IMH - 4

With Boss Cheng Xiaonan present, Yu Qian could easily sense the assistant’s apprehensive unease.

The assistant girl was only in her early 20s, probably graduated just a few years ago. As she tightened her coat around her, there was an air of “a hero never returns once he departs,” and she prepared to dash into the gale.

Yu Qian had just grabbed the assistant’s arm when Cheng Xiaonan’s voice rang out behind them.

“Get in, I’ll give you a ride.”

The assistant froze in confusion, but Yu Qian remained calm, merely turning toward the sound.

Perhaps because it was late at night, the central lights on the first floor of the shooting base were already turned off, leaving only a ring of dim lighting.

It was enough to illuminate obstacles, but just barely; the light was rather dim.

In this setting, the light inside the elevator appeared exceptionally bright. The transparent walls of the elevator, accentuated by the surrounding light, resembled a crystal box.

Cheng Xiaonan stood within the brightest light source on the entire floor, slightly hunched over, pressing the elevator button with furrowed brows urging, “Are you getting in or not?”

Yu Qian mentally remarked:

Hmm, this younger brother seems to have grown taller.

Yu Qian followed the assistant into the elevator, pondering as it descended:

It’s indeed better to remain strangers, avoiding much trouble. At least in such an enclosed space, she didn’t feel any awkwardness.

The underground parking lot had wind seeping through, chilling to the bone. Yu Qian unconsciously rubbed her arms.

Cheng Xiaonan drove up in a white Bentley, stopping in front of them.

The car model was quite good, with a certain vintage charm. Its shiny white paint was as ostentatious as his personality.

At this thought, Yu Qian paused.

Compared to before, Cheng Xiaonan seemed quieter?

Do men become more silent as they grow older?

She still found his previous arrogance and swagger more endearing.

Unaware that he was being criticized for losing his former charm, Cheng simply told the assistant, “There are things on the passenger seat, you two sit in the back.”

Once everyone was seated, he started the car and drove out of the underground garage without another word.

The interior was smoke-gray purple and white. His hand, adorned with a full-diamond watch, rested on the steering wheel.

Then it moved down, naturally turning on the air conditioning.

Yu Qian thought: He’s quite sensitive to cold.

Back in the foreign country, Peter had said that a full-diamond men’s watch was hard to match with the right owner—it either made one look nouveau riche or effeminate.

But Cheng Xiaonan was neither; wearing such a watch, his demeanor remained clean-cut.

Even the assistant sitting beside Yu Qian felt both the pressure of sitting in their boss’s car, sitting upright, and also felt attracted to him, stealing glances from time to time.

He did have charisma; Yu Qian herself glanced several times, but he was just too silent.

Had it not been for hearing Cheng Xiaonan speak earlier, Yu Qian would have suspected that this guy, who used to be all talk during his youth, had been poisoned into silence.

The raging winds outside were unrealistically exaggerated, like the cursed castle surroundings in Disney’s stage play “Beauty and the Beast,” with howling evil winds; or like the shipwreck scene in “Pirates of the Caribbean,” where the wind could churn up giant waves.

As the car ascended along the slope into the roaring winds, Yu Qian suddenly recalled some past events—

That day, she was in a terrible mood, her car parked on the back street of the affiliated high school. Realizing it was quiet, she noticed it was a weekend.

Not long after, a tall figure with a backpack slung over one shoulder, hands in his pockets, strolled slowly from afar.

Cheng Xiaonan threw his backpack into her sports car, leaning against the door while bantering with her: “Waiting for me?”

“Isn’t today a weekend? Why are you here?”

“Extra classes. Our homeroom teacher lives nearby, in that brick-red building.”

Cheng Xiaonan pointed to the residential area behind him, then suddenly smiled, “You weren’t specifically waiting for me? That we met shows we have deep fate.”

Yu Qian didn’t say anything, leaning back in the driver’s seat, closing her eyes to rest, clearly uninterested in engaging with him.

“How come you seem to be in a bad mood?”

“If you’ve noticed, shut up.”

Cheng Xiaonan actually closed his mouth, but not long after, she felt the scorching sun blocked, casting shade on her face.

Opening her eyes, Yu Qian saw Cheng Xiaonan holding a large leaf from a London plane tree, crouching by her car to shield her from the sun.

Seeing her open her eyes, this young master tapped the car door, making a “click” sound. Amidst this mischievous noise, he suggested, “If you don’t have anything to do, I’ll take you somewhere fun to cheer up?”

“You’re not attending extra classes anymore?”

Cheng Xiaonan grinned charmingly, showing his dimples, “I’m a top student. I can self-study and still get into Tsinghua. Extra classes aren’t important.”

Under Cheng Xiaonan’s persuasion that day, Yu Qian reluctantly agreed to go to an amusement park with him.

The capital city had not only morning and evening rush hours but also traffic congestion on weekends. They were stuck on the third ring expressway for nearly an hour.

The downside of a soft-top convertible is that under intense sunlight or rainy conditions, someone like Yu Qian, who grew up immersed in the fashion circle, would never close the roof.

Because it looked ugly—too ugly.

She thought that when the soft-top was closed, the car resembled old Beijing cloth shoes in her eyes.

