The sun climbed up to the roof, and the light poured into the house through the window panes.
The mannequin was wearing a new winter coat, and the curled tape measure fell halfway from the sewing machine table. The metal-edged ruler head hung in the air, with numbers marked on it. The shadow fell on the ground and was stretched.
The whole courtyard was very quiet, only the jujube tree was shaking the few remaining withered leaves in the autumn wind. The roots of the leaves fell off the branches, swaying and falling, drifting into the stone trough with the wind, and stained with the undried water at the bottom of the trough.
Suddenly, the sun hid in the clouds, and the light in the window pane disappeared instantly.
The gate of the yard was pushed open from the outside, and a foot stepped in.
The footsteps were not heavy. He walked from the main gate to the second gate, passed the hanging flower gate and walked along the corridor to the big red wooden door of the main room. The wooden door was pushed open, and the sun showed its face. A ray of light just hit the threshold and illuminated the dust in the air.
After a moment, the person who went in came out of the main room again and closed the door gently. The sunlight hit the door panel and illuminated the glass behind the carved wooden grid.
This time he did not walk along the corridor again, but went down the stairs directly, crossed the yard and went out the second door.
After the creaking sound of the door, Ruan Xi woke up from a deep sleep and felt the light. She buried her face in the quilt. After a moment, she pulled down the quilt to reveal a confused face, and stared for a while.
Then she reached out her hand and fumbled around the pillow for a while, picked up her pocket watch and took a look. It was almost ten o'clock.
She held the pocket watch in her hand and dropped it on the quilt, then lay down and closed her eyes for a while.
The sleepiness in her head was less, Ruan Xi put the pocket watch back on the pillow, lifted the quilt and got up, put her slightly messy long hair behind her head, took the toothbrush, toothpaste, washbasin and towel, and then picked up the hot water bottle and went to the yard to wash up.
It was late autumn now, and the sun, which had just risen, was hanging in the sky. The bright sunlight poured into the yard, and when it shone on her body, she felt only warm, without any heat.
Ruan Xi turned on the faucet to brush her teeth. She put toothpaste on the toothbrush and put it in her mouth. The minty fragrance of the toothpaste and the coolness of the water instantly made her sober up a lot. The daze from just waking up was less than three points.
The toothbrush rubbed dense and white foam on her teeth. She held the toothbrush and brushed for a while. Her eyes raised from the sink and inadvertently fell on the door of the west room. Then, while brushing, she suddenly stopped brushing her teeth.
It seemed that her mind finally woke up completely and started to work. Some scenes from last night suddenly jumped into her mind. She looked at the door of the west room for a while, and then turned her head unconsciously to look at the main room. She was a little dazed subconsciously -
last night... was Ling Yao sleepwalking... or was she dreaming?
It would have been fine if I hadn't remembered it just now because I was sleepy, but now that I suddenly remembered it, the scene at that time kept lingering in my mind. Of course, in addition to the picture, there is also the unusually clear and soft touch on my lips.
In addition to the strange softness, there is also coolness, as if it is filled with the air conditioning of the late night.
Thinking of this, Ruan Xi came back to her senses, and quickly brushed her teeth, rinsed her mouth and washed her face.
After washing her face and returning to the house, she went to the room and randomly found a black rubber band and tied up half of her hair. She had her hair permed, tied up the upper half on top of her head, and left the lower half draped.
She doesn't look her age. Even though she has been in the city for seven or eight years, she has also followed the fashion trend and had her hair permed like Ruan Jie. But she still looks like a deer running out of the deep forest. She is small and smart, and her eyes seem to be able to speak. After tying
her hair, she went to sit down at the table to eat. On the round table were the fried dough sticks and rice porridge she had just bought. She didn't know who bought them for her. Anyway, they were all family members, so there was no need to be polite. They just ate.
Today is Sunday. Ruan Dabao went to the store with Ruan Changsheng and Qian Chuan. If Ling Yao was not at home, he must have gone to work overtime at the company. She was the only one left at home, just like any other workday.
Ruan Xi naturally didn't go out to play alone. As usual, she sat down at the workbench after breakfast to work. In addition to the new styles of Rose Court every season, she was actually designing other clothes.
