Chapter 17

Under the light of the living room, Jiang Yimiao was mostly covered by Zhao Shuming’s figure, and the light-colored mole on the bridge of her nose appeared to be hidden.

And her gaze looked extraordinarily serious, just really saying what was on her mind.

Talking to different people gives you a different sense of proportion, and Jiang Yimiao considers herself to be a rather guarded person.

Her sense of boundaries is like the Monkey King’s drawing of the magic circle around her, outside the circle is outsiders, inside the circle is one of her few close people. Only with those close to her could she talk so eloquently.

In her eyes, saying to Zhao Shuming that she wanted to bite him was the same as hugging Shen Man’s arm and saying, “Mom, your hand is so white I want to bite it.”

Jiang Yimiao blinked her eyes and swept her eyes downwards uncontrollably, she could see Zhao Shuming’s body parts below his collarbone more clearly in her line of sight, and she was guessing what Zhao Shuming’s body fat percentage was since his fitness results seemed to be quite remarkable.

Zhao Shuming’s line of sight was directed to her body, he looked down and swept over her fingertips, the knots in his throat rolled up and down a bit as he swallowed, he looked at Jiang Yimiao’s fingernail caps that were translucent pink in color, he suddenly felt like he should have the same strange disease as Miao Miao, he wanted to bite her fingertips.

The two of them were sitting close to each other on the sofa, and unconsciously their legs were close to each other, close to each other, and Jiang Yimiao could even hear the sound of Zhao Shuming’s breathing.

She moved her hand closer by accident, and her fingertip slightly poked the small mole on his collarbone. Her fingernail, which was slightly longer than the free line, touched the mole before her fingertips did, and Jiang Yimiao didn’t feel whether or not his mole was the same as hers, not raised, but simply pigmented.

Jiang Yimiao’s action was too sudden, and Zhao Shuming, who was unprepared, shuddered and couldn’t help but let out a gasp from between his throats.

This gasp of his confused Jiang Yimiao, she violently withdrew her fingertips as if she had touched boiling hot water, “No, I’m sorry, I just simply wanted to poke it.”

She placed her right hand back on her lap, her left hand rubbing her right hand somewhat awkwardly.

Zhao Shuming adjusted his breathing to reorganize his posture, “It’s fine, if you really want to poke it, you can.”

“Really?” I don’t know if it’s because the cute aggression just kicked in, but she feels like her mind is still a little confused, and she feels extra jumpy.

He nodded his head, the corners of his mouth rippling with a light and gentle smile, “Of course, Miao Miao, when have I ever lied to you.”

Zhao Shuming suddenly leaned his body forward, his height might have been a result of his mom and dad’s genes, but his current well-built body was something he had built specifically for her.

Working out certainly kept him healthy, but for Zhao Shuming, it was more important to make Jiang Yimiao like it; the muscles couldn’t be too developed or else they’d be greasy, but it wouldn’t look good if they were too thin.

Jiang Yimiao’s nose was once again surrounded by the scent factor of his body, and his eyes were deep, so deep that it was as if they could hypnotize.

She seemed to be somehow brought into the trap by him, she slowly raised her hand and whispered, “I just want to touch what that mole feels like …… ”

Her force was very light, so light that it was like a feather brushing over the area of Zhao Shuming’s collarbone, and any lighter, and he would be close to not being able to feel the presence of her fingertips.

Just as she had just guessed, it was a mole that blended in with the skin, with no bumps.

Jiang Yimiao licked her lips and lowered her hand.

“Do you want to bite it?” Zhao Shuming said coldly.

He thought that he would belong to Jiang Yimiao, and along with that, his body belonged to her, and she could do whatever she wanted to him.

Jiang Yimiao naturally didn’t know what Zhao Shuming had in mind, she only felt that the tip of her finger that she had just touched Zhao Shuming was as hot as if it was on fire, so hot that she kept rubbing it with her thumb.

At this point Jiang Yimiao completely came to her senses, she felt that he might be joking with her, she quickly waved her hand, “You can’t bite it even if you want to ahahaha.”

This part of the clavicle is too deep, Jiang Yimiao is now even embarrassed to bite his arm, how can she bite this position of the clavicle, this is probably something that couples can only do it ……

Although the two of them are close childhood friends, but it is not too reasonable.

