After class, Xu Qingyan said he would treat everyone to a meal. Luo Jingyu packed his backpack and followed the sisters out. In the elevator, he received a message from Zhan Xi.
Egg Pudding: Xiaoyu, is get out of class over? Let me tell you some gossip! My brother is actually chasing after a girl! Hahahahaha [covering face]
Luo Jingyu was startled and replied—
Big Fish: Really? Who
Egg Pudding: I saw a female guest in the teahouse today. My brother blushed. Hahahahahahaha, I have never seen him like this. xswl
What a big fish: Come on, brother! (Said the little fish) [strong]
Egg Pudding: Haha, ok, I’ll go talk to him!
What a Big Fish: Huanhuan, I'm going to eat. Teacher Xu is treating us to dinner today. I'll walk to the restaurant to chat with you.
Egg Pudding: Go ahead, go ahead. Don’t look at your phone while walking. Be careful not to bump into the electric poles.
What a big fish: No! [bursts into laughter]
Luo Jingyu put away his phone and found that several sisters were looking at him with smiles. Sister Xiao Zhu took Sister Shao's arm and put her head on her shoulder and said coquettishly: "Sister Shao, I also want to fall in love. Look at Xiaoyu, she can smile foolishly just by chatting on WeChat. My husband hasn't contacted me for three days."
Sister Shao laughed: "You are obviously too busy to care about him, right? We are an old married couple, how can we compare with Xiaoyu? She is in love! One day without seeing you feels like three years."
Luo Jingyu didn't quite understand their conversation, but he guessed that the sisters were definitely making fun of him again.
The same group of people came to Shanghai for further studies this time. Everyone saw the ring on his ring finger. The sisters loved to tease Luo Jingyu every day, asking him when he would marry Zhan Xi, and they all wanted to attend the wedding.
Luo Jingyu couldn't answer and was always made to blush by them.
Xu Qingyan invited everyone to a creative restaurant to eat modified Shanghai cuisine and asked for a small private room, where everyone ate and chatted.
Everyone was talking about their lives and work over the past year, and Luo Jingyu was mainly listening. In fact, he also had a lot to say, such as the plagiarism incident last year, the lawsuit that happened later, Yun Xi's dress, and the teahouse he opened now. But it was too troublesome for him to type it out, and Huan Huan had already told Sister Shao and others about many things in the small group, so he didn't repeat them.
Everyone drank some fruit wine. Xu Qingyan sat next to Luo Jingyu, looked at the ring on his left hand, patted his arm, and asked softly: "Xiaoyu, what are you and Xiaozhan planning now?"
Teacher Xu wanted to talk to Xiaoyu alone. The other three sisters knew what was going on and did not interrupt, just continuing their conversation.
Luo Jingyu understood what Xu Qingyan was asking, but he really couldn't answer. He lowered his eyes and looked at the mobile phone screen on the table. He moved his finger up and then moved it away after a while.
"You two have been dating for a year and a half, right?" Xu Qingyan leaned against the back of the chair and spoke softly but clearly, "Are you planning to get married?"
Thinking of getting married... Luo Jingyu sighed, nodded, and felt that this answer was inaccurate, so she finally typed on her phone: I want to get married, but there is a problem, and I don’t know how to solve it.
"What's the problem?" Xu Qingyan asked patiently.
Luo Jingyu thought for a while, and then told Teacher Xu about his concerns on the phone.
Regarding children and genetics, his sister gave birth to a baby at the beginning of the year. Like him, the baby was born deaf. After examination, they said that he could have a cochlear implant installed after he is one year old, but they don’t know how effective it will be yet.
I don't want to gamble. I can give up the child. I don't know what she thinks. It's unfair for her to give up the child, but I don't want to gamble.
It took Luo Jingyu a lot of time to type these words. He told Xu Qingyan that he didn't want to try to have a child at all. The best case scenario was that the child was fine, and the probability was completely a matter of luck. If the child had problems, abortion would cause great physical and mental harm to Zhan Xi. And if he kept the child, he really couldn't accept it. This was his bottom line! The best solution he could think of was not to have a child.
But not having children... Will Zhan Xi agree? Or if she agrees now, will she regret it later? If she regrets it when she is older, then he has delayed her. Even if they divorce, this delay has caused substantial harm to the woman. If she cannot have her own children because of this, he will blame himself and feel guilty, and will regret it for the rest of his life.
So, when it comes to getting married, how can it be that simple
Xu Qingyan could feel Luo Jingyu's pain and entanglement from the cold words in the mobile phone memo, and asked gently: "Have you talked about these things with Xiao Zhan?"
Luo Jingyu nodded, thought for a moment, and then compared with the tip of her right thumb and index finger, meaning "a little bit".
