Still Not Wanting to Forget Chapter 9

Throughout their conversation, Sprite sat on the floor, occasionally looking at Si Nian, occasionally looking at Cheng Chen.   Si Nian repeatedly dried her hair with the towel while watching Cheng Chen out of her eye. He started changing the bedsheets with quick and expert hands. The moment he finished, the dog immediately jumped on the bed. Turning around, he quickly added a few creases in the bedsheet.   He was an enemy’s dog, indeed.
Si Nian wanted to laugh but dared not to. She kept on using the towel to wipe her hair.   Seeing no reaction from her, Sprite bit down on one of her slippers and immediately wriggled underneath Cheng Chen’s quilt…   Left shoeless on one foot, she looked at the bulging quilt with a look of bewilderment.   “Sprite,” Cheng Chen called, flipping the quilt. He gently patted the dog.   Sprite’s whiskers lightly twitched.   Si Nian subconsciously placed her shoeless foot behind her, feeling an inexplicable sorrow.   She hadn’t even been in his room for more than five minutes, she had already used his towel to dry her hair, had her slippers underneath his quilt. Luckily it’s not her own dog’s doing, if not it would look like she was plotting to get in his bed…   Because of her own status, she didn’t dare to flip the quilt herself, she simply waited for him to act.   Thankfully Cheng Chen didn’t seem to find it awkward, very quickly he chased away Sprite from the bed and got her slipper. He placed it next to her feet. “He didn’t used to have such a habit. I think he just got overexcited over your presence.”   She made an “oh” sound, she didn’t know what else to say. In the end she just kept quiet.   Cheng Chen was just in front of her, she didn’t dare to put down her leg to wear the slipper. Without any other options, she leaned down to grab the slipper. To her surprise, he also extended his hand at the same time and slipped the slipper on for her.   He did it so casually, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.   In the dead of the night, he was even sitting in front of her. She felt her feelings stir.   For a long moment, she was quiet before finally asking, “Then I’ll go to sleep?”   Cheng Chen nodded and turned off the lights for her.   She climbed onto the bed, wrapping herself tightly with the quilt, yet she was unable to sleep.   The pin-drop silence in the room was unbearable. Other than the meager light from the window, the entire room was submerged in darkness.   What kind of ridiculous reunion was this, without preparation of any kind she was forced step by step to re-familiarise herself with a person she once liked so many years ago… the most ridiculous part was, at this moment the both of them were actually sleeping in the same room.   She tried hard to fall asleep for almost half an hour, she didn’t even dare to turn around, but her eyes refused to shut and her mind was still awake.   “Can I ask you a question?”   His voice answered, “Just ask.”   “When you first saw me,” she said, eyes focused on his reflection on the window, “you saw me in real life, did you feel disappointed? I don’t mean anything, I’m just curious.”   The reflection in the mirror suddenly moved a little but he was actually reaching for the bottle of water next to him. He drank a mouthful of it.   “There’s no difference from what I imagined,” he said.    … he might have had said nothing at all.   Only after a long time, did she begun to dream. In her dream, everyone was eating together, the dishes had just arrived. But before she could eat any, Cheng Chen told her in a voice full of seriousness, “You should wake up now.”   Ah? She still wanted to eat, what did that had to do with waking up…   She felt someone patting her face, it felt cool against her skin. Only then did she wake up.   In her daze, she saw Cheng Chen half-squatting near the bed, saying, “It’s already morning. If you don’t want them to see you, then follow me out to walk the dog and have breakfast.” Beside him, there was also a pair of twinkling eyes staring at Si Nian. It was Sprite with his tail wagging excitedly…   Si Nian was so tired she wanted to cry. Truly they were a pair that brought her bad luck, the both of them never allowed her to sleep in.   But what he said was logical.   Walking behind them in that early morning, with some grievance, she realized that whatever he said always made sense…   They circled the streets nearby for a moment, had some breakfast. They also ordered some take-away for the people at his home, none of them were awake. On one hand, Si Nian was afraid that the food would go cold, on the other, she was actually annoyed that they got to sleep in while she couldn’t. She woke them all up with a smirk. “Breakfast is almost cold.”   She thought it was a flawless plan but then during breakfast, the producer came out from her room and absentmindedly asked her, “Why didn’t you come back to sleep the entire night?”   Silence, everyone was immediately silent.   There was only the sound of people sipping milk and soymilk.   a.s.sistant scriptwriter Dong Xiao dryly interrupted, “Director Cheng, this soymilk is pretty good…”   The conversation-starter was too silly, no one replied.   Si Nian felt her heart bleed, she can’t believe he was actually a scriptwriter. He completely didn’t have any sense of appropriateness; he actually said such low-quality stuff.   Thankfully the producer seemed to have thought of something, she immediately lowered her head to eat her share. The rest of them also continued their tasty breakfast. Other than the sound of people eating and drinking, there was no other sound.   To ease the script discussion, Cheng Chen took Si Nian along to Shen Zhe’s house.   Shen Zhe was talking to his manager on the phone when they reached. He opened the door to let them in and only briefly said h.e.l.lo to Si Nian before disappearing into the kitchen. He left Si Nian staring after him blankly, without any other words.   She followed Cheng Chen in and glancing inside the kitchen, she found that… Shen Zhe was cooking. All by himself, on his own.   Since his debut, 80% of Shen Zhe’s works had been set in ancient times.   Even though they never worked together, he had a very persistent image in her mind, he was a pretty boy with long hair floating gently in the background. Right now, the ancient pretty boy was actually wearing sportswear from head to toe, standing in front of stove, stir-frying vegetables. He didn’t even turn around when he said, “Make yourselves at home. I know Si Nian is coming, so I purposely cooked.”   Si Nian was stunned for a moment, then turning around to look at Cheng Chen.   He seemed as if he hadn’t heard that. He motioned for Si Nian to join him at the sofa.   She could tell Shen Zhe was an expert at cooking. After just half an hour, he had already prepared seven small dishes. Putting down the last dish – spicy diced chicken meat – the ancient pretty boy sat down.   “Si Nian, I wanted to meet you since a long time ago. I apologise if my hospitality is unsatisfactory, please don’t mind. It’s not too convenient for me to go out and buy groceries, I’m not too used to the ingredients my a.s.sistant bought…” he continued on, but because his first sentence was too shocking, she couldn’t comprehend the rest.   Subconsciously, she glanced at Cheng Chen.   Cheng Chen was pouring himself a drink. “His cooking is not bad. When we used to room together, he would always be the one cooking.”   “I want beer,” Shen Zhe interrupted. “And, what’s with ‘not bad’? Every time you get drunk, am I not the one who cook porridge for you? Each time you refuse to eat unless it’s a different flavour.”   Si Nian wanted to laugh hearing that. If she didn’t know what Cheng Chen was straight, she would definitely think that these people were a long-time couple.   Cheng Chen opened two cans of beer, pa.s.sing on to Shen Zhe.   Si Nian observed that they were very close to each other, and decided that there was no need for unnecessary words. “I always write for period dramas but what a pity that I’ve never had the opportunity to work with you.”   Shen Zhe drank a mouthful of beer, motioning her to start eating. “Let’s not discuss work while eating.” He started smiling gleefully at Si Nian, then asked, “Back then, why did you dump Director Cheng? I could never understand, such a perfectly good man, why would there be anyone with the heart to abandon him?”   …   …   Si Nian felt as if she wanted to cry. She turned and looked at the one who was abandoned. She finally understood completely why Cheng Chen hesitated that long when they mentioned Shen Zhe.     Cheng Chen coughed. “That’s enough.”   Shen Zhe laughed out loud and easily changed the conversation topic. With a smile he brought up the time he first met Cheng Chen. Back then he and Cheng Chen were still students, they met in a pub. They immediately disliked each other. “Back then we didn’t speak to each other. If he drank one tin, I would also drink one. In the end I drank until I was almost unconscious, I felt very liberated. The moment before I got knocked out, I s.n.a.t.c.hed his phone and called my own number.”

