TCOR CH41

Chapter 41: Could you move out for a while?

“You don’t have to go to the studio anymore. You can arrange your time freely,” Shen Wunian said as I was about to walk out the door to class.

I pushed the doorknob, a little confused: “What’s wrong?”

He wore a tie and his tone was flat: “I ruined Yu Xiaoshan’s exhibition, and I have to go back to the United States to apologize to my adoptive father. While I’m gone, you don’t have to work, or you can find another job.”

It was so sudden. I hadn’t heard from him yesterday.

I gripped the door handle and asked anxiously, “How long will you be gone?”

“Ten days at the most, a month at the most.”

A month…

“That’s a long time.”

This was a period of time I had never expected. A month, four whole weeks, which was much longer than the last time he went on a business trip.

Shen Wunian turned his back on me, picked up the phone on the table, and said, “There’s no way around it. I’ve upset his important client, and if I don’t do something to appease him, I’m afraid he’ll kill me.”

His tone was still very relaxed, but when I heard the last sentence, I became nervous for no reason. Whether it came from Bai Qixuan’s mouth or the mouths of passersby, Shen Wunian’s adoptive father, the famous Ashmakine, was never a simple person.

If, as Bai Qixuan said, Ashmakine was more inclined toward Liang Weiren among the Liang brothers, would he feel that everything that led to Liang Weiren’s defeat, including Yu Xiaoshan’s Red Thread Exhibition, was the work of Shen Wunian, and thus resent him?

Shen Wunian… will he be in danger when he returns?

It was only about four or five meters from the door to where he was standing, a distance that could easily be covered on foot. But when I looked at his back, I knew that the actual distance between us was much more than just those four or five meters.

He had done so much for me, but I felt I couldn’t do anything for him.

A mixture of emotions – loss, reluctance, and unwillingness – made me let go of the door handle and quickly run over to him, wrapping my arms around him from behind.

“Come back soon.” I didn’t want to make him feel like a clingy child, so I didn’t say too much about the sadness of parting, just “I’ll be waiting for you.

Shen Wunian probably didn’t expect me to suddenly hug him, and his muscles stiffened for a moment before slowly relaxing.

“Mm,” he said after a moment.

I joined the photography club again.

When people no longer have to worry about basic needs like food and clothing, they naturally seek higher needs. Maslow was not lying.

The second time I joined the Photo Club, I received an even warmer welcome than the first time. Peng Dai even threw a welcome party for me, highlighting my outstanding achievement of winning the “Student Photographer Award” in a cell phone photography contest, which made me feel very embarrassed.

Compared to my freshman year, some seniors had left the club, but there were also more juniors.

The welcome party was held at a self-service barbecue restaurant near the school. Since there were not many tables, everyone had to sit separately.

Peng Dai and I sat at the same table. Halfway through the meal, she suddenly leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Have you seen the cute guy at the next table wearing a denim jacket?”

I looked in the direction she was pointing, and sure enough, there was a young man wearing a denim jacket. If I remembered correctly, he was supposed to be a freshman in the club, and he was in the same section as me.

“I see him,”

“I like him,” Peng Dai said bluntly. His name is Xie Yunze, he’s in your department, you have something in common, so find a way to sound him out for me.

“Ah…” When I heard her say that, I looked at the boy again. His eyebrows and eyes weren’t particularly delicate, but he gave off a rather clean and refreshing feeling, the kind of guy who is popular these days because of his aura.

“Sister, are you sure he doesn’t have a girlfriend?”

Peng Dai had a smug expression on her face, as if to say, “How could I have missed this kind of information?” She said, “I have already asked around. They broke up two months ago.”

I nodded, “Okay, I’ll set you up.”

“What are you two whispering about? Let us in!” The others at the table started to tease us when they saw us whispering.

“Little Ai, why do you call Peng Dai ‘sister’? No, you can’t be partial. You have to call me ‘brother’ as well.”

“I noticed it today too, and it really hurt my feelings…”

“You made a mistake!”

