After 20 minutes, Jia He arrived near Xujiahui. This was a prime location, and all the outdoor parking spaces were already full. She could only roll down the car window and ask the male receptionist if there were any nearby residential compounds where she could park. The handsome young man looked at her license plate, stared at her mysteriously for a moment, and asked if her surname was Jia.
Jia He nodded blankly.
The man immediately said, “Miss Jia He, please get out of the car. I’ll help you find a spot.”
It wasn’t until she entered a private room and A Qing explained with a smile that this place was quite safe, that she realized this club also had shares owned by Yi Wenze.
She had come here two or three times before, a few years ago when she was working as a financial columnist, interviewing several real estate moguls. She remembered her colleagues in the food column had coveted this restaurant countless times, but because of its exclusive membership system, the restaurant didn’t need them to write PR articles for it at all. This left her food-loving colleagues, who made a living through their taste buds, extremely envious of Jia He the financial reporter who got opportunities to come here.
“Screenwriter,” A Qing held up the menu, “Order whatever you like, don’t stand on ceremony. This is just like your own home.”
Because she knew Jia He was from Beijing, she deliberately bent the pronunciation of the last character, sounding extremely cute.
Unfortunately, right after she had just said this, she completely lost the chance to join them for this dinner. Even when one was careful, reporters would still discover that Yi Wenze had arrived in Shanghai. Fortunately this was his own property, so A Qing just had to put on a little act of leading the tiger away from the mountain, to avoid causing any disturbance to the guests here. One had to know, the long guns and short cannons of the paparazzi were not just for show. If they didn’t manage to capture shots of Yi Wenze but instead photographed someone’s lover, that would be hard to explain too.
It had been a month since she last saw him. Facing him again now, she somehow slipped back into the nerves she had felt during their first meeting, quietly sitting there nursing her tea. His outfit was still simple?a light gray shirt with silver cufflinks, and a black watch on his wrist reflecting faint halos of light under the lamplight. No matter how she looked, it was precisely the right level of dressiness.
He handed the menu to her. “What would you like to eat?”
She gave it some thought. “Since you’re the boss here, do you have any recommendations?”
He smiled. “Actually, I haven’t come here too many times either. Perhaps you’re more familiar than I am.”
He saw that Jia He had drunk quite a bit of tea already and poured some more into her cup.
Cradling the teacup in both hands, Jia He gave a rueful laugh. “Back then, I also used the chance of interviewing several real estate developers to come take a look around here.” She carefully calculated it in her head. “Probably just three times. And I was mainly focused on interviewing them, so I didn’t even really know what I was eating.”
She still remembered that during her first time here, that real estate developer with the hypocritical look had bragged that just the interior design of this place had cost billions, the underlying message being that this was an extremely high-class venue. Back then, she could only privately ridicule him for sounding so gaudy. Later on, as she gained more experience, she understood that with merely the four characters, “exclusive membership system,” blood money for capital needed to be put down as foundation. In those couple years of working in finance and following moneyed people everywhere, she had truly become immune to gourmet food. But when she thought that this was a restaurant invested in by her idol, she felt it was truly a shame she did not properly enjoy the food when she had the chance.
He took a drink of iced water. “In the future when you come, you can just use my name. If you feel that’s inconvenient, you can also call A Qing to get your location set up.”
Jia He shook her head. “I won’t need to entertain people or anything, so there’s no need.”
He did not say anything more, only indicating with his eyes that she should keep looking at the menu.
The pendant lamp over the table hung very low and was surrounded by red paper, causing the lighting to be far too soft.
She casually flipped through the menu, going from crab meat with bamboo shoots to clear spirits foie gras[17] and on down, needing to consider whether each dish would affect her public eating manners as well as suit Yi Wenze’s tastes. In the end, when she had scanned to the last page, she still had not picked a single dish. All she could do was flip back to the first page and continue studying. Yi Wenze continued leaning casually in his chair the entire time, loosely pinching an unlit cigarette between two fingers.
