The atmosphere became awkward.
The thick broth in the pot was boiling and making bubbling sounds in the quiet space. The steam from the pot in front of her eyes was like a filter blurring Sang Yan’s eyes.
“I didn’t want to choose this major at first.” Wen Yifan looked down and casually said an excuse, “I wasn’t admitted into the major I wanted and got into new media instead.”
Upon hearing that, Sang Yan looked away and calmly took a sip of beer.
Sang Zhi looked at Sang Yan, then at Wen Yifan, and felt that the atmosphere was strange.
Wen Yifan seemed to be unaware of anything and continued, “But now it seems that the application is only submitted after the announcement of examination results. Then, you’ll know what to expect when you apply for a university.”
“Alright.” Sang Zhi obediently said, “Thanks, Sis Yifan.”
The topic was gradually diverted.
The previous small episode seemed to be ignored.
After dinner.
Sang Yan, who was the one who cooked, left after he was done eating and sat on the sofa like a prince scrolling through his phone.
Sang Zhi habitually wanted to head towards the living room at first, but she noticed Wen Yifan got up and began to clean the table. She stopped and went back to help her clean up.
Wen Yifan looked at her and smiled, “You can go and study, I got this.”
“It’s okay.” Sang Zhi smiled, “This won’t take too long.”
“Then could you help me to gather the vegetables together?”
“Alright.”
After half a minute.”
“Sis Yifan,” Sang Zhi whispered to her out of curiosity, “Can I ask you a question?”
“What?”
“If you don’t want to answer, you can just pretend like you didn’t hear what I said.” Sang Zhi was shy but she was curious because she couldn’t get any information from Sang Yan, “Were you in a relationship with my brother in the past?”
“……” Wen Yifan said, “No.”
Sang Zhi was not surprised to get a negative answer, “Because my parents said that my brother had dated someone during high school, and I remembered I once was lost when you were there, so I thought it was you.”
“……”
“So, he didn’t get to date you,” Sang Zhi gave it a thought and guessed, “Then he must have dated another….”
Sang Yan suddenly stood up before she could finish her sentence, “Little brat.”
Sang Zhi turned around, “What?”
“It’s time to go.” Sang Yan took his coat on the sofa and softly said, “I’m sending you back.”
Sang Zhi was not done gossiping yet, her expression became dull, “Can’t I stay here a little longer?”
“Aren’t you in a hurry to go back to do your exercises?” Sang Yan put on his coat, he only took the house keys because he had a drink, “Or was that just a brag?”
“……” Sang Zhi was forced to say to Wen Yifan, “Sis Yifan, let’s talk about this next time, I gotta go.”
Wen Yifan looked up, “Okay, take care.”
……
Sang Yan hailed a taxi when they were out of the neighborhood.
Sang Zhi went in the taxi first, she fastened her seat belt before asking, “Brother, why do I feel that your attitude towards Sis Yifan is not very good? Isn’t she nice? The way she speaks is gentle and kind.”
Sang Zhi met most of Sang Yan’s friends, but they were basically all men.
Almost all of them were talkative, childish and noisy when they were gathered together. Sang Yan’s attitude with them also didn’t seem pleasant. The way that he talked to them was extremely evil and snobbish, which made others want to pick a fight with him.
But the way he treated Wen Yifan was different.
It seemed like he was indifferent and ignoring her, even the way he talked was cold.
But Sang Zhi had never seen any girls around him before.
So, she didn’t know if that was his normal attitude.
“Is this your new way to court girls now?” Sang Zhi stared at his face and murmured, “But both of you are not on the same level judging by the appearance.”
Sang Yan glanced at her.
Sang Zhi sincerely suggested to him, “And Brother, girls won’t like your attitude.”
“……”
“Girls normally like gentle boys.” Sang Zhi gave it a thought and listed out with her fingers, “Good-tempered, attentive, not always ignoring people. It’s alright if the family background isn’t great…”
Sang Zhi remembered that Sang Yan had not started looking for a job after resigning for a long time, so she wanted to grab this opportunity to remind him, “You just have to work hard, don’t be an unemployed person that stays at home all day.”
Sang Yan finally spoke impatiently, “Is your ideal type Duan Jiaxu?”
