Aunt Zhu hurried downstairs to take a look, and it turned out to be Zhou Wei. Her heart stirred, and she looked around again, discovering that only Zhou Wei was there alone; Xie Yunli hadn’t come.
Aunt Zhu felt somewhat disappointed. She had thought it was Xie Yunli coming to see Wen Ran.
“Xiao Zhou, is there something urgent bringing you here so late?”
After opening the door, Aunt Zhu still looked around hopefully, unwilling to give up.
Zhou Wei could tell from her expression and felt both amused and helpless: “Aunt Zhu, stop looking. It’s just me. Mr. Xie asked me to come check on your health, and also to bring some food for Miss Wen…”
Logically speaking, since Wen Ran was Xie Yunli’s wife, he should address her as “Madam.” But perhaps because Wen Ran’s appearance really didn’t seem like someone who was already married, he was still accustomed to calling her “Miss Wen,” just as Aunt Zhu did when they were outside.
They all found it difficult to treat her relationship with Xie Yunli as part of her identity.
“Thank you for the concern. I’m much better now.”
Aunt Zhu took the gift box from his hands. “This is…”
“Some desserts. I hope Miss Wen will give them a try.”
Aunt Zhu nodded. “She’ll like them. Thank you.”
Zhou Wei looked up and glanced around. This was only his second time coming here, and the last time he came, he hadn’t seen Wen Ran show her face either.
In fact, he had never actually seen Wen Ran’s true appearance. In his imagination, Wen Ran should be a girl who looked rather gloomy, and perhaps due to staying home for long periods, her figure might also be somewhat plump?
But he really couldn’t imagine what sort of girl their boss had actually married.
“Um… how is Miss Wen doing? Mr. Xie said she was frightened yesterday. Is she alright?”
“She’s fine. She’s doing very well. She even went to the mall to shop today.”
“Went to the mall… shopping?”
Zhou Wei said in surprise: “Hasn’t she always been unable to go out?”
Aunt Zhu immediately retorted: “Who said our Ranran couldn’t go out? She simply didn’t want to go out before. As long as she wants to, she can go out and do whatever she pleases. She can do anything, understand?”
Zhou Wei said awkwardly: “Yes, yes, yes. I just found it somewhat unexpected, after all, Miss Wen has autism…”
When he said this, Aunt Zhu became even more dissatisfied, putting her hands on her hips: “What’s wrong with autism? Do you think all children with autism have intellectual disabilities and can’t live independently? Let me tell you, don’t apply your stereotypical impressions to her. Our Ranran is very clever. She just doesn’t like going out. When I’m not around, she takes good care of herself at home without any problems at all.”
“…”
Zhou Wei looked at this woman before him, feeling she was nothing like the Aunt Zhu who had been shouting and worrying about Wen Ran over the phone just a few days ago.
At the doorway of the second-floor room, Wen Ran hung her head slightly, standing by the door watching the two people talking downstairs. She heard Zhou Wei say: “Sorry, sorry. I didn’t understand Miss Wen well enough and said the wrong thing.”
Aunt Zhu said: “Good that you know. In the future, if you meet her, never treat her like the autistic patients in your mind, understand? She’s not a fool, nor is she a child anymore. She needs you all to view her correctly. Also, please trouble yourself to tell Mr. Xie that although he’s very busy with work, as Miss Wen’s husband in name and reality, I still hope he can come home more often to see Miss Wen.”
“I understand, Aunt Zhu. I’ll pass this along to Mr. Xie.”
Zhou Wei left the house and had just breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Xie Yunli’s tall figure standing in the shadows by the roadside.
He was startled: “Mr. Xie?”
Xie Yunli had returned from a dinner engagement and had drunk quite a bit. Originally, he hadn’t gotten out of the car, only sending Zhou Wei to deliver the items.
The car was parked not far from the entrance. Xie Yunli turned and got into the car.
Zhou Wei said: “Mr. Xie, Aunt Zhu just asked me to tell you…”
Xie Yunli said: “I heard.”
His body still carried the heavy scent of alcohol, and when he spoke, his voice was very low: “Did you see her?”
“No, Miss Wen should be upstairs.”
Zhou Wei didn’t know what he meant. Was he concerned about Wen Ran? Then why hadn’t he been back even once in such a long time?
In the end, it was still because the two of them couldn’t communicate with each other.
No matter what Aunt Zhu said, Zhou Wei still felt that given Wen Ran’s condition, there was simply no way for her to be a normal married couple with Xie Yunli. After all, the two couldn’t even see each other face to face, let alone develop marital affection.
However, looking at Xie Yunli’s attitude, he didn’t seem like he would dissolve the marriage with Wen Ran. After all, in all these years, Zhou Wei had never seen him get close to other women. Even though the two didn’t live together, Xie Yunli still considered himself a married man and maintained that boundary, which was also something Zhou Wei found quite admirable.
But then again, maybe the woman who could truly move Xie Yunli’s heart hadn’t appeared yet?
When that day truly came and Xie Yunli met a woman who could move his heart and communicate with him, how would he treat Wen Ran then?
While driving and lost in these random thoughts, Zhou Wei suddenly heard Xie Yunli ask: “Zhou Wei, you got married last year?”
“Yes, Mr. Xie. You even attended my wedding, didn’t you?”
