Official announcement
Yang Zheng was naturally happy to oblige, and the two of them found another variety show to watch.
"What time is the ticket for tomorrow?" Shen Anxia remembered that he said it was the high-speed train in the evening.
"It's 5:30. I'll arrive in Yi'an around 7:00." Anxia had said her roommate would be back tomorrow, so he'll be going back to Yi'an tomorrow afternoon.
"Then I'll take you to the high-speed rail station."
“Can’t a grown man like me go to the high-speed rail station by myself? I’m worried about you coming back by yourself at night,” Yang Zheng refused.
He hugged Shen Anxia tightly: "Actually, I can leave the day after tomorrow morning."
“That would be too tiring,” Shen Anxia said, though she also hoped Yang Zheng could stay one more night. “Besides, Shanshan will be back tomorrow, and it might be inconvenient for her if you’re in the living room.”
"I know." Yang Zheng hugged her even tighter.
The two snuggled on the sofa and watched TV for another two hours. After a quick wash, they went to bed.
The two spent Sunday in their rented apartment. In the afternoon, Yang Zheng returned to Yi'an but refused to let Shen Anxia see him off.
Liu Shanshan returned shortly after Yang Zheng left.
She dragged a suitcase, struggling to carry it inside, and peered into the living room, asking, "Where? Where is my white moonlight?"
Shen Anxia had just finished cleaning the house thoroughly: "You're back! Didn't you say you'd be back later?"
"I heard that your white moonlight has come to visit again and wanted to see her in person, so I paid the handling fee to change my ticket and rushed back. Where is your white moonlight?" Liu Shanshan changed into slippers, threw her suitcase casually in the entryway, went back to the bedroom to change into her home clothes, and then immediately went back to the living room to sit on the sofa.
Shen Anxia also nestled on the sofa.
"The white moonlight just left less than an hour ago." Shen Anxia handed the fruit that Yang Zheng had washed before leaving to Liu Shanshan.
Liu Shanshan picked a cherry, ate it, and carefully examined Shen Anxia: "In such a good mood?"
"Isn't this the same as usual?" Although she was in a good mood, Shen Anxia felt that she was behaving normally.
“Although you’re the type who doesn’t show your emotions, we’ve been together for four years,” Liu Shanshan sighed. “And the last time you cried like that, it was the first time I’d ever seen you cry in all the time I’ve known you. You’ve been living your life as usual for the past six months, but I know you’ve been hiding your pain from everyone else.”
Liu Shanshan patted Shen Anxia on the shoulder: "Seeing how relaxed you are now, I'm relieved. But does love really have that power?"
"You'll understand when you experience love," Shen Anxia said with a profound and enigmatic air.
Liu Shanshan suddenly felt that the cherry in her mouth was a little sour. She clicked her tongue and said, "Your white moonlight is something else. You used to smell like a single dog, but today you're actually emitting the sour smell of love."
Shen Anxia leaned close to Liu Shanshan and took two deep sniffs.
"what?"
"Let me smell what a single dog really smells like."
Liu Shanshan shoved her: "Get lost! But what do you look like, you single dog? Show me a picture."
"I don't have any photos." Shen Anxia had just realized that the two of them had never taken a single photo together.
"Huh? Haven't they already started dating? Has he posted anything on his WeChat Moments? Let's check."
"I have never seen him post on WeChat Moments."
"Huh? Is there such a person?" Liu Shanshan asked as Chen Anxia took the phone. "Let me see?"
"It seems that only the fourth and fifth brothers like to post on WeChat Moments." Shen Anxia clicked on Yang Zheng's profile picture and then on his Moments. She expected to see nothing as usual, but to her surprise, Yang Zheng actually posted an update—
My kapok tree, my moon reflected in the sea.
It was probably shortly after he boarded the high-speed train.
The image was accompanied by a silhouette of a person performing a classical dance, reminiscent of a film reel.
Shen Anxia looked at the silhouette and it looked more and more like herself: "This picture looks just like me!"
"What do you mean 'like you'? This is you!" Liu Shanshan declared.
“But I’ve never taken a photo like this before!” Shen Anxia said with absolute certainty.
"This was probably taken during one of your performances, and then you used a filter to make it look like this."
Shen Anxia tried hard to recall, but still couldn't remember when she did this action. She focused her attention on the text: "Does this 'moon in the sea' mean that I am a reflection that can be seen but not touched, or that I can't be retrieved at all?"
