How We Love - Volume 1 Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – “Uncle Zhang”

Later on, Liu Yishuang planned to go abroad, but Yue Sisi wanted to stay in China to take care of her mother so the two broke up. Yue Sisi moved on really fast, soon finding a new boyfriend. Liu Yishuang invited Cai Xin for a drink in frustration.

He told Cai Xin, “It’s not that I’m not willing to stay in China for Yue Sisi, but just look at her! Her heart is so fickle, she’ll never lack a boyfriend in this lifetime.” He continued, “Why can’t Yue Sisi learn from you and treat people better!” That night, he finally said, “How great would it be if back then, I got to know you instead of her!”

Because of this sentence, Cai Xin drank countless glasses of water that night.

Afterwards, he went abroad, maintaining a lukewarm attitude between them. He would call from overseas from time to time and she couldn’t discern whether it was actually warmth in his voice. As such, Cai Xin was distracted and couldn’t let him go.

Cai Xin stared at the dark ceiling, wide awake. She simply picked up the iPad again, opened Liu Yishuang’s Weibo profile, and looked at the photo again.

***

Zhang Heran sat in front of the computer screen looking at the Weibo profile of someone with the ID “Liu Yishuang”. He refreshed the page; there was a new user liking the posts, someone with the ID “I’m Done For”[mf]The Chinese version is a wordplay of being done for + playing games[/mfn]. He looked at the username and puckered his lips into a smile that was either directed to the fool who liked the post or towards himself.

After looking through the page for a bit, he picked up his phone that was on the table. The call he made was quickly answered; he said slowly to the receiver, “President Tian, this is Zhang Heran. The company that wants us to renovate their interior is in Tianlin Building, right? The one opposite “Huiying”, correct? President Tian, you don’t need to find someone else for the job. I’ll take it.”

Over the phone, President Tian seemed very surprised. An elated voice came through the other end, “Goodness, Xiao Zhang, are you serious? You’re willing to take on such a small job? Xiao Zhang, thank you so much!”

The days passed quickly and became busier and busier to the point one couldn’t catch a breath. Seeing that it was getting closer and closer to the Spring Festival1 [javascript:void(0)]Chinese New Year, her parents didn’t pressure her as often, but each time they did, it was getting more intense. Cai Xin couldn’t just sit still anymore. For her own survival, she finally made up her mind to “rent” a “boyfriend” from the internet and bring him back, this was the only way she could appease everyone.

She vented her frustrations and decisions on Weibo using an account called “I’m Done For”. It was a safe space reserved only for her. She recorded her happiness, anger, sorrow and joy, the whole gamut, on it, but it was all lonely, sentimental nonsense. Because no one ever realized this account was hers. Even if she went to like Liu Yishuang’s posts every day, Liu Yishuang didn’t see her from amongst the countless people who also liked his posts. She had also told Yue Sisi her Weibo account but Yue Sisi quickly forgot about it.

She thought to herself that she might be the most lonesome person on Weibo. She vented into her quiet Weibo, “It’s almost New Year’s, I can’t believe I have to rent a boyfriend online to bring home from a random site, otherwise I’ll be hacked to death by Old Mr. and Mrs. Cai.” Done expressing her frustrations, she couldn’t restrain herself and went to Liu Yishuang’s Weibo to like his posts. She then dragged herself to the website Yue Sisi told her about and posted an ad that said, “Hiring a boyfriend to bring home for the New Year’s.”

She thought that since this was a shady online marketplace that rented out people, of all things, there wouldn’t be many people “taking orders” so she would have to wait until at least the next day to receive a reply. To her surprise, in less than ten minutes, she received a private message from an account named “Uncle Zhang”.

Cai Xin spent a few cents to verify “Uncle Zhang”’s information. The other party didn’t upload pictures nor did they reveal their age, leaving only information of their alma mater and occupation. Cai Xin was surprised to find that he was actually an alumni of the same university, same department and same major. She decided to meet this “Uncle Zhang” – she wanted to find out whether he was, like her, a designer who was reduced to working in another unrelated profession, although this guy seemed he was worse off. In her reply, she invited “Uncle Zhang” to meet at the cafe downstairs of the office after work the next day.