As the first lights came on in the southern part of the city, the streets were bustling with traffic.
In the parking lot of the most prestigious restaurant in the city center, Wei Zhi had just turned off her car and stepped out when her phone, tucked in her pocket, began to vibrate.
Wei Zhi took it out and glanced at the screen.
[Chong: Honey, what’s for dinner tonight?]
She lowered her head, typed two characters, then deleted them. Instead, she made a voice call. The other end picked up quickly with a lazy “Hello.” As she walked forward with clicking heels, before she could speak, she heard him let out a deep “Hmm” from his nose.
“You’re not at home,” he said, his tone unchanged.
“Did you go out?”
“How did you know?”
“The footsteps sound like you’re in a parking lot,” he replied, channeling his inner Sherlock Holmes. “Isn’t it dinnertime in China right now? Who are you meeting for dinner? Jiang Nanfeng?”
Wei Zhi was about to answer when a BMW X5 pulled into a parking spot behind her. The driver jumped out, glanced at the young woman holding the phone, and called out, “Wei Zhi—”
The person whose name was called turned around, and looked at the man behind her, her clear eyes brightening. She smiled and waved at the young man not far away.
At the same time, she said into the phone, “High school class reunion.”
Having heard the commotion on her end, the man on the phone fell silent for a moment before asking rather pedantically, “Why are there men there too?”
Wei Zhi was puzzled, “Haven’t you been to school? Because in high school, the class was half boys and half girls… It wasn’t an all-girls school.”
The person who came to greet her was the former class monitor, known for his excellent chalk handwriting. Back then, Wei Zhi was the class publicity officer and often asked for his help with writing on the blackboard when creating posters…
The class monitor was a nice person. They had added each other on WeChat after starting university, and although they didn’t chat often, they still exchanged greetings during holidays.
Now that they finally met, she felt he hadn’t changed much since high school.
As the class monitor approached, Wei Zhi pointed at the phone in her hand and mouthed “boyfriend” to him. He nodded in understanding.
Shan Chong: “What kind of sign language are you two using?”
Wei Zhi: “…”
Wei Zhi looked at her phone screen with a black face, making sure she was on a voice call and not a video call, greatly impressed by the man’s omniscience. She said, “I told him I’m on the phone with my boyfriend. Is there a problem?”
Shan Chong: “Oh.”
Shan Chong: “Then no.”
Wei Zhi: “…”
The class monitor laughed: “Is your boyfriend checking up on you? Did you just start dating that he’s so strict? Why didn’t he come with you? Today’s event allows bringing family members, you know?”
Shan Chong: “Tell him your boyfriend is abroad, continuing to shine brightly in preparation for next year’s Winter Olympics.”
Wei Zhi: “… Did I misunderstand? Aren’t you in routine quarantine at a hotel in Shanghai?”
Shan Chong: “The 14+7 quarantine upon arrival from abroad is also part of shining brightly. Any objections?”
Wei Zhi: “…”
Shan Chong: “Also, what do you mean by ‘just started dating so he’s strict’? Sorry, but it’ll be this strict for a lifetime.”
Wei Zhi thought back to when she first met Shan Chong, how he was a man of few words, as cold and aloof as a deity…
Even now, his voice was still cold when speaking.
But his sentences had gotten much longer.
Wei Zhi: “Should I pass the phone to him so you two can chat?”
Hearing the threatening tone in her voice, he finally backed down a bit.
When they met Jiang Nanfeng in front of the reserved private room and heard her voice, Shan Chong asked Wei Zhi to pass the phone to her… Thinking he was going to say or do something important, they were surprised when the two only talked for two minutes before hanging up.
Wei Zhi was stunned.
Jiang Nanfeng handed the phone back to the curious young woman with a cold face, slowly saying, “I never thought at my age I’d have to voluntarily confess my youthful romantic history to someone.”
Wei Zhi: “?”
