A single rose.
This was a meeting that had been carefully prepared by the elders of both families.
Tang You had been waiting here for nearly two hours, yet her fiancé Xiao Wei Jing never showed up.
This was not the first time such an embarrassing situation had occurred, and Tang You had long been accustomed to it.
Her delicate fingers toyed with a corner of her skirt, which had delicate Camellia blooms embroidered on it.
During these two hours of waiting, Tang You found that the rosebuds on the table had a total of 453 petals, 15 of which were incomplete; the tea was changed eighteen times, and the fruit was changed five times.
“Ah Youyou, I’m really sorry, the boy Weijing said he is busy and can’t come over tonight,” Xiao Weijing’s mother, Zhao Manlan, said to Tang You apologetically.
The well-mannered girl who had been sitting quietly tilted her face and looked up at her somewhat blankly, as if she was trying very hard to digest the meaning of her words. Her fingers interlocked uneasily, and for a split second, tears flashed in her doe-like eyes.
But in an instant, calm and silence resumed.
Zhao Manlan’s heart was about to be crushed by the sight of her.
Tang You tried to squeeze out a smile, her voice soft and light. “It’s okay, Auntie. Brother Wei Jing is busy with work. I’m fine.”
Zhao Manlan felt even guiltier.
Xiao Weijing’s grandfather, Elder Xiao, was the one who had affianced Tang You and Xiao Weijing. When she got engaged, Tang You was still a student.
As the Tang family had been declining steadily for the past few years, Zhao Manlan did not understand the old man’s decision. However, after spending only two days with Tang You, Zhao Manlan fell in love with the lovely girl and couldn’t wait for Xiao Weijing and Tang You to get married and have children.
But Xiao Weijing was strongly opposed to this marriage. He’d been unapologetically discourteous to Tang You on more than one occasion, and even escaped abroad to avoid marriage. He went to Europe with his uncle, Xiao Zexing, and had been gone for four years now, not even returning for the annual Spring Festival.
The project on hand was completed, and he returned to the country today. Zhao Manlan finally managed to arrange for the two to meet tonight, but she didn’t expect Xiao Weijing to cancel after making Tang You wait for more than an hour.
There wasn’t even an explanation.
Zhao Manlan had vaguely heard a woman’s voice on the other end of the phone. Before she could ask any further, Xiao Weijing had already hung up impatiently.
Zhao Manlan condemned her ignorant son inwardly. Seeing Tang You's well-mannered demeanor, she felt even more distressed. She looked at her affectionately and asked in a low voice, "Youyou, why don’t we go ahead and eat first? What do you like to eat?”
The corners of Tang You’s eyes were red, and her eyes were full of aggrievement, but her voice was still extraordinarily gentle as she spoke. “Anything is fine, I’m not picky with food.”
After saying that, she also tried to give Zhao Manlan a reassuring smile.
Zhao Manlan was touched by the girl’s thoughtfulness, and in her heart, she scolded her disobedient son another 1,800 times.
Look at this! Youyou is so well-mannered and understanding! But that silly son of hers was such a bad judge of character. Casting such a pearl of a girl aside, and playing around with that shell of a woman… Just what was so good about that woman, for Xiao Weijing to completely disregard his fiancée…
Zhao Manlan gripped her knife and fork. She smiled impeccably as she cut a piece of steak neatly and put it into her mouth.
She was afraid that she’d say the wrong thing and cause more grief to the well-mannered and lovely girl.
With a heart full of guilt, Zhao Manlan finished dinner with the girl.
Outside, the night sky was getting hazy as a light drizzle went on. The yard was full of newly bloomed roses.
It was an area of nearly 200,000 square meters, it was rumored that the design was created with reference to the Royal Gardens. With pavilions, little bridges, and streams, it really was a costly piece of land. However, this was only one of the many properties of the Xiao family, and one of the more ordinary ones to boot.
The car that came to pick up Tang You was parked outside the door. Zhao Manlan wrapped her arms around Tang You’s shoulders and escorted her out personally.
The sweet fragrance of roses lingered in the humid air. Tang You inhaled deeply and asked, “Does Auntie like roses? The roses here are blooming so well.”
Zhao Manlan smiled, “Zexing was the one who instructed the gardeners to plant these roses. He used to live here. Seeing that the roses were growing well, I decided to keep them.”
The Zexing she was referring to was Xiao Weijing’s second uncle, Xiao Zexing.
Tang You had never met Xiao Zexing, and only knew that this important person had not returned to China for many years. The Teng Xiao Group had been having fierce internal power struggles for several years, and till date, Elder Xiao had still not relinquished his power. According to the gossip, Elder Xiao was going to choose between Xiao Zexing and Xiao Weijing and make one of them his successor.
But all these had nothing to do with her.
