What? A boyfriend!
Shu Wan’s eyes flew wide, bright as two neon signs suddenly switched on.
In just a moment, the girl’s fair cheeks began to flush, the red quickly spreading to her ears. She looked utterly bewildered and comical.
“I don’t—I don’t have a boyfriend. Of course he isn’t my boyfriend.”
Talking about this sort of thing with an elder always made her feel inexplicably embarrassed. Whether she had one or not, Shu Wan would never admit it. Besides, she really hadn’t been dating anyone in secret!
Meng Huaijin watched her panic and stumble over her words. Without a change in expression, he stubbed out his cigarette and gave a quiet “Mm,” then got up and went to the study.
That was it? Shu Wan: “…”
He always managed to use the most direct, coldest words to send Shu Wan from one kind of sorrow straight into another kind of confusion and shock.
Just like the day he went to South City to pick her up. One offhand remark—“Can I send you to the welfare institute[1]In Chinese usage, a child welfare institute is a residential care institution for children without adequate family care. The exact institution imagined by the characters is not specified. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3733509_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3733509_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });?”—had completely shattered her composure, making her forget her sorrow and pain for a while.
Tonight was the same. What had she been sad about earlier? She’d forgotten…
The study door was open. From the sofa, Shu Wan could see Meng Huaijin sitting at his desk, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
Beneath the reading lamp, his handsome, stern face finally showed a trace of fatigue.
.
When he heard a noise from the kitchen, Meng Huaijin paid it no mind.
A little while later, a cup of some liquid was suddenly set down in front of him. Only then did he raise an eyebrow, surprised.
It was clearly a bowl of hangover soup. Unlike the black, failed concoction in the trash, this one looked quite presentable.
“Drink it while it’s hot.” Shu Wan left him with that and quietly slipped out of the study.
Cooking was her weak point, but hangover soup was her specialty.
Her father often came home drunk after business dinners. Sometimes he came back late, after Auntie had gone to bed, and Shu Wan would make him hangover soup.
But now… Shu Wan quickly cut off the thought.
The room was too quiet for her to go to bed, so she stayed on the sofa. She could hear the soft rustle of Meng Huaijin turning through documents in the study. With that sound in the background, she soon fell asleep.
The next morning, Shu Wan woke up in bed.
Sunlight seeped through a gap in the curtains, warming her quilt and feet.
Shu Wan was dazed for only two or three seconds before quickly turning over, getting up, putting on her shoes, and heading out. Her eyes swept across the spacious apartment, finally settling on the balcony.
Meng Huaijin hadn’t left. He was sitting lazily in an armchair beneath the window, taking a phone call. His free hand idly toyed with the lid of a porcelain teacup.
“Mm. She’s here with me.”
“I’ve been busy lately. I’ll come back when I have time.”
Hearing the sound, Meng Huaijin glanced over, then looked away. A moment later, his gaze drifted back to her.
She was wearing the pajamas he’d asked a sales assistant to pick out for her at the mall the other day. He hadn’t paid much attention then, but now it was obvious they were too small.
Shu Wan assumed the call was private, so she ducked back into the bedroom, got dressed, and washed up before going out again.
It was the first time she’d seen Meng Huaijin cooking. The sleeves of his black shirt were rolled up to his elbows. From behind, he had broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and a lean, fluid build. He flipped the food in the pan with one hand, the other tucked in his pocket, his movements as practiced as if he were flipping a pistol.
Before being transferred back to North City, he had spent many years stationed at a secret base. He had both the refined bearing of a young master from an old, prominent family and the ruggedness of a battle-hardened officer. Now, there was also the composure and depth of someone in a position of power.
“Good morning.”
Shu Wan leaned against the doorway and greeted him. Her gaze fell on the cup that had held the hangover soup the night before, now washed clean, and a faint smile lifted her lips.
Had he moved back in?
She wondered to herself but didn’t ask. With his temperament, he would never give her a straight answer.
Meng Huaijin replied with a cool “Morning” without turning around, then turned and handed her breakfast.
Shu Wan took the sandwich to the table and waited until he sat down before eating.
The egg and toast had been fried just right: crisp on the outside, soft inside, and delicious.
“Was that Grandfather calling?”
She felt even more distant from that old man. So far, she’d only seen him once, when she was eight, and now she couldn’t even remember what he looked like.
