Chapter 16: Pissed off

On December 22^nd, the world did not fall into an apocalyptic disaster as predicted by the Maya people, and the sun did not fail to rise. It was like an orange gem, diligently rising, hanging on the edge of the world and the morning glow reflected, making half of the sky red.

Jin Fubai seemed to have forgotten the phrase “you are not my boyfriend”. He took Xiang Yu to breakfast as usual, he helped her dip the delicate shrimp dumplings in the fermented soybean sauce and then fed it to her lips. 

Many business elites had breakfast at the hotel and occasionally, there were leisure lovers who sat side-by-side, having a heart-to-heart talk. They were obviously the most loving couple in these 300 square meters of the restaurant.

Xiang Yu also seemed to have forgotten the awkward silence last night. She bit the shrimp dumplings placed in her mouth, with chewing cheeks she asked vaguely, “Will Guangdong shrimp dumplings taste better than the hotel’s?”

Jin Fubai wiped off the sauce from the corners of her lips, “The Cantonese cook in this hotel is from Guangzhou, not much worse off.”

“Oh.” 

The shrimp dumplings tasted really good, the crystal skin was smooth and tender, and the shrimp tender. However, on this warm morning, Xiang Yu felt her heart collapse a little bit. Like the landslide mentioned in the news during the summer rainstorm in Changsha. Shattered and collapsed.

Of course, she and Jin Fubai were not a normal couple. He was silent when he heard that she did not regard him as a boyfriend.

How should a normal couple react?

Will they ask her back, “If I am not your boyfriend, then who is your boyfriend”?

It was also from that day that Xiang Yu didn’t answer Jin Fubai’s phone calls. Sometimes when he called during the day, she would just say that she was busy. She doesn’t often eat with him at night and rarely spent the night at the hotel.

Xiang Yu couldn’t say that she was angry, but when she thought of Jin Fubai, she always felt stuffy in her chest for a bit.

Jin Fubai did not seem to feel her deliberate indifference. The voice on the phone was as gentle as usual, and the flowers in the opposite office building were also changing as usual. Recently, there were peonies and tulips. The more he didn’t care about her various behaviours, the more angry she became.

The year 2012 was full of reveries. Her peeved mood slowly passed, and it was another brand-new year. In 2013, there was no end of the world from the Maya people’s prophecies, there was only countless unknowns.

On New Year’s Day, the company had a three-day holiday. Xiang Yu had no reason to refuse Jin Fubai’s invitation but whether she drove with him next door to see the snow scenery or they went to eat at the mountain top restaurant in the suburbs, she had an indifferent facial expression and it was difficult to obtain happiness.

In the last morning of the holiday, they drove back to the city from the outskirts. The weather was fine, she went home, changed her down jacket and wore a light hazy blue long coat. When she left the house, Aunt Chen asked her, “You’ll not stay at home today?”

Xiang Yu didn’t expect that she would be so angry she said to Aunt Chen, “There’s no one at home, why would I come back?” After she finished speaking, she paused for a few seconds, walked over and hugged Aunt Chen, “I’m sorry Aunt Chen, I shouldn’t have said this to you.”

Aunt Chen patted her on the back, “Are you in a bad mood? Why don’t you talk to Auntie?” 

Xiang Yu shook her head. She hasn’t figured these things out yet, and they can’t be solved by making complaints. Besides, Jin Fubai’s car was still parked downstairs.

Xiang Yu put on the knee-high boots, carried her bag and went downstairs, Jin Fubai threw away the cigarette butt to help her open the car door. There were two unread messages in her phone placed on the car seat which were sent by Tang Yuchi.

It was strange to think about it. Tang Yuchi disappeared for a bit too long this time and even his Moments did not have any movements.

Xiang Yu fastened her seat belt, clicked on the message, and frowned slowly.

What Tang Yuchi sent was a short video and a sentence:

　　[Video]

　　[Xiang Yu, you should watch this.]

She stared at the screen a few times but did not click to open the video. For a moment, she felt that the time and space around her was flowing backwards as if she was returning to the night scene at the end of 2012 in that debauched and corrupt environment, Tang Yuchi said, “I heard he used to…” 

The stilled video showed the back of a man who wore a trench coat and was very tall. You wouldn’t have to click to know that it was Jin Fubai.

Jin Fubai glanced at Xiang Yu while driving. He didn’t sense her indifferent attitude these days, and he knew why after thinking about it. It was his fault that day, he was distracted for a while, and he didn’t even refute a little when she said that he was not a boyfriend, which made the girl angry for many days.

He knew that Xiang Yu had a little temper, and he was willing to step back and coax her. Wasn’t it all because of him that made her angry, what couldn’t be coaxed, Jin Fubai would eagerly coax her.

The premise of this was that her emotions were due to him.

After driving through two intersections, Xiang Yu was still staring at her phone, the screen had been automatically turned off, and she was still in a daze. Later, she turned on the screen again, deleted the message, and held the phone tightly in her hand.