Tang You got into the car, smiled, and waved goodbye to Zhao Man Lan. “Goodbye, Auntie.”
Under Zhao Manlan’s tender gaze, the well-mannered and lovely girl, Tang You, closed the car door. She rubbed her face with her hands, let out a sigh, and her lovely smile disappeared.
She kicked off her heels and took out her mobile phone. Tang You began to reply to the torrent of text messages that had exploded in her inbox:
Miao Jiaxi: [ Xiao Weijing really didn’t show up? ]
Miao Jiaxi: [ AHHHHHH What the heck Xiao Weijing was really with Wen Ling the entire day today! D*mn him! ]
Miao Jiaxi: [ As the party who had been miserably cheated on, may I please ask, do you have anything to say? ]
Tong You replied seriously and sincerely:
[ I sincerely wish for the shitty couple to be together forever and return me my freedom as soon as possible. ]
Miao Jiaxi: [ You are really the most forgiving and generous fiancée I’ve ever seen ]
Miao Jiaxi: [ If all the people in the world who got cheated on are like you, then there will be very little material for writers of family dramas to work with! ]
Even though Miao Jiaxi put it that way, upon reflection, Tang You didn’t feel that she was generous at all.
The late Grandpa Tang and Elder Xiao were comrades-in-arms in the past. Their relationship was so good that they even shared the same pair of pants. Before Grandpa Tang died, Elder Xiao went to visit him. Grandpa Tang held Elder Xiao’s hand and tearfully begged him to take care of her.
Elder Xiao thought about it and decided it was not a problem. With a wave of his hand, he made Xiao Weijing, who had been accompanying him, and Tang You get engaged there and then.
If Tang You was a few years younger, he would’ve just brought her to live with them. It should have gone in the direction of a typical romance plot.
But Xiao Weijing hated this one-sided decision by his elders, and as a result, also disliked Tang You.
As such, if Tang You had insisted on trying to change his heart, the story would most probably go down the tragic drama route.
Tang You held herself in higher esteem for her to do that.
There were plenty of men under this great big sky, why should she bother trying to change his heart? Freedom was much more appealing to her, and there were plenty of other good-looking fish in the sea.
What Tang You regretted the most was not making it clear to her grandfather.
She did not want to marry Xiao Weijing.
If she had cried more miserably and made a firmer stand, she wouldn’t have been reduced to the current state where she was being forced to act well-mannered towards the Xiao family, and withstand Xiao Weijing’s insulting behavior at the same time.
In the beginning of their engagement, Xiao Weijing did not show much resistance. But within a month, he quickly fell in love and started dating Tang You’s nemesis, Wen Ling.
Tang You did not want her future husband to have someone else etched in his heart. Especially if that someone else was the eternal thorn in her eye.
Bleaugh.
The matter of how she was going to call off the engagement had become a big headache.
The Tang family was in decline. Her spineless father and shrewd stepmother were all ready to wrap her up in a bow and send her off to the Xiao family, without even giving her the slightest chance to speak. Elder Xiao was even more stubborn. The day after Xiao Weijing proposed to break off the engagement, he was carried away by an ambulance and stayed in the orthopedic department for a whole week.
Tang You had no one to rely on. The things her mother had left behind for her were still in her father’s possession, and she could not afford to incur Elder Xiao’s wrath. She could only play the role of a dutiful, well-mannered child. In the meantime, she’d secretly collect evidence of Xiao Weijing’s repulsive behaviour while waiting for Xiao Weijing to become thoroughly disgusted with her and initiate an annulment.
She was not stupid. She would not act out knowing she was powerless. If she did, not only would she not be able to call off the engagement, she might even make things worse for herself by losing the support of the elders of the Xiao family.
A good plan.
After the engagement was annulled, Xiao Weijing and his sweetheart, Wen Ling, could do whatever they wanted for the rest of their lives— it was none of her business.
There were millions of quality men under the sky, only fools would go chain themselves to one tree. Not to mention, a crooked, withered tree.
*
There was still a year before graduation. For the students of the College of Information Technology, the fourth year was basically a time to get themselves an internship in a big company, in preparation for better prospects after graduation.
Tang You did not intend to work in the field of her major after graduating. After leaving the college dorms, she purchased and started living in her own apartment. She also took in her good friend Miao Xiaoji who was also struggling to eke out a future in New Media like her.
After two days of carefree life, she received an unexpected phone call from Zhao Manlan.
Zhao Manlan spoke with great tenderness in her voice, “Tang You, your uncle and I have already taught Weijing a good lesson. Tonight, both of you young people should go have a meal together by yourselves. I’ve already booked a table for you at Bishui Xiaoting; Table thirteen, at eight o’clock.”
Tang You replied gratefully, “Thank you, Auntie. You’re too kind.”
