jingyu washed the pots and pans and prepared to store the gifts on the fifteenth floor.
The gift had to stay in the pet shop for a few days. The kitten was very dissatisfied when it was put into the cat bag. Luo Jingyu felt very guilty and comforted the little guy for a long time before he calmed down.
The high-speed train from Qiantang to Shanghai runs at 11pm at the latest. After Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi deposited their gifts at the pet shop, they immediately took a taxi to the high-speed train station.
In the taxi, Zhan Xi sent a WeChat message to Wen Qin saying that he would take a day off the next day, and Wen Qin agreed. Luo Jingyu used Zhan Xi's ID card to buy high-speed rail tickets and successfully bought two adjacent tickets.
Zhan Xi only brought a backpack with a few sets of clothes and a charging cable. He didn't bring any cosmetics, not even facial cleanser or skin care products. Xiaoyu already had them, and they were high-end, so he just used his.
When they arrived at the high-speed railway station, Luo Jingyu bought two bottles of water and some snacks, put on Zhanxi's backpack, and held her hand to check in and enter the station.
Zhan Xi was in a very low mood, but because she was with Luo Jingyu, she had an indescribable sense of security. He held her hand and walked her here and there. She didn't have to think about anything, she just had to follow him.
The high-speed rail station was still crowded at night, with rows of waiting chairs filled with tired and sleepy passengers. Luo Jingyu held Zhan Xi's hand tightly. When someone ran towards them with a suitcase, he would stop and hold Zhan Xi in his arms.
Zhan Xi looked up at him. This man was her boyfriend. He was tall and thin, handsome and gentle. Although he was deaf, he was so reliable that she could close her eyes and follow him without worry.
From the waiting room to the ticket gate and then to getting into the carriage, Luo Jingyu's hand never left Zhan Xi's.
After sitting down, he lifted the armrest of the chair between them, put his arm around Zhan Xi's shoulders, and let her rest her head on his shoulders. He did not use sign language, but typed on his phone with one hand to show her: I'm here, don't worry, don't be sad.
Zhan Xi closed his eyes in his arms, raised his hands to grasp his collar, rubbed his head against his body and nodded.
The high-speed train started moving. Outside the window was a black city with lights in the distance. But the clearest things were the images of two people, just like a mirror.
Luo Jingyu looked at the figure on the car window. The girl clung to him like a cat. He thought he was really brave, taking Huanhuan out of Qiantang like this. It was like eloping. At night...
Oh, by the way, how do you sleep at night
The hotel where Luo Jingyu stayed was next to Xu Qingyan's studio, just a five-minute walk away.
It was a fairly comfortable express hotel. Xu Qingyan had to hold several refresher courses a year, so he had a negotiated price with the hotel. It was much cheaper for students to stay there for a long time than to book a room on the platform. Luo Jingyu stayed there every time she went there. Because they had homework after class and needed to use a desk at night, everyone stayed alone, so Luo Jingyu naturally booked a double bed room.
He took out his cell phone to check the hotel room information to see if there were any vacancies. Zhan Xi noticed it, reached out and pressed his screen, then raised his head and signed: I don't want to be alone.
Luo Jingyu: “…”
He pointed at himself, then pointed at the photo of the double bed room on the platform and showed it to Zhan Xi, then pointed to the other room and shook his hand, meaning that the room he was staying in had only one bed.
Zhan Xi just said: "I don't want to live alone."
Luo Jingyu was quite distressed, thinking that she had told Huanhuan last month that they wanted to book two rooms when they went out to play, so why was it so difficult now
He was also worried about Huanhuan sleeping alone, so how about booking another standard room
Zhan Xi didn't think about this matter at all, but just hung on him like a koala. Luo Jingyu thought about it for a long time and decided not to think about it anymore. Let's talk about it when we get to the hotel first.
The high-speed train is very fast and it only takes 50 minutes to get to Shanghai. Along the way, Zhan Xi did not tell Luo Jingyu what had happened. There were too many people on the train and she felt that she would cry if she continued talking. She didn't want to cry anymore, so she simply kept silent.
Xiaoyu would not interrogate her, nor would she keep asking, "What's wrong with you?", "Don't cry, how can I know if you don't tell me?", "I'm very worried about you?", "Why did the job transfer fail?", "Tell me what happened?"...
If she didn't want to talk, he would never force her. He would do the same as she had done before and wait quietly until she was willing to speak.
Zhan Xi felt that it was a wise decision to find a boyfriend who couldn't talk.
She actually didn't want to talk now. The matter was done and all the complaining, grumbling, venting and crying were no longer useful. She originally wanted to stay alone for a few days and think carefully about what to do next.
But Xiaoyu came and took her away. She thought it was better this way, she didn't have to be alone with her thoughts. With him by her side, it was like carrying a power bank with her. She was no longer afraid of running out of power, nor was she afraid that no one would hug her when she broke down and cried.
Well, just a hug is enough, no need for words of comfort, no need to ask questions, just having Xiaoyu is enough, it’s great, when she is with him, she seems to no longer feel confused and afraid.
