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Wen Di and Yan Heyu’s contact was sporadic. He was busy with year-end meetings and social obligations, and she was busy with exams. Neither had much time.
One afternoon, he called her and said he was back from his business trip, asking if she had finished her exams.
Wen Di was sitting in the study on the second floor of her grandparents’ house, reading. “I’m home. I finished two days ago.”
“At your apartment?”
“No, I went back to my hometown.”
“Where is your hometown?”
“Jiangcheng.”
Yan Heyu had heard of Jiangcheng but had never been there.
He wasn’t in the habit of chatting on the phone for a long time, but because it was her, he said a few extra words. If he were to hang up directly, she would accuse him of being perfunctory.
“What are you doing?”
“Reading.”
“Didn’t go out to have fun?”
“I went to the old street this morning. It’s one of the fun places in our Jiangcheng.”
She had made a wish at the wishing tree on the old street. She wondered if it would come true.
It must have, because she had just finished making her wish in the morning, and he called her in the afternoon.
Yan Heyu had just returned to his office and was unbuttoning his shirt with one hand. “You go back to your reading. I have a meeting in half an hour, so I need to prepare.”
Before he could hang up, she called out, “Yan Heyu.”
Yan Heyu was slightly taken aback. “You’re not calling me Mr. Yan anymore?”
“Mr. Yan doesn’t sound good.”
“What is it?”
Wen Di asked, “Do you talk to anyone else like this, besides me?” She needed to confirm, and she wanted him to be clear about his intentions.
She wasn’t naive and knew there must be people pursuing him.
Yan Heyu: “Just you. Anything else you want to ask?”
“No. Then you can court me now. Put in some effort. I’ll see how you do after two or three months.”
“...”
Yan Heyu had never courted anyone like that before and didn’t have that much time. He poured cold water on her. “Wen Di, you’re becoming more and more pushy with me.”
“Then do you allow it or not?”
“Go back to your reading. I’m busy.” Yan Heyu didn’t answer directly and ended the call.
Wen Di put down her phone and leaned back in her chair, her back to the warm floor-to-ceiling windows.
He felt like he was constantly accommodating her, even indulging her, but she felt it was far from enough.
The affection between them was just a superficial liking; it was still a long way from love.
Footsteps came from outside. Wen Di sat up straight and turned to look. It was her grandma, bringing her a fruit platter.
Grandma Wen saw her granddaughter’s face wreathed in smiles. “What’s making you so happy?”
She placed the fruit platter on the low table and sat down beside her.
Wen Di didn’t mention Yan Heyu. She just said, “The copyright money arrived today. The money for both screenplays is in my account.”
Grandma Wen was happy for her granddaughter. “Let’s celebrate properly tonight. Where do you want to eat?”
“It’s too cold. I don’t want to go out. Let’s just eat at home.”
“Then I’ll hire a chef to cook for you.” Grandma Wen forked a slice of pineapple and gave it to her granddaughter.
Wen Di ate the pineapple, a smile unconsciously spreading across her face.
Grandma Wen felt her granddaughter was so happy not because of the royalties. She had never seen her smile like this when she sold her first work, Late Fisherman.
She was probably in love.
________________________________________
The next time Wen Di received a message from Yan Heyu was on Lunar New Year’s Eve. At midnight, he sent her a message: [Happy New Year.]
This perfectly timed message made her feel that Yan Heyu was putting in some effort for her.
The living room at home was too noisy, so she went back upstairs to her room.
She planned to call him, but before she could dial, his number came in.
“Didn’t you see my message?” he asked.
“I did.”
He didn’t ask why she didn’t reply after seeing it. A sudden silence fell on the phone, as if he was waiting for her to explain.
“Yan Heyu, how many characters did you send me?”
“Didn’t you see the message?”
“I only received three characters: ‘Happy New.’ Another one got stuck on the way and probably hasn’t arrived yet. I’ve been waiting for all the characters to arrive before I reply to you.”
Yan Heyu laughed. “You’re first-rate at making up excuses.”
