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Lets take a long walk:
Finally, Yin Ting was carried away
because the bride personally came and made her come out. Before she was taken,
she solemnly gave the bouquet to Zhengqing, which made everyone boo.
Yin Shi eventually went to join
Zhengqing. He held the bouquet nonchalantly, as though the lead in the ‘drama’
was not him.
When they went back to their seats,
everyone’s interest in Zhenqing was piqued. The men began to talk to him and
were curious about his background. Zhengqing was very polite, and answered
everyone’s question; personal and work related without haughtiness. So
gradually the table talk was about business.
It really became a meeting room,
ah! Yin Shi despaired.
Yin Shi sat quietly next to
Zhenqgqing while crying in his heart; Sister, you said I should take care of
Zhengqing because he would be lonely, but you didn’t say how brother in law
should take care of me when I am lonely.
At this party, Zhengqing made some
friends. He has glad to have met people he could have good discussions about
business with. They exchanged contacts and suggested Zhengqing go out drinking
with them soon.
Yin Ting was finally released by
the girls, but she was smiling as she put her hand on the crook of his arm.
‘Your friends?’ he asked.
‘Knows, but are not familiar. But
they are very happy you came and talked with them,’ she replied with a smiled,
‘this could be considered a successful entry into my friends’ circle.’
Yin Shi, who was standing near,
coughed. He could guess that her friends knew every detail of their
relationship, that his sister had in her hand a high flying Vice President and
in addition, that very public show of love. Sister, you must succeed in
marrying him, ah! Or else, all those friends of yours will gossip and make fun
of you and your brother!
Zhengqing and Yin Ting were
obviously not thinking about such things so far ahead (Zuben: Nope). She took a
sniff of the bouquet and very happily said, ‘Next is; I enter your friends’
circle.’
‘My friend circle?’ Zhengqing
asked. He didn’t have many personal friends, most people he knew were work
related.
‘Well, for example, what is your
secretary’s name?’ Yin Ting asked sweetly.
Zhengqing raised an eyebrow and
looked down at her. Yin Ting laughed.
Yin Shi coughed, breaking their
bubble, ‘Shall we go home now?’ he asked Yin Ting. As they are brother and
sister, they could go back home together.
‘I will take her home,’ Zhengqing
said. Yin Ting nodded vigorously. (Zuben: They want to play kissy face)
Yin Shi was aghast. Was this right?
You’re taking her, why not take me too?
He bemoaned. He had had some alcohol, so he would have to find someone
else to drop him at home.
Yin Ting looked a bit sheepish,
‘Our place is on his way home.’ (Zuben: That is not the issue here, missy)
Yin Shi did not reply but shook his
head and walked off.
‘It’s on the way, is it?’ she asked
Zhenqing.
‘Correct, it is.’ Zhengqing replied
soberly. If they went back to his house, it would suit him very well.
Zhengqing and Yin Ting got into his
car; he turned to her and asked, ‘Shall we go for a drive?’
‘Yes,’ she replied with a smile.
He drove around for a while and it
was quiet in the car. The two sat in a comfortable silence. After while, he
turned the car in the direction of Yin Ting’s home. She was not his wife yet,
so he always had to take her come. (Zuben: You could always “live in sin”, but
writer-sama wants you guys to be all proper about it). As they got closer, he
was reluctant to let her go, so he asked, ‘The weather is very good, shall we
take a walk?’
‘Alright,’ Yin Ting said with a
smile.
He found somewhere to park and the
two of them walked in the night hand in hand.
‘Are you working tomorrow?’ she
asked.
‘Yes.’
‘My dad isn’t working tomorrow, he
is very tired from the journey, so he’s going to rest. So I’m not going in
tomorrow. I plan on going to the orphanage to see everyone and confirm the old
lady’s situation. And then, to see Yufei to help, since I am her maid of
honour.’
‘It sounds like you have a busy
day.’
‘Yes, but I will endeavour to be at
yours by half past six.’
‘Good,’ he said with a laugh.
