Peaches and Plums Don’t Speak – Chapter 39
by Little PandaBirthday
In early September, the spring and summer fashion weeks kicked off one after another. Liu Yiyi was so busy she couldn’t catch a break, flying back and forth between New York and Milan to watch shows, attend parties, make purchases, meet with familiar business partners, and plan the advertising layout for a niche brand. The four months of January, February, September, and October were her busiest times of the year. She was well-adapted to this rhythm; not only did she show no signs of fatigue, but the busier she got, the more energetic she became, as beautiful as a proudly blooming rose.
What made her happiest was that Yan Yixi had started sending her messages. When they met last year, she had downloaded the WeChat1 app on his phone and had since been sending him voice messages and texts unfailingly for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Probably unable to stand her pestering, he would occasionally reply with a “Good morning,” “Have eaten,” or “Thanks.”
He cherished words like gold.2
But Liu Yiyi was already very satisfied.
If only he would accept the clothes she bought for him. It was always the same old three things: a dress shirt, slacks, and slip-on flats. A very austere aesthetic.3
Sigh…
Want to sleep with him.
Liu Yiyi stole a moment of leisure, holding her phone and swooning over the photos of Yan Yixi in her album.
Her phone vibrated. A new WeChat message had arrived.
Liu Yiyi hadn’t expected it to be Anzhi. She laughed into a voice message, “Well now, little Anzhi, you miss your Auntie Liu!”
Yan Xi’s 27th birthday happened to fall on a Friday. As usual, she returned to the Yan Family Old Residence to spend the day with her grandparents. Auntie Xin specially made a small bowl of longevity noodles4 for Yan Xi, and as she ate, Auntie Xin muttered at her side, “Stay healthy and safe…”
“Don’t work too hard.”
“Mm, you’re a year older now, it’s about time you brought a boyfriend home.”
Yan Xi couldn’t bring herself to reject the old woman’s good intentions. She just looked up at her helplessly, smiled, and said nothing.
Auntie Xin was still going. “You little ones, every single one of you is so worrying… Your eldest brother’s two kids are already in their teens, and you all… don’t even have a shadow of a partner.”
Yan Yixi remained seated with his usual expressionless face. If a topic didn’t interest him, you could forget about it ever reaching his ears. Liu Yiyi glanced at his side profile, thinking that this blockhead5 looked particularly handsome today, too.
Ah, still want to sleep with him.
She wasn’t paying any attention to what Auntie Xin was saying at all.
Only Yan Yinan, who was freeloading food on the side, raised his hand as he ate. “Auntie Xin, me, me, me, I have a girlfriend!”
He pulled out his phone and opened WeChat. “Let me show you my girlfriend’s Moments.6 This is a new little nurse who was just assigned to our department. Fair skin, beautiful face, long legs…”
Auntie Xin slapped him, exasperated. “You have the nerve to talk? You! How long did that last one even last? And now you’ve made a new friend? Can’t you be a little more reliable? Stop ruining good girls!”
Auntie Xin went through the children one by one. They each had their own coping mechanism: silence, smiling, and changing the subject. The Yan children had one good quality: even if their thoughts didn’t align with their elders’, they would always be respectful on the surface and would listen to the entire “lecture.”
The moment Anzhi walked through the door, Auntie Xin immediately stopped and went over to talk to her.
The others let out a collective sigh of relief. Thank goodness there was someone even younger to act as a shield.
The group gathered around the dining table for a simple meal with Grandfather and Grandmother Yan. The grandparents were quite practical; their birthday gifts were just red envelopes.7 Her two older brothers did the same, sending red envelopes through WeChat, showing almost no thought at all.
Only Liu Yiyi gave a La Mer set and a Tom Ford lipstick.
Yan Xi didn’t really care about these things. For her, having her family together for a meal was more important than anything.
While they were chatting after dinner, Liu Yiyi pulled Anzhi outside.
She handed her a delicate little box. “The thing you wanted.”
Anzhi accepted it with delight. “Thank you, Auntie Liu. I also got my competition prize money today. This is for you.” As she spoke, she took out several red banknotes8 from her pocket and handed them over.
Liu Yiyi accepted them with a helpless sigh. “I told you, you don’t have to be so formal with Auntie… you stubborn little darling. I could have bought her other accessories, too.”
