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The Fallen Leaf

TRANSLATOR – ANNIE

Lei Yuzheng stayed at home for two days. On Sunday night, he called his secretary to book a plane ticket, but Shao Kaixuan suddenly said to him, “Book another ticket.” She told him, “Your Uncle Chen’s daughter is back, it’s Yijia that girl. She is also going to Shanghai tomorrow. Chen Yijia has been abroad for more than ten years and is unfamiliar with Shanghai. When you arrive in Shanghai, accompany her.”

He was startled. Wei Luoxian hid beside Shao Kaixuan and made faces at him, smiling brilliantly. Lei Yuzheng had to put up a smiling face to placate his mother: “Mom, I still have a job to attend to…”

“Then, invite her to have a meal or something after work, take her around, and have fun.” Shao Kaixuan asked: “Are you so busy that you can’t even spare this little time?”

Lei Yuzheng was afraid of her wrath, and said quickly: “Alright, alright.”

He hadn’t seen Chen Yijia for six or seven years. The last time he met was Christmas many years ago. She returned to China for vacation. At that time, she was only fifteen or sixteen years old. He only remembered that she dyed her hair red and looked like a 小太妹. Remembering this, he felt a headache oncoming. Yet, after waiting at the airport for a long while, the 小太妹 of his memories didn’t come. He thought, perhaps she was late. This kind of princess didn’t have a sense of time, but he could only wait. Luckily, tickets could still be changed.

He was about to change the ticket times when he suddenly heard someone calling behind him: “Lei Yuzheng!”

It was a very crisp voice. He could hardly recognize her when he looked back, after all, he hadn’t seen her for many years. Although Chen Yijia’s face outline had not changed much, her eyebrows and eyes had unfolded. She had short hair and big eyes. She wore jeans and a T-shirt, so playful she seemed like a boy. Only, when she smiled, her eyes were bright and teeth white. She clearly had the sweetness of a girl. Chen Yijia was casual: “The security check is over there, right?”

Neither of them had much luggage. The security check was very fast. Chen Yijia was very excited and talkative. All the way, he listened to her babble on, from discussing if the flight attendants on China’s airlines were beautiful to praising the Beijing crab shell biscuits. Her voice was crisp and sweet, as the ancients described, like big small beads falling on a jade plate, but the beads fell endlessly, and Lei Yuzheng felt a faint headache.

When they got out of the airport, a driver came to pick him up. He was worrying about how to deal with this princess, but Chen Yijia was not at all unreasonable: “Send me to the Mansion Hotel. I’ve booked a room there. My classmates are still waiting for me to go shopping together. You go attend your matters. You don’t need to care about me.”

He couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief: “Then, I will take you out tomorrow to look around.”

She straightforwardly agreed: “Okay! But I don’t eat Western food!”

He told the secretary this sentence. Shan Wanting was very responsible and reserved a place for them in a newly opened local restaurant. As soon as he entered, he saw Shangguan Boyao. Chen Yijia also saw him: “Is that not Shangguan? Oh? He brought his girlfriend to eat? And two of them at that? That’s amazing!”

Shangguan Boyao likely told a joke, which made the girl opposite him laugh, while the other was drinking tea with her head down. Chen Yijia walked over and patted him on the shoulder: “Shangguan!”

Shangguan Boyao turned around and saw her. He was surprised and delighted: “It’s you? When did you come back?”

“I’ve been back for half a month, but have been pleasing and entertaining my relatives left and right at home. My mother finally let me go out to play.” At this point, she lowered her voice: “But a supervisor was assigned to me.”

“Supervisor?”

Chen Yijia snorted. Shangguan turned his face and saw Lei Yuzheng, and couldn’t help laughing: “Lei Er, you really have become more and more successful.”

Lei Yuzheng smiled but said nothing. Chen Yijia was curious about Shangguan’s female companions: “This is…”

“My friends, Du Xiaosu and Zou Siqi.” Shangguan turned his face and introduced her to Du Xiaosu and Zou Siqi: “Chen Yijia, an old classmate.”

Chen Yijia smiled cutely, greeted them, and said to Lei Yuzheng, “Why don’t we eat with Shangguan and the others.”