Jiang Yimiao smiled and touched the tip of her nose again.

Zhao Shuming knew that usually when Jiang Yimiao felt embarrassed, she would touch the tip of her nose.

“Well …… Miao Miao, where do you want to put these dolls?” Seeing that she was embarrassed, Zhao Shuming had to change the topic.

He pointed at the pile of dolls and asked her, “Do you want to put them on the bed in the bedroom, or just set them up in the living room?”

Jiang Yimiao swept around, “Can I put it here?”

She looked at the position above the sofa backrest, there was a platform on the sofa backrest against the wall here, these dolls were not too big, no surprise they could all be placed comfortably on this.

“It’s fine, you can put them however you like.” Zhao Shuming picked up the dolls and lined them up according to the height of the dolls, “Put them like this?”

She nodded her head with a small peck, “That’s it, omg it’s too cute.”

Jiang Yimiao arched her eyebrows at how cute they were.

However, she had just had a fit with the dolls, and her brain nerves weren’t thrilled at the moment.

Jiang Yimiao stood in front of the sofa and looked at the dolls with her hands in her pockets for a while longer before sitting back on the sofa.

She habitually and smoothly put her palm on Zhao Shuming’s arm again, and because she could see him and their newly purchased doll in her gaze again, her fingertips subconsciously used some strength to grab his arm.

“So am I going to be exposed to more of these cute dolls now, express emotions like cute aggression more often, and then observe if the level of this weird reaction of mine has slowly decreased?”

Zhao Shuming raised his head to look at her, “Well, it can be understood like this, of course it’s not just dolls, there are some other things like cute stationery, clothes and such.”

These were all inanimate objects, Jiang Yimiao wouldn’t be truly aggressive even if she had an attack, nor would she be attacked by counter-attacked by these dead things.

As for cute creatures, Zhao Shuming thought that it was better for her not to come into contact with too many for the time being.

“Ohhh, I understand.” Jiang Yimiao stroked her chin and nodded thoughtfully, “Then I’ll go back to my room first.”

“Back to your room that early?” Zhao Shuming looked up at the clock hanging on the wall, it was only nine o’clock.

Even if Jiang Yimiao had to work tomorrow, she usually didn’t go to bed until ten o’clock. Bed.

“I’m going back to my room to check my cell phone and prepare to go online to buy something.” After saying that, Jiang Yimiao spread her steps and walked back to her room.

When she reached the corridor outside her room, she suddenly remembered something and turned around to poke half of her head out, “I’ll say good night to you in advance.”

“Okay, good night.” Zhao Shuming sighed with a smile and turned around to squeeze Jiang Yimiao’s favorite one, the fried egg doll.

He raised his hand and touched his collarbone with his fingertips, it’s okay, Miao Miao will definitely bite this part in the future, if she wants to bite it, she will really bite it in the future…….

Thinking that tomorrow is another Monday, Jiang Yimiao also wanted to lie in bed earlier.

Back in the room she did not immediately take out her cell phone, but hugged her plush quilt rolled around, rubbing the corner of the quilt into a ball pinching for a while before she slowly picked up her cell phone.

There is no place in the world more comfortable than a bed, Jiang Yimiao lamented in her heart as she leisurely leaned back on the bed and cleaned out her shopping cart.

Outside the window there was the sound of birds chirping from somewhere, the sound coming from the dark night with flashing neon lights.

Tired of lying on her back, Jiang Yimiao rolled over again.

Smoothly pulling the doll over and holding it in her arms, she didn’t throw her cell phone aside until she had paid for all the items in the shopping cart, lifting the doll and talking to it for a while to herself-

“Don’t want to work, but want to make money.”

“God, God’s milk, can I somehow become a millionaire.”

“You’re so dull.” She looked at the doll’s face and touched the tip of the doll’s nose with the tip of her nose.

Jiang Yimiao could smell the sweet scent of the doll’s body, it wasn’t the smell of laundry detergent, but the smell was similar to her plush quilt, yet she felt it wasn’t the same as her own scent.

She guessed that it could be the smell of body wash mixed with laundry detergent, whatever it was, she loved her doll.