Her ideas might be a bit far-sighted. There were still many restrictions in the 1980s, and people's living standards were still very poor. Everyone was generally very poor, so she planned to only develop affordable clothing for Rose Court.
When the market economy developed greatly in the 1990s, all walks of life were hot, and clothing design would have a place at that time. At that time, professional designers would be recruited to set up a design department and create a mid-to-high-end clothing brand.
She didn't have the ability or energy to recruit students to train designers. Designers are different from garment workers. This is a professional and systematic course. It is not something that can be learned casually. It must be trained by professional colleges.
In addition to creating a mid- to high-end brand, she also wants to increase her personal fame and create her own high-end brand. Business must be done, money must be made, and this two-life dream must naturally be realized.
Regardless of success or failure, one must always dare to dream.
After working at home all day, Ruan Xi did not eat lunch because she had a late breakfast. In the evening, she got up to stretch her muscles, rode her bike to the vegetable market to buy some vegetables, and after returning, she picked, washed, and cooked dinner.
While she was concentrating on cooking, Qian Chuan rode home. As
usual, she went into the yard and went to the kitchen to work with Ruan Xi, chatting while cutting and cooking. After several dishes were cooked and placed on the table, Ruan Changsheng and Ruan Dabao came back.
In addition to the two of them, Ling Yao also went into the yard.
He held Ruan Dabao in his hand, as if he was Ruan Dabao's biological father.
After washing up in the morning, Ruan Xi didn't think about what happened last night. Now seeing Ling Yao coming back, seeing his eyebrows and his face, she suddenly remembered it again, and her heart couldn't help but skip a beat,
but she didn't show anything, and did what she should do as usual.
Ling Yao also took Ruan Dabao to wash his hands as if nothing had happened.
After washing their hands, they sat down at the table to eat. Ruan Changsheng talked to Ling Yao: "I see you are very busy these days. Today is Sunday and you didn't rest. It seems that you came back very late last night. What time did you come back?"
When asked this question, Ling Yao glanced at Ruan Xi, and their eyes happened to meet.
Ruan Xi didn't look at him for long, and quickly lowered her eyes to eat.
Ling Yao said, "A little after one in the middle of the night."
Ruan Changsheng added, "Xiaoxi also went to bed late last night. She insisted on waiting a little longer when I asked her to go to bed early."
Ling Yao nodded, "I know."
Ruan Changsheng: "Was she still awake when you came back last night?"
Ling Yao: "She fell asleep on the workbench."
Hearing this, Ruan Xi cleared his throat, put a piece of meat in Ling Yao's bowl, and blocked his mouth, "Hurry up and eat."
So it wasn't that he was sleepwalking last night, nor was it that she was dreaming, but that he really kissed her.
She was still confused about what happened last night and didn't know what happened. She only remembered that she saw his eyes were red in a daze, as if he had been wronged, and he kissed her without asking why.
Ling Yao looked at her, as if searching for something in her eyes.
But Ruan Xi didn't look at him much, and hurriedly changed the subject and said, "Uncle and aunt, is the business in the store good recently?"
Qian Chuan nodded, "The clothes you make are beautiful, and the business has always been good."
Then he talked about the things related to making and selling clothes.
After dinner, Ling Yao took the initiative to clean up the dishes and wash the dishes. Even though he didn't come back to eat together every night, he didn't eat for free. He paid when he was supposed to, and did all the work he was supposed to do.
Ruan Changsheng and Qian Chuan have always had a tacit understanding. As long as Ling Yao eats at home, they will take Ruan Dabao out for a walk after dinner to help digest the food, leaving the space at home for Ruan Xi and Ling Yao.
Ruan Xi sat at the table and hesitated for a while. Before she decided whether to help him clean up the kitchen, she heard Ling Yao's voice coming from outside, "Xixi, help me get all the chopsticks over."
Ruan Xi said, got up, picked up the chopsticks, held them in her hand, and turned to go out.
After going outside and walking down the steps to the sink, she glanced at Ling Yao and whispered, "Don't call me Xixi anymore. Call me sister."
Ling Yao took the chopsticks from her hand, turned on the tap, and washed the dishes while saying, "One year older is not considered older, and you look younger than me, so it's more appropriate to call me Xixi."
Ruan Xi insisted, "One day older is still sister."