“I’m not making excuses. There are a lot of people at home, and it’s noisy.”
Yan Heyu understood. The reason it was so quiet on her end now was that she had gone back to her room. She had been in the living room earlier.
Wen Di: “Where are you now? It’s noisy where you are, too.”
“I’m at my maternal grandparents’ house.”
“Then find a quiet place to call me from.”
Yan Heyu was about to hang up the phone to go play mahjong at his friend’s house, but now she wanted to chat on the phone. He swallowed the words he was about to say, grabbed his car keys, and went out to the courtyard.
Wen Di heard the sound of a car starting. “Didn’t you drink tonight?”
Yan Heyu: “I did. I’m not driving.”
He had just started the car to turn on the air conditioner.
Wen Di locked her room door and curled up on the sofa, listening to his voice by her ear. It felt like he wasn’t far away.
“What do you want to talk about?” His voice came again.
Wen Di said, “Let’s talk about the ‘conversation’ I killed and then revived.”
“...Wen Di, just talk properly.”
“I am talking properly.”
Yan Heyu heard the hint of a playful, coy tone in her voice, or maybe he just wanted to hear her being a little coquettish with him.
He should have been playing mahjong at Jiang Chengyu’s house, but here he was, in his car, making small talk with her. This was already very unusual. It seemed he had a hard time refusing her every request.
“Yan Heyu, you have a bad temper.”
“This isn’t bad? You’ve never seen me when I have a bad temper.”
“You should change it.”
Yan Heyu didn’t reply.
“You don’t want to change, do you? It seems you’ve never been beaten up by someone like me.”
“...”
Yan Heyu smiled silently. He could never guess where her next sentence was going. He used to think that couples chatting on the phone was a waste of time because nine and a half out of ten sentences were nonsense. Her words were also nonsense, but they made him want to keep listening.
“Don’t just talk about me. Your temper isn’t much better. It’s even worse than mine.”
Wen Di didn’t deny it, but she was still annoyed. “You’re a grown man, and you’re trying to feel superior by criticizing me. How impressive.”
“...”
Besides his maternal grandfather, his parents, and his sister, she was the fifth person, and the only outsider, who had ever made a remark like that to him.
Strange. He wasn’t angry.
“When does your semester start?”
“Why?”
“Just asking.”
Wen Di blinked, thought about it, and said, “My semester starts late. But if someone misses me so much they can’t eat or sleep, I suppose I could go back two days early.”
She said it with a tone of condescension.
Yan Heyu, of course, heard the implied meaning in her words. “Then you’d better stay in Jiangcheng and not come over to annoy me.”
Wen Di said, “I’m actually busy. I can’t go back to Beijing early. I’m going to Shancheng after the New Year.”
Yan Heyu didn’t ask her what she was going for, and she didn’t say.
On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Wen Di boarded a flight to Shancheng.
She wanted to write a love story related to Shancheng. She had an initial idea and was coming here to find some inspiration.
She and Yan Heyu hadn’t had much contact these past few days. They would occasionally send a message. He had been busy with social engagements, or perhaps he was trying to put on airs, not wanting to lower his posture too much. He probably felt that his midnight New Year’s greeting was his greatest sincerity and concession and hoped she would take the initiative to contact him.
She wouldn’t.
She was busy.
On her second day in Shancheng, Wen Di went to explore a famous alley.
Around noon, her phone rang. The caller ID was “Yan Plays-Hard-To-Get.”
Yan Heyu’s first words were, “Where are you?”
“Shancheng. And you?”
“At the company.”
“You’re back to work today?”
“Yes. The overseas business unit doesn’t have a holiday, so I’m handling some things.”
He then asked her, “Where exactly are you? Can you help me pick up something?”
Wen Di told him her exact location and asked, “What do you want to buy? Do they sell it where I am?”
Yan Heyu: “You don’t need to buy it. Find a place nearby to sit and wait. I’ll have someone deliver it, and they’ll call you in a bit.”
