Peaches and Plums Don’t Speak – Chapter 33

Phone Call (Part 2)

“Aren’t you riding your bike? I think that’s enough exercise. You can learn something else later if you want,” Yan Xi added.

“Okay.” Anzhi had no objections. “Will you go back to boxing in the future?”

“I don’t have much time for it now.”

“Mm… I think you’re really handsome and cool.” Anzhi felt a little embarrassed as she spoke, subconsciously covering her face.

Laughter spread through Yan Xi’s voice. She said, “Cooler than Second Uncle and Third Uncle, right?”

“Mhm!!!” Anzhi nodded vigorously. She finally understood how Yan Xi could lift one of the twins in each hand.

“By the way,” Yan Xi said, “can you buy me a new tempered glass screen protector? I bumped my phone today and it cracked.”

“Huh?! I just bought that one for you!” Anzhi exclaimed. “Is it serious?”

“…It’s not that serious. It’s just a white bear? It is Shirokuma¹, right? Its head cracked…”

Anzhi had recently become obsessed with Sumikko Gurashi². They were a set of cartoon animals designed by the Japanese company San-X³, characterized as a group of introverted little creatures who liked to stay in corners. They had a huge variety of merchandise, including picture books, dolls, games, and pencil cases.

Anzhi had bought a lot of plushies, and all her stationery and stickers featured the members of Sumikko Gurashi. Yan Xi, however, had a hard time telling them apart. In her eyes, they were all just a bunch of cute, round, chubby little blobs.

“Who’s this? Tonkatsu⁴?”

“That’s Ebi-furai no Shippo⁵, not Tonkatsu.”

“What’s the difference?”

“It’s so obvious! It has a shrimp tail on its head!”

“Oh…”

“Is this Penguin?⁶ or Shirokuma?”

“…That’s Neko⁷!!!!”

“I know this one. It’s Onigiri⁸, right?”

“If you still can’t tell when it looks so much like one, then you’re really…”

Anzhi had also, very “bossily,” changed Yan Xi’s phone case and replaced the screen protector with a matching one.

At first, Yan Xi found it a bit hard to accept. “This… isn’t it a little inappropriate to bring to a professional setting?”

Anzhi stared at her innocently. “How is it inappropriate? Are you that old?”

Yan Xi: “…”

Anzhi continued to stare, her cheeks as pink and plump as fresh apples. She held the phone case up in front of her. “Aren’t they cute?”

Yan Xi could only accept it in silence.

Anzhi beamed at her, her dimples deepening as if they’d been filled with honey.

Yan Xi reluctantly admitted, “Alright, they are very cute.”

Over the phone, Anzhi’s voice was soft and sweet. “You just got it, and it’s already cracked… Mine is still perfectly fine!”

Yan Xi’s eyes crinkled. “You’re right. It was all my fault.”

Was his name Liao Chengyu? The person who bumped into her at the elevator.

“Yan Xi?” He had recognized her, too.

He apologized and offered to compensate her, but Yan Xi smiled and said it wasn’t necessary.

The two made small talk for a bit. Although they were colleagues, they had barely ever spoken. They just politely commented on the bad weather, the quality of the cafeteria food, and whether the other had eaten. Yan Xi walked away first, but she could feel his eyes still on her back.

Perhaps because of what Zhou-jiejie had told her beforehand, Yan Xi felt a little strange about it.

“Okay then, I’ll buy a few more,” Anzhi’s voice pulled her back from her thoughts.

“Okay.”

They kept the line open and talked for a long time without realizing it.

“My phone’s about to die. I need to charge it, and I still have some work to do.”

“Okay.” Anzhi hung up the phone again, a little reluctantly.

In fact, they rarely had such long phone calls. Anzhi went back to looking at the photos. After a moment, she took out her phone, snapped several pictures to save, and then, satisfied, carried the album downstairs to put it back in its place.

The Yan Family Old Residence was huge. It used to be quite lively when the twins and Grandfather and Grandmother Yan were around. But now, it was so quiet it was almost eerie. Auntie Xin was on the first floor.

Maybe I should have listened to Yan Xi and asked Grandmother Xin to sleep with me tonight.

Anzhi immediately dismissed the thought. She didn’t know why, but she just felt… she was used to sleeping alone now. Or rather, she was used to sleeping with Yan Xi. Only with her.

Anzhi was lost in a daze. A subtle, vague, and unformed thought, like a morning breeze brushing against a newborn petal, drifted by. Before she could catch it, it had already dissipated.

A knock sounded at the door.

Anzhi went to open it. Auntie Xin had warmed her a glass of milk. She had also brought a thermos of hot water, along with snacks like red bean cakes and cheese crackers.

Auntie Xin reminded her of a few things and told her to go to bed early before heading back downstairs.

Anzhi closed the door and checked her phone. It was only a little past eight…

The long night was endless.

Good thing I brought the tablet from home, she thought, squinting in a sly smile.

When she was in elementary school, Yan Xi had set a rule that she couldn’t watch TV or use the computer for more than an hour a day.

