Extra Story I (First Meeting)

The day Wen Di met Yan Heyu was the day before Christmas Eve. That evening, CEO Yin was the host. Her first work, Late Fisherman, had just concluded, and it was a huge success in both ratings and reputation. The female lead, Zhao Yuwan, had especially gained a large number of drama fans.

CEO Yin’s dinner was to celebrate the success of the show he had invested in, and he invited her to come along.

She didn’t want to go at first and had already come up with a reason to turn it down. She told Qu Pei that she could just say she had to prepare for final exams and was too busy.

Qu Pei: “I’m the one who mentioned to CEO Yin that he should have you at a dinner sometime so you can get to know more people in the industry.”

With other social gatherings, you couldn’t be sure what kind of people you’d encounter and whether you’d be forced to drink, but a dinner hosted by CEO Yin himself wouldn’t have a toxic atmosphere.

“CEO Yin is your patron. He called you personally. It wouldn’t be good to refuse.”

CEO Yin had decided to invest in the show because he genuinely liked the script after reading it. He had put a lot of effort into casting, filming, and production, which was why Late Fisherman was so successful.

Wen Di couldn’t refuse again and arrived on time.

She had interacted with CEO Yin a few times and had a good impression of him.

The dinner was at the Evergreen Hotel, not far from her apartment. Qu Pei still arranged for a driver to pick her up and drop her off.

When Wen Di arrived at the private room, she realized she was the last one there, even though she had arrived more than twenty minutes early.

Before she could apologize, CEO Yin smiled and said, “You’re not late. It’s just that Mr. Yan had a meeting nearby this afternoon. We came early to play cards after the meeting was over.”

At the time, she didn’t know Yan Heyu’s name. She vaguely guessed that the “Mr. Yan” CEO Yin was talking about was the man sitting across from him, who had a strong presence and an arrogant demeanor.

He had his shirt sleeves rolled up twice and was shuffling the cards.

CEO Yin introduced her to them. “This is the screenwriter of Late Fisherman, Wen Di. She’s still in college and is a junior I admire very much.”

Yan Heyu looked up and glanced at Wen Di. She was greeting others, and he didn’t say anything.

After putting down the cards, CEO Yin offered him a cigarette, but he didn’t take it and just put it aside.

After saying her hellos, Wen Di found a chair and sat down.

A message came in on her phone. Shen Tang’s message was regretful: [Xiao Dizi, I have a job to do tomorrow, so I can’t have a big dinner with you. I’ll make it up to you with two dinners when I get back (hugs). Three is fine, too.]

She and Shen Tang had planned to spend Christmas together, but Shen Tang was working out of town and couldn’t make it back.

Wen Di comforted Shen Tang, telling her to get back in touch when she was done. [I can eat two servings by myself tomorrow night (smug smirk).]

Shen Tang: [With how slow you eat, if you try to eat two servings, I’m afraid you won’t finish before the restaurant closes.]

Wen Di sent several dog-head emojis.

CEO Yin’s card game ended, and he invited everyone to sit down for dinner.

There were only three women at the dinner tonight. Wen Di sat next to the other two. She was the youngest. The other two women’s children were already in middle school, and they were both strong career women who owned their own businesses.

It wasn’t until she was sitting down that Wen Di learned that the “Mr. Yan” was Yan Heyu. He was sitting next to CEO Yin, diagonally across from her.

CEO Yin asked Yan Heyu for his preference. “Mr. Yan, what would you like to drink? Liquor or red wine?”

Yan Heyu said, “Either is fine for me. Ask the ladies what they’d like to drink, red wine or juice.”

CEO Yin looked at them. “How about we get you both red wine and juice? You can drink whatever you want. This is a gathering with Mr. Yan, so feel free. If you’re not a good drinker, don’t force yourself. He won’t mind if you toast him with plain water.”

Wen Di’s good impression of Yan Heyu started with that sentence from CEO Yin. Because of it, she specifically glanced at him, and he just happened to be looking in her direction, their eyes meeting unexpectedly.

She pretended to be unconcerned, remaining calm. Without averting her gaze, she spoke to the waiter who was behind him. “Could I get a glass of corn juice, please? Thank you.”

“Of course. Just a moment.”

Yan Heyu looked away and took a sip from the water glass in front of him. He hadn’t noticed that a waiter was near him.

Wen Di didn’t look over there again. The person next to her started a conversation. They said they had watched Late Fisherman and hadn’t forgotten to keep up with it even during a business trip.

Later, she and Yan Heyu interacted again when he took the initiative to toast her.

“Screenwriter Wen, congratulations.”

