Luo Jingyu's 27th birthday is coming soon, and Zhan Xi can't decide what birthday gift to give her.
To this end, she even conducted a small survey, asking several friends what gifts they gave to their boyfriends on their birthdays.
Luo Xinran said on the phone: "What the hell? Pipixia always invites a group of friends to eat and drink on his birthday. Last time you all gave gifts, but I didn't give any myself. He doesn't care about this."
Zhan Xi knew that Luo Xinran and Pipixia's relationship was just like that and could not be used as a reference.
Zhao Qingqing and Xiao Xie haven't been together for a full year yet, but she still cares about Xiao Xie's birthday. Xiao Xie is an anime fan, so she gave him a figurine of anime characters that he always wanted but couldn't afford to buy. Xiao Xie liked it very much after receiving it.
Zhan Xi thought about it. Luo Jingyu didn't seem to be particularly obsessed with anything. Photography was one of his hobbies, but he already had three lenses and didn't use them very often. It seemed unnecessary to buy more lenses.
Xiao Miao, a waitress in the store, also has a boyfriend. Zhan Xi asked her about it, and Xiao Miao shyly said that her salary was not high, so she knitted a wool scarf for her boyfriend.
Handmade gifts...
Zhan Xi originally thought about making a gift for Luo Jingyu himself, but... in terms of hands-on ability, she might never be able to surpass him in her life.
Luo Jingyu can even knit sweaters and operate a sewing machine. She said she learned this from Yan Yajuan when she was a child, so sewing and mending are no problem for her.
Zhan Xi couldn't stop laughing after hearing this, and thought it would be better not to show off his skills in front of him. There was a master craftsman at home, and giving these things as a gift would be like a student handing in homework to the teacher, and who knows, he might even give him a grade.
The gifts Yuan Sichen gave were more popular. She had been dating her boyfriend for three years and had planned to get married this year. She said that she gave him a set of men's skin care products in the first year, a pair of badminton rackets in the second year, and a pair of sneakers in the third year.
"Did you give your boyfriend a gift on his birthday last year?" Yuan Sichen asked on the phone.
Zhan Xi said, “I gave it to you.”
"What did you give me?"
Zhan Xi chuckled: "A... floor lamp."
"…" Yuan Sichen was silent for a while, "You are also very creative."
Zhan Xi was not convinced: "He even gave me a pressure cooker at that time!"
Yuan Sichen almost laughed himself into death: "Then you two are a good match. Why don't you take a look at what your family needs and buy something for it."
What's missing at home
It seems like nothing is missing.
Zhan Xi held his chin and pondered, recalling the differences between Zhan Jie's home and Luo Jingyu's home. Suddenly, he remembered that there was one thing that Luo Jingyu's home had never had, but most families had it, that is - a TV!
In Zhanxi's impression, Luo Jingyu hardly watched TV, so he had very little information input in this area. She had seen him buy books, all of which were art and design books. The few novels he had were either given by Luo Xiaomei or bought by Zhanxi. He did have a few comic books, which he said he bought with his frugal living in high school and used to exchange with his classmates.
Luo Jingyu actually doesn't reject reading, but Zhan Xizhen suspects that he has dyslexia, and since he is deaf, his reading difficulties are doubly severe.
Some things cannot be improved by forcing him to do them. Luo Jingyu's WeChat chatting skills are much better than a year ago, and many simple grammatical errors have been corrected by Zhan Xi. But Zhan Xi thinks it is still difficult for him to reach the level of Luo Xiaomei and Yue Qi, and he thinks it is not a very important thing.
She didn't want to put pressure on him, just like he never put pressure on her.
Zhan Xi thought about it from her perspective. If she always told Luo Jingyu that he had poor written expression, slow reading, confusing grammar, poor comprehension of words, messy use of idioms, and hoped that he would improve, read more, and write more... maybe her intention was good, but Xiaoyu would definitely feel uncomfortable.
He definitely didn't do it on purpose. His personality determines that he won't give up. Luo Jingyu is very serious about everything he does, but he is not good at reading and writing. This has a lot to do with his congenital defects and acquired environment.
