Sitting in the car, Xiang Yu raised her head slightly, watching Jin Fubai quietly in the night. From this angle, you can clearly see the arc of his Adam’s apple and tight jawline.
“Don’t go home tonight.” This was really an ambiguous invitation.
What surprised Xiang Yu was that she had just heard those “sentences”, and yet when she heard him say this, she still felt that it was hard to calm the “bump, bump” in her chest.
Xiang Yu knew that what Li Mao said at the dinner table was not aimed at her. The man merely glanced over at her, so Li Chi tried to stop him. But in fact, Li Mao is not to blame for all this, Xiang Yu had also wanted to know what kind of people were in their circle. They are extremely extravagant and lustful, and all kinds of people live at the top of the pyramid with people continuously bouncing in and out, naturally, they don’t put love in their eyes.
This so-called affectionate was probably just like an exotic flower in their eyes.
Of course, Li Mao would not have thought that an exotic flower would really appear at the dinner table, perhaps in his eyes, Xiang Yu was just a “temporary” person next to Jin Fubai. So there were no taboos when talking.
But if this matter was really to be calculated, Jin Fubai was also not the one who was wrong.
When Xiang Yu used her home phone to call back his phone number, she didn’t dare to imagine a boyfriend whose love for her to be stronger than gold. She just had a crush on the man in front of her.
So if Jin Fubai was willing to coax, then she was also willing to step down on it.
Xiang Yu almost didn’t hesitate, she smiled and nodded, “Okay, where are you going to take me?”
She answered too neatly, yet Jin Fubai hesitated.
This girl, Xiang Yu was too transparent, she wouldn’t have not heard those words of Li Mao.
Jin Fubai discovered early that when she was playing games Xiang Yu had her head buried and she was not entirely focused. So, she knew exactly what was happening around her. At one time, he leaned into her ears and whispered when the woman next to him kicked off her shoes while eating, and rubbed her stockings against the man’s trousers, all the way to his thigh. Jin Fubai laughed at her, “No wonder you always pass so many levels, where did you learn it from?”
“I’m amazing. If it wasn’t because I was distracted, I would have passed more levels.” Xiang Yu said at that time.
Jin Fubai would also have a thought once in a while sitting next to Xiang Yu watching her play games. Her game is probably the most boring game out there, but when the tiny bug gets lead under her hands, it could really grow, to the point where he had to walk around his own tail. He had also committed crimes, deliberately going in to kiss her, watching it hit its tail, and then she went to reason with him in anger.
It is only when she is absent-minded that she will be unable to pass the first few rounds. So what Li Mao said today, she had actually listened to it.
Now that she has heard it, Jin Fubai would rather her be a little bit temperamental than be so nonchalant, in which one couldn’t even see how much she likes him in her heart.
Suddenly, Jin Fubai felt a little down so he got into the car and stepped on the accelerator, “Let’s go, I’ll take you to a place.” He had originally wanted to take her to a spa hotel so that she could let out her anger and also to boost the feelings between the two, but now he was not in the mood too.
The car drove all the way to the city centre passing an old courtyard and stopped at the entrance of the alley. A section of the house was being repaired and a green net blocked it so the car could not get in and they needed to walk in.
Beijing in 2012 is a contradictory city, not only with the dreams of countless young people, and the high-rise buildings with brilliant lights but also due to the old traditional courtyards and alleys with cages. Even the subway which had been repaired at line 15, the vertical and horizontal subway lines were like a network covering the entire city. But at that moment, where Jin Fubai lead her, the dark alleys were like the cracks in this bustling city, like a ground made for assassinations.
When getting out of the car, Jin Fubai helped Xiang Yu open the car door and stretched out his hands in front of her, “Come?” He was deeper than that alleyway, like a long street in a dream that goes on forever, however, it was also tempting for people to be unable to continue further.
Xiang Yu put her hand on Jin Fubai’s palms, stood up wearing her thin high-heeled shoes she held his arms and followed him into the dim nights, finding it difficult to go forward. But she was still interested, “How many years has it been since someone came to this place? I smell something mouldy.”
Jin Fubai curled his lips slightly as she followed him without any hesitation. He turned on the flashlight function on his phone, illuminating the space. Xiang Yu said, “Turn it off, the moonlight is also beautiful.”
He had never walked through the alley of Lao Jiu at night with someone like this. Now that he has felt it, it didn’t feel too bad. The woman next to him held onto his arms tightly, the soft touch of her chest pressed against the outside of his forearm without anyone knowing of it. If they hadn’t met Li Mao, this night might have been more perfect.
The door of the courtyard was unlocked, and when it was opened the door there was a long “creak–” breaking the silence. A rope beside the door swayed, Jin Fubai held it in his hand and pulled it gently. The yard instantly brightened. It turned out to be a light switch.
Everything looked messy, and many old musical instruments were scattered across the yard. However, Xiang Yu ran in quite excitedly and looked at the grand piano that had lost a lot of keys.
