Nanke Yifu Chapter 6
bySeeking Chi Fu’s Whereabouts (6)
When Yan Laixi said that, Chi Fu had just put a fish ball into his mouth. It was so hot he was puffing air, unable to swallow or speak, only able to cover his mouth and hum: “Mmm mmm mmm!”
The person opposite him widened his eyes, looking surprised and delighted. Yan Laixi told him to be careful of the heat and poured him a glass of iced drink, placing it by his hand.
“It’s true.” Only after Chi Fu swallowed the food did Yan Laixi reply. It was impressive that he could understand what Chi Fu was trying to hum.
“Did I leave that deep an impression on you?” Chi Fu asked. Yan Laixi’s words surprised him, as he recalled that almost every time, he had simply looked at Yan Laixi and then left. This had certainly seemed abrupt in the recent few times, as he was probably the only person near the front of the line who did nothing else, but Yan Laixi claimed to remember him from the very beginning. “Or are you actually blessed with a photographic memory, remembering everyone?”
“How could that be?” Yan Laixi chuckled, saying, “I remembered you because you were quite special.”
Chi Fu thought for a moment and asked, “Is it because most of your readers are girls?”
Yan Laixi shook his head. “Do you want to guess, or should I just tell you?”
Chi Fu tried hard to recall the first time he met Yan Laixi, reviewing everything he did. The conclusion was that he did nothing except queue, walk, hand over and receive the book, look at Yan Laixi, and say thank you. He told Yan Laixi, “Just tell me directly, I can’t think of anything.”
Yan Laixi extended two fingers, pointed to his own eyes, then turned his wrist and pointed to Chi Fu’s face, saying, “You were the only one who stared straight at my face the entire time.”
“Ah…” Chi Fu hadn’t expected that to be the reason. After all, he did that every time and never thought Yan Laixi noticed. He felt a little embarrassed now. Although Chi Fu wasn’t someone who cared much about saving face, being pointed out so directly about such a thing was still awkward.
“Does that make you uncomfortable?” Chi Fu asked. If it did, he would try to control himself in the future. If not… well, if the person himself allowed it, then of course he would continue looking, and even more brazenly.
“No, not at all,” Yan Laixi said. “I just found you quite interesting. You came every time, and every time you only stared at me, never spoke to me, and never asked for a Special Signature. Were you really just coming to ‘look’ at me?”
“Are you really not uncomfortable?” Chi Fu felt that Yan Laixi was probably telling the truth this time, but he still countered, “You’re not trying to deceive me again, are you?”
After all, the person opposite him had a history of “previous offenses” when it came to lying or forcing himself to accommodate others.
“Truly not.” Yan Laixi raised his hand and waved it between them, indicating their status sitting face-to-face across a table. “If I didn’t like being stared at, I wouldn’t be sitting here right now.”
“Alright, I believe you.” Chi Fu unzipped his pocket, pulled out the small ornament Yan Laixi had given him, and held it in his palm. “After all, you even gave me a little dog.”
He pinched the little orange dog with three fingers and nodded it up and down toward himself. “When I saw you giving an ornament to that girl, I almost wanted to ask you for one directly.”
“I knew it,” Yan Laixi said, asking, “Then why didn’t you ask? Were you too shy to speak up?”
“Knew what?” Chi Fu answered truthfully, “Maybe a little? Actually, the main thing was that I thought it was quite nice that you secretly said thank you to me.”
“Why was that nice? Didn’t I say thank you to you every time?” Yan Laixi asked.
What? Did saying thank you have to be categorized into secret and public?
“That’s different. You say thank you to everyone. After an event, you probably even say those two words in your sleep. But saying it secretly only to me, that counts as whispering a secret,” Chi Fu said, not forgetting the question that had been overlooked due to the conversation’s direction. “So, knew what?”
“Knew you wanted that thing,” Yan Laixi tilted his chin toward the little orange dog. “You rarely didn’t stare at me today; you kept staring at those ornaments.”
“I did want it and I was looking at them, but not constantly,” Chi Fu explained. “It just so happened that while I was looking, you told me to wait for you. It was too unexpected! I almost froze right there!”
