Chapter 28: Jealousy
There must have been at least fifty shirts in his wardrobe, if not a hundred, and all of them were high-end bespoke tailor-made pieces. Yet, he just had to pick this one that was bought off the rack.
Helpless as she was, Shan Dai also came to fully understand his determination to pursue her.
So, what should she do? She didn’t deny the flutter in her heart, but she wasn’t divorced yet. Besides, the disparity in their social standing…
Before she could think any further, a burst of lively chatter suddenly drifted over. Shan Dai raised her eyes to see the butler pushing over a three-tiered cake.
The cake was delivered right next to Pu Huaiyan—which meant right next to her as well.
The group of people eagerly prepared to enjoy the cake.
Of course, being a birthday, making a wish first was an absolute must. They urged the birthday boy to make a wish. He was originally about to get up to cut the cake for them, but upon hearing this, he knit his brows slightly. “Is that really necessary?”
“Yes!”
“Yes, absolutely!”
“Hurry up and make a wish, Brother! What do you want?”
Hearing this, the man cast a side glance at the speaker, his gaze then floating lightly back onto Shan Dai’s face.
Shan Dai pretended not to understand that his wish was her, saying something else instead: “You have to make the wish yourself.”
Pu Huaiyan wasn’t sure if she truly understood his meaning, but hearing her words gave him an inspiration. “Help me out, Madam.”
“…” She pouted helplessly. “I already said, you have to do it yourself.”
“I have no experience. You do it, it’s the same thing.”
“…”
To outsiders, this was an absolute display of flirting and showing affection. “Aww, husband and wife are one entity.”
Shan Dai: “…”
She gave him a kick under the table, which only made the corners of a certain someone’s mouth curve upward.
The butler lit the candles on the cake, and the lights on all four sides of the dining room went out, leaving only a few candelabras lit across the long table in the whole room. The concentric circles of light enveloped the exact same spot, wrapping both Pu Huaiyan and her inside together.
Looking at the exquisitely crafted three-tiered cake tower, Shan Dai pursed her lips helplessly, glancing sideways at Pu Huaiyan. “Then I shall… make a 28th birthday wish on behalf of President Pu.”
“Mm, good.” He even added, “While you’re at it, make one for yourself too—consider it my compensation to Madam.”
The crowd erupted: “Oh ho~”
“President Pu is so deeply in love.”
A huge wave of hooting and teasing broke out.
Shan Dai lowered her head, her face flushing so red it was beyond saving.
Taking a deep breath, she pressed her palms together toward the cake and silently recited in her heart: Hope in the coming year Pu Huaiyan enjoys good health, stays free from illness and disaster, has smooth work… and then, may all his heart’s desires come true.
Knowing full well what he wanted, wishing for his heart’s desires to come true felt almost like delivering herself into his hands. But making the wish on his behalf was a right he had granted her; she couldn’t use this right given by him to unilaterally delete his wish—that would be far too selfish.
She simply wished for Pu Huaiyan to have smooth sailing all his life and to be loved by someone. Even if that person wasn’t her, she hoped many people would love him.
Lowering her hands, she pointed at the candles, gesturing for Pu Huaiyan to blow them out.
He gripped her wrist. “Together.”
“…” Shan Dai didn’t want to waste a single breath on words anymore, puffing out her cheeks to blow out the candles along with him.
The milky aroma of the cake drifting into her nostrils and the warmth at her wrist suddenly made her want to cry for some unexplainable reason. Shan Dai didn’t know why either.
“It’s just like cutting the cake at a wedding,” someone teased with a laugh. “Brother and Sister-in-law are making me so jealous.”
“Right, right? So jealous, so jealous…”
“Time for photos~” CiCi said exuberantly.
Pu Huaiyan finally took the task of cutting the cake into his own hands. Perhaps because the cake was relatively large and troublesome, and Shan Dai’s hand injury hadn’t healed yet, he deftly picked up the knife to cut it himself.
The first slice of cake was handed to her.
The crowd hooted once more. Red-faced, Shan Dai accepted it. “Thank you.”
A certain someone gently sliced out a few more pieces, handing them one by one to the guests. Shan Dai waited until he finished his task, then raised her cake to clink against his.
