Li Shen’s yard is still quiet. Yu Wan lit up the cigarette in a hand. She took a puff and let out all the gloom in her chest with a breath.
She likes this brand of cigarette because the taste is delicate and light. It also has a slight strawberry flavor but now that she took a puff, it tasted bitter. She leaned on the balcony and watched the deep night. She only used half of the cigarette before extinguishing it.
Yu Wan closed the curtain, changed, and walked to the bathroom to take a bath. When she looked into the mirror, she saw that her eyes are red. She never thought that she is already at this age and is still crying.
She found an eye mask on her vanity and after putting it on, she sat in her bathtub. She needs to go to sleep early today. She doesn’t want to go to the company with a pair of swollen eyes tomorrow.
Early the next morning, the alarm clock woke her up on time. She found that people really can’t be lazy. After not going to the company for a week, she almost couldn’t get up.
The subway is as crowded as ever in the morning rush. Even though the company is only four stops away from where she lives, she still has to leave the house an hour in advance.
Before stepping out of the elevator of the office building, Yu Wan took out a small mirror and checked her makeup again before walking out with a smile.
“Yu Wan, you’re here!” Zhao Xin who just so happened to be getting a cup of water saw Yu Wan come in, “Congratulations! You even won over the hard-to-please Miss Hu!”
Yu Wan walked to her seat and put down her bag, “It’s still too early to say. She made a lot of demands and I still don’t know what to do.”
“Good luck, I believe in you!” Zhao Xin held her cup of water and sat down at her seat, “I heard President Wei say that you even married in the game to win the case? I didn’t expect Fisherman's Song at Eventide to be you!”
Yu Wan who was tidying her stuff froze and gave her a sideways glance, “You also know about this?”
“Your wedding is still on the forums. You don’t know?” Zhao Xin slid her chair closer to Yu Wan and gossiped, “Who’s Little Prince?”
“No one, just an old classmate who just happens to play this game and helped me.”
“Oh, so it’s like this.” Zhao Xin laughed, “I see that he is willing to hold a wedding reception. Was he secretly in love with you when you were studying?”
Yu Wan picked up the laptop on her desk and smiled, “How many requests did you get this month? Do you still want to celebrate the new year?”
Zhao Xin, “.....”
She wants to gossip, not to discuss these depressing things.
“Chef Wei is in the office?”
Zhao Xin nodded and slid her chair back to her table, “En, he arrived early in the morning.”
Yu Wan slightly nodded and went to find Wei Shao. When he heard the knock on the door, he responded without raising his head, “Come in.”
Yu Wan pushed the door open and poke her head in, “President Wei?”
Wei Shao heard her voice and stopped working, “You’re here.”
“En.” Yu Wan walked in with a smile and sat across from Wei Shao, “I want to talk to you about Miss Hu’s wedding.”
Wei Shao lightly nodded his head, “I heard you say she made some difficult requests?”
“Yes, it mainly the venue and the host that are hard to find.” Yu Wan opened the laptop and told him Hu Jiao’s demands, “I plan to ask the others if they have any ideas in mind.”
Every group has its own group. Yu Wan has multiple groups in WeChat related to the wedding industry.
Wei Shao flipped through the file on the table and handed it to her, “All of the outdoor wedding venues in A City and its surrounding areas are listed here.”
Yu Wam skimmed the file and looked up, “Okay I’ll handle it.”
“En, if you have any difficulties, ask me anytime.”
“Okay.”
Yu Wan was about to leave when Wei Shao stopped her again. He stared at her face for two seconds and asked, “What’s wrong with your eyes? Did you cry?”
“.....” Do straight men in the wedding industry usually have suck sharp eyes? She put on a layer of thick powder and he was still able to see it. Yu Wan smiled, “No. I just stayed up late playing games and didn’t sleep well.”
Wei Shao didn’t ask any more questions and nodded, “What do you want to eat for lunch?”
“Since Boss is treating, anything is fine as long as it is expensive.”
Wei Shao smiled, “Okay, get back to work.”
Yu Wan spent the entire morning looking through the wedding venues and roughly identified the ones with big trees. However, she still has to see it in person if it meets the criteria. In addition, she sent a message to her group chats asking if there is a hostess who is 155 cm tall. She checked the information on the game’s official website and found that the matchmaker is 155 cm.
