Romance

The kitchen door is a single leaf.

The door was painted dark green, with a square piece of glass half a man's height cut out from the top. Perhaps the painter hadn't noticed, and a few drops of paint had fallen from the door frame onto the glass, creating a series of ripples like green jade.

She sat in the hazy light, her green polka dots looking like a necklace. She held her phone to her ear, occasionally shoveling a mouthful of cold rice, but her face was a bright smile, and she had no idea who was calling.

Chen Yan stood outside, waiting for a phone call before going in. Ye Yuanyin didn't even look up, the spoon in her hand. She was angry, chewing in silence instead of speaking.

Chen Yan stood opposite her, his backlit face making it hard to tell the expression on his face, but his voice was gentle, "Who's calling?"

"None of your business." She put down the spoon and stood up to leave.

As they passed each other, Yan Zhen'an reached out and grasped her thin but fleshy wrist. Ye Yuanyin was forced to stop, looked up at him, frowned, and asked, "Did you drink last night?"

"No." He took her two steps back and leaned his back against the door, just enough to look her in the face.

Ye Yuanyin avoided his gaze, trying to appear calm, "Then why... did you do that?"

Chen Yan'an's thumb stroked the soft and cool skin of her wrist from time to time. He looked up at her with a deep and quiet look, "That—what kind of thing is that?"

A feather-like warm touch came from his hand, as if it was going to penetrate into his heart. Ye Yuanyin couldn't control his trembling voice and spoke hesitantly, "It's just... Anyway, I don't think it's good."

At that time, the morning sun shone through the glass windows, its bright white light splitting the cement floor in two. He was in the dark, looking at the person in the light - a light yellow spring dress, porcelain skin, a few jade-like dots swaying on her neck, sometimes white, sometimes green, floating up and down.

He felt a pain in his chest.

"Why is it bad?"

Ye Yuanyin looked up at him, her lips tightly closed, but a layer of rouge-like red appeared on her cheeks. She tried to make him understand her feelings, "Don't you know? Others have always been casual with me. Are you also acting on impulse? If you make things worse, it will make me even more sad."

Sometimes, Chendi An didn't like discussions where decisions had to be made immediately, as they pushed him to the brink, forcing him to lose some of his flexibility. But with her, actions always preceded reason, just like he had to take necessary measures even before he had figured out how to allocate his resources.

He was worried that some people, once lost, could never be recovered, just like the one in front of him.

So he had to avoid the main issue and try to use jokes to buy some room for maneuver: "Aren't we a legal couple?"

The implication is that he has the right to exercise his rights as a husband and he will not give up the possibility of further intimacy in the future.

Ye Yuanyin didn't like playing ambiguous games, so he asked directly, "Do you like me?"

Sediment An asked back, "Do you like me?"

"..." She lowered her head. Just when he thought he wouldn't get an answer, she answered. Her eyes were as clear and transparent as the clear sky in May, pure and without any impurities. "I like you. I liked you from the first moment I saw you."

His heart fluttered. People with complex minds can't be honest with each other, yet they hope the other person can see through them. Her words caught him by surprise, yet they were delighted—she was a wife he had won effortlessly, with the taboo of demanding a return for his charity. He had doubted her, despised her, and resented her, but now, his heart was moved by her.

"Xiao Ye, let's have a relationship."

The wind blew in through the crack in the door, which was not closed tightly. Ye Yuanyin's hair beside her ear trembled slightly. She looked at him in disbelief, unable to say a word. This result came earlier than expected. Although he didn't say the word "like", it sounded like a confession.

His cell phone suddenly vibrated. Secretary Ma was also looking for him in the yard outside. It seemed like something urgent.

Seeing her lack of reaction, Chen Yan thought to himself that this girl was sensitive and principled, so he really shouldn't rush into things. But his throat was itching again, so he caressed her soft, delicate face with pity and gently patted it with the tips of his fingers.

"Think about it carefully and tell me the answer."

A gust of wind took away his breath. Ye Yuanyin stared at the door that he pushed open, and suddenly rushed over and used his body to block the person who was about to leave.

She stood on tiptoe, holding onto his shoulders for support, and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"I do."

The door opened again, and Ye Yuanyin pushed him out. She blocked the door with her back, pressed against it, and slid to the ground in despair, covering her face with her hands.

Secretary Ma walked quickly towards Chen Yan'an, but was shocked when he saw him. This usually aloof man now had veins bulging in his neck, and he looked like he was unsatisfied.

"Boss," Secretary Ma observed his expression and asked with concern, "Are you okay?"

Chen Yan calmed his rapidly beating heart, glanced at him indifferently, and said, "How did you come here by such a coincidence?"

Secretary Ma was stunned, wondering what he had done wrong. That morning, he became particularly rude and cautious.

*

Aunt Long also felt that something was wrong with her daughter.

I don't know if she was picking vegetables or destroying them. She plucked the tender leaves one by one and threw them aside. If she picked more, only the bare stems would be left. She had been sitting here in a daze since early morning, from the sunrise over the mountain to noon. What on earth is wrong with this child?

Xiao Ruan came at this time.

"Aunt, I'm here to see my sister."

