Mr Earnest is My Boyfriend 1

March. A frigid spring.

Saturday, 11 am. 

Xia Zhen, in her knitted knee-length dress and woolen overcoat, is ready to leave home.

Being a jeans person, she particularly hates wearing skirts especially in such frosty weather. However it’s difficult to go against her mom’s imperial edict. This is what her mom bought her to wear to her blind date. Truthfully, it looks good on her since she has delicate looks. But to wear such uncomfortable things like skirts and high heels only bring great inconvenience into her life. Of course, when it’s necessary, she would still wear a dress and pretend to be ladylike.

But is it necessary to pretend for a blind date?

“Mom, my legs are cold.” Xia Zhen attempts to arouse her mom’s motherly instincts.

Her attempt fails. “The sun is so bright outside. You’ll be warm after getting some sunshine.” Tian Xue Fang glances at her daughter’s naked legs and nods approvingly. “Good, you have fair and translucent skin. You’ve inherited my fine genes. Very good.”

Kang, kang. The clothing rack on the balcony falls over from the wind.

“The wind is quite strong.”

“The restaurant has heating. The mall has central air conditioning. The cinema is very warm.”

Tian Xue Fang is unmoved.

“What about crossing the road? Walking along the river?” There will be plenty of opportunities for her to catch a cold!

Tian Xue Fang glances at her and then smiles. “Then embrace each other for warmth. Rest assured that your mom is a very open-minded person.”

To get taken advantage of in the first meeting? Is she really her biological mom?

Xia Zhen is speechless. Knowing things will just get worse, she stops herself from continuing. “It’s not like the blind date will be a guaranteed success.”

Tian Xue Fang’s smile doesn’t falter. “Don’t worry about it. If this doesn’t work out, there are still other dates to come.”

Sure enough, once the road of blind dates begins, there will be no end until she steps into the grave of marriage. However, even it doesn’t end, she can still reduce the frequency of the dates.

Xia Zhen’s plan: one blind date to tide her for a year.

Once again affirming her own belief, she eeks out an exaggerated smile. “Mom, don’t worry. I also want to find someone to love so I’ll perform nicely. I’m leaving. Bye.” What’s that about finding someone to love, it’s all talk.

She walks out the door with high morale. Her heeled boots clicking on the floor feels like a upbeat soundtrack inspiring her to move forward.

Before Xia Zhen has even graduated, she has already came up with a plan to tackle the blind date problem.

After her 25th birthday last week, Madam Tian Xue Feng formally told her to go on a blind date. Xia Zhen didn’t immediately protest or resist. She even carried some anticipation with her, surprising her mom.

Back in university Xia Zhen watched her classmates leave for blind dates one by one. The fact that she’s only being told to go on one when she’s 25 is already proof of her good fortune.

She has a lot of confidence in her plan and is eager to try it out.

Raising her chest, she walks out the gate with fighting spirit. But the incoming gust of wind is enough to kill most of her momentum. She tightens her overcoat around her and huddles out of her neighbourhood to grab a taxi. There’s heating in the car!

The restaurant they agreed to meet is not far away, just 10 minutes by car.

There are 15 minutes until their meeting time. Xia Zhen wonders if her blind date has already arrived. To be honest, it doesn’t really matter. Even if the other party is late, she won’t be unhappy.

Walking to the restaurant door, she pauses. Frowning, she struggles to remember his name.

Surname Pei.

Pei Cheng An!

It takes only 2 seconds for her to remember his name. Xia Chen is satisfied with her memory. To think that she couldn’t even recall his surname until yesterday.

She pushes the restaurant door open triumphantly.

It’s a private residence restaurant that Pei Cheng An chose. It’s her first time here.

Walking into the dining area, there’s plenty of warmth inside. Her smile widens.

Xia Zhen likes how the restaurant is tastefully decorated.

A waiter dressed in an elegant qipao greets her and takes her to a room.

She knocks and enters.

Xia Zhen finally feels a hint of nervousness now she’s about to meet her blind date.

“Hello.” Pei Cheng An stands up, politely greeting her.

He’s tall and slender. His hair is neither too long nor short. His face is defined but not sharp. On top of his straight nose is a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. Although he’s not smiling, his eyes still carry a hint of gentleness. He appears infinitely better compared to Xia Zhen’s expectations. Yep, there’s nothing to critique.

A handsome researcher. He has a Master’s degree, about 30 years old, the age where a flower truly blossoms. He could be said to have almost no experience with romance. The word “almost” can be further investigated but she won’t probe. She doesn’t care what he researches in the institute. Either way, he’s a high quality bachelor in all aspects.

If she tells others that she’s fallen at first sight, then it’s persuasive enough.

If she says she’s obsessed and can’t forget him, that’s also reasonable.

Hehehehe. She sees the light.

“Hello.” Xia Zhen smiles sincerely.

The corners of Pei Cheng An lifts slightly, as a way of returning her smile.

