Page 24 of He Is My Bride

When Li Ying bounced over to ask Hanjun’s opinion on this or that, the boys perked up, following their interactions with interest: how Hanjun softly looked at Li Ying while he twirled around for him in whichever skimpy dress he was trying on now. Hanjun hummed his approval at everything:

‘Mm, looks good on you. Do you like it? Do you want it?’

“Yes, but Hanjun, it’s stupidly expensive, let’s not buy it,” Li Ying had said at first.

Hanjun had frowned. “But you like it.”

“I do, but you bought me a present already.”

Li Ying had been sincere when he had refused the dress. He was used to not always getting what he wanted, but Hanjun wasn’t having it:

“I’ll buy it for you.” Hanjun had simply gotten up and taken out his card again.

“Hanjun—Ai!” Li Ying had wanted to stop him, but Anne had pinched his arm, shaking her head.

“Shut up, don’t make us look bad,” she had whispered.

“What?” Li Ying had whispered back. “Bad? You mean like we couldn’t afford it? I don’t need so many, even if I like them, and I can’t just let him spend all his money!”

Anne had quirked her brow. “You think you’re even making a dent in his wallet? Just let him pamper you.”

And Hanjun didn’t stop there, instead spurring Li Ying on whenever he showed the slightest fancy towards an item:

‘It suits you, do you want it?’ He even began pointing at clothes, shoes, and jewelry once he had an idea what Li Ying liked: ‘For you? Do you like this? What about that?’

“Hanjun.” Li Ying turned to look at the man. “Are you getting a kick out of this or something?”

Hanjun looked at him with oddly intense eyes. “You deserve it.”

He’s totally getting something out of it. Freak, Li Ying thought fondly. Well, if it made Hanjun happy, Li Ying had no qualms about treating himself, although he soon stopped counting the sum Hanjun was swiping up, to avoid feeling too guilty.

While at yet another cashier, Li Ying saw Anne turning a bag in her hands, checking the price tag, and reluctantly putting it back on the shelf.

“Anne,” Li Ying called and beckoned, “bring me that bag.”

Anne eyed him suspiciously while walking over with it.

“Is that the one?” Li Ying asked.

“Li Ying…”

Li Ying took the bag from her and put it on the counter. “And please gift-wrap this one for me.”

Hanjun didn’t question this, but Li Ying promised him to pay it back. Once he received the bag, nicely wrapped, he handed it to Anne.

“Merry Christmas! Only open it tomorrow morning, okay, so it’s a proper Christmas present.”

“Li Ying, you shouldn’t have…” Still, Anne received it.

“I’m not hearing any of that, just accept it.”

Anne seemed like she could have cried, but she got herself together and simply said:

“Thank you. I got something for you two as well. I’ll give it once we sit down.”

“Alright. Are there many more shops to go?”

“We’ve covered most of the relevant ones. Your restaurant reservation is coming up soon, should we go now and have cocktails together?”

“Yes!” Li Ying was for it. But wait… “Hey, where are the interns?”

“They went to look around,” Hanjun said.

“Let’s go find them.”

They left the boutique, and Hanjun asked Li Ying:

“Have you been taken care of today?”

“By your cousins, you mean? Yes. They’re both great kids. They might have developed a crush on me though, haha!”

Hanjun looked at him, bemused .

“Careful, Hanjun, you’ve got competition!” Li Ying teased on, and got the reaction he’d wanted when Hanjun gave him a frown.

“Come on, you can’t be jealous of them! You should know I like older men.”

While Li Ying hooted in laughter, Hanjun muttered: “I’m only six years older than you.”

“Grandpa Wu, hahaha! …Uh, too much?”

Hanjun had just glared at him sharply.

“Yeah, that was lame, sorry. Anyway, about A-Yu: I know he’s from the side of the family who are not exactly your uncle’s favorite people, and for a good reason, I think.”

Now Hanjun looked concerned.

“I had the displeasure of brushing with Wang Guosheng in the office, and he was such a pompous prick,” Li Ying explained.

“As I was saying, A-Yu is a good kid, but I got the impression he’s deliberately kept from doing a proper internship, being given meaningless tasks to the point where he rather tagged along with us than stayed in the office today.

I may be the nice Big Sister Li, but I can’t be that nice.

Anyway, you said your uncle has been working to keep the Wangs out from key positions within the company, but I don’t think it’s fair to sabotage a young man’s future just because he happens to be born to the ‘wrong’ parents. ”

Hanjun looked thoughtful.

“I feel for the kid,” Li Ying went on. “I don’t know what his parents are like, but between your uncle and his grandpa Wang’s power struggle, he seems to be set up for failure, and that sucks. Could you do something about that? A-Yu is still your cousin too, Wang or not.”

Hanjun looked ahead and thought about Li Ying’s words.

The interns had indeed wandered off, trying to pass the time by browsing other than women’s wear shops, each carrying their share of Li Ying’s shopping bags .

Xinyu was standing outside a luxury watch shop, looking at the men’s watches through the display window.

He thought of his grandfather’s Rolex. Wang Guosheng had bought Xinyu’s father, Wang Jian, a similar watch when he had turned eighteen.

Xinyu was turning eighteen next month. He couldn’t imagine, should he receive the same gift, how his father would give it to him and what it meant.

They weren’t close. Any scenario Xinyu could imagine seemed odd, even uncomfortable.

