rose ashes

Chapter 8 Roses, Roses

The face of the newspaper slowly emerged. Ye Gu remained calm as ever. He folded the newspaper and walked to the center island.
"You're the only one with a mouth."

Apart from other things, Xi Jinzhou is a first-class and natural skill in insulting others.

He didn't care at all. He sat down leisurely opposite Ye Gu, turning the water cup in his hand and tapping the center island table with his knuckles, making a dull sound.
"You want her to live here and you have to use my name. You are the one who has no words."

These two apartments are Ye Gu’s real estate. He had taken a fancy to the location when they were newly built a few years ago. At that time, he had been having conflicts with his family for a while, and he also encountered difficulties in company affairs. Misfortunes never come alone.

Ye Gu is not the type of person who would complain to others, so he moved here to live by himself, giving himself time to calm down and space to solve problems.

After living in one place for a long time and getting used to the living environment here, I am too lazy to move back. I just go back to the Ye family to visit my elders every week.

He didn't want to live across the street with someone he didn't know, so he simply bought both rooms and cut off any trouble quickly.
But I didn't expect it would be so useful today.

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Xi Jinzhou just swallowed his breath helplessly, "Ye Gu, why didn't I realize that you are such a shy person before?"
It was common knowledge that Ye Gu liked to play teasing on Luo Yang when they were in school. At that time, Ye Gu looked like an annoying little brat who liked to grab people's ponytails and also liked to quietly stretch out his foot to deliberately trip Luo Yang when she came back from the teacher's office.

Luo Yang has a gentle temper. Apart from the occasional warning look, she is the only girl who has never said anything harsh to him.

Ye Gu is an out-and-out mischievous boy, he says whatever he wants to say, and I don’t know since when, he started to be reserved and mature when speaking, which became his normal state.
Xi Jinzhou was once very uncomfortable with his changes, but after Luo Yang left, Ye Gu's condition became more entrenched, and Xi Jinzhou roughly guessed the reason.

As he was speaking, the calico cat with silent footsteps came out of the study with proud steps, curled up in the cat bed at Ye Gu's feet, and quietly combed its fur.

Ye Gu lowered his eyes and looked at the cat, vaguely remembering that night when it was pouring rain.
That day was the day when Luo Yang's mother was cremated. The fire in the funeral home was as big as the sudden rainstorm that day, but it was much hotter than the rain.

Ye Gu attended Yang Yue's final farewell ceremony. He stood on the periphery of the circle and could only vaguely see Luo Yang standing in front of Yang Yue who was lying peacefully.
The expected tears or crying did not appear in front of him. Ye Gu felt as if he didn't recognize her anymore.

In the past, Luo Yang was a gentle but simple girl who would cry and unconsciously fail to hide her vulnerability.

But that day, he saw a look of inquiry in Luo Yang's eyes mixed with weighing the pros and cons, so calm that it was frightening.

Yang Yue treated Ye Gu very well during her lifetime. Now that the farewell ceremony has officially ended, it means that there will no longer be a gentle and smiling woman named Yang Yue in this world.
Although Ye Gu is not a sentimental person, he is not without the ability to perceive emotions. He can tell what is good and what is bad.

On the way home, the rain came down without any warning, washing away the sky and the earth, catching everyone off guard.

While hiding from the rain, Ye Gu saw Luo Yang squatting quietly near the park. She was not holding an umbrella and was squatting in front of the flower bed.
She was wearing a white dress, the hem of which was covered with mud spots.

Seeing the rain falling recklessly and her not finding a place to hide from the rain, Ye Gu was furious and wanted to go up to her and ask her what she was doing.
Suddenly, I saw a skinny calico cat in the flower bed. Its hair, which had been shaved off by humans, was sticking to its body in ugly clumps because it was wet from the rain.

The kitten cried weakly, and was very exhausted. Luo Yang seemed to be oblivious to the heavy rain. He just stroked the kitten's back, whispering to comfort him, "Don't you have a home either? But I can't support you, because I just lost my home too. It's okay, I will bring you delicious food, and you have to live well."

I don’t know how much water seeped in during the rainy day and to what extent my clothes were soaked. Luo Yang slowly stood up when the heavy rain gradually stopped.

Perhaps it was because he had been squatting for too long, his blood was congested, and there was a halo and black circles surrounding his eyes. His feet felt light and he was about to fall over.

Ye Gu almost rushed out, but Luo Yang quickly grabbed the thick and wet tree trunk beside him. Because he was too scared, his nails dug into the trunk and half of his nails were broken off.

Only after watching Luo Yang disappear at the end of the turn did Ye Gu dare to walk out of the darkness.

My eyes wandered around the flower bed and finally I saw the skinny kitten. I looked closely and saw a small handkerchief under the kitten. The handkerchief was a little yellow, but you could still tell that the owner cherished it very much. Although the embroidery skills were poor, there was no sign of stitches falling off.

That was the birth gift that Yang Yue’s best friend gave to Luo Yang when she was born.

Looking at the calico cat squatting on the handkerchief and meowing, Ye Gu fell into silence.

It turned out that she was not sad, but because she was too sad, she showed her most vulnerable side in front of a kitten on a rainy day, announcing that she had no home.
But at that time, Ye Gu didn't know how to find the former Luo Yang again, and could only watch secretly when she fed the cat.

Later, Luo Yang wanted to take the cat home quietly and raise it in the storage room, but Luo Ke, who had taken over the cat's nest, threw the box and handkerchief into the garbage truck.

Fortunately, Ye Gu stopped the car and secretly took the cat and handkerchief back home.

He was not good at naming, and had never raised an animal before, so he simply followed the crowd and called him Mimi, and he has been calling him like this until now. Luo Yang still doesn't know that the cat didn't die a violent death, but Ye Gu never told anyone about this matter, except when Xi Jinzhou caught it himself one time, and then he knew Ye Gu's secret.

"So it was Rocco who did it?"
Ye Gu turned a deaf ear to Xi Jinzhou's temptation and automatically filtered it out.

Xi Jinzhou agreed, "That's right, so what do you think? Once your marriage is finalized, it will no longer be a matter between two people but between two families."
In terms of mental age, Xi Jinzhou is obviously a few years older than Ye Guxu. He has a clearer mind and is better at weighing the pros and cons and keeping his composure.

Ye Gu had said before that if Xi Jinzhou also went into business, he might not be Xi Jinzhou's opponent.
Because he is too meticulous, a person who takes an unconventional approach will eventually be defeated by a meticulous opponent.

The cat probably squatted at my feet for too long and didn't get the touch it wanted, so it meowed and walked away slowly with graceful steps.

Ye Gu suddenly snorted, and the cup in his hand fell onto the shiny table, with his knuckles cracking.
That creepy and nonchalant look reappeared.
"Who is her family?"

Xi Jinzhou was stunned for a second, then smiled and said, "As expected of you, you are really great. Anyway, just be sensible."

Before leaving, Ye Gu called Xi Jinzhou, his eyes wandering and his hands in his pockets.
"Hey, is she...crying?"

With a "puff", Xi Jinzhou burst into laughter, held on to the door frame to slow down the rising force, and then slowly spoke.
"Are you kidding me? How old is she? How could she cry? Besides, if she wants to cry, she won't cry in front of me. Really, can't you just go and check it out yourself if you're worried about it, you coward."

"You!" Ye Gu was furious, his eyes turned red, and the corners of his mouth trembled slightly, but he was soon defeated.
"I won't bother with you. But next time you want my wine, forget it!"

Xi Jinzhou: “…”
Those who don’t know would think Ye Gu is only ten years old and always likes to use things to threaten others.

/ / /
The moon was covered at midnight, and no light could be seen. The whole room was empty, and it seemed that no one had ever lived there. However, there must be an auntie who came to clean the room regularly, as the room was spotless and the items were neatly arranged.

Luo Yang couldn't sleep and paced aimlessly in the room. Her slippers were men's and they didn't fit her feet well. As she slipped on them, the bones of her fair instep were clearly visible.

Xi Jinzhou still loves reading as always. There are many books about medicine on the bookshelf. She had only heard of them when she was in school, but they were not her field, so she had no in-depth knowledge of them.

Luo Yang likes to listen to the sound of turning pages. The texture of the turning pages and the wind blowing with the unique smell of ink always calm her down in her anxiety and boredom.
Like a magical spell.

I picked up a collection of poetry at random.
——《Moonlight Falls on the Left Hand》

The name is beautiful, and Luo Yang has a natural inability to resist nice-sounding book titles.

When I was bored, I sat cross-legged on the sofa with this book in my arms, and there was a cup of steaming boiled water on the table.

The pages are very smooth, but the overall tone of the book is a little yellow. It seems that Xi Jinzhou has purchased this book a long time ago.

Reading page by page, Luo Yang gradually immersed himself in it. Every paragraph and every poem was mixed with good and bad. Beneath the roar of smoke and fire, it was written about real life. There was pain, but one still had to go on.

Dragging my mortal body, I keep walking in pain.

Fortunately, Miss Xiuhua has a puppy named Xiaowu.

Come to think of it, she once had a docile kitten to keep her company. After Yang Yue left, feeding the kitten became the last bit of her expectation on her way home from school every day.

But then...

Forget it, Luo Yang didn’t want to think about those disgusting people and things anymore.

The folded page suddenly appeared in front of Luo Yang as the spine of the book folded over. The title of the book was simple and clear, with only two words: "Youth".

-
He wants to chase a butterfly over the mountains
His white sneakers are dirty.
Sweat stains on shirt
At that time, my home was in the countryside, with smoke rising from the chimneys.
Birdsong
At that time he didn't know that he would have an old lover in the future
He ran across the field, carrying the wind
He runs in the sky, carrying the clouds
It is a green butterfly, born in the water of childhood
At that time he didn't believe he would grow up
He wants to climb the mountain to chase a butterfly
He didn't know that a middle-aged man had dreamed of him
The middle-aged man got old and dreamed of him again
He didn't know the way he ran.
Curled up in a ball
Soon after, he threw it away, leaving it to gather dust over the years.
After reading it, Luo Yang was silent for a long time before he let out a long sigh and murmured softly: "Is Doctor Xi so sentimental?"
She was stunned until she saw the signature at the end.