There was a cafe behind Wen Di. She went inside, ordered a coffee, and sat down to rest after a morning of walking.
Twenty minutes later, her phone rang. It was a local Shancheng number.
After she answered, the person on the other end said, “Hello, is this Miss Wen?”
“Yes, it is.”
“A Mr. Yan asked me to deliver something to you. Where are you? I’ll come over. Don’t hang up. I’m nearby.”
Wen Di told him her address. She threw away her empty coffee cup, came out of the cafe, and saw a young man walking towards her holding a large bouquet of flowers.
After confirming it was her, the young man hung up the phone.
“Mr. Yan said, ‘I wish you all the best in the new year.’“
“Thank you.” Wen Di took the flowers from the young man.
It was a bouquet of pink roses and white lisianthus, wrapped together. It was fresh and beautiful.
Both flowers were ones she liked, but she especially loved the lisianthus.
She walked through the streets of Shancheng with the large bouquet in her arms, and people passing by kept turning to look.
In Wen Di’s mind, the framework for the love story related to Shancheng became clearer.
________________________________________
The week before her semester started, Wen Di received a message from Yan Heyu.
He said the Christmas apple she had given him was terrible and that she should put more thought into her gifts in the future.
It had been almost two months. Wen Di had almost forgotten about the small Christmas apple. [You actually ate it?]
Yan Heyu glanced at the mini-apple on the corner of his desk and replied: [Yeah.]
Wen Di: [That was a decorative mini-apple I was growing. I don’t know if it’s edible. Don’t blame me if you get a stomach ache.]
Yan Heyu: “...”
[Come over by high-speed train tomorrow morning.]
Wen Di: [Is something wrong?]
Yan Heyu: [Come with me to the hospital.]
Wen Di didn’t expect him to use her words as an excuse. [Are you really going to blame me?]
Yan Heyu was going for a checkup anyway, but he didn’t tell her the truth. [It’s better to get checked and be sure.] He asked her for her ID number to book her ticket.
Then he sent her his own ID number. [So you don’t say it’s not fair.]
Wen Di read it once and remembered his birth year.
She didn’t let him book her ticket and booked it herself, then sent him the train number.
On the day she left home, her grandma asked her if she was taking the dried bouquet of flowers.
She had brought the bouquet of pink roses and lisianthus from Shancheng back home. She told her grandma that she had bought the flowers specifically for inspiration and couldn’t bear to throw them away.
Her grandma believed her.
Or maybe she was half-believing, but she didn’t press the issue.
Grandma Wen said, “If you want to take it to Beijing, I’ll find a box to pack it in.”
Wen Di thought for a moment. “No, I’ll just leave it in my room.”
On the high-speed train, Yan Heyu texted her his license plate number and where he was parked.
Wen Di was still half an hour away from arriving. [You’re there so early?]
Yan Heyu: [Yeah. Got to give the little fox the proper welcome.]
Wen Di smiled and sent him a smug emoji.
She didn’t know if she was becoming more and more audacious with Yan Heyu. She didn’t think so, but Yan Heyu later said she wished she could dominate him.
Yan Heyu didn’t come to the exit to meet her; he sent the driver to help her with her suitcase.
Wen Di considered this to be his last bit of stubbornness.
Once in the car, Wen Di rubbed her hands together. It was really cold outside.
Yan Heyu glanced at her. “Couldn’t you have worn more clothes?”
Wen Di was wearing a new dress underneath her coat. A down jacket wouldn’t have looked good with it. The coat was stylish, but she was shivering.
Yan Heyu told the driver to drive to the hospital.
“Are you really going?”
“Why else would I have you come back?”
Yan Heyu closed his email and laptop, gesturing for her to check her calendar on her phone.
“I know what today’s date is,” Wen Di said, telling him to just get to the point.
Yan Heyu: “Mark this down. Starting today, three months.”
Wen Di feigned ignorance. “Three months for what?”
“Courting you. Three months, not a single day more.”
Later, he ended up courting her for three months and five days.
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