CH 9

Xu Juan realized that Pei Yu seemed to have been intimidated by him.

He had staged a heartfelt confession on Wechat that day, concluding it with “can I pursue you”. Pei Yu didn’t reply, ignoring him for quite a few days after. After he did some self-reflection, he conceded that it was true he had come on too strong. A mellow and reserved person like Pei Yu wouldn’t have been able to stand it. 

Xu Juan felt a little regretful. He was now unsure if Pei Yu’s good vibes towards him had once again fallen to zero.

He tried sounding out the situation; Every day, at seven in the morning and seven in the evening, he would punctually text Pei Yu a good morning or goodnight. Even though Pei Yu never replied, he had an awfully fun time by himself.

It was admittedly quite a pain —— He was literally unable to wake up at seven, only managing to open his eyes because he had set an alarm. When it went off, he opened Wechat to send the text. Once done, he closed both eyes and continued to sleep.

Why insist on it being seven o’clock? 

Because after adding the other on Wechat, he found out from his Moments that Pei Yu woke up at six every morning for a jog, then had breakfast at seven on the dot. He led a very healthy and disciplined lifestyle.

For the sake of getting closer to him, Xu Juan portrayed himself as a hardworking character who woke up early and went to bed early. A good image was advantageous in earning brownie points, after all.

Just like that, he maintained this one-sided enthusiasm for a week. Xu Juan didn’t manage to receive a response and his patience slowly drained away. He got ready to proceed with the next step.

While he was pondering over how strong he should come on next, something unexpected happened the following morning.

It wasn’t a big deal, but it was a little awkward.

It was because last night, he, Guo Shao and the group of them were having fun at the nightclub as usual. He only got home around four in the morning to shower and sleep.

At seven, the alarm rang. Out of habit, he opened Wechat and sent Pei Yu a greeting: “Good morning, Pei laoshi. What’ll you be eating today?”

Xu Juan was disoriented and dizzy, he could barely keep his eyes open while typing the text, relying on sheer willpower alone to control his fingers. After tapping “send”, he tossed the phone aside and fell asleep again. 

In the end, most unexpectedly, Pei Yu actually replied to him: “It’s been over a week. Are you that bored?”

Xu Juan didn’t see it, sleeping all the way until evening, only noticing this text when he woke up.

His own text was sent at exactly seven. This notification came in one minute after seven. After five minutes passed without any response from him, Pei Yu sent another string of ellipses. He was probably irked by Xu Juan’s antics —— It was clearly you who was anxious to talk to me. I replied out of the benevolence in my heart, so how dare you ignore me?

“……” 

Xu Juan stared at his Wechat for a long while, then smoothly spouted some nonsense: “My apologies, something suddenly came up in the morning. I didn’t think you’d reply, so I left my phone behind. I’ve only just seen this.”

He wasn’t sure if Pei Yu would believe him.

Xu Juan added: “Do you have time today, Pei laoshi? May I take you out to dinner?”

“I don’t.” Pei Yu’s reply was very straightforward. 

Xu Juan said: “Your coat is still with me. I’ve washed it, I’ll find an opportunity to return it to you.”

Pei Yu said: “You don’t have to return it.”

Xu Juan let out a laugh: “Don’t be like that. How could I continue holding onto your clothes, it’ll enable my daydreams. That can’t be too good.”

Ufl Te: “……” 

Pei Yu seemed somewhat annoyed: “Don’t speak nonsense, can’t you be a little more serious?”

“What nonsense?” Whenever he chatted with Pei Yu, Xu Juan’s mood would improve. He realized that Pei Yu was like a mimosa, unable to endure the slightest of touches. But the more untouchable someone was, the more he would want to touch them; That was just how rebellious he was. 

“I was trying to get on your good side.” Xu Juan said, “If you dislike me using that manner of speech, I won’t use it anymore.”

Yet, Pei Yu said: “I dislike it when you speak, so it’s best that you don’t say anything at all.”

Xu Juan felt wronged: “How could a dignified teacher of our people be this unreasonable? To go as far as to deprive me of my right to discourse.”

Pei Yu said: “Is this how you should be using your right to discourse? That’s called your right to speak.” 

“……” How strict. Xu Juan suspected he had an occupational disease, “When I was still in school, my worst subject was the Chinese language.”

“Your other subjects were good?”

“Yeah. Math, physics, chemistry and biology were usually full marks. I competed in contests, even got full marks in foreign languages.”

Xu Juan wasn’t exaggerating, but Pei Yu was skeptical: “Since you were so hardworking during your studies, weren’t you busy? How did you find the time to practise calligraphy?” 

“……”

It seemed Pei Yu cared a great deal about his calligraphy skills. Xu Juan was a little smug: “I made time for it. Not only did I learn calligraphy, I also learned music. I haven’t really gotten enough sleep since I was nine. Going to school, taking classes by foreign teachers, calligraphy classes, practising the piano, drawing. When I had free time and could play football with other boys, I’d be happy for an entire day.”