It was almost midnight when Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi left the station. They took a taxi to the hotel where Luo Jingyu was staying.
Xu Qingyan's studio is in Pudong, which is quite far by taxi. Luo Jingyu asked Zhan Xi in sign language: Are you tired
Zhan Xi shook his head and asked him: Are you tired
He smiled: Not tired, I go to bed late.
When the car arrived at the hotel, Luo Jingyu took Zhan Xi to the front desk, still thinking about whether to get another room. Zhan Xi shook his hand, he turned to look at her, Zhan Xi handed him his ID card and said, "Just sleep in your room, the big bed is okay, I don't move much when I sleep."
Luo Jingyu looked at her for a long time, and finally took the ID card and handed it to the front desk. Zhan Xi spoke for him: "Hello, I'm in the same room with him. His name is Luo Jingyu. Please check it. Luo means camel, Jing means quiet, and Yu means language."
After checking in, the two returned to their room, which was on the sixth floor. It was not very big, only about 20 square meters. Luo Jingyu stayed in the room for a while after class before going to the high-speed rail station. The room still looked like it had been cleaned by the housekeeping staff during the day. The white quilt was laid out very flat, and the things on the table were neatly put away.
Luo Jingyu closed the curtains and looked back. Zhan Xi was putting her backpack on the coat rack to get something. Luo Jingyu went over, patted her shoulder, and asked in sign language: Do you want to take a shower first
Zhan Xi took out her underwear and nightgown. Only then did she feel shy. She blushed and nodded: "Yeah."
Luo Jingyu took out her cell phone and typed: I have homework, which will take 4 hours. You take a shower, I take a shower, you sleep, and I do my homework.
Zhan Xi looked at him in surprise and asked, "You still have homework to do?"
She knew he had homework every day, but thought that today was a special day and it should be okay to skip it.
Luo Jingyu nodded and typed helplessly: Homework must be done every day. If I don’t do it today, I have to do it tomorrow. I want to finish it today.
Zhan Xi checked the time on his phone and saw it was almost 1 o'clock. He asked, "Doesn't that mean you don't have time to sleep?"
Luo Jingyu sign language: Three hours of sleep is enough.
Zhan Xi could read the determination in his expression, even though his eyes were always gentle. She thought, this was Xiaoyu's academic matter, she didn't understand it, if he could not do it, he would definitely find a way to solve it, he said he had to finish it, then he had to do it, in that case, she shouldn't waste his time anymore.
"Then I'll go take a shower first. You should prepare your homework and continue after you finish showering." Zhan Xi went forward and hugged him, then stood on tiptoes to kiss his lips. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were so pressed for time. Don't worry about disturbing me when you start working. I sleep well and will be able to sleep well."
Luo Jingyu was not satisfied with her light kiss, and hugged her tightly, lowered her head and kissed her deeply and heavily. He knew that they didn't have time to talk deeply tonight, so he let Huanhuan have a good sleep. This kiss was the thousands of words he wanted to say to her.
After their lips and tongue parted, he tilted his head to bite her ear and lick her earlobe. In the dead of night, in this strange room, he relaxed his mind, closed his eyes and murmured in her ear: "Uh... wiggle wiggle, wiggle wiggle..."
He always called her like that, and Zhan Xi never corrected him, knowing that he was calling her "Huan Huan". Every time she heard it, her heart would become itchy and unbearable. Moreover, this clear voice was in her ears, vague but sexy, which made her heart tremble and her legs go weak.
She thought she was so greedy. She wanted to hear Xiaoyu say more. It didn’t matter if he couldn’t express himself clearly. She wanted to hear him call her “Zhanxi” or “Teacher Jidan”. She wanted to hear him say “I like you” or “I miss you”. She didn’t know what he would say, but she just wanted to hear it!
But it definitely wasn't today. They were too close. Did this guy still want to sleep? Zhan Xi pushed his chest. Luo Jingyu stood up straight and looked at her helplessly, wondering if her voice was too unpleasant and weird, making Huanhuan unhappy
Zhan Xi poked his chest with his finger and said, "I'm going to take a shower, you hurry up and get ready. You're so clingy. If I had known, I wouldn't have come with you."
Luo Jingyu's mouth pursed. Why did she regret it now
Zhan Xi smiled again: "Okay, okay, it's too late today. Talk to me next time and I'll teach you to speak something else. You can learn whatever I want to hear, okay?"
Luo Jingyu: “!”
What?! Does he still need to learn to talk? Oh my god! That must be so difficult! Isn’t it enough for him to be able to call “Huanhuan”
But since Huanhuan said so, Luo Jingyu naturally would not refuse. She nodded gently and reluctantly let go of her waist.
Zhan Xi went to take a shower, and Luo Jingyu was preparing materials and tools for her homework at the desk.
In this refresher course, they learned to make wild flowers and grasses and advanced versions of some common flower patterns, such as higher-level roses. There were twelve kinds of wild grasses alone, some of which Luo Jingyu had never seen before, and some of the methods were also new to her.
