Chapter 53
"Hey, Xiao Xia is filming a video again," Xiao Zhang said as he passed by the river with a bag of express deliveries. He saw Xia Lanzheng appear right there, strolling and filming the video. "Where are you going to send it? Can I be in the shot?"
Xia Lanzheng laughed and turned the camera, capturing the lower half of Xiao Zhang's face and his go-kart. "Of course, Brother Zhang, you're here early today."
Xiao Zhang quickly spit out the cigarette in his mouth, stretched out his hand from the car window, and gave a thumbs-up: "I wonder what Sister Jiang bought again, Lao Duo sent it by express. I will deliver it to her this morning when I am not busy."
Sister Jiang, whose real name is Jiang Yuan, is Xia Lanzheng's landlord. She's single and has a little girl in elementary school. She opened a B&B in the ancient town.
Xia Lanzheng helped pick up two packages and walked with Xiao Zhang to the B&B. The mornings were cool this season, and even a bit chilly near the river.
It was just past eight o'clock and the coffee shop had not yet opened. Jiang Yuan and two other tenants were grinding coffee beans in the shop, while her daughter Jiang Nian was watching cartoons nearby.
Xiao Zhang has a loud voice and Jiang Yuan heard his voice before seeing him. She called out "Xiao Zhang" from a distance, and Jiang Nian came running over and circled around Xia Lanzheng.
"Brother, why didn't you take a video today?" Jiang Nian asked.
"Brother is busy," Xia Lanzheng laughed. Unable to free her hands, she bent down and let her take the phone from her coat. "Do you want to help?"
Jiang Nian cheered, took the phone, and ran around the yard, the camera could only capture the adult's waist.
"Want to have breakfast?" Jiang Yuan took the express box and shouted at the top of her voice amid the rumbling sound of grinding beans, "Xiaolongbao, or a sandwich!"
Xia Lanzheng picked up a bun and called out, "Sister Jiang, is there anyone selling osmanthus cake nearby?"
Jiang Yuan thought for a moment and said, "No, there are several places that sell steamed buns. If you want some, I can call someone to deliver it to you."
Xia Lanzheng shook her head and said forget it, and just asked casually.
The grinder stopped working, and after two seconds of silence, Jiang Nian's voice came from the door: "Xiao Zhang! I'll tell you a secret, my mother's friend is a big star!"
Xia Lanzheng ate two buns, got up quietly, and went inside to clean up the dishes.
Xiao Zhang laughed exaggeratedly: "Is this true? I don't believe it!"
Jiang Nian looked back and the camera just happened to capture Xia Lanzheng's back. She pointed at him and said, "It's Brother Xia, really!"
The customers in the store laughed and echoed, "We know, we all know. You've told 800 people, it's no longer a secret."
"Jiang Nian!" Jiang Yuan couldn't stand it any longer. She waved at Xiao Zhang, telling him to hurry up and then called Jiang Nian into the house. "You said you weren't feeling well, so I asked for leave. I see you're feeling quite well."
Jiang Nian was dissatisfied and muttered that if Xia Lanzheng had not retrieved the phone in time, all the child's childish words would have been recorded.
The guest started to "separate" the fight, saying, "Sister Jiang, don't be so harsh on the child," and then winked at Jiang Nian.
Xia Lanzheng sat nearby waiting for coffee and took the phone playing the cartoon over: "Come on, keep watching. You didn't even see how the lamb was rescued."
Everyone laughed for a while and said that it was windy outside, and the tourists who came to row the boat today were lucky.
Xia Lanzheng laughed too. He had booked a bamboo raft on the day he first arrived, but encountered a strong wind and almost fell into the water.
He wasn't exactly familiar with Jiang Yuan, a regular customer, but they often sat in the store together, staring blankly at the tourists coming and going.
In fact, everyone who lived here, including Jiang Yuan, should know who he was. He was a striking guy, with a striking natural curly hair, so people were always curious and searched online.
But no one mentioned this. Here, it didn't matter who was who. They didn't even exchange names, they just called each other Xiao Zhang and Xiao Xia.
"Whose phone is ringing?" someone asked.
"Xiao Xia," someone immediately answered, "Xiao Xia, Xiao Xia, your phone is ringing again!"
