Chapter 134 (Updated 134)
With cigarettes he'd swiped from his childhood friend in his pocket and a box of snacks he bought on the way, Zhou Weifang rode his bike to Liutiao Hutong to look for someone, calling out "Is Brother Chen here?" as he entered the courtyard.
The man called Brother Chen was squatting in the yard eating a cucumber. Seeing that he was a stranger, he asked, "Who are you?"
Zhou Weifang: "Skinny Monkey sent me. He mentioned it to you, didn't he?"
"I've mentioned it before," Brother Chen said, wiping his hands on his pants. "Little Zhou, right? Come in, come in and sit down."
Zhou Weifang followed him into the house, first presenting the gifts, and then offering him cigarettes.
Brother Chen naturally had to be polite: "You've come all this way, why did you bring anything? Please sit down, I'll boil some water."
Since it was their first meeting, small talk was inevitable, and it wasn't until they had a few cups of tea that they got down to business.
Zhou Weifang: "Brother, let me be frank, I came here to ask you what price you plan to sell the items for?"
Brother Chen sells roasted nuts and seeds, including all kinds of sunflower seeds, peanuts, and walnut kernels. However, he used to make them at home and sell them at his stall. This is the first time he has done wholesale.
He said, "You and Monkey are good buddies, so I'm not kidding you. We sell melon seeds for 1.7 yuan a pound ourselves, but if you want more, it'll be 1.6 yuan."
Zhou Weifang had, of course, inquired about the price. He didn't haggle much and simply said, "Then I'll take two hundred catties first, but you'll have to deliver it to the store for me."
Chen Ge agreed to the three-wheeled vehicle arrangement, saying, "Okay."
Judging from his expression, he was embarrassed to ask for a deposit. Zhou Weifang said, "I didn't bring much money with me today. I'll give you a deposit of one hundred yuan first, and we can exchange the rest for cash on delivery, okay?"
"Of course," Brother Chen wrote him a receipt, guaranteeing, "I'll definitely bring it to you the day after tomorrow."
After agreeing on the terms, Zhou Wei left, taking two bags of sunflower seeds with him, which he placed on the counter after entering the store.
Zhou Yuying was looking at the comic books she had brought when her younger brother came back and asked, "What did you buy?"
Zhou Weifang: "Here are some melon seeds."
Why buy this stuff when it's neither a holiday nor a festival?
Zhou Yuying grabbed a handful, took a bite, and said, "It smells pretty good. Where did you buy it?"
After Zhou Weifang finished explaining, knowing she had questions, he said, "There won't be any fresh fruit left by November, isn't that the perfect season for selling roasted nuts and seeds? I'll put them out and try it out first."
"That's quite forward-thinking," Zhou Yuying nodded, then suddenly glanced up and down at her younger brother.
Zhou Weifang was truly afraid of her insightful observations, and took a step back: "What did I do now?"
Zhou Yuying patted the thick poetry collections next to her: "You have a good face and some money. If you want to pursue a young girl, you have to use your own advantages. What's the use of cramming for this at the last minute?"
She said something that was rather jarring: "If someone truly loves classical Chinese poetry, how long will it take you to recite it to be pleasing to the eye?"
To be honest, it's a bit complicated. Zhou Weifang scratched the back of his neck embarrassedly: "I just wanted to learn from them and write something for them."
"Then there's no point in looking at these things," Zhou Yuying said. "We uneducated people are more likely to make mistakes the more we nitpick over words. What is a love letter? They are all about genuine feelings."
Zhou Weifang clapped his hands together, saying to his second sister, "I think what you said makes sense."
That makes sense, doesn't it? Zhou Yuying changed her expression: "Then tell me who it is? Do I know them?"
Zhou Weifang made a gesture: "Stop. If you can tell me later, I'll definitely be the first to tell you."
Zhou Yuying was genuinely curious. She threw the sunflower seed shells into the trash can and saw three rotten fruits inside. She said, "You put these out for people to pick out. How much waste do you get every day? No wonder you didn't say a word when I suggested that Mom watch the shop. It breaks my heart to see this."
