TPIL - 15

Qi Xiaochuan received a phone call. At first glance, there was no note attached, so he didn’t plan to answer it. However, the caller persisted. On the third attempt, he finally picked up. A somewhat unfamiliar voice came through, loud and direct: “Have you eaten dinner yet?”

Though he wanted to say, “Who are you?” instinctively, he still replied: “Not yet. Who is this?”

“I’m Zhong Shiwei.” Despite his Russian-like face, Zhong Shiwei spoke without a trace of a Russian accent. “We exchanged numbers today.”

“We didn’t exchange numbers.” Qi Xiaochuan answered bluntly, his tone flat as he helped his father fold the sheet on the sofa. “You just peeked over when I was filling out customer information.”

Zhong Shiwei said, “You’re not a kid anymore. Why are you so nitpicky? I called you because I recognize you and want to share some information. You haven’t known Andi for long, right? You probably don’t know much about her. Alright, if you don’t want to listen, I’ll hang up—”

“Go ahead.” Qi Xiaochuan stood up, taking over the ironing from his mother, holding the phone between his shoulder and cheek, tilting his neck as he began to iron clothes.

The young man who had recently graduated from university couldn’t resist mocking him: “Oh! Your ears perked up immediately!”

Although he sounded impatient, he made no move to hang up: “Hurry up.”

Zhong Shiwei asked, “Are you free this weekend?”

Qi Xiaochuan set up the iron, spraying water on the clothes as he asked, “Are you planning to get a bunch of strong men to put me in a sack and beat me up?”

“Are you crazy?” Zhong Shiwei rolled his eyes on the other end. “Let’s have dinner together then.”

Qi Xiaochuan spoke calmly, his tone unruffled and words measured: “If you can get me an eight-figure project, I might consider it.”

Unfortunately, Zhong Shiwei had already figured out his stubbornness and casually dropped the line, “Anyway, it’s related to Andi. If you don’t come, you won’t know anything,” before hanging up cleanly and decisively.

During dinner, they chatted leisurely with his parents, something that hadn’t happened in a while.

Qi Xiaochuan wasn’t one for idle chatter unless it was a topic of interest. Most of the time, he preferred to remain silent. If pressed for his opinion, he would only offer a furrowed-brow objection. He had been called eccentric more than once, but the people around him came and went, and those who stayed knew his true nature. After a few arguments, they got used to it and even joked about it.

Back in school days, during family dinners, Qi Xiaochuan would occasionally irritate his mother, prompting her to laughingly pat his head. “You child,” she often said. He knew that compared to his father, his mother cared more about the fact that he was adopted. Sometimes brashness and intimacy were synonymous, so he didn’t mind at those times.

This day, he initiated the conversation with: “I met Luo Andi.”

How ordinary it sounded.

It was like a tiny pebble falling from the universe, passing through the atmosphere, rushing, rushing, igniting fierce flames, consuming countless years, and crashing into Earth with a blaze.

“What?” His father set down his bowl, nearly pressing his face forward. “Who did you meet?”

“Andi? Is it Luo Andi? Luo’s daughter?” His mother took a deep breath, unbelievably covering her mouth. “Where is she? Is she doing well?”

Qi Xiaochuan calmly continued eating, making everyone want to hit him on the back of the head. He said, “At a handicraft store near my company.”

“What’s ‘handicraft’?” His father didn’t understand such foreign terms.

“It’s similar to DIY.”

“What’s DIY?”

Fortunately, his mother quickly glossed over it and earnestly asked, “How many times have you met her? Is she healthy? Oh, Buddha bless, Guanyin protect, our dear Andi—”

“A few times.” Qi Xiaochuan was factual, recalling Luo Andi’s rosy cheeks as he answered, “She should be fine.”

His father complained while drinking soup: “You stubborn child, why didn’t you bring her home immediately? We miss her and Chui Shun so much! We don’t even know how Mr. Luo is doing now or where they are working… Did you ask?”

Having just been scolded for being “stubborn,” Qi Xiaochuan felt even guiltier: “…No.”

Thus, he received another solid smack on the back of his head. His father lamented, “Giving birth to you is worse than having a pork chop. If you keep acting like this, you deserve to stay single forever!”

What did his singleness have to do with it? Qi Xiaochuan couldn’t understand, but years of experience dealing with his parents told him to stay silent. The more he said, the more mistakes he’d make. So, he buried his head and continued eating.

When leaving, his mother hastily handed him a whole bag of dried persimmons. Just as he was about to say, “I can’t eat all of these,” his mother interrupted, urgently instructing, “Make sure to give them to Andi, alright? Give me the address of that craft store… Would it be inappropriate if I just went like this… Remember to bring Andi over for dinner next time.”

His father chimed in from behind, adding fuel to the fire: “If you can’t bring her back, don’t bother coming home!”