In addition to this condition, she has to look sweet and cute and has the voice of a young girl.
Her request caused quite a disturbance in the group chats. Because of the particularity of weddings, not all hosts are very good-looking since it will steal the limelight of the newlyweds. But in the end, they are still the MCs so it is required of them to have some sort of temperament.
The MC that Yu Wan wants is very rare.
Seeing that the topic is moving further away from what she wanted, Yu Wan added, “It’s what the bride wants [Hide face]”
Yu Wan’s friends in the group chat said they will help her ask around. Grateful, Yu Wan gave out a big red envelope in the chat. Then she went to the wedding forum and asked for a host.
At noon, Wei Shao treated her out to a big meal but Yu Wan who has a lot of work to do only took a few bites before heading out to look at a venue.
“Wei Shao, take your time, I have to check out a venue so I don’t have time to eat.”
Wei Shao, who is sitting across from her laughed, “Why are you, the employee, busier than me, the boss?”
Yu Wan replied while packing, “There’s nothing I can do about it. These venues have to be booked months in advance. Miss Hu said the venue must be finalized before the Spring Festival.”
She reached her hand out to get something to eat when Wei Shao stopped her, “Would you like me to take you?”
Yu Wan waved her hand and quickly walked out, “I can just take the subway.”
Wei Shao helplessly laughed as he looks down at the table full of food.
The venue Yu Wan went to check out was a park in the suburb of A City. There is also a church in this park and many couples come here for a church wedding.
“It’s this tree, check if it is big enough.” The venue manager led Yu Wan forward. She looked up at the tree not far from her and felt a little disappointed, “Is there any trees larger than this?”
The manager replied, “This is already the largest tree in our park. There are trees in the forest over there but they are densely crowded together and don’t meet your requirements.”
Yu Wan walked around the tree. At first, Hu Jiao required the tree to be the same as the one in the game and it has to be an acacia tree. Later, with Yu Wan’s convincing, she agreed to not include that in the requirement. It just has to look the same.
Yu Wan circled around it and apologized to the manager, “I’m sorry, this tree is still a little small.”
“It’s fine. The tree you want is very hard to find.”
Yu Wan smiled and asked, “May I go over to the forest to check again?”
“Yes. I still have something to do so I won’t accompany you.”
“Okay, sorry for taking your time.” Yu Wan watched the manager leave and walked in the direction of the forest.
The trees in the forest are tall but the trunks aren’t thick. The acacia tree in the game requires at least four people to completely wrap around the tree. After strolling for a while, Yu Wan still couldn’t find the right one. She can only cross out this place from her notes and go somewhere else.
The path in the forest isn’t very smooth. Yu Wan was also wearing heels. When she walked past a small dirt hill, she accidentally fell down and scraped her palm.
Yu Wan let out a hiss. She looked down at the papers and laptop scattered on the ground and helplessly sighed. She put away her stuff and limped back.
When she took the subway back to A City, it was already five o’clock. Yu Wan didn’t go back to the company and changed the line to go to Lize Park. When she reached the gate of her community with her heels in hand, she heard someone call out to her, “Yu Wan, what’s wrong?”
Yu Wan looked back and saw an off-road vehicle behind her. A man’s head was partially stuck out of the driver’s seat.
He was wearing a baseball cap which is pulled very low. However, she can recognize who he was by his voice. It’s Li Shen.
Yu Wan opened her mouth and didn’t call his name, “Oh, I accidentally sprained my ankle.”
Li Shen glanced at her feet which only has a pair of socks on, “Get in the car. I’ll take you in.”
Yu Wan was afraid someone would notice her talking to Li Shen so she hesitated for a moment before getting on. Her socks were long dirtied and there were also some stains on her white down jacket. Li Shen started the car and asked, “Where did you go for you to end up like this?”
Yu Wan, “Look for venues for Miss Hu’s wedding.”
Li Shen’s car slowly entered the gate and glanced at her ankle again, “Did you see a doctor? It looks swollen.”
Yu Wan also looked down at her ankle. It does look a little swollen. “It doesn’t matter. It will be fine once I relieve the pressure when I get back.”
“Do you have any medicinal liquor at home?”
“I don’t think so.”
Li Shen was silent for a moment before he said, “Let’s go to my house instead. I have medicinal liquor.”
