The little girl had homework to do that evening, and her family had also hired a private tutor. Qin Yun did not care that his right arm was being pummelled half to death. Before going to dinner, he insisted on taking his niece home first.
“She’s finally gone. She was driving me mad.”
After handing his niece over to the family’s nanny, Qin Yun stepped hard on the accelerator and sped away. Rubbing his arm, he muttered, “How can someone so young be that strong?”
Qin Yun enjoyed racing cars and was a skilled driver. Even on ordinary roads, he constantly hovered at the edge of the speed limit.
The sudden force pushed Wen Ci firmly back into her seat.
She remained silent for two seconds before quietly fastening her seat belt.
“Slow down,” Zhou Wu suddenly said.
“Oh, all right.”
Qin Yun finally remembered Wen Ci was in the car and looked at her through the rear-view mirror.
“Don’t be scared, Wen Ci. I’m a professional. My driving is incredibly steady.”
Wen Ci smiled in response.
Now that his noisy niece was gone, Qin Yun finally had time to discuss something else.
“By the way, how did you know Wen Ci had ridden a bicycle?”
Wen Ci instinctively looked towards Zhou Wu.
Throughout the journey, she had been distracted by the question of how Zhou Wu and Qin Yun had come to mention her before.
They had agreed not to tell anyone about their relationship. Wen Ci did not believe Zhou Wu would break that agreement.
That only made her more curious.
Zhou Wu sat lazily, his long legs stretched out casually.
“Didn’t she ride a bicycle to school in high school?”
Wen Ci lowered her eyes.
“Did she?” Qin Yun muttered. “Did our school even allow students to park inside?”
It did not.
A student had once been involved in an accident while riding on school grounds. Afraid of being held responsible, the school had since forbidden students from bringing any form of transport onto the campus.
Parking outside the school was also inconvenient, and bicycles were easily stolen. As a result, almost no students cycled to school.
Wen Ci had always taken the bus during high school.
She gave a vague smile.
“Mm.”
The restaurant had been designed like a manor and stood among mountains and water.
The staff recognised them and led the group down a secluded, winding path before seating them in a pavilion at the centre of a lake.
The sound of flowing water mingled with elegant music. A square rosewood dining table stood in the pavilion, which was clearly the finest location in the entire estate.
The waiter said, “Mr Zhou, Mr Qin, our owner has personally arranged the dishes for both of you. Would it be convenient to begin serving them now?”
Qin Yun was about to nod when Zhou Wu raised a hand.
“Bring us a menu first.”
The waiter quickly returned with one.
Zhou Wu accepted it and immediately held it out to Wen Ci.
Wen Ci paused before understanding.
“There’s no need. I’ll eat whatever has already been ordered.”
“Have a look.”
Zhou Wu placed the menu in front of her.
“They’ve ordered mostly rich dishes. You’ll get tired of them.”
“That’s right, Wen Ci. Take a look and order anything else you want,” Qin Yun added.
He was surprised. Why was his friend being so considerate today?
Unable to refuse, Wen Ci lowered her head and looked through the menu.
She had thought the hotel bill Zhou Wu sent her a few days earlier contained the most expensive food she had ever seen.
Two bowls of rice, one vegetable dish and two meat dishes had cost them eight hundred yuan.
At this restaurant, a single vegetable dish cost 699 yuan, and a pot of tea cost 888.
Beside her, Qin Yun was asking Zhou Wu about the new ski resort opened by one of their American friends.
Zhou Wu responded perfunctorily that it was fine.
Wen Ci listened quietly.
After she felt she had spent enough time looking, she returned the menu to the waiter and smiled.
“Everything I want has already been ordered. Please serve whatever was arranged earlier.”
Once all the dishes had arrived, Qin Yun said, “Ms Wen, try everything. Order more of anything you like. I’m truly sorry you had to wait for so long earlier.”
“It’s all right. It was part of our responsibility as teachers,” Wen Ci replied politely. “You can simply call me Wen Ci.”
“All right, Wen Ci. It’s been a long time since we last saw each other, hasn’t it? We haven’t met since graduating from high school…”
Qin Yun paused as something suddenly occurred to him.
“Wait. Did you attend Duan Wei’s wedding too?”
Zhou Wu leaned languidly against his chair and ate slowly.
At those words, he glanced at Wen Ci.
The faint smile remained on Wen Ci’s face.
“Yes. I sat at the table beside yours.”
At Duan Wei’s wedding, their high school classmates had been divided between two tables.
One table had been invited by Duan Wei, while the other had been invited by the groom, Xiang Wenwen.
In high school, Duan Wei had been the kind of girl who knew how to have fun. She was beautiful, energetic and mostly associated with school troublemakers like Zhou Wu and Qin Yun.
Half the people at her table had not even been in their class. On the day of the wedding, their table had been the liveliest.
