Feng Shui
The snow in Lizhou lasted for half a month, the sky was so dark that no clouds could be seen, and the ultraviolet rays were exposed with their blinding power.
A parasol was unfurled from inside the car, and a woman wrapped in a coat jumped out of the passenger seat.
Wen Dai, holding an umbrella, stepped carelessly onto the seemingly snow-free ground, only to be caught off guard and slipped.
She glided forward a short distance, barely stopping before falling, her whole body leaning forward, her hand gripping the umbrella handle tightly.
The man who got out of the driver's seat was completely different from her, completely at ease. The swirling snowflakes fell onto the wide black umbrella and gradually melted away. The person under the umbrella was tall and slender, with an elegant demeanor as he walked, but his eyes, which carried a hint of disdain, spoiled the view.
"Your cerebellum is underdeveloped?"
A click of the tongue came first from Wen Dai's mouth. She turned her head and glared at Chen Sizhe, who was slowly walking over from not far away. "Are you sick? Can't you breathe without cursing at me?"
However, the latter simply raised his chin again, and what fell on Wen Dai was his gaze flicking at her from the corner of his eye. "It was just a polite and friendly concern for my partner's health. You're overthinking it—sensitive people are usually just too concerned about their own flaws."
Lai Wenyi, who was a beat slower than them as she took the gifts out of her car, stood at a distance that was neither too close nor too far. Her ears automatically picked up their banter. She walked over carrying large and small boxes and bags. Thin white granules were spread on her head and body, but she ignored them.
"I find it so interesting how you two get along." Lai Wenyi beamed with joy. Her aura had returned to normal after a week of recuperation. She walked to Wen Dai's other side, opened her dark eyes, and slightly furrowed her brows as she said apologetically, "I'm so sorry to have troubled you to come and deal with me again this week, and even to make a special trip to my parents' house to handle the feng shui."
Wen Dai lowered her head, pursed her lips, and chuckled a few times, her voice weak: "You're making me even more embarrassed... I did get paid, so helping you is a perfectly normal thing."
"The key is that you and your boyfriend are really amazing. When your boyfriend gave me those few touches, I didn't expect that I would feel more and more comfortable and I would never feel those sensations again. The amulet you gave me is also very effective. As for the magic artifacts, I've never seen anyone like you who can tell which item is in which direction of my house just by looking at my face. And if I place them according to your instructions, the effect is very obvious."
Lai Wenyi's eyes were almost wide open, shining with sincerity. A series of heartfelt and straightforward compliments were very pleasing to Wen Dai, but—
Wen Dai, who had been moving her mouth and waving her hand in front of her since Lai Wenyi started speaking, caught her just as she finished and pleaded, "No, no, he's not my boyfriend, and I don't have a boyfriend. We're just business partners, a really, really pure partnership!"
She glanced at Chen Sizhe, who was walking beside her, and patted her chest as she said to Lai Wenyi, "I don't have masochistic tendencies yet, and I can't stand his mouth—I'd rather die than fall in love with someone like him!"
"Ha. Someone like me—what, what kind of person am I?" A cold laugh and Chen Sizhe's mocking gaze went hand in hand, both targeting Wen Dai. He maintained a mocking tone: "You think I would like someone like you? Pshaw."
Seeing that they seemed about to really start arguing, Lai Wenyi, feeling guilty for starting the fight, hurriedly interrupted, "No, no, you two are actually very good people, very capable. I misunderstood, I'm so sorry, I thought you were just using the term 'partners' or 'cooperators' between lovers, I'm really sorry." She jogged steadily across the slippery ground carrying her things, and when she reached Wen Dai and Chen Sizhe, she turned around to face them, walking backwards as she apologized.
Glancing at the intricately carved gate ahead, which required a turn to enter, and worried that she might fall, Wen Dai wanted to step forward to stop her from this dangerous posture. "You did nothing wrong and don't need to apologize. The way you walk is too dangerous—" Before she could finish the last word, Wen Dai herself slipped and fell forward.
"Hey—watch out!" As Wen Dai wished, Lai Wenyi stopped her dangerous action, but the one in real danger right now was Wen Dai.
