#73 (The Clouds Part to Reveal the Moon)

On the fourth day of their official reconciliation, Yan Heyu and Wen Di ended their New Year trip to Jiangcheng and returned to Beijing with Wen Wen.

As soon as they got home and put down their luggage, Wen Di received a call from Yan Heyan, inviting her to dinner that night. Heyan didn’t forget to remind her to bring her brother-in-law along.

The dinner was at a private kitchen restaurant in a hutong, only two or three hundred meters away from the second-hand bookstore.

The second-hand bookstore had opened for business yesterday and was holding a buy-one-get-one-free promotion during the New Year.

Before going to the restaurant, Wen Di went to the bookstore to see the owner, Mr. Zhuang. The store had a lot of people. Every reading table had two or three people, and a store clerk was watering the succulents on the tables.

Seeing her and Yan Heyu enter one after the other, the clerk quickly put down the watering can and came over to greet them. “The owner is in the study. He’s been organizing the bookshelves every day recently.”

Wen Di told the clerk to get back to their work, and she and Yan Heyu went to find Mr. Zhuang.

Mr. Zhuang was using a feather duster to dust the bookshelves. Seeing them, he waved his hand. “Go to the tea room. It’s dusty in here.”

He carefully climbed down from the stool, used a wet towel to dust himself off, and then wiped his hands before going to the tea room. “When did you get back?”

He knew they had gone back to Jiangcheng.

Yan Heyu said, “Two hours ago.”

Mr. Zhuang was about to make them coffee, but Yan Heyu stopped him, saying they would be leaving soon.

Wen Di brought a bouquet of sunflowers and placed them on the tea table.

Mr. Zhuang looked at the sunflowers, feeling inexplicably pleased. He smiled and said, “You two have finally made up.” Last year, they had each bought a bouquet of sunflowers and looked distant.

Wen Di just smiled without saying anything, then changed the subject. “Mr. Zhuang, how many more bookshelves do you have left to organize? I’ll come over tomorrow to help you.”

Mr. Zhuang: “No, no. I have nothing to do. The film crew said they’re going to film here in April, so I’m just cleaning up.”

They chatted for a while about the filming progress of No One is Better Than You. Wen Di had to rush off to have dinner with Yan Heyan, so after half an hour in the store, they said goodbye.

After they left, Mr. Zhuang stood up, holding onto the armrest of the sofa, and moved the bouquet of flowers to his desk, where they were bathed in the glow of the setting sun.

He always remembered the scene from after the New Year last year when the two young people came to see him, standing by the desk and looking at the same book. It was like an ink painting.

If they could capture that in a movie, it would be very artistic.

________________________________________

Leaving the bookstore, Yan Heyu naturally offered his hand to Wen Di.

Wen Di glanced at him, then took his hand.

His hand was warm, and her fingers were cold. It was perfect for warming her hands.

The car was parked on another road, and they walked to the restaurant.

As they passed the car, Yan Heyu deliberately glanced at his vehicle. He still remembered the year they broke up, when she came to the store to look for books, and he waited in his car for several hours until it got dark before she came out.

At that time, she was with Qi Mingche. She was carrying books and talking on the phone with him as she walked. Her shadow, cast by the streetlights, fell on him as she passed by.

Today, the sun hadn’t set yet, and the last rays of light also cast her shadow on him.

What was different from that day was that there was no car window between them anymore. He held her hand, and her shadow stayed on him.

At the restaurant, Heyan was already waiting for them.

It was not yet dinner time, so they were the first customers.

Heyan had been playing with friends for a few days and had just returned that afternoon. She hadn’t eaten well on the high-speed train and was looking forward to this meal.

She looked at Yan Heyu with a half-smile. “Well, isn’t this a new beginning for the new year? Even the clothes are new.”

Yan Heyu: “...Speak properly. Don’t be so sarcastic.”

Wen Di had witnessed the friction between the siblings before and was used to it.

Heyan’s expression immediately returned to normal when she looked at Wen Di. She handed the menu to Wen Di. “Sister-in-law, they have new dishes. Take a look.”

These two siblings, one was better at setting traps than the other. She was already calling her sister-in-law. Wen Di took the menu she handed her and looked at it carefully.

Yan Heyu reached over with his long arm, took his sister’s glass, and poured her some lemon water. Heyan looked a little more pleasant at this moment.