The expression deep in Pu Huaiyan’s eyes was exceedingly joyful. Looking at the person sitting next to him obediently eating her cake, the candlelight spilled over her fine, long brows, curving as if smiling at him—a single glance was enough to sink entirely into.
“President Pu, stop looking at Madam! You can’t even hear us talking.”
Amid a wave of laughter, Shan Dai and a certain someone raised their heads together.
Zhou Xiangming raised his glass to clink with his.
Pu Huaiyan raised his glass to touch it, then drained it in one gulp.
Pouring wine, Zhou Xiangming said, “When are you setting off for Toronto? How about going with me?”
Pu Huaiyan was also pouring wine. “When are you leaving?”
“Probably next week.” Finishing his words, he looked at Shen Jiani beside him and asked, “Is CiCi going back with me?”
“No, I still have to work.” She took a huge bite of cake.
Zhou Xiangming laughed: “You actually got addicted? Come to my company after you graduate. How much is your salary at Yanxin?”
“Zero RMB.”
“What?”
“…” She was working at a loss, but for the sake of standing on the front lines to help her dear President Pu pursue a wife, she felt working at a loss was totally worth it.
She couldn’t say this in front of Shan Dai either, so she could only say vaguely, “I just love working.”
“You, oh you. Then when are you going back? Not studying anymore?”
“I have to, of course! I’ll go next month. Wait for me~” She acted coquettishly.
Zhou Xiangming’s heart softened, leaving him with no choice but to turn his head to look across the table. “How about it, President Pu? Are you coming together?”
“Sure.”
“Then I’ll arrange the plane.”
Shan Dai felt Pu Huaiyan was inexplicably looking at her again. Within a few minutes after finishing his sentence, he drank several glasses of wine and looked at her multiple times.
Was it because she had told him before that she hated long-distance and hated business trips?
“Let’s play Flying Flower Order1,” CiCi suggested after three rounds of drinks.
“Oh my gosh, CiCi, you’re making a group of Chinese Americans and overseas returnees play this ancestral stuff,” a man sighed lazily. “You’re killing us.”
“The only one at the whole table who knows how is probably Sister-in-law. Sister-in-law will have to support all eight directions when trouble arises—that’ll just tire Sister-in-law to death.”
The group burst into loud laughter.
Shan Dai smiled faintly.
They actually started playing, setting up the rules. CiCi said: “If you can’t answer, you get penalized three glasses. You can ask one person for help, but if that person doesn’t know either, they also get penalized three glasses. In addition, before picking a person, you must close your eyes first—you can’t check whether the person knows or not before inviting them.”
“This is way too strict, CiCi,” Zhou Xiangming said with a smile. “Out of consideration for a group of half-baked novices, shouldn’t you cut us some slack and say we can confirm the other person knows before inviting them?”
“Then that would be way too watered down!” CiCi was laughing uncontrollably.
“It’s over, it’s over. I’ll see who can walk out of this dining room sober today.” Shen Jiani knit her brows. Usually, she boasted about her deep Chinese attainment, but at crucial moments, she had zero confidence.
A boy said: “CiCi, you clearly know my alcohol tolerance is low, you’re targeting me.”
CiCi smiled at the speaker and indicated: “I can help you once for free.”
Waves of laughter sounded continuously, yet none of them refused. The game started amidst these repeated complaints.
They went with the character “Flower” (花).
CiCi said: “I’ll go first! I recently learned a new line of poetry that I like very much: ‘Wild flowers dazzle the eye with endless charm, short grass barely covers the horse’s hooves’2.”
Next was a boy, Pu Huaiyan’s relative who looked the youngest. After thinking for a bit, he said in despair: “I don’t know any! Brother Yan has always been disdainful of my Chinese!” Saying that, amid the laughter, he penalised himself three glasses in one go.
Next clockwise was Zhou Xiangming. Holding his wine glass, he also thought seriously for a bit, then closed his eyes and said, “CiCi, help me.”
Shen Jiani: “…” She looked at him in terror, pointing at herself.
Everyone burst into loud laughter.
The boy who had just penalised himself three glasses said: “Oh god, I completely forgot I could ask for help just now! My memory!”
Zhou Xiangming had already opened his eyes, meeting the eyes of the girl beside him—one look and he knew she didn’t know either.
The man let out a helpless laugh, saying gently: “It’s fine, take your time to think, no rush, CiCi.”
