Pick up the car
Yang Zheng spotted Shen Anxia immediately, walked quickly towards her, and naturally took the suitcase from her hand, smiling gently: "Anxia, welcome back to Yi'an."
Yang Zheng's smile gave Shen Anxia the illusion that there was no awkwardness between them during their separations or meetings, but rather that they were like a couple who had just parted ways and he had come specifically to pick up his girlfriend to take her home.
Shen Anxia choked up, swallowing back the words "long time no see," and smiled instead: "Yang Zheng."
Yang Zheng hadn't seen Shen Anxia smile in a long time, and hadn't heard her voice in a long time. Now that she was right in front of him, it felt somewhat unreal.
He looked at Shen Anxia quietly, suppressing the urge to pull her into his arms. His hands, gripping the suitcase, trembled slightly. He wanted to ask her if she was doing well, if she was happy, but he couldn't open his mouth. He was afraid that if he did, he would ask if she had thought of him.
But he dared not ask those questions.
Seeing the beads of sweat on Shen Anxia's forehead, Yang Zheng's smile vanished, his lips tightened, and he looked Shen Anxia over. She was holding a white scarf and had no hat. Yang Zheng put his hands around Shen Anxia's face, pulled up the hood of her down jacket, and then took the scarf from her hand and wrapped it around her neck.
While Yang Zheng was doing these things, Shen Anxia was also watching him.
He was as clean as ever, his face seemed a little thinner, making him appear even more resolute, yet his gaze remained gentle. When he put a hat and scarf on her, Shen Anxia felt a strange sense of entitlement. She couldn't help but recall an incident where a male colleague had offered to carry her bag, only to be politely but distantly refused.
"Is it hot in the carriage?" Yang Zheng asked.
Shen Anxia smiled and said, "It's alright."
"Shall I take you home?" Yang Zheng pulled his suitcase again.
Shen Anxia nodded and followed Yang Zheng toward the parking lot.
The high-speed rail station was only a 20-minute walk from Shen Anxia's home. The car was heated up very much. Shen Anxia took off her scarf and hat, looked at Yang Zheng, and asked with some confusion, "Why did you come to pick me up? You didn't tell me beforehand."
Yang Zheng said, "I didn't know how you were doing, so I asked Uncle Chen to let me know so I could come and see you in person."
Shen Anxia found it amusing: "Now that you've seen it, what do you think?"
Yang Zheng took a moment to ruffle Shen Anxia's hair: "So, how have you been these past six months?"
Shen Anxia didn't answer his question, but changed the subject, trying to make her tone more relaxed: "So, you picked me up just to see me and then take me home?"
Yang Zheng was amused by her: "Otherwise what? It's 11:30 now. If I don't take you back soon, Uncle Chen will beat me up!"
"My dad can't beat you, you're a professional."
“But I wouldn’t dare to compete with Uncle Shen in terms of expertise,” Yang Zheng said with a smile.
"So Yang Zheng," Shen Anxia looked at him very seriously, "are you having a hard time?"
Yang Zheng seemed surprised by Shen Anxia's question. He was stunned for a moment, then turned his head and saw that Shen Anxia was looking at him with eyes full of worry.
He glanced at the rearview mirror, turned on the turn signal, and parked the car on the side of the road, but didn't turn off the engine.
Why do you ask that?
"Did I say something too harsh before?" Shen Anxia still didn't answer him.
Yang Zheng stared intently at Shen Anxia for a long while before asking, "Anxia, does asking me this mean that you haven't had a good time at all these past six months? You've been feeling guilty for saying something harsh?"
Shen Anxia lowered her head and remained silent.
"Should I... not have stopped contacting you?" Yang Zheng asked tentatively.
Shen Anxia remained silent.
The deafening silence made Yang Zheng suddenly realize that his idea of wanting her to feel free, and not wanting her to feel that he was clinging to him, might be wrong.
This girl really didn't have a good time because of this.
“Anxia,” Yang Zheng said, holding her shoulders so she was facing him, “I’ve always been worried that if I’m too proactive, I might offend you or even lose this only chance of mine. So, every moment I’m with you, I try my best not to make you feel like I’m being offensive. I haven’t contacted you because I’m afraid you’ll think I’m being clingy, and I’m afraid you’ll be annoyed.”
