Peaches and Plums Don’t Speak – Chapter 10

The Fall

So bitter…

Anzhi swallowed awkwardly. She couldn’t say she disliked bitter melon, nor could she admit she hated drinking plain milk.

But…

She couldn’t say it. These people were already kind enough to take her in. Also, Yan Xi seemed to be watching her. She couldn’t let Yan Xi think she was a picky child.

She pursed her lips. Just as she was about to pick up a second piece, a pair of chopsticks suddenly appeared on her small plate. In a flash, all the bitter melon was snatched away with lightning speed.

Anzhi froze and looked to the side. Yan Xi ate the bitter melon without batting an eye, showing no sign of distaste. She even winked at Anzhi.

Over there, Yan Da Pang and Yan Xiao Pang were still shouting relentlessly about not eating bitter melon. Anzhi’s dimples showed as she smiled in secret.

After a chaotic dinner, they went to the living room to play. The little boys had vigorous energy, their playful shouting carrying from inside the house to the outdoors.

When Yan Yinan entered the house, he shouted loudly, “I, the Beautiful Monkey King, have returned!”

Seeing him, the twins yelled one after another and pounced on him together: “Third Uncle! Third Uncle!”

Yan Yinan pretended he couldn’t bear their weight, falling straight back and rolling his eyes. “Ah! I’m dead… I’ve been crushed to death…”

The twins giggled. One tried to lift his eyelid, the other tickled him. Suddenly, he opened his eyes and made a scary face. Everyone laughed out loud.

Yan Xi smiled, slightly helpless, and said to Anzhi, “That’s my Third Brother.”

Anzhi had seen him in the photos in Yan Xi’s room. He wore a simple black shirt and trousers, with a tall, elegant figure and deep lashes. His eyes seemed to always hold a warm smile, and the corners of his lips naturally curled up. He looked a lot like Yan Xi.

That was what Anzhi thought.

Just then, Yan Yinan spotted Anzhi. Before she could greet him, he came over naturally, lifted her up, and placed her on his shoulders to tease her.

Anzhi was so scared her whole body went stiff, but she didn’t dare make a sound. Below, the twins competed for favor, each hugging one of his legs to stop him from moving. The scene was loud and full of laughter, incredibly lively.

Yan Xi walked over, annoyed, hit Yan Yinan’s arm, and took Anzhi back. Anzhi let out a sigh of relief, hiding in her embrace, still shaken.

Yan Yinan looked at her with a half-smile. The siblings exchanged a glance. Then Yan Yinan went back to playing with the twins.

Auntie Xin came over and said, “Hey, Nannan¹, have you eaten? You should call home before coming back so I can prepare what you like.”

Yan Yinan pinched Yan Da Pang’s round cheeks, greeted his sister-in-law, and turned back. “I barely managed to sneak away from school, didn’t have time. Don’t worry about it, I’ve eaten.”

He was three years older than Yan Xi, a graduate student at a top-tier domestic medical university, busy with his studies day and night. But since the Yan children grew up with their paternal grandparents and their parents weren’t around, they had deep affection for the elders. Even Yan Laoda², Yan Yidong³, who was busy working in another city, insisted that his wife Xiao Yutong⁴ bring the twins to accompany the old couple. Yan Lao’er⁵, Yan Yixi⁶, who was doing his PhD at Beicheng University of Technology; Yan Laosan⁷, Yan Yinan, doing his master’s at the medical university; and Yan Xi, who was already interning—they all made sure to go home at least once a month.

This was an unspoken rule among the four siblings.

Yan Yinan teased the twins for a while, then went upstairs to see the grandparents. Before he even climbed a few steps, he shouted with an oily mouth and sliding tongue⁸, “Grandpa, Grandma, your most beloved grandson Nannan is back…”

The twins tailed him upstairs.

Xiao Yutong walked over. She was beautiful and very well-mannered, wearing a slightly apologetic smile. “Xiao Wu, there’s something I have to tell you. Two days ago, the twins were playing with Anzhi, and Anzhi fell…”

“Where did she get hurt?” Yan Xi frowned, asking Anzhi in a low voice.

Anzhi looked at Xiao Yutong, then at her.

Xiao Yutong said awkwardly, “She fell and hurt her leg…”

Auntie Xin added from the side, “Xiao Wu, don’t worry, it’s just a scrape. Kids getting bumps and bruises is common… Right, Anzhi?”

Anzhi nodded and forced a smile. Yan Xi didn’t say anything more. She was gentle and considerate by nature; not speaking was already a sign of displeasure.

She carried Anzhi back to the room and asked softly, “What happened?”

Anzhi had been through a lot this week. Everyone except Yan Xi was a stranger to her. Just as she had relaxed because Grandpa Yan, Grandma Yan, and Auntie Xin were easygoing and patient, the Yan twins and Xiao Yutong returned home.

She had never lived in a big family, only with her grandfather. Her heart had been in her throat all week.

One day, the twins saw her playing with the rabbit Yan Xi bought her at KFC. They thought the drumming rabbit was fun and wanted to snatch it. Anzhi wouldn’t give it to them. They grabbed it and ran. Anxious, she chased after them, but in her haste, she tripped and fell.

