Chapter 21: What Did You Do to Jiang Xin?!

The young girl couldn't react for a moment. Instinctively, she opened her hands, palms facing each other about a foot apart, moving them forward in a wavy motion. Finally, the thumbs and index fingers of both hands formed the shape of a heart over her left chest.

This meant "Jiang Xin."

But she quickly realized what was happening. Her cheeks puffed out in anger as she glared at Chen Ye, as if demanding an explanation. Chen Ye was teasing her!

Chen Ye, on the contrary, wasn't in a hurry. He smiled and asked, "Now that you've said hello to me, isn't it my turn to introduce myself? What's the sign language for 'Chen Ye'?"

Although this explanation was rather flimsy, his attitude was at least sincere. The girl retracted her glare in annoyance. Resting her thumb against the pad of her middle finger, she used her right hand to form the shape of a snake.

"This sign means Chen Ye? You aren't lying to me, are you?" Before, every word was a single sign, but for him, one sign represented two words? And it was the shape of a snake? She was probably calling him sly or something similar.

Jiang Xin gritted her teeth, grabbed the piece of letter paper, and wrote a line: "There is only Chen, no Ye!!!" It was followed by three large exclamation marks, something Chen Ye had never seen her do before.

"There's no sign for the word 'Ye'?"

Jiang Xin gritted her teeth, pursed her lips, looked at him, and shook her head.

Chen Ye nodded with an expression of sudden realization. Soon, he began practicing the motions he had memorized right in front of Jiang Xin. The set of movements was very simple. Except for the word "Chen," the rest were gestures that ordinary people used in everyday life. Yet, for some unknown reason, Chen Ye couldn't complete the sequence even after several attempts. He looked quite like a creature with an overdeveloped brain and clumsy limbs—a turtle. Just like the little Brazilian turtle she kept as a pet.

As Jiang Xin watched, she grew a bit anxious and fluidly demonstrated the motions to Chen Ye once more. And Chen Ye seemed to suddenly grasp it. He pointed at Jiang Xin, gave a thumbs-up, then pointed at himself, made a gesture of shouting loudly, and finally formed a snake's head with one hand. His movements were as fluid as hers had been moments ago.

"Hello, my name is Chen..." Chen Ye articulated each syllable with each gesture. After finishing, he followed up with a question, "Since 'Ye' doesn't work, what about the 'Ye' for leaf?"

Jiang Xin didn't immediately sign back. Instead, she sat obediently in her chair, her small head tilted slightly as she stared blankly at the movements of his hands, lost in thought. Aside from her sign language teacher, this was the first time she had seen someone sign in front of her with such clumsy earnestness.

Flashing a helpless smile, Jiang Xin opened the index fingers and thumbs of both hands, pressed them together, and then pinched them shut while pulling them apart. She repeated it twice.

"This is 'Ye'?"

Jiang Xin nodded.

Chen Ye practiced it twice, then used the newly learned gestures to give a complete self-introduction. He didn't speak this time; the entire process was completely silent. Looking at his fingers, which were ultimately pinched together, Chen Ye couldn't help but laugh, a soft HEH HEH escaping his lips.

Jiang Xin looked at him in confusion.

"It gives me a sense of accomplishment." Chen Ye looked up and smiled gently at the young girl in front of him. "I've never paid attention to these things before. I didn't expect that these completely soundless movements could express words that feel like they're shouting loudly right in my ear."

This was his genuine feeling just now. Hearing these words, it was Jiang Xin's turn to feel a bit embarrassed. She was already used to this silent language. If she hadn't been able to speak before eighth grade, she guessed she wouldn't even know what sounds these signs were meant to convey. Compared to those who were born deaf and mute, her acquired selective mutism was already considered lucky.

It had been so long, and this was the first time someone had said such touching words to her. He seemed to genuinely be learning sign language, sincerely expressing his goodwill toward her. The way the young girl looked at Chen Ye gradually underwent a subtle shift.

After a few seconds, she took the piece of paper again, wrote two words on it, and pushed it in front of Chen Ye: "Thank you."

Chen Ye smiled slightly. "Don't say thank you. Just teach me a few more phrases next time."

There was going to be a next time? Jiang Xin was just about to refuse, but Chen Ye had already stood up to say his goodbyes. "I originally wanted to take you out for a walk today, but we're out of time. Thanks for letting me use your computer; it was very helpful. I'll bring you a gift as a token of my appreciation next time."

Without giving her a chance to object, Chen Ye turned and left the room.

In his past life, Jiang Xin had been extremely quiet, even appearing somewhat gloomy. She didn't like to move, didn't like to go out, and didn't like to interact with others. Aside from doing her job well, she was essentially like a living corpse wandering through the city. The current Jiang Xin was still relatively normal. Although she already showed some signs of that tendency, with a little guidance, she could very well become a sunny, cheerful, and kind-hearted beautiful girl. Besides, he admitted to himself that he was indeed captivated by her beauty.

Unlike the delicate beauty of Su Siyun, which carried a touch of Zhang Yang's flamboyance, Jiang Xin's beauty was very subtle. She was like the clusters of banksia roses growing on thorny branches—not overwhelmingly stunning at first glance. But she was tenacious. Those flowers would unknowingly cover an entire gable wall, and when you accidentally walked past, the faint, refreshing fragrance of the roses would seep into your heart. Only then would you notice the blossoms, as white as snow or as pale yellow as honey. Compared to Su Siyun, who was so arrogant that she refused to bow her head even when she hit rock bottom, he appreciated Jiang Xin more.

However, to his speechlessness, he actually saw a figure in the living room who was far more familiar to him than Jiang Xin. Su Siyun was back!

The moment she saw Chen Ye appear in front of her, Su Siyun was also startled. She had gone to play indoor badminton with Yu Mengmeng this afternoon and had just returned. Upon entering, she noticed her parents' slippers were still on the shoe rack, but Jiang Xin's shoes were missing. Therefore, she naturally assumed that Jiang Xin was alone in her room, as always.

Toward this stepsister who shared neither her father nor her mother's blood, she wasn't at all like the stereotypical wicked stepsisters in TV dramas who looked down on and constantly made life difficult for their siblings. On the contrary, she and Jiang Xin had a very good relationship. At the very least, she was one of the few people Jiang Xin would confide in—perhaps even the only one. Precisely because they were close, she didn't feel the need to be on her guard when it was just Jiang Xin at home.

The weather was already getting hot, and the intense exercise had caused her to sweat a lot. She was just about to take off her clothes and take a shower upon arriving home. Girls also liked to cool off when no one else was around. But just as she lifted her T-shirt halfway up, Chen Ye unexpectedly walked right out of Jiang Xin's room!

"AHH!" Su Siyun shrieked in fright, quickly yanking down her half-lifted shirt to cover her slender, delicate waist. "W-why are you in my house?!"

She hastily grabbed the bag she had just set on the sofa and held it protectively in front of her, glaring at Chen Ye in sheer terror as if she were looking at some irredeemable pervert. But in the next second, as if realizing something, Su Siyun's expression drastically changed. She immediately shouted, "Where is Jiang Xin! What did you do to Jiang Xin?!"