Wen Yifan hadn’t fully processed what had just happened, the lingering sweetness of the candy still in her mouth. She wanted to ask why he had eaten the candy from her mouth when there were so many left in the bag, but his words immediately diverted her attention.
“Was it sweet?” Sang Yan asked, his eyelashes lowering as he slightly raised the tail of his eyebrow.
Wanting to confirm, Wen Yifan popped another candy into her mouth and tasted it. “I think it’s just okay,” she said.
“…”
“Would it be better if you chewed it?” Wen Yifan looked up and suggested, “This is nougat. If you chew it, the milk flavor should be stronger, and it might not be as sweet.”
“…” Sang Yan sometimes truly felt like he was flirting with a stone. He seemed somewhat speechless and gently reminded her, “That doesn’t have much to do with whether I chew it or not, understand?”
“But it does taste better when you chew it,” Wen Yifan insisted, holding another piece to his lips. “Are you sure you don’t want to try?”
After staring at her for a few seconds, Sang Yan didn’t argue this time and obediently opened his mouth to take a bite.
Seeing that he didn’t seem to dislike the taste, Wen Yifan’s lips curved into a smile. She popped another piece into her mouth, feeling that it was indeed quite tasty, before sealing the bag.
The couple left the square and headed towards the parking lot.
The crowd thinned from dense to sparse as they moved from a bright and lively place to a dim and quiet street. Wen Yifan held Sang Yan’s hand as they walked past a car where a couple was being affectionate.
Her gaze lingered for a moment, reminding her of how Sang Yan had taken the candy from her mouth earlier.
Suddenly realizing something, Wen Yifan stopped in her tracks.
Sang Yan turned his head, “What’s wrong?”
“I just realized what you meant earlier,” Wen Yifan paused, then bluntly described what had happened, “Was the candy you ate from my mouth quite sweet?”
“…”
The quiet street was filled with the sound of late autumn wind rustling in their ears.
Their eyes met.
Wen Yifan now felt that her earlier reaction had been too cold and uninteresting. She suddenly lowered her head, opened the bag again, and took out another piece of candy. This time, without asking for Sang Yan’s opinion, she directly pushed it into his mouth, her action somewhat forceful.
“…” Sang Yan, caught off guard, felt a slight pain as the candy hit his teeth.
In the next moment, Wen Yifan grabbed his collar and pulled him down. She bit his lip and pushed past his teeth. She wasn’t very skilled at this, her movements more clumsy than his, and the process seemed slower.
This continued for quite a while.
Noticing her difficulty, Sang Yan bent down, using the tip of his tongue to push the candy slowly into her mouth. Wen Yifan caught it, and only after eating the candy did she step back, once again meeting his dark eyes.
“Oh,” Wen Yifan said calmly, “It is quite sweet.”
…
Back in the car, as Wen Yifan leaned over to fasten Sang Yan’s seatbelt as usual, she noticed he was still smiling. Her expression froze, and she couldn’t help but ask, “What are you smiling about?”
Sang Yan turned his head, the dimple at the corner of his lips shallow as he said, “Wen Shuangjiang, let me tell you something.”
Wen Yifan: “What?”
Sang Yan pressed his teeth together, still feeling a bit numb. His expression carried a hint of arrogance as if he thought he was a delicacy everyone was fighting over. He said haughtily, “Be gentler next time.”
“…” Wen Yifan was silent for a few seconds, truly not feeling she had used much force, “You’re quite—”
She managed to squeeze out two more words: “Delicate.”
Sang Yan, who usually thought of himself as a tough guy, shamelessly accepted the label this time.
“Indeed,” he said.
“…”
How come he’s suddenly willing to be a delicate flower now?
Wen Yifan started the car and changed the subject, casually mentioning, “I think I forgot to buy my car again.”
Wen Yifan had been busy with work during the National Day holiday, and then Sang Yan got injured, causing her to forget about this matter. She thought for a moment and asked, “Would it be cheaper to buy before the Spring Festival?”
“Let’s do it after the Spring Festival,” Sang Yan had remembered this before, but with so many recent events, he had forgotten to remind her, “I’ll go with you then.”
Wen Yifan nodded. Just as they reached a red light and she stopped the car, she remembered something else: “Oh right, the landlord told me earlier that they want to reclaim the house and asked us to move out before March next year.”
“Next March…” Sang Yan pondered for a moment, then pretended to subtly ask for her opinion, “Shall we date for another half year?”
Wen Yifan was stunned: “Huh?”
Sang Yan’s smile deepened as he said lazily, “What ‘huh’? I’m asking you a question.”
“Isn’t everything fine?” Wen Yifan felt a sudden, unexpected sense of being dumped, her mood not as good as his. She felt a bit stifled, “Why suddenly only half a year more?”
What kind of partner selection criteria is this?
Does not living together mean breaking up?
“…”
Sang Yan’s brow twitched. Although his words were indeed a bit ambiguous, he hadn’t expected such a response. He pinched her face hard and clicked his tongue, “Speak human language.”
Noticing the light had turned green, Sang Yan released his hand.
Wen Yifan continued driving, gradually realizing what he meant. She had been startled earlier and now felt a bit annoyed, muttering, “Why have you been speaking so erratically lately?”
Sang Yan gave her a cool look.
