Jiahui opened and closed her mouth, speechless.
In the end, Ah-Qing got off the car first and swiftly said, “Shouldn’t be too many people. We’ll go quick. At most, if passengers photograph then lower your head to stare at the ground and get through feeling embarrassed.”
Jiahui silently chanted Amitabha[1], gritted her teeth, and exited.
[1] Buddhist chant
At first no one paid attention but once the two left the VIP check-in, reporters already swarmed over. She chanted Ah-Qing’s reminder in her mind. Pulling tightly on Yi Wenze’s arm with an utterly stiff expression, she truly didn’t know if she was smiling or had lost her smile altogether…
Nonstop shrieks for Yi Wenze along with reporters in constant pursuit. Merely a glance at those recording devices entirely stole her soul.
Ah-Qing and company staff politely blocked the reporters yet all sorts of questions still poured forth unchecked. “May I ask if you two are going abroad to marry this time? Or have you already secretly registered?” “Teacher Yi, may we have a word? Is this the fiancée you mentioned on that show?” “Teacher Yi, have you met each other’s parents yet?”…
She really wanted to find a shell and hide away inside already…
Yi Wenze kept an arm around her shoulders, nearly half embracing her protectively against him without speaking. She didn’t know who tugged her hand. A nail scraped the back of it, frightening her into withdrawing her arm.
Yi Wenze lowered his head to look at her, lightly squeezing her hand. He suddenly halted.
That brief few seconds of stillness instantly quieted the entire scene.
Just when everyone grew somewhat awkward, he finally opened with gentle humor. “Everyone, if you keep questioning, she may very likely run away instead of marrying me. I’d be quite innocent then.” His rare public joke left all reporters a bit stunned. They then very politely retreated two steps, continuing to repeat prior questions albeit at much lower volumes.
Jiahui stuck close behind his footsteps, not daring to tarry further as they directly entered the security checkpoint.
Even boarding the plane, she still felt somewhat dizzyheaded.
No matter how often she saw this, personally experiencing it was still scarcely adaptable. The flight attendant drew the curtains, blocking excessive attention. Only then did Jiahui exhale in relief. Turning her head, she pressed her face to the seatback looking at him. “I’m starting to understand why you had depression in the past. If it were me, my psyche would have directly collapsed already.”
He smiled at her. “Thanks for the empathy, wife.”
His voice was very soft but there were still two other passengers present, plus the flight attendant – practically ticketless spectators.
She gloomily stared at him. “I’ve decided to sleep. Don’t talk to me, don’t say anything more to me…”
“You plan on sleeping ten plus hours?” He amusedly stroked her forehead. “It’ll be better once we reach New Zealand. There I’m not an actor or singer. No one will pay us much attention.”
Yi Wenze had long preordered meals for her, all her favorite foods.
After eating her fill, Jiahui thought about the scene after disembarking and suddenly felt some anticipation.
This was her first open and candid trip together with him. In China, his face was like a timed explosive that barred them from many excursions aside from company and home. Occasionally accompanying him on business trips for meals counted as peak entertainment. She contemplated and still deeply sighed softly. “Actually I’m quite losing out being with you. We haven’t done many things together.”
He smiled at her. Just as he wanted to say something, Jiahui added another line. “But I really dislike sports and going out. So it seems I’m the most suitable for you.”
He very much agreed. “Then pardon me for inconveniencing you this time to accompany me walking more in New Zealand?”
She played along with him, deliberately sighing. “Fine, I’ll put up with it and accompany you reminiscing your younger days.”
Yi Wenze tilted his head to lightly kiss her cheek, indicating she could sleep now.
Amidst the lengthy flight when she blearily woke thirsty, Yi Wenze still slept.
Such a peaceful expression. Truly…nice-looking. She deeply sighed again at God’s favoritism over him before softly asking the attendant for iced water. When she walked over with it, the flight attendant flashed her a friendly smile.
Jiahui instantly understood in her heart. She must be Yi Wenze’s fan too.
She also smiled. “Thanks.”
The attendant smiled, silently mouthing ‘jiayou'[1]. Then took back the cup.
[1] Add oil, cheerleading phrase
Jiahui turned to look at Yi Wenze. He still had a half-opened book on his chest with a very clean, minimalist dark blue cover. His hand rested atop it, fingers curled in an arc. Simply that was already captivating enough to stare at for a while. She lay there watching him. Soon muddled back to sleep.
The same rain here yet carried summer’s scent. Coming from freezing Shanghai to this place really did resemble vacationing. Of course, if not for that beaming woman who looked practically like a female version of Yi Wenze, she would have naturally relaxed more.
“Jiahui,” Yi Wenrun walked over and fiercely hugged her. “You’re so cute and tiny.”
……Sure, she’d take it as praise.
She smiled and returned Yi Wenrun’s embrace. “He said I would definitely like you. Now I believe it.”
Yi Wenrun released her and softly said, “Actually, he was really scared I’d bully you.”
Her Mandarin remained quite unpracticed but cute enunciation, especially with this face truly bearing seven parts resemblance to Yi Wenze. Simply staring left her somehow flushed. “Blushing?” Yi Wenrun directly looked at Yi Wenze instead. “Did I really frighten your wife badly?”
