Chapter 14
Li Ye opened her eyes and reached for her phone. Today was the 14th, and tomorrow was the 15th, the Lantern Festival. There were some glutinous rice balls she had bought a few days ago in the fridge, so there was no rush... Li Ye began to reflect on whether she had been doing too much housework in the past two weeks, wondering why she was thinking about this so early in the morning.
"Let's start drawing storyboards early, lest we ruin our health over the New Year holiday."
Li Ye stretched his limbs in the bedroom, reflecting on the results of his routine weight measurement a few days ago. Judging from his physical flexibility, the extra weight came from a long period of inactivity, rather than from eating too much during the Chinese New Year.
Well, they're not completely unrelated, but Li Ye chooses to focus more on physical training. Anyway, this year's travel plans and training camps aren't that different, so if he doesn't want to delay the trip too much, starting to exercise now is a good option.
After changing into his outdoor gear, Li Ye appeared at the dining table promptly at seven o'clock. Ms. Li and Teacher Li had taken a day off today, so breakfast was especially plentiful.
Seeing that the couple's backpacks were left in the entryway, but they hadn't changed their clothes, Li Ye's confusion was written all over his face.
"I'm going out on a date with Teacher Li today, and I'll be back very late tonight. Make yourself something delicious. You're not fat at all right now."
Ms. Li was still eating the beef bun that Teacher Li had given her, along with millet and sweet potato porridge. She was very content. Seeing Li Ye like this, I really felt that this was what a blockhead looked like.
"Of course I'll dress up nicely for a date, including for Teacher Li. Anyway, it's still early, the movie doesn't start until 10 o'clock."
"Let me say it again, you are not fat at all right now. Don't think about those weight loss methods you read online. It would be very bad if you developed health problems later."
Ms. Li noticed that he had taken a second look at an exercise video after receiving his weight results, and for the past two days, she has been bringing up this topic in every conversation.
"I really just want to exercise. I'm going to go running after the New Year, so I need to build up my stamina first. I'll never let myself go hungry. When did I ever give you that impression?"
"I just want to exercise periodically, and I don't know how long I can keep it up."
At nine o'clock in the morning, Li Ye watched the couple leave for their date from the living room. He arrived near the window of the dining room at the right time and watched as Ms. Li's car drove out of the community. A car followed one or two spaces behind, with a familiar license plate indicating that it belonged to the Zhou family.
Flower Tears: Are you busy today?
Flower Tears: I saw your car drive out of the community.
The other end replied quickly. Zhou Yuan should have woken up by now, but he hadn't called yet.
Naoki Yuan:?
Naoki Haruka: Mom and Dad went on a date and won't be back until late. They'll have to fend for themselves for dinner.
Naoki Haruka: Message at the door
Li Ye chose to call directly, "Did you just get up? What's so special about today? My family member also went out on a date and said they wouldn't be back until very late."
"I just opened the door. Today is Valentine's Day."
Zhou Yuan got up at eight o'clock today and stayed in his bedroom to pick out his clothes for the day. He was so busy that he didn't even notice his parents leaving the house, so he had to leave a message on the door.
"Isn't Valentine's Day tomorrow?"
Sometimes, people who grow up together can easily connect with each other's thought processes, and Zhou Yuan and Li Ye are a perfect example of this.
"Li was talking about the old-fashioned Valentine's Day, while what she just said was the foreign Valentine's Day on February 14th, which should be on the calendar."
"Ah, that's true. By the way, Zhou Yuan, are you busy today?"
Even though he knew that Li Ye had no intention of doing so, and only just realized that it was Valentine's Day abroad, Zhou Yuan's heartbeat still suddenly became heavier than usual. He listened to himself and answered normally, wondering if Li Ye could hear the feigned composure in his voice.
"I don't have any appointments with anyone today."
"Oh, could you come to my house? I need to talk to you about something. But you seem a bit cold, aren't you? You sound distracted."
Li Ye could certainly tell that Zhou Yuan's soul seemed to leave his body when he spoke; he knew his voice too well, and at the same time, the unnaturalness was too obvious.
"Okay, wait until I change my clothes, have breakfast, and pick up the takeout." Zhou Yuan's unusual heartbeat subsided after it was noticed.
"Ten o'clock." Zhou Yuan set this time for himself.
At ten o'clock, Li Ye, who was still looking like a homebody, heard the agreed knock on the door. She ran to open the door and was greeted by a bouquet of roses. The person holding the bouquet of roses was Zhou Yuan, who was dressed up in a star-studded costume for the performance.
As a result, the bouquet of flowers welcomed people in, and Li Ye then discovered that Zhou Yuan had brought another set of gifts, including a set of cosmetics, toiletries and skincare products.
Li Ye could tell that Zhou Yuan had put a lot of thought into choosing the gift. The shampoo and conditioner set was priced similarly to the cosmetics she usually used, but it was the most expensive item in that price range.
The bouquet of freshly cut roses must be the takeout I was supposed to pick up earlier; Li Ye had thought the takeout was breakfast.
"Why are they suddenly sending all this?" Li Ye's mind hadn't fully processed what was happening.
Zhou Yuan took a rose from the bouquet and presented it to Li Ye again, saying, "We're celebrating Valentine's Day together."
"Want to go out for lunch together, Li?"
After being directly called out, Li Ye realized that Valentine's Day was not over yet. The bright red color that rushed into his eyes, the flower buds that were not yet fully open, and the water droplets sprinkled between the petals made Li Ye choose to refuse.