"You still have to talk to her about this topic, Xiaoyu, you can't avoid it." Xu Qingyan said, "You two have been talking about it for quite some time. Do you want to get married? Do you want to have children? Can you accept the child's hearing loss? You and Xiaozhan have to talk about these things openly. You must tell her your thoughts completely, and then listen to her thoughts. You can't keep avoiding this issue. You two are working together now, so what about the money? Who will take care of the money?"
Luo Jingyu typed on her phone: She
Xu Qingyan burst out laughing, shaking his head and pointing at Luo Jingyu: "You, you, I knew it, you are not afraid that you two will really break up and the money will not be cleared up? Such things are not uncommon."
Luo Jingyu looked at her and shook her head.
He had never thought about breaking up with Huanhuan, and this issue would never occur to him deep down in his heart. But when he thought about his child, he did worry whether Huanhuan would leave him because of this.
The pain at that moment almost broke him down, even if it was just his imagination.
So he thought, if they really broke up, even if she took away all the money, he wouldn't care. Since the person was gone, what was the point of him keeping the money
Besides, Huanhuan would never treat him like that.
Yes! He trusted her so much. He even trusted Fang Xu so much before, let alone Huanhuan
Finally, Xu Qingyan said, "Xiao Yu, you can actually go to the hospital with Xiao Zhan for consultation to see if there are other ways to help you avoid defects in your child. I don't mean the way your sister did, where she got pregnant and then did the test, but something like in vitro fertilization. I don't really understand it either, but I have a friend who is a few years younger than me. She gave birth to a child in her thirties who had mental retardation. The family of three checked their genes, and it turned out that there was a problem with the genes of both the husband and wife. They themselves are healthy people, and there is a probability that they will give birth to such a child when they are together. Two years ago, my friend was in her forties and went for in vitro fertilization. They said that the genes could be checked before the embryo was transplanted to see if the child would have defects. Now the child is over one year old and is quite healthy. I don't know if this applies to your situation, so you'd better go and consult yourself."
This long string of words was beyond Luo Jingyu's knowledge, and he didn't quite understand it. Xu Qingyan shook his head helplessly and typed on his mobile phone: Go to a big hospital, consult about in vitro fertilization, and go with Xiaozhan, maybe you can avoid hereditary diseases.
Luo Jingyu looked at the words, and then his eyes suddenly turned to Xu Qingyan. Xu Qingyan nodded to him: "I'm serious, go and ask. No matter whether it works or not, you won't know until you ask."
Half a month later, after handing in her continuing education assignments, Luo Jingyu packed her luggage, ended her trip to Shanghai, and took the high-speed rail back to Qiantang.
Dragging his suitcase out of the exit, he saw the person he had been thinking about day and night in the crowded crowd. She trotted towards him, Luo Jingyu opened her arms, and Zhan Xi threw herself into his arms.
He hugged her tightly, greedily sniffing her scent. It was the scent of the incense in his closet, that cool and bitter cypress scent. He hadn't smelled it for a long time, and now it was in his arms. It was the smell he missed the most, and the person he cared about the most.
They kissed at the exit without paying attention to anyone around, and separated after a long time. Zhan Xi looked up at him, touched his face, and said distressedly, "You've lost weight again."
Luo Jingyu smiled and shook her head. Zhan Xi said again: "Xiao Yu, I miss you so much."
He didn't answer, but bent down and kissed her forehead.
He missed her too. Every night before going to bed he would look at her photo before falling asleep. He never knew that a month and a half would be so hard to endure. Fortunately, it was only a month and a half.
If they break up and never see the person who is in her heart like this again in this life, Luo Jingyu can't imagine what he will become. Really, she can't bear to think about it. Her heart hurts when she thinks about it.
All he could do was hold her hand tightly and take her home.
—
One day in late June, Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu went to attend Yuan Sichen's wedding.
The wedding was grand, and Zhan Xi met many of his former colleagues, such as Wen Qin, Qian Yun... and Lin Yan.
Yuan Sichen was very considerate and did not arrange Zhanxi to sit at the same table with them. Wenqin only greeted Zhanxi and did not have a deep conversation. Zhanxi knew that Wenqin's family had no contact with his family and did not even come to Yin Li's wedding. She was probably afraid of Chi Guilan and did not want to have any more entanglements.
Lin Yan chatted with Zhan Xi for a while. He had paid attention to what happened in the early days of "Xiyu" on Weibo, and Yuan Sichen had also talked to him about it. At this time, he asked Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu about the recent business of the teahouse, what their main business was, etc.
Facing Lin Yan, Luo Jingyu's mood was hard to describe. He knew that this man had pursued Huan Huan before, and they had met before. He was secretly observing Lin Yan and thought that he was tall, good-looking, and wore glasses, which made him look cultured and polite. He didn't know why Huan Huan didn't like him.
