First Frost
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Chapter 58
Am I Your Backup Plan?
Because of Mu Chengyun’s words, Wen Yifan subconsciously paid more attention to her surroundings when she left the office. After all, she did meet these types of incidents before and she was a little uneasy. She recalled all the articles she’d done recently.
She didn’t have any recollection or impression of displeasing anyone. Everything was pretty much peaceful.
There wasn’t any out-of-the-ordinary reports that she’d done either.
There were quite a number of people around Shang An at this time. Duo Luo Street was also nearby, so the streets were bustling too. The street lights cast a blanket over the streets. In the dark of the night, the world was still brightly lit.
Wen Yifan’s worries were also put to ease.
Her body shivered in the cold as she lowered her chin into the warmth of her scarf and hailed down a taxi.
The restaurant where Qian Fei’s wedding dinner was held was near Shang An. It only took around ten minutes by car.
After getting into the car, Wen Yifan sent a message to Sang Yan. When she thought about the numerous friends of his that she would be meeting soon, Wen Yifan contemplated it before taking her lipstick out from her handbag and lightly touched up her makeup.
Wen Yifan stared out the window as her thoughts gradually floated away, thinking about Mu Chengyun’s clarification of the incident at Sang Yan’s graduation afterparty.
Before this, she never really bothered thinking about these things, neither did she ever thought about talking to him about these. However, now that they were getting closer, her thoughts were more complicated. She’d always worry that their current relationship would someday be affected by their past.
“Seems like they said something about one of the seniors who became someone else’s backup plan for a few years.”
“Then Senior Sang spoke.”
In a moment, time rewinded itself.
And it brought her back to that dull, suffocating summer.
The young man stood before her. The light raindrops fluttered over his lashes, gathering into beads of water before dripping down. His throat lightly moved as he gulped as his voice came out softly, “Why did you register for Yihe University.”
Wen Yifan had long forgotten her feelings at the time. She only remembered that, she couldn’t come up with a reasonable explanation and calmly replied, “Because I promised someone else.”
Sang Yan stared at her. “What about me?”
“…”
After a long while, Sang Yan’s eyes fluttered down. They didn’t seem to hold an ounce of warmth in them. For the first time, he put a distance between them by addressing her, word for word, “Wen Yifan, am I your backup plan?”
…
Her trip down memory lane was rudely interrupted by a loud honk.
The driver up front was extremely impatient as he immediately rolled down the window and shouted out the window, “Are you dumb?! Do you not know how to drive?!”
Wen Yifan’s body lunged forward with the momentum and looked out as she snapped out of it. She saw a sports car cutting into their lane at high speed, almost crashing into them.
After yelling, the driver huffed before driving again.
Wen Yifan was a little shaken up. “Sir, what happened?”
“Miss, you were surprised, right?” Wen Yifan had good looks and her speech was gentle. The driver’s temper dissipated instantly. “This is how Shang An is. These bunch of kids would hit the road after drinking and there’s no one there to keep an eye on them while they drunk-drive.”
“…”
Wen Yifan knew about that.
They’ve already made a bunch of reports about these incidents in the team.
However, Wen Yifan’s attention was snatched by the words ‘drunk-drive’. She froze and suddenly recalled the morning of Valentine’s day. The incident where she met Che Xinde who had been drunk-driving.
She wasn’t sure if he’d find out that she was working in Nanwu TV Station because of that.
Wen Yifan recalled Mu Chengyun’s description again.
A man in his 40s.
“…”
She wasn’t sure about that assumption, and her lips straightened.
After arriving, Wen Yifan paid and got down the car.
Before she got her phone out, she noticed Sang Yan standing at the entrance of the restaurant. His posture was lazy and his tall figure was clad in a loosely tucked in suit. He had a cigarette between his fingers and he looked bored.
Wen Yifan walked up to him. “Why’re you smoking here?”
At that, Sang Yan glanced at her. He had a strong scent of alcohol on him, she wasn’t sure how much he’s had to drink. However, his eyes were still clear and she couldn’t see any signs of drunkenness.
“Aren’t you cold?” Wen Yifan touched his hand and warmly said, “Let’s go in. Your clothes don’t really keep you warm.”
