Chapter 6: Met

After the flight was over Xiang Yu left the plane with everyone else. Her luggage hadn’t arrived yet, so she could only wait at the baggage carousel. Her phone rang several times after turning it on and several messages crowded on the screen, there was “Fly with us” messages sent by airlines and spam advertisements.

The only important message was sent by Tang Yuchi. He had just come back from abroad today and asked her to pick him up at the airport.

Tang Yuchi and Xiang Yu have not kept in contact these past few days. He probably thought that Xiang Yu had finished her trip and returned to Beijing a few days ago. So it was reasonable to ask her to pick him up at the airport, and he asked her in the message very intimately, isn’t it boring to return to Beijing? Anyway, you are not in a hurry to find a job, make sure to wait for me!

Tang Yuchi’s international flight did not arrive until one in the afternoon, Xiang Yu took her suitcase and strolled around the airport. There were reunions and farewells everywhere, but there were more passengers who would just go through the registration process indifferently or walk through the exit silently. How could much sentiment and reluctance exist?

It was boring to hang around like that so Xiang Yu choose a coffee shop and ordered a cup of coffee. The location of this coffee shop is just beside the exit of International Arrivals. She would be able to see Tang Yuchi as soon as he comes out. A few hours are actually quite easy to pass, there is a power outlet next to the table and she would play snake to kill time.

When her neck became sore after playing for a while she stretched her waist and put down the phone. A small plane landed on the parking ground outside the window which looked like a private jet and a woman in a rose-coloured stewardess uniform ran down hurriedly, holding a file bag in her hand.

Xiang Yu thought: It’s the rich again, and there was also a private jet.

When Tang Yuchi came out of the international arrival corridor, Xiang Yu had already drunk three cups of coffee, but Tang Yuchi, a person who had not fallen victim to jet lag, seemed full of energy. Tang Yuchi rushed over in three steps, put his arm on Xiang Yu’s shoulder, looked at the coffee on her table, laughed and said, “Miss me? I messaged you to pick me up and you came this early?”

Xiang Yu staggered from his force, and turned to hit his arm, “What came early, I only got arrived in the morning. If I took a taxi home and then came back, I wouldn’t make it so I just waited here for you, I waited for a few hours!”

“Of course, I saw that”

Tang Yuchi’s gaze continued to linger on the empty coffee cups, and he asked in a somewhat dazzling manner, “Is this brand of coffee good?”

“It’s not good.”

People who have grown up together since kindergarten will have a tacit understanding that others wouldn’t.

Turning, Xiang Yu saw the erratic look on Tang Yuchi’s baby face, she immediately guessed that he was thinking of An Sui. Tang Yuchi and An Sui have been in an on and off relationship for 5 years. This time they broke up for the longest time, but she can’t tell if they broke up or were having a cold war, or they just wanted to be free of each other for a while.

Every couple has their own way of loving each other, and Xiang Yu felt that she didn’t need to worry about it.

When Tang Yuchi asked again, “Have you tried hazelnut latte?” Xiang Yu almost concluded that Tang Yuchi would look for An Sui within three days. She put the suitcase on Tang Yuchi’s luggage rack and replied, “I still like instant coffee.”

Tang Yuchi laughed at her, “Instant coffee smells like sesame oil. What’s so good about it?”

“I like it, 40 for 50 and a red coffee cup is also given.”

“That cup is not even pretty! What are you even using it for?”

“If you don’t use it for drinking water, you can use it as a pen holder or to rinse your teeth when you brush it. The red colour is auspicious, what’s wrong?”

Tang Yuchi pushed the luggage trolley for a few steps and was shocked by Xiang Yu, “Xiang Yu, you won’t be the kind of person that buys two cans of yogurt to get another can of yogurt. Are you the kind of person who buys two cans of yogurt?”

“Yeah, I might even buy four cans and drink them slowly in the refrigerator. Two cans for free.”

“Buy eight cans! Four cans!” Tang Yuchi shouted.

This is obviously to raise the bar, Xiang Yu was actually not flustered, and she thought very seriously for a moment, “That is also possible. Cans that are not used can be placed in the community to feed the cats.”

“…Are you trying to piss me off?”

“Yeah!” 

