Chapter 63 Knowing
The next day was Monday, and Luo Yan didn't have class until nine in the morning.
She took a rare short nap, only getting up when her father and brother were about to leave for work.
A copy of her daughter's class schedule was also posted next to the calendar. Liu Yinfeng didn't disturb her peaceful sleep. When she saw someone coming out, she said, "Breakfast is on the table. I'm going out for a bit, so don't bother clearing the dishes. I'll wash them."
Luo Yan swayed and leaned against the door frame of the room in response. She didn't really hear what her mother said. After she came to her senses, she realized that everyone had gone out.
She yawned and muttered, "It turns out I'm the only one left."
No one could hear those words; only a faint echo remained. Luo Yan carried the basin to wash up, greeted Aunt Li who was washing clothes, and then played with the puppy, saying, "Hongyu is going to school, are you two lonely?"
The puppy couldn't talk, but Aunt Li said, "Let alone them, I feel quiet too."
She took care of her granddaughter last year, following her everywhere she went. Now that she's suddenly free, she feels empty inside.
Luo Yan then asked, "Is Hongyu adjusting well to school?"
Aunt Li: "She was overjoyed. She ran in by herself from the entrance of the preschool class and said, 'Finally, I can go to school with everyone.'"
The residents of this alley were mostly employees of the No. 8 State-owned Cotton Mill. Naturally, children of the same age all attended the same preschool class. My granddaughter could only play with everyone after school and had always been looking forward to going to school too.
Thank goodness she went to school, otherwise those words would have made me feel really sad.
Luo Yan laughed: "That's more successful than me. I cried when I went to school and cried when I came back the first day."
That's such a charming thing to say; after all, who wouldn't want a girl like her within a three-mile radius?
Aunt Li exclaimed dramatically, "If I could have even half of your success in the future, the Li family's ancestral graves would be emitting auspicious smoke."
Luo Yan: "It will definitely work. Hongyu looks very clever."
Aunt Li wrung out her clothes: "Not to brag, but she can count to a hundred now..."
She praised her granddaughter, and Luo Yan echoed her sentiments a few times. She then wiped her face, went inside to eat breakfast, and turned on the radio to listen to the news.
"This afternoon, to commemorate the 70th anniversary of International Women's Day, a joint military-civilian celebration will be held at the Capital Indoor Stadium. At that time, General Secretary Hu..."
Women's Day is now 70 years old. Luo Yan used to think it was a holiday that only came about after the founding of the People's Republic of China. She counted back and muttered to herself, "That was in 1910."
She didn't think much of it after figuring it out, but unexpectedly, the teacher asked in class, "Does anyone know when Women's Day was established?"
Luo Yan had always been eager to answer questions since she was a child, striving to make a good impression on her teachers. She blurted out, "1910."
The teacher was very satisfied: "That's right. In the past 70 years, the status of women has greatly improved, and most of them have moved from the home to the workplace. I hope that all the female students here can also..."
There was a long string of things that followed, and Luo Yan listened to it all. So much so that when she saw Zhou Xiuhe in the corridor after class, she felt ashamed, thinking, "What am I talking about love and romance at school?"
Zhou Xiuhe didn't think much of her indifferent expression, assuming she was trying to avoid suspicion at school, and turned her head slightly to talk to her classmates.
Luo Yan was going to the restroom and brushed past him. On her way back, she met Chen Jinhong and stopped to say, "On the eighth day of the lunar new year, I saw someone who looked a lot like you in Wangfujing, but he disappeared in the blink of an eye."
Chen Jinhong recalled: "It really was me. My great-aunt's house is nearby."
Luo Yan: "I thought I was seeing things."
Chen Jinhong: "That's right."
The two chatted in the hallway for a few minutes before the school bell rang.
They entered the classroom separately, and Zhou Xiuhe, who had witnessed the whole thing, followed suit, asking in a self-deceptive manner, "Class monitor, who was that girl just now?"
Chen Jinhong: "My elementary school classmate."
Zhou Xiuhe made conversation: "It's such a coincidence that elementary school classmates can get into the same university."
It was a clever coincidence, but his words came as abrupt as well, and Chen Jinghong became wary: "Why are you asking about her?"
Zhou Xiuhe: "I was just asking."
Luo Yan is so beautiful, it's perfectly normal to be curious about her at first glance, Chen Jinhong could understand, and raised her hand to wave: "No comment."
Her eyes practically screamed, "I never knew you were such a lustful person." Zhou Xiuhe couldn't explain, so he could only give an awkward laugh.
It's good that she knows how to be embarrassed. Chen Jinghong stopped there, sat down and opened her book.
The teacher came in, and Zhou Xiuhe was even more speechless. He lightly patted his mouth and said, "I shouldn't have asked."