Sang Yan hummed in agreement and put out his smoke on the bin at the side. “It’s cold. Huuu huuu and gimme some warmth.”
“Did you have too much to drink?” Wen Yifan observed him and held his hand, shoving it into her pocket. “Didn’t you say you weren’t the groomsmen? Why were you still forced to drink?”
Sang Yan stared at her face and lazily said, “Everyone taken had to drink.”
Wen Yifan blinked. “So do I have to drink too?”
“Of course,” Sang Yan lead her in. “However,”
“Hm?”
Sang Yan’s lips curved up slightly, his fingers lightly caressing her arm. He was in a pretty good mood.
“Your boyfriend’s already settled your share.”
…
Wen Yifan was brought to the table where Sang Yan had been sitting at.
It was basically occupied by Qian Fei’s ride or dies and they all knew each other. When they saw Wen Yifan, who was brought over by Sang Yan, the noisy bunch of guys instantly quietened down.
Noticing everyone’s gazes, Wen Yifan was uneasy.
The first one to break the silence was of course Su Haoan. “My god, Sang Yan, your girlfriend is Wen Yifan?”
Sang Yan raised his brows. “What about it?”
“Was this the lady you said that was, madly trying to pick you up?” Su Haoan was done. He figured there was no way he could ever believe his nonsense. “How could you even dare to say those words?!”
Wen Yifan glanced at Sang Yan.
Su Haoan turned to Wen Yifan and said, “Wen Yifan, can you say something and shut this dog’s face up?! I’m seriously not used to seeing this smug look of his!”
“Ah?” Wen Yifan didn’t think there were any problem with those words and belatedly replied, “But I really, well, it’s not really picking up…”
“…”
Wen Yifan thought that the word ‘pickup’ didn’t sound very sincere. “I was chasing after him.”
When she said that, the table became quiet again.
Sang Yan didn’t say a word and quietly played with her hand, his smugness skyrocketing. He turned and stared at Wen Yifan’s serious look as she explained. He suddenly looked down and let out a few laughs.
Su Haoan was a little speechless. “You’re giving Sang Yan way too much face.”
Not a single one of them at the table believed Wen Yifan’s words.
Wen Yifan didn’t really notice their response and only looked around the table. She saw the guy who was next to Sang Yan and quickly recognised him as Sang Yan’s dorm mate in university.
He was Chen Junwen.
“So,” Chen Junwen spoke up at that point, sounding extremely gossipy. “Su Haoan, that girl that you were talking about all over the place, that Sang Yan couldn’t for the life of him manage to chase after in high school, is her?”
Su Haoan huffed, “Exactly, and this guy still has the cheek to say that the lady was the one after him.”
“…”
Wen Yifan was a little conflicted and leaned into Sang Yan ear and asked, “Do you want to explain?”
Sang Yan glanced at her. “What’s there to explain?”
Wen Yifan was quite worried about his image. “Explain that you weren’t actually lying.”
“…”
Chen Junwen continued, “So Sang Yan, was this why you were single throughout university?”
“Well, you’re thinking too much into it,” Su Haoan said. “Sang Yan just genuinely couldn’t find a girlfriend, alright? Who’s gonna tolerate that dog shit of a temper?! Can you? You must have a great personality to be able to spend your life with him!”
Chen Junwen drank some beer. “For real, when Sang Yan asked me earlier if Duan Jiaxu was handsome, I really thought Duan Jiaxu had caught his special attention.”
Again with the couple thing.
Wen Yifan listened in on Chen Junwen’s words.
“I’m done. Then he asked, what, uhh-“ Chen Junwen mimicked Sang Yan’s tone of voice, slowly saying, “Then, between Duan Jiaxu and I, who’s more handsome?”
“…”
Wen Yifan immediately looked at Sang Yan.
And met with his condescending yet meaningful gaze.
Like he was taking his sweet time to belatedly take his revenge.
This time, Wen Yifan decided not to take advantage of the situation. She bit her lips in contemplation before leaning into his ear.
“I give you my support.”
“There’s no need,” Sang Yan pretended as if he didn’t accept this method of resolution. He said in a sing-song tone, “I won’t take advantage of people’s misery.”
