Taylor Swift, who had once seemed completely out of reach, was now sitting in the passenger seat beside him, wearing a beautiful little dress.
He had picked her up from her apartment twenty minutes ago, and she had greeted him with a shy smile that made his chest tight.
The faint scent of Armani perfume mixed with Swift's natural fragrance lingered at the tip of his nose.
If Xu Can reached out, he could touch her fair legs, which crossed and uncrossed nervously as she stared out the window.
He could never have imagined such a scene, even in his dreams from his previous life.
The country music princess, the future global superstar, riding shotgun in his car on an actual date.
It felt like a fever dream, like reality had glitched and given him something meant for someone else.
On their first official date, the atmosphere inside the car was unexpectedly quiet. Taylor turned her head and looked out the window, and Xu Can could not tell what she was thinking.
'Is she angry because I was late?'
To ease the awkward silence, Xu Can reached out to turn on the radio, but his hand accidentally touched Swift's cool little hand.
Her fingers were slender and soft, and she tensed for a moment before relaxing into the contact.
"Is this tacit understanding?" Swift was the first to break the silence, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly.
Xu Can withdrew his hand, feeling unexpectedly warm. "There is a Chinese idiom to describe this situation."
"What is it? I want to learn." Swift immediately became interested, twisting in her seat to face him fully. Her blue-green eyes caught the passing streetlights, making them sparkle with curiosity.
"Xin xiang lian."
"Slow down. Xin... what?" She scrunched her nose in concentration, and the expression was so adorable that Xu Can nearly laughed.
"Xin xiang lian."
"Xin... shang... le?"
"No, lian."
"Lian?"
"Yes. Xin xiang lian."
After teaching her several times in a row, Swift finally learned how to pronounce it smoothly.
"What does it mean?" She leaned toward him, her handmade earrings swaying gently.
"Hmm..." Xu Can was briefly stumped by her question. After thinking for a while, he explained,
"According to legend, there was a mythical rhinoceros with two spiritual horns connected by a white vein in the middle."
"Because of that connection between the two ends, the phrase gradually came to mean that two people's hearts are connected. Many ancient Chinese poems have referenced this legend."
Xu Can explained it in an eloquent manner.
Taylor, sitting in the passenger seat, rested her chin on both hands and looked at him with bright eyes. The streetlights painted moving shadows across her features, highlighting her high cheekbones and full lips.
"Wow, Chinese culture is really profound. I want to learn it too." She bounced slightly in her seat, the excitement genuine. "Will you teach me more?"
"Then start with one word, and I'll teach you."
"Okay, okay," Swift said happily, clapping her hands together.
"Lao."
"Le... lao?" She tilted her head, her blonde curls falling over one shoulder.
"Not bad. The next word is gong."
"Gone? Gong... gong? Gong. I learned it." She nodded firmly, looking proud of herself.
Swift learned quite quickly, and she looked as serious as a primary school student. The comparison was both endearing and slightly amusing.
"How about connecting them?" Xu Can asked, fighting to keep his expression neutral.
"Let me think. Don't remind me..." She held up a finger, her brow furrowing in concentration.
"Laogong? Laogong. Right?"
"Pfft..."
Xu Can quickly used John Wick's acting skills to suppress his laughter. He pressed his lips together and cleared his throat.
"Yes, that's right. The more you practice, the better your Chinese will become."
"Laogong, laogong, laogong..." Swift kept practicing beside him. She looked at Xu Can with bright eyes, completely unaware that anything was strange.
"Xu, what does this word mean?"
"I'll tell you later."
The corners of Xu Can's mouth were even harder to suppress than an AK.
Taylor Swift, the seventeen-year-old future queen of European and American music, was sitting beside him and calling him "husband" more and more energetically.
Who could remain calm in that situation?
"What's so funny?" She narrowed her eyes at him, suspicion creeping into her voice. "Did you teach me something bad?"
"Nothing bad. Just... a term of endearment. Between close people."
"Oh." Her cheeks flushed pink in the glow of the dashboard lights. "Well, that's fine then."
Because of this little incident in the car, the atmosphere of their first official date became very good.
Soon, they returned to the state of close friends who could talk about everything. The tension that had hung between them since he picked her up dissipated like morning fog.
Taylor complained to Xu Can about how painful it was to prepare an album, and she also talked about some music-industry gossip.
Her hands flew animatedly as she described recording sessions that stretched into the early morning hours, producers who insisted on take after take, and the pressure she felt to make her sophomore album even better than her debut.
From time to time, Xu Can shared interesting stories from the film set or used jokes from the internet of later generations to make Taylor laugh until she trembled.
Her laughter was genuine and infectious, a melodic sound that filled the car and made him feel lighter than he had in weeks.
The restaurant he had chosen was an intimate Italian place in West Hollywood, with candles on each table and a responsive staff that knew how to be attentive without hovering.
The meal, which cost one thousand dollars per person, no longer mattered. Compared to the food, the two of them were completely immersed in their conversation.
They discussed her songwriting process, his approach to directing, and the strange intersection of art and commerce that both industries shared.
They chatted until very late.
When the restaurant was about to close, the manager himself came by to gently inform them that the staff needed to clean up.
Taylor blushed furiously at the implication, and Xu Can left a generous tip as they made their way back to his car.
Every time he looked at her in the passenger seat during the drive back, she would look back at him with bright eyes, and their gazes would meet.
Together with her beautiful face, it made Xu Can feel the kind of heartbeat he had once experienced as a student.
