CA | Chapter 12

◎Above the mundane, beyond gods and Buddha.◎

His stomach had already emptied itself, and his throat had been burned raw. By three in the afternoon, Ning Jia was hungry, and so was Shen Yicheng.

He asked, “Go out or stay home?”

Before Ning Jia could answer, he made the decision for them. “Let’s go out.”

Ning Jia said okay. She had lain in his arms all afternoon, and now, as she climbed off him, she saw Shen Yicheng sprawled on her bed, scrolling on his phone. She reminded him, “I’m going to take a shower.”

“A shower? Don’t faint on me.”

Ning Jia raised her voice. “None of your business.”

Shen Yicheng got up and left. Ning Jia washed up quickly, changed into a black cropped top, and pinned up her hair. At last, she looked a little young and lively again.

She hurried down the stairs and pointed to the ornament in her ear, the one he had given her.

Shen Yicheng gave a low laugh and went to get the car. Ning Jia obediently got into the passenger seat. As she was fastening her seat belt, Shen Yicheng asked, “Where to?”

“Anywhere.”

Shen Yicheng thought for a moment, then drove out of the residential compound and put on some music, an instrumental from *La La Land*.

Ning Jia said, “I want to watch a movie after dinner.”

“Who, us?”

Ning Jia asked, “Who else would there be?”

But Shen Yicheng only smiled. “Going to the movies with Uncle, huh? What do you want to see?”

Ning Jia opened her phone, pulled up all the summer releases, and told him, “I want to watch an animated movie.”

He chuckled.

“All right?”

“All right.”

At three or four in the afternoon, there were not many pedestrians on the street. Most people had gathered at the mall, so Shen Yicheng parked in the underground lot and took the elevator up to the top floor.

There was an observation restaurant here. Places like this sold atmosphere more than food, so the taste was usually nothing special. This one was one of the few exceptions, with food that was at least relatively decent.

When the menu came, Shen Yicheng ordered a steak and salad. Ning Jia could not decide, so she asked him to pick for her. He ordered a pot of mushroom cream soup, a well-done beef rib steak, mashed tomatoes and potatoes, and a variety of small desserts. The server placed a Doraemon toy beside Ning Jia, and only then did she realize he had ordered the kids’ set.

Shen Yicheng had taken a seat by the floor-to-ceiling window. There was not much to see in the afternoon sun, only high-rises being baked until they looked half-melted. Considering that he was accompanying her despite how busy he was, Ning Jia forgave him for ordering the children’s meal. Besides, the set was delicious.

After Shen Yicheng finished eating, his phone rang. He went outside to take the call and came back in. Ning Jia had also finished her food. Seeing that she was not moving, he sat down across from her too. Then Ning Jia mysteriously pulled a box out of her little purse, set it on the table, and gently pushed it toward him.

Shen Yicheng picked it up and studied it for a while. It was just an ordinary gift box, the only unusual thing about it being that its shape practically announced that it contained a ring.

He opened it. The sunlight landed squarely on the ring, making the sparkle of the tiny diamonds dazzlingly clear.

Out of nowhere, he thought of her lying in bed with a terrible expression, eyes closed as she had argued with him, saying, eternal love.

“It can turn,” Ning Jia said proudly from beside him. “Look.”

She nudged the band with her soft fingertips, making it spin. It looked almost like a showpiece meant to display some skill.

“I couldn’t wear the carved one every day, so I made you a plain band too.”

The silvery one next to it was that ring. It had been hand-polished, and the inside of the slightly narrow band had Shen Yicheng’s English name engraved on it, carved by her own hand as well. You could tell it was handmade, but not sloppy. For her age, making something like this was already pretty impressive, especially since it was all solid gold and silver, and weighed heavy in the hand.

Given Ning Jia’s financial straits, the tiny diamonds on this ring would not fetch much if sold, but they still could have gathered together quite a sum, enough to cover her expenses for several years. Shen Yicheng gave a faint laugh. “You really are so poor you’ve got nothing left except diamonds.”

He put the ring away in his pocket without saying whether he liked it, and he did not wear it either.

