CH 16.1

He, though, merely smiled and then continued finishing off his remaining half a glass of water.

That was it? A slight sense of disappointment formed secretly in the bottom of her heart. Just when she was ready to say something else to fill in the silence, she saw him come close to her, extend his arms, and gently enclose them around her. Jia He gave him a puzzled look. Suddenly, she felt a coolness on her neck, like something had been placed around it.

Standing in front of her, practically snug against her, he had circled his arms behind her and was fastening a clasp, his motions very slow. It seemed, because he was doing this by the light of the moon, he could not see very clearly and therefore was even slower.

“What is it?” She reached her hand up to feel the shape of the necklace pendant.

“A little gold pig.”

Unable to see it, she was only able to feel its lines and curvy contours. It seemed to be a very odd shape. “It’s not my zodiac year[1]yet.” Today was his birthday, yet he had given her a gift first. The glow from the lights in the sitting area spilled into where they were, and in this faint illumination, he filled another glass of water and took a couple more drinks. “I saw it this afternoon and thought it was really suitable for you, so I bought it.”

With an “oh,” Jia He, lightheaded, walked out of the kitchen and put on the act of going to the bathroom. In reality, she went to look in the mirror and scrutinize the pendant lying against her chest. A very cartoonish pig held a lollipop up high. Even the spiral pattern of the lollipop was detailed and properly done.

This is the image I project?She finally felt embarrassed.

She had originally thought he did not have much of a reaction to those words she had spoken, until she was sprawled in the bathtub, her entire body lathered in soap bubbles formed as a result of his kneading. There she groaned, “Serves me right for this fate I’ve brought on myself.” His smile was very light, but yet in the steamy air it was infinitely magnified. By the time he had wrapped her from head to toe in a thick, cashmere blanket and carried her back to the bed, she was so sleepy her temples felt leadened.

Her forehead seemed to be given a gentle caress by a pair of soft lips, and then she heard him say, “Sleep now.”

Only now did she abruptly realize that she had forgotten to tell him about his birthday present. “I have a gift for you, too.”

She wanted to drag herself up again, but one of his arms pulled her back. “We’ll have it tomorrow.”

She answered with an “okay.” All of sudden, she remembered that gift from Tian Chu. “I forgot to tell you, out on the table there’s a gift for you from Tian Chu. You can look at it yourself tomorrow.”

When she turned on the electric blanket earlier, she had still felt cold, but now, pressed against him, she was warm and cozy. As she tucked herself even further into his embrace, she heard him merely give an “mm” and answer her, “A-Lun mentioned it to me. He ran into Tian Chu when he was having a meeting this afternoon, and she asked him to help bring a gift to me.”

As she was not accustomed to wearing a necklace when she slept, her neck felt itchy and she gave a light tug at the little pig around her neck. It was just a small movement, but Yi Wenze still detected it. He lowered his head to look at her neck. “What’s wrong? It’s not comfortable?”

“No.” She murmured, “Yi Wenze, why aren’t you the least bit curious about my birthday gift to you?”

That was too much of a failure on her part, wasn’t it?

Amused, he laughed. “I’ve already received the most important birthday gift.”

A very simple sentence, yet it was as if someone had lightly tickled the very tip of her heart. Such an indescribable feeling.

Jia He finally reflected on those earlier words she had said. Her heart giving a little tremor, she very bashfully shifted her body a little, but then was instantly enfolded tightly in his arms. And then she heard his voice say, “Honey, I love you.”

This was not her first time hearing this or his first time saying it, but it still caused her heart to beat erratically.

Her voice soft, she maintained, “I really did prepare a birthday present for you, but it’s not anything valuable.” Clutching that little gold pig, she was silent for quite some time. “I got my travel visa. It’s for New Zealand.”

For a long moment, there was no sound behind her. Her heart was nearly about to stop beating from the wait. Then, she at last heard him say by her ear, “Honey, thank you.”

Three words. She silently repeated them in her heart seven or eight times.

Smiling in secret, she snugged herself backwards and, nestled very peacefully in his arms, fell asleep.

It was already approaching noon when she awoke the next day. He had left very early. When Jia He jogged into the kitchen to see what there was to eat, she discovered a sandwich in the refrigerator and saw from the date written on it that it was bought yesterday. Why hadn’t she noticed before that he had even bought lunch? She was in the middle of ripping off the plastic wrap and tossing the sandwich into the microwave when she heard someone knocking on the door.

Wu Zhilun’s face, with its wide grin and sunglasses still on it, caused her to jump in surprise.

“There’s absolutely nothing in my room. Here, here, make me lunch.”