There are homework assignments every day, which take four to five hours to complete. They cannot be left unfinished, as they will be included in the final grade and affect the issuance of the certificate. He originally planned to go to class directly when he returned to Shanghai in the morning, tell Teacher Xu, and then work all night to finish the two days' homework.
But now that he's back, I thought I'd better do it, otherwise I'd have to stay up all night the next day.
When Zhan Xi came out of the shower, Luo Jingyu was already cutting his hair with scissors. He was so focused that he didn't notice that she was standing behind him. After he finished cutting, Zhan Xi patted his arm. Luo Jingyu turned around and saw that she was wearing a blue nightgown. Her long hair had been blow-dried. She pointed to the bathroom and said, "Xiaoyu, go take a shower."
Luo Jingyu didn't delay any longer. She put on her clothes and went into the bathroom. Soon, the sound of water from the shower was heard.
Zhan Xi climbed onto the bed and got under the quilt to charge his phone. Only then did he dare to check the messages and missed calls.
Xiaoyu sent her so many messages... Zhan Xi read them one by one and felt warm in his heart.
Looking at the phone again, Chi Guilan called her five times, all in the afternoon. She is like this. She knows Zhan Xi won’t answer, but she still calls again and again, as if she is deliberately trying to disgust her.
Chi Guilan also sent her many long WeChat messages, but Zhan Xi didn't read any of them and deleted the dialog box directly.
Zhan Jie also called her. Zhan Xi thought about it and sent a WeChat message to her brother.
Egg Pudding: Brother, I'm in a bad mood these days. I'm going to play outside for three days. Tell mom not to contact me. I won't pay attention to her. She interfered with my important work. I'm desperate for her. She was supposed to come to Qiantang to play next week. Tell her not to come. I don't want to see her.
Zhan Jie came back soon.
Brother Zhanjie: What's going on with you two? Where have you been
Egg Pudding: Don’t worry about where I go. I’m an adult and I can go wherever I want.
Brother Zhanjie: …
Brother Zhanjie: Are you angry? Why are you talking so harshly
Egg Pudding: Tell mom that I will call her next Monday to make it clear that no one should contact me in the next few days, including you. Everything else is fine. I'm going to sleep now. Bye.
Brother Zhanjie:
Zhan Xi didn't want to escape. These few days, she was away from Qiantang, which gave her a good time to think about the problems between herself and her mother.
The problem had to be solved, or it would happen again and again. It had happened countless times before, but she always chose to endure, passively resist, or muddle through. It turned out that her repeated compromises were useless, and her mother's behavior only got worse.
She didn't want to live like a puppet under the shadow of her mother anymore, and didn't want to sit and wait for death.
Luo Jingyu didn't blow dry her hair after taking a shower. She came out wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt and sweatpants. Zhan Xi hadn't slept yet. He was leaning against the head of the bed looking at him. Luo Jingyu was about to walk towards her, but Zhan Xi pointed at him, then at the desk, and said in sign language: Don't come over, go to work.
Luo Jingyu: “…”
He shook his head and laughed, rubbed his wet hair, and sat down obediently at the desk.
Zhan Xi turned off the bedside lamp and lay down on his side. The only light on the desk was still on. Luo Jingyu was working at his desk. Zhan Xi could see his broad shoulders and long, lean arms.
She didn't want to play with her phone anymore. She had slept too much in the afternoon and wasn't sleepy at the moment, so she kept staring at Luo Jingyu's back.
He made some rustling sounds and his shoulders and arms moved. It was unclear whether he was dyeing or doing something else.
Zhan Xi knew that he should have moved more gently, even though he couldn't hear it, he didn't want to disturb her sleep.
As he watched, Zhan Xi's eyes became wet again.
In the past, she thought that everything her mother did for her was for her own good, so how could her mother hurt her? Of course, she had to listen to her mother, work hard to meet her mother's requirements, and become what her mother wanted her to be.
Her own thoughts are unimportant, she just needs to be patient and it will pass. She must not be disobedient, she must not make her mother angry, she must be a good girl and must not do anything to make her mother unhappy.
And now, from Luo Jingyu, she truly understood what it felt like for one person to be kind to another person.
It was a kind of unrestrained and unconditional love, which surrounded her like soft air and never made her feel suffocated or depressed, let alone despair and fear.
She finally understood why she was attracted to Luo Jingyu. She had always lived cautiously and in fear, which was really too tiring.
And her little fish always said to her: Sure, go for it! You can do whatever you want, it's up to you.
Teacher Egg, you are so smart and awesome!
You really won't bother me
I have a low level of education, I am very stupid and my living conditions are very poor.
I don't want you to be angry.
Teacher Egg, I respect you very much.
Huanhuan, I can hear you singing.
Do you like this? Here you go!
Wavy, wavy, wavy, wavy…
Huanhuan, you are very beautiful!
You will definitely succeed!
I'm here, don't worry, don't be sad.
…
If the Ji Hongzhe incident was the whistle that led her out of the fog, Luo Xinran was the signposts along the way, Qin Fei was a warning light at the fork in the road, then Luo Jingyu was the warm and free harbor that she finally found after searching for a long time.