After bidding farewell to Shan Chong, nothing eventful occurred on the way back to her room. The young girl’s face remained serious, her lips tightly pressed together. Upon entering the elevator, Wei Zhi inadvertently glanced at her reflection in the mirror. At that moment, for no apparent reason, tears burst forth like a flood unleashed.
Crouching in the elevator, she wept uncontrollably until it reached her floor. With a “ding,” the doors opened, and Jiang Nanfeng stood outside.
Looking at the small figure huddled in the corner, Jiang Nanfeng didn’t even bother to say “I knew it.”
“Did someone die?” she asked expressionlessly. “It must be worth such heartbreak. I’d be disappointed if it wasn’t a matter of life and death.”
Jiang Nanfeng wasn’t surprised in the least.
Wei Zhi had always been a crybaby. She cried when she fell, when she received notes from boys when she scored 85 on elementary school tests, and even when she scored 100. She cried over setbacks and even when there were none. The peak incident was on the day of the college entrance exam results. She called Jiang Nanfeng, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe, terrifying the latter who thought she had forgotten to write her name on one of the exam papers.
Later, it turned out she had scored 603 points.
In the three mock exams before the college entrance exam, her scores were 602, 601, and 608.
“It’s not that,” Wei Zhi sniffled as she exited the elevator, looking utterly dejected. “I just realized that tomorrow the ski resort will still be open, operating normally, with people continuing to ski. It suddenly made me very sad.”
Jiang Nanfeng, naturally not understanding the logic behind this, didn’t bother to ask. She handed Wei Zhi a tissue while muttering, “I’ll thank the ski resort owner on your behalf for such sincere ‘well-wishes’.”
“Don’t be sarcastic. When you’re in a bad mood, even thinking about the sun rising tomorrow can make you want to cry.”
“As long as you know your mind isn’t quite right,” Jiang Nanfeng rambled on. “Did you go down to see that bargain teacher of yours? Did you say a proper goodbye this time? You’re not going to be all absent-minded like before, are you?”
Wei Zhi’s voice was hoarse, heavy with nasal tones: “I wasn’t absent-minded earlier either.”
Jiang Nanfeng ignored her nonsense: “So, did you say goodbye?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Did you delete him from WeChat?”
“Why would I do that?” Wei Zhi said, and at the mention of her teacher, she let out another sob, tears threatening to flow again. “I still need to learn skiing from him.”
“You’re not bothered that he’s a fraud?” Jiang Nanfeng asked. “Wasn’t it you who was lying in bed at noon, cursing while deleting all the competition videos from your phone?”
Wei Zhi sniffled, her tone soft and innocent: “This afternoon in the park, I heard them say that frauds charge six thousand yuan per lesson.”
Jiang Nanfeng: “And?”
“He doesn’t charge me,” Wei Zhi said. “It’d be foolish not to take advantage of that.”
Jiang Nanfeng: “…”
The next day.
The plane left a clear trail in the azure sky before finally landing steadily in Nancheng.
In November, Nancheng was just entering the season of intense Indian summer. As the cabin door opened, a wave of heat rushed in. The young girl curled up in her seat and opened her eyes groggily, caught off guard by the hot air that enveloped her face.
Rubbing her eyes, she lifted the blanket covering her legs and glanced out the window.
Outside, the scene was one of blue skies and white clouds, clear and bright. All she could see was a sea of green mountains and farmland, with no snow-capped peaks in sight.
She turned off airplane mode on her phone, and the first thing that popped up was the weather interface she had left open before boarding. Next to Nancheng’s icon was a big sun, with the temperature showing 31°C.
Right below Nancheng was Zhangjiakou, Chongli District, with a temperature of -7°C and a snowflake icon.
It was snowing again in Chongli.
Before she could dwell on it, her newly connected phone sprang to life with unread WeChat messages popping up one after another, from several hours ago and a few minutes ago:
From two hours ago:
[Mom: Have you arrived?]
[Mom: I’ve made plans with Uncle Han and Aunt Zhang for dinner tonight.]
[Mom: The driver from Nanfeng’s family will pick you up later. Go home first to freshen up, don’t look slovenly and give a bad impression.]
From an hour ago:
[Dad: Dinner with the Han family tonight, your mom arranged it, don’t blame me.]
From half an hour ago:
[Han Yiming: Have you arrived?]
[Han Yiming: I’ve made plans with friends tonight, so I won’t be joining. Can you have dinner with the parents by yourself?]
[Han Yiming: Call me when you arrive.]