Jia He looked wryly at him. “You sure aren’t worried about being too polite.” As she moved out of the way of the doorway, she heard the microwave crying wildly, and quickly she yanked out two tissues to put under the sandwich as she pulled it out. Taking a knife, she cut the sandwich in two and handed the slightly larger half to this man who was like a hungry wolf. “How did you know I have food here?”

“I guessed it.” Wu Zhilun took the sandwich from her and poured himself a glass of water. “Since you tend to sleep until noon every day, he’ll definitely have food ready for you to eat. Is that right?”

There are some things that should be very apparent, yet it is only after they have been spoken from the mouth of someone else that they become clear to you.

She brought her face down briefly as a smile came onto her lips. Then with relish, she took a bite of her sandwich and asked muffledly, “When did you get here?”

“Yesterday, when I had my assistant bring the gift over. I was afraid I’d disturb you guys, so I didn’t personally come over.” As he drank his water, he explained, “Actually, it’s because I hadn’t sleep for more than thirty hours, so once I arrived, I just couldn’t hold up anymore.”

Jia He gave an “mm-hmm,” but, really, she knew perfectly well the true reason.

Tian Chu had specially asked him to pass on that gift. He definitely would not dare to secretly keep it, but he was also scared that if he delivered it, he would end up becoming the evildoer, so of course he had let his assistant be the cannon fodder. Last night Jia He had been the one to take delivery of the gift. When that boy went back, he undoubtedly would have reported everything to Wu Zhilun… She took another bite of the sandwich. The rich taste of bacon melded with the lettuce and filled her mouth. Such a delicious food that could appease a hungry belly.

As her thoughts reached this point, she finally started speculating, just what was that gift?

While she was aimlessly pondering on this, Wu Zhilun suddenly received a phone call. Chewing his sandwich, he mumbled some “mm-hmm, mm-hmms” and “uh-huh, uh-huhs,” and it was only at the end that he asked in surprise, “For how long?” After another few seconds, he hung up the phone. From top to bottom, he swept his eyes several times over Jia He, his smile faint at first but slowly deepening. Jia He was completely baffled by the look she was receiving.

“Harmonious Family Prospers,” he began, finally bringing his gaze to land on her abdomen, “is there some happy news?”

She paused in astonishment, nearly choking to death on that. “What are you talking about?”

“The call just now was from A-Ze.” He wore an “I get it” expression. “Once the post-production work is finished for this film, he’s going back to New Zealand. Do you know how much promotional work was waiting for him to do? This is the company’s first film, and it’s also a collaboration with Yi Hua. What’s more, his name is next to the title of ‘producer.’ But he’s actually completely letting go and giving it all to me to handle.

Instantly, Jia He was staggered. He had made such a quick decision?

Once Wu Zhilun finished saying all this, he left the kitchen. It was not really fitting, though, for Jia He to outright press him with further questions. Glancing at that couch that was heaped with gifts, she was about to clear off some space for him to sit, but then she heard an “Eh?” behind her. “The punk isn’t even going to look at it?” Turning around, she realized what Wu Zhilun was referring to. The gift from Tian Chu was sitting, still in its original packaging, on the table and appeared to truly have not been opened.

Normally gifts from fans were eventually handed over to A-Qing to sort through and then put away.

He had not made an effort to even open it—the meaning of that was already very evident. Setting the box back into its original place, Wu Zhilun feelingly remarked, “A-Ze is much clearer than me on what should be done and what should not be done.”

Jia He smiled, not replying. Even if he did open it for a look, she actually would not think anything of it. She was not certain when it had developed, but a wholehearted trust already existed between her and him. That feeling was similar to how one would view and treat one’s own family.

When she finally managed to coax Wu Zhilun to leave, she pulled out her mobile phone and called Yi Wenze. He seemed to be busy at the moment. Holding her phone, she roved from the kitchen to the bedroom, then over to the bathroom, drifting aimlessly through the entire suite. Unexpectedly, the phone was picked up on the other end, giving her a little shock. “Are you busy?”

“I was taking another call just now.”

As the two words “New Zealand” rose up in her mind, it was as if, layer by layer, from inside to out, she was burning up. She had been the one to first secretly get her visa as a surprise for him, but she still had not expected everything to happen so fast… Although Yi Wenze had not given any concrete dates, he was both explicitly and implicitly telling her that she would be seeing his family very soon.

Not hearing any reply from her, Yi Wenze called, “Jia He.”

She at last recovered herself. “Wu Zhilun came by just now to scrounge for some food. He mentioned that you plan on going back to New Zealand after post-production work is done.”