“You already helped me get the internal price. I want the gift for Auntie to be something I earned through my own hard work.” Anzhi opened the box and examined its contents closely. “Auntie Liu, do you think Auntie will like this? This shouldn’t be solid gold, right? I wonder if it will rust?”
“This brand mostly uses sterling silver as a base, with different metal platings on top. It’s not the same as solid gold, but it won’t rust, don’t worry.”
“Mm, I actually thought their rings, earrings, and necklaces were all very pretty. I really wanted to buy them all; I feel like Auntie would look beautiful in any of them. They’re just too expensive…”
Liu Yiyi asked curiously, “You should have quite a bit of allowance, right? You could have bought them…”
Anzhi smiled a little shyly. “That’s all from Auntie… I want to use money I earned myself to buy her a gift.”
For a moment, Liu Yiyi didn’t understand the difference. “…So well-behaved. Well, go on in and give it to her.”
Anzhi’s cheeks suddenly turned red for no reason. “Later, let’s wait a bit.”
Liu Yiyi watched her scurry back into the living room like a shy little animal. She was lost in thought, feeling that something wasn’t quite right…
Auntie Xin had become more and more naggy in recent years. With a rare gathering of all the siblings, she was even less able to contain the primordial power9 within her. Before long, Yan Yinan and Yan Xi couldn’t take it anymore. They each found an excuse and dragged Anzhi along to make their escape.
Yan Yinan got into the driver’s seat, and Yan Xi pulled Anzhi into the back seat with her.
Liu Yiyi boldly struck up a conversation with Yan Yixi. The others watched them with grins.
“Want to come hang out with us?”
“I’m going back to the university.”
“You’re still going back to the university now?”
“There’s a set of data that must be checked and calculated today.”
“…Alright, then.”
The unromantic10 Yan Yixi turned and walked toward his car.
“I’ll come find you at the university tomorrow! Is that okay? If not, then the day after! Yixi!!”
Yan Yixi didn’t even turn his head. “…The day after, then.”
Liu Yiyi stared at his back. It was straight and tall, and his relatively fitted shirt outlined the contours of an inverted triangle.
Extremely sexy.
Sigh, when will I get to sleep with him?
Liu Yiyi was practically drooling.
Yan Xi couldn’t help but stick her head out. “Are you coming or not? We’re leaving if you’re not.”
Only then did Liu Yiyi get in the car. “Where are we going?”
Yan Yinan said, “Let’s go to Xiao Wu’s place. We can buy some barbecue on the way. I barely ate anything just now.”
On the second floor of Yan Xi’s house, they spread out the food they had bought. Anzhi was in the kitchen making mint lemonade.
Yan Yinan turned on his laptop, picked a brainless variety show, switched on the projector, and started eating. Liu Yiyi, after a five-minute phone call with Yan Yixi in which she was practically the only one talking, watched Anzhi’s back as she sliced a lime. She smiled at Yan Xi, who had just walked in after parking the car. “What a diligent and good child. Perfect to be a child bride.”11
Yan Xi, carrying a plastic bag full of beer cans, said to Liu Yiyi, “Don’t just stand there, go help get some glasses.”
“It’s true! She’s so virtuous and cute, isn’t that perfect for a child bride? Yan Xi, have Da Pang or Xiao Pang marry Anzhi… don’t let the fertile water flow into others’ fields…”12 Liu Yiyi chattered nonstop as she carried the glasses up the stairs.
Yan Xi said, “You’re getting more and more ridiculous… I told you not to joke about Taotao.”
Liu Yiyi replied, “Alright, alright, I won’t say it anymore…”
Anzhi, following behind them with a pitcher of mint lemonade, said nothing.
“……”
She lowered her lashes, a strange feeling stirring in her heart.
The barbecue was fragrant and tantalizing. The seafood was fresh, the meats were spicy and stimulating, and the vegetables were delicious. The ice-cold beer and mint lemonade were even more refreshing.
Young people’s resistance to this kind of food was probably in the negative.
Anzhi couldn’t handle anything too spicy, so she could only eat the mildly spicy chicken wings, grilled buns, and grilled mushrooms that they had ordered specially for her. The adults drank beer while she drank lemonade. The variety show was loud and boisterous. They all sat on the carpet with the air conditioning on, chatting.
But she was very happy, the dimples on her cheeks constantly present.
