Chapter 644
Glimmer
"Then let's not talk about this."
Han Zhou shrugged and changed the subject, "How's business tonight?"
"If you're really bored, go outside and help me watch over things..."
Before he could finish speaking, Zhong Yin suddenly covered his left ear and frowned. "Never mind, just close the door for me. If there's nothing else, go home early. We're closing early today."
Han Zhou was taken aback: "Sister Yin, are you having ear problems?"
"No."
After a moment of silence, Zhong Yin explained, "The hearing aid is about to run out of power."
She didn't finish her sentence, but Han Zhou understood what she meant. If the hearing aid ran out of power, it meant she wouldn't be able to hear anything anymore, and even normal communication would be difficult. Her situation would only be more serious than that of Ouyang Lianyu, who had lost her contact lenses.
Given Sister Yin's personality, she obviously doesn't want people to see her most vulnerable side.
He hesitated for a moment: "I'll finish cleaning up the shop before I leave."
Zhong Yin didn't say anything, but simply tossed the rag in her hand to him, washed her hands, and turned to walk into the bedroom, seemingly acquiescing to his suggestion.
A short while later, she came out of the bedroom with two ornately wrapped apples in her hand: "Xiaoling asked me to give these to you; she felt embarrassed."
Han Zhou was taken aback, reached out and took the peace apple, and asked curiously, "I understand if you're sorry, senior, but why did you give me two peace apples?"
Zhong Yin stared at him expressionlessly.
Han Zhou's eyes widened, as if he had suddenly realized something: "The other one... could it be a gift from you?"
This reaction wasn't feigned; he genuinely hadn't expected Zhong Yin to give him a peace apple. After all, the other person's words could sometimes be more stubborn than a zither, and even if they really wanted to give it to him, they would never be so direct.
No... it's not that there aren't times when it's straightforward, but only after drinking a large glass of wine...
Han Zhou suddenly suspected that Zhong Yin might have also eaten the chocolate with liqueur filling, but he didn't dare to get closer to confirm.
"Unlike you, I'm not so shameless as to visit other people's homes empty-handed during holidays."
Zhong Yin's cold voice rang in her ears. She seemed to want to say a few more sarcastic remarks, but just then, the crisp bell rang again at the door. She glanced at Han Zhou and turned to greet the guests.
Han Zhou stayed in the inner room to continue cleaning, but he could still clearly hear the commotion outside. The guests seemed to be two young girls, one of whom asked:
"Sister, do you sell chocolate here?"
"Have."
"Is it handmade?"
"Correct."
It has to be said that Zhong Yin's attitude towards girls is really good. Although his tone is light, it carries a rare gentleness, which is much better than how he treats him.
These two girls were not the last customers before the store closed. No sooner had they left than several young people, both men and women, came into the store and asked if they had any handmade chocolates.
Faced with this combination of men and women, Jong-eun's attitude changed as expected, but her tone remained relatively gentle. When one of the boys complimented her, "Sister, you are so beautiful," she would softly reply, "Thank you."
And so, customers came and went, and even a middle-aged man came in who also wanted to buy handmade chocolates, complaining, "I really don't understand young people these days. My daughter insists I buy this, I don't know what's so good about it."
Before Zhong Yin could speak, a boy next to him, who was not even as tall as the counter, explained, "Uncle, today is Christmas Eve. Giving handmade chocolates on Christmas Eve is a ritual, and only people who like you will give them to you."
Hearing this, Han Zhou felt a mix of emotions. Was he out of touch, or had he simply not watched enough anime lately? Isn't giving handmade chocolates a tradition for White Day in Japan? When did giving chocolates for Christmas become so popular?
It seems Christmas has truly become Valentine's Day. Merchants are cramming any tradition into it just to make money. Will they release apple-shaped chocolate gifts for Christmas in the future...?
But then again, shouldn't handmade chocolates be made by hand? Buying chocolates from a store is just deceiving yourself...
The middle-aged man was also taken aback upon hearing this, and humbly asked, "Young man, do you mean you're buying this as a gift?"
"Definitely, it's for someone I like," the boy said confidently.
The middle-aged man was silent for a few seconds, intending to turn and leave immediately, but after a moment's hesitation, he asked Zhong Yin to wrap him a piece of chocolate. After scanning the code, he stormed out of the store, and you could vaguely hear him muttering through gritted teeth:
"Well, this brat, she's so young and already thinking about dating... I'll teach her a lesson when I get back."
"What a hypocritical father."
Han Zhou had also come outside at some point, and sighed softly.
"What does it mean to say one thing and mean another?" Zhong Yin asked casually as she was wrapping up the chocolates the boy had bought.