The little girl began clutching her hair and wracking her brains. Poetry lines with ‘flower’?? Where are there poetry lines with ‘flower’?! She only knew how to spend money3!
Shan Dai looked on, unable to restrain her amusement. Out of the corner of her eye, Pu Huaiyan was shaking his head while drinking.
Having nothing to do, Shan Dai asked him: “What are you shaking your head for?”
“Watching two fools.”
“?” She raised her eyebrows. “You’re so sure they don’t know? And President Pu actually knows?”
Pu Huaiyan suddenly leaned close to her.
Shan Dai was enveloped by a rich, sweet red wine fragrance, her mind turning slightly hazy for a moment.
At this moment, the man’s attractive voice slipped right into her heart, whispering secrets to her—and what was he telling her? He was telling her about Shen Jiani’s deafeningly absurd “First Emperor of Qin playing with the feudal lords” from before.
After hearing it, Shan Dai’s eyes widened, and then she lowered her head to suppress her laughter, her shoulders trembling from the effort. While laughing, she asked the man drinking wine beside her, “Then do you really know any? Don’t end up getting laughed back at by them later.”
“Don’t I have Madam?”
“…” Her pupils slowly widened.
Pu Huaiyan shot her a half-smiling glance. “Madam, as a top student from Xicheng University who was recommended without exams for a master’s degree at Landa University—could it be that you can’t even play a simple Flying Flower Order?”
“…” Shan Dai felt he was far too confident, assuming she would definitely help him. So she shook her head on purpose, saying, “I only know a line or two. I have to look out for myself; I can’t help you.”
“Oh, then I can only penalize myself three glasses. In a bit, I might as well just drink myself to death.”
“…” Shan Dai almost reached out to cover his mouth. To keep a low profile and avoid attracting attention, she could only lean close, tug at his hand, and whisper in a low voice, “Don’t talk nonsense! It’s your birthday. A prophecy came true before, and you still don’t know to avoid bad omens today.”
“I know it won’t. With Madam around, I’m completely safe.”
“…”
Dammit, oh dammit, he had her completely figured out! Shan Dai held her chin in frustration as she looked across the table.
Looking over didn’t matter, but once she looked, Zhou Xiangming was already chugging wine furiously.
One glass, two glasses, three glasses, four glasses… The hooting was exceptionally loud, with phrases like “Brother Ming is so awesome!” and “Brother Ming dotes on CiCi the most!” ringing out continuously.
In one breath, he drank nine glasses.
Shan Dai was astonished, speaking up in confusion: “Wasn’t it three glasses? How come Mr. Zhou drank so much? Careful, or your stomach will feel uncomfortable in a bit.”
“Sister-in-law, he drank for CiCi,” CiCi said. “Didn’t he call for external aid? CiCi didn’t know, so he covered six glasses all by himself. Then it was CiCi’s own turn, and CiCi didn’t know either, so he drank on CiCi’s behalf again, making it nine glasses.”
“…” Shan Dai was stunned—it could work like that? But if not like that, letting a young kid like Shen Jiani drink three glasses in one go made her heart ache too; it was too much.
She could only give a bitter smile. “So that’s how it is. Then quickly drink some fruit juice to ease it, or you’ll get dizzy in a bit.”
Shen Jiani was already holding a glass of watermelon juice and delivering it in front of Zhou Xiangming. “Quick, quick, quick, Brother Ming! The game has just started, you can’t fall! Otherwise, the two of us will both end up dead in a bit!”
The man laughed, taking the fruit juice and taking a sip.
The rest of the crowd also shook with laughter.
Next came another man, Pu Huaiyan’s friend, the one who worked in the public/government sector—he seemed to be called Zhao Tingzhi.
He was exceptionally handsome, carrying a distinct vibe of a refined rascal. The man knit his brows slightly and said: “Difficult. I remember one line called… something like flowers bloom…”
CiCi reminded him: “You can ask for external aid, but you have to close your eyes~”
The man smiled bitterly, shaking his head: “Let me think a bit more. Having everyone fall one by one really makes a fool of us in front of Ms. Shan.” Two seconds later, he said: “When flowers bloom and are worth picking, pick them straight away; do not wait until there are no flowers left and break empty branches.”
“Woah!”
“Isn’t that pretty impressive?”
