Please Be More Serious Chapter 63-64

Chapter 63 So Far Yet So Close

Zhengqing and Yin Ting did not meet

for more than two weeks.

Guohao had been very strict with

Yin Ting curtailing her movements. He always had various excuses for her not to

leave home. Yin Shi thought his sister was pitiful and wanted to help. He

jokingly commented that Zhengqing was a good man, but his father replied, ‘He

is a good man, but I don’t want him as a son-in-law.’

Yin Shi was mollified. They had

thought Dad was coming to like Zhengqing.

‘This isn’t right. I will cover for

you, you can sneak out.’ He told his sister secretly.

‘Would I still have to come back?’

she asked him

‘Of course!’ he replied, if she truly ran away dad will cut off his legs!

‘Could I do it more than once?’

‘Ah?’

'There is nothing to gain if you covered for me. What is the use of only seeing each other once or twice? I don’t want Dad

to get angry and things to get worse. We video chat everyday, it’s not bad. We can

hold on to the day Dad changes his mind. When his heart gets soft, or there is

a good chance, we will meet again.’

‘But dad is very stubborn.’ He

replied, thinking to himself, that his sister was very weird.

‘So am I.’ she replied with a grin.

With that smile, Yin Shi felt he

didn’t need to feel his sister was pitiful.

Later on, she told Zhengqing that

Yin Shi offered to help them. He laughed.

One evening, he went to Yin Shi’s

bar to say thank you. They shared drinks and chatted for a long time. The

common topic was Guohao and Yin Ting.

Yin Shi came to realise that the

friendship of men could also develop from their shared loved ones, not just

having things in common.

Yin Shi tried to appease Zhengqing

not to be angry with Yin Guohao; his dad was very stubborn. Although he was a

strange old man, he had tried his best to be a good father. Zhengqing was able

to tell him about his meeting with Yin Guohao and what the older man said to

him.

The elderly have their own truth

and he could understand it. He had thought about it, at the very least he

hadn’t used forceful means, and he and Yin Ting were in agreement. He avoided

dealing with her father and avoided any escalation of the situation. As long as

everyone was being gentle, there was still room for things to change. (Zuben:

But for how long though?)

Yin Guohao may be observing them,

but they were also watching him.

Yin Ting sent him dinner every day.

To order those dishes, she had to spend time and effort. Zhengqing felt that Guohao must know about it but

he hadn’t stopped Yin Ting.

When Guohao dragged Yin Ting

shopping the other day with the excuse that she picked new shoes for him, she

had also picked a pair for Zhengqing, he hadn’t stopped her. (Zuben: Because he

thinks you would soon get bored and stop thing nonsense.)

Zhengqing was wearing the shoes Yin

Ting bought. He felt that Guohao’s mind was not as firm as Yin Ting. But, he

still stopped Yin Ting from seeing him. For now, they did not intend to test

Guohao’s bottom line. They intened to match him all the way, and tell him by

their actions, they could make their relationship work. Even with different

personalities and lives, they could be happy together.

They would find ways to adjust to

accommodate each other. All this would be shown to Guohao.

Yin Shi sighed, ‘For me to meet

brother in law more than he meets his future wife is not really appropriate

–ah.’

Zhengqing laughed. Yin Shi joined

him. Who was this old man against? Neither of the couple was sad about the

situation. That old man liked to bellow, and then blame others.

‘Do you want to send something to

Xiaoting, I can be your post man.’

Zhengqing looked thoughtful, then

he replied, ‘Or I could take you home.’

Half an hour later, Yin Ting’s

phone rang,

‘Gege!’

‘Your brother is drunk, come down

and get him.’ The voice was not her brothers but Zhengqing.

Yin Ting quickly replied, ‘You’re

drunk? I’ll come and get you.’ She left her room, and headed out.

‘Gege is drunk downstairs I’ll go

and get him.’

Guohao nodded and she changed her

shoes and went out of the house. She entered the lift and waited anxiously as

it descended slowly. Once the lift doors opened, she raced out of the building

to see Zhengqing standing there.

A large smile brightened her face

as she flew into his arms.

Yin Shi saw his sister coming, he

raised his hand in greeting but she didn’t even look at him as she ran into

Zhengqings arms.

And Zhengqing wasn’t polite; he

hugged her fiercely.

Yin Shi looked balefuly at the

lovers; you guys realise im here, right.

But the two of them were in their

own world, because they started kissing.

Yin Shi quickly turned away from

them.