Xia Zhen can tell he’s a person who doesn’t like smiling. That’s quite natural for a man who does research in the institute all day. Such a man can actually be attractive. Even though the celebrity she admires is Wong Cho Lam, who is funny, lively, and not very tall, it cannot hide the charm of the humourless Pei Cheng An.

Right. That’s how she should think.

Smilingly, Xia Zhen observes Pei Cheng An. He too, sweeps his eyes over her but only very briefly. To be polite, he only gives her naked legs a quick glance.

“Ms Xia, sit.” Pei Cheng An pulled her chair for her, mannerly.

She walks over leisurely and sits with grace. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Pei Cheng An returns to his seat. He picks up the menu and says, “Ms Xia, please order.”

She picks up the menu in front of her and casually scans it. With a neutral face, she says, “I’m a little overwhelmed. Since Mr Pei is familiar with this restaurant, why don’t you order?”

Truthfully, she has already pinpointed three dishes she’s interested to try despite the quick scan.

She observes Pei Cheng An’s expression but doesn’t notice any changes. He nods, accepting her suggestion. “Does Ms Xia has any dietary restrictions?”

Smiling sweetly, Xia Zhen replies, “No.”

“What does Ms Xia likes?”

“Anything will do.”

After uttering that sentence, she mercilessly condemns herself in her heart.

Every time Xia Zhen sees posts and memes titled ‘Anything will do’, she can’t help despising the people who inspired those posts. She did this now so that she’ll be despised. She wants him to go home, complain about her, and then abandon her. That will make sure her first blind date will end in complete disaster, so she can relax for a period of time. Of course this can’t be achieved over a simple dinner. There’ll be more opportunities in the future.

Pei Cheng An nods again, without expression. “Ms Xia isn’t a picky eater. I admire that.”

“Admire…” Xia Zhen doesn’t know if he means those words or is simply being sarcastic. She narrows her eyes. She has quite a good eyesight, so she wants to observe him even more clearly. But she can only see his calm eyes and serious expression.

Maybe he’s too good at pretending, Xia Zhen thinks.

“Yes. These days many girls go on diets to slim down or like eating junk food. That’s not good.”

Her grandpa had once said similar words. When she was going through puberty, Xia Zhen was rather fat. It was grandpa who took care of her when her parents were busy working. Since all girls likes being pretty, she once decided to lose weight by dieting or fasting. She skipped exactly two meals. As for why she didn’t skip the third, that was because grandpa spoke those words to her. Her will was already weak to begin with so she stopped. If she had insisted and became a pretty lady from the weight loss, maybe now she would already have a handsome boyfriend.

She only managed to slim down in her second year in university. By then, all the handsome boys were already taken.

“Stature is very important.” There’s no doubt for her.

Pei Cheng An agrees. “If there’s a proper diet, exercise is the best way to keep the body healthy.”

“Mr Pei made a very good point.” Xia Zhen puts on an admiring face. She did after all promise her mom to behave on the date.

Pei Cheng An doesn’t look smug at all. Instead, he looks a little embarrassed.

Is he pretending? Xia Zhen’s expression is a little uncertain.

Pei Cheng An orders three dishes and a soup. He asks Xia Zhen if she has any opinions about his suggestions. She initially plans to make trouble at this point but she’s not sure if she can do it well. Besides, there are two dishes that she’s interested to try so she holds her tongue.

After taking the order, the waitress leaves their room. Xia Zhen watches the curves made from the waitress’ womanly figure, she eyed Pei Cheng An and sighed. “The waitress here really has an angelic face, devilish figure. She’s really good looking!”

Xia Zhen has always been fond of watching beauties. It’s her opinion that women are more worth admiring than men. If not due the world’s perceptions, she would really like to find a beautiful woman and spend her life with her. Even though such a wish cannot be granted, but if she can spend 30, 40 years with her husband admiring beauties, that would be great too. That’s Xia Zhen’s view on love.

Such an out-of-ordinary idea had once made Xia Zhen panic. She has never particularly liked any boys since she was young. Of course, she had once fallen for a tall, handsome boy when she saw him dunking a ball. That boy was passionate in debating and was also courageous to the point he dared confess to her, who was a top scholar. But in just a few days, she became sober.

Xia Zhen, whose appearance is decent, has occasional admirers even during her heaviest years. There were a few plump-loving boys who told her things like, “I think you’re very lovable and very warm. Please be my girlfriend.” Xia Zhen reluctantly agreed a few times but before the honeymoon days were even over, she had already broken up with them. As for her lovers after that, she dated with them with an open mind. But the other party would always lament her lack of enthusiasm. In their words, they were frustrated with her because they cannot see affection in her eyes.

Thus Xia Zhen later discovers that men and women are better off as friends.

She has equal amounts of opposite sex and same sex friends and gets along with them wonderfully.

However, there seems to be no such character like Pei Cheng An.

What kind of character is Pei Cheng An? For instance, after Xia Zhen praises the waitress’ beauty, this is what his response is like...

“Most angels don’t have beautiful faces...”