In Luo Jingyu's subconscious mind, Zhan Xi was perfect, and it was natural for her to like her. Many boys had liked her before. As far as he knew, there was one of her blind dates, Lin Yan, and Teacher Tian who opened the pottery bar, who must have had a crush on Huan Huan.
Luo Jingyu did not doubt Zhan Xi's love for him, but she just couldn't understand why she chose him when she had so many choices, all of whom were better than him
The wedding began. Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi sat at the round table and watched the ceremony. They saw Yuan Sichen walking on the red carpet with the groom in a snow-white wedding dress and performing various ceremonies on the stage.
Luo Jingyu couldn't hear anything, and didn't know what the MC and the newlyweds were saying on the microphone. He clapped when he saw everyone clapping, and he also raised his glass and knocked on the glass turntable when he saw others raise their glasses. Zhan Xi asked if she wanted him to translate, but he said no, there were too many people around, and he didn't want her to be seen using sign language, and he wasn't curious.
Zhan Xi did not force him, but just pulled his hand and interlocked his fingers with his, looking at the stage.
Luo Jingyu's mind was not on the stage. She secretly turned her head to look at Zhan Xi's profile, imagining how she would look in a wedding dress. She would definitely be the most beautiful bride in the world.
Will it be his bride
He will use all his life to love and care for her.
He will definitely be the happiest groom in the world.
After returning from Shanghai, Luo Jingyu did not talk to Zhan Xi about the topic of marriage. When he thought about children, he was still timid and didn't know what kind of opportunity he should find to bring it up.
He was so scared, so scared that Huanhuan would have a disagreement with him, so scared that she would have to be a mother, what should he do then? He absolutely could not accept that what happened to his sister and brother-in-law would happen to them again.
He absolutely, absolutely would not gamble.
Can IVF technology really help them
Luo Jingyu didn't understand, so he secretly looked up information online and found that he still had to go to the hospital for consultation. He didn't know how to tell Huanhuan about this, and he found out that the woman would suffer the most in IVF, as she would have to take injections and medication, which might have an impact on her body.
It was really frustrating. Why was it the woman who had to suffer? Giving birth was painful enough. Huanhuan could have gotten pregnant naturally, but she had to go through this pain. It was all his fault.
If only she could accept not having children, he really could not have children, and the two of them could live happily together for the rest of their lives, but it would be very unfair to her...
Just as he was daydreaming, Luo Jingyu suddenly found that Zhan Xi had turned around and was looking at him at some point, with a slightly frown and a puzzled look in his eyes.
She asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Luo Jingyu shook her head and made a small sign: It's okay.
"Xiao Yu, tell me if you have anything to say." Zhan Xi pinched his fingers, and his fingertips brushed across the scar on the back of his right hand. "Don't take it to heart."
Luo Jingyu nodded, swallowed, clenched her hands, and forced herself to look at the stage.
—
At the Qiantang Creation Festival this year, Zhan Xi did not wear Hanfu to welcome guests.
Last year, she went for the Chinese style, and this year, she decorated the booth in a more fashionable way. Of course, the hot stamping experience project is indispensable, but Zhanxi weakened the display of Hanfu accessories and reflected more on the application of hot stamping works in modern life, such as on clothing, hats, home decoration, and interior furnishings.
Yue Qi helped at the booth from the beginning to the end of the exhibition. Because it was summer vacation, Mo Yang also came to help. She is about to start her sophomore year, studying fashion design. She admires Luo Jingyu very much and said that her ideal is to become a designer like Luo Jingyu after graduation and have her own studio.
Zhan Xi chatted with her and asked what Zhong Peng was doing. Mo Yang said that Zhong Peng did not get into university and wanted to repeat his senior year at first, but later gave up and went to a culinary vocational school to learn how to make Western pastries. He planned to either find a job in a dessert shop or open his own small shop in the future.
Mo Yang smiled and signed: Zhong Peng said that if he can't find a job after graduation, he should squat at the entrance of Xiyu every day. Senior Brother Luo will feel sorry for him and will definitely pick him up, and then he will have a job!
Zhan Xi laughed so hard: Then let him study hard. If he doesn't study well, he can only be a waiter even if he is picked up. If he studies well, he can come to Xiyu to be a pastry chef.
On the last day of the Creation Festival, Xu Qingyan rushed to Qiantang from Shanghai, not to participate in the exhibition, but to introduce someone to Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi, who was an old friend of hers.
She was a female director in her forties named Ren Hong. She was planning to shoot a documentary and had been preparing for it for more than a year. Recently, the investment was in place and she officially started selecting topics.
Xu Qingyan said to Zhan Xi, "I think her topic is very suitable for you and Xiaoyu, so I introduced her. You should have a good chat with Director Ren. If it works out, it will be helpful to your career."
