Stringy Wind in the Ear - Chap 37
This trip to Yunnan, with old people and children to take care of, really exhausted Li Xun. When he got home, he was exhausted and had no time to care about the mess of his luggage. He simply took a shower and threw himself into bed, not even bothering to check the messages on his phone before closing his eyes.
Unexpectedly, just as I was falling asleep, there was a knock on the door.
“Who is it?” Li Xun frowned.
“It’s me, can I come in?”
The boy’s voice was warm and soft, and Li Xun’s morning grumpiness was reduced by 30%.
After not seeing him for over a week, Song Yang has put on a new look that is eye-catching. Unlike the sporty style he wore on campus, he was wearing a woolen coat with a peaked collar today. The sweater underneath matched his skin tone very well. The hem of the coat reached to the knees, making his figure look longer. The collar and pockets had piping design, and the overall look did not look dull at all.
What cannot be ignored the most is the hairstyle. Song Yang’s hair on the forehead and behind the ears was cut much shorter, revealing two sword-like eyebrows slanting into the temples, and a pair of peach blossom eyes that looked lively when he smiled.
With a word of “Master”, the remaining 70% of my bad mood was almost gone.
Li Xun was stunned for a moment, and saw Li Chuzhi coming in behind him. The child had a fluffy scarf wrapped around his neck that he had never seen before. It was off-white in color, with a cartoon rabbit on the end.
Li Xun turned to look at Song Yang: “Did you give her the scarf?”
“Yeah, isn’t it cute?”
“Well, you always have good taste.” While praising the scarf, he also praised Song Yang’s new look, but it was too subtle and Song Yang couldn’t hear it.
Li Chuzhi raised the ShirleyMay in his hand and boasted, “My brother also gave me this.”
Another doll.
It’s so annoying.
Li Xun said to Song Yang with a headache: “You will be responsible for cleaning up her bedside from now on.”
“What’s the problem?” Song Yang proudly produced a gift bag from behind his back, “I also prepared a gift for you.”
Li Xun’s usually indifferent face revealed a very rare expression of excitement.
There was no doubt that the item had been prepared in advance, beautifully packaged, and tied with a bow with a satin ribbon in the upper left corner.
Li Chuzhi half-lay on the edge of his bed, watching him peel off the wrapping paper bit by bit with anticipation, then opened his mouth in surprise: “Wow, so beautiful.”
Li Xun was stunned again, and because of surprise, his mouth unconsciously smiled.
The light-colored maple wood frame firmly holds layer after layer of paper sculptures, forming a three-dimensional impressionist painting.
Inside the transparent acrylic panel is a little man pushing a bow and pulling the string. He stands at the far left of the picture, as if he is about to shoot an arrow into the distance. The sun is scorching above his head, clouds are floating, and there is green grass under his feet. Directly in front of him is an upright target and a timer. Arrows flying from all angles are firmly inserted in the center of the target.
At the bottom of the picture is a row of spectators, the most eye-catching of which is the back of a child, who is cheering with his arms raised high. Just by looking at his furry head, Li Xun has already understood the meaning of the painting.
That was the first time they met, and Song Yang sat closest to him.
He touched the switch on the side of the picture frame and found that it was not just a paper sculpture. He pushed it lightly, and the light source hidden under the panel lit up with soft and warm light. As his fingertips slid, the light source changed from dark to bright. The little man’s chin was slightly raised, and he looked confident and calm, and lifelike.
When he was young, he received many handmade gifts, but it was rare to see one so creative and exquisite.
It was so perfect, like a work of art, that he didn’t even dare to pinch it.
Even Li Chuzhi let go of Shirleymei and reached out to grab the gift in his hand. Li Xun raised his hand high and blocked her: “Don’t break it.”
Li Chuzhi pouted: “I’ll just take a look.”
“Then take a look. Don’t touch it. Your little hands are like Parkinson’s. You’ll drop it if you do it again.” Li Xun handed the thing to her, and in less than three seconds –
“Okay, I’ve finished reading it.” Then he left immediately.
Song Yang was laughing on the side. Li Chuzhi was so angry that he looked like a pufferfish. He stared at Li Xun with his round eyes: “Stingy guy.”
Li Xun ignored her and asked Song Yang, “Did you make this yourself?” When he asked, he actually had the answer in his mind. The workmanship was too complicated and delicate, it was impossible for someone to have made it himself.
“yes.”
Song Yang’s answer shocked him greatly. He lowered his head and looked at it again and again. All the papers were finely crafted and the light source was evenly distributed. There was no flaw at all that could be found with the naked eye.
“How did you do that?”
“The principle is very simple.” Song Yang sat on the edge of the bed, pointing at the night light and patiently explained, “For the rest, you need to draw a sketch on a piece of paper first, carve it layer by layer, stack it up and seal it with a panel, and finally connect a light source at the back and put it in a frame. It’s just that the carving step is more difficult. I started using A4 paper, but I found that it didn’t work at all. It wasn’t three-dimensional enough, it was easy to fold, and it was always scratched. Guess what I did later?”
“What?”
“Hey, I went to the stationery store to find some oil painting paper, and it took shape immediately. However, I bought the panel and LED lights at a store, and I polished the picture frame at the back. You won’t believe it when I tell you, but this wood was taken from the drawer of the desk I used in elementary school. The color tone is quite matching…”
Li Xun couldn’t help but secretly look up.