‘Are you going to work overtime
tomorrow?’
‘No,’ he must fight to get home
early.
Yin Ting also laughed, satisfied.
She did not tell him about her cooking lessons or her driving lessons. She
wanted it to be a surprise. She was very busy.
‘Shall we go shopping this coming
weekend?’ she asked.
‘Yes.’ They hadn’t bought the items
they needed for their diary.
‘Do you get annual leave?’ she
asked.
Zhengqing hesitated. Yes he did,
but he never took a break. There were too many public holidays, there was no
need.
‘Why?’ he asked cautiously.
‘No reason. I just wanted to
confirm your schedule for the Spring Festival.’
‘I am resting during the Spring
Festival.’ He did not care for annual leave, for him to put in vacation time
during a normal working day was unbearable for him.
‘My friends were talking about
going away for the Spring festival, but now I wonder if you would like to go?’
She asked. ‘You’d probably need to take annual leave for the day before and the
day after the Festival.’
Zhengqing’s first thought was he
did not want to go. Spending money and time for nothing, was very inefficient.
For him, travel was not interesting. (Zuben: Can she go by herself then?)
If he was to go abroad, he’d go for
business. He did not like to travel and he did not think it was interesting,
but also to use annual leave. His work would be held back.
When Zhengqing did not say
anything, Yin Ting understood. So she said offhandedly, ‘It’s not set in stone,
so we can think about it again.’
‘Alright,’ Zhengqing replied
relieved although he did not want her to be unhappy.
‘We can go to a new restaurant that
just opened. The online reviews were very good, and I would like to go and try
it.’
‘Okay,’ he replied in relief. He
held her hand tightly, and she turned and smiled at him. Zhengqing’s brain
short-circuited. He was suddenly pulling her to the dark doorway of a shop, he
gently tucked her into a corner and kissing her.
Truthfully, there were too many
holidays. He did not want to go anywhere. He just wanted to be at home with her
and play with Miao-dada, make a nest on the sofa and watch TV. Even if there
was nothing good on TV, even if they didn’t talk, just being lazy together felt
very good to him.
Yin Ting’s heart beat fast in her
chest. Ambiguous words were not said, in the atmosphere was a little
embarrassing and now he was suddenly heated up. This man was really yellow.
Even when he was serious, he was yellow. But she liked his passion for her.
Yin Zhi returned home. Their father
was watching TV in the living room when he entered. When he heard the door he
swept a glance in Yin Shi’s direction. When he saw only his son come home, he
asked,
‘Where’s Xiaoting?’
‘She’s out on a date with her
boyfriend.’ He answered honestly.
Guohao frowned, looking unhappy.
Yin Shi bowed low, the old man was harsh to him and he was not like his sister
who could coax him out of a bad mood. He knew their dad was really eccentric,
(Zuben: You mean a pointlessly grumpy old man), but like their mother before
them, his sister was really patient with him. The Printing Factory was so
boring, but she insisted on going with their father every day. He could not do
it. But he didn’t understand why this old man would account for his sister’s
doings on his own head.
Like now…
‘How come you didn’t come back
together? It’s so late, it is not safe outside,’
‘She is with Qiu Zhengqing, she’s
fine.’ Yin Shi said with an exasperated sigh.
His father did not speak for a
time, so Yin Shi said, ‘I’m going to my room,’
‘Ah,’ he replied. As Yin Shi went
past him, he said, ‘Give your sister a call, tell her to come home early. It is
cold outside.’
‘Alright, alright.’ Yin Shi said as
he went to his room. He undressed, intending to take a shower and then maybe
give his sister a call. He didn’t want to call his sister, but his father
wanted him to take the blame of beating apart the mandarin ducks.
Yin Shi took a very long bath, so
long the bathroom became a sauna. When he come out, he was met with his
father’s resentful face,
‘Yes yes, I will call her right
away. I’ll just put on some clothes first then call her.’
