greeting
“Yang Zheng said,” Zhao Ping’s voice pulled Shen Anxia back to reality, “He doesn’t want you to have any psychological burden. He came to see us to express his feelings. He hopes we can promise him not to tell you about this. After all, he needs a lot of methods and wisdom to deal with his parents’ pressure to get married. He doesn’t want his parents to misunderstand you before you and him have a future together.”
"Moreover, Mom also has her own selfish reasons. She thinks that if you don't like him, you don't have to feel burdened when interacting with others, so it doesn't matter whether she tells you about this or not."
"But in the past six months, whenever I bring up the topic of having a boyfriend, you always seem to avoid it."
"So, Mom thinks that even though you and Yang Zheng have only known each other for half a year, Xiaxia, you've fallen for him, do you know that?"
After listening to Zhao Ping finish speaking, Shen Anxia gave a muffled "hmm".
"Xiaxia, falling in love is a fleeting moment, but staying together takes a lifetime. A lifetime together isn't as simple as getting a certificate that's yours forever. Many changes, values, goals, experiences, struggles, adjustments, and even fate can determine whether you stay or leave. Life is long, give yourself a chance, make a good decision." Zhao Ping explained gently.
Shen Ke added, "Your mother is right, there's still plenty of time. Don't lock yourself up, everyone will worry about you."
Seeing that they had both finished speaking, Shen Anyi also spoke up: "Sister, I also really like Brother Yang Zheng. Considering his personal abilities, he is a very hardworking person. With his appearance and conditions, he must have been a prominent figure in college. His family owns so many restaurants, and his material conditions are good. He must have had many suitors. Although we didn't know him before, I heard that he didn't have a girlfriend in college. He only started dating you after he met you. He's quite devoted."
Hearing her family's words, Shen Anxia felt a little relieved. She tilted her head and looked at Shen Anyi: "So, you seem to have a lot of experience because someone is pursuing you?"
Shen Anyi said hesitantly, "My conditions are not as good as Brother Yang Zheng's."
Then he immediately interjected, "But I also have suitors."
"Hahahahahaha—" A long string of laughter from the Shen family spread throughout the rented room.
Zhao Ping checked the time: "Let's make dumplings! Get ready."
Shen Ke nodded: "I'll knead the dough."
Shen Anxia and Shen Anyi also said, "I'll help."
“Hey, stop,” Shen Ke gestured for a pause, “You two will only make things worse.”
Zhao Ping also remembered how the two sisters always "helped" him, and laughed from the side.
So Zhao Ping and Shen Ke started kneading dough and joking around while making dumplings, while Shen Anxia and Shen Anyi worked together to put up and hang the New Year's "Fu" characters and paintings that Zhao Ping had brought.
After finishing tidying up, Shen Anyi glanced at the clock and saw it was almost midnight. He picked up his phone, looked at it, and smiled mysteriously. Shen Anxia could tell he was indeed up to something and thought the kid had really grown up. She teased him, "What's wrong? Did your suitor contact you?"
"Sister, don't make wild guesses! We're just friends!" Shen Anyi said, trying to cover it up.
"Stop it, you're all smiles, and you call that pure friendship?" Shen Anxia said dismissively.
"You're the one who's getting all excited! Go check if your suitors have messaged you!" Shen Anyi changed the subject.
"I don't have any suitors."
"From childhood to adulthood, when have you ever lacked suitors?" Shen Anyi didn't believe it.
Shen Anxia didn't understand either. When she first joined the troupe, she had suitors, but it seemed that after she became a full member, she had far fewer suitors. She was also a little confused: "Who knows?"
"You must have refused."
"At first, some people did ask me if I was single, but later no one even asked anymore." Shen Anxia wanted to laugh. She had avoided the few who asked before, and she didn't know if it was a side effect, but later, no one even asked her, even though she was a pretty good person.