Their conversations didn’t shy away from her much. Occasionally, they would tell some dirty jokes,13 mostly from Yan Yinan and Liu Yiyi. But occasionally, Yan Xi would steer the topic elsewhere.
The pile of beer cans grew higher and higher; these few had quite the tolerance for alcohol. Anzhi glanced at Yan Xi. Her fair, beautiful face was flushed red, and her long, curly hair was tied up loosely, a few strands having already escaped. Anzhi felt an urge to help her tie it up properly.
Perhaps her gaze was noticed, because Yan Xi turned to look at her. “What’s wrong?”
Anzhi averted her eyes and shook her head, feeling a little awkward.14
Yan Xi thought for a moment, didn’t pay it much mind, and picked up Anzhi’s glass, taking a large gulp of lemonade.
Anzhi stared at the glass, slightly stunned, her cheeks uncontrollably turning pink.
“Little Anzhi…” Liu Yiyi called to her. Her eyes were even brighter after drinking, and her tone was teasing. “When are you going to give your auntie her present?”
“So cute. What kind of present is it?” Yan Yinan asked.
“Shh… I can’t say. Otherwise, it won’t be a surprise!”
“Eh? What is it, what is it! Take it out and let’s see!”
Anzhi had been planning to wait until after everyone had finished eating and those two had gone home before giving it to Yan Xi. Being suddenly put on the spot like this, she didn’t know what to do. Especially when she saw Yan Xi looking at her with a smiling, slightly surprised expression, she grew even more bashful.
“Hahahaha… Looking at you, I’d think it was a love letter! Yep, the girls who give me love letters have this exact same expression,” Yan Yinan laughed heartily.
Anzhi’s heart trembled.
Liu Yiyi shot him a look. “So vain!”15
Yan Xi could see that Anzhi was a little uncomfortable. Just as she was about to say something, her phone suddenly rang.
She looked at the caller ID, a little puzzled. It was too noisy upstairs, so she went downstairs to answer it.
Anzhi’s gaze followed her. When she pulled it back, she saw Liu Yiyi looking at her thoughtfully.
……
Liu Yiyi suddenly smiled. “Little Anzhi, aren’t you curious what beer tastes like?”
Footnotes
- WeChat is a ubiquitous Chinese multi-purpose messaging, social media, and mobile payment app.
- From the chengyu 惜字如金 (xī zì rú jīn), meaning to be of few words.
- The original term is 性冷淡 (xìng lěngdàn), literally “sexually cold/apathetic,” a popular slang term for a minimalist, austere, and muted aesthetic.
- Longevity noodles (长寿面, chángshòu miàn) are a traditional food eaten on birthdays in China to wish for a long life.
- The original term is 榆木疙瘩 (yúmù gēda), literally “elm-wood block,” a slang term for someone who is dense or stubborn.
- 朋友圈 (Péngyǒu quān), or Friends Circle, is the social feed feature on WeChat, similar to a Facebook timeline.
- A red envelope (红包, hóngbāo) is a traditional monetary gift given in a red packet during special occasions like birthdays or holidays.
- The reference to red banknotes (红色的钱币) likely refers to 100-yuan RMB notes, which are red in color.
- The term is 洪荒之力 (hónghuāng zhī lì), an internet meme that went viral in 2016 after swimmer Fu Yuanhui used it to describe the exhaustive effort she put into a race. It means one’s full, unrestrained power.
- The original phrase is 不解风情 (bù jiě fēngqíng), an idiom for someone who is dense about romance or amorous matters.
- A child bride (童养媳, tóngyǎng媳) was a practice in old China where a family would take in a young girl to raise as a future wife for one of their sons. The term is now used jokingly to refer to a girl who is very close to a family.
- The idiom 肥水不流外人田 (féi shuǐ bù liú wàirén tián) literally means “don’t let the fertile water flow into others’ fields.” It’s a saying that means to keep good things or benefits within one’s own group or family.
- The term is 黄段子 (huángduànzi). In Chinese, the color yellow is often associated with pornographic or adult content, so this means “yellow jokes” or dirty jokes.
- The original text uses the character 囧 (jiǒng), an internet slang character that resembles a dismayed face and is used to express embarrassment or awkwardness.
- The original term is 臭美 (chòuměi), literally “smelly beauty,” a common teasing remark for someone being vain or narcissistic.
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