A hand reached out from the right and grabbed Wen Dai's coat fabric just in time. Wen Dai was essentially pulled back, and due to inertia, she stumbled backward again. Fortunately, this time she didn't risk making intimate contact with the wet ground, because she fell into Chen Sizhe's arms.
A sneer fell into Wen Dai's ears from above: "You have no ability yourself but you want to control others."
His words triggered a flurry of activity in Wen Dai's mind, quickly conjuring up numerous examples of similar situations. She had done many things like extending a helping hand to others when she herself was in dire straits, or putting aside her own troubles to consider the needs of others.
Pulling herself away from the past that suddenly flashed through her mind, Wen Dai cautiously took several steps forward. Once she had distanced herself from Chen Sizhe, she turned to look at him, her tone carrying a hint of incorrigibility: "So what? As long as I'm willing, it's fine. If I fall, it's only me who will get hurt—I'm willing."
The sweet fragrance that had lingered before him had faded away. Looking down at the face that was tilting up at him, his gaze lingered on the resolute expression on her face. Chen Sizhe's lips twitched, and he sneered, "Such a stubborn mouth."
He raised his gaze to a higher place, where a small patch of pale blue sky came into view. The sky was too distant, untouched by human affairs.
But there are people like that.
He slowed his pace and walked behind them, his gaze moving downwards until it lingered on that delicate figure from behind.
Yet, there are those who would rather be a candle that slowly melts away than not illuminate other beings—and existence is not limited to humans.
...
Lai's mother placed a fruit platter on the coffee table, then hurriedly brought over freshly brewed tea. The sound of her slippers clicking on the floor tiles continued. After a long while, she finally sat down, placed her hands on her thighs, and smiled kindly at Wen Dai and Chen Sizhe, saying, "I really owe you all this. I don't know how to express my gratitude. You must be Wen Dai?"
She leaned forward, her eyes, so similar to Lai Wenyi's, reflecting Wen Dai's features.
After Wen Dai nodded in her eyes, Lai's mother straightened her forward-leaning neck. She gently patted Lai Wenyi's hand, who was sitting next to her, glanced at her smiling daughter, and then looked back at Wen Dai. "My daughter told me that it was lucky that you two met by chance at the convenience store. If she hadn't received the amulet from you, she didn't know if she would have been able to see her only daughter again."
“Oh right, I’m considered a late-blooming daughter, but I’m not an only child. I have an older brother, which is a pity because he works in another city, and I don’t want to take up his time,” Lai Wenyi explained.
The man sitting alone on a single sofa on one side looked to be in his fifties or sixties. His serious demeanor made people feel intimidated if they looked at him for too long.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed her husband wearing that same expression again, and Lai's mother scolded him with dissatisfaction, "They helped Wenyi, saved Wenyi, and now they're coming to visit and help us with the feng shui. Can you please stop wearing that wooden face? Last week, didn't you yourself say, 'Hey, this amulet does have some effect.'"
"Who was it that almost got involved in the rear-end collision last week? Did you say that you were about to take that road where the accident would happen, but then you saw a crying child and took the child home first, which is how you avoided the accident?"
Lai Yuan, exposed, was forced to break down. He glanced at his mother several times with displeasure, but unfortunately, she directly revealed all his secrets.
"You wouldn't believe it, my husband is just like that. He says one thing and means another; he's the kind of person who doesn't mean what he says. Actually, he's very grateful to you all. Last week he kept saying he should treat you to a meal, but when you were about to come over, he said, 'Never mind, never mind,' but he's secretly making preparations..."
Unable to save face, Lai Yuan gruffly interrupted his mother, who was about to speak: "Why are you saying so much? They've come to do something, not to chat with you. Stop talking, stop talking."
He awkwardly moved his facial muscles and nodded to Wen Dai and Chen Sizhe across the way, saying, "My name is Lai Yuan, the Yuan of spring."
Lai Wenyi hugged her mother's arm, leaning against the beautiful woman. The woman affectionately patted her daughter's back with her raised hand, her gaze filled with doting affection. Lai Wenyi glanced at Lai Yuan's blushing face, pointed at him with her index finger, and chuckled, "Dad's still the same, always putting on a stern face, even though he's secretly thrilled."
