Chapter 19 Part1 (1/2)
Go Go Squid (drama adaptation of Stewed Squid with Honey) has been confirmed to air on July 9. The Chinese name has now been changed and no longer uses the novel's t.i.tle. It is now 亲爱的，热爱的, which translates roughly as My Dear, My Pa.s.sion.
What do you think a female version of Yi Wenze would be like?
Chapter 19.1 —
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.
Jia He's mouth bobbed open. She became a mute.
Eventually, Qing first got out of the car, reporting shortly, ”There shouldn't be too many people. We'll just walk a bit faster. If worst comes to worst, when other travellers take pictures of you guys, if you feel awkward, just look down and stare at the floor and muddle your way through that way.”
Silently chanting ”Amituofo” a few times, Jia He gritted her teeth and stepped out of the vehicle.
At first no one really took notice of them, but when the two came back out from the VIP check-in room, reporters were already rus.h.i.+ng over and swarming around them. Reciting in her mind Qing's instructions, she grasped Yi Wenze's arm tightly. The expression on her face was ridiculously stiff, and she did not know at all whether she was smiling or unable to smile anymore…
There were unabated squeals of ”Yi Wenze!” and also reporters throwing nonstop questions at them. Simply brus.h.i.+ng past all the camera lenses pointed at her was enough to make her dizzy.
Qing and other staff of the company were politely obstructing the media, but the numerous and varied questions a.s.sailing them could not be blocked. ”This trip you're taking out of the country, is the purpose to get married? Or have you already secretly registered your marriage?” ”Teacher Yi, would you be able to say a few words? Is this the fiancée you spoke of on the talk show?” ”Excuse me, Teacher Yi! Have the two of you seen one another's parents yet?” …
She honestly just wanted to find a sh.e.l.l, enclose herself inside it, and let things be at that…
The entire time, Yi Wenze wordlessly cradled her around her shoulders, practically half-carrying her in his embrace. Someone, it was not known who, grabbed her hand, and a fingernail scratched over the back of it, giving her such a scare that she yanked her arm back.
Yi Wenze lowered his head and gently took her hand into his. Then, he abruptly ceased walking.
This short, several-second pause was already enough to cause the entire place to grow still.
Right when everyone was feeling a little discomfited, he finally, in an amicable tone, made a joke. ”Everyone, if you keep asking like this, she might very well run away and not want to marry me anymore. If that happens, that's blameless suffering for me.” He was actually cracking a joke in public—such a seldom-seen occurrence—and the reporters were all a little stunned after hearing it. Very courteously, they took two steps back before continuing to repeat their questions from a moment ago. Their volume now, though, was quite a bit lower.
Jia He kept in close step with him, not daring to delay any longer, and hastened all the way until they were through the security checkpoint entrance.
Even when they had boarded the airplane, her brain still felt a little dazed.
Despite having seen a lot of such scenes, when it actually happened to her, she still had difficulty adapting to it. Only after the flight attendant had drawn the curtain closed and blocked out those gazes that were paying too much notice to them did her chest loosen in relief. Turning her head to the side, she rested her cheek against the seat back and looked at him. ”I kind of understand why you got depression back then. If it were me, I reckon I'd just jump straight to having a nervous breakdown.”
He returned her gaze with a smile. ”Thank you, honey, for your understanding.”
His voice was very light, but there were still a few other pa.s.sengers in this s.p.a.ce as well as the flight attendant—all of them basically viewers who didn't even need to pay for a ticket to watch this show.
She gave him a disconsolate look. ”I've decided I'm going to sleep. Don't talk to me. Absolutely do not say anything else to me…”
”You plan on sleeping for eleven hours?” In amus.e.m.e.nt, he gave her forehead a little stroke. ”It'll be better when we get to New Zealand. Over there, I'm not an actor or a singer. No one will really pay attention to us.”
Yi Wenze had already ordered her meal for her in advance, all foods that she liked.
After eating and drinking her fill, Jia He pictured the scenes that would occur after they disembarked the plane. All of a sudden, she began to somewhat look forward to those.
Since they became a couple, this was their first time openly going on any sort of outing together in broad daylight. In China, that face of his was like a ticking time bomb, and apart from the company office or home, the two of them had never really gone to too many places together. Occasionally accompanying him on a work trip and having a meal together was already the greatest form of fun. Musing on this, she lamentingly murmured by his ear, ”I actually really got the short end of the stick. Since dating you, there are a lot of things I haven't gotten to do.”
His lips curled in a smile as he gazed at her, he was about to say something, but Jia He added, ”But I really dislike exercise and going out. If you look at things that way, I truly am the most suited for you.”
He very much concurred with this. ”Then this time, I'll burden you a bit and have you walk around a little more with me in New Zealand?”
Playing along with him, Jia He deliberately heaved a long sigh. ”Oh, all right. I will sufferingly set aside myself and take a stroll with you down the memory lane of your youth.”
Yi Wenze turned his head sideways and placed a light kiss on her cheek, signalling that she could sleep now.
<>Please support this translation by reading it only from its actual site of posting, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Thank you very much.
During that long flight, when she hazily awoke from thirst, Yi Wenze was still asleep.
A very serene expression. So… gorgeous. Sighing with great feeling over the favouritism G.o.d had shown him, she turned and asked the flight attendant for a cup of iced water. When the flight attendant brought it over, she gave a very friendly smile to Jia He.
Jia He immediately understood: she must be one of Yi Wenze's fans.
Smiling as well, Jia He quietly told her, ”Thank you.”
The flight attendant's eyes curved into crescents as she noiselessly mouthed, ”You can do it,” and then took the cup back.
Tilting her head to the side, Jia He gazed upon Yi Wenze. On his chest still lay a half-open book, its cover a very simplistic design with merely a plain, deep-blue background. His hand rested on it, fingers curved in slight arcs. Even just this picture was enough for Jia He to watch him for a long time. Lying on her side, she fixed her eyes on him until her mind grew cloudy and she slid into slumber again.
<>Copyright of Fanatical, hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com. Translated with the express permission of the author for hui3r[dot]wordpress[dot]com only
It was raining here as well, but this place was suffused with the scent of summer. Coming from bitterly cold Shanghai to here, it truly did seem like their purpose for this trip was merely to holiday. Of course, if there weren't that beautiful woman—who looked practically like a replica of Yi Wenze—beaming widely at her, she would feel a little more at ease.
”Jia He.” Yi Wenrun strode over and gave her a firm bear hug. ”You look so cute. You're tiny.”
… Okay, then. She would take that as a compliment.
Smiling, she returned Yi Wenrun's hug. ”He said I would like you for sure. I now believe him.”
Yi Wenrun released her and whispered, ”Actually, he's really scared that I'll pick on you.”
Her Mandarin was very out of practice, but the way she articulated her words was also very cute, especially when paired with this face that truly had a seventy-percent likeness to Yi Wenze's. Being face to face with her like this made Jia He's cheeks unwittingly grow warm. ”You're blus.h.i.+ng?” Yi Wenrun turned her eyes onto Yi Wenze. ”I really did scare your wife?”
The word ”wife,” which had come out so naturally, once more threw Jia He's heart into overdrive.