Ah Heng looked at his arm that had been lowered and found it somewhat amusing.
Idiot, what are you expecting now...?
"Grandpa, Mom, I need to go to the supermarket to buy milk. What time and where should we eat tomorrow?" Ah Heng picked up her clothes, glanced at her watch, her gentle, fair face and calm, humble demeanor making her stand out.
"Ah, Aheng, I'll go with you." Siwan looked at Aheng.
Ah Heng nodded and smiled, saying okay.
They walked one after the other without exchanging many words.
How long have we been siblings? We're still so distant.
"Yanxi, these days, she's been painting, a masterpiece that's supposedly named 'Sunrise.' She goes to bed at 3 a.m. every night, drinks two bags of chocolate milk before bed, and gets up at 11 a.m., drinks a cup of hot milk after waking up. She often listens to 'Long Long Way to Go.' She can't live without meat for any of her three meals a day. Her hair is growing so fast that it has to cover her eyes." She spoke in a flat, even tone.
"I didn't ask those questions." Siwan turned her head, somewhat embarrassed.
"Hehe, sorry, I just suddenly remembered." Ah Heng smiled and walked through the glass revolving door of the supermarket.
She frowned, looked at the shelves for a long time, and found that the brand that Yan hope liked to drink was sold out.
"Strawberry milk, is that okay?" Siwan picked up a pink-packaged bottle of the same brand of milk and handed it to Aheng.
"I don't know," Aheng said honestly, recalling how Yan hope used to rave about the chocolate milk with spittle flying everywhere.
"Let's try another one," Siwan smiled, probably recalling the same scene.
On Sunday, when there were many people, Siwan accidentally knocked off a button on her cuff while pulling Aheng out.
"Wait a minute." Ah Heng picked up the button, turned around, and walked into the crowd.
Siwan sat on a bench outside the supermarket waiting. When the girl came out again, she was holding a sewing kit she had just bought.
"Give it to me." She held out her hand.
"What?" Siwan asked, bewildered.
She pointed to his coat.
Siwan looked at the crowds flowing by, feeling a little shy, and hesitated for a long time before finally taking it off.
Ah Heng lowered her head, squinted her eyes, and threaded the needle with practiced ease. Her hands were white and very lifelike.
The half-hidden setting sun shone warmly on her hair, giving off a clean and comforting feeling.
He gazed at her for a long time, but could no longer bear to look at the scene.
He remembered what Chen Juan had said—"Siwan, you will regret this. She is a woman."
That was when Chen Juan learned that he had done his best to help Aheng move into the Yan family to save Liu hope.
At the time, those words were met with his ridicule and disdain, but now, looking back, they strike my heart again and again.
She was a woman, so what he, as a man, could never fill the chasm of despair and hardship he felt, could be easily smoothed over by her in an instant.
Simply because she is a woman.
But he was a man.
Therefore, he could never go any further to fill that person's void, while she, simply by relying on her instincts as a woman, was able to complete that person's life, leaving him in such a wretched and distant state that it could never be replicated.
He never wore that coat again, no matter how dense and warm the stitches on the cuffs were.
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When Aheng met the legendary Aunt Lin, many beautiful words came to mind, but in the end, they were overwhelmed by the plum blossom fragrance that slowly flowed in the air.
The woman wore a white cheongsam with faintly visible pale plum blossoms, and her fair neck and ears were adorned with valuable diamond jewelry.
Siwan, Si'er liked her very much. That woman smiled at them, and it seemed as if her eyes were full of dazzling starlight.
"What's so special about that? You haven't seen Lu Liu. When that kid smiles, there are even more stars!" Da Yi pouted, but didn't join Si Wan and Si Er.
He didn't particularly like the woman's appearance.
Yan hope found it even stranger; she stood there, simply watching coldly, her expression one of disgust that Yan Xi couldn't describe.
"Xiao hope, Auntie doesn't come back to China easily. Now that you see me, won't you give me a hug?" The woman smiled sweetly and generously opened her arms.
Yan hope looked at her quietly, took a step back, his white canvas shoes, his left foot gently resting on his right, the soles and insteps nestled together, his eyes shimmering with a faint light like the surface of a lake.
It's that same pose again.
All around was silent.
Everyone felt a little awkward.
"What's wrong?" Lin Ruomei looked at Yan hope with a blank expression.
Si Wan smiled and said, "Aunt Lin, you don't know, Yan hope has developed a strange habit these past two years. He doesn't like to interact with people. Even if Da Yi and I are close to him, he will throw a tantrum."
“Especially women,” Yan hope added casually.
Siwan's face was somewhat stiff.
Lin Ruomei chuckled, her eyes kind and gentle as she spoke, "That's not good. If he doesn't interact with girls, how will our Xiaoxi get married in the future? Didn't you tell your aunt when you were little that you wanted to marry a girl prettier than you?"
"Yes, yes, that's what Xiaoxi used to say all the time when she was little." Wen's mother smiled and slowly steered the conversation elsewhere.
“Is this Aheng?” Lin Ruomei pointed at Aheng and said with a smile, “Yunyi, you look just like you when you were young. I recognized you at a glance. You are very pretty.”
"Hello, Auntie." Ah Heng was a little reserved, but at least she wasn't completely lacking in manners.
Lin Ruomei patted Aheng's hand and said to Old Man Wen, "Uncle Wen, you are so blessed to have such a complete family of grandchildren, each one more outstanding than the last."
"Haha, three of them can't compare to your one son. Ruomei, you're content with having a son." Although Old Wen was pleased, he spoke tactfully.
Lin Ruomei is very good at creating a pleasant atmosphere, and the atmosphere at the dinner table was very harmonious.
Yan hope kept his head down, eating the dishes closest to him.
Ah Heng was puzzled. When did Yan hope start liking to eat crab roe? He always said it was fishy and wouldn't even touch it.
She picked up a piece of pork rib and placed it on Yan hope's plate.
Yan hope looked up and saw the familiar, warm finger bones. Under the crystal dining table, she gently moved her right foot away from the instep of her left foot and casually started biting into a rib, refusing to touch the crab roe closest to her.
Ah Heng pursed her lips, sighed, and a gentle, helpless smile spread across her face.
"Aheng, you really like eating ribs, don't you?" Lin Ruomei smiled and looked at Aheng.
Ah Heng felt somewhat embarrassed. Looking at the woman, the shy smile on his face vanished in an instant.
It appears gentle, yet it conceals a wisp of icy chill that sends shivers down one's spine.
Ah Heng frowned, pondering how to answer, when a polite knock sounded outside the VIP room.
A man walked in, looking to be in his twenties or thirties, calm and capable, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, and appearing very polite, like a secretary.
"Chairwoman Lin." He walked up to Lin Ruomei, leaned close to her ear, and whispered something.
From this side, a crisp, sharp sound rang out.
The white porcelain spoon shattered on the ground.
Yan hope's pupils contracted sharply, and when she looked at the man, her face turned pale instantly.
Lin Ruomei glanced at her, a faint smile playing on her lips.
The man became very panicked when he saw Yan hope, but in the blink of an eye, his expression returned to normal.
The waiter cleaned up the broken porcelain and gave Yan hope a new set of bowls and chopsticks.
The boy lowered his head slightly, picked up his chopsticks, and continued eating.
Ah Heng stared intently, only to discover that the knuckles of his right hand, which was holding chopsticks, were pale and protruding.
She lowered her head, and her white canvas shoes overlapped again, so tightly that they could not be separated.
The man left, and Lin Ruomei sat in the main seat, continuing to smile gently, continuing the clinking of glasses, and continuing the glittering banquet.
"Aheng, we've finished the crab roe." Yan hope pointed to the empty dishes in front of him and smiled, his eyes so clear they seemed to gleam with the aroma of sake.
Ah Heng waited quietly for him to continue.
"I'm sleepy, I want to sleep." He yawned, his eyes glistening with tears.
"I want to go home."
Everyone was used to Yan hope's emotional ups and downs. After giving a few instructions, Wen's mother made an excuse to Lin Ruomei and asked Yan hope to go home.
Ah Heng watched him leave quietly, his delicate figure with its prominent shoulder blades, wearing the purplish-red Calvin Klein coat they had bought together after shopping for a long time.
She vaguely remembered that she preferred him to the black outfit he was wearing, his fair and slender hands, his big eyes, and his noble and incomparable appearance.
Unlike this one, whose bright eyes and brows shone like the morning sun and the evening snow, dazzling like glass, beautiful in every way, yet it dulled his soul.
She stubbornly stuck to her own choice, but chose his.
Aheng doesn't like pork ribs at all; they're oily and greasy. However, pork ribs are her best home-cooked dish. It seems that only with Yanxi did she have her home-cooked meals.
She disliked at all the so-called family banquets that cost tens of thousands of yuan, because her home was worth more than that.
She asked for an exorbitant price, but it was an empty promise. She could only squander her time, but no one was there to share it with her.
She was lost in thought, but the dining table was quiet. They turned around and looked at the door, which was said to be inlaid with gold and jade.
She turned around, quietly placing her hands on her knees, her eyes sparkling with a dazzling light.
The boy ran back, breathing heavily, his black hair soaked with sweat. Under his purple clothes, his slender, jade-like hand braced against the door frame, his knuckles curved, releasing all the burden.
But those eyes, clear and bright, were fixed on her, as she tried to calm her breathing.
"Aheng, are you full?"
Ah Heng smiled, sniffed, and nodded.
"Aheng, do you want to come home with me?"
Ah Heng smiled, her eyebrows curving like distant mountains, her expression softening—"Ah, I know, are you scared going home alone?"
Yan hope smiled, extending her hand. She was still a little breathless from running so fast, and said with a mix of helplessness and indulgence, "Yes, yes, I'll be scared if I'm alone, okay?"
Sweat trickled down the boy's fingertips, dampening the supposedly valuable French carpet.
"I knew it, it's so annoying!" She tilted her head and smiled foolishly, jumping for joy as she took his hand.
Who is it that secretly complains about someone else's childishness, willfulness, and lack of manners, yet gives away their childishness completely and without reservation to that other person?