TL: Qiqi | PR: Whee
Chapter 79: I volunteered
Wen Yifan had not come to that realisation yet, the sweetness of the candy still lingering in her mouth. Before, she had wanted to ask why he wanted to eat the candy in her mouth when there were so many in the bag, but in that second, her attention was drawn away from the topic.
“Is it really sweet?”
Sang Yan lowered his eyelashes and raised his eyebrows.
To double check, Wen Yifan popped the candy that was in her hand into her mouth to taste it. “I think it’s okay.”
“…”
“Would it be better if you chewed it a bit?” Wen Yifan raised her head, bringing up the suggestion, “This is a milk candy. If you chew it, the milk taste comes out stronger and it won’t be as sweet anymore.”
“…” Sometimes, Sang Yan feels like he was flirting with a rock. He felt a bit speechless, giving a quiet hint, “This has nothing to do with whether or not I chew it, do you understand now?”
“But it would taste better if you chewed it.” Wen Yifan grabbed another candy, putting it to the corner of his mouth. “Are you really not going to eat it?”
After staring at her for a couple of seconds, Sang Yan didn’t object this time, obediently opening his mouth and chewing.
Seeing Sang Yan not hate the taste, Wen Yifan’s lips curved into a smile. She also popped another candy into her mouth, feeling that it was pretty tasty, and closed the seal after.
The two left the plaza, heading towards the car park.
The crowd slowly diminished as they walked from a bright, noisy area to a dark, quiet street. Wen Yifan held hands with Sang Yan, and next to a car parked on the side of the road, there were a bunch of lovey dovey couples.
Once her eyes landed on them, she was reminded of when Sang Yan had hooked the candy in her mouth.
Only then did Wen Yifan finally realise something, stopping in her tracks.
Sang Yan tilted his head. “What’s wrong?”
“I just realised what you meant.” Wen Yifan stopped for a second, getting straight to the point and recalling the situation, “Was the candy you stole from my mouth still really sweet?”
“…”
In the silent street, the autumn night’s breeze blew, whistling in their ears.
The two made eye contact.
Only at that moment did Wen Yifan start feeling like her reaction was too cold and boring. She suddenly lowered her head, opened another bag, and pulled a piece of candy out. This time, she didn’t ask for Sang Yan’s thoughts, shoving it into his mouth using force.
“…” Sang Yan wasn’t prepared beforehand and got hit in the tooth, which hurt a bit.
A second later
Wen Yifan grasped his collar, pulling him down. She bit his lip, opening his teeth. She wasn’t used to doing these kinds of things, and her movements were more awkward than his, the process seeming a bit more hesitant.
And just like this, it continued for a while.
Sensing her struggle, Sang Yan bent over, using his tongue to slowly push it back in her mouth. Wen Yifan hooked it with her tongue, and only when she ate it did she walk back a few steps, meeting his dark eyes again.
“Oh,” Wen Yifan said calmly, “it is pretty sweet.”
……
Once they returned to the car, as Wen Yifan bent down to Sang Yan’s side to help him with his seatbelt out of habit, she caught sight of his terrible attempt at hiding his laugh. Her expression became still and couldn’t help asking, “What are you laughing at.”
Sang Yan tilted his head, a dimple appearing beside his lip. “Wen Shuang Jiang, I need to tell you something.”
Wen Yifan asked, “What is it?”
Sang Yan touched his bottom teeth, as they were still feeling a bit numb. He seemed pretty arrogant, acting like everyone was fighting over him and stated conceitedly, “Be gentle next time.”
“…” Wen Yifan turned silent for a few seconds — she didn’t feel like she used any strength. “You’re still a bit—”
Forcing out the word: “weak.”
Sang Yan, who normally acted like a grown man, could only shamelessly accept it.
“Yes.”
“…”
How was he still willing to be a “Sang Yan” flower?
TL/N: The author uses the female version of the character “Yan”
Wen Yifan started up the car, not continuing the conversation, and brought something new up. “I forgot to buy a car again.”
Wen Yifan was busy working during the national holiday, and Sang Yan also got hurt after, so she had forgotten about it. She thought about it, asking, “Will it be cheaper to buy one before Chinese New Year?”
“Maybe do it after.” Sang Yan remembered it before, but so many things had happened, so he kept forgetting to remind her. “I’ll go with you when the time comes.”
Wen Yifan nodded. They arrived at a red light at that moment and she stopped the car, also remembering something else. “Oh right, our landlord told me that he’s planning to take back the house. He wants us to move out before the third month of the next Lunar New Year.”
“The third month…” Sang Yan thought for a second, pretending to be confused when asking for her thoughts, “We’ve dated for half a year?”
Wen Yifan was stunned. “Oh.”
Sang Yan’s lips became more curved, lazily asking, “What are you oh-ing at, I’m asking you a question.”
“Aren’t we doing well?” Wen Yifan had a gut feeling that she was about to get dumped, and she didn’t feel as unbothered as him, feeling a bit pressured. “Why are we suddenly only dating for half a year?’’
Was this his criteria for picking a partner?
If they didn’t rent a place together, they had to break up?
“…”
Sang Yan raised his eyebrow, even though the question was a bit ambiguous, but he never thought that he would receive that kind of answer. He squeezed her cheek, tsking. “Talk normally.”
He didn’t let go until he saw the light turn green from the corner of his eye.
Wen Yifan continued to drive, slowly coming to a realisation. She had gotten scared just then, and feeling a bit sad now, she muttered, “Why are you talking so out of touch lately.”
Sang Yan looked at her cooly.
