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After her shower, Wen Di went downstairs to pour some red wine. The card game in the living room was still going. Her father was drinking tea on the side, having swapped places with her uncle to play a few hands with the others.
Wen Changyun inadvertently turned his head and saw his daughter coming down the stairs. He checked the time; it was almost 10:30 PM. His daughter went to the bar, so he took his teacup and followed her.
“Drinking red wine so late?”
“I don’t have anything scheduled for tomorrow.” She took out an extra wine glass and asked her father if he wanted half a glass.
Wen Changyun laughed. “I almost had to go to the hospital for an IV drip last night. I’m afraid to drink anymore.”
Fortunately, Yan Heyu had blocked two rounds for him; otherwise, he would have definitely ended up in the hospital.
The father and daughter hadn’t sat down for a good chat in over half a year.
Wen Changyun sat down on a high stool next to her. He hadn’t yet mentioned the events from the New Year’s gathering to his daughter. He was a little suspicious about whether Yan Heyu really learned the Jiangcheng dialect from his daughter. When would his daughter have had the time to teach someone a dialect?
“Yan Heyu learned the Jiangcheng dialect from you?”
“Huh?”
Wen Di looked confused, as if asking, ‘Yan Heyu speaks the Jiangcheng dialect?’
It seemed his intuition was right. Yan Heyu was secretly learning the Jiangcheng dialect without telling his daughter, hoping to score some points with her.
Wen Changyun said, “He speaks it quite well. At least, it doesn’t sound awkward to me. He said at the dinner table that he learned it from you, and everyone else believed him, thinking you two were in a good relationship.”
He took a sip of his herbal tea, a specialty of Haitang Village. It was refreshing and soothing.
Wen Di took a moment to process the information. She swirled the wine in her glass, momentarily forgetting to drink. If her father hadn’t told her, she might not have believed it. The Jiangcheng dialect was even harder to learn than the Shanghainese dialect. Some pronunciations had no clear rules; you could learn them today and forget them completely tomorrow.
Yan Heyu was either working overtime or at social events in the evenings. Where would he find the time to master an authentic dialect?
“It’s one thing for him to learn the Jiangcheng dialect, but he also called me ‘Dad’ in front of everyone.”
“...”
Wen Di had just taken a sip of air and almost choked on it.
Wen Changyun patted his daughter’s back. “Why are you so clumsy?”
Wen Di waved her hand. “It’s nothing.”
“I haven’t told your mom yet that Yan Heyu called me ‘Dad’.” In a situation like last night, it made him feel a little uncertain and gave him a headache, but he was completely following his daughter’s lead. What was most important was her happiness.
The day after tomorrow was New Year’s Eve again. Wen Changyun asked his daughter if she had made a summary of her year.
Wen Di: “I did a summary in my head. What about you, Dad?”
“Me?” Wen Changyun smiled and said, “I’d give my work a 101. The extra point is a reward for myself. As for my personal life, well, that’s a failing grade.”
Wen Di hooked a stool with her foot and sat down next to her father, listening intently.
Wen Changyun started with a self-critique. “I haven’t given you or your mother enough attention, and even less to your grandparents. When I get home tired from work, I just fall asleep.”
The last time he went out with his wife was during the New Year last year, when the three of them went to see a movie. After that, he was constantly busy. Either he was on a business trip or his wife was. When he finally had a day off, all he wanted to do was stay home. He didn’t want to go anywhere.
On several important holidays, he and his wife were in different cities on business trips, thousands of miles apart. They could only send gifts.
Wen Changyun then told his daughter his plans for the new year: to achieve excellence in his work and strive for an eighty-percent score in his personal life, finding a good balance between work and family.
“Tell me about your year, whether it’s work or your relationship.”
Wen Di propped her head on her hand. “I have no complaints about my career.” She bragged like a little kid in front of her father. “You know how well it’s doing, don’t you?”
Wen Changyun laughed and toasted his daughter with his tea.
He thought it was truly remarkable that Behind Desire could still achieve a viewership rating of over one percent while being broadcast simultaneously on several online platforms. He hadn’t expected his daughter to not only excel at writing about business but also to bring the characters’ family lives to life.
The business plot was thrilling and tightly interwoven, while the family scenes were relatable, with the three main characters coming from three completely different families and experiencing their own unique joys and sorrows.
“Dad will give you a big red envelope this year, so big you won’t be able to hold it.”
“Then you can’t fill it with coins.”
