Ruan Qiuyue was sorting things in the room. She was surprised to see Ling Yao. She was stunned for a moment and then greeted him with a smile: "Hello, scientist."
Ling Yao couldn't help but introduce himself again: "I can't really call you that, just call me Ling Yao."
Ruan Qiuyue smiled, "Okay, Brother Ling Yao."
Just as he finished speaking, Ruan Hongjun and Ruan Hongbing came in carrying sacks.
The two put down the sacks, took a breath, and said with beads of sweat on their foreheads: "One more move should be enough."
There was no rush to go back and move the things. Ruan Xi told them, "Take a break and drink some water first."
Ruan Hongjun was no longer in a hurry to do anything. He followed Ruan Xi to the main house together with Ruan Hongbing and Ruan Qiuyue. Ling Yao naturally followed behind. When they got into the house, the five of them sat down at the round table and drank water from their cups.
The water was boiled and poured a long time ago. Now it is completely cool, just right for drinking to cool down.
Ruan Hongjun drank a large glass of water in one gulp, put the glass down and let out a long sigh of relief.
After he finished shouting, he looked at Ling Yao and asked, "Did my elder sister ask you to help us move?"
Ruan Xi was about to say no, it was so hard for them to rest on Sunday, how could they ask him to do the physical work of moving, but before she could finish her words, Ling Yao looked at Ruan Hongjun and nodded in response: "Yes."
Ruan Xi was speechless for a moment, unable to utter a word, so she could only smile at him.
Ruan Hongjun was very impolite, and said with a smile: "Then you can ride a tricycle later."
Ling Yao did not refuse and directly responded: "Okay."
Ruan Hongjun reached out and patted him, "What's good about that?"
Then he looked at Ruan Hongjun and said, "If you are tired, let me ride."
Before Ruan Hongjun could say anything, Ling Yao spoke up again: "It's okay, I'll ride it."
Ruan Qiuyue and Ruan Hongbing watched them fighting over the water and silently picked up their cups to drink.
Because Ruan Qiuyue and Ruan Hongbing couldn't help much, Ruan Xi didn't let them go with him when he went to the countryside to move things. We just pulled some stuff over and asked them to help move it and tidy up each room.
After a good rest, Ruan Xi and Ruan Hongjun prepared to go back for the last move, and this time Ling Yao came with them to help.
The three of them walked out of the yard gate, and Ling Yao went straight to the tricycle and sat down.
Ruan Xi followed him and grabbed his arm and pulled him down, "Get down, let me ride."
A tricycle is relatively heavy and has three wheels, so riding it is tiring and slow, and is not as light as a bicycle. If he really wants to help, let him ride a bike.
But Ling Yao sat still, looked at her and said, "I'll ride."
Ruan Xi: “…”
It turns out that he is no longer the same child as when he was little. Even the way he speaks has changed.
When he was a child, he was very obedient. Basically, whatever she said was what he did and he never refused to negotiate.
In that case...
Ruan Xi hesitated for a moment and let go of his arm, "Then you ride it."
Ruan Hongjun rode his bicycle to Ling Yao's side and said to him, "Just ride over there. I'll take a breather. When I come back to get stuff, I'll ride. You can ride the bicycle then."
Ling Yao turned to look at him and said, "It's okay. I'll do it."
Ruan Hongjun smiled and said, "If you don't mind being tired, that would be great."
The three of them rode out of the alley and onto the road, Ruan Xi and Ruan Hongjun rode bicycles, and Ling Yao rode a tricycle.
Ruan Hongjun rode his bike beside Ling Yao and chattered, "You don't seem to like talking much. You look like someone who is hard to approach. Are all scientists like this? Can you make friends this way?"
What kind of questions are these? Ruan Xi cleared his throat at Ruan Hongjun, but Ruan Hongjun did not respond.
Ling Yao said: "I don't have much time or opportunity to make friends."
Ruan Hongjun: "I really have no friends!"
Ling Yao: "Not really, colleagues are friends."
Seeing that the two of them were chatting like this, Ruan Xi stopped caring and just listened quietly beside them.
