CH 75

“Xiang Wanwan, obviously, likes Yu Zhou.”

Peng Xiangzhi sat in the passenger seat as she said to Su Chang.

On the way back, since it was on the way, Su Chang drove Yu Zhou home first and then Peng Xiangzhi. So now, only the two of them were in the car.

As soon as Yu Zhou got out of the car, she couldn’t wait any longer.

“Mm,” Su Chang drove the car as she responded, “I like her too.”

“Are you sick? I’m talking to you seriously yet you’re showing off your love to me.” Peng Xiangzhi scolded her.

“It’s not showing off,” Su Chang frowned, “the two of us, we’re not together.”

“Isn’t that just a matter of time? You think I’m stupid? You think Xiang Wan is stupid?” Peng Xiangzhi stared at her.

Su Chang sighed but didn’t say a word.

What was a matter of time? She had no confidence in that at all.

“Such ill-fated relationships,” Peng Xiangzhi flipped down the mirror to check her lipstick, “there are only four of us, but still caught up in a love triangle. Why can’t the little girl just like me?”

Su Chang glanced at her: “You’re straight.”

Peng Xiangzhi snorted: “You lesbians, don’t you like straight girls? I’m the– the top choice for lesbians, haha, the older sister type.”[1]

Su Chang shook her head.

“What does that head shake mean?”

“You’re older than Xiang Wan by a whole round.”

“So?”

“You should be called Auntie,” Su Chang said faintly.

Peng Xiangzhi’s hackles raised: “Su Chang! I find that you’re becoming more and more annoying when you talk! How come I never noticed before how bad your mouth is!”

Su Chang smiled softly as she turned on the turn signal.

The convention events in the other cities went smoothly. Xiang Wan would probably not encounter that kind of situation again. Yu Zhou was browsing her fans’ reposts as well as official pictures from the event, seeing some fans holding banners, all with the blue cheering color. The names on the banners were Xiang Wan, Wanwan and Xiang Wanwan. Among them, one of them had “Xiang A-Xi” written on it.

Yu Zhou smiled knowingly, thinking that Xiang Wanwan would like this one the most.

Two weeks later, Su Chang finally took away the kitten, but Yu Zhou’s house indeed attracted cats because her sister was going on a trip again so kitten Wanwan returned home.

The weekend Wanwan arrived, Yu Zhou invited Xiang Wan over for dinner. She cooked and asked Xiang Wan to come to see Wanwan.

They hadn’t seen each other since their farewell at the airport. Xiang Wan was very busy since their studio had taken on some New Year film projects and Su Chang always took her along.

When she came back that day, she was wearing a cream-white woolen coat with a circle of soft and delicate fur collar around it. The mink fur surrounded her face, making her look more refined with the temperament of a well-bred young lady.

She didn’t take off her coat at the entrance but just walked in wearing it. As soon as Wanwan saw her, it meowed before running over to her, rubbing against Xiang Wan’s legs. Xiang Wan squatted down to pick it up while Wanwan purred happily.

Xiang Wan looked at the cat as she smiled, her eyes sparkling with crushed stars.

Yu Zhou came out with the meal, feeling the scene was quite delightful when she saw them. She said, “There you are.”

Xiang Wan gently rubbed Wanwan’s face while saying, “It missed me.”

“Yes, it’s been a long time since we’ve seen you.”

“You missed me too,” Xiang Wan put Wanwan down and said as she faced Yu Zhou.

Yu Zhou smiled and teased her, “Yeah, it’s been hard to see you lately, Ms. CV. Take off your coat and let’s eat. I’ve told you many times, during the winter here, you must take off your coat when you come inside because the heating is on. If you don’t, there’ll be a temperature difference when you go out, making it easy to catch a cold.”

“I see.” Xiang Wan took off her coat, hung it in the hallway and went to wash her hands before eating.

Yu Zhou had made corn and rib soup, Xiang Wan’s favorite, along with braised beef and two stir-fried vegetables. The two ate while exchanging updates on their lives.

Yu Zhou said to her, “I called you over today as there’s one more thing.”

“What is it?” Xiang Wan picked up some vegetables.

“It’s almost the New Year and my mother wants you to come home with me. She wants to see you too.”

Thinking of how Ms. Zhao would occasionally send her messages on WeChat, Xiang Wan smiled, “She already talked to me about it.”

“Right, so remember to clear your schedule for the Spring Festival. I’m thinking of buying tickets for the lunar 28th. See if you have time and when you start work. I’ll buy tickets in advance; otherwise, they’ll be hard to get.” Yu Zhou said.

“I’ll go back and ask Miss Su.”

“Okay.” Yu Zhou lowered her head to eat.

After a few seconds of silence, Xiang Wan asked her, “Isn’t Miss Su going back with you?”

“Huh?” Yu Zhou had her chopsticks in her mouth.

After their gazes met for a few seconds, Yu Zhou’s ears turned slightly red as she lowered her head to continue eating, “Why would she go back with me?”

“So, you two aren’t together yet?” Xiang Wan asked softly.

“Uh… I guess I’ll let nature take its course. I’m not sure.”

“Mm.”

Xiang Wan looked at her with a touch of sadness. She really missed Yu Zhou.

When Yu Zhou said that she missed her, she sounded very sincere and Xiang Wan was delighted. However, Yu Zhou’s ears didn’t turn red at that moment. But when they mentioned Su Chang earlier, her ears did.