She lifted the doll in mid-air and threw it up and caught it again, remembering Zhao Shuming’s words about letting go of her emotions, Jiang Yimiao suddenly sat up and hugged and kissed the doll.

Jiang Yimiao let go of her hand only after kissing it until her breathing slowed down a bit, and she clenched her teeth.

Although she hadn’t kissed before, she already felt that kissing must be a physical job, Jiang Yimiao obviously simply used her lips to contact with the soft doll’s skin, she felt a little tired from kissing.

She leaned on the bed and took several deep breaths, and in her afterglow there was a touch of unusual white on the light brown doll, Jiang Yimiao fixed her eyes on it and suddenly screamed.

“Ah!” Jiang Yimiao hugged her doll and owed again.

“What’s wrong Miao Miao?” Zhao Shuming happened to be in his room, and he immediately went to Jiang Yimiao’s bedroom after a shriek came out of her room.

From memory, she usually made this sound when she saw some strange bug.

Jiang Yimiao raised her head and saw him standing in the doorway with an anxious and worried look.

Probably busy with work or something like that, Zhao Shuming was still wearing his glasses, and with those wrinkled eyes, they were inexplicably somewhat good-looking.

She silently collected her panic, she always felt like she was the only one in the house, so much so that she just subconsciously screamed out.

Jiang Yimiao shook her head to shake out this strange thought of hers, and she explained to Zhao Shuming, “My doll, the thread on its neck collapsed.”

She lifted the doll up.

Although Zhao Shuming and her had bought many more dolls, Jiang Yimiao’s favorite in her heart was still this old doll, and she even took it with her when she traveled.

For many people, a doll was just a pile of lifeless cotton, a meaningless object.

But it is different for Jiang Yimiao, she poured a lot of feelings on the doll.

It knew many of her secrets and spent many nights with her, just like her family.

She didn’t give it a name because it was the only doll Jiang Yimiao had ever had, of course sometimes she would call it baby or she would also call it Bei Bei, Bei as in baby.

This doll had been with her even longer than Zhao Shuming had been with her.

She had even specifically looked for a doll restorer to repair and maintain it.

Jiang Yimiao thought with chagrin that it must have been because she had just kissed the doll too hard that the strings on its neck had collapsed.

Jiang Yimiao picked up her cell phone on the bed, wanting to look for the doll restorer she had contacted.

But that meant that her doll would have to be sent out to stay outside for several more days, and she wouldn’t be able to sleep with it in her arms for at least a week’s worth of nights.

“The strings around the neck came apart, did the whole head break off, or something?”

Zhao Shuming breathed a sigh of relief, thankfully it wasn’t Jiang Yimiao who had an accident.

She shook her head.

“No, it just chipped off a small opening, not very big, but you can see the cotton inside the doll.”

Jiang Yimiao deflated her mouth and said, her tone a little sad.

“Let me take a look, I feel like I should be able to sew.” He smoothly sat down in front of her bed.

Jiang Yimiao’s eyes instantly lit up, “Really?”

She had only just found that doll restorer’s account on WeChat, but Jiang Yimiao was still busy throwing her phone to the side again and handing him the doll in her arms.

“Look at it, can you get it right.” She sat on the bed and moved her body to the edge of the bed, shoving the doll into Zhao Shuming’s arms.

Zhao Shuming picked up the doll and put it in front of his eyes, it was indeed just chipped, sewing this small opening wasn’t difficult for him.

He took this time to carefully scrutinize the doll, the doll’s mouth was a straight line, it didn’t look like it had any expression, Jiang Yimiao grew up liking this kind of doll with a dull looking expression.

The doll was very close to him, he could clearly feel the smell on it, it was the same as Jiang Yimiao’s scent, this familiar sweet fragrance jumped at the tip of his nose.

Zhao Shuming let out a breath, “It’s okay.”

He looked up at Jiang Yimiao whose brows were furrowed into a ball as he comforted, “Don’t worry.”

“Hiss, but I need to find a needle and thread.”

“I remember there’s a needle and thread box at home, I think I saw it when I first moved here.” Jiang Yimiao touched her head, but she really couldn’t remember where she had seen the needle and thread box in the first place.