Zhengqing was reluctant to part,

but he had to. Between kisses, he told her, ‘I went to your brother’s bar for a

drink. The driver is still waiting, so I need to go.’

Yin Tin nodded, still holding him

tightly. She hadn’t felt it when they hadn’t met each other, but now his arms

were around her, she realised she missed him dreadfully.

‘We must persevere. Don’t worry; we

will have all the time in the world soon.’

She nodded.

The two of them just stared into

each other’s ees not speaking. Just laughing.

They chatted everyday on the

internet and the phone. But now they were face to face, there was till a lot to

say, but no time to say it.

Zhengqing leaned down to kiss here

again, ‘I’m off.’

Yin Ting kissed him again, ‘Go to

bed early.’

Yin Shi walked a few steps away, he

didn’t want to have to see and he didn’t want to have to listen to their boring

lovers’ conversation.

When she turned to him, her face

was pink and she had a cheeky smile on her face. Zhengqing waved to him and

said thank you.

After Zhengqing left, Yin Ting was

holding on to Yin Shi’s arm.

‘Don’t laugh so baldly.’

‘Gege, I really love you.’

‘Do not deal with your brother with

your boyfriend’s flesh and blood.’ He said. He decided there and then to get a

girlfriend. Then bring his girlfriend to show off their affection.

Zhengqing got energy from Yin

Ting’s kiss. His confidence returned. The next day he was struck with

inspiration. It happened during a meeting, when his secretary pushed the door

open and headed in his direction with a document. He suddenly figured out Yin

Ting’s glass riddle.

YongKai’s “Show” women’s leather

shoes were one of his most popular brands. He knew that the brand was first

created by Yin Guohao, Yin Ting’s mother was called Yu Xuping; which was why

the brand was called “Show” and the brand’s marketing position has always been

– the beauty and expression of women.

Zhengqing did not directly control

“Show”, but all the brands were overseen by him. “Show”’s products were good,

the channels were mature and the brand had a much esteemed reputation in the

market. Zhengqing has always been assured of their plans.

In this meeting, “Show”’s general

manager was presenting the brand’s marketing plans for the coming financial

year. While listening to the report, Zhengqing had been struck with

inspiration, because the plans were very detailed, the vision Zhengqing had was

crystalised quickly in his mind.

After the other companies finished

their marketing presentations, Zhengqing spoke up, ‘I have an idea.’

The conference room quieted down to

listen to Vice President Qiu,

‘A Woman. A Dreamer.’

The manager of “Show” got nervous:

Did this serious work man VP eat my emotional medicine today?

‘The try-out experience idea is

clever, but I don’t think it would be enough to make a sensation.’ He said, ‘We

can’t just let anyone try out the shoes, there is no threshold so people won’t

be eager.’

And then? Everyone wanted to hear

where VP Qiu was going.

‘A pair of versatile comfortable

shoes a woman could wear while she realises her dreams. This process is shown

to everyone and we create a platform to provide rewards.’

‘Sporting activities?’ someone

asked.

‘That is an option. We can use the

internet. With the theme: Traveller. A traveller discovers beauty and shares it

with others. As long as women who wear “Show” shoes participate, we can provide

financial support for their travel. The prerequisite is that they submit their

plans for people to vote on which interests them the most. Then the shortlisted

candidates are given “Show” shoes to wear while they realise their dream. They

write their own stories, take their own pictures, and show themselves in

essence. The most popular rated journey is the winner.

The attendees in the conference room

nodded, ‘From the start, it is the beginning of a story. Not just beauty but a

story to attract the public’s attention.’

‘Yes, and for them to show off.’

Zhengqing concluded.

‘This sounds more interesting than

shoe try outs.’

Everyone began to discuss,

‘The theme is not just about

travel, it’s about dreams. The person doesn’t have to be a tourist. Even their

everyday life is good, right?’

‘Flat shoes have versatility, they

can be casual or formal depending on what they are worn with. It reflects the

characteristics of our personality.’

‘This would be easier to organise

that pubic tryouts because the target population is a controlled one. We should

talk to online travel bloggers; they can influence the population, and

depending on their popularity, go to the finals. The influence of the campaign

would be guaranteed.’

Was it? Zhengqing didn’t know about

online travel blogs. He only knew that his heart’s Xiaoting was very powerful.

In his heart, he knew no one else could spread beauty and dreams better than

she could.

She had a dream to travel, he did

not like to travel but he wanted her to realise this dream. (Zuben: Should you be abusing your power because of love?)

