Chapter 9 Part3 (2/2)
Standing, he handed her coat to her. ”Mai Jie is in Tianjin. We'll drive over there tonight.”
”That rushed?” Jia He looked at him, startled. He had just arrived in Beijing and now he was heading to Tianjin?
Yi Wenze straightened himself up, walked over to the wardrobe, and began selecting clothing. Pulling out a casual top, he answered, ”I suddenly really want to have Tianjin's snack foods.”
”Beijing actually sells Tianjin snacks, too…”
Halfway through what she was saying, Jia He was suddenly hit with a not-so-good thought. Could it be that her idol was purposely taking her away from here? She snuck a look at Yi Wenze. But when she saw him removing his suit jacket, his motions natural and at ease, she almost blacked out for a moment and she leapt up from the sofa. ”I'm going to go have some water.” With that, she did not wait for his response and, slipping on her flats, bolted out of the room.
When she reached the coffee station, her heart was still thumping hard.
The light of the water dispenser was flas.h.i.+ng in the darkness. Groping around for a long time until she found the light switch, she turned on the wall lights.
Outside in the corridor, someone seemed to be talking. It was a very loud voice, commenting on the actors and actresses who had come for the screen tests today and also talking about the upcoming new film project. As Jia He grabbed a gla.s.s and dispensed some water, she realized the very serious error she had made: He had only been changing his jacket… Why did she run? Why in the world did she run, aaah?!
She was completely in a state of chaos. Here she was, twenty-six, twenty-seven years old but still acting like an innocent little girl newly dating someone.
Did she humiliate herself? Or did she humiliate herself? Yes, she humiliated herself…
Before long, Yi Wenze was changed and groomed. When the two arrived downstairs, Wu Zhilun was leaning against the windowsill, talking on the phone. Seeing them heading outside, he called to Yi Wenze. ”Where are you going, eh? If you're going to eat, bring me with you.”
Yi Wenze lifted his eyes to look at him. ”We're going to Tianjin.”
Wu Zhilun nearly dropped his mobile phone. ”Wasn't it tomorrow that you were heading there? It's the year 2011 already; you guys are still playing elopement?”
Making a ”shout-your-mouth” gesture at him, Yi Wenze opened the car door and sat into the vehicle first.
Jia He also got into the car. Just as she was about to pull the door shut, Wu Zhilun cried to them again, ”Wait ten minutes for me!”
While Jia He hesitated, Yi Wenze was already motioning to her to shut the door, and then, without a second thought, he started the car and drove off.
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This was the season of blooming willow treas and drifting white catkins[1]. Jia He had only just opened her window before her head was covered with white fluff that had blown in. Closing the window again in chagrin, she dawdlingly pulled out her mobile phone, thinking to give her mom a call. However, realizing that she did not actually know what specifically their itinerary and plans were, she could only turn her eyes first to Yi Wenze. ”When… approximately will we be coming back?”
”When do you want to?”
”You have no plans?” Jia He gaped at him.
”Just a little event. It'll take about half a day. For now there are no plans for the rest of the time.”
”Don't you have work to do in Beijing?” Jia He kept on guiding his thinking.
Today is Sat.u.r.day, tomorrow is Sunday. On Monday, I have to keep going with my meetings…
”I more or less took care of most of it today. I can take a couple of days off.”
Jia He was speechless. This really did seem like they were eloping, bringing nothing along, having no plans.
Oh, wait, that wasn't right either. He just said that he could rest for a couple of days. This plainly was premediated and planned.
After quite some time, she was still not yet willing to give up and carried on asking, ”Well, you at least have to have some sort of actual business purpose for going to Tianjin to see Mai Jie, right?”
At least give her some timing or a schedule. Her mom's wait for this hard-to-come-by chance for her to come to Beijing on business had finally come to fruition, but now she was playing a game of ”disappear off the face of this earth” without providing any explanation whatsoever. When she was back, she was indubitably going to be flayed alive and have her tendons yanked out. What was more… her mom had her heart set on Gu Yu, so with Jia He not in Beijing, the old lady just might possibly do something.
”It's the promotional event for my movie.”
An ”Ah?” slipped from Jia He. ”Then what am I going there for?”
Yi Wenze's one hand was on the steering wheel while his other hand reached over and helped her pick off a piece of willow fluff from her bangs. ”Eventually I'm going to be very busy, so if we can be together, I will as much as possible try to bring you along.”
As he was wearing a brimmed cap, some faint shadows were cast on the upper half of his face, emphasizing the brooding intensity of those eyes of his.
Jia He had originally wanted to say that she had not brought a change of clothing, but then she saw the smile he gave her, saw him waiting for her reaction, saw him discover with satisfaction that she had no objections and then turn back to continue driving. The entire process flowed smoothly, so smoothly that she had not even been able to squeeze out a word from herself.
Stress. The stress was just too much. ”Even heroes cannot resist the charms of a beauty[2],” never mind she was just a little screenwriter.
Things were already like this; how was she going to get through all the future days? Oh man, how was she going to get through them? …
In the end, when their car had driven beyond the Third Ring Road, she resigned herself to this fate and took out her mobile phone, deciding that she would tell her mom that she had a last-minute business trip and then after that find an excuse to ask for this time off from Director Liu. As she wrestled over what reason she could use for this time-off request, she at last noticed that this route was very familiar. No matter how she examined it, it still looked like they were heading in the direction of her home. After carefully scrutinizingfor a long time, she finally asked in a small voice, ”Aren't we going to Tianjin?”
Yi Wenze made a very placid ”mm” in answer before saying, ”We'll go to your home first to get a few changes of clothes.”
Go… to… my…. home?!
Jia He immediately received a jolt. ”No, there's no need. I have my credit card with me. If worst comes to worst, I'll just buy some stuff when we get to Tianjin. I'm not that picky. I'm really, really easygoing.”
He smiled. ”It's no problem. It happens to be on the way.”
Clutching her mobile phone, Jia He began seeing stars.
One was in the southeast, the other was to the northwest. Was it really on the way? Really, was it on the way? ….
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[1] Poplar and willow trees were planted in Beijing beginning in the 1960s and continuing onwards for a few decades to increase the greenery in the city. Over the years, millions were planted. However, in the spring, mature willows will bloom and release what appear to be white fluff, their catkins. As more of the female willows reached maturity, the ma.s.s of catkins floating in the air has become a phenomenon in Beijing's springs, when the white fluff seems to invade the city.
[2] This idiom is generally referring to a man, that no matter how great he is, how remarkable his abilities and achievements, he is still unable to escape being entrapped by love, or unable to resist the charms of a beautiful woman. However, in this case, the ”beauty” here is referring to Yi Wenze's incredible good looks, and Jia He, not even a hero, just a little screenwriter, most certainly cannot resist him.
This story was translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com only. All forms of reproduction, redistribution, or re-posting are not authorized. If you are not reading this from hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com, the copy is unauthorized and has been taken without consent of the translator.
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