For better convenience, Xu Lian had specially packed a small wax melting stove into a large backpack, along with her other tools. With this, she was ready to visit Xiang ChangKongâs home for a second time.
Today was Thursday, so her shop was closed. She would usually stay home and make some candles, but Xu Lian figured it would be better to do it at Xiang ChangKongâs house. She could show her face and allow her future mother-in-law to see what her job entailed.
Xiang ChangKong had a morning shift today, so Xu Lian didnât ask him to wait for her to arrive and instead entered the home with the key he had given her.
Weng ShuLi had different clothes today, but she was sitting in the exact same spot as last time. It seems she knew that Xu Lian was coming. Weng ShuLi raised her head when Xu Lian entered with her large backpack, but there wasnât any change in her expression.
Xu Lian placed her backpack on the couch and smiled. âHello Auntie, Iâm here again.â
Weng ShuLi looked at the black backpack Xu Lian had bought. She seemed interested, but in the end, she didnât ask. Weng ShuLi simply lowered her head and opened the book in her hand.
When Xu Lian came in, she had explicitly glanced at the book Weng ShuLi was holding. It was a different book from last time. This book was the latest work from Xing Xin, titled âSecret.â Xu Lian sat down in the same spot as last time and said: âThis book has also been made into a movie. Yao Feng Jing and Yu Yao made it.â
Weng ShuLi was obviously not a fan of either of these people, because she was indifferent to Xu Lianâs words. Xu Lian didnât mind. She poured herself a glass of water, then started to take out the stuff in her backpack one by one.
The melting furnace, wax melting pot, her electronic scale, thermometers, wax blocks, gypsum, papercupsâŚ.the small coffee table was instantly filled with Xu Lianâs things. Her busy movements finally made Weng ShuLi raise her head. She looked at the strange items on the coffee table, then looked at Xu Lian.
Xu Lian smiled at her and said: âI donât know if Xiang ChangKong mentioned it to you, but I opened an aromatherapy candle shop in Starlight Park. These are the tools I use to make candles.â
Weng ShuLi didnât reply. Xu Lian turned the electronic scale on, then poured some gypsum into a paper cup. âDonât worry, I work quietly, so I promise not to disturb your reading.â
Weng ShuLiâs expression finally appeared to loosen a bit. It seems that she had never met such a brazen person before. She stared at Xu Lian for a while, but Xu Lian really did start making candles, so Weng ShuLi could only go back to her book.
Xu Lian measured the amount of gypsum, then glanced at Weng ShuLi before adding the appropriate amount of water. Weng ShuLi had wanted to use the move âignore herâ to push Xu Lian back, but this sort of thing was ineffective to Xu Lian.
After all, her greatest strength was the ability to withstand solitude.
To her knowledge, Weng ShuLi had only started to ignore people in the last three years. Before the death of her husband, she had been a woman who cared for her family and knew how to live her life well.
Xu Lian had heard from Xiang ChangKong that Weng ShuLi had been a dancer in an art troupe when she was young. His father had fallen in love with his mother at first sight during an art show. Weng ShuLi was pretty and danced well. When she was young, she had been pursued by many men, but it was Xiang ChangKongâs father was the one who succeeded.
After their marriage, although Weng ShuLi had divided her energy into taking care of Xiang ChangKong and Xiang Nuan, her dancing skills didnât diminish. She would go square dancing with her friends, participate in regular dance competitions with teams, and even teach others dancing in her spare time.
Xu Lian was very different from Weng ShuLi. She had lived in self-imposed isolation for twenty-four years. No one knew how to live in solitude better than Xu Lian. If Weng ShuLi enthusiastically attempted conversation with her, Xu Lian mightâve been the one to back down first, but Weng ShuLi had instead chosen âignore her.â
In this silent tug of war, Xu Lian felt like she was in an excellent position to win.
Mixing the gypsum until it was in the most appropriate viscosity, Xu Lian dipped some black pigment onto the mixture with a toothpick. The moment the toothpick touched the gypsum, the black pigment spread into the mixture like ink on a painting.
Xu Lian turned the paper cup to let the pigment dye a pattern onto the gypsum, and once she was satisfied, poured the gypsum into a mold. While waiting for the liquid gypsum to solidify, she placed the block of soy wax into the melting pot and put the pot on top of the preheated melting furnace.
It was as if she was performing magic. Xu Lian didnât make much noise, but she still attracted Weng ShuLiâs attention. When Xu Lian noticed Weng ShuLiâs attention on her, she didnât feel uncomfortable. She just waited for the wax to heat up to the proper temperature, removing the gypsum container from its mold while she did so. When the wax was finally heated up, she poured it into the gypsum container.
Xu Lian inserted a wax core and fixed it in place with a clip. Xu Lian pushed it aside, then asked Weng ShuLi: âDoes it look nice? This kind of basic candle sells quite well in our shop. It smells good too.â
She only brought two scents today, and they were both the most popular scents in her store. Many of her female customers had asked Xu Lian if she sold any perfumes with the same scent.
The air became filled with a light flowery fragrance. As Xu Lian began weighing some gypsum again, she asked: âAuntie, why donât you learn to make a few candles with me? Instead of being bored at home, why not learn a craft to pass the time?â
Weng ShuLi looked at Xu Lian, then went back to her book.
