Yun Chu thought she should have just gone up and said hello after seeing Jian You. Instead, she had hesitated and overthought it, completely missing the chance for a natural encounter. Now, she could only use her superb acting skills to perform a clumsy “chance encounter.”
Later, her assistant told her that when she, wearing a down jacket, stumbled and fell in front of Jian You and said with a surprised look, “Teacher Jian! What a coincidence!” it was indeed a little bit deliberate.
At Yun Chu’s pressing, the assistant changed “a little bit” to “very.”
Very deliberate.
But it didn’t matter if the trick was old, as long as it worked.
Jian You was also surprised for a moment by her sudden appearance. The two of them held that pose, staring at each other for a long time, before Jian You finally extended a hand, and Yun Chu subconsciously grabbed it.
She had just come out of her room, her palm still warm. When she suddenly touched Jian You’s ice-cold fingertips, she flinched from the cold. Before she could react, Jian You applied a little force and pulled her up from the ground.
Yun Chu wasn’t wearing a mask, and because she had run against the wind, her face was flushed red by the north wind. Frost clung to her long eyelashes, and with each blink, it melted into droplets that fell, making her look like a snow rabbit hopping in the snow.
She asked Yun Chu, “What are you doing here?”
“I just finished a magazine cover shoot! What about you? Teacher Jian, you-” Halfway through her sentence, she suddenly noticed that Jian You’s left hand was supporting someone—a woman who looked to be around her mother’s age and clearly well-educated. She quickly bowed. “He-hello, Auntie!”
“Xiao You, who is this?” the woman asked Jian You, sizing up Yun Chu.
Jian You, wearing tall boots, stepped in the snow and took half a step back. “This is Yun Chu. Yun Chu, this is my teacher’s wife.”
Jian You’s teacher’s wife, Zhang Chenyao’s wife Huang Yalan, was a cellist who worked at a music conservatory. Jian You had come to Bei City two days ago to accompany them. Taking advantage of the good weather today, the three of them had planned to go skiing, not expecting to run into Yun Chu.
Yun Chu bowed again. “Hello, Teacher’s wife!”
Huang Yalan smiled. “Yes, hello, hello.”
Jian You: “…You should call her Teacher Huang.”
“That’s so formal!” Huang Yalan disagreed, patting Jian You’s arm. “She’s your girlfriend, after all. She should call me what you call me. Right? Xiao You has mentioned you to me, said you two are dating.”
Yun Chu was stunned. “Huh?”
Jian You shot her a cool glance.
Yun Chu immediately changed her tune. “That’s right, we’re dating!”
Huang Yalan asked Jian You, “But, since Xiao Chu is also in Bei City, how come I never heard you mention it?”
Jian You lowered her eyes to the tops of her shoes. A snowflake landed on them, then slowly drifted off. She said, “I just found out myself.”
Huang Yalan didn’t say anything more. Feeling it was too strange to chat in the freezing snow, she took Yun Chu’s arm and started walking toward the rest area. “Let’s find somewhere warm to wait for Teacher Zhang. Once he starts skiing, there’s no telling when he’ll stop.”
Jian You was still a little worried. “Teacher, he-”
“Don’t worry about him. Neither of us is interested in skiing anyway, and you can’t even walk steadily out here.” Huang Yalan teased, “And stop holding onto me. Let your girlfriend support you.”
Jian You: “…Teacher’s wife!”
The end of her word carried a hint of embarrassed annoyance, making her seem lively and cute.
Only then did Yun Chu realize that when the two of them were walking on the snow just now, it wasn’t Jian You supporting Huang Yalan, but Jian You who was afraid of slipping. Thinking this, she generously offered an arm. “Teacher Jian, let me be your armrest.”
“Teacher Jian?” Huang Yalan glanced at Jian You teasingly. “You two, master and apprentice, are just the same when you’re in love.”
At home, Huang Yalan and Zhang Chenyao also called each other “Teacher.” It was a little private joke between the couple.
Yun Chu’s face flushed. She wanted to argue, but then she remembered she and Jian You were currently “a couple.” After hesitating for a few seconds, Jian You had already slowly shuffled through the snow to stand in front of her and grab her arm.
After a moment’s thought, she wrapped her other arm around her waist, an intimate gesture as if pulling Yun Chu completely into her embrace. She said, “Let’s go.”
“Oh, okay, let’s go… go.” Yun Chu froze for two seconds, thinking, Which leg am I supposed to move first?
The wind outside had died down quite a bit. The lounge wasn’t crowded; people sat in twos and threes in the booths, drinking hot coffee. Yun Chu felt she had to make a good impression, so she had Huang Yalan and Jian You sit down while she went to buy coffee from a self-service vending machine.
Jian You had worn the wrong shoes today and had been slipping the whole way. Having finally found a flat surface to sit on, she let out a soft sigh of relief.
Yun Chu stood with her back to her, choosing coffee.
She’s so thin, Jian You thought. Even wearing such a long down jacket that swallows her body, she still looks frail, as if a gust of wind could blow her away. When she slid in front of me and looked up, her acting was so clumsy that I, a director with extremely high standards for acting, wanted to pack her off to the film academy for retraining.
The thought was fleeting. Then she felt that the surprise in Yun Chu’s eyes hadn’t been fake.
It seemed that every time Yun Chu looked at her, her eyes would sparkle.
Like a fluffy white puppy, she had gently bumped against her heart, sending an itchy, tingling sensation through her veins and all over her body. Then, the tips of her ears grew scorching hot.
“Stop staring,” Huang Yalan interrupted her thoughts. “It’s not like she’s going to run away.”
Jian You withdrew her gaze. “…I wasn’t staring.”