Ruan Hongjun added: "Then you definitely don't have a girlfriend."
Ling Yao didn't respond, but suddenly looked at Ruan Xi and asked, "Xixi, what about you?"
Because he was not participating in the conversation, Ruan Xi didn't react for a moment and asked, "Ah? What about me?" Girlfriend?
Before Ling Yao asked again, Ruan Hongjun answered, "She is a lonely woman, and her mind is all on making and selling clothes. You know my cousin Ruan Jie, she is one year younger than my eldest sister, she got married a long time ago, and is about to have a baby, to someone in our compound. My third aunt is worried about my eldest sister, and said she wants to find a matchmaker to find her a partner."
After that, he asked Ling Yao, "Aren't your family members worried?"
Ling Yao said: "My family doesn't care about me so much."
It might be because she was too strict with him during those years in the countryside, which caused his personality to become more dull. Zhou Xueyun always felt that she owed him, and later she basically stopped paying attention to him. Zhou Xueyun would not arrange anything for him that he didn't want to do.
Ruan Hongjun continued to ask: "How old are you? You look about the same age as my older sister."
Ling Yao nodded, "It's almost the same."
Ruan Xi had already caught up with the topic and said, "To be exact, you are one year younger than me."
Ling Yao glanced at her and said, "There is no difference between being one year younger and being the same age."
Ruan Hongjun understood, "No wonder my eldest sister called you cub when she was little, because you were younger than her, she treated you as a little brother, so she called you that." He suddenly laughed, "I doubt if she originally wanted to call you little cub."
Ruan Xi couldn't help laughing, but stopped and looked at Ruan Hongjun: "Don't talk nonsense, it's not just because of his young age, he also looked very young when he was a child, so cute and tender, who wouldn't want to pinch him when seeing him? He's just a cute little kid."
Ruan Hongjun still smiled: "Look, isn't it a little kid?"
Ruan Xi rolled her eyes at her, and he suddenly said with a sigh, "I don't remember anything at all, and I can't imagine what he looked like when he was a child, tender and cute. It's really hard to imagine..."
He doesn't look cute at all now.
Ling Yao cleared his throat while riding his bike, "It's all in the past. I've grown up now. I'm no longer a little brother or a cub."
Seeing how resistant he was, Ruan Xi couldn't help laughing again - it seemed that being called "zizi" really hurt him.
The three of them chatted and headed for the countryside.
When they arrived at the countryside, they rode their bikes into the yard one by one and parked them. Ruan Xi and Ruan Hongjun took Ling Yao into the house to drink water. I poured some water and sat down to rest, taking a big sip to catch my breath.
Ruan Cuizhi heard the noise and came out of the main house. She came in and said, "Are you exhausted? I told your uncle to help move it when he was free, but you insisted on moving it by yourselves, going all the way back and forth."
Ruan Xi put down the bowl in his hand and continued, "It's just a small matter. We can do it."
Ruan Cuizhi was about to speak again when she suddenly saw a stranger stand up from the table. Naturally, he stood up out of courtesy after seeing her enter the room. She was slightly startled, her eyes sparkled, and she suddenly smiled and asked, "Xiaoxi, who is this?"
The young man is good-looking and tall, and he looks like a real talent.
Ruan Xi also stood up, "You don't recognize me either? Ling Yao."
Ruan Cuizhi looked surprised: "Huh?"
After laughing, she looked at Ling Yao carefully again, with an expression of disbelief on her face.
Ling Yao said, "Miss, I am Ling Yao."
Ruan Cuizhi still didn't quite believe it, and said with a smile: "You have changed so much, you are different from when you were a child. I still remember what you looked like when you were a child. You went to the tailor shop every day to study with Xiaoxi and Xiaojie."
She thought that Ruan Xi had finally found a partner and suddenly brought him back.
Since it wasn't a natural thing to mention, she then asked, "Ling Yao, are you in Beijing too?"
Ling Yao nodded, "Yes, work here."
Ruan Cuizhi smiled and said, "That's great. Come visit us often when you have time."
