Even though her cheeks were a little flushed, Xu Yanxia gave her sister-in-law an open smile before reminding her grandparents, "If nosy people ask you where our new house is, do you know what to say?"
Grandma replied, "I get lost the moment I step outside anyway, so I have no idea where it is."
Grandpa also raised his hand and said, "I'm deaf, so I basically can't hear what they're saying."
"That's exactly right."
Xu Yanxia smiled, escorted them to the Luo family parents' car, and watched them leave.
Then she led Lu Jingming back toward the house.
Unexpectedly, from a distance, they saw those two gossipy old ladies, Old Mrs. Pan and Old Mrs. Hu, prying for information from her aunt, who was busy loading things into the car. "Xuemei, where are you all moving to?"
Her aunt answered vaguely, "I don't even know myself. Auntie Pan, Auntie Hu, it's messy here, so stand a bit further away so you don't get bumped into!"
Just as she finished speaking, Xu Zhanpeng came out of the door carrying a large bundle. When he tossed it into the car, it made a huge thud.
The two old ladies jumped in fright and had no choice but to walk away resentfully.
Before they had taken many steps, they spotted Xu Yanxia and Lu Jingming.
They let out an "Oh!" at Xu Yanxia and said, "Little Xia, who is this you've brought along?"
Xu Yanxia smiled openly and naturally, "My boyfriend."
Unaware of the underlying situation, Lu Jingming smiled radiantly and politely nodded at the two old ladies.
Old Mrs. Hu frowned and asked, "Where did this boyfriend come from? How come we didn't see him the past couple of days?"
"He fell from the sky."
Xu Yanxia smiled. After saying that, she didn't bother speaking to them anymore and led Lu Jingming straight into the house.
It had been less than half a year since their last move, and many things packed from last time hadn't even been unpacked yet, which truly saved them a lot of trouble now.
Xu Yanxia simply found a few packing bags, rolled up the clothes from the wardrobe and the bedding and pillows from the bed, stuffed them inside, and called it a day.
After packing up her own room, she went to the kitchen and put all the usable pots, bowls, ladles, basins, and condiments into boxes.
Fortunately, after her aunt moved in a few days ago, she had helped her grandparents throw away a lot of unused items.
Now, with everyone pitching in, it took less than two hours from start to finish to get everything loaded onto the truck.
After another half an hour, the box truck, carrying the Xu family's full load of belongings, arrived at their new home in the downtown area.
They had originally chosen this house because they were opening a shop in the city center, and it was close by.
Unexpectedly, due to a twist of fate, their shop ended up opening straight in Rong City.
However, this residential community was still quite nice. It had garden-style landscaping, strict management, and strangers entering and exiting had to be verified with the homeowners. It was very reassuring in terms of security.
Once the items were unloaded piece by piece into the new house, Xu Yanxia and her brother wanted to treat everyone to dinner again, but knowing how busy they were, everyone took the initiative to politely decline and went back to their respective homes.
Only the bride-to-be, Luo Jiajia, and Lu Jingming, who had just gained his official status today, stayed behind to help them slowly tidy up.
The new house had four rooms and came with a large courtyard.
The two fat cats, Big Orange and Little Tabby, had already begun exploring the yard.
Inside the house, everyone was busy with their own tasks.
The bride and groom-to-be, Luo Jiajia and Xu Zhanpeng, were busy setting up their own room.
The aunt went to help the grandparents organize their beds and wardrobes, while the mother and daughter's room was left to the daughter, Yuan Xiaoyue, to handle.
Lu Jingming followed Xu Yanxia and helped out in her room.
Winter clothes wouldn't be needed for the time being, so it was fine to just put the whole bags into the top cabinets.
Books and materials she couldn't bear to throw away were temporarily placed under the bed boards.
In the past, Xu Yanxia would have done all this work by herself. Today, with Lu Jingming here, it was suddenly much easier.
Xu Yanxia was hanging up the clothes she would wear over the next few days in the closet when she heard Lu Jingming ask, "Should I put this box under the bed for you too?"
She turned around and saw him holding a rather small box.
She put down what she was doing, walked up to him, and said, "No need. Inside are just little trinkets from the past that my grandparents saved for me. Just keep it separate."
"Really?"
Lu Jingming immediately became interested and asked, "Can I take a look?"
"Why not?"
Xu Yanxia promptly brought a pair of scissors, cut open the sealing tape, and took out the items inside one by one to show him.
"This... should be my old calligraphy practice."
"Is that so?"
He quickly took the file folder from her hands and opened it. Sure enough, there were sheets of paper of various sizes. The handwriting on them, whether in brush or pen, was uniformly neat, elegant, and characterized by strong, forceful strokes.
"This is really well written!"
He praised sincerely, "It looks like it was printed."
"Are you serious?"
Xu Yanxia smiled. She then took out a cookie tin, opened it to look, and let out an "Oh!" before saying, "These are the decorative knots I tied in the past. It must have been seven or eight years ago. I can't believe Grandma kept them for me all this time."
"What are decorative knots?"
Lu Jingming looked up from her calligraphy works, glanced over, and said, "They're Chinese knots!"
As he spoke, he took a few out of the box, examined them closely, and couldn't help but marvel, "Such beautiful Chinese knots! I've never seen these shapes before. Did you make all of these?"
"Yeah,"
Xu Yanxia began to introduce them to him one by one. "This is called the Double Coin Knot, this is the Plum Blossom Knot, this is the Auspicious Cloud Knot, and this is the Pipa Knot."
"And this one is called the Grain Ear Knot, also known as the Bountiful Harvest Knot."
She added, "These are the ancient names. Chinese knots are what they are called nowadays."
I see.
Lu Jingming nodded, still unable to hold back his admiration. "So exquisite!"
He picked up almost every knot, examining them over and over, and then asked her, "Can you give me one?"
"Of course,"
Xu Yanxia said with a smile, "Take your pick."
She then continued to explain them to him, "This Double Coin Knot represents wealth; this Auspicious Cloud Knot represents peace and smooth sailing; and this Gourd Knot symbolizes both good fortune and prosperity... Take whichever one you want."
But Lu Jingming asked, "Then are there any that represent love?"
Xu Yanxia paused. "...The True Lovers' Knot represents love, but I don't have one here."
"Hmm?"
Lu Jingming immediately asked, "Why not?"
Xu Yanxia replied, "Because there was no love in the past."
He let out an "Oh," and then said, "Well, there is now. Can you tie one?"
She knew it.
Xu Yanxia smiled, nodded, and said, "I can, but I don't have any silk threads right now. I'll have to buy some tomorrow to make it for you."
Perhaps from the exhaustion of their recent chores, her cheeks were a rosy pink, much like the small local peaches special to this season.
Her beautiful eyes outshone even the Mid-Autumn Festival moon from the night before.
Lu Jingming's Adam's apple bobbed, and he called out softly, "Xia Xia."
"Hmm?"
She looked up at him. Before she could ask what was wrong, he pulled her by both hands and drew her into his embrace.
He lowered his head to breathe in the fragrance of her hair and said softly, "Today is the happiest day of my life so far."
Who could have imagined that one day he would actually be standing here, holding the girl he loved?
Then, from within his arms, the girl he loved murmured softly, telling him, "I feel really happy too."
She had never imagined that after living through the long years of two lifetimes, she would actually find someone she could embrace.
Lifting her arms, she gently wrapped them around his waist.
A sweet, tender warmth flowed through the room.
But a moment later, Yuan Xiaoyue's voice suddenly called out from the other side of the door. "Sis, Brother Lu, food is ready! Grandpa is telling you guys to come out and eat."
"Coming!"
Xu Yanxia released her hold and slipped out of his embrace. "Time to eat," she said.
Her cheeks were even pinker than before.