Ning Jia’s happiness faded at the motion of him putting it away. She reined in her smile. Shen Yicheng got up to pay, and she followed him to the fifth floor of the mall by elevator, where the cinema she had booked was located.

Inside, it was packed with teenagers on vacation, and the sweet smell of popcorn filled the entire floor. Ning Jia went to get the tickets on her phone. By the time she came back, Shen Yicheng had just finished figuring out how to buy popcorn and cola.

One large bucket of popcorn, two colas, one without ice.

“First time here, Uncle?”

“First time.” Shen Yicheng lowered his head and said beside her ear, “Uncle has a private theater.”

Ning Jia gave a soft snort. “Oh? I have one too.”

She had one too, once.

Ning Guoqiang had reserved an entire amusement arcade for her, and there had also been a movie theater at home. No need to look down on people.

But if it was gone, it was gone. Ning Jia felt that she would never have it again in this life. No matter how much other people loved her, they could never love her the way her father had. And she probably did not have the makings of a billionaire heiress either. The life of the upper class was just an empty dream. Now she had completely fallen out of the clouds.

They happened to be entering the auditorium. Ning Jia caught his hand in the crowd. Shen Yicheng pulled her into his arms and led her steadily to their seats. The cramped space left his long legs with nowhere to go, and Ning Jia’s seat had been chosen a little off to the side as well. The pre-show commercials were deafening. Shen Yicheng endured it, and when he saw Ning Jia hugging her popcorn and eating like a little squirrel, he asked, “Do you come here often?”

“With friends.” Ning Jia said, “Just for fun, for the noise and excitement.”

Young people, understandable.

“What else did you do?”

Ning Jia thought about it. “Singing? Going out on the water? Shopping, playing cards… that kind of thing.”

“Playing cards?”

“I’m really good at mahjong.” Ning Jia patted her chest. “Guaranteed profit, no loss.”

It was hard to imagine Ning Jia playing mahjong. Would she be as serious about it as if she were doing homework?

The movie started. It was Disney’s new animated film, about love and friendship and all that, a field Shen Yicheng had never really touched. Ning Jia watched with relish. Around them, plenty of children were being noisy too, even though the English audio track had already filtered out many of the youngest viewers.

In terms of the viewing experience, this was the worst one in Shen Yicheng’s twenty-eight years. Only Ning Jia could be considered a good movie companion, quiet enough that she only ate popcorn and did not even laugh.

When the film ended, Shen Yicheng took a deep breath and pulled a stray piece of popcorn out from the collar at the back of his neck. Seeing his motion, Ning Jia’s delicate brows drew tight. She stood and looked back, and sure enough, a child had been naughty and thrown popcorn at him.

“Control your kid.”

Shen Yicheng looked up. Ning Jia planted her hands on her hips and said, “If they’re going to throw things, they should at least not throw them at other people. What kind of parent are you?”

The couple in the row behind them instantly darkened their faces. Shen Yicheng stood up and tried to smooth things over. “Forget it, it’s fine.”

Ning Jia insisted on an apology, and the argument escalated. The cinema manager came over, but neither side would listen, so he went and fetched his superior as well. The other side was just as stubborn and refused to apologize no matter what. Ning Jia looked so serious, it was as if the kid had thrown bullets instead of popcorn. She refused to back down.

Shen Yicheng was amused by her determination and went to smoke in the lounge area. When Ning Jia saw him with one leg crossed, smoking away so casually, anger surged up in her chest. She shouted, “What are you doing?”

Wasn’t I defending you? Her expression said as much.

Shen Yicheng said, “Don’t get mad. Wait a little longer.”

That couple also mocked her. “You’re standing up for your boyfriend, but do you even know if he appreciates it? I think you should stop arguing with us. He doesn’t even care…”

“I care.” Shen Yicheng said, “Wait a bit longer. If you’re in a hurry, apologize and then leave.”

They had been deadlocked this long already. For the sake of pride alone, they could not leave.

Shen Yicheng told her to sit down. Ning Jia sat beside him. After her anger had settled, she turned her head to look at his face. It was calm and cool, without a trace of emotion. She asked, “What are we waiting for?”