In fact, she knew that Ling Yao was in Beijing. A few days ago, Ruan Xi brought Ruan Qiuyue and others back from playing in the city, and the children mentioned this matter. They said that he was once regarded as a little fool, but now he has become a great man.
Especially Ruan Changsheng was very shocked when he heard it, "That little idiot? Was he so silly when he was a kid?"
I bring this up again now, of course, just for the sake of greeting.
After a few pleasantries, Ruan Xi and Ruan Hongjun stopped standing and hurried to load all the remaining things into the car. It couldn’t fit on the tricycle, so I tied it to the back of the bicycle as I did in the previous trips.
Ling Yao, Ruan Xi and Ruan Hongjun greeted Ruan Cuizhi together, and then rode their bikes to the yard.
The tricycle was heavier with more things on it, so Ling Yao naturally didn't let Ruan Xi and Ruan Hongjun ride it. Ruan Xi is a girl with little strength, and Ruan Hongjun is young, so he is the most suitable person to ride. Therefore, Ruan Hongjun and Ruan Xi are still allowed to ride the bikes.
After walking for more than half an hour, Ruan Hongjun turned around and said, "Sister, I'll ride over first. I'll drop off my stuff and come back to pick you up. Let me ride your bike."
Ruan Xiping breathed, "Go ahead, and take a rest when you get there."
Ruan Hongjun didn't respond, he just started riding the bike and drove away, pedaling it so fast that it almost flew up.
Ruan Xi watched Ruan Hongjun walk away, then turned around and said to Ling Yao, "We are not in a hurry, just ride slowly."
Ling Yao looked at her and smiled, "I'm not in a hurry either."
Ruan Xi turned her head and looked at her for a moment. When the steering wheel was about to tilt, she quickly steadied it and looked forward. She seemed to have discovered something similar about him: he could only laugh easily when he talked to her.
It’s not that he never smiles at others, he just smiles less often, and when he does smile, it only stays at the corners of his mouth.
Ruan Xi took a deep breath, looked at the road ahead, and smiled unconsciously.
As soon as Ruan Hongjun left, he seemed willing to speak up, and suddenly asked Ruan Xi: "It's been so long since you've fallen in love or gotten married. Have you never met the right person?"
She is not young anymore, and given her circumstances, she shouldn't be single yet. In his previous imagination, she should have found her ideal partner, entered into marriage, and lived a happy and fulfilling life.
He really didn't expect that she was still single now, after all, Ruan Jie was already married.
Of course, although he didn't expect it, and although he had already expected it in his mind, when he saw her appear in the auditorium that day, he was not even sure if it was her, and he still lost control of his mind at that moment.
It was quite a joke, but he didn't regret it.
Even if she was married now and he and she were still strangers, he would not regret what he did that day.
Hearing him ask this, Ruan Xi turned to look at him and replied, "It's not our destiny yet."
Although she has been very busy and has not left much space in her mind to think about this matter, she is indeed not in a hurry, but she has not deliberately avoided or rejected this matter.
Anyway, I didn't meet the right person, so that's it.
During the four years of college, the school did not allow dating on campus, and everyone was busy studying, so no one expressed any intentions in that direction to her. After graduation, she thought Xu Zhuo might confess his love to her, but he didn't.
She had considered whether she would refuse or give it a try if Xu Zhuo confessed his love to her.
Of course, we have known each other for so long, from middle school to college, and have been friends for seven or eight years. We are really too familiar with each other, so there is no feeling of heart-pounding passion, and he should be the same.
Xu Zhuo left without confessing his feelings, so that's fine.
When she was working at the Industrial and Commercial Bureau, some colleagues tried to introduce her to potential partners, but she never met anyone she could get along with. Two of them showed their interest in pursuing her, but they stopped immediately after she resigned.
The adult world is very realistic. When looking for a partner for marriage, no one is looking for love.
In the one year since she quit her job, she has spent most of her time in the countryside, drawing pictures and cutting fabrics, or going to the city to visit old customers and choose fabrics and materials.
Although Ruan Cuizhi and her friends wanted to introduce her to someone, they didn't want to find a country matchmaker to find a country man for her. Then they didn't know anyone in the city, so they stayed there, hoping that Ruan Xi would go look for it himself.
