Ah Heng smiled too.
She had just woken up, but fearing that Yan hope would feel embarrassed, she pretended to be asleep.
But right now, I'm really sleepy.
Finally, we reached the shore.
The mist in the lake gradually dissipated.
Chapter 14
Chapter 14
Following Yan hope's instructions, Aheng walked to the plum tree, which was quite awkward.
However, when you take something from someone, your legs naturally tend to go weak.
"Take two more steps forward, get a little further away from the tree." The boy held a black camera, squinting as he looked at the lens.
"Oh." Ah Heng sniffed and took two steps to the side.
"Take two more steps forward."
The tree trunk is winding and twisting, and the petals are delicate and pure.
Ah Heng looked at the plum tree next to him that had just bloomed, his face full of black lines, and took two steps forward.
She is making a silhouette against the backdrop of a tree.
Yan hope said, "How about you be my background model for the painting I gave you?"
She nodded and said, blushing nervously, thinking, "Oh my, I'm so pretty, I could be Yan hope's model."
Yan hope then said that you don't need to be nervous when you're just using the scenery as a background; just pretend to be a passerby.
oh.
"Take two more big steps forward," the boy commanded, camera in hand.
One big step, two big steps, Ah Heng counted as he stepped forward.
It's somewhat like the hopscotch game we played as kids.
"Keep going." The boy's voice was already quite far away.
She kept her head down and walked forward.
"Alright, alright, stop!" His voice, slightly thumped in the wind, was barely audible.
"Don't look back," he said.
"What did you say?" She turned around, looked back, and stared blankly at the boy's moving mouth in the distance.
The boy stood in the wind, with black hair, red lips, and a bright smile.
"Click," time freezes.
January 13, 1999.
Many years later, a photograph was displayed in the most inconspicuous corner of the exhibition hall. In the dusty glass display case, a simple and unadorned girl wore a gray coat and had black eyes, gazing at him with gentle focus.
She created a background with a luxurious and elegant color scheme throughout the room.
Many young photographers who came specifically to see this work lamented its failure upon seeing it.
Yan hope was a man of extraordinary talent, yet he left behind a work that is completely devoid of aesthetic appeal.
Yan hope was already old at that time.
He listened with a smile to the sincere advice of the younger generation, who wanted him to remove the flaw, but he simply shook his head.
"Why?" They were young, so they had plenty of time to ask why.
"The person she's looking at is me." Yan hope smiled, his features so aged that his past was unrecognizable. Only, his gaze had become deep and dim.
"I can deny the whole world, but I cannot deny myself."
"Do you want to go to Wushui?" Yan hope asked Aheng casually as Aheng was filling a mineral water bottle with water.
Being a model is tiring, especially for an ordinary passerby like her. The silhouette of plum blossoms, the silhouette of a paper umbrella, the silhouette of the sky, the silhouette of the dock…
Aheng was distracted, and when she came to her senses, she spat out a mouthful of water.
Yan hope narrowed her big, dark eyes and smiled—"You don't want to go?"
Ah Heng swallowed hard and cautiously asked the boy, "Can I go?"
Yan hope replied calmly, “Wen Heng, your Wen is indeed the Wen of the Wen family, but Heng is the Heng of the Yun family.”
No one had ever said such a thing to her before.
They dictate what clothes she wears and what kind of person she plays, but no one cares about her past or her future.
Ah Heng's eyes were a little moist as she gazed into the distance, looking somewhat wistful.
A pink blob gently blocked her view, and the boy lazily asked, "What can you see?"
She was speechless.
Yan hope smiled – “How will you understand if you don’t move forward?”
He didn't turn back, but kept walking forward, carrying a large travel bag, his back straight, like a true traveler, into the details of her life.
She and Yan hope got into the car again.
It seems that they spent two-thirds of their trip in the car.
Chinese people have a good tradition of traveling.
Sleep on the bus, pee when you get off.
Aheng completed the first step, and Yanxi completed the second step.
Ah Heng slept the whole way. When Yan hope got out of the car, he pulled Ah Heng and frantically searched for a toilet.
White walls and black tiles, small bridges and flowing water, willows swaying in the breeze at the noble mansion—it's all just idle nonsense from scholars!
For Yan hope, at this moment, even the full moon over the Twenty-Four Bridges of West Lake couldn't compare to the allure of the toilet.
“Yanxi, in Wushui Town, there are no public toilets.” She spoke earnestly, expressing deep sympathy.
"What should we do then?!" The boy bared his teeth and brandished his claws, looking like a ferocious little beast.
"Come to my house, I have one." Ah Heng was very serious and earnest, as if discussing an academic topic.
"Where do you live?" Yan hope stared at him with her big, mournful eyes.
Ah Heng sniffed, grabbed Yan hope's hand, and started running.
Yan hope ran until his face turned green.
Um, it's almost... out...
The town is very small.
When Ah Heng ran back to the Yun family home, breathless, Yun's mother was chatting with their neighbor, Granny Zhang.
"Mom, quickly get me some toilet paper!" Ah Heng shoved Yan hope into their outhouse in a whirlwind.
Mica was stunned.
"Grandma Zhang, was that my girl just now?"
"Oh dear, I thought I was the only one hallucinating!" Granny Zhang pulled out a handkerchief to wipe away non-existent tears.
"Mom, toilet paper!" Ah Heng shouted.
************************************************************************
Yan hope looked at the exquisite dishes on the table and smiled contentedly.
"Mommy Cloud, you're amazing!"
“It’s just ordinary food, nothing fancy,” Yunmu said gently. “Yanxi… right? Eat more.”
Ah Heng grabbed his chopsticks, wanting to pick up some food, but was scolded by Yun Mu.
"A young lady shouldn't have such manners. How can you start eating before the guests have even started?"
Ah Heng sniffed and let go, feeling wronged.
And so, thanks to Yan hope's meddling, her return was not at all touching or tear-jerking; instead, it felt like she was coming home after visiting someone's neighbor.
"Mom Yun, you can call me Axi or Xiaoxi, it's fine with you." Yan hope was very polite and smiled adorably.
He was known as a "mom killer" since childhood, and it wasn't for nothing.
"You... can you understand it?" Aheng asked curiously, wondering how Yanxi could understand these local dialects.
"My grandfather taught me," Yan hope said casually.
Ah Heng was conflicted.
She had even presumptuously acted as Yan hope's translator. Yan hope must have been secretly laughing to himself, probably thinking it was absurd.
But how does Grandpa Yan have any connection with Wushui Town?
Yunmu stared at Yan hope for a long time, then seemed to remember something. Her eyes became inscrutable as she looked at Aheng and spoke softly.
"Aheng, go and call your father back for dinner."
Yan hope smiled indifferently. Before he came, he had probably guessed that Wen Heng's adoptive parents knew about the agreement from back then.
Ah Heng, not understanding why, nodded, got up, and went to the medicine shop in town with practiced ease.
Yunfu is a traditional Chinese medicine doctor who has practiced medicine for decades and is quite famous in the surrounding area.
Unfortunately, she couldn't cure her son's chronic illness.
It was like a joke. Because of this, the town gossiped for a long time, pointing fingers and saying that the Yun family must have done something terrible to deserve this retribution, with only one son per generation for three generations, and their ancestors being doctors, yet they had a sickly child who couldn't be cured.
"Father!" Ah Heng smiled joyfully as she looked at the kind man with graying temples weighing medicine for a patient.
Yun's father was stunned. He turned around and saw Aheng, his eyes showing a hint of surprise.