After that, Xiao Anlan was busy for several more days.

He couldn’t come to see Yu Wanru, so he thought of a new way. Each time he sent a gift through his driver, he would also write a note for the driver to hand to his “wife.”

The first time Yu Wanru received his brief note, she thought it was something serious. But when she opened it, all she saw were phrases like “I miss you,” “I want to hold your hand,” and “I want to kiss you,” which immediately made her blush. She couldn’t bring herself to read it a second time.

The driver stood there and said, “Miss Yu, the young master asked me to bring your reply back. He even said if I return empty-handed, I shouldn’t go back at all. So, what do you think…?”

Yu Wanru bit her lip, softly replying, “Please wait a moment.”

She quickly ran back to her room, pulled out some paper, and thought about what to write back to Xiao Anlan.

She couldn’t bring herself to be as straightforward as he was, so after much thought, she wrote: “Work well, and don’t get distracted.”

After finishing, she put down the pen and was about to fold the note. But halfway through, she hesitated. With only a few words and such a businesslike tone, would it come off as lacking warmth? Would he be unhappy when he saw it?

After an inner struggle, she reopened the note and added a smaller line below: “Eat on time, drink less, take care of yourself, and get plenty of rest.”

After finishing this, she put the pen down and folded the letter. But just as she was about to seal it in the envelope, she hesitated again.

This time, the hesitation lasted even longer. Finally, she reopened the letter once more and added an even smaller line: “I’ll be waiting for you to come see me.”

Hurriedly, she folded the letter, not giving herself time to hesitate any further. With her face flushed, she handed the sealed envelope to the driver.

…..

Soon after, Xiao Anlan leaned back, reading the letter from his “wife.”

Upon seeing the neat handwriting, he broke into a smile.

After reading the first line, he nodded.

The second line was written in smaller characters, so he had to lean in to read it. After reading the sixteen characters, he smacked his lips, saying, “My wife makes a good point.”

The third line was even smaller, so he had to hold the paper close to his eyes to make it out, reading it over and over.

He sat still for a moment before suddenly standing up, rushing outside to knock on his secretary’s desk. “”Hurry up and send a telegram to Zhou Sheng, tell him to get his ass back here. He’s been dragging his feet for so many years, no wonder he still can’t get a wife. I’m not watching his business anymore; I’m going to find my wife.”

The secretary, seeing Xiao Anlan’s glowing expression, held back the words, “But this is your business,” from coming out of his mouth.

After a few days, Xiao Anlan finally appeared at the Yu residence.

Meeting him in the garden, Yu Wanru softly asked, “How do you have time to come today? Did you put off your work again?”

Xiao Anlan replied, “My friend Zhou finally returned. I don’t have to babysit things like a mother hen anymore.”

Yu Wanru tilted her head in confusion. “Zhou—is he another friend of yours?”

Xiao Anlan said, “Yes, you haven’t met him yet. He’s currently managing Wanchang Hotel for me.

“It’s hard to know what to say about this guy. He once had a childhood sweetheart who was engaged to him. But when he went abroad to study, she ran off with another man, and now she’s in the provincial capital. Recently, she wrote to him saying her husband beats her, so Zhou Sheng went to the provincial capital to find her. Guess what? He ended up beating up her husband and was about to take his ex-fiancée back, but she started crying and cursing at him, telling him to mind his own business. Ha! Only Zhou, with his laid-back nature, could handle that. If it were me, I’d have dealt with the two of them ages ago.”

Hearing this, Yu Wanru frowned, thinking of her friend Su Xiaoman’s similar situation. She replied, “Did you know that Xiaoman went through something similar? She was married for two years, but her husband started a relationship with a female reporter from his newspaper, so she divorced him in anger.”

Xiao Anlan’s eyes widened in admiration. “I didn’t expect Miss Su to be so bold and passionate. I respect her for that. Although she’s a woman, she’s much stronger than my friend.”

Yu Wanru gently shook her head, saying, “We aren’t Mr. Zhou; we can’t understand his feelings, so it’s not for us to judge.”

Xiao Anlan waved his hand dismissively. “I just can’t stand it. I told him if he goes back to her again, I’ll cut ties with him—I don’t want to see his miserable face. Anyway, enough about others. Wanru, my mother said that our wedding will follow a new style, a ‘civilized’ ceremony, and she wanted me to give you a heads-up.”

Yu Wanru grew a bit nervous. “What’s a ‘civilized wedding’?”

Xiao Anlan said, “Don’t worry; it’s not that different from a traditional wedding. Instead of bowing to the heavens, the officiant will read a statement, then we exchange rings. We won’t be sent to the bridal chamber right away; instead, we’ll greet the guests together and then have a dance, opening the floor.”

