IMH - 35

Yu Qian stood in front of the photography studio’s floor-to-ceiling window. Outside, snowflakes drifted down silently, and the sky was so gloomy it seemed about to fall with the snow.

She remembered Cheng Xiaonan with his arms crossed on the steering wheel just before she got out of the car that morning.

To meet her gaze, he leaned his back, almost hunching over the steering wheel in the driver’s seat, and turned his head to tell her, “Text me when you’re off work; I’ll come pick you up.”

Yu Qian brushed away a snowflake clinging to her eyelashes and said that Sun Yue was with her today and could give her a ride back to the hotel.

But the person in the car pouted, clearly displeased: “When you said ‘let’s try,’ did you mean ‘try with Sun Yue’?”

In truth, Yu Qian herself felt confused.

She had clearly been avoiding him since returning to China, and trying her best to avoid discussions about relationships.

But it was as if, just like seven years ago, as soon as she and Cheng Xiaonan were together, things quickly headed towards this outcome.

Counting it up, she hadn’t even been back in the country for three months.

Yesterday’s “then let’s try” put an end to all her tangled thoughts, and she surprisingly had a good night’s sleep.

She woke up early to a voice call from Cheng Xiaonan. That “spring mud embeds fallen flowers” avatar popped up on her screen. After connecting, she heard his refreshed “good morning,” followed by a smiling invitation for breakfast.

Yu Qian pulled out her phone and opened her chat with Cheng Xiaonan.

The conversation was still from last night.

After she said “let’s try,” Cheng Xiaonan seemed to be stunned for a long time. They walked through the long hotel corridor together, and he remained silent.

It wasn’t until they reached her room door that Cheng Xiaonan seemed to snap back to reality. He suddenly reached out and pulled her wrist, not too hard, and asked her, “Does your ‘let’s try’ mean what I think it means?”

“What do you think it means?”

“Try with me? Try dating me? Try being together with me? Is that the kind of ‘try’ you mean?”

Cheng Xiaonan was still carrying his paper bag with the Lego puzzle in it. His other hand was in his coat pocket. He looked a little nervous. When he pursed his lips, a dimple briefly appeared on his left cheek.

Yu Qian had seen that expression on him before.

It was many years ago, when Yu Qian asked Cheng Xiaonan to accompany her to a PP store to buy a watch.

After selecting, she wore a small gold watch with a brown strap, waved her arm, and asked Cheng Xiaonan if he wanted her to buy one for him too.

Cheng Xiaonan leaned against the glass counter, jokingly saying, “Sure, how about the one in the big display cabinet, the one covered in diamonds? Not expensive at all, just a few million.”

During that period, Yu Qian was often with Cheng Xiaonan, and influenced by him, her mood was always good.

So that afternoon, she stood in the watch shop, jokingly telling him with a serious face that a few million was a bit much and she needed to make a call to get approval.

Perhaps because Yu Qian never joked, Cheng Xiaonan frowned: “Call who for approval?”

Yu Qian, holding back mischief, casually said, “Sugar daddy.”

At that time, Cheng Xiaonan had the same expression as last night, nervously pursing his lips.

He seemed utterly bewildered, wanting to ask a million questions, yet quite troubled and hesitant to speak.

But last night, after Cheng Xiaonan confirmed, he felt as if the corridor lights had illuminated him entirely.

He suddenly turned his head, looking to the side, his hand half-clenched into a fist, pressed to his lips. His cough was full of suppressed laughter.

When they parted, he asked, “Want a goodnight kiss?”

Yu Qian wouldn’t give him a chance to take advantage. The time it was his 18th birthday, she indulged him once, and he went for a French kiss.

She didn’t believe that Cheng Xiaonan’s goodnight kiss would be as simple as a peck on the forehead.

So she simply entered the room, responding to him by closing the door.

________________________________________

Later, Cheng Xiaonan’s messages appeared on her phone, one after another:

【No goodnight kiss?】

【So what degree should we start with?】

【Jiejie, I know you’re looking, say something?】

【If you don’t say anything, I’m very nervous.】

【That “let’s try” just now wasn’t tricking me again, was it?】

【The same nature as your German Stanford?】

Yu Qian leaned against the entryway, watching his messages pop up one by one in the chat box, smiling silently.

She replied to Cheng Xiaonan, simply saying, “Anyway, it’s not starting with a kiss.”

【A hug?】

【Holding hands?】

【Watching a movie?】

Yu Qian had already heard from Ji Ran the reason why Cheng Xiaonan disliked dark settings, so of course, she wouldn’t go to the cinema with him again. She simply didn’t reply to him.