He went to his room, dried off and
put on fresh clothes. He checked the time, it had been nearly an hour since he
arrived, he thought it should suffice. So he decided to call her,
‘Is father making you do this?’ she
asked directly.
‘You know him well. Come back and
save your gege, your only brother in the whole world.’ He said in an
exaggerated manner.
‘You should appease him.’
‘How do you want me to do that?
Hold his arm and say, “Our little sister is so hateful, she didn’t come back
home early. I will scold her when she returns”’ he said mimicking the coaxing tone Yin Ting would take on when she tried to appease the old man.
(Zuben: LOL)
‘If I tried it, he would kick me
down the stairs!’
Yin Ting laughed, ‘Alright, hold
the fort. I’ll be back soon.’
‘Good, hurry back.’ He said.
Twenty minutes later, Yin Ting came
home, holding the bouquet, smiling brightly – looking sweet. Even a blind
person could see she was in love.
Yin Guohao had no expression, kept
his gaze on the TV. Yin Ting came over
and sat beside him,
‘I’m back!’ she said.
‘Welcome home,’ he said gruffly.
Yin Ting was tired of her father’s ‘ice-cream’ face (Zuben: Google), so she
showed off the bouquet brightly, 'See, I caught Arlene’s bouquet!’
Yin Shi was in the dining area,
pretending to pour himself a glass of water while he eavesdropped and watched
his sister’s coaxing drama. There were some tricks one cannot learn, you had to have the
talent. Yin Shi was surprised to that Xiaoting was saying she snatched the
flowers. He supposed she could not tell her dad a whole big man like her
boyfriend caught the bouquet for her.
‘Just flowers…’ her father said
disdainfully.
Yin Ting did not mind, she giggled,
‘This is a happy bouquet.’
Guohao’s face relaxed a bit at his
daughter’s tone.
‘They’re travelling abroad for the
wedding, it will be simple and comfortable.’ (Zuben: Someone obviously hasn’t
had to organise a wedding in another country.)
‘Where is it good? You should be
getting married and having a banquet at home with your friends and family.’
Guohao said. He was an elder who had old-fashioned ideas.
‘Arlene’s father isn’t happy about
it, but his darling daughter insisted. I’m warning the both of you, none of
this travelling abroad nonsense.’ He said also looking and Yin Shi at the
dining table. Yin Shi gave him a wide eyed look. He was only here to get a
glass of water, why was he being implicated, ah! He didn’t even have a
girlfriend.
‘If you marry willy-nilly, I will
cut off your legs.’
‘You can cut off my legs, Yin
Shi-gege will have to make money to support the family,’ she said in a pitiful
voice.
‘Silly…’Guohao replied tapping her
head.
‘Dad? We’re not visiting relatives
this Spring Festival right?’
‘Hm.’ Guohao was still rather tired
from the last trip. He wasn’t very strong these days.
‘So it’s all set then. Can Qiu
Zhengqing come for dinner? He doesn’t have any family, so it would be nice if
he had a family meal, what do you think?’
Yin Shi was choked, he hadn’t expected
this. He poured himself another glass of water.
Guohao did not speak.
Yin Ting was nervous, she knew
Zhengqing did not want to go away for vacation. Although, she didn’t agree with
it, she understood and respected his wishes. She knew that if she wanted to be
with him for a long time, she would have to make concessions like these. So she
decided to take the opportunity to get him and her dad together.
If her father did not agree now,
there was still time till the festival, she would think of another way. But it
was better if this kind of thing was scheduled well in advance.
Yin Shi was nervous for Yin Ting,
and Zhengqing. Their father’s attitude could be really cold.
‘That’s fine,’ Guohao said finally,
‘There is a lot of food to go around. Let him come.’
This old
fellow really was not cute at all, but Yin Ting was relieved.
Brother and sister shared a look.
Yin Ting was secretly pleased. She could not wait to tell the good news; her father has agreed to
see Zhengqing!
One Wedding No Funerals
Zhengqing was surprised to hear the
news. There was a sense of trepidation, was it a little or was it a lot, he could
not tell; just that it was there.
