Chapter 28
“What’s wrong? Is there a problem with work? Do you need Auntie to help?”
Once before when Wen Ran was taking on illustration work, she had been misunderstood by someone and inexplicably scolded. That had made Aunt Zhu so angry that she immediately reported them, and originally wanted to help Wen Ran argue back, but then thought better of it, afraid of causing unnecessary trouble.
Even though this work didn’t require Wen Ran to have much communication with clients, just needing to negotiate prices, sign contracts, submit drafts, and go through reviews, Wen Ran’s temperament made her too easily led around by others, and she was also very easily bullied.
“No… no problems.”
Wen Ran looked at the neatly arranged fruit on the plate, then raised her head to look at Aunt Zhu.
“What’s wrong, my dear?”
Aunt Zhu stroked her hair.
“Why is it that… when I look at Aunt Zhu, I don’t… feel nervous? Is it because… I’ve looked for too long, so I’ve… gotten used to it?”
Wen Ran looked again at Aunt Zhu’s kind face, then lowered her head after a moment. “I can… look at Aunt Zhu for a long time.”
Aunt Zhu immediately understood. “So that’s how it is… What about Mr. Xie? I saw you looking at him just now…”
Wen Ran lowered her eyes. “He must… not like the way I… am. My voice… is also not good, not pleasant to hear.”
“Ran Ran, you silly girl, who said you’re not good?”
Aunt Zhu stroked her hair, saying gently: “You need to know that not everyone is perfect, including Xie Yunli. He’s not a perfect person either. There’s no truly perfect person in this world. Everyone has flaws. Besides, our Ran Ran is so beautiful. Your voice isn’t pleasant? How could that be? Our Ran Ran has the most beautiful speaking voice. You just speak less, that’s all.”
Wen Ran buried her face in her embrace, saying in a muffled voice: “What is he… doing? Waiting for dinner?”
“He’s handling work. He brought his laptop with him.”
Aunt Zhu smiled: “Just now I asked him what he wanted for dinner, and he said to cook according to what you like to eat. You see, Mr. Xie still cares about you very much.”
“…Why?”
“Are you asking why he cares about Ran Ran?”
Wen Ran nodded.
“Although Auntie can give many reasons why Ran Ran is lovable, this question should be asked by you to him directly.”
Aunt Zhu smiled: “Because each person’s reasons for caring about you and liking you are definitely different.”
Wen Ran lifted her head from her embrace.
“The most important thing for married couples is communication. Of course, this is very difficult for you. But if there must be one person in this world that you need to gradually learn to communicate with, that person must be Xie Yunli.”
Wen Ran was stunned. She digested this sentence over and over for a long time. If she must learn to communicate with one person, it would definitely be Xie Yunli.
Because Xie Yunli was her family member, her husband. In this world, she didn’t have many relatives left, and she didn’t even know where her father was.
Although Aunt Zhu had always been by her side, Aunt Zhu also had her own family. Someday she would return to her own family, and when that time came, she would be alone again.
She didn’t know if Xie Yunli would be like this, because even marital relationships could sometimes break apart.
In this world, one person leaving another was the simplest thing imaginable.
During dinner, Wen Ran was still thinking about Aunt Zhu’s words, so much so that she began to space out while eating.
At the originally quiet dinner table with no conversation, Xie Yunli broke the silence: “What are you thinking about?”
Wen Ran seemed not to have heard, still immersed in her own world, with no reaction to his words.
Her appearance at this moment was as if she had isolated herself in the air, with no connection to anything in the outside world.
Xie Yunli frowned slightly and called her name softly again: “Wen Ran?”
Only when she heard her name did Wen Ran come back to her senses, looking at him blankly.
Finally, she was back.
Xie Yunli asked her: “What were you thinking about? Why did you stop eating?”
Wen Ran looked down and saw she had only eaten a third of her meal, and a piece of broccoli had accidentally fallen onto the table.
“Ah… sorry.”
She immediately picked up that piece of broccoli and put it in her mouth.
“It’s fine, you don’t need to apologize.”
Xie Yunli put down his utensils and asked her: “Poor appetite? Why did you suddenly stop eating?”
Even spacing out for no reason must have a cause. Maybe the reason was just feeling tired, or bored.
But Xie Yunli’s intuition told him that Wen Ran’s spacing out just now wasn’t that simple.
“Is there something troubling you?”
Xie Yunli looked at her and said: “If there is, you can tell me, and I’ll help you solve it.”
Wen Ran lowered her eyes and shook her head.
Actually, she didn’t know what was troubling her either. It was just that recently she kept acting abnormally like this, and she didn’t know why.
“Wen Ran.”
Xie Yunli suddenly called her name again, then paused and said: “You don’t like eating dinner with me?”
“No!”
Because she was too surprised, her arm accidentally knocked the fork in her hand, and it fell to the floor.
Wen Ran immediately covered her ears reflexively and closed her eyes.
Hearing the sound of utensils hitting the floor, Aunt Zhu in the kitchen hurried out, but saw Xie Yunli stand up and walk to Wen Ran’s side.
Aunt Zhu immediately stopped and quietly returned to the kitchen.
Xie Yunli paused with his raised hand, then gently removed Wen Ran’s hands covering her ears. “It’s okay.”
Wen Ran looked up at him. “I don’t… don’t dislike eating with you…”
“That’s good.”
Wen Ran was startled, her shoulders shrinking slightly.
Because Xie Yunli had touched her head.
Very lightly and briefly, like a casual and gentle comforting gesture.
Aunt Zhu came over to give her new utensils and also patted her shoulder comfortingly, indicating she shouldn’t mind about dropping the fork earlier.
“If you don’t like eating dinner with me, I’ll leave meal times for you alone. If you like…”
Xie Yunli paused and said: “If you don’t mind eating with me, then I can try to make time to eat with you.”
Wen Ran couldn’t think clearly anymore. She could only look at Xie Yunli’s chin, watching him speak word by word, then start eating again, so she also picked up the new fork and resumed eating.
They finished eating almost simultaneously.
“I can see Kaka is recovering well. The veterinarian at the rescue center said it would be best to take it for another checkup in a while. I’ll find a good pet hospital and have another physical examination done for it. But don’t worry, it’s already recovered very well, there won’t be any major problems.”
Wen Ran nodded. “Thank you…”
“You don’t need to thank me. This is what I should do.”
Xie Yunli looked at her hands constantly gripping her dress hem and said: “Last time when we went to pick up Kaka together… you were very brave.”
Wen Ran was stunned.
Was he praising her?
But for a normal person, this kind of thing wouldn’t be difficult at all.
“If you want to go out somewhere next time, just tell me.”
Because she had lowered her head again, Xie Yunli could only look at the obedient strands of hair on top of her head.
“Don’t think you’re troubling me. Wherever you want to go, whatever you want to do, you must tell me. I’ll try to make time to accompany you. I’m not comfortable with you and Aunt Zhu going out alone, okay?”
Actually, these words had been carefully considered before being spoken. Even the slightest misstep would make them sound like commands.
If the other person were someone else, they would probably be able to hear that there were some hidden emotions in his tone.
Just like when he learned that she and Aunt Zhu had rented a car to see Kaka, he inexplicably abandoned his scheduled work and drove over alone, asking her why she wanted to go out without telling him. He was also asking why she insisted on forcing herself to communicate with strangers instead of letting him help her.
Regarding Kaka’s situation, if he hadn’t made private arrangements, perhaps she would never have told him in the end, choosing to handle it herself.
Things that wouldn’t be difficult for ordinary people, but he knew very clearly in his heart how difficult this was for Wen Ran.
Even just stepping out of this house required enormous courage for her, let alone going so far away, signing adoption agreements, and having to communicate with strangers and accept their questioning.
This kind of thing should have been something he helped her with.
But if he didn’t say it, she would never understand that when she first stepped out of the house, the person who should have been by her side wasn’t Aunt Zhu, and the first person who should have spoken with her wasn’t Xiao Zhi, or that inexplicably appearing female student Weiwei.
It should have been him, Xie Yunli, her husband.
However, at this moment, seeing Wen Ran’s innocent appearance, Xie Yunli took a deep breath. His hand that wanted to stroke her hair paused and didn’t reach up to touch her. “Next time, let me accompany you.”
Of course, he couldn’t tell her these hidden thoughts directly.
“Mm.”
Wen Ran nodded seriously: “I will… tell you. As long as I go out, I will… tell you.”
Xie Yunli nodded, then said: “Other things are fine too. You can use the phone I gave you to talk with me anytime.”
Wen Ran’s gaze wandered, and she said in confusion: “…Won’t it disturb you?”
Xie Yunli knew what she was thinking.
She must be thinking about her father, because the most important things in her memories were only those few.
She was remembering her father’s indifference toward her when he was busy with work, possibly even scolding.
“It won’t.”
He said: “Your matters are more important to me.”
The clock pointed to nine o’clock.
“You should go rest. You still read for a while before sleeping, right?”
Wen Ran nodded.
He really knew everything.
“Then let’s say it in advance, that phrase.”
Xie Yunli smiled and said: “This time you don’t need to use the phone to send a message.”
Wen Ran was confused for a while. Her mind was somewhat chaotic because Xie Yunli had said too many things to her today, many words she had never heard before and couldn’t immediately understand. She needed time to recall them sentence by sentence, then digest them one by one.
So under Xie Yunli’s quietly waiting gaze, she thought for a long time before her eyes suddenly widened a bit.
“Ah…”
She stared blankly at the area of Xie Yunli’s chin.
He was still waiting for her to speak.
But Wen Ran suddenly seemed to become nervous. Both her hands unconsciously clenched into fists, her shoulders shrinking slightly. She lowered her head and, as if using great courage, spoke intermittently: “Good… good night, Xie Yunli.”
That soft and gentle voice was like when she was very young, being taught those simple words over and over again by teachers.
However, this time, what she heard was no longer those corrections and encouragements, but a response that seemed to contain laughter.
“Good night, Ran Ran. I hope you and Kaka both have sweet dreams.”
…
“She always eats like this, doesn’t she?”
“Yes, you also know that some of her habits are very difficult to change.”
In the courtyard outside, Aunt Zhu and Xie Yunli stood together. Aunt Zhu could see from the look in Xie Yunli’s eyes when he was about to leave that he had something to say to her, so she came out to see him off.
Xie Yunli said: “She’s too thin and eats too little.”
Although the ingredients she ate were nutritionally comprehensive, they were still monotonous day after day, year after year, the same few repetitive vegetables and meats. Over time, she might still lack some trace elements. Compared to ordinary girls, she didn’t even eat snacks, yogurt, or some fruits.
Aunt Zhu nodded and sighed. “This point is very difficult to change. When I first came to their house, Wen Ran ate even less, and she would only eat food made by her mother’s own hands. Even if she had nothing to eat all day and was terribly hungry, she never ate any food given by others. In her understanding, only food given by her mother was food she could eat. Later, I also spent a long time gradually approaching her, making her understand that I would cook for her.”
“After growing up… has it always been like this?”
“Yes, many children with autism, even as adults, need their parents to feed them and take care of their daily lives. Ran Ran isn’t too severe. She accepted intervention treatment relatively early, so she can actually do many things herself. But some habits she cannot change.”
Aunt Zhu said: “I’ve tried my best to ensure she gets comprehensive nutrition. This child’s figure has always been like this. She was even thinner in the two years after her mother passed away. You’ve seen that, haven’t you…”
Xie Yunli was silent for a moment.
Of course he remembered her appearance back then.
When he came looking for her, the moment he saw her, he realized he had come too late.
Wen Ran at that time couldn’t simply be described as slender. At that time, she seemed abandoned by the whole world.
Even without showing emotional depression like normal people when sad, or crying aloud, or silent tears, her collapse was silent and soundless, as if even every second of breathing had lost its meaning.
Long periods of unconsciousness, long periods of staring blankly at something, or constantly repeating certain phrases from memory. That suffocating sadness that seemed to wrap around her soul made even her life force seem to dissipate greatly.
Later, even her biological father couldn’t continue and left her side.
While Aunt Zhu held her over and over, telling her that her mother hoped she could live well. She took a very, very long time to digest this sentence, so long that it took a full two years before she spoke normal language for the first time.
Thinking about it now, the time when he came to her side was really too late.
Even though he immediately decided to take her away from that house, marry her, give her a new environment, and let her understand that she would still have new family members, it couldn’t change the mental and physical damage that period had caused her.
“Will she eat the cake that Zhou Wei delivered?”
“Yes, she’ll eat some. Probably because she knows you sent it, so she’ll eat it.”
“What if I take her out to eat? Can she adapt to that?”
Aunt Zhu hesitated and said: “This… I can’t be certain, but taking her out still needs to be done gradually, adapting bit by bit, just like when we accompanied her to adopt Kaka. That was because her desire to adopt Kaka was very strong, so she could ignore some of her own feelings. No matter how uncomfortable she felt, she would endure it. But if it’s taking her out to do other things, she’ll definitely be uncomfortable at first. However, if we’re careful and pay attention to her feelings in time, there should be no problem.”
“After all, Ran Ran is also increasingly trusting you.”
Aunt Zhu said: “She has now gradually accepted that you are her family member.”
Xie Yunli nodded. “Let’s take it slowly.”
“There’s one more thing.”
Xie Yunli said: “That time when you went to visit Kaka, you rented a car to go, right?”
Aunt Zhu was startled and said: “Yes, we should have told you in advance that time. I’m really sorry.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Xie Yunli said lightly: “But next time, for safety’s sake, please tell me in advance, no matter where she wants to go.”
“Alright, I understand, Mr. Xie.”
Aunt Zhu had originally thought that Xie Yunli wouldn’t mind Wen Ran going out to see Kaka that time, and Wen Ran also didn’t want Xie Yunli to know, afraid of troubling him.
However, neither of them had expected that Xie Yunli actually cared about this matter very much.
Aunt Zhu could tell from his expression that he not only cared about this matter very much, but was also somewhat displeased.
Of course, he didn’t blame her, and certainly couldn’t blame Wen Ran.
What he cared about was that when Wen Ran went out, he didn’t know about it and couldn’t take care of her.
“In the future, if there’s anything, just call me directly. You don’t need to go through Zhou Wei.”
Xie Yunli nodded to her. “Then I’ll continue to trouble you, Aunt Zhu.”
Only after watching him leave did Aunt Zhu breathe a sigh of relief.
It seemed she had really underestimated how much Xie Yunli cared about Wen Ran, and also underestimated Xie Yunli’s temper. Although he never expressed the slightest dissatisfaction or blame from beginning to end, it was precisely that cold imposing manner that made people feel more pressure.
Such a person, even when angry, would probably be cold and rational.
No wonder Zhou Wei said he wasn’t really a very patient type of person, just that on the surface he indeed appeared very patient.
Fortunately, he was still caring toward Wen Ran. Even if Wen Ran did something wrong, he should be able to forgive her easily…
At noon, when it was almost time for lunch, Wen Ran still hadn’t come downstairs.
Generally, there were few times when Wen Ran could change her living habits. Her life had been very regular since childhood. Unless it was special periods, like when they had just moved, or the first few days when Kaka came, she should have returned to normal these past few days.
Seeing that it was already meal time, Aunt Zhu went upstairs to find her and saw that Wen Ran was indeed still painting in the study, with Kaka sleeping on a cushion beside her.
Aunt Zhu called softly, “Ran Ran, it’s time for lunch.”
Wen Ran seemed not to have heard, with no reaction at all. Aunt Zhu walked over quietly and discovered she was wearing earplugs, completely immersed in the world of painting.
When she saw Aunt Zhu, Wen Ran came back to her senses and removed the earplugs. “Aunt Zhu… is it time for lunch? I forgot…”
She touched her stomach, seeming to also feel that she should be filling her belly at this time.
Aunt Zhu smiled: “Who told you to be so immersed in painting?”
Walking to her side, Aunt Zhu discovered what she was painting.
It was that road covered with maple leaves that they had walked together that day.
It must be said that Wen Ran’s artistic talent was quite remarkable. Even though they had only walked back and forth for less than an hour, even though several days had passed, she could still completely and perfectly paint the scenery they had seen that day.
“So beautiful.”
Aunt Zhu exclaimed: “My goodness, you painted it so realistically, Ran Ran, you really are a genius.”
She didn’t doubt at all that if someone took this painting to that road for comparison, even the distance proportions between trees, and even the shapes of some maple leaves, would be very close to what Wen Ran had painted.
She didn’t need to spend long periods sketching from a particular scene. She only needed to look for a while, and that image would be firmly imprinted in her mind, then perfectly presented on paper according to each calculated proportion.
Including the colors, everything was perfect.
“Ran Ran, have you ever thought about showing Mr. Xie your talent? You’ve never played piano for him either, have you?”
Aunt Zhu suggested: “You should let him see, and let Mr. Xie know what an excellent girl our Ran Ran is.”
Actually, Wen Ran’s talent in this area had been evident since childhood. Any teacher who had seen her paint or play piano would marvel at her talent, saying she was born with rare artistic gifts.
So her parents had also thought about letting Wen Ran develop her talent and pursue art in the future.
As Wen Ran gradually grew up, her father had also thought about having her participate in some activities and competitions to accumulate fame, but Wen Ran couldn’t do this at all. In front of many strangers, she couldn’t play instruments or paint, and she couldn’t use this talent to gain too much attention.
Once when Wen Ran was in her teens, her father asked her to play a piano piece in front of old friends. Wen Ran was brought to the piano, sat rigidly on the bench, and soon began trembling.
She couldn’t do it.
Her father’s expression immediately changed. Having a daughter with autism when both parents were normal had already made this middle-aged man worry himself gray, and now the talent that was supposed to shine couldn’t be displayed in front of others either.
This was also why her parents often argued back then. Wen Ran’s mother didn’t want to force her to do anything, but her father felt that an autistic child who couldn’t even use her talents would be useless for life.
Actually everyone was trying to help Wen Ran, but no one could convince the other, and ultimately it was still Wen Ran who got hurt.
Wen Ran hadn’t touched that piano in a long time—since her mother’s death, she had played it only a handful of times.
Aunt Zhu felt it was about time. She couldn’t let Xie Yunli continue thinking his wife was a useless vase with only beauty, could she?
“Oh right, that children’s fairy tale picture book you collaborated on with that famous author, and the illustrations for that very famous novel, the publisher sent us so many copies. Should we give one to Xie Yunli to see?”
Wen Ran frowned. “But… but… if they… find out I have autism… maybe they won’t… want to work with me anymore?”
“Silly child, they value your work, not what kind of person you are.”
Aunt Zhu said: “Last time when I talked with them on the phone, I also mentioned that you didn’t want to appear in public. Do you know what they said? They said illustrators and artists all live very reclusive lives, many also prefer staying at home, contracts are all sent by mail, you’re not the only one.”
Because Wen Ran’s works had gained some fame in recent years, Aunt Zhu naturally became her ‘agent,’ representing her in negotiations with various platforms.
Of course, some companies wanted to sign her, including companies willing to pay big money, but Aunt Zhu had declined them all on her behalf.
With Wen Ran’s current achievements, she could completely earn enough money to live well. Of course, she also didn’t need too much attention from people.
But Aunt Zhu hoped that she could at least get attention from some people, and among these people, the most important was of course her husband.
Wen Ran thought for a moment, took out her phone, and typed character by character into Xie Yunli’s chat window: “Xie Yunli, I painted a picture today. Would you like to see it? If you want, I’ll take a photo for you. If you don’t like looking at paintings, that’s also fine…”
After sending it, Wen Ran began nervously staring at the phone screen.
Every time she sent a message to Xie Yunli, she would be very nervous, just as nervous as when speaking face to face.
Afraid of disturbing his work, afraid of saying the wrong thing, afraid he wouldn’t like her messages, and also afraid of not expressing herself clearly and being misunderstood by him.
At this moment, Zhou Wei was in the moving car, and on the empty back seat, a phone was vibrating.
Zhou Wei didn’t hear it. He had just dropped Xie Yunli off at the high-speed rail station. Today he was going on a business trip to the neighboring city, a two-hour journey.
It was just a day trip there and back.
The reason for not driving was that some roads were too congested and would waste too much time.
When Xie Yunli got on the high-speed rail, he discovered he had only brought his new phone, and his other phone was left in Zhou Wei’s car.
It had been twenty minutes since Zhou Wei drove away. There probably wouldn’t be too many unread messages in twenty minutes, and logging in again with the new phone would be the same.
But…
Xie Yunli frowned.
He didn’t know if Wen Ran had sent him any messages in those twenty minutes.