“But Anxia,” Yang Zheng continued, “am I mistaken?”
"Didn't you meet anyone suitable later?" Shen Anxia looked up at Yang Zheng.
Yang Zheng looked at her and said, word by word, "I think you're the right one. You don't need to meet anyone else."
Shen Anxia denied his idea, somewhat disappointed: "How could we be a good match?"
The distance is so far, it's really not suitable.
"Anxia, you still haven't answered me. I really need to know if I was wrong before?"
Shen Anxia looked at Yang Zheng's dark eyes, unable to decipher their meaning, but she earnestly shared her thoughts on Yang Zheng's question: "It's normal not to contact each other after saying goodbye. Even if you feel that what I said hurt you, or you hate me and are angry with me, that's perfectly understandable. Whatever you do in this matter is right."
Shen Anxia lowered her voice: "But if you're not doing well, why keep moving in a direction where there's no hope?
Yang Zheng gleaned something from her words and asked, "Why do you feel like you hurt me? And why would I hate you? Have you heard something?"
“My parents told me that you had contacted them,” Shen Anxia said without hiding anything.
Hearing this, Yang Zheng smiled: "An Xia, so this is what you've been struggling with. Well, I can tell you very seriously that I've been doing very well these past six months. I've been doing what I wanted to do. If you're not in a hurry, you can wait and see. Maybe in less than a year, there will be a result."
"A year? What have you been doing?" Shen Anxia asked, puzzled.
Yang Zheng patted her head again: "I'll tell you later, but I really need to know if you'll find it annoying if I keep calling you and visiting you like before."
Shen Anxia shook her head: "I never felt annoyed. I said those things because I felt that we had no future and I didn't want to hold you back."
"Then, can I still come to see you like before?"
Thinking of Zhao Ping's words, Shen Anxia probed again: "Even if there's no future, will you still choose me? Are you sure?"
Yang Zheng smiled with great confidence: "Who says I can't give you a future? Didn't you wish me happiness before? I'm here for my happiness."
He was in a great mood, turned the steering wheel, and drove towards Shen Anxia's house.
"You knew I would choose you?" Shen Anxia muttered softly, "And if you spend another year, won't your family pressure you?"
"I'll finish what I'm supposed to do first, and you can decide the rest. Besides, I've moved out of my parents' house, so I don't have to listen to their nagging anymore. Don't worry about it too much," Yang Zheng comforted her with a smile.
"You moved out of your home?" Shen Anxia asked in surprise.
"Yes, the real estate market will see a massive surge in the next few years. A few years ago, my parents bought a few plots of land, and I bought a three-story house in the suburbs—not far from the place where we celebrated your birthday before. It was renovated the summer before last, and we only moved in last year, so I don't have to listen to their nagging."
"You must be under a lot of pressure."
“I thought so before,” Yang Zheng was in an extremely good mood, “but after seeing you today, I feel that all of this was totally worth it.”
"But why did you suddenly contact me again?" Shen Anxia didn't understand. Why would someone she hadn't contacted in a long time suddenly contact her again that day? Was it because of the New Year?
Yang Zheng asked Shen Anxia, "Do you still remember why you rejected me back then?"
“It’s not exactly a rejection,” Shen Anxia said sullenly. “It’s just that I’m telling you I’m staying in Xinfeng.”
“You think you want to stay in Xinfeng, while I want to stay in Yian, so it’s impossible for us to be together.”
Yang Zheng's analysis was correct, and Shen Anxia remained silent.
"So, for the past six months I've been trying to find a solution to this problem. It wasn't until a few days ago that I finally got a breakthrough and dared to contact you again to wait for your approval."
"However, there was never a solution to this problem from the beginning."
“That was true before, but that’s not necessarily true now,” Yang Zheng said confidently.
"What do you mean?" Shen Anxia asked.
"Wait a little longer, Anxia."
Shen Anxia looked at Yang Zheng, feeling that she still couldn't understand him. He had never said that he liked her, but his actions seemed to suggest that he did.
