[017 I Like Being Around Like-Minded People]
“Come on. Let’s go and say hello.” The two of them approached Han Rong’s table.
Noticing the shadows cast across the table, Han Rong, who had been replying to a message, looked up to find the two of them standing before her. Zhuang Yiyi was nearly 170 cm tall, whilst Chen Ding was nearly 188 cm; the pair stood like two mountains of differing heights, blocking out the light.
Han Rong said, “Sit down first. You two are too tall; it’s rather annoying to look at.”
Chen Ding glanced at Zhuang Yiyi. He’d assumed she’d just say hello and leave, but she sat down beside Han Rong, and Chen Ding followed suit, taking a seat next to the young man.
Han Rong introduced them to one another.
Once the introductions were over, Zhuang Yiyi looked at the pasta on Han Rong’s table and teased, “Is the pasta any good?”
Han Rong wasn’t the type to blush and fluster at a bit of teasing; she was quite the joker herself. “It’s lovely. If you fancy a go, find yourself a man to feed you too.”
Zhuang Yiyi gave her a sidelong glance. This reaction only made Han Rong want to fan the flames further. She turned to Chen Ding and said, “Mr Chen, now that things have come to this, aren’t you going to make a move?”
Chen Ding gave a faint, indifferent chuckle. “She doesn’t like it.”
“Oh?” Han Rong covered her mouth in feigned surprise. “So it seems you’ve fed her before.”
Zhuang Yiyi pursed her lips and shot Han Rong a helpless glare. Han Rong burst out laughing, then made a gesture of surrender. “All right. I won’t say another word.”
“What do you want with me? Let me make this clear: I’m on holiday. I’m not discussing work matters under any circumstances.”
“Nothing like that. I just saw you coming over and wanted to say hello. What are your plans for later?”
Han Rong said, “Nothing much planned. We’ll just have a wander about, then go for a soak in the hot springs.”
Zhuang Yiyi asked, “Fancy joining us?”
Han Rong glanced at the young intern sitting opposite her, and he immediately looked displeased. Having come here primarily to cheer up the intern, Han Rong said, “No, thanks. We’ll go off on our own. You two—stick together too!”
Chen Ding smiled faintly upon hearing Han Rong’s refusal. He hadn’t wanted to turn what was supposed to be a romantic outing for two into a group chat for four, but the fact that Zhuang Yiyi had taken the initiative to invite Han Rong without consulting him first left him somewhat puzzled.
On the path leading up the mountain, Chen Ding asked, “Why did you want to find Han Rong just now?”
Zhuang Yiyi replied, “I just thought it would be rather boring with just the two of us. It’s more fun with a couple more people.”
“Boring?” Chen Ding’s tone seemed almost as if he were speaking to himself, yet he also appeared slightly hurt by her words. Chen Ding looked up and smiled again, saying, “Well, it seems I’ll have to try harder then. Try harder to make sure you’re not bored.”
Zhuang Yiyi wasn’t sure what to say; she hadn’t actually found it that boring, but she chose to remain silent.
Chen Ding said, “Let’s go back. We won’t be hiking anymore.”
Zhuang Yiyi asked, “Why?”
“Isn’t it boring? Since hiking is so boring, we might as well go back and do something more interesting!” Chen Ding seemed to have thought of a brilliant idea; beaming, he took Zhuang Yiyi’s hand and led her back to the hotel.
Zhuang Yiyi followed him, puzzled, and they entered the hotel room. A large bed stood in the centre; the sunlight streaming in was just right—a glorious sunny day—and Zhuang Yiyi’s mind suddenly wandered.
Chen Ding patted the bed. “Come here.”
Zhuang Yiyi shuffled over. “Should we draw the curtains?”
Chen Ding laughed, his melodious voice dripping with flirtation. “Darling, it’s broad daylight.”
“……” Zhuang Yiyi’s face flushed slightly.
She sat down, her expression stiff. “What are we doing?”
Chen Ding said, “Let’s play a game.”
Zhuang Yiyi asked, “What sort of game? Surely not Bullfight again?”
“No. Rock, Paper, Scissors. The winner then picks a photo from their own album and tells the other person what happened at the time, why the photo was taken, and what it means to them.”
Zhuang Yiyi paused for a moment; she suddenly realised this was a golden opportunity.
In the first round, Chen Ding won.
Zhuang Yiyi watched as he took out his mobile and scrolled through his photo album. Out of respect for his privacy, she turned her head and gazed silently out onto the balcony, only for a photograph to suddenly appear before her eyes.
A young boy, not much older than himself, with an air of defiance, his head held high in unyielding defiance as he faced the wall in reflection. Most notably, he was bald.
Zhuang Yiyi looked at Chen Ding. “Is that you?”
Chen Ding nodded.
Zhuang Yiyi took the phone, zoomed in, and studied the face closely, finding that it did indeed bear a strong resemblance to Chen Ding. She asked, “When did you shave your head?”
Seeing the interest on Zhuang Yiyi’s face, Chen Ding knew he’d chosen the right photo.
“In secondary school. I had a bet with Fang Zhile—the loser had to shave their head.”
“And you actually did it?”
“Why does that seem so surprising?”
“It’s not that. I just thought you’d be quite self-conscious about it.”
Chen Ding nodded in agreement. “I was quite self-conscious. So, after I shaved my head, I skipped class.”
Zhuang Yiyi burst out laughing. “Quite amusing. What happened next?”