Just like you, you don't dislike me, but you always have a barb in your words... Han Zhou thought to himself, but said aloud, "That uncle clearly hates his daughter dating, but he still bought her chocolates before he left. That's called saying one thing and meaning another."
Zhong Yin remained noncommittal, coldly saying, "If my daughter were dating at such a young age, I would break that kid's legs."
"Great minds think alike; I also can't accept my daughter dating too early."
Han Zhou nodded in deep agreement, his expression sinister, and said, "But breaking his leg is too merciful. If anyone dares to lay a hand on our daughter in the future, I'll twist his head off and use it as a football."
Zhong Yin paused in his movements and looked over with a cold gaze.
Han Zhou felt a chill run down his spine, and cold sweat instantly broke out: "I was talking about my daughter and your daughter, not our daughter..."
"Is there a difference?" Zhong Yin asked expressionlessly.
"No?" Han Zhou swallowed.
Fortunately, Zhong Yin didn't intend to settle accounts with him, or rather, she didn't have time to pay attention to him at all. As soon as the doorbell rang, she immediately started greeting the next group of guests.
In just over ten minutes, most of the chocolates in the store were sold. Although she knew that the hearing aids wouldn't last much longer, Zhong Yin still wanted to sell as many as possible.
She's had quite a few customers these past few days, but most of them came specifically for the handmade chocolates. Otherwise, she wouldn't have had to stay up all night to finish this batch. As a result, she was so tired last night that she fell asleep on the sofa and even forgot to charge her hearing aid.
Han Zhou assisted from the side, taking the opportunity to silently observe Zhong Yin's attitude towards different guests, and finally sadly discovered that he was indeed the least popular one.
Besides that, he made another discovery—Zhong Yin seemed to be more friendly to guests who called her "sister." Did all women fall for that?
Oh yeah! I almost forgot, Sister Yin is a siscon. If I'm shameless enough, I can be a little sister too!
Thinking of this, Han Zhou's eyes lit up. Since he had already called "sister" enough tonight, he might as well take advantage of the fact that his resistance was still high enough to verify his inner guess.
So, before the next group of guests arrived, he cleared his throat and called out in a low voice, "Sister."
However, things didn't go as planned. Zhong Yin not only didn't respond, but even frowned in disgust and didn't even glance at him.
Han Zhou was stunned by the unexpected rejection, but then he realized something and tried calling out to Zhong Yin a few more times. Zhong Yin remained silent, engrossed in wrapping chocolates. He then realized that the hearing aid was probably completely out of power, and that the strong-willed Yin was clearly trying to pretend nothing had happened, giving herself a dignified exit.
Looking at the profile of that woman who was trying her best to remain calm, Han Zhou did not point it out. He deliberately walked up to Zhong Yin, waved, and said with a smile, "Sister Yin, the shop is almost cleaned up, so I'll be leaving now."
Zhong Yin couldn't read lips, but he could clearly understand what waving meant, so he nodded slightly and said succinctly, "Let's go, I'm closing up shop too."
After thinking for a moment, she picked up a few wrapped chocolates from the counter and handed them over: "These things won't sell tomorrow, so take them home and eat them."
Han Zhou was taken aback and quickly waved his hand to refuse: "Teacher Ouyang has already given me half a box of chocolates, I can't eat any more."
Zhong Yin couldn't hear anything at the moment, she could only see his lips moving, and had no idea what he was mumbling. Afraid that continuing the conversation would give him away, she simply shoved the chocolate into his hand with a stern face and said impatiently, "Just take it, why are you talking so much nonsense?"
Han Zhou had no choice but to accept the chocolate. He wanted to say something more, but Zhong Yin didn't give him the chance. She forcefully pushed him out of the store and into the swirling snow.
With a soft click, the glass door was locked from the inside. The hanging wind chimes swayed, but because they couldn't open the door, they only made a dull thud before falling silent again.
The force of that push was astonishing. He could even imagine Zhong Yin leaning against the door and letting out a long sigh of relief after he left, before hurriedly running to charge her hearing aid.
...What a proud guy.
Han Zhou tucked the peace apple under his arm, peeled open a chocolate, and popped it into his mouth. It tasted bitter and cold at first, but then the sweet, milky aroma inside melted on his tongue, just like a certain hypocritical guy.
I must say, the taste is quite good, no wonder it's so expensive.
Han Zhou originally wanted to ask Zhong Yin what his Christmas wish was and remind him to hang a sock by his bed tonight, but he could also say such things on Feixin. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered that he had left the comic book that Teacher Ouyang had given him at the store.
