Because he needed to take the teacup, he leaned forward a little, and she happened to be handing the tea, so her body naturally moved closer too… The two of them, with just a cup of tea between them, looked at each other.
She was wearing a round-neck tracksuit. At such a close distance, her delicate collarbones were clearly visible.
Yi Wenze calmly raised his gaze, just this subtle change was enough to make her face burn hotly.
The smell of tobacco, mixed with the fragrance of lemon tea, occupied every inch of consciousness…
After a few seconds of silence, Jia He finally cleared her throat, “It might be a little hot.”
He took the teacup and drank half of it, “It does seem a little hot.”
She looked at him questioningly, “Do you want me to add some cold water?”
“No need.”
Perhaps because they were too close, both of their voices were somewhat soft.
He drank another half a cup, very slowly, yet his gaze did not leave her.
The song that was playing finished and automatically looped back to the beginning, as if it would never end. Downstairs, someone had won, and it got noisy. Someone seemed to be calling Jia He’s name, but it wasn’t very clear.
She hesitated for a long time before saying, “I think someone is calling me, I’ll go down and see.”
He was quiet for a while, before lightly smiling, “Go on then.”
The result was of course that she fled in panic, the carpet under her feet was too soft, she almost tripped over herself.
When she got downstairs, she saw Qiao Qiao wiggling her eyebrows at her, seeming to have something to say. So she pulled over a chair to sit down. Qiao Qiao was holding a card and whispered to her, “Your phone rang just now, I helped you take a look, it was Gu Yu.”
Jia He’s heart skipped a beat, “Did you answer?”
Qiao Qiao looked at her sideways, “I was too lazy to answer, so I just turned it off for you.”
Jia He was shocked, “You turned it off?”
“You still want to answer his call?”
“No, I’ve been waiting for a call about the meeting time in Beijing these past two days.”
Qiao Qiao shrugged, “Then turn your phone back on, be careful not to get dragged away by the big bad wolf.”
Jia He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She took out her phone from her bag and turned it back on. Five or six text messages rushed in all at once. She opened them one by one. Many were promotional messages from banks and shopping malls. Only one was from Gu Yu.
With simple words: I’m downstairs at your place.
She looked at her phone and was silent for a long time, hesitating between replying or not replying to this simple question. It wasn’t until Qiao Qiao had finished a round of cards and looked back at her that she finally made up her mind and quickly typed a line: I’m at the Hongqiao Airport, going to Beijing for a meeting.
Not even 10 seconds after she sent it, he replied again: Have a smooth journey.
Jia He still remembered that she had complained countless times before, you can’t say “Have a smooth journey” when taking a plane, it’s very unlucky. But he would always brush it off with a laugh, laughing at her for being superstitious.
She gave a little sniffle, her nose felt a little stuffy, probably from being out in the rain.
This time it was Wu Zhilun looking at her, “What’s wrong? Did Ze bully you?”
She was speechless as she stood up, “Ah Qing, I’m sorry, could you please show me to the room I’ll be sleeping in first?”
Ah Qing quickly threw down her cards amidst the background noise of people urging her. She brought Jia He into a guest room and told her that although no one lives here regularly, all the items in the room had been newly replaced before they came, so Jia He shouldn’t worry and just sleep at ease. Jia He felt even more apologetic from her words and kept saying she wasn’t that particular until the room door closed behind her and she finally heaved a sigh of relief.
The decor here was very similar to upstairs, light-colored wood flooring, and black furniture.
The same white carpet was laid beside the bed.
After a whole night of activity, now she could finally relax properly. Amidst the faint clamor from outside, she wrapped herself in the quilt and fell asleep. It wasn’t until midnight when she woke up thirsty and went to get water, that she realized everyone had already gone to sleep. The door to that upstairs room was still half-open, revealing faint lamplight.
She stood downstairs and drank mouthful by mouthful until she finished the whole cup before going back to her room.
The next day when she woke up, she picked up her phone to check and it was already 1 pm in the afternoon.
There was a white note stuck to the bedside table. She could tell from the messy handwriting that it was from Qiao Qiao: I’m borrowing your car to go to my parents’ place to get the keys, I’ll come back to pick you up tonight.
Tonight? Jia He sat up groggily with her head spinning. Her throat hurt like it was on fire. She reached up to feel her forehead, it seemed to be very hot. What a streak of bad luck, everything happening at once. She swiftly got dressed and only saw Wu Zhilun and Yi Wenze sitting at the small bar counter, seeming to be discussing something, while the auntie tidied up the yard outside amidst the sunny and glorious weather.
Hearing the sound, the two men looked over at her simultaneously.
Yi Wenze very naturally stubbed out his cigarette, “Did you sleep well?”
Jia He glanced at Wu Zhilun whose expression was clearly suggestive and struggled for a long time before saying, “Pretty good.”
Wu Zhilun made a show of looking at his watch, “It’s said that women recognize their beds when sleeping. How does that saying go?” He made a thoughtful expression, not knowing if he had truly forgotten how to continue or was just pretending, “Oh right, it’s ‘different people, different opinions’.”
She swore this box office luck star’s image in her heart had completely collapsed… While resenting him, she still remembered the purpose she came out for, “Where is Ah Qing?”
