Chapter 28: “Any progress?”

Cheng Yanqing ordered a lot of takeout. The alcohol was bought by Yan Ci, and it paired perfectly with chilled barbecue and crayfish. However, Cheng Wanyue could only drink the watermelon juice she squeezed for Cheng Yuzhou.

There were two large portions of crayfish, and she alone ate one portion.

She didn’t peel many herself—whenever someone peeled them, they would place them in front of her.

After eating and drinking their fill, no one seemed ready to rest. They hadn’t seen each other for a while, and there was always so much to talk about when they were together.

Yan Ci joined a foreign company after graduation and planned to start his own business next year or the year after.

Cheng Yuzhou studied astronomy and now worked at a research institute in Nanjing. Zhou Yu became a journalist at a TV station. In recent years, she and Cheng Yuzhou had spent little time together.

Last Christmas, Cheng Yuzhou prepared a proposal, and they got their marriage certificate on Valentine’s Day this year. Their wedding was set for October 5th. They had been dating since their senior year of high school, experienced four years of long-distance during college, and occasionally argued. But unlike Cheng Yanqing and his girlfriend, whose arguments affected the entire family, these two even reconciled gently—with a hug and a kiss, they made up.

Once, after they finished arguing, Cheng Wanyue had been sitting nearby watching a movie and occasionally chiming in with a few words, yet she didn’t even know what the argument was about.

When they eventually have children, their looks will undoubtedly be impeccable, but their personalities are uncertain. There’s a chance of generational inheritance. Cheng Yuzhou’s father, Cheng Wanyue’s second uncle, was a pure wanderer who roamed from his teens well into his fifties.

The Cheng family had one consistent trait: they loved their wives and remained devoted to only one woman for life.

However, this trait seemed to have gone astray with Cheng Yanqing.

As for Cheng Wanyue, she was even more off track. She used to say things like, “What’s the point of liking just one person? I want to like many.” This echoed her second uncle during his younger years.

“Yueyue, why did you change your Weibo name?” Cheng Yuzhou handed Cheng Wanyue a tissue to wipe her hands. She had registered this account during her first year of university, and just a few days ago, she added a suffix to the username she had used for four years. “You changed your profile picture too.”

Yan Ci noticed as well. “This new profile picture seems familiar.”

In high school, Qing Hang was closest to Yan Ci, and over the years, Yan Ci remained the only one still in contact with Qing Hang.

Cheng Wanyue had crayfish meat in her mouth, unsure whether to swallow or spit it out.

“Hmph,” Cheng Yanqing sneered without humor. “It’s not just changing the profile picture and Weibo name—they even lived together during the week I was abroad.”

Cheng Wanyue took a small sip of Cheng Yuzhou’s beer. She gazed at the moon outside the window and spoke softly after a long while. “I came to Beijing because of him. Because aside from him, I seem unable to like anyone else.”

There was no shortage of boys pursuing her. She had tried dating others initially, finding some novelty, but soon found it uninteresting. Unconsciously, she would look for traces of Qing Hang in them—their eyes, nose, mouth, silhouette, hands, handwriting, speaking habits, food preferences, attentive listening demeanor, the way they looked at her... and so on.

But none of them were like him.

Before coming to Beijing, she thought that if he had a girlfriend or was already married... she would give up. But he wasn’t.

At eleven o’clock, Cheng Wanyue was sent back to her room to sleep.

The three men continued drinking in the living room. Yan Ci remarked, “Anyway, she and Qing Hang can never just be friends. Either they’ll be lifelong enemies who don’t interact, or they’ll be passionately in love. If she wants to reconcile, a simple wave is enough, and Qing Hang will go to her. If she doesn’t want to reconcile, even if Qing Hang kneels and begs, it won’t make a difference.”

Cheng Yuzhou added, “Let her handle matters of the heart herself. You just take care of her daily life.”

Cheng Yanqing nodded. He agreed.