Shen Yicheng repeated, “Wait.”

Ning Jia looked at the time, then at the now-empty popcorn bucket, then at the restaurants around them. Shen Yicheng smiled and asked, “Hungry?”

Ning Jia nodded.

“What do you want to eat?”

Ning Jia pointed to the barbecue restaurant with a line forming downstairs. “That.”

Just then, two assistants arrived first, both sweating from running. Shen Yicheng instructed them, “Take the young lady to eat barbecue.”

A little later, the mall’s manager came over, face deathly pale, and Shen Yicheng gave the same instruction again, telling him to take Ning Jia to eat barbecue.

“There’ll still be a line for a while,” Ning Jia said, clinging to the railing. “Why do you need so many people? Multi-person tables are even harder to get into.”

Shen Yicheng smiled. “No need to wait in line.”

Ning Jia was escorted away in a crowd. By then, the person sitting opposite could not stay seated anymore either. Seeing a whole group bowing and apologizing to Shen Yicheng, they also started to panic, worried about causing trouble. They muttered a sorry and quickly left. Shen Yicheng had not originally intended to make things difficult for them, so once they were gone, that was that. But since the mall staff had all been called over, someone still had to mention that the cinema had been noisy for so long and nobody had done anything.

*

Ning Jia’s father had built his fortune in steel, and their family was mainly responsible for the building materials industry. The major market in Beishi had long since been carved up by others. Ning Guoqiang mainly had sales channels all over the country. There were projects in Beishi, but it was not the focus. When he first came to develop his business in Beishi, it had also been to show stability to his ex-wife’s parents, and after things settled down, he never left.

So aside from being rich, Ning Jia did not have much special privilege.

This time, she finally got a taste of what privilege really was. The manager opened a side entrance for her, and once they were in the private room, three people brought over the menu for her to choose from. Ning Jia picked what she liked and told them to start grilling it first. Whether Shen Yicheng would eat or not was still uncertain, so she did not bother with him yet.

Two assistants stood beside her. Ning Jia asked, “Are you eating too?”

The other side shook their heads.

Shen Yicheng’s assistants looked like emotionless robots, all in black suits, men and women alike.

When she took her first bite of pork belly, Shen Yicheng came back. The two assistants immediately vanished, leaving only one young man here to grill the meat. He arranged everything neatly and then also left quickly. Ning Jia said to Shen Yicheng, “That guy is kind of handsome.”

Shen Yicheng picked up his chopsticks, wrapped a piece of meat in a leaf, and stuffed it into her mouth. Uncle’s care was still as abundant and heavy as ever, and she nearly could not finish it, chewing for a long while.

Shen Yicheng did not really eat. By the time Ning Jia was almost done, she suddenly heard him ask, “How handsome?”

Ning Jia took a moment to react, then said, “For an ordinary person, very handsome. If he were a male celebrity, then he’d just be average.”

But even male celebrities had been looking pretty average lately. No one knew who had been propping up those crooked and ugly faces.

Shen Yicheng said nothing. Ning Jia added, “After all, there aren’t many people like you.”

Shen Yicheng asked, “What kind of person am I?”

“Other people are all mundane things. Uncle is above the mundane, beyond gods and Buddha.”

He smiled faintly. “What does that mean?”

“You’re prettier than immortals.”

Feed her a little something, and her mouth turned sweet enough to make a person sick. Shen Yicheng took the ring out of his pocket and slipped it onto his own index finger. It fit perfectly.

He wore the plain band, and he did not stint on his praise either. Ning Jia was probably listening while picking up and learning it by ear, and Shen Yicheng seriously suspected she had eaten with it.

From then on, he wore that ring constantly. Others guessed in turn whose hand it had come from, but in the end nothing was ever settled.

After all, it was too ordinary, too unworthy of the Second Young Master Shen’s discerning eye, and yet it somehow won his favor. He wore it for years.

Author’s note:

Ning Jia: Tch, when other people said he was my boyfriend, he didn’t even deny it.

Shen Yicheng: drinking tea.jpg