Opening WeChat, besides the private chats from these three close contacts, there were some unread group chats where friends were chatting idly…
And that was it.
Scrolling down, the Crayon Shin-chan avatar was still at the part from last night when he asked her to come downstairs. She tapped his avatar to enter his Moments, and saw an update from an hour ago:
A photo taken from a cable car shows the snow-covered mountain top shrouded in white mist, with snow falling heavily.
This Moments post had no caption.
Taking a deep breath, Wei Zhi closed the short video, feeling a surreal sense of disconnect, as if she had left a fairy tale picture book and returned to reality.
Out of some final stubbornness or other strange sentiment, she didn’t delete the Zhangjiakou weather forecast. Instead, she exited all interfaces. Remembering the commanding tone in a certain person’s WeChat message, she went to her call log, then opened her contacts, scrolled down to the middle, found the name “Han Yiming,” and pressed the call button.
The phone rang for a long time with no answer.
Wei Zhi waited patiently until a cold female voice on the other end announced, [The user you’re calling is unavailable at the moment, please try again later]…
Her expression didn’t change at all, as if she was long accustomed to this. The young girl even let out a long sigh, seemingly relieved.
With a “click,” she locked her phone, bent down to pick up her bag, and walked out of the cabin with composure, greeted by the flight attendant’s smile.
Wei Zhi’s small apartment was in a high-rise in the center of Nancheng.
She arrived home at three in the afternoon. After hurriedly freshening up, not even having time to unwrap her hair, she bent down to turn on her computer. She entered her username and password to log into a black-and-white-themed mixed comic platform website. The screen flashed, jumping to the main page of a work with a colorful cover.
The work was titled “Eighteen Postures of Cultivation in Another World,” by author: Otaku Ji Zei.
The latest update for this work was shown ten days ago. Wei Zhi, expressionless and unmoved, scrolled down to the comments section:
Fan 1: It’s been ten days, where’s the author!!!!!? You’ve left my son soaking in that aphrodisiac potion barrel for ten days?!
Fan 2: Don’t worry, Otaku-sama’s drawing speed has always been slow. The normal update rate is once every half month. I heard from other authors that she went on a trip…
Fan 3: The above comment shocked my whole family. An author going on a trip without stockpiling chapters during serialization? Did the Jade Emperor give Otaku this courage!!!!!
Fan 4: Wuwuwuwuwu Otaku, come back quickly, my son’s little bird is going to get wrinkled in that bath! How will he use it in the future? What about the female lead?
Fan 5: You above… Hahahahahahahahahahaha grass!
Fan 6: Fourth comment hahahahahahahahahahaha!
(Omitting millions of unread comments below.)
Wei Zhi’s lips curled into a slight smile.
Her hand moved to the author’s reception room, and she had just typed out a line “I’m back! Will update gradually over the next few days!” but before she could send it, there was an urgent knock at the door.
“…Coming.”
Responding softly, she quickly backed out to the website’s homepage and went to open the door. Outside stood a middle-aged woman with exquisite makeup, dressed in formal attire.
The two made eye contact.
Seeing the young girl standing behind the door, her hair still wrapped in a towel, her small face bare of makeup, just flushed peach-like from the recent shower…
Her lips moved, and she called out, “Mom.”
Ms. Yang let out an “Oh my” and squeezed inside.
“I told you to hurry up. That Japanese restaurant was very hard to book today. I barely managed to get a 5:30 reservation, and it’s almost 4 o’clock now, yet you haven’t even dried your hair!” She entered, immediately starting to chatter non-stop as she moved around the room. “If we hit rush hour traffic later, I don’t know what you’ll do! Child, how can you not understand priorities… And your computer is still on!”
Ms. Yang walked to the computer and glanced at the screen, which showed the website Wei Zhi hadn’t had time to close—
Before she could see the details, Wei Zhi quickly stepped forward and unplugged the computer.
“What was that just now?” Ms. Yang turned and asked. “Why were there two cartoon characters in triangle swimsuits and bikinis hugging each other? Such indecent clothing! Is this kind of thing freely available online? You’ve just landed and come home, haven’t dried your hair or put on makeup, and you’re here looking at cartoon characters in swimsuits hugging? Don’t tell me this is what you’re drawing at home all the time, and still tell me you can make money from it—”
Her words were like firecrackers often lit during festivals, popping and crackling, the thousand-shot kind.
Wei Zhi felt dizzy from her mother’s tirade.
She guided her mother to the sofa, skipping over the string of questions, and said, “Rest for a bit. I’ll be ready to go out soon.”