“……”
Sang Zhi instantly shut her mouth.
They were silent all the way to the entrance of the neighborhood.
Sang Zhi got out of the car and saw Sang Yan was still in the taxi when she looked back. She was stunned and suspiciously asked, “Why aren’t you getting off?”
Sang Yan, “Go up by yourself.”
Sang Zhi realized something and asked in disbelief, “You’re not coming back home to sleep tonight?”
Sang Yan, “Yes.”
“Aren’t you afraid of Father and Mother breaking your legs?” Sang Zhi never thought he had a lion’s heart, “Then call them yourself, or they will surely ask me when they return home.”
Sang Yan tsked in disapproval, he didn’t even bother explaining, “Just help me to find an excuse.”
“……”
“I’m leaving.”
After cleaning up the table, Wen Yifan went back to her room.
Wen Yifan didn’t take a shower immediately, but she sat back at the desk and scrolled through her phone. She noticed that Zhao Yuandong had sent her several WeChat messages again. The content was similar to previous messages, she wanted Wen Yifan to take care of her own health when working overtime during Chinese New Year, and to go back and visit her after the holidays.
She replied: Okay.
After sending the message, Wen Yifan opened a new episode of a drama to watch.
She unknowingly got distracted.
She recalled what Sang Zhi had just said.
“Because my parents said that my brother had dated someone during high school.”
If she was not mistaken.
That ‘someone’ should be her.
During high school, teachers thought that they were dating. They had advised both of them about this, and their parents were even called. She remembered that it happened twice, during sophomore year and junior year respectively.
Wen Yifan’s thoughts were interrupted by a phone call.
She picked up the phone and heard Zhong Siqiao’s voice, “Are you going to work tomorrow?”
Wen Yifan, “Hmm.”
Zhong Siqiao, “Geez, we haven’t seen each other for days.”
Wen Yifan smiled, “It’s not like there’s no chance anymore.”
“Why are we living so far away from each other……” Zhong Siqiao continued to complain, “I visited relatives for days, it’s tiring and boring. They kept asking me if I’m dating someone, or if I want them to introduce me to someone, it seemed like they teamed up to ask me those questions.”
“How are you doing with your prince charming?”
“I felt it was almost time, but he never made any moves.” Zhong Siqiao was anxious, “Is he treating me as a back burner? Or does he want to confess to me on a meaningful day?”
“It doesn’t matter if you take the first move if you really like him. But you have to be certain about his personality…” Wen Yifan suddenly heard the sound of the door opening and closing at the entrance before she could finish her sentence, and she stopped.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I heard sounds in the living room.” Wen Yifan never thought that he would come back tonight, she casually said, “It should be Sang Yan.”
Zhong Siqiao was surprised, “Didn’t he go back home since the third day of Chinese New Year?”
Zhong Siqiao continued questioning without waiting for her to answer, “But I still feel strange when I hear that both of you are sharing a unit. After all, he once had feelings for you. There’s really nothing happening between both of you?”
Wen Yifan said honestly, “We didn’t even meet for many times.”
“Okay.” Zhong Siqiao said, “You’re right, since it has been so many years.”
Wen Yifan mentioned something when she mentioned her university days, “Qiaoqiao, did Xiang Lang originally plan to take the examination of Yihe University? I can’t recall anything about it.”
“Yes, but he only mentioned this several times when sophomore year just started.” Zhong Siqiao added, “Do you mean the truth he said during Truth or Dare when we went out? I wanted to roast him when he said that, but I still held it in.”
“……”
“He’s trying to pick a fight, that was deliberately said for Sang Yan. Both of them don’t get along with each other when they were in the same class during high school.” Zhong Siqiao smiled, “I forgot to tell you. This fool accidentally spilt the beans after sending you back. He said he was used to it and he didn’t know how many years had passed. He also felt that Sang Yan was indifferent now, he felt that he was uninteresting. Sang Yan used to mock him again and again when he said those kinds of words.”
“……”
Both of them had a chat for a while.
Wen Yifan got up when she hung up the phone.