“What’s wrong?” She looked at that cigarette, unable to spot anything out of the ordinary with it.
A trace of a smile touched his lips. “It’s nothing. This is a non-smoking area.”
Jia He felt his words were strange. These were all separate, private rooms in individual layouts. How could there be something like a non-smoking area? However, since he had said it this way, she did not persist in questioning him further either and could only bow her head again to look at the menu.
Seeing that Jia He was still vacillating in indecision, Yi Wenze asked, “Nothing you feel like eating?”
She was discouraged. “Actually, my eyes are swimming now from looking at these. I want to eat everything I see.”
Ordering dishes was a skill, especially when with someone who had been her idol for more than a decade. There were too many things that needed considering, which, contrarily, was becoming a burden.
In the end, it was still him who picked several featured dishes, all suiting Jia He’s tastes very well. In the process, he had specifically asked whether she liked roasted duck. Jia He had laughed drily as she explained that there was a misunderstanding about this. While roasted duck was a specialty of Beijing, not all people from Beijing liked to eat it. Because she had spent more time living inland, she actually preferred seafood more.
She had not expected that right after the original menu had just been set, an order of rose petal shrimp balls was specially added.
The deep red petals were cradled around small and exquisite pink shrimp. Using her chopsticks, she carefully picked up a shrimp ball and bit into it. The scent of roses instantly suffused through her mouth.
When they were nearly finished eating, Yi Wenze received a phone call.
From Jia He’s angle, she could hear him say only a few sentences. It seemed a friend wanted to come over. She immediately set down her chopsticks, just about to say that she would not delay him from seeing his friend, when with a whoosh, the door was shoved open. The person who strode in still held his mobile phone in his left hand and plopped down casually into the seat beside Yi Wenze. “I’ve been waiting half an hour for you,” he said first before nodding at Jia He. “Hello. I’m Wenze’s friend, Wu Zhilun.”
Facing this sunshiny, handsome man’s face and hearing this type of self-introduction, the first reaction Jia He had was wanting to laugh.
In just the Lunar New Year film lineup alone, this person had two movies that he was the lead actor in. The type of person that would get mobbed to the point he could not take a single step once he set foot outside?he was actually politely introducing himself this way with a straight face. She truly could not figure out whether this was his personality or he was deliberately teasing her.
In the end, she could not hold back her laughter. “Hello. I’m Jia He.”
Wu Zhilun gave an “Oh” and then said, “Jia He as in ‘modern home of peace and prosperity'[18]?”
Jia He felt a headache coming on and started to carefully explain how her name was written, but because of the language barrier, she and Wu Zhilun discussed those two simple characters for two minutes and he still only half understood in the end. She could only give up. “Yes, I guess you can think of it as the ‘jia he’ in ‘modern home of peace and prosperity.’”
Yi Wenze watched them try to communicate with an amused look the entire time, until Jia He conceded defeat before he unhurriedly explained to Wu Zhilun, “She’s from Beijing and doesn’t really understand Cantonese[19] and also can’t speak it very well.”
Wu Zhilun threw a look at Yi Wenze and reproached him for not taking the initiative to introduce Jia He and make things difficult for him.
Jia He quickly said that she could understand seventy to eighty percent and it was not a problem at all. But unexpectedly, this brought about a teasing remark from Wu Zhilun: “Seventy to eighty percent? So when you two were talking to each other, were you speaking Mandarin or Cantonese?”
It was a very simple sentence, but he had deliberately made the intonation extremely suggestive[20].
Jia He replied in one word, “Mandarin,” and then started fixedly bowing her head and slowly sipping on her fruit ice slurry, putting all her effort into turning herself into thin air… Not long after, someone brought wine in. Seeing the bottles in the server’s hands, she suddenly remembered that Yi Wenze was still in his recovery period and should not be drinking alcohol. But it was also not appropriate to state this openly in front of Wu Zhilun. She could only sneak a glance at the person sitting opposite her, but unexpectedly, her gaze crossed with his.
