Please Be More Serious Chapters 61 en 62

 Plan B, C ...

Yin Ting was silent in her warm nest of Zhengqing’s arms for a time. Then she softly asked, ‘What should we do?’

When Zhengqing did not immediately answer, she also rushed to say, ‘I will also not be bossy about your working hours.’
‘I do not want you kept waiting for me.’ He said. Knowing that she was at home waiting for him, he could not be at ease working overtime.

‘Then I will not come to see you.’

Zhengqing was at a loss for words; if she did not come, his heart would be uncomfortable. Sure enough, people are cheap. That was not good. Was it really checkmate?

‘Why don’t we do away with the rules, and let nature take its course. When you don’t work overtime, let me know and we can go out to eat, or eat at home. If you think about it, there are come couples that don’t even see each other for a week.’CO.UK

‘Ah,’ Zhengqing nodded. ‘But thinking about it, we didn’t meet very much either.’ It was the New Year, and then Yu Fei’s wedding preparations, and then the Spring festival. Things had been chaotic.

Yin Ting looked thoughtful as she said, ‘Maybe our expectations and anticipations were too high and therefore, we did not handle things well.’ (Zuben: Ya think?) Their ideas were grand, but they did little to reach their goals. (Zuben: shrug*) And when expectations are not met, the heart would be aggrieved.
‘My only demand is that you’re my girlfriend,’ he said, ‘the rest is up to you.’

(Zuben: My only requirement is that you are there when I want you. I don’t want to have to work for it)

Yin Tin laughed, ‘The person who doesn’t have demands usually has the higher expectation.’ She coughed a bit and looked up at Zhengqing, mimicking his serious tone of voice she said, ‘My request is that you do your work well, and look after me.’

She giggled, ‘See your tone of voice, so commandeering.’

Zhengqing thought about it and laughed as well.
‘Then let’s let nature take its course.’ Zhengqing said, ‘When we are free to see each other, we will. We won’t make unnecessary sacrifices on either part. We have been told worst thing that could happen.’ Like he told Guohao, he did not feel any pressure to be a perfect boyfriend anymore because Guohao did not give him any room to manoeuvre. He had asked them to break up; there was no room, nothing worse than this situation. So even if they didn’t meet often, even if Yin Ting’s rules cause him to lose a bit, it didn’t matter.
They were still in love with each other.

‘Did your dad say you should never see me again?’

‘He didn’t say that, but he said he didn’t approve of us dating. He has always been strict with us.’

Zhengqing was silent, trying to analyse what her dad’s thought process was. Analysis of the intentions of the opponent was very important, so that he could deduce what his next steps would be. He knew Guohao would not do something as stupid as commanding them not to meet. But, since he asked them to break up and did not approve of their relationship, he still had control over them.

As he was thinking, Yin Ting said, ‘Don’t be unhappy with this but this weekend, lets not meet for the time being. My dad just put this matter before us, for us to immediately do the opposite would be rude. Elders must say their piece and see that it has been taken on board. Why don’t we let him calm down a bit and we progress slowly, and with time, eventually convince him.’

‘I think so too.’ His stance was not to come into direct conflict with a person with strongly differing opinions, but leave and consider options, and return from a different angle and change their mind. In the end, earn victory. (Zuben: The way this paragraph came out on the translators was just…I sincerely wonder if it reads better in Chinese)K

‘Then, you aren’t angry?’ To be honest, Yin Ting was very affected by her father’s words. But when Zhengqing told her he was waiting for her, she had no idea what to do. But in his arms, she could laugh and feel joy again. She decided: I must try again. She had not done well in the past, but she would change her way of doing things. Though she did not want to ruin Zhengqing’s glory or make him hate her, she did not want to give him up so easily.UK

If love could be shaken easily, it must not be love.

‘I am not angry; we have a long way to go. I will try to speak to your father again.’

‘I am so happy you came or I really don’t know how I would have been this night or tomorrow. My mind was in chaos. What my dad said is justified, I was really persuaded.’

‘So I came.’ If he hadn’t been able to see her that night, he didn’t know what he would have done.

‘Fortunately, you came.’ She said softly and hugging him around his waist.

Zhengqing placed a kiss on top of her head. She looked up and gave him a small kiss on his lips. With a smile, she held up her index finger for a promise, ‘Well, shall we implement plan B for our love?’

Zhengqing laughed.