‘When is the Spring Festival this
year?’
‘February 18th.’ She
replied.
‘A little over a month from now.’
He said,
‘Yes,’ she replied, ‘enough time to
prepare.’
Zhengqing was suddenly overcome; on
the evening of February the eighteenth, he was going to have dinner with his
future in laws.
‘What should I buy?’
‘My dad likes to drink tea. I’ll
help you find out what good ones are out there. We’ll get a nice tea set as
well, wrap it nicely…’
‘Fine, sounds good.’ Zhengqing said
in agreement. He only knew how to capture the customer’s experience, he did
know much about how to woo father-in-laws. He felt listening to Ying Ting was
the right thing to do. (Zuben: Hmmm…)
‘We’ll get you something nice to
wear as well. You have to look good.’
‘Alright,’
‘And a haircut. I will remind you
closer to the time.’
What was wrong with his hair cut;
it was a normal workplace standard thirty-seven. Not trendy or trendless, not
long or short, just a normal office worker's haircut. He really shouldn’t think
too deeply about it, and just listen to Xiaoting, ‘Good,’ he said.
‘What to do, serious, I am a bit
nervous.’ She said with a nervous timbre to her voice.
‘Shouldn’t I been the nervous one
here? You can’t join in…’ Zhengqing said seriously.
‘You don’t sound nervous at all.’
‘Then you don’t need to be
nervous,’ he said.
‘Right. Do you play chess?’ she
asked.
‘No.’
‘Checkers?’
‘No.’
‘What did you do as a child?’ Yin
Ting asked, she did not expect much from him since he wasn’t a playful adult.
He probably just went to school and studied a lot in his free time.
‘When I was young…?’ He made an
effort to recall. It was a long time ago, when his father was alive. He used to
help with the farm work. Then they lost their farm, so his father went to work
in the city. He decided to work hard in his studies so that he could make his
parents’ lives comfortable when he grew up. What did he do as a child…?
‘Ah! Kill rabbits, feed chickens,
made pickle…’
‘Not work, play.’ She cut him off.
Listening to all that made her head hurt.
‘Play! Yeah, kicking sandbags, riding my bicycle
around the town, stealing fish from the fish pond, skipping rocks…’ he paused
then asked, ‘Are these alright?’
‘My dad likes fishing. Do you know
how to use a fishing rod?’ she asked.
‘No…’
Yin Ting sighed, ‘Never mind, we’ll
think of something. This time we have would be used as remedial time. We can
arrange some activities so you can spend time with my dad and score some
points.’
‘Alright,’ he replied quietly. He
wasn’t really confident about how well things would go. He really didn’t know
the first thing about entertaining an elder, he hadn’t done something like that
in years. In addition, he could not play the games Yin Ting had mentioned
earlier. Could he really be brought up to scratch in one month?
‘You need to be more confident.’
She said, ‘Although, it will possibly be hard work and you may not enjoy it, we
need to be prepared. As long as the first impression is good, the rest will
fall into place. Maybe we should get you to spend time together over the
holidays. Actually, that may work. His impression of you may be high, since Qin
Shu likes you and wanted you to be his son-in-law. My dad has a high regard for
Qin Shu. They must have the same thought process.’
‘Maybe,’ he replied. I hope so, he
thought to himself. He really wanted to marry Yin Ting, he hoped her father
could see that.
But in the following days,
Zhangqing and Yin Ting were very busy.
Zhengqing was very busy at work
with the end of year details. But due to ‘house rules’, he could not work
overtime every day. But as time went on, Zhengqing slipped, Yin Ting was very
strict about her punishment; he didn’t turn up for dinner, she didn’t come the
next day. At first Zhengqing felt guilty, but with so much work to do, he was
grateful for the chances to work over time.
He also felt Yin Ting was also
using this time to do her own things. Yu Fei’s wedding was on the fourteenth of
February, and it was approaching quickly. Since Yin Ting and Yu Fei were
best girl friends, Yin Ting was deeply involved in wedding preparations.
