Chapter 201 Your Appearance
"Yes, Auntie. I'm Lin Zhou, hello!"
Lin Zhou rubbed his fingers awkwardly and greeted Li Aiying with a red face.
Li Aiying came over with a broom and saw that he looked uneasy. He no longer seemed as calm and confident as he was on the stage just now.
Obviously, the boy was nervous!
Realizing this, Li Aiying's expression didn't change at all. She continued to look at Lin Zhou with a gentle expression and spoke to him with a smile: "Xinxin has troubled you a lot recently. I'm really sorry to have caused you trouble!"
"No, no, Auntie, you're so polite! We're classmates, and I'm just doing you a favor. It's not a bother at all. You're so polite!"
Lin Zhou waved his hands repeatedly, replying hurriedly! As he said this, his awkwardness had spread from his face to his body. A second ago, he was just blushing, but now he was already "dancing with joy"! He didn't know what he was gesturing at, but he just couldn't control his hands! If he didn't move twice, it seemed that it would not be enough to deal with this awkward atmosphere.
Just when he was embarrassed and didn't know how to continue the conversation, Tian Xin came out.
She changed into a blue dress and paired it with comfortable flat shoes. When she walked over, her feet were like the wind, and her temperament was as good as ever.
Tian Xin saw Lin Zhou standing in front of her mother, rubbing his fingers uncomfortably, and walked over to break the awkward atmosphere.
"Mom, this is Lin Zhou, the one you've met before, my classmate!"
Li Aiying nodded: "I know!"
"Uh... Mom, um, the factory manager asked me to take him to the stone factory, so we..."
"Don't be in a hurry!" Li Aiying casually put the broom under the gatehouse, said a few words to the women who were cleaning at the door, turned around and walked up to the two of them.
"Your classmate helped you so much, and you didn't even bother to treat him to a meal to express your gratitude. If I hadn't happened to run into him today, he would have accused you of being ignorant of etiquette!"
Li Aiying changed her gentle expression and criticized Tian Xin with a slight anger. Then, without waiting for Tian Xin to react, she became gentle again: "Lin Zhou, don't rush to leave later. Let Tian Xin take you home for dinner!"
“…”
“…”
Lin Zhou's uneasiness reached its peak upon hearing this, but he feigned composure and immediately replied with a smile: "Uh...is this...appropriate, Auntie?"
"What's inappropriate about this? You kid, I've troubled you so many times, you deserve a meal!" Li Aiying glanced at Tian Xin without hesitation and said, "Xinxin, bring Lin Zhou back later! I'm going back to cook first!"
After she finished speaking, she turned and left, leaving the two of them confused.
Tian Xin shouted at her back: "No, Mom, we still have to go..."
Before she could finish shouting, Li Aiying had already walked out of the alley.
Tian Xin was stunned for a moment: What's going on? So...he's going back to eat?
"No, what's going on? What did you just say to my mom?"
Tian Xin crossed her arms and glanced at Lin Zhou: "Did you do that on purpose?"
Lin Zhou continued rubbing his fingers unconsciously, with a mysterious smile on his face: "No! I didn't say anything."
"No?" Tian Xin pinched her twitching fingers, turned around and said with a smile: "Then why are you so nervous?"
"I can't explain it?" Lin Zhou hesitated for a few seconds, looked at her and said: "Maybe... I'm excited!"
"Excited? What's there to be excited about? I'm telling you, it's just a meal. Don't..."
"What else?" Lin Zhou turned around and said with a smile: "An ugly daughter-in-law has to meet her parents-in-law. My mother-in-law has invited me on her own initiative. You can't let me be mute, right?"
"Hey—" Tian Xin was instantly choked and couldn't hold it anymore. She raised her hand and slapped him on the back. Then she glared at him: "What mother-in-law? Don't talk nonsense. I think you did this on purpose today, didn't you?"
"No! You saw it just now. It was Auntie who brought it up. I didn't say anything!"
"Then what is this?" Tian Xin pointed at the flowers in her arms and asked him: "If you hadn't just said something nonsense in front of so many people..."
Before he finished speaking, the women sweeping the floor at the door looked at them and giggled.