Hearing no answer, Yan Xi felt an indescribable tightness in her chest. If only Anzhi were like her twin nephews, wearing her heart on her sleeve. But this little girl was different; she was quiet and hid everything inside. Yan Xi tried to stand in her shoes and empathize, but… having worked hard all week and driven for a long time, she felt a sudden wave of emotional exhaustion.

The two fell silent for a while.

Finally, Anzhi spoke, her voice soft and childish. “I fell… it doesn’t hurt.”

She seemed nervous about something, sitting up straight with her small body, looking pitifully at Yan Xi. Perhaps she had sensed a bit of Yan Xi’s impatience.

Yan Xi softened her tone. “Let me see where it hurts.”

Anzhi lowered her head slightly, her small hands moving to pull up her right pant leg.

On her fair, tender leg, near the knee, was a large bruise that had turned dark blue. It had already formed a hard scab. It was obvious it had bled when she first fell.

Yan Xi froze, then frowned deeply. She reached out to touch it, and Anzhi flinched. Yan Xi looked up at her. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Anzhi bit her lip, her voice buzzing like a mosquito. “You’re… their aunt…”

As she spoke, her head drooped lower and lower. Her soft, fine hair fell forward, hiding her reddened eyes.

For a moment, Yan Xi felt a mix of complicated emotions and didn’t know what to say.

The milky white wall light slanted down, enveloping their silhouettes.

“Anzhi…”

Anzhi suddenly looked up. “It doesn’t hurt anymore…” Her small hand shrank back, clutching her clothes as if cheering herself on. “Grandma Xin put medicine on it for me… and… Auntie Xiao made younger brother apologize to me…”

She tried to keep her voice steady. In the end, she even squeezed out a smile.

Yan Xi stared silently at that smile, then nodded. “That’s good… later, after you shower, we’ll put some more on.”

“Mhm!” Anzhi agreed, pulling her pant leg back down. “I want to do my homework first, then shower.”

Anzhi was small, and Yan Xi’s desk was too high for her. She sat on the carpet, leaning over the low table to write; it was just right.

She clearly didn’t want to continue the topic. Yan Xi stood up and whispered, “You write. I’m going out for a bit.”

Anzhi pursed her lips and smiled at her. Once Yan Xi left the room, she opened her copybook. Inside was a large sheet of white paper with her childish handwriting: “Yan” and “Xi”. The character “Yan” was written beautifully, but “Xi” had many strokes, and she felt she didn’t write it well enough. She sharpened her pencil and began to write earnestly, stroke by stroke.

Pu⁹.

The sound of the pencil tip snapping. It was sharpened too violently, and she had pressed too hard.

The dimple on her right cheek deepened sadly, and a bean-sized tear fell. She put down the pen, wiped the corner of her eye with her small hand, and then continued writing.

Yan Xi sighed as soon as she left the room. What a headache… Her brain had just crashed earlier, and she felt like she’d been the villain.

The child was too sensitive. But then again, no matter what, she must feel like she was living under someone else’s roof. She didn’t dare say she disliked food. She didn’t dare say she was bullied. Because… she was afraid no one would stand on her side.

Yan Xi’s heart felt blocked up. She quietly pushed the door open, just in time to see the kid wiping away tears.

She froze, a sudden ache in her heart.

She hesitated for a moment but didn’t push the door fully open. Instead, she turned to the other side and knocked on a door.

Knock, knock. No answer. She knocked again.

“Who is it? I’m asleep…” came Yan Yinan’s lazy voice¹⁰.

“Me.”

Yan Yinan opened the door to let her in. His room had that young man’s “organized chaos,” and he was leaning in front of his computer… watching an adult film from that island country¹¹.

Yan Xi frowned as soon as she entered, deciding to pretend she didn’t see it.

Yan Yinan stared at her with amusement. “Xiao Wu, aren’t you off coaxing your daughter?”

Yan Xi: “Anzhi isn’t my daughter…”

Yan Yinan shrugged. “Looks to me like you want to raise her as one… Have you thought it through?”

“Why take on a little trouble like this? She’s someone else’s kid after all. If something happens, how will you explain it?”

Yan Xi thought internally, If I don’t take care of her, that’s when something will happen. Out loud, she said, “Third Brother, when did you become such a gossip?!”

“I’m just thinking of you. Carrying a dragging oil bottle¹² like her, how inconvenient will it be for you to date?”

First “little trouble,” now “dragging oil bottle.” Yan Xi glared at him. “None of your business!”

“Fine, fine, fine. You’re the family’s little princess, what you say goes! Pretend I didn’t say anything.”

Yan Xi said, “I need your help with something.”

“Please command, Your Highness Princess!”

Yan Xi was amused by him and smiled. “Can you find time recently to go check on my apartment? I remember the door isn’t great, it needs replacing. The lock too. And I might need to pay some overdue gas fees…”

“Huh!? That? Alright, I’ll find time to fix it for you. Why? Aren’t you living in the dorms assigned by your TV station?”

“Mhm, just temporarily.”

A thought was forming in her heart, hazy and not yet fully shaped.

---

The author has something to say:

Yan Xi has four older brothers: Yidong (East), Yixi (West), Yinan (South), and Yibei¹³Hanzi: 言以北 | Pinyin: Yán Yǐběi/efn_note.

Can you feel the author’s “powerful” naming ability? Hahahaha.

---

---