Chapter 12.012. She didn't play cards voluntarily.
The first light of dawn.
He Yan didn't go inside to eat breakfast. He stood in the corridor, slowly dipping fried dough sticks into soy milk while keeping an eye on the commotion downstairs.
A moment later, Wen Xue, wearing a white down jacket, walked out of the building and came into his view.
His gaze followed her every move.
Even when Wu Yuejiang opened the door, stretched, and came to his side, he didn't immediately notice.
Wu Yuejiang looked at the fried dough stick in his hand and said irritably, "Do you have any conscience? You didn't even think to bring me a serving when you went out to buy breakfast?"
"Who said I went out to buy breakfast?" He Yan said casually. "Wen Xue brought it for me."
Wu Yuejiang looked surprised. They had been brothers for many years, so he naturally understood the boastful meaning in He Yan's words. He teased, "Why didn't you ask your sister to bring me one too?"
He Yan glanced at him and said, "Don't order her around."
The two of them used to frequently make He Heng run errands.
Two cents was enough to make He Heng, who was still a primary school student, happily run to the convenience store to buy soda.
Downstairs. Wen Xue easily found He Yan's car in the fog. The car was tall and big, just like him. It had been parked outside all night, and a layer of fog had formed on the windshield.
Instead of opening the door and getting in the car, she fumbled for the car keys and opened the trunk.
A few days ago, when he was getting her luggage, she saw an absorbent rag that was still damp. She didn't think much of it and carefully wiped the rearview mirrors on both sides of the car with the rag. If that young apprentice at the car wash had her dedication, he would definitely be a hit with customers.
He Yan chewed on his fried dough stick, initially not understanding her intention in opening the trunk. However, when she began wiping the mirror with huffs and puffs, he unconsciously slowed down his eating and his expression became serious. He closed the bowl lid, about to get out and stop her.
Wu Yuejiang reached out and placed his hand on his left shoulder, lowering his voice to say, "Don't do this."
It's like going from one extreme to another.
In the past, He Yan had a very hands-off approach to He Heng, giving him enough living expenses each month and rarely calling him. Now, however, he is overly cautious with Wen Xue, carefully managing her every move. He is only one step away from becoming a domineering older brother that his sister finds annoying.
He Yan frowned: "I told her to wait for me in the car."
"Come on, comparisons are odious. If it were Xin Yue," Wu Yuejiang shrugged, "if she were to clean the windows of my car, I'd have to give her two hundred first."
"..."
Wen Xue wiped the glass and mirror clean, then looked at the rag in her hand with a troubled expression. Looking around, she saw a faucet not far away and walked over quickly. She didn't notice that as she turned on the faucet and shivered from the icy water, a tall, imposing man at the far end of the second floor hissed.
She rubbed the rag, washed her hands, and returned to her car.
Not long after, He Yan got into the car and sat in the driver's seat, giving her a calm glance.
Without saying a word, he lightly pressed the accelerator and drove out of the tenement building. There were people pushing carts on the roadside selling breakfast such as tea eggs, hot porridge, and bread. He pulled over, unbuckled his seatbelt, got out of the car, walked around the front of the car, and came to the stall. There was a pot of bagged milk soaking in it, steaming. He glanced around and said, "Give me a bag of milk."
"Alright! What flavor do you want, boss?"
He Yan thought for a moment, "Does it have a chocolate flavor?"
"Yes!" The shopkeeper deftly scooped out a bag of chocolate milk, wiped it dry with a towel, and handed it to him; it was still warm.
After giving her the money, He Yan returned to the car, shoved the milk into her hand, and said, "Take it."
Wen Xue held a bag of milk in her hand, somewhat bewildered. People naturally crave warmth, and she instinctively wrapped it in her hand to keep warm. The warmth from her palm spread to her limbs. The journey was short, so short that she only had time to glance at him twice before arriving at the company.
Just as she was about to get out of the car, a low, deep voice came from beside her, "I have to meet a client this afternoon, and I also have a dinner party tonight. I'm not sure when I'll be back."
As Wen Xue listened, a hint of doubt crossed her mind.
If it weren't for the fact that there were only the two of them in the car, she would have thought he was talking to someone else.
"You have to eat dinner by yourself," he said. "You absolutely must."
Wen Xue smiled and nodded in agreement, "Okay."
He must have been frightened by how she looked a couple of days ago.
