In the afternoon, Wen Run took his little nephew to the supermarket, while Yi Wenze took Jia He to her alma mater.
Jia He always felt that the old campus of Jiaotong University was very atmospheric, but after entering Auckland University, she felt it didn’t seem like a school. All the buildings were hidden among the green lawns and flowers. Without any gates or walls, there were many people walking around who didn’t seem like students – it was more like a botanical garden.
She walked alongside Yi Wenze, listening to him talk about things from his college days, sighing in enjoyment: “Counting it up, my alma mater’s world ranking is lower than yours by hundreds…how frustrating.”
He smiled and looked at her: “How do you know?”
She raised her eyebrows and said: “I read your celebrity information back then. After seeing where you graduated from, I specially looked up this school,” she glanced at him very smugly and continued, “I also know your school is right next to Auckland’s biggest national park. Come clean – did you date anyone there back then?”
She had asked jokingly, but he just smiled without answering.
Hmph, I knew there was something…
Jia He put on an act of being easygoing: “Youthful times, of course there would be stirrings of love. Don’t worry, the past is water under the bridge.”
Yi Wenze still maintained his silence, smiling as he watched her.
Jia He finally couldn’t hold it in anymore as she stared at him: “Don’t tell me this is making you reminisce about the past?”
“Unfortunately not,” he finally laughed. “Besides the library and various tiered lecture halls, I basically didn’t go anywhere else back then.” Jia He muttered an “oh”, while flowers of delight blossomed in her heart.
The two of them walked slowly, chatting casually.
Even though it was a very open university, she still felt like she had regained the feelings from her student days. Following his footsteps, she lightly grasped his fingers, intertwining their hands together. “I’m hungry.”
“Alright, let’s go home,” he said very simply, reaching out to rub her head. “You’re making me start to regret not having a college romance.”
Jia He turned his words around in her brain a couple of times before nodding in great satisfaction: “Classmate, too late. You’re already a married man.”
The trees were low enough that through the gaps, they could see the white clock tower far away – it was very beautiful.
She held onto his arm as they slowly walked forward. Then she suddenly felt inspired and said, “Sometimes I think – if I had properly focused on studying in college instead of dating, and gave my whole heart to love you and only you later on – that would have been so nice. But then I also think, if not for the past, I wouldn’t have switched careers to screenwriting, and wouldn’t have gotten to know you…”
Life was full of contradictions everywhere. For some reason, she couldn’t help but sigh feelingly.
His smile was faint. After listening to her, he finally said: “Classmate, may I get to know you?”
She was stunned for a moment, immediately understanding his meaning. Letting go of his arm, she took two steps back, pretending to hug some books as she shyly looked at him: “Why?”
Yi Wenze’s gaze gradually softened: “I think your future should be tied to mine.”
The summer heat waves and his eyes were both searing her heart.
She didn’t know if his acting skills were too good, or if this environment could just easily evoke fantasy. She actually felt like Yi Wenze was truly the Architecture Department’s big handsome guy on campus, while she herself was just an ordinary female student who thought only about not failing her exams every day. Her eyes darted around as she desperately tried to think of some earth-shattering lines, but no matter how much she thought, she couldn’t come up with any good dialogues.
And Yi Wenze merely stood there looking at her, one hand casually tucked into his pocket.
“Screenwriter, what should the storyline be next?” He finally spoke again with a faint smile. “Want to cut scene?”
“No cuts,” she desperately tried to salvage her image. “Haven’t you heard that silence speaks louder than words here?”
She suddenly recalled the only two scenes she had acted with him – she was still portraying a tearful abandoned woman. Hoping to get some inspiration from the memory, she was thoroughly defeated instead. As she looked at him, she finally let out a sigh: “I’m sorry, I don’t want to in college…”
Alright, let’s try playing hard to get this time!
“Is that so?” He smiled at her, taking two steps forward until his lips lightly touched hers in a kiss.
It was very light, and very pure. There were even people walking by them, but Jia He’s heart thumped wildly. She hadn’t guessed he would make this move at all, and could only subconsciously take a step back. Her head spun as she looked at him: “Did you skip ahead in the script? How could there be a kiss scene right after you approached me? What’s more, I rejected you already.”
Yi Wenze looked at her very seriously: “I’ve never played a playboy before. Just wanted to try out the feeling.”
She muttered an “oh”, fiddling with the tiny gold pig pendant at her neck. Even though she was obviously being teased, she was still smiling like she had won the lottery.
That night, Yi Wenze received a phone call.
Jia He watched him standing by the window, speaking gently into the phone. Her heartbeat immediately became erratic. At this time of night, for this phone call – Father-in-Law wants to meet Daughter-in-Law… She had seen photos of Yi Wenze’s family. She had to admit, he and his sister looked very much like their mother, especially in their similarly gentle eyes that made people feel secure when those eyes were focused on them.
But in the end, it was still meeting her future mother-in-law after all.
She grew a little nervous recalling her mother’s warnings. She must speak gently, not dress too casually, and help out with things to show she wasn’t lazy… While all these thoughts ran through her brain, Yi Wenze had already hung up the phone call and saw her start rummaging through the suitcase for clothes. She took out a 3/4 sleeve coat and searched for a very long skirt.
Seeing her hold them up to herself in front of the mirror, he finally smiled and asked: “Won’t you be hot dressed like that?”
She looked at him very seriously: “It’s better to be conservative than dress too revealing.”