Under her bewildered gaze, she watched as her friend turned around and smiled at the class monitor who was looking their way. He was stunned for a moment, and then the man in his twenties instantly blushed from face to neck—
The chair he was pulling out was yanked too forcefully, and the leg pressed down on his foot.
Wei Zhi: “…”
Wei Zhi turned to look at Jiang Nanfeng: “You and the class monitor? Hello? When did this happen? How come I didn’t know?”
The latter lovingly patted the young girl’s head: “Back in school, what did you know besides studying hard… It’s just Shan Chong, I guess. If it were any other man who had two or more ex-girlfriends, I’d think they weren’t worthy of your innocence. You don’t know how much I worried about this in secret back then—”
Wei Zhi swatted her hand away with a black face.
Jiang Nanfeng: “See, you’re even embarrassed and angry now.”
Wei Zhi was about to speak when Lao Yan’s call came in.
Compared to her master’s open checking up, the little milk dog who hadn’t successfully regained his position whimpered pitifully on the phone, asking her to keep an eye on Jiang Nanfeng and not let her drink too much.
Damn.
From sea king to sea dog, all it took was one Jiang Nanfeng.
Wei Zhi pulled out a chair and sat down. A female classmate who was chatting with the class monitor turned around, smiled at her, and asked, “Jiji, Wang Ze said you have a boyfriend now? Is it true? When did you become aware of these things?”
…
Wei Zhi had always been quite popular in school—
She had an inoffensive appearance, spoke softly and gently, held the unremarkable position of publicity officer, didn’t date or chase celebrities, didn’t go after the school heartthrob or fall in love, and focused solely on her studies.
There was simply no reason to dislike such a person.
The person smiling and asking her now had no ill intentions either…
They just found it amazing that someone as oblivious as Wei Zhi was dating at an appropriate age.
Seven or eight classmates had already arrived, and hearing the question, they all looked over, chattering—
“Ayuan, don’t ask like that. Jiji seems to be a manga artist now… Don’t all manga artists need scripts? How can you write scripts if you’ve never been in love?”
“Wow, how do you know what Wei Zhi is doing!”
“Saw it on TV, I was shocked! My classmate was on CCTV News, I thought the only chance for that in this lifetime would be if Old Yu became a serial killer or something—”
“Hey! Wang Shanshan! Are you asking to be torn apart?!”
“Hahahahahahahaha!”
“Wei Zhi, did you appear on TV?”
“Yes, yes, Jiji is very famous now. Later, when I chatted with my college roommate, I found out they had all read her manga when they were in school…”
Faced with the barrage of compliments, Wei Zhi felt like she was experiencing real-life social death.
Everyone was still eagerly asking about her boyfriend, what he did for a living if she had any photos…
She was forced to hide behind Jiang Nanfeng.
Before she could speak, someone turned on the TV in the private room.
The TV happened to be showing sports-related news on a local channel, and it was just talking about the Winter Olympics. On the screen, a female host with a fluctuating tone was reporting on the current preparations for the Winter Olympics—
[As of now, our country’s athletes are striving and fighting to earn points for participation in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics…]
[In snow sports, men’s snowboard big air has emerged as a new medal hopeful. Former national team snowboard big air athlete Shan Chong recently won gold at the X Games World Extreme Sports Competition with world-class performances in two jumps and dramatically announced his comeback on the podium.]
The TV showed footage from the X Games competition.
In the frame, a man wearing all-black snow gear, with only the red flag on his helmet shining brightly, leaped from the high big air jump, followed by a series of calm and collected rotations—
This was Shan Chong’s second jump at the X Games, a frontside quad cork 2160.
After completing this jump and landing steadily, amidst the earth-shattering cheers that nearly toppled the broadcast cameras, the following competitors felt they didn’t need to continue competing…
With just his first two jumps, Shan Chong had undoubtedly secured the first gold medal of his comeback.
“Damn, this skiing event is intense, spinning like a helicopter.”
