Translated by Novice Translations

Proofread by Yserieh

Headphones

    It was already lunch time when they exited the nursing home. Mu Xiaoya didn't eat much for breakfast and was already hungry. She looked at the navigation and found a shopping mall nearby to pick up lunch before heading home to pack.

    “Xiao Chuan, what do you want to eat?” Mu Xiaoya parked the car and asked Bai Chuan while searching for restaurants at this mall with her mobile phone.

    “I'm not hungry,” Bai Chuan replied.

    “If you're not hungry, you still have to eat ah. Eating on time won't hurt your stomach.” Mu Xiaoya said casually.

    “Oh.” Bai Chuan froze and nodded.

    “What do you want to eat?” Mu Xiaoya looked at the dazzling amount of restaurants on her mobile phone, unable to make a decision at the moment. She always felt that they were almost the same and that there were no delicious dishes.

    “When should I eat?” Bai Chuan asked suddenly.

    “What?”

    “Eat on time, when should I eat so it's considered on time?” Bai Chuan asked.

    “…” Mu Xiaoya didn't understand how the topic became like this, but after thinking about it, she suddenly responded, “When do you… usually eat?”

    “Eat when I'm hungry.” Bai Chuan replied.

    “And when are you hungry?” Mu Xiaoya asked.

    “…” Bai Chuan seriously recalled and finally discovered that he didn't pay attention to the times when he became hungry, so he shook his head honestly, "I don't pay attention to when."

    Mu Xiaoya was stunned, then suddenly uncomfortable emotions emerged from the bottom of her heart. After a long time, she asked, "What time is it now?"

    Bai Chuan took out his mobile phone and glanced at it, “12:31.”

    "Okay. Then, at this time every day, you must remember to have lunch. If you get delayed, you can't wait more than an hour before or after, you must eat."

    Bai Chuan understood for a moment, then nodded to indicate that he understood.

    “For breakfast, you have to eat before eight.”

    “Before eight, what time?” Bai Chuan needs a specific time.

    “…” Mu Xiaoya had to adjust her words. “Between seven to eight, you must have breakfast.”

    Bai Chuan nodded again.

    “For dinner, between 6:30 and 7:30PM. Eat at these three times and eat a lot, just remember to eat on time, okay?” Mu Xiaoya urged.

    “Will remember.” Bai Chuan nodded seriously.

    “Remember to do it.”

    “En.” Bai Chuan nodded. “It's time for lunch, let's go eat.”

    Are you reminding me?

    Mu Xiaoya couldn't help but smile, turned off her phone, and stopped picking a restaurant: "Let's go, we'll eat whatever restaurant we see first."

    They went upstairs and located the restaurant closest to the elevator entrance and had a simple lunch.

    Coming out of the building, Mu Xiaoya planned to go to the service desk with the receipt for a free parking voucher. When she arrived at the service desk, she was suddenly attracted by the ad beside her.

    There was an advertis.e.m.e.nt sign for headphones. It was an internationally famous brand that Mu Xiaoya heard about and could be regarded as high-end compared to other headphones. In college, Fang Hui bought one and Mu Xiaoya has used it several times and the sound quality was really good. But what attracted Mu Xiaoya's attention wasn't the sound quality of the headphones, but another function of the headphones.

    “Enjoy music with no noise.”

    “Noise reduction 90%.”

    Noise cancellation? Since then, the situation from the previous light appeared again. Could Bai Chuan use the headphones to s.h.i.+eld the noise? Mu Xiaoya's mind raced. After getting the parking voucher, she took Bai Chuan to the headphone counter on the second floor.

    “h.e.l.lo, what kind of headphones do you need?” Because it was high-end headphones, there weren't many customers in the store. As soon as Mu Xiaoya walked in, there were sale a.s.sociates that surrounded her.

    “I want a pair of headphones with noise reduction.” Mu Xiaoya said.

    “This way please.” The a.s.sociate led them to the counter where the noise reduction headphones were and explained, "These headphones have very good noise reduction. This Midnight Phantom is the most cost-effective noise reduction headphone. With the latest noise reduction technology, the noise is perfectly isolated while the sound quality is very good. You can try them on." 