She couldn't come the day before the opening, so I had originally recommended my mother to my younger brother. I figured she was free anyway, and she was known as a hardworking person in the alley, so she could help out with some small things.
But Zhou Weifang didn't respond at the time. He said, "We should let people choose. Anyway, the damage is all in the cost. As long as we can make a profit, we can just pretend we didn't see it. That's business. But Mom can't stand it. She might even fight with someone. I can't afford to support such a Buddha."
Zhou Yuying is quite thoughtful: "Later, my older sister also said that I shouldn't have mentioned it, saying that it's easy to invite a god but difficult to send him away."
My own mother left me with just this one sentence, and as her children, we always feel resentful when we talk about it.
Zhou Weifang shook his head: "Let's not talk about her. How's my older sister?"
Zhou Yuying: "I'm not feeling unwell for now, it's just that my brother-in-law is a bit nervous."
Being nervous is better than not being nervous. Zhou Weifang said, "In the future, every family will only have one child, so we have to cherish them."
Previously, the policy advocated having only one child, but starting this month it has changed to only one child. The policy is being piloted in the capital city, and the slogans on the streets have all been renewed.
Zhou Yuying: "Even my eldest sister finds him annoying."
Although she said it with a hint of disdain, you could tell she was actually quite happy, since the two sisters had been closest since childhood.
Zhou Weifang counted on his fingers: "Ten months, that means he'll be born next June?"
Zhou Yuying said he lacked common sense: "Ten months of pregnancy is just a general idea, and the due date is after Labor Day."
And then he said to others, "You only just found out too, didn't you?"
Zhou Yuying has been cramming on a lot of pregnancy knowledge lately, including both scientific and unscientific information, saying, "Well, I knew about it earlier than you."
Zhou Weifang was speechless and yawned: "You rarely get a day off, why don't you go somewhere fun?"
Zhou Yuying said no, seeing that he was so sleepy that his eyelids were drooping: "Go to sleep."
Zhou Weifang didn't stand on ceremony with her. After lying in the attic all afternoon, he got up refreshed and went to the fruit shop: "Let's have a good meal tonight, it's on me."
Zhou Yuying: "Just buy something nearby."
There are a few good restaurants nearby, and Zhou Weifang can go there and come back by bike.
Zhou Yuying looked at the dishes: "Is this what you usually eat?"
This doesn't look casual at all.
Zhou Weifang: "I'm lucky if I can even get some food."
That's good. Zhou Yuying said, "Don't spend your money recklessly. I don't think there's much money left at home. You'll have to rely on yourself when you get married and have children."
Zhou Weifang hissed, "This doesn't sound like something you would say."
Zhou Yuying: "My older sister asked me to tell you this tactfully."
But she never beats around the bush when she speaks, and she figured her brother probably didn't care, so she just casually mentioned it.
As Zhou Weifang said, "Don't worry, I'm saving money to buy a house."
There's a house we should have, and there's something else... Zhou Yuying: "Has the eldest brother come to borrow money from you?"
Zhou Weifang frowned: "He went to see you? How shameless."
Zhou Weiliang, the eldest son of the Zhou family, did not go to the countryside. He has been working for more than ten years. Both he and his wife are employees. In those years, they were the only ones around their parents who had all the good things, and their family was quite wealthy. However, they would cower in the face of trouble.
Admittedly, prioritizing one's family is understandable, but everyone has their own moral compass.
Zhou Yuying: "It seems they really only came to me. My older sister said he's a bully who picks on the weak and fears the strong."
Knowing my older sister's temper, I reckon if she went to his house, she'd beat him up.
Zhou Weifang laughed, but then remembered: "After Jianhong gets married, you'll be living alone. Will that be okay?"
Zhou Yuying: "Yes, everyone in the courtyard knows me well. My brother-in-law has also spoken to the people in the neighborhood, and your friend has also been very supportive."
Zhou Weifang has a friend who lives in the same alley where her second sister rents a house. He said, "That's alright, otherwise you'd be a girl living alone outside."