Opening her phone now, the conversation still lingered on those messages from last night.

Looking at it this way, Cheng Xiaonan hadn’t changed much from 7 years ago. He was still a “chatterbox.”

She sent Cheng Xiaonan a message, saying she was done on her end.

Cheng Xiaonan replied incredibly fast, and his response quickly appeared in the chat box:

【Be right there, wait for me.】

________________________________________

In the afternoon, close to quitting time, Shen Shen returned from the city after negotiating a contract. He tossed the documents into his messy office and turned to duck into Cheng Xiaonan’s conference room.

Cheng Xiaonan had his back to the door, slumped deep in the leather chair.

Leaning closer, Shen Shen saw that he was wearing wireless headphones, eyes closed, seemingly taking a nap.

But Shen Shen knew that his Brother Nan was definitely not asleep.

Cheng Xiaonan’s hand, resting on the armrest of the chair, was moving, his fingertips lightly tapping the solid wood. The diamond watch on his wrist frequently glinted with the movement.

“Brother Nan.”

Shen Shen shoved his phone screen in front of him: “Did you stay up all night yesterday? In the middle of the night, why did you suddenly start caring about Ji Ran’s and my wedding venue?”

Shen Shen didn’t have the habit of keeping his phone far away when he slept. Ji Ran had told him eight hundred times, but he still habitually scrolled on his phone until he was sleepy, then casually shoved it under his pillow.

Anyway, no one would contact him in the middle of the night, and if the phone didn’t ring, Ji Ran wouldn’t find out.

But yesterday, sleeping until past 3 AM, his phone, which he forgot to put on vibrate, suddenly “screamed” from under his pillow.

Shen Shen himself woke up in the middle of the night, already terrified, and the next second, he was kicked off the bed, blanket and all, by Ji Ran: “Shen Shen, I told you not to put your phone on the bed!!!”

Shen Shen rolled onto the floor, picked up his phone, and saw a message from Cheng Xiaonan:

【Have you settled on a wedding location? Where did you decide?】

At that moment, he had only one thought:

Brother Nan ruined me!

Now, Shen Shen, holding his injured waist, stood in front of Cheng Xiaonan, bearing the resentment of being kicked out of bed last night, and enlightened his Brother Nan: “The location isn’t settled yet. We’ve looked at 7 places in total. For every hotel, whether it’s an indoor wedding or a lawn wedding, Ji Ran has things she likes and things she dislikes. She said she’s having decision paralysis and needs to think about it carefully.”

Cheng Xiaonan opened his eyes, a slight, unnoticeable bruise under them, like a trace of staying up late.

But judging by his tone, he seemed to be in a very good mood: “Which one do you think is good?”

“A lawn wedding, of course. That lakeside villa hotel to the north and the small manor next to Dongshan both look pretty good. Imperial City doesn’t get that much rain, so holding it after the hottest part of summer would be nice, wouldn’t it?”

Shen Shen’s back hurt; standing was tiring, so he simply pulled a chair over and sat next to Cheng Xiaonan. He casually took one earbud from Cheng Xiaonan’s ear and put it on. “To be honest, I’m quite fond of lawn weddings... Hey? What the f*ck?”

Snatching earphones from Cheng Xiaonan was a habit Shen Shen had developed in high school. Because Cheng Xiaonan had good taste in music, Shen Shen always liked to grab an earbud to listen along.

Anyway, following his Brother Nan’s music choices was always reliable; it was sure to be incredibly lit, with awesome rhythm.

But today, with the earbud in Shen Shen’s ear, he was suddenly bewildered—

“The sky is fluffy sugar, what if it falls?”

“Love is easy, so easy yeah yeah”

“My mood is easy, so easy woo oo”

Shen Shen turned to look at Cheng Xiaonan in disbelief, thinking his Brother Nan had chosen the wrong song.

But he quickly realized that the rhythm Cheng Xiaonan was tapping on the chair armrest matched this sweet song.

Before he could say anything, Cheng Xiaonan’s phone vibrated for a moment. He watched as his Brother Nan looked down at his phone, then looked up spiritedly, took off the other earbud, and tossed it to him: “You listen. I’m leaving. I have a date.”

The phrase “I have a date” sounded utterly filled with spring.

For a moment, Shen Shen suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

He thought of Cheng Xiaonan’s late-night inquiry about wedding venues, and the sweet song Cheng Xiaonan was listening to—

“Brother Nan! Do you and Yu Qian have some emotional progress?”

Shen Shen thought in astonishment, “This... could it be that they’re getting married?”

“That’s way too fast!”