Shangguan was ecstatic: “Come, come. It’s fun when there’s more people. After we eat, let’s play mahjong. Whoever loses has to pay for the night snacks.”

Chen Yijia was overjoyed: “Okay! Ever since I learned to play mahjong with my roommate, I haven’t yet played to my heart’s content. After moving and finally meeting the neighbor’s wife, who could also play it, unfortunately, she was Japanese and only knew how to play Japanese mahjong. This was fine, but we didn’t have a fourth player. Ah, it was so frustrating.” She greeted the waiter: “Bring the menu. Let’s hurry up and order so we can play after we finish.”

Lei Yuzheng said at this time: “Play what mahjong?”

Chen Yijia’s eyes twinkled: “Singing is fine too. I’m a microphone-hogger, you guys won’t be able to steal over me.”

As a result, after they finished, they went to sing karaoke. Shangguan was a frequent visitor to nightclubs, so he chose a place. As soon as he entered the store, all the clients knew him. There were countless assistants who greeted him along the way: “You’ve come?” So as soon as they entered a room, Chen Yijia said, “Shangguan, after so many years, how come I never knew your status in Jianghu was so prominent?”

Shangguan looked depressed: “Don’t mention it. I also don’t know.”

“You look like a young master!” Chen Yijia smiled: “What’s the saying in your Cantonese?” She tried to imitate the Cantonese pronunciation.

Shangguan had just picked up a cup, and nearly choked to death from the ice water: “You even know this phrase?”

“My roommate is from Hong Kong. I learned it from her.” Chen Yijia joked: “Let’s not pick any Cantonese songs today. With the young master of the Lingnan family here. If we don’t sing well, he will laugh at us.”

Du Xiaosu was a bit surprised. Having known Shangguan for so long, it was the first time that she learned he was from Guangdong, because normally, he spoke authentic Beijing mandarin. Shangguan also saw her doubts. Because the music was a bit noisy, he turned to explain to her: “My mother is from Beijing.” Yet Chen Yijia saw, “Hey! You aren’t allowed to whisper!” She blinked her eyes at Shangguan. Shangguan tapped her forehead, “You and your sharp eyes and quick lips.” Chen Yijia rubbed her forehead. She leaned over to Lei Yuzheng’s ear and whispered, “I think Miss Du must be Shangguan’s girlfriend. He takes such care of her.”

Lei Yuzheng did not speak, but Shangguan had already called out: “Hey, hey! No whispers allowed!”

Chen Yijia made a face: “Only officials are allowed to set fires. The common people can’t light candles!” Lei Yuzheng handed the microphone to her and said, “Sing.” Chen Yijia was indeed a mic-hogger. With Zou Siqi there, the microphone changed hands from one woman to the other, leaving the two men off to the side. Shangguan was a person who couldn’t sit still, so he pulled Lei Yuzheng out to breathe. From out the hallway was a very large floating garden with an open-air swimming pool and deck chairs. There are wicker chairs on the side near the railing, facing the bustling night. The noise of the hustle and bustle of the city was kept away, and it seemed to be quiet. The two leaned on the railing, smoked cigarettes, and chatted for a while. Shangguan suddenly remembered: “By the way, I have a friend who wants to buy a house from your company. Give me a discount.”

Lei Yuzheng said casually: “Tell him to find my secretary with your business card.”

“Alright.” Shangguan smiled, showing his white teeth: “Thanks.”

Lei Yuzheng forgot about this matter the next day. He had a lot of business affairs to attend to. Fortunately, Chen Yijia was lively and active and had many friends in Shanghai. He only had to take off some time to accompany her to eat and shop, or occasionally be responsible for transporting her places. She was relatively easy to handle. Once it was the weekend, he was working overtime in his office, Shan Wanting suddenly remembered and asked him: “By the way, Mr. Lei, Mr. Shangguan’s friend brought a business card and asked to buy a house in Yipin Mingcheng. It is the one under Ms. Du’s name. Because you’ve specifically asked to handle this house personally, I saved his contact information and did not respond to him immediately.”