So everyone saw Xia Lanzheng pick up the phone on the table, look down at it twice, and then take no further action, waiting for it to hang up automatically.
It was nine in the morning. Cheng Lan always called at this time. Perhaps he was filming at a film studio somewhere and only had time to call at this time of day.
But Xia Lanzheng never accepted it once.
The person living across from him is a college student named Zhong Hai. It is said that he is on leave from school and is traveling here.
"Xiao Xia, I counted and you receive four landline calls every day. Why don't you answer any of them?"
Xia Lanzheng stirred the straw to gather the ice cubes together: "If we pick one up, it will never end."
"Are you in debt?" Jiang Yuan had been eavesdropping secretly. She was so shocked that she dropped the measuring cup.
"Mom!" Jiang Nian yelled, "You hit my foot!"
Xia Lanzheng could see clearly that the cup didn't even touch Jiang Nian. He bent down to pick it up and rubbed Jiang Nian's head. "No, if I really owed a debt, I would just run away to the mountains and forests."
"That's right," Jiang Yuan breathed a sigh of relief, "We have quite a lot of customers here."
Zhong Hai shook his head and stopped asking, saying mysteriously, "Then I know the reason."
Xia Lanzheng looked at him and felt confused.
He hasn't said anything yet, what does he know?
Xia Lanzheng casually took out a magazine from the bar, but when she opened it, she saw Cheng Lan's face. She quickly threw it in front of the college student.
"Brother Xia, don't worry," Zhong Hai extended his pinky finger to shake hands with him, "I won't reveal your whereabouts to anyone else."
Xia Lanzheng wanted to end this quickly, so she perfunctorily pulled him. Jiang Nian saw this and wanted to join in, but when he ran over, he accidentally knocked over Zhong Hai's matcha latte.
Cheng Lan's face suddenly turned green. Xia Lanzheng wanted to laugh but held it back. She spread out the book and placed it on the windowsill to bask in the sun.
"Brother, we're having a barbecue in the yard tonight, do you want to come?"
After the exchange just now, Zhong Hai felt very close to Xia Lanzheng and even forgot to ask her last name.
"Okay," Xia Lanzheng agreed. "Sister Jiang, I won't go out to play today. I'll help out in the store!"
Xia Lanzheng didn't hear what Jiang Yuan said in reply because Jiang Nian and Zhong Hai started arguing, each voice louder than the last.
They had a simple lunch in the store at noon, during which time the phone rang again, with the note showing Lu Yanqing.
This person has a regular schedule and is polite. He doesn't disturb others during their rest in the morning and will only call during lunch break.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, which was probably the time for Su Cheng, who had a reversed day and night cycle, to get up, the phone rang as expected, but the ringtone was drowned out by the reminder from the takeaway background.
Of course, Xia Lanzheng still didn't answer, and received a look from Zhong Hai that said "I understand you".
It gets dark late here, and around eight o'clock in the evening, the grill pan is finally set up in the yard. Jiang Yuan and Jiang Nian start arguing again, one telling the other to go back to bed, the other saying that tomorrow is the weekend and they can play until ten o'clock in the evening.
This time, Xia Lanzheng was the one who broke up the fight. She called Jiang Nian over with a hooked hand and moved a stool for her to sit on. "Stay away from the fire and stop jumping around. It's dangerous."
He was stunned after he finished speaking. He vaguely remembered that Chu Linchuan had said the same thing to him when they were little. At that time, they were on vacation at a mountain resort. He was about the same age as Jiang Nian. Chu Linchuan held his hand and sat him by the grill.
"Children can't touch fire, or they will have nightmares," said Chu Linchuan.
"What nightmare?"
"I don't know. I'm very obedient and have never done anything bad." Chu Linchuan roasted a marshmallow for Xia Lanzheng and blew on it. "Next time, ask Chu Linyu. He will definitely know."
The charcoal fire crackled a few times, and Xia Lanzheng pulled Jiang Nian back.
"What are you laughing at?" Zhong Hai brought over the bowl of soaked potato chips and placed a handful of skewers on the table. "It's so heavy! Can you finish it?"
Xia Lanzheng touched the corner of her mouth and looked at her cell phone before putting on gloves. It was exactly eight o'clock, it was almost time.