Ying Ting continued, ‘If plan B doesn’t work, we will implement plan C. Why turn the car around?’

Zhengqing laughed and replied helplessly, ‘Because of the corner?’

‘Yes,’ she replied brightly, ‘Plan A has not worked, we go to plan B; we have to be tactful and flexible.’

Zhengqing laughed again, Yin Ting glared in mock indignation, ‘I am talking very seriously here.’

He laughed even harder, she did not look very serious at all, ‘I just remembered that day I picked you up when your bike was broken, and you told me you had plan A, B and C.’

‘Of course.’ Yin Ting said, ‘Don’t underestimate me, ah. I am not a stupid woman. Just wait and see, I will show you how clever I am.’

‘Yes, you are the cleverest.’ He replied flattering her.

Yin Ting rested her head on his shoulder. She looked out the window, and kept looking. Zhengqing wondered what she was looking at: was it her dad? The hairs on his neck rose, he turned around but there was no one.

‘Don’t scare me to death, ah.’ He said.

‘What’s scaring you?’

‘Nothing.’ He didn’t want her to know; he was afraid of her father.

‘Please be more serious, tell me, in love, what is glass?’

‘Same sex love.’ Zhengqing replied quickly, not wanting to think.

Yin Ting gave him a light smack, ‘Chicken soup brain.’

Chicken soup again? Zhengqing looked out the window,

‘Wind and rain, this is love?’

‘No that is rational. The glass allows you to see the outside, and the horizon, but also protects you from the wind and rain.’

‘Hmm, it makes no difference to me.’

‘But it is also a barrier, if you want to go out you will have to break it. Once shattered, its shards will hurt you and stop sheltering you.’

‘Then you should change to tempered glass.’ He quipped.

Yin Ting glared.

‘Don’t be silly. Besides, one should break the glass, because otherwise, you will be stuck in the protective shell, can only look at the scenery and not experience it.’

‘Ah.’

Men were such puzzling creatures, Yin Ting thought as she smiled and continued, ‘Like one can see that there are lovers, but they are very far away.’

‘Okay.’

‘Like us now?’

‘Not quite like us.’ He replied. She really liked making this kind of chicken soup jokes. Yin Ting stared at him, so he said, ‘Maybe, kind of…’

Reason protected them but in breaking the beauty of reason to dream, they could get hurt.

‘So we need to think of a way.’

‘A way to manage our differences, and get your father’s approval,’ but he thought that the solution to the issues would be more intuitive. 

‘The first step for me,’ Yin Ting said, ‘is to hand over the accounts back to you. I no longer hold any deposit to meet delivery.’ She sighed. ‘After talking to my dad, I realised all those things were naïve, and would have eventually put pressure on you. Overtime, you would eventually stop complying and it would become useless; the original intention long forgotten.’

‘Then I will help you keep it. We can make a date, and read the diaries in a year’s time. I am looking forward to putting them in a cabinet.’

‘That sounds good.’

Just then Yin Ting’s phone rang, she looked at the display; it was her father.

‘It’s my dad.’ She said. Both their expressions collapsed. Seeing their mirrored expressions, they laughed at each other. 

She picked up the call. Her father asked her where she was and asked her to come back home quickly. Yin Ting replied she was on her way.

‘I’ll go with you.’ He said.

Her expression became alert.

‘Not to talk to your dad, don’t worry.’ He said ruffling her hair, ‘I want the diary pages. I was here for them anyway and since we aren’t going to meet up this weekend, I want the pages.’

She laughed, ‘Just like a kid,’ she teased.

Yin Ting returned to their house and quickly came back with the diary pages. As she was about to run off, he pulled her back and stole a long kiss before he let go.

Yin Ting ran back to their apartment with a smile on her face, and found her dad in the sitting room staring at her. She put on a bright expression, ‘Dad, don’t be annoyed. We have talked and we see where you are coming from. We will pay attention.’

She did not say they were breaking up. Guohao made a non-committal sound.

‘Why don’t we go fishing tomorrow?’ she suggested.

Guohao did not reply for a bit, and then he said, ‘Fish what fish? It will be boring with you. Let’s go and see a movie.’

Yin Ting grinned, ‘Alright.’

‘Then the day after tomorrow we’ll go shopping, I want you to help me pick some clothes.’

(Zuben: Daddy is a sore loser)

‘Ok,’ she replied still smiling. 

Guohao watched her for a while, then without any more petulant words, he returned to his room.

