Divorce: This is a Trivial Matter Chapter 39

Qi Xiao Yan had said that he would pick her up at ten o'clock. Yang Wei's alarm clock rang at nine o'clock, right on time.

As she sat up on the bed, she felt a wave of nausea and discomfort rising up from her stomach. Rus.h.i.+ng to the bathroom, she retched for a while, yet nothing came out. Rinsing out her mouth with clear water, Yang Wei observed her flushed cheeks in the mirror and frowned.

It couldn't be that she really was pregnant? How could the quality of Professor Qi's sons have been so good as to have won the grand prize in one night?!

As she washed her face, she thought about whether she should buy a pregnancy test. But she had spent yesterday eating irregularly. Could it just be a stomach upset? Yet her period hadn't arrived...

Yang Wei felt like she was going crazy.

She propped her hands on the sink and looked at herself in the mirror for a while, hesitating. Finally, she decided that she would observe for one more day. If tomorrow, her stomach was still upset, she would buy a pregnancy test stick.

She had never even won five dollars from the lottery. Being lucky enough to win big prizes couldn't possibly be that easy, surely. Ahahaha.

Leaving the bathroom, she lay back down for a little while before beginning to rummage through the wardrobe. Strictly speaking, today was her first date with Qi Xiao Yan, and she should dress up a little.

She wasn't satisfied even after trying on a few sets of clothes. As she was still meditating over her wardrobe, the phone next to the pillow rang. Yang Wei picked it up. Surely he wouldn't come so early? It was only half past nine.

When she answered, Qi Xiao Yan's voice sounded from the receiver. "I'm already downstairs."

"Isn't it only half past nine?" Yang Wei said in shock. "I just got up! Hang on a minute."

She hung up and hurriedly pulled out a navy blue tube dress from the closet. It had semi-permeable puff sleeves to add a touch of cuteness and s.e.xiness to the simple style.

Having put it on, Yang Wei felt quite satisfied. Picking up the cosmetic bag on the table, she walked to the mirror and skillfully applied foundation, eyeliner and lipstick. After adding mascara, she adjusted her hair, picked up her bag from the sofa, and left.

Qi Xiao Yan was wearing a black suit that day, a standard three-piece suit with a dark blue tie. His hand was in his trouser pockets, and as his eyes fell on her, there were only a few types of words left in Yang Wei's head - Off the charts!! Too cute! So handsome!

When he saw her, Qi Xiao Yan opened the door for her and handed her a cup of warm, freshly ground soy milk. Taking the paper cup, Yang Wei glanced at him, "Did you just buy this?"

"Well, you didn't have breakfast." He handed her a custard bun, knowing that she liked the kind from this store the best.

Yang Wei took her breakfast and ate it without ceremony. "I see you got a beef bun too."

"The lady at the store gave it to me. She said that they were having a buy one get one free special today."

Yang Wei: "... "

To buy a cheap custard bun and get a beef bun for free... did you actually believe that?!

Taking a few bites, she asked, "Where are we headed?"

"I booked the movie ticket for the afternoon. Where do you want to go in the morning?"

Yang Wei thought for a moment. "Maybe just stroll around the cinema?"

Qi Xiao Yan drove to Starlight Plaza. There were a great deal more pedestrians on the street than usual. After finding a place to park , they got off. "Darling," he called, standing in front of the car.

"What?" Yang Wei asked, looking at his outstretched hand.

"Didn't you say you wanted to hold hands?" When the sunlight shone down against his slender fingers, the particles in mid-air made them look a little fuzzy. Yang Wei stood still for a moment, her eyes on his hand, then slowly reached for it. Her hand slid naturally into his.

She felt a little awkward. This was the first time she had ever walked hand in hand on the street with him. Qi Xiao Yan's fingertips were cool, but his palms were rea.s.suringly warm. She turned to look at the expressionless man walking by her side, then curled her lips up into a smile. "No reaction? Shouldn't boys be all flushed with shame after finally plucking up the courage to hold a girl's hand?"

Qi Xiao Yan turned to look at her. "I've done even more embarra.s.sing things with you. What's so bad about holding a hand?"

Yang Wei's brow furrowed and she tried to pull her hand back. "Stop that!"

Qi Xiao Yan inadvertently clutched her hand tighter and said mildly, "Darling, be good now, don't be noisy."

Yang Wei: "..."

Sometimes, she felt like he was coaxing her like a child.

Just like that, the two paraded through the streets hand in hand. Several pedestrians would turn for a second look at them as they pa.s.sed by, but Yang Wei understood this to be because they were both good looking, not "Look at these two, learning to hold hands at such an age!".

Qi Xiao Yan accompanied her to purchase two new pieces of clothes, then brought her to a Chinese restaurant for lunch. While waiting for the food to arrive, they sat in the private room chatting. "By the way, I still have your bank card. When will you take it back?"

"I'll let you have it."

Yang Wei frowned. "You bought the clothes from just now, too. Do you have enough..?"

"I've more than enough to feed you. Don't worry."

"Oh." If she had known earlier, she would have ordered two more dishes.

