Xiao Zhi sent a video of Kaka drinking water on its own for the first time after being rescued. Because it had undergone surgery and treatment, most of the fur on its lower body had been shaved off, and it was still wrapped in bandages, looking practically skeletal.
The veterinarian treating it said it was only about seven or eight months old. Due to prolonged lack of food, it was severely malnourished, and someone had cruelly driven two nails into its body and pulled out two of its teeth before dumping it half-dead in a place filled with garbage.
If volunteers hadn’t received the distress call and driven through the night to rescue it, it would have died that very night.
When Wen Ran learned about this, she wanted to go see it, but she knew that going there would be useless and would only cause trouble, so she could only ask Aunt Zhu to send some money first.
Since she had decided to go see Kaka the next day, Wen Ran lay in bed unable to fall asleep for a long time, only drifting into deep sleep near dawn.
For some reason, she dreamed about the day she and Xie Yunli got married.
That was two years after her mother had died from a drug overdose due to severe depression. Her own condition was still very poor at the time. She had stayed in the hospital for a long time, and even after returning home, she was still taking medication for relief.
Her father left not long after and never came back to see her again.
For nearly two years, except for when Aunt Zhu forcibly woke her up to eat, she spent most of her time in sleep. The psychiatrist said this was also a type of post-traumatic defense mechanism. Because she couldn’t relieve her sad emotions like ordinary people, she would often fall into unconscious sleep, basically in a semi-comatose state, to escape reality.
Until one day, she woke up from her slumber, and Aunt Zhu told her that someone had come to see her.
In a daze, she was dressed and then met Xie Yunli.
Xie Yunli had come to propose to her.
That was the first time they met. Before she could react to anything, Xie Yunli said to her: “Wen Ran, from today on, I will take care of you.”
She didn’t know if her mother had made some agreement with him before her death, or if it was the result of discussions between the two families for some other reason. She didn’t ask, because asking wouldn’t help her understand anyway.
He said: “You can do anything you want to do. If you don’t want to go out, you can stay in your own room like before. I will arrange everything.”
Aunt Zhu said this was something her mother had promised while she was alive.
Since childhood, she couldn’t lie, couldn’t joke, couldn’t refuse, and even when things made her uncomfortable, she wouldn’t immediately express it.
She was naturally someone who needed to be taken care of, and the person who had always been by her side protecting and caring for her was no longer there.
That was also the first time after her mother’s death that she heard someone mention something her mother had decided while alive.
At that time, she hadn’t even seen his face clearly. From her line of sight, she could only see Xie Yunli’s tall figure standing in front of her, politely bending down and asking her in a low voice: “Wen Ran, are you willing to let me take care of you?”
On television, all proposal scenes included the phrase “Will you marry me?”
But Xie Yunli didn’t say that.
It was as if that marriage was just a ceremony, and the purpose of this ceremony was only for one sentence: he would take care of her.
And for these two years, he had kept his promise. Everything she needed in life was provided by him, even though he rarely came home.
But she didn’t feel there was anything wrong with that either.
This was the first time she had dreamed of Xie Yunli’s blurred figure, because until now, she had never carefully looked at his face.
Not even once.
Aunt Zhu could tell from her complexion that she hadn’t slept well, when Wen Ran suddenly blurted out: “Auntie, what does Xie Yunli look like?”
“?”
Aunt Zhu looked completely bewildered: “My dear, what did you just say? Auntie didn’t hear clearly.”
Wen Ran seriously repeated: “Xie Yunli, what does he look like? His eyes, nose, mouth, what do they all look like?”
Aunt Zhu was bewildered again for a long moment, unable to describe him, only able to say that Xie Yunli was indeed very handsome and good-looking, but with her limited vocabulary, she couldn’t describe exactly how good-looking.
Wen Ran couldn’t make eye contact with others like normal people. Having conversations while looking at others’ eyes and faces was very difficult for her.
Aunt Zhu certainly knew this, but she hadn’t expected Wen Ran to suddenly become interested in Xie Yunli’s face.
Though this was probably because Xie Yunli had come twice recently.
Although Wen Ran had narrow interests since childhood due to autism, whenever she was interested in something, she would focus her attention on it for long periods. For a child with autism, being interested in a particular person was extremely rare.
This was also the first time Wen Ran had shown such interest in Xie Yunli.
They had been married for over two years, but in her cognition, she still hadn’t truly regarded him as her husband.
Perhaps this was also a good thing?
Aunt Zhu said excitedly: “Shall I find photos of him for you to see?”
Although she couldn’t get used to making eye contact with people or carefully looking at others’ faces and expressions, photos wouldn’t be a problem.
“So in order to get along better with Mr. Xie, starting with photos would be quite good.”
Aunt Zhu searched and searched online but couldn’t find any photos of Xie Yunli. Even on the company’s website, there were only photos of company employees.
“Oh right, the marriage certificate!”
Aunt Zhu clapped her hands, just remembering that there were photos on the marriage certificate. But then she thought that having Wen Ran look at their wedding photo together might be too difficult for her, so she decided against it.