Yi Wenze retracted his eyes and told Wu Zhilun, “I temporarily cannot drink alcohol.”
“What a shame. I brought them over specially,” Wu Zhilun clearly had not noticed that he had thoroughly become a background display and continued swirling his wineglass as he casually remarked, “Just a moment ago, we were even talking about how the ratings for your TV drama will probably turn out very well this time. Congratulations to you. Maybe you can thoroughly shake off the TV drama market now.”
Jia He understood the implied meaning of his words. Acting in television dramas was exhausting and the remuneration was not high either. The reputation gained would also only be domestically. Hence, generally, only actors who were experiencing a decline in popularity or who were just getting started would participate in them to gain some recognition. However, even though she comprehended this reasoning, she still could not help feeling a little injury on the inside…
Yi Wenze did not take it very seriously, though. “Acting in TV dramas isn’t bad, either.”
Wu Zhilun gave a laugh. “Forget about it. It was an old buddy’s production company this time. Otherwise, I would have advised you not to take on any television dramas.”
The two seemed on very good terms with one another and continued chatting and joking. Jia He felt that just listening in was as pleasurable as watching a fashion drama[21], very easy on the eyes and amusing.
Around ten o’clock or later, Yi Wenze at last took a look at his watch. “Do you live very far away?”
Jia He calculated it. “Not too bad. Around an hour or so by car.”
As soon as Wu Zhilun heard this, he finally understood why Yi Wenze wanted Jia He to leave first. He immediately registered his dissatisfaction. “It’s so rare we get together. Surely we’re not going back to your place just to watch movies again?” He looked at Jia He. “Let’s all go to Wenze’s. He’s a workaholic. The two assistants and I can just team up with you for a round of mahjong.”
Jia He awkwardly told him, “I don’t know how to play Hong Kong-style mahjong.”
Wu Zhilun was clearly still bursting with enthusiasm. “No problem. I can teach you.”
Yi Wenze did not seem to pay him much regard and simply continued asking Jia He, “Do you want a car arranged to take you home?”
Jia He took a look at Wu Zhilun before decisively deciding that her idol still took precedence. “No need. I drove over myself.”
And thus, the sunny handsome man’s mahjong invitation was ignored just like that…
When Jia He walked out the main entrance, she discovered that rain was already pouring down in sheets and could not help sighing that the rainy Meiyu season[22] in Shanghai really seeped moisture abundantly to the point it shocked the eyes. Judging by how heavy the rainfall was, she knew what the congestion would be like on the elevated roads and simply squeezed her little Cooper into the stopped-up traffic on Huaihai Road. She was boredly switching radio stations with her head lowered when her vehicle gave a sudden jerk and she slammed forward into the steering wheel.
The downpour raged on. She had tragically gotten rear-ended amidst the flourishing, jammed-up traffic on West Huaihai Road.
Both the heavy rain and traffic congestion, piled on top of an car accident…
Jia He had not brought an umbrella and could only alternate between hunkering down miserably in her vehicle and getting out occasionally to coordinate with the traffic police. By the time everything had finally been taken care of, her entire body was drenched through and she was a complete, sorry sight. As a new driver, after going through this ordeal, she did not even dare continue driving. Hence, she took out her mobile phone, preparing to get Qiao Qiao to come pick her up so she could first change into clean, dry clothes before figuring out what should be done.
What she had not expected was that in just that short time she had already missed three phone calls.
Two were from Gu Yu, and there was also one from Yi Wenze.
She wavered briefly before still deciding to first resolve her own predicament. But unexpectedly, the line was perpetually busy at Qiao Qiao’s end. After dialing seven or eight times with no luck, she could only privately complain that her friend valued feelings over friendship and irately set down her mobile phone.
The windshield wipers on the front window had long since stopped, and raindrops incessantly streamed down, enclosing her vehicle in a watery curtain so that she could not even clearly see the pedestrians outside. The radio station was broadcasting traffic updates, prattling on about traffic jams here and accidents there. Listening to this made Jia He feel even more annoyed. She switched from an emotional call-in program to a song dedication program, flipping through several stations without finding anything satisfactory. Hence, she could only switch back to listening resignedly to the traffic updates.
