moss and soil
"You know my Xixi?" The old man chuckled. He hadn't expected that his granddaughter, who had only been back in school for a year, would be recognized by people now. She had inherited his good interpersonal skills.
"Xixi, which Xixi?" Jin Xilu widened her eyes and immediately asked again. Her reaction was greater than anyone expected. After Song Yanan patted her on the shoulder and realized that she had something to say, Jin Xilu suppressed her doubts and confusion and listened to her in silence.
“I remember now. Don’t tell me my mom thinks you look familiar. Did you run a farm before? Maybe you did! And sell flowers and seedlings or something.” Song Yanan felt everyone’s eyes on her, especially Jin Xilu’s eyes, which had changed from confusion to complex self-doubt. She ignored it and continued speaking slowly.
"Master He, you must be me. When I was little, Grandma Meiling took me to the farm. There were so many flowers and plants that I'd never seen before." Meiling was the name of Jin Xilu's grandmother. Of course, Song Yanan had never been there. She said this on purpose to try and get information out of He Quanshui.
“Yes, yes, little girl, you have a good memory. I used to run a breeding farm. Back then, most of the flowers that people in town grew in their yards came from me.” He Quanshui recalled his hard but fulfilling life in his early years, his tone filled with pride and nostalgia.
"Did you come back and open another flower shop? I saw that a couple of years ago, a flower shop opened in the West Street Market, and a lot of people liked to buy flowers there, right?"
Song Yanan also found it strange; if Jiang Yilin wasn't going to help Jin Xilu find someone, he should have just said he wouldn't help at all.
But he not only agreed, but also quickly helped her find it. But why did he give Jin Xilu the wrong answer and lead her astray? Today, Song Yanan and the others were lucky to meet the real florist, and they were able to verify Jin Xilu's guess in front of her.
“I didn’t open it, and I don’t know that owner on West Street. Besides, I stopped doing this business a long time ago. I don’t have the ability anymore. Now I’m bringing my granddaughter back to school.” Li Quan subconsciously tried to avoid talking about the past. Just as he said, he no longer has the ability. He can’t grow flowers anymore, and he won’t sell them anymore. Thinking of that person makes him feel disgusted.
Jin Xilu understood. From the moment she returned, Jiang Yilin knew what she was looking for. He didn't want her to find it, so he deliberately misled her this time.
Why? Jin Xilu couldn't understand. Did Jiang Yilin not want to break the curse or leave this place?
That's enough. Asking any further would be strange. Jin Xilu was afraid of arousing Li Quan's suspicion. Fortunately, Aunt Song promptly and sincerely continued the conversation. Song Yanan, upon hearing this, only wished she could grow two legs again and sneak away in her wheelchair. She dared not utter another word.
"Exactly, I really envy you having a granddaughter, and such a smart and clever one at that. Unlike my family, I only have one daughter, who's so wild. She doesn't want to go on blind dates or get married, it's driving me crazy!" Aunt Song said, hands on her hips, looking at her daughter who was in a cast and still so unruly. She was furious.
"Master Li, come for lunch today and bring Xixi along too. I haven't seen her in a long time."
After Aunt Song insisted, Li Quan couldn't keep refusing, so he agreed and planned to take her back to pick up his granddaughter.
On the other side, Kim Hee-ro pushed Song Yanan in her wheelchair to the bottom of the stairs. There was a moment of silence. Finally, Song Yanan put her hand on the back of Kim Hee-ro's hand and spoke first.
"What do you think now? I don't need to say more about Jiang Yilin's reputation in our town. You should have felt it these past few days since you came back. Everyone in the town is genuinely good to him."
Song Yanan sighed as soon as she opened her mouth, and then looked at Jin Xilu's expression.
Jin Xilu didn't know whether she was laughing at herself or worrying more about Jiang Yilin. She remembered that when she first talked with Song Yanan after returning, Song Yanan reminded her that the town had changed a lot and there were more things she didn't understand.
