Chapter 86
Shen Jiangfu returned home and could see Xie Jing's house from her doorstep.
She put her bag away, went to the kitchen, got a basket and went to the vegetable garden to pick some vegetables.
After picking vegetables, she looked at the house in the distance from the doorway and saw Xie Jing sitting in front of the window, looking down at something. Shen Jiangfu didn't see what Xie Jing was looking at, but only saw that he was holding a pen in his hand.
Xie Jing leaned back in his chair and looked out at the green trees and mountains in the distance. As he turned his gaze back, he noticed the woman across the window and saw that she was also looking at him.
When Shen Jiangfu saw that he saw her, she held the vegetable basket in one hand, waved slightly with the other hand, and smiled at him gently.
This was not the first time Xie Jing saw this woman.
They had met before, but she had never said hello to him. They both didn't know each other and couldn't see each other.
Xie Jing had always seldom interacted with the villagers. Because he rarely left the house, the villagers always described him as a freak who could paint.
Shen Jiangfu saw the confusion on his face, greeted him, and walked in without looking at him again.
Xie Jing felt strange, but didn't think too much about it. He raised the brush in his hand and pointed it at the distance. When Shen Jiangfu's back just overlapped with the brush, he began to paint on the drawing paper.
The simple outline of the brush and ink showed the scene that Xie Jing had just seen, and the image of Shen Jiangfu smiling and greeting him was printed on the paper.
Xie Jing looked at the woman in the painting as if he was looking at an unknown wild flower growing by the stream. He was not curious about the name of the flower, nor was he curious about who she was.
Xie Jing put the painting in the drawer.
The drawers were filled with his impromptu paintings, all kinds of them, he didn't even know what he had painted.
He went downstairs to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator on the upper shelf. There was only a bunch of vegetables and five eggs in it, and a small piece of pork in the freezer.
He has to go to town to buy groceries tomorrow.
Xie Jing opened WeChat and found Uncle Kun's WeChat: [Uncle Kun, I'm going to the market at 8:30 tomorrow morning. Are you free?]
Just after I sent it, a voice message came in: "Oh, I'm busy tomorrow. I have to go to a wedding."
After listening to this, Xie Jing replied "OK".
He took out vegetables, pork and two eggs from the refrigerator. When he thought about having to go to Sister Liu's pork shop to wait for the bus tomorrow, Xie Jing got a headache and sighed.
He has to buy a motorcycle for himself.
——
Back in the kitchen, Shen Jiangfu stir-fried some greens, some pineapple and meat, and steamed a bowl of egg, meat and seaweed soup.
During dinner, Shen Jiangfu thought of Xie Jing whom she had just seen, and she wondered how she could meet him in the next few days.
Xie Jing doesn't go out often, usually once a week, to buy vegetables at the town's vegetable market and daily necessities at the supermarket. The rest of the time he spends painting at home or going to the mountains to collect materials.
I wonder if he will go to town tomorrow?
Shen Jiangfu decided to get up early tomorrow to take a look and stock up on some supplies.
There are two months in the summer vacation. During these two months, the variety show "Treasure Hunt" will come to Kuantang Village for recording. At that time, the heroine Liu Chanxin will also appear. As long as she doesn't take Liu Chanxin to a remote house, it will be fine.
The main reason was that Xie Jing was wary of everyone, so even if she wanted to repay him, she couldn't. She had to wait and see. At worst, she could try to live longer. If he didn't start a family and was still living alone, she would help with his funeral. It would be a perfect "tit-for-tat" and could also be considered as fulfilling the original owner's wish.
"Students, Liu Chanxin and Xie Jing." Shen Jiangfu picked up her chopsticks and ordered two dishes and a soup. "This mission is very simple. Thank Liu Chanxin, protect Xie Jing, and do my job as a teacher well. This life will pass."
Shen Jiangfu finished her soup, cleared the dishes and took them to the kitchen to wash.
She decided to experience retirement life in this world!
——
In the early morning, roosters crow, smoke rises, clouds and mist shroud the distant green mountains, and the sunlight leaking through the clouds shines on the earth.
Shen Jiangfu woke up at six o'clock. Even though it was a holiday, she still went to bed and got up according to her usual schedule.
After washing up, she poured water into the pot, waited for the water to boil, poured the wontons in, and put a steamer on top, intending to steam the corn.
After doing all this, Shen Jiangfu put on her hat and went out to the vegetable garden.
The vegetable garden was at the entrance to the mountain, and it took Shen Jiangfu a minute or two to walk there. As she walked downhill, she glanced at Xie Jing's door. The roses in front of the door were in full bloom.
Xie Jing's gate is an iron gate, just like hers, not the traditional two wooden doors with bolts in the village.
She cultivated eight plots of land in her vegetable garden. A small plot was used to grow sweet potatoes and peppers, another plot was used to grow sunflowers, five of which were in full bloom. The remaining six plots were used to grow some vegetables and melons, all of which were growing well.
Shen Jiangfu carried a watering can and walked into the mountains. There was a small stream there. Before she got there, she heard a "gurgling" sound. Layers of mist floated in front of her eyes. She vaguely saw a person sitting by the stream.
Xie Jing went out early in the morning.
