A leisurely life starting in a bar after being reborn

Fu Yan slept until 1:30 pm.

To be precise, he was woken up by the urge to urinate.

After finishing his business, he lay on the bed in the courtyard house, stared at the ceiling for three seconds and pondered life, then took out his phone and scrolled through his contacts.

He paused when he turned to the name "Xu Wenshu".

The last time I saw her was that night when I was touching my abs in the middle of the night, almost a month ago. During the Chinese New Year, the two of them talked on the phone. Fu Yan said "Happy New Year", and Xu Wenshu said "You too", and then there was nothing to say - that kind of awkwardness where you clearly have something to say but neither of you is too embarrassed to speak first, you could smell it through the phone line.

Fu Yan thought for a moment and sent a text message: "What time do you get off work today?"

Three seconds later, a reply came: "Two o'clock. What's wrong?"

"I'll pick you up from get off work."

The reply was a little slower this time, about ten seconds later: "Are you sure? We were caught picking me up last time, now the whole of Taiwan knows I'm in a relationship."

Fu Yan laughed and typed back to her: "That's perfect. Last time it was just confirmation, this time it's official confirmation."

There was a half-minute silence on the other end, then a single word was replied: "Okay."

……

At a little past 1:50, Fu Yan drove his Audi A8L out of Yandaixie Street.

In late February afternoons in Beijing, the sky was overcast, the wind was light but dry and cold, and the trees along the roadside were all bare, looking like brooms. The Central People's Government building was near the Military Museum, only a twenty-minute drive from Houhai, but Fu Yan deliberately took a detour—he needed to buy a cup of coffee first, otherwise picking someone up empty-handed would seem too casual.

Parking is not allowed in front of the central bank, so Fu Yan parked his A8L on the side road, turned on his hazard lights, and leaned against the car door with two cups of coffee in his hand to wait.

Around 2:10 PM, a familiar figure walked out of the main gate.

Today, Xu Wenshu wore a camel-colored cashmere coat over a black turtleneck sweater, paired with dark straight-leg trousers and ankle boots. A dark red scarf was wrapped around her neck, and her hair was loose, slightly disheveled by the wind. She carried a canvas bag, walked with a confident stride, and exuded energy and vitality.

But the moment she saw Fu Yan, she slowed her pace by half a beat.

Not because I was moved, but because—

"You came to pick me up in this car?!"

Fu Yan glanced down at the Audi A8L beside him, then at Xu Wenshu, looking completely innocent: "What's wrong?"

"Last time you picked me up from the airport in a Range Rover, this time you picked me up from get off work in an Audi A8. Are you picking someone up or inspecting the work?"

"Land Rover is too flashy, A8 is low-key."

"An A8 that's low-key?!" Xu Wenshu's voice rose two octaves. "Do you know how many A8s pass by the CCTV headquarters every day? Not a single one! Because people who drive A8s don't come here; they go to Diaoyutai across the street!"

Fu Yan suppressed a laugh: "So you want me to come by bicycle?"

"...Never mind, you're already here." Xu Wenshu took the coffee, took a sip, and her eyebrows relaxed a little. "Americano?"

"You can have an Americano after each recording to perk you up."

Xu Wenshu glanced at him, said nothing, but the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.

Just as the two were about to get into the car, a startled exclamation came from behind them—"Hey! Wen Shu!?"

Fu Yan and Xu Wenshu turned around at the same time.

A short-haired woman in a dark blue down jacket was standing at the entrance of the central government building, holding a folder in her hand, staring at them with wide eyes—her expression was like that of someone who had seen a talking monkey at the zoo.

"Sister Ma..." Xu Wenshu's expression froze instantly.

The short-haired woman's gaze swept back and forth between Fu Yan, the Audi A8, and the cup of coffee three times before she gave a meaningful smile: "Wen Shu, so this is your legendary man..."

"Sister Ma! Sorry, I'm off work! I'm leaving now!"

Xu Wenshu grabbed Fu Yan's arm and shoved him into the passenger seat—no, into the driver's side—before climbing into the passenger seat herself and slamming the door shut.

