"Noise source. Recommend removal."
His eyes calmly swept over the gold chain dangling around Wang Jinfeng's neck and the gold bracelet on her wrist, as if assessing their physical properties.
Then he added emotionlessly, "The metal's resonance frequency is abnormal. It exacerbates noise pollution."
“…”
Wang Jinfeng was completely stunned! Noise source? Remove? Metal resonance? What was he talking about?! Was he scolding her?!
But his face, that expression, didn't sound like he was cursing at all! This feeling of being completely ignored, of being treated as an "object to be dealt with," made her more embarrassed and angry than any insult, yet she had no way to vent her anger!
However, Sun Guixiang found her breath again in the sound of the "noise source" and the real touch on her shoulder.
A huge, warm feeling of complete dependence instantly overwhelmed her! Wang Jinfeng! The gold chain! The vicious curses! Before the little head of the child leaning against her shoulder, they all became insignificant dust!
Her skinny hand, trembling as if she had survived a disaster and with indescribable tenderness, fell from mid-air very slowly and carefully.
Sun Guixiang did not touch Ye Qingliu, but gently and comfortingly placed her hand on his other shoulder, as if responding to the silent reliance.
Then, she raised her head, and the madness and redness in her cloudy eyes were gone. Only a kind of calmness with compassion and strong confidence after experiencing a storm remained.
She looked at Wang Jinfeng's pale, chubby face, filled with shock and embarrassment. Her voice was low, but each word was clear, carrying a weight that could crush everything:
"Did you hear that? My child thinks you're noisy and that the clinking of junk on your body is polluting his ears."
Sun Guixiang paused, and the corners of her mouth even curled up into a very faint arc, but with supreme pride.
"Are you still not going away? Are you waiting for me to chase you, the 'noise source', away with a broom?"
"You...you guys..." Wang Jinfeng was so angry that her fat body was shaking. She pointed at Sun Guixiang and Ye Qingliu who was leaning against her shoulders, her fingers trembling as if she had chicken claws.
She wanted to curse, but looking at the boy's gray-blue eyes that were so calm that it made her heart frightened, and looking at Sun Guixiang's compassionate eyes that seemed to own the whole world.
All the vicious words were stuck in the throat, turning into an extremely suffocating anger.
She stomped her feet suddenly, and the black leather shoes on her feet made a dull sound on the ground. The gold ornaments on her neck and wrists jingled, making her like a moving noise maker.
Wang Jinfeng glared at Sun Guixiang fiercely, then glanced at the cold figure who was still leaning against Sun Guixiang's shoulder, as if he was indifferent to the disturbances in the outside world.
In the end, she couldn't utter a single word, but only uttered a heavy "Hmph!" through her teeth. Then, twisting her fat body, she rushed out of the courtyard in a panic like a defeated, gaudy fat peacock and disappeared at the alley entrance.
The gate of the courtyard was slammed by her with a loud bang, causing a few young leaves to fall from the old plum tree.
Peace returned to the courtyard.
The wind is still gentle and the sun is still bright.
Ye Qingliu seemed to confirm that the "noise source" had been removed. He straightened up bit by bit very naturally, and his forehead left Sun Guixiang's shoulder.
There was still no expression on his face, as if the action of seeking support just now had never happened.
Ye Qingliu held the small coarse porcelain bowl and walked steadily towards the kitchen, ready to wash it.
Sun Guixiang, however, still stood there.
The slightly cool touch on my shoulder seemed to still be there, bringing with it a strange warmth that penetrated deep into my bones.
She took a slow, deep breath. The air seemed to still have the pungent scent of Wang Jinfeng's perfume, but more of it was the clean, refreshing scent of soil, succulents, and children.
Her cloudy eyes looked towards the kitchen door.
Ye Qingliu was lowering his head slightly, carefully rinsing the bowl with the clear water from the vat. His cold white fingers brushed the edge of the rough porcelain, and the water danced between his fingers, reflecting tiny fragments of light.
Slowly, slowly, a smile spread across Sun Guixiang's gaunt face. The smile grew wider and deeper, and the wrinkles on her face were like ravines opened by a spring breeze, filled with indescribable satisfaction and pride.
She walked to the pot of "mung bean cakes", picked up the small watering can, and hummed the old song that had been interrupted just now. The tune was out of control, but full of joy.
Ye Qingliu washed the bowl and placed it upside down on the stove to drain. He walked back to the yard, not looking at Sun Guixiang again. He went straight to the small bamboo stool under the old plum tree where he often sat and picked up the book that was there.
However, when he passed by Sun Guixiang, his footsteps seemed to pause very slightly and imperceptibly.
Then, at the moment when Sun Guixiang was humming a tuneless song and concentrating on spraying water on the "green bean cake"——
He tilted his head slightly, and once again, lightly, as if a feather brushed past, very briefly, he touched Sun Guixiang's hunched, thin shoulders.
Burns on touch.
So fast it seems like an illusion.
Then he walked steadily to the tree, opened the book, and immersed himself in his own world.
It seemed as if the brief, meteor-like touch just now was just a game of light and shadow in the sunlight.
Sun Guixiang's humming sound suddenly stopped.
Her hand holding the spray bottle stopped in mid-air, her cloudy eyes widened in disbelief, and then a deeper smile, as thick as honey, spread under her eyes.
Sun Guixiang didn't say anything, but continued to hum the discordant song, her voice becoming softer and gentler.
The sprayed water mist reflected a small rainbow in the sunlight, gently enveloping her and the pot of succulent plant named "Green Bean Cake" beside her.
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