The two of them have bickered since they were young and have grown used to it

Once they got out of the airport, Tang Yuchi said to the taxi driver, “Sir, take a shortcut and drive quickly. We are going to die of starvation.”

Tang Yuchi glanced behind at Xiang Yu during his conversation with the driver. As the airport traffic came and went, a black Mercedes turned on the road behind them and drove to the right. She didn’t know if she was dreaming but she vaguely felt that there was a series of ‘4’ on the license plates.

Xiang Yu had lunch at Tang Yuchi’s house, the Tang couple liked Xiang Yu very much. They treated Xiang Yu as their own daughter and served her a lot of dishes. A beef ball had yet to be swallowed when garlic scallops and prawns were placed in Xiang Yu’s bowl. She covered her lips with bulging cheeks and said vaguely, “Thank you, godmother, godfather, I will do it myself.”

“Don’t pick it for her, what should we do if she becomes a fat pig.”

Mother Tang used her chopsticks to hit Tang Yuchi, “Shut up and eat! Xiang Yu is so thin that once the wind blows against her she would float, how could she become a pig? You young people don’t know how to speak.” Tang Yuchi snatched a shrimp from Xiang Yu’s plate, “I think you two regretted giving birth to me more and more after I went abroad for a few years. It’s enough to have this daughter.”

“That’s true. Xiang Yu is perfect.” Mother Tang said.

Xiang Yu also liked Tang Yuchi’s family because Tang father and Tang mother are the kind of people who “no matter how much money you have, the most important thing is family”. When Xiang Yu and Tang Yuchi were in middle school, Tang father had the chance to further develop his career but he refused because he didn’t want to be aboard and away from his wife.

Xiang Yu’s parents couldn’t do this, and Xiang Yu rarely saw them. There was only a nanny at home.

After eating, Tang Yuchi changed his clothes and was very excited, “Xiang Yu, let’s play!”

They went shopping and played around in an arcade. Tang Yuchi even reserved a restaurant for dinner, it was a restaurant where they could sing while eating. There was a square table in the private room. In front of Xiang Yu was a big screen and a karaoke machine. In addition to being able to eat, this place looked no different from a KTV.

Xiang Yu suspected that this place was originally a KTV, and they only hired a chef when they couldn’t keep it running. But the rice steak was really delicious.

Tang Yuchi played the song “Those Years” and sang it very seriously.

It was a soundtrack in the romance film, “You Are The Apple Of My Eye” it was a big hit last year. A movie Xiang Yu had watched with Zhao Yanmo. She sighed when she walked out of the cinema, but Zhao Yanmo said, “Cinemas are so profitable, it costs 40 yuan for a movie ticket, and you have to buy some popcorn. For the price of the popcorn, there is a huge profit. “

“I wanted to conquer the world, 

But looking back, in the end, I realized 

　　Every little thing in this world is all you.”

Tang Yuchi sang emotionally and took a bite of Xiang Yu’s steak while singing. She did not think of Zhao Yanmo nor did she think of “You Are The Apple Of My Eye.” She thought of the scene where Jin Fubai helped her pick up hair and tuck it behind her ear.

There are often regrets in our memories. When it happened, we wouldn’t feel very deeply about it. It was like when Xiang Yu and Jin Fubai said goodbye at the airport, and they walked away in a cool manner.

At this moment, Xiang Yu was surrounded by the noisy music and was trapped in the memories from the days prior. Recalling the memories her mood seemed to be plated in a layer of gold, the more she thought about it, the more regretful she felt so much so that she couldn’t ignore it.

After Tang Yuchi finished singing he drank a whole can of beer and turned to look at Xiang Yu, “I haven’t seen you in a while and it has been more than a month since you have broken up, what are you signing over?” He paused the music on the big screen, “Are you thinking of getting back together with Zhao Yanmo?!”

Xiang Yu’s thoughts were interrupted by Tang Yuchi, and she looked at him in confusion, “Who? Zhao Yanmo?”

“…It doesn’t seem to be him anymore, Xiang Yu, did you have a great harvest on this graduation trip? Did you meet something special?”

“I bought a ceramic vase. It looks pretty. I’ll give it to you.”

Tang Yuchi wrinkled his nose and looked disgusted, “You know I’m not talking about this.” When Xiang Yu didn’t speak, he continued, “Well, you’re not going to talk, what kind of man is he that you are not letting me know about him? I will always stand by your side, when you got together with Zhao Yanmo, did I break my friendship of with you?”