Yi Wenze also looked at her very seriously: “Wife, to be honest, you’re already very conservative in normal times.”
She opened and closed her mouth, struck mute.
Was that meant to be praise? Or complaint?
In the end, for meeting his family the next day, she tossed and turned sleeplessly the entire night. Seeing how anxious she truly was, Yi Wenze kept her company talking to help her relax. With the child in her arms, the two of them didn’t dare speak too loudly. They whispered to each other with their lips almost touching ears until the sky lightened before finally getting some rest. The direct result was that she looked quite haggard the next morning.
When the car entered Wellington, she kept stealing glances at Yi Wenze, again and again, until he finally laughed: “Wife, now you’re making me start feeling nervous too. Do you know what you seem like right now?”
“What do I seem like?” Jia He watched him apprehensively, “Does my complexion look really bad?”
“Like Snow White going to meet the evil stepmother,” he tried his best to use the fairy tale analogy to get her to relax. “Think of it this way – the one you’re meeting isn’t a stepmother, but the mother of the prince who kissed you awake.”
Hearing Yi Wenze say such sour words so unusually, she finally burst into laughter. That also helped her relax somewhat: “I should record these words of yours and sell it to the domestic media. It would absolutely cause explosive reactions.”
He merely smiled: “I don’t mind.”
Jia He shot him a look – You don’t mind, but I do!
As it turned out, with the first three sentences from Yi Wenze’s mother after they entered, Jia He was rendered entirely speechless.
First sentence: Are you planning to get married in New Zealand?
Second sentence: Have you set a date yet?
Third sentence: Do I need to start preparing?
She looked at the smiling, perfect mother-in-law before her, then swung her head back to stare grimly at Yi Wenze. Why did it feel like she had bought a pile of expensive equipment and entered the dungeon on tenterhooks getting ready to fight the Boss, only to immediately be told upon reaching the door: You have successfully cleared the instance!
“What is it?” Yi Wenze’s mother also looked at him. “Isn’t the purpose of this trip back to get married?”
Yi Wenze smiled as he handed Jia He a cup of hot tea, signaling for her to stay calm, before saying to his mother: “If you keep talking, you’ll speak all the words I wanted to say.”
Yi Wenze’s mother looked at him in shock, then looked again at Jia He, then back at him.
Finally, she heaved out a long sigh: “Too shameless. You’ve been together for so long, yet he hasn’t even popped the question? Jia He, you need to reflect on this seriously – you can’t indulge the man like this.”
Jia He awkwardly nodded her head…This wasn’t a mother-in-law – it was practically his birth mom!
The two women got along very well. His mother was just like any ordinary mother who seemed to not understand her celebrity son’s entertainment circle at all. She merely smiled as she ceaselessly asked Jia He about interesting screenwriter anecdotes. When she was engrossed, she would even call Yi Wenze over from where he was chatting with his father. “Tell us some more interesting stories,” she urged him.
With this kind of atmosphere, Jia He soon relaxed.
It wasn’t until midnight that Yi Wenze’s mother finally pulled Jia He up mysteriously, saying: “After I returned home yesterday, I specially prepared a room for you. Come take a look to see if you like it!” Still feeling grateful to Yi Wenze, Jia He then heard his mother whisper another sentence – “Try it out tonight and get him to propose!”
Jia He was struck dumb, but had no choice but to reluctantly nod her head. She now had utterly no idea what else to say!
Their room was at the very end of the 2nd floor hallway.
When Yi Wenze’s mother pushed the door open, Jia He was completely dumbstruck.
She was always mocked by Xiao Yu Qiao Qiao for being a pink-hearted girl, but now she discovered the one who truly had a maiden’s heart was this beautiful mother-in-law of hers! After Yi Wenze and she entered the room, his mother actively closed the door behind them.
The room had hundreds of candles with no electric lights on.
In the twinkling lights, rose petals were scattered all over the bed and thickly strewn on the floor. Such a trite scenario was still every woman’s favorite.
Yet now, standing by Yi Wenze’s side, all she wanted to do was laugh. She finally couldn’t hold it in anymore – holding onto both his arms, she repeatedly nuzzled against him until she finally burst into soft giggles. She deliberately lowered her volume, having to painfully hold in her mirth. Finally raising her head to look at him, he also wore an expression mingling extreme astonishment and barely suppressed amusement: “If I didn’t know you were Yi Wenze, I’d absolutely believe you were some unmarriageable aging bachelor… Your mother is just too adorable!”
He walked over and opened a bottle of red wine, pouring it into two glasses and lightly taking a sip: “This is probably also thanks to Wen Run’s efforts.”
Jia He laughed continuously as she also went over to clink glasses with him for a taste. “Alright, I admit defeat. I surrender!”
He smiled as he pinched her cheek: “Didn’t you stay up the entire night? Hurry and sleep.”
She pointed at the bed, still laughing: “Hubby, do you really want to sleep on top of a pile of flower petals?”
So the two of them worked very hard to clear all of the petals on and underneath the blanket. Looking at the multicolored petals all over the floor, Jia He sighed again deeply: “It’ll be even more troublesome to clean these tomorrow… So romance really does come at a cost, huh.”
The torture of the 10+ hours long flight, plus taking care of the toddler these past couple days, had long exhausted the both of them.
In this rare chance to have a comfortable, quiet environment to sleep, romance went ignored. They soon dozed off.
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