“But I can’t remember where I put it.” She rubbed her head vigorously, deeply wondering if she had been poisoned by work and code, and how her memory was getting worse and worse.

“The needle and thread box ……,” Zhao Shuming thought carefully, he didn’t notice it during the big cleanup last weekend, but according to his habit of cleaning up the house, he guessed that the needle and thread box should be placed in the checkroom.

“Wait here, I’ll go look for it.”

He carefully put the doll back on her bed and walked to the checkroom, and to his surprise, he found the needle and thread box in one of the cabinets in the checkroom.

The needle and thread box looked quite historic as well, no surprise it would have been bought and kept in his house since he was in high school. It was good that the quality of the cotton thread was good, and it was still completely usable.

He shook the needle and thread box in his hand towards Jiang Yimiao, “Miao Miao, I found it.” With that, he sat down in front of her bed, found the thread that was the same color as the doll’s neck, and familiarly threaded the thread through the needle hole.

Jiang Yimiao placed the doll on his lap, and propped herself up on her hand to keep a close eye on the movements of his hand.

The sharp tip of the needle went through the two pieces of the doll’s cracked skin, and although her reasoning told her that the doll was dead and it wouldn’t hurt to stab it with the needle, Jiang Yimiao couldn’t help but grimace, afraid that it would feel uncomfortable.

She might have acrophobia, seeing something sharp and pointy felt tight in her heart, but she couldn’t help but stare at Zhao Shuming’s hand movements.

She could only silently say in her heart that it didn’t hurt.

The doll was resting on Zhao Shuming’s lap like this, and he was holding the doll with one hand while his right hand skillfully used the needle and thread.

The illumination from the room’s overhead light made the veins on the back of Zhao Shuming’s hand appear extraordinarily clear, and the two of them leaned a little close, so close that she could still smell the scent on Zhao Shuming’s body that had become familiar to her.

Jiang Yimiao felt that she might be a puppy, as she looked at the back of his hand as if she also wanted to take a bite out of it.

She unconsciously gulped and cleared her throat again, turning around and picking up the water cup on the nightstand to take two sips of water.

Wanting to make her happy quickly, Zhao Shuming lowered his head and concentrated on sewing the doll, not noticing the change in Jiang Yimiao’s expression.

It didn’t take long for Zhao Shuming to sew that chipped opening, and even the knot that closed the end was tied perfectly.

“Look, is this okay?” He held the doll in front of her.

Jiang Yimiao poked her finger at the spot where the thread had just chipped away, and it was sewn just right, no matter whether she looked at it at first glance or carefully, she couldn’t tell that the neck spot had been damaged.

“Can can can!” Jiang Yimiao opened her lips slightly in surprise, “How do you know how to sew? And still, still that hidden needle stitch!” She still thought for a while before remembering the name of this needle stitch.

This way it looked like the outside of the doll’s epidermis was free of threads, as if it was in factory condition.

People nowadays rarely used needles and threads anymore, unless a button fell off, Jiang Yimiao would never touch such a thing as a needle at all, and sewing buttons, a completely unskilled job, did nothing to help her sewing skills.

She would simply keep threading the needle into the eye of the button, and then with the help of the thread, she would re-lock the button onto the clothes with a dead stop.

Zhao Shuming laughed, ”How come I don’t know how to sew, I even helped you sew school uniform buttons. And River, do you remember sewing cross-stitch when you were little?”

Dusty memories were like the evening breeze, drifting down the small cracks in the window to her eyes.

Jiang Yimiao’s brain circuits had been strange since she was a child, it was possible that her hobbies were already a bit odd, or it was also possible that in order to avoid her own weird illnesses, she rarely played with Barbie dolls and other toys that belonged to girl-related toys in the stereotypical image.

Of course, she wasn’t interested in the car ottomans that the boys played with either.

Her favorite thing to do was to ride her child’s four-wheeled bicycle to the park across the street from her neighborhood to watch the grandpas play chess, or to help the grandmothers pick up kapoks – flowers that can be used to make medicine – and to listen to gossip that she didn’t understand at all.

The park is surrounded by grandparents who all know Jiang Yimiao.

