It didn’t take long for them to begin their usual back-and-forth banter. Huo Sichen made a “please” gesture to let Zhang Yuwen go first.
Zhang Yuwen used to write a lot of blind date scenes, which struck him as funny now that he thought about it. He laughed, then asked the classic question: “How much is your monthly parking fee?”
Huo Sichen laughed too. They couldn’t stop laughing, and it made them look younger, like students. “I, uh, own my home,” Huo Sichen replied. “A high-rise apartment at Franc Residences in Jiangbei. The parking came with the apartment.”
“Oh, I see.” Zhang Yuwen thought about it for a moment, then threw him another question. “What about mortgages?”
“There’s still a twelve-year mortgage. Uh…”
“This is just standard blind date protocol.”
“No objections from me,” Huo Sichen assured him. “Ask away.”
Zhang Yuwen grinned impishly. “You must have already gotten all the info on me from Chen Hong, anyway.”
“No. I really haven’t.”
Zhang Yuwen looked at him skeptically but decided to believe him for the moment. Their appetizer arrived then, and they unfolded their napkins and set them on their laps.
Huo Sichen scooped some salad for Zhang Yuwen as he continued, “I work for a foreign trade company as the vice director. The boss is a friend of mine. I own a small number of shares in the company. Including my year-end bonus and share dividends, I take home an annual income of about five or six hundred thousand after taxes.”
“Oh.” Zhang Yuwen hadn’t dealt with money for a very long time. After he achieved financial freedom, he’d lost touch with the salary benchmarks in various industries. All he knew was that a salary of ¥600,000 per year meant ¥50,000 a month, which fell within the range of a high-level executive.
“But I still have to pay off the mortgage.” Huo Sichen started on the salad. “The car is paid off, though. How about you?”
Zhang Yuwen repeated what he’d told Huo Sichen previously. “I work at a publishing house. I just need to go in for half a day every week to pick up the manuscripts to proofread at home. I’ve been working on my own manuscript lately, and I hope to publish a book.”
Echoing his own previous comment, Huo Sichen said, “That’s very impressive.” He looked at Zhang Yuwen expectantly, hoping he would volunteer more personal details about himself.
Zhang Yuwen thought it over and added, “My monthly salary is a little over six thousand, but with the year-end bonus, it’s maybe around a hundred thousand.”
“But you live in such an expensive house…” Huo Sichen trailed off.
“We aren’t there yet,” Zhang Yuwen said, displeased. “We haven’t gone through the process, so how would you know where I live?”
“Oh, that’s right. Yeah.” Huo Sichen adopted a serious expression. “Where do you live?”
“No. 7 Riverbay Road,” said Zhang Yuwen. Huo Sichen feigned shock, and Zhang Yuwen added, “I’m looking after the house for a friend.”
Huo Sichen nodded.
“When my grandparents passed away, they left me a small shop in Jiangnan.” Zhang Yuwen paused briefly. “I’ve rented it out.”
“Collecting rent without lifting a finger. What an enviable position.”
Even Zhang Yuwen was finding the routine funny. They fell silent again, and Huo Sichen gestured to him: Did he want a bite?
“I’m from Yuhai,” Huo Sichen continued eventually. “I have an older brother named Huo Siting. He’s two years older than me, and he lives in Los Angeles now. Our parents are quite old now, and they moved there to live with him. I did my undergraduate studies in California and returned to Jiangdong for grad school at Chonghan University of Finance and Economics. I majored in foreign trade.”
“Oh.” Zhang Yuwen nodded. “I majored in communication studies and graduated with a bachelor’s degree. My grandparents raised me; my parents divorced when I was young.”
“So your grandparents were practically parents to you,” said Huo Sichen.
“I thought so. I’ve never felt like I was abandoned.”
“Of course not! Folks from Yuhai tend to marry late, and many fathers have children in their fifties, so it’s a lot like the relationship between a grandfather and his grandkids. The impression you give me is that of the youngest child in a large family.”
Zhang Yuwen chuckled. “You think so too?” Zhang Yuwen had always felt like he had some personality flaws, but he wasn’t sure if he should blame it on his divorced parents. The hardest thing for a person to know was themself, and even now, Zhang Yuwen still didn’t fully understand himself.
“You have a great personality,” Huo Sichen said earnestly. “Really!”
“Thanks.”
The waiter cleared away the appetizers and soup and served the first course. “This restaurant is really expensive,” Zhang Yuwen said.
“It’s my first time here too,” Huo Sichen admitted. “My bank account isn’t crying yet; we should still eat more.”
Zhang Yuwen cracked up, knowing that Huo Sichen was just joking with him. With his income, he could easily afford a place like this.
“Are we done with the process?” Huo Sichen asked.
“Let me think about it,” said Zhang Yuwen.
“Can I ask a question?”
Zhang Yuwen looked at him. He seemed much more handsome than the first time they met. Maybe it was the lighting, or perhaps the effort he’d made to dress up today; Zhang Yuwen could tell he’d even gone to get a haircut.
“Why did you decide to come?” Huo Sichen asked.
“Because this restaurant is very expensive, and the other party is paying. It’s always good to broaden my horizons.”
They laughed again. Zhang Yuwen knew very well that Huo Sichen was sounding him out, but he didn’t take the bait and kept deflecting Huo Sichen’s questions with humor. Huo Sichen knew that he couldn’t do anything about this.
But the next question was what Huo Sichen really wanted to ask. “If you’d known it was me beforehand, would you still have come?”
“Of course,” Zhang Yuwen said. “A place like this, I’d come no matter who was treating.”
Zhang Yuwen doubled over with laughter as Huo Sichen’s face went red. No matter how many times Huo Sichen tried to feel him out, he could never get the serious answer he wanted. Instead, he’d revealed his own feelings for Zhang Yuwen and his intent to date him.
In truth, Huo Sichen’s intentions had been exposed from the very moment he had Chen Hong set him up with Zhang Yuwen. There was a strange phenomenon that often existed in romantic relationships—whoever fell in love first lost. Huo Sichen had already lost the right to call the shots.
Zhang Yuwen didn’t use it against him, though. He just said, “That’s all for the formalities. Let’s talk about something else. Is foreign trade tiring?”
“Easier than being a writer,” said Huo Sichen. “But it’s mentally exhausting with the economy going downhill these past few years, and the work environment is tough. I’ve been considering a career change recently.”