“I didn’t want my parents to find out, so I found a woman outside who’d make a call to my teacher, saying I was ill and wouldn’t be coming to school for a while. At home, I told them I’d gone to school. But I didn’t. I went and booked a room in a hotel. Things weren’t so strictly monitored back then, so nothing ever came of it.”
“How did your parents find out later?”
Leaning on the bed with one hand, Chen Ding gave a helpless chuckle. “They both went to the hotel and happened to bump into me as I was coming out.”
Zhuang Yiyi burst out laughing, as if she could picture the awkward scene unfolding before her: parents heading to the hotel, encountering their son who’d skipped school, all six eyes staring at one another in silence.
Chen Ding waited until Zhuang Yiyi had finished laughing before continuing, “Then my parents took me straight home that very day. That’s how this photo came about—my mum made me face the wall and reflect on my behaviour.”
“Did you go to class afterwards?”
“I did.” Chen Ding paused. “I went wearing a wig.”
Zhuang Yiyi burst out laughing.
The second round went to Zhuang Yiyi.
Distracted by Chen Ding’s hilarious story, Zhuang Yiyi had forgotten her original intention: to share a childhood photo of herself being chased by a pig with Chen Ding. But whilst rummaging through her photos, a screenshot caught her eye.
It was a screenshot of her location.
It was sent by her mum a few nights ago, whilst she and Qian Zhang were still out having dinner. Her mum had asked why she was still out so late, saying it wasn’t safe. She’d replied that she’d be back soon. An hour later, she still hadn’t returned, so her mum had sent her this screenshot.
Her earlier good mood vanished completely, and her heart was enveloped in an impenetrable gloom.
She listlessly opened her WeChat Moments and dug out the photos from when she’d climbed Mount Huangshan with Qian Zhang.
Chen Ding looked at the sunrise in the photo. “Is this a photo from when you climbed the mountain before?”
Zhuang Yiyi said, “Yes. I’m not really into sport, and I don’t like climbing mountains. It was my first time climbing such a high mountain. It took ages; I kept stopping and starting along the way, gasping for breath, with a sore back and tired legs. “So I wanted to give up loads of times along the way. But in the end, I was half-dragged, half-carried up the mountain.”
“It happened to be sunrise. The sky was ablaze with colour, the air was crisp, and it was absolutely beautiful. So I took a photo. Although it’s nothing special.”
“It’s quite lovely. And photos are just reminders, reminding you of that time.”
Zhuang Yiyi chuckled softly, “You’re really good at paying compliments.”
Chen Ding asked, “How did you suddenly decide to go hiking back then?”
Zhuang Yiyi said, “My ex-boyfriend asked me to.”
Chen Ding looked down helplessly, chuckling self-deprecatingly. “I shouldn’t have asked.”
Then, he reached out his hand, as if to start a new round.
Zhuang Yiyi said, “Why have you stopped asking? Is it because I mentioned my ex-boyfriend?”
Chen Ding said, “There’s been a bit too much ex-boyfriend talk today.”
Indeed, in the three-plus months since they’d been married, neither of them had ever asked about the other’s ex-boyfriends or ex-girlfriends.
Chen Ding said, “Let’s start a new round.”
Zhuang Yiyi said, “You haven’t finished asking yet.”
“Whether it was the Bullfighting game we played on our trip to Suzhou last time, or today’s Rock-Paper-Scissors, weren’t you trying to get to know me? My ex-boyfriend is also part of my life. It was precisely because I was in a relationship with him that it had such a profound impact on my self-perception and my current views on love. If you want to understand my past and fully know what kind of person I am, you simply cannot avoid my views on relationships, nor can you avoid him as a person.”
“But I don’t really want to hear it,” Chen Ding said, his expression remaining calm.
Zhuang Yiyi didn’t want to make things too awkward, especially by arguing, so she chose to take a roundabout approach. “Have you ever been in a relationship before?”
Chen Ding said he had.
“Why did you break up?”
Chen Ding paused for a moment. “We weren’t compatible.”
“Be more specific.”
Chen Ding repeated that it was simply a case of incompatibility.
Chen Ding seemed reluctant to dwell on the matter. Zhuang Yiyi sensed that the subject was like a scar on his heart; pressing further might cause him to develop a certain distaste or even loathing for her, though such an approach felt rather distasteful.
Zhuang Yiyi hesitated, and so fell silent.
Chen Ding watched her silence and moved closer to her. “Let’s not talk about this, shall we?”
“We’ve finally managed to find time to be together today. Let’s not talk about other people. As for your past and your future, I’d like to get to know you. We have plenty of time; we can take our time getting to know that past. Of course, your ex-boyfriend—to be honest, I’m not particularly keen to find out about him.”
“Your ex-boyfriend is merely a part of your life from decades past. That’s history; I can’t change it, but people do change. Let’s leave the past behind. Let’s look ahead, towards the future. I hope to get to know you gradually as we spend time together, and I hope to understand you even better in the life we’ll share.”
Zhuang Yiyi didn’t dwell on the issue, but steered the conversation back to the two of them. “You see, we’re quite different.”
Chen Ding said, “People are naturally different; I never expected us to be the same. Besides, I believe that these differences are precisely what make human interaction so fascinating.”
“But I don’t see it that way. I prefer to be with people who share my outlook. I don’t like being with people who are different from me.”
“You can tell me.”