TPIL - 22

When he visited Paradise Handmade Shop again, it was already Thursday. The rainy season had yet to arrive, and the green plants were all withered and dry. Qi Xiaochuan had attended a meeting and was scheduled to go on a business trip the next day. He grabbed lunch at a fast-food restaurant, hastily packed up his things, and headed off work. His newly acquired membership card hadn’t been used yet. He had received sporadic messages before, and upon entering the shop, the staff accurately called out his name, escorting him alone to the classroom upstairs.

Compared to regular customers, members could choose their drink types, and even preferences for tablecloth patterns and fragrances were accommodated. On the table was a bamboo basket filled with materials. As he reached out to touch them, light footsteps approached. Luo Andi appeared, greeting him warmly: “Xiao Chuan!”

Qi Xiaochuan remembered her teenage princess bed.

Just touching it felt like sinking into it, relieving all the tension. It was soft and clean, so comfortable that it felt like your body would disappear.

Hearing her voice, his ears melted as if they were dissolving. Seeing her face, his eyes washed without any irritation. If she cried, even stones would be moved, let alone retrieving a lost golden ball for her. Even if she asked him to die, he might lose his soul and reply: “Alright, of course. I’ll go right away.”

Luo Andi put her arms behind her back, leaning forward slightly. Her loose curls fell over her chest, and her eyelashes fluttered. She pulled out fluffy wool, slowly rolling it up while demonstrating the movements and explaining the process in a low voice.

Since the last time he dropped her off, the two hadn’t seen each other for a while. After returning home, he dreamt of sitting side by side with Luo Chuishun, gazing up at the dazzling starry sky. Luo Chuishun said: “Didn’t I tell you to treat my sister better?”

There were many words to refute this, but Qi Xiaochuan unusually showed weakness: “I’m sorry.”

They didn’t say anything else, even though they had spent countless hours chatting in the past. Moreover, for some reason, Qi Xiaochuan couldn’t clearly see his face.

After waking up, Qi Xiaochuan very much wanted to tell Luo Andi about this dream.

However, plans always fall short of reality.

Following the standard procedure, once the wool was rolled, use a thick needle to repeatedly stab it. Such mechanical and tedious activities didn’t bore Qi Xiaochuan at all. Besides, he wasn’t alone in completing this task.

Su Yining came more frequently, having been a member longer. Having completed part of his project last time, this time he switched to medium needles, directly entering the shaping phase. He even had the leisure to initiate conversation with Qi Xiaochuan: “Have you heard about the recent cryptocurrency? My university professor is quite optimistic about it.”

Qi Xiaochuan kept his eyes straight ahead, focusing intently on his handwork, coldly replying: “I suggest you watch your hands.”

Sure enough, before he finished speaking, Su Yining pricked his finger, sucking in a breath of cold air in pain.

Luo Andi came over with a teacup, expressing concern but not panic, checking his wound while skillfully pulling out a band-aid from her pocket: “Be careful!”

Su Yining took it, his naturally affectionate eyes looking at her. But just as he was about to say something, he was interrupted.

Qi Xiaochuan said: “I’m done.”

He leaned back against the chair, allowing Luo Andi to check his work. “You’ve done well; now you can continue felting.” Her praise wasn’t polite—people who could pick this up so easily were rare.

Qi Xiaochuan quickly picked up double fine needles, diligently stabbing the wool one after another.

Su Yining stopped paying attention to his own work entirely, fully immersing himself in observing Qi Xiaochuan: “You should use a thicker needle here. We’re both apprentices; how can you expect to become an expert overnight? You need to take it step by step.”

Qi Xiaochuan wasn’t the type to get nervous when watched, continuing his work undisturbed: “It’s none of your business.”

“Mr. Qi, I remember openly confessing my feelings to you. Miss Luo happens to be free today, and we’re the only ones taking the class. So wouldn’t it be more considerate if you came another day?” Su Yining said.

The most annoying thing was such pompous rhetoric. Without raising his head, Qi Xiaochuan continued poking the wool while pulling out his phone. About a few seconds later, there was commotion downstairs. Zhong Shiwei, who had been excluded from shifts due to some mix-ups, descended from above, using tweezers to add fairy bean cakes to the plate while casting hostile glances at Su Yining at the other end.

Su Yining didn’t show any dissatisfaction, but his gaze lowered in temperature. He greeted casually: “Shiwei is here too. I heard you’re working part-time at this shop. The boss has praised you many times privately.”

“Heh,” Zhong Shiwei chuckled lightly, delivering bold and fearless service, “Why don’t you give me a raise?”

Su Yining paused, saying: “If you need money, why not consider changing jobs? Look, Mr. Qi’s company is so large-scale; surely they must be short-handed?”

Qi Xiaochuan interjected promptly: “We’re not.”

“…Then my side…”

Zhong Shiwei abruptly cut in: “No.”

Thus, what was originally a duo turned into a trio.

In fact, activities like felting required minimal guidance compared to the effort spent on individual work. Most of the time, everyone was just buried in poking their own creations.

Spending money to seek healing is ignorant behavior. Straining oneself to earn a better life, feeling tired is understandable. However, after finally earning money, using those hard-earned items to relieve stress is counterproductive, utterly absurd.