Heyan gently blew on the lemon water, seemingly making small talk. “Brother, did your daughter get fat over the New Year?”

“No, Wen Wen is disciplined and doesn’t overeat.”

“When can you bring Wen Wen over to play at home?”

“Ask your sister-in-law.”

Wen Di: “...”

They were working in perfect harmony.

Heyan kicked the ball back to Yan Heyu. “Then you and sister-in-law can discuss it at home. I’m not busy for the first half of the year and have weekends off. I’ll be home whenever you decide to come.”

Wen Di ordered the dishes, handed the menu back to Heyan, and invited her to bring Yanyan to her villa when the weather got warmer. The lawn in the yard was big enough for the two cats to play on.

“We absolutely have to. Yanyan really likes her sister. Once they get used to each other’s scent, they probably won’t fight anymore.”

Heyan ordered two more dishes, submitted the order, and waited for the food to arrive.

She was treating them to dinner today, first, to congratulate her brother on getting her approval, and second, to congratulate Wen Di on her show’s success and celebrate in advance.

She hadn’t stopped watching the show while she was out playing for the last few days and would rewatch the exciting parts.

“Sister-in-law, did you and my brother watch the show?”

Wen Di: “Yes, we watched this one from the beginning. We haven’t missed a single episode.”

“Are there any other shows you haven’t watched?”

“...Yes.” Heyan was always able to pinpoint the key points in her words. She hadn’t finished the TV version of No One is Better Than You and still hadn’t watched it to this day.

Heyan didn’t ask which show she hadn’t watched. She tilted her chin towards her brother. “You should find time to watch some shows with your sister-in-law.”

The food arrived, and they ate and chatted.

Heyan noticed that Wen Di would put the dishes she didn’t want to eat on her brother’s plate, and he would eat them all without leaving a single bite, without any of the usual “I don’t eat food from other people’s plates” taboo.

Yan Heyu asked Wen Di, “Do you want some beer?”

Wen Di shook her head. “Should I get two cans for you?”

“Sure. Two dark beers.”

“What about you, Heyan?” Wen Di asked.

“I’ll have one too.”

Wen Di turned to call the waiter. Yan Heyu looked at her profile. Before they officially got back together, when he asked her if she wanted to drink, she would just shake her head and not say anything more.

But now, she would ask if he wanted a drink.

The waiter quickly brought three cans of beer. Heyan opened one, poured half into a glass, and left the other half in the can. She toasted herself.

Her brother had finally seen the moon after the clouds parted, and she had fulfilled her duty.

________________________________________

Wen Di didn’t drink alcohol. She drove back, with Yan Heyu in the passenger seat.

As they passed a pharmacy, Yan Heyu asked her to pull over.

Wen Di hadn’t noticed the pharmacy at first and thought he needed something. She slowly pulled over in a spot where it was allowed to park.

“What’s wrong?”

“To buy some condoms. There are only a few left at home.”

“...You remember that so clearly.” She opened the car door. “From now on, use them sparingly. Is this what all the pocket money I gave you goes toward?”

Yan Heyu unbuckled his seatbelt. “The little bit of pocket money you give me isn’t enough to buy them.”

As he opened the car door, Wen Di grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “Wait a minute. What do you mean, ‘that little bit of pocket money’?”

Yan Heyu sat back down. The wind outside was cold, and he was afraid she’d get cold, so he closed the car door first and said in a joking tone, “Mr. Huang on the first floor gives his kid more pocket money than I get.”

Wen Di laughed. “You’ve really come a long way, comparing yourself to a kid.” She put her hands on his shoulders. “How much pocket money do you want?”

Yan Heyu: “It’s up to you. Your card is with me. You can just use that if it’s not enough.” He looked at her intently. “Shouldn’t you spend some of my money too? You have four of my cards, and you haven’t used any of them.”

Wen Di nodded. “I’ll spend it right now.” She unbuckled her seatbelt and told him to wait in the car. She got out and went straight to the pharmacy.

A few minutes later, she came out with a bag of stuff.

“Here. I bought these with your card.” Wen Di closed the car door and put the bag of condoms in his lap. “These should last a year. You don’t have to buy any more.”

Yan Heyu turned his face away, laughing. He put the bag on the back seat.

