Always Let Me Love You

Before Ye Wei Yin left for France, she thoroughly studied the pastry master Julien. Julien had one French styled restaurant in Paris, but he was usually only there at night, and then on the weekend he would fly all over the world to bake for wealthy people that wished to eat his pastries. The funds that Ye Wei Yin’s mom provided would be spent in three or four days, so she had to find the right time to set her situation straight. 

Today was Tuesday. When she went out in the morning, it was still cold and chilly, and by nightfall it was snowing lightly. Ye Wei Yin was scared of the cold, so when she went outside she wore a thick yellow down jacket and a scarf that her mom gifted her. Her whole outfit was on point and she confidently walked out the door. 

As Christmas was fast approaching, streets at night were adorned with multi-colored lights. You could see santas at every turn and Parisians chatting and laughing. Ye Wei Yin had no concept of what Christmas was, but the bustling and happy atmosphere influenced her and at times she would break into a small smile, thawing the freezing cold outside and replacing it with warmth in her heart. 

As she got nearer to master Julien’s restaurant, Ye Wei Yin’s heart beat surged at the thought of meeting the person she looked up to and she felt herself ascend to heaven. Again and again, Ye Wei Yin envisioned seeing the tall, white chef’s hat and uniform, beating eggs, baking cake, melting chocolate…

Ye Wei Yin couldn’t stop smiling. 

However, as she saw people continuously leaving master Julien’s restaurant, their faces all wore an expression of dissatisfaction and regret, their smiling faces gradually disappearing. Did something happen? 

Once Ye Wei Yin got to the restaurant’s entry, she was stopped by the doorman. 

“Sorry, the restaurant has been completely booked tonight, please come back tomorrow,” the doorman said in fluent English. 

What kind of joke is this? Ye Wei Yin wanted to stomp her foot like an angry child. She didn’t have the time nor the money to come back tomorrow. The money her mom gave allowed her to stay at the hotel only till tomorrow night, and the plane ticket was already booked for tomorrow night! There was no way she could’ve come for nothing? 

Ye Wei Yin put both palms together. “Please, I wish to see master Julien. Could you please communicate that or let me inside to find him?” she said in accurate English. 

“Master Julien is baking right now and not seeing any visitors at the moment. He is booked until 12 am. After 12 am, you can come back and try your luck,” the doorman strictly said. 

Ye Wei Yin’s face wore a pitiful look, tears about to drop from her eyes! The restaurant was extremely far away from her hotel, and the subway no longer ran at 12 am but taxis were too expensive. Her eyes glanced around the area and spotted another restaurant across the street. Not only was it close, but she could observe the master’s restaurant from there! 

Immediately, Ye Wei Yin quickly made her way towards the restaurant across the street. She planned to buy a cup of coffee and wait for time to pass by… 

But then, yet another obstacle appeared! The restaurant only served members and if you weren’t a member you had to pay the cheapest admissions fee. Upon seeing the price, Ye Wei Yin’s eyes grew large. Ye Wei Yin’s wishful thinking was instantly destroyed and she quickly left the restaurant, her eyes anxiously staring at the master’s restaurant. 

The restaurant being booked fully wasn’t the biggest barrier; rather it was her bad financial situation that led her to having no other option but to stand outside the entryway in the freezing cold while it was snowing—all the way until 12 am. 

An eye-catching ferrari parked outside master Julien’s restaurant. From the driver’s seat stepped out a man wearing a classic style trench coat.

Ye Wei Yin was wearing contact lenses and upon seeing the man in the trench coat, she suspected he was the one that had almost hit her this morning. 

From the other side of the car stepped out a lady that was wearing heavy makeup and a fur coat. She caught up to the man and shyly took his arm as they walked towards master Julien’s restaurant. 

This morning it was a European lady, now it was one that looked like herself? Plus, didn’t the lady in the fur coat look familiar? Ye Wei Yin racked her brain and suddenly remembered the Miss Chen that sat beside her on the plane. Yes, it definitely was Miss Chen! It didn’t matter that they were just strangers who met by chance, Ye Wei Yin was already excited and crossing the road yelling, “Miss Chen, Miss Chen!”

He Chi Yuan and Chen Zhao Di both heard someone yelling behind them and coincidentally turned around at the same time. 

Ye Wei Yin was overwhelmingly happy; she wouldn’t have to stand outside anymore. 

Chen Zhao Di thought it was an accident and was dumbfounded that someone was yelling her name. Beside her, He Chu Yuan raised his eyebrows. 

“Do you know them?” he asked with disdain. 

Chen Zhao Di replied, “No, I don’t.”

At this, He Chi Yuan became more gentle and wore a smile. “Then let’s go inside,” he said. 

The two ignored Ye Wei Yin, who was rushing across the road, and entered the restaurant. 

At this, Ye Wei Yin was completely shocked. 

How did this happen? 

Ye Wei Yin stood in the middle of the road, and at the sound of the chilly wind blowing past her, she thought that today was really miserable. 

Ye Wei Yin genuinely thought that Miss Chen had bad eyesight, but made a fashion choice to not wear her glasses. That’s why she couldn’t see clearly and mistook her yelling as something she misheard. Forgive her for thinking so, she thought Miss Chen and her were similar. 

He Chi Yuan and Chen Zhao Di entered the restaurant and both sat down. He Chi Yuan answered a phone call and then after he hung up, began to unbutton his trenchcoat and gave it to the waiter. Once the waiter took his coat, he hung it in the closet by the entrance. 

Chen Zhao Di took off her coat first and sat there watching He Chi Yuan take off his. 

“Did you go to Germany with another girl?” Chen Zhao Di asked.