“……Really? Wasn’t it tiring?”

“It was tiring, but that’s how it is in my family. My older siblings went through the same things when they were young. I was exhausted back then, but when I saw how amazing they became after growing up, I was quite envious. So I grit my teeth and endured it.” 

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Pei Yu remained silent for a few seconds, then suddenly said: “I know your older sister, Xu Qingguang. She’s a very famous pianist.”

Xu Juan was startled, and just in case, immediately said: “My older sister is already seeing someone.”

Pei Yu: “……” 

The conversation abruptly came to a stop. It wasn’t easy to have carried it on this far, Xu Juan didn’t want it to end.

He got out of bed to wash up and briefly fixed his appearance. He concealed all remaining traces of having just woken up, changed his clothes and invited Pei Yu to a video call.

Pei Yu didn’t accept, texting to ask: “What is it?”

Xu Juan said: “I have a huge collection of calligraphy and paintings at home. Quite a few of them are authentic works by masters, but some are by me. Do you want to take a look?” 

After sending this, he clicked “video call” again. As expected, Pei Yu accepted.

Once it got through, Pei Yu’s face appeared on his screen. It’s been over a week since they met, Xu Juan couldn’t help staring at him for a couple more seconds. The more he looked, the more he thought that this face was perfect. It was truly a gift bestowed by the Creator.

However, wordlessly staring each other down through the screen was even more awkward than when doing so in person. Pei Yu was evidently becoming embarrassed. He frowned, giving a warning: “Xu Juan!”

“……” 

This was his first time calling out Xu Juan’s name. Previously, it was always “Director Xu”.

Xu Juan wanted to laugh, but he kept it in. He assumed a serious front and adjusted his back camera, talking as he walked towards the study: “Pei laoshi, since you like calligraphy so much, have you ever learnt it?”

“I guess I have.” Pei Yu said, “But I did it in my spare time, not as professionally as you.”

“I’m not a professional either. My teacher had a few disciples, I was the least hard working. Only Pei laoshi was willing to entertain me, and even gave some compliments.” 

Xu Juan entered the study and took out his collection, taking photos and showing them to Pei Yu one by one.

Despite saying he wasn’t a professional, for every work of calligraphy or painting he photographed, he introduced the creator’s background and style in detail. He even compared the different styles and explained their positive points and negative points.

He explained them very well, but he deliberately sent subpar photographs; The images appeared very blurry through the lens.

Pei Yu was exasperated: “Won’t your hands stop shaking?” 

“I’m already trying my best.” Xu Juan bluffed, “Maybe the signal is bad and the video resolution isn’t good enough. Why don’t we do it like this, Pei laoshi? On a day when you’re free, you can come over and personally appreciate my collection to your heart’s content. What do you think?”

“……”

“And you can take your coat back with you, too.”

Xu Juan tossed out the bait, waiting for Pei Yu to fall for it. 

But his motive was too obvious; Although a grown man like Pei Yu wouldn’t be afraid to visit his home, he would consider it inappropriate to behave this way to a person currently pursuing him. As a gentleman, he should think about how to avoid any actions that could give the other the wrong idea.

Xu Juan understood his concerns and took the initiative to help him rationalize it: “You don’t have to think too deeply, Pei laoshi. The one who’s inviting you is me, if you want to visit, just visit. Let’s be more open-minded, it’s too bothersome to beat around the bush. Also, it’s not like I’ll ask anything of you just because you’re coming over to look at my collection. We’re both calligraphy enthusiasts, sharing is meant to be a good thing on its own. As the saying goes, it is difficult to meet another who can truly understand and appreciate your talent. If you dwell on it too much, it’ll sour things between us. I really am very content when I spend time with you, because no one else apart from you has praised me for my calligraphy. In my parents’ eyes, I haven’t learned enough and still have a long way to go. My friends do like to praise me, but they don’t understand these things at all, everything is mere flattery, so…”

Xu Juan added a timely pause, revealing an expression of subtle distress.

At this point, he had already reverted to using the front camera, the lens directly facing him. His expression wasn’t intense, but there was some degree of sorrow hidden in his otherwise calm demeanour; This was how to seem most sincere.

Fortunately, he was usually flirty and unfettered in his speech and mannerisms, so it contrasted with his current attitude. This caused others to unconsciously feel as if they had breached into his heart and seen a part of him that he had hidden away. 

It was difficult for Pei Yu not to be moved. Xu Juan saw with his own eyes the way the other’s gaze wavered, and heard him say: “Does Director Xu live alone? Is it convenient?”

Xu Juan replied instantly: “It’s convenient, so Pei laoshi need not worry. When are you free? Today?”

“Let’s do tomorrow.” Pei Yu said, “Is tomorrow afternoon fine?”

“It’s fine.” 

Xu Juan let out a little smile and gave him the address: “I’ll be waiting for you at home tomorrow afternoon.”