“As expected of someone in the public sector, Brother Ting, not a traitor!” Shen Jiani expressed her admiration.
Everyone burst into loud laughter, and Shan Dai couldn’t help but smile as well.
Next was Pu Huaiyan’s relative. Without even thinking, he asked Shan Dai: “Sister-in-law, a little help?”
Shan Dai smiled, saying: “Fallen flowers leave a person standing alone; in the light rain, swallows fly in pairs.”
“Impressive, impressive! Sister-in-law is so awesome!” The man immediately raised his glass to toast her. “Thank you, Sister-in-law!”
“Sister-in-law is going to be busy next—nobody is thinking for themselves anymore,” CiCi remarked with emotion.
Shan Dai clinked glasses with the other party, taking a light sip. She didn’t mind helping everyone, though they wouldn’t all fail to come up with lines.
Next was Pu Huaiyan. Everyone knew that if he didn’t know, Shan Dai would definitely step up to save him.
Although Shan Dai said she wouldn’t care about him, in reality, she had already prepared herself.
CiCi said: “Here it comes, it’s President Pu’s turn! Quick, do you need support?”
A whole group of people looked over.
Pu Huaiyan raised his wine glass and thought for a bit, shaking his head after a moment. He raised his wine glass, drank it in one gulp, then poured more wine, and drank another glass…
Shan Dai stared at him blankly… She wanted to stop him, but he had already finished drinking most of it.
Everyone was curious too. Zhou Xiangming asked with a smile: “So straightforward! Why didn’t you ask your wife for help?”
CiCi was also amazed: “Yeah, why didn’t you ask Sister-in-law? Sister-in-law helped others, so how could she not help you, President Pu!”
Everyone chatted away with smiles and questions, endlessly curious.
Shan Dai was very curious too, even feeling a slight panic in her heart—wondering if he had assumed she really wouldn’t help him because of what she said earlier?
In the blink of an eye, the man had already finished three glasses, concluding: “Alright, next person.”
It was Shan Dai’s turn. She offered a modest, awkward smile, saying to everyone: “Last year on the night of the Lantern Festival, the flower market lamps were as bright as day.”
“Without even thinking! Sister-in-law is so awesome, I’m envious!” Several people opposite cast admiring gazes over.
Shan Dai gave a dry laugh.
Then it kept passing down. The next person didn’t know either, closing his eyes to call CiCi for help—the very friend of Pu Huaiyan whom CiCi had said she could help once for free.
CiCi thought of a line: “An outing on a spring day, apricot blossoms blown all over my head. Whose young lad on the road is so dashing and fluidly stylish?”
“Wow, this line sounds so nice! CiCi, if your husband hears this, he’s going to be jealous!”
A group of people laughed. The girl pouted teasingly: “Slick-tongued! Helping you out and you don’t even know how to be grateful.”
“Grateful, grateful! I toast you a glass!”
They kept passing it along to Sui Yuan. Unexpectedly, CiCi couldn’t come up with anything, forcing her husband to drink instead, making the group laugh wildly.
In Shan Dai’s peripheral vision, Pu Huaiyan had been drinking wine nonstop. Clearly knowing that if he didn’t know the next round he’d have to drink again, he still showed no restraint.
She really couldn’t hold back after he drank three glasses continuously, reaching out her hand to grip his wrist.
The man looked over.
Shan Dai asked in confusion: “Why drink so much? You’ll get dizzy in a bit.”
“I won’t, my alcohol tolerance is very good.” He went to raise his wine glass.
Shan Dai pressed down on it once more.
The man slowly delivered his gaze.
Shan Dai decided to divert his topic: “Why did you drink by yourself just now? Did you really think I wouldn’t care about you? I was joking, couldn’t you tell?”
“Don’t know.”
Shan Dai was surprised. “You really didn’t know? Then you didn’t even give it a try?”
The man pursed his lips without speaking.
A slight panic fluttered in Shan Dai’s heart again, and she couldn’t help but press in a low voice: “What’s wrong?”
“To me, you said you wouldn’t help; to others, you worried about their stomach feeling uncomfortable, and without a second thought, poetry lines rolled right off your tongue.”
“…”
Shan Dai froze for a few seconds without reacting, only slowly realizing afterwards… Was he… jealous???