As his closest partner in life, Zhan Xi has long understood that what he needs is encouragement, not aggressive criticism, let alone ridicule.
It is normal for partners to have progressive demands on each other, but that must be based on the principles of objectivity, equality and voluntariness.
For example, if a boy weighs 200 pounds and the doctor says that it has affected his blood pressure and blood lipids, his girlfriend has listened to the doctor's advice and hopes that he can lose weight to 160 pounds, and the boy himself also wants to become healthier and is willing to exercise more, then this is a kind of benign communication between the two sexes.
If a girl weighs 120 catties and her BMI is in the normal range, but her boyfriend thinks she is not slim enough and wants her to lose weight below 100 catties, and he often mocks her in words and actions for this, in Zhanxi's opinion, it is better not to have such a boyfriend.
Therefore, she is willing to give Luo Jingyu enough time to make gradual progress, and does not make any rigid requirements on him in terms of written reading and writing. For two people to be together, mutual respect and tolerance are really important. Zhan Xi believes that Xiaoyu also thinks so.
After thinking about it, Zhan Xi decided to give Luo Jingyu a big TV so that they can watch TV shows together when they stay at home. Luo Jingyu can't hear the sound, but he can read the subtitles, which is also a kind of reading input. If he doesn't understand something, Zhan Xi can also help him explain it with sign language. Just think about the scene of two people watching TV together, which is also very romantic.
The TV needed to be installed and the TV line needed to be opened, so it was impossible to give a surprise on the birthday, so Luo Jingyu "received" this birthday gift two days in advance.
On the day the master came to the house, Luo Jingyu looked at Zhan Xi and the master's discussion in a daze. They moved the cat climbing frame and other gifts opposite the sofa, mounted the large TV directly on the wall, and used the side cabinet that Zhan Xi brought from 802 as a temporary TV cabinet, and placed things like set-top boxes on the cabinet.
Liwu was not very satisfied with this arrangement. The cat climbing frame was moved to an unfamiliar place and its activity space was compressed again. It meowed aggrievedly at Luo Jingyu's feet.
Luo Jingyu picked up the kitten and watched the master drill holes in the wall to install the bracket, and then mount the huge TV on the wall.
Why hadn't he thought of installing a TV
Luo Jingyu himself found it quite interesting. Thinking about it carefully, he had never thought of buying a sofa before. Living alone and hard of hearing, a TV was never a necessity for him. But now it is different. There are often guests at home, including Huanhuan's brother, nephew, classmates and friends, his relatives, friends and neighbors, and in the future there may be Huanhuan's parents and aunt. It would be really boring without a TV in the living room.
After the TV line installers finished debugging and left, Zhan Xi happily turned on the TV, dragged Luo Jingyu to sit on the sofa, picked an app from a video website, and used the remote control to select those TV series, movies, variety shows... He said to Luo Jingyu: "Xiao Yu, we can sit here and watch movies in the future!"
Luo Jingyu looked at his living room. Since she met Zhan Xi, the living room had become more and more crowded. There was a sofa, a coffee table, a side cabinet, a shoe cabinet, a set of dining table and chairs, and a bunch of the cat's things. Now there was a TV. If the living room of the house was not big enough, it would not be able to accommodate all of them.
But no matter how crowded it is, this house is becoming more and more like a home. Every day when Luo Jingyu wakes up and sees the girl sleeping beside her, she feels a strong sense of happiness in her heart.
Two days later, Zhan Xi took care of the teahouse affairs, and he and Luo Jingyu went home early from get off work to celebrate her Xiaoyu's birthday.
Luo Xiaomei had just given birth to a baby a few days ago and had not been discharged from the hospital yet. Luo Mingsong and Yan Yajuan went to the hospital every day to see their daughter and grandson. Naturally, they would not have the time to celebrate Luo Jingyu's birthday when they were so busy. They just sent him blessings on WeChat. Luo Xiaomei also sent a red envelope, wishing her brother a happy birthday.