The afternoon movie started at 2:10pm, but when they got to the cinema, it was only 1:40pm. Several new films had been released for Labour Day, and there were more people in the cinema than usual. Holding her hand, Qi Xiao Yan pulled her to his side, helping her cut through the flow of people around her.

Her mouth curled up, she followed him quietly. The romantic comedy film that he had bought tickets for was very popular, and there were quite a few people in front of the movie poster. Yang Wei ran her eyes over the posters in the corridor and found that there was also an older movie showing that day.

This theater occasionally showed a few cla.s.sics and older movies to attract audiences hungry for nostalgia, but she hadn't expected them to leave a slot open for one during this golden period of time.

She looked at the time. The old movie started at two o'clock, and they should still be about to catch it if they entered now. Pulling Qi Xiao Yan next to her, she looked up at him. "Let's see this one."

Though this was outside of their plans, Qi Xiao Yan nodded. "Mmn." Any movie was fine with him, so long as he saw it with her.

Yang Wei smiled at him. "It was was a waste of your two movie tickets, so I'll buy them this time." She made her way to the window. There weren't many people watching the cla.s.sic movies that day, so Yang Wei got was able to get the tickets. She looked down at them.

Flipped (English)1Flipped is a 2010 American romantic comedy-drama. The main leads are named Bryce and Juli., Hall 3, row 7, seat 7. 

She collected her change and looked back to find Qi Xiao Yan waiting at the entrance with a bucket of popcorn. The sight of him was so incongruously funny that she couldn't help but laugh. "It starts in a few minutes, let's hurry."

The two had just sat down when the lights went out in the hall. Everyone quieted down as if witnessing an important moment.

As the story began, the male lead, Bryce, talked about how he had experienced five years of social anxiety due to the female lead. However, the wide-eyed girl spoke about how when she saw Bryce for the first time, her heart leapt.

Yang Wei remembered feeling the same the first time she saw Qi Xiao Yan at the gate of Imperial City University. In her eyes, it was the most beautiful painting; if the angle of the sun was slightly higher or if he had worn any other colour of clothing, it would no longer have been perfect. Everything had been just right, wonderfully right.

However, the leaping of the heart is only a matter of a moment. After that, trouble followed.

Entanglement and avoidance, likes and dislikes; they seemed to be the same in all stories, yet each story is unique. In the film, there was an enormous old sycamore tree that the female lead loved to climb. The higher she climbed, the more fascinating the scenery she could see from up above.

But at last the tree was cut down, leaving only a stump. Beside this stump, the male lead's grandfather said to him: "Some of us get dipped in flat, some in satin, some in gloss; but every once in a while, you find someone who's iridescent, and once you do, nothing will ever compare."2Perhaps it's because Flipped is an English movie, but I feel like the English version of this is much more poetic than the Chinese, which was "Some are shallow and mediocre, and some are like gold and jade. But one day, when you meet a person as brilliant as a rainbow, you will feel like all others are fleeting clouds". Since Granddad Chet works with his hands a lot, I love how the English version draws a comparison to paint.

Yang Wei was deeply moved. Not everyone was lucky enough to meet an iridescent person, but she had been fortunate enough to.

Just then, Qi Xiao Yan suddenly took hold of her hand. Yang Wei side-eyed him and whispered, "What are you up to? Don't think you can take advantage of me just because it's dark in here."

Qi Xiao Yan did not reply. Not even his eyes left the screen, and he merely continued holding her hand, even after the movie had ended.

As they made their way out of the cinema, many viewers were still immersed in the movie. Yang Wei glanced at Qi Xiao Yan, walking by her side, and asked, "How did you feel about the phrase 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts' from the movie?"

Qi Xiao Yan turned to her. "It's a a famous philosophical proposition put forward by Aristotle and still a basic principle of modern system theory today."

Yang Wei: "..."

Looks Professor Qi also dabbled in the field of philosophy.

"If other words, I would say..." his eyes rested on Yang Wei, "If your appearance was 50 points, character 30 points, wisdom 20, and life skill 10, when you add them all together your total would still be 200."

Yang Wei: "..."

"Well, thank you very much!" she said, walking quickly forward. Qi Xiao Yan made his way to her side and picked up her hand. Then he asked, "What about you? How do you understand this sentence?"

"If your appearance was 50 points, your character 50, your wisdom 50, and your life skills 50, the total score would still be 50 points!"

Qi Xiao Yan: "..."

"Didn't the movie also say that some people are less than the sum of their parts?" Yang Wei raised her eyebrows at him.

Qi Xiao Yan made no more retorts. As they walked out of the cinema, Yang Wei added, "But there are some exceptions."

He glanced at her, "When?"

"When I first met you at the entrance of Imperial City University." At that moment, the whole must surely have been greater than the sum of its parts.

He was silent for a moment, then inquired, "Did your heart leap for a moment?"

Yang Wei squinted at him. "Did yours?"

Qi Xiao Yan thought for a moment. "It was also when I first saw you at the entrance of Imperial City University. I have never experienced that feeling before, as if... the whole world suddenly lit up." His gaze fell to Yang Wei and ever so slowly, his lips drew into a little smile. "That movie was great."