He didn’t even want a watch, he wanted a single kind word. Just one approving gaze.

Xinyu looked up and realized a pair of unreadable, distant eyes were looking at him from the dazzling reflection of the shop window.

“Wu Hanjun.” Xinyu turned around. “Were you looking for me? I’m sorry.”

“No need.”

Xinyu had always been a little afraid of his older cousin.

The sons and grandsons of great-grand uncle Wu were not fondly mentioned among the Wangs, and whenever Xinyu had seen Wu Hanjun at family functions, his cousin had been quiet, somehow distant, cold.

He would always frown at the younger family members at the slightest ruckus, sending chills down Xinyu’s spine.

He had thought Hanjun was even scarier than his grandfather.

But once Xinyu had begun his internship at Wu Pharma together with Yiyi, Yiyi had assured him that while Hanjun was indeed strict, just like his uncle, he wasn’t so bad.

Then again, Yiyi was a Wu; of course Hanjun wouldn’t be so bad to him.

Xinyu noticed the watch on Hanjun’s wrist was the very same as the one on display behind the window, the one he’d been looking at: a sleek piece with a navy blue leather strap.

“Oh, it’s Wu Hanjun’s watch.” Xinyu pointed at the window. “It’s very cool.”

Hanjun tilted his head. “Do you like it?”

“Well, it’s nice, but uh—Huh?” Xinyu stared after the man, who was now headed inside the shop. No way, Xinyu thought and went in after him. Hanjun was showing his watch to the salesperson.

“For the young man.”

“W-Wu Hanjun, I can’t—” Xinyu froze under his cousin’s expressionless gaze. He was still very scary, even when doing something like buying a gift. “I must refuse, I can’t accept this gift!” the boy insisted.

“You are a future young professional, you may look the part,” Hanjun said.

“Please, it’s way more than I can accept, it’s too much!” Xinyu determinedly kept refusing, though he knew by now there was no saying ‘no’ to Wu Hanjun.

“It’s not too much. You are family of the Wus, you should present yourself accordingly.”

Xinyu fell quiet. Defeated, he bowed from the waist before Hanjun, who received his gesture gracefully, unfazed.

The watch was gift-wrapped and Hanjun handed it to Xinyu, who accepted it with both hands.

“This is a Christmas present, so open it tomorrow morning as Li Ying has said is customary,” Hanjun said.

“Understood.”

They exited the horologist’s. Meanwhile, Li Ying and Anne had found Yiyi and were waiting outside with him. Li Ying had been watching Hanjun and Xinyu from behind the window. He smiled at Hanjun and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“We should get A-Yi a gift next,” Li Ying said.

“There is no need, big sister!” Yiyi politely refused, but he was way more ready to accept a gift than Xinyu had been, so they went and got him a fresh pair of kicks after minimal pretense at modesty.

After they were all shopped out, they headed to the cocktail bar in the Waldorf-Astoria hotel on the Bund at Hanjun’s suggestion.

Anne rode with the interns, with all of Li Ying’s shopping.

The boys had agreed to ride her over to Hanjun’s place afterwards so that she could drop everything at the concierge.

They sat down in the stylish bar, where Anne gifted Li Ying and Hanjun Belgian chocolate truffles, and Li Ying shot down her apologies over how it was too humble a gift.

They ordered aperitifs, and while Yiyi was by car and Xinyu couldn’t legally drink for a few more weeks yet, they went for craft mocktails.

Li Ying thought the boys were cute when they looked up to Hanjun and sought to replicate his faultless posture and restrained movements as they sipped their drinks.

After a while, a man in a suit came over to their table. He was wearing a name tag with a title: hospitality manager.

“Excuse me, Mister Wu?”

“Yes?”

“I’m happy to let you know that a table for two has just become available at the Pelham. Shall I make a reservation for you at once, as you had earlier requested?”

Hanjun nodded. “Please. Thank you.”

After the manager had left, Li Ying asked Hanjun, “Didn’t you have a reservation?”

Hanjun had taken out his phone and was dialing. “I had tried here at first, but they were fully booked. I will cancel the other reservation now.”

“So you just show up anyway, and people scurry to make arrangements for you?” Li Ying grinned.

“Nonsense.”

“Very important person,” Li Ying teased and poked Hanjun while his call was answered.

Hanjun scowled at Li Ying, yet spoke perfectly calmly on the phone. The interns kept marveling at how Li Ying could keep teasing their icy cousin. Then again, they had already figured Big Sister Li was no ordinary girlfriend. She could do whatever because she was cool like that .

Anne looked at Li Ying firmly. “Those sneakers are out of the question now. Li Ying, which pair should I bring you from the car?”

“Can I wear the murder heels?” Li Ying asked.

“Good choice. Yiyi, can you come to open the car for me?”

“Of course, Miss Lü.” Yiyi got up with Anne, and off they went.

Yiyi opened the car door for her, and Anne rummaged through the dozen-or-so bags for the McQueens and a smaller clutch bag that better fit a dinner occasion, cutting off the price tags with the emergency shears in her purse.

She also took out the single most precious purchase of the day: reverently, Anne lifted up a choker, consisting of five rows of finely cut diamonds totaling over twenty-three carats, from its cushy box.

I wonder, Anne thought, is Hanjun going to add one more diamond on Li Ying tonight?