The nervous, exciting rhythm of first attraction, of possibility, of something precious and fragile taking shape.
Because of that, the drive back seemed unusually short. Before long, they arrived at the parking lot below Swift's apartment.
Xu Can parked the car in a relatively discreet spot, where the paparazzi would not notice them.
The last thing either of them needed was speculation about a new romance splashed across tomorrow's tabloids.
Taylor was not in a hurry to get out of the car, and she did not seem to want to go back so quickly.
The two of them returned to their earlier quiet state, but this time there was no awkwardness. Instead, there was only a subtle current of ambiguity flowing through the small space.
The radio DJ was introducing the next song.
"Next, I would like to recommend a treasured female singer to everyone. Her first country-folk album made a stunning debut, and her second album is about to be released."
"Wow, I can't wait for you to hear her beautiful voice. Let's welcome Taylor Swift."
"Here is Fearless for all of you listening to the radio, and for all the beautiful people falling in love."
'Hmm?'
Another Taylor Swift song? To be honest, the probability of hearing Taylor Swift's song on the radio was indeed quite high.
The company was working hard to promote her and build momentum for the album's release next month.
Taylor was also stunned for a moment, then smiled. A genuine, slightly embarrassed smile that made her look younger than her years.
"Let's finish listening to this song."
"Okay."
On the radio, Swift's clear voice sounded just as sweet as the girl sitting beside him.
The song carried the feeling of a rain-washed street, a quiet walk toward the car, and a girl trying to hide the nervous flutter in her heart. The production was polished but retained a rawness that spoke to Taylor's country roots.
As the melody continued, Taylor Swift softly sang along beside him, her voice blending naturally with the sound from the radio.
It was an intimate experience, hearing the original singer perform an acoustic duet with her own recording.
More importantly, while Swift sang, her eyes were fixed on Xu Can. There was something deliberate in her gaze, an invitation hiding in the lyrics.
The lyrics seemed to describe a moment just like this: a charming boy, a hand brushing through his hair, two people running forward together, and a beautiful feeling strong enough to make every fear disappear.
Before Swift could finish the song, Xu Can could no longer hold back. He leaned forward decisively and kissed her beautiful red lips.
"Mm?"
The last time she had been caught off guard was at the SNL scene, when Xu Can had dressed as Spider-Man and secretly kissed Taylor Swift while hanging upside down.
This time, it was definitely not an accident. It was intentional.
Of course, Swift had not expected the second sneak attack either. Her eyes widened, and her pupils were full of surprise.
But soon, she closed her eyes and completely lost herself in the kiss. Her lips were soft and tasted faintly of the champagne she'd had with dinner.
The two busy people no longer had any attention to spare for the song on the radio.
The chorus continued softly in the background, full of courage, romance, and the reckless sweetness of youth. Neither of them heard it.
After a while, the two people, who had been very close to each other, finally separated and looked into each other's eyes.
If they had not stopped to breathe, they would probably have become short of oxygen.
The car already felt stuffy with the windows up and their combined body heat.
"I... I should go upstairs. It's so late..." Panic, fascination, joy, and other emotions intertwined in Taylor Swift's voice, forming a completely chaotic palette. Her cheeks were flushed and her lipstick slightly smeared.
"Do you have anything to drink at home? I'm a little thirsty." Xu Can's eyes were blazing, like an experienced hunter catching those darting eyes.
"Well, no... I don't usually drink beverages."
"Tap water is fine too."
"Okay... then let's go upstairs."
If Swift wanted to refuse someone, she would not be polite. She would refuse immediately.
Obviously, she was also a little confused. Xu Can took advantage of the moment and planned to push straight toward victory.
Just as he was about to open the car door and get out, Xu Can's phone suddenly rang. The sharp ringtone cut through the thick atmosphere like a knife.
"Aren't you going to answer it?" Swift asked, her voice slightly breathless.
"No. It's probably someone selling insurance. It's not important." He reached to silence the device, but Taylor was faster.
"Answer it. What if it's something urgent?" Taylor grabbed Xu Can's phone first and pressed the answer button. She held it out to him with an expectant look.
"Xu, is that you?"
It was a strange female voice, but it sounded somewhat familiar. Young, with a slightly edgy quality.
Taylor raised her eyebrows and handed the phone to Xu Can. Her expression was carefully neutral, but he could see the question forming behind her eyes.
There was no other choice. He could only deal with it first.
"Hello?"
"I'm Kristen. We just met... Emma is drunk. Can you come pick her up?"
"..." Xu Can remembered that Emma Stone had a pretty good alcohol tolerance. How had she gotten drunk? They hadn't even had that much alcohol at the party when he left.
"Okay. Please help take care of her first."
Xu Can quickly called his assistant, Vanessa, but the female assistant apologized repeatedly.
"I'm so sorry, boss. I had dinner with my family today and drank some wine, so I'm afraid I can't drive."
Xu was already about to thoroughly conquer Taylor tonight, but he had not expected a sudden reversal. Fate, it seemed, had other plans.
"..."
After he hung up, Taylor held Xu Can's hand. Her grip was firm, grounding him in the present.
"Go pick up Emma. You are... good friends. She probably needs your help right now. I'll go upstairs first. Let's go out together next time."
"Ta—" Before Xu Can could finish speaking, Swift interrupted him with a kiss on his lips. This one was brief but carried a weight of promise.
"Okay. Go."
Taylor Swift opened the car door briskly, waved, and walked gracefully into the apartment building.
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