If she had known he would come looking for her, she would have eaten well for the next few days, at least trying to make herself look better.
…
The weather was still great today, with bright sunshine. He Yan had given her number to the staff yesterday, and she received a delivery call at noon. She didn't expect it to be so fast. She walked back to the tenement building, and the afternoon sun felt warm on her body. The dark gray sofa was placed next to the floor lamp, and it actually looked like home. The more she looked at it, the more pleasing it became.
The message she sent at noon wasn't seen by He Yan until the evening.
He wasn't used to texting anyone; he usually called when he needed something, which was more efficient. As the waiter brought out the dishes one by one, he remembered it was lunchtime and thought of asking her if she had eaten.
To my surprise, I saw a message she had sent five hours earlier: "The sofa has been sent."
He looked down at the screen and typed a reply: 【Have you eaten?】
at the same time.
Wenxue was dragged to the night market by Nana. Her reason was quite good: they were all alone. He Yan had a dinner party, and Wan Nian had gone on a long-distance trip. Lonely people should naturally get together. Wenxue felt that something was wrong, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
As the Lunar New Year approaches, the night market isn't as lively as it used to be, but there are still many stalls.
Nana stood in front of the mala tang stall, unable to move. She took a deep breath, her mouth watering from the aroma, and asked, "Wenxue, shall we eat this?"
Just as He Yan guessed, Wen Xue is no longer interested in eating and drinking. She doesn't care what she eats as long as it fills her stomach.
Just as she was about to nod in agreement, her phone vibrated in her down jacket pocket. She took it out and saw it was a message from He Yan. She slowly looked away from the phone screen, glanced around, and shook her head, replying, "No, I have to eat something else."
After saying that, she looked down and replied to his message: [Just about to eat, dumplings, with Nana.]
She always felt that if she said she ate spicy hot pot, he would frown on the other end of the phone.
Nana had a long face, but we couldn't force her. So we got her a takeout bowl of spicy hot pot and accompanied her to the dumpling stall. The two of them sat at a small folding table, each eating their own food. One of them chattered away, while the other occasionally chimed in softly. It was a harmonious scene.
In the private room of the restaurant, He Yan didn't reply to Wen Xue's message again, putting his phone away in his pocket. Business discussions at a dinner party inevitably involve drinking. Red and white wines were laid out on the table, and after a few rounds, the atmosphere gradually relaxed. Addresses like "Big Brother" and "Little Brother" were already being used. Suddenly, as if in casual conversation, he leaned back in his chair and said, "Big Brother, you must know quite a few high-ranking officials and dignitaries in Huacheng, right?"
Mr. Zhou chuckled, "What's this, brother? You're planning to expand your business to Huacheng?"
"That's the idea."
He Yan poured him another half cup of wine and pondered for a moment before saying, "I've heard that there's a Zhou family in Huacheng."
Mr. Zhou paused, then waved his hand with a smile, "You flatter me too much. If I were related to the Zhou family, would I need to go through all this trouble?"
Perhaps he was a little drunk, because he changed the subject, "But the Zhou family won't have many more years of peace."
"How so?" He Yan asked curiously.
“Every family has its own problems. Even dogs fight over their dens, let alone people.” Mr. Zhou lowered his voice, exhaling the smell of alcohol. It’s a common trait of middle-aged men to become unusually long-winded when they’re drunk. “The Zhou family has two sons, not born to the same mother. The elder son is abroad most of the time, so we don’t know much about him. I’ve heard he’s a rather mild-mannered person. As for the younger son, he’s arrogant and domineering. Anyone with eyes can see that the old man favors the younger one.”
He Yan exclaimed, "So that's how it is."
The topic was quickly brought to a close. After the drinks had been consumed to a sufficient degree, President Zhou's driver came in to help people. Soon, only He Yan remained in the private room. He rested his forehead on one hand to calm himself down, sat quietly for a moment, then called over a waiter and ordered several signature dishes and desserts to take away.
He had been drinking and had arranged for a designated driver in advance.
As he emerged from the restaurant, the biting wind whipped at him like a knife, but he regained his composure and walked steadily toward his car.
…
"Boss, is this the place?"
The driver parked the car, pulled the handbrake, and woke up He Yan, who was resting in the back seat.
He Yan looked out the window, hummed in agreement, gave the driver a little extra tip, and let him go. He sat in the car for a few more minutes, then got out with his takeout box. He habitually looked up at the room on the far end of the third floor; the light was off.
