The good thing is that Yan hope is fortunate enough not to be attracted to men, but the bad thing is that Si Wan is heartbroken and who knows what she'll do next.
Ah Heng's face turned pale and then red, her thoughts were very complicated. She didn't control the strength of her hand well, and Yan hope's ear was pinched and left a red mark.
Yan hope felt a sharp pain, opened his eyes, and stared blankly at Aheng's face. He didn't know which corner of his heart was soothed, but he couldn't help but smile.
Ah Heng realized what was happening, felt embarrassed, and chuckled – “Yan hope, January 10th is coming up in a few days, have you prepared a gift yet?”
Si'er's birthday.
Yan hope looked at her with a somewhat subtle expression and shook his head—"Oh, I'm working these past few days, I'll prepare once I get paid."
Ah Heng asked in surprise, "Have you been working these past few days? Doesn't your family have money?"
Yan hope sat up and pouted, "The family's money belongs to the family. You only turn eighteen once in your life, so you're an adult now."
Ah Heng lowered her head and remained silent. After a while, she smiled and said, "Er'er will be happy to know."
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With the Lunar New Year approaching, Chen Juan, though young, was used to being alone and did not accept Si Wan's invitation. Instead, he asked A Heng to accompany him to shop for New Year's goods.
The streets were bustling with activity. It was a rare year with auspicious snow, a peaceful year. Everyone in the family was well, without illness or disaster.
Ah Heng was in a good mood. Looking at the crowd, she whispered to Chen Juan, "Mary, why aren't you spending the New Year with us?"
Chen Juan laughed – “I’ll still be waiting for a phone call on New Year’s Eve.”
Ah Heng nodded. After all, Chen Juan's family was in the United States, so it was obvious they would call.
Chen Juan's eyes sparkled, and his smile was unusually bright and alluring—"Don't get the wrong idea. My dad and mom divorced when I was ten. Now they both have happy families, are married, and have several children who are old enough to run errands. Why would they call me on New Year's Eve? It's not like they're bored."
Ah Heng was surprised, lowered her head, kicked at the snow, and didn't say anything.
The young man touched the phoenix tail at the corner of his eye, looking somewhat sad—"It's...that person. He calls to greet me every New Year's Eve."
Ah Heng slightly raised her eyes and saw the frustration and helplessness in the boy's delicate eyebrows. She smiled and patted his shoulder—"This year, how about trying not to answer the phone?"
"Perhaps without him, once forgotten, it will all be over."
Chen Juan smiled and glanced at her—"You know who that person is, right?"
Ah Heng paused for a moment, then nodded slightly – “Mm.”
Chen Juan muttered, "I knew you were good at pretending." Then, remembering something, he said seriously, "I used to hire a private investigator to investigate Yan hope when I was in the United States."
Ah Heng was speechless. He was indeed despicable and frank enough—"Kid, you're not a post-85s generation, are you?"
Chen Juan was confused—"Yes, that's me."
Ah Heng thought to himself, "Very good, very good and powerful."
"Do you know who he values most in the investigation report?"
"That person?" Aheng asked without hesitation.
Chen Juan gloated – “Wrong, wrong, it should be Wen Si’er.”
Ah Heng seemed thoughtful—"That's not entirely unfounded."
Chen Juan was dumbfounded to see her calm expression—"Aren't you sad? Aren't you upset? Didn't you like..."
Ah Heng gave a half-smile, and Chen Juan, being quick-witted, shut up.
“Amitabha, benefactor, please do not tarnish my reputation. Well said. According to my observation, you have recently been involved in a romantic affair, and good things are about to happen. Please be careful what you say.”
"Huh? He's taken a fancy to another man?"
Ah Heng convulsed—"Woman, woman, woman, okay?"
Chen Juan gazed into the distance, his expression somewhat strange—"Hmm, it looks like a woman."
Ah Heng turned around and followed his gaze. Not far away, a young man stood out, dressed in a linen batwing shirt, a scarf around his neck, long blue and white jeans, and linen boots with silver buckles. He had dark hair and big eyes, and was very handsome and eye-catching. Beside him was a beautiful girl dressed in the same European style, with a great figure and a very tall stature, almost the same height as the young man. She had a very sweet smile.
The boy lowered his head slightly, listening to what the girl was saying, his gaze gentle, nodding occasionally. He held a paper cup in his hand, and an automatic coffee vending machine was not far away.
It is Yan hope.
Ah Heng raised his hand, looked at his watch, and saw it was three o'clock in the afternoon.
Is it a date, not a job?
Wearing such thin clothes in this cold weather, what kind of nonsense is this?
Yan hope didn't notice Aheng and Chen Juan. He finished his coffee in a few gulps, turned around and walked across the street. The girl followed behind him, her face flushed, looking at Yan hope with tender and sparkling eyes.
Chen Juan stole glances at Aheng's face, but couldn't discern any joy or anger. She remained expressionless, her features much less defined.
"Well, let's go take a look." Chen Juan didn't expose Aheng's thoughts, but simply pulled her along and walked towards Yan hope and the girl.
Ah Heng followed behind him, her steps a little uneasy, but she didn't say anything, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
They crossed the street, but the two were nowhere to be seen. Ahead, a large crowd had gathered to watch the spectacle; there were large camera stands, seemingly for taking still photographs.
It snowed a couple of days ago, and the snow is still quite thick; I suppose it's for capturing a snowy scene.
Chen Juan pulled Aheng forward. There were many onlookers, but they could only vaguely hear the voices of some of them.
"Camera number three, get ready, shoot from the side. Ready, action!"
"Cut, cut!"