“Aren’t our country’s snow sports not that great?”
“That’s not true, we’re above average. Many events have medal potential… maybe just short on gold—”
“Is this guy good?”
“X Games gold medal, what do you think? I’ve even heard of this competition, it’s not some small-time event. Anyone who can participate in the Olympics next year went to this competition.”
“Really? I never used to watch the Winter Olympics much…”
“If you want to know how good he is, ask Wei Zhi,” one of the female classmates pointed at the young woman standing behind Jiang Nanfeng. “I see her skiing every day on her social media. I know what all our country’s ski resorts look like from her posts—”
“Oh, is that so?” A male classmate who had unfortunately gone bald early blinked his eyes, “Wei Zhi, as an insider, what do you think? Is the guy on TV good?”
The young woman who was called out blinked her eyes in confusion.
At that moment, her gaze slid and met the class monitor’s eyes.
As one of Jiang Nanfeng’s exes, the class monitor was more than meets the eye. With a memory that had Beijing University and Tsinghua University fighting over him, he looked at the man on TV bending down to receive the award from the competition organizers on the podium…
He paused for a moment.
Then looked back at Wei Zhi.
…Wei Zhi was also someone who had posted photos of her boyfriend doing jumps and riding U-shaped pools on social media.
Although the face wasn’t always clear, it was occasionally visible.
Now, feeling uneasy under the class monitor’s gaze, Wei Zhi stammered, “This guy is, uh, the top… top performer in domestic snowboard big air.”
Everyone made sounds of understanding, nodding somewhat comprehendingly.
One female classmate said, “Oh wow, this guy is so handsome.”
Another female classmate said, “This niche circle should be quite small. Wei Zhi, I see you and Nanfeng are always in Zhangjiakou or Xinjiang. Do you know who this person is?”
Jiang Nanfeng said, “Oh, yes, we do.”
Wei Zhi: “…”
The female classmate widened her eyes: “Really? You know him?”
Jiang Nanfeng nodded: “We do.”
Female classmate: “Really? Oh my god! You’re so amazing to know an Olympic athlete! Can I see his social media? He’s so handsome! Just a quick look! I want to see if he has a girlfriend!”
As Jiang Nanfeng was taking out her phone, she responded, “He does have one,” and was about to hand over her phone when a small hand reached out and desperately grabbed her wrist… Turning her head, she saw the young woman looking at her with a deep gaze.
She tapped her paw and handed over the phone with Shan Chong’s WeChat Moments Open—
A confident straight man, his WeChat Moments were visible to everyone.
The visible content could be traced back to 2012 when people first started using WeChat, such an ancient time.
Shan Chong didn’t post much on his Moments, but the recent updates…
There was nothing about competitions.
The most recent one was a life video—
The man stood in what looked like the entrance hallway of a home, facing the camera with an expressionless face: [Let me show you how unreasonable women can be.]
Then the phone flipped, and the camera focused on what seemed to be an apartment. In the distance, a young woman was shouting, [Shan Chong, did you hide my stylus? How come it’s gone? It was just here, I just went to the bathroom, how could it disappear?]
Close to the phone, the man said: [I didn’t touch your things.]
The young woman, with her back to the camera and hands on her hips, flipped tables noisily: [Yes, yes, you didn’t touch it! It grew legs and walked away by itself!]
The video zoomed in, showing the man’s hand picking up an iPad on the table, flipping its case open. The stylus was visible, tucked into the folded part of the case.
The young woman’s angry tirade came to an abrupt halt.
[I saw you solemnly tuck it in there with my own eyes before you went to the bathroom.]
[Don’t look at me.]
[Are you going to apologize?]
[Don’t touch me. You looked like you were going to eat me alive when you were scolding me earlier… Pulling my sleeve won’t work either.]
The video ended.
The private room fell into a brief silence, then the waiter began serving dishes.