    Mu Xiaoya's eyes brightened. She picked up the headphone the a.s.sociate just mentioned, then turned over to cover Bai Chuan's ears. 

    Suddenly he had headphones on and Bai Chuan looked at Mu Xiaoya perplexed.

    “Can you hear me?” Mu Xiaoya asked.

    Bai Chuan nodded.

    Mu Xiaoya suddenly looked at the a.s.sociate with disappointment: "You, didn't you say that the noise reduction is good? Why can he still hear me?"

    The a.s.sociate was immediately embarra.s.sed: "Miss, noise reduction means that most white noise is reduced, so the audio effect is better, but at the same time, it's impossible to completely isolate the noise."

    "Doesn't your advertis.e.m.e.nt state that it can isolate 90% of noise?"

    "That also refers to white noise, and you're standing next to the headphones. How could this gentleman not hear you when you're there?" The a.s.sociate explained with a wry smile.

    Mu Xiaoya took off the headphones on Bai Chuan's head and put it on herself. The ups and downs of the music immediately streamed out of the headphones. In terms of sound quality, this headphone was good, but Mu Xiaoya still felt that the noise reduction effect wasn't good enough. Because even when she wore the headphones, she could still vaguely hear the noise in the mall.

    Mu Xiaoya frowned, this was different from what she expected.

    “Are there any better noise reduction headphones than this?” Mu Xiaoya asked.

    “This one.” The a.s.sociate picked up a big red headset and handed it to Mu Xiaoya. "This headset is the best one in our brand. The headset's material is carbon fiber and the weight of the entire body is equivalent to the earphones that are used with cell phones, it doesn't feel heavy at all."

    Mu Xiaoya looked at the headphones in her hand and found they were extremely lightweight.

    “The material that covers the ear is the best sound insulation sponge that can isolate outside noise to the greatest extent. If you turn up the volume of the headphones, you can't hear outside noise." The a.s.sociate beckoned Mu Xiaoya to try. 

    Mu Xiaoya put on the headset, with the recent comparison, the advantages of this headset were immediately revealed. She just wore it and wasn't playing music and she already felt it was a lot quieter.

    Mu Xiaoya suddenly felt that this headset was good, so she turned around and gave it to Bai Chuan again.

    After Bai Chuan put on the headphone, his eyes lit up and he obviously also liked the headphone's sound insulation.

    “Do you like them?” Mu Xiaoya asked.

    Bai Chuan nodded.

    Mu Xiaoya immediately rejoiced and asked, “How much is this headset?”

    “Our store is doing a promotion today. With the discount, the headset only costs 9,999." The a.s.sociate answered.

    “How much?” Mu Xiaoya thought she heard wrong.

    “Nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine.” The a.s.sociate repeated with patience.

    “It's so expensive ah.” Mu Xiaoya was stunned. Was the headset really worth 10,000 yuan now?

    “This headset is indeed a bit more expensive. In fact, if you have lower requirements for noise reduction, the headset I introduced to you just now is pretty good. It will only cost 2,888 with the discount,” the a.s.sociate suggested.

    “…” How can that be said, there was no harm without the comparison, who can see 2,888 after experiencing 9,999.

    Mu Xiaoya glanced at Bai Chuan and found that he was quietly listening to music and his eyes were slightly bright and his whole person was much more relaxed. In addition, the big red headphones that were on Bai Chuan's head were extremely good-looking. 

    Mu Xiaoya gritted her teeth and said, “I'll buy them.”

    “Which?”

    “The 9,999 ones.” Mu Xiaoya said with pain.

    “Okay, I'll give you a ticket. Please go to the service desk to pay.” The a.s.sociate quickly gave Mu Xiaoya a ticket.

    Mu Xiaoya took the ticket and Bai Chuan to the service desk and opened Alipay for payment.

    “It didn't work ah,” the cas.h.i.+er said, glancing at the computer.

    Mu Xiaoya was stunned and looked at her cell phone subconsciously. A text message jumped out on her cell phone: Your current purchase amount is 9,999.00 yuan. Due to exceeding the credit card limit, the transaction failed.

    “…” I forgot that my credit card wasn't as big as it was four years later.

    “Excuse me, just a moment.” Mu Xiaoya pulled Bai Chuan to the side and started looking for people to borrow money.