“Ah? It’s fine.” Yu Wan’s anxiety rose. To her, going to Li Shen’s house is more severe than her swollen ankle.
Li Shen didn’t listen to her and stopped the car in front of his house. He got off and walked to the passenger side to help Yu Wan get down.
The dog inside the house started barking as if he knows that its owner has returned. Li Shen opened the door and the Shiba circled around his leg.
“Behave Lili. Go inside.” Li Shen blocked it and closed the door behind him. Yu Wan heard him call the dog Lili and subconsciously asked, “Isn’t it called Lily?”
Li Shen glanced at her and help her walk inside, “Your name is Lily.”
Yu Wan stiffened her mind in a mess. She lowered her head and followed Li Shen into the living room.
The window curtain facing the garden was pulled open. The light came him from the windows and hit the clean floor. The heater was turned on, isolating the house from the cold outside. Li Shen helped Yu Wan sit down on the sofa and went upstairs. “I’ll go get the medicinal liquor. Wait a while.”
“En.” Yu Wan took off her down jacket and put it aside as she studied Li Shen’s living room.
On the side of the LCD TV that was mounted on the wall opposite the sofa is a pot of green plants and on the other side, a guitar.
Yu Wan looked at it a few more times as if wanting to identify if it was the one Li Shen bought later on. The Shiba stopped beside her and gave her calf a lick, “Woof.”
Yu Wan felt the wet patch and laughed. She looked at the Shiba sitting in front of her and asked, “Are you Lili?”
“Woof woof.” Lili looked at her, its eyes particularly charming.
Yu Wan thought of the many Shiba Inu expression stickers online and couldn’t help but pinch Lili’s face.
“Haha, it really does look like a sticker.” Yu Wan gently pulled Lili’s face and heard Li Shen’s footsteps upstairs.
Startled, Yu Wan quickly released Lili’s face and hid her hands behind her.
Li Shen walked over and his eyes swept past her. Yu Wan kept her expression the same, pretending as if nothing happened.
Li Shen suddenly laughed. Yu Wan looked up and heard him ask, “Is Lili’s face fun to play with?”
Yu Wan, “.....”
Sure enough, he did see her bully his dog!
She calmly replied, “It feels good in my hand.”
Li Shen’s lips perked up and sat beside her, “Ice it first then put on the medicine.”
He raised her feet and put them on his lap as he tried to take off her socks. Yu Wan quickly bent over and stopped his hands, “I can do it myself.”
Li Shen glanced at her sideways, “Can you handle it yourself?”
“Yes, just let me do it.”
Li Shen didn’t say anymore and found a cushion for Yu Wan to rest her feet on. Then he put the ice pack on her ankle, “After icing it, rub on this Huoluo Liquor. It works great.”
“En, thank you.” Yu Wan watched him put the medicine on the coffee table while his dog lay by his feet, snoring comfortably.
…...What is with this scene? She should’ve insisted on going home instead.
Li Shen stood by her and noticed her red palm. He frowned, “Does your hand hurt?”
“Ah? En.” Yu Wan unconsciously hid her hand, not wanting Li Shen to see, “It’s only a little scratch.”
Li Shen wordlessly turned around and walked away. When he returned, there is a basin in his hand. He put it on the ground and squat beside her, “Clean your wound. Aren’t you afraid of an infection?”
“......” Yu Wan’s feet are still being iced so it is inconvenient for her to move. She could only hand this task to him. Li Shen wrung the towel dry and gently wiped Yu Wan’s palm. The temperature of the water is just right, not too cold and not too hot when it came in contact with her hand.
Li Shen’s movements are very gentle as if he is afraid of hurting her. Yu Wan watched his careful movements and her heart felt even more uncomfortable.
Li Shen pulled up her sleeve and washed the towel. As he was about to bandage her hand, he caught a glimpse of a shallow scar on the inside of her arm.
He looked up at her, “How did you end up with this wound?”
The semester is coming close to an end! Expect more regular updates during the holidays!
Aaaahhhh, puppers!!! ♡
ReplyDeleteI'm curious about the scar now, as well. It couldn't be linked to their breakup, yeah?
Anyway I hope she's able to figure out Hu Jiao's demands... btw, does it need to be a REAL tree?
Thanks for this chapter!