I’m sorry Auntie, you’ve spent so much effort on us, but you can’t force a melon to become sweet. Xiao Weijing and I are just not meant to be.
Before going to the appointment, Tang You rummaged through her wardrobe, looking in particular for a pure white dress. Looking into the mirror, she deliberately curled her hair into gentle waves, and carefully applied her make up for a fresh, barely-there look.
Most men loved pure and delicate white flowers, but Tang You knew that Xiao Weijing had different tastes. He didn’t care at all for the innocent types who acted demure and chaste, and preferred the free-spirited and direct types.
The more he disliked something, the more Tang You would behave in the manner that he disliked.
When Xiao Weijing couldn’t stand it anymore and broke off the engagement, Tang You could finally be free to leave and do whatever she wanted.
Freedom was much more appealing than a scoundrel.
Seeing that it was almost time for the appointment, Tang You took her bag and twirled around twice in front of the mirror. After making sure that she was the perfect image of a harmless little white flower, she flounced off.
It was getting late— the late sunset tinted the sky with a faint halo as streetlights gradually lit up along the streets. In the heart of the Central Business District, most of the commercial buildings were constructed by the Teng Xiao Group.
Not far away, lights shone brilliantly, the buildings neatly and tightly arranged. Even the air seemed to be full of the smell of money and profit— this was what was called the little Wall Street of the East, the playground of speculators, where cunning and greed reigned.
Most of the properties here were under Xiao Zexing’s name.
Presently, the most prominent figure in the Xiao family was not Xiao Weijing, but his second uncle, Xiao Zexing, who lived in seclusion.
Tang You’s stepmother was heavily guarded against Tang You and never let her get involved with such affairs. On her part, Tang You was not interested in business and commerce, so most of what she knew was only hearsay.
The one thing she could be certain of was that neither the Xiao family nor Xiao Zexing was to be trifled with.
She was approaching the restaurant. Before heading up, Tang You checked her reflection. After ensuring that her appearance was flawless, she stepped into the elevator.
This was not a restaurant that she dined at frequently.
The weather was bad today, and even though she had taken extra care, the corner of her skirts could not avoid getting wet. She looked down at the wet patches caused by the rain, and suddenly spotted one that looked like the shape of a heart.
When the waiter asked if Tang You had a reservation, Tang You suddenly forgot if Zhao Man Lan had booked table 13 or table 30.
She seemed to recall that Zhao Manlan was Christian, so the number 13 should be taboo to her. She should not have booked table 13.
Just in case, Tang You asked the waiter, “May I ask, is the person at table 30 with the surname Xiao?”
After communicating with his colleague via his headset, the waiter learned that the guest at table 30’s name was Xiao Zexing.
He nodded:, “Yes, may I ask if you are Miss Tang You*?”
“Yes.”
There could be no mistake then, since the other party has confirmed that he was expecting ‘Tang You’.
The waiter gave a slight bow, “Miss Tang, Mr. Xiao has been waiting for you for a long time.”
Tang You was a little taken aback at the sudden change in attitude.
What’s wrong with Xiao Weijing? Could it be that Elder Xiao had given him a severe beating again? Or was he forced by Zhao Manlan to show up?
As she followed the waiter’s lead, Tang You mused silently about how to address Xiao Weijing.
‘Brother Weijing’ was too mushy, and she couldn’t bring herself to say it. Pass.
‘Bro Weijing’ also sounded strange. Just ‘Weijing’ then?
Or ‘Jing’?
……
As she occupied her mind with such thoughts, she arrived at her destination.
The waiter did not go in because he knew that the guest inside did not like to be disturbed. He bowed slightly, “Miss Tang, please enter.”
Tang You pushed open a wooden door carved with intricate and beautiful roses.
Walking across the thick and lush dark begonia carpet, she stepped around a screen and saw the man who was casually sitting in the main seat.
As she gazed deeply into his eyes, her heart skipped a beat.
The man had excellent features, chiseled but not harsh, and he had about him an intense and introspective aura.
His shirt and pants were crisp and tidy, the shirt buttons neatly buttoned all the way to the top.
It was plainly obvious that they were of luxurious make and quality.
After being momentarily dazzled by his beauty, Tang You reacted reflexively, “Mr. Xiao?”
How could Xiao Weijing have gained so much charisma in his four years of absence!???
Xiao Zexing did not respond as he surveyed the girl in front of him steadily.
He set down his teacup, and clasped his long, slender hands.
The man’s voice was low and mellow, “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”
________________________________________________________________________
Translator’s notes:
* The main character’s name is Tang You, written 棠柚, and the person Xiao Zexing is waiting for is 唐釉. They sound the same phonetically but are written with entirely different characters and even bear different family names (棠 VS 唐). Because our Tang You is only hearing the waiter say the name, she mistakes it for her own.