Aunt Long looked at this rare guest and quickly brought her into the house. "Come quickly, come quickly. Ah Yin! Xiao Ruan is here to see you."

Ye Yuanyin suddenly realized that the last time she went to "Gui Nanpan" to lobby Xiao Ruan, hoping that she would accept her treatment, she was rejected by Tie San and others. Perhaps this little girl had something to say to her.

She quickly wiped her hands on her apron and came forward. Xiao Ruan looked at her without saying a word. Her pair of dark, sad eyes looked at her, but seemed to say a thousand words.

Ye Yuan felt a lump in his throat due to his strong empathy, and he suddenly stretched out his arms. Xiao Ruan rushed over and hugged her tightly.

The light in the main room was not very strong, with a dim and heavy feeling. The closed wooden door blocked out some of the frivolous white light.

Xiao Ruan cried, "Sister, I don't want to be locked up at home every day. I also want to go to school."

For the girls of the mountains, their floating fate is a sinister codeword for the mountain god's curse. No one knows the weight of "school" better than Ye Yuanyin. It represents hope, a future, and aspirations—it's the only way to break the curse.

"But Grandpa won't let me go." Xiao Ruan's face was like a crumpled piece of draft paper, with scribbled lines creating a rough surface. Another line segment inexplicably extended. "Sister—that person—secretly contacted me. She wants to take me away."

Ye Yuanyin held her hand and encouraged her to continue. "Is it your mother?"

Xiao Ruan nodded. After her father died, her mother ran off with a local truck driver. Rumors were rife in the isolated village, and Tie Sandeng, unable to afford the loss of face, decided to take his family and live in seclusion on the "Ghost Hard to Climb" mountain.

Xiao Ruan's situation wasn't good. When her mother passed away, she was already sensible and followed her mother around, helping with all the chores. Besides her, she also had a three-year-old sister, who had always been raised by her grandmother. Grandma loved her sister and disliked Xiao Ruan.

The harshness of life left even the adults with little time for other tasks. Poverty always required women to manage the household. After her mother passed away, her grandmother left Xiao Ruan with the heavy burden of household chores. She rose early to prepare meals for the family. She toiled tirelessly, her only requirement being to go to school. Because her grandmother had said she could give up anything except dropping out.

Grandma disagreed and started to hit people after she had talked too much. To resist the violence, Xiao Ruan grabbed her sister and prepared to jump into the river. Grandma cursed her and told her to die immediately! However, fate played a trick on her. Who knew that it wasn't her who died, but Grandma and her sister.

Xiao Ruan's world collapsed.

In the sixth month after Ye Yuanyin returned to Jiutao Village, Xiao Ruan could no longer bear the pressure in her heart. She fell ill and her grandfather forced her to drop out of school.

"Mom said she wants to take me to the city to study." Xiao Ruan's dry face suddenly smiled. "Sister, please help me. I don't want to be a sick child. I want to return to her in good health."

Ye Yuanyin nodded heavily, his heart full of hope.

After seeing Xiao Ruan off, she immediately went to the village guesthouse to find Zhang Mohe.

Maha rested today and only took up her conversation after finishing his Heart Sutra lesson.

Ye Yuanyin said, "I received a call from my senior sister this morning. She has the latest research on children with autism and hopes it will be helpful for our project."

"Where is this senior sister?"

"We met when we were studying together in the United States."

Maha nodded and said, "We should collect more cases. The sample cases here are not rich enough."

The two discussed it for a long time until they could no longer ignore the ticking sound of the ceiling.

It rained outside a few days ago. Even after the rain stopped, the ceiling was still leaking.

Ye Yuanyin looked at the buckets and basins of various sizes on the ground and asked sincerely, "Is it worth it for you to come all this way?"

Maha smiled, like the Buddha holding a flower. "All innovation is a kind of practice in the unknown. No one can guarantee success. Can you guarantee that you can cure this child? I can't. It's just that we should follow our own heart and do our best. As long as our heart is at peace, it's okay to suffer a little physically."

Ye Yuanyin really likes chatting with him. The most complicated truths are contained in the simplest words.

"How... did you get into KZ?" What she actually wanted to ask was everything about Dian Jing'an. She wanted to know more about him.

"I heard that the boss would write the code himself, so I came here."

"Ah? That's it?"

"That's it." Zhang Mohe was very pleased with himself when talking about this. "The facts prove that my choice was correct. Because he understands technology, he never makes rash decisions."

"How rare," Ye Yuanyin smiled, not sparing his praise for him: "He is a very charming person."

Maha had a keen sense of smell and asked, "What about you? Why did you join this team?"

Ye Yuanyin intercepted the most direct message and told him, "In order to win a person's heart, I want to help him."

Maha exclaimed, "Wow!" Looking at her expression, he felt that this person must be someone she deeply loved and cherished. He never got too involved in other people's lives because it would drain his energy, but he would occasionally make an exception. "What if it fails?"

"Leave here and live the life I want."

"Xiao Ye, your face is full of the desire to become better and stronger."

For the first time, Ye Yuanyin spoke openly about his ambitions to others, "I've seen what the world looks like. This place can't hold me back."

"A terrible woman."

You Jing was passing by outside and heard their voices. He called Ye Yuanyin out and temporarily stopped their work.