Handicrafts are even more perplexing. If it’s to save money, that’s acceptable. But nowadays, factory-produced goods are excellent in quality and price. Why insist on making things yourself? It’s like being idle and creating trouble for no reason. With that time, you could read a few more pages or run a few more laps. Isn’t there anything better to do than seek trouble? If you have too much time, volunteer. If you don’t need money, donate to Project Hope. There’s no need to waste time here idly producing subpar items, trying to superficially change lifestyles with these laborious and meaningless activities.

But Qi Xiaochuan was someone who gave everything his all.

From time to time, Su Yining approached Luo Andi, using questions about felting methods to guide the conversation. Zhong Shiwei, warned by the shop manager not to disturb Luo Andi during work, could only carry the teapot around, his eyes constantly on them.

Only Qi Xiaochuan held his breath, focused entirely, diligently working throughout the process. Repeatedly stabbing the wool with a felting needle. Gradually, the shape emerged, re-covering the wool and intermittently squeezing it to shape, modifying according to books and videos. His teacup remained full, untouched snacks, and he spent several hours continuously poking the wool.

In the end, Su Yining left his barely progressed wool-felt item behind and departed. Zhong Shiwei also cleaned up the area.

A female colleague holding the white curtain paused and casually stopped Luo Andi passing by: “He’s been doing this for an afternoon. Is he alright?”

“Hmm?” Luo Andi, hugging a basket of materials, peeked out with a smile, “Very serious. What’s wrong?”

The female shop assistant in the same uniform pouted: “No, you definitely know, right? Why did these people come here specifically?”

“For what?” Luo Andi put on an innocent expression as if she really didn’t know.

“…” If not for years of acquaintance, it would be hard not to think the woman in front was a high-level green tea manipulator, “Did you respond to that junior’s confession?”

She smiled and nodded with relief: “Yes. I wanted to reply then, but it was hard to say in front of everyone. I rejected him.”

“Ah?” Her colleague lowered her eyebrows, looking regretful but not surprised: “Though I guessed it, I’m still curious. That handsome half-blood boy, do you really have no feelings for him?”

Luo Andi obviously didn’t want to say too much, lowering her forehead and smiling softly: “In the future, he will definitely meet a better girl.”

They quietly discussed, unaware that Zhong Shiwei stood at the visual blind spot at the end of the corridor. Holding cleaning tools, his youthful face faintly revealed disappointment. The call bell rang, and Luo Andi temporarily returned, colliding head-on with him.

Her hair got messy, and after stepping back, she hurriedly fixed it, then smiled softly: “I’m so clumsy.” Luo Andi seemed never to realize how powerful her smile was.

Qi Xiaochuan chose a pattern of a small animal. For beginners, starting with high difficulty isn’t wise. But he persisted in poking the wool, constantly modifying and processing, eventually forming a chubby cat’s head.

“I directly used the eye parts from the box. Used quite a lot of wool, and it’s not finished yet.” Qi Xiaochuan stood up, stretching his shoulders, “It’s always strange; the face shape is difficult to make.”

This was the first time he initiated conversation with Luo Andi in these few hours, entirely revolving around felting. It was unclear whether it was focus or going off-topic happily camping somewhere far away.

Luo Andi turned it over in her hands, looked up with a smile, and said: “For the first time, achieving this is already remarkable!”

Coincidentally, housewives who had just arrived for class encountered them, recreating the scene where they saw him embroidering. They surrounded him with admiration, even taking out cameras to photograph: “Isn’t this very good?”

“Much better than the rabbit keychain I poked last time.”

“How can we make it look like this?”

Facing the housewives’ enthusiastic requests, Qi Xiaochuan stood arrogantly, thinking for half a minute before saying: “Don’t be lazy, poke more needles?”

He just said it casually.

It was unclear whether these housewives, old enough to be his sisters or mothers, intended to mock him or make him cry, but they started clapping sparsely, embarrassing Qi Xiaochuan to the point of wanting to find a hole to hide in.

Luo Andi completely ignored it, sat down directly, pulled and thinned the wool, wrapping it around the cat’s face, then refined it with fine needles. She handled these deftly, with an atmosphere completely different from his earlier efforts. Fairy tales often have such settings: speaking a word produces a gemstone, shedding a tear forms a pearl. Though Luo Andi didn’t possess such spells, she resembled such characters, possessing flawlessly kind virtues, inevitably destined to meet a prince.

He stood aside, scrutinizing her. Whether in the past or present, in front of Luo Andi, Qi Xiaochuan always felt inferior, aware of his mediocrity, and never aspired to reach someone like her. He had sternly rejected her once, and she had repeatedly questioned if there were any exceptions. Under what circumstances would he accept her? He thought, unless she needs me.

But she would never need him.

At that moment, he didn’t continue the sentence.

Luo Andi poked the wool felt. While emphasizing vertical stabbing when teaching customers, she didn’t need to follow these rules and could still complete it excellently. In just a short while, a layer of fluffy wool covered the cat’s face, instantly remedying the previous distortion. She held it up with both hands, smiling and asking him: “How is it?”

Other guests had already dispersed, leaving only a faint light from their corner on the floor. He looked at her. Qi Xiaochuan didn’t answer her question but simply said: “Live with me.”