“Okay.” Zhou Chenyu withdrew her gaze, grabbed his dangling left arm, and with his strength, hopped out of the room on one foot. She found a chair, sat down, and then lifted her skirt to look at her legs.
Yang Xi put away his tinderbox, saw this scene, silently turned his back, looked at the desolate courtyard, and asked her, "How are your injuries? Are they serious?"
There was no external injury to Zhou Chenyu's knee, only some bluish-purple bruising.
She reached out and pressed it; it was slightly swollen, but not painful.
"It should be fine, just some bruising, it'll go away on its own."
After speaking, Zhou Chenyu let down her skirt and saw his cautious and restrained back. A smile played on her lips as she teased him:
“Yang Xi, it’s just you and me here. Even if you see my legs, only heaven, earth, you, and I will know. No one else will find out. You see? Anyway, I don’t buy into your nonsense about men and women not touching each other and the concept of chastity arches.”
Yang Xi blinked, turned around helplessly, and was about to explain when he saw her smile. He pursed his lips and said insincerely, "Since your injuries aren't serious, what difference does it make whether I look at you or not?"
"Oh, so you dare to watch?"
Zhou Chenyu said something meaningful, and in front of him, she deliberately lifted her skirt again and kicked it.
"..." Yang Xi pretended to be calm and looked away, but his reddened ears betrayed him.
Looking at his expression, Zhou Chenyu chuckled softly, "This is truly the first time I've met such a serious man. I just don't know if he's genuinely serious or just pretending."
Hearing her laughter, Yang Xi didn't know how to explain, so he abruptly changed the subject:
"Why did you come here today? And why did you go into that room with the coffin?"
Zhou Chenyu pointed to the kitchen knife and mooncakes on the table, "Yesterday, when Qian Rushan made things difficult for me, the old man stood not far from me with a knife, probably to protect me. Tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival, so to thank him, I specially bought some mooncakes. What about you?"
"Tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival. I'm coming to pick him up and take him to our home to celebrate the festival."
After Yang Xi finished speaking calmly, the deaf and mad Zhang entered their field of vision.
When Zhang Longzi saw the people in the house, a childlike smile appeared on his face. "Hey, you've all come to see me! Hehe, you've all come to see me!"
Zhou Chenyu spoke up before Yang Xi could, smiling, "Uncle Zhang, look what I brought you!"
Zhang the Deaf looked in the direction she was pointing, his eyes widening. "Hehe, there's something delicious." He gave an embarrassed smile. "Is it all for me?"
Seeing the old man's expectant look, Zhou Chenyu mimicked his exaggerated expression and nodded, "Of course it's for you."
Yang Xi looked at the two men going back and forth, his expression somewhat helpless.
Zhang the Deaf Man rubbed his clothes with both hands and wiped them clean, but there was still a lot of dirt left between his fingernails and fingers.
But he couldn't contain his excitement and rushed over, ready to unwrap the red paper covering the mooncake.
Yang Xi grabbed his wrist, shook his head with a deep look in his eyes, "Uncle Zhang, you can't eat yet. Have you forgotten what I told you?"
"Huh?" Zhang Longzi looked at his hands timidly and rubbed them together vigorously. "I didn't... I didn't forget. You said I should wash... wash my hands before eating."
“That’s right.” Yang Xi suddenly smiled, led him to the well outside the courtyard, drew up a bucket of water, and took Zhang Bo’s hand to put it in the water.
Zhou Chenyu rested his chin on his hand and quietly watched Yang Xi scrub every inch of Old Zhang's palm. Faced with the old man's clumsiness, he showed no displeasure whatsoever.
This level of patience and meticulousness is something many men might not be able to do when treating their sick parents.
After washing his hands, Zhang Longzi returned home, and happily mustered his courage to run to Zhou Chenyu's side.
Seeing that he wanted to open it but was trying hard to resist, Zhou Chenyu tore open the mooncake packaging, took out a mooncake, and wanted to hand it to him whole, but then, considering his age, she broke it in half. "This is very sweet, it's not good for your health if you eat too much, just eat half."
"Okay, I'll eat half, hehe." Zhang Longzi excitedly took the mooncake and secretly hid in the dark room. No matter how you called him, he wouldn't come out.
Yang Xi stared at the pitch-black room. "He likes to be alone. Let him be."
"Is that so?" Zhou Chenyu blinked, looking at the remaining half in her hand. The taste was very similar to the five-nut filling, and the sweet filling contained sesame, peanuts, winter melon, walnuts and almonds.
She divided it into two portions and nudged his arm. "Yang Xi, there's still some mooncake left. Why don't you try some?"
Yang Xi glanced at it, took the mooncake, and looked at her, saying, "Thank you."
Zhou Chenyu smiled faintly, her eyes narrowed. "Who are we to each other? Why are you being so polite?"
Yang Xi paused for a moment, put the mooncake in his mouth, and did not respond to those words.
Zhou Chenyu hadn't eaten mooncakes in a long time, especially the five-nut filling. This small bite tasted pretty good.
After finishing the mooncake, she glanced at the sky. She had been out for so long, and if she didn't go back soon, her family would probably worry.
"Yang Xi, I should go back." Zhou Chenyu clapped her hands and stood up. Yang Xi looked at her leg and asked with concern, "Is your injury any better?"
Zhou Chenyu took a few steps, and the pain in her knee had subsided considerably. "It's nothing serious now."
She quietly approached the small dark room and called out to Old Zhang inside, "Old Zhang, I'm going back now. I'll come see you again when I have time."
Zhang Longzi huddled under the coffin, blankly gnawing on the half-eaten mooncake in his hand, as if he had become deaf again, completely absorbed in his own world, ignoring Zhou Chenyu.
Zhou Chenyu stared at him silently for a long time, then sighed and turned around to see the man standing behind her.
When the man met her intense gaze, he stood there like a lifeless wooden stake.
With her hands behind her back, Zhou Chenyu approached him with a cheerful gait, trying to entice him to ask, "Yang Xi, I'm leaving soon, don't you have anything to say to me?"
She approached unexpectedly, and Yang Xi instinctively took a small step back, his heart pounding wildly uncontrollably.
He clenched his fists nervously, paused for a moment, and asked, seemingly understanding but not quite, "I've said everything I needed to say. What else do you want to hear from me?"
"Oh, no? Okay then, that's settled."
Zhou Chenyu smiled regretfully and walked out the door as if nothing had happened.
Yang Xi followed her figure into the distance, silently turned around, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Little did she know that Zhou Chenyu had returned. Taking advantage of his momentary lapse in attention, she quietly walked behind him and patted him on the shoulder. "Hey!"
Yang Xi turned around in surprise, meeting her bright and cheerful smile, and looked somewhat dazed. "Why are you back again?"
"I forgot, I still have something to say to you." Zhou Chenyu looked at his absent-minded expression, smiled, and murmured softly, "Yang Xi, Happy Mid-Autumn Festival."
Yang Xi stared at her blankly, and his usually serious and cold face involuntarily revealed a subtle and restrained smile.
Zhou Chenyu stared straight at him. Although she had seen him smile before, it was either a mocking smile or a cold smile. Such a subtle and restrained smile as this was rare.
Perhaps sensing her intention, Yang Xi suddenly stopped smiling, avoided her gaze, and coughed awkwardly, "Then I wish you a happy Mid-Autumn Festival too."
Seeing his helpless expression, Zhou Chenyu felt exceptionally good.
She waved, her smile reaching her eyes, "This time I'm really leaving."
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