The harmonious family atmosphere forcibly pulled 21-year-old Wen Dai back to 11 years ago, no, now it should be said 12 years ago; she will turn 22 in the second half of this year.
Her eyes stung uncontrollably, and her thumbnail dug deeply into the flesh of her knuckles; Wen Dai lowered her head, tears welling up in her lower eyelids. She thought to herself, thank goodness they didn't fall.
Breathing is choked. I miss the past, the past that was burned, the past that died in that fire.
If her parents hadn't passed away, she would have been happy and wouldn't have ended up in such a desperate situation.
A tear, unable to be held back, fell with a plop, first from her left eye, then her right. Chen Sizhe was to her left. Sensitivity seemed to be in the nature of people in this line of work; he subconsciously turned his gaze, and what he saw was her hand clenched to the side, her thumb tightly gripped in a fist, the nails dug in, and he guessed that it was bluish-purple underneath.
Immediately afterwards, a clear teardrop fell onto the knuckle of her thumb.
His pupils dilated suddenly, and Chen Sizhe raised his eyelashes, his gaze complex as he looked at the person beside him who was silently trying to hold back tears but hadn't yet managed to. As expected, the heart in his chest began to move uncontrollably, a twisting pain washing over him.
The man leaned forward, his outstretched arm aimed at the tissue box on the coffee table, and he pulled out several tissues. The white tissues, folded downwards by gravity, were handed to Wen Dai.
With teary eyes, she vaguely glanced at the white skin being touched by his long fingers. Wen Dai heard him say, "You're quite something. You don't even know what you've touched before you use your hands to wipe your eyes. If you can't produce tears to wash away the irritants, humph—I'll see if you can even keep your eyes."
She looked up in surprise, her tear-filled eyes fixed on him.
The Lai family members, who had been chatting together, all shifted their attention. Lai's mother exclaimed "Oh dear!" and hurriedly moved closer. She placed her hand on Wen Dai's shoulder, and the breath she caught from her close face was very much like that of a mother. "You got your eyes hurt? Are you alright? You need to take good care of your eyes. How about we put in some eye drops later?"
Stiffness ran from her shoulders to her spine. Wen Dai lowered her eyelids, her voice slightly nasal: "Thank you, Auntie. No need for that. I'll just wipe it off and then I'll take a look at the feng shui for you right away." She grabbed the tissue Chen Sizhe handed her and wiped away her tears, leaving a reddish tinge around her eyes.
As if fleeing, she stood up from the sofa, raised her chin to greet Chen Sizhe, and with her eyes still red and watery, said in a voice that was still hoarse, "Let's go, don't waste time."
After a brief, silent eye contact with her, Chen Sizhe looked away, stood up, turned his head, and said to the three members of the Lai family, "I would appreciate it if you could guide us. If there are any places we need to be careful about, Wen Dai and I will let you know."
The tears subsided for the moment, and Wen Dai followed behind Lai's mother and Lai Yuan. The first floor was inspected, and Lai's mother, who was walking in front and giving the main introduction, spoke in a long and detailed manner: "This house is quite old, dating back to the last century. After we moved here, we renovated it. However, we never paid attention to the basement, but we did use the attic."
She stopped in front of the door leading to the basement. The basement entrance was in a rather unusual location, utilizing the space under the stairs. Lai's mother knocked on the door, then turned to Wen Dai and Chen Sizhe, explaining, "I think this design is quite good. I don't like those Western designs where you lift up the floorboards and walk down; it's kind of scary. This is fine, since no one usually lives in this small room under the stairs, and the storage room isn't big enough. This design is perfect. However…"
“Our family has lived here for so many years, and we’ve never opened this door.” Lai’s mother spread her hands and smiled helplessly. “I always feel that if we open it, we’ll have to clean the place downstairs. Besides, when we didn’t have much money saved up in the early years, buying the house cost a lot of money, and now we have to renovate it. If we renovate the basement, I don’t know how much more money it will cost.”
Her gaze slowly moved downwards, and Wen Dai stared at the inky blackness at the bottom of the door, her hand caressing it.
He turned his gaze to Chen Sizhe beside him, and their eyes met. In silence, they exchanged information from each other's eyes.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
