23 Chapter 23
"Ye Jinyi! Help!"
Ye Jinyi was shaken awake by her, and he didn't understand what was going on, so he looked at her with a puzzled look.
Chen Ying said with a gloomy face, "Zhou Baixi is downstairs."
"What?" Ye Jin suddenly woke up, "What is he doing here?!"
This shout woke Song Xia up immediately. She looked at the two of them blankly, as if nothing serious happened, so she fell back to sleep.
Ye Jinyi also realized that his voice was a little loud, so he whispered, "Don't be afraid, baby. If you don't want to see him, I will go and drive him away." As he said that, he was about to get out of bed and put on his shoes.
"Don't." Chen Ying didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and poked Ye Jinyi's forehead with her finger. "He was helping to move things, and he left after moving. There's no need to chase him away. Besides, it's rude not to invite him to dinner now, and you still want to chase him away."
Ye Jinyi immediately hugged her arm and lay down, "Don't chase me away, I'm here to eat for free, no one is allowed to chase me away."
Zhou Baixi was shy and it was his first time at Chen Ying's house. Chen Ying thought that he would never stay for dinner, so she continued to lie down with peace of mind.
By nine o'clock, I felt uncomfortable no matter how I lay down.
Chen Ying went downstairs nervously, sneaked into the kitchen like a thief, and helped her mother prepare breakfast.
That shameless guy hadn't left yet. He was washing, cutting vegetables and chopping ribs in the kitchen, so skillfully that it looked like he had practiced it many times.
"Are you up? Come and wash the vegetables if you're up. Look at Baixi helping out here and there. Do you feel embarrassed?" Mom just put the washed rice into the rice cooker and pressed the cook button.
Chen Ying didn't say anything, but she heard Zhou Baixi's rude laughter.
"You go out and rest, I'll help." Chen Ying said.
Before Zhou Baixi could say anything, Chen Ying's mother quickly said, "Don't leave. Stay and have dinner with us."
Zhou Baixi showed his bright white teeth, "Okay."
He was indeed shy, so he enthusiastically helped with everything he could, exchanging his labor for a meal so that he wouldn't feel guilty.
After dinner, Chen Ying’s father suggested that the children go to the fields to catch some fish and cook them in the evening.
He is well-known for loving his wife. At the beginning, because he was worried about his wife's health, he had always neglected Chen Ying's growth and did not have a second child. Later, when his wife loved to eat fish, he took off his suit, bought fisherman's props, and learned to raise fish by himself. Whenever his wife wanted to eat, he would go to catch fish.
Ye Jinyi and Song Xia both brought their own change of clothes before coming, so they were not worried about getting them dirty.
Zhou Baixi refused to leave after dinner, so Dad Chen asked him to take a few girls with him to go fishing. Mom Chen was worried that he would get his clothes dirty and it would be inconvenient for him to go back, so she took out a black and white school uniform jacket that Chen Ying wore when he was in school and asked him to put it on.
Dad Chen is smaller than him and can’t wear any of his clothes. The only thing he can wear is the loose school uniform.
When Chen Ying went downstairs, she saw her own school uniform on Zhou Baixi. Her face and neck immediately turned red.
Zhou Baixi was tidying up his clothes. He felt very awkward and avoided looking at Chen Ying. Ye Jinyi had no enthusiasm for him either, so Song Xia asked him to go with her when she left.
On the way there, they passed a plum tree that belonged to the uncle next door. It looked very sour. Ye Jinyi and Song Xia were eager to experience the fishing life, so they urged Uncle Chen to lead the way. They walked faster and faster, not noticing Chen Ying, who was always lagging behind, and Zhou Baixi, who was always following behind her.
Driven by a vengeful mentality, Chen Ying picked one and threw it to Zhou Baixi.
"Delicious." He finished it in a few bites and smiled happily.
Is it really that delicious? This plum tree is famous for its sourness. Could it be that after not coming back for so many years, the tree has become more delicious?
Chen Ying had some doubts, but said nothing.
There was a lot of silt in the fields, so Uncle Chen explained the key points of fishing and then went back. He was worried that Chen Ying's mother would be bored at home alone.
Song Xia was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and grew up in a greenhouse. She had never experienced this kind of life. She suddenly got excited and jumped into the water when she saw it. As a result, her feet were stuck in the mud and she couldn't move. She waited anxiously for Ye Jinyi to rescue her.
She jumped in with such force that she sank deep. Ye Jinyi couldn't pull her out, so he had to ask for help from the only man present. Zhou Baixi also entered the water and began to dig up the mud under Song Xia's feet, asking her to try to move them. Slowly, her feet finally began to loosen.
