When Lan Zhan first got the phone call regarding Uncle Qiren's stroke, he had been in Glasgow attempting to get a plane ride back to London. Since it was expected to be a daytrip, he hadn't bothered with essentials, seeing as fifteen hours later, he would be back in Suzhou and could take care of it. XiChen had anything he would need and anything that he did not could be bought.

But now he's at the airport in the same situation, only this is worse because his luck seems to have run out as soon as he stepped out of the Didi.

A careless woman crashes into him, knocking his phone out of his hand, and the immediate splintering of glass crashing onto the unsympathetic ground has him wincing in dismay. He helps the person up, ignoring her sincere apologies because when he checks his device, the poor thing is damaged beyond repair in spite of the shock-proof cover he had invested in.

For one second, Lan Zhan simply stares at it.

It's his own fault, he thinks with no small amount of regret; while sitting in the back of the Didi, he remembered his earlier conversation with Mianmian and only thought to check how many pictures she might have sent as he got out of the vehicle. The notification said two hundred pictures.

200.

That meant he had to pay her ten thousand pounds.

Boy, was he going to make her life hell.

But karma is a petty, vindictive bitch just waiting in the shadows to pounce, eagerly anticipating the perfect moment when her chosen victim would be at their most vulnerable.

At the exact moment Lan Zhan has that thought, divine retribution makes that woman crash into him, making him drop his phone, and now he has no way of contacting Wei Ying.

Or Mianmian.

Or XiChen.

Shushu is a moot point because he's supposed to be recuperating and it would be unwise to call him and add any unnecessary stress to his condition.

But, and this is much, much, worse: he has no way to get online, and therefore, no way to check what his journey will be like. Lan Zhan is a man who likes to be prepared and right now, that single moment of having his phone in his hand is going to cost him dearly.

Again, Hannibal comes to mind and Lan Zhan shakes off the broken glass as best as he can. Checking the phone though he has no hope of it still working, he's disgusted that he's right because it's dead. He strides to the airline desk to procure a ticket back home because that's the only option left to him.

Maybe it's because Lan Zhan is already annoyed with himself and upset about his broken phone, but his patience is about to take a nosedive. The reason is an extremely unhelpful man with his tie slightly wonky, who is hell bent on irritating Lan Zhan further by telling him that there is no direct flight to London tonight.

Lan Zhan wants to grab him by his stupid tie and bash his stupid forehead on the stupid screen of his stupid computer and tell him to check again.

“When is the next one?” He asks through gritted teeth and a tense, tight jaw.

The man clicks and types furiously for a few minutes, each second dragging by like a thirsty man watching the last few drops of water evaporate in the hot burning sun, right in front of him. Then finally, finally, he looks up and says, “There are no available seats on a direct flight to London until Monday.” He has the good grace to look apologetic but Lan Zhan is past caring. “I'm not talking about economy seats. What about first class? Business class? The ones in between?” He's forgotten what they're called, but it's hardly important.

“I'm sorry, sir, there are no seats available. No seats.” He even enunciates slowly as if Lan Zhan is hearing impaired.

Punching him has never sounded so good.

Lan Zhan ignores that thought and concentrates on what needs to be done next. His priority is getting back to London as fast as he can, not venting his frustration out on this idiot. If there are no seats to London immediately available, then what's the next best thing?

Paris.

Apparently, no one wants to go there.

Lan Zhan hands over his card, not even blinking until the printed ticket and his boarding pass are in his hands. He goes to find his gate number on the large digital screen that has attracted a large crowd, but luckily Lan Zhan is tall enough not to have to get too close.

The bad news is, his gate isn't going to open for another few hours. He decides to walk aimlessly because he will be sitting down for an undetermined length of time and this is the only exercise option left to him. He does check if there are any Internet cafes and he briefly toys with the idea of just buying a new phone and swapping out the sim card, however, by the time he has this thought, all the shops are shut and the Internet cafe does not exist here.

Lan Zhan is just walking past a stall closing up for the night when the man packing stuff away turns to him and says, “Sir, do you want to buy a last minute gift for your loved ones? Look, I have these two limited edition key rings!”

He stops and takes a look, and thinks about what Wei Ying would do. Perhaps it is not a bad idea to go back home with something, and these bunnies are quite cute. They're plushies, one white rabbit with a pale blue ribbon around its neck, while the black bunny has a similar red ribbon. Wei Ying will like these, he decides, and buys them with his credit card.

Now there is nothing to do except wait.