Song Yang’s mouth always curved when he spoke, and because of his fair skin, he could clearly see a hint of red at the end of his eyes. He also noticed that there was a band-aid wrapped around the index finger of Song Yang’s other hand.
“Did you cut your finger because of carving this?” Li Xun asked.
Song Yang looked down and said, “You found it. It wasn’t torn when I was carving. It was because the edge of the paper was sharp and my hands were too dry. I accidentally broke the skin.” He pinched the Band-Aid and said, “It doesn’t matter. I don’t feel it anymore.”
“Is this your first time?” Li Xun asked.
“yes.”
The young man’s eyes were sincere and open under the light, and Li Xun’s skin suddenly felt numb as if it had been scratched by a cat’s claws.
“Why did you think of giving me this?”
Song Yang pointed at the little man in the picture: “This is you, and this is me. Can’t you see? This is the day we first met.”
He was in high spirits when he spoke. Li Xun looked up at him, but he quickly lowered his head and avoided his sight.
“Of course I can see that. You’re really good at drawing. I should ask you to sign up for Chuzhi’s painting class.”
Li Chuzhi was also amazed by this carved night light and wanted to exchange the doll in his hand with him to play with for two days.
Li Xun refused to budge and refused to respond. Li Chuzhi snorted and ran away, angered by his stingy uncle.
Song Yang could tell that he cherished this gift very much, and the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but rise. All the late nights he had stayed up for so many days were worth it, and the countless revisions were all correct. Nothing was in vain.
He leaned over and said, “This picture frame is made of walnut. You can add two drops of essential oil and use it as a diffuser. I guarantee you will have sweet dreams every night.”
“No wonder there was a scent as soon as you opened the box, did you spray perfume?”
“It’s essential oil. Does it smell good?”
“Yeah, very refreshing.”
“Then I’ll give you a bottle.”
Li Xun’s eyes swept across the frame and looked at Song Yang, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised. “Then I will think of you every night when I smell the scent.”
“Who knows, you might even dream about me.” Song Yang used a joking tone to hide his panic, but he omitted the excitement that climbed up from his red ears to the corners of his eyes, and his eyebrows were so happy that they almost flew out of his cheeks.
He cleared his throat before losing control of his emotions and said, “Then I’ll go back first. You should have a good rest. If there is nothing to eat at home these few days, come to my house for the New Year’s Eve dinner. I have so much food that you can’t finish it all.”
Li Xun responded and smiled without saying anything. After Song Yang left, he couldn’t help but pick up the gift again.
It can be seen that Song Yang spent a lot of thought and time on this little thing.
It is wonderfully conceived and unique.
His heart was touched, but he felt confused.
Because no boy had ever prepared a gift for him so carefully, and he would never think of making such a delicate thing for anyone.
He was drawn over by an inexplicable and unprecedented emotion. He began to wonder what was behind Song Yang’s seemingly nonsensical questions; what kind of mood did the little guy have when he made this night light; and what was he thinking when he was joking…
These questions were like tangled threads, and he had no idea what would happen if he cut them.
I lay back in bed but couldn’t fall asleep, so I checked Song Yang’s Moments and found several photos of my back.
My mind is even more confused.
But he couldn’t stop himself from thinking about these things, couldn’t forget the jokes he had made as easily as before, and couldn’t regard the night light as a simple New Year’s gift.
Song Yang.
He stared at the note for a long time, and it suddenly changed to “typing”, and his eyebrows twitched. He felt nervous, as if God had seen through his thoughts.
[The comedy released on New Year’s Day has a high rating. Do you want to go watch it together? ]
Li Xun’s fingertips tapped the screen.
decide as things go.
delete.
I have to accompany my dad to the hospital for a physical check-up, so I may not be available.
delete.
Why don’t you ask your friends to go watch it together?
delete.
…
After typing for a long time, Song Yang only received one word.
【good.】
The next day was the third day of the New Year, and according to the rules, he should have visited various places to wish everyone a happy new year, but Li Xun didn’t need to.
He slept in for a rare time, had breakfast, and sorted the gifts he brought back from Yunnan. He wanted to send one to Coach Wang and his wife. Although he has retired from the national team, his gratitude over the years is as heavy as Mount Tai. He would send some gifts to honor the old man every holiday.
Some of it was given to colleagues at school and the bunch of little beasts on the school team, and some was left to the neighbors who took care of their family on weekdays, including Song Yang’s family.
Li Chuzhi couldn’t finish his homework, so he went upstairs to find Li Xun for help, holding his winter vacation homework book in one hand and a pencil and eraser in the other. However, he saw him standing in front of the mirror spraying hairspray.
This is very rare.
It was about a year ago that she last smelled this scent on her uncle’s head. She remembered that he was going to a job interview at that time.
She opened her mouth, amazed by her uncle’s new look in the mirror. He was wearing a brand new sports-style down jacket, his hair was slightly curled and all tied back, revealing his smooth forehead. The gray clothes matched his skin tone very well, and he looked a shade whiter than usual.
“Uncle, are you going to the Spring Festival Gala?”
Li Xun raised the corner of his mouth: “Guess again.”
Li Chuzhi rolled his eyes and said “Oh” in sudden realization: “You are going on a blind date!”
Li Xun scratched her nose and said, “Go to your godmother’s house to give her a gift.”
“Then why are you dressing up?”
Li Xun was dumbfounded by the question, and he pressed her forehead like he was dunking a basketball and turned her head away: “You really don’t care about anything else. If you had the time to worry about me, you would have finished your winter vacation homework long ago.”
