The groundwork was all laid.
Only now did Xu Ye slip back into his room with a great show of mystery, fetch out the Chow Tai Fook jewelry box, and hold it out to Zhang Hong. “Mom, this is the birthday present I got you.”
The moment Zhang Hong saw the words Chow Tai Fook, she had a fair idea what was inside.
She went blank for a second, and it was a while before she said anything. “Just because you’re earning now doesn’t mean you should throw it around. There’ll be no end of things to spend it on later — buying a car, buying a place, getting married, raising a child. Haven’t you heard what people say? Children these days are gold-devouring beasts…”
Once Zhang Hong got started on a lecture she could go on forever.
But father and son both knew that right now was the happiest this family had been.
Neither of them interrupted her. They sat there quietly eating cake, and only when she had finished did Xu Ye say, “Mom, it’s already bought. Try it on first and see if it fits.”
Only then did Zhang Hong open the box and take out the plain-band bangle. The moment it was in her hand she could tell there was real weight to it, and that it certainly hadn’t been cheap.
“How much did this cost?”
“Not much.”
Zhang Hong tried it on and found she couldn’t get it over her hand, so she fetched a plastic bag and slipped it over her hand first. Old Xu came to help too, and between them they got it onto her wrist.
“The size is exactly right.”
“See? I knew it’d be about right.”
The longer Zhang Hong looked at it the more delighted she was, and her mood was exceptionally good.
Old Xu didn’t care for cake. He ate one small piece, rubbed his stomach and said, “Love, isn’t it about time we made dinner?”
“Made dinner? What dinner? Come on, we’re going out for a meal.”
Zhang Hong took Xu Ye’s arm and headed happily off down the stairs. Watching them go, Old Xu grinned, turned off the light and hurried after them.
…
Xu Ye got back that evening and had barely lain down before a message came in from Qin Zhiwei asking what he did at home all day.
Xu Ye simply sent a voice message back. “Apart from eating and drinking, I spend the rest of my time with my girlfriend.”
Qin Zhiwei came back quickly. “Would you believe it? I haven’t been home a week and I’ve already put on a couple of pounds. My mom’s feeding me like a pig.”
Xu Ye suddenly remembered what Qin Zhiwei had looked like at twenty-seven or twenty-eight, once he’d “filled out,” and warned him at once: “Keep an eye on your figure.”
Then he thought of his own previous life, and the state he’d let his body get into — a few flights of stairs and he’d be gasping for breath. He added, “Let’s go running together tomorrow morning.”
Qin Zhiwei: go running in weather this cold?
Qin Zhiwei: and I can’t get up in the mornings anyway
Xu Ye’s tone turned earnest. “Zhiwei, let me tell you something. What a woman wants is a love she has to stand on tiptoe to reach — not a man she can have with a crook of her finger. So you have to make something of yourself. If you can’t even manage your own body, then you can forget about ever winning Shen Xinyi.”
Qin Zhiwei was stunned for a moment, then replied quickly. “I’m fairly sure you’re PUA-ing me again, but I think you’ve got a point. What time are we running tomorrow? Where are we meeting?”
“Half six. People’s Square.”
“Right!”
That was the end of the conversation, and Xu Ye immediately sent Chen Qingqing a video call request.
Qin Zhiwei, for his part, went off to strike up a conversation with Shen Xinyi.
The night went quickly.
At six the next morning Qin Zhiwei’s alarm went off. It wasn’t light out yet, but remembering the things Xu Ye had said the night before, he forced himself out of bed anyway, washed up, changed into a pair of running shoes and hurried off to People’s Square.
Half an hour later, with Xu Ye still not there, he rang him. The phone rang for a long time and nobody picked up.
All Qin Zhiwei could do was keep waiting — and that wait ran to another half hour and more.
He stood shivering in the cold wind.
It was a few minutes past seven before Xu Ye came jogging up. He waved the moment he spotted Qin Zhiwei, who ignored him completely.
“Zhiwei? Why aren’t you talking to me?”
“You bastard. What time did you say we were meeting?”
“Half six.”
“Look what time it is now.”
“I was on the toilet for half an hour this morning. Don’t go all aggrieved-wife on me — I’ll buy you a Red Bull afterward.”
With that Xu Ye set off along the running track around the outside of People’s Square, and Qin Zhiwei fell in behind him.
Fifty minutes later.
The two of them sat on the seats at a bus stop, drenched in sweat, taking long swallows of Red Bull. Half a bottle in, Qin Zhiwei took out his phone and posted to Moments: Life is dull by nature — but start running and there’s wind~
Underneath it, a photo he’d just taken of a deep blue sky.
Xu Ye tilted his head to look, and called him a peacock.
Qin Zhiwei stuffed the phone back in his pocket. “Valentine’s Day is this Saturday. What are you doing for it?”
“Valentine’s is Saturday? Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously. The fourteenth of February. You forgot?”
Xu Ye got his phone out and checked. “Christ. So it is.”
“You can thank me for the reminder.”
“I’ll ask her out for a meal on Saturday, then give her a bunch of roses. My girlfriend’s fairly easy to please.”
“I really do envy how far along the two of you are.” Qin Zhiwei sighed. “I think I need to be more forward once term starts. What do you reckon?”
Xu Ye nodded. “You need to be braver.”
“I think Shen Xinyi’s quite a conservative girl,” Qin Zhiwei said. “I’m worried that if I—”
Xu Ye cut him off before he could finish. “Don’t be afraid of her being conservative. What you should be afraid of is her being conservative only with you.”
He went on, in the same earnest tone. “Zhiwei, I know that when you like someone your nerve deserts you completely. You’re careful with every message, terrified of saying one wrong thing. When you’re actually out together you’re strung tight the whole time and there isn’t a trace of anything charged in the air. That’s because you’re wearing a social mask around her — you want to show her the very best version of yourself.”
Qin Zhiwei listened closely, afraid of missing a detail.
“Put plainly, that behavior is you trying to please her. But you need to understand that women are drawn to strength. What they like is a man who’s real, who’s capable, who isn’t holding himself in. That’s exactly why some girls, given a choice between the ‘nice guy’ and the ‘player,’ pick the player.”
“So you need to get rid of that blunt-instrument streak of yours. Try to carry yourself with a bit of ease — the way you are right now, with me. That’s what will make her feel that being around you is natural and comfortable.”
Qin Zhiwei turned it over carefully, then scratched his head. “I know all of that. But when it actually matters I always drop the ball.”
“Then that’s your problem to solve. As the founding master says: hesitate, and you’ll be defeated; give your whole heart, and you’ll get nothing for it. Whether you can change is down to you.” [TL: 犹豫，就会败北 is the best-known line of the character Isshin Ashina in the 2019 game “Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice,” and became a Chinese internet catchphrase from it. Players extended it with a rhyming second half about acting decisively and getting nothing for that either; Xu Ye’s version swaps in 真心, “sincerity.” The line postdates this scene by four years, which is why he won’t say who the “founding master” is.]
“Who’s the founding master?”
“Never you mind who. Just think properly about what I’ve said. If you won’t put the work in yourself, I can’t help you.”
Xu Ye clapped him on the shoulder. “Come on, home. Damn it, my legs are killing me. I should have driven here.”
“Where did you get a car?”
“Mother-in-law gave it to me.”
(End of Chapter 186)