Xie Yunli hummed in acknowledgment and said: “I remember. Your relationship… is very good.”
“It’s alright.”
Zhou Wei smiled and said: “We’ve only been married a year, so it’s still fresh.”
After saying this, he realized something was wrong.
Wasn’t this a roundabout way of saying that Mr. Xie’s marriage wasn’t fresh anymore?
Zhou Wei gripped the steering wheel with both hands, wanting to slap himself across the mouth. No wonder his wife said he sometimes had low emotional intelligence.
“Mr. Xie, that…”
Zhou Wei was about to say something to salvage the situation when he heard Xie Yunli ask again: “What do you two do when you get home from work in the evenings as a married couple?”
“What do we do…”
Zhou Wei’s mind was in complete chaos. “Just what normal couples do, I guess. After work, we go home and eat dinner together, occasionally watch a movie, go out shopping and buy things, sometimes we get into moods and have arguments, but my wife is easy to coax. Buy her a bouquet of flowers and say a few nice words and she’s fine…”
Wait, wait, wait. He was getting more and more outrageous. Wasn’t this another roundabout way of saying Mr. Xie’s marriage wasn’t normal?
Zhou Wei took a deep breath and mustered the courage to say: “Mr. Xie, perhaps you could also try doing the things normal married couples should do with Miss Wen?”
…
His mouth was truly cursed today.
For the rest of the journey, Zhou Wei didn’t dare even let out a fart. Fortunately, Xie Yunli seemed to be getting tipsy from the alcohol and didn’t ask him anything else.
But Zhou Wei felt he was probably about to lose this job.
That night when he got home, he held his wife and cried until the middle of the night. The next day when he went to work, he nervously circled around the HR department twice, but aside from receiving a few eye-rolls, there was no other reaction, so he finally felt at ease.
When it was time to get off work, Xie Yunli asked Zhou Wei to go to the garage and get the car.
Xie Yunli usually lived in an apartment next to the company and didn’t need to drive. It was less than a ten-minute walk, and he only used the car when he had social engagements.
Zhou Wei asked: “Where is Mr. Xie going?”
Xie Yunli said: “To do what you normally do after getting off work.”
Zhou Wei walked into the elevator in a daze, then found the car in a daze. Only when he saw Xie Yunli come down did he realize that Xie Yunli was going to have dinner with Wen Ran.
This was what he had said last night: the first thing normal married couples do when they get home.
Zhou Wei asked carefully: “Did you make an appointment with Aunt Zhu in advance?”
Only after saying it did he realize what was wrong, but the words were already out and couldn’t be taken back.
Xie Yunli said with a half-smile: “I’m going home for dinner. Do I need to make an advance reservation?”
Zhou Wei: “…”
He had actually wanted to ask if he had given Aunt Zhu advance notice, since he hadn’t been back even once in half a year or a year. At least let people prepare. But he habitually said “appointment” instead.
The main issue was that he helped his boss make restaurant reservations far more often than he drove his boss home for dinner.
When Xie Yunli arrived, Wen Ran was in the art studio, wearing an apron covered in paint, painting. She didn’t know Xie Yunli was coming, and neither did Aunt Zhu.
So when Xie Yunli arrived, Aunt Zhu was startled: “Mr. Xie, why did you come so suddenly? Is there something wrong?”
“I was passing by and thought I’d drop in for dinner.”
Xie Yunli took off his suit jacket and looked down at the shoe cabinet.
Aunt Zhu immediately understood: “Ah, I’ll get you some slippers. Just wait a moment.”
Besides women’s slippers, there were Aunt Zhu’s two pairs of sneakers on the shoe cabinet, and a pair of very clean canvas shoes that obviously belonged to Wen Ran, who rarely went out. They were practically spotless.
There were no men’s guest slippers, not a single pair.
Because he indeed only came a few times a year, Aunt Zhu had put them in the dressing room when cleaning.
“Is Wen Ran upstairs?”
After putting on the slippers, Xie Yunli casually hung his suit jacket nearby and walked into the living room, looking around.
“Yes. What would Mr. Xie like to eat?”
Aunt Zhu rubbed her hands together excitedly. “I happen to be cooking. I can make a couple more dishes.”
Actually, Wen Ran only had dinner at exactly 7:30 PM. It was only a little past six now, so she hadn’t prepared yet. Who would have thought Xie Yunli would come at this time?
It seemed that Zhou Wei had really given Xie Yunli good advice when he went back last night. Aunt Zhu felt very gratified about this and thought she should thank Zhou Wei someday.
Xie Yunli said casually: “I’m not picky. Just make whatever.”
“Alright! Then please sit for a while. I’ll go cook.”
Aunt Zhu went to the kitchen to cook with great joy.
Being older, she forgot that Wen Ran, who was painting upstairs, had no idea that Xie Yunli had come.
However, even if Wen Ran knew he had come, she probably wouldn’t come downstairs, because she wasn’t yet comfortable being alone with Xie Yunli.
Xie Yunli walked up the stairs. The bedroom door on the second floor was tightly closed, but the door to the south-facing corner room was open with the lights on.
When Xie Yunli walked in, a figure inside was swaying as if about to walk out. Xie Yunli paused in his steps, not advancing further, just watching as the person inside turned and walked out of the room.
Now it was too late to avoid the encounter.