Romance

At around nine o'clock in the evening, everything in the yard was finally cleaned up.

Aunt Long was an obsessive purveyor of cleanliness. Her house didn't hold many valuables, just brooms, dustpans, tin cans, candy, sewing, and biscuit boxes—small odds and ends neatly stored away. She pulled an opened box of pain-relieving plaster from her chest of drawers and took out a piece.

Ye Yuanyin has never liked this smell since he was a child. It is so pungent that it makes his nose and eyes feel uncomfortable.

The plaster must be applied while it is hot to exert its maximum effect. Aunt Long rubbed her waist with one hand, and her elbow was strained, so her movements were not very smooth.

"Let me do it."

Ye Yuanyin put his hands together and blew a few breaths of hot air on his mouth. Then he took them off and put them on her waist, rubbing them up and down vigorously.

Her mother's waist and abdomen were as soft as dough that could not be folded up. When she was little, she always liked to nestle in her arms, with her cheek pressed against her soft chest, and her fingers kneading the soft flesh on her waist, as if no matter how much she kneaded it, she could never get enough.

What did my father say back then? People who like to hold their chopsticks down won't get far. You hold your chopsticks so low, no wonder you're so attached to your mother. Are you going to stay in your hometown in the future? That's not good. Girls need to go out and see the world, so they don't get stuck in their own little world. The world is so big.

Ye Yuanyin took a deep breath and held it, tore off the transparent tape, and applied the ointment to the affected area that had been rubbed until it became hot.

The mother let out a long sigh.

"Ayin, go and get me some hot water to drink."

She said okay and went out to boil water.

Chen Yan came down from upstairs. He was feeling a bit full after dinner, so he decided to go downstairs for a walk. Back in Ancheng, he rarely went to bed before one or two in the morning, but here, he rarely stayed up late.

The years in the mountains are silent, and the gentle silence contains the oldest maxims and teachings of mankind.

Unexpectedly, Aunt Long was there too, so he went up to her and said hello.

"Are you still awake?"

"I can't sleep," Aunt Long said gently, "As I get older, I sleep less. I'm always awake more than asleep."

Sediment nodded and said with a smile, "My elders in the family would say the same thing."

Aunt Long looked at him with a frank gaze and sincere words, as if she were being candid with her family. "Who was the young man who came to our house to deliver something this afternoon?"

Only then did Chen Yan realize that she had never told her mother anything about An Cheng, but since the elders had asked, she had to answer, so she had to say carefully, "He's an up-and-coming painter."

"Painter?" Aunt Long opened her mouth, wondering if it was a classmate. "Since you know each other, he shouldn't be unaware of your marriage, right?"

Chen Chen'an replied, being frugal with his words, "Yes."

"This is strange. If you know this, why are you still so rude?"

He said matter-of-factly, "I think he really likes her, so he can't let her go for a while."

"That's not right," Aunt Long, a traditional and conservative person, disagreed. "Although marriage is free, you shouldn't destroy someone else's marriage. Unless they're divorced, that's another matter."

Chen Yan smiled slowly and said, "It's unlikely."

Aunt Long looked at him and thought it was strange. She had never seen him express obvious affection, but it seemed that he had never thought about divorce at all.

The three members of this impoverished family live harmoniously and interestingly, speaking directly. It is hard to imagine how people living in a large family think and how they deal with themselves. Because of poverty, their status is obviously at a disadvantage.

Aunt Long calculated the household expenses. Selling the house would bring in some income, as would making pottery. If she truly resolved to break up, no matter how hard life became, she wouldn't be unable to repay the money she owed him. But Ah Yin's thoughts were easy to grasp. She didn't want to break up, so what was the point of others trying to persuade her? She recalled her eldest brother's words: Did they really need love to survive?

What's more, the young man in front of me is handsome, elegant, polite and impeccable, as if he came out of an idol drama.

Aunt Long sighed inwardly, feeling conflicted and entangled. It seemed that she could only live one day at a time and wait and see how things would develop.

Ye Yuanyin boiled some water, poured it into a thermos, and walked in holding one in each hand.

I was still thinking about something when I entered the room and didn't expect that there was someone else in the room.

When she came in, she looked up and saw him beaming at her, and for a moment she felt awkward. They saw each other every day, yet he looked like he was about to get stage fright. She couldn't help but blame herself. But even then, her pride was surging, and she didn't want to bother with him anymore.

She took a clean ceramic cup from the table. It had been made by Aunt Long a while ago. The cup was whitish white, thin and glazed on the inside, but rough and prickly on the outside. The rim of the cup had a wrinkle at the junction, like a dumpling wrapper, the only thing worth savoring in its rawness.

My mother watched her pour the water and suddenly asked, "Is this Mr. You your college classmate?"

"No, he's Professor Sun's son."

"What?" Aunt Long suddenly realized, "Then you two must have known each other for a long time."

"It's been quite a while."

"That……"

"Mom, can we talk about this later?" She glanced at Chen Di'an and quickly changed the subject, "It's late now, and you've been tired all afternoon. Go get some rest."

Aunt Long knew that she was shy and probably didn't want to talk about other men in front of Shen Ji'an, so she told them to go to bed early and left with her cup.

Chen Yan was still looking at her calmly. Ye Yuanyin felt like a little white mouse waiting to be dissected, trembling and terrified by the uncertainty that was about to come. She didn't want to show her fear in front of him, so she took the initiative and asked, "Why are you looking at me?"

"What are you hiding?"

“Who covered it up?”

"What are you quibbling about?"

"Who's making excuses?"

"What are you shy about?"

"Who's shy?"