He was congratulating her on her first show achieving such great results. Wen Di raised her glass. “Thank you, Mr. Yan.”

Yan Heyu didn’t just toast her. He had also just toasted the other two women.

He drank the wine in his glass in one go. Wen Di also finished the wine in her glass, put her glass down, and glanced at him again. Yan Heyu was speaking to CEO Yin.

His profile was the most handsome she had ever seen, and his front view was even better.

Wen Di quietly looked away and lowered her head to eat.

The main purpose of CEO Yin’s dinner party tonight, under the pretense of a celebration, was to connect one of his friends with Yan Heyu. The others were just invited along to liven things up.

Towards the end of the night, exchanging contact information was the top priority.

Yan Heyu gave CEO Yin face tonight. He opened his QR code and handed his phone over, letting them scan it themselves.

After two people scanned the QR code, others who also wanted to add Yan Heyu’s contact information passed the phone around. Except for Wen Di, everyone else was in the business world, and they couldn’t miss this rare opportunity to build connections, so they all added him.

Only Wen Di continued to eat her food, completely unconcerned with all of this.

Even though she felt that Yan Heyu’s ability and looks met her expectations for a future boyfriend, a man like Yan Heyu, who was praised to the heavens by others, would probably never humble himself to pursue someone.

And there was no way she would ever pursue anyone.

So, why bother adding his contact information?

Even if she did, he should be the one to add her, not the other way around.

The phone was returned to Yan Heyu a few minutes later. He glanced at Wen Di out of the corner of his eye. She was still eating.

“Would you like more corn juice?” a waiter asked quietly, seeing there wasn’t much left in her glass.

Wen Di looked up, smiling. “Half a glass more, please. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” The waiter added half a glass of corn juice for her.

“Screenwriter Wen.” A magnetic voice interrupted her conversation with the waiter.

Wen Di looked over. It was Yan Heyu calling her name.

Yan Heyu looked at her, and said apologetically, “I’m sorry. I accidentally hit ‘decline.’ Let me add you again.” He handed his phone to Assistant Kang.

Kangbo held his boss’s phone and walked over to Wen Di.

Wen Di: “?”

She hadn’t added him.

She hadn’t even received an add request, so how could he have declined it? Was he imagining things?

There was another possibility: he was looking for an excuse to add her.

It must be that.

Kangbo had already opened the “scan” feature on his boss’s phone and was waiting for Wen Di to open her QR code.

Wen Di took out her phone and let Assistant Kang scan it.

Kangbo was familiar with Wen Di’s profile picture. She used the same one on her social media, and Wen Di’s account was already in his boss’s list of people he followed.

________________________________________

That evening, Wen Di received a message from Yan Heyu. She had just finished a bath and was lying in bed after coming back from the dinner.

He asked: [Home yet?]

Wen Di looked at his chat box, and a very strange feeling welled up, something she couldn’t quite describe.

She lay on her stomach on the pillow and replied to his message with just two words and a punctuation mark: [Yes.]

Yan Heyu: [When did you get there?]

[A while ago.]

A long moment passed without a response from his side.

Just as Wen Di was starting to think he wouldn’t reply, Yan Heyu said: [With anyone else, I would’ve ended this conversation.]

It was her fault for giving such short answers.

Wen Di: [Then I’ll save this conversation now.]

Yan Heyu: “...”

A sudden silence fell.

Wen Di: [The ‘conversation’ is pretty much revived. You can keep it going now.]

Yan Heyu: “...”

[Has anyone ever died of anger from talking to you?]

Wen Di laughed. [That’s why I’m usually quiet when I eat and don’t talk much, to avoid choking people.]

The mention of eating made Yan Heyu think of tonight’s dinner. [You’re playing hard to get, just to add contact info.]

She was being wronged. Wen Di said: [I never intended to ‘get’ anyone. You’re the king of the jungle, and I can’t ‘get’ you. I just want to be a happy little fox.]

Yan Heyu didn’t understand and asked her what she meant.

Wen Di explained: [The fox exploiting the tiger’s might. And I don’t need to deceive the tiger; he’s letting me do it on his own free will.]

Yan Heyu: [High standards. Get some sleep.]

Wen Di replied with “Mmm,” ending the chat.

She exited the chat and turned off the lights.

Tonight felt a little surreal. She had just met Yan Heyu, and he had taken the initiative to message her. But it was also clear that he was used to his high-and-mighty position. Taking the initiative to add her and asking if she had gotten home were things he likely saw as humbling himself.

In any case, she wasn’t going to be the one to start a conversation with him.