I was at a loss for words: “No… it’s not like that…

“That’s enough from you, don’t bully little Ai!” Peng Dai put her arm around my shoulders and scolded with a smile, “This is my adopted younger brother, of course he has to call me sister, you’re nothing, why do you get to be his brother and sister?

“What do you mean, ‘nothing’? That’s a mean thing to say…”

“Yes, it is…”

After a noisy dinner, we returned home late at night.

I don’t know if it’s because of the time difference, but Shen Wunian hasn’t replied to the message I sent him yesterday.

It must be morning there, so should I call him?

My eyes were glued to the clock display on my phone, and the second hand kept spinning. I watched the minutes go from “3” to “4” to “5”, and when Shen Wunian’s name appeared on the screen, I suddenly realized that I had dialed the other party’s number.

I suddenly got up from the sofa, as if looking for the best place to get a signal, and began to walk aimlessly around the house with the phone in my hand, until Shen Wunian’s voice came out of the phone.

“Hello.” His voice was a little hoarse from sleep.

I stopped and held the phone to my ear: “It’s me. I felt silly saying that, but it was obvious, so I quickly added, “Did I wake you?

“No, I’ve been up for a while.”

I walked over to the fireplace: “Have you been feeling well these past two days?”

Shen Wunian’s breathing was audible on the other end of the line, right up to my ear. He didn’t say anything for a while, and I almost thought he had fallen asleep again. I hesitated whether to hang up or wake him up. As I was wondering, I heard him say in a heavy voice, “Not very well.

My heart tightened. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

He fell silent again.

“Shen Wunian,” I pressed him, “what is it?”

This time he replied quickly: “Just some family matters.” He didn’t seem to want to talk about it and said, “I’ve been busy these past few days and probably won’t have time to get back to you. We’ll talk when I get back.”

I was about to ask him when he expected to be back when a young female voice suddenly came over the line.

“Uriel, are you having breakfast?” she said in English.

Shen Wunian pressed the receiver down and said something in return, but it was too faint for me to hear, and then the female voice disappeared.

Who is Uriel? Shen Wunian? And this stranger who spoke, is he a relative? A friend?

“I must go now.” But before I could ask my own questions, the other party hastily hung up the phone.

“Wait…”

The room went quiet again. I hung up in shock, pursed my lips, and whispered the words I couldn’t say earlier at the end of the call log: ‘…goodbye.

In the vase above the fireplace, there was still the black barberry I had given to Shen Wunian, but with the passage of time, the once fresh and beautiful roses had long since withered and died.

Time is truly the cruelest thing in the world.

Thinking about this, I took the glass vase off the mantelpiece, threw away the dried flowers inside, washed the empty vase, and put it back in the cupboard.

It had been more than half a month since Shen Wunian left. During that half month, we had very little contact, or rather, he rarely answered my messages. Sometimes, when I missed him too much, I would go to his room and sleep there, and after sleeping, I would return the room to its original state as if I were a thief, which was particularly eerie.

Xie Yunze and Peng Dai were successfully married thanks to my matchmaking, but I didn’t really do much – I just went straight to Xie Yunze and asked him if he wanted to go out with Peng Dai. He seemed to have a good impression of Peng Dai, too, and agreed without much hesitation.

The two of them hit it off as soon as they confirmed their relationship, and they kept feeding the dog food at the club, which made me feel indigestible and increasingly sad.

How is it that other people can fall in love so easily? Meanwhile, I delayed telling the truth, not to mention actually seeing each other.

[I have a flight tonight and will arrive in Jiang City tomorrow.]

When I received Shen Wunian’s message, I was nervously waiting with the members of the photography club for the announcement of the finalists for the Master Kana Competition.

Being shortlisted does not necessarily mean winning an award; there is also a public voting stage. But for such a big competition, even being shortlisted is pretty amazing. Many people there had submitted their own works, not to win an award, but just to be shortlisted.