She picked up her phone again when she wanted to go take a bath. She pressed her lips together and opened the WeChat chatbox with Sang Yan. She slowly typed: Previously Xiang Lang mentioned that he wanted to go to Yihe University with me.
She stared at the screen and stopped typing.
She didn’t know how long had passed.
Wen Yifan sighed and deleted the text message she had just typed.
Forget it.
It had been a long time since this incident happened.
It would seem weird if I mention it now.
Besides, she didn’t handle the incident properly.
It wouldn’t make any sense even if she wanted to explain now.
The short three-day holiday ended.
Wen Yifan continued her daily routine of going out for work after waking up and going to sleep after coming home from work. The slightly harmonious get along with Sang Yan seemed to disappear after the festivals.
They returned to their normal lives.
Both of them basically would meet every day.
But the times of them having conversations were few and far between.
However, Wen Yifan felt that it was not unpleasant getting along with him. At best, they didn’t bring their relationship any closer during this period of time, they had fulfilled their previous promise of not interfering with each others’ lives
February had unknowingly passed in a blink of an eye.
It seemed like the freezing cold was driven away by the coming spring overnight, and the temperature gradually increased.
Wen Yifan didn’t visit Zhao Yuandong during the previous Chinese New Year.
Zhao Yuandong had obviously increased the frequency of contacting her, probably because of that. She would talk to her every day, and the conversation would eventually end up being, “When are you free to visit your mother?”.
After a long time, Wen Yifan felt that it would be troublesome to delay her visit, so she simply decided to meet her and deal with this. Zhao Yuandong would probably not contact her as frequently as she does now.
Wen Yifan’s day off was the day after Arbor Day.
Wen Yifan took the subway to the address that was given by Zhao Yuandong that afternoon.
She could already see Zhao Yuandong when she arrived at the entrance of the neighborhood.
Zhao Yuandong was wearing a long dress, she had light makeup and her waist-length long hair was curled.
Time didn’t seem to leave any trace on her face. Her appearance didn’t change too much compared with a few years ago. She was ridiculously beautiful and had the charm of her age.
Wen Yifan’s appearance was mostly inherited by her.
Zhao Yuandong was stunned when she saw Wen Yifan, she immediately walked towards her. Her excitement between her eyes couldn’t be contained, but her movements were cautious. She gently pulled her arm, “Ah Jiang, you’re here.”
“Hmm.”
“Why are you wearing so little when you’re outside?”
Wen Yifan was holding fruits that she just bought on her way here, she smiled, “I’m not cold.”
Silence.
Zhao Yuandong was staring at her face.
Both of them hadn’t seen each other for many years, so they were unfamiliar with each other.
Zhao Yuandong’s eyes slowly turned red when she looked at her face. She subconsciously turned away, “You see, I’m still…”
“……” Wen Yifan didn’t like to deal with this kind of scenario, she pressed her lips, “Let’s go inside, I still have something to do later. I have to leave after dinner, I can’t stay with you for too long.”
“Okay, okay. Come inside with Mother.” Zhao Yuandong wiped her tears, “Mother is afraid of disturbing your work and rest. If you’re not free, I can visit you at your place. If you want to eat anything in the future, just give me a call, Mother will do it for you.”
“I’m sharing a unit with somebody else, I’m worried that it would interrupt my housemate.”
“Then, come here more when you’re free.” Zhao Yuandong looked at her from head to toe with distressed eyes, “Look at you, you’re so slim, are you eating well?”
Wen Yifan, “I ate already.”
Zhao Yuandong looked at her several times and sighed, “My Ah Jiang have grown up, you’re much more beautiful than before.”
Wen Yifan simply smiled.
Both of them went to the building where Zhao Yuandong was living.
The house where Zhao Yuandong was living now was not the same place where Wen Yifan moved in together after she remarried. She probably moved into this house recently. It was a high-end real estate, the greens and property of the residential area was built well.
The place was bigger than before.
She remembered Zhao Yuandong had mentioned this to her.
However, Wen Yifan didn’t care, so she couldn’t remember when it happened.
Zhao Yuandong spoke to her when they got into an elevator, “By the way, you haven’t seen Xinxin yet.” Upon saying this, her smile became obvious, “He is almost three years old.