In the evening, the four of them had a detailed discussion in Xiyu's private room. Zhan Xi originally thought that the documentary about Xiaoyu must be related to the handicraft industry, and that hot stamping might be one of the elements, which is similar to those food documentaries or intangible cultural heritage documentaries.
The result is not.
Ren Hong's documentary is tentatively titled "My Partner". She said: "It uses an industry as a carrier. This industry can be big or small. What I want to show most is the relationship between people. This film has a total of six episodes, and each episode features a pair of protagonists, who are both work partners."
Zhan Xi began to understand what Xu Qingyan meant by "very suitable".
Ren Hong introduced to Zhan Xi: "My idea for these six pairs of protagonists is a couple with children, a couple in love, a pair of sisters, a pair of old classmates, a master and apprentice, and a pair of friends, and a combination of Chinese and foreigners. I have already found and negotiated with several pairs, all of which are in interesting industries, and the relationship between the partners is also very representative. I found you just for the 'couple' among them. Hot stamping is a theme I have wanted to express for a long time. Teacher Xu and I have known each other for many years. After chatting with her, she mentioned you. When I heard it, I felt very good."
While Ren Hong was speaking, Zhan Xi was translating her words to Luo Jingyu using sign language. As Ren Hong spoke, she was also observing them. She could feel the tacit understanding and trust between the two young people, which made her even more delighted.
She just wants to talk about people. The industry is just a carrier. It is not easy to find suitable and representative people among the masses. There are so many partners. You can find partners in any roadside shop. But like Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu, one is hearing and the other is deaf. They are not only business partners, but also lovers. They are indispensable to each other. One even needs the other to help translate in order to communicate better with others. Such a combination really makes her creative desire burst.
After Luo Jingyu understood Zhan Xi's sign language, she became hesitant.
The protagonist of the documentary... what does that mean? He will appear on camera, in motion, and everyone will know that he is a deaf person, and they will also see Zhan Xi.
This is not Qiantang’s local TV news, it may be broadcast nationwide and may be helpful to their careers, but will there be all kinds of bad voices along with it
It didn't matter to him what happened, but he was afraid that people would talk about Huanhuan, asking why such a healthy and beautiful girl like her would find a deaf boyfriend
Luo Jingyu was a person who had suffered from cyberbullying. He still felt afraid of the Internet. He rarely read the comments on Xiyu's Weibo. Zhan Xi picked out the comments and told him. If a documentary was really made, he had no idea what the result would be.
Zhan Xi was much more optimistic than him. He had the same idea as Xu Qingyan, thinking that this was a great opportunity and that it had little to do with money. Being the protagonist of a documentary would pay you, but it was very little. It was mainly to consider whether the influence of the film would be helpful to Xiyu and Luo Jingyu's subsequent careers.
After chatting for more than two hours, Zhan Xi did not agree on the spot. He told Ren Hong that he would go home and discuss it with Luo Jingyu before giving a definite reply.
Ren Hong naturally agreed. Before leaving, she looked at the retail accessories in the display cabinet on the first floor of the tea room and asked Zhan Xi, "Are these all made by Teacher Xiao Luo?"
"Yes, he did it all himself." Zhan Xi stayed beside her.
"It's really beautiful." Ren Hong said, "Teacher Xu doesn't make jewelry much now, but when I first met her, she also loved making these."
Xu Qingyan and Luo Jingyu were chatting not far away. Zhan Xi glanced at them and said to Ren Hong in a low voice, "Director Ren, I'd like to ask, your film will not use Mr. Luo's deafness as a selling point, right?"
Ren Hong was stunned: "Ah?"
"It's just... Mr. Luo would be more concerned about this." Zhan Xi said softly, "If you want to use his deafness as a selling point, let's forget it. Do you understand what I mean?"
Ren Hong understood and said, "I understand, but Xiao Zhan, you have to know that this point is unavoidable, but I promise you that this is definitely not a selling point. If I have to talk about a selling point, I want to express the relationship between you two, and Mr. Luo's attitude towards ironing flowers. I won't deliberately talk about his hearing loss, but I think the audience can feel the hardship themselves. In general, the tone of the film will be warm and interesting. I have reiterated several times that what I want to talk about is people! The relationship between people, contradictions, resonance, communication, collision of ideas, and all kinds of things."
Zhan Xi understood and replied with a smile: "Okay, I will have a good chat with Mr. Luo when I get home. I think he still has concerns now. I will give you an answer after the chat. Um... How should I put it? I don't want to force him to do anything he doesn't want to do. This is not a small matter. If he disagrees, I completely understand and accept it. If he agrees, I also hope that he agrees from the bottom of his heart, not just because I want to agree. This is the way he and I get along."
"I think it's great." Ren Hong said, "What I want to show is this kind of interpersonal relationship. It's very precious. Xiao Zhan, it's rare. You're very lucky."