Before long, the two arrived. Shen Anxia thanked them again, "Thank you for bringing me back. When you have time, I'll treat you to a meal."
Yang Zheng, hands in his pockets, chuckled, "How about the day after tomorrow?"
Shen Anxia thought for a moment. The day after tomorrow is Saturday, and Yang Zheng doesn't have to work. "Okay. See you on Saturday then."
Then it disappeared at the entrance of the apartment building.
Yang Zheng watched the lights on the fifth-floor hallway turn on and off, then drove away.
Saturday will arrive in the blink of an eye.
Shen Anxia applied delicate light makeup, wore a loose blue sweater that reached her upper thigh, just enough to cover her black skirt, and a pair of super slimming black boots. She also wore a fitted cashmere coat over her outfit. After going downstairs, Yang Zheng leaned against the car door.
"Do you want to eat seafood?" Shen Anxia asked Yang Zheng as she fastened her seatbelt after getting into the car.
Yang Zheng had previously texted her to ask if she could eat seafood.
"I'm not really keen on eating, but there are two other people here today who love seafood," Yang Zheng replied as he turned his head.
Two more people? Shen Anxia paused in fastening her seatbelt. She thought Yang Zheng wanted to see her alone, so she had overstepped her bounds?
After holding back for a moment, Shen Anxia couldn't help but ask, "Who else is there today?"
"I'll introduce you to these two elders in a bit."
Shen Anxia asked in confusion, "So, it's not just the two of us going out?"
“If you’re willing, we can meet every weekend from now on. But since you rarely come back to Yi’an, we need to let these two people meet you first.”
Shen An suddenly felt a little nervous. Elders? Could it be Yang Zheng's parents?
They hadn't officially confirmed their relationship before, so they hadn't formally met each other's parents. But they weren't in a relationship where they could meet each other's parents yet, were they?
While she was lost in thought, Yang Zheng had already driven the car to the Yian Landmark Hotel.
The greeters led Yang Zheng and Shen Anxia directly to the seventh floor.
Shen Anxia noticed that there seemed to be only two rooms on the entire seventh floor. She pushed open the door to one of the private rooms, which turned out to be an ultra-luxurious Chinese-style reception room with an area of more than 100 square meters. To the right was an open-air balcony, which, judging from the furnishings, was designed as an open-air tea room. To the left was a small restaurant. Every step revealed a scene of Chinese elegance.
"We're coming to such a big place to eat?"
“I mentioned to you last time that there’s a small private club here. Let me show you.”
"So this is what the clubhouse manager is like." This was Shen Anxia's first visit.
As soon as she finished speaking, the door opened. Shen Anxia looked towards the door and saw two waiters push open the two doors and step aside to let the two people in the middle walk in.
Upon seeing the newcomers, Yang Zheng quickly extended his hands to greet them, saying, "Uncle Zhang, Brother Wang."
Shen Anxia followed behind Yang Zheng and secretly breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the people who came were not Yang Zheng's parents.
She carefully examined the newcomers. The man called "Uncle Zhang" was about fifty years old, of medium build, with fine lines faintly visible on his square face, graying hair at his temples, wearing a gray Zhongshan suit, and smiling kindly; the other man looked to be in his thirties, dressed casually in all black, and appeared to be about the same height as Yang Zheng.
After Yang Zheng shook hands with the two men, the man called Uncle Zhang looked at Shen Anxia first: "This pretty young lady is Miss Shen, whom you keep talking about."
This person used an affirmative sentence.
Yang Zheng smiled and said, "Yes." He then introduced Shen Anxia, "Anxia, this is Uncle Zhang, and this is Brother Wang."
Shen Anxia greeted them politely, "Uncle Zhang, Brother Wang."
"Have a seat inside," Yang Zheng invited.
The middle-aged man looked around and smiled, "Young lady, if you're cold, let's sit inside!"
"Okay." Yang Zheng smiled and helped him sit down, then said to the other man, "Brother Wang, sit down."
After they both sat down, Yang Zheng pulled Shen Anxia to sit opposite him.
Once everyone was seated, the waiter brewed the tea that had been prepared beforehand, poured it for each person, and then handed it out. Another waiter brought out two plates of snacks and fruit, set them out, and then left.
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