In truth, getting soaked in the rain then getting a fever wasn’t a big deal. She could even drive herself to buy medicine then go home, wrap herself in a blanket and sleep to be as right as rain. But now her car had been taken by Qiao Qiao. And here was a villa district outside the outer ring road. Even more wretchedly, it was her idol’s home. She didn’t want to trouble him too much and couldn’t think of a way out, so she could only secretly ask Ah Qing to help her buy medicine first.
“She went out with Qiao Qiao,” Yi Wenze asked, “Is there something you need her for?”
Jia He thought for a bit then said it was nothing. Her voice had already started becoming hoarse. She was afraid the two men would notice something off so she went to the bar counter to pour herself a cup of hot water, thinking to go back to her room and give Qiao Qiao a call. She should be able to hold out until Qiao Qiao bought medicine and came back that night. Wu Zhilun very tactfully stopped teasing and went back to the topic they were just discussing. Jia He stood with her back to them, both hands grasping the cup. She felt like a whole century had passed before the cup was finally full.
Right as she was turning around, Yi Wenze suddenly called out to stop her, “You don’t look well, are you sick?”
She forced a smile, “No ah, it must be because I slept too late.”
Just as he was about to ask more, the auntie who was lightly sweeping the yard had already come in and asked if she should prepare lunch for the young miss. Yi Wenze naturally nodded and said to keep it simple. Jia He stood by his side listening and started feeling the world spin as she cried out inwardly. But now at this time, she had no excuse to refuse and could only woodenly sit down at the dining table.
The auntie’s hands and feet moved very quickly. She took out dumplings from the fridge and fried them until golden brown and glorious. It was a very northern custom, paired with some vinegar for dipping, and placed on the glass table. “Mr. Yi said you are a northerner so you should like flour foods ba? No one has been here for awhile so there’s no noodles prepared. I specifically had my husband roll some dough this morning.” The auntie was very talkative and kept on saying her husband was a northerner so the dumpling skins he made would of course be different and have that chewy texture.
The fragrant, steaming dumplings were usually Jia He’s favorite. But she now felt that even the air she breathed out was hotter than the steam from the dumplings… She basically counted the dumplings as she stuffed them into her mouth because with her fever she couldn’t taste anything. She only wanted to hurry up and give Qiao Qiao a call to have her come back as soon as possible. Eating such oily stuff on an upset stomach made her feel even worse.
After eating, she diligently cleaned up herself.
“Jia He.”
She stopped and looked at him with the bowls and chopsticks still in her hands.
He suddenly reached out and touched her forehead with the back of his hand, a very polite attempt that made her heart race wildly.
“You have a fever,” Yi Wenze swiftly determined then looked to Wu Zhilun, “Go ask the auntie if there’s any fever medicine.” After speaking, he took the bowls and chopsticks from Jia He’s hands and set them aside. “Go lie down in your room first. I’ll be right over.”
Jia He wanted to say she was fine but her legs suddenly weakened and she almost fell onto the floor.
Yet in the end, it was him who grabbed her first, directly losing his balance and crashing into the bar counter.
With a loud bang, the chopsticks got shook off and fell onto the floor while his arm was propped on the tabletop. He actually didn’t let her get hurt one bit.
Jia He was badly frightened and struggled to get up, “Are you okay?” After speaking, she looked from his arm to his legs to confirm that injured leg didn’t get knocked into before finally heaving half a sigh of relief, but felt even more guilty and distressed, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose…”
“It’s nothing,” Yi Wenze reassured her then said to Wu Zhilun who had just stood up but not yet fully reacted, “Help me get her into the room.”
What followed felt even more dramatic. She didn’t know if it was because she let down her guard after being found out, but the instant she lay down on the bed, her fever raged wildly and her whole body ached badly such that she could only see Wu Zhilun bringing medicine and water while Yi Wenze’s little assistant stood helplessly by the side.
Every time she was shaken awake, she could see his face, the expression blurred and unclear.
It wasn’t until nighttime that her fever finally receded a little, but there were only the two of them left in the room. In order to let her sleep, the lamp had already been turned down to the lowest setting. He sat on a chair with a laptop on his leg. His features were distinct in the white glow of the display screen. Jia He stared at him for a while as her brain couldn’t make sense of things for the moment. It was a very long time later before she asked, “Did you get hurt from the collision?”
He raised his head to look at her and casually closed the laptop, “Hungry?”
Having not eaten anything for the entire day, she actually was very hungry.
Right then, a call came in all of a sudden. Not wanting to keep looking at Yi Wenze, she passed the phone over. He very naturally took it from her hand. It was the director of her next drama, “Jia He ah, your phone is truly hard to get through. How about it, can you make it over tomorrow?”
Jia He’s voice was still a little weak, “I’m sorry Director Liu, tomorrow… tomorrow should work ba.” Sleeping until tomorrow morning, her fever should basically be gone. And it was just a meeting anyway, she should still manage. The main thing was… she finally had an excuse to escape. She couldn’t keep staying at Yi Wenze’s home.
That side seemed to agree very readily, the level of enthusiasm very high.
Yi Wenze listened for a while more before following up, “Alright, if there are any good scripts, I hope there will be opportunities to collaborate.”
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