Chapter 058　 I just like doing 'meaningless' things.

  *

  After work, Su Xian took Li Chengshi to pick up the pre-ordered chocolates, followed by a romantic candlelight dinner at a French restaurant in Ginza. They ended the night back home with some "double cultivation,"(work out) spending their first Valentine's Day together in a serious and blissful manner.

  *

  At 8:00 PM, Zhao Nanfeng sat alone in the office eating a sandwich from the convenience store downstairs. He suddenly realized that for the first time since his third year of middle school, he was spending Valentine's Day without a partner.

  **

  March 7th was Li Chengshi’s birthday. A few days prior, Su Xian asked him what he wanted as a gift. He said a "pretty meal" and a movie would be enough.

  "That's letting me off too easy," Su Xian thought. She suspected he was just being polite, especially since social media often claimed Pisces men were "high maintenance" (emotionally demanding). She asked Li Xiao, but Li Xiao said that ever since primary school, he had stopped asking for gifts. Every time she gave him money, he would save it up to buy things he actually needed.

  This was a problem; it was the first time Su Xian had to rack her brain over a man.

  *

  During work hours, after a brief uchiawase (coordination meeting) regarding project details, she consulted Zhao Nanfeng.

  "Do women even need to give men gifts? Just giving yourself over is enough, isn't it?"

  "It’s different. I want to show him how much I value him."

  "Why go through the trouble?" He was somewhat dismissive, wanting to say: See, it was so much easier when we were together; if there were requests, we’d just make them directly—and usually, there weren't any. As he spoke, he realized he was in no position to "sell" himself; a man at the nadir of his career has no "mating rights."

  "Do you have a suggestion or not? If not, I’m going back to work."

  "At his age, a gaming console should work."

  "No," Su Xian immediately refused. "What if he gets addicted, and, ignore our relationship?"

  "Then get a VR headset. Most on the market are rechargeable and last two hours at most—it’s hard to get addicted. I heard there’s a boxing game that’s very realistic. You could buy two and battle him; not only will it not hurt the relationship, it’ll actually enhance it."

  "Wouldn't battling him directly enhance the relationship more?" Su Xian wondered aloud.

  "Then just buy one for him to play by himself."

  Su Xian nodded. This was actually a good idea. She had seen them online before; a headset cost around 4,000 to 5,000 RMB, games excluded—completely reasonable. "Thanks."

  *

  On the day of his birthday, they went for the "pretty meal" and an action movie. However, Su Xian fell asleep halfway through and didn't wake up until the credits rolled. She lifted her head from Li Chengshi’s shoulder. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

  "I just like doing 'meaningless' things."

  "Heh, bringing up old scores again."

  "Aren't you also doing something you find 'meaningless' by accompanying me? Thank you, wifey."

  "How can it be meaningless if the movie made me so relaxed?"

  He smiled. "Then do you know why I wanted to see a movie?"

  "Why?"

  "Because back when I was pursuing you, I invited you to a movie and you turned me down."

  "When?" Su Xian had absolutely no memory of this.

  "The time you knocked over the instant noodle soup all over me. You went with me to buy clothes, we ate together, and you even went shopping with me. But when I asked to see a movie, you said no."

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  There had been such an incident. Su Xian smiled. "Think again. Are there any other regrets I can make up for?"

  "No more."

  "Really?"

  "Really."

  Despite his words, she felt it was necessary to walk through their memories once more to see if there were any other "holes" to patch up.

  *

  When they got home, an Amazon box was sitting quietly in the entryway. Li Chengshi was thrilled with the birthday gift and immediately put the headset on to try it out. Seeing him waving the controllers and stumbling around the room blindly was adorable; playing this for a while shouldn't hurt their relationship.

  Laughing, she started a video call with Li Xiao to show her the son’s strange behavior. Hearing the voice, Li Chengshi immediately took off the headset and ran over, shouting excitedly, "Mom! Engineer Su bought me a gift!"

  "And did you thank Engineer Su?"

  "Not yet." He flipped the camera toward himself and gave Su Xian a big kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, wifey!"

  "Oh my! Hang up, hang up! I can't watch this!" Li Xiao waved her hands playfully to tease them.

  Su Xian pulled him down to sit beside her, handed him the phone, and listened to the mother and son chat while she looked over some study materials.

  **

  At the end of February, construction began on the small wedding chapel project at the Chiba Youth Plaza. In early March, the office building project Su Xian had designed last year was completed. She took Li Chengshi to the completion ceremony. Several other small projects were also progressing smoothly; these tangible constructions were the best reward for an architect.

  In mid-March, she participated in the Tokyo Citizens' Marathon with Manager Sato. He introduced her to several high-level executives of the company. The large-scale public welfare project he had mentioned previously was now on the agenda, and Zhao Nanfeng had been actively following up with her. It felt very promising.

  Heidi Group published the proposal for the Osorezan Philosophy Hotel on their official website. It was the work of a talented young designer, but Su Xian could say with confidence that the design was slightly inferior to theirs. They had lost Heidi, but Heidi had also lost them.

  Su Xian realized she was starting to put herself on the same level as Zhao Nanfeng. She felt a bit bashful about her pride—she was still far behind him—but if more opportunities arose in the future, it wasn't impossible to catch up or even surpass him. As long as one kept their feet on the ground, what was the harm in dreaming?

  **

  March 14th was White Day in Japan—the day when boys who received chocolates on February 14th return the favor with candy.

  In the afternoon, Honda received a phone call. She ran out to the hallway with a blissful expression to take it, but she came back in tears. When Zhao Nanfeng asked her to make tea, she got the variety wrong. Just as he started to frown, she burst into tears.

  Under Zhao Nanfeng’s questioning, Honda explained between sobs what had happened. It turned out that shortly after making her romantic wish at Izusan Shrine, she had met a university student working part-time at a convenience store near her home. His name was Kazami Shoya, an art student at Geidai (Tokyo University of the Arts). He had invited her out for Valentine's Day, and Honda thought it was a match made in heaven. They quickly became intimate. Later, Kazami said he was going to France for an art exchange and borrowed 700,000 yen from her. She gave it to him without hesitation. They agreed to meet again on White Day. She had been looking forward to it, but he had just called to break up. When she asked about the 700,000 yen, he claimed she hadn't written a promissory note and that it should be considered a voluntary gift.

  Zhao Nanfeng didn't say much. He asked for the name of Kazami’s school, stood up immediately, and told Honda to follow him out. Su Xian and Li Chengshi followed closely behind.

  **