Wen Yifan thought for a moment but didn’t know how long people usually dated before getting married. After pondering for a while without coming to any conclusion, she simply asked him, “I haven’t paid much attention to others. How long do people usually date before getting married?”
“Hmm?” Sang Yan said frivolously, “Usually a few weeks, I guess.”
“…”
Sang Yan continued casually, “We’re considered quite long already.”
“Oh.”
Wen Yifan withdrew her thoughts and pondered to herself for a while. She didn’t have a strong standard for this, feeling that whenever it felt right would be fine. But her current job wasn’t very stable, often requiring overtime work.
Although Sang Yan’s job was similar, it wasn’t as irregular as hers.
After some thought, Wen Yifan still wanted to wait until her work was more stable before considering this matter. She estimated a time in her mind, feeling it should be extended a bit: “Then—”
“Hmm?”
“Let’s date for another year or two?”
“…”
–
Although he hadn’t expected to get a result of extending the time, Sang Yan didn’t mind the timing, after all, it was bound to happen eventually. If this girl wanted to date longer, then they would.
After all, it would still be with him.
They chatted about a few more things, and then Sang Yan stopped disturbing her while she drove.
He leaned back in his seat, his eyelids drooping, feeling inexplicably drowsy. In this quiet moment, Sang Yan once again recalled Wen Yifan’s earlier mention of dance, and his mood gradually worsened because of it.
In high school, Sang Yan had only seen Wen Yifan cry twice.
Once was on that bus, and the other time, she was called in for a talk with her dance teacher.
Sang Yan didn’t know exactly what they had discussed, but he happened to see her coming out of the office at that time. He wanted to call out to her, but before he could, he saw her walking not towards the classroom, but towards another teaching building.
She looked extremely downcast.
Not knowing what she was going to do, Sang Yan hesitated for a moment before following her.
He saw Wen Yifan walk to the stairwell next to the reading room. At that time of day, there were no other people in that area. As if she had lost her soul, she walked down several floors and sat in a corner.
She didn’t make any sound.
After a long while, her shoulders trembled slightly, as if she was trying hard to hold back tears.
At that time, Sang Yan wasn’t quite sure what had happened, but he could guess that she might have been upset and felt helpless because her foot injury had affected her dancing.
Feeling that there was nothing she could do.
He could only sit quietly behind her, unable to say any words of comfort.
But today, Sang Yan finally knew the real reason for her tears.
The pain she had endured in high school.
It all seemed to have begun with that day as the prologue.
On that day, his Shuangjiang had her wings forcibly broken.
…
After driving the car back to the community, Wen Yifan was about to get out when she suddenly noticed Sang Yan’s absent-minded expression. She leaned over, waved her hand in front of his face, and asked, “What are you thinking about?”
Sang Yan came back to his senses and looked at her for a while: “Wen Shuangjiang.”
“Hmm?”
“I intend to walk with you all the way, that’s why I say these things to you,” Sang Yan met her eyes, his demeanor a far cry from his usual frivolity, unusually serious, “Except for wanting to find someone else, I support you in whatever else you want to do.”
“…”
“Don’t let yourself live a life of compromise, you understand? Your life is still long,” Sang Yan’s messy hair fell across his forehead as he turned his head to speak to her, “It’s never too late to do what you want.”
Wen Yifan instantly understood his words.
She moved her lips, wanting to say something, but at this moment, she couldn’t say anything.
It seemed that he didn’t necessarily need her to give any response. After speaking, Sang Yan rubbed her head forcefully: “Did you take it in?”
Wen Yifan nodded dumbly: “Mm.”
Sang Yan: “Alright, let’s go home then.”
After getting out of the car.
Wen Yifan took the initiative to hold his hand and said softly: “Sang Yan, what I just told you was all true.”
“Hmm?”
“I used to think that it was hard to talk about how my family didn’t let me continue dancing because they thought it was too expensive, so I lied to everyone,” Wen Yifan said, “But now I feel it doesn’t matter, that’s why I wanted to tell you voluntarily.”
Sang Yan squeezed her fingertips.
“I’m different now from how I was then. Back then, I felt very small and powerless about everything,” Wen Yifan said slowly, “I felt that arguing and speaking out were useless, so I simply remained silent.”
Because she had no support.
“But now I can do whatever I want, and I don’t have to watch other people’s faces anymore,” Wen Yifan said, “It’s like when my dad was alive because he supported me in whatever I wanted to do.”
She pursed her lips and added: “And now, I have you.”
She wasn’t sure when it began, but Wen Yifan was extremely certain that she once again had someone to rely on.
“I think being a news reporter is quite good now, I’ve put all my energy into this over the years, and I’m not very willing to give up being a reporter to do something else,” Wen Yifan thought for a moment, and smiled, “But I can be like you.”
Sang Yan’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he looked at her: “What do you mean?”
“Don’t you have a side job as a top host?” Wen Yifan said seriously, “If I want to continue dancing someday, I can make it my side job too.”
Sang Yan smiled: “That works too.”
The two walked over to wait for the elevator.
Wen Yifan faced him, half-leaning against the wall. In this quiet atmosphere, she inexplicably wanted to say something sentimental: “Sang Yan, do you think you might have been sent by my dad to be good to me?”
Sang Yan raised his eyelashes and denied it quickly: “No.”
“…”
After two seconds.
He added casually: “I volunteered.”