I don’t remember which year it was, probably in elementary school, but cross-stitch was especially popular in those two years, and you could see cross-stitch stores all over the street, even in stationery stores where the main customers were elementary school students. Even in stationery stores where the main customers are primary school students, you can see shelves dedicated to cross stitch.

Cross-stitch is simple, easy to learn and beautiful, so many aunts in the park would sit under a big tree and embroider.

When Jiang Yimiao saw this, she wanted to do one too.

One night, Jiang Yimiao and her parents went out to the supermarket to buy things, and on the way back, she saw a store specializing in cross-stitch doing clearance activities, and the store was crowded with people.

Curious baby Jiang Yimiao tugged at the hem of mom and dad’s clothes and insisted on going in to join in the fun.

In the end, not only did they get together, but they even asked Mom and Dad to buy her two pairs of cross-stitch.

Shen Man is not interested in these things, but see Jiang Yimiao seems to be very curious, thinking that it can also develop children’s hands-on ability, she encouraged Jiang Yimiao to try.

Seeing the aunts in the park downstairs sewing cross-stitch with ease, Jiang Yimiao thought that cross-stitch should be very simple, but she realized that she had overestimated her own ability to work with her hands before she started.

Jiang Yimiao’s crafting skills have not been good since she was a child, compared to this, it would be better to let her do two hours of OU problems.

But she is not the kind of person who likes to give up halfway, looking at the sewing a beginning of the cross-stitch she was very sad, but that time parents are very busy at work and do not have time to help her get her that even half-finished works can not be considered.

She really can’t embroider, she took the cross-stitch board and ran to Zhao Shuming’s house to look for him.

“Brother ……” she blinked those big eyes, Zhao Shuming heart softened.

He still helped her with her kindergarten Children’s Day crafts, and even the roses she folded for Mother’s Day was something he taught her.

In the end it was Zhao Shuming who helped her with those two pairs of cross-stitch.

And those two cross-stitches were framed and still hang in Jiang Yimiao’s room at her old home.

As for the school uniform button thing …… that is the middle school, Jiang Yimiao and Zhao Shuming’s middle school every day to wear school uniforms, but the quality of the school uniform is really general, especially the collar buttons are very easy to fall off.

At that time, they were still in the school accommodation, Jiang Yimiao memory can not count how many times his collar buttons fell off.

Fortunately, every time the thread was loose, she found, and then she had to go back to the dormitory to find the house teacher to borrow a needle and thread sewing.

However, she was not good at sewing, and she was not very good at tying knots, even though she tried very hard every time, but there was always a thread floating on the button, and when the wind blew over the thread with the needle and thread knots on the neckline would float up, as if mocking her stupid hands. The wind blew over the collar and the thread with the needle and thread knot would float up, as if mocking her clumsy hands.

Until one time the button fell off, but Jiang Yimiao did not realize, fortunately it was the top button, she did not care.

It was only when she was walking on the playground with Zhao Shuming after a full meal that he realized that the top button on the collar of Jiang Yimiao’s school uniform had fallen off.

The next day he found the button and took her uniform to help her sew it back on.

After that, Jiang Yimiao never sewed a button again, Zhao Shuming did it for her.

Jiang Yimiao couldn’t help but smile as she recalled the past, “I almost forgot, cross-stitch was really popular in the 1990s, but it was years ago. I almost forgot, cross stitching was really popular in the 1990s, but it was years ago, so it’s great that you still remember how to sew.”

Zhao Shuming always seemed to be omnipotent in her eyes, he cooked well, he did housework in an organized manner, he wasn’t afraid of cockroaches, rats and vicious dogs.

He also had good grades and was good-looking.

But Jiang Yimiao never realized that all these skills and advantages he had mastered were related to her.

“Miao Miao, you said that I have a good memory, so maybe that’s why.” He smoothly stroked her doll’s head.

Suddenly remembering something, Zhao Shuming changed the subject, “Right, River, you’re not ready to go to bed yet, right, I have something I want to show you.”

“Ah, what is it?” She raised her head.

“Wait for me for a while.” Zhao Shuming stood up and went back to his bedroom to take a document back to her room and handed it to her.

“What’s this?” Jiang Yimiao took it from his hand, and after looking down to see the words on the cover, her eyes became even more puzzled, “Physical examination report?”