Zhan Xi didn't want to celebrate Xiaoyu's birthday in the teahouse, because... Luo Jingyu's birthday last year was so terrible that she lost control of her emotions, so he planned to celebrate it alone this year to comfort Xiaoyu's heart that was hurt by her on her birthday.
The birthday cake was made by Zhanxi herself. She asked Mengmeng to teach her step by step in the tea room. She made a small round cake with the simplest strawberry and fresh milk.
Zhan Xi was also the chef for dinner. Luo Jingyu leaned against the kitchen door and watched her. Her cooking skills were just so-so and she couldn't make complicated dishes. She steamed four hairy crabs, microwaved a plate of grilled wings, added mushrooms, vegetables and a big bowl of radish and scallop soup, and it was done quickly.
"It's time to eat!" Zhan Xi asked Luo Jingyu, "Would you like to drink? Let's have some?"
Luo Jingyu smiled and nodded, then took out a bottle of red wine from the cabinet. Zhan Xi asked curiously, "Is this the bottle from last year? You asked me if I wanted to drink it?"
That's the bottle! Luo Jingyu opened the bottle of red wine and found a decanter from the cupboard. Zhan Xi sighed: "How particular! You still need to decant the wine at home? My brother always drinks it upside down."
Luo Jingyu: “…”
The two sat down at the table facing each other, raised their glasses and clinked them together. Zhan smiled happily, "Xiaoyu, happy birthday to you."
Luo Jingyu also laughed, recalling this day last year when Huanhuan was crying her heart out at the dining table and he squatted in front of her and kept wiping her tears, as if they were parting forever. Thinking about it now, it was even a little funny.
Not wanting to shed tears anymore, just wanting happiness and smiles, Luo Jingyu took a sip of red wine, looked at the girl opposite with tender eyes, picked up a crab and helped her peel the shell.
When the dishes were almost finished, Zhan Xi brought out the strawberry cake, lit a candle and placed it in front of Luo Jingyu, clapped his hands and said, "Make a wish!"
Luo Jingyu blinked and looked at her, but did not close her eyes to make a wish. Zhan Xi asked, "What's the matter?"
The birthday boy signed: Have you forgotten
Zhan Xi took out his phone and prepared to take a photo of him making a wish, and asked curiously, "What did you forget?"
Luo Jingyu put the tip of his right index finger on his throat, his lips slightly parted, and his head moved slightly left and right. What he was saying was - singing.
Zhan Xi's heart suddenly became so soft that she sat directly on his lap, took his hand and pressed it on her throat, and sang softly: "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..."
Luo Jingyu looked at her face, feeling the vibration of her throat with his fingertips. After she finished singing the birthday song, he did not let her go. He hugged her tightly, closed her eyes, made a wish, and then opened his eyes and blew out the candles with a whoosh.
The cake made by Zhan Xi tasted pretty good. After all, it was made under the guidance of a pastry chef. Luo Jingyu ate a large piece of cake and stretched out his hand to Zhan Xi. Zhan Xi bit his fork and looked at him and asked, "What are you doing?"
Luo Jingyu sign language: Gift, birthday gift.
Zhan Xi pointed at the TV and said: The TV is the birthday gift!
Luo Jingyu’s eyes widened: Really
Seeing his unbelievable expression, Zhan Xi burst into laughter. Luo Jingyu was still asking: Really? The TV is a gift
Zhan Xi pouted: "What's wrong? Don't you like it? Didn't you give me a pressure cooker as a gift?"
The pressure cooker incident left a deep impression on both of them. Zhan Xi saw Luo Jingyu's disappointed and aggrieved look, and laughed, "Okay, the TV is a gift, but there is also a smaller gift. Wait, I'll get it."
She did prepare a small gift, a custom photo album. After washing her hands with Luo Jingyu, they sat side by side on the sofa to look at it together.
Luo Jingyu turned to the first page and saw a photo of herself when she was one year old. It was taken in a photo studio. Her round face was white and tender, her eyes were big and bright, and she was smiling with her upper and lower teeth showing.
Following are his childhood photos, when he was a little over one year old, a little over two years old, a little over three years old… When he was a little over three years old, a one-year-old photo of another child appeared in the album, that was Zhanxi.
