SWG Chapter 13
by Volare“Xiao Wenyu, you should smile more.”
Ruan Shengyi softened her voice, paused, and then said softly, “You look very beautiful when you smile.”
Her words silenced the air for two seconds, but soon, Xiao Wenyu raised the corners of her mouth, “Like this?”
Ruan Shengyi felt a little regretful.
Her impulsive words seemed to have called back Xiao Wenyu’s rationality. The release and cheerfulness of that moment had become a thing of the past. Xiao Wenyu’s smile once again carried a sense of detachment and propriety.
She had returned to her original state, back to her suppressed self.
Ruan Shengyi silently clenched her chopsticks, but could only say, “Yes, you should smile more, you really look beautiful.”
“Okay.” Xiao Wenyu said softly, gently touching the side of her neck, a slight smile on her face, “I will smile more in front of Boss Ruan, and be happier.”
Not just in front of me.
Ruan Shengyi shouted in her heart, but she had no position, no opportunity to say these words. Her stiff smile was turning awkward, and her fingers clenching the chopsticks trembled slightly.
She sighed silently in her heart several times, and replied with a smile, “Okay, if you’re unhappy in the future, you’ll be punished.”
“How will I be punished?” Xiao Wenyu looked at her with a smile.
“Punished…” Boss Ruan’s eyes darted around, and she said, “Punish Boss Xiao to take promotional photos for my Tonight Intoxicated, for free.”
“What if Boss Ruan is unhappy?”
“I don’t want to bet with you.”
“A one-way bet…” Xiao Wenyu gently stirred her porridge, softening her voice, “Then I can’t bet.”
Ruan Shengyi said helplessly, “Then please, Boss Xiao, set the rules.”
Xiao Wenyu propped up her chin, softening her voice: “If Boss Ruan is unhappy, then just help me with some promotion, put up two posters.”
“…Okay, then I guess this poster will never be used.”
I will probably always be happy, in front of you.
“So Boss Ruan won’t help me promote…” she suddenly said softly, the end of her sentence lightly rising, “will you?”
Help me.
How could Ruan Shengyi refuse her when she was like this!
She coughed a few times and said, “Promote, of course, promote, is that okay?”
Xiao Wenyu took the opportunity and nodded, “Okay.”
“Then let me continue to tell you about Luo Yiyi’s family situation.”
The woman’s expression almost instantly sank, and she said in a low voice, “As you can see, her family situation is very bad. She only has one mother left, and the departure of her other mother has brought heavy debts to her family.”
The birthmark on Luo Yiyi’s face was congenital, but she was lucky because she was born into a very loving family. Both mothers felt genuine joy at her arrival and sincerely hoped that she would grow up happy and healthy.
Therefore, although she had a birthmark, she had a very happy and perfect childhood, and also developed an exceptionally positive and optimistic personality.
The turning point happened when she was eight years old. Her mother suddenly found out that she had advanced pancreatic cancer. The disease came like a landslide, almost emptying all the family’s property, but the three of them depended on each other for life, so how could they be willing to give up one of them?
“…At that time, Luo Yiyi and her mommy made a decision together. They took out all their family property and borrowed a lot of foreign debts, just to give her mother the best medicine and treatment in her last moments, to let her suffer the least pain, and to hope that she could spend every precious day happily.”
Xiao Wenyu’s voice was filled with a thick, unshakable sorrow, but who could feel relaxed hearing such a story? Ruan Shengyi didn’t even know how to evaluate the people in this story.
Especially after hearing Xiao Wenyu say that on the last day of her life, Luo Yiyi, who didn’t understand makeup at the time, put lipstick on her, Ruan Shengyi became even more silent, with doubts and questions sprouting in her heart.
Is Luo Yiyi’s maturity a good thing or a bad thing? Is it a good thing or a bad thing to involve such a young child in the whole process?
She didn’t know.
She couldn’t figure it out.
Did this seemingly regret-free approach really leave no regrets?
Yes, there will be many, many regrets, a lot of pain, which will make this child more and more sad in the future.
She gently pierced a beef ball, and sighed softly.
Xiao Wenyu seemed to be able to read her mind, and said in a low voice, “Maybe it’s a good thing, at least when Luo Yiyi found me, she was very brave and happy.”
She gently covered her still-unobvious lower abdomen, her heart aching.
At that time, she only tasted Luo Yiyi’s bravery, but now that she can really think about this issue empathetically, just thinking about it is enough to cause heart-wrenching pain.
Her child, her poor child.
Ruan Shengyi didn’t know what to say, and in the end, she said in a low voice, “If I were you, I would stick to this project.”
She definitely would, just for the sake of her past self.
The air became cold and indifferent, with only the sound of chopsticks moving. This meal was eaten without any taste.
Ruan Shengyi raised her eyes and frowned, for no other reason than that she had eaten slowly and with difficulty, but the other person was still picking up rice one grain at a time, as if she was starving herself.
Besides, the rice porridge was cold, but she had only eaten a third of it.
Ruan Shengyi had no choice but to call her name, bringing her back to reality, frowning, “Your body is already as bad as you described, so why don’t you eat properly?”
Xiao Wenyu was stunned for a moment, then smiled, “Just some old stomach problems, it’s okay.”
“…It’s always this sentence!” Ruan Shengyi muttered, quite dissatisfied.