Her denial was very weak. Then she thought that what she should have denied was the part about being afraid Yun Chu would run away. But on second thought, explaining it would seem like she was trying too hard to cover something up, so she simply didn’t say any more.
“You and Xiao Chu, you haven’t been together long, have you?” Huang Yalan asked.
Jian You gave a vague “mhm.”
Huang Yalan sighed.
She and Zhang Chenyao had been too busy with work in their early years to have children. When they got older, they considered adopting, but after visiting an orphanage, they didn’t find a child they felt a connection with and had to give up the idea. Later, Zhang Chenyao took Jian You on as a student. Jian You often visited their home, and Huang Yalan grew fond of her calm and steady personality, doting on her as if she were her own daughter.
When she first heard Jian You was going on a dating show, she had disagreed, thinking it was improper to go on blind dates in front of so many people. Why sacrifice her privacy just to make a film?
Later, Jian You told her she wasn’t making any sacrifices; the person she liked was on the show, and she was going on it to get closer to her.
So after Jian You went to film the show, she paid close attention to the online gossip, consuming a ton of messy rumors. In her heart, she had already accepted that Jian You and Yun Chu were dating. When Jian You came to Bei City this time, she asked, and it turned out to be true.
While she was gratified, she was also a little worried: Our Jian You… does she even know how to be in a relationship?
Seeing her today, it was clear she didn’t.
She said, “She’s your own girlfriend, yet you don’t know her schedule for today, and she doesn’t know you’re coming to the ski resort. Don’t you two tell each other your plans?”
Jian You: “I-”
“She said she was going to buy coffee, and you just let her go alone. She only has two hands, how is she supposed to carry three cups of coffee?” Huang Yalan asked again. Seeing Jian You’s gaze drift back toward Yun Chu, she said, “Aren’t you going to go help your girlfriend?”
Jian You: “…”
Girlfriend, girlfriend… she keeps calling her that, as if Yun Chu really is my girlfriend.
In her line of sight, Yun Chu had just gotten two cups of coffee. She shakily placed the cups to the side, her finger tapping and scrolling on the touchscreen, hesitating over what to drink.
Jian You stood up. “I’ll go over then?”
Huang Yalan urged her, “Hurry up.”
Jian You looked down at her clothes and tugged at the hem with some distaste, thinking, I hadn’t originally planned to stay in Bei City for many days, but Teacher Zhang was very interested in my new project. I’ve written half the script, and I’ve discussed a lot with him, so Huang Yalan had me stay a few extra days.
During these extra few days, the temperature in Bei City kept dropping. The clothes she had brought weren’t warm enough, so she had put on a down jacket from a few years ago that she had left at their house.
This one wasn’t pretty enough.
“Teacher Jian?” Yun Chu turned her head and passed a coffee to Jian You, pressing the warm cup against the back of her hand. “Coffee with milk, it’s yours.”
Jian You took it and had a sip. “Thanks.”
“We’re a couple, why be so polite?” Yun Chu teased.
She seemed relaxed, but her heart was pounding. She kept glancing at Jian You’s expression. Jian You froze for a moment, then slowly took another sip of coffee and said, “Thank you.”
“For what?” Yun Chu asked, feigning ignorance.
Jian You glanced at her.
Yun Chu immediately dropped her playful attitude and became obedient. “You’re welcome.” Her eyes suddenly lit up. “Does this mean I’ll get to see Teacher Zhang later?”
“…You really want to see Teacher?”
“Of course! In college, I could never get into his class. I finally managed to sneak into one, and he called on me to answer a question. It was a fourth-year class, how was I supposed to know anything?”
Jian You was curious. “And then?”
“And then he found out I was only a freshman.” Yun Chu picked up the two cups of coffee and sighed faintly. “Teacher Zhang asked if I could understand it. I said no, I was just toughing it out.”
Jian You pictured a brazen Yun Chu in the classroom and chuckled. “Teacher wouldn’t have let you off the hook, would he?”
Yun Chu nodded. “He made me move equipment on a film set for a week.”
But Jian You had also been on that set. She was the assistant director, busier than the director and with more responsibilities, running around the set all day. Yun Chu, while working as a porter, would sneak glances at her, feeling like she could haul bricks on that set for a lifetime.
For the last stretch, Yun Chu jogged over. “Teacher Huang, here’s your coffee.”
Huang Yalan took it and had a sip. “Delicious! I don’t know why, but it seems tastier than any coffee I’ve had before. Maybe it’s because our Jian You’s girlfriend bought it?”
Yun Chu smiled shyly.
Jian You gave Huang Yalan a helpless look. “Teacher’s wife…”
Huang Yalan stopped teasing her and turned to Yun Chu. “Xiao Chu, when did you get to Bei City? Where are you staying tonight? Have you booked a room?”
For a business event like this, the magazine would usually book a hotel for the artist in advance. Jian You had just looked up Yun Chu’s schedule online; this fashion magazine was one of the top five, so the hotel they booked should be five-star.
Considering the artist would have to get up early for makeup, the hotel was definitely not far from the ski resort.
“I just got here today, I haven’t booked a hotel yet.”
Yun Chu’s voice interrupted her train of thought.
Jian You: “?”
Huang Yalan: “Then don’t book one. Come stay at our house.”
Yun Chu: “Wouldn’t that be an imposition?”
Jian You: “??”
Huang Yalan: “What’s wrong with it? You and Xiao You already spend so much time apart. You’re right on our doorstep; if we don’t have you stay with us, are you both going to go stay in a hotel together?”
Yun Chu: “That’s true…”
Jian You: “???”
Yun Chu turned her head to look at her, her peach-blossom eyes full of sincerity. “I’ll listen to Teacher Jian.”
Teacher Jian: “…”
She took a sip of coffee and said, “Come home with me.”
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