There were only two rooms in the house. Cheng Yuzhou and Yan Ci couldn’t possibly squeeze into a bed with Cheng Yanqing, so after clearing the table, they took a taxi to the hotel.

They had lunch together the next day, but the main event was in the evening since birthdays were typically celebrated at night.

The three men waited in the living room while Cheng Wanyue applied makeup, styled her hair, changed clothes, and matched shoes. They had to offer opinions, though she wouldn’t necessarily adopt them. Zhou Yu’s gift to her was a pair of earrings; she had three ear piercings, so Zhou Yu gave her three—a crescent moon and two pale blue sparkling diamonds that matched her hair color. After putting on the earrings, she tied her hair up with a beige ribbon to keep stray hairs from covering the earrings.

She knew Qing Hang had to work during the day and would normally finish by six.

It was only half-past five when Cheng Wanyue left home and sent the dinner location to Qing Hang.

Qing Hang worked at the hospital and couldn’t bring pets to the office. Before leaving work, he went to the ward to ensure everything was fine with the patients before heading home.

At 6:37 PM, he suddenly received a call from the nurse’s station.

A patient in his seventies had collapsed in the restroom, and the situation was critical. Qing Hang had no choice but to rush back to the hospital as quickly as possible.

After the surgery, the elderly patient’s children had returned to their respective cities for work, leaving only a caregiver.

By the time Qing Hang arrived at the hospital, the on-duty doctor was still in the middle of resuscitation efforts. Qing Hang was the most familiar with the patient’s condition; he had participated throughout the entire surgical process and was clear on every test result.

When the patient stabilized, Qing Hang was exhausted, his lips pale, and his white coat drenched in sweat.

He checked the time in the office—it was already 11 o’clock.

Qing Hang quickly washed his face and went downstairs, running to hail a taxi. Upon reaching the night market street, he ran straight in.

They were seated outside. Qing Hang slowed his pace upon seeing Cheng Wanyue. After a moment’s thought, he first stored his belongings in a nearby shop.

Cheng Wanyue kept looking at her phone. As time ticked away, she assumed Qing Hang wouldn’t make it.

Yan Ci was the first to spot Qing Hang and waved at him. “Qing Hang, over here!”

Cheng Wanyue turned to look, seeing Qing Hang drenched in sweat.

She had left an empty seat to her left.

The street was filled with the smell of barbecued oil and alcohol. Though Qing Hang knew she probably wouldn’t notice his sweat, he still pulled his chair back slightly when sitting down, not getting too close to her.

“There was something at the hospital, so I’m late.”

“It’s not midnight yet, so it’s not late,” Cheng Yuzhou poured him a glass of water. “We haven’t seen each other for about eight years, right?”

Not since graduation.

“About that,” Qing Hang finished a glass of water, and his breathing finally eased somewhat. “How long can you stay in Beijing this time?”

Cheng Yuzhou replied, “I’m leaving tomorrow, but Yan Ci can stay for another half month.”

Cheng Wanyue had a lemon candy in her mouth. While listening to their conversation, she glanced down at Qing Hang’s arm. A drop of sweat trailed down to his hand. She wanted to wipe it for him, but as soon as her fingertips touched his skin, he instinctively grasped her hand.

On the table, they continued chatting casually. Beneath the table, their fingers intertwined tightly.

Qing Hang could hold his liquor.

He arrived the latest, and after the other three waited for him to eat a bit, they switched his water with alcohol.

Though he wasn’t left-handed, he held the wine glass with his left hand.

Cheng Yuzhou glanced at his watch—ten minutes until midnight. “Ayu and I are having our wedding on October 5th in Nanjing. If you’re free, come for a drink?”

“I’ll make time, I’ll definitely come.”

“Then I’ll send the invitation to Yueyue and have her give it to you.”

“Mm.”

“Let’s go take a walk, and you two can eat some more.”

After Cheng Yuzhou paid the bill, the other two also got up, leaving only Cheng Wanyue and Qing Hang.