It was within those few seconds that Jin Fubai saw the profile picture of the message clearly. The picture of the white porcelain vase that has the word “ugly” on it. Not unfamiliar, he has seen it before.

It was the man who went to the nightclub with Xiang Yu when he was abroad. So now she is frowning because of other men?

She was originally going to accompany Jin Fubai to a networking event. But when the car was halfway there, Xiang Yu suddenly changed her mind. She turned her head slowly, and said in a very firm tone, “Jin Fubai, I’m not going to dinner. At the intersection ahead, can you drop me off?”

Jin Fubai didn’t ask her anything, he just turned his head and cast Xiang Yu a deep look.

The car stopped on the side of the road, he didn’t get out of the car to help her open the door, the only sound in the car was that of the door being unlocked. Xiang Yu said goodbye to him lightly and then walked to the right with her bag.

Jin Fubai coldly watched her stop a taxi, pressed hard on the accelerator, and the car sped away. Hearing the sound of a motor behind her, Xiang Yu stepped into the taxi and did not stop.

Caring for her for half a month, regardless of Jin Fubai’s temperament in being a gentleman he would feel tired of her and there was no shortage of women around him, so there was no need to be angry.

Xiang Yu closed her eyes, maybe this was it.

After that day, Jin Fubai did not contact her again. Succeeding more than ten days without contact, Xiang Yu took a taxi every day, went home, washed and then fell asleep on the bed. She had never felt such an uncontrollable emotion when she broke up with Zhao Yanmo.

On a weekend in mid-January, during the Laba Festival, Xiang Yu drank half a bowl of Aunt Chen’s congee in the evening and nestled in the quilt before 9 o’clock. Outside the window, the sound of the wind stirred in the night, and she fell asleep unknowingly while playing a documentary.

• Laba festival is celebrated on the 8^th day of the 12^th month according to the lunar calendar. It is a custom to drink congee on this day 

At 11 o’clock in the night, Xiang Yu was awakened by her phone. It was Mother Tang.

Couldn’t tell if there was any disappointment the moment she saw the caller ID. Xiang Yu sat in the dark, cleared her throat, and answered the phone after her drowsiness was relieved, “Godmother, are you looking for me?”

“Yuyu have you had dinner?” 

Don’t know if it was an illusion but Xiang Yu felt that Mother Tang’s voice was not the same as usual. She frowned sensitively, “Godmother, did Tang Yuchi do something wrong?”

Tang Yuchi was a “bad boy” when he was in school, his grades were so poor that he would score a single-digit in a single subject, and it was common to skip class and fight. At that time, Mother Tang would always call Xiang Yu, and Xiang Yu would lead the person home from the billiard venue or the basketball court of the internet cafe.

Tang Yuchi had been abroad in these past years, and it had been a long time since she last received such a call at night. Mother Tang was very anxious, but still gentle, “Yuchi has been reluctant to come home for many days. I don’t know what happened to him recently. I just called him to tell him to come home and unexpectedly it was quiet. Yuyu, do you know where he is?”

Xiang Yu thought for a while and she hadn’t heard anything from Tang Yuchi recently too. Except for that day when he sent her a video about Jin Fubai.

“Godmother, I don’t know, but I can look for him, and there will always be a friend there.”

Mother Tang urged repeatedly on the phone, saying that if you find Tang Yuchi, you don’t need to take him home. “They are all the same age. How much is there to talk about between friends, isn’t it more useful to talk to those of us who have generation gaps.”

Before hanging up the phone, Mother Tang said again, “Yuyu, godmother brought a skirt when shopping a few days ago, it suits you well, I bought it for you. Come and try it when you have time.”

This was probably the warmest words Xiang Yu has heard these days. She smiled and said, “Thank you godmother.”

Hanging up, Xiang Yu started to contact Tang Yuchi’s mutual friends. It was only after contacting them she found out that Tang Yuchi and An Sui had some problems, he was cheated on and these days had been living in nightclubs.

Xiang Yu made many calls to Tang Yuchi, but they were all hung up. She frowned and picked up a down jacket, took the keys to her father’s old car and ran out.

She had never been to that nightclub, and it looked different from ordinary nightclubs. The location was not in the bustling downtown area but in the suburbs. There was a feeling of “not a good place”.

When Xiang Yu arrived, it was 12 o’clock at night. There were scraps of paper flying all over the ceiling, and everyone drew their birthdate characters on the dance floor, with hands making peace signs and heads shaking in the party. She got out of the car in a hurry, hugging her thick cropped jacket in her embrace, not wearing it. She only wore a big V-neck tight-fitting sweater and a low-rise wide-legged jean. She took a look and it truly seemed that he had come here to dance.

In the booth, she found a drunk and unconscious Tang Yuchi, his shirt was crumpled, his legs spread open, and he was still begging for a drink in a dazed state. She threw her jacket at him and became very angry, “Tang Yuchi! Get up!”

Li Chi put ice in the Chivas Regal glass in front of Jin Fubai, “Wait, it’s almost 12 o’clock, tonight there will be stripping in the venue! Clothes! Dancing! F*cking stunning!”