After a moment of silence, the female classmate who had been eager to see Shan Chong’s Moments blurted out, “Why does this Olympian’s girlfriend’s voice sound so familiar?”
Wei Zhi lowered her head to ladle some soup.
Jiang Nanfeng elbowed her waist: “Why don’t you call out ‘Shan Chong’ and let’s hear?”
Wei Zhi: “…”
Jiang Nanfeng: “Call him.”
Wei Zhi: “Shan Chong?”
Everyone: “…”
…
At this class reunion, Wei Zhi became the winner in life, humble-bragging to her heart’s content.
A rich second-generation beautiful girl manga artist snagged a stunningly handsome national team snowboarder…
What kind of child would they produce in the future?
Even novels wouldn’t dare to write such an outrageous pairing. The last time they saw such an unbelievable match was eight years ago when the diving queen married into a Hong Kong tycoon family, creating a fairy tale of the century.
Wei Zhi was frightened by her old classmates’ wave of comparisons and sighs, feeling they were simply riding on her coattails.
If Shan Chong had the fortune to hear this praise, he’d probably want to plug his ears.
After several rounds of drinks, they continued the party at a KTV.
Everyone was quite drunk by then. They called for designated drivers to send the familiar classmates home one by one. By the time Wei Zhi got home, it was almost 2:30 in the morning.
There wasn’t a soul at home.
She suddenly couldn’t keep it together anymore. Facing the dark room, she was in a daze. She kicked off her high heels, and unbuttoned the first button of her shirt, her breath heavy with the smell of alcohol. The aftereffects of all the drinks she had consumed suddenly hit her.
Struggling to find the wall switch, she turned on a light in the entrance hall. After standing there for a few seconds, she staggered and fell onto the living room sofa.
She took out her phone and looked at it. Her boyfriend hadn’t sent a single message and had disappeared without a trace. She started calculating the time difference between here and across the ocean…
As she calculated, she became confused.
Then she sluggishly remembered that her boyfriend wasn’t in a different time zone. He hadn’t appeared because he was in routine quarantine at a hotel after returning to the country…
What day was it today?
Oh.
She couldn’t count anymore.
She gave up, turned over, and fell asleep right on the sofa, like a pitiful creature that no one wanted.
…
She didn’t know how long she had slept.
It seemed she woke up once in between and opened her eyes to find it was daylight outside. Her head was pounding. She got up to drink some water, turned over, and went back to sleep.
When she woke up again, she felt something wet wiping her face.
It was warm.
At first, she was quite impatient, reaching out to swat it away, but the hot towel rubbing her face became more forceful as if determined to scrub her skin off—
And with her eyes closed, she felt someone lift her.
The next second, she fell into a familiar embrace.
“Sleeping with makeup on? Don’t want your face anymore?”
A deep male voice sounded in her ear.
Wei Zhi frowned slightly, not even opening her eyes, thinking she must be sleepwalking and hallucinating.
“Reeking of alcohol. If I don’t watch you for three seconds, you’ll fly to the sky.”
This scolding, if it was a hallucination, was too spot-on.
Struggling, Wei Zhi suddenly opened her eyes.
And thus, she unexpectedly met a pair of dark eyes, a handsome face close at hand, suspended above her. The man who should have been across the ocean at this moment was looking at her, his eyes full of an impending storm.
Wei Zhi: “…”
Wei Zhi: “?”
She raised her hand and pinched the man’s face.
Her brain reacting slowly, she pinched a few more times, feeling the warm and taut skin under her hand…
He swatted her hand away with a “pa” sound, quite forcefully, jolting Wei Zhi awake.
Blinking her eyes, grabbing the collar of his jacket, she sat up a little…
Staring at him.
Staring.
Staring—
The person before her had probably just rushed over from Shanghai, still wearing a jacket that was a bit too thick for the southern city just entering spring. At this moment, that young yet somehow always authoritative handsome face was looking down at her…
Giving her a sense of urgency as if she suddenly needed to pee.