Kim Hee-ro is a very strange person. She is the kind of person who you might think is difficult to get along with at first glance, but as soon as she opens her mouth you will know that you are wrong. Kim Hee-ro has a very soft heart. She just rarely speaks up. She transforms herself into a butterfly cocoon, which seems to be extremely hard but can actually be dissolved by water.
"Jin Xilu, you make your own judgment. I don't know Jiang Yilin as well as you do."
Seeing that Jin Xilu remained silent, Song Yanan had no choice but to continue speaking, because her attitude towards Jiang Lianyin was the same as the children in the town's attitude towards Jiang Yilin. The heirs of the Jiang family had this kind of bewitching power, making everyone love them.
"Is it possible that Jiang Yilin doesn't want to give up what he has now?" Song Yanan still didn't say anything definitively. She had grown up and was no longer the little girl who always talked about liking someone, forever, and invincibility.
She's now the most disliked old woman in town, according to her mother. It's hilarious.
It's rare that Song Yanan still thinks Jin Xilu is the same beautiful young girl who was so fierce before. She knows that Jin Xilu's outer cocoon can break through itself at any time, and she has absolute control over her own life.
Jin Xilu didn't stay for lunch because Song Yanan's leg injury made it inconvenient for her to go upstairs. After helping to make up the bed in the empty room downstairs, she left first. In any case, she still wanted to hear what Jiang Yilin had to say. There was also something she hadn't figured out yet: why the orange cats and the others had led her to Xixi's side.
It wasn't Jiang Yilin who instigated it; there were others observing in secret, so she didn't want to involve Li Quan and Xixi for the time being.
She stood in her own small courtyard, but was facing the Jiang family's courtyard. After looking at it for three seconds, she walked to the Jiang family's gate. When she got there, she hesitated and stood there for a few seconds, feeling that she hadn't figured out how to face Jiang Yilin.
The Jiang family's door opened from the inside; it could only have been done by a human, either a person or a ghost. Only Jiang Yilin remained in the Jiang family.
Jiang Yilin was pale and walked very quietly in his linen slippers. He was only wearing a simple shirt and vest, a preppy style that suited him well and softened his fierceness. However, his expression was not exactly well-behaved. At first glance, he looked like a sick young master who was not in good health and difficult to take care of.
Jin Xilu was a little dazed. Before she could speak, she heard him pause, followed by several coughs, sometimes loud and sometimes soft.
Jiang Yilin covered his cough with his hand, avoiding Jin Xilu's concerned gaze, and glanced at her while catching his breath.
Kim Hee-ro was wearing a black trench coat, and her blue hair was obviously not dyed well. She had washed it a few times and the color had faded a lot, and now it was a bit green. He found it a little funny to think that Kim Hee-ro was blocking his door with her hair, which she hated the most. His mood would unconsciously improve whenever he saw Kim Hee-ro.
Kim Hee-ro hates green, but he happens to like green the most. In the past, in order to make Kim Hee-ro like him more, he never wore green clothes, even though green suited him very well.
Now he also hopes that Kim Hee-ro will like him a little more.
"Excuse me, I need to open the door." Thinking of the beautiful dream he had last night about Kim Hee-ro, Jiang Yilin's face flushed unnaturally, but when faced with Kim Hee-ro standing in front of him in reality, he didn't know what to say for a moment.
It wasn't "You're here," but rather "Make way."
Jin Xilu stood still, refusing to budge. Jiang Yilin paused for a moment, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Jin Xilu, who clearly had something to say. Her bright almond-shaped eyes looked at him with obvious melancholy and confusion. He couldn't resist and subconsciously took a step back, still wondering what was wrong with her. His hand was still on the door frame, and because of his stepping back, she misunderstood that he wanted to close the door.
"Jiang Yilin, wait a minute..." Jin Xilu didn't say the word "I" out loud. She didn't want to be too humble in front of the person she liked. Xixi's words to her, the kiss last night, and the truth this morning kept swirling in her mind, knocking on her brain.
She thought she'd better be smart and say something to ease the awkwardness between them, so she put aside last night's incoherent kiss.