“It was sudden, but there was no other way. I was worried you might not have heard me,” Yan Laixi said, suddenly remembering something.
Although the other party had been entirely positive throughout, he still needed to ask: “By the way, I didn’t scare you, did I?”
“Brother, isn’t it a little late to ask now?” Chi Fu said, wrapping his arms around himself, hunching his shoulders, and dramatically acting out a scene. “Ah! He secretly told me to wait for him after the event. Is he going to mug me? I’m so scared.”
Yan Laixi laughed and scolded, “Be serious!”
He was about to continue acting, but he almost knocked the little orange dog over by accident. Chi Fu quickly sat up straight, put it away, and said, “I was so happy, how could I be scared! Was the surprise too big and sudden that it turned into a fright? Impossible, my psychological resilience isn’t that weak. But the question of whether I heard you is real. It was quite noisy, and you spoke softly. If I hadn’t heard, I would regret it for the rest of my life!”
Yan Laixi: “If you hadn’t heard, you wouldn’t know, so how would you regret it?”
“Maybe I saw you talking but didn’t hear what you said?” Chi Fu said. “Like that one time before, you wrote something on a slip of paper. I thought it was for me, so I didn’t look closely, but it wasn’t. I’m still curious about what you wrote! I even asked you about it that time, do you remember? So, can you tell me?”
Of course he remembered, and the memory was particularly vivid—the kind of memory that reacted the moment Chi Fu mentioned writing a note. But he couldn’t, absolutely couldn’t, not even if he was beaten to death.
Knowing that Chi Fu still remembered, and even cared about that slip of paper, Yan Laixi’s heart was in turmoil, with a hundred and eight little figures jumping and flying around inside. Yet, he had to maintain an expression like, “Ah, yes, that did happen.”
“I just suddenly thought of something and jotted it down. I forgot what exactly it was,” Yan Laixi said, adding a superfluous clarification, “It had nothing to do with you.”
Chi Fu didn’t believe him, but Chi Fu didn’t say anything.
Yan Laixi pretended not to see the word “doubt” written in Chi Fu’s right eye and the word “suspicion” in his left, and naturally continued the conversation: “I thought you wouldn’t come that time.”
Since he wasn’t willing to talk about it, Chi Fu didn’t press the issue, temporarily turning the page on the note incident. “I didn’t expect so many people. That time, just like before, I didn’t go too early.”
“So why do you always queue so far forward?” Yan Laixi asked. He had always been curious to ask Chi Fu this. “If it’s just for a signature, it doesn’t matter where you queue.”
“Because I can’t see you from the queue. Most of the time, I can only see you when I’m about to reach the front,” Chi Fu said. “I go there specifically to ‘look’ at you.”
Yan Laixi: “Am I that good-looking?”
“Of course you are!” Chi Fu put down his chopsticks and said, “I’ll tell you the truth. The first time we met, I really just went there to ‘look’ at you. The book you signed for me, I only finished reading the first time that night when I got back. At that time, I knew nothing about you except that your pen name was Nanke. I only learned the name Nanke from the book while queuing.”
“I was originally just bored that day and saw a small comic convention nearby, so I went. Inside, I found a booth that seemed to be displaying a niche anime I liked, so I went over. It turned out it wasn’t, and I was a little disappointed. Then I turned to leave, and the moment I turned, I suddenly wasn’t disappointed anymore.” He gestured with his hand, explaining to Yan Laixi, “That booth was right next to you. I happened to see you sitting there, and I thought, if I don’t go over and look at such a good-looking person, I’ll be missing out big time.”
“I remember there was a pretty large empty space next to me that time,” Yan Laixi asked playfully, “You wouldn’t have looked at me from over ten meters away and decided I was good-looking enough to queue for my book signing, would you?”
From ten meters away, looking at his side profile, let alone whether he was good-looking, someone with poor eyesight wouldn’t even be able to tell if he had one nose and two eyes.
“Yes, I did,” Chi Fu nodded. “It was also lucky that there weren’t many people then, otherwise I might not have queued.”