Xiao Wenyu unobtrusively withdrew her hand, “What does Boss Ruan want to hear?”
“I want to hear you say that you will eat well.”
“I will eat well.”
Just a sentence, spoken and passed.
But even a sentence is a promise.
But this answer came too quickly, Ruan Shengyi hadn’t even thought about the next sentence, and the answer had already popped out, along with the woman’s pure eyes, making her afraid to look at those eyes for a moment, and not knowing how to respond to this sentence.
After a long time, “I’ll believe you this time.”
*
This autumn is inexplicably humid. It has rained several times near the Mid-Autumn Festival. On a rainy afternoon, Ruan Shengyi pushed open the door of a decoration material store on the street.
Small places are like this, the distribution of these stores is not regular. Some are old brands, and some new stores don’t look at what’s around, and stubbornly rely on their own ideas to grow wildly.
This decoration material store is the former. When Ruan Shengyi first came, she bought things from this store and helped her find a cheap construction team, so her relationship with this store is pretty good.
“Aunt Ming, do you have any soundproofing cotton with little smell here?” she asked familiarly.
Aunt Ming, wearing a neat sportswear, came out from the back of the store, smiling: “What are you going to do?”
“Ruan girl, I said long ago that you should install soundproofing cotton on your third floor, can you stick it yourself?”
Ruan Shengyi was a little familiar with Aunt Ming’s concern. This enthusiastic merchant was familiar with every family on this street, and would chat with each family so warmly and intimately, as if everyone had bought materials from her house, and everyone had been helped by her family to decorate.
This is the advantage of a small city, and also the disadvantage of a small city.
I wonder if Xiao Wenyu walked into this store when she was decorating, and if she chatted with Aunt Ming so warmly?
Ruan Shengyi lightly Tuckedthe pocket in her hand, and said softly, “Aunt Ming, it’s not too late now.”
“Well, it’s not too late!” The woman took her arm familiarly, “Let’s go, let’s pick it out.”
“What’s wrong with you lately, are you in love? How did you start thinking about going out during the day?”
Ruan Shengyi pursed her lips and silently followed behind her.
Aunt Ming: “Oh, I knew you young people wouldn’t want to say it, it’s okay, just buy Auntie’s things.”
“Look, these models have little smell and low formaldehyde content, but Auntie tells you, this soundproofing cotton takes up space, and the effect is not as good as that soundproofing felt, why don’t you try that?”
“You young people now, it’s good to be alone, just deal with the third floor.”
Aunt Ming tiptoed, trying to take off the cut soundproofing felt from the top shelf, so Ruan Shengyi took it down for her, and also found a chance to interject, “Besides me, is there anyone else dealing with the third floor?”
“You don’t know?” Aunt Ming was surprised, “I thought you knew, it’s that one across the street from you. She said she was divorced and didn’t want to bother her family…” As she said, she shook her head and sighed, holding the shelf, “You say, such a good child, how can she be so accommodating!”
Ruan Shengyi’s hands were in her pockets, almost breaking the pockets, but she still had to force a smile, and said, “Saving money, you always have to be careful when you live alone.”
Aunt Ming snorted at her, “The one who is least qualified to say this is you! Hey, have you inspected the house you decorated? Tell Auntie if you have any problems, that whole-house intelligence of yours is not something that many people in our Chuncheng have, but it has given your aunt a problem.”
Family gossip is the style of a small town. Without going three villages and ten miles, the words can spread throughout the entire small town.
Ruan Shengyi squeezed her hands tightly, and couldn’t help but think –
Xiao Wenyu, why do you introduce yourself like this to everyone? Letting everyone in the surrounding area know your past, is that good?
She couldn’t understand this woman more and more.
Coming to Aunt Ming’s today was just to take a look, usually it’s like this, she comes over to take a look when she thinks of something, and talks to this few warm but not uncomfortable aunt, without buying anything. Aunt Ming won’t say anything either, at most she’ll say she’ll keep it for you.
She won’t really keep it, after all, she doesn’t know when she’ll come again next time.
Ruan Shengyi wandered back along the street, and as she walked, she walked into a small store on the side of the road.
The owner of the store was knitting cotton thread, glanced at her, squeezed out a “hmm” from her nose, and pushed the payment code to her casually, “Take what you want yourself.”
“Two bags of potato chips, thank you.”
“Ten yuan, scan the code.”
“Okay.”
Neat and clean dialogue, this is also the state of this street.
Ruan Shengyi kneaded the potato chips in her hand casually.
She didn’t want to eat them either, but she felt inexplicably irritable after coming out of Aunt Ming’s, and kneading the potato chips was the best way to relieve stress when she was irritable.
She even wanted to turn the potato chips into Xiao Wenyu, who had gradually become closer in the past few days, and wanted to tear open the bag and ask her why she always said that to everyone.
Can’t she just tell her these things?
Can’t she really be special?
The building material store and the small store are both on the same side as Xiao Wenyu’s photo studio. When Ruan Shengyi walks along the side like this, she can always walk to the door of the photo studio.
She pretended to look inside casually. Xiao Wenyu seemed to be introducing business to two people. She was facing away from the door, holding a photo album in her hand, her long brown hair half draped behind her, warm and fluffy.
Ruan Shengyi retracted her gaze, preparing to cross the road.
Raising her eyes, on the opposite side of the road, Xie Yu was staring at her speechlessly with a “you’re going to die” expression.
…