    Her original deposit of 300,000 yuan was used to start up the studio with Fang Hui, and Fang Hui's own money was basically invested as well, so it was impossible to ask Fang Hui to borrow money.

    How about my parents? I can't. On the first day of marriage, I bought a gift for my husband and then asked my parents for money, that's too shameful.

    It was even more impossible to ask the Bai family. Counting her connections, among the people she knows, Liang Nuonuo was the only one who could lend her 10,000 yuan at once. 

    Liang Nuonuo was Mu Xiaoya's college roommate. She studied business administration and Mu Xiaoya wasn't part of that major. But because the business management major female dormitory was full, she couldn't live there. And Mu Xiaoya's dormitory just happened to be open, so the school a.s.signed Liang Nuonuo there. Although the two didn't share the same major, they were destined to build a very good friends.h.i.+p during their four years of college. 

    After graduating from college, everyone was looking for a job and going abroad. Only Liang Nuonuo returned to her hometown to help her father grow cherries.

    Mu Xiaoya called Liang Nuonuo, and the call was quickly connected.

    Mu Xiaoya: “Nuo Nuo, are you busy?”

    Liang Nuo Nuo: “Not busy, what can I do for you ah?”

    “That …” Mu Xiaoya was a little embarra.s.sed, “Can you lend me some money.”

    Bai Chuan, who had been quietly waiting for Mu Xiaoya to make a phone call, suddenly looked at Mu Xiaoya and his eyes flashed. 

    “How much?” Liang Nonuo directly asked the amount.

    “Ten thousand, I'll return it to you as soon as possible.” Mu Xiaoya said quickly.

    “Okay, you and Fang Hui just opened a studio together. It's time to use money, you can pay me back when you make money. I'll transfer it to your Alipay.” Liang Nuonuo said briskly.

    “Thank you ah,” Mu Xiaoya expressed her grat.i.tude.

    “You're still so polite to me. By the way, our cherries are ripe. I'll send you an address later and will send you and Fang Hui some to taste." Liang Nuonuo said.

    “Your cherries are ripe?” Mu Xiaoya was surprised.

    “Yes, ah, the cherry blossoms in the mountains are so beautiful and red. When you and Fang Hui are free, I will show you ah.”

    When Mu Xiaoya suddenly recalled her last life, the last message that Liang Nuonuo sent her was to invite her to visit the cherry orchard. In fact, the cherries ripen every year and Nuonuo would invite them to go there. Unfortunately, Mu Xiaoya has been abroad for many years and has never been there once in those four years.

    “I'll go once we're free.” Mu Xiaoya promised that in this life, she must go meet her friend once who she missed out on for four years. 

    “Then I'll wait for you. By the way, bring your husband when you come ah. I haven't seen him yet.” Liang Nuonuo knew that Mu Xiaoya was married, but she only saw photos like Fang Hui and was curious about Bai Chuan.

    Mu Xiaoya glanced back at Bai Chuan and said with a smile, “Okay ah.”

    Bai Chuan saw Mu Xiaoya smile at him, and naturally smiled back.

    She hung up the phone and soon Liang Nuonuo sent over money. Mu Xiaoya paid and went to the store to pick up the headset.

    “These headphones also function as a radio, and can also record …” The a.s.sociate dutifully introduced the headphones's additional features to the two people, but Mu Xiaoya couldn't remember the words and finally perfunctorily said that she would go back and read the manual.

    That is to say, but who would actually read boring stuff like a manual. She turned around and gave the task to Bai Chuan: “Remember to read the instructions.”

    Bai Chuan wore the headphones, took out the instructions obediently and read it. When Mu Xiaoya returned home, Bai Chuan had mastered all the functions of the headphones.

    “I'm done.” Bai Chuan reported.

    “What?” Mu Xiaoya had already forgotten about the manual.

    “Headphones.” Bai Chuan pointed to the headphones hanging around his neck.

    Xiaoya's memory was still as bad as before. What she said will be forgotten. But it doesn't matter, he remembers it.

    Bai Chuan put away the instructions, put them back in the box, then touched the headphones around his neck.

    This is the gift Xiaoya bought for me…