It was going to be difficult to get her to spend his money, so he’d have to go back to the old way of buying her gifts in bulk and piling them up, waiting for her to get bored and open them to pass the time.

Back at home, Behind Desire had already been on for half an episode. Wen Di turned on the TV, staring at the screen while taking off her coat.

Yan Heyu poured a glass of warm water and put it on the coffee table. Wen Di turned up the volume and rushed to wash her hands before coming back.

Even though she used warm water, her hands were still cold. She sat sideways on Yan Heyu’s lap, putting her hands on his neck to warm them, her eyes fixed on the TV.

The most exciting part of the episode was playing.

Tan Moxing was on the phone with Gu Heng. “Thank you for helping me get that piece of land.”

Gu Heng had previously given Tan Moxing a big order, a tempting bait. Tan Moxing had taken the order and built a new production line.

Building a new production line required land and equipment, and the investment was huge. It not only drained the company’s savings from all these years but also required them to mortgage and take out a large loan from the bank.

Once the market shrank, they would face overcapacity, and the investment would be lost, causing a break in the capital chain and leaving the company struggling with huge debt.

One of the board members was firmly against this plan, believing that Tan Moxing was blinded by short-term profits and was expanding recklessly.

But his opposition was useless; Tan Moxing went ahead anyway.

After getting the land and starting to build the factory, the company’s two biggest clients suddenly withdrew, willing to pay the penalty for breach of contract to cancel their orders.

The two big clients were the same ones who had given Tan Moxing the big orders in the first place.

After losing such large clients, with the factory half-built, stopping or continuing would both result in a loss.

Unknowingly, he had lost his competitiveness against Gu Heng.

However, Tan Moxing was not as flustered as everyone had imagined. He was unperturbed and called Gu Heng, thanking him for helping him acquire the land for the factory.

He had long intended to relocate the factory but had been unable to secure the piece of land he wanted after multiple negotiations.

When Gu Heng tried to trap him, he used the trap against him, intending to build a factory on that land under the pretense of building a new production line. To make him fall into the trap, Gu Heng secretly helped him resolve the issues, allowing him to successfully acquire the land.

Tan Moxing: “I’m not building a new production line; I’m relocating the entire factory. The old factory site is a goldmine that many people want to buy from me. I was just having trouble finding a suitable location. This time, you’ve helped me a lot.”

He had also made a fortune from those big orders, so it didn’t matter whether he had them now or not.

Gu Heng chuckled. “Do you know what you lost?”

Tan Moxing didn’t say anything, and the phone fell silent.

He had lost Yin Ziyu because he hadn’t fully trusted her. He hadn’t told her the truth and had used her as a pawn.

Yin Ziyu had been cultivated by Gu Heng. Later, she resigned and joined Tan Moxing’s camp because of her feelings for him. Gu Heng had lost a capable assistant.

So this time, he hadn’t won, and Tan Moxing hadn’t won either. Yin Ziyu would completely break up with Tan Moxing.

This episode ended.

Yan Heyu looked at Wen Di. “Do you know what stage I’m at with Xiao Donghan?”

Wen Di was confused. “What are you talking about?”

“The orders.”

“...”

In reality, although Chairman Liu had planned to expand the production line, it was just a plan. It had only been approved by the board and was far from being implemented.

Yan Heyu told Wen Di: “Merit Company is throwing bait at Huayuan Industrial. With my reminder, Chairman Liu saw the hook behind the bait and didn’t fall for it. Xiao Donghan was afraid of alerting us, so he took the bait off the hook and threw it at Chairman Liu. You’d be a fool not to take it.”

Wen Di: “...And now?”

Yan Heyu: “Merit Company has thrown out a second bait. Chairman Liu is still very cautious, so they took the hook off again. After eating the second hook-less bait, the other side won’t throw out a third one unconditionally.”

“So Chairman Liu proposed expanding the production line to confuse them, making them think he was only looking at the profits and forgetting the risks?”

“Yes. He probably won’t get a third one, but he’s going to make sure he gets to eat the second one.”

Wen Di felt that Xiao Donghan wouldn’t be unable to figure out Chairman Liu’s intentions beforehand. “Why would he be so generous as to throw out a second bait without a hook?”

Yan Heyu used the remote control to lower the TV volume.