Yesterday morning, he saw wild grapes on the river. Bunches of purple grapes were thrashed down by the vines. A squirrel slid down quickly, grabbed a grape from the vine, and snatched it off. The grape fell into the water, and the squirrel quickly returned to the tree after landing.
This morning he got up specifically to check on the squirrel again, to see if he could see it picking grapes like he did yesterday.
But unfortunately, he didn't see the squirrel, and even the grapes were picked away.
Xie Jing looked at the flowing river. He liked to listen to the sound of water hitting the sand and rocks. This was the only proof that he could feel that he still existed in the silence.
The footsteps were slowly approaching him. Xie Jing stopped writing, turned around and saw the woman from yesterday.
She was wearing a pure black short-sleeved shirt, purple floral trousers, and a large purple floral hat on her head. The color and pattern of the hat were probably different from her trousers. She was carrying a large silver kettle in her hand and wearing green slippers on her feet.
Xie Jing glanced at his feet, a pair of black sneakers.
Watching her slowly approaching him, Xie Jing did not continue to look at her. He closed the sketchbook, closed the chair, and prepared to leave.
Shen Jiangfu opened the kettle in her hand and placed it in the river, and water flowed into the kettle.
Of course she saw Xie Jing.
He was dressed in black, making his pale face stand out. This was the first time she saw his face clearly. Compared to most men, it was smaller. His aura matched her imagination of a painter, a somewhat unfathomable quality.
Chen Jiangfu squatted by the river, holding the pot with both hands. She found a stone and placed it on the bottom to support the bottom and prevent the water from flowing away. She stood up and greeted Xie Jing, "Good morning."
Xie Jing heard the voice, turned around and nodded to her.
His hands moved faster.
"What a coincidence! Were you painting? Are you going back now that you've finished?" Chen Jiangfu asked him with a smile.
"Yeah." Xie Jing folded the chair and nodded again.
Seeing that he was avoiding her, Shen Jiangfu still had a smile on her face, "Yeah, I'll go back after watering."
Watching Xie Jing walk away with the chair, Shen Jiangfu turned her attention to the kettle. The kettle was already full of water. Shen Jiangfu lifted the kettle, poured out some water, put the lid on, and returned holding the handle of the kettle with both hands.
Shen Jiangfu exerted all her strength to carry the kettle and walked back to the vegetable garden with a "thump thump" sound.
She still remembered that the pot at home was still on the fire, and after watering the vegetables, she put the kettle back in its place.
Xie Jing went home and put down the things in his hands. He looked at the cactus and roses at the door, and remembered the kettle that the woman was carrying just now. Xie Jing immediately went to get a small bucket and fill it with water from the faucet.
It's time to water his flowers.
It was already past seven o'clock, and the sunlight from afar shone on the flowers at the door. After Xie Jing filled the water, he took a plastic red spoon and began to water the flowers.
Over there, Shen Jiangfu was worried that the fire at home had not been turned off yet, so she took off her hat and hurriedly climbed the slope towards home.
Xie Jing saw this scene while watering the roses. He first saw the purple floral hat swaying up and down, and then he saw a calm and gentle face, which was the expression he had always seen on her face.
The smile last night and the smile just now were something he had never seen before.
When Chen Jiangfu was going uphill, she saw Xie Jing watering the flowers. The red and black contrasted with each other. She suddenly remembered what that puzzling thing was.
A sense of mystery.
The mysterious feeling around Xie Jing.
Chen Jiangfu's impression of Xie Jing is the same as that of everyone else in the village: he stayed at home painting after graduating from high school, had an adoptive father who died of depression by jumping into the river, and didn't like talking to people.
Shen Jiangfu didn't look at him all the time, occasionally looking forward, looking down, and quickening her pace. When she was about to reach a position where she could no longer see him, Shen Jiangfu couldn't help but look back.
In the sunlight, the face looked even whiter. In his hand, he held a red plastic spoon, its color even brighter than a red rose. When she saw him, he was also standing quietly.
She saw his eyes looking at her.
This time, Shen Jiangfu saw not wariness but helplessness on his face.
Xie Jing didn't expect Shen Jiangfu to look back. Before he could look away from her, she caught his gaze.
Shen Jiangfu looked at Xie Jing's unnatural expression. She raised the hat in her hand and waved it slowly, a smile on her face.
People who live next to each other are neighbors, so it is normal for neighbors to greet each other when they meet.
Xie Jing saw the smiling face through the V-shaped cactus branches growing in the pot. Because the smile was so bright and sincere, he felt a sense of urgency in his heart, so he tried to smile. But because he hadn't smiled in a long time, the upward curve of his mouth was almost gone. He felt unnatural and just nodded at her.
Only when he could no longer see her did Xie Jing focus his attention on the roses.
He knew that his behavior just now seemed rude and cold, but he didn't like people and things that were overly enthusiastic. If he responded with the same enthusiasm, it would only cause more entanglement, so he could only deal with it simply.
After watering the flowers, Xie Jing stood at the door. Almost every one of the dozen or so pots of roses was in full bloom. After a while, he walked over to the cactus and picked up the shovel next to it to loosen the soil.
While loosening the soil, Xie Jing thought: This woman is a little strange.
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