Addressing her so casually as “wife” made her pulse speed up again.
Yi Wenze only smiled at her. “She saw your face and thought of me.”
An understated strike that utterly deflated the other party. Yi Wenrun refused to resign herself to it and continued asking Jiahui, “Don’t you feel this face would look better on a woman than him? Don’t you think I’m prettier than my brother?” Jiahui solemnly nodded. “I didn’t think so initially but meeting you, I’ve discovered features like these truly better suit a woman.”
The two women exchanged a look and promptly burst into laughter.
Yi Wenrun had driven over herself. Only when they entered Auckland did Jiahui seem to recall Wenze’s parental home was in the capital, Wellington, rather than here. She leaned near Yi Wenrun’s ear and softly asked, “Aren’t we going to see your parents first?”
“They’re still vacationing,” Yi Wenze smiled. “Also worried you’d be too nervous. They said to stay at Wenrun’s first a few days before going over.” How considerate… Jiahui relaxed somewhat with a breath. “You could have told me earlier. Made me antsy for nothing.”
Judging from such thoughtful behavior, their entire family was alike.
She suddenly thought of the marriage dramas she wrote. Mother and daughter-in-laws would even resent showering timeslots. She estimated it truly was from writing too much, ingraining a deeply-rooted fear of “mother-daughter tensions.”
“Thinking about what?” He handed her milk.
She accepted it for a sip. “Thinking about mother-daughter tensions.”
He half laughed and passed her wet wipes. Right as Jiahui took them to wipe her mouth, she heard Yi Wenrun by the driver’s seat laugh. “If Mom heard you say that, she’d be thrilled. She hasn’t truly experienced ‘mother-daughter tensions’ her whole life and keeps telling me it’s a lifelong regret.” Jiahui looked at Yi Wenze. She then heard Wenrun suddenly react, “Oh no, I spoke incorrectly.”
“No problem.” Jiahui laughed. She had only randomly pondered it yet was made somewhat awkward from Yi Wenrun’s words. “I haven’t experienced that either. Actually very frightened of it.” After speaking, she scooted closer to Yi Wenze and whispered by his ear, “You experienced fellow, I’m completely innocent here. Treasure me.”
Yi Wenze amusingly eyed her. “How do you want me to treasure you?”
She stared and stared at him. A certain scene abruptly popped into her mind so she swiftly retracted her eyes to fiercely peer out the window instead.
Wenrun’s husband was a high school teacher. Despite lecturing daily, he was extremely inarticulate. Aside from saying ‘eat more’ in English during the entire dinner, there were no other words. By the time the two sat together rocking on the yard swing and chatting, she deeply sighed, “Wenrun talks so much so bumping into someone this taciturn must be quite lonely.”
“Dear wife,” Yi Wenze slowly glanced her way. “He and I were schoolmates, in the law department.” Jiahui was astonished, staring at him. “Yet he’s still so reticent?”
“It’s Wenrun who doesn’t let him talk much,” he revealed the inside story. “He can’t speak Chinese. Scared of making you uncomfortable if he talks too much.”
Jiahui oh-ed, rather embarrassedly mumbling, “My English isn’t that bad actually…”
The two big dogs by their feet ceaselessly snuggled over. Unexpectedly entirely comfortable with strangers, one even stretched out its tongue to lightly lick her leg. The ticklish sensation made her lift her feet directly onto his lap. Yi Wenze said something in English to the dogs and they obediently settled down. Jiahui peered at him admiringly before also checking out the dogs. “I’m suddenly quite in awe of these two dogs. They understand all sorts of English phrases. At least Level 4 fluency I bet…”
Her jokes greatly entertained Yi Wenze. Just as he wanted to speak, faint, tender cries of ‘Aunt’ sounded from afar. His 2-year-old little nephew tottered over barefooted from the grass. Watching already made Jiahui shudder. She wanted to stand and pick him up but Yi Wenze held her back. “It’s fine. He learned to walk a while ago already.”
So coldhearted…
Jiahui watched him approach at a snail’s pace, yearningly. Only when he got closer did she stretch out her hands and hug him into her embrace.
Sandwiched between herself and Yi Wenze’s prior hug, this sensation somehow softened her heart. The little boy still couldn’t speak well, only crying ‘Aunt’ while touching all over her face, nose, and lips. As she allowed his explorations, she inadvertently peered at Yi Wenze. She didn’t expect he seemingly thought of something too. They simultaneously lowered their heads at the same time to look at each other.
Their faces were very near, practically able to smell each other’s breaths.
“Yo, watch the influence.”
Jiahui blinked and arduously scooted back some. Just as she wanted to say something, she abruptly cried out instead.
“What’s wrong?”
She awkwardly regarded him and the child in her arms. Aggrieved, she said, “Just now when he touched my…” She pointed at her chest. This naughty child actually reached inside to touch… Yi Wenze chuckled and grasped the little hand. Very seriously, he said, “That place belongs to uncle. You can’t randomly touch. Understand?”
Jiahui didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Is that how you teach a kid?”
He peered down at her. “I’m teaching him men need to know how to protect what’s theirs.”
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