Chapter 74
The big brother arranged by Lin Xiyu was very helpful. In the days they had been in Haicheng, he had taken them to a different place every day. The itinerary was not rushed, and it was very relaxing and pleasant to play, much more comfortable than being in a tour group.
And no matter where they went, they were picked up and dropped off by car. The tickets for the scenic spots and the private rooms for meals were all booked in advance, and they were available as soon as they arrived. They didn’t have to check any guides at all, just empty their minds and play.
This treatment was so good that it was almost like a personal butler that only existed in novels, so thoughtful that it was touching.
But the big brother was not a butler. He didn’t have the respectful and awkward set of manners. He was very enthusiastic and easygoing, and they could eat and play together, or he could find a place to wander around until he was called.
Cauliflower had also been very happy these past few days. It would love to splash around in the small swimming pool on the third floor when it had nothing to do, and when it was tired of swimming, it would run to the tatami mats to lie down.
To make it more comfortable, Jian Xin had found two soft cushions and placed them in a small corner not far from the pool, and had even placed its food nearby.
Xin Xin would look for Cauliflower everywhere when it woke up every day. If it couldn’t find it, it would pester someone to take it up to the third floor in the elevator, and with a wagging tail, it would go to the terrace and bark at Cauliflower.
These two little ones had a good relationship. Leaving them to play together in the villa, they were not afraid that they would be too bored when they went out—after all, many places did not allow small animals in, and to have a good time, they couldn’t take the two little ones with them every day.
Sometimes, Jian Xin felt that she had really coaxed it well, and she hadn’t been kidnapped by it for a while.
On the sixth day of their arrival in Haicheng, the big brother took them to a place.
It seemed that some kind of event was being held here, and it was very crowded and lively.
The surrounding roads were all closed, and cars couldn’t get in. They could only temporarily park outside and then slowly walk in.
This whole street was full of small stalls selling all kinds of handmade products or strange little trinkets, and there were also some small carts that she had only seen at the entrance of the old park in Nanjiang in her distant memory, blowing sugar figures, turning sugar paintings, making cotton candy, and braiding hand ropes.
The big brother said that they had come at a good time and had just caught the annual Happy Festival in Haicheng. There would even be a street parade to watch later.
“Then our luck is really good,” Jian Xin said, taking Yan Lu’s hand and walking all the way in.
When she was a child, she didn’t have much money in her hands, and when she saw something she wanted to play with, she could only think about it in her heart.
Now that she was grown up, she could afford many things. As they walked in, they also bought, bought, bought.
When they came across a sugar painting seller, Jian Xin pulled Yan Lu over.
Because she was very confident in her luck of always getting a guaranteed drop when she drew cards, she simply paid for a dragon and a phoenix, and chewed on them all the way.
When she saw a sugar figure maker, Jian Xin also pulled Yan Lu over and said, “Master, can you make a duck and a dog?”
“Of course, that’s simple,” the master replied without a second thought. This was the confidence of an old artisan.
The sugar figure master prepared the sugar, inserted a small tube, and handed it to Jian Xin. “Beauty, you blow it yourself.”
Jian Xin took it and started to blow into it.
The master on the side reminded her of the strength of her breath, and his hands kneaded the warm sugar, and soon, a little duck was formed.
Jian Xin said “wow” and handed the little duck to Yan Lu on the side.
The master asked again, “Do you still want a dog?”
Jian Xin: “Can it be a Corgi? The kind with a tail!”
As if afraid that the master didn’t know the breed of the dog, she even took out a picture of Xin Xin from her phone’s photo album and showed it to the master.
After looking at it, the master nodded and asked Yan Lu, who was standing on the side without speaking, “Are you going to blow this one?”
Yan Lu was taken aback for a moment, and Jian Xin on the side gently touched her arm and said with a grin, “Try it, it’s fun!”
“Mmm,” Yan Lu replied, and handed the little duck and the half-eaten half-dragon in her hand to Jian Xin.
A short while later, the two of them walked in another direction with two sugar figures of a duck and a dog.
They hadn’t walked a few steps when Jian Xin suddenly remembered something. She quickly walked to a slightly less crowded place on the side, took out her phone, and started to take pictures.
In the picture were their two hands, pressed together, and the two sugar figures of a duck and a dog, touching in their hands.
After taking the picture, Jian Xin was happy and turned to continue walking forward.
There were many people selling balloons on the street. Jian Xin saw from a distance that the balloons a person was holding were very beautiful. They were small flowers made of long balloons and round balloons.
