Su Zhenzhen: "I was tormented by my third uncle; it was all his doing!"
Su Yuanyuan: "From now on, you can torment Su Tiantian's children, and Uncle San's grandson."
Su Zhenzhen: "Forget it. If he starts nagging me every day, I'd rather be dead."
Su Yuanyuan: "You can teach his kids to be both talkative and prone to losing things."
Su Zhenzhen: "Oh, you're so cruel!"
Su Yuanyuan: "Oh dear! I forgot I had class while talking to you! I'm doomed! The first class is almost over! I'm going to get scolded by my third uncle again!"
Su Zhenzhen: "Hahaha! You should ask Qu Ling to put in a good word for you!"
Su Yuanyuan: "Go to hell! I'm logging off!"
Su Zhenzhen: "Walk slowly! Don't bang on the door!"
Su Yuanyuan grabbed her briefcase and dashed away.
The flower arrangement is complete.
This is just a boring conversation. If you don't like it, just click the X. Hehe, there will be the main content tomorrow!
Hugs everyone!!
Love is a difficult problem.
Dingding is a rare and considerate friend. As long as I didn't tell her about Qu Ling, she didn't ask a single question. Only when I couldn't hold back any longer and slowly let the truth out did she pinch my cheek and laugh, "Su Yuanyuan, you're something else! You managed to snag Dean Qu, the school's heartthrob, without a word! And you kept it from me for so long, what do you think should be your punishment?"
"I didn't mean to hide it from you, it's just that the time wasn't right yet."
"When will it be ready? Does it mean it's ready when the wedding invitation is delivered to me?" Dingding persisted, rubbing and kneading me.
"Stop rubbing! If you keep rubbing me, I'll turn into a dumpling!" I mumbled, burying my head in the blanket.
After teasing each other for a while, Old Zhang knocked on the door and invited us to the side hall for tea. The two of them joked and laughed all the way to the side hall, where the tea was still boiling on the small red clay stove, and the tea snack was my favorite osmanthus sugar cake.
"Yuanyuan! If you eat this osmanthus sugar cake, you'll become a glutinous rice ball with osmanthus filling!" Dingding picked up a piece of cake and waved it in front of my eyes.
I ignored her words, brewed some tea, popped a piece of soft, sweet osmanthus cake into my mouth, and laughed, "So delicious!"
Dingding rolled her eyes at me and said, "I think you'll become the happiest person in the world as long as you have something to eat. Poor Dean Qu, I'm afraid your status in your heart is far below that of this osmanthus sugar cake."
I swallowed the sweet cake, picked up the little tabby cat that had jumped onto my lap and was dozing off, wiped my mouth on its soft back, and said, "That's not necessarily true!"
"Oh?" Dingding's eyes lit up. "So you mean Dean Qu holds a very special place in your heart?"
"Hmm..." I tilted my head and thought for a moment before saying, "At least it can be considered on par with osmanthus sugar cake!"
*Pfft!* Ding Ding spat out his tea far away, then looked up to the sky and sighed, "Poor Dean Qu... how did he end up in your hands, you heartless glutinous rice ball! Truly, heaven is jealous of talent!"
"Hmph, he's just incredibly lucky to have run into me!" I continued my attack on the osmanthus sugar cake, while also wiping my mouth with Old Zhang's little tabby cat.
****
On the day I went up Huangshan, it was drizzling, just like the weather when I climbed the mountain with Qu Ling eleven years ago. Only then it was the height of summer, but now it was the dead of winter for me.
Standing on the platform in Beihai Park, looking out at the magnificent landscape, a white mist fills the valley, obscuring all the peaks.
I stood on the platform in my raincoat, waiting. Just as everyone lost patience and headed towards the West Sea, a gentle breeze swept by, the white mist dissipated, and a beautiful scene unfolded.
That small pine tree atop the strange peak is elegant and graceful, like a faint ink flower blooming amidst the mountains and rivers.
Holding my phone, I dialed a long number. After a few beeps, Qu Ling's warm voice rang in my ears.
"Yuanyuan?"
"Dean...Dean, I've arrived at Huangshan."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, then Qu Ling asked, "Did you see the magic pen bloom?"
"Yes. It hasn't changed, just like that year. It's faintly visible in the mountain mist, but I saw it, that tree flower blooming on the mountaintop."
"But this time..." Qu Ling's voice was very soft, so soft that I had to hold the phone tightly to my ear to hear her.
"What happened this time?"
"This time, no one will be holding you while you watch."
A smile spread across my face. "Yeah, I'm afraid no one can carry me anymore."
"Who said that? How do you know I can't lift you? We can try again next time." Qu Ling chuckled on the other end of the phone.
"Never mind."
"Why?"
"What if I accidentally cripple you? Would I then have to take care of you for the rest of my life?"
"Great! With you saying that, I'm even more determined to give it a try."
I realized then that what I had just said was too ambiguous. Luckily, no one was around and wouldn't see my burning face.
Although I'm usually thick-skinned, when it comes to things related to Qu Ling, my face turns bright red, like it's been steamed.
"Dean, I was pretty heavy back then, wasn't I? Hello? Hello?" I wanted to say a few more words to Qu Ling, but my phone suddenly lost signal. I listened to the dial tone with some regret and slowly closed my phone.
White mist rose again in the valley, and the magical brushstrokes once more disappeared into the soft white veil.