Encountering at Night (Four)

  Qiao Yan looked at her sister in puzzlement, unable to understand why she was acting so abnormally.

  "I went to the museum today," Qiao Ran said, "I saw an old photo, and the person in it looks just like Mr. Wei Chi. And that person's surname is also Wei, named Wei Yafu."

  "What you see is a photo of my great-grandfather." Wei Chi Hong glanced at Qiao Ran calmly, then turned his head to continue examining the decorations in the room, the intricately carved ancient wooden shelves, the bronze filigree fireplace, the finely crafted corridor pillars, and the luxurious European-style sofa, all exuding understated opulence.

  On the snow-white wall behind the fireplace, a black-and-white old photograph was hanging. Wei Chi-hung walked to the front of the fireplace and looked up at it. In the photo, there was a Chinese woman with a bun, elegant and beautiful, and a foreign woman wearing a wide-brimmed hat, charming and dynamic.

  "The Chinese woman in the photo is Liu Yita, the protagonist of the story you just told. This was taken at the old pier on Zhuolang Island in the 1930s when Liu Yita bid farewell to her foreign friend." Qiao Yan saw Wei Hui looking intently and made an introduction.

  "Which son of Jiao Zhi is your grandfather?" asked Wei Chonghong.

  "The eldest son." Qiao Yan replied briefly.

  Wei Chi Hong took another look at the photo on the wall, nodded thoughtfully and said, "Thank you for your hospitality, I should be going."

  "The coffee hasn't been drunk yet." Qiao Yan was just being polite, not intentionally trying to retain him. What she didn't expect was that Wei Chi Hong walked straight over to the sofa and sat down, looking calm and collected, "Then let's finish the coffee before leaving."

  Qiao Yan had not spoken yet, Qiao Ran had already said: "I'll go make coffee, you guys chat."

  Qiao Yan remained silent for a few seconds, then walked over and sat down beside Wei Chi Hong. Then an even more unexpected scene unfolded - Wei Chi Hong immediately stood up and left the sofa, sitting down on the single-person sofa next to it.

  "Captain," Qiao Yan suddenly shouted.

  "My name is Wei Chi Hong, don't call me Captain outside of work hours, I don't like it." Wei Chi Hong said.

  Qiao Yan blinked her eyes, looked at him carefully again, "Since that's the case, I won't be polite either. Mr. Wei Chi, please forgive me for speaking directly, are you suffering from gynophobia?"

  Wei Chi Hong looked at her deeply and asked, "Why ask this?"

  "You never look at me straight in the eye, and you don't even dare to sit with me." Qiao Yan had now entered her past role as a psychiatrist, treating Wei Chi Hong as her patient.

  Wei Chi Hong's eyes were deep and sharp, with a broad forehead that carried an air of unyielding pride. "If you have gynophobia, how can I bring you back to my home?"

  These words made Qiao Yan's face turn red. Previously, at Wei Chi's house, when he said to Qiao Yan "I saw you fainting outside and brought you back", Qiao Yan didn't think much about how he "brought" her back. Now hearing him say it in person, she suddenly felt embarrassed.

  To hide her embarrassment, Qiao Yan quickly lowered her eyelashes, hiding those sparkling eyes. After a while, she raised her eyelashes again, revealing a hint of unyielding courage, "How about we do a test?"

  "What test?" Wei Chi Hong asked stiffly.

  "Testing whether you have gynophobia," Qiao Yan's tone was slightly trembling.

  Wei Chi Hong's face was tense, with a deep and bottomless darkness in his eyes. He hid behind his dark protective layer, having no intention of letting her see through him. "Alright, I'd like to see what method you'll use to test me."