Yin Ting rushed to her room and called Zhengqing, ‘Are you driving? Not yet, ah. I just had a brief moment with my dad.’

‘What happened?’

‘He wants to go to the movies tomorrow and shopping the day after.’

Zhengqing laughed, ‘So he’s declaring war?’

‘I think he also has his own plan B.’

‘Yes.’

‘Please be more serious, setbacks equal incentives.’ Yin Ting was fired up.

‘That is the best attitude.’

‘Please be more serious, do you know why the car gets powered by petrol or diesel?’

Zhengqing laughed, ‘Xiaoting, with this kind of setback, other people will be sad, but you’re happy. Is your brain chicken soup?’

‘No, I am just very motivated.’

‘Alright, why is a car powered by petrol?’

‘So that we can cheer, cheer, cheer up!’

Zhengqing burst out laughing, ‘So childish.’

‘I am not!’

‘This is childish.’

‘It is not.’

Zhengqing could not help but laugh as he drove home; so you can shout cheer cheer cheer.

But while father in law setting his plan B in motion, it looks as though they would have to work hard to cheer in the future.

Counter moves:

The next day, Yin Ting and her father went to the cinema.

The movie they were seeing was set for ten ‘o’ clock in the morning. It was a melodramatic romance about a man and woman, who met and fell in love at first sight. Their passion burned bright, soon the woman was pregnant and they got married. The two of them were happy about their marriage and hopeful about the future, but real life invaded their idyll, and their passion began to ebb. They started to quarrel and have cold wars. They disagreed with each other’s suggestions and plans, and disliked details of each other’s lives. They fell into a cycle of blame, coupled with the husband’s negligence, they finally divorced. Ten years later, they each found other people to fall in love with, but looked back on their lives resentfully. 

When she realised this was the film her father chose, Yin Ting was speechless. He was trying to reinforce his message.

Yin Ting sighed inwardly and took a shot of the film poster, ‘Putting it on my blog,’ she told her dad.

Guohao did not reply. Yin Ting posted the picture and captioned “This is the film my dad took me to see.” She wanted Zhengqing to see it. (Zuben: You’d think he didn’t want you to get married at all.)

When they took their seats, Yin Ting could not concentrate. She put her phone on mute, but kept looking at it to see if Zhengqing had commented. The other blog followers were full of praise, calling Yin Ting’s father trendy for going to see a movie about young love.

Yin Tin complained in her mind; it is not for your guys to understand, it was for her family’s Serious to understand, but where was he?

Ten minutes passed, and Yin Ting looked at her phone again. Zhengqing had made a post.

He put up a picture of a gas station and the staff were cheering his car captioned: Do you know why cars start on gasoline?

Yin Ting burst out laughing. At this time, the theatre was very quiet, people were getting engrossed in the film, so her laugh caused a lot of people to turn and look at her. Guohao glared at his daughter; didn’t she know she was being embarrassing right now?

Yin Ting covered her mouth, still laughing.

Why does a car reply on gasoline to start? Because you can cheer: Come on! Come on!

It was even funnier to her because he had teased her about it yesterday calling her ‘chicken soup brain’. He was so cute.

After this, her heart was calm and she began to concentrate on the movie. It was actually good. The story and the cinematography were excellent.

At the end, she thought the most sensible thing they did was to sign the divorce papers. (Zuben: There was a lot more to this but I honestly didn’t want recount a bloody imaginary movie. So if you want to read it yourself, please feel free to google translate it)

The movie brought to mind her and Zhengqing’s relationship, but it spurred her on to be more vigilant.

She looked at her blog page again to see that Zhengqing had posted again. It was very cute: Miao-dada was dressed in little clothes and a little hat, held in Zhengqing’s hand as he took the picture in the mirror; Miao’s eyes looked wide, helpless and innocent. The picture was captioned: Hostage.

She burst out laughing again, though she tried to stop herself from laughing too loud, it was too late, she had distracted the other cinema goers, who were being touched by the movie. There were indignant glares at her.

Her father tried to look as though he didn’t know her.

Zhengqing was really cute, she thought.

That evening, the both of them video chatted. They talked about their day, after the movie Yin Ting and her dad went to eat and then visited a friend of his. Zhengqing went to the gym, played hostage with the cat, and then worked a bit.

It looked like everyone was doing fine. The two of them laughed. Though they could not have their date, they felt fulfilled. She told Zhengqing about the movie, and told him her thoughts on it. Zhengqing listened, and they chatted while his hands were busy with something.

