Ying Xuan woke up the next day around noon. She felt around for her mobile and saw the time. She shot a quick 'Text me when you land.' text to Wei Jingyu before falling on her bed once again.
Xuan had had a few minutes of rolling around in her bed when Xi entered, wearing that scowl that seemed to have become a permanent feature of her face. Xuan would have been glad to ignore her existence completely, but she couldn't do that when she came and stood next to her head.
'What?' Xuan signed, a sign so simple that even Ying Xi couldn't pretend she didn't understand. "I just talked to dad. He has booked tickets for us for tomorrow. Make sure you're packed, it's at 4 in the evening." she spoke and went to sit at her table, looking like someone had just messed her manicured nails.
Xuan wondered what had got her so angry as she sat up in her bed and began to scroll for a bit. She also messaged Shi Weiwei asking if she was awake and was about to head into the bathroom when her phone rang.
Xuan's face lit up as she received an incoming video call and that moment and she answered it without a second's hesitation.
"Hey sweety. How have you been?" A sweet voice rung out from the other end of the phone. 'Hey mom!' Xuan signed. Xi's face had turned towards Xuan with a frown, but Ying Xuan had been too busy to notice. Her mom was literally her favourite person in the world. Wei Jingyu was quickly becoming the second.
"Are you still in bed? Isn't it around midday back in China now?" Mrs. Ying's voice carried a hint of disapproval, but it was dwarfed by the love and affection on her face and in her voice. "What's wrong? You're not ill are you Xuan?" she continued, not even giving her daughter and opportunity to respond.
'No I'm not sick, I just got up really early to drop a friend at the airport. I was taking a nap after coming back.' Xuan signed and her mother's face took on an apologetic expression as she said, "I'm so sorry sweety but I don't understand. I'll just turn on the chat so that you can type it in."
It was definitely a little weird for the mother of a disabled child not to know sign language, but it was nothing new for Ying Xuan. None of her other family members had even tried to learn sign language. Her mother had actually tried, but had never been consistent due to all her travels, and couldn't understand much. But Xuan was glad that she still wanted to talk to her, and always found out means to do so. Whether it was using a translator back home, or chat when they were calling.
Xuan typed what she had just signed in the chat and Mrs. Ying nodded. "It's really good to know you've made some friends." she said. Xuan nodded with a huge smile and typed, 'I have. One of them lives right across the hall too! She's the sweetest little girl. Anyways, where are you going mom?'
Ying Xuan could see that her mother was in the back seat of a car.