Chapter 18: About Wen Ting'an

Wenjing’s invitation arrived that morning: “Free this afternoon? Let’s go shopping. There’s something I want to tell you.”

Ban Ban sat on the living-room carpet reading a food magazine. She replied that she was free, and Wenjing immediately sent a time and address.

At two, Uncle Zhou drove her. Two blocks from home, Ban Ban took out her phone and called Ting’an. He answered after two rings.

“Wen Ting’an.”

“Yes?”

She leaned back, winding a loose end of hair around her finger. “I’m going shopping with Wenjing. I’m already on my way. There’s something else I wanted to ask.”

“Go ahead.”

“Can I drive myself next time?”

After two seconds’ silence, his voice returned with a hint of laughter. “You can drive?”

“Of course.” She sat straighter. “I got my license at university. I saw a white car sitting unused in the garage.”

“The Audi RS Q8?”

“Yes. Can I drive it?”

She heard papers turning. “You can, but be careful. The roads in Dong City are different from Jiang City’s. If you don’t know them, drive slowly and set the navigation first.”

“All right. Thank you.”

“Have Uncle Zhou pick you up when you’re done.”

“All right. I’ll let you go.”

She put her phone in her bag as the streets passed outside. Uncle Zhou glanced at her in the mirror and smiled. “Madam’s going to drive herself?”

“You heard?” She smiled too. “Sometimes when I go out, I won’t have to trouble you.”

“It’s no trouble. Tell me whenever you need a car. But driving yourself is good too; it gives you more freedom.”

At the address Wenjing had sent, Ban Ban got out to find her waving outside the mall. In a loose white knit top and jeans, hair casually down, Wenjing looked much more relaxed than in last night’s dark green dress.

Ban Ban hurried over. “Have you waited long?”

“Only a little while.” Wenjing linked arms with her and led her inside. “Let’s find somewhere to sit. It’s hot out here.”

They chose a corner booth by the window in a dessert shop, with a view of people passing outside. Wenjing ordered milk tea; Ban Ban ordered lemon water. While they waited, Wenjing put her phone face down, folded her hands on the table and looked at her.

“I asked you out to educate you about your husband,” she said quietly. “I thought about last night. Those women got the better of you because you didn’t know the situation. From now on, ask me anything that’s troubling you. I know it all.”

Ban Ban leaned forward on her elbows. “Really? How much do you know?”

“We grew up together.” Wenjing leaned back and smiled. “Ting’an looks cold and unapproachable from outside, but everyone in the circle knows his history. Ask away.”

Ban Ban sipped her lemon water, thought and set it down. “How much of a playboy is he?”

Wenjing drank some milk tea, chewed the pearls and swallowed. “A different companion at almost every event. He goes to a lot of functions and dinners, and there’s never a shortage of women around him. Whether anything else happens, I don’t know. He’s secretive about that; even Zhou Lin says he isn’t sure. But he is generous. After an event, the women accompanying him get jewelry they choose themselves, usually worth one or two million yuan. Sometimes he gives a check.”

Ban Ban nodded silently, tracing the side of her glass. “No wonder women throw themselves at him. The money is good.”

Wenjing smiled and took another sip. “Next question.”

Ban Ban considered, then asked, “Who is Lin Rou?”

Wenjing paused with her straw raised. “You know about Lin Rou?”

“Ting’an told me himself.” Ban Ban set down her glass. “One day I was shopping alone and saw him buying jewelry with a woman. That evening he explained without being asked. He said she was an actress named Lin Rou, that she’d helped him and he’d promised her jewelry in return.”

Wenjing leaned forward. “Did he say anything else?”

“Another name. Lin Sang.”

Wenjing’s expression changed. She leaned back, head tilted, as if weighing something. Then she leaned in again, voice lower.

“Lin Rou is actually all right, a hundred times better than those three last night. She’s a minor actress and Ting’an’s university classmate; we’ve known her since childhood. Her mother died early and her stepmother runs the household. She entered entertainment after university. She’s pretty. Sometimes our circle calls her to liven up an event or handle a difficult gathering. She has one goal: money and jewelry. She doesn’t concern herself with anything else and isn’t interested in the men, however handsome.”

“Doesn’t she get taken advantage of?” Ban Ban asked.

“She’s no fool.” Wenjing shook her head. “She’s clever. Men can’t get close to her. I don’t know how she does it, but after all these years dealing with them, she hasn’t suffered. Her motto is to make money. Trending online or taking roles, it’s all to earn. Money makes her feel secure. So you can relax: to her, Ting’an is a source of money, nothing else.”

Ban Ban nodded, turning it over. “What about Lin Sang? Is she her older or younger sister?”

“No relation. The names are only a coincidence. Lin Sang changed hers later; it wasn’t originally her name.”

“Then who is she?”

Wenjing set down her milk tea, her gaze more serious. “Now she’s interesting. She’s your husband’s first love.”

Ban Ban’s expression barely changed. She took another sip and waited.

“They met in middle school and dated. I don’t know exactly what it was like, but Zhou Lin says Ting’an was a different person then: young, not cold, very good to Lin Sang. Apparently things went well.”

“Why did they break up?”

“Doesn’t it hurt to hear this?”

Ban Ban shook her head. “No. He’s thirty-three. I wouldn’t believe he’d never dated. It’s normal, as long as he doesn’t fool around after marriage.”

Wenjing studied her and smiled. “Clearheaded. That’s the right attitude. I’ll be direct: Lin Sang is the type who puts on an innocent act. She was the one who ended it, then went abroad.”

Ban Ban choked on her lemon water and wiped her mouth. “She ended it?”

“Yes.”