So the two lovers who had planned
to meet every day, could not. It was either one to two times a week or on a good
week up to three times, but they asked for leave frequently.
They got the chance to go to the
craft store to by the tools they needed to make the binding for their first
love diary. Zhengqing personally created the binding, and the two, high on the
sweetness of the day, promised to make the diary thick with entries.
They promised to write about things
that touched them in their relationship. If the diary was light, they hadn’t
seen each other in a long time. If there was nothing, they hadn’t done anything
at all.
It was consensus between both of
them to nurture their love.
However, they hadn’t considered one
thing. The diary did not increase or decrease by much, because they hadn’t met
much of late due to busy schedules. And even if they met for dinner, even touching
things, if there are repeated everyday, became mundane.
Yin Ting was so busy with
preparations for Yu Fei’s wedding that she did not fill the diary. When she
finally got a chance to read through it, it was emptier than she imagined. They
had met many times, but there weren’t many entries. She sighed, though it had
seemed simple when she had the idea, in reality, it was not.
Yin Ting arrived home late on
evening. She realised she hadn’t looked at her phone all day, so she fished it
out of her bag. There was a message from Zhengqing
‘I’ve got home. I will watch videos
on fishing.’
She replied, ‘Study well. If the weather is
good, we can go out of town to fish this weekend.’
Zhengqing called her back, ‘Are you
home yet?’
‘Yeah, I’m home.’
‘That’s good.’
They two of them did not know what
to else to say to each other. He had to be at work in the morning. She was picking up
the bride’s dress. This situation was not her ideal state of love. Two busy
people unable to keep their promise to each other.
‘It’s late, go to bed early.’ He
said.
After hanging up, she looked at the
diary again; nothing to report. She sighed and turned away.
That weekend, they both had
sometime to spend with each other so they went fishing. In the cold of winter,
there were only a few people fishing. But they realised they found fishing
boring. While the line was cast, Zhengqing answered work emails. Yin Ting was just
unhappy but could not figure out why. Zhengqing had been very cooperative with
her, so she could not be stingy, but even with that she felt depressed.
The situation continued until Yu
Fei’s wedding on Valentine’s Day, February fourteenth.
Yu Fei and Yingjie’s wedding was
simple and warm. Yin Ting felt the happiness of the marriage from start to
finish, although, Yu Fei spent most of her wedding eating. Yingjie, regardless
of the scene, let his new wife eat as she wanted. So the bridesmaids ran around
to help.
Zhengqing was a guest at the
wedding, but because he was only friends with the couple and not other people,
he was sat at a table with Yin Shi. Yin Shi was again on duty looking after his
future brother-in-law. Guohao was sitting with Qin Wen Yi. But along the way,
more Qin relatives arrived so Yin Guohao decided to go an sit with his son who
was sitting with Zhengqing.
Yin Shi was very nervous about this
development. Damn, how could this happen? He wondered. Sister isn’t here. If
anything happened would she blame him?
Zhengqing was also nervous, he
quickly reviewed the details Yin Ting had told him in his mind; what kind of
tea he liked, his fishing skills, what television series he was watching. Still
he struggled to bring up a topic of conversation.
As a result, the two did not speak
directly to each other, but chatted to the people around their table.
‘Steady, don’t be nervous,’ Yin Shi
whispered to Zhengqing as he text Yin Ting.
Yin Shi: Dad has come to meet your
man at the table. Help!
Yin Ting: Hang tight, now is the
time to show your strength. Don’t be nervous!
Yin Shi’s expression darkened with
trepidation at the reply. He had no strength! He really needed help. He looked
at Zhengqing who looked back at him. He looked at his father, he was teasing a
friend at the table.
‘Eat,’ he said to Zhengqing, ‘Just
eat, even if you can’t.’