Wen Changyun laughed. “I hadn’t thought of that. Thanks for the reminder.”
Wen Di finished the wine in her glass. She didn’t want to talk about her relationship anymore. “Dad, I’m going to bed. You should rest early too.”
“Mm, you get some sleep. People my age aren’t like you young people who need more sleep. Your mom is watching a TV show inside. I’ll watch two more episodes with her.”
Wen Changyun held his teacup, deliberated, and then turned to face his daughter’s back. “Didi, as long as you feel good in your relationship, that’s what matters. As long as it’s a person you bring back, no matter who it is, your mom and I will like them. However, someone who forces their way in doesn’t count. They have to be the type who gets drunk and has to be sent to the hospital.”
Wen Di laughed, with a little moisture in her eyes. “Thanks, Dad.”
Back in her room, there were no messages on her phone. Yan Heyu hadn’t rushed her.
Wen Di’s brain was not only full of water but also a little bit of wine, making it easier to talk to Yan Heyu without any hang-ups.
She called him, using the Jiangcheng dialect, and asked what he was doing.
Yan Heyu was taken aback and unconsciously started speaking in the dialect as well. “Did Uncle Wen tell you I know the Jiangcheng dialect?”
“Yeah. How long have you been learning?”
“Over half a year. I practice every day.”
“What made you want to learn it?” Since it wasn’t necessary for communication, they were used to speaking in Mandarin.
Yan Heyu: “I wanted the people in the Jiangcheng business community to know that I care about you. I couldn’t think of any other way at the time, and I thought learning the dialect was a good idea.”
It all started when they were looking for a suitable house in the old city area, and she was talking to the landlord in the dialect. He couldn’t understand a word, and that gave him the inspiration.
Putting the dialect aside, Wen Di continued, “Why were you calling my dad ‘Dad’?”
“I wasn’t calling him ‘Dad’ for no reason. He’s my dad in the future. I was just calling him that in advance.”
Yan Heyu was still thinking about the nickname for their daughter and asked her again which name she liked.
Wen Di asked back, “What do you think?”
Yan Heyu liked “Little Lime,” a name similar to Jiang Chengyu’s little Ningmeng.
Wen Di said, “Then why are you still agonizing over it? You like it, so just name your daughter that.”
Yan Heyu emphasized, “Our daughter.”
“Mm. You should go to sleep. Good night.”
Just the one word, “Mm,” made Yan Heyu feel that their relationship was different from before.
________________________________________
On the morning of New Year’s Eve, the film crew filmed as usual. Wen Di went to visit again, specifically to invite the key creative personnel to her home for the New Year.
The space at home was limited after all, so as the host, she rented a banquet hall at the best restaurant in Jiangcheng to treat the entire crew to a New Year’s Eve dinner. She also arranged some activities and a lottery.
Yin Ziyu had been looking forward to going to Wen Di’s house for a while, planning to play mahjong all night in the study to get some scholarly atmosphere.
This was her second New Year’s Eve with Zhou Mingqian’s team. Tan Moxing’s home was in Shanghai, not far from Jiangcheng, but he didn’t go back either and went to Wen Di’s house with them.
This morning, she had received a gift, a thermos mug.
She later found out that all the key creative personnel of the crew had received a similar cup, said to be a New Year’s gift from Director Tan.
“Why didn’t I get one?” Wen Di picked up her cup and looked at it from all sides. It seemed different from the other cups.
Yin Ziyu laughed. “You’re the investor, the ‘money bags,’ so giving you one would be suspected of brown-nosing.”
Wen Di poked her on the head and told her to go change her clothes.
Yin Ziyu took Wen Di’s car to Grandpa Wen’s house. The others took a nanny van. Enjoying the New Year’s Eve benefit of her boss driving her, she leaned back in her seat and hummed along to the music in the car.
Recently, she had been busy memorizing her lines for No One is Better Than You and didn’t have time to follow Behind Desire. She never checked social media, afraid that bad comments would affect her fragile ego.
Her assistant also never mentioned how the other show was doing.
“Boss Wen, how are the ratings?”
“Based on the current word-of-mouth and momentum, it should surpass No One is Better Than You.”
“It’s that good?”
Yin Ziyu was thrilled and sat up straight. The TV series version of No One is Better Than You had broken multiple records, and the two leads were instantly deified.
Behind Desire had fewer romantic scenes and couldn’t be compared to No One is Better Than You. Before it aired, she had no confidence, afraid that the audience wouldn’t be interested in a business drama.