Realizing the noise was too loud, she quickly pulled Lin Zhou toward the main road. As they walked, she continued, "If you hadn't just said that in front of so many people, would my mom have thought too much? And you still say you didn't mean it!"
"What did I say?" Lin Zhou asked deliberately, looking at the hand she was holding.
"Just now..." As soon as she said this, she realized that something was wrong and stopped.
"Speak!"
Lin Zhou smiled, with a look of satisfaction on his face.
She paused, turned around and glared at him: "Hiss - Lin Zhou, I noticed that you have changed a little today!"
"What's changed?"
"You've become so shameless! You can even say such things! No, why didn't I notice this about you before?"
"Thank you for the compliment!"
Lin Zhou said this with a smile, then walked around her and moved forward.
“…”
Haha… He was right? Was this still the blushing Lin Zhou she knew?
"Which way are you going?" Lin Zhou's voice came from the front.
"Right!" She quickly chased after him: "Hey - no, please explain clearly!"
“…”
When the two came back from the stone factory, Li Aiying was preparing food in the kitchen and asked Tian Xin to take Lin Zhou to sit down first.
Lin Zhou was polite when he first came to visit, and he had prepared various gifts in advance. This time, even if Li Aiying didn't mention it, he had this plan.
Tian Xin's home was similar in layout to the other villagers'; it was a common farmyard. While the decorations weren't particularly impressive, it was kept clean and tidy. This was her mother's habit, and she shared it as well.
As soon as she entered the room, Tian Xin went to find a glass vase to put the flowers in. Lin Zhou was sitting there bored, and when he looked around, he was immediately attracted by the old photos on the wall. He walked over and looked at them for a long time.
Old photos from the 1980s are all in black and white, and most families would take some photos of their children as souvenirs.
Looking at Tian Xin, who had two pigtails when she was a girl, Lin Zhou couldn't suppress the corners of his mouth again: "Were you so cute when you were a child? You look very different from now!"
"Nonsense!" Tian Xin laughed as she arranged the flowers. "It's been over a decade, so a lot has definitely changed!"
"Tsk tsk tsk, she was still so cute when she was a kid!" Lin Zhou said, smacking his lips.
She was a bit amused and said angrily, "Alright, alright, stop looking at it. It's all black history! Come and sit down!"
On the table lay a golden bouquet of flowers, ripped from the bouquet. Tian Xin, with scissors, cut the base of each flower branch into a horseshoe shape, then placed them in glass vases according to their height and size.
"So professional?" Lin Zhou looked at her skillful and nimble movements and was immediately curious: "It doesn't look like this is your first time!"
"Of course not, this is my life-saving skill." Tian Xin looked intently at the flowers in the vase and casually asked, "But how did you know I like sunflowers?"
"Just a wild guess!" Lin Zhou replied, "As long as you like it! But why do you say it's a life-saving skill? When did you learn flower arrangement?"
"It was a long time ago!" Tian Xin said lightly.
There was only one flower left in her hand, but the bottle was too small to fit in. She put down the scissors and looked at it for a few seconds, then said, "Okay!" and placed the flower on the corner of the table.
The sunlight was just right at this location. Lin Zhou's gaze followed her and he saw the sketch portrait framed by Tian Xin standing on the corner of the table.
Now, it stands beside the vase of flowers, complementing the photos on the wall. Although different, they complement each other perfectly!
"You still have it?" Lin Zhou asked her, pointing at the frame. "It's still in such good condition!"
"Um!"
"It's not a good drawing," Lin Zhou said, turning around. "I wasn't calm that day! I'll try drawing another one someday!"
"No, I think it's great!" Tian Xin smiled and said, "My mom likes it too!"
She smiled warmly, her eyes clear as she admired the flowers and pictures on the corner of the table opposite.
Lin Zhou recalled the situation when he painted this picture in the park that day: he hadn't seen her for a long time, his heart was pounding, he was absent-minded the whole day, and there was only a figure in his mind.
When he painted her, he had completely forgotten the skills and techniques, and relied entirely on the impression of her in his mind to depict her appearance with just a few strokes.
It was not until he saw the painting again that he realized that his heart was not calm enough that day! The same was true now!
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