He and Zhong Hai were skewering potatoes and lotus root slices respectively. After just a few skewers, their cell phones rang.
"I actually know that. The phone ringtone at 8 o'clock in the evening is different," Zhong Hai chuckled. "Is this person important?"
Xia Lanzheng couldn't say no. Chu Linchuan was indeed very important to him, not just a family member... In short, he hadn't figured it out yet.
Their relationship wasn't "unclear," after all, there was the Chu family connection. But the rest, he couldn't understand no matter how hard he tried.
It sounds like a tongue twister, but to Xia Lanzheng, Chu Linchuan is an unclear yet clear existence.
This is very important because he is an important person.
The phone stopped ringing and the only sounds in the yard were music and chatting.
Xia Lanzheng sighed in her heart. Fortunately, he was wearing gloves, otherwise he might not be able to help but answer the call.
"Brother Xiaoxia," Zhong Hai called him, "I think life is like lotus root slices."
"..." Xia Lanzheng didn't understand, "How old are you? Is there a generation gap between us?"
Zhong Hai moved the small stool under him, lifted up the wet lotus root slices, and held them up to the moon.
"Before it was cut open, it was round and hard, but after it was cut open, it was full of holes."
Xia Lanzheng looked over and a drop of water fell on his face. He wiped it off with a smile and looked at it carefully again.
"I understand what you mean." Xia Lanzheng said.
"I knew you understood me!" Zhong Hai was shaking the lotus root slices, and water droplets fell everywhere. Jiang Nian stood up and wanted to beat him.
Xia Lanzheng brought over the lotus root slices: "Have you ever eaten lotus root boxes?"
Zhong Hai pretended to howl from being beaten, then said distractedly, "I've eaten fried food, what's wrong with lotus root?"
"Life is like a lotus root box. A single piece of lotus root seems strange, but you have to stuff it with things, sour, bitter, spicy, and then put the two pieces together and fry them in a pan."
Zhong Hai was stunned when he heard this. He didn't cry out even after being beaten, and raised the piece of lotus root again.
"Then what?"
Snap——
Xia Lanzheng clapped her hands, facing the moonlight, and gave a thumbs-up: "Delicious!"
"Oh, oh, delicious..." Zhong Hai pondered, and suddenly, with a snap, he looked at Xia Lanzheng with admiration in his eyes, "Little Brother Xia!"
He stood up and shouted, startling the people in the yard.
"Xiao Xia brother! You are a poet! A poet!"
Xia Lanzheng's face flushed red from his shouting. She took off her gloves and quickly pulled him back: "Weren't you the one who started writing poetry first? Stop shouting, stop shouting!"
Jiang Nian chased after him, muttering, "Xiao Xia is a poet! Mom! What kind of person is a poet?"
Suddenly she stopped, glanced at the shiny cell phone on the ground, picked it up and handed it to Xia Lanzheng: "Poet, your cell phone is ringing!"
Xia Lanzheng paused, and Zhong Hai also stopped.
This was the fifth call today. Chu Linchuan had never called twice in one day since he left home for more than a week.
"Take it?" Zhong Hai ate the lotus root slices and chewed them. "Take it."
Xia Lanzheng stared at the name on the screen and said, "Take it. In case something happens at home..."
He walked to a quiet place with the phone and stood beside the roses planted by Jiang Yuan.
"Hello?"
After saying this, he held his breath, not knowing what to ask.
Two seconds later, he heard Chu Linchuan's smiling voice: "Zheng Zheng."
"Brother," Xia Lanzheng fiddled with the rose petals, "Is there something wrong at home?"
"No." Chu Linchuan said.
Xia Lanzheng said, "What's wrong?"
He looked up at the moon and suddenly wanted to ask Chu Linchuan whether the moon on his side was round.
There was a "rustling" sound from the receiver, and Chu Linchuan seemed to have opened the window.
"Hello?" Xia Lanzheng didn't get a response, so she asked softly, "Brother, what's wrong?"
Chu Linchuan's voice seemed very close, as if it was flowing to Xia Lanzheng along with the moonlight.
"Nothing special."
Chu Linchuan said.
"Xia Lanzheng, I miss you a little bit."
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