As he continued, Yu Wanru’s eyes widened at the mention of dancing. She clutched her handkerchief, exclaiming, “I—I don’t know how to dance. What should I do?”

Xiao Anlan took her hand, unwrapping the handkerchief from her fingers. “Don’t keep twisting your handkerchief. Look, you’re cutting off the circulation in your fingers. It’s okay if you can’t dance—I’ll teach you. It’s simple.”

Feeling the warmth of his hand, Yu Wanru’s face grew warm as well. “I’ve never danced before; can I really learn?”

Xiao Anlan replied, “Did anyone know how to dance before they learned? I’m not very good either. We can just fumble around together. If we both mess up, then it won’t be so embarrassing.”

Yu Wanru knew he was trying to make her feel better. Smiling slightly, she replied softly, “How does that work? If two people mess up, isn’t it twice as embarrassing?”

Xiao Anlan chuckled. “Don’t worry; I’ll lend you half of my thick skin. Come on, Wanru, let’s start now. I’ll teach you the steps, and next time I’ll bring the phonograph, and we can practice with music.”

Looking around, Yu Wanru noticed they were in the garden pavilion. The pavilion was open, so anyone walking nearby could see them.

But there wasn’t a better place, so she bit her lip and stood up. “Shall we start now?”

Xiao Anlan stood up and faced her. “First, extend your hand. We’re going to dance the waltz, also known as the slow three-step. Place your right hand on my upper arm without going above my shoulder line. Hold my right hand with your left, like this.

“The basic step in the slow three-step is the forward step, with a beat pattern of strong-weak-weak. This means the first step is heavier, and the following two get lighter.

“My left foot moves forward first, and your back foot follows by stepping backward. Yes, just like that. I’ll move forward three steps, and you’ll step back three steps, lifting your toes higher with each step, then we switch – you go forward three steps, and I go back three steps. Let’s try again, one, two, three…”

The two practiced this basic step for nearly a tea-break’s length of time. At first, Yu Wanru was tense and cautious, keeping a close eye on her own feet to avoid stepping on Xiao Anlan. But soon, she grew more confident, straightening her back, looking ahead, and moving with increasing elegance and smoothness.

Xiao Anlan looked at her approvingly. “You’re learning fast, much better than I did. I almost stepped on my dance instructor’s foot until it swelled when I first learned.”

Yu Wanru smiled shyly. “It’s because you’re a good teacher.”

With the weather hot, Xiao Anlan had a light sheen of sweat on his forehead after the practice. Yu Wanru suggested, “Let’s take a short break.”

Xiao Anlan nodded, but he didn’t let go of her hand and led her to sit on a stone bench.

Yu Wanru was too embarrassed to ask him to release her hand, so she let him hold it. Using her free hand, she poured him a cup of sour plum juice from the jar on the table.

Xiao Anlan said, “The slow three-step has several variations. Just now, we learned the forward and backward steps. Soon, we’ll learn the left-turn step, but first, let’s rest and regain some energy.”

He spoke very seriously, like a diligent teacher, but his hand holding Yu Wanru’s began to fidget, squeezing her hand, releasing it, and then squeezing it again.

Yu Wanru tried her best to ignore the warmth in her hand, looking down and mentally reviewing the steps and rhythm to distract herself.

Unwilling to be ignored, Xiao Anlan squeezed her hand again, his fingers lightly tickling her palm.

Yu Wanru, ticklish, instinctively flinched slightly. She asked softly, “What are you doing?”

Xiao Anlan, unfazed, replied, “Why are you ignoring me?”

How else was she supposed to respond to him? She wondered. Should she also squeeze his hand like he did? She couldn’t bring herself to do that.

Luckily, Xiao Anlan seemed satisfied with her attention. He then asked, “The lip balms I gave you – why haven’t I seen you wear them?”

“I haven’t been out of the house, so what’s the point of wearing them?” she replied.

“To show me, of course,” Xiao Anlan said, as if it were obvious. “I haven’t tried those flavors myself yet, so I don’t know what they taste like.”

Yu Wanru’s cheeks flushed, and she mumbled, “No more letting you taste them or my mother will find out.”

Xiao Anlan chuckled knowingly, “What’s there to worry about? Sooner or later, your mother will know.”

Yu Wanru ignored him.

After a short while, Xiao Anlan took her hand and helped her to her feet.

Thinking he was about to teach her a new dance step, Yu Wanru quickly faced him and placed her hand on his upper arm again.

Xiao Anlan held one of her hands and placed his other hand on her waist. Then, in a sudden movement, he pulled her close, encircling her waist, and quickly bent down to plant a brief kiss on her lips.

“Today, there’s no lip balm, but the natural taste is even better,” he whispered in her ear.

^[1]Author’s Note:

 Young Master Xiao: My wife’s lips… cough, my wife’s dance skills are amazing.”