Zhou Yuying was actually quite bold, but she was still a girl. After dinner, before it got too late, she said, "Let's go, we'll come back tomorrow morning."
Just then, someone came into the store, and Zhou Weifang only told her to be careful on the way.
A new customer, seeing that the fruit had been mostly picked over, commented, "The rest are all misshapen and cracked fruits."
It's not that Zhou Weifang is just bragging; the state-run fruit shop across the street sometimes sells the same kind of fruit in broad daylight—bruised, dented, and oddly shaped.
But you can't say everything you want to say when you're doing business, so he said, "Auntie, we're about to close up shop. If you really want it, it'll be 15 cents a pound."
My aunt muttered, "It's not about the money, I'm not short of money," but her hands never stopped moving as she picked out a few tall ones from the short ones and weighed them, rounding down the amount.
Zhou Weifang slipped a bruised pear into her pocket: "Auntie, this is a small business, we really can't afford to clean it anymore."
"Alright, alright," the auntie reluctantly paid, and before leaving, she grabbed an apricot and said, "Let me try it, and I'll buy more next time."
It's already this late; if we can't sell them, they'll look even worse tomorrow. Anyway, an apricot isn't worth much.
Zhou Weifang readily agreed, "Sure, take care. Come again if you need anything."
He turned around to look at what was left in the shop, and suddenly had an idea. He took a sip of water, stood at the door, and started shouting, "Closing down! Closing down! All fruit is 15 cents a pound, all 15 cents!!"
There were quite a few people on the street at that time, and when he shouted like that, everyone looked over, even if they didn't go into the store, they still glanced at him a couple of times.
Zhou Weifang, thick-skinned, took a sip of water to moisten his throat and continued shouting.
This tactic worked quite well; the products sold out in less than an hour, which was more effective than any sign hung at the entrance.
Zhou Weifang was quick-witted and had a fast mind. He rode his bicycle, panting, and bought blank cassette tapes and a tape recorder before the department store closed.
He recorded a sales pitch himself, and the next morning he placed the tape recorder at the shop entrance and turned it on.
When Zhou Yuying arrived, she looked at it and asked, "Was it here yesterday?"
As soon as Zhou Weifang opened his mouth, he involuntarily pressed his Adam's apple and said, "I didn't want to buy it in the first place."
What's wrong with him? Zhou Yuying: "Your voice was like this yesterday?"
"Don't even mention it," Zhou Weifang said, rubbing his face with difficulty. "No."
Based on the context, Zhou Yuying roughly understood what was going on and said, "You have pears here, eat a few more."
Zhou Weifang pointed to the trash can and then held up three fingers.
He looked so pitiful and funny that Zhou Yuying couldn't help but laugh so hard she was bent over.
Zhou Weifang rebuked her with his eyes and gestured wildly with his pen and paper.
Actually, his throat isn't that bad; he's just afraid of getting scolded tomorrow, so he's trying to save some money.
Zhou Yuying didn't feel any remorse, and put down her bag: "Okay, I'll keep an eye on it for you, go ahead and write."
Zhou Weifang then climbed back to the attic in broad daylight, biting his pen and racking his brains, before finally writing the first sentence: "Luo Yan, hello."
After finishing writing, he paused for a long time, changing the two characters "you are well" to the more elegant "reading your letter," but then there was no further action for a long time. He only crossed out Luo Yan's name as well.
After all, this is a draft, and it wouldn't be good if it wasn't put away properly and ended up somewhere that someone picked it up.
So all morning, Zhou Weifang could only manage to write three words: "Zhan Xin Jia" (meaning "Good news"). Frustrated, he crumpled the paper and threw it aside, then went to buy lunch when it was almost time.
During lunch, Zhou Yuying inquired, "How's the writing going?"
Zhou Weifang said with a half-smile, "The revolution has not yet succeeded."
Zhou Yuying: "Is it really that hard to write?"
Writing is not difficult, and Zhou Weifang certainly had a thousand and one things to say to Luo Yan.