Xiang Wenwen had been their high school class monitor. He had invited the class officers and top students.
The reason Qin Yun remembered Wen Ci had attended was because—
“After the banquet, Duan Wei and the others arranged a second gathering and called it a class reunion. Xiang Wenwen came over and asked whether I had seen you. Why did you leave so early that day?”
Wen Ci swallowed the food in her mouth.
“I… was a little drunk, so I went home first.”
“What a shame. The second gathering that night was really fun. You and Zhou Wu were the only ones who didn’t attend.”
Wen Ci began eating even more slowly.
Zhou Wu had not been exaggerating earlier. The restaurant owner had selected nothing but rich dishes for them—Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, Dongpo pork, rice with shark fin, and even tofu smothered in a thick layer of crab roe.
The only comparatively light dish was boiled cabbage in clear broth. There were only three pieces of cabbage in one serving, so Wen Ci did not dare take too much.
When she saw that the others had nearly finished eating, Wen Ci put down her chopsticks as well.
The phone in her pocket rang.
Only after seeing the caller’s name did she remember that she had forgotten to update Ms Li.
She indicated to the two men that she needed to take the call and hurried outside with her phone.
“Did you see that?” Qin Yun suddenly asked after she left.
Zhou Wu was typing on his phone and did not raise his head.
“See what?”
“Here, and here.”
Qin Yun pointed to both sides of his neck and lowered his voice.
“You really can’t judge a book by its cover. She plays pretty wildly.”
The excuse about mosquito bites might fool other people.
But someone like Qin Yun could tell at a glance what those marks really were.
“The marks look like someone grabbed her—holy shit! What are you doing?”
The hot towel that a waiter had just delivered suddenly flew towards his face.
Qin Yun hurriedly raised a hand to block it.
“Telling you to shut up,” Zhou Wu said indifferently. “What are you staring at?”
By the time Wen Ci ended the call and returned, Qin Yun had obediently used the towel thrown at him to wipe his hands.
Once they had eaten and drunk their fill, the three of them walked out together.
The sky was already dark.
To create a certain atmosphere, the lights along the brick path were dim and did little to illuminate the ground. It had also rained briefly, leaving the stone bricks wet and slippery.
Wen Ci had to watch the ground carefully with every step.
Zhou Wu walked slowly behind them.
“By the way, Wen Ci, let’s add each other on WeChat so we can keep in touch,” Qin Yun said, turning around. “Don’t worry. I definitely won’t ask you about my ungrateful niece’s schoolwork.”
Wen Ci laughed and took out her phone to scan his contact code.
“All right. It wouldn’t matter even if you did ask.”
After they added each other, Qin Yun suddenly remembered something and burst out laughing.
“Don’t block me from your Moments.”
Wen Ci froze slightly.
“What?”
“I was standing beside Zhou Wu when you blocked him that day.”
The memory still made Qin Yun laugh uncontrollably.
That night at Blue Note, Qin Yun had wanted to ask Zhou Wu whether he wished to try a new drink.
When he leaned closer, he discovered Zhou Wu reading an article.
Taking a closer look, Qin Yun asked curiously, “Didn’t you say you weren’t attending the school anniversary? Why are you reading the anniversary announcement?”
Zhou Wu exited the article and liked the post.
“I was only looking.”
“Wen Ci?”
When Qin Yun saw who had posted it, he became even more surprised.
“Why do you have her as a contact? Hey, don’t close it. Let me see too. What does the announcement say? Is Old Yu in it?”
“Find it yourself.”
“I don’t have any contacts who repost this kind of thing. Open it again and let me take another look.”
Unable to tolerate Qin Yun’s curiosity, Zhou Wu reopened WeChat, intending to let him glance at it so he would finally shut up.
However, no matter how long he scrolled, he could not find the repost again.
To avoid exposing their chat history, Zhou Wu found Wen Ci’s profile through his contacts and opened her Moments.
There was no article.
There were no reposts.
There was only a single dash.
“It was hilarious. It was the first time I’d ever witnessed someone get blocked immediately after liking a post.”
Even after reaching the manor entrance, Qin Yun was still laughing.
“And the person she blocked was f*cking Zhou Wu. It was too f*cking entertaining.”
Wen Ci had not known about this.
She listened in a daze and instinctively turned to explain herself to Zhou Wu.
She forgot to watch where she was going.
Her foot slipped, and she unexpectedly tilted sideways.
An arm wrapped around her waist, and the person behind her effortlessly steadied her.
Before Wen Ci could recover, he had already released her.
Two cars were parked outside the manor.
Qin Yun was about to get into his own when he suddenly sensed something was wrong.
He looked at the Mercedes G-Class parked behind his car.
“Zhou Wu, that car is the same model as yours. Even the number plate looks like yours—wait, why is your car here?”
“I had someone bring it over.”
Zhou Wu accepted the key from the valet and pressed it casually, unlocking the car.