Ruan Xi herself is not proactive and always says to just go with the flow, which is why it has been dragging on until now.
But Ruan Xi didn't elaborate on this. She asked Ling Yao, "What about you?"
Ling Yao said: "I think I'm still young."
Ruan Xi: “…”
What's the meaning! Is she old because she is one year older?
Even if she added up the ages of her two lifetimes, she still felt like she was eighteen!
Ling Yao looked at the expression on her face and laughed, "You and I are both still young. I don't think there is any need to rush."
Ruan Xi put away the expression on her face and said with satisfaction: "I think so too."
I'm twenty-five in lunar age and twenty-four in actual life. What's the rush?
She was almost thirty in her previous life, and she had never been in a hurry about this matter. She just lived her life the way she felt comfortable.
Having said this, Ruan Xi and Ling Yao completely relaxed. Ling Yao, in particular, seemed to have let down his guard. His expression and tone of voice had changed a lot, and he was no longer as distant as before.
The two walked side by side while chatting.
The further you go, the less sense of distance there is, and the more familiarity there is.
Ling Yao's eyes triggered memories. Ruan Xi unconsciously recalled that when she was fourteen years old, she and Ling Yao went to the town to buy wine for the old tailor and walked side by side on the mountain road. When they were tired, they would hold hands, and finally almost drag each other into town.
The figures of the two children at that time slowly overlapped with the current scene.
She couldn't help laughing when looking at Ling Yao, and Ling Yao also smiled.
The faded memories of those two years were suddenly ignited, the dust film dissipated, and the warmth was transmitted to the present. The eight years of time and distance between them seemed to have melted and disappeared in this instant.
When the two were chatting and were about to ride into the city, Ruan Hongjun came back riding an empty bicycle. He rushed to Ruan Xi, braked and stopped, gave the empty bike to Ruan Xi, took Ruan Xi's bicycle and said, "Big sister, take a rest on the empty bike."
Now that he was back, Ruan Xi no longer had to be polite to him.
She rode on the empty bike and after entering the city, she suddenly thought of something and turned to Ruan Hongjun and Ling Yao and said, "You guys ride slowly and go straight home. I'll go buy some things."
She rode away on her empty bike and went to buy a lot of food, including snacks, fruits, and a big watermelon.
When she got home after buying the things, Ruan Hongjun and Ling Yao had not arrived yet. So she went to the kitchen and got out a large basin, then filled a basin with tap water from the stone trough in the yard and soaked the watermelon in it.
Ruan Hongjun and Ling Yao arrived just after the watermelon was soaked, so they moved all the things into the house, put them in the rooms where they belonged, and then sat together at the table in the main room to eat watermelon.
Ruan Hongjun took a big bite of the watermelon and said comfortably, "It's so sweet!"
Ruan Xi ignored him and looked at Ling Yao and asked, "What do you want to eat? I'll treat you to it later."
Ling Yao ate the watermelon and said, "I'm not picky, anything is fine."
Ruan Xi had no choice but to look at Ruan Hongjun, who worked the hardest, and asked, "Old Five, what do you want to eat?"
Ruan Hongjun said bluntly: "I want to eat meat!"
As he wished, after eating the watermelon and resting for a while, Ruan Xi took them to the restaurant. We went in and ordered a table full of meat, including pork, mutton, beef, fish, and shrimp, whatever meat was available.
Ruan Hongjun smiled happily, "She is really my dear elder sister."
While eating, Ruan Xi looked at Ling Yao and said, "This time it doesn't count as a repayment for last time's meal. I'll find time to treat you next time."
Ling Yao naturally did not refuse such a thing and said, "Okay."
Ruan Hongjun, Ruan Hongbing and Ruan Qiuyue didn't say anything. They were really hungry and just picked up their chopsticks to eat everything.
After finishing their meal and leaving the restaurant to go home, the three of them were burping from being so full.
When the five people returned to the courtyard, Ruan Changsheng and Qian Chuan had already closed the shop and returned from dinner. After they came back, they were not idle either. They were packing things in their rooms, making the beds, folding the quilts, and sorting out clothes.
