Days afterwards, Wei Lan had tried to use all cunning ways to get information about Yan Ran from Ying Yue but she had refused to oblige. It greatly surprised him how Ying Yue, who was known for her loose lips, suddenly became all tight lipped when it came to Yan Ran.
Try as he might, he had not been able to get Yan Ran out of his mind, thinking about her at very odd times. During that time he had to start work at the company headquarters, so it was not a good thing that he would find himself drifting off into Yan Ran world when in important meetings or suddenly blanking out when he saw something that reminded him of her.
In the end he had got so desperate that he had been forced to ask Shin Lin for help. With a lot of teasing, Shin Lin had disclosed that he already knew a bit about her since at the early stages of the party Yin Yue had asked him to keep Yan Ran entertained while she did her rounds as the hostess.
Yan Ran had been born in Country C but had moved when in her preteens to Country A after her mother's sudden death. She had lived there with her father and brother until their father's passing the previous year. She was now living with her elder brother and aunt while she attended the same university as Ying Yue. She was a double major in music and dance.
Wei Lan had felt a little jealous that Shin Lin had had a chance to hang around Yan Ran while he had not even spoken to her for more than five minutes. He had concluded that it was because all women felt safe around Shin Lin. The aura around Shin Lin was never aggressive and most women found it comfortable to be around him.
He had tried to persuade his friend to arrange a group date with Yan Ran but Shin Lin had refused. Shin Lin had a great fear of going against Yin Yue and did not want to be the target of her displeasure.
Several times he had considered going to look for her at her university but dropped the idea for fear of being labelled a stalker. He did not want her thinking he was some kind of pervert. That would not help his cause at all.
Wei Lan had been at a loss on what to do. Yan Ran was constantly on his mind and he felt himself slowly going crazy. He was not used to not getting what he wanted and the fact that all his plans were not getting him any closer to the object of his desire was very exasperating to him. He felt like a teenager experiencing his first crush. He could not believe what this girl was reducing him to.
On the hand, Zhi Rou had also noticed how distracted he was and was giving him grief over it. During one confrontation, Wei Lan suddenly realised that he did not even like her. She was getting on his nerves with her constant whining and general shallowness.
He promised himself that at the first opportunity he would end it with her. He could not start anything with another girl while still entertaining Zhi Ruo. It was never his thing to cheat. Although they were not really exclusive, he felt that as someone he had had several dates with, she deserved to be treated with respect. Besides, no one really knew how she would react. He did not want her to be a hindrance once he had got his chance with Yan Ran.
Wei Lan managed to end things with Zhi Ruo without too much of a fuss. She had been unhappy about ending things so abruptly but she was too proud to cling to him so they had parted ways relatively amicably. Wei Lan felt like a rock had been lifted off his shoulder. He felt free to pursue his heart's desire.
After weeks of failing to gain traction, the smitten guy had started to wonder whether he would ever have a chance with Yan Ran when opportunity presented itself in an unexpected way. Yin Yue had been a week into her summer break when she announced that she had invited Yan Ran to stay with them for the rest of the break. Their father was unconcerned as usual as it was not the first time for Yin Yue to have friends over.
Wei Lin on the hand had wanted to kiss whoever in heaven had heard his prayers. He just had to find a way to spend time with her outside his hectic work schedule and hoped that his sister would not be an obstacle.
Wei Lan remembers how everyday he would rush home after work in the hopes of getting a chance to speak to her. Yan Ran looked rather shy and introverted and as expected, Yin Yue hovered around her like a mother hen. After the first few days of this, he began to find the whole situation rather ridiculous as well as frustrating.
However, as despair was setting in, a chance presented itself in an unusual way. One day, the two girl friends were caught up in a storm after an outing. Yin Yue immediately caught a rather nasty cold and had to stay in bed for a couple of days.
Although he felt sorry for his sister being sick, he could not help thanking providence for the next three evenings that he spent chatting with Yan Ran about everything under the sun. He even got Yin Yue's blessing to entertain her while she recuperated.
Wei Lan had never been one to fuss about intelligent conversations when it came to girls but with Yan Ran he realised how superficial his life had been. Yan Ran was surprisingly easy to talk to, very smart and not as introverted as he thought at first.
She was surprisingly easy going but took time to get to know people. Conversations with her were stimulating and meaningful. They talked about music, art, dance and school; about his new job and had debates over food, literature, theatre and movies.
He learnt that she loved food from Country K and her stomach could not handle hot spices. She could go crazy over ice cream and loved to read and write. She had actually written lyrics to a couple of her songs including the one she performed at the party. She loved dogs and was allergic to cats and extremely so to shellfish. She loved the carnival and enjoyed playing several carnival games.
Her parents, who had both been actors, were now both late and her older brother Ying Jie had come back to the country a few months before her. He was a lawyer at a well-established local firm. Her brother had never cared for the world that their parents had lived in and had decided to go for a more stable and covert career. She, on the other hand, was the one who had been bitten by the showbiz bug.
It looked like she did not talk about her parents very often and he concluded that it was painful for her still to talk about them. She had initially wanted to be an actress and dancer but had found that her gifts lay more in singing and dancing as well. She decided to combine the two.
At the end of the third day, Wei Lan had found that his attraction for her was growing rather than dwindling. He found that he, now more than ever, was entertaining the idea of Yan Ran and him as a couple. She was like ray of sunshine and she literally livened up his life. He also discovered that she had a great sense of humour and they had many laughs together. He discovered a lot of things they had in common.
The first few times that he had asked her out she had refused sighting that she never, as a rule, dated her friends' brothers. Relationships like that always ended up messy. Instead of discouraging him, Wei Lan had been even more determined to change her mind.