“Ting’an has money and looks. Why didn’t she want him?”

“I don’t know.” Wenjing shrugged. “Perhaps only they know. The problem is, after breaking up and going abroad, she returned and keeps finding pretexts to contact him, making her presence felt. Sometimes she asks for help at work; sometimes she asks to meet as an old friend. In the circle she creates the impression she’s the one unique person in his heart.”

Ban Ban leaned back, tracing the rim of her glass. She remembered Ting’an explaining that he’d sent Lin Rou to help Lin Sang. When she’d asked who Lin Sang was, he’d fallen silent and tilted his head as if avoiding further questions.

“No wonder,” she said.

“No wonder what?”

“That night he came home very late, after midnight. He explained he’d asked Lin Rou to solve a problem: Lin Sang’s superior was forcing drinks on her and she couldn’t leave.”

Wenjing’s expression shifted subtly. She looked at Ban Ban, hesitated and finally asked, “Did you believe him?”

“I did then. Now that you’ve told me, I’m not sure. He must still have feelings for her.” Ban Ban was a little angry.

“Don’t be too nervous. I’m only warning you so you know what she’s like. Since Ting’an brought up Lin Rou himself, at least he wasn’t hiding it. A man’s attitude matters. It’s hiding things that would be a problem.”

“True.”

Ban Ban finished her lemon water and suddenly smiled. “Good thing you asked me out. Otherwise I wouldn’t know how to respond next time I meet Lin Sang.”

Wenjing patted her hand. “From today we’re teammates, here to deal with women who put on that act.”

Ban Ban laughed. “All right.”

They sat another ten minutes. Wenjing’s milk tea was nearly gone, and she poked at the remaining pearls with her straw.

Ban Ban looked at her. “Can I ask you something too?”

“Go ahead.”

“What’s your future husband Zhou Lin like?”

Wenjing stopped poking, pushed the cup aside and sighed. “Worse than your Ting’an.”

“How?”

“He’s a playboy, and he has no ambition.” She folded her arms, sounding resigned. “Sometimes I wonder whether, if he takes over the Zhou business after we marry, it’ll go bankrupt. He loves playing around and doesn’t focus on real work. He can’t compare with Ting’an. For all the gossip about him, Ting’an runs his company well and keeps his head. When there’s work to do, he doesn’t shirk it. Zhou Lin treats work like a game.”

She took a forceful sip of milk tea, frustration on her face.

“Don’t worry too much,” Ban Ban said. “Maybe he’ll focus on his career after marriage.”

“With Zhou Lin? I doubt it.”

They looked at each other and laughed. Ban Ban found Wenjing’s directness easy to be around. She called a server and ordered her another milk tea.

By the time Ban Ban returned home, it was evening. She changed slippers and entered the living room. Auntie Jiang, preparing vegetables in the kitchen, looked out and greeted her. Ban Ban answered and sat on the sofa hugging a cushion.

Wenjing’s words kept returning: first love, met in middle school, a good relationship, Lin Sang ended it and went abroad, then came back and cultivated the image of being unique in Ting’an’s heart.

Ban Ban held the cushion tighter. It would be untrue to say she felt nothing; a vague heaviness sat inside her. It wasn’t unbearable. Those events were years ago, and at thirty-three Ting’an was bound to have a past. But that woman still appeared now and then and had called him to rescue her from a drinking party at midnight. That made Ban Ban uncomfortable.

Sounds came from the entryway: shoes changing, keys clicking onto the cabinet, then footsteps approaching. She took a deep breath, arranged her expression and stood with a smile. “You’re back?”

Ting’an saw her by the sofa, cushion still in her arms. Her smile was shaped as usual, but the light in her eyes had dimmed since morning. He came over and looked at her. “What’s wrong?”

She blinked. “What do you mean?”

“You don’t look happy.”

She raised the cushion over the lower half of her face, leaving only her eyes. “How am I unhappy? I’m very happy.”

His gaze moved to the fingers gripping the cushion’s corners a little too tightly. He pulled it from her and tossed it onto the sofa. Hands in his pockets, he bent to meet her eyes. “Tell me. Who upset you?”

His serious gaze lacked his usual careless distance.

She pointed at him. “You.”

He straightened, eyebrow raised. “What did I do?”

Hands on her hips, chin raised, she said, “Wenjing told me you had a first love called Lin Sang. She said Lin Sang ended it, went abroad and still contacts you now and then after coming back.”

His expression stalled, then returned to normal. He looked at her for two seconds. “Who told you?”

“Wenjing.” She was perfectly forthright. There was little anger in her eyes, more a demand for a clear explanation.

He rubbed her hair, knocking her bun crooked. “Dinner.”

Startled, she covered her head. “What are you doing? I’m being serious!”

“Wash your hands. Auntie Jiang’s nearly finished.” He turned toward the dining room.

Ban Ban stood there with half her hair loosened, hand still on her head. She followed him two steps. “Don’t change the subject!”

“I’m not.” He sat, picked up a piece of meat, chewed and looked at her. “You’re unhappy because she contacted me recently, right? I explained that. It was simply helping her, nothing more.”

Ban Ban sat opposite, hands on the table. “Have you been in contact since?”

“No.”

“Will she contact you again?”

He set down his chopsticks and answered seriously. “Whether she contacts me is up to her. Whether I go is up to me.”

Ban Ban looked at him and spoke formally. “I’ll believe you for now. Wen Ting’an, our marriage wasn’t founded on love, but since you’ve married me, you can’t cheat during it. I won’t interfere with your past, but from now on you need to respect yourself. I can’t accept infidelity. Do you understand?”

He watched her solemnly state her view of marriage. “I understand.”