Already in a bad mood, being baked under the sun on the highway for a while, Yu Qian’s expression became increasingly indifferent. Beside her, Cheng Xiaonan suddenly pulled out a black cap from his backpack and placed it on her head.

Both of Yu Qian’s hands were gripping the steering wheel. She glanced at him sideways, wanting to tell him to wear it himself.

But her attention was diverted by something else–

A small piece of paper fell out of the backpack?

Initially, Yu Qian thought it was a crumpled piece of scrap paper, but upon closer inspection, it was a pink strawberry-patterned envelope.

Her eyebrows lifted slightly, but Cheng Xiaonan showed no particular expression. Pretending to be troubled, he joked, “Tsk, this damned charm of mine.”

Cheng Xiaonan opened the bulging envelope, pulling out a peach-flavored candy, tearing it open, and handing it to Yu Qian: “Here.”

Without hesitation, Yu Qian took it and popped it into her mouth.

Then she watched Cheng Xiaonan skim through the love letter, flipping it over with one hand while rummaging in his backpack for quite some time before finally finding a pen.

The moment he touched the pen, he seemed surprised himself, his eyebrows arching momentarily.

That day, Cheng Xiaonan earnestly wrote a reply to the love letter in the car—

Thank you for your affection, but sorry, I already have someone I like.

Yu Qian was genuinely surprised.

To put it bluntly, Cheng Xiaonan often appeared unserious.

She had met him because he skipped class and climbed over the school wall, bumping into her who happened to be parking outside the back wall of the school.

She expected him to flaunt the love letter or mockingly dismiss it with disdainful remarks.

But he did neither.

He laid the girl’s confession on his backpack, sincerely thanked her, and then sincerely rejected her.

His handwriting was decent, bold yet not sloppy.

After finishing, he suddenly turned his head, leaning close to Yu Qian.

Instinctively, Yu Qian leaned back, questioning with her eyes while sucking on the candy: What?

Cheng Xiaonan stared intently at her, as if observing her expression.

Afterward, he added: By the way, the candy was nice, thanks.

Then he stuffed money for the candy into the envelope.

The envelope was resealed. Yu Qian moved forward less than a meter with the cars ahead, stopped, and turned her head. Cheng Xiaonan was waving the envelope at her: “Not curious about who I like?”

“What does it matter to me?”

“Never mind, I’ll tell you when you’re curious.”

Yu Qian frowned, ignoring him.

That day, amidst the bustling crowds of the amusement park on the weekend, Cheng Xiaonan dragged her to almost all the thrilling rides.

Getting off the roller coaster, Yu Qian, tucking stray strands of hair behind her ear, asked, “Shall we go to the haunted house?”

Cheng Xiaonan hesitated unusually, eventually sidestepping the topic: “Want some ice cream?”

They got drenched by the water splashes from the boat plunges in the water rides. In the amusement park’s clothing store, they bought two short-sleeve shirts to change into.

Cheng Xiaonan, wearing a loose orange big short-sleeve, smiled at her: “Hey, why do we look like a couple dressed like this?”

The more she thought about it, the more she realized he used to talk a lot.

Many of their conversations were Cheng Xiaonan making small talk.

Yu Qian faced the car window, but the scenery outside didn’t register in her eyes. She didn’t even notice when the car had stopped in front of the hotel.

Coming back to her senses, she only saw Cheng Xiaonan’s hand in front of her, with two large paper bags dangling from his index finger.

She snapped back to reality, reacting slightly slower. Meanwhile, the assistant beside her was already overwhelmed with gratitude, politely declining: “Boss Cheng, these desserts are quite expensive...”

“They were gifts from collaborators, too many to finish. Help share the burden.”

With words spoken to this extent, the assistant had no choice but to accept the two boxes of desserts, handing one to Yu Qian.

Yu Qian politely thanked him as she got out of the car.

The Cheng Xiaonan from before would have certainly said something.

But he didn’t.

So Yu Qian mentally grumbled: Mute.

Broken branches were scattered on the ground. As soon as she got out of the car, her hair whipped her face, so she had to gather her strands and dash through the wind.

The hotel porter opened the door for her. Running inside, she finally felt her hair settle.

The porters at the entrance, who had helped her park the car, carry her things, and fetch her packages, were familiar. Yu Qian casually chatted with them for a bit.

The shelf life of the dessert was only two or three days. Feeling she couldn’t finish such a large bag, Yu Qian took out several small boxes and handed them over, using Cheng Xiaonan’s original words: “Gifts from others, too much to finish. Help share the burden.”

Cheng Xiaonan didn’t rush to drive off. He wanted to say something to Yu Qian, but he still hadn’t figured out why she suddenly went abroad.

Shen Shen’s girlfriend, Ji Ran, always said that women liked mature and steady men.

So he restrained himself from speaking, fearing that this sister, returning after seven years, would think he was still the same as before.

Watching Yu Qian enter the hotel, he also watched her distribute the desserts to a group of younger brothers...

Cheng Xiaonan lowered his head to glance at the small receipt from the dessert shop underfoot.

Today’s wind was indeed worthy of a warning, giving him a headache.