IMH - 9

After listening to Sun Yue read the message, Yu Qian calmly picked up her “lung” ashtray and said while walking, “Let’s discuss it later.”

Yu Qian didn’t mention when she would be free, so Sun Yue embellished and polished her ambiguous response into a long paragraph and replied to their President Cheng. Then she happily followed Yu Qian.

As the afternoon wore on, the sun became even more scorching.

But for some reason, when Sun Yue glanced at Yu Qian sitting in the back through the rearview mirror, she felt that her mood didn’t seem as bad as before.

On the way back to the hotel, Yu Qian’s phone kept vibrating. She glanced at the screen, which displayed “Pan Er Gou,” and lazily answered: “What is it, Er Gou?”

The person on the other end immediately hung up.

But unable to hold back, they quickly called back.

“Yu Qian, I’m coming back to the country in a few days. Come pick me up at the airport.”

Yu Qian was like this—she had a sharp tongue with those she was close to.

She wasn’t surprised at all and responded with an indifferent “Oh,” then brought up old grievances: “Why should I pick you up when you come back? When I went to other countries for shoots and returned, I never saw you voluntarily picking me up, not even once.”

“You have an assistant to pick you up!”

“Don’t you have an assistant?”

“This time I don’t!”

Only then did Yu Qian show a slight smile of surprise: “So it’s not for work. What are you coming back for?”

“What business is it of yours why I’m coming back!”

Yu Qian suddenly stopped asking.

Outside the car window, the sun blazed, its light reflecting off metal fixtures, dazzlingly bright. But even so, it was almost October.

Peter’s lover’s death anniversary was approaching, and he wouldn’t want to be alone.

There were more rumors about Peter than about her, and various pieces of information were unsightly.

Some said his sexual orientation was mysterious and that he had been photographed sobbing while hugging a certain man after getting drunk.

Others said that his designs these past years no longer matched his previous brilliance, and the number of items he designed was decreasing—he was losing his touch.

Still others claimed that behind his wife’s back, he had lived with a female model for many years, leading a chaotic private life.

But in reality, these speculations couldn’t piece together even one-thousandth of the truth.

Yu Qian always remembered that in the second year abroad, she and Peter were almost too poor to afford food.

On Christmas Day, with lights everywhere, they sat in their sparsely decorated rented house in the suburbs, wrapped in thick winter clothes, debating whether to splurge by adding half a sausage to their noodles.

That day, Yu Qian checked her account and accidentally discovered that her final payment for the shoot had been deposited. They were like two excited kids, running wildly through the snow to buy wine and fried chicken.

On the way back, Peter fell and his glasses flew far away, but he still tightly held onto the fried chicken.

On Christmas night, Peter got drunk and cried until his nose turned red.

Through tears, he talked about his wife who had suddenly passed away in a car accident and their unborn child.

Finally, he collapsed drunkenly on the shabby sofa, tears streaming down from the corners of his eyes: “Whenever I think that no matter how beautiful clothes I design, she will never get to wear them, I feel my life has no meaning.”

Yu Qian didn’t dare to stay silent for too long and immediately asked Peter if he had booked his ticket and what time he would arrive in the capital.

Peter said it would be early morning, around 8 o’clock.

Afraid of bringing up Peter’s painful memories, she deliberately teased him: “That early? I might not be able to wake up on time. If I’m late, you’ll have to wait a bit longer.”

Peter was half a native of the capital and had been eagerly planning to eat zhá gān (fried liver) and yóu bǐng (fried dough cake) for breakfast. Hearing Yu Qian say she might not come, he almost fainted in anger: “Yu Qian! If I can’t have zhá gān and yóu bǐng, I’ll cut ties with you!”

After hanging up the phone, Peter unleashed a cacophony equivalent to a thousand troops, finally fading away in her ears. Sun Yue was a considerate assistant, and there was always soothing piano music playing in the car.

In the midst of the piano music, Yu Qian slowly immersed herself in her thoughts, returning to that snowy Christmas night.

Peter’s alcohol tolerance was terrible, or perhaps burdened by a hundred worries, he easily got drunk.

Anyway, in the end, only she was left drinking under the snowy night.

Next door lived a young couple with a three-year-old child. Their life was also frugal. Yu Qian and Peter often met them at the supermarket buying discounted chicken, both carrying bags and queuing to weigh the chicken.

But they seemed very happy. The three-year-old was singing a new Christmas song taught at kindergarten.

The intermittent singing drifted through the snowy night. It was on that day that Yu Qian suddenly thought of Cheng Xiaonan.

He should already be in college, maybe meeting a compatible woman on campus and starting a romantic relationship.

But unexpectedly, the little brat moved pretty fast.

Could it be that he started dating in his senior year of high school?

Then, hadn’t he found a girlfriend shortly after she left?

Yu Qian clicked her tongue mentally. At the same time, the car stopped at the hotel entrance, and Sun Yue earnestly advised: “We’ve arrived. There’s no other work today. Go back and rest well. Don’t stay up late drinking.”

“Mm, you rest well too.”

The service at this hotel was indeed excellent. As Yu Qian opened the car door, a cool shade enveloped her from above.

The lobby manager smiled and said to her: “Miss Yu, let me hold an umbrella for you. It’s too sunny; be careful of heatstroke.”

For a moment, Yu Qian suddenly recalled Cheng Xiaonan holding an umbrella for his girlfriend.

Had he also said such thoughtful words?

“The hotel has prepared some refreshing drinks. If you need any, you can call the front desk, and we’ll send someone to deliver them.”