When she was finished talking, he sent an attachment to Yin Ting. When she opened it, she was surprised.

He had scanned the pages of the diary they were creating and added one that he had created himself.

Yin Ting was touched by this. She was almost moved to tears. They really could be much stronger than the couple in the movie. This was the other side. (Zuben: It’s not like you’re caught in a fiery passion anyway)

‘Now we both have a copy. Neither of us will forget.’ He said.

Yin Ting laughed, ‘Your plan is very complicated ah’ but also very encouraging.

‘It’s not complicated, this is just the beginning.’ He said in his usual serious manner.

Yin Ting sniffed and said, ‘My plan B is much simpler.’

‘How so?’

‘It is very good. I will be good to my dad and good to you, so much so you will shout loudly that you cannot bear it. Then you’ll listen to me.’

‘Doesn’t sound like a good idea,’

‘I disagree.’

‘You can take care of your father. And be good to me, I will remember. No need to do more than that.’ Zhengqing said. (Zuben: I don’t know what she’s going for here)

Yin Ting laughed, how could something be too good? Maybe, she was wrong, maybe what she thought was good was not. Maybe a change of mind was what she needed.

The next day, Yin Ting went shopping with her dad. While they were shopping for her father, she looked at things that may look good on Zhengqing, so they could come together some other time.

 The surprising thing was Zhengqing went to see the movie by himself. Alone!

 When they chatted, Zhengqing told her what he thought of the movie. It seemed that the both of them had different opinions on the subject matter, but it was still fun to discuss them.

‘Very interesting, next time we shall go and see a movie together.’ He said. His chances of watching a movie was small, but his girlfriend had told him the plot was interesting, so he went to see it.

‘Alright! We should see a horror movie together.’ Yin Ting said excitedly rubbing her hands together. Discussing horror movies was fun, and it also had the added advantage creating opportunity to be hugged and spoiled by her boyfriend. She wasn’t afraid of horror movies, but being spoiled was a must. (Zuben: What if he’s the scared one?)

For their day’s entry Yin Ting wrote: You went alone to see a movie, though I could not go along with you, I was very touched. Though we interpreted the plot differently, we had a fun discussion about it without acquiescing to the other. For the first time, we have a date to go and see a horror movie; your blank look was funny.  You made me realise that sometimes change and reactions aren’t always excitement or tears. Let’s continue simply and laugh lots together.

Monday was the same as always, Zhengqing read emails, went to meetings, signed documents etc. Yin Ting called him that morning,

‘Dad doesn’t want me to go out and play. He said there is a virulent flu going around.’ (Zuben: OMG, so naff. Is this his plan B? It isn’t going to last though)

‘Ah.’ Zhengqing nodded. So this was his plan B; not scold or shout, but gently restrict her movements. And if she quarrelled, it would lead to contradictions and conflict, ‘Then listen to him.’ (Zuben: For how long?)

‘I think so too.’ Yin Ting said relieved he was thinking the same as she was. She had been worried he would not be happy.

‘Are you working overtime today?’

‘Yup.’ Today was a busy day full of meetings; he would need the time to catch up on his paper work.

‘Then I will send you dinner, alright?’

‘Alright.’ He replied. She hadn’t minded that he was working overtime.

At half past six, Zhengqing was in his office working when his secretary placed a big package on his desk,

‘Miss Yin sent this over, it’s your dinner. She also said she sent you an email.’

Zhengqing remembered what Yin Ting had said a while ago, “I want to get into your friend circle; starting with your secretary.”

He laughed, and thanked his secretary. She asked if there was anything else she could help with. He told her it was only documents involving the meeting, and let her go home. He turned to the package that had been sent, it was a nicely packed dinner. OT.CO.UK

He looked at his emails; there was one from Yin Ting. She had not bothered him in his meeting or text or called.  She wrote: The box is microwavable. The square boxes are food, the round one is soup. Warm it up, don’t eat it cold. Eat it all and do not throw anything away.

At the end she said: Although I can’t eat with you, I hope you can eat warm good food. Eat well and work hard.

Zhengqing warmed the food in the office kitchen, and ate. His stomach and heart were filled with warm.

There will be typos. I apologise. I'm still looking for smut that is hot and sweet. Not just sweet and not just hot. It's a difficult balance to manage it seems.

Index❀Chapter 63&64