"I really admire you. You seem like a gentle and understanding person, but you're actually a clueless straight woman." Liu Shanshan was utterly helpless about Shen Anxia's emotional intelligence.
"What's wrong with me?" Shen Anxia asked, confused.
"The poem 'Moon Over the Sea' comes from Eileen Chang's 'Love in a Fallen City.' The original poem is 'The moon over the sea is the moon in the sky, and the person before my eyes is the person in my heart.'" Liu Shanshan thought Shen Anxia's "white moonlight" was incredibly romantic. "This poem has a 99% success rate on the confession wall, and you didn't even know that?"
“I’m not a Chinese major,” Shen Anxia said matter-of-factly.
Liu Shanshan, who studies Chinese literature, went all out to be a good person. She explained, "Your 'white moonlight' probably means that you are his moon, his beloved; the kapok flower probably means that you are someone he cherishes. How romantic!! Is such romance really hiding something?"
Shen Anxia was speechless. She had once said that she didn't understand why Yang Zheng hadn't had a girlfriend for so many years and suspected that there was something wrong with him. As a result, Liu Shanshan took it seriously.
However, Shen Anxia found this explanation about the moon at the bottom of the sea quite useful, and then continued reading the pile of comments.
Qu Cheng: Is this an official announcement? Did they catch up?
Jiang Fanxing: Holy crap, Third Brother, you're awesome! You haven't posted anything on WeChat Moments to show off your love in ages!
Rong Yi: Third Brother, my goddess has become my third sister-in-law?
Jiang Fanxing replied to Rong Yi: Holy crap, I just became the fifth brother, and now I'm the fifth younger brother again.
Ayi: Brother Yang Zheng, my sister is truly the best person in the world, you must treat her well.
Below is a reply from Yang Zheng to A Yi: You can wait and see.
Ding Fei: The third brother has finally found a girlfriend. It wasn't easy.
Sister-in-law Ge Chen: Third brother, you have a long way to go. I wish you two a happy marriage soon.
Duan Lixing: Congratulations, Third Brother.
Xu Qingjing: Hurry up, let's get hyped up and celebrate Third Brother ending his years of being a single dog!
Tian Lei: Well done, Yang Zheng! Things have taken a turn for the better!
Shen Anxia even discovered that her parents and Shen Anyi had liked her posts, and she didn't know when they had added each other on WeChat. She also found that Duan Lixing's wife had liked her post, as well as that mysterious second sister-in-law, whose name Yang Zheng said was Xi Yan, and Zhang Jingyi had liked her post.
These people they all knew sent their blessings in various ways.
However, Yang Zheng only replied to Shen Anyi.
Shen Anxia's eyes crinkled into a smile, and Liu Shanshan asked from the side, "Your white moonlight is named Yang Zheng?"
"Um."
Liu Shanshan also imagined, "He must be quite handsome, after all, you didn't agree to date the most handsome guy in the English department back then."
Shen Anxia didn't deny it: "He really is very handsome."
"Don't forget to take a picture and send it to our dorm group next time, they're waiting to see it too!"
"Okay, I'll definitely try to take a picture together next time he comes."
Liu Shanshan sighed wistfully, "I wonder where my white moonlight is hiding right now. All three of you are in relationships."
Shen Anxia stretched and said, "Don't worry, it's on your way to graduate school."
"I hope so!" Liu Shanshan wasn't really hoping for it, after all, there were still goals ahead of her.
"Oh!" Shen Anxia suddenly remembered that she hadn't told her family about this yet. Now that Zhao Ping and Shen Ke had seen it, she had to make a call quickly. "I'll call my mom."
"Go quickly, go quickly."
Shen Anxia returned to her bedroom and dialed Zhao Ping's number: "Mom."
Zhao Ping answered almost immediately after the phone rang: "Xiaxia!"
Her tone was filled with excitement and gossip.
Shen Anxia was a little embarrassed: "Mom, I have something to tell you. Yang Zheng and I are together now."
Zhao Ping squealed excitedly like a groundhog: "You're really together! I've been waiting for your call!"
Shen Anxia moved the phone away from her ear a little, but the next second Zhao Ping seemed to realize something and asked nervously, "Together? What do you mean?"
Shen Anxia instantly understood Zhao Ping's meaning and said helplessly, "Mom, can't you be a little more pure-minded?"