****************

Wei Ying checks his phone again just before they open the shop. He knows it's silly to be worried about Lan Zhan because he's with his family and he's safe. There must be a perfectly good and acceptable reason why he has yet to answer Wei Ying’s previous inquiry about what to tell the suddenly interested artists who want to hold a workshop on his premises. Still, Lan Zhan has been very good recently with regular updates about his uncle and his brother, even telling Wei Ying what he's been eating and doing during the days.

Today though, there's been zilch. Nada. Nothing.

And to make matters worse, Mianmian keeps pulling out her phone and giggling to herself, which is just plain creepy. Wei Ying is still shocked by her appearance and not getting over it anytime soon.

He thinks Mianmian is doing this on purpose, because what other reason could there be for one to paint tiny rainbows next to their eyes? Huh? And that could be perfectly understandable if it wasn't for the royal blue and red deckchair striped jumpsuit on her person.

The first thing Wei Ying says to her is, “Hey, Mianmian, you wanna be careful. I think you're strobing.”

But something is definitely up with her because there were no smart comebacks or physical retaliation to his comment. Yet.

Wei Ying is going to be very vigilant today.

It's the height of summer and everyone and their mother wants to buy materials. It helps that there isn't another fabric store nearby, and when they keep the door open, it invites even the most reluctant of shoppers. Wei Ying has to admit that Madam Lan knew exactly what she was doing when she did the purchasing for the shop while she was still alive.

“Do you think Mama Lan wanted her kids to run the shop, you know, after her passing?” He asks Mianmian, shaking his head at her simultaneously when she picks up a yellow and green floral monstrosity and holds it under her neck to ask for his opinion.

“Maybe, maybe not. It's possible that she didn't have an opinion, her passing away was so sudden. I bet she didn't get a chance to think about it.” Mianmian holds up the same patterned fabric but in purple and orange.

“No,” Wei Ying tells her firmly in case she misunderstands the vigorous shaking of his head and the singular meaning of this universal sign in the negative.

“Back home, there's a general store in Suzhou and my mother loves it. The owner sells everything from cutlery to umbrellas, pots and pans to coats and jackets. I once asked him how he decided what to sell, and he said that it wasn't a conscious decision; he would invest in whatever appealed to him whenever it did. I told him what I thought of that business strategy and he told me that us young people, we were so caught up in the proper way to do things that we missed out on discovering the magic of life.”

“Magic of life?” Wei Ying echoes, going to find something nice for her because obviously, she's partially blind.

“Yeah. He said that his father told him the same thing when he'd raised the issue, and of course, since he was planning to take on the responsibility of their family business, he had to learn what made it work, right? And his dad told him, whatever you buy, as long as you keep your suppliers happy, you will be able to sell it. Unknown to them, and unconsciously, when you make them happy by not bargaining their price down, giving them payment on time or earlier, their souls imbibe their goods with an invisible blessing. That is the secret to running any kind of business. Do it with a good heart and whatever you choose to stock will definitely sell. That is the Magic of life.” Mianmian shrugs at the scepticism on Wei Ying’s face. “But what do I know? Maybe it's fate? Maybe it's a person's destiny that makes them successful or not, who knows?”

Wei Ying ponders her words before snatching the terribly hot pink polka dot material out of her hands and replacing it with a black lace.

“That's boring,” she insists.

“Not if we line it with red. Those two colours work the best together. And sometimes, Mianmian, less is more. Well, in your case, that's definitely true.”

“Alright, what do you have in mind?” The interest on her face is growing so Wei Ying grabs a rough piece of paper and hastily draws out his vision for her, adding little details.

“I don't usually make stuff for other people but I'll make an exception for you since you're desperately in need of an intervention,” he jokes, avoiding the smack she was aiming towards the back of his head.

“Keep up the smart remarks and I won't tell you a secret.” She taps the side of her nose, and Wei Ying’s curiosity is immediately piqued.

“What secret?”

“Not saying unless you promise to stop being mean about my fashion sense.”

“It's dead. Nothing can bring it back to life.” Wei Ying skips out of her reach, laughing. “And you should definitely give me a chance. I can make you look good.”

“Alright. One chance. And if you refrain from giving me sass about it until we close, then I'll tell you what I know. Just bear in mind that it's definitely to do with you, and Lan WangJi. It's in your best interests to be a good boy.” Mianmian even winks at him.

They get busy after that so there's no more chances to talk. But Wei Ying keeps checking his phone, hoping that Lan Zhan will respond soon. He's not sure why, but this time feels different. Lan Zhan enjoys their texting as much as he does, so this radio silence is doubly worrying.