Yan Laixi: “Does that mean we have fate?”
“Fated destiny,” Chi Fu said. “After I went back that day, your face was all I could think about. I felt like I could see you every time I closed my eyes. I couldn’t sleep at all, so I stayed up all night and finished reading the book. From then on, I was hooked.”
“If you like this face so much, why didn’t you ask for a photo together?” Yan Laixi rested his arms on the table, propping up his chin as he asked.
“I couldn’t remember! Every time I went back, I thought, ‘Next time for sure,’ but every time, my mind went blank, and I was only focused on looking at you. But it doesn’t matter if I don’t have one. Photos are never as good as seeing you with my own eyes… Ah!” Chi Fu suddenly sat up straight, his eyes gleaming. “A photo! Can we take one now?”
“We can,” Yan Laixi said. His phone was on the table beside him. He picked it up, opened the camera, and asked Chi Fu, “Just like this, or do you want to tidy up?”
“Wait for me, just a moment.” Chi Fu pulled out a hair tie, gathered his back hair, and tied a small knot at the nape of his neck, making him look much tidier. He then shook his fringe, checked his mouth and collar for any accidental oil splatters, and told Yan Laixi, “Done.”
There was a table between them, one in front of the other. Yan Laixi habitually angled the camera toward Chi Fu.
Chi Fu: “Don’t just take a picture of me. You can take pictures of me anytime. As long as you are clearly visible, you can block me completely.”
“Then what kind of joint photo would that be?” Yan Laixi pressed the shutter, opened the album to check the photo, and confirmed it was fine. “I can take pictures of myself anytime too. Should I send you the photo?”
Chi Fu paused for a second, then immediately agreed: “Yes, please!”
Seeing the other person excitedly pulling out his phone, Yan Laixi realized something and teased, “Were you trying to add me as a friend all along?”
Clearly, Chi Fu’s brain, temporarily less intelligent due to the barrage of continuous surprises, hadn’t thought of that. However, he could tell Yan Laixi was joking, so he played along: “Yes, I went to great lengths just to add you as a friend. Brother, you wouldn’t be heartless enough to delete me after sending the photo, would you?”
Yan Laixi countered, “Maybe I was the one who went to great lengths, just waiting for you to ask for a photo so I could take it with my own phone and add you as a friend?”
“Because you wouldn’t need to,” Chi Fu said. “If you crooked your finger, I’d come running over happily.”
The friend request was accepted. Chi Fu initially typed the pen name Nanke in the notes section, but after thinking about it, he deleted it, turned the phone upside down, and handed it to Yan Laixi. “I don’t know which characters your name uses.”
“Oh, okay.” Yan Laixi took Chi Fu’s phone and, without looking up, handed over his own. “You input yours too.”
After they each entered their names and exchanged phones back, Yan Laixi saw that Chi Fu had added six characters in parentheses after his name.
“Chi, Fu, (Tomato Hotpot Boiled Cilantro),” Yan Laixi intended to read out the unprofessional note in a serious tone, but halfway through, he couldn’t hold back his laughter. “Why did you add ‘Tomato Hotpot Boiled Cilantro’?”
“Because I think the impression I left on you by saying I wanted to boil cilantro to eat should be much deeper than the simple two characters ‘Chi Fu’,” Chi Fu said. “It’s to prevent you from forgetting who this Chi Fu is, so I added a little descriptive aid.”
Yan Laixi: “My memory isn’t that bad.”
“Of course your memory isn’t bad. After all, you remembered me after just one meeting,” Chi Fu leaned forward on the table. “Hey, Brother, did you only remember me, or did you remember quite a few other people too? I mean, remembering them after just one time.”
“You’re probably the only one I’ve remembered after just one meeting so far.” There was a bubbling hotpot between them, and Yan Laixi was worried Chi Fu might get burned, so he raised his hand and pushed him back. “I’m a bit face-blind. For me, remembering faces is harder than remembering names. I have remembered a few names after just one meeting, though.”
“Brother, do you know that one sentence from you can charm thousands of young men?” Chi Fu raised his hand, feigning a dramatic pose, and said in a soft, weak voice, “Thousands of me would willingly have their souls captured by you.”