"Oh..." Zhao Ping breathed a sigh of relief. "I knew my daughter wasn't a casual person. The Yang family's child is also quite polite. Xiaxia, this is your first time dating. Of course, your father and I hope you two can stay together. But Mom still wants to tell you, before you actually get married, don't give yourself away completely. Mom is afraid you'll get hurt."
“I know, Mom.” Shen Anxia blushed.
“Xiaxia,” Shen Ke took the phone from Zhao Ping, “Dad also wants to give you a few words of advice—love and marriage are natural things. Before loving others, you must love yourself first. Dad is not too worried about this. As long as you are happy, you can explore the world as you please. If there is more pain than happiness, then home will always be your home, and your parents will always be there for you.”
"Thank you, Dad."
After hanging up the phone, Shen Anxia left the bedroom and saw an unread message from Yang Zheng: "I've arrived, is it convenient to send a voice message?"
Shen Anxia thought for a moment and decided to take a shower first. She replied to him, "About an hour later."
【good】
After Shen Anxia finished getting ready and climbed into bed, she texted Yang Zheng: "I'm all ready. Are you busy?"
Yang Zheng: [I'm not busy, want to video call?]
Shen Anxia dialed the number directly.
"Have you had dinner?" Yang Zheng asked first, a few strands of hair falling casually across his forehead, as if he had just taken a shower. He was wearing a loose black T-shirt, and Shen Anxia guessed that he was probably wearing black casual pants as usual.
"I've already eaten. What about you?"
"I've already eaten."
"Didn't you say you were going out to have fun? This doesn't look like an entertainment venue to me." Shen Anxia noticed that the decor behind Yang Zheng was very homey and the atmosphere was very quiet.
“This is home, and I’m going back to work tomorrow, so they were just saying whatever came to mind,” Yang Zheng said after thinking for a moment. “When you get back to Yi’an, let’s treat them to a meal together.”
Shen Anxia nodded: "Okay."
Yang Zheng looked at Shen Anxia and asked cautiously, "Anxia, have you missed me?"
Yang Zheng's cautious manner made Shen Anxia fall silent for a short while.
Yang Zheng was a little nervous; he didn't know what Shen Anxia's silence meant.
Weren't we able to lean on each other's shoulders and be together before?
"Anxia?" Yang Zheng asked in a questioning tone.
"Yang Zheng," Shen Anxia said softly.
"Yes, I'm here." Yang Zheng looked intently at her in the video.
"I'm a slow-burning person. Before I met you, from childhood to adulthood, I only seriously liked dancing. There were almost no interludes in my life. It was only after a long time that I realized that I had already fallen for you, but by then, we had already officially said goodbye."
"I feel that losing people or things is perfectly natural; if you can't hold on to something, you just can't hold on to it. I've been very busy since we parted, but even so, I still can't help but think of you. I don't know what to do; my feelings are always a few beats slower than my actions."
Shen Anxia spoke slowly, occasionally pausing, as if she had suddenly come up with these words and needed to organize her thoughts on the spot.
She then prepared another round of words: "It wasn't until I saw you again that I realized that during the 245 days we were apart, I had been looking forward to our reunion every day. I thought that besides dancing, I could also seriously like you for once. As for the outcome—just like I did everything I could to stay in the dance troupe, whether I can stay or not is up to fate."
"So, Yang Zheng, you don't need to be as cautious as before. Let's have a serious relationship. I don't want to miss you, which is why I'm saying these things that I would never normally say. I can't say romantic things like 'the moon in the sea is the moon in the sky,' or 'the person in front of me is the person in my heart,' but my slow-burning nature will keep my feelings for you warm."
Yang Zheng's eyelashes twitched slightly.
He could even hear his own heavy heartbeat, a heart that seemed to echo Shen Anxia's words, which could be considered a confession. He suddenly remembered a passage he had once read—
"As a timid and slow-to-warm-up person, I need others to take the initiative and respond a thousand times before I'm willing to believe it's true."
After a long time, he said to Shen Anxia, "From now on, I'll say the romantic things. Your future doesn't need to be left to fate; you only need to leave it to me."
After hanging up the video call, Shen Anxia wanted to respond by posting something similar to Yang Zheng's on her WeChat Moments, but she didn't even have a single photo of Yang Zheng.
She decided that next time Yang Zheng came, she would definitely ask him to take a photo with her.
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