Before Fu Yan could react, he saw "Sister Ma" waving at him from outside the car window, her mouth opening and closing as if to say, "Treat our Wen Shu well."

"Drive! Let's go!" Xu Wenshu whispered.

Fu Yan stepped on the gas, and the A8L silently glided away.

In the rearview mirror, "Sister Ma" was still standing there, taking out her phone—"She's making a call after taking the picture," Fu Yan said calmly.

"I know." Xu Wenshu closed her eyes. "Oh no, tomorrow the whole station will know I take the A8 home from get off work."

"Last time I was only seen hugging, this time we were on our way home from get off work, will we be seen having dinner together next time?"

"You still dare to talk back!" Xu Wenshu slapped his arm. "It's all your fault! You insisted on coming to pick me up!"

"You agreed to it yourself."

"I..." Xu Wenshu choked for a moment, "I was just being polite, afraid of refusing you and making you lose face!"

"Okay, okay, thank you for your kind words, Miss Xu!"

Xu Wenshu turned her head to look out the window and ignored him.

But Fu Yan noticed out of the corner of his eye that the tips of her ears had turned red.

……

The car arrived at Xidan.

Fu Yan parked the A8L in the mall's underground parking garage, and the two of them entered the elevator one after the other.

"What are you doing in Xidan?" Xu Wenshu asked.

"Buying clothes!"

"You? Buying clothes?" Xu Wenshu looked him up and down. "Your outfit... it's not bad, but it's really poorly coordinated. A dark gray sweater with black pants, why didn't you wear sweatpants with dress shoes?"

"I always wore T-shirts and jeans in the US, but I only realized I couldn't dress like that in winter after I came back to China."

"Didn't you have great taste when you were in the US? The cashmere sweater you wore when I interviewed you in Silicon Valley was so beautiful."

"That was picked by my ex-ex-ex-girlfriend."

Xu Wenshu paused for a moment.

"...former female friend," Fu Yan added.

"Oh." Xu Wenshu regained her composure. "Let's go, I'll help you choose."

……

Over the next two hours, Fu Yan gained a profound understanding of what it means to have a woman's "shopping talent."

Xu Wenshu led him into the mall, but instead of heading straight to the men's clothing section, she first took a stroll around the women's clothing section—"Let's take a look at this year's trending colors; men's clothing outfit inspiration all comes from women's clothing."

Fu Yan felt that these words were meaningless, but he didn't dare to refute them.

Then, the nightmare began.

Xu Wenshu's shopping method is as follows: she doesn't try things on, she just looks—at the color, the fabric, the cut, the style, and she can judge whether a piece of clothing is worth trying on in three seconds. If it is, she'll pick it up and show it off to Yan, then either throw it back or toss it into her shopping basket.

She helped Fu Yan pick out three shirts, two sweaters, a cashmere coat, a scarf, and two pairs of pants, all in less than forty minutes.

"Okay, go try it."

Fu Yan carried the pile of clothes into the fitting room, feeling like a piece of fabric being sent to a processing plant.

First outfit: a dark blue shirt paired with a gray V-neck sweater, and an outer camel cashmere coat.

Fu Yan pulled back the curtain and came out. Xu Wenshu tilted her head and looked at her for two seconds: "Hmm, it's good. Makes you look thinner."

"Do I need to look thinner?"

"You don't need it, but most men do. You're in the minority. Let's move on to the next one."

Second outfit: White shirt with dark jeans, plus a dark red scarf.

"This won't do. The scarf color doesn't match your face. Your skin tone is warm, and dark red is too cold. Change it to a warm red or ginger yellow."

Fu Yan looked down at the scarf, wondering what the difference was between dark red and warm red.

But he still obediently went back to change.

Third outfit: Black turtleneck sweater paired with a dark gray coat.

When Fu Yan came out, Xu Wenshu was looking at her phone. She glanced up at him and paused for half a second.

"This outfit looks good."

"Is it better than the previous two sets?"

"Hmm." She lowered her head and continued looking at her phone. "Buy this set."

Fu Yan noticed that her ears turned red again when she looked at her phone.

……