They were held in a person’s hand, floating in the air, and were much more eye-catching than the many balloons on the side.
Jian Xin was suddenly interested and quickly called Yan Lu to chase after them.
“Can you take a picture for me?” she said, and as if nothing had happened, she walked to the side of the pile of balloons and struck a pose for a picture.
Just as Yan Lu had pressed the shutter, she saw the little girl who was holding the balloons crouch down, pull the balloons that were floating in the air down a little, just enough to cover herself, and become Jian Xin’s exclusive background.
Jian Xin was taken aback for a moment, and when she turned around, she just happened to meet the little girl’s smiling eyes.
“You take it, you take it!” the little girl said, and hid herself again.
Jian Xin was a little embarrassed for a moment, and she quickly said thank you, calmed herself down, and with her back to the balloons, she made a big heart above her head.
Finally, she also took two pictures for Yan Lu, and had the big brother come over to take two pictures of the two of them together.
The big brother’s photography skills were very bad, so none of the two-person photos were any good.
But the ones Yan Lu had taken were not bad. It was clear that she had studied it, and she didn’t know if it was because she had traveled with a certain little fairy too much, so she had been forced to master this skill.
To show her gratitude, Jian Xin bought a bouquet of balloon flowers from this little girl.
It was to pick a few balloons and have someone braid them into a bouquet—it was a big one to hold in her hand!
She took another picture, and it was still just her hand.
Her and Yan Lu’s hands, holding this large bouquet together, against the blue sky and white clouds, and the short buildings around them, took a picture.
As night fell, the street was lit up with various lights, and the street parade that the big brother had mentioned also began.
Many people followed the long line of the performance, taking pictures, recording videos, and cheering, so lively that it was like a scene you could only see on TV.
When the performance was over, they were tired, and when they went back with the big brother, it was already after one in the morning.
The food for the two little ones in the house was taken care of by the person who came to clean. When Yan Lu and Jian Xin went back, they were already snuggled together, sleeping soundly in the third-floor bedroom.
Yan Lu took a bath towel and a nightdress and went into the bathroom by herself.
Jian Xin sat on the edge of the bed and posted a Weibo.
The Weibo only had two words—Happy.
The pictures were of their sugar figures and balloon bouquet, as well as the moon and the sea that they had taken on the first night.
After posting, she put down her phone, listened to the sound of the water in the bathroom, and looked at Xin Xin and Cauliflower on the floor in a daze.
After a long silence, Jian Xin came back to her senses and ran to another bathroom to take a shower.
When she came out of the shower, Yan Lu had already dried her hair and was sitting up against the head of the bed, busy with her laptop.
Jian Xin walked forward and picked up the hairdryer that had not been put away. “Will it bother you?”
Yan Lu: “I’m not doing anything that can’t be disturbed.”
Jian Xin: “That’s good.”
Yan Lu looked up at her and asked with a smile, “When did you become so cautious?”
“What are you talking about?” Jian Xin retorted seriously. “How can this be called cautious? This is clearly being thoughtful and considerate!”
Yan Lu smiled and didn’t say anything more, just lowered her head and continued to look at her computer.
While she was drying her hair, Jian Xin would occasionally glance at Yan Lu.
She didn’t know if it was a hallucination, but she always felt that Yan Lu seemed to be smiling all the time.
She didn’t make a sound, but it was the kind of thing where her eyes were always curved, and the corners of her mouth also seemed to be lifted, and she was in a very good mood.
Yan Lu had always been a relatively introverted person, and even more so in front of her computer. Jian Xin rarely saw her smile at her computer for so long.
—What is she so happy about?
Jian Xin couldn’t figure it out, just silently and randomly guessed in her heart.
Her hair was quickly dried. She sat back on the bed, glanced at Yan Lu, and silently picked up her phone.
She had not expected that the moment she opened Weibo, her forwards and comments had all exploded.
About an hour ago, she had posted a Weibo with three pictures she had taken.
And just as she was taking a shower, Yan Lu had also posted a Weibo, directly taking her pictures and reposting them.
Jian Xin’s Weibo text was, “Happy.”
Yan Lu’s was, “As long as you’re happy.”
The people who were following both of them instantly found the problem.
—Wait a minute, you said before that you went to see the sea with the person you like, so this person is Great Author Qi?!!!
—Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!!!!!
—What’s going on? Are you two a couple?
