(1)

After I resigned, for the sake of making Yan Han’s work easier, he packed both me and the dog up and brought us back to Z City.

Thus began our life in Z City.

Spicy soup! I missed you so much!

On the very first day back, I drowned a basket of fried dough sticks in a bowl of soup, and then ended up with carbon monoxide poisoning symptoms from early morning, staying dizzy all the way until the afternoon.

A festive welcome to National Day.

Ma Jiaming brought his wife to visit us, and in the evening, we found a quiet bar to sit down and have a couple of drinks.

Ma Jiaming leaned over to whisper to me.

“Have you noticed that when Yan Han talks to you, he switches to a clip voice?”1Tone of voice that sounds very soft, high-pitched, or extra gentle, almost like someone deliberately ‘clipping’ their voice to sound cuter, sweeter, or more affectionate when talking to someone they like.

“What?” I didn’t quite understand. “What clip voice?”

Ma Jiaming lifted his chin. “Say something to him.”

I cooperated and called out to Yan Han, “Yan Han?”

Yan Han put down his phone, looked up at me with a smile, and spoke very gently, “What’s wrong, baby?”

“Nothing.”

I turned to look at Ma Jiaming, completely clueless. He gestured for me to wait.

Yan Han lowered his head again to reply to messages. Ma Jiaming called out to him, “Old Yan?”

Without even lifting his head, Yan Han answered coldly, “Speak if you have something to say.”

Ma Jiaming made a face at me, then continued calling him, “I’m heading out to buy a pack of cigarettes.”

Yan Han lazily lifted his eyelids. “Okay.”

Ma Jiaming spread his hands, wearing a see, I told you so expression. “See this damned clip voice? He only clips for you.”

I could only respond helplessly, “What else can I do?”

At that moment, Ma Jiaming’s wife walked over carrying three c0cktails and called out to him, “Ma Jiaming, come help me carry these!”

“Okay wife!” Ma Jiaming cheerfully trotted off.

Aren’t you the same?

Ma Jiaming.

(smile.jpg)

(2)

There was another major event during this National Day holiday.

Liu Leyao was getting married. After graduation, she moved to B City, but her family was in Z City, so she came back to host the wedding banquet.

To celebrate the grand occasion of the only little princess of our five-person group, Yan Han and I, Ma Jiaming and his wife, and the lone king Xu Pengpeng gathered together again after many years.

We got up early in the morning to help Liu Leyao block the door and attended the ceremony at noon. By the afternoon, when I was still immersed in the warmth and emotions of the wedding, Liu Leyao called and jolted me awake.

“You and your husband, come out right now and play cards!”

Yan Han dragged me along to the chess room that Liu Leyao had booked. It was called a chess room, but it was actually a private dining room with a fully automatic mahjong table.

Since I had gotten up too early in the morning, I was already so sleepy I could barely keep my eyes open.

I watched as Liu Leyao, who had removed her bridal makeup, and her husband, who was already sitting by the table dividing up chips and still full of energy, prepared to start.

I felt a deep sense of inadequacy.

Those who survive the 996 work culture at big companies2996 means working from 9am-9pm, 6 days a week, It’s a famously exhausting schedule common in China’s tech industry and other major corporations. are truly monsters of stamina.

Ma Jiaming and his wife, along with Xu Pengpeng, also arrived from the hotel, carrying a bag full of snacks.

We looked at each other, then at the upgraded automatic mahjong table.

Everyone laughed.

I’m the sentimental type, so I laughed until tears came out.
Don’t laugh at me.

We had two new friends now, but we were still us.

The readership of the novels I wrote wasn’t exactly great.

Many people commented that my writing was too immature, saying it sounded like something a primary schooler would write.

In order to improve my writing skills, I started reading literary classics.

When I dozed off for the third time on the second page, I decided to give up.

Nothing in this world is truly difficult.

Right?

Fortunately, I did have one skill, I was pretty good at drawing. So I decided to turn the half-finished story into a comic.

After posting it on Weibo, a comic platform reached out to me wanting to sign a contract.

The editor privately messaged me, curiously asking, “Is the story you wrote really based on your own experience?”

“Yeah.”

“Is the real-life version of Yan Leng really that handsome?”

I glanced at Yan Han, who was sitting next to me wearing rimless glasses and working, and confidently replied:

“I can only capture about a tenth of his handsomeness.”

“Oh…” She didn’t seem to believe it.

It wasn’t until a year later, when my editor and I met offline to discuss publication matters, that she finally saw Yan Han in person.

“It’s actually true.” She was dumbfounded.

“Hmph.” I secretly laughed in my heart, but on the surface stayed cool. “I told you, my husband is very handsome.”

Yan Han overheard and hid the at the corner of his lips. He handed us the menu.

“What would you like to eat? My treat.”

Later on, my comic book was successfully published. During a signing event in Z City, Yan Han waited outside the venue to pick me up.

When I walked out, I handed him a copy of the comic. He took it, thinking I just wanted him to help carry it.

“Open it and take a look,” I said with a smile.

He flipped to the first page, where I had written a to-sign for him.

[To the real-life Yan Leng,

Our story will never end.

Looking forward to many more decades together.

From Li Xiaocao, who loves you]