“You have the mind to look at cartoon characters in swimsuits, why don’t you look at the men around you? Those you can see and touch are more real than paper people, aren’t they?”
Ms. Yang settled on the sofa, staring at her daughter who was bending over to undo her hair wrap—
As the wrap came off, black-brown curls cascaded down, making the young girl’s already fair skin appear even whiter. She stood there, neither tall nor thin, far from the figure of an international model…
But she had flesh where it mattered, soft and plump, certainly not bad at all.
Her personality was good too, obedient since childhood, except for her tendency to cry.
Strictly speaking, she wasn’t unworthy of old Han’s son.
After a self-assessment and comparison, Ms. Yang’s eyes sparkled with satisfaction. Suddenly remembering something, she perked up and stared at Wei Zhi, “Did you call Han Yiming when your plane landed?”
“…”
“Wei Zhi, your mother is asking you a question.”
“I called, but he didn’t answer,” Wei Zhi pressed her lips together, patiently replying, “He might have suddenly entered the operating room.”
“That’s fine then, at least there’s a missed call record.”
Ms. Yang glanced at Wei Zhi, stood up, and walked closer, tapping her dreamy daughter’s forehead. “Let me tell you when you were little, you used to follow Han Yiming around, holding his hand and calling him ‘brother.’ When he went abroad, you cried your heart out at the airport and had a fever for three days and nights. Now that you’ve grown up and he’s finally back in the country, why are you like a wooden block? Tell me, isn’t Han Yiming good enough?”
“…”
Wei Zhi couldn’t answer.
Her mother was probing her feelings about Han Yiming again—
Han Yiming was the son of the Han family next door, five years older than Wei Zhi. They grew up together and could be considered childhood sweethearts.
When she was little, Wei Zhi was indeed very attached to him.
Later, when he was about to enter junior high school, as the Han family’s business grew, they all emigrated abroad. At that time, little Wei Zhi was heartbroken for a long time, even going to cry in the empty yard next door during festivals… But children are forgetful, and the fact that “the little brother next door was gone” gradually faded from her mind. As time passed, she almost forgot his existence.
Only after growing up, because their parents still kept in touch, did they add each other on WeChat, occasionally exchanging greetings or chatting about studies or customs abroad.
The turning point occurred in the past year or two.
With the outbreak of the pandemic, the situation abroad became uncontrollable, and the Han family’s business focus and projects moved back to China. The whole family returned as well—
By then, the former neighbor boy was 27 years old, and an excellent surgeon. Upon returning to Nancheng, top hospitals vied to recruit him. He finally joined Nancheng Third Hospital, becoming the second-in-command of his department in less than a year, with a bright future ahead.
Handsome and refined, 182 cm tall, a second-generation rich, yet not relying on his family, shining in his academic field, holding a golden rice bowl that even hailstorms couldn’t knock over.
In terms of qualifications, Han Yiming’s conditions were enough to make many unmarried doctors and nurses of similar age at the Third Hospital take notice as soon as he joined… Those too old to compete thought about introducing their nieces or daughters to him.
However, this good fortune ultimately fell to the Wei family.
Given that the two families had maintained a tenuous connection over the years, and Wei Zhi was quite casual, occasionally chatting without reserve, even casually handing her graduation thesis to Han Yiming to review—
And then.
And then it came to now.
Dr. Han had watched the little girl grow up with his own eyes, and now she was of marriageable age. Meanwhile, he had returned to the country, and the two families were interacting frequently.
This matter seemed to be progressing naturally.
Only Wei Zhi was confused.
After Han Yiming’s return, most of their meetings were with both sets of parents present, with the two families gathering for meals.
On the few occasions, they went out alone, Han Yiming still acted like a brother, opening car doors for her, carrying her shopping bags, treating her to meals and movies, and thoughtfully wiping her hands with wet wipes when they got sticky from popcorn…
But there were no more intimate gestures.
Facing her mother’s increasing enthusiasm and satisfaction with each solo outing, even approving her moving out to live on her own after the New Year, Wei Zhi didn’t want to admit that she and Han Yiming…
Forget about not having any commitment.
The ink probably hadn’t even touched the paper.
Of course, this might also have something to do with her “passive resistance.”
…But she would never admit it.
Haven’t you heard that childhood friends can’t compete with destined lovers who fall from the sky?
Have you heard?
Have you heard?
Under her mother’s enthusiastic urging, Wei Zhi dried her hair and applied light makeup, arriving at the underground parking lot at 5:10 pm sharp. She then climbed into her mother’s black Mercedes G-Class with an expressionless face.