She ignored Chen Anyi, went back to her bedroom, picked up her phone, and saw New Year's greetings from her former dorm sisters, a group of people in her class group wishing teachers and classmates a Happy New Year, a flood of chat logs in her maternal grandmother's group, a group of people from her paternal grandmother's family sending New Year's greetings, and a bunch of performance videos in the theater troupe's group. She also received an unexpected message—
The icon, which hadn't been used in a long time, displayed an unread message: "Anxia, Happy New Year."
It's Yang Zheng.
When Shen Anxia saw that the person she had been looking forward to countless times had sent her a message on this special day, her hands trembled.
It's like a withered tree that has survived the wind and snow and is now welcoming spring.
A bittersweet feeling welled up inside Shen Anxia. She typed rapidly: "Yang Zheng, Happy New Year."
Then he added, "I hope all your New Year's wishes come true."
A short while later, the other person replied. It seemed they had been glued to their phone the whole time: "I hope all your wishes come true, and I look forward to meeting you again in the future, when you have become the kapok flower you aspire to be."
Shen Anxia was stunned when she saw the message, and a sense of déjà vu spread through her heart once again.
She loves the kapok flower, for it is passionate and unyielding.
Very few people knew about this, but Yang Zheng actually mentioned kapok flowers to her?
She felt that Yang Zheng's knowledge was not a coincidence, including her preference for hot milk, dislike of cilantro, and love of tomato stew over cabbage—things that only extremely close people would know.
Yang Zheng couldn't possibly know about this from the brother downstairs. After all, before she met Yang Zheng, she and the brother downstairs were just exchanging greetings when they met, so he had no way of finding out her preferences.
so what?
She had no clue what to do.
She wanted to ask Yang Zheng, but she felt he wouldn't tell her.
Recalling what Zhao Ping and Shen Ke had just said to her, Shen Anxia found boundless courage and replied to Yang Zheng with another message: "And you? What do you want to become?"
Yang Zheng replied without hesitation: "I've always strived to become a trumpet creeper."
Shen Anxia stared at her phone screen for a long time without moving.
Almost no one wants to be a trumpet vine, that kind of extremely beautiful flower that needs to climb to grow. Girls never consider it a role model for growth. This kind of flower is almost universally disliked by girls. But now Yang Zheng actually wants to "strive to become one".
and.
Does Yang Zheng know that the trumpet creeper prefers to climb on the kapok tree?
Does Yang Zheng know the symbolism of the trumpet creeper, especially regarding love?
"Xiaxia, time to eat dumplings!" Zhao Ping's voice came from the living room.
"Coming!" Shen Anxia responded and quickly replied to Yang Zheng with a message of encouragement.
As in previous years, Shen Anxia and Shen Anyi first wished the elders a Happy New Year, then Shen Ke and Shen Anyi distributed red envelopes, and finally everyone ate dumplings together.
After eating only a few, Shen Anxia bit her tooth: "Ugh..."
"Mom—" Shen Anyi yelled upon seeing this, "Couldn't you have put in two more coins?! My sister always gets to eat it every year! Can't you just put in two more and give me a chance?"
Zhao Ping laughed as he comforted the grumpy little monster: "Next year, next year, I'll release three next year, and we'll see who gets to eat them."
"Then you can release seven or eight next year, and everyone in our family can have some. That would be great."
"I can put enough in every dumpling for you." Zhao Ping glared at Shen Anyi, then blessed Shen Anxia, "Xiaxia, it seems that our family's greatest luck this year has still been given to you. So, your wish this year will surely come true."
Shen Anxia's eyes crinkled into crescents, and she felt that she must make a proper wish for this year.
The new year quietly arrived as families ate dumplings, accompanied by the endless sound of firecrackers in the city. On this day of universal celebration, everyone would make New Year's wishes. In the brightly lit night, Shen Anxia was surprised to find that Shen Ke and Zhao Ping had even brought mahjong to Xinfeng and were playing round after round.
As the east turns red, the new year arrives.
Zhao Ping and Shen Ke slept well on the afternoon of the first day of the Lunar New Year and returned to Yi'an. Shen Anxia then participated in seven consecutive performances with the troupe before taking the last high-speed train back to Yi'an on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year.