He glanced at his watch. It was 8:30. She shouldn't be asleep that early.
His mind was a complete blank. He locked his car, stepped into the stairwell, and vaguely heard a familiar, loud voice. The other person was speaking in a dialect, and he couldn't understand what they were saying. He looked up and recognized Nana. He stopped caring and went straight up to the third floor.
Just as I steadied myself, I heard a lively, laughing conversation coming from one of the rooms—
"Sister Wenxue, it's almost dawn, haven't you decided which card to play yet?"
"I think she's just spacing out!" Li Jingru pouted and whistled.
A soft, yet helpless female voice rang out: "Sister Jing, I wasn't spacing out... I just... I really don't know how to play cards, let me think..."
Wen Xue was very anxious.
Because Nana needed to answer the phone, she was asked to cover for her for a while, so Nana forced her to sit on the card table.
As her fingers brushed across the mahjong tiles, just as she was about to close her eyes and make a hasty decision to play one, the three people who had been urging and teasing her fell silent. The once lively room instantly became deathly quiet. Li Jingru, sitting opposite her, looked guiltily towards the door. Her eyelids twitched, and she had a bad feeling. She turned her head and met a pair of deep eyes.
He Yan stopped at the door, staring sharply at her.
She didn't know how long he had been watching her.
He walked in, ignoring their stares.
Apart from Wen Xue, the other three people tactically leaned back. One of the young drivers was already thinking about where to hide so that he wouldn't get hit by the mahjong tiles when Brother Yan flipped the table.
He Yan approached Wen Xue from behind, leaning slightly forward. He smelled of alcohol, but it wasn't unpleasant. He asked in a deep voice, "Playing cards?"
Wen Xue answered irrelevantly, but to be lenient with herself, she honestly replied, "I don't know."
She hoped he would know that she didn't play cards voluntarily.
He Yan paused, thinking she was asking him for help, and said slowly, "I don't know either, I can't teach you, just play any card."
The other three: "??"
One or two were dumbfounded, thinking they were hallucinating, otherwise how could such a nonsensical sentence come from their Brother Yan's mouth?
Wen Xue sensed that he wasn't angry, nodded, and randomly played a tile. As the dull thud of the mahjong tiles hitting the table rang out, the three players snapped out of their daze. The young driver looked at Wen Xue, then at He Yan, and asked, "Brother Yan, can I win?"
"cannot."
"Hahaha, I won!"
Wen Xue's shoulders slumped.
We lost again.
In just a short while, she lost several rounds, taking all of Nana's money. She leaned on the table to get up and said, "I'm going back to my room to get my wallet."
After drinking, He Yan's reactions weren't as sharp as when he was sober, but he figured out what was going on. He stopped her, took out his wallet from his pocket, pulled out a few hundred-yuan bills, and pressed them on the table. At this moment, Nana rushed in with anger on her face. When she saw him standing in the room like a ghost, she screamed in fright and immediately turned to run away.
"I brought some food." He Yan placed a paper bag directly on the table. "It's probably cold, so heat it up yourselves. Don't play for too long."
After saying that, he looked at Wen Xue and said, "I'll take you back." Wen Xue quickly got up.
The two walked out of the house one after the other.
Nana patted her chest, returned to the card table, and sat down. She looked closely and saw several more banknotes on her side, and was shocked. "Wen Xue won all of this? Is she a mahjong goddess?"
"..."
"..."
“Why not?” Li Jingru smiled.
He Yan escorted Wen Xue to the door and handed her a separate takeout bag, saying, "Try to eat the dessert today."
Wen Xue took it. Strangely, the smell of alcohol wasn't strong when there were many people around, but now she could clearly smell his alcohol. Seeing his forced composure, she was really worried that he might trip when he went downstairs, so she simply closed the door behind him and followed a few meters away.
She would come back after watching him go inside.
In the dimly lit corridor, a tall man walked ahead, his steps already unsteady, while a young woman followed behind.
At first, He Yan didn't notice her following him until he stood outside the door looking for his keys. His hand trembled, and he dropped the keys on the ground. As he bent down to pick them up, he caught a glimpse of a pair of fluffy rabbit slippers not far away.
She hesitated, unsure whether she should come forward, her eyes filled with worry as she looked at him.
How strange! He chuckled to himself.
This was the first time someone had worried that the road he had walked on was too dark and offered to take him home.
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