No Wind or Rain

When Yu Sichun woke up, she looked at the alarm clock on the table and it showed that it was currently 5:30pm. She remembered that Du Jiayi would be coming back soon and immediately stood up but fell back on the seat because of numb legs.

She looked up and saw Du Jiayi sitting on the sofa later. He was flipping through some documents. She stood up again by supporting herself on the table and said: “You’re back, I’ll go cook now.”

“No need, I just finished cooking and I’ve been keeping it warm in the pot. Let’s go eat.”

Du Jiayi put away the documents and walked out first. Yu Sichun followed after him and because she slept for so long, her body felt a little weak.

“The ingredients in the fridge are running out. Let’s go out and buy some later.” After saying those words, Du Jiayi pulled out a stool and sat down.

Yu Sichun went into the kitchen to bring out the food and put it on the table. She had always known that he could cook, it was just that he rarely did it.

She heard that he lived abroad with his grandfather when he was a child and had only moved back to China when he was older.

He had the same aura and demeanor as an English gentleman. Although there was a faint smile on his face, it didn’t make people feel like he was approachable.

The two of them finished their meal in silence. Yu Sichun took the dishes to the kitchen for washing. Du Jiayi followed her and rolled up his sleeves. He said. “I’ll wash the dishes and you can just dry them.”

“En.” Yu Sichun nodded.

“Sisi.” Du Chiayi suddenly called out to her.

Yu Sichun had her head lowered and was thinking of something. Suddenly, she heard Du Jiayi call her but she was so focused that it took a moment for her to react.

“What is it?” Yu Sichun asked.

“What major did you study in university?” Du Jiayi smiled and questioned.

“Ah, international relations.” Yu Sichun pursed her lips as she replied.

“Oh? I thought you majored in German?”1 Du Jiayi replied with a soft smile. His voice was very pleasant and clear.

His laugh was brisk and it reminded her of the male lead in《 Casablanca 》2

“Really?” Yu Sichun asked faintly. She didn’t want to talk about it.

She knew that Du Jiayi had seen her translate articles before and suddenly got a little scared when she remembered the feelings she felt when she saw those articles.

But she couldn’t figure out what she was afraid of. She just knew that their feelings had reached the highest level possible. Their relationship was also at its best stage. If there was any change, it would lead to separation and she didn’t want that.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t live without him but with him around, she felt a little happier even if he didn’t love her.

Humble flowers would always hope for dew to water them because once the rain came, it would be the day of their death.3

Thinking like that, she suddenly felt really cheap. She bit her lip and didn’t explain any further.

“Did Sisi study international relations because you planned to become a diplomat in the future?”

“No.”

She lied for some reason because her mind told her that they shouldn’t continue this topic of discussion.

“What does Sisi’s parents do?”

However, Du Jiayi didn’t have any intentions to stop asking. He spoke on as if he couldn’t feel Yu Sichun’s unwillingness to answer.

“Jiayi.” Yu Sichun’s hands stopped drying the washed bowl. She closed her eyes in exhaustion and continued speaking after opening them. “You seem to have a lot to say today.”

Du jiayi paused for a moment and continued. “Isn’t it good that I care about you?”

If you care then don’t ask anymore, okay?

Yu Sichun wanted to shout at him but she ended up not making a sound. Their current feelings couldn’t stand these storms so she chose to be silent and escape the interrogation.

“Let’s go out and buy the ingredients after cleaning up.”

Yu Sichun put the dried bowls into the disinfection cabinet and turned around. She walked out of the kitchen and went into the bedroom to change her clothes.

Ten minutes later, she came out of the bedroom in a long cotton dress with a pure white coat on. Her long hair was loose and she looked very gentle.

“Are you ready?”

Yu Sichun heard Du Jiayi’s warm voice and fell into a trance.

Du Jiayi was a good negotiator. He had already grown accustomed to this kind of retreat and then attack strategy when the victim was not tightly guarded. Yu Sichun just never expected him to use it on her one day.

At that moment, she felt cold all over. It was as if she had fallen into a cold river and there was no one save her. Her limbs felt stiff and in the moment she would just sink.

She looked up at Du Jiayi, who was only ten steps away from her and suddenly couldn’t understand why he was being so abnormal.

It was good before, wasn’t it?

Why was he pursuing these matters now?

Was the future he envisioned related to the present?

Couldn’t they just always stay the same?

Even if she told him everything, what would happen?

He didn’t love her and that was a fact. She already told him that he didn’t need to explain this clearly to her.

So why couldn’t he just pretend not to know?

Why was he like this now?

“En.”

But she didn’t say anything at all and just answered quietly.

Their apartment wasn’t that far away from the supermarket and Du Jiayi did most of talking on their way there. Yu Sichun only occasionally make an “en” sound to indicate that she was listening.

Of course, Du Jiayi knew what Yu Sichun was thinking. He didn’t know why he was like this but they were husband and wife. So what was wrong with him trying to understand her? Was she really that reluctant to have him enter her life?

Two people with different hearts4 walked side by side and the usual ten minute walk passed away especially slow that day. Du Jiayi wasn’t that good at talking. After talking for a while, he couldn’t find anything else to say so he kept silent for the remainder of the journey.