“I thought the results wouldn’t be great. Boss Wen, you don’t know how anxious I was. I wanted to watch it but didn’t dare to. The results are so good. Director Zhou is so composed; he never talks about it during breaks.”
Wen Di said, “Maybe he thinks that’s just his level of directing and there’s nothing to show off about.”
Yin Ziyu laughed. “That’s so humble-bragging, and so typical of Director Zhou.”
Wen Di told her to be mentally prepared. Many netizens recognized her acting in Behind Desire, but with that came more voices questioning how she could take on a role in No One is Better Than You. They thought the two styles were completely different and didn’t fit, and the thought of it took them out of the moment.
“Some people think your performance in Behind Desire was just natural acting, not true acting. Do you know what the best response is?”
“I do. The box office for No One is Better Than You can’t flop.”
“...” Wen Di also laughed. That was so real.
Yin Ziyu told Wen Di not to worry. Zhang Qiaoyu’s influence on her was no longer that great.
Although sometimes she still felt sad and cried a few times at night, the next day when she read the lines for No One is Better Than You and saw the small courtyard and the simple life of Mr. and Mrs. Huang downstairs, her pain was healed little by little.
“Boss Wen, did you and Mr. Yan decorate all the things in that house?”
“Yeah.”
“No wonder. The prop masters said it saved them a lot of work.”
Yin Ziyu knew Yan Heyu was in Jiangcheng and asked casually, “Is Mr. Yan spending the New Year at your house too?”
“He’s not.”
“Oh.”
Yin Ziyu was a little confused. Was Yan Heyu spending the New Year alone?
Confusion was one thing, but she didn’t pry into her boss’s private life.
The Wen family had never been this lively before. There weren’t enough parking spaces in the courtyard, so later cars had to park on the street in front of the gate.
The living room sofas were moved to the side, and four dining tables were set up.
With so many chairs, it seemed like one more person, Yan Heyu, wouldn’t be a lot. For some reason, Yin Ziyu had this thought. She hoped her boss would also be happy in love.
Yan Heyu didn’t call Wen Di today, afraid she was too busy to reply, and afraid that he would get greedy and want to see her.
If they met, he might even want to spend New Year’s Eve together.
People are always insatiable, so it was better not to contact her.
He ate his New Year’s Eve dinner alone, just a few simple dishes that Fan Zhisen had brought over from his home.
Wen Di was busy greeting people and didn’t have time to call Yan Heyu.
Her big and little cousins were having New Year’s Eve dinner there this year and brought her two boxes of chocolates.
Her big cousin said, “I’m not giving you flowers this year.”
Because someone else was giving them to her.
“Why didn’t I get any chocolate?” Wen Qizhen protested with a laugh. “I’m a single person of a certain age, the one in the family who should be most taken care of.”
Her big cousin said, “Didn’t I give you flowers?”
Wen Qizhen teased her son. “I suddenly want to eat chocolate.”
She had said she didn’t want chocolate before, but now she did. Her mind changed every day. Next time, he couldn’t believe her when she said she didn’t want something. He still had to buy it. “Then on Mother’s Day, I’ll order you some sugar-free ones.”
“...”
The others burst out laughing.
Her big cousin realized he had said the wrong thing. It was probably because his mother often told her to eat less sugar at her age and watch out for high blood pressure, and it had been ingrained in his mind.
During dinner, Wen Di sat next to Shen Tang, with her second aunt on her left. They didn’t get to chat much, as they were constantly toasting and running from one table to another, with little time to sit down and eat.
“Aren’t you drinking red wine?” Wen Qizhen noticed her niece’s cup was filled with water.
Wen Di smiled. “No.”
She didn’t hide it from her second aunt. “After dinner, I want to go see him.”
She still couldn’t bear the thought of Yan Heyu spending New Year’s Eve alone. The lively atmosphere at home only made his place seem more desolate.
Wen Qizhen rubbed her niece’s head. Even now, she didn’t say much to her niece. She didn’t guide or persuade her, but respected and supported all of her niece’s decisions.
“Then tomorrow, your aunt will have a drink with you.”
“Okay.”
Shen Tang handed the two kids over to Jiang Chengyu. She picked out some food for Wen Di. “I haven’t seen you touch your chopsticks tonight.”
Wen Di gave an excuse. “I filled up on snacks.”
“Just eat a little bit.” Shen Tang used a serving chopstick to feed her a bite.