Xiang Yu didn’t feel in the mood to continue playing anymore and was about to go home. The driver of the Tang family came to pick them up, and Tang Yuchi opened the car door for Xiang Yu, “I am going back to my house, my parents are looking forward to the day you stay with them. There is no one in your house anyways so Aunt Chen keeps a vacant room every day just say the word and you’re free to come.”

“Yeah.” Xiang Yu took out her phone. Even if she wanted to call, she thought that they didn’t even leave each other’s phone numbers.

It was not just Xiang Yu who was lingering in regret. At night, Jin Fubai got out of Li Chi’s place and got into the car. Li Chi leaned on the car and knocked on the window, “Brother Jin, there is news from Changsha. I will ask you about it, do you still want it?”

“Give it.” Jin Fubai rolled down half of the window and stretched out his hand. 　　

“Hey? I can’t give it to you in vain. Let’s settle the accounts, if I help you do a major thing, can’t you do something for your brother?”

Jin Fubai snorted, “What do you want? ” 

“Last time someone sent you a bottle of brandy, that’s it, I like wine, don’t you know.” Li Chi rubbed his hands.

It was quite beautiful. The bottle of brandy is a limited edition with diamonds on it and is worth millions. Jin Fubai smiled, and opened his hands, “If you like it take it, give me what I want.”

Li Chi put a sticky note printed with gold leaves on Jin Fubai’s hand. He watched Jin Fubai’s expression, hesitated for a moment and still said, “Brother Jin, it’s been two years now. Are you feeling…”

Jin Fubai said lightly, “I know my bounds.” 

After the car drove, he looked at the sticky note in his hand again. Li Chi had drawn a series of numbers with his horrible characters seeming like a ghostly drawing. It was the landline number Xiang Yu dialled in Changsha Hotel.

In those few days, the rainfall was severe and the phone signal was bad, one night, she knocked on the door of his bedroom. She wore a linen dress printed with cape jasmine flowers, stood at the door of his bedroom and asked him if it was okay to use the landline to make a call home.

He said, “Up to you.”

Closing the bedroom door he vaguely heard Xiang Yu’s call, saying that the weather in Changsha was bad and flights could not be flown, she would be home in a few days.

Jin Fubai asked Li Chi to find out the phone number Xiang Yu had dialled that night. The car was not fast or slow, driving at night when the lights were shining everywhere in Beijing. Jin Fubai took out his phone and entered the landline number to Xiang Yu’s house.

It was a woman who answered the phone, Jin Fubai said politely that he was looking for Xiang Yu. The woman said that Xiang Yu was living at a friend’s house today.

After hanging up the phone, Jin Fubai glanced through the night with an anxious expression.

When Xiang Yu and Tang Yuchi returned to the Tang’s house, the guest room had already been cleaned up for her.

Tang Yuchi grabbed the door frame of the guest room and yelled, “Xiang Yu, what about your vase, didn’t you say you were going to give it to me? Take it out and let me see it.”

Xiang Yu rummaged through her suitcase and took it out. The ceramic vase was a forearm’s length tall, pure white without any impurities, looking very ordinary.

Tang Yuchi joked, “What the hell, hahahaha, it’s too ugly, it looks like it was stolen from a motel”

“According to that description, it looks like you.”

Tang Yuchi was about to fight back when he saw something in the suitcase, the black shirt, “Is this the shirt you picked up?”

Actually, Xiang Yu had already washed this shirt, but when she returned it to Jin Fubai he refused it, and as he smiled he said that she looked better in it. Tang Yuchi picked up the shirt and glanced at it. Suddenly, his eyebrows frowned, “Xiang Yu.”

“Huh?”

“Have you… met Jin Fubai?”

Suddenly hearing Jin Fubai’s name Xiang Yu was at a loss for a moment, but Tang Yuchi struck an even more unprecedented serious tone, “Met or not?”

“Met.”

Tang Yuchi frowned, “Stay away from this person.”

---

Author: 殊娓

http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=5163285

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Note:

Forgot to put this in an early chapter but the author has previously described Tang Yuchi appearance as 奶狗脸 which I’ve translated as milky dog face. An example of this is Cai Xukun a famous Chinese celebrity.