The full name of Xinxin that was mentioned by Zhao Yuandong was Zheng Kexin.
He was Wen Yifan’s half brother.
“Uncle Zheng is still at work.” The elevator arrived and Zhao Yuandong took out her keys from her pocket, “Jiajia is not at home either, she will come back home once every few weeks since she’s in college now. She made an effort to tell me that she was nasty to you in the past because she was still young. She now feels sorry toward you.”
Wen Yifan lazily replied, “Hmm.”
Zhao Yuandong opened the door and let Wen Yifan in first, “Have a seat first.”
She suddenly remembered something, “By the way, Ah Jiang. Your big aunt is here too. She heard that you came to Nanwu previously. She especially came from Beiyu just to see you.”
Wen Yifan looked up upon hearing this.
At the same time, she saw Che Yanqin, the big aunt that Zhao Yuan mentioned earlier, coming out from the room.
“Hey, Shuang Jiang is here.” Che Yanqin’s hair was permed, although she was about the same age as Zhao Yuandong, they both looked like they were from different age groups. Her voice was hoarse, “Come, come, let me see.”
“……”
“It’s been years since I last saw you.” Che Yanqin came over while smiling, “You’re so heartless. You seem like you don’t know where your home is after going to university. You didn’t come back to see your aunt.”
Wen Yifan’s expression was frozen, she turned around and looked at Zhao Yuandong silently.
Zhao Yuandong didn’t notice it, she asked, “Where’s Xinxin?”
“Sleeping, he played around all afternoon, so he is tired now.” Che Yanqin returned the topic back to Wen Yifan, “Shuang Jiang is really getting prettier and prettier.”
Zhao Yuandong smiled, “Yes, people can’t even look away from her.”
Che Yanqin, “She looked prettier than your younger self.”
“Of course,” Zhao Yuandong giggled, she grabbed Wen Yifan’s hand and pulled her down to sit, “Let’s sit, Ah Jiang sit down and have a talk with me.”
“……”
Che Yanqin sat on the other sofa and casually asked, “What is Shuang Jiang working as now?”
Wen Yifan didn’t reply.
However, Zhao Yuandong took the initiative to help her to answer, “It’s still the same as when she was in Yihe, a journalist.”
Che Yanqin frowned, “Isn’t that very unprofitable? And it’s even tiring.”
“As long as Ah Jiang likes it.” Zhao Yuandong added, “Her salary is more than enough for her living, she doesn’t need much.”
“You’re right.” Che Yanqin suddenly reached out and patted Wen Yifan’s arm, as if she was going to be angry, “Shuang Jiang, why didn’t you greet me? Did you lose your manners after pursuing higher education?”
Wen Yifan looked up at her but still didn’t say anything.
“Ah Jiang’s temper is calmer than before, she doesn’t speak much anymore……” Zhao Yuandong smiled uncomfortably as the scene turned awkward, “Ah Jiang, geez, why didn’t you greet Big Aunt? We are indebted to her, she used to help me take care of you for a few years. ”
Che Yanqin giggled again, “Yes, I’d treat Shuang Jiang like my own daughter.”
Wen Yifan only felt that their voices were like bombs that were making her head explode.
She looked down and endured her urge to get up and leave now.
“Yuandong.” Che Yanqin said as she caught a glimpse of the fruits on the table, “Look, did Shuang Jiang buy fruits? Go rinse it and cut it to eat. Let’s not waste her kindness.”
Zhao Yuandong suddenly remembered, “Right, I’ll start preparing dinner after we have fruits.”
Che Yanqin stared at Wen Yifan’s face after Zhao Yuandong entered the kitchen. She scorned, “Shuang Jiang, you don’t know how to take advantage of your beauty. You can always find a good husband and get married, you don’t need to be miserable.”
Wen Yifan acted like she didn’t hear anything.
“Don’t be annoyed by me, this is for your own good. It’s not easy for me to see you suffer.” Che Yanqin added, “Quit your job and follow me back to Beiyu, so that I can continue taking good care of you.”
“Your uncle’s business partner is especially rich. Although he might be slightly older than you, he’s a good man.” Che Yanqin added, “Auntie will introduce him to you, you shouldn’t live like this anymore, you have to find someone that adores you.”