She pushed hard towards Ye Jinyi and finally pulled out one foot.
Chen Ying was too lazy to go down. She didn't like the feeling of mud sticking to her body, and the strong fishy smell. She watched them play on the shore for a while, and after they had almost mastered the skills, she reminded them to be careful and went home.
After she left, Zhou Baixi also washed his hands, walked to the shore, and took off his school uniform jacket for fear of getting it dirty.
After folding it neatly and just about to put it down, he suddenly saw some traces of writing with a pen under the collar of the clothes.
He swore that he really didn't want to see anyone's privacy on purpose, but he felt that the exposed part of the handwriting was really familiar. He lifted up his collar, and the three words "Zhou Baixi" appeared in front of him.
He stood there in a daze, feeling as if he was tied up and unable to move.
He took out his cell phone with trembling hands, called Li Hao, and sent him an address.
Chen Ying was browsing Weibo when a studio sent her a private message inviting her to collaborate. They wanted to integrate and publish all the series of her paintings and asked Chen Ying if she was interested in cooperating.
She thought about it and replied:
“Thanks for your private message, but I’m sorry, I have no intention of cooperation at the moment.”
She never thought of making money by selling her story with Ye Jinyi. She didn't know how to express many of her touching feelings and couldn't tell them to Ye Jinyi in person. She just wanted to tell the world how good that girl was through painting.
What she wanted to express was that Ye Jinyi would always be her best friend.
Those three guys must have been having a blast fishing. Three hours have passed and they still haven't come back.
Chen Ying thought it was time to prepare dinner, so she put on her shoes and went downstairs.
Suddenly, a car horn honked outside the door. It honked once, then a second time, and continued to honk when no one paid attention. Chen Ying didn't want to pay attention, but her mother told her to go take a look upstairs. She said "oh" and went out to take a look.
It was an unfamiliar car. Chen Ying had never studied cars before and didn't recognize the logo, but she could tell it was very expensive. She was wondering if it was someone who had taken the wrong road and was asking for directions when the car door suddenly opened and Li Hao walked out with a smile on his face.
"Well, Zhou Baixi asked me to pick him up." The key ring circled on his index finger. Chen Ying said "oh" and invited the person into the house.
My parents also came downstairs and brought out a fruit platter to entertain the guests.
Li Hao took out two boxes of mooncakes from the car, which were packed in gift boxes and looked exquisite and elegant. Then he sat aside politely and chatted with Chen Ying's parents.
There was also a generation gap between her parents and him, so they didn't know what to talk about. They just asked whatever came to their mind, and Li Hao answered every question. It was obvious that he was a little embarrassed, but he was very polite and not at all impatient.
Chen Ying couldn't stand it anymore and sent him to find the three people. Li Hao called Zhou Baixi and asked him to pick him up.
When the brothers met for the first time, they looked at each other with a bit of displeasure.
Zhou Baixi wore the formal school uniform to make it look like a street kid. Ever since he saw the abbreviation on the collar of the school uniform, Zhou Baixi never took it off.
He complained that Li Hao was too late and that the flowers were about to wither by the time he had waited.
When passing by the plum tree, Zhou Baixi picked one for Li Hao and said lightly, "It's very sweet, try it."
Another half an hour passed, and several people still hadn't returned. Chen Ying couldn't sit still anymore and wanted to go and take a look. As soon as she went out, she saw Song Xia rushing back covered in mud, taking off his shoes and going into the house to get some water to drink.
Chen Ying didn't understand what was going on, so she continued walking forward. She saw two girls who had been turned into mud figures, followed by Li Hao, who was holding a net bag and fishing gear.
Next to it is the plum tree.
Just when we walked here, Li Hao suddenly shouted that he didn't want to go any further and wanted to eat plums, insisting that the fruit on this tree was delicious.
Ye Jinyi and Song Xia were also greedy, but their hands were covered in mud, so they asked Li Hao to pick some for them. He picked three, one for each girl. Song Xia believed it without a doubt and thought that the tree had really changed its nature, so she took a bite of it.
The teeth are so sour that they lose feeling.
After spitting out a mouthful of liquid, the expression on his face suddenly became exciting. He spit out several more times in a row. Without even having time to beat Li Hao, Song Xia ran back to get some water to drink.
Ye Jinyi's expression was also quite interesting, but from a distance, Chen Ying couldn't see clearly and thought she was tired from fishing. As she got closer, she saw her trying to force a smile, looking at the remaining plum in Li Hao's hand with a greedy look on her face.
"Chen Ying, try this plum! It's so sweet!"
Li Hao also said, "Try it, try it. I'm reluctantly giving up this and giving you the last one."