She had said a traveller is someone

who sees beauty and tells everyone. He wanted to provide this platform for her

to show everyone the beauty she saw.

He also wanted Guohao to see, two

completely different people could promote each other. He wanted to use her

mother’s brand to help her fly.

‘The blogger ‘Air Balloon’ has more

than two million fans, many of whom are women who like to walk…’ his colleagues

discussed amongst themselves.

Zhengqing came back down to earth,

who has two million fans?! How many were his family’s XiaoTing’s fans? Maybe

about twenty to thirty thousand?

(Zuben: Dream on, dreamer life is

in the way)

pinterest

64 Gifts of Love

Zhengqing put the popularity

contest out of his mind. The most important thing was to set down plans, and

operating models.

Half an hour of heated disccurion

later, the framework was established. The finer details like advertising and

media coverage would be sorted later.

They set the date for a complete

plan by the start of April so that all relevant departments had time to

cooperate.

After the meeting, Zhengqing was

still excited. He wanted to tell Yin Ting the news. He wanted to tell her to choose

a place to go, and wear her family brand shoes and blog about it.

But he knew he cold not tell her

now. The plan had not been finalised, He hoped when he told Yin Ting, things

would be settled and she would be pleased. She could buy a ticket and go to the

places she had wanted to visit the most.

To achieve this, there was an

important person he must convince first. He thought he could do it. (Zuben: Bad

idea)

When Yin Guohao received the

invitation from Zhengqing he did not show his surprise. He calmly listened to

the younger man’s request to meet with him and they arranged to meet at the

same fateful restaurant.

When Zhengqing arrived, Guohao was

already there. They greeted each other politely, and they ate before they began

discussion.

‘What do you wish to discuss with

me? Is it to change my mind about you and Xiao Ting?’ Guohao asked as he drank

his tea, ‘My view hasn’t changed.’

‘I’m not here to ask you that. An

old tune cannot solve the problem. It would be a waste of time.’ Zhengqing

replied with a small smile, ‘I propose another angle.’

‘Like?’ Guohao asked, his voice

cold showing no curiosity.

But Zhengqing nearly smiled at his

manner and said, ‘That day you told us not to meet, Xiaoting gave me a riddle.

She said that glass is like reason; it protects our hearts. Behind the wall of

glass, we protected from the wind and rain, but we can see beauty in the

distance. If we want to reach that beauty, we can’t because we are blocked by

the glass. To reach it, we will have to break the glass, but after breaking it

we can’t put it back together again. What can be done?’ (Zuben: If you are

likenening reason to something inflexible as glass, it makes no sense. I know

there is a point to this)

Guohao did not reply.

‘When she said this, I pictured her

and me on either side of a glass wall. We could see each other but could not

touch. To reach each other, we would have to break the glass. If we don’t break

the glass we would always be separated. Like you said; death chess.’

‘I don’t agree with death chess.

But I ruminated on it in the back of my mind, could not think of the best

answer. Until, I was in the conference room, and my secretary pushed the door

open. It suddenly came to me.’

He looked at Yin Guohao, who was

watching him.

‘Why break it? Is it not enough to

make a door? Such a simple answer, took me a long time to think of it. I sit in

that conference room at least once a day, the number of times people go in and

out of that door is countless. Later I understood why it didn’t occur to me so

quickly.’

Guohao smiled and continued to

drink his tea.

‘Because Xiaoting asked me this

question, I was thinking of an answer based on what she said. Kind of like

stereotyping. I prejudiced and only considered destruction but missed the

simplest solution, seen everyday.’

‘Are you saying I am prejudiced

against you?’ Guohao asked. (Zuben: Yes)

‘In your mind, Xiaoting is an

innocent romantic who wants to be a traveller. I am a workaholic. We won’t work

out. You imagine our contradiction is between entertainment and work, but we

get along, and not because we have to sacrifice the interests of one party,’

‘Isnt it?’ (Zuben: Don’t

relationships require some sacrifice?)

‘Not completely.’

‘So how do you plan on convicing

me? You just said the old tune wouldn’t work.’

‘I think a little bit of an

adjustment would be good. I talk to Xiaoting everyday, and we have begun to

know a lot about each other, but I have very little interaction with you. You

grieve Xiaoting’s mother’s death. You are stil filled with remorse, but also

make Xiaoting accompany you and give up her dream. You believe I am like you

past self, so you feel my presence in addition to yours is trying Xiaoting

down. She would lose her zest for life.’

