Shallow Fate (Lily ABO) mute A - Chapter 9
A-Mo said that when the snow melts, she would leave.
Fang Yu sat at the entrance of the hall, staring at the fence at the door in a daze. The wind, still carrying a hint of coldness, swirled a few snowflakes onto her nose, which quickly melted.
How she wished that this fence could block the passage of time. Unfortunately, even the fence was no longer completely covered by white snow, and the black soil at the roots was sparsely exposed.
Perhaps it was time to leave. Shen Zhimo no longer argued with Fang Yu.
Was it out of some kind of compensatory psychology? Or was it for another large sum of money? In short, she tried her best to satisfy Fang Yu within her power.
Fang Yu finished the stitches of the gloves and took them into the bedroom. Shen Zhimo was writing something. The white snow light shone through the window onto that plain face, making her skin look even whiter than snow. On the other hand, the shadow cast by the window made it impossible to see her expression clearly.
This scene made Fang Yu feel the desire to learn to read and write for the first time so intensely. She wanted to understand what Shen Zhimo was reading and writing. The things she couldn’t say or understand, perhaps she could convey through words.
Shen Zhimo raised her head and saw Fang Yu staring at her eagerly.
“What’s wrong?”
[A-Mo, I want to learn to write.]
Why did she suddenly want to learn to write? Oh well, since there was nothing to do now anyway, Shen Zhimo beckoned to Fang Yu.
“Come here, I’ll teach you.”
Shen Zhimo stood up and let Fang Yu sit in front of the desk.
“Do you know how to write your name?”
Fang Yu first nodded, then shook her head.
“So you don’t know after all…”
Fang Yu picked up the pen and wrote a crooked ‘æ–¹’ (Fang – surname) on the paper. As for the rest, she didn’t know how to write it.
Shen Zhimo leaned down, took Fang Yu’s hand and led her to write a neat ‘诒 (Yu – given name). The tip of her hair, carrying the fragrance of lily of the valley, brushed against Fang Yu’s cheek, making her lose her mind.
“Concentrate.”
No teacher would like a student who is prone to distraction. Since she wanted to teach, she had to teach well. Shen Zhimo put on a teacher’s look and gently tapped Fang Yu’s head with her finger.
Her ears burned slowly, and Fang Yu touched the spot where she had just been tapped by Shen Zhimo, then pointed to Shen Zhimo.
“Want to learn my name?”
“Wa… um…” Fang Yu wanted to answer yes, but when she opened her mouth, she could only make a few fragmented syllables.
Shen Zhimo didn’t mind. She smiled gently and continued to write on the paper with Fang Yu’s hand.
“Well… my name is still too difficult for you at this stage.”
‘沉’ (Shen – surname) and ‘知’ (Zhi – knowledge) were written fairly smoothly, but when writing ‘墨’ (Mo – ink), even with her guiding Fang Yu, the ink still smudged into a ball on the paper.
“Your name is simpler.” Shen Zhimo looked at the paper and read the two names several times, then suddenly realized something and chuckled.
“That’s interesting. You can’t speak, but your name is ‘诒 (Yu – language), before I met you, I couldn’t understand a single sign language, but my name is ‘知默’ (Zhi Mo – knowing silence).”
Her name was given by her mother. For the past twenty years, she had always thought that the name was the literal meaning of the words. Her mother hoped that she would become a knowledgeable and polite person, and she did achieve it.
It had been a long time since she had seen Shen Zhimo so happy. Although Fang Yu didn’t understand what she meant, she smiled along with her.
If only time could stop here.
Unfortunately, the snow outside the house was quietly melting.
Heaven does not grant people their wishes, and this year’s citrus flowers bloomed exceptionally early.
Fang Yu could already write the names of the two of them fluently, and could understand the general meaning of short sentences.
The suitcase had been spread out on the chair for several days. Shen Zhimo deliberately packed things lazily until Zhou Jun’s voice rang out in the yard.
“Sister Zhimo, have you finished packing? Can we leave?”
“Eh! I know! Right away!”
Zhou Jun said that she wanted to go to Feng’an with her, and Shen Zhimo was of course glad to have a companion.
Feng’an was much, much further than the countryside. It would take several days and nights by train, and such a long journey was too dangerous for a lone omega.
Fang Yu was sweeping the courtyard, the bamboo broom repeatedly hitting Zhou Jun’s feet.
At first, Zhou Jun thought that Fang Yu was being careless. After being hit dozens of times, she couldn’t hold back her anger. The number of “accidental” hits was too frequent.
“Fang Yu, have I offended you somewhere?”
“Hmph.”
This sound was clear and round, not like a sound that a mute could make. Zhou Jun quickly went through her past with Fang Yu in her mind, and came to the conclusion that country people probably don’t like their wives being too close to other alphas.
“Don’t worry, I just treat Sister Zhimo as my own sister, otherwise…”
Otherwise, where would it be her turn, right?
Fang Yu was completely annoyed, and the broom swung from side to side with a swooshing sound. Seeing that the situation was not good, Zhou Jun quickly ran out of the yard.
Hypocrite… Fang Yu thought of the newly learned idiom, and she felt that it was just right to use it on Zhou Jun.
She walked into the bedroom and saw that Shen Zhimo had not yet finished packing her luggage, so she deftly helped Shen Zhimo pack everything into the suitcase. When zipping the zipper, Shen Zhimo hugged her from behind.
“Fang Yu… going to Feng’an… requires a lot of money…”
Fang Yu paused the movement of her hands.
She knew, how could she not know? She had already prepared for it.
She opened the closet, took out a heavy cloth bag from the interlayer, and opened it on the bed in front of Shen Zhimo.
“Where did you get so much money?”
Shen Zhimo had never seen so much money. She glanced roughly at it, and there were at least no less than fifty silver dollars in the package.
“It doesn’t take that much!”
She didn’t know what Fang Yu did, but so much money was by no means a sum that a farmer could come up with.
[Keep it, for use on the road.]
Shen Zhimo was a little flustered. She shook her head, refusing to take the cloth bag that Fang Yu handed over.
“You tell me, where did you get the money? I won’t take it if you don’t explain it clearly!” Shen Zhimo grabbed Fang Yu’s arm, who was planning to put the cloth bag into the suitcase.
[I sold the land.]
“Are you crazy? Why did you do this?”
[It doesn’t matter, I can work for other people.]
…This kindness… she would never be able to repay it in this lifetime.
Shen Zhimo helplessly hammered Fang Yu’s chest a few times, but did not continue to obstruct her.
••••
Under the citrus tree in full bloom, Shen Zhimo and Zhou Jun, wearing neatly washed student uniforms, waved goodbye to Fang Yu.
“Don’t worry, Fang Yu, I will take good care of Sister Zhimo!”
Fang Yu directly ignored her, seizing the last opportunity to make gestures to Shen Zhimo.
[A-Mo, when will you be back?]
“I… will write you letters…”
When you leave, don’t ask about the return route, when you go, don’t ask about the date of return.
Unfortunately, Shen Zhimo had not yet had time to teach Fang Yu this sentence.
“Goodbye, Fang Yu.” She got on the donkey cart, forcing herself to look elsewhere.
Fang Yu only felt that the back view of Shen Zhimo leaving this time was a little different from usual.
The Zhou family’s donkey cart jingled and disappeared at the end of the road. Fang Yu reluctantly turned around and found Widow Wang hiding behind the tree, wiping away tears.
“Mute, do you think they will come back?”
Fang Yu didn’t know how to answer this question, and this was not a question she should answer.
In fact, the answer was already obvious.
As long as she walked into the bedroom again, she would find out.
The hairpin she sent to Shen Zhimo was lying quietly on the desk.