Zhengqing raised a brow at him,
this was really reassuring, ah! At the present moment, it was the only thing he
could do. His future father in law sat near him, he could not start talking to
others, he could be judged as arrogant. But he could not be quiet, he could
also be judged as a different kind of arrogant. So eating was the only thing he
could do. He did not notice, Guohao had been studying him from the corner of
his eye.
Some time after, Yin Ting came to
the table they sat.
Both Yin Shi and Zhenqing breathed
sighs of relief. Yin Ting did not look at both of them, she went directly to
her father’s side and held his face her hands,
‘Dad, how come you’re here? I can’t
take care of you today, you know.’ She said with a laugh. (Zuben: There was
supposed to be a language pun here.)
Guohao laughed and said, ‘Don’t
worry about me, you’re busy today.’
Yin Ting smiled and looked at
Zhengqing. He smiled at her.
‘Xiaoting ah, your boyfriend is
handsome, when are we going to attend your own happy occasion.’ Someone at
their table teased.
Yin Ting glanced at her father, but
his expression was still happy, so she calmed down and said, ‘About this
problem, I am very shy.’ Everyone laughed including her father, Yin Shi and
Zhengqing.
‘I’d better get back to Yu Fei,’
she said hugging her father.
Guohao waved her away, ‘Go, go.’ He
said. As Yin Ting left she passed by Zhengqing, who held her hand for a quick
squeeze and let her go. Yin Ting’s face went sweetly red and she ran off.
Guohao noticed the exchange, but
continued eating.
Not long after, Wen Yi and his
friends were toasting the guests so they came to get Guohao to come along. Yin
Shi and Zhengqing relaxed, but he wasn’t gone for long. When he came back, he
made Yin Shi move so he could sit beside Zhengqing.
Yin Shi gave up his seat in a
flash. Zhengqing sat politely.
As he ate, Guohao began to talk to
Zhengqing about business. Zhengqing was relieved, this was a topic he was well
versed in. Zhengqing and Guohao talked about many things; from the changes in
customer spending, to brands to new markets. Yin Shi watched the exchange, and
sent a text to his sister to report
Yin Shi: Dad and your man have been
chatting for a while.
Yin Ting: Really?
Yin Shi: I’m not lying. If you
don’t believe me ask Zhengqing later.
After the wedding, Yin Ting asked
about it and Zhengqing nodded. He was very happy about it, ‘We talked about a
lot of things, our views on business are very similar. So we were able to have
a good conversation.’
This was an unexpectedly good
thing. He could feel Yin Guohao was beginning to regard him well, and it was by
accident. A man must work hard; strive to excel, in order to gain regard.
(Zuben: You forgot ‘know how to get along with others outside of the work
enviornment’)
So talented ah, to get future
father in law.
Yin Ting was very happy, ‘This is
great.’ She said, ‘You don’t have to be nervous when you come to my house for
Spring Festival dinner.’
Zhengqing nodded. He also felt that
way.
Yin Ting snuggled deeper in his
arms and breathed a long sigh. She was particularly tired today but she was
happy. Her best friend was married to the love of her life and she looked very
happy. They were going to have babies which will bring them more happiness. And
to top it off, her dad got along well with the man she loved. She could
possibly be happier!
‘Please be more serious, I haven’t
been good to you recently. Because we were a little busy, we didn’t meet up as
much. After the end of the year, we must
find time to rekindle our love.’
‘Why do we have to find time to
fall in love?’ Zhengqing did not feel that way at all.
Yin Ting laughed, he could be
really slow and dense. It was a good thing she liked him so much, and now her
dad liked him too.
‘Anyway, after the Spring Festival,
I will be at yours to accompany you for dinner everyday. You won’t be busy, so
no overtime.’
‘Very good.’
Four days later, on the eve of the
Chinese New Year, Zhengqing arrived at his Yin Ting’s home for dinner with a
gift for her father.
He was full of confidence, thinking
that things had been fine at Yu Fei and Yingjie’s wedding, so there should be
no problem with Yin Guohao.
Zuben: Will it be all okay? We
shall see.
Wow it's here. Thank you for the hard work!
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