After quite some time had passed, she at last picked up her missed calls again and dialed back Yi Wenze’s number.
The call was picked up very swiftly on the other end, and Wu Zhilun’s laughter could even be heard.
“Have you arrived home?”
She answered, “Not yet. Still on the road.”
A brief silence. Then he suddenly asked, “Did something come up?”
Jia He gave a blank pause. She had not expected that he would easily guess this accident had occurred. “It’s raining heavily outside. I got rear-ended a little while ago. My home is too far away for me to dare drive back now, so I can only wait here for Qiao Qiao to come get me.” She had not even dared to mention that her entire body was soaked through and she was in a complete mess. This really was just too unlucky.
“About how long before she gets here?”
Jia He laughed wryly to herself. She honestly did not know either. “Still no idea. She’s been chattering away on the phone this entire time. I can only park on the side of the road here and wait for her.” As she finished explaining all this, she suddenly remembered that she had not asked Yi Wenze why he was calling her in the first place. “Did you call me earlier because you needed me for something?”
Yi Wenze did not answer her question and simply continued asking, “Which intersection are you at?”
Jia He peeked out the window and reported a location to him.
Next, she heard him speaking Cantonese to Wu Zhilun, clearly not addressing her. Wu Zhilun was chuckling away on his end, scolding Yi Wenze, saying that if photographs were snapped, they might become a scandalous affair or whatnot. Very soon, the line fell quiet again on the other end.
Only then did she react that Yi Wenze was actually sending Wu Zhilun over to get her. She hurriedly declined, “You really don’t need to go to the trouble. I’ll be fine waiting here for a little while.”
His tone was very indifferent, though. “It’s no trouble. He only came here to chitchat anyway, nothing important.”
Jia He found herself lost for words. For the first time, she discovered that her idol seemed quite unreasonable…
The radio continued to ramble on with talk about the terrible traffic. He did not seem to be in a hurry to hang up and the two continued conversing casually. When Wu Zhilun arrived, he at last ended the call.
Wu Zhilun tossed his umbrella onto the backseat and pulled up the hood of his sweatshirt, grinning at Jia He. “Let’s go. Where’s your friend’s home?”
Jia He passed the box of tissues to him. “Let me give her a quick call first to ask.”
With road conditions like this, even just driving here from Xujiahui would take at least half an hour. She had actually spent half an hour just talking away with Yi Wenze like this on the phone, not even giving herself a chance to phone Qiao Qiao… Fortunately, the call was picked up after just a few rings. As soon as Qiao Qiao heard about Jia He’s circumstances, she began peppering her relentlessly with one question after another, not giving Jia He any opportunity to interject at all. She was just feeling frustrated when her mobile phone was casually taken from her hands by the person beside her.
Wu Zhilun wedged the phone between his shoulder and ear as he started up the car. “Miss Beautiful, just tell me the address first. You can keep asking your questions once we’re on our way over.”
Qiao Qiao gave a shocked cry. She hurriedly reported her address, and then… was promptly hung up on.
“Actually, you didn’t need to go to the trouble to come get me. If reporters happen to photograph this, it will definitely cause problems.” Jia He truly felt guilty from the bottom of her heart.
“That makes sense. To shake off those reporters, my assistant is probably going to have to sit in traffic congestion on the elevated highway for an hour,” Wu Zhilun joked. “Since Wenze is getting me to run errands for him like I’m his little brother, I should do it on purpose and make sure those reporters follow me. Just think, if you get photographed together with me, the one it’ll cause the biggest headache for is still him.”
Jia He was rendered speechless. Was this really that Wu Zhilun who, when facing the media, was usually so taciturn?
It was not until they merged onto the main road that his expression finally turned serious. “Actually, the real reason is, he only recently finalized his divorce agreement, so it’s better to be more careful.”
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