She was really cute when she was a child. No, she is still cute now! Luo Jingyu looked at the little Huanhuan in the photo. Her eyes were like big grapes. She moved her index finger to the album to "touch" her face, and a smile appeared on her lips.
He knew that this was a photo album of him and Huanhuan’s growth.
When Zhan Xi returned home on New Year's Day, she picked out some of her childhood photos and brought them to Qiantang, scanning them into her computer. After she turned ten, most of her photos were taken with a digital camera. As for Luo Jingyu's childhood photos, she asked Gao Yuan to help scan them, and also asked Zhou Lian for photos of her when she was in Xiaoyu Middle School.
Zhan Xi even looked for Xu Qingyan. Sure enough, Teacher Xu had some photos of Xiaoyu taking the flower embossing course. Although there were not many, it still allowed Zhan Xi to see Luo Jingyu between the ages of 19 and 23.
He was so thin back then! His cheeks were sunken and his jaw looked like it had been shaved by a knife, but his eyes were still so gentle and firm, which made people know that this young man was not crushed by life and that he had infinite strength in his body.
The second half of the album contains individual or group photos of Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi together, at the Children's Palace, at the Wetland Park during the Flower Festival, at 1504, in Shanghai, at the Creation Festival, in that coastal city, at the Xiyu Tea House, and in Fuchun Town...
In every photo, they all smiled sweetly. There was a small label next to the photo, on which Zhanxi wrote the time and place of the photo. As Luo Jingyu flipped through the photos, she saw the past year she and Huanhuan had spent together, with laughter, tears, and small hardships they had gone through together. Her eyes gradually became wet.
It's really useless. I was just trying to stop crying.
Zhan Xi noticed that he hadn't raised his head for a long time, so he leaned over to take a look. Oh my god! Xiaoyu's eyes were red. Did she make him cry
"Xiaoyu?" Zhan Xi pulled his hand, Luo Jingyu quickly turned her head away, sniffed, and wiped her eyes. Zhan Xi didn't want to cry at all, so she grabbed his chin and asked him to turn his head, and said in sign language, Xiaoyu, today is your birthday, don't cry, be happy, smile! This is just a small gift, a memory for both of us.
It would have been better if she didn't say anything. After she finished signing, Luo Jingyu tilted her head back, took a breath, and a tear slid down her cheeks.
Zhan Xi: “…”
Luo Jingyu took a long time to calm down and stop crying. She stroked the photo album with her fingers, reluctant to take her eyes off it.
Zhan Xi hugged him and said in sign language: From now on, let’s make a photo album every year to record our lives, okay
Luo Jingyu looked at her deeply, and finally, smiled and nodded.
Luo Jingyu was extremely gentle that night. When his breathing went from light to increasingly rapid and heavy in Zhan Xi's ears, he remained gentle.
At a certain moment, he let out an uncontrollable groan from his throat, and Zhan Xi's soul trembled along with his body. Then, he locked her tightly in his arms with his strong arms, and with the warm light from the bedside, he carefully looked at her eyebrows and eyes, and kissed her lips again and again.
The sweat on the ends of his hair dripped down. Zhan Xi closed her eyes in his arms, listening contentedly to his whispers in her ears: "Huan Huan, Huan Huan..."
—
During the first month of the Spring Festival that year, Luo Jingyu boarded a bus to Fuchun Town alone, carrying bags of gifts. She stayed at Zhan Xi's house for three nights, sleeping in the same room with her.
Zhan Jie became Chi Guilan's main "attack" target. She asked him when he was willing to go on a blind date, and even asked him if he had a chance to remarry Qin Fei. If he couldn't open his mouth, Chi Guilan was willing to apologize to Qin Fei and test the waters.
"Mom! I beg you to stop interfering in my affairs!" Zhan Jie was so annoyed by the nagging that he shouted, "It's impossible for Qin Fei and I to be together! She has already started a new life, do you understand?"
The mother and son started arguing again. Zhan Xi, Luo Jingyu and Zhan Qiang were eating melon seeds and watching on the side. It was not until Zhan Jie said that he would leave immediately if his mother nagged him again that Chi Guilan began to mutter to herself and dared not say a word.
