So far, Liu Man had already seen three friends of Yu Zhan’s: He Lushen, Song Junzhe, and Tao Zhiwei. The three Gao Fu Shuais were unique in their different ways, but all of them had their brilliant glows, and their domineering auras prevented others from approaching them.
Yu Zhan, however, was an outlier. His words and actions were completely opposite from theirs, and he was more approachable, like a normal person. He could take Liu Man out to have barbeque on New Year’s Eve; he could take gulps of beer with Ye Ziliang beside a road; he could walk in and out of those high-tiered restaurants that cost thousands of RMB per meal; he could live in mansions; he could send out red packets that contain large sums of money. He was casual and free, not distancing himself from people who were poor; neither did he seem fake and make people hate him for being rich.
Maybe this was the charisma of a person. No wonder whenever pets saw him, they would forget about their owners and just want to be with him. Humans and animals both enjoy brightness, warmth, and the feelings of bathing in the Spring breeze.
“I’ve been different from them since I was a kid, so I have different character traits,” Yu Zhan said, “After my parents passed away, I’ve read many philosophical books and have thought through many things.”
Liu Man knew that these modern philosophical literature were like Laozi, Zhuang Zhou, and the classical Buddhist scriptures that she had seen in her past life.
“It can’t be that you’ve already learned to understand the purpose of life and can see through the vanity of the world!?”
Yu Zhan smiled, “If I can see through the vanity of the world, why would I still go after you?”
Seeing that Liu Man looked embarrassed, his smile widened. He didn’t tell Liu Man that his philosophical readings did affect him; it was why before he met her, he had never fallen in love with someone.
When he was going to college back in the US, there were many girls who fell in love with him, and there were many brilliant rich girls who were perfect in many ways. They had the same background as he did, but he was interested in none of them.
Back then, he thought that he was almost 24 years old and still could not meet a person that he really liked. If he couldn’t meet anyone that fits his taste for this entire life, what would he do? Besides, he didn’t know what type of girl he really liked. He even took it seriously and made a chart, listing out all his requirements, appearance-wise, stature-wise, personality-wise…
As a result, after meeting Liu Man, he completely threw all these requirements away. His only requirement was Liu Man herself, the only one he wanted in this entire world.
He admired her attributes, and as for her weaknesses… No, in his mind, she had no weaknesses.
Yu Zhan’s expression, as he looked at Liu Man, was like the one he had when he confessed to her at the ensemble concert; however, his gentleness carried a hint of possessiveness this time. He wished he had met her earlier. His simple and tedious life back then would’ve definitely become brighter, like the life he had right now. He would wake up every day and anticipate what would happen.
“When my parents passed away, I was only ten years old. There were lots of things in the philosophical book that I could not understand, but now, I can understand most of it.”
“Later on, I lived with my grandparents. My mother was their only child, and her sudden death really broke their hearts. My grandma had a heart attack and had to stay in a hospital bed for a long time, and after a year, she passed away, too. We’ve always kept a dog, named Jay. It was a rural dog my mother took in before she married my father. My WeChat profile is the only picture I have of him. That year, when I left for the US, Jay died a natural death. My grandpa died when I was twenty years old. From then on, I had no other close relatives. I was all alone in the world, but I was free and independent.”
Yu Zhan described his background with a calm tone; no sad emotions could be heard.
Liu Man lifted her head and stared into his eyes.
When Madam Xu passed away, she was also twenty. She cried for three whole days.
Yu Zhan felt it was funny, “Why are you staring at me like that? I’m not a cold-blooded person; I’ve simply learned how to heal myself from those profound philosophical books. My parents died from an air incident, and the plane disassembled above the Atlantic Ocean. At that time, I told myself that people were going to leave this world anyways, it was just the matter of time. Compared to some people, who would end up as some ash or a cup of dirt, they could still sleep under the ocean breeze and bathe under the sunshine.”
Liu Man, nonetheless, felt her heart ache for Yu Zhan.
He was only a ten-year-old, always receiving the best treatment. He was loved by all adults around him, and he had lots of friends. He was having the time of his life. How could he have accepted the fact that his parents both suddenly passed away?
When her relatives passed away, she was able to cry and vent out her emotions.
But Yu Zhan seemed to have understood it all and had let it go. He claimed that he had healed himself, but he had completely closed himself down and numbed himself. He must’ve been depressed to the extreme, making him unable to feel any sense of mourning.
It was worse than just letting out all his feelings, howling and crying.
“All of it has passed. I only mentioned this because I want you to know about my background,” Yu Zhan said, “I got my parents’ legacy. I won’t be able to spend all of the money even in a few lifetimes.”
“That is my story. Can you tell me your story?”
Yu Zhan’s question was sudden and serious.
Liu Man’s heart skipped a beat. She lowered her head and didn’t dare to look at Yu Zhan, “Don’t you already know about my story? My father had an incident and killed someone while driving drunk. I became a cyber star and decided to start earning money in order to return the debt for my family. Before all of this, my life was no different from a normal girl’s. I’ve never experienced any hardships like you did.”
Yu Zhan did not believe a single word she said.
He had already become familiar with Liu Man’s normally-unnoticeable actions. When she felt shy, her ears would redden. When she was lying, she would lower her head, and her fingers would subconsciously bend.
And at this moment, all of her tells were showing.
Such a silly girl.
Which talent of hers could be done by a normal girl? How could any normal girl have her temperament? There was nothing normal about her from head to toe.
He believed that, one day, Liu Man would take the initiative to tell him her story.
He knew that it must be an astounding and unbelievable story.
Under Yu Zhan’s delicate caring, three days later, which was on Monday, Pear finally recovered from his disease. During the afternoon, Tao Zhiyao came by the pet clinic to pick him up and bring him home to rest.
At the same time, Fang Huaiyuan drove Su Yi and Liu Man to the airport in person.
The civil aviation’s regulations stated that elders above the age of seventy, when riding airplanes, had to have a proof from a hospital, saying that this elder was fit for a flight. Su Yi was already eighty-four years old. Yesterday, Fang Huaiyuan specially took his father-in-law to the hospital so they could get the proof.
Nobody in the Su family was relaxed for this calligraphy exhibit.
Su Yi originally wanted to accompany her father to Gudu, but Su Yi was reluctant, “It’s already bad that civil aviation had this regulation. Even you are treating me like a dying old man. My body is just fine, and I’m riding a plane, not a rocket. Before, I would fly dozens of times in one year, and I’ve never seen you so nervous. Besides, don’t I have Liu Man here with me!”
幸好刘嫚处事沉稳，苏娟和方怀远可以信任她，换成其他人，苏娟一定要跟去！
Luckily, Liu Man was always collected, so Su Juan and Fang Huaiyuan could entrust her. If it was anyone else, Su Juan would definitely be accompanying them!
When they arrived at the airport, Fang Huaiyuan repeatedly reminded his father-in-law, telling him to be safe. It felt as if his lips were going to fall off from all the talking. After all, his father-in-law was an eighty-year-old. A single knock or slip could endanger his life.
He also reminded Liu Man to help care for the elder.
Even if he didn’t say it, Liu Man would still have done it.
Fang Huaiyuan only left after watching the elder and the young girl enter the security channel.
Before she got on the airplane, Liu Man received a WeChat message from Yu Zhan: “Have a safe journey.”
Translated by: Sydney
Edited by: Michael
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