She sucked in a breath of cold air and lowered her head.
Pu Huaiyan’s burning gaze passed over. “Mm?”
“…”
“Mm?”
“…” Shan Dai turned her head to look at him in distress, saying softly, “How old are you? Mr. Zhou drank nine glasses in one breath. I was just busy chatting with you so I didn’t know the reason. I think any normal person would ask about it—the rule was three glasses.”
The color deep in his eyes spread like ink bleeding in water, staring at her continuously without revealing his intent, as if probing how much genuine concern for others was contained in her statement “ask about it.”
Shan Dai was thoroughly helpless, continuing to lower her voice to tell him: “Next time I’ll help you, alright? I’m truly defeated by you. Do you actually know the lines yourself? Did you do it on purpose?”
“Mm.”
“…” She was furious! His stomach wasn’t good yet he drank so much on purpose, and just now he kept chugging away continuously.
Shan Dai went to pinch his wine glass and move it far away. “Not allowed to drink anymore.”
Pu Huaiyan watched her actions, listened to her words, and the corners of his mouth slowly curved upward.
“Sister-in-law, Sister-in-law, save me!” Shen Jiani’s collapsing voice came over.
Shan Dai immediately looked over.
Zhou Xiangming gave a bitter laugh: “With great difficulty I thought of one line, but there are two of us, so we can only trouble Sister-in-law.”
Shan Dai was already immune to this title, instinctively reciting a line of poetry: “When people are at leisure, sweet osmanthus blossoms fall; the night is quiet, the spring mountain empty.”
“Wow, this poem is so beautiful! Sister-in-law is so awesome!” Shen Jiani clapped her hands, beaming with joy.
Next was Zhao Tingzhi again. He hadn’t needed Shan Dai’s help just now, and this time he also said: “Just thought of a line: ‘Wait until autumn arrives on the eighth day of the ninth lunar month—after my flower blooms, a hundred flowers shall be slaughtered.’”
“Woah,” Shen Jiani immediately asked, “This line sounds so imposing! What does it mean, Brother Ting?”
Zhao Tingzhi was just about to speak when a friend beside him said: “I’ve heard this line before! It probably means back in ancient times, that, flower fairy had a grudge against others, and she felt August and September were suitable for taking revenge, so she killed all her enemies!”
Shan Dai: “…” She covered her forehead, lowered her head, and laughed.
In her peripheral vision, the birthday boy whose mood had improved couldn’t help but raise the corners of his mouth high. Shan Dai finally understood what he had meant by Shen Jiani’s “First Emperor of Qin playing with the feudal lords” situation earlier. This group of people was truly all pretty much the same—aside from Mr. Zhao who worked in the public sector and possessed genuine knowledge, the others were truly unfamiliar with Chinese literature.
“Sister-in-law, what are you laughing at? What are you and your President Pu laughing at? Is that not what it means? I thought it sounded weird.” Even CiCi wasn’t sure, immediately acting like a good student and unashamedly asking.
Pu Huaiyan didn’t want Shan Dai to communicate too much with them at all—a single extra word made him jealous—so he waved his hand and said: “That’s exactly what it means.”
Shan Dai: “…”
Pu Huaiyan: “It’s my turn, right?”
Shan Dai: “…”
Being so proactive this time—she was truly defeated by this man. She offered a helpless, faint smile.
The man began to think solemn and straight under everyone’s burning gazes. After a few seconds, he knit his brows slightly, turning his gaze toward his side: “Madam, a little help?”
Everyone: “…”
Shan Dai: “…” She really didn’t believe that a top graduate from Yale couldn’t recite two lines of ancient Chinese poetry. But there was no way out; she really didn’t want a certain someone to be jealous to death. So she raised her eyes to glance at him, saying: “Having exhausted all joy, we turned the boat back late at night, accidentally straying deep into the lotus blossoms.”
“Wow, everything Sister-in-law says is so beautiful! As expected of someone who grew up in China!” CiCi expressed her envy.
The corners of Pu Huaiyan’s mouth had long curved up to who-knows-where. He raised his wine glass to clink against Shan Dai’s red wine glass. “Thank you, Madam.”
Everyone hooted, saying he was far too clingy—a married couple still needed to specifically say ‘thank you, Madam.’
Red-faced, Shan Dai raised her red wine glass, met his eyes, and took a light sip.