Luo Yan was unaware that he had been mistaken for a "hooligan." He continued to listen attentively in class, eat in the cafeteria after school, and then make the most of his lunch break to go to the library.
Zhou Xiuhe was also in the library. His eyes lit up when he saw her, but after looking around, he noticed several familiar classmates. He pulled his foot back and pretended to follow her casually.
Luo Yan didn't see him; she was just wandering around the bookshelves, reaching out to grab the books on the higher shelves, and standing on tiptoe.
Zhou Xiuhe suddenly spoke up: "I'll help you get it."
Luo Yan was easily frightened; her shoulders trembled, her fists clenched, and her eyes widened even more.
"What beautiful eyes!" Zhou Xiu apologized, "I'm sorry, did I scare you?"
Luo Yan took a step back and said honestly, "I'm a very timid person."
Zhou Xiuhe made a mental note of this and said, "It definitely won't happen again next time."
Luo Yan nodded and took another step back.
Zhou Xiuhe knew he needed to avoid suspicion, so he helped her take the book down and went to find a seat himself.
Luo Yan came to find two books. After filling out the borrowing registration form, she read them while sunbathing on the steps of the playground, making sure to get to class on time.
Classes went, classes ended, and the days passed by one by one, and soon it was Sunday again.
Luo Yan got up early wearing a thick cotton coat, but after taking a walk around the yard and finding the weather quite nice, she went back to her room to change.
Liu Yinfeng looked at the girl and teased her, "How does that saying go? A woman with such and such features."
Luo Yan knew exactly which sentence it was, and she stomped her toes on the ground, smoothing her messy hair: "I'm going out!"
Liu Yinfeng: "Slow down."
Turning around, I saw my son standing there and asked, "Aren't you going out today?"
Luo Hong wasn't going to work today. He yawned and said, "I'm going out. I won't be back so early tonight."
Liu Yinfeng only advised, "Drink less."
Luo Hong: "I drink less than ten times a year, and you always say the same thing."
It's as if he's some kind of heavy drinker.
Still unhappy? Liu Yinfeng said, "Fine, fine, I won't say anything to you next time."
She stretched out her hand and pointed in the air: "Sooner or later someone will take care of you."
Here we go again, Luo Hong: "The three parties involved never talk about it."
He thought it was something good. Liu Yinfeng said, "Erping still hasn't found a wife. Your Aunt Zhou is in a hurry. Yuyao and Yuying are also getting on in years. Money is tight. How can you take care of all three of them? Don't act innocent and think everyone is like you, with everything prepared at home."
Well, after all that, he was even less convincing. Luo Hong pulled the towel off the rack: "If I keep talking, I'll have to bend over to walk."
When her son said that, Liu Yinfeng stopped nagging: "I won't say anything to you, go play."
Luo Hong: "I have important business to attend to today."
"Important business?" Liu Yinfeng: "Alright, alright, you go ahead and get busy."
Luo Hong is really busy today; he's going to help out at his colleague He Qiaosheng's newly allocated apartment.
He Qiaosheng couldn't speak, but he gestured wildly when he saw him.
Chen Jiao translated for her husband: "He asked why you came."
Luo Hong: "Don't even mention it. If I hadn't run into the housing management department yesterday, I wouldn't have known you were moving to a new house. Sister-in-law, you're being too polite."
Chen Jiao pulled her mask down: "We figured the place isn't very big, so we could manage it ourselves."
Luo Hong: "Even if it's not big, it's still a way to live."
He punched He Qiaosheng on the shoulder, looked around for tools, and finally snatched the ones from Chen Jiao's hands: "Sister-in-law, you should rest."
He Qiaosheng chuckled twice and gestured for his wife to go and buy two bottles of water.
Chen Jiao took off her apron, took her son Dongdong's hand which was running around in the yard, and said, "Did you greet your uncle just now?"
Dongdong still remembered the people he had seen at his biological mother and stepfather's wedding, and asked, "Why didn't Auntie come?"
Chen Jiao: "Then you can ask Uncle Luo later."
When Dongdong ran back from the supply and marketing cooperative, he actually asked, adding two words beforehand: "Uncle Luo, why didn't the pretty auntie come?"
Luo Hong clapped his hands and pinched the child's round cheeks: "Oh ho, at such a young age, you already know what's pretty and what's not."
Dongdong was quite good at flattering: "You're a handsome uncle too."
Chen Jiao explained on behalf of her son: "He only knows this one word, and he uses it to praise anyone."
Luo Hong: "Then you should learn from your aunt, read more books, and learn more skills."
Dongdong looked up and said, "I go to school."