Neither of them mentioned the ambiguous kiss; one felt guilty, and the other felt he couldn't hold onto it, so he didn't expect it.
"What are you waiting for?" Jiang Yilin released his hand from the door, gave a forced smile that seemed insincere, but he was actually enjoying it. He turned and strolled leisurely into the yard, his tone flat, "If you want to come in, hurry up and close the door."
Jiang Yilin didn't lead her into the living room, but instead led her into the kitchen, rummaging through drawers and cupboards looking for noodles while telling Jin Xilu to leave wherever she wanted.
"You haven't had lunch yet?" Jin Xilu knew she didn't need to ask; he must have slept until this time. She didn't want to bring up the question right away. Deep down, she longed to be with him quietly like this, without arguments or suspicions.
Jiang Yilin finally found noodles and carrots in the cupboard, and upon hearing her voice, brandished the kitchen knife, "You ate them?"
"have eaten."
Jiang Yilin chopped the carrot in half, and without even looking up, said, "Liar."
“Okay, Song Yanan invited me to have lunch at her house this morning, but I declined.” Jin Xilu spoke more slowly than usual, and she didn’t deliberately stare at Jiang Yilin.
But the way he sliced the carrots was so much like a man wielding a large knife that she couldn't ignore it, so she couldn't help but remind him, "Be careful."
He didn't look at Jin Xilu, but just responded with a calm hum from his throat. He put down the kitchen knife and finally let go of the carrot. He rolled up his sleeves and started cracking eggs. Fortunately, his cracking movements weren't too strange. As he cracked the eggs, he muttered to himself, "I'm starving."
"You...didn't you eat out last night?" Jin Xilu watched him turn on the gas stove and start putting noodles into the pot. During this process, he seemed to ignore her and didn't look at her once.
"Eat? Didn't you eat? Anyway, I'm starving right now." Jiang Yilin said lazily as he put the noodles into the pot and stirred them. It wasn't a real answer, but more like he was parroting what Jin Xilu said. He always liked to repeat Jin Xilu's words over and over again.
Later, Kim Hee-ro asked some more questions, and he was very patient, but for every question she asked, he would give an unrelated answer.
She asked, "What kind of noodles are you cooking?"
"Chopping vegetables."
"Need any help? There are so many dishes."
"Raising rabbits."
Just as the water in the pot began to boil, he started to add green vegetables and carrots to the surface. The boiling sound was loud and bubbling. When the lid of the pot was lifted, large swathes of thick white steam rose up, engulfing the distance between the two of them.
A few seconds later, the white mist dissipated, and he looked at himself. Kim Hee-ro was also looking at him. They were cautious but still felt a jolt for a second. Their panicked eye contact quickly disappeared into their bewildered and helpless gazes.
Jiang Yilin, realizing he was trying to cover up his mistake, put the lid down and picked it up again. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time; this time, the thick fog that could have enveloped them both was gone. He could only pretend to bend down and scoop out noodles, thinking he had concealed his true intentions well.
But Kim Hee-ro still caught the tenderness that flickered in his eyes. What was he regretting, and what was he trying to hide?
But after thinking it over, the most ridiculous one was herself. It was only a few seconds later that Kim Hee-ro realized that she was also hiding. Even though the truth was right in front of her, she was still unwilling to ask the question, "Why did you lie to me?"
They were silent for a good five or six minutes, even their previous boring conversation stopped, until Jiang Yilin turned off the gas stove and instructed Jin Xilu to go find two bowls.
"Okay." At least it's not too bad. At least now, one of these two bowls of noodles is for her. Kim Hee-ro thought to herself.
She turned her back and walked towards the cupboard against the kitchen wall. She had just bent down to pick up two porcelain bowls and hadn't even stood up when she felt a sharp pain in her eardrums, followed by a deafening thud, as if something had crashed from the sky to the ground, shattering the peace of the first day of the Lunar New Year.
"What's that sound!" Jin Xilu had just put down her bowl and turned around to ask Jiang Yilin, but she only saw him run out the door. She could only see half of his silhouette as he stepped out the door.
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