This Flying Flower Order ended after two more rounds, because people were starting to get drunk. Among them were two people who were very stubborn and felt they shouldn’t trouble a girl like Shan Dai for help—feeling that helping everyone would be too tiring for her, so everyone acted very gentlemanly.
So they kept thinking on their own, and by the end, after four rounds, they had drunk twelve glasses.
Let alone whisky, even with red wine, twelve glasses down would leave anyone dazed.
So everyone ended the game, eating and chatting.
Dinner concluded roughly two and a half hours in.
Those who hadn’t drunk too much went to the living room to play cards, while the men who had drunk too much were also teetering and leaning around the living room to sober up, with the butler attending to them.
In the dining room, Pu Huaiyan stood up, his steps a bit unsteady.
Shan Dai happened to stand up as well. Seeing him get bumped by a chair and sway, she immediately went to support him.
The man’s body temperature scalded through to her arm, making her body stiffen slightly as she instinctively wanted to retreat backward.
But the moment she took a step back, Pu Huaiyan’s body tilted directly toward her side, looking completely unable to stand firm.
She immediately stood up straight, using both hands to support him attentively. “Be careful.”
The woman’s sweet, soft, and gentle voice was like an evening breeze, brushing past his ear and blowing into his heart. Pu Huaiyan tilted his head back, closed his eyes, his thin lips curving into a faint smile.
Shan Dai supported him toward the outside of the dining room. “Let’s go upstairs to wash up first. In a bit, if you’re up for it, come down to entertain them.”
After taking two steps, the man turned her toward an elevator outside the Western dining room. Only then did Shan Dai realize there were so many elevators in his house—this was already the third one she had seen.
After entering, the man was still unable to stand firm, his body half-leaning against her shoulder.
Through the mirror, the two figures leaning tightly together could be seen clearly. Only then did Shan Dai realize there was quite a difference in their builds. “You’re so tall, Pu Huaiyan.”
The man peeked at the woman in the mirror—her slender waist easily graspable in one hand.
Not knowing he was fully sober, she tilted her head and stared at the mirror. “So tall, and so handsome—a masterpiece of God, Mr. Pu.”
Mr. Pu stole a smile.
The elevator reached the third floor, and Shan Dai supported him out. “Where is your room?” She only knew his study was at the end of the second floor.
Pu Huaiyan didn’t speak, still leaning against her in a half-drunk, half-awake state.
Shan Dai tried hard to support him against the wall, standing face-to-face: “President Pu, wake up. Where is your room? I’ll support you to your room.”
He moved forward.
Shan Dai immediately supported him forward.
After walking ten meters with great difficulty, he stopped at the door of her guest room.
She reminded him: “This is my room, President Pu.”
“Right here.” He kicked open the door.
Shan Dai: “…” Just because this was his house, it belonged to him?
“If you sleep here, where do I sleep tonight? Do you plan to leave me out on the street?” Shan Dai tried to support him to stand against the wall for a moment while she went downstairs to ask the butler.
But just one second after she moved, the man’s body fell toward one side.
Frightened, she immediately reached forward to support him.
Pu Huaiyan’s tall, large frame embraced her completely face-to-face.
Shan Dai froze, instinctively wanting to pull him up.
His body was very heavy; a man of his height and stature probably weighed twice as much as her. She really couldn’t hold him, her arms quickly turning sore.
Looking at that room behind him, she resignedly supported him inside.
Reaching the sofa, she helped him sit down. The man suddenly fell backward, almost dragging her body down with him.
She braced herself in time. “Ah…” She gasped. “I almost hurt my injured hand.”
With her soft murmur, the man’s hand resting on her body released its grip and dropped down.
Shan Dai gained her freedom and immediately stood up.
But after getting up, her legs suddenly went soft, and she knelt down beside the sofa, resting quietly against the edge of the sofa as she looked at him. “A drunk Pu Huaiyan is still so good.”
The moment he heard about her injury, he let go.
She reached out and gently poked his chest. “Did you hear me…” A piece of paper fell out from his shirt pocket—it was the birthday blessing she had written. Even though he had changed his clothes, he had transferred the paper to his new outfit.
Her gaze burned with warmth, her fingertips pressed against his warm heart as she murmured, “Did you hear me? You are still so good.”
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