Jin Fubai looked dispirited with a cigarette in his mouth, it was a mystery as to what he was thinking about.

He didn’t speak, and others didn’t dare to speak. Only Li Chi, who was wearing a rose pink suit leaned forward, “What’s the matter? Since you came back from New Year’s Day you never contacted her again?”

Jin Fubai’s face was calm and he didn’t say a word.

Speaking of Xiang Yu, he felt annoyed for a while, remembering that she was in a daze looking at the WeChat message that day. That kind of tangled look must mean that there was some sort of feelings between them. Does she have such deep feelings for another man?

It was such a f*cking coincidence, Jin Fubai swept his eyes, and suddenly caught a glimpse of a familiar figure. He frowned, looked over and saw Xiang Yu hugging a thick fluffy jacket. Then she hurried past him not that far away looking anxious.

In the twelfth month of winter, she wore a short sweater and low-waisted pants, showing a tight and slender waist.

Having not seen her for a while Jin Fubai fixed his eyes on her, and the first thought that popped up in his mind was: her period pain is so bad, she should wear her jacket.

But Xiang Yu threw her jacket on a man and then helped him up. The man put his arms on her shoulders, borrowing her strength, his footsteps weak and unstable as he leaned into her ear and said something.

When they passed by Jin Fubai, Xiang Yu didn’t see him. She only raised her voice amidst the noise and said to the man, “Do you know how many times I called you?! I was so anxious!”

No one noticed when Jin Fubai lowered his face and stood in front of Xiang Yu. He said in a deep voice, “Xiang Yu, follow me.”

---

Author: 殊娓

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

Note:

I have a novel reccomendation for those that are interested. It is basically like the combination of The Truman Show and quick transmigration. Not translated yet sadly 😦 and I don’t think anything like this has been translated yet, maybe there have been similar BL stories but most of them are horror and mystery which I don’t read. As a fair warning though, it does not have romance as its main focus like Long Street but it is still a genre there.

http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=4010913

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Chapter 15: The End of the World

It was an intimate and tender night. Jin Fubai did not eagerly meet his needs, his gentleness towards Xiang Yu almost seemed like she was a treasure in the palm of his hand. He had complete patience.

After a one-sided pleasure, Xiang Yu took a shower, leaned against the bathroom door and asked hesitantly, “…What about you? Would you like me to help?” Her skin was covered in hot water giving her a healthy pink colour and the steaming mist from the bathroom slipped out of the door lingering around her.

Jin Fubai wore a robe loosely draping over his shoulder and he was drinking a bottle of iced mineral water. “Do what for me?”

“…I checked it with my phone just now, it doesn’t seem to be difficult. “

Jin Fubai laughed; he rarely had such a relaxed expression. Compared with his usual smile, it seemed that there was a layer of happiness between his eyebrows and eyes. He kissed her earlobe with his cold lips and pushed her waist. “Go to sleep, I’m going to take a shower.”

Xiang Yu following his push walked half a step forward and she turned her head uneasily. “Really, don’t need me to help you?”

“No need.” 

When Jin Fubai finished his bath, Xiang Yu was already a little bit sleepy, her eyelids could not open and she was pulled into the embrace of a fragrance with her eyes closed. She rubbed his arms and asked in a daze, “Did you smoke?”

“Can’t do it? Won’t be allowed to smoke afterwards?”

He seemed to laugh and tease like that, but Xiang Yu was too sleepy, so sleepy that she would sink into a dream in the next second. She thought that she would be able to sleep peacefully on such a tender night pressed against his warm chest, but when she was about to drift off, she dreamt of the words Tang Yuchi said while sitting in the nightclub- “I heard he used to… ..”

What was it? Xiang Yu twisted uncomfortably and felt someone pat her back, she opened her eyes in the faint morning light and saw Jin Fubai’s face.

He knocked on the centre of her eyebrows with his index finger and said, “What dream did you have? Your eyebrows were frowning.”

Xiang Yu shook her head and lied that she didn’t remember. Jin Fubai asked her if she wanted to go to work today and she also nodded absent-mindedly.

“Then get up, I’ll call for breakfast and then take you to work.”

Xiang Yu put on her nightgown and sat on the bed in a daze. Obviously, when Tang Yuchi uttered that sentence, she had already easily changed the subject and made up her mind not to ask Jin Fubai about the past.

Now, the more she thought about it, the more she felt uneasy.

Perhaps it was because she was exceptionally silent that morning, when she got out of the car in the white mist of the morning, Jin Fubai helped her open the car door and wrapped his cashmere scarf around her neck. His tone was comforting and joking, “Don’t want to work overtime? Why don’t I buy your company and I’ll be the boss.”

Xiang Yu was stuck contemplating inside and didn’t look up but Jin Fubai was in a good mood to joke, “Or do you want to be the boss?”

Under the gaze of his warm eyes, Xiang Yu finally returned to her senses, smiled and shook her head. “I’ve just been a bit busy these few days, don’t spend so much.” He misunderstood her silence and she didn’t explain it.

“It’s only a small amount.”

“A small amount is still money!” