"It looks like I misunderstood Jie," Zhiye smiled and put away the utility knife. "Remember to store the blade properly," he said as he saw Zhiye move the utility knife away from my neck and then put the blade back. I watched the whole process. "Using blades still requires safety precautions, and I understand that very well."
"That's good..." I sighed in relief, the crisis finally resolved. I felt a sense of exhaustion and weakness. I don't think anyone would know that I had just experienced a life-and-death moment, right?
"Will the calligraphy department's work continue for a long time?" I started looking for a topic.
"It should last until the end of this semester. I won't be able to accompany Jie for most of the time," Zhiye's expression became lonely.
"It's really hard, it's all my fault that you have to take on the role of a calligraphy department guidance teacher."
"It's no big deal. As long as I can help Jie, solve her worries and difficulties, it's the thing I'm most honored to do as a husband," Zhiye always says these words sincerely and happily. Am I despicable? If I hadn't dragged Zhiye in, if I hadn't wandered around, none of this would have happened. I'm so selfish, all for the sake of solving my own troubles.
"What do you want to eat at the cafeteria? I'll go line up for you first." I proposed, as if trying to make up for it.
"Let's line up together," Zhiye politely declined my proposal.
"Okay," so I lined up with Zhiye. There were still quite a few students coming to the cafeteria, and it took a long time before it was our turn.
I ordered sweet and sour pork ribs, stir-fried vegetables, and shredded potatoes, while Zhiye only ordered a small steamed fish.
"Is it enough?" After finding a seat and sitting down, I looked at Zhiye's meal. It seemed that he had only taken a small portion, while I wanted to have enough to fill my plate.
"It's enough. When I was in Japan, this was the amount of food I usually ate."
"If you eat so little, you'll get hungry."
"In order to maintain a good figure, I can't let Jie despise me," Zhiye's cheeks turned red.
Hearing Zhiye say that, I instantly abandoned my idea of sharing some of my food with him. On the contrary, I felt a bit embarrassed. If I had a big appetite, although I'm not overweight and my figure is normal, others would surely say, "Wow, this person eats more than a pig."
I regretted ordering so much food.
"A balanced diet is also essential," I picked up a piece of vegetables and put it on Zhiye's plate.
"Thank you, Jie. Then I'll give you the best piece of meat from the fish," Zhiye picked up the best part of the fish's belly and put it in my plate.
I only picked up a piece of vegetable, but Zhiye gave me the best part of the fish. I felt guilty.
"Don't you like it?" Zhiye felt disheartened by my hesitant expression.
"No, no," I picked it up and put it directly into my mouth. "It's delicious!"
"As long as Jie likes it," Zhiye smiled again.
Then Zhiye also put the vegetables I picked for her into her mouth.
"Suddenly, I feel an indescribable sense of happiness," as if immersed in happiness, Zhiye couldn't help but hold her own face.
It's rare to see Zhiye with such an expression.
"Did I do something wrong?" Zhiye seemed to notice me staring at her and became a little flustered.
"No, there is no rudeness."
"You can't show such impolite expression at the dining table."
"Is that true?"
"My grandfather used to teach me this way too." Zhiye seemed to recall something from the past and thought she had made a mistake.
"Don't be so rigid, we're not eating with our elders. We can do whatever we want."
I purposely made a smacking sound while eating.
"Jie, this kind of behavior is very unlikable."
"It doesn't matter if other people like it or not."
"As long as I like it." Zhiye gazed at me with deep affection, expressing herself without any hesitation. Zhiye still had that same style as before, when she openly announced in class and dragged me into trouble.
I remained silent and just put the food into my mouth.
"By the way, Jie, do you have any plans for National Day?"
"National Day? It's coming so soon. I don't think I have any plans. I don't plan to go home either."
My mom and them are going for a trip during National Day. I'm not included, and it's also the peak season for holiday traveling. It's crowded everywhere, and they lose interest in me as soon as they see me.
"I'm not planning on going home either, but I also don't want to go home. After all, I have to go back to Japan," Zhiye looked at her phone. I caught a glimpse of the chat history on it, but it was in Japanese and I couldn't understand it. However, seeing Zhiye's unhappy expression, I guessed it was Aunt Gawautsuku asking her to come back to Japan.
The messages kept coming, and it seemed like things were getting tense. In the end, Zhiye hung her head in resignation. It seemed like she couldn't refuse.
I thought about how to comfort Zhiye, but she suddenly spoke to me, "Jie, can you accompany me to the amusement park on October 1st? There's a new amusement park that just opened, and I want to go with you."
Zhiye tapped the screen of her phone and showed me a promotional poster for the newly opened Star Sea Amusement Park.
"I should be going back to Japan on the 2nd, so..."
"Since Zhiye wants to go, I have no problem with it."
Seeing Zhiye like this, I couldn't bear to refuse. Besides, it's been a long time since I went to an amusement park, so why not give it a try?
"It seems like I need to go out and buy a set of clothes on the 30th. I can't go to the amusement park in a kimono."
Zhiye muttered to herself in distress.
Should I pretend I didn't hear it or should I acknowledge it? I decided to pretend I didn't hear it.
"After tomorrow's classes, it will be National Day, right?"
I'm not used to looking at the calendar, so I don't have a sense of dates.
"National Day is the day after tomorrow. Is the holiday in mainland China seven days long?"
"Yes, does Japan have a holiday like that?"
"No, but we have Children's Day and New Year's Day." Zhiye pondered for a moment before replying.
"But speaking of which, Zhiye's Mandarin is very standard." Even as a native speaker, I feel a little inferior. In fact, there are some pronunciations that I still don't get right.
"It's because I learned from my parents since I was young, and it's also for the purpose of coming to the mainland." Zhiye looked at me affectionately.
"I see..." I could only look up at the ceiling.
"So, Jie, let's meet at the east gate of the amusement park on the 1st." Zhiye pointed out the location of the east gate on the park map on her phone.
"You decide the time, Jie," Zhiye added.
"Can I decide the time?"
"After all, it was me who made such a capricious request."
"No, I'll make a plan first and tell Zhiye later."
After all, if we go to the amusement park without any plan, the experience will be terrible.
"Listen to Jie..."
In this way, I not only need to find a solution to the Shi Taoxiang problem, but also need to make a plan for going to the amusement park. The afternoon will be particularly busy, because Wen Xiaojing has also been sending messages urging me. I received several messages from her on my phone, but with Zhiye around, I didn't check them.