Yu Sichun went to the vegetable aisle first to pick some vegetables and then went to find some honey. Du Jiayi didn’t look at the labels and just reached out to put a bottle in the trolly. But this was picked back out by Yu Sichun who was walking behind him.

“What’s the problem? Is that honey not good?”

“No, it’s extremely good.”

“Then why?” Du Jiayi didn’t understand her.

It was because the quality was so good that it was very expensive. Yu Sichun didn’t say those words though. She just shook her head and didn’t change her decision.

“We can’t afford it?”

Du Jiayi looked at the price-1080. They could afford it.

However, he didn’t say anything. He just thought that since Yu Sichun was acting like this then maybe it was just really bad.

Of course, Manuka honey was good but she didn’t buy it very often. Usually, she would buy Manuka 10+ honey and 15+ had never even been considered by her.

“If you don’t want it then we won’t buy it.”

“It’s okay. You can buy.”

“Okay.”

After a while, Du Jiayi said that he was going to buy a bottle of red wine and without saying anything else, he pushed the trolly to the liquor area that was far away.

Yu Sichun only saw a man pushing the cart with his left hand and picking up a bottle of wine with his right to see the date. His head was lowered slightly and the hairs on his forehead covered his eyebrows. It made people unable to guess what he was thinking.

After looking at the bottle for a while, he would put it back in its original place and look at the others. He seemed to have remembered something and looked up at her. His appearance was handsome and gentle and it moved her heart.

He came out today without wearing a suit. He had on a dark shirt and a pair of black slacks which made him look casual. It made people think of those fictional male leads people often talked about.

There were girls around him who frequently looked over and a bold girl came forward to talk to him. He ignored her and just looked at her. He spoke to the girl and she saw from his mouth shape that he said the word ‘wife’.

She stepped forward and called out to him. “Jiayi.”

Her face was slightly red because of the title he just used to called her.

“Sisi, I’ve already picked one out. Let’s go and pay.” Du Jiayi bowed his head to speak to her. His voice was low and magnetic which made her heart beat faster for a few seconds.

“Okay.” She heard herself say.

———

It was 8pm when they got home. After Yu Sichun put away the things they bought, she saw Du Jiayi come out of the bathroom with wet hair. She went to bring over a hairdryer and had Du Jiayi sit on the bed as she stood beside him to blow dry his hair.

A woman’s slender and white combed through his hair. Her gentle touch lingered in his heart which made Du Jiayi very happy.

“My parents are both diplomats.”

Yu Sichun’s voice was low and it mixed with the rumble of the hair dryer but Du Jiayi still heard her.

After a long period of silence, he heard her say. “They divorced when I was 8 years old.”

Yu Sichun unplugged the hairdryer with a dull expression. She didn’t feel emotional at any of the stuff she had just said. Du Jiayi locked his gaze on her busy figure and said nothing.

“I grew up being taken care of by a nanny and maid.” She put the hairdryer away and then walked out of the bathroom to say. “Then the nanny went back to her hometown and I got rid of the servant to live alone.”

Du Jiayi looked at her. She had a faint smile on her lips like she couldn’t see how miserable her experience was. Her tone was also faint but more indifferent than usual.

“What about your parents?”

“I was raised by my father but he had a son that was 6 years younger than me by the time he divorced. He didn’t care much about me but he did transfer living expenses to me every month.”

“Sisi.” Du Jiayi reached out to touch her face.

“Don’t look at me with this sad expression. I have nothing you need to pity me for. I was much happier than those children in need who don’t even have enough food or warm clothes.”

She paused and added. “At least I didn’t need to think about food and clothing. There was no one to restrain me and I could do whatever I wanted without anyone caring. My junior high school head teacher said that every time he called my father, it would be his secretary that picked up.”

“I didn’t see him much. His work made him really busy. Now, it’s been around 4 or 5 years since I’ve last seen him and he’s about to retire. We don’t contact each other much.”

“My mother occasionally came to see me but it would just be for a meal or to give me something that girls would like. Although I didn’t like what she sent, it would be bad to refuse so I just left them all in the Yu manor. I haven’t seen her much since we got married.”

“Actually, it’s all good. Haven’t I lived these 10 years or so pretty well? There’s nothing bad about it. It’s just the way I am so it’s all good, I may not be pampered but it’s better to be strong.”

“Sisi, are you happy now?”

“I’m fine.” Yu Sichun looked at Du Jiayi strangely and said, “I’m good.”

“Sisi, are your parents in Jiangcheng?” Du Jiayi touched Yu Sichun’s earlobe and asked in a low voice. The expression on his face was also very gentle.

“No, my father is in Beijing and my mother should be living in Haicheng.”

“En,” Du Jiayi nodded. “Can I go see them?”

“In a bit.” Yu Sichun thought for a while. “I’ll talk to them.”

“Okay.” Du Jiayi nodded and lowered his head to kiss Yu Sichun’s soft face.

“You go to bed first. I’m going to go take a shower.”

Yu Sichun took her pajamas and walked to the bathroom. After closing the bathroom door, she looked at her pajamas in a daze.

Was he… was he going to see them for real?

In fact, she wasn’t very willing. She wasn’t close with her parents and because of their situation she didn’t really know what to say after meeting with them.