The New Year's Eve was still brightly lit. The high-speed train's headlights cut through the darkness, scattering the cold wind. Every scene outside the window flashed by. The streetlights in the distance formed orange ribbons, winding and hazy. Occasionally, villages were nestled in the dark fields, obscured by large clumps of tree shadows. Lonely village windows lit up, the snow looked like silver, and the shadows of the trees blurred in an instant.
Shen Anxia held her phone, staring at the words displayed on the constantly lit screen—
I have always strived to become a trumpet vine.
【come on】
"Will you go back to Yi'an during the New Year period?" Yang Zheng asked.
Shen Anxia's tone was tentative, yet also seemed casual as she asked, "You can only come back after the seventh day of the lunar new year. You should be at work by then, right?"
Yang Zheng's words betrayed his unreadable expression: "Going back to work on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, will I be taking the last high-speed train back?"
Okay, I'll go back after the performance.
The message remained stuck on my own sentence; the other party didn't reply, and I didn't say anything more.
She had known Yang Zheng for over a year.
They always maintained proper etiquette in their words and actions, yet despite her strict precautions, Shen Anxia inadvertently allowed the man to move in.
But what exactly is my place in the other person's heart?
She had no idea.
She had always thought that it was impossible for someone she met through a blind date to become her ideal partner, but reality proved her wrong.
The truth is, if you meet the right person, a blind date can be a chance to spark your interest.
But what were Yang Zheng's thoughts?
For the previous six months, he seemed to like me a lot, but in the last six months, he hasn't shown any of that.
Before getting the results of anything she worked hard on, she always made a conservative estimate, but she still had a good idea of what was going on. However, she had no idea about Yang Zheng at all.
She sighed.
The phone screen flickered; it was Chen Ke calling.
Shen Anxia answered the phone: "Dad?"
"Xiaxia, is the train about to arrive at the station?"
"Hmm, eight minutes left."
“Dad did want to pick you up! It’s not like you’re left to your own devices! But Yang Zheng said he was going to pick you up, and your mom and I originally wanted to surprise you without telling you, but we were worried you might get lost, so we decided to let you know anyway…”
Shen Anxia didn't hear anything after that; her mind was filled with Shen Ke's words that Yang Zheng was coming to pick her up.
Her heart was pounding wildly, and she knew clearly that the rhythm carried tension, panic, anticipation, and even a touch of excitement.
Will she see him again?
I checked the time; there were still seven minutes until I arrived at Yi'an Station.
As she quietly counted down the seconds, Shen Anxia felt her palms were covered in a thick layer of sweat.
Six minutes left.
When she heard the flight attendant announce the station again, Shen Anxia picked up her suitcase and walked out.
At that moment, Shen Anxia also received a message from Yang Zheng: "Anxia, I'm waiting for you at the railing on the side of the exit."
I glanced at the time again.
Four minutes.
Several passengers who were going to get off at Yi'an had already lined up at the train door. Shen Anxia looked at the lights in the distance of Yi'an and gently stamped her foot, her forehead covered with a layer of sweat.
Three minutes left.
Finally, the lights came on, and the roaring sound became particularly clear as it entered the station. The speed had slowed down from its rapid pace, like the gradual calming of a traveler eager to return home as they step into their hometown.
Two minutes.
One minute.
The brakes sounded, the train came to a stop, the attendant opened the doors, and a group of people walked out in an orderly manner.
The wheels of her suitcase rolled anxiously forward as Shen Anxia hurried along. The short exit passage seemed to stretch on forever. She dragged her suitcase through the crowd. As she approached the exit, Shen Anxia slowed down, took a few deep breaths, and stepped out of the station.
Yang Zheng stood tall beside the railing.
The dim night light shone on his profile, making him appear exceptionally gentle.
Shen Anxia's heart pounded like a drum as she looked at that familiar face she hadn't seen in so long, and her eyes crinkled into a smile.
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