He Chi Yuan nonchalantly nodded. “You know her, Clara,” he said. 

Chen Zhao Di’s face paled due to shock. Although He Chi Yuan was not a prodigy nor was he one to fall into a bad crowd, he had many girlfriends who would accompany him on meals and dates. Chen Zhao Di and Clara weren’t rivals in love because to He Chi Yuan, the two of them weren’t even close to romantic interests. All they were were companions of his. But to Chen Zhao Di, He Chi Yuan was the man she longed for—he was rich, which meant he had money to spend on her, he was so handsome that nobody could come close to beating him, and not to mention he was great in bed. She had been with him for three years and had already thought of him as her boyfriend. Therefore, she couldn’t ignore Clara, who stood on equal footing as her. 

He Chi Yuan didn’t care for Chen Zhao Di’s feelings and signaled to the waiter to pour him some wine. 

Chen Zhao Di sat there heartbroken looking at He Chi Yuan doing his own thing and not minding her. She couldn’t hold the urge and asked him, “If you had to choose between me and Clara, who would you choose?”

He Chi Yuan’s hand that was lifting his wine glass paused and he glanced over at her. He put down his wine glass. His eyes were full of indifference while his mouth was curving into a smile—an expression that was truly a bit creepy. 

“Zhao Di, we’ve been together for three years, right?” He Chi Yuan said. 

“Three years,” she replied. 

“And after these three years, you still don’t know what kind of person I am?”

Chen Zhao Di was speechless. He Chi Yuan had no heart, he couldn’t fall in love with anyone and yet there were countless girls who wanted to be with him, but it still depended on if he liked them. It was no wonder there was no way to win with him. She knew if she left, he wouldn’t have any regrets and would simply go to Clara. 

Chen Zhao Di gritted her teeth and said, “Yuan, it was my fault.” 

He Chi Yuan lowered his gaze and continued to drink wine. His eyes wandered aimlessly and happened to spot Ye Wei Yin standing outside the door in the cold, stomping her feet and blowing hot air into her hands. He Chi Yuan’s eyebrows slightly wrinkled as he drank the rest of the red wine in his glass in one gulp. 

Ye Wei Yin thought her body was going to freeze up, no matter how much she moved and stomped her feet, her body just wouldn’t get any warmer. At this moment, she saw pedestrians walking past her, everyone dressed warmly like zong zi’s*, the snow falling onto the European styled buildings, and she was reminded of the story of the Little Match Girl. Who would give her a matchstick, who would let her feel warmth? 

(T/N: zong zi is glutinous rice plus fillings wrapped in leaves and steamed or boiled together) 

Ye Wei Yin turned around and looked inside the restaurant. She saw the little cart being pushed out of the kitchen. Ye Wei Yin tried her hardest to attract the master’s attention and waved to him as if her life depended on it. If not for the doorman’s glances of warning, she would have yelled till her throat was dry. Her actions didn’t attract master Julien’s attention at all, rather, it was He Chi Yuan who sat right in front of where she was that noticed her “enthusiastic” actions and stared dumbfounded. 

Master Julien was at He Chi Yuan’s table and began introducing his pastries. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple; they were made with fruit, colorful and fragrant. Chen Zhao Di had a smile on her face as she listened to him talk, glancing towards He Chi Yuan. She saw that he was staring intently at whatever was behind her. 

Chen Zhao Di glanced behind her and saw Ye Wei Yin standing right up and close against the glass, waving nonstop. She had no idea why He Chi Yuan was looking at Ye Wei Yin with such a gloomy look on his face. Ye Wei Yin was the farthest from He Chi Yuan’s ideal type in both her appearance and body shape. Girls that were sexy with long legs, a slim waist, and mature face were the ones that usually caught his eye. But He Chi Yuan had had his gaze on Ye Wei Yin for more than ten seconds. Was he curious or… was there another reason? 

Ye Wei Yin saw that nobody inside the restaurant noticed her. Discouraged, she went back to hiding behind the wall and drawing circles with her feet. 

Time to those that were inside the warm restaurant passed by quickly, but to Ye Wei Yin who was out in the cold, it was as if death might have been the better option. She could already feel her body was frozen, so hard that it could’ve been a baseball bat. 

The doorman saw this girl standing outside in the snow for about four hours, and not being able to watch for longer, opened the door and told her “Miss, it might be better for you to come back tomorrow as many of the customers show no intention of leaving.” 

Ye Wei Yin stiffly smiled and shook her head as she continued to stomp her feet in the snow. The doorman thought she lacked some common sense, sighed, and returned to his duties. 

It was already 12 am! 

Ye Wei Yin pitifully looked into the restaurant at the two people left, who were still casually talking, hoping they would leave quickly so she could go see master Julien. 

He Chi Yuan would occasionally wander, and his eyes just happened to land on Ye Wei Yin, whose face wore an expression that urged them to leave. His eyes went back to the table calmly and he asked Chen Zhao Di if she wanted to eat anything else. 

Chen Zhao Di didn’t really like sweets, so she shook her head. “I don’t want anymore.”

“But I want to eat.”

At that moment, He Chi Yuan ordered numerous pastries…

Master Julien was busy in the kitchen for a long time…

Ye Wei Yin waited in the freezing cold night, bitterly looking at He Chi Yuan, who was still inside eating sweets.

At last, Ye Wei Yin could no longer wait and fell to the frozen ground with a loud “thump” noise. 

Everyone around ran towards Ye Wei Yin, and one of the first to rush over was He Chi Yuan. 

____________________

T/N: translating some of this chapter gave me a bit of second hand embarrassment ngl…(^_^;) but apart from that, I’m planning to update once a week mon/tues ish if school isn’t too busy. Hope you enjoy it!