A CERTAIN SOMEONE ( THE ON1Y ONE )

Chapter 111 - The Human World

He Instantly Heated Up After He Was Done Eating.

Other than the occasional bursts of confusion, the slight hunch of his back, the old man was fine everywhere else. His voice was still as loud as before, he still looked as fierce whenever he kept up a stern expression. His greatest hobby was still watching television, the channels forever looping between military affairs, the news, and agriculture. The moment the television started jamming, he would roll up his sleeves and apply his slaps. If there was still a naughty creature like Gao Tianyang who climbed his roof, he could most definitely grab a broom and beat the person down.

Initially, Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian agreed before this to cook, but the moment they finished washing their hands, they were chased out of the kitchen by the old man like he was rushing ducks. He said with a fierce look, “What has it got anything to do with the two of you, stay outta the way.”
“I still can, you know,” Sheng Wang struggled, “You should let me have a try if you don’t believe it.”
“Shoo!” The old man was merciless. “Who’s gonna eat it if you give me a pot of broken dumplings again?”
“Don’t worry, I eat what I make,” after Sheng Wang said that, he stuck a finger out and poked his Ge.
Jiang Tian: “......I’ll eat it, too.”
The old man rolled his eyes. “Who else other than Jiang Tian would play along with you.”
Sheng Wang laughed as he leaned against the side of the kitchen door, an arm hooked around Jiang Tian. The old man gestured at them with the kitchen knife, and then with a loud holler, summoned in the Mute who just entered.

Actually, in the past few years, Sheng Wang would pass by Wu Tong Wai for a short while every time he came back to his home. The old man wasn’t around, Xi Le’s Boss Zhao wasn’t around either; he was worried that the Mute’s days would become both boring and dreary. Unfortunately, every time he came by, the door to this courtyard was always locked. The Mute was always busy at some random spot, picking up scraps, or tending to his little vegetable field.
It was later when Sheng Wang finally heard from Zhao Xi that his parents couldn’t stay put in Beijing at all — every time their health were doing slightly better, they would constantly come back to Jiangsu. Quite a significant number of months was spent in their home, their roots; half of it was because they couldn’t let Xi Le go, the other was because of this lonesome mute friend.
When Sheng Wang heard that, he felt that the ties and bonds between people often run much deeper, much longer than they seem on the surface.

The Mute had been ecstatic for the past few days. In his eyes, the friends and neighbours he was familiar with had all come home, one group after another, it was extraordinarily lively — it’s the way it ought to be for the New Year.
He had been spending all his time in Xi Le recently. Boss Zhao had acquired a huge batch of top tier longan and candy jujubes, he helped to pack them separately and seal the bag up. On the last day before the New Year, he brought back with him two giant packets — one of the old man, one for the two young’uns.
Both Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian didn’t actually quite like to eat overly-sweet things, but they were plenty happy to receive it. They knew, to someone the Mute’s age, the best blessing for the New Year is that everyday in the future will be just as sweet.

The two were no good at preparing new year gifts for their seniors. They initially bought tonic as per the norm, as they wished for the older people to live a long and blessed life after all. However, they changed their mind again as they waited for the food, and snuck over to the nearest shopping centre. They bought two smartphones that were old people friendly.
No need to mention why for Old Man Ding; he had always been using the phone, they were merely helping him upgrade into the newer generation. As for the Mute……
Their hearts really couldn’t bear to see the way he was all by himself, especially when the noise and life faded away. He would stand there, gesturing with “uh-uh-ah-ah” coming out of his throat; the sight of it was so heart wrenching that one wouldn’t bear to leave. Although he still wouldn’t be able to make phone calls despite having a phone, he could write at the very least.
Sheng Wang helped him set up the input method, guiding him on how to use it step by step. “You can chat about whatever you like, you can send it to Boss Zhao, to the old man, to me and to Jiang Tian too.”
The Mute and the old man were thrilled upon getting new things, and spent a whole afternoon sending messages to each other while sitting directly opposite in their small rattan chairs. It was funnily more effective than their invented sign language.