Wen Yifan looked up.
Che Yanqin said again, “Also, your brother is getting married this year, but they couldn’t afford their marital home. You should lend some help since we used to take care of you for so long. As a girl, you don’t need anything anyway……”
The ‘brother’ she meant was Che Yanqin’s son, Wen Ming.
“I met a company owner.” Wen Yifan interrupted her and said with a straight face, “He’s also very rich, and coincidentally, he likes men. Do you need my help to introduce Wen Ming to him?”
“……” Che Yanqin was stunned and immediately went furious, “How can you speak like this!”
Zhao Yuandong immediately came out from the kitchen when she heard the noise, “What happened?”
Wen Yifan’s bag had never been taken off since coming in, so she directly stood up. She felt that her patience had reached its limit, she tidied herself, “I won’t be coming here ever again.”
Zhao Yuandong didn’t hear clearly, “What?”
Wen Yifan’s eyes met hers, and she repeated herself clearly this time, “This is the last time I’m coming here.”
“……”
“I originally didn’t want to contact anyone. But my dad told me that I have to take good care of you after he left.” Wen Yifan couldn’t even fake a smile, she said slowly, “I can’t pretend that I didn’t hear his will.”
“……”
“Then consider me dead along with him.”
The sky was completely dark when Wen Yifan reached home.
She changed into her slippers, and when she looked up, she saw Sang Yan was lying on the sofa scrolling through his phone as always. He was wearing casual clothing and his hair was scattered on his forehead. His lazy posture looked extremely comfortable.
The scene overlapped with the boy who sat behind her when she was young that always nudged her chair with his legs to find a sense of existence.
The television in the living room was turned on, it was playing an unknown movie and there was an exaggerated laugh.
Wen Yifan stood there and inexplicably called him, “Sang Yan.”
There was almost zero communication between them at home.
Sang Yan was probably surprised, he looked up and put down his phone, “What?”
“……” Wen Yifan recovered from her thoughts and swallowed back the words she was about to say, she smiled, “I may have to rest earlier today. Can you turn down the volume before 9 pm?”
Sang Yan stared at her for a while, he was surprisingly kind this time, “Okay.”
Wen Yifan nodded, “Thank you.”
She went back to her room and took a quick shower.
Wen Yifan felt exhausted after coming out from the shower, so tired that she could fall asleep as soon as she closed her eyes. But there were countless scenes flashing in her brain uncontrollably that were slowly tearing her mind apart.
Finally, it was slowly pieced together by dreams and her sleepiness.
……
The other side.
Seeing that Wen Yifan had gone back to her room, Sang Yan turned off the television, but he had a feeling that something was wrong with her. He continued his game for a while but he quit the game as soon as he lost his mood.
Sang Yan opened the chatbox with Wen Yifan: Are you okay?
Sang Yan didn’t hesitate after staring at it for a while, he directly hit the ‘Send’ icon. Then, he absentmindedly clicked open a new round of games. He didn’t receive any reply after that round.
Asleep this soon?
It was getting late, Sang Yan put away his phone, got up and went back to his room. He took his clothes and walked towards the bathroom. His eyes stopped when he caught a glimpse of the master bedroom, he went back to the living room to take his mobile phone.
He went into the bathroom.
Sang Yan turned up the volume of his phone, took off his clothes and started taking a shower.
He turned on his phone again after he bathed, there was still no reply from her.
Sang Yan smirked, he wore his clothes and went out of the bathroom. He placed his phone into his pocket and dried his hair with a towel. He was going to get a bottle of water to drink.
He just reached the kitchen
The sound of a door opening suddenly could be heard behind him.
Sang Yan turned around.
He saw Wen Yifan coming out slowly with a straight face.”
He raised his eyebrows and put a towel around his neck, “What’s wrong with you?”
Wen Yifan didn’t say a word and went towards him.
She stood in front of him.
“You came out right after I took a shower? You don’t need to be this determined.” Sang Yan looked down at her and said annoyingly, “Do you really want to see an attractive man……”
Wen Yifan reached out and hugged him out of a sudden without waiting for him to finish his sentence.
“……” Sang Yan’s body froze in place.