Qin Fei did start a new life.
Zhan Xi still keeps in touch with her. After Xiyu opened, Qin Fei brought Weiwei to the store for dinner and told Zhan Xi that she had bought a house and a car and changed to a new job. Her annual income might be better, but she would also be busier.
She brought her parents to Qiantang to live with her. She usually helped her pick up and drop off Weiwei from school, and she took care of Weiwei's studies. The divorce of her parents had some psychological impact on Weiwei, but Qin Fei tried to alleviate this impact. She would go out with her children on weekends, and take her parents and son out for travel during winter and summer vacations.
Zhan Xi quietly asked Qin Fei: "Sister Fei, will you find another boyfriend?"
Qin Fei smiled and said, "I won't look for one deliberately. I can try if I find the right one. I'm still young!"
Zhan Xi looked at her. Qin Fei was 35 years old, and she looked in better condition than before her divorce. She was radiant and energetic. She was a very energetic working woman.
Weiwei meets his father twice a month. The little guy has changed a lot in the parent-child relationship, from rejection in the beginning to expectation now. Zhanxi feels that his brother has also changed a lot.
However, many things happened and it happened. While Zhan Jie was learning how to be a good father, he never had the chance to rekindle his old relationship with Qin Fei. The rift he created himself will never be closed.
Luo Jingyu followed Zhan Xi to attend Yin Li and Xiao Liu's wedding and met more of Zhan Xi's relatives. Everyone treated him very kindly.
It is possible that some people would talk about his disability behind closed doors, but what does that matter
Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi live a good life, with a stable relationship and a thriving career. Anyone with eyes can see that Xiao Luo is caring and Huan Huan is very happy. When the two appear in front of everyone, they always hold hands, with a natural and sweet smile on their faces, without any forcedness.
When the Flower Festival came again, the office on the second floor of Xiyu Tea House was piled with gifts like a mountain.
Yue Qi is now very experienced in packing accessories, and Luo Jingyu will also help him. This time the business is very hot, Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi started preparing for the pre-sale of the Flower Festival two months in advance. Zhan Xi tried for the first time to invite a Hanfu model to take promotional photos, and the effect was very good.
Several employees in the teahouse complained to Zhan Xi that the business was too good and they were too busy. Zhan Xi felt the same way, so he hired two more young people, one to help in the kitchen and one to be a waiter. In this way, Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu could have one day off a week and didn't have to keep spinning like a top.
The busiest person is actually Luo Jingyu. The key to handcrafting is to make it by yourself. No one can help in any link of the production. Even the simplest cutting is done by himself. Therefore, at the beginning of the pre-sale season, Luo Jingyu almost worked from morning to night. Except for eating, sleeping and going to the toilet, he was always in the studio.
He has not thought about outsourcing the business for the time being. Customers come to Xiyu because of Mr. Luo's craftsmanship. In terms of quality, Luo Jingyu is very strict and would rather have a small quantity but make it exquisite.
After the spring, Zhan Xi started to learn how to drive and went to the driving school every morning so as not to interfere with his work in the tea room.
After being busy for a while, Luo Jingyu went to Shanghai for her annual advanced studies at the end of April. Zhan Xi did not go and continued to manage the teahouse diligently.
This year's Qiantang Maker Festival will still be held in July, and the organizers have been promoting it since May. Before Zhan Xi decided whether to attend, he received a call from the organizer's staff, inviting Mr. Luo to attend the Maker Festival, and promised to reserve a booth next to the main channel for him, and also cooperate with key publicity.
Zhan Xi was quite surprised. Luo Jingyu was now well-known in Qiantang and had a name in the handcraft circle. The organizer was willing to give him a discount on the registration fee and hoped that he could participate in the exhibition.
After discussing with Xiaoyu on WeChat, Zhanxi agreed and asked for a booth that was twice as big as last year, with a great location. Zhanxi started to think about the theme of this year's booth and the content of the activities early, striving to make it novel and unique so that more people can experience Mr. Luo's exquisite craftsmanship and appreciate the beauty of the hot stamping works.