He carried the bag of persimmons downstairs, eating as he got into the car. Before heading home, he inexplicably stopped by Paradise Handcraft Store again, turning around outside. He couldn’t see who was on duty through the window, but he knew someone else should be working the shift. Qi Xiaochuan held onto a vague hope, one he wouldn’t admit even to himself, hoping for a chance encounter. If she happened to finish her shift and go home, he could give her a ride. That would be nice.

A few days later, the secretary asked if he needed help picking up his glass lamp. Qi Xiaochuan declined, citing “I’ll stop by on my way home from work.” But by then, he had been working until at least ten o’clock for four or five consecutive days.

“But you haven’t been as grumpy lately. Your dark circles have lightened, and you even treated the employees to afternoon tea.” The secretary gathered the papers on the desk, stacking them neatly, and smiled meaningfully. “Everyone says you’ve been ‘as warm as spring breeze.’ I hope this breeze lasts a bit longer.”

Qi Xiaochuan glared at him and coldly responded, “Buying afternoon tea was to remind them to work hard and gossip less about their boss.”

Before leaving work, he sent Luo Andi a text message. He edited it repeatedly, hesitating over a “:)” emoticon for a long time. His writing style was usually rigid, easily perceived as serious or overly polite. But would sending it cause misunderstanding? A smiley face might seem impolite; perhaps “:D” instead? Too silly, better to leave it out.

After much deliberation, he simply informed her of his plans with “I’ll come pick up the lamp this afternoon.” Luo Andi replied quickly, her message reading, “Alright, I’ll wait for you in the store ^^!”

Just reading this message was enough to relax the mind. He stared at the final emoticon. Coincidentally, the regional manager came over, innocently chatting: “Mr. Qi seems to be in a good mood today.”

“What? No. Do you need something?” Qi Xiaochuan used three short phrases to effortlessly create a tense atmosphere. Such awkwardness, utterly difficult to deal with, setting aside work ability, he was practically the enemy of office workers.

With the official business concluded and no desire to find more tasks, Qi Xiaochuan decided to leave work early. He went to the crafts store before his appointment, wanting to spend more time there in the evening, preferably to see Luo Andi off after work.

Zhong Shiwei reserved a trendy restaurant that repelled Qi Xiaochuan. As they sat down, he solemnly declared “AA,” sparking a disdainful reaction from Zhong Shiwei.

“You’re the one asking me out, yet you act like a spoiled brat.” Zhong Shiwei drank his chilled beer discontentedly. “Is this the virtue of young entrepreneurs?”

Qi Xiaochuan skimmed the menu, nonchalantly retorting, “Not virtue, survival. The more concessions, the harder the negotiation. Being too kind isn’t an advantage… Bring me a cup of black tea.”

The waiter took the menu and removed the extra cutlery before leaving.

He asked, “What do you want to say?”

Zhong Shiwei said, “There’s a guy who keeps pestering Andi.”

“Are you introducing yourself?”

“Uncle, do you want to fight?”

“Am I supposed to take offense? I’m not the one pestering her.”

“Your thought process is truly amazing…”

The wind chime rang as the door opened behind them. It was not yet dinner time, and there weren’t many customers in the restaurant. Zhong Shiwei raised his chin, his youthful face showing restrained disgust as he waved. Qi Xiaochuan turned his head and saw a man who had the wealth and time to get custom-tailored clothing on Savile Row in his teens walking towards them.

When the man called out his name, Qi Xiaochuan confirmed that he wasn’t a stranger who looked like Su Yining and also had money to burn.

Su Yining said, “Mr. Qi, what a coincidence, you’re here too.”

Zhong Shiwei said, “Let me introduce you. This is Su Yining, Andi’s friend. This is Xiao... What’s your name again?” Thanks to quality education, kids these days were increasingly disrespectful, calling people by names they didn’t even know.

Su Yining had flirtatious peach blossom eyes, and with a quick glance, he understood the situation. “What a coincidence,” he said again, this time with a vastly different meaning.

The waiter brought the black tea just then. Qi Xiaochuan took the bill and prepared to leave.

“Aren’t we all here for the same woman?” Su Yining smiled, lightly tapping his fingers on the table. “Why don’t we sit down and chat?”

Zhong Shiwei had already sensed the tension between them and silently observed back and forth.

“When we first met, I thought Mr. Qi was intelligent and bold. To be honest, you fit the requirements of a good business partner. However, maybe due to upbringing, you’re not very polished, and your taste is rather average.” Su Yining lifted the cup of black tea, slowly bringing it to his lips. “But now, I’ve changed my opinion of you.”

Three men, each with distinct personalities and ages, shared only one commonality besides being male.

The scene was comical enough to rival Chaplin.

Qi Xiaochuan turned his head, his casual indifference tinged with displeasure: “So what? Are you suggesting we start a Luo Andi fan club?”