She carefully watched her boss’s face, but couldn’t couldn’t see anything. Lei Yuzheng was the type to not even change his expression if the sky crashed down. Even the biggest matter would only cause him to frown. Today, he didn’t even frown. His tone was also very calm: “I see.”

After going home at night, he considered it for a while before calling Shangguan. The phone rang for a long time but no one answered. He was about to hang up, but finally someone answered, but it was a woman: “Hello.”

He did not speak.

“Hello?” She asked again: “Who is it?” After waiting for a few seconds, there was no response. Her voice seemed to move farther away: “Shangguan, no one is talking. Why don’t you answer the phone.”

He hung up the phone.

He never knew that he could distinguish her voice. For two seconds, he didn’t think about anything at all. He just sat there. After a while, his phone suddenly vibrated.

He sat there, not moving, the phone vibrating in his palms, like a heart, pulsating, pulsating, pulsating, until his palms became numb. In the end, he answered.

“Lei Er,” Shangguan’s tone appeared light: “Did you call me just now?”

He paused: “Oh, I wanted to find you to eat dinner.”

“I’m by the lake.” Shangguan seemed very comfortable: “Come and play. We are grilling meat again. Just smell this fragrance…”

Lei Yuzheng knew that he had a mansion by Taihu Lake, an old mansion built in Republic Era China that was confiscated for public use after the Liberation War. A few years ago, Shangguan bought it at an auction. Not long after, he spent a large sum to renovate it. A swimming pool was built on the garden rockery, claiming to be able to enjoy the lake and mountains from the swimming pool. Shangguan often called friends there for weekends, and set up barbecue grills in the garden. Because it was so often smoky, the ancient wisteria planted by a celebrity in the Guangxu period of the late Qing Dynasty was actually smoked to death. Thus, Ye Shenkuan praised Shangguan many times as “a model of burning instruments, cooking cranes, drying pants among the flowers, and washing feet in clear streams.” But while he said so, people still often went over to eat barbecue and drink. Shangguang was presumably hosting a barbeque in the garden of his mansion again.

“I’m not coming. I have things to do tomorrow.” He quickly said: “That’s it, you go ahead. Goodbye.”

“Alright, bye.”

He took the car key and went out.

He had no purpose. The neon lights on the side of the road kept on passing by his line of sight, sometimes purple, sometimes red. The stream of light reflected onto the glass of his car. The city was at the peak of prosperity and was extremely lively. But he didn’t know why, but he was always dispirited.

Finally, he stopped the car and randomly picked a number from his address book and typed it into his phone.

The other party probably didn’t expect that he would take the initiative to call, their voice had a little bit of pleasant surprise, “So it’s you?”

“Where are you?”

“I’m still on the set.” Maybe out of fear of him hanging up, they continued anxiously, “But we’ve already finished. Why don’t I come find you?”

“Then, I will wait for you at the hotel.”

“Okay.” Across the phone line, he could imagine her cheerfulness, even her voice seemed a little sweet: “I’ll be there soon.”

After extreme physical tiredness, there was a short blankness in his brain, but it gave rise to an even emptier feeling. He let the shower water hit his body, feeling numb, but also more so worn out, as if he was missing a piece and could never fill that hole again.

Likely because he had taken too long to wash, Xu You said in a playful voice through the door: “Do you want me to come in and wipe your back?”

He did not answer. He turned off the shower, took a bath towel to dry himself, and then changed into his clothes and went out.

Xu You knew his habits, so although she was disappointed, when she saw his wet hair, she gently asked, “Why don’t I dry your hair before you leave?”

“No need. Thank you.” His voice was distant and polite, as if a little absent. Under the dizzy yellow light of the room, one could only seen his thin lips, its curl revealing his indifferent aura. It was said that thin-lipped men were fickle in love. Xu You couldn’t help but admit that even after knowing him for two years, she didn’t understand any aspect of him, moreover tonight, his emotions seemed a little different. Although it wasn’t easy to detect, but she still keenly noticed. So, she didn’t say anything more, helped him put on his jacket, and then watched him go out. She said, “Drive carefully.”

His hand had already touched the door button, but he suddenly paused and turned to look at her: “Did you say you wanted to change the car a while ago? The Porsche 911 is not bad, and it suits you well. Buy that one. When you go to get it, remember to call my driver. Someone will check out for you.”