When I heard that Shen Wunian was coming back, I stood up excitedly. The next second, the shortlist was updated, and my work and name were prominently listed.

“Little Ai, you’re a finalist!” Peng Dai hugged me excitedly, her dirty pigtails bouncing up and down as she jumped around.

Shen Wunian is coming back, and I’m a finalist… I was so stunned by these two pieces of news that I just stood there, unable to react.

The crowd surrounded me and kept congratulating me. My soul gradually recovered amidst the “congratulations” and I began to feel a sense of reality.

“I made it…” As I looked at the many faces in front of me, the corners of my mouth slowly lifted into a warm bow, “I made it!

Amidst the cheers, I was lifted up by everyone.

When I looked up at the ceiling, I was full of joy, like I was in a dream, and I couldn’t wait to tell Shen Wunian the good news myself.

I couldn’t sleep at all that night.

I had not disappointed Xu Ao, and I had something of my own that could be called an “ideal”-I wanted to win and become an outstanding photographer like him.

And in the more hidden depths of my heart, I also had a little special joy.

It felt like… catching up with Shen Wunian was no longer an unattainable dream, even if it would take a long time.

Shen Wunian’s flight landed in the morning, and he was supposed to be back at the apartment by ten o’clock. I stayed up all night, keeping my eyes open until dawn. I got up at six to clean and do the dishes, then went out to buy groceries and prepare a big meal to welcome Shen Wunian home.

Fortunately, Shen Wunian returned on Saturday, or I wouldn’t have been home to greet him.

Looking at the results of my hard work on the table that morning, I took out my mobile phone to take a picture of it as a souvenir and felt satisfied.

At that moment, I heard the sound of a key turning in the lock outside the door. I knew it was Shen Wunian coming home, and I ran happily to the door.

The door opened slowly, and what came in before Shen Wunian was the voice of a woman I recognized.

“Why do you live in such a place? It’s so rundown.”

I thought Shen Wunian might be late, maybe stuck in traffic, but I never expected that he wouldn’t come home alone.

“I don’t like crowded housing estates. There are only 80 households here, so it’s very quiet…” With that, Shen Wunian pushed open the door.

He looked quite surprised when he saw me: “You’re home… Oh, I forgot, it’s Saturday.

“Who is this, your nanny?” A foreign girl with brown hair and bright emerald green eyes poked her head out from behind him.

The other person was probably about my age, spoke awkward Chinese, was tall, wore a deep V floral dress, and her chest glowed white from the exposed skin.

“My assistant.”

The girl didn’t change her shoes, just came in with her bag.

“You let your assistant stay in your house?” She looked around the house critically, completely ignoring me.

“This is my younger sister, Philia,” Shen Wunian introduced the girl as he tiredly loosened his tie and carried two huge suitcases into the house. “She was also adopted by my foster father.”

I had heard from Bai Qixuan that Ash Makinen liked to adopt orphans. Now, I seriously doubted that the other party had chosen the children based on their appearance. How could they all be so good-looking?

“Hello, my name is Zhong Ai,† I said with a wry smile as I greeted the girl.

The girl looked at me and said nothing.

“Philia,” Shen Wunian called to her.

She sat down on the sofa and reluctantly said “Hello”. Looking over her shoulder, she asked Shen Wunian, “Where do I sleep? Just so you know, I don’t want to live with a strange man.”

Shen Wunian let out a long sigh, and I immediately had a bad feeling.

“I…”

“Sorry.” Shen Wunian smiled at me, the same smile I was used to seeing on his face: warm, polite, and impossible to refuse.

“Zhong Ai, I’m not comfortable with her staying at the hotel alone. Can you move out for a while?”

The house belongs to Shen Wunian, and I’m just an assistant in his eyes. Even though we’re not related by blood, I’m still his sister. It’s understandable that he doesn’t feel comfortable with his sister, a girl who has come to a foreign country, staying alone in a hotel…

I understand that I have no right to feel offended, but when I heard him ask me like that, my heart still hurt inescapably.