But the more serious he was, the less he could put pen to paper, especially fearing that he would pale in comparison to Zhou Xiuhe.
Zhou Yuying didn't know any of this, but tried to help him: "Are you better at narrative or argumentative writing?"
When asked what he was good at, Zhou Weifang said, "The thing I've written the most is self-criticism."
In the past, I would spend six days of school standing at the back of the blackboard as punishment.
Well, I asked for nothing.
Zhou Yuying shrugged: "There's nothing I can do to help."
Zhou Weifang criticized her: "No, can't you come up with any other ideas?"
"What else?" Zhou Yuying said. "Why don't you tell me what kind of girl she is, so I can prescribe the right medicine for you?"
She knew Luo Yan, and her mind worked quickly, so Zhou Weifang didn't dare tell her anything and vaguely changed the subject.
This made Zhou Yuying even more curious.
But she wasn't one to pry, so she went along with her brother and said something else.
After finishing his meal, Zhou Weifang went back to the attic to take a nap.
He got up three times last night to fix his car. Before dawn, the fruit delivery person arrived at five o'clock. As soon as he put the goods up, some elderly people who got up early came to buy them, so he decided to open for business.
He didn't know if it was just his imagination, but his eyes did look as red as a rabbit's. He didn't dare to think about it and closed his eyes.
But with the clattering and clanging of work going on below, he didn't sleep very soundly and even had a nightmare.
Calling it a nightmare wouldn't be quite accurate; it just reminded him of being kept after school with his childhood friend when they were young and had to write self-criticisms.
In those years, it was common for older children to bring their younger siblings to school. Sometimes, Luo Yan wouldn't want to go to the after-school program, so she would look at comic books on the playground, play on the slide, and wait for her older brother. Therefore, as soon as school was over, she would sit opposite the two of them, prop her chin on her hand, and say, "The number of self-criticisms you've written is taller than mine!!"
Zhou Weifang replied at the time, "It's not difficult to be taller than you."
The Luo family's good food was all reflected in Luo Yan. She had never liked to move around since she was a child, and her face was exceptionally round and chubby. Her height seemed to be suppressed as well. She didn't grow much when she was a child, which she deeply regretted.
As soon as she said that, tears welled up in her eyes again, and Zhou Weifang quickly covered her mouth: "I apologize, I was wrong, please don't cry."
Luo Yan, who had just witnessed him scratching his head while writing a self-criticism, sobbed and said, "Then you have to write a self-criticism for me too."
Zhou Weifang agreed quite well at the time, but later it seemed like he kept putting it off and there was no news.
He dreamt of this scene, and suddenly opened his eyes, inspired. However, he got up in such a hurry that he forgot he was sleeping in the attic and bumped his head against the roof beam. He was dazed and confused, but he rubbed his head and wrote a draft first.
The characters were so messy that he could hardly recognize them himself. After a moment, he looked at them carefully, read them in his mind several times, and then copied them out meticulously.
After copying it, he muttered, "Judging from Zhou Xiuhe's appearance, he's never written a self-criticism."
Perhaps it was the effect of those words, but the more he read the love letter, the better he felt it was. When he heard his eldest apprentice calling him, he carefully sandwiched the thin piece of paper between two books before going downstairs.
--
Downstairs, the eldest apprentice said, "Brother, take a look at this car."
Zhou Weifang had never seen his shop so badly damaged in all the time he'd been running it, and asked, "Brother, what happened to this?"
The guest slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "That was extremely dangerous!"
As he told the story, Zhou Weifang walked around the car, calculating in his mind as he went, and then announced the bad news: "Brother, it's not worth it for you to repair this. If we were to recycle it, I could only give you fifteen."
How much? The guest didn't bother to tell how he had survived such a close call, and said, "Back then, I used thirty catties of grain coupons just to exchange tickets with people."
But now that grain coupons are almost meaningless, Zhou Weifang said kindly, "Brother, considering your affection for this truck, I'll only charge you twenty."
Twenty? The customer refused and insisted on slowly pushing the pile of iron frames forward, but they completely fell apart after only a few steps.