—The singer I like wrote a song for the author I like. I thought they were just a collaboration, but it turns out they’re a couple???
—Family, look what I’ve shipped!
It wasn’t just the Weibo netizens who were shocked, but also many people Jian Xin knew in her life.
Because these two Weibo posts had actually made it to the hot search.
She didn’t even know that without being tied to Feng Man, she could still make it to the hot search just by showing off her love!
Indeed, the popularity of Great Author Yan was not to be underestimated.
For a moment, the QQ studio group, the band group, the WeChat dorm group, the class group, and even the comments and likes on her Moments, all became lively because of this Weibo post.
Many people she felt she hadn’t seen in centuries, and whose names she couldn’t even match to a face at this moment, also sent messages of shock or congratulations in her private chat.
Jian Xin scrolled down one by one, and even found the long-unseen Director Niu.
Director Niu: Xiao Jian, I saw the hot search, congratulations.
A long time ago, if this name had suddenly lit up, Jian Xin’s heart would have inevitably stopped for a moment.
This problem, after so long, was still there, more or less.
But Jian Xin quickly composed herself and replied very politely, “Thank you, Director Niu!”
Finally, she added, “I am who I am today all thanks to Director Niu’s cultivation back then!”
Director Niu: Hey, hey, hey, don’t say that!
Director Niu: You have to give me an autograph when you have the chance!
Jian Xin: As long as Director Niu doesn’t mind!
Jian Xin: [Bows to the leader]
Honestly, this was not just a polite remark, it was the truth!
If it weren’t for Director Niu asking her to go out and help her buy food on her birthday, and then criticizing her with a bad temper after she had bought it, which had given her a resentment that was almost enough to summon a demon, even if she had still seen Yan Lu’s picture, she might not have had the courage to quit directly.
But speaking of which, Jian Xin really hadn’t expected that Yan Lu would respond to her one-sided show of affection on Weibo.
You have to know that this very cold “Great Author Qi” would probably not have a single Weibo post in one or two months.
With this thought, Jian Xin couldn’t help but lift the corners of her mouth in a secret joy.
“What are you smiling about?” Yan Lu looked up and asked her.
Jian Xin: “I just didn’t expect you to respond.”
Yan Lu asked again, “Shouldn’t I have?”
Jian Xin blinked and said seriously, “There’s no ‘should’ or ‘shouldn’t,’ only ‘willing’ or ‘not willing’.”
She said that she no longer pre-set what the other person should do for her in a relationship.
She would do whatever she wanted, completely out of her own will. It would be good to have a little bit of a response, and she wouldn’t ask for too much.
Although a person, when doing something or saying something, would inevitably have some small expectations in their heart, as long as they were mentally prepared for their expectations to be dashed, it was no big deal.
To be satisfied is a surprise.
To not be satisfied is the norm.
Yan Lu listened, and after a moment of thought, “So this is… a surprise?”
“Mmm!”
It was a surprise, and also a sense of stability.
Overnight, their relationship was known to everyone.
So many years had passed, and they could finally stand in the sunlight together.
Actually, a long, long time ago, in the Z Band’s one and only concert, she had already wanted to do this.
But many things in this world do not go as one wishes, and they had been separated for so long by a twist of fate.
Fortunately, after all the twists and turns, they had found each other again.
Yan Lu closed her laptop, gently placed it on the bedside table, and her fingers gently pulled at Jian Xin’s nightdress, and she asked with a smile, “So what do you say?”
“Say whatever you want,” Jian Xin said, grabbing Yan Lu’s hand.
Suddenly, a voice sounded in her ear.
—It seems I don’t need to worry anymore, so I won’t watch the rest.
—I wish you a long and happy life together!
—I’m off, duck!
Jian Xin was taken aback for a moment and subconsciously looked down at Cauliflower, who was sleeping with Xin Xin.
The little duck had woken up at some point and was now looking at her.
But this gaze, after a few seconds, had also dissipated.
It seemed to be sleepy, and it shrank its head into its duck chest and quietly went back to sleep.
Yan Lu followed her gaze, glanced at Cauliflower, and asked curiously, “What’s wrong?”
Jian Xin hesitated for a moment and said, “I don’t think I’ll ever turn into Cauliflower again.”
Yan Lu: “That’s a bit of a pity…”
Jian Xin: “…?”
She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but was silenced by a wave of warmth.
Perhaps they shouldn’t be thinking about these things at a time like this.
This moonlit night should have belonged only to them.