Wen Yifan felt like laughing. “No, I’m being sincere.”
Sang Yan hummed, “Is that so?”
“Otherwise,” Wen Yifan paused and thought about Su Haoan’s words, “I won’t live up to my ‘madly trying to pick you up’ title.”
“…”
The dinner was about to come to an end.
Sang Yan was dragged over by a few old friends to another table for a chat. Wen Yifan didn’t know those people and didn’t follow along. She just remained at her seat and waited for him to come back. Her head was lowered as she scrolled through her phone. She overheard Chen Junwe’s conversation with another friend.
Chen Junwen sighed, “I can’t believe Ol’ Qian is the earliest one to get married. I remember him crying about being someone’s backup plan all throughout uni life during the graduation afterparty.”
Someone else laughed, “Well, we’ve bloody graduated for a few years now.”
Chen Junwen laughed, “Yeah, I remember Sang Yan got drunk that time and mistook me for someone else. He even said that, what-“
Wen Yifan subconsciously turned to look.
Before she got to hear the rest of it, Su Haoan suddenly stood up like he’d had too much to drink and raised his glass towards Wen Yifan, “Come, Wen Yifan. To celebrate your relationship with our good brother Sang Yan, come now, let’s have a few drinks!”
Wen Yifan looked away and thought about Sang Yan saying that those who were couples had to drink. She smiled. It was a joyous occasion so she happily accepted the drink.
…
By the time Sang Yan returned, he saw that Wen Yifan had been forced a good amount of alcohol down her system. She had a strong scent of alcohol on her, although her complexion was normal. Other than her face being a little redder, she didn’t look much different.
Her reaction time was noticeably slower though, and her gaze was a little clouded.
Sang Yan had seen Wen Yifan drunk and he could roughly gauge her current condition.
He looked at Su Haoan with anger. “What’s your problem?”
“My dear brother,” Su Haoan wasn’t too sober himself as he grinned and said, “That’s right, it’s me! I’ve personally! Created for you a beautiful night! There’s no need for thanks!”
“…”
Wen Yifan was still seated there, calmly drinking.
Sang Yan didn’t let her continue and snatched the cup away from her hands, putting it aside. Seeing how it wasn’t early anymore, he pulled her up by her arm and said in a deep voice, “Let’s go home.”
Wen Yifan lifted her gaze and stared at Sang Yan’s face. “Okay.”
Both of them had drank and couldn’t drive back.
Although Wen Yifan still looked calm and collected, she wasn’t walking in a straight line anymore. She was held by Sang Yan as they left the restaurant. She then stood by and watched as Sang Yan hailed a taxi by the side of the road.
But then, Wen Yifan got tired and sat down directly on the short stone pillars at the hailing area.
The street wasn’t a remote one, but after a long time, there wasn’t a taxi in sight.
Seeing Wen Yifan’s actions, Sang Yan walked back to her and squatted down to look at her. His brows furrowed as he reached out to pat her face. “You’ve got quite the nerve.”
Wen Yifan nodded and accepted the title. “Thank you.”
Sang Yan scoffed. “Who let you drink?”
Wen Yifan stared directly at him and suddenly reached out to touch him. “Sang Yan,”
“What?”
Unsure of what she’d just thought of, Wen Yifan bit her lips. Her mood was slightly dampened and she rubbed her nose a little before saying softly, “Have you not been spending the past few years well?”
Sang Yan’s expression froze for a bit. “Who said what to you?”
Wen Yifan shook her head. “No.”
Sang Yan laughed, “So what’re you thinking?”
“I’m thinking,” Wen Yifan tilted her head, her face extremely perplexed, as though she was solving a difficult puzzle. “Why did you become the Star of Duo Luo Street.”
“…”
Never imagining that he’d hear that, Sang Yan’s laugh paused.
“You can call it quits now,” Wen Yifan sighed and said in a serious sort of voice, “I’ll purchase you, okay?”
“…”
TL/N: The word she used for “I’ll purchase you” is the word used for those paying a sum of money to buy someone’s freedom (slaves, prostitutes, etc) – so he can stop selling himself as the ‘star of duo luo street’.
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