By the 28th day of the Lunar New Year, Xiang Wan and Yu Zhou went back to their hometown together.

Yu Zhou’s hometown was a small city, but not far away. The two of them took the high-speed train to Su City, where Yu Zhou’s father picked them up by car. After about forty minutes on the highway, they arrived in Qian City.

As the car steadily entered the main city, the festive atmosphere became even more intense. The streets were adorned with colorful lights and red lanterns were hung everywhere. The shops were also a bright red, with loudspeakers blasting songs like “In Every Street and Alley” and “Happy New Year, Happy New Year.”[2] The whole small town was full of joy.

Heading further south and leaving the third ring road, they finally arrived at Yu Zhou’s home. Her home was a small villa, but it wasn’t a luxury mansion. Villas in small towns weren’t worth much and weren’t much different from some better self-built houses in the suburbs.

However, living in a villa was comfortable as the car could be parked right in front of the house. Unlike in Jiang City, where it was usually impossible to find a parking spot near one’s own building. After parking the car in the underground garage, they still had to walk quite a distance.

Ms. Zhao was waiting at the door early, wearing a very housewife-like apron. Seeing them arrive, she hurriedly came up. As Yu Zhou and her father carried their luggage, Ms. Zhao put her arm around Xiang Wan’s shoulder and asked, “Guaiguai, have you grown taller?”

Xiang Wan glanced at her heels and smiled, “Not really. I’m just wearing shoes with a little bit of a heel today.”

Ms. Zhao also looked at her shoes, “Oh, that’s right. There’s a little heel. You should try wearing high heels more often! Girls should wear high heels; they give you a better temperament.”

Xiang Wan’s temperament was already exquisite with her coat and boots, she looked like a genuine lady from a respectable family.

Ms. Zhao held Xiang Wan’s hand and led her into the house, asking, “Do you think Auntie looks slimmer? Look at my waist. I’ve been practicing yoga recently and I think I’ve lost a lot of weight.”

Xiang Wan inspected her waist behind thoughtfully before replying, “Yes, a bit slimmer.”

“Right? And a little more upright too.”

“Yes.”

Ms. Zhao was very happy and whispered proudly, “Just two or three months of practice.”

As she led Xiang Wan to the living room sofa, she couldn’t stop talking and called out to Yu Zhou and her father, who were moving luggage by the door, “Are we almost done? Can we eat now? Can I start frying the crispy pork?”

“Fry, fry, fry.” Yu Zhou was exhausted when she went to the bathroom to wash her hands, “Hurry up and eat, I’m starving.”

“Okay, okay, okay.” Ms. Zhao loved people who were enthusiastic about eating and happily went into the kitchen.

The four of them ate happily together. After the meal, Yu Zhou and Ms. Zhao washed the dishes, while Xiang Wan accompanied Yu’s father in playing chess. Yu’s father was a quiet, little old man, a typical small-town southern gentleman who cooked well but had no great ambitions. His usual pastime was to play chess with others.

Xiang Wan could play chess with him and had the patience to share tea, so he also liked Xiang Wan very much.

Well… it should be said that no one could not like Xiang Wan.

Except for those people on the internet, of course.

Yu Zhou’s family had always been a small, close-knit group without many relatives gathering together frequently. So, this Spring Festival was lively yet peaceful. Firecrackers were allowed in the small town, so some children set off fireworks on the street at night. Yu Zhou also bought some fireworks and played with them in the small garden in front of the door with Xiang Wan.

The scattered fireworks in the sky looked like a myriad of fireflies, falling into Xiang Wan’s upturned eyes as if she had taken in an entire moonlit scene. Her eyes were bright, captivating and breathtakingly beautiful.

Yu Zhou leaned against the door, watching her as if the scene before her had been recorded in slow motion.

She didn’t know if Xiang Wan felt happy or if she missed her family. All she could do was to try to make Xiang Wan’s first Spring Festival in this small town as festive as possible.

With the noisy firecrackers and laughter of the crowd, loneliness and solitude might not find a chance to creep in.

Ms. Zhao sat in a chair in the garden, called Yu Zhou over and handed her a handful of sunflower seeds.

As Ms. Zhao watched Xiang Wan lighting the fireworks not far away, she asked Yu Zhou while cracking sunflower seeds, “How are you doing now?”

“What do you mean?” Yu Zhou grabbed a handful of seeds and started to peel them.

“Now that Wanwan has moved out, do you keep in touch with her more often or with Su Chang?” Ms. Zhao had learned to be tactful and said in a euphemistic way.

Yu Zhou thought about it and decided to be honest with her, “I’ve talked it out with Su Chang, there might… I mean, there might be a chance, I guess.”

“Ah…” Ms. Zhao cracked a seed and blinked, looking at Xiang Wan again. “Actually, I think Wanwan is better. She’s also a good, well-behaved girl.”

Yu Zhou was puzzled, “What’s the matter with you?”

She was a bit annoyed, “When I was living with Xiang Wan, you were always talking about Su Chang. Now that I’m saying there’s a chance with Su Chang, you’re saying Xiang Wan is better.”

What kind of problem was this?

Reluctantly, Ms. Zhao grumbled while shaking her neck, “Well, people need to be a bit rebellious.”

“Besides, I am the mother-in-law, shouldn’t I be a bit hard to please?” She glared at Yu Zhou.

How did you become the mother-in-law all of a sudden? Yu Zhou was speechless.