Perhaps because today’s “characters” were slightly different, the car had been washed to a gleaming shine.
It was a very tall car, and after climbing in and fastening her seatbelt, Wei Zhi instinctively looked towards the driver’s seat—
No strange lights were lit on the dashboard.
The car key’s battery was also fully charged.
The windows…
“What are you opening and closing the window for? It’s not broken,” Ms. Yang started the car. “You’re quite strange today. Usually, you complain and grumble about changing the car when you climb in, but today you’re so quiet?”
Wei Zhi expressionlessly raised the window that had been lowered halfway.
“It’s nothing,” Wei Zhi said. “Drive faster, it’s rush hour.”
“I know, don’t rush me. You were the one dawdling, and now you’re hurrying me,” Ms. Yang muttered. “Lawless, going so far away without saying a word. If Dr. Han hadn’t told me you went skiing in Zhangjiakou, I would have thought my daughter had vanished into thin air—”
Her mother had a habit: usually, she called him “Han Yiming,” but when she felt things were developing to her satisfaction, “Han Yiming” became “Dr. Han.”
Although Wei Zhi suspected what she wanted to call him was “Son-in-law Han.”
“Which part of this makes you happy?” Wei Zhi asked. “Me vanishing into thin air?”
“Oh, what’s this? Are you muddying the waters again? Feeling shy?” Ms. Yang said with a smile. “I didn’t say anything about you, just that girls grow up so fast, going away for so long without telling your mother, but remembering to tell another man—”
“…”
Wei Zhi didn’t respond.
As if she would stuff herself to tell that man, who was either in surgery or on his way to surgery, that she was going skiing for over ten days?
She hadn’t even posted it on her Moments.
Thinking about it, she opened Jiang Nanfeng’s Moments and found that she had posted an edited video of them burying cola at the Mountaintop ski resort, with the location tagged as Zhangjiakou Chongli District, Mountaintop Ski Resort…
After all, as children of wealthy families, Han Yiming mainly socialized with second-generation rich kids of similar status after returning to China. Jiang Nanfeng’s older brother, Jiang Chao, was one of them—
He probably saw Jiang Nanfeng’s Moments on his phone and learned about this.
As for how he told Wei Zhi’s family about her whereabouts, judging by Ms. Yang’s satisfaction now, he certainly didn’t honestly say, “I saw Wei Zhi in Zhangjiakou on Jiang Nanfeng’s Moments.”
Thinking of this, Wei Zhi snorted.
At 5:30 pm, they arrived punctually at the supposedly hard-to-book Japanese restaurant.
The Han couple was very polite, and having watched Wei Zhi grow up, they treated her almost like a half-daughter, making Wei Zhi feel relaxed in their presence.
Moreover, due to transportation difficulties at the mountaintop ski resort, it had been hard to get good quality ingredients for Japanese cuisine.
So for this meal, Wei Zhi ate diligently, ordering three refills of Arctic shrimp, not at all polite with her mother.
When her phone rang, the two sets of parents were already joking happily under the influence of sake about which hotel to hold the wedding banquet, while Wei Zhi was choking on a piece of sushi, rolling her eyes…
Her soft hand covered her lips as she coughed lightly, lowering her head to fumble for her phone. She had just said “Hello” when laughter came from the other end of the line—
“Wei Zhi! Han-ge has fallen, come pick him up!”
“…”
Wei Zhi silently looked at the dishes on the table she hadn’t had a chance to eat yet.
She put down her chopsticks.
“It’s Jiang Chao. He says Han-ge got drunk at their gathering and wants me to check on him.”
“Oh my,” Ms. Yang was the first to make a fuss, “How inconsiderate of those Jiang boys! Han Yiming is busy in and out of the operating room every day, and he barely has time to have a meal with his family on his rare day off. They tricked him into drinking and even got him drunk, how pitiful!”
Wei Zhi was speechless for a moment.
“Yes, Jiang Chao and the others are too much. Han-ge is also too soft-hearted,” the young girl smiled politely, speaking softly to the parents and elders present, “It’s not even late, he is…”
He is… annoying as hell.
Wouldn’t it be better if I had that time to go home and draw instead of not eating—
The eagerly waiting reader babies are still waiting for their beloved Otaku Ji Zei to update;
Dear Otaku Ji Zei has just landed and hasn’t even had time to eat her fill;
Otaku Ji Zei’s male lead is still soaking in the aphrodisiac barrel, his little bird about to wrinkle.
Isn’t the male lead pitiful?
Am I not pitiful?
What’s so pitiful about a drunk man, pah.