“Alright, alright, your mouth is something else.”
He claimed to have his soul captured, but in reality, he was the one constantly joking and charming others. Yan Laixi had never met someone so articulate. Words that might make others awkward or annoyed only sounded interesting coming from Chi Fu.
“Do you talk like this to everyone?” Yan Laixi asked. “Be careful, you might end up owing a mountain of romantic debts.”
“How could I talk like this to everyone?” Chi Fu retorted. “If I owe anyone, I only have the chance to owe you, Brother, and that chance depends on whether you give it to me. If you give me the chance to owe you, I will repay it immediately.”
“Stop teasing me.”
“I’m not teasing you.” It was time to change the subject; continuing this line of conversation might make the other person uncomfortable. Chi Fu pointed to Yan Laixi’s phone and asked, “By the way, Brother, where did you buy that little charm on your phone?”
“This?” Yan Laixi picked up his phone and held the small charm dangling from it.
It was a transparent plastic shell shaped like a small cat, filled with soft fur.
“Yes,” Chi Fu nodded. “I want to buy one too.”
“This wasn’t bought. It was…” Yan Laixi frowned in thought, then picked up his phone to search. “Hold on a moment.”
Chi Fu didn’t quite understand why something that wasn’t bought required searching on a phone, but he waited quietly.
“Found it. I previously hired someone to write a song for my novel, and they made an MV. This is from the person who drew the MV Art,” Yan Laixi took a deep breath, his finger hovering over the screen, reading haltingly: “It’s from a Cat Café frequently visited by a student who is an acquaintance of the owner of a flower shop frequently visited by his friend. The owner there made it using the fur shed by the kittens.”
Chi Fu froze for three seconds, his brain still rebooting. “What of what of what?”
“Apparently, they made too, too many, and they just give them out to anyone. It was passed down through all those layers until it reached me,” Yan Laixi said. “Do you want one? I have another one at home. Should I bring it to you next time?”
“Yes,” Chi Fu agreed first, then asked, “How many must have been made to be passed down… one, two, three, four, five… I can’t count it clearly, but it’s amazing that it could be passed down through so many layers.”
“I also find it quite miraculous, and it’s amazing that it could even reach the end of the line after being passed through so many layers,” Yan Laixi said, opening his calendar to check his schedule, and asked Chi Fu, “When are you free next week? Is the weekend okay?”
Right, he was so busy trying to untangle the chain of “of’s” that he completely missed such important information.
Yan Laixi said he would bring it to him next time.
And judging by the context, this “next time” didn’t refer to the next book signing.
Yan Laixi wanted to meet him alone again!
“Yes! It is!”
He was too excited and didn’t control his voice, answering so abruptly that it startled Yan Laixi.
“If you want to meet, you can call me anytime, as long as I’m free,” Yan Laixi said. “I really enjoy spending time with you, and I’d be happy to receive invitations from you in the future. Don’t be so excited.”
To Chi Fu’s ears, those words were like the sound of nature, comparable to someone telling him he had won five million dollars.
“Brother, regardless of whether I liked you for your face or your book initially, after spending this day with you, I feel like I can never leave you now.”
“That’s an exaggeration.”
After dinner, as they were about to part, Yan Laixi hesitated and spoke to Chi Fu in a negotiating tone, “How about you change the way you address me? Not many people call me that normally, and hearing you call me ‘Brother’ makes me a little uncomfortable.”
“No problem,” Chi Fu said. Yan Laixi being willing to voice such a refusal was a happy thing for him, provided the refusal wasn’t about his invitation. “Forget changing an address, I’d change languages if you asked.”
Yan Laixi joked along with him, “Change to what? Alien language? What if I don’t understand?”
“It’s fine, I’ll translate it for you sentence by sentence,” Chi Fu asked, “Then what should I call you? Teacher Nanke?”
“That’s even worse than calling me Brother. Being called that makes me feel like I’m at work,” Yan Laixi said. “Just call me by my name. Nanke or Yan Laixi, either is fine.”
“Then… see you next week, Nanke.”