Chapter 7 Part1 (1/2)
Damae Ramen is my go-to instant noodle (not that I eat instant noodles often, but if I do, it's this one). Good choice, Qiao Qiao. Ah, some quiet time together. ?
Chapter 7.1 — A Sudden Rumoured Romance (1)
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At this point, the call was hung up. Jia He still felt as if in a fog.
Yi Wenze set her mobile phone to the side, picked up his telephone, and dialed an internal line. ”Qing, would you please bring some food in? Thank you.”
Plain rice porridge served with a few other small, simple dishes. She was not certain whether it was because she was sick or because he was watching her the whole time as she ate, but the food was bland in her mouth. With difficulty, she managed to finish everything before she put down her bowl. ”What time is it?”
Yi Wenze lifted his wrist. ”Nine o'clock.”
Nine o'clock? …
She had actually slept all the way into the middle of the night. ”I'm so sorry. I've troubled you for such a long time.”
He did not reply to that. ”Do you want to sleep for another little while?”
Sleep… His one sentence wholly exposed to her what the situation was, and she all of a sudden realized that she truly, right in front of him, had just blatantly slept for a really long time.
In the past, she had watched his television serials in her own room and, hugging her blankets, her mind hazy, drifted off into sleep. She had even felt that being able to fall asleep while listening to her idol's voice was truly such a happy thing. But it was apparent the current situation was a whole other matter.
In this very dim room, there were only the two of them, one lying on the bed and one sitting at the bedside.
”I slept too much. I want to go out and watch some TV.” Jia He wrestled inside herself for a long time before managing to squeeze out this sentence that had no value whatsoever.
After a lengthy quiet, he finally answered with a chuckle, ”How about we watch a DVD?”
Her mind was blank for a moment, then caught on. Yi Wenze's home likely did not have cable television…
Het original intent had been to try to avoid the awkwardness of being alone with him, but in the end, they merely changed locations, from the guest room into the study, and continued being together. Compared with the liveliness of last night, tonight was quite a bit quieter. Qing offhandedly explained that Wu Zhilun was attending an event tonight and would probably be coming back in the middle of the night to sleep. Then she began informing Jia He of where the herbal teas and teapot were kept and even specifically brought Jia He to have a look at the place where the tealight candles were stored…
Her fever had actually broken for a long time already; she simply felt a little faint and weak now. However, in comparison to Yi Wenze, she would still be considered a healthy person.
And hence, from the moment Qing closed the door, she instantly took on the role of taking care of him.
She steeped some tea, lit a candle, and placed the transparent teapot above the flame.
Only then did she stop to look at Yi Wenze, who was sitting behind the desk. ”Would you like to go downstairs and get something to eat?”
Yi Wenze smiled, ”No, it's okay. The DVDs are on the shelf. Go ahead and choose one.”
Since Jia He was the one who had made the suggestion, it would not be right for her to continue being overly polite. Therefore, she could only face the shelf after shelf of discs and carefully look through them. There was a generous variety of types of films. In particular, one shelf was devoted to recently-released films.
In a glance, she spotted Gillian Chung's new film, Ex[1].
The word-of-mouth reviews on this movie were pretty good, so without thinking too much about it, she stuck the DVD into the player.
In the beginning, it was still rather fun and amusing, but the further along the movie progressed, the more it became scenes of suggestive, yet still ambiguous, interaction between Gillian and her ex-boyfriend. And the more she watched, the more she felt this was not quite right. Jia He inconspicuously lowered the volume a little and snuck a peek at Yi Wenze. Observing that he was still reading through some doc.u.ments and did not seem to have noticed the movie picture, she could at last secretly breathe out in relief.
But when she was in the middle of changing out the disc, he suddenly spoke up.
”What's wrong? It's not a good movie?”
Jia He hemmed and hawed for a bit, answering equivocally, ”No. I just suddenly realized that I've watched it before.”
”Of the recent Hong Kong films, there are several smaller productions that are pretty good.” Yi Wenze was holding a stack of doc.u.ments, signing as he spoke. ”That film, Love in a Puff[2], is quite good. It's quite a close portrayal of real life.”
The words spilled off Jia He's lips before she had even thought them through. ”It's that movie about a romance in seven days?”
She had watched this movie, starring Shawn Yue and Miriam Yeung, completely from beginning to end, and the impression it left with her was merely like that of a romantic love song that lasted for seven days, very in line with the fast-food-type love prevalent in current culture. But no matter how she evaluated it, she still felt that the basic foundation itself of the film was weak.
Seeming very much in a leisurely mood, Yi Wenze set down his pen. ”The reviews for both of these movies are quite good. Which one do you prefer?”
Why was it that, no matter how she heard these words, they sounded like he was asking her, which did she prefer, an ambiguously intimate relations.h.i.+p with an ex or a fast-food style romance with a new love?
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The flame of the tealight candle was unhurriedly warming the tea.
Jia He hesitated briefly. ”To be honest, I don't really like modern movies with an urban setting. I prefer Ashes of Time[3].”
A very old film. Back in her university days, she was already able to recite almost all the lines in it.
”Go take a look at the tenth disc on the third shelf. It should be the disc for that movie,” he unexpectedly said.
”The old version or the new one?”
”The old version.”
Following his instructions, she went over and pulled out the disc. Sure enough, it was the right one.
”When the film was released in 1994, its initial box-office reception was terrible, but because it received a lot of awards, it suddenly became popular.” He stopped, looking at Jia He with a smile. ”At the time, you should only have been in your teens.”
Jia He silently calculated for a moment. ”Not even ten years old.” Seeing how well the disc was kept, she asked offhandedly, ”You really like this film, too?”
He replied, ”From a cinematography and editing standpoint, I very much like it. But I don't really appreciate the protagonist's character.”
Jia He thought about Gege, Leslie Cheung[4], and could not contain a sigh. ”How he let himself live a self-indulgent, unchecked life?”
Yi Wenze smiled. ”His att.i.tude of hiding from his own feelings.”
Jia He had not expected the conversation would develop to this topic, and for a moment she did not know what to say. She could therefore only give a cursory laugh, and then, while remarking on how good Gege's acting skills were, she set that disc into the player and carried on whittling away the time. It was some time past eleven o'clock and the movie was nearing its end, when Qing at last knocked on the door and said that Qiao Qiao was back. When Jia He heard these words, it was like she had received a special pardon, and, practically fleeing, she sped downstairs.
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Qiao Qiao had carried in two boxes of Demae Ramen instant noodles and was now downstairs drinking water. Seeing Jia He, she immediately winked and signaled with her eyes. ”One box is for you to b.u.t.ter up your idol and one box is for me to b.u.t.ter up my ba.s.s-playing talent. How about it? I'm such a good friend, right?”
Qing snorted out giggles when she heard this, making Jia He terribly embarra.s.sed.
She helped Qiao Qiao bring a box into the kitchen while the other one was moved into the guest room.
”Will I be able to sleep with you?” Qiao Qiao asked out of the blue.
Looking at her in bewilderment, Jia He countered, ”Why wouldn't you?”
Qiao Qiao immediately flopped onto the bed, answering with a grin, ”Will I get in the way of your 'happy activities'?”
Jia He finally understood what she meant. ”Cut the jokes. If you hadn't driven my car away, I wouldn't still be staying here tonight.”