 

In his life, the period after he graduated high school was completely blank.   Si Nian was listening attentively. When she heard that part, she inwardly sighed, such bad boys… “Afterwards I got sober, I forgot to contact him. Then my roommate was going to graduate, and I remembered that such a person existed and thought that he was quite suitable to be a friend.” Shen Zhe pa.s.sed Si Nian a bowl full of rice. “He asked me why should he room with me. I told him I know how to cook. Then the both of us clicked, ended up rooming for three years.”   Si Nian nodded and ate a mouthful of rice.   She then heard Shen Zhe’s voice asking, “Since when did you two got back together?”   That mouthful of rice felt stuck in her throat. She started coughing, even her eyes were wet.   Thankfully Cheng Chen supressed Shen Zhe with just a look. Having finished eating, Shen Zhe the idol actually got up to clear the table himself. Only after everything was completely clean, did he started reading the script seriously. Just now when he was joking around, Si Nian thought he was quite a cheerful person, but looking at his expression now, she finally found the image of Shen Zhe  in her mind.   After a while, Shen Zhe finally glanced at Cheng Chen. “The character is probably decided by you? Why is it that you’re obsessed with the childhood-friend trope?”   Si Nian was speechless. She lowered her head to stare at her cup of tea.   “Someone who overthrows the world, as affluent as a country, tragically evil, handsome to the point of incurring others’ jealousy, in the end dies in a foreign land as a way of giving his blessing to his childhood friend?”   Shen Zhe was absolutely gleeful. “Cheng Chen, my dear brother. Such a character would definitely make the actor popular, you finally thought of me?”   Cheng Chen glanced at Si Nian. “It’s the scriptwriter who wants you.”