They agreed with Ruan Xi that the main house would be for Ruan Xi to live in. The space was large enough for Ruan Xi to put a chopping board and machines in it and use it as a workshop. He could concentrate on designing, drawing and making patterns here in the future without being disturbed by anyone.
Ruan Changsheng and Qian Chuan lived in the east wing, which had a total of three rooms. When school started, they brought Ruan Dabao over to live in the east wing as well.
The remaining west wing will be left empty for now and used as a guest room temporarily, and anyone who comes can stay there.
The back house is not inhabited because its door faces north and it never sees sunlight all year round, but is used to store sundries.
Seeing Ruan Xi and the others coming back from dinner, Ruan Changsheng and Qian Chuan stopped what they were doing. Before they could talk to Ruan Xi and the others, they saw Ling Yao, and Ruan Changsheng asked first, "Huh? Who is this?"
Before Ruan Xi could speak, Ruan Hongjun said, "You don't know him? It's Ling Yao."
Ruan Changsheng immediately recognized the name after hearing this, and hurriedly smiled and came up to shake hands with Ling Yao, "If you were walking on the street, I wouldn't recognize you. I heard from Xiaoxi and the others that you are very impressive now, and you are a scientist."
Ling Yao said: "Not that great, just ordinary."
Ruan Changsheng let go of his hand, still smiling, and said, "I really didn't expect that a child who was so quiet and silent when he was young would become like this now. I thought you were stupid at the time, but now I know that we were stupid."
Those who think that studying is a bad thing are all fools!
Ling Yao stood and exchanged a few words with Ruan Changsheng, then sat down and chatted for a while.
Seeing that the night outside was getting darker, Ruan Xi looked at the time on the clock and asked Ling Yao: "It's getting late, why don't you go back first? I'm afraid it will be inconvenient for you to go back too late."
After all, he lives in the company now, so it’s better for him not to go home too late.
Ling Yao looked at the night outside, nodded to Ruan Xi, stood up and said to Ruan Changsheng and the others, "It's really getting late, and you still have to clean up the room, so I won't bother you anymore and will go back first."
After saying that, he looked at Ruan Xi again and said, "If you need me for anything, call me."
Ruan Xi nodded at him, "Okay."
Ling Yao was ready to leave, and Ruan Xi followed behind him to see him out.
Ruan Changsheng wanted to go along, but Qian Chuan pulled him and gave him a look, so he paused. Seeing that Ruan Changsheng and Qian Chuan did not go out to see them off, Ruan Hongjun, Ruan Hongbing and Ruan Qiuyue naturally did not go out either.
Ruan Xi sent Ling Yao to the gate and told him, "It's dark, be careful on the road."
Ling Yao turned around and responded: "I will be careful, you go back quickly."
Ruan Xi watched him go down the steps and walk around the stone lions in front of the door.
When he was about to walk to the bicycle, she suddenly called him, "Ling Yao."
Ling Yao paused, turned around in the night, looked at her and waited for her to speak.
Ruan Xi hesitated for a while and said, "You wrote me three letters after you returned to the city, but I didn't receive any of them. At that time, my mind was full of other things, and I felt relieved when I knew you were back in the city. I knew you would live well and I was no longer worried about you, so I didn't think much about it. Later, I found out that the letters were burned, so I beat her up."
Ling Yao stood there for a long while, then said, "I'm sorry, I didn't think much about it... I was afraid that writing letters all the time would disturb your life, so I stopped sending letters after the college entrance examination was resumed... Maybe I should write a few more letters... Maybe... I should send them to the countryside..."
Ruan Xi raised the corner of her mouth slightly, "It's okay, I know what you want to say."
Ling Yao looked at her and smiled, his eyes as clear as water.
The alley was very quiet at night. The two people smiled at each other across the night. The round moon hung in the sky above the alley, illuminating the two stone lions in front of the door and also illuminating the faces of the two people.
Feeling relieved, Ruan Xi said again: "Go back quickly, I'll treat you to dinner next Sunday."
Ling Yao smiled and responded: "Then I'll come find you."
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