Jiang Chengyu’s table was getting loud and filled with laughter.
“What are they doing?” Wen Di asked.
“They’re playing a finger-guessing game. The loser has to clean up the table and wash the dishes.”
“Who lost?”
“Jiang Chengyu and Tan Moxing both lost. Zhou Mingqian is still holding on, but he’ll lose eventually.” Shen Tang wanted to say that if Yan Heyu were here, Jiang Chengyu would have a companion to do the chores, but she swallowed the words before they came out.
The dinner lasted until 10:30 PM. Everyone helped with the cleanup. Jiang Chengyu and Tan Moxing were in charge of putting the plates and bowls into the dishwasher.
There were so many dishes, it was hard to tell when they would be done.
Tan Moxing tied on an apron and rolled up his sleeves. “I’ll wash them by hand. It’ll be faster than the dishwasher.”
Zhou Mingqian also joined in the dishwashing.
The house was cleaned up an hour later. The annual tradition was to play mahjong after dinner, so they cleared the dining tables, set up the mahjong table, and prepared to play all night.
“Didi, aren’t you leaving yet?” Wen Qizhen looked at her watch and hurried her niece.
“I’m leaving now.” Wen Di said goodbye to Zhou Mingqian and the others, telling them to make themselves at home. The house had five guest rooms, so they could rest whenever they felt sleepy.
Zhou Mingqian saw her grabbing her coat. “Are you going out this late?”
“Yeah, I’m going out for a bit.” Even though she didn’t say where she was going, everyone knew.
“How can you drive if you’ve been drinking?”
“I haven’t.”
Wen Di grabbed her bag and rushed out. Just as she got to the courtyard, her mother called out behind her, “Didi, wait a minute.”
“Mom, why did you come out?” Wen Di pulled her coat tighter, exhaling clouds of steam.
Zhao Yueling handed her an insulated tote bag. “You didn’t eat much tonight. This has frozen dumplings in it. Your grandma made these especially for Jiang Chengyu, and she made some extra. Go over and cook some to eat.”
Wen Di hugged her mother. “Thanks, Mom.”
“We’re family. Don’t mention it. Hurry up and go. Be careful on the road.”
“It’s fine. His place is only ten minutes away. The roads are full of cars, so it’ll be okay.”
There was another fireworks display about to start. This year’s was ten minutes longer than in previous years, from 11:40 PM to 12:10 AM. Many young people were driving to see the large fireworks show at midnight.
Not far from her grandpa’s villa complex, the fireworks soared into the sky.
Driving through a series of magnificent fireworks, Wen Di arrived at the entrance of Yan Heyu’s villa at 11:53 PM. She took out her phone to call him. Yan Heyu answered instantly, as if he had been waiting for her call the whole time.
The first thing he said was, “I thought you’d forgotten.”
“Open the gate.”
“Where are you?”
“Open the gate.”
Yan Heyu was stunned for half a second. He couldn’t believe she had come to see him in the middle of the night.
“Don’t hang up.” He grabbed his coat and rushed out the door.
Yan Heyu used the remote to open the main gate. The black SUV slowly drove in, and the headlights were blinding, so he looked away.
Wen Di unbuckled her seatbelt and pushed the car door open. He had already walked to the car.
Yan Heyu grabbed her arm and pulled her into his arms. “Why did you come?”
Wen Di looked straight at him. Under the fireworks, his profile was illuminated red.
Yes, why had she come?
Because she was thinking of him.
And because she missed him.
But she didn’t say anything.
She just looked at him.
It was midnight. The words “Happy New Year” lit up the sky, followed by two letters, “I” and “U,” with a heart connecting them in the middle.
On this special occasion at midnight, this form of expressing “I love you” didn’t seem out of place.
The young couples watching the fireworks tonight were very pleasantly surprised by this year’s declaration of love.
This new year was also their eighth year together.
All the difficulties they had faced in between were just a show for outsiders. All the ups and downs, all the struggles and pain, were only known to themselves.
Yan Heyu reached out and wiped the tears from her face. Like her, he couldn’t say anything. He rested his forehead against hers, and soon, his tears mixed with hers.
A tear rolled down her lips. It was very salty.
He said in a low voice, “Happy New Year.”
Wen Di nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Yan Heyu opened his coat and wrapped it around her, lowering his head to kiss the tears from her face.
The fireworks continued. They didn’t go inside. They embraced and kissed in the courtyard.
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