Zhou Weifang looked up at the sky and suppressed his laughter, then chased after him in a few steps: "Brother, you didn't hit anything, did you?"
The customer, who only had the handlebars left, blinked blankly and asked, "Is it still worth twenty now?"
Zhou Weifang was quite the smooth talker: "I was going to take it apart anyway, but you've saved me the trouble. Here's what we'll do: pick a new one, and I'll even round it down from the twenty."
"Round it down," the customer whispered, patting his pocket. "Could you give me the change later after my wife pays?"
Zhou Weifang put his arm around the other person's shoulder and said, "Yes, you're really capable."
He sold the car first, then cleaned up the pile of junk on the ground. After finishing, he wiped his sweat and went to check out the fruit shop.
Upon inspection, he decided to replace the cassette tape in the tape recorder.
Zhou Yuying only looked towards the door after hearing the voice that had been calling all day change to "All fruits, 15 cents a pound," and asked, "What did you put here?"
Zhou Weifang: "Who would want these left? Let's clear them out and close down."
"What a pity," Zhou Yuying said, raising her chin towards the state-run fruit shop across the street. "They sell rotten fruit however much they're supposed to."
That's why Zhou Weifang said, "That's why our business is so good."
That's true. After helping sell the remaining dozens of kilograms, Zhou Yuying picked up her bag and said, "Let's go."
Zhou Weifang stopped her: "What kind of person would I be if you left? Let's go to a restaurant."
Seeing his expression, Zhou Yuying asked, "Are you finished writing?"
Zhou Weifang was still somewhat uneasy and asked her, "Do you think she might not like it?"
Zhou Yuying neither knew who he was nor what he had written, so how could she offer any useful advice?
But she discovered something: "I thought it was just you having a crush on me, but it seems that's not the case."
Zhou Weifang said hesitantly, "She was like that to me, hehe."
What's with the "hey"? Someone that big making such a move.
Zhou Yuying shook her head in disdain, but still said, "Then she'll like whatever you write."
That's why Zhou Weifang wanted to write it even better.
He said, "Let me think about it some more."
He's so indecisive and hesitant; that's not like him at all.
Zhou Yuying added fuel to the fire, threatening, "If they keep waiting and don't get any, maybe someone else's love letter will come first."
Zhou Weifang retorted inwardly: No matter how good they are at writing love letters, can they write a self-criticism like I can?
However, he himself was not quite sure. After eating, he took his second sister home and went back to the attic to ponder it.
The space upstairs is cramped, and he usually only stays there when he's sleeping. Today, he's acting out of character, which has caused three people downstairs to whisper among themselves.
Eldest apprentice: "Don't you think something's weird?"
Zhang Hongmin: "He seemed to be frowning when he went up."
The young apprentice said, "I think she cried. Look how red her eyes are."
Talking nonsense and exaggerating, Zhang Hongmin said: "That's because you didn't sleep well. You would be like that if you didn't wake up before dawn."
One explanation was that he hadn't slept well, and everyone thought that made sense. When they saw the boss's left leg appear on the stairs, they all scattered and went back to work.
Zhou Weifang did not notice anything unusual after coming down.
He didn't care about anything else right now. He grabbed his clothes and went to take a shower. When he came back, he said, "Call me to come down and lock the door when it's time to leave work."
Everyone agreed and watched him go back to his room.
Zhou Weifang didn't really like being up there either, but he needed some private space to reread this "letter of self-criticism".
He read it several times, but couldn't find any grammatical errors. He reverently placed the paper on his pillow and kowtowed three times. When he looked up again, he remembered something and muttered to himself, "Luo Hong won't be here tomorrow."
So the next day, before lunchtime, Zhou Weifang appeared at his childhood friend's shop.
Luo Hong was so busy that he didn't even know what time it was. When he saw him coming, he sighed at how quickly time flew by. Only when he glanced at his wrist did he realize something was wrong. He raised his shoulder to wipe the sweat from his forehead and said, "Is your watch broken?"