Under the man’s unfathomable gaze, Wei Zhi gradually came to her senses, smelling the stench of alcohol on herself. She steeled herself and curved her lips at him: “How come you’re back?”
She saw his gaze gradually deepen.
The hair on her back stood up one by one.
Hair messy, head pounding, still wearing the clothes from the night before last, one boat sock missing, the young girl slid from the sofa to the carpet in front of it, preparing to face the onslaught of the storm—
Then she heard the man call her, “Wei Zhi.”
Wei Zhi: “…”
Here it comes.
Calling her full name was the prelude to entering storm mode.
Shan Chong: “Let’s go to the civil affairs bureau tomorrow and get a marriage certificate.”
Wei Zhi: “I’m sorry, I just got too happy at the class reunion—”
Wei Zhi: “?”
Wei Zhi: “What?”
Shan Chong: “Are you going?”
In her girlhood, Wei Zhi had fantasized about how romantic her proposal should be—
It could be in a glass-domed hotel in Finland, surrounded by snow;
It could be on the East African savanna with antelopes leaping and running towards the rising sun;
It could be in a slowly rising hot air balloon in Cappadocia, Turkey;
It could be with colorful soap bubbles rising in the sunset at Prague Square…
A beautiful young man would take out a diamond ring.
At least 1 carat…
And slip it onto her ring finger.
He would kneel on one knee, gaze sincere, promising her the rest of his life.
But not in the southern city.
In her apartment.
The morning after a hangover.
She reeked of alcohol, her hair messy, dark circles under her eyes from oversleeping, and at a bizarre time when she couldn’t tell if it was morning, dusk, or afternoon…
The man wearing a jacket sitting beside her, expressionlessly asking her in the tone of a disciplinary teacher, “Get a marriage certificate, are you going?”
…He could be more solemn when asking whether to choose fish or beef and add an egg when eating rice noodle rolls downstairs.
It was just ridiculous.
Where’s the diamond ring?
There’s no diamond ring either.
He’s just holding a hot face towel.
And it’s a disposable one taken from her bathroom.
Never had she seen such a standard case of getting something for nothing!
Wei Zhi didn’t even have time to ask.
The next second…
Something heavy was placed around her neck.
She was stunned for three seconds.
She looked down, oh, it was a shiny gold medal.
“This is for you,” the man said to the bewildered hungover girl, “Are you going?”
Wei Zhi’s face was expressionless, thinking: How can it be so casual? How can a gold medal of unknown purity replace a diamond ring of at least 1 carat? Where in the world is there such a good deal? This abacus is clicking away. If you become a billionaire in the future, it must be from saving money by picking up water bottles from the roadside for 10 cents each. Yes, yes, yes, I’m going, I’m going, I’m going—
Wei Zhi: “Where did you get this idea?”
Shan Chong: “The moment I saw you almost drink yourself to death on your sofa less than a month after leaving me.”
Wei Zhi: “?”
Shan Chong: “Besides anger, there was also an unexpected sense of responsibility.”
Wei Zhi: “…”
Shan Chong: “Are you going?”
Wei Zhi: “Yes, I’m going.”
Shan Chong: “When?”
Wei Zhi: “Let me wash my face… no, wait, what time is it now?”
Shan Chong: “…6 PM.”
Wei Zhi: “Oh, the civil affairs bureau is closed. Let’s go tomorrow then.”
Shan Chong: “Alright.”
Wei Zhi: “There’s still one night of cooling-off period.”
Shan Chong: “Go look in the mirror now, and you’ll realize how much love I’ve used by not scolding you… Don’t provoke me, you’ll be the one to regret it later.”
Wei Zhi: “…”
Wei Zhi: “Shouldn’t there be some words of tenderness when proposing?”
“Not scolding you is already tender enough,” the man said lovingly, “Go on, don’t speak, go wash your face.”