Aunt Zhu hadn’t expected him to be so low-key. With his appearance and presence, if he were more high-profile, he should be quite famous.
Since she couldn’t find any online and there were no photos at home, she could only ask others. So Aunt Zhu called Zhou Wei.
“Pho, photos? You’re saying Miss Wen wants to see photos of Mr. Xie?”
“Yes, yes, yes. If you have any, just send them to my phone. If not, taking a candid shot would be fine too, but remember to make it look good. Ranran likes beautiful things. If it’s taken too poorly, she probably won’t want to look at it a second time.”
Zhou Wei: “…”
He hadn’t expected Wen Ran to suddenly make such a request. Of course, he didn’t understand people with autism very well either, just felt that their thoughts and behaviors were very different from normal people, and many couldn’t live independently.
As for photos of Xie Yunli, he really didn’t seem to have any. Xie Yunli rarely posted daily things on his social media accounts. His private life was minimal to begin with, and he was working most of the time.
Could he really only take photos in person?
And then tell Xie Yunli: “Mr. Xie, your wife wants to see your photos, so I need to take a picture of you to send to Aunt Zhu.”
…
It seemed strange no matter how he thought about it.
Aunt Zhu was still waiting for the photos when she suddenly heard Wen Ran saying anxiously: “It’s time, Aunt Zhu, we should… go out. It’s time. What should I… wear? Is everything packed? I brought gifts for Kaka… and Xiao Zhi. Are the gifts packed properly? Should I put on my shoes now? Clothes, clothes, clothes…”
When Wen Ran got nervous, she started repeating words. Aunt Zhu quickly put down her phone to comfort her, helped her find clothes, and showed her the already-packed bag to put her mind at ease.
At ten o’clock, the reserved car arrived on time.
Wen Ran took several deep breaths, held Aunt Zhu’s hand, and once again stepped out of the house.
The distance from here to the rescue center was at least fifty minutes, which was quite far for Wen Ran. This was also the first time in years she had traveled so far from home, so she was nervous the entire way.
Aunt Zhu put a sun hat on her to prevent her from panicking when seeing crowds, then held her hand tightly, trying to give her as much sense of security as possible.
Nervousness and anxiety could be relieved, but car sickness couldn’t. Halfway through the journey, they had to get out and walk for a while. Fortunately, the driver was very understanding. He was also an experienced older driver who could tell from Wen Ran’s appearance that she belonged to a special group, so he drove very steadily the entire way.
When they reached their destination, Wen Ran vomited again from car sickness. Xiao Zhi hurriedly brought water over, walking around her worriedly, constantly asking: “Wen Ran, are you okay? Are you okay?”
Wen Ran opened her mouth but couldn’t speak. Xiao Zhi became even more panicked, repeating the same sentence over and over until Wen Ran responded and he finally calmed down.
Aunt Zhu saw cars parked not far away and people getting out of them, one person even holding a camera. She thought this was bad.
A group of volunteers had come today to help bathe the small animals. With so many people and such a noisy environment, she didn’t know if Wen Ran could adapt.
*
“Photos?”
“Yes, yes, that’s what Aunt Zhu said. Miss Wen needs your photos, so I had to sneak… I mean, take photos of you.”
Zhou Wei explained with lowered eyes and a submissive manner. Being caught by his boss on his first attempt at taking candid photos proved that this kind of work really wasn’t suitable for him.
Moreover, when he was taking the photos, Xie Yunli was playing pool. When he looked up and saw him taking pictures, with a bang, he sank a ball in one shot, making Zhou Wei’s hand shake and nearly drop his phone in fright.
What Zhou Wei captured was the exact moment when Xie Yunli lifted his eyelids and looked at him with a cold gaze.
It had to be said that Xie Yunli’s eyes and brows did carry a hint of aggression, somewhat different from his modest and polite demeanor when meeting with clients, yet not too different.
One could only say that businesspeople were all very good at disguising their less pleasant sides.
After explaining everything, Xie Yunli said thoughtfully: “She wants my photos?”
“Yes, Mr. Xie, that’s what Aunt Zhu said.”
Xie Yunli pondered for a few seconds, put down his coffee, and said: “Let me see the photo you just took.”
“Although it didn’t capture your original handsome charm…”
Zhou Wei carefully handed over his phone.
Xie Yunli glanced at it and said: “Delete it. Get a professional photographer over here.”
Zhou Wei: “… Perhaps some previously taken photos would work too?”
Xie Yunli said: “It’s rare that she actively wants something. We should try to do our best.”
Zhou Wei was somewhat surprised.
This was the first time he had sensed Xie Yunli’s regard for Wen Ran.
Could it be that because Wen Ran came from a very good family background, he treated her with such respect?
However, Xie Yunli was usually good to his employees too. He rarely showed his occasionally fierce side, and his temper was consistently stable, so many female employees liked to discuss him privately, such as topics about whether Mr. Xie actually had a beloved wife at home.
In fact, he did, but she was completely different from what they imagined.