"What kind of talk is this?" Zhou Weifang said, surprising everyone. "Brother, let's discuss something."
Luo Hong nearly dropped the hammer from his hand, and frantically waved his hands, saying, "No, no, no, don't try to get close to me, we're not acquainted."
Ignoring what he was saying, Zhou Weifang continued, "I think fried liver should be eaten in a restaurant, when it's hot and fragrant."
"What do you mean?" Luo Hong, who knew his childhood friend too well, said, "So?"
Zhou Weifang: "That's why I'm treating you to a meal at the restaurant."
When he said he wanted to eat at the restaurant, he was carrying a lunchbox that clearly contained food, and he still used the phrase "please."
Luo Hong finally understood, and said in a drawn-out tone, "I don't have the time for that."
Zhou Weifang pressed down hard on his shoulder: "Of course I will. I'll pay for it and I'll watch the shop for you."
Money and whether or not the shop is under management are secondary, but when the younger sister went out in the morning, she not only wore a skirt, but also braided her hair repeatedly, taking it apart and re-braiding it. What could Luo Hong say?
He said, "I'll patch this tire."
Zhou Weifang fawned over him, saying, "No need for you to worry about it, I'll do it, I'll do it."
Why not have someone eager to do the work?
Luo Hong went to wash his hands, but before leaving, he didn't forget to ask his childhood friend for the meal payment.
Zhou Weifang gave it willingly, even offering it with both hands. But once the person was out of sight, he would start to get nervous and would squat down to fix the car to distract himself.
As soon as Luo Yan came in, she saw him busy and asked, "Where's my brother?"
Zhou Weifang: "He went out and said he wouldn't be back for dinner."
Luo Yan assumed it was just another trip to collect the car or something, so she didn't investigate further and put down her bag to wash her hands.
Zhou Weifang wasn't in a rush, so he put the work aside for the time being. His hand unconsciously kept reaching for his pocket, thinking: nothing is more important than her eating. He'll give it to her after she finishes eating.
He had tried his best to cover it up, but it seemed he couldn't hide it from Luo Yan.
She glanced at him after each bite of food, and quickly noticed: "What happened to your forehead?"
Forehead? Zhou Weifang was distracted and didn't hear clearly. In addition, feeling a little guilty, he said, "My throat is fine."
Why is another voice suddenly appearing? It's like they're trying to hide something obvious.
Luo Yan hadn't noticed it at first, but now she listened intently and said, "It is a little hoarse."
Zhou Weifang smiled ingratiatingly: "Business is good, I've been talking too much."
He touched his forehead again: "I must have bumped into something in the attic yesterday."
Finally, I leaned closer to show her: "But I slept very well, and my eyes aren't red."
He was so close that all I could see was the person in front of me.
Luo Yan always felt that his eyes, like his personality, had a sharp edge. She turned her face away slightly and said, "I saw it, I saw it. Eat properly."
Zhou Weifang was now unsure whether he should hope to finish eating quickly, and was quite restless.
Luo Yan, on the other hand, ate very well and shared with him: "I tried it yesterday, and it took me five minutes to run 800 meters."
Although Zhou Weifang didn't quite grasp the concept, she could tell from her use...
The word "surprisingly" reveals the disappointment. The response was, "It's alright, the competition is after National Day, there's still time."
Luo Yan sees herself as just there to make up the numbers, but she habitually puts in the effort for everything she has to do, and says energetically, "As long as there's progress, that's fine."
Zhou Weifang finally understood why moths were willing to fly into the fire. He thought to himself that he would be willing to be burned alive if he were in their place, and said, "There must be a reason."
The two ate while talking. After finishing, Zhou Weifang cleared the table, cut up the fruit, and whispered, "Yanyan."
Why are you calling so quietly? Luo Yan looked at him and asked, "What's wrong?"
Zhou Weifang: "I have something for you."
Luo Yan guessed what it was, propped herself up on the chair, and leaned forward slightly: "Finished writing?"
Zhou Weifang nodded nervously and took out an envelope from his pocket.