There must be a good reason…right?

*****************

Lan Zhan is sitting in his own little pod, searching for headphones, or earplugs, or SOMETHING that will keep the noise out of his poor ears. There are two girls talking loudly nearby and he's sure that the whole plane, including the cockpit can hear them. But he pauses as one of them screeches.

It's like a dying cat.

“Oh. My. God, girl, you cannot be serious right now! Ten years? TEN YEARS? IF HE'S SERIOUS ABOUT YOU, THEN HE BETTER PUT A RING ON IT, BECAUSE I'M TELLING YOU, HE'S GONNA MISS HIS CHANCE!” She sucks her teeth loudly.

“Maybe he's not sure?” The other one timidly puts the thought out there.

“DO I HAVE TO SMACK SOME SENSE INTO YOU? HOW LONG ARE YOU GONNA WAIT FOR HIM?”

Ten years did seem like a long time. Now Lan Zhan’s invested. He finds the headphones and keeps them on standby, listening to the two nearby.

“Do YOU want to marry him?” The forceful one carries on with her interrogation.

“Well…yes. He's awfully sweet to me. He holds the door open for me whenever we go out, he tries to pay for our meals whenever he can, he–”

“WHADAYU MEAN, HE TRIES? HE TRIES? I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT HE GOT MONEY! WHY'S HE NOT LINING THE FLOOR WITH IT FOR YOU, HUH? YOU'RE TOO SOFT, THASS MY OPINION!”

Lan Zhan agrees. The timid one clearly needs to man up, so to speak, and find out what the intentions are of her current boyfriend.

“I'm scared to ditch him. I'm not gettin’ any younger, and–”

“Age has nuthin to do with it. The next time you go to see him, he better be prepared. He better have a ring, he better have flowers, and short of kissing your feet for makin’ you wait, he better have a apology fallin’ from those damn lips, you hear me? You need to have some self respect, girl.” There's more teeth sucking, and then the staff actually get them to quieten down.

But now Lan Zhan is lost in thought.

Those two have given him an idea, and the more he thinks about it, the surer he becomes. What are HIS intentions with Wei Ying? What does he want?

He definitely wants to date him. That part is solid. Wei Ying has become incredibly important to him and in such a short amount of time that it feels like a miracle. He knows they have to talk. Everything depends on what Wei Ying wants, too. If he's happy, if Lan Zhan can make him happier…then that's worth it.

He's on his way to Paris right now, and some call it the City of Love. Perhaps Lan Zhan will get a chance to buy something special there, just for Wei Ying. Just to show him how serious Lan Zhan is about them. Maybe not a ring, because even he can tell that it would be awkward to present Wei Ying with something so binding, this early in their relationship. But he's determined to find a meaningful gift.

Decision made, Lan Zhan slips the headphones in his ears and settles down to sleep. He'll get to Paris and do some shopping, and then he'll talk to Wei Ying. As fast as possible.

Easy peasy, lemon squeezey.

*******************

Mianmian forcefully (how the heck is she this strong when she's that short???) pulls Wei Ying to their favourite cafe and this time, it's Xiao XingChen who serves them. Wei Ying has been pestering Mianmian for two things, one of which he desperately wants over the other, but she's being at her most uncooperative best, refusing to budge until he's eaten something.

“You skipped lunch! And because you didn't eat, I skipped lunch! And now I'm STARVING!” Her voice goes all deep and gravelly at the end, actually frightening him.

Wei Ying’s jaw drops shut and he fires off his order, not even needing to look at the menu anymore. Mianmian closes her eyes and jabs at three separate parts of the menu, ensuring she has a main dish, a dessert and a drink.

“Now? Now can we?” Wei Ying pouts at her, whining. But she isn't Lan Zhan and as far as she's concerned, her situation of having an empty stomach is caused by him, and she's not having any of it. Wei Ying has been using any free time they have to try and convince her to call up XiChen-Ge, Lan Zhan’s brother, to see if he can tell them why Lan Zhan hasn't answered his phone yet.

“After we eat. Then I'll let you talk to him because he's asleep right now, and out of the two of you, YOU'RE the one that wants something. It's called diplomacy.” She glares at him.

“What about the other thing?”

“What other thing? You're such a child! I don't know what he sees in you!” But she's laughing at him, feigning annoyance.

“You know…” Wei Ying keeps pulling at a loose thread on her sleeve, like an idle cat, resting his chin on his other arm lying on the table. “The secret you said you knew about me and Lan Zhan! What is that?” He seriously needs a distraction now otherwise he'll go out of his mind. It's been more than twenty-four hours since Lan Zhan messaged him. A lot can happen in that length of time.