Giving a very mild “mm,” he stated, “It’ll take about a week.” From the tone he was using, it sounded like she was the one rushing him.

Jia He’s finger unconsciously drew little circles on the bathroom counter, and she faltered for quite a while. “You actually don’t need to be that rushed. The visa I got is for three months.”

The subtext: “I still am not prepared yet. There’s really no rush.”

He, though, chuckled. “It’s okay. It just so happens that my little nephew is going to be having his third birthday. He’s mentioned a lot of times on the phone that he wants you to go see him. My parents would also love to meet you.”

These words of his made Jia He even more anxious, but unable at this moment to come up with a good excuse, she could only say a few random sentences and then hang up. For a full minute, she stared into the mirror. Oh no, oh no. At the time, she had only been thinking about doing a nice, little romantic gesture. Now, though, she truly was like a duck being driven onto a perch[2].

The direct result of this was that that afternoon, taking a taxi straight over to Xiao Yu’s office, she forced Xiao Yu to play hooky from work and come out to have afternoon tea. But Xiao Yu’s response after listening to less than three sentences from her was to leisurely take a sip of tea and ask, “You’re pregnant?”

Jia He nearly rammed her own head into something to just kill herself. “Why are you all interpreting it that way?”

Xiao Yu’s lips gave a twitch. Picking up her phone, she dialed Qiao Qiao’s number. “Yi Wenze is bringing Jia He to New Zealand next week.”

Once she finished declaring this, she shoved the phone up beside Jia He’s ear. The person on the other end of the line squealed in astonishment, “She’s knocked up?!”

The volume was loud enough that even Xiao Yu, who was merely holding the phone, could hear that question. Her eyes on Jia He’s face, which was caught somewhere between tears and hilarity, she took her phone back. “All right. I’ll call you back in a bit.” Then ignoring Qiao Qiao’s questions that were firing in succession, she hung up. “See? It’s not that I’m thinking dirty. That’s the normal thought process of any person.”

All responses that Jia He might have had were completely cut off in her throat, nearly choking her to death. She bowed her head, sipped her tea, and then sipped some more.

“One week is pretty tight.” Xiao Yu actually seriously worked through the timing for her. “Go do a week of intensive spa and beauty treatments, and also think about what gifts to bring. You’ll need gifts for the adults and the children. All the etiquette will definitely need to be amply done for this first time that you’re meeting your father-in-law, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law.”

She spoke all this as if it was only proper and a matter of course. Jia He’s thoughts were also being led along by Xiao Yu, and she nodded her head viciously.

Simply seeing her expression of complete trust and “I’ll listen to everything you say” induced a headache in Xiao Yu. Grinding her teeth, Xiao Yu dug her spoon into her chestnut cake and popped it in her mouth. “I have a spa card here. Just go to the one that I normally go to. That way, we’ll avoid having you go to some random, shoddy place that just cheats you of your money. As for what you’re going to give as gifts, you’ll need to put some good thought into that.” She mulled for a moment. “I can give you a gift. I’ll have my granddad write a piece of calligraphy[3] for you to bring there.”

Jia He’s eyes immediately lit up. The calligraphy of any one of Elder Xiao’s students already could absolutely command a high price, let alone the calligraphy of Elder Xiao himself… Reportedly, in these last few years, apart from writing calligraphy to give as gifts to long-time friends, the elderly one had practically half-retired his writing brush already.

Though his works could not quite compare to antiques, they still were certainly modern-day treasured pieces of art.

Jia He fawningly wagged her tail and beamed, “Ah, to have such a friend. What more could I ask for?”

Carrying on with eating her cake, Xiao Yu plastered on a fake smile and replied, “It’s no big deal. Just consider it my contribution in exchange for my three-day trip to New Zealand.” Her spoon between her teeth, she seemed to suddenly remember something, and in muffled words, she reminded, “Oh, right, ask your Yi Wenze when you guys will be having the wedding banquet. That way I can go apply for my travel visa ahead of time.”

As Jia He gnawed on the edge of her tea cup, her face blazed bright red.

[1]本命年 “ben ming nian.” The Chinese zodiac is a repeating twelve-year cycle. In Chinese superstition, your ben ming nian, the year of your zodiac sign (sometimes referred to in English as one’s “year of fate”), is an inauspicious year for you, and unlucky events will occur in it. Traditionally, one of the ways to offset the negative impacts is to be gifted something fashioned in gold, jade, or crystal and then wear it.

[2]The saying 趕鴨子上架了 “driving a duck onto a perch” is describing a person who is being made to do something that is completely beyond her capabilities.

[3]Referring to traditional Chinese brush calligraphy.