Cheng Xiaonan had already walked to the door with his car keys. Hearing Shen Shen, he turned back, and the unrestrained joy, like a spring breeze, was evident in his eyes and even the curve of his lips.

He said, “Yu Qian agreed to me.”

Shen Shen’s face was full of shock: “Pro... proposal?”

“No, she agreed to ‘try’ being together with me,” Cheng Xiaonan said.

Shen Shen: “?”

Just ‘try’ being with you, and you’re making such a big deal out of it?

After Cheng Xiaonan left, the sweet song in the earbud ended. Shen Shen had just let out a sigh of relief and slumped into the chair when an even sweeter song suddenly played in his ear—

“By the Seine, coffee on the Left Bank~”

“A cup in my hand, savoring your beauty~”

“Lips leaving their mark~”

Shen Shen couldn’t stand it and grabbed the tablet from the conference table, discovering Cheng Xiaonan’s playlist for today:

《Sweet Sweet》 《Eloping to the Moon》 《Rainbow Smile》 《Confession Balloon》 《Love-ing》 《Wedding March》

________________________________________

The names on this playlist could be summed up in two words: “Let’s try.”

Cheng Xiaonan’s car was parked outside the photography studio building. Yu Qian was already waiting there. He got out and opened the car door for her.

Once she was in the car and had buckled her seatbelt, he couldn’t help but ask, “Have you decided? Where should we start this ‘try’?”

The Imperial City Meteorological Bureau’s alerts popped up periodically, warning of continuous light to moderate snow overnight and urging citizens to be careful when traveling.

The car’s heater was on full blast. Yu Qian slowly unraveled her thick scarf, folding it neatly on her lap.

With her movements, the light perfume scent from her scarf or her body, a well-known rose fragrance, diffused through the car’s warm air.

She avoided answering Cheng Xiaonan’s question, only saying, “Where are we going?”

“I checked Sun Yue’s schedule, and you don’t have work plans for tomorrow. We can’t go to the city in this weather. Let’s go eat first, there’s a quiet bar nearby. Want to go sit there after dinner?”

“Mm.”

Actually, the time spent talking in the car made both of them feel familiar and at ease.

In the past, Yu Qian always drove her sports car, with Cheng Xiaonan in the passenger seat. They’d drive to the suburbs to watch stars, to amusement parks, and even cross two regions just to have an authentic grilled trout.

Now, the sports car had been replaced by a white Bentley, and Cheng Xiaonan was the one driving.

He casually asked, “What happened to your sports car later?”

“I don’t know. I left it with my mom when I went abroad. She probably sold it,” Yu Qian said.

Cheng Xiaonan didn’t say that he had seen that sports car during the time Yu Qian was abroad.

It was during his university years. Back then, he rarely had the leisure time he used to have before knowing Yu Qian. He spent all day in the library and would go to Old Cheng’s company on weekends to learn things.

It was probably a weekend. He came out of the library, hands in his pockets, a book tucked under his arm.

Just as he walked through the bustling basketball court, he suddenly caught sight of a red car in his peripheral vision.

His mind went blank at the time, and he instinctively walked towards the car.

But as he got closer, he realized that a young woman was sitting in the convertible.

Cheng Xiaonan was 22 at the time and suddenly understood the helplessness embedded in the phrase “things are the same, people are not.”

However, the time of helplessness had passed.

Now! Yu Qian was “trying” with him!

________________________________________

The first date of their “trying” period was very happy. Perhaps because Yu Qian was no longer pretending to have amnesia, although she spoke little, the conversation felt relaxed.

She would also share some things about her life or work when Cheng Xiaonan asked about her life abroad.

She wasn’t the type to confide easily, so when she mentioned Qu Liwen’s death, the sleepless nights and the days when she was diagnosed with depressive tendencies by her psychologist were omitted.

Yu Qian merely swirled the glass containing golden rum, lightly saying that the ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean, the largest ocean in the world.

Cheng Xiaonan didn’t drink alcohol, but he was someone who greatly respected others’ preferences and didn’t interfere with Yu Qian ordering alcoholic beverages.

He drank soda water and accompanied her all night. On the way back, however, his mind was as exhilarated as if it had been numbed by alcohol.

After returning to their respective rooms, Cheng Xiaonan took a shower, but little thoughts kept him restless.

Finally, he simply knocked on Yu Qian’s door, wanting to ask her if she wasn’t too sleepy, if she wanted to watch a movie or something in her room together.

Yu Qian opened the door somewhat slowly. It seemed she had just changed clothes and hadn’t removed her makeup yet.

Her beautiful eyes, hazy with the tint of alcohol, spoke words that would be the death of him: “Come for a goodnight kiss?”