"Makeup artist, come here. There's not enough ice on the male model's hair. Add some more."
"The female model is positioning herself; we'll start by shooting the snow scene."
It's a complete mess.
An older woman in front of me sighed, "Isn't this just making things difficult for people? In the short time I've been watching, this child has already been splashed with several bottles of water. He's so good-looking, and in this freezing weather, he's getting frostbite. Every parent feels sorry for their child."
Others chimed in, “That’s right, these people are so awful. Look, the boy’s lips are turning purple from the cold.”
Some people even mocked, "What's there to feel sorry about? People are happy to make money!"
The sounds ahead were very mixed, and Ah Heng frowned as he listened.
Chen Juan was tall and could see clearly. After a while, he turned around awkwardly and said, "Aheng, am I seeing things? Why does that person covered in ice shards and looking like she's about to die look like our beauty?"
Ah Heng's head was buzzing. He squeezed in and saw a person standing against the backdrop of ice and snow. The person's skin was so pale and transparent that even the blue veins were clearly visible.
His hair, eyebrows, eyes, clothes, and fingers were all covered in ice, so pale that they had lost all color, like an ice sculpture.
His dark hair and bright eyes stood out even more clearly against the snow and ice.
She stood there, watching him quietly.
He turned his head and saw her; his gaze lingered on her.
He smiled slightly, the corners of his lips curving upwards, as the little child gazed at the warmth of the sunlight, and silently opened his mouth.
"Aheng, come on, don't look at me."
Chapter 53
Aheng was stunned. She saw Yan hope's lip movements, nodded slightly, turned around, and smiled at Chen Juan—"Mary, let's go."
Chen Juan hesitated for a moment, glanced at Yan hope, then looked at A Heng. His usually gentle eyes showed some weariness, so he suppressed his doubts and left with A Heng.
"You're not going to do anything about him?" Chen Juan smiled enigmatically. "I thought you were going to take him back like before."
Wen Heng knew better than anyone else how much he couldn't bear to see Yan hope suffer.
Ah Heng shook her head slightly – “It’s not appropriate. This is Yan hope’s own decision, and it’s not good for others to interfere.”
Chen Juan was speechless, and muttered softly, "Did you two have a fight?"
Ah Heng laughed—"How so?"
Chen Juan was speechless. "If you had seen Yan hope ruining himself before, you would have gone up and scolded him long ago."
Ah Heng frowned and pondered for a long time.
Chen Juan smiled with a sense of accomplishment, feeling that Yan hope might have to treat him to Quanjude (a famous Peking duck restaurant) in the future—"Have you figured it out?"
Ah Heng shook her head and said calmly, "Hmm, I understand now. It's clear that I was too rude to Yan hope before."
Chen Juan pinched her cheek, both amused and exasperated—"Oh, which great immortal possessed our Aheng without giving us any prior notice?"
Ah Heng knew he was being mischievous, so she kept a straight face. Unfortunately, Chen Juan had pinched a red mark on her fair face, so she couldn't maintain her composure and looked rather embarrassed.
Chen Juan knew she was still upset about what had just happened, and sighed, "In my opinion, Yan hope didn't want you to see him like that, and he was afraid you would feel bad, so he asked you to leave."
Ah Heng didn't reply, but pointed to the shop in front and laughed, "Look, we've arrived at Gui Fa Xiang, the 18th Street Fried Dough Twists you've been thinking about for so long."
Chen Juan, still acting like a child, didn't notice the shift in the topic and said happily, "I originally thought that only the neighboring city had the authentic ones."
Ah Heng smiled and said, "The branch stores are probably not much different. You just want to try something new. If you eat too much, you'll get an upset stomach."
Chen Juan pulled Aheng to the store to choose some. The fried dough twists smelled very good, and Chen Juan's mouth watered as he looked at them.
"Ah Heng, I heard you have a keen sense of smell. What do you think the filling of this twisted dough stick is like?" Chen Juan is a picky eater and doesn't like salty food.
Ah Heng rolled her eyes at him—"You're the one with a dog's nose, your whole family has a dog's nose!"
Chen Juan was embarrassed. "Okay, okay, my little dog nose, I beg Miss Wen to move your esteemed nose."
Ah Heng chuckled, sniffed, fanned the various fresh twisted dough sticks with his hand, carefully smelled their aroma, and said with a smile, "They're assorted, with green plums, ginger candy, and some other nuts. They're not too salty or greasy, so you should be able to eat them."
The shop assistant nodded – “This young lady is knowledgeable; these are indeed the ingredients in the assorted filling.”
Chen Juan's eyes sparkled, and his phoenix eyes smiled charmingly—"Aheng, idol, oh, idol, I originally thought Yan Xifei was just bragging."
Upon hearing the name Yan hope, the curly-haired girl next to her had a sudden thought and accidentally knocked the food box to the ground.
Ah Heng heard a noise behind him, turned around, and saw a pretty girl with curly hair standing opposite him.
It is Lin Wanwan.
"Wen Heng." Seeing that she couldn't avoid it, the girl greeted him coldly.
Ah Heng smiled – “Miss Lin.”
Upon hearing this address, Lin Wanwan felt embarrassed and annoyed, unsure how to vent her anger. She glanced at Chen Juan and sneered, "Why aren't you playing the victim card anymore? Isn't Yan hope sick? Aren't you a dutiful daughter by his bedside?"
Seeing her unfriendly tone, Chen Juan asked Aheng in a low voice who this person was. Aheng moved her lips and whispered the name Siwan. Chen Juan then realized who this Miss Lin was and smiled maliciously.