She was overjoyed. She tiptoed and hooked his neck, beaming: “Really? Why are you suddenly giving me such an expensive gift? Do you have some sort of shady plan?” She pouted her lips, wanting to kiss him, but he lifted his face slightly, avoiding it, “You have always been smart. You know why.”

Her arms were originally wrapped around his neck, but her arms gradually weakened as if all her strength had been drained. Her fingers began to feel cold, until the cold spread to the palm of her hands. She finally couldn’t endure it and her hand slipped from his shoulder. She was  until the palm of her hand was cold, she finally couldn’t hold it, and her hand slipped from his shoulder. She nearly forgot herself, standing there blankly, just looking at him.

“Take care of yourself in the future. Don’t stay up late if you are not filming. Don’t trust your friends and invest casually.” The corner of his mouth pursed slightly. In fact, his current look was most charming, but she would never see it again.

“Call me when you encounter difficulties.” He kissed her for the last time, a light kiss on the cheek like a dragonfly skimming the water. With just one touch, he barely brought any temperature. He opened the door and left.

He saw his face in the elevator, empty and tired. In the early hours of the morning, the noisy city finally gradually fell asleep, and the elevator was even more silent.

It wasn’t that he was sick of her, it was just that he didn’t want to maintain this kind of relationship anymore. Although Xu You was very beautiful and almost never troubled him. She used to be an interpretive flower that he was very satisfied with. But for some reason, he only felt tired tonight, so he chose to leave.

Maybe he should change his current lifestyle so that he could live life a little better.

When he woke up the next morning, Lei Yuzheng went to play a game of tennis first. Seeing that it was still early, he called Chen Yijia: “Why don’t we eat lunch together?”

Chen Yijia was very happy: “Okay. I’m currently shopping with my classmates. You come to pick me up.”

She was waiting for him in the corner of the market square. While driving, he saw her standing by the road. Because he couldn’t stop his car there, he slowed down and was about to let her cross the road to wait for him, but unexpectedly, she opened the car door and quickly got in.

“It’s dangerous!”

“Sometimes it’s fun to do dangerous things.” She smiled and put on her seat belt: “Are you taking me to eat something delicious?”

“How about barbecue?”

She said, “It’s only fun when we make it personally.”

“Then I’ll take you to a place.”

They left the city, but she didn’t ask where they were heading, just watching him drive on the highway. So she yawned and fell asleep after a while.

He took a look in the rearview mirror. In fact, there was still a little childishness between her eyebrows. He didn’t have a little sister, but he thought if he had, she would be like this.

He drove very fast. She just happened to wake up when they were almost there. The location of Shangguan’s villa was very good. It was hidden by a bay lake, as though they were next to the sea, but the lake was more peaceful than the sea. There were plum blossom trees on both sides of the road. At this time, only the branches and leaves remained, but one could still imagine what it would be like when the flowers bloom, with the fragrance spreading ten miles away. Seeing such a wonderful view, she couldn’t help asking: “Your lake view mansion? This is too luxurious!”

“Shangguan’s.”

She smiled, her eyes curved: “So it was Shangguan, that capitalist.”

The iron gate with carved patterns had already been slowly opened. Shangguan personally came out to pick them up: “Oh my, I really didn’t expect you all, coming here from so far. You’ve really given me face.”

“What? We’re not welcome?”

“You’re welcome. Of course, you’re welcome!” Shangguan still smiled: “Even if you’re not welcome, Yijia is still welcome.”

The driver came to help park his car. He talked to Chen Yijia and Shangguan, and went all the way around the rockery. From a distance, he saw a barbecue stand on the grass. A bunch of people were laughing and it was very lively. Although so far apart, he saw her at a glance.

Du Xiaosu sat on a couch under the sweet-scented osmanthus tree, turning her head to talk to Zou Siqi. Looking at her from a distance like this, her silhouette fell, and her eyebrows still seemed lonely. He didn’t know why, but his heart was strangely calm. As if the moment he saw her, he would be relieved.

But although she was this close, she was still so far away.