“Okay, since we're just waiting for our food now.” Mianmian fishes out her phone and scrolls to the beginning of the chat with Lan WangJi, and the conversation about the pictures.

She watches as Wei Ying’s hungry eyes read every word, the way they start shining brighter and brighter, his pupils blown wide so that only a rim of silver is visible. He's chewing on his bottom lip anxiously, and really, Mianmian thinks he's adorable for how he's reacting. He obviously cares very much about Lan Zhan, cares for him too, and his smallest movements all reflect how besotted he is. Actually, it's mutual because she's making ten grand off the other one, just for a bunch of photos because her boss happens to be loaded, and missing the man sitting across from her just as much as he is missed by that one.

“Mianmian…you–you sent him … but that's like, thousands of pounds??”

“Yep.” She lets the ‘P’ pop. There's not even a smidgen of guilt.

“You're ruthless!” Wei Ying exclaims with heart eyes, in absolute awe of her.

“It's called business-minded.”

Their food comes: a plate of fusili in arabiata sauce for her, spicy noodles for him and a basket of French fries to share between them. They're both hungry enough to shovel the food inside their mouths, neither speaking at all, until Wei Ying beats her.

“It could be anything,” Wei Ying tells her seriously.

“Mn.”

“It could be an accident. Lan Zhan always replies.”

Mianmian ignores him.

“It could be their Uncle, you know.”

Mianmian glares at him. She picks up her phone and dials XiChen's number.

“Good morning, Sir.”

“Ah, Luo QingYang! Good morning. It's a little early,” XiChen's voice rings out when she puts him on speaker. “Anything I can help you with?”

Wei Ying is vibrating out of his skin, his knee bouncing up and down under the table.

“Yes, Sir. I have a Wei WuXian here who would like to speak to you. Is that alright? You're on speaker.”

Before anyone can say anything, Wei Ying jumps in. “XiChen-Ge, I hope you don't mind me calling you that! It's just that Lan Zhan talks about you all the time, so I feel like I know you! Is he there? Can you please tell him to look at his phone?”

“Oh, is he not with you?”

They listen to him counting back the hours. Wei Ying doesn’t dare to interrupt him, but it's like his words have ignited the dry tinder of his heart and set it ablaze. Lan Zhan’s coming back!?!

“Maybe there was a delay on his flight. Let me check what happened and I'll get straight back to you. Wei WuXian, it's a pleasure to talk to you, and of course you may call me XiChen-Ge. Let's hope it's nothing serious.”

The dead tone on Mianmian's phone means XiChen-Ge has hung up and so she exits the call.

“Here, help me finish this,” Mianmian hands Wei Ying a clean spoon.

Her lucky dip tactics in choosing her meal meant she got a huge banana split for dessert, and now that her stomach god is mostly appeased, she's in a better frame of mind.

Wei Ying can stress eat. There's nothing wrong with that.

XiChen calls them back a half hour later.

“I'm not sure why WangJi isn't messaging us, but it could be a bad network connection. I checked with the airport and they said all direct flights to London are sold out. Some sports events, I think. On further investigation, we were able to find out that WangJi boarded a flight for Paris. In fact, he should be landing soon.”

“What should we do?” Mianmian asks, at the same time as Wei Ying says, “We should go to the airport. To pick him up.”

“Maybe you should wait there, just in case you miss each other on the way,” XiChen tells them both. “Yours is his fixed destination whereas his is in fluctuation. WangJi is a competent traveller, so I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. But I would like to thank you for contacting me, Wei WuXian.”

Wei Ying sticks his tongue out at Mianmian when he hears that.

“Just for that, I'm not inviting you to stay in Lan WangJi's apartment tonight,” Mianmian warns him off.

“XiChen-Ge! You have rights!” Wei Ying yells into the phone despite the great signal. “You're her boss’ big brother! Tell her not to be mean to me!”

They hear a huff of soft laughter on the other side. “Luo QingYang, I'll thank you for not being mean to my new Didi.”

Wei Ying immediately blushes a bright tomato red, and Mianmian bursts into laughter looking at him. She signs off on the call by promising XiChen that they'll get Lan Zhan to contact him as soon as they see him.

******************

Meanwhile, Lan Zhan is jerked awake by the captain's voice making an announcement.

“Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, we are sorry to inform you that we will be making an emergency landing in Milan in the next half hour. It is nothing to worry about, and we are sorry for any inconveniences. Thank you for your patience and understanding.”

*******************