Ling Yao turned to look at her, and after a moment responded, "Okay, sister."
"..."
After he finished calling her, Ruan Xi felt that calling her sister was worse than calling her Xixi. But she asked for it herself, so she naturally didn't say anything else and turned to go to the main room. But as soon as she stepped onto the steps, she came back and stood by the sink looking at Ling Yao.
She wanted to ask him what happened last night, but before she could ask, Ling Yao asked her, "Do you always carry the pocket watch with my name on it?"
Hearing this question, Ruan Xi was slightly stunned.
She didn't always carry it with her. In the 1970s, it was not easy to take it out, so she kept it in a mooncake box. It was only when she moved out that she adjusted the time and took it out.
She looked at Ling Yao and always felt that if she answered no, he might be sad for a long time, and maybe even cry like he did last night, so she hesitated and replied, "Well... yes..."
Unexpectedly, when she answered yes, his eyes turned red in an instant.
He smiled with red eyes and said to Ruan Xi, "I know."
Ruan Xi: "..."
What do you know?
Before she could say anything else, Ling Yao rinsed the washed dishes and went into the kitchen.
Ruan Xi stood by the sink and watched him enter the kitchen, still thinking in her mind - what on earth did he know?
Ling Yao was very busy every day for the next week, and he would come back very late at night. Sometimes Ruan Xi had already fallen asleep when he came back, and sometimes Ruan Xi was still reading or working under the lamp.
On Saturday night, Ling Yao got home at midnight again.
Ruan Xi also stayed up all night, and was thinking about modifying the small details on the clothes when she heard two knocks on the door. She thought she had heard it wrong and ignored it, but she heard two more knocks a little later.
Ling Yao knocked on the door twice outside, but no one came to open it, so he leaned against the door, lowered his head, closed his eyes, and didn't knock again.
Ruan Xi came out of the main room after hearing the second knock on the door. She went to the front door and muttered who had bolted it while pulling the bolt to open the door. As soon as the door opened, the person leaning against it fell in.
Ruan Xi subconsciously grabbed Ling Yao and said, "I don't know who bolted the door."
Ling Yao grabbed her arm and stood up. He turned around and suddenly hugged Ruan Xi in his arms, pressing his whole body on her.
Ruan Xi was a little unsteady and took two steps back, her back against the screen wall.
"..."
Come again?
This time she was sober. Ruan Xi didn't say anything. She just felt her heart heaving uncontrollably. She was wrapped in Ling Yao's arms. She could feel his heartbeat and the hot temperature on his body through his coat.
Not knowing what was going on, Ruan Xi did not push him away. After a long while, she asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Why did he look so pitiful and in need of care and comfort?
After a moment of silence, Ling Yao whispered in her ear, "Xixi, I can't help it."
He had not planned to be too hasty. He had been happy every day and was quite content after moving in for more than two months. But that night, when he saw Ruan Xi holding the pocket watch he had given her, he could not control himself.
The next day, she said that she always carried it with her, and some thoughts in his mind became more and more restless.
Ruan Xi's heartbeat quickened, and her ears were a little hot. She wanted to push Ling Yao away, but she was too weak to do so. She wanted to step back, but she was pressed against the screen wall and could not move back, so she had to hold her breath and let him hold her.
He is a grown man now, not a little boy. Ruan Xi naturally can't hold his hand without thinking too much like when she was a child. Especially when he said such ambiguous words, she naturally couldn't stay calm.
Her mind couldn't help but think of the scene and feeling when he kissed her last week. It was almost like she was dying. Ruan Xi exhaled softly and said, "Did you...drink? Or...have a high fever...are you confused?"
Ling Yao whispered in her ear: "I like you. I have liked you since I was thirteen years old."
The hot breath swept over her ears, and the heat in her ears instantly climbed up her face.
Ruan Xi couldn't suppress her heartbeat because of his noise. After a moment, she turned her head to look at him. The night covered the redness on her eyebrows and face. Ling Yao raised his head slightly and looked at her with his brows lowered. The distance between their faces was only an inch, their breaths intertwined, and it was so hot that it was on fire.
Just when Ling Yao was about to put his lips down, Ruan Xi suddenly raised her hand to block his forehead.
Sure enough!
Fever!!
No wonder I feel hot everywhere!!!
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