Xu Lian stayed at Xiang ChangKongâs home until the afternoon, making a bunch of fragrant candles, some with beehive wax, some with soy wax. When she finally decided to leave, she filled her backpack with only the candles she made. Xu Lian didnât intend to take her tools home and instead packed them into a large paper bag and placed them in Xiang ChangKongâs room.
After all, Xu Lian intended to visit often. Leaving her tools here meant that she wouldnât have to lug everything along every time she came.
When Xu Lian exited Xiang ChangKongâs room, she found that Weng ShuLi had already returned to her own room. Xu Lian walked over to Weng ShuLiâs room and found her door open. She knocked on the door, and still standing outside, said: âAuntie, Iâll be going back. See you next time.â
Weng ShuLi didnât answer, and Xu Lian didnât wait for a reply. She simply turned around and left.
When Xiang ChangKong came back that evening, he found the paper bag full of Xu Lianâs tools on his desk. With a smile, he closed the bag, then found a candle next to his textbooks.
Compared to the many fancy candles in Xu Lianâs store, this particular candle was the most basic kind of candle placed in a gypsum container. The container was hexagonal and had black paint randomly smudged on it. It looked very much like an ink landscape painting.
After finding a box of matches, Xiang ChangKong lit the candle. Itâs faint light gave off the tiniest bit of warmth. Xiang ChangKong turned off the lights in his room, leaving only the small lamp on his desk to illuminate the candle. He adjusted the lighting, took a photo of the candle, then sent it to Xu Lian.
Xiang ChangKong: Thank you for the candle. Itâs really nice. [picture.jpg ]
Xu Lian: Did you take the photo on your cell phone?
Xiang ChangKong: Yeah, why?
Xu Lian: It looks pretty good. Then Iâll ask you to take photos for me from now on. (*´č¸`*)
Xiang ChangKong: I canât. (ďźâ¸á)
Xu Lian: I donât think men are supposed to say they canât?
Xiang ChangKong:âŚ
I was suddenly taken for a driveâŚ
(T/N: An internet slang basically about porn. Like, asking someone to drive you basically means âyo share your porn stash with me.â Itâs a slang that references sex. I find it equal parts confusing and hilarious that this slang is in here. Basically, Xu Lian was like âmen arenât supposed to say they canât [perform], lolâ and by perform she means sexually. )
Xu Lian: By the way, Iâve recently tried making a few dishes by myself. I feel like Iâve made a lot of progress, so next time you should come by and try it!
Xiang ChangKongâs face heated as he replied with an âalright.â
Every time he goes to Xu Lianâs house, they donât just eatâŚ
Xu Lian: Goodnight âž
Xiang ChangKong: Good night, have a good rest.
As they both said their goodnights, Wei YiChenâs business was at its peak time.
While Wei YiChen was playing billiards in a private room with Ah Mao, a flustered waiter ran in. With a voice shaking with panic, he said: âBrother Chen, Brother Mao, there are two guests outsideâŚâ
Wei YiChen put down his billiard stick and asked: âWhatâs wrong?â
âI, I donât know. They act like theyâve drunk too much, but they havenâtâŚ.â Thinking back to the two guests, the waiter thought that the situation might be more complicated than it looked. Initially, the guests werenât any trouble, and they didnât even drink much wine. But then they suddenly got excited and made a fuss.
âWeâll go have a look.â Wei YiChen called for Ah Mao, and the pair walked out.
The two people the waiter mentioned was a man and a woman. They definitely looked out of place in a bar, and it seems that they donât come to such places often. When Wei YiChen saw the two, they were already happily dancing in the middle of the dance floor, with half of their clothes on the ground. A crowd had gathered around them, whistling and applauding at the duoâs antics.
Wei YiChen and Ah Mao squeezed through the crowd, picked up the clothes on the floor, and then tried to drag the man and the woman off the dance floor. The man and woman were so inebriated that when they saw people trying to drag them away, they shouted: âWhat are you doing? Donât pull me!â
Wei YiChen and Ah Mao signaled towards their other brothers to help forcibly pull them away. The two drunkards struggled and cursed the entire time, causing other customers to watch the commotion.
After the drunken duo was pulled away, the incident was soon forgotten by the other people in the bar. The dance floor soon changed the song, and everyone continued to drink and dance.
Back in the lounge, Wei YiChen threw a small plastic bag at Ah Mao with a thunderous expression on his face. Ah Mao looked at the small bag thrown at him. His face twisted as he asked: âBrother ChenâŚwhere did this stuff come from?â
Wei YiChen sneered. âIt fell out those two peopleâs clothes.â
Ah Mao quickly knelt in front of Wei YiChen.âBrother Chen, this didnât come from us. We wouldnât dare touch these things! You told every single one of us that if we even looked at such things, weâd get ten punches to the gut!â
Wei YiChen snorted, then sat down on a nearby sofa. Ah Mao has been with him for a long time. He understood this little brotherâs personality. If he says itâs not something from them, then those two customers bought it elsewhere.
When he first thought of opening a bar in this street, Wei YiChen made sure he understood the rules of Qingnan Lane. ThisâŚ.was someone on the brink of breaking the rules?
âCheck out those two and see which stores they regularly visit.â
âI understand.â Ah Mao looked down at the little plastic bag again. âUhâŚwhat about this thing?â
Wei YiChen replied: âThrow it in the toilet and flush it away! And those two people, theyâre not allowed to enter our store in the future.â
Ah Mao quickly nodded. âYes, Iâll go do it now.â