The piano was open and many kinds of ferns grew in it, the leaves lushly protruding from under the raised cover. Fluffy moss grew on the wooden surface, the lacquer body has long fallen off. In the gap where the keys were gone, there is a plant with flowers growing on it. The blue flower is the size of a grain of rice, and five petals can be seen faintly.
Looking for half a day, Xiang Yu turned to ask Jin Fubai, “Is this natural or did someone plant it?”
“Planted.”
He raised his chin next to him only for Xiang Yu to see next to him that there was a large humidifying machine, no wonder the moss grew so well, and looked like a green carpet.
A white rose grew out of the acoustic guitar next to the piano, the leaves were like a waterfall flowing down from a tuba. These musical instruments were already very expensive, don’t know who would operate a humidifier and heat preservation machine 24 hours a day, spending a huge amount of money to feed the special scenery in this courtyard.
Xiang Yu took a closer look and stood still in front of the piano and then she turned to look at Jin Fubai. He was exceptionally silent tonight. At that moment, he was standing at the door smoking a cigarette, and a bluish white smoke curled up from between his fingers.
It was a long time later that Xiang Yu learnt that the owner of this yard was the “French girl” that Li Ruo spoke of. And the person who spent a lot of money on this yard is the Zhuo Xiao who was still reluctant to leave his lover even after getting married, and this golden house was built for his beloved mistress.
Jin Fubai bit the cigarette, raised his eyes, and found Xiang Yu’s gaze. Under the moon and light, she looked over with bright eyes and a slender finger touched the piano keys with little effort.
Jin Fubai looked at her through the smoke. There is an indescribable understanding between them, like the scene of them looking at each other at the security checkpoint in Changsha Airport, as if they were about to go their separate ways.
Xiang Yu suddenly spoke at this moment and sighed dejectedly, “Jin Fubai, you coax me, why do I feel unhappy about the story Li Mao told me?”
No one has ever dared to make a request from Jin Fubai, let alone one that was to coax them.
Yet Jin Fubai suddenly laughed and his perturbed mood of the night disappeared. He pressed the cigarette butt in his hand on the stone pier beside him, strode over and directly pushed Xiang Yu on the piano and kissed her deeply.
The rusted piano strings made a dull hum, and Jin Fubai kissed her fiercely in the sound. Xiang Yu subconsciously pulled the hem of his clothes, tightly closing her eyes and raised her head to cater him.
Just as it was difficult for smokers to give up their addiction, Xiang Yu suddenly felt that there was something between them at this moment that was beyond their reach and was developing into an unknown situation.
The final victim of this kiss was the piano behind her, just don’t know how distressed the owner would feel, even a few pieces of moss have been knocked off.
Xiang Yu squatted on the ground, picked up a small piece of moss, and distressingly said, “This little thing can live for a long time. It can live up to a few years as long as there is enough water.” After that she raised her head, “Do you have anything like a small bottle that can store it? It’s a shame to let them die like this.”
A small piece of moss is not enough to evoke Jin Fubai’s warmth, but at that moment Xiang Yu could. He recalled when her underwear was visible, her eyes full of shame, and in her eyes, only his face was reflected.
Jin Fubai took out a small box of agarwood sticks from his trouser pocket, dumped the agarwood into the trash can, and then returned with the empty box. Facing Xiang Yu’s gaze, he squatted beside her with a smile and stroked her outer ear with the empty box, “Didn’t you make me look for a bottle, and now you stare at me when I find it?”
Xiang Yu curled her lips, looking so distressed that it was like she wanted him to flip through the trash can to pick up the agarwood, “Who told you to chuck it? How much does your box of Agarwood sticks cost?”
“There is no lack of agarwood, isn’t it the piece of moss that you are distressed about?”
Jin Fubai fiddled with her earlobe holding the empty box in his hand, he made the diamond stud earrings on her earlobe lightly shake. Looking at her red ear, he leaned over and asked, “Afraid you can’t support me?”
“Of course, I can’t afford! I earn 2700 a month, for you, this prodigal is only enough to have a meal.”
The intimacy and the warmth in these words made Jin Fubai happy, as if they really had a “foodie” at home. He personally put the small piece of moss into the empty box, closed the bottle cap and shook it, the mud bumped against the thin metal wall, making a small sound.
Xiang Yu was still squatting there staring at the ground and Jin Fubai had a lot of patience tonight, so he squatted with her. After squatting for a long time, Jin Fubai suddenly felt that something was wrong. He shook Xiang Yu’s hand and found that her fingers were cold, her palms were wet with cold sweat, and even the hair on her forehead was unknowingly stained with sweat.
Jin Fubai frowned, “Xiang Yu, what’s wrong with you?”
“Jin Fubai.” Xiang Yu’s voice was faint as she turned to look at him, “My stomach hurts so much.”
Jin Fubai hugged the person from the ground, got up and strode out of the courtyard, “Go, go to the hospital.”
Author: 殊娓
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