Chen Ying was a little skeptical, as the color didn't look like something edible.
Unable to resist his enthusiasm, she tasted it anyway.
The unique sour and astringent feeling of the unripe fruit immediately spread in my mouth, so sour that I physiologically secreted saliva and my eyes began to moisten.
Zhou Baixi finally arrived late. When he looked up, he saw Chen Ying's sour face. Li Hao was standing under the fateful plum tree with a faint smile on his lips.
"You two teamed up to deceive me." Chen Ying said this with difficulty.
Ye Jinyi and Li Hao burst into laughter instantly. Ye Jinyi laughed so hard that she sat on the ground. The sour taste in her mouth was still there, and she felt uncomfortable but wanted to laugh.
As soon as Zhou Baixi walked in, he saw Li Hao laughing wildly. Then he looked at Chen Ying's complicated expression and the bitten plum in her hand. His face suddenly turned dark. He strode over, grabbed Li Hao's hand and dragged him aside.
"Let me tell you something."
"Hey, hey, we have nothing to talk about." Li Hao resisted his pull, "Look at the mud on you, you've even soiled my clothes!"
Before he could finish his words, a pair of muddy hands touched his face affectionately, leaving five palm prints on it.
"Fuck! Seriously?! If I had known I wouldn't have come. I'd have made you suffer!"
Zhou Baixi ignored him, put the bucket of fish next to him, took the net bags that Li Hao had just taken, and left.
Neither Zhou Baixi nor Li Hao stayed for dinner. Before leaving, Zhou Baixi carried a cardboard box upstairs, changed his clothes, and left with Li Hao. No matter how much we tried to persuade him, it was useless as he said his family was still waiting for him for dinner.
Father Chen had no choice but to pick a dozen pomegranates grown by himself, and packed two fish for each of the two men. He filled the bags with oxygen and insisted on putting them in their car so that they could take them back.
He ate the meal in a daze and didn't dare to eat any of the fish on the table. Chen Ying's mind was full of thoughts that this fish might have been caught by Zhou Baixi, and that fish might also have been. Even if it wasn't, he might have touched this fish.
Chen Ying no longer wanted to touch anything he had touched. Subconsciously, she always felt that if she didn't like this person, she shouldn't like anything about him. She shouldn't have any thoughts about him, otherwise she wouldn't be able to let go and would repeat the same mistakes.
At seven o'clock, my parents watched the news broadcast on time. Ye Jinyi and Song Xia helped to clean up the dishes and pushed Chen Ying upstairs.
Ye Jinyi had been acting incredibly abnormal, crazy, and exaggerated the entire afternoon, her performance extremely poor. Chen Ying couldn't help but stop her at the stairs and asked, "Is your boyfriend coming to see you too?"
Song Xia snorted coldly, "Stop talking. My boyfriend came all the way here, but ended up picking up his best friend and didn't even pay attention to me."
"Didn't he buy you flowers?" Chen Ying wasn't trying to defend Li Hao; she was simply stating the facts. "Those were your favorite roses."
Ye Jin hooked his finger and asked Chen Ying, "Do you like Qiangwei?"
"fine."
Song Xia and Ye Jin looked at each other and smiled, then pushed Chen Ying upstairs together.
Ye Jinyi said: "It's okay if you don't like it. Then go and like roses."
At the door of the room, in a large open cardboard box, there was a bunch of roses in full bloom, a sea of fiery red.
Song Xia chuckled and put her arm around Ye Jin's shoulders, but her eyes were on Chen Ying. "My boyfriend specially sent roses for someone else's boyfriend. I'm jealous. Sister Yiyi, come downstairs with me to get some water."
Chen Ying couldn't hear what was said next. She only knew that the roses were given by Zhou Baixi to her.
The turn of events came unexpectedly. She stared blankly at the bouquet of roses, stretched out her hand and then retracted it, wanting to touch it but not daring to.
This was probably a dream.
She paused for a long time, trying to suppress her inner uncertainty, and sent a message to Zhou Baixi, asking what was going on.
The other party kept showing that they were typing. Chen Ying held her breath and waited silently, not daring to send any other messages. She just kept waiting with her mind tense, afraid that if she relaxed she would wake up from the dream.
After waiting for five minutes, the other party's typing suddenly disappeared, and there was no new information on the page. Chen Ying blinked hard, trying to see more clearly.
A bunch of pictures were suddenly sent to me one after another, all of them were covered with black pen marks.
Zhou Baixi sent a message: "My heart's desire to see you is deep and shallow. I'm afraid you can hear it, but I'm also afraid you can't hear it.
So I wrote it for you.”
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