Yu Qian nodded: “Okay.”

“Nan Ge!”

Shen Shen ran in from outside, wiping sweat from his temple: “I’ve been looking for you for ages! You didn’t answer your phone!”

“What’s up?”

“Ji Ran said she wants to eat grouper fish, from the place near the school. Let’s go together, the three of us. She’s waiting outside in the car.”

Cheng Xiaonan looked down at the pile of messages Sun Yue had sent him on his phone, thought for a moment, and figured that if it were Yu Qian, she would probably just reply with two words: “Discuss later.”

After reading it, he chuckled and put away his phone: “Let’s go.”

Shen Shen heard the laughter and was momentarily stunned, feeling that his Nan Ge had been acting a bit strange lately.

On such a hot day, instead of staying in the office building, he kept coming to this shooting base. Moreover, he had heard that Cheng Xiaonan bought coffee for the staff in Area A.

A few days ago, he also said that the smoking room was too comfortable, affecting employees’ health, so he urgently ordered a batch of ashtrays.

As a result, when Shen Shen went to smoke, he was startled by the grotesque appearance of the ashtrays.

What annoyed him most was that Ji Ran took one home and said she would use it for him.

Shen Shen hadn’t thought much about it initially, but standing in Area A of the shooting base now, he suddenly had an epiphany:

The new model signed recently, isn’t she shooting here in Area A these days?

Actually, when the company decided to sign Yu Qian, Shen Shen happened to be on a business trip. After returning, he didn’t find anything special since they already had around 80 to 100 models. Signing a few new models wasn’t a big deal.

But just a few days ago, he heard that signing the new model was Cheng Xiaonan’s idea.

Shen Shen followed Cheng Xiaonan out, stroking his chin and pondering, feeling that his Nan Ge might have taken a liking to Sister Yu Qian.

Upon closer reflection, he increasingly believed it was possible.

Cheng Xiaonan liked this type. He did in high school!

The girlfriend he dated in high school was an older sister, driving a red sports car and having a cool personality.

Wasn’t Yu Qian somewhat similar?

But was Cheng Xiaonan really ready to start a new relationship?

Shen Shen had been searching all over the company just now because Ji Ran said she must treat Cheng Xiaonan to dinner today. She said she had misspoken and needed to apologize with a meal.

At the time, Shen Shen was quite puzzled and asked Ji Ran what she had said to upset Nan Ge.

Ji Ran hesitantly explained that it wasn’t that she made Cheng Xiaonan angry, but rather she impulsively asked Cheng Xiaonan why he broke up with his ex-girlfriend.

She also mentioned that at the time, Cheng Xiaonan’s expression was so indifferent that it made her heart ache. He said, he didn’t know why either.

Ji Ran said, Nan Ge still hasn’t gotten over it after all these years.

So Shen Shen couldn’t figure out whether Cheng Xiaonan was preparing to start a new romance or had some other plans. Since he didn’t understand, he dared not tease him about it.

After all, he had never understood Cheng Xiaonan’s emotional affairs.

Back then, in high school, many girls in the school pursued Cheng Xiaonan, including the school beauty, who even wrote him love letters.

But he found a girlfriend outside school, reportedly older than them.

At the time, Shen Shen felt this was inappropriate and advised Cheng Xiaonan: “Nan Ge, no matter how we mess around, we’re still students. Older sisters from society are beyond our control.”

It was break time, and the classroom was chaotic. Cheng Xiaonan didn’t look up, his eyelids lowered, staring intently at his phone, not knowing what he was looking at. Casually, he said: “Just playing around.”

Later, the teacher sent the class monitor to call him, and Cheng Xiaonan was called away, leaving his phone on the desk.

The homeroom teacher said that only when afraid of disturbing Cheng Xiaonan could Shen Shen keep quiet, so they sat together.

The teacher called this “calming chaos with stillness.”

As soon as Cheng Xiaonan left, his phone, screen lit, vibrated unexpectedly.

His phone was different from others—it was an iPhone 4, white, small and delicate, much more stylish and fashionable than Shen Shen’s metallic-cased phone.

Shen Shen instinctively glanced over—

The screen was filled with messages sent by Cheng Xiaonan, the chat box named “Sister.”

And this acknowledged “quiet” person was replied with four words and a punctuation mark:

【Shut up, chatterbox.】

Shen Shen was shocked at the time.

Wait, wasn’t he supposed to be just playing around?

Why did it feel like his Nan Ge was being so humble?

Shen Shen had known Cheng Xiaonan for a long time and gradually learned a lesson: if you don’t understand something, don’t ask, just endure it.

So he sat in the driver’s seat, vowing to be a silent driver.

Ji Ran sat in the passenger seat, and Cheng Xiaonan bent over to enter the back seat alone.

There were a bunch of useless plush toys in Shen Shen’s car, probably all Ji Ran’s. He pushed a big-mouth monkey aside to make room to sit.

The car drove out of the shooting base and soon reached the intersection where the hotel was located, coincidentally hitting a red light and stopping.

Cheng Xiaonan looked out the window, seeing the bright sunshine. Sure enough, he saw Sun Yue’s car parked in front of the hotel, along with hotel staff holding umbrellas for Yu Qian.

After a long while, the car had already driven out of “Wu Tong Li.”

Unexpectedly, Shen Shen heard Cheng Xiaonan call him from the back: “Shen Shen.”

“Ah? What is it, Nan Ge?”

“Are you running a hotel or a brothel? Why are there so many men?”