“You can drive yourself home.”
Qin Yun was baffled.
“All right, then I’ll take Wen Ci home…”
“No need. She and I are going in the same direction.”
Zhou Wu tapped Qin Yun’s boot and spoke concisely.
“The bicycle.”
“At least ask Wen Ci what she thinks,” Qin Yun said in amusement. “She just blocked you. Maybe she doesn’t want to ride in your car—”
Click.
Not far away, Wen Ci had already opened the passenger door of Zhou Wu’s car.
The wind was strong that evening, so she had not heard the last few things they said.
When the two men abruptly fell silent and looked towards her, Wen Ci blinked and asked uncertainly, “…Do you need me to help lift the bicycle?”
Without another word, Qin Yun opened his boot.
Zhou Wu retrieved her bicycle and appeared to laugh.
“No. Get in the car and wait for me.”
…
There were few roads through the mountains, so Qin Yun’s car remained beside theirs the entire way.
He even lowered his window to chat with Wen Ci.
Although he claimed he would not concern himself with his ungrateful niece, three out of every five sentences were still about the little girl.
Wen Ci was worried that speaking through the open windows would distract him while driving, but she felt too embarrassed to ignore him. She could only answer him occasionally.
Once they left the narrow, winding mountain roads and entered the city, Zhou Wu finally lost patience.
He pressed hard on the accelerator and left the self-proclaimed professional driver far behind.
Wen Ci did not even have the chance to say goodbye.
Her surroundings finally fell quiet.
Wen Ci sighed in relief and closed the window, and the world returned to silence.
As she breathed in the faint scent of cedar inside the car, Wen Ci belatedly realised something.
Since graduating from high school, this seemed to be the first time she and Zhou Wu had been alone somewhere other than a hotel.
It was also her first time riding in this car.
Zhou Wu had offered to take her home before, but the roads near her house were narrow and crowded. Wen Ci had refused every time.
The interior was so quiet that she could hear her own heartbeat.
After a long while, she spoke to explain.
“About my Moments… I didn’t do it deliberately.”
“I was only afraid of disturbing you. Everything I post is quite boring.”
“Mm.”
Zhou Wu did not appear particularly concerned.
“It’s fine.”
Silence filled the car again.
Wen Ci opened her mouth, wanting to say something to break it.
After thinking for a while, she quietly closed it again.
Wen Ci had never been good at conversation.
When she was young, her parents had taught her to speak less, work more, focus on studying and avoid unnecessary interaction with other people.
She had consequently become accustomed to silence.
Even after growing up and wanting to change, she found herself unable to do so.
Perhaps she had simply been born an uninteresting person.
Zhou Wu’s posture behind the wheel was casual. His slender fingers hooked around the steering wheel, while one elbow rested lazily on the centre console.
The alternating amber streetlights fell across his face, outlining each of his sharp, three-dimensional features.
He turned on some music.
The opening notes of *Love Me Like You Do* began playing, and the atmosphere inside the car finally became less awkward.
Listening to the familiar song, Wen Ci gradually relaxed.
Then they stopped at a red light, and Zhou Wu turned to look at her.
Sensing his gaze, Wen Ci suddenly remembered to give him directions.
“My home is on Zhongxing Street. The roads inside are difficult to drive through, so you can leave me at the entrance.”
Zhou Wu gave a quiet hum before suddenly asking, “Do I have to take you there?”
Wen Ci understood.
“You can also let me out anywhere ahead. I can take a taxi home by myself.”
Zhou Wu stared at her for several seconds.
Then he turned his face away and began laughing.
The light changed to green.
Zhou Wu pressed the accelerator and continued laughing silently for a while beneath Wen Ci’s bewildered gaze.
Only then did he explain.
“I meant, can we go to the hotel first?”
Wen Ci interlaced her fingers.
Her expression remained perfectly calm, as though she were responding to a supervisor in a work group chat.
“All right.”
The black Mercedes G-Class slowly pulled over at the side of the road.
“I’m going to buy some c*ndoms. We’ve run out of the previous ones.”
Zhou Wu disliked using the c*ndoms provided by hotels.
After getting out of the car, he held the door and asked the woman in the passenger seat, “What do you want to eat?”
Wen Ci stared at him in silence.
Zhou Wu waited for a long time.
It was only when he raised an eyebrow in confusion that Wen Ci finally spoke.
“The ones you used last time are fine,” she said.
“The ones I used last time,” Zhou Wu repeated.
“Mm.” Wen Ci said, “The thin ones. The 001s.”
Zhou Wu nodded and imitated the tone she had used earlier.
“All right.”
“But I was asking what you want to eat,” Zhou Wu said. “You didn’t eat much at the manor. I’ll buy you something else.”
The car door closed, and Zhou Wu walked into the convenience store beside the road.
Wen Ci bent forward and buried her burning face in her hands.
Leave a Reply