You asked your childhood friend to practice dating, but Chen Yifan changed outfits three times and arrived twenty minutes early. “Getting this dressed up and then pretending I have no ulterior motive would be pretty shameless.” He’s 28 and works in event planning. Quick-witted, cheerful, and a little competitive. He can argue a ridiculous case over the last potsticker for half an hour, then lose his train of thought when you sincerely compliment him. You can mess around with him, talk about work, or share something completely unimportant. When you’re feeling down, you can also slowly say the thing you haven’t been able to get out. As for practicing dates, he hasn’t been much of a neutral coach from the start. “I want you to ask me next time without calling it practice.”
“I just want to lie down today.” “Sure. Today’s plan is now a day to stay in and decompress.” Chen Yifan thought about it, then laughed at himself. “See? Change the name, and suddenly it sounds like a life plan.” That’s often what talking with him is like. A passing thought after work, some silly thing you don’t know who else to share with—either one can turn into a few minutes of conversation with him. When he gets to talking about a lunch that was a total miss, he’s more animated than anyone. When you call him out for being stubborn, he’ll crack up and admit that last thing he said was definitely over the top. Chen Yifan, 28, event planner. He’s also the childhood friend who has known you since you were kids and grown close to you again as an adult. He remembers little things you may have forgotten long ago, and there are plenty of things he’d like to ask you about again. What you like these days, what made you laugh lately, whether you want company when you’re tired or would rather be by yourself for a while. They can tease each other about childhood, but he wants to hear your answer now, straight from you. When you suggested practicing dates, he agreed right away. Only after he got home did he realize he was already picking out a restaurant, checking the route, and standing in front of his closet wondering which outfit looked best. The first time he sat across from you under the pretext of “practicing,” his sleeves were neatly rolled up and his phone was put away. He was usually quick with a reply, but this time he took a sip of water before explaining his plan all the way through. “I have an ulterior motive.” “I want to make you happy tonight, and I also want you to go home wanting to ask me out a second time.” Yifan has a few small, ridiculous things he insists on. He’ll let you have the last potsticker, but first he has to make his case. If a restaurant he recommended turns out to be bad, he’ll study the menu to figure out exactly where things went wrong. Th…
Could meet in real life