‘That is right.’

‘The past is past, you can’t change

it,’ Zhengqing continued, ‘but now, you and I, we can change –adjust a little

bit, for our loved ones. Not a hardline change, just a gentle adjustment.’

‘Such as?’

‘You and I can spend time with each

other; fishing, dinner on occasion, you can teach me how to play chess, we can

go to the theatre and watch a play…my parents left early so I don’t have

experience of getting along with elders, but I would like to learn how to get

along with you.’

Guohao was a bit embarrassed, he

hadn’t expected Zhengqing to do something like this, ‘What is your goal? Tell

me now.’

‘You don’t hate me, do you? You

just don’t want me to marry XiaoTing. I want to replace Xiaoting in

accompanying you. So that she can feel relieved and do what she wants. And you

can put down your stereotypes, and see our commonality. Won’t that be good?’

Guohao was flummoxed; replace

Xiaoting in accompanying him?

No struggle against the glass wall,

but create a door?

Yin Guohao countered, ‘I already

have a son.’

‘Who doesn’t enjoy talking about

business. He doesn’t know about your business history, he doesn’t know what you

current friends are working on or their progress in their endeavours. If you

and I get along well, Xiaoting would be rest assured and she can be relaxed as

she fulfils her own goalds. And you can see how Xiaoting and I relate to each

other to make each other happy.’

Guohao grunted, ‘It’s an easy thing

to say…’

‘In a few days it’s Xiaoting’s

birthday. Lets go together.’

Guohao looked at Zhengqing, there

was a smile in his eyes. Zhengqing hadn’t asked to take Xiaoting on a date, but

to celebrate her birthday together as a family.

‘Alright.’

Zhengqing breathed a sigh of

relief, excitement bubbling in his heart.

‘You must have a present for

Xiaoting.’ Guohao guessed.

‘Yes.’

‘But that being said, I am still

not allowing you to date, neither do I agree with your proposal. This is just

to celebrate her birthday.’

‘It just means I need to work

harder.’ Zhengqing said not discouraged or disappointed. He had expected it.

‘You have no time to accompany my

daughter, but propose to accompany me. Isn’t it too much?’

‘I’m talking about Xiaoting

travelling abroad. I can stay with you when I finish work and on the weekends.

??’

‘?’

‘? The difference between caring

and not caring.’ Zhengqing didn’t mind the old man deliberately provoking him.

He poured the for Guoha and smiled, ‘I will care for you and take care of you

and in turn you will get to know me and accept me. ?Who would Xiaoting’s wings

be tied to?’

Guohao was silent.

As the left the restaurant, Guohao

said to Zhengqing, ‘The is something wrong with your solution. It is impossible

to break the glass. And to put up the door you have to cut it, right?’

(Zuben: Nonsense allegories are

nonsense)

Zhengqing was surprised, but Guohao

merely laughed and got into his car.

For the first time, Zhengqing felt

Guohao was not really against him and Yin Ting. (Zuben: Counting chickens

again)

Yin Ting’s birthday arrived

quickly.

That morning, the first thing

Zhengqing did was go to her blog and wish her happy birthday.

She soon replied with: Sofa!!!!!

(Zuben: ¬.¬) followed by a proudly dancing emoticon.

Zhengqing replied with a bit smiley

face.

Afterwards, her followers began to

send their birthday wishes.

A few minutes later, Yin Ting

called. There was an excited squeal, ‘I only just found out.’

‘I didn’t want to ruin the

surprise.’

‘Serious, you come here and let me

take a bite’

Zhengqing laughed, ‘In the evening.’

Yin Ting’s birthday was being held

in her home, just her family and himself. He was satisfied with that arrangement.

One more, he decided that maybe Guohao was not really against them dating.

Although, he hadn’t allowed him to date Yin Ting properly and neither had he

taken Zhengqing up on the offer of going fishing together.

‘Please be more serious, I love you

so much.’

She had just discovered that

Zhengqing had changed his internet ID to her birthday followed by his: 413510.

‘Yes, I put you before me. You know

people focus on the mantissa[1]. It’s to remind you not to forget my birthday.’

‘Don’t change it.’

‘I won’t. It’s my first birthday

present for you.’

‘And the second one?’

‘When I see you tonight.’

That evening, Zhengqing presented

himself to the Yin Family residence. In his hands was a box of stationery;

little colourful notebooks, stickers, colour pens, and other knick-knacks.

