Chapter 27: You Really Can Endure

“That’s right. Your crappy taxi is so cramped I can’t even stretch my legs. Who’d want to sit in it?”

Xiao Junzi snorted smugly at him, then considerately opened the car door for Jian Huaifeng. He got in last. Just as he was about to tell the driver the destination, he realized he didn’t know it. His face darkened and he turned to Tan Tian. “Where’s that garden you mentioned?”

Tan Tian gave an address, and the driver pulled out smoothly.

****

In the tea house shaded by bamboo, Wei Nanting lifted a teacup and took a sip. He set it down, then picked up his phone. Earlier that afternoon he had sent Jian Huaifeng a message.

[I have a nice place to escape the heat. Want me to pick you up and stay a few days?]

For someone like him, if something came up, he usually just called. He was so direct it could seem rude. Later he discovered Jian Huaifeng hardly ever looked at his phone. Calls or texts, if he didn’t get a reply for half a day or a full day, that was normal.

So when something wasn’t urgent, he sent a message. It was like casting a line while fishing. Then he just sat and waited patiently.

Sure enough, over an hour passed before the reply came.

[No, Uncle. I have some things to do these days.]

No further explanation, no promise for another day. Wei Nanting smiled slightly. This kid was like a cat. When happy, it came to rub against your palm. When not, it ran far away, and you couldn’t even get a meow out of it.

It was rare for him to have no official business that afternoon. He had slipped away from people to drink tea in peace. After sitting for a while, he got bored too, so he stood and left.

Every turn in the Suzhou-style garden revealed an elegant scene. Summer greenery was thick. In the lotus pond, among the green, a few pink and white blossoms dotted the surface. A breeze carrying lotus fragrance blew by, leaving freshness all around.

Since Jian Huaifeng wasn’t coming, Wei Nanting didn’t cancel the evening banquet. He was still wearing a suit that clashed with the garden’s old-world atmosphere. He crossed a moon gate corner in a few quick steps. From the corner of his eye, a bright figure flashed by.

He stopped instinctively. He turned back and took a few steps toward the figure. He saw a young man in a phoenix crown and red-gold bridal robe walking unhurriedly along a corridor dappled with light and shadow. The corridor twisted and turned. Where willows darkened and flowers brightened, he could see the youth’s face turn back. Who else could it be but the boy who had just turned him down?

Wei Nanting stood there for a while. He no longer hurried to attend any banquet. Interest gleamed in his eyes. He returned to the tea house the way he came.

Zhao Jun had gotten addicted to playing the little eunuch. Those bags of photo props had somehow all ended up in his hands, and he still hadn’t impatiently dumped them on someone else. That alone was strange.

Tan Tian was the most enthusiastic of them all. He had insane demands for light and shadow. He dragged them across most of the garden, but only took a few shots, none satisfactory.

In Zhao Jun’s opinion, the first shot was already stunning. The second made you want to applaud. The third had a different pose. Even a tiny difference gave a different flavor.

But that long-haired, neither-male-nor-female photographer insisted on picking bones from an egg. Zhao Jun followed behind the group carrying bags and packages until his legs ached.

Zhao Jun walked slower and slower behind them, as if thinking about something. His memory only ever attached itself to food, drink, and fun. When he heard the garden’s name in the car, it had seemed vaguely familiar.

By now the sun had begun to show a fading red. If they kept wandering, it would soon be dark. Tan Tian finally found the courtyard he wanted. Qin Jianqing looked at it. It was the most desolate spot in the whole garden.

The courtyard was deep along a winding path. Moss grew between the stone steps. A few weeds sprouted from the roof tiles.

It looked refined but somewhat abandoned. Probably few people came here.

“No way. We passed so many amazing views, and you didn’t like any of them? You had to run to this cold, gloomy place?”

Tan Tian gave him a look that said You don’t get it. “The garden closes at seven. This spot is at the deepest part of the whole garden, so most visitors won’t come this way at this hour. I found it once when I got lost by accident. Moss and grass on the steps, an old beauty in red with only her shadow. The feeling I want to shoot can’t be done anywhere else.”

Jian Huaifeng stopped and looked. He was deeply drawn in by the scene. Orange-red sunset spilled over dark tiles and white walls.

It traced the maple leaves into sparse, dense ink shadows, like an old painting. Wind shook the shadows. Compared with the deliberate exquisiteness outside, this had an unintentional quality.

He remembered Tan Tian saying this was a private garden. He wondered what kind of person had bought it.

Time waited for no one. Tan Tian didn’t let him keep enjoying the scenery. He began fixing his clothes and touching up his makeup, moving him around like a doll.

Zhao Jun belonged to the world of luxury and indulgence. He couldn’t appreciate this kind of elegance.

He leaned against the wall, his gaze drifting blankly over Jian Huaifeng. Suddenly his head lit up. He finally found the answer to the question he’d been chewing on the whole way. He turned to Qin Jianqing and said, “I remember whose garden this is.”

Qin Jianqing didn’t know why he was hung up on this. It was like people didn’t agonize over who a museum belonged to. The answer was obvious and irrelevant.