Luo Jingyu will stay in Shanghai for a month and a half and rarely contacts Zhan Xi. Zhan Xi knows that he will be very busy with classes and homework and never chats with him.
She has the contact information of many partners, some of whom are very sincere, while some are just big scammers. Zhan Xi will carefully screen them and communicate with the other party seriously.
She is very busy every day, learning to drive, watching over the store, updating content on various social platforms, coming up with ideas for the Maker Festival, helping Luo Jingyu contact all kinds of customers who come to her... Sitting in the smallest "bamboo" themed box on the second floor of the teahouse, Zhan Xi moved his eyes away from the laptop and looked out the window.
Summer is approaching, and the big tree is becoming more and more lush, with its luxuriant branches and leaves almost blocking the entire street view. Everywhere you look, you can see a vast expanse of green.
Zhan Xi held his chin and looked at the green, picked up a cup of jasmine tea and took a sip, and couldn't help thinking of that person.
It has been a month since they last met. She originally thought that since they saw each other every day, not seeing each other for a month and a half was nothing. But after such a long time, Zhan Xi found that she still missed him very much.
I can’t talk on the phone, I can’t hear his voice, I can only chat on video for a few minutes every day using sign language and see his face.
But she still didn't think about going to Shanghai to see him and stay with him for a few nights, because she knew that he was working hard for his dream, and she stayed in Qiantang to work hard for her own dream.
In other words, both he and she are working hard for their future.
There was one interesting thing, which Zhan Xi didn't notice at first, but Meng Meng mentioned it to her when they were chatting. That is, in the past month, shareholder Mr. Zhan Jie seemed to have come to Xiyu more often.
"Hmm?" Zhan Xi didn't understand. "A lot? I don't feel anything."
"Oh! Xiao Miao has noticed it." Meng Meng is three years older than Zhan Xi and is a married woman. She leaned close to Zhan Xi's ear and whispered, "We all think that Brother Zhan seems to have a crush on that green bean cake sister."
"Who is Green Bean Cake Sister?" Zhan Xi was confused.
Mengmeng said: "There is a young lady who sits in the store for an entire afternoon every three or four days. I can't tell her age, maybe around 30, or maybe over 30. She wears a pair of glasses. She always orders scented tea and mung bean cakes, and writes something with her laptop. I don't know what she does."
Zhan Xi's eyes sparkled with gossip: "What does that have to do with my brother?"
"Hehe." Mengmeng poked Zhanxi's little head, "Your brother is chatting with her. You were not here that day, and they chatted for a long time. In the past month, Green Bean Cake sister comes every Sunday afternoon, and brother Zhan also comes. Don't you think it's strange that he comes every week?"
"Oh wow! Oh my god!" Zhan Xi felt that he was so slow. He thought that Zhan Jie came to help Luo Jingyu every Sunday because she was not around. He didn't expect that his brother had other intentions!
So, on a Sunday afternoon, Zhan Xi staked out on the first floor and successfully saw the mung bean cake sister. She was a very intellectual woman, wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, with thin eyebrows, thin lips, and an elegant and calm temperament.
She had a pot of scented tea and a plate of mung bean cakes at her sides. She was lazily slumped in the chair, and after a while she was typing on the laptop.
Half an hour later, Zhan Jie arrived. Meng Meng and Zhan Xi were pinching each other and stamping their feet behind the bar, but they looked calm. They watched Zhan Jie stagger over to the lady, say hello, and then sit down opposite her.
Zhan Xi straightened his uniform, walked over with his head held high, and asked Zhan Jie with a smile: "Sir, what would you like to drink?"
Zhan Jie looked up at her with a twitching mouth and didn't say anything for a long time.
Sister Green Bean Cake didn't respond.
Zhan Xile was upset and asked again: "Brother! What kind of tea do you want to drink? I'll make it for you."
Zhan Jie: “…”
Sister Green Bean Cake finally looked up with a suspicious look in her eyes. Zhan Xi waved at her and smiled like a fool: "Hi, hello!"