“But my classmates…” Anzhi had once protested meekly. Like all children, she had a heart that longed to grow up and didn’t want to be told she couldn’t do this or that.

“Your classmates are all older than you. Besides, your eyes are still developing before you’re twelve. It’s easy to become nearsighted if you’re not careful.”

Anzhi was still unhappy. Yan Xi patted her head and said, “Be good,” and Anzhi had no choice but to obey.

It wasn’t until she started her first year of junior high that Yan Xi gave her a phone to make calls.

Anzhi was still young, after all, and was incredibly enthusiastic about new things. She secretly used her phone to play games and watch shows. During the summer vacation, she became obsessed with watching Detective Conan⁹, which was why she had taken the book from Da Pang.

Speaking of which, she had meant to find that book this morning to return to Da Pang. For some reason, she couldn’t find it.

That’s a little strange…

Anzhi drank her milk. After her shower, she nibbled on a cracker and watched Detective Conan on her tablet. The more she watched, the more terrified she became. She climbed into bed and huddled under the covers.

She sent a text to Yan Xi: “Can we video chat?”

Yan Xi: “???”

Yan Xi: “Are you reading again? Did Da Pang give you more books?”

Before Anzhi could reply, Yan Xi called her again.

Anzhi pursed her lips into a smile. “Is your phone charged?”

“I went and borrowed a power bank. What are you doing?”

“Watching Detective Conan. It’s a little scary. You can’t see the killer’s face, only their eyes…”

Yan Xi sounded a bit helpless. “Then don’t watch it if you’re scared. You won’t be able to sleep later…” Music was playing in the background on her end.

Anzhi listened for a moment; it was an instrumental piece.

“But I don’t know what else to do if I’m not watching something… There’s no one to talk to me. Grandmother Xin already went to bed.” Anzhi pouted. “And I didn’t bring any books, and you never said I could read the ones here.” At first, Anzhi hadn’t thought much of it, but as she spoke, she suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of grievance.

Yan Xi was quiet for a few seconds, then sighed softly, a hint of apology in her voice. “Taotao, how about I watch a movie with you?”

Anzhi’s ears perked up. “A movie? Is it one of those movies you really like?”

“Mhm, that’s right.” Yan Xi had a folder on her computer with her favorite movies. Anzhi had always been curious, but Yan Xi had said she could only watch them when she was older.

Anzhi’s spirits lifted. Following Yan Xi’s instructions, she found the folder and clicked on the movie, 《Little Miss Sunshine》¹⁰.

She propped the tablet up on her bedside table, grabbed a pillow to lean against, and turned on her phone’s speaker.

The roads were slick with water, the city lights were cold and desolate, and the rain pattered softly. They watched the movie together. Even though Yan Xi wasn’t by her side, it didn’t feel any different. She was still keeping her company.

The characters were introduced one by one at the beginning, and the soundtrack was the same piece Anzhi had just heard from Yan Xi’s end. When the chubby little girl with the huge glasses and a potbelly appeared on screen, Anzhi laughed. “So cute.”

Yan Xi chuckled softly. She was indeed cute. But the little Anzhi from her childhood had been even cuter.

The suicidal uncle frankly told the little girl why he had tried to kill himself. It was because he had fallen in love with one of his male students. The person he loved not only didn’t love him back but had fallen for his professional rival. As if that wasn’t enough, that rival had won over the person he loved and also gained industry recognition. He had lost his job and his love, and even his suicide attempt had failed. Anzhi’s chest rose and fell slightly as a sense of sadness washed over her. Yan Xi remained silent, offering no opinion.

Until the family’s grandfather told his fifteen-year-old grandson that he should hurry up and sleep with girls younger than him—the more, the better. In a few more years, when he was an adult, sleeping with someone younger would be illegal. The language he used was so extremely crude and vulgar that Yan Xi couldn’t help but say, “Don’t listen to that…”

“Mhm,” Anzhi nodded, but then asked curiously, “Do you have to have sex with people when you’re fifteen?”

“Cough, cough!” Yan Xi said hastily. “Not at all! That’s something for when you’re an adult. And of course, you need to understand that it’s not something you have to do at fifteen. It’s something that can only happen with someone you love. Also, if anyone ever says something like that to you, you must tell me or a teacher immediately. Understand?”

Anzhi nodded and scratched her cheek, seeming to understand but not fully understand.

She didn’t know that on the other end, Yan Xi let out a long sigh of relief. This was exactly what she worried about. Growing up had many awkward parts, but these were all things that had to be learned.

Anzhi said, “This grandpa seems kind of awful. How could he say those things to his grandson?” He was also a pervert, read pornographic magazines, and used drugs.

Yan Xi didn’t say anything. At her current age, Anzhi probably didn’t yet understand that people were complex. You couldn’t judge a person’s character by the one side they showed, and the same was true for love.

She just smiled faintly and let her continue watching.

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The author has something to say:

You can check my Weibo¹¹ for the joke about Sumikko Gurashi. Then you might understand why Yan Xi can’t tell them apart.

Mhm, that’s right. I’ve been hopelessly addicted to Sumikko Gurashi lately.

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