When she saw the gift, she gave an

exclamation of surprise. It a lot of the items came in her favourite shade of

pink.

‘You actually went to buy this

yourself?!’ she asked, her tone incredulous. She had expected he would by

jewellery or something mature.

‘This is your second gift.’ He said

solemnly.

‘Is there a third?’ she asked

jokingly.

‘Yes.’ He replied.

She looked at him; he was carrying

a laptop bag. She eyed him suspiciously. He smiled and said, ‘I’m going to sing

you a birthday song.’

Yin Ting widened her eyes in mock

shock, ‘Is it really you?’

‘Your father is around, be good.’

He said glancing at Yin Guohao’s direction, seeing the older man was not paying

attention, he turned back to her and said, ‘He isn’t watching us, you can kiss

me.’

Yin Ting laughed and took cover

with an accounts book.

With her laughing so loudly, her

dad must be watching them now, sure enough, he was looking in their direction.

Zhengqing sighed and gave her a censuring look. But she grinned and wrapped her

hands around his neck and gave him a peck, and rushed back to her dad’s side.

‘Dad, look! Please be more serious’

gift to me. It’s so pretty.’

‘Very nice.’ Guohao said flatly. He

turned and gave her a box, and said, ‘This is father’s gift to you.’

Yin Ting beckoned Zhengqing over so

they could open the gift together.

Inside were two boxes. When she

realised what they wereYin Tin began to scream. It was a camera and the lens

she’d always wanted. (Zuben: Isnt she a rich or well off enough to have bought

such a thing herself?). Though she had a few lenses already, her heart had been

itching to buy the latest camera and lens. She hadn’t expected her father to

know.

She was so excited, she held on to

her father’s hands as she said, ‘Thank you so much, dad.’

Yin Shi could not help himself, ‘Do

you guys want to eat?’ These two men competing in a drama over a woman. (Zuben:

I know right) He didn’t want to have to witness this at all. He had sat at the

table pointedly but he was pointedly ignored.

Yin Ting announced they should eat.

She had received great gifts. She took her father in one hand and Zhengqing in

the other and led them to the table.

They ate. They drank. They talked

and laughed. Soon, it was time to cut the cake.

The candles were lit, the lights turned

off, everyone began to sing birthday songs.

Zhengqing had practiced a long and

hard for this, but he still dare not sing. But Yin Shi pointed ahd shouted,

‘Happy Birthday to you! Get ready!’

Zhengqing began to sing in a small

voice trying to hide under Guohao and Yin Shi. The result was open and found to

be bad.

The other men did not sing at all.

He kept singing in that small voice

like a thief, as he got more nervous, his singing went out of tune. It was too

funny.

Guohao lowered his head. Yin Shi

laughed – his shoulders shaking with it. He wouldn’t be sick if he didn’t say anything.

Zhengqing steeled his heart, continued to sing and turned the volume up.

Yin Ting laughed so hard she was

wiping tears from her eyes, ‘It’s the first time I’ve heard Happy Birthday to

you sung out of tune. I’m very touched.’

Zhengqing blinked and in his usual

solemn manner he said, ‘I can sing ten more times. Please don’t leave.’

Yin Ting burst out laughing even

harder. Yin Shi jumped up and said, ‘How can a man’s man hold grudges? Revenge

is too much. And you,’ he said pointing to his sister, ‘Why are you laughing?!’

Zhengqing gave him an exaggerated smile.

The one who is lauging is you. Yin Guohao was also smiling. The smile lit up

his features and his face was full of wrinkles.

The cake was cut and shared, and

everyone moved to the living room where Yin Ting made tea for everyone.

Yin Shi took out his gift; it was a

small laptop.

‘Wow!’ she cried, ‘The gifts I got

today are really unexpected.’

Yin Shi smiled and glanced at

Zhengqing. Zhengqing look out a document from the bag he was carrying and

handed it to Yin Ting, ‘My third gift.’ He said.

Yin Ting took the papers full of

suspicion. He was giving her documents? Was it a prenuptial agreement? Did he

want dad to cut off his legs?

It wasn’t a pre-nup.

As she read, her eyes became hot.

My

dream is to be a traveller.

What

is a traveller?

It

is to go to different places and see lots of beautiful things and share it with

others.

[1] Mantissa: Part of the logarithm

after the decimal point.

Sorry for the typos, I was sleepy when I posted it. And I got bored of reading it over and over.

Hope yous had nice Easter breaks if you celebrate. And if you don't, hope you had a nice weekend/holiday/whatever.