"I don't celebrate Valentine's Day."
"Aren't we going out to eat together?" Zhou Yuan wanted to struggle one last time before stepping into the preparatory plan.
"We can eat together at home too."
Li Ye just thought this was something that needed to be arranged at least a day in advance, but Zhou Yuan just opened his phone and started clicking around.
"We've cancelled our seating and opted for takeout delivery so we can eat at home."
After Zhou Yuan finished processing the restaurant reservation on his phone, he looked down and saw Li Ye's helpless expression. He knew that he had acted too quickly this time, but what's done is done, and now they could only eat at home together.
"It's good that I don't have to cook today."
Li Ye hadn't expected Zhou Yuan to act so quickly, even making a restaurant reservation in advance. Although she had just canceled it, shouldn't they have made the reservation beforehand? Seeing that Zhou Yuan had realized that her previous refusal was just going through the motions and was starting to wilt, Li Ye could only try to comfort her from a different angle.
“Li, when we were together before, we were very direct.” There was no need for the usual adult-like formalities, allowing Zhou Yuan to directly enter the backup plan.
"Has it become my problem?" Li Ye tried to find a topic around the subject. "You have a problem too. You took the flowers out and ruined the shape of the bouquet. It doesn't look good anymore."
"Go and get the big vase from the coffee table. Fill it halfway with water first. I'll redo these flowers. Just watch from the side."
Li Ye successfully found a topic that both of them could accept. Zhou Yuan went to fill the vase with water, while Li Ye disassembled the bouquet, which was essentially unchanged even with one less rose. This was a necessary sacrifice, and she would definitely make you beautifully reborn.
So the two of them stayed in the living room. Zhou Yuan sat on the sofa against the wall, with a coffee table in front of him covered with ninety-nine roses. Behind the coffee table was Li Ye, who had moved a small stool and was sitting there.
There was also a large vase on the coffee table. Li Ye held roses in one hand and scissors in the other, trimming them to a length suitable for placement in the vase. One rose, two roses, three roses... fifty roses... ninety-eight roses, ninety-nine roses, and together with the accompanying small flowers, he trimmed them and gathered them together.
Bouquets and vases serve different purposes and evoke different feelings. Rose bouquets from florists, unless otherwise specified, generally convey a passionate emotion and meet the basic needs of those who buy them, mostly used to express love.
When Li Ye rearranged the roses, he thought of the love, beauty and balance of roses, plus the irreplaceable romance of the Valentine's Day atmosphere in the past two days.
The final result may not be as beautiful as the professionally wrapped bouquets from a florist, but Li Ye loves the rose bouquets that are recreated by her hands, leaving enough space for the unopened buds to bloom, a moment of free romance.
"What do you think?"
The morning light in winter is the brightest of the day. It shines through the balcony into the living room and onto Li Ye, illuminating his gentle face. Zhou Yuan sits on the sofa watching.
Those bright eyes scanned back and forth among the thorny flowers, their gaze focused, their lips slightly pursed, as if trying to make the flowers look more vibrant.
The movement of the light divided the shadows on the face, making the illuminated side clearer, even revealing the fine downy hairs on the face. It looked light and airy, and felt smooth to the touch, making one want to put their hand on it and pinch it.
Even though his gaze was interrupted, Zhou Yuan's attention remained on Li Ye. No matter what the flower looked like, he would always give the same answer when asked.
"like."
Both of them were very satisfied. Li Ye felt that she had appeased Zhou Yuan. Just then, the takeout that Zhou Yuan had ordered arrived downstairs, and he asked someone to go down and pick up the lunch he had bought.
The restaurant's takeout was still warm, so Li Ye took the food to be heated up and repackaged. Zhou Yuan ordered roasted lamb leg, cheesy baked lobster, chicken pie, and spaghetti bolognese, along with a few packets of sauce and a small box of macarons.
"You booked a Western restaurant? It's Valentine's Day outside, so it must be hard to get a table. You still canceled the reservation without hesitation."
"It looks good. How did you find out about this restaurant? I only ate there once before when Zeng Yuan took me there."
After the roasted lamb leg was heated up, Li Ye cut it into pieces and plated it in advance. When she picked it up with chopsticks to eat, Li Ye tasted a familiar flavor and remembered that it was the restaurant Zeng Yuan had taken her to. She also roughly knew the price of this meal, ignoring the fluctuations caused by the holiday.
Zhou Yuan disliked Li Ye's friend once again, which was originally a pleasant surprise: "A highly-ranked restaurant for couples, the food is the kind that both of you will like."
Zhou Yuan cut the chicken pie in half with a knife and gave a piece to Li Ye. He then began to fight the lobster. This kind of shellfish was something he liked to eat, but it was too troublesome to eat.
Li Ye grabbed the lobster with his hands, pulled out the meat, ate one himself, and put the other on Zhou Yuan's plate.
"Next time I'll buy pre-peeled lobsters, they're so convenient to eat."
After that, there was not much to say. All the unspoken communication was based on tacit understanding. You handed me the sauce, and I helped you cut the meat pie. The two of us slowly spent an hour finishing everything on the table. Only the last dessert, the macarons, was moved to the coffee table in the living room.
Helping the obviously overeaten Li Ye to sit on the sofa, Zhou Yuan turned on the TV and tuned it to the news channel, which he often used as background noise, while he went to clear the table.
Zhou Yuan thought of it as a rehearsal for his future life.
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