She’d asked out of the blue simply to find something to talk about.
But Meng Huaijin answered a different question. “Why didn’t you say the clothes I bought were too small?”
Shu Wan paused, thinking that wasn’t basic courtesy? If someone kindly bought you something, how rude would it be to complain about it?
“They’re fine,” she replied.
Meng Huaijin set down his utensils and wiped his hands with a wet tissue. His gaze on her was direct. “Shu Wan, since I brought you here, this is your home from now on.”
“The standard of living you had over there is what you’ll have here, too.”
“If you need anything, just say so. You don’t have to hide it. You’re not the sort of person who curries favor with the powerful, either.”
Shu Wan’s feelings were tangled. Yet it was as if a warm breeze had passed over the broken pieces of her heart, easing the unease that had haunted her for days.
Before leaving, Grandpa had warned her that she’d be living under someone else’s roof here, that she’d have to watch their expressions and endure what she could. That was why she’d kept her true nature in check, doing her best to be careful so no one would grow to dislike her.
“Now, is there anything you want to tell me?” Meng Huaijin asked again, his voice still cool and low.
“The pajamas really are a little small.” Shu Wan looked up at him. She told him the truth, then went all the way. “Actually…the underwear is too small, too.”
Meng Huaijin’s hand paused as he reached for his water. A moment later, he lifted the cup and took a sip as if nothing had happened, then calmly said, “Finish breakfast and come out with me.”
After breakfast, Meng Huaijin drove Shu Wan to the mall and headed straight for the third floor.
He waited in the seating area while she went in on her own to choose underwear, telling her she could buy whatever she liked.
Her mother had always picked out all her clothes, from underwear to outerwear, so Shu Wan didn’t even know her own size very well.
The saleswoman took one glance at her chest and accurately picked out several larger sizes. She even added, “Miss, you’re more developed than most girls your age.”
Shu Wan truly didn’t know what to say in response.
She actually wished she were flatter; it would make clothes easier to wear. But whenever she said that, her friends beat her up, saying she was such a show-off.
.
When had Meng Huaijin ever accompanied anyone on a shopping trip? Even with his mother and younger sisters, he usually just paid. After sitting for barely ten minutes, he was so bored he’d already smoked two cigarettes.
“Huaijin?”
A woman’s voice rose above the mall’s noisy music.
Meng Huaijin glanced over and gave a slight nod.
“So it really is you.” Jiang Jie’s face was alight with unmistakable delight. “You’ve been transferred to North City for a while now, haven’t you? Want to get together sometime?”
Meng Huaijin looked at her properly and replied in a cool voice, “We’ll see if I have time.”
Jiang Jie recognized the store he was sitting outside, and her smile stiffened. “Who could possibly get you to accompany her to an underwear store?”
Meng Huaijin’s expression didn’t change. Before he could speak, a crisp voice rang out from the store. “I’m done. Let’s go.”
He stood, took the shopping bag from Shu Wan, nodded to Jiang Jie, and strode away.
“Wow, Yama[2]Yama, often called Yanluo Wang in Chinese tradition, is a judge or ruler of the underworld in Buddhist and folk beliefs. Comparing someone to Yama suggests a frightening, stern demeanor. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3733509_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3733509_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });’s back in North City?” Jiang Jie’s friend linked her arm through Jiang Jie’s. “With him there, won’t the Jiang family climb even higher?”
Jiang Jie looked away and gave a crooked smile. “That’s about all he’s good for.”
.
As they walked on, Shu Wan glanced back several times at the strikingly beautiful woman, tall and dressed with understated elegance. In barely a minute, she’d spun at least five stories in her head.
The one who’d come back from overseas, the love of his life.
An old flame.
Childhood sweethearts.
A couple waiting to mend their broken relationship…
“Shu Wan, are you trying to see if you’re harder than that pillar?”
Meng Huaijin’s icy voice pulled Shu Wan back from her wandering thoughts. She realized she’d nearly walked straight into a pillar.
She tilted her head and called to him, then hurried to catch up with his long strides. “This morning you said I shouldn’t keep things I need to tell you to myself. Can I ask you something, then?”
Meng Huaijin gave her a sidelong look and refused without mercy. “No.”
“Why? Didn’t you say—”
“I told you to state what you need. I didn’t tell you to pry into my business.”
“…”
References[+]