The silvery moonlight shone on her. Chen Yan looked at her fair, pink face and laughed out loud, "The more you try to hide, the more obvious it becomes."

"Who is trying to cover up the truth?"

"Whoever tries to cover it up only makes it more obvious."

…The two spoke at the same time. Chen Yan imitated her tone perfectly. Ye Yuanyin pouted and snorted softly, "Why are you so annoying?"

Before he could answer, the door was knocked on, like the beating of a cowhide war drum, one bang after another.

Lin Huamei's loud voice came from outside the door, and she shouted anxiously: "Ayin, Ayin!"

The wooden door creaked open. Ye Yuanyin held onto the bolt with both arms and asked in confusion, "Hua Mei, why are you here?"

"Is Lin Yi at your house?"

"Not here yet."

"This kid hasn't come back yet!" Hua Mei said angrily with a worried look on her face, "I just said a few words to him. Look at all his bad habits. How can he be so arrogant? He can't hear anything, so where do you think he will go..."

Chen Yan'an also walked out. When Lin Huamei saw him, she quickly smiled and said, "Mr. Chen, am I sorry to bother you guys with your rest? I just came to ask about my brother's whereabouts. If he's not here, I'll continue looking for him at Xia's house."

Lin Huamei never imagined that the cold and noble man would actually take the initiative to speak. He asked, "Do you need my help?"

"Yes, yes, yes! Yes!" Lin Huamei smiled so hard that her teeth couldn't see her eyes. She thought to herself, "One hundred thousand yuan" is rich and powerful. It's rare for such a person to take the initiative to help. Only a fool would refuse, right? As if afraid that he would regret it, Huamei thanked him repeatedly, "Thank you, thank you."

*

The night in the mountains is like black ink splashed on the indigo sky, with stars like broken diamonds embedded on it. The majestic and silent mountains further highlight the vastness and height of the sky.

Chen Dian drove a black SUV through the mountains.

The car lights are bright, and the shadows of dust are everywhere.

Ye Yuanyin was sitting in the passenger seat, and when she reached a possible spot, she would call a halt. The two would get out and look for it, and if they couldn't find it, they would continue driving.

Chen Yan sat beside her. The girl's tense nerves were even affecting him. He looked at her fists, which had turned white from clenching them tightly, and said with a succinct tone, "Why can't Hua Mei's brother hear it?"

"Oh, I could hear it at first," Ye Yuanyin answered mechanically, her eyes still fixed on the long mountain road outside the window. "Then I got a fever and couldn't hear clearly anymore."

"Were no auxiliary measures taken?"

"Wearing a hearing aid would be better," she said, lowering her head wistfully. "Lin Yi was a very good student when he was young, especially in math. My dad says that 70% of math skills are based on talent, and Lin Yi is one of those people who learned math without a teacher. My dad is a bit of an idealist. He resigned from the county high school at the time and was determined to bring out some outstanding students, so he took a special interest in Lin Yi."

"Even though he was clearly working very hard, he always complained that he wasn't working hard enough. He kept repeating himself, urging and nagging. Later, Lin Yi stopped listening to him, and his grades plummeted... He blamed himself a lot."

Ye Yuanyin smiled wryly, describing his past events objectively and fairly. "My uncle said he had high aspirations but achieved nothing; he was a complete loser."

Sediment turned his head and asked her, "Do you think so too?"

"Sometimes," Ye Yuanyin said. "I'm not very smart, and I'm confused all the time. My father doesn't have much patience for anything, except when he's teaching us. He's very patient. He'll break down a single point of knowledge and explain it many times."

"I went to school all day, ran around in the mountains, and when I got home I was so tired I didn't want to talk. After finishing my homework, I had to force myself to listen to his lectures. If I didn't understand a single point, I would be scolded. In serious cases, I would even be beaten with a bamboo stick. I hated him so much back then."

Hearing this, Chen Dian smiled. He spoke naturally about his family. "The word 'Dad' is so unfamiliar to me. From the time I was born until adulthood, I don't recall seeing him more than a few times. He was already quite old when I was born. He was the kind of person who appeared in photo albums, a busy man who only occasionally returned home... He rarely smiled, and his relationship with my mom wasn't very good."

"That's really pitiful," she used the word "pitiful" to describe the man next to her, which were two words that few people would use to describe him.

Ye Yuanyin empathized, saying, "Everyone thinks having money and power is great. But in my opinion, as long as we're human, the challenges in life are similar: Who am I? Where do I come from? How do I spend my life? Where am I going? In the end, there are fewer happy moments and more unpleasant ones."

"You think clearly."

Because they spoke their hearts out in a calm and harmonious manner, Ye Yuanyin felt that this was already a great improvement. "Although you lost your parents, you still have your grandparents. They are so good to you."

"That may not be the case," said Chen Yan, calmly, having probably pondered this over many times in his mind, gradually becoming accustomed to it. "Didn't I tell you last time? Grandma was married."

"So what?"

"If you think about it carefully, you will know. My second uncle is Shen Tianshu, my aunt is Shen Lianxing, and my fourth uncle is Shen Yuheng..."

"I know."

"They are all stars in the sky, and only my father is the mountain on the earth. Why? Because he is the son of my grandmother and her ex-husband."

"ah?"

"So," his expression flickered, and his voice was filled with forbearance, "With Grandpa's personality, how could he be nice to an outsider?"

Before Ye Yuanyin could digest the emotion in his words, he suddenly grabbed his hand on the steering wheel, pointed at a dark shadow outside, and asked sharply, "What is that?!"

The figure was right in front of him, and Chen Dian slammed on the brakes.