“Whose? You know them?”

“I don’t. But Jian Huaifeng does.” Zhao Jun clicked his tongue and shook his head. “This garden went up for public auction a few years ago. Starting bid was one hundred million. I heard my dad mention he wanted to buy it, but in the end he didn’t win.”

“My nephew knows them?” Qin Jianqing focused. He figured it wasn’t Jian Huaifeng’s family. Among his relatives and friends, who had that kind of money and leisure? A person popped into his head. “Don’t tell me it’s Brother Wei, his uncle?”

Zhao Jun nodded. “Yeah. But I don’t remember the final auction price. I really can’t understand what these rich people are thinking. Buying a scenic garden and barely opening it to the public. What’s the point?”

Qin Jianqing laughed inwardly. He thought, ‘You’re a rich second generation, and even you can’t figure out rich people’s thoughts. How many pointless things can a rich person do on a whim? What’s the point of thinking about it?’

Zhao Jun added, “If I’d known earlier, why rush like this? We could’ve gone through the back door and reserved the whole garden. What kind of nice weather couldn’t we wait for? If today’s sunset isn’t red enough, we come back tomorrow.”

Qin Jianqing snorted. “You’re addicted to being Xiao Junzi now?”

Zhao Jun gave a shy smile and actually didn’t deny it.

Qin Jianqing: “…”

“Shift a little left. Yes. Put half your face in the sunlight. Catch that tree shadow. Lift your chin slightly. Look into the distance. Farther, farther, farther… left, left, left…”

Tan Tian directed with fiery enthusiasm, one man acting like a whole team. As Jian Huaifeng followed instructions, the conversation by the wall entered his ears clearly.

His eyes tightened. Before he could figure out what it meant, his gaze accidentally met someone’s on a pavilion not far outside the courtyard.

Jian Huaifeng felt as if a balloon in his head suddenly popped with a bang. Several lines flashed through his mind.

‘Who was that person? His uncle.’

‘Why had he run into his uncle here? Because this entire garden belonged to him…’

Jian Huaifeng imagined a little person in his head gloating: ‘Didn’t you want to hide? Didn’t you not want him to know? Where are you going to hide now?’

‘Maybe I should pretend not to recognize him. My makeup is so heavy, and the distance is so far, it’s possible to mistake me. I can say I’ve never been here before. I’ve been obediently studying at home all along.’

Tan Tian adjusted his pose again and guided his expression. “Don’t be so tense. Relax a little. Make your expression more natural…”

But this time nothing worked. “Strange. You were doing great just now. Is the costume too tight?”

He walked over to help Jian Huaifeng adjust. Jian Huaifeng shook his head. “What time is it? Are they about to close the garden?”

Tan Tian checked his watch. “Six thirty. Let’s shoot a bit more. In the last ten minutes we’ll dash out.”

Jian Huaifeng had no choice but to nod. His neck grew stiffer and stiffer. He kept feeling that gaze from not far away fixed on him, making him very uncomfortable.

Tan Tian was puzzled too. The model just couldn’t find the right state. In the next twenty minutes he didn’t get anything particularly good.

The sunset also fell fast. This courtyard was left with only cold silence. Too damaging.

Wei Nanting had found his entertainment. He sipped tea leisurely. When he raised his eyes, he could see the boy in the courtyard not far away shifting around.

He could tell the other had noticed him too. The boy’s body language clearly became awkward. It made things more interesting.

He picked up his phone, woke the camera, adjusted the focus, and before the last trace of sunset slipped away from the garden, took an unclear photo.

Closing time usually depended on his mood. Sometimes when work was flying, the garden closed only three or four days a month.

Occasionally he came to sit. Other times it depended on need.

Today was a coincidence. A formal invitation hadn’t brought the person over. In the time it took to drink another cup of tea, the person had delivered himself to the door.

Over there, it seemed the shoot was done. They were packing up the equipment scattered on the ground, preparing to leave. Only then did Wei Nanting have his assistant go invite them over.

When Yan Siqi stopped him, Jian Huaifeng knew he couldn’t keep playing dumb. He kept his head down the whole way. He thought of what he’d seen in the mirror before leaving.

His face was painted deathly pale, heavy makeup, neither male nor female. Originally he hadn’t minded. Now he was about to face an elder, and it felt wrong no matter how he looked at it.

Yet Tan Tian was still chattering beside him, reviewing the shoot endlessly. “My original story background was just a noble daughter trapped in a deep mansion, her whole life not her own. Then I saw that phoenix crown, and by coincidence matched it with this outfit. Only after putting it together did I realize this phoenix crown and red-gold bridal robe was what wealthy girls wore when they married in ancient times. So I changed the background a little…”

Jian Huaifeng could barely hear him now. Occasionally words like “family decline” and “ten miles of red bridal finery locking half a life” jumped into his ears.

They couldn’t form a coherent sentence. His mind was full of the awkwardness of being caught doing cosplay by a stern elder.

Zhao Jun was even more nervous than him.

The garden was about to close. Suddenly someone came saying they were invited over. The subject was “CEO Wei.”

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