Luo Yan was very much looking forward to it. When she opened it, she found two folded pieces of paper inside and asked, "How much did you write?"
Zhou Weifang: "Only one of them has words on it."
Is it written on it? Or is it a drawing?
Luo Yan was no longer in a hurry and even played a game of "pointing out soldiers" with great interest. Seeing that Zhou Weifang was so nervous that he didn't dare to look, he slowed down his movements.
Zhou Weifang's heart suddenly jumped, as if he couldn't breathe.
Luo Yan then opened one of the sheets and found that it was indeed called "It Can Be Called with Words," because Zhou Weifang had only neatly signed his name in the lower right corner.
She asked, "What's the mystery behind this?"
Zhou Weifang: "No matter what you want me to do or what you want me to do, I will agree and I will do it."
He had thought a lot about it these past two days and realized that what he could promise might not be what she wanted, so he decided to leave the decision to her.
To promise and to keep those promises? How difficult those six words are!
Luo Yan: "What if I ask for an exorbitant amount?"
Zhou Weifang: "That's not called asking for an exorbitant price; it's just that I'm incompetent."
The worst thing is that he can't do it.
Luo Yan didn't like the word, so she gently kicked him and flipped to another page.
This note doesn't have many words; it reads as follows: "Luo Yan, hello. I used to be short-sighted, narrow-minded, and blind to your true worth, failing to realize that you are the smartest, most generous, and most adorable girl in the world. Now I know, may I ask you to be my friend?"
Just as Zhou Yuying had guessed, she would like whatever Zhou Weifang wrote.
But seeing that the format didn't resemble a love confession letter, she said, "Are you... giving me a self-criticism?"
Zhou Weifang told her about a past event he had just remembered, and when he mentioned it, she looked up at the sky, feeling uncomfortable, as if it had made her cry.
Luo Yan had no recollection of it. After reading the "self-criticism" again, she gave a cryptic smile.
Zhou Weifang felt a tightness in his chest and nervously licked his lips.
Luo Yan was afraid that if she didn't say something right, he might go crazy. She placed her finger on the last few words and said, "Close your eyes."
Zhou Weifang was very obedient, fearing that he might not carry out the instructions properly. But this also improved his hearing, allowing him to detect what Luo Yan was writing.
After what felt like an eternity, Luo Yan said, "You can watch it now."
Zhou Weifang opened his eyes and saw Luo Yan holding up a "letter of self-criticism".
He watched it a hundred and eighty times last night, and noticed something amiss on the first watch, but he couldn't quite believe it, his eyes wide open.
Luo Yan's arms were getting tired from holding the bottle up, but seeing that he still didn't react, she said, "You really are blind."
Zhou Weifang stammered, "I have it, I have it, no, no, I don't have it."
Is that what's important right now? Luo Yan snorted, "Never mind if you didn't see it."
She made a move to put the paper away, but Zhou Weifang held her hand down.
In the past, he would have definitely let go, but now he doesn't move.
Luo Yan didn't move, staring at him intently.
Zhou Weifang took a deep breath: "I saw Yanyan."
I saw that she wrote "okay" below.
If you see it, you see it.
Luo Yan withdrew her hand, rocked the chair without speaking, her head slightly lowered, her gaze fixed on the table.
Zhou Weifang looked at her and suddenly felt an urge to shout. Unable to contain himself, he simply stood up and jumped around.
Are you that excited? Luo Yan touched the corners of her mouth that were turned up, smoothed out the two slightly wrinkled pieces of paper, and put them back into the envelope.
Zhou Weifang had calmed down a bit and leaned closer to say, "Yanyan."
He called it once, not just once, but again and again.
Luo Yan didn't agree, but just poked his hand intermittently.
It seems that doing this makes them more certain that they are seeing each other than with words.
-----------------------
Author's note: This chapter was more difficult to write than I imagined.
I promised to write up to 510,000 words yesterday, and I'm currently working on a second update. It's definitely too late before midnight, but I'll only go to sleep after I finish writing it!
Goodnight in advance.
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