He wouldn't mind leaving the comic book for Sister Yin to keep her entertained, but it was, after all, a Christmas gift carefully prepared by Teacher Ouyang. It would be too disrespectful to leave it at someone else's house on the first day.
So he took out his phone, about to send Zhong Yin a message via Fetion, but before he could even type in the text, he heard a "click" and the door that had just been locked was opened again.
Zhong Yin stood at the intersection of warm light and cold air, with cozy candy-colored lights behind her and the howling night in front of her.
She seemed surprised that Han Zhou hadn't left yet. She paused for a moment, then turned her head slightly in response to his questioning gaze. The usual coldness and sharpness in her eyes seemed to have been thinned by the wind and snow, revealing a fragile vulnerability beneath.
"The hearing aid charger seems to be broken," she whispered.
……
This was the first time Han Zhou had seen Zhong Yin's hearing aid charger.
It was a palm-sized, flat black box, made of a matte ceramic material with exquisite workmanship, but its design gave it a "relic of the old era" feel—it didn't have the USB port that is standard on modern digital products, the whole body was a single piece, with only a non-removable, thick, old-fashioned round plug cable on the side, as thick as a telephone pole.
Zhong Yin was determined to plug it into every socket, but no matter which socket he tried, the little red light on the side of the base remained stubbornly off.
Han Zhou went online to check, and found that this thing was too old, so old that it didn't even support the current power strip standard. He tried to search for the model number, but the page was pitifully sparse, and the latest discussions were all from three years ago.
In other words, it's uncertain whether the same model of charger can be found at all.
Without the charger, Zhong Yin's two expensive hearing aids would become useless decorations.
Zhong Yin was clearly aware of this, which is why she tried again and again in vain.
Han Zhou observed the unremovable wire and guessed that it might have been completely burned off, and there was probably no hope of repairing it. He opened his mouth, wanting to tell Zhong Yin this guess, but he suddenly remembered that the other party could no longer hear anything.
So he took out his phone and sent Zhong Yin a Fetion message.
But now Zhong Yin can't even hear the phone notification sound; he's staring blankly at the charger in his hand.
The warm yellow light shone down from above, casting a small shadow under her eyelashes. The sharpness that could pierce through people on ordinary days seemed to have been gradually dulled by the deathly silence around her.
She sat on the sofa, seemingly alone in the warm little shop, yet standing stubbornly in place, yet teetering on the brink of collapse.
Before this, Han Zhou had always thought that what he feared most was Zhong Yin's cold words, but only now did he realize that what he feared was actually the vulnerability that the other party was showing at this moment.
He pretended not to notice anything, casually sat down next to Zhong Yin, and randomly picked out a comic book from the set on the table, handing it to her.
"Let's read some comics," he said.
Zhong Yin couldn't hear, of course, but Han Zhou's actions weren't hard to understand. She subconsciously lowered her head and happened to see the text on the title page of the comic book:
"Even if the signal disappears in the deep sea, there will always be someone who braves the thorns and brambles and swims to it following the faint light."
"It's so cringeworthy, isn't it?" Han Zhou commented with a smile.
But Zhong Yin still couldn't hear his voice. She was slightly stunned at first, then shook her head and was about to put the comic back.
But Han Zhou held her hand, handed her the phone, and, imitating Zhong Ling, typed what he wanted to say into the Fetion chat box:
"Sister Yin, this charger is too old. Unless you have the right parts, it will be hard to repair."
Zhong Yin's eyes dimmed for a moment.
She knew, of course, that the hearing aid was an outdated model, and that she had bought it because it was cheap. So she had taken great care of it all these years, but it still broke in the end.
Unfortunately, the bad thing happened on Christmas Eve.
She has some savings now, and buying a new hearing aid isn't out of the question. However, if she wants to customize a brand new hearing aid, she would have to wait for almost half a month. Just thinking about having to endure a long half month in absolute silence brought back the suffocating feeling of being cut off from the world that she had experienced before, making her feel like she was in an ice cellar.
In a daze, she seemed to have returned to those desperate days when she couldn't tell anyone.
The world seemed to be drained of sound at that moment, plunging into the dark depths of the sea. Everything around her was rapidly fading away. She was like an abandoned wreck, drifting on the dark seabed, watching helplessly as the spots of light on the surface of the water receded further and further away until they were completely extinguished, leaving only a deafening silence.
But just as she was about to be completely swallowed by this deathly silence—
A tiny glimmer of light unexpectedly pierced the darkness before my eyes.
She subconsciously looked up and saw that Han Zhou had once again held the phone screen up to her face.
The cursor is jumping.
The second line of text jumped onto the screen, clearly hitting her eyes.
"But I can fix it." (End of Chapter)