Wen Yifan thought about it for a second, but she also didn’t know how long people dated before they got married. After thinking it through completely, she still didn’t know, so she just asked him directly, “I never paid attention to others. Normally, how long do people date before getting married?”
“Hm?” Sang Yan said jokingly, “Usually after a couple of weeks.”
“…”
Sang Yan casually said, “It seems like we’ve held it out for too long compared to others.”
“Oh.”
Wen Yifan thought to herself a bit more. She never really had expectations regarding this matter, she just thought that it would be fine as long as the time was right. But her job wasn’t too stable right now, and she constantly had to work overtime.
Even though Sang Yan’s job was the same, it still wasn’t as inconsistent as hers.
Thinking about it, Wen Yifan wanted to wait until her job was a bit more stable before considering it. When predicting the amount of time that it would take, she thought it would still take pretty long. “Then, should we—”
“Hm?”
“Date for one or two more years?”
“…”
Even though he knew they still had to wait, Sang Yan didn’t mind getting married around this time. They’d need to get married sooner or later after all. If his girl wanted to date for a bit longer, then they’d date for that long.
Either way, she was still going to be with him.
The two talked for a bit more, and Sang Yan didn’t interrupt her driving after that.
He leaned on the car seat, his eyelids feeling a bit heavy, and randomly felt a bit sleepy. As he grew silent again, Sang Yan thought back to Wen Yifan’s mentioning of the topic of dance, his mood slowly growing worse.
In high school, Sang Yan had only seen Wen Yifan cry twice.
Once on the bus, and another time when she was talking to the dance teacher.
Sang Yan didn’t necessarily know what they were talking about, it was just that at that time, he coincidentally saw her come out from the office. Before he could even call out to her, he noticed that she wasn’t heading back to the classroom, instead walking towards another building.
He could see that she was very upset.
Not knowing what she was about to do, Sang Yan hesitated, but eventually tailed after her.
He followed her as she walked to the staircase next to the reading room, and there were barely any people around the area at that time. She looked like she had lost her soul as she walked down a few stairs and sat in a corner.
She didn’t make a single sound.
After a long time, her shoulders sagged, like she was struggling to hold in her tears.
In that moment, Sang Yan had no idea what had happened, so he could only guess that she might have been incredibly upset from her foot injury’s effect on her dancing.
Realising that he couldn’t do anything.
He sat silently behind her, not saying a single word of comfort.
But only today, did Sang Yan finally find out the true reason behind her tears.
The struggles that she endured in high school.
It all seemed to start from that day.
That day, his Jiang had her wings forcefully snapped.
……
Driving the car back to their residential district, Wen Yifan was just about to get off the car when she noticed Sang Yan’s distracted state. She leaned towards him, shaking her hand in front of his face, and asked “What are you thinking about?”
Sang Yan returned to reality and stared at her for a while. “Wen Shuang Jiang.”
“Hm?”
“I’m planning to stay with you forever, so I’m going to say these words to you.” Sang Yan made eye contact with her, turning overly sincere in comparison to his usual unserious self. “Unless you want to find another partner, if there is anything else that you want to do, I will always unconditionally support you.”
“…”
“Don’t let your life pass by, you understand? You still have a long way to live,” Sang Yan’s loose hair fell, touching his forehead, and he said to her, “Whatever you want to do, it’s not too late.”
Wen Yifan instantly understood his words.
Her lips twitched, thinking of something to say, but she couldn’t say anything in that moment.
Seemingly not expecting an answer from her, he patted her head after he finished talking “Did you hear me?”
Wen Yifan slowly nodded her head. “Mhm.”
“Okay, then let’s get home,” Sang Yan said.
Once they got out of the car.
Wen Yifan took his hand first, speaking to him softly, “Sang Yan, what I told you before was all the truth.”
“Hm?”
“Before, I thought that my family was scared of dancing’s expenses. I believed that it was too hard to talk about, so I lied to everyone.” Wen Yifan said, “But now, it doesn’t matter anymore, so I want to tell you this first.”
Sang Yan squeezed her nail.
“I’m different from myself in the past. Back then, I thought that I was weak and couldn’t do anything.” Wen Yifan slowly continued, “I thought that there was no point in speaking back and contradicting others, so it was better to just stay silent.”
Because she didn’t have anyone to rely on.
“But now, I can do whatever I want, and I don’t have to constantly be wary of other people.” Wen Yifan said, “Like back then, before my dad passed away, he would support me in anything I did.”
She pursed her lips, continuing, “And now, I have you.”
She didn’t know when it started, but Wen Yifan could now guarantee that she had someone new to rely on.
“Now, I really do feel like being a news reporter is nice, and that my years of effort have finally been fully put on display. If I had to give up on being a news reporter now to do something else, I wouldn’t feel satisfied.” Wen Yifan thought for a bit before laughing, “But I can be like you.”
Sang Yan’s Adam’s apple bobbled, and he looked at her. “What?”
“Don’t you have a good side hustle?” Wen Yifan intently said, “If I ever want to dance in the future, I can also turn it into a side gig.”
Sang Yan laughed. “Okay.”
The two walked towards the elevator and waited for it to come.
Wen Yifan faced him, half-leaning on the wall. In the quiet atmosphere, she didn’t know why, but she wanted to flirt with him all of a sudden. “Sang Yan, say, did my dad send you over to be good to me?”
Sang Yan raised his eyelashes, admitting very quickly, “No.”
“…”
After two seconds.
He added casually, “I came of my own will.”
join our discord server for announcements and updates!
Sunflower Seeds 