Luo Hong teased him to recite a couple of lines of poetry, when suddenly Chen Jiao said, "I haven't seen Yanzi in a long time either. Let's call her tonight and have dinner together."
She had only met her sister once, at the wedding. Luo Hong said, "No need for formalities."
He Qiaosheng was being very polite, holding onto his hand as if he wouldn't let go until he agreed.
Sure enough, she was so strong that Luo Hong couldn't twist her arm.
He said, "Fine, fine, break my arm again."
He Qiaosheng was finally satisfied, and made a circle with his hand, meaning to continue working.
He was given a room, no more than ten square meters, which was quick to tidy up inside and out, and was done in one morning.
He Qiaosheng and his wife wanted him to stay for lunch, but he declined, saying, "I really have something to do. I'll definitely be there tonight, okay?"
Chen Jiao winked at her son, Dongdong, who then tugged at his uncle and said, "Auntie wants to come too."
His bright, dark eyes darted around, and Luo Hong patted his head: "Okay, I'll definitely call her."
Luo Hong knew exactly what his sister was going to do today. When they passed by the car dealership, he stopped and poked his head in through the curtain: "Sanfang, Yanyan is here. Tell her to come to the Sichuan restaurant in the Eighth Alley. There's food for her."
After saying that, he left. Zhou Weifang muttered to himself, "What about dinner? Then I won't be able to talk about this problem tonight."
The two apprentices, rather than even the closest of friends who had risked their lives for their master, knew a little more about his worries. They said, "We'll both be here this afternoon, so you can go about your business."
After hesitating for a moment, Zhou Weifang quickly decided to go to the city library.
He made a point of changing into clean clothes, looked in the mirror to see if he looked like a scholar, packed two books and a pen into his bag, and went out looking quite respectable.
He knew where the city library was, but this was his first time stepping through this door, and he was a little disoriented. He couldn't see Luo Yan anywhere, and figured that given her personality, she was probably somewhere in a corner.
He walked along the edge, and when he couldn't find it on the first floor, he went up to the second floor, wondering if it had gone off to play somewhere, and he craned his neck to look around.
Front and back, left and right... right...
Zhou Weifang's gaze was fixed on his right front. He looked down at his clothes for no apparent reason and found that they were smeared with engine oil. He muttered, "It's all the same no matter how many times I change them."
He instinctively wanted to turn around and leave, but he took two deep breaths and stopped. He touched his ears, pinched the bridge of his nose, gritted his teeth, and forced a fake smile.
Luo Yan didn't notice anything amiss when she turned around, but she blurted out in surprise, "Third Brother?"
Yes, when she was little, she used to follow behind him, running and calling out "Third Brother".
Zhou Weifang knew that he was probably calling out to the boy next to her whose face had brightened. She repeated what her childhood friend had just said, saying, "I don't know what he was in such a hurry for. He just disappeared. I was just about to go out to collect the car, so I thought I'd tell you so you don't have to make another trip."
If he hadn't said he was done with the car, Luo Yan would have wanted to keep him to study together. She said, "Then you go ahead with your work, I'll go another day."
Her gaze drifted to Zhou Xiuhe, and she hesitated, unsure whether to introduce him.
Zhou Weifang pretended not to have seen the two talking so close together and not knowing they knew each other, and said to himself, "Okay, let's go."
He walked away gracefully, but Zhou Xiuhe kept staring at his back. Perhaps it was his intuition as a "kindred spirit" that made him subconsciously sense something was amiss.
Luo Yan assumed he was just curious and explained, "He's my brother's childhood friend, the one I told you about. He's taking a refresher course at our school."
She had mentioned it, but never once did she say that her childhood friend was so memorable. But looking at it from another angle, perhaps his sharp trait wasn't important to Luo Yan.
Zhou Xiuhe withdrew his gaze: "No wonder you call him brother."
Luo Yancai realized that she had just made a short "ah" sound, and belatedly felt that it was a bit strange.
Zhou Xiuhe: "What's wrong?"
Luo Yan touched her face: "It's nothing."
She whispered again, "He probably didn't see you."
Zhou Xiuhe: "I'm such a grown man."
Luo Yan kicked him under the table: "You know what I mean."
Zhou Xiuhe: "Definitely not, otherwise he would have asked at least once, right?"
But for some reason, he was certain that his third brother had seen him.
Luo Yan wasn't so certain. She turned another page of the book, and after a while, she turned her head to talk to Zhou Xiuhe.
The two of them were whispering to each other, seemingly having a good chat.
"Fine," Zhou Weifang said, emerging from behind the bookshelf. He accidentally bumped his head on the shelf and vented his anger inwardly: "This crap book, why is it displayed here?"
But no matter how dissatisfied they are, in the end, they are the ones who truly deserve to be here.
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Author's note: Revised again and again.
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