“Because he only owned a third of the bait. The other two-thirds belonged to Xiao Zhengtao.” After losing twice, Xiao Zhengtao wouldn’t be foolish enough to throw out a third one.

Everyone in the Xiao family had witnessed the competition between Xiao Ning Group and Huayuan Industrial and the price Xiao Donghan had paid, and how many overseas projects he had exchanged with the Jiang family for benefits. No one would suspect that Xiao Donghan had other motives.

After all, it was for the benefit of the entire group. Xiao Zhengtao couldn’t be a miser. For the exchange with Merit Company, Xiao Zhengtao had shown two-thirds of the sincerity.

Xiao Donghan would rather give all the benefits to him to make Xiao Zhengtao lose two-thirds of the benefits. Xiao Donghan could tolerate a competitor getting temporary benefits, but he would never allow a member of the Xiao family to become too powerful. He would seize any opportunity to cut into the Xiao family’s interests.

“This time, the Merit Company order is being followed up by Jiang Yunxing. Even if the profits are ultimately damaged, Jiang Yunxing will take the blame for Xiao Donghan, and Xiao Zhengtao will have to suffer in silence.”

Yan Heyu leaned over and got her a glass of water from the coffee table.

Wen Di asked, “Does Jiang Yunxing know she’s being used?”

“She probably knows by now, but she doesn’t care. After all, Xiao Donghan gave her family all the benefits they were owed, so she’s not the one losing out, and Xiao Zhengtao can’t do anything about her.”

Wen Di drank a few sips of water. In the show, no one had won.

In reality, except for Xiao Zhengtao, no one had lost. Xiao Donghan seemed to have been at a disadvantage in the market competition, but he used Yan Heyu to deal with his uncle, ensuring his absolute advantage within the Xiao Ning Group.

________________________________________

After watching the second episode, Wen Di went to take a bath.

Yin Ziyu sent Wen Di a message. [Boss Wen, I heard I’m going to get somewhere tomorrow night and turn into a villain (dog head to save my life).]

In the second episode tonight, Yin Ziyu broke up with Tan Moxing. When they filmed that scene, she had cried uncontrollably.

Wen Di: [Didn’t you say you weren’t watching the show?]

Yin Ziyu: [Tan Moxing made me watch it, to see how badly I cried. I just watched a clip. Gotta go. I still have lines to memorize.]

Wen Di smiled without saying much and wished her good night.

As soon as she put down her phone, there was a knock on the bathroom door.

There was a dark shadow on the glass door. “Wen Di, I’m coming in.”

Yan Heyu pushed the door open, holding half a glass of red wine.

Wen Di had a few rose petals on her face. There was one right in the middle of her eyebrows and a few on her chest. She looked down and picked one off. “What are you doing? I didn’t say you could come in. I’m not drinking.”

Yan Heyu put the wine glass on the shelf. “You used to drink red wine every time you took a bath.”

After putting down the wine glass, he went to get her pajamas.

He placed the pajamas and a bath towel on the shelf nearby and squatted in front of the bathtub.

Wen Di lay back, resting her head on the bath pillow.

Yan Heyu picked a rose petal out of the water. It was wet, and he gently placed it on her eyebrow.

Wen Di: “...”

She abruptly took her arm out of the water and tapped him twice.

The water dripping from her arm wet his shirt.

Yan Heyu smiled faintly and stopped teasing her. He stood up and took a towel to wipe his shirt. “Don’t soak for too long.” He went to the study to work overtime.

After her bath, Wen Di put on a face mask and applied her creams. Yan Heyu was still busy.

She had slept on the plane and wasn’t sleepy now, so she went to the study to find a book to read.

Yan Heyu was sitting at the desk looking at emails. He wasn’t in a chair, but had brought a stool from downstairs, one without a backrest.

In the study at their old villa, he had also kept a stool. When she was reading in the study, he would move the chair aside and use the stool, making it easy for her to lean on him.

Wen Di pulled a book from the shelf, first placing it on the corner of the desk. She pressed against his back, wrapped her arms around his neck, and rubbed her cheek against his.

Yan Heyu was holding the mouse in his right hand, suddenly unsure of what to click.

He firmly held her arm with his left hand, afraid she would suddenly stand up straight. “Don’t read tonight.” He just wanted her to lean on him a little longer.