The night market was bustling. Several groups of people had already changed at the neighboring tables. Cheng Wanyue placed the cake on the table. “Quick, quick, let’s light the candles... Oh no, we don’t have a lighter...”

Before she finished speaking, Qing Hang pulled out a lighter from his pocket along with a box of sparklers.

Cheng Wanyue watched as he inserted 18 small candles and finally placed a heart-shaped sparkler in the center, lighting them one by one.

“Are you smoking again?” She lightly frowned, clearly dissatisfied with Qing Hang’s ability to pull out a lighter anytime, anywhere.

“No, it’s newly bought.”

She leaned closer, “Let me check.”

Qing Hang moved back, “I’ve sweated a lot; it’s not clean.”

“It’s okay,” she leaned even closer. “Anyway, I’m dirty too.”

Cheng Wanyue sniffed his neck, “Hmm, no smell of cigarettes.”

“The candles are about to go out. Make a wish.”

“You sing the birthday song for me.”

She clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and the firelight made the diamonds in her ears sparkle. Qing Hang’s singing voice was drowned out by the surrounding noise but was still audible enough for her to hear.

In the past, she always forced him to sing every time.

“Okay, I’m going to open my eyes now.”

“Wait a bit,” Qing Hang stood up. “Give me a moment.”

Cheng Wanyue had never been one to follow rules. She secretly opened one eye, watching Qing Hang run into a shop, then closed her eyes before he came out.

She had already heard the sound of a cat.

“Can I open my eyes now? Can I? Can I?”

Her lively expression was vivid. After Qing Hang sat down, he smiled and said, “You can now.”

As Cheng Wanyue opened her eyes, the kitten just peeked its round head out of the bag. It was shy, its claws gripping Qing Hang’s clothes. Inside the bag was also a Rapunzel doll, with golden braided hair longer than the doll’s dress.

“So cute! It looks so much like Ayu’s cat,” she found it increasingly similar—it was like a miniature version.

Qing Hang had searched many pet stores to find one that resembled the one in the photo she used as her WeChat profile picture.

Zhou Heng was allergic to cat fur, so the kitten stayed in Qing Hang’s own room. After returning home from the hospital and changing clothes, Qing Hang put the kitten in a backpack and went out, also stopping at a flower shop to buy a bouquet.

Cheng Wanyue liked red roses.

Before receiving the call from the nurse station, everything had gone smoothly.

Qing Hang took the kitten out of the bag and placed it on his lap. Cheng Wanyue touched it, and the kitten slowly crawled into her hands, after which her attention shifted from the cake.

But she still needed to take a bite.

“Qing Hang, try it first. I feel like this cake might look good but probably doesn’t taste very good.”

Qing Hang cut a piece. He didn’t like sweets, but he had eaten Cheng Wanyue’s birthday cake for three years.

“How is it?”

“You try it.”

She was still playing with the cat and couldn’t free her hands. “Then feed me.”

Qing Hang was distracted while watching her play with the cat, and the fork fell to the ground.

He prepared to get another fork, but Cheng Wanyue said it wasn’t necessary. She leaned over and took a bite but didn’t fully take it into her mouth. As the cream was about to fall onto her beautiful dress, Qing Hang tilted his head closer, licked the cream from the corner of her mouth, and kissed her.

The kitten softly meowed, and she softly panted.

Cheng Wanyue hadn’t drunk any alcohol, but she felt dizzy from the kiss. Somehow, she remembered the first time Qing Hang got drunk.

That day was Cheng Guo’an’s birthday, and Qing Hang toasted at the dinner table. A few glasses of white wine and beer got him drunk. He slept for a few hours in the guest room of her house. When she woke him up, he couldn’t even open his eyes, yet he still instinctively pulled her under him.

He became very bold when drunk. Her family was in the living room, separated by only a door, which wasn’t locked, yet he dared to kiss and touch her.

In a daze, Cheng Wanyue heard Qing Hang ask softly, “Have you improved?”