Thank goodness, when I received this message, Grandma Wang was talking about her second grandson, a medical doctoral student at a prestigious university. The old lady's love for her grandson was evident, but she was also troubled by his lack of romantic prospects.
As a result, Xu Xingyan silently speculated that Grandma Wang's initiative to talk to her was not accidental or due to loneliness, but rather a kind of waiting for a rabbit to run into her trap.
She looked around. Could this teahouse, surrounded by retired elderly people, be the matchmaking corner nearby?
This was a truly terrifying fact. Just thinking about it made Xu Xingyan feel a chill run down her spine. She quickly and decisively picked up her bag and stood up.
"The person I'm waiting for has arrived, so I'll be leaving now. Please have a seat, and we can chat again another time..."
Grandma Wang's mouth was slightly open, as if she was saying something, perhaps trying to persuade her to stay, or perhaps asking for her contact information, but Xu Xingyan didn't pay attention and didn't hear clearly.
She just rushed to see her girlfriend who was waiting downstairs as fast as she could; to be honest, she had never felt she could run so fast in the past.
Love is truly a magical thing.
The snow was still falling outside. Lin Shengmiao closed her umbrella and hid in the lobby on the first floor of the teahouse. The surprise came too suddenly. Afraid of wasting time borrowing an umbrella, she simply put her hat on her head and ran. She only remembered to buy an umbrella when she passed by the convenience store. It was indeed a coincidence. Her main goal was to buy two hand warmers for Xu Xingyan.
"Miaomiao!" A warm body rushed into his arms, accompanied by joyful words, as if this surprise from afar was something he had prepared for her.
Lin Shengmiao skillfully placed his hands on her neck and shoulder blades, which was Miss Xu's favorite way of hugging, giving her a sense of security as if she were being enveloped.
"Have you been missing me?" The sweet whisper of his beloved rang in his ears.
Lin Shengmiao inhaled the fragrance of her hair, and all the fatigue from work and the tension he felt when facing Ms. Fang Yi vanished, leaving his heart with a long-lost tranquility: "Of course I want to, aren't you just asking the obvious?"
"What do you all want from me?" Xu Xingyan deliberately made things difficult for her.
Lin Shengmiao whispered in her ear, "I'm wondering if you've eaten properly, if you've slept on time, and I'm also thinking about... the housing prices in Nancheng."
Hearing the previous part, Xu Xingyan was still giggling, but when she said the last sentence, she tilted her head and her fingers climbed onto her clothes buttons, "Why are you thinking about house prices? Are you going to buy a house?"
"Didn't you say you felt your home wasn't spacious enough and wanted to move to one with a yard?"
Lin Shengmiao took out a warm hand warmer from his pocket, put it in her hand, and said with a smile, "When the time comes, plant a whole yard of flowers, and it would be best to also raise a cat."
Xu Xingyan held a hand warmer, her usually icy palms warmed slightly. In a secluded corner of the hall, they spoke softly, their expressions gentle, about things that outsiders would find boring, but they themselves found very interesting.
When the snow lessened, they huddled under pale blue umbrellas, their fingers intertwined, and walked slowly on the newly snow-covered road, accompanied by the crunching sound of their footsteps.
An elderly woman was walking ahead of me, playing the TV series "Empresses in the Palace" on her phone. I couldn't hear it clearly in the wind, but I could vaguely make out that it was a scene of intense conflict.
Xu Xingyan listened intently for a while, then confidently declared, "It must be the episode where Wanwan resembles Qing."
Lin Shengmiao disagreed, shaking his head and saying, "No, this should be the part about framing the Empress."
The two exchanged a glance, each holding their own opinion, neither willing to concede. They both quickened their pace, keeping up with the old woman's steps, determined to hear this story clearly!
It wasn't until the oblivious old lady was almost inside her residential complex that Lin Shengmiao and Xu Xingyan suddenly realized, oh... it was a blood test for kinship!
Xu Xingyan: "You fake fan!"
Lin Shengmiao: "You fake fan!"
The two looked at each other again, remained silent for a moment, then burst into laughter. Xu Xingyan laughed so hard she fell into Lin Shengmiao's arms, her shoulders shaking. Lin Shengmiao almost dropped his umbrella from laughing so hard...
The laughter startled the old woman in front of them. She turned around, puzzled, and looked at the two girls laughing together in the snow with a look of utter disdain, muttering, "These young people nowadays..."
The old lady sighed, turned her head away with disdain, and staggered home.
Author's Note:
I've started watching "Empresses in the Palace" again.
Chapter 38 Not a Sheep
Before receiving Luo Jing's call, Xu Xingyan was complaining about the restaurant to Lin Shengmiao.
Xu Xingyan was both amused and annoyed: "Bullfrog with lettuce is one thing, it's just a specialty of various restaurants, but this is way too much! It's like putting in the yield of an entire acre of land! And where are the bullfrogs? Where did they go?"
“…There are quite a lot of fish slices,” Lin Shengmiao stared at the sauerkraut fish, a little sad, and sighed, “But what I really wanted to eat was the sauerkraut!”
The sauerkraut fish dish had hardly any sauerkraut; it was mostly lettuce. What's going on? Is this a lettuce-themed restaurant? The waiter didn't mention that when we came in!
“These chicken feet…” Xu Xingyan poked at the chicken feet in the bowl. “What’s wrong? Did this chicken just escape from famine? It must have gone without food for half a month!”
The two looked at each other, and at the same time saw three huge, bold red characters above each other's heads—
I stepped on a landmine!
Lin Shengmiao lowered her head and took the blame: "It's my fault, I didn't check the reviews online beforehand."
Xu Xingyan looked at her, and her anger subsided considerably. She smiled and said, "What's it to you? I said it's too cold, we can just find a restaurant on the street..."
"Shall we eat at another place?" Lin Shengmiao asked softly.
Xu Xingyan thought for a moment, then took a piece of lettuce and said, "Never mind, Grandpa said we shouldn't waste food."
Heaven help me, although my maternal grandfather was very good at educating his grandchildren and often admonished them that "every grain of rice is hard-earned" and advocated a simple lifestyle, the old man also had a double standard inherited from his ancestors. When it came to his delicate and weak granddaughter, he became meticulous in everything and would never ask Xu Xingyan to eat anything she didn't want to eat at the dinner table.
Therefore, Xu Xingyan didn't care about whether it was a waste or not; she only cared about Lin Shengmiao.
She knew very well that because of her childhood experiences, Lin Shengmiao had never liked wasting food, and she would even try her best to finish all the boxed lunches in the high school cafeteria.
Lin Shengmiao sensed something, a smile appeared on her lips, and she also picked up a piece of lettuce. Hmm, it's quite fresh.
Why is your nephew's nickname "Fifteen"?
Xu Xingyan wiped her mouth with a tissue and smiled when she heard this: "Our children's nicknames were all given by our maternal grandfather. My brother Luo Bin's nickname is 'Chu Yi' (初一), and my sister-in-law's name has the character 'Yue' (月) in it, so we simply call her Shiwu (十五), which is related to both of our parents."
"And what about you?" Lin Shengmiao asked casually.
“My name is Xiaoyu,” Xu Xingyan replied. “My grandfather said that excessive intelligence is harmful, and he also pitied the difficulty of my birth, so he hoped that I would be a little foolish so that I could be raised more easily…”
He then chuckled and asked, "Guess what Luo Jing's is?"
Lin Shengmiao thought to herself, "Why would I guess about her for no reason?" But she asked in perfect unison, "What is it?"
Xu Xingyan's eyes crinkled into a smile: "Zhu Yu."
Lin Shengmiao felt the name sounded familiar, thought for a moment, and asked, "Is it from the Classic of Mountains and Seas?"
“Yes,” Xu Xingyan nodded, “There is a grass that looks like chives but has green flowers. Its name is Zhuyu. Eating it will not make you hungry. My grandfather loved reading the Classic of Mountains and Seas. When Jing was born, my grandfather rushed to the hospital with a copy in his hand. He opened it to this page and felt it was a great coincidence, so he used it as Jing’s nickname.”
Lin Shengmiao steered the conversation away from Luo Jing and asked, "When I looked at your paintings before, the seal on the last page read 'Cunyu.' Was that also given by your grandfather?"
“That’s a small seal,” Xu Xingyan smiled gently, her eyes sparkling. “The seal was carved by my grandfather when I first started learning to paint. He was a master in the art of seal carving, but he rarely did it. In our family, only my mother and I could get him to carve a seal for us.”
"Xiao Zi?" Lin Shengmiao raised an eyebrow, somewhat incredulous. She never expected that in this day and age, there would still be people who would give their children a nickname.
Xu Xingyan was happy to tell her all this, and said with her chin in her hand, "Yes, my name is 'Cunyu' and my mother's name is 'Danya', which comes from a sentence in Feng Yan's 'Feng Shi Wen Jian Lu: Painting': 'Painting is a refined and elegant thing.' It is said that my grandfather specially named her that on the day my mother clearly stated that she wanted to make painting her lifelong career."
“However…” she said, her mood somber. “As I grew older, people stopped calling me by my nickname. After my grandfather passed away, no one called me Xiaoyu anymore.”
"Little Fool".
"Huh?" Xu Xingyan looked up at her.
Lin Shengmiao's voice was low and gentle, his eyes like scattered gold fragments, or like a river frozen in moonlight, as he looked intently at her and softly called out, "Xiaoyu."
Xu Xingyan looked at her, speechless for a moment.
Lin Shengmiao wasn't in a hurry. It was as if even if the sky collapsed and the earth cracked, she would still exist in this moment forever. She gently called out again, "Xiaoyu."
Xu Xingyan tilted her head and laughed, "What are you doing..."
She wanted to say that she wasn't being coquettish or making a request in a roundabout way; she was just expressing her feelings.
But Lin Shengmiao didn't give her a chance to speak, and patiently called out again, "Xiaoyu."
Then she paused, her eyes clear, like the purest and most expansive blue in the sky after the dark clouds had been chased away: "It's okay if you don't grow up, anyway, I'll always be here."
Xu Xingyan was completely stunned. In fact, what you are called is not that important. A name is just a code. What Xu Xingyan really misses is that carefree time of childhood and the person who would call her with a gentle voice.
She thought Lin Shengmiao didn't understand, but it seemed she really did; she was being told—
The past cannot be relived, but we can usher in a new era where you don't have to rush to grow up and can always be a carefree child. In this era, the person who used to call you 'Little Fool' will never disappear.
Xu Xingyan's lips trembled slightly as she gazed at the love of her life, as if on a pilgrimage devoid of any other thoughts, and responded almost devoutly, "Yes."
Lin Shengmiao chuckled, mimicking her by resting her chin on her hand and fanning her eyelashes, appearing somewhat adorable. She drew out each word, making it sound a little clingy: "Little~Foolish~"
Xu Xingyan couldn't help but laugh and said, "Sigh~"
"Have you eaten?" Lin Shengmiao gazed at her and sighed, "I really want to kiss you, but it's not convenient here. Would Miss Xu like to go on a date with me?"
At this point, as long as Xu Xingyan nods, it's safe to predict that tonight will be a beautiful and romantic night, filled with kisses, sex, and everything related to love.
Xu Xingyan simply couldn't refuse. If... Luo Jing hadn't called.
Before Luo Jing's abrupt and abruptly ended phone call, which stirred up endless ripples, arrived, Lin Shengmiao had already sketched out a perfect night in her mind—she should first buy a red rose, the petals scattered on her lover's snow-white skin would have an alluring beauty, and she could even trace her lover's lips through the petals...
"Hey, Yan Yan, are you home? Yu Hang and I aren't going back tonight... Hey? What's up!"
Then came a series of loud crackling sounds, like someone was arguing, but then the phone dropped, all sound stopped, and everything fell silent... What a joke!
Lin Shengmiao watched Xu Xingyan anxiously making phone calls. Although she was slightly worried about the safety of Luo Jing and her boyfriend, she felt more resentful and gritted her teeth. She was once again certain that Luo Jing was her nemesis!
"Don't panic. Do you have a phone number for Yuhang? Should we call the police first?"
Despite his anger, he immediately comforted his girlfriend, who was on the verge of tears.
"It's not necessary to call the police. Luo Jing has been secretly followed by someone since she came to Kyoto, so her safety shouldn't be a big problem..." Besides, there aren't many people who can beat Luo Jing. With her skills, she could easily take down three or five big men, not to mention that Yu Hang is with her.
Thinking of this, Xu Xingyan quickly calmed herself down and took a deep breath, saying, "But I can't be completely at ease if I can't contact her tonight."
She looked apologetically at her girlfriend; unsurprisingly, tonight's date was off.
What could Lin Shengmiao do? Helplessly, she whispered a question about how to find Luo Jing. She couldn't get through on the phone, couldn't contact Yu Hang, and didn't even know where they were…
Then her dear girlfriend told her something that made her so jealous her eyes turned red—
Both she and Luo Jing have GPS devices on their phones that can track each other's location.
Oh! What a touching sisterly bond! If Lin Shengmiao didn't know their relationship clearly, she would probably think she had met a love rival!
No, this is worse than encountering a love rival. If it were a love rival, she could at least rightfully drive the other person away, but I've never heard of someone driving away their girlfriend's childhood friend's older sister just because they're dating.
"Xiaoyu, perhaps we don't need to go to so much trouble," Lin Shengmiao said with a smile, interrupting his girlfriend's use of high-tech methods and opening the photo that Tao Jie had just sent.
In the dimly lit bar, Luo Jing stood like a lone warrior, blocking Yu Hang with one hand while punching the man opposite her. Several men lay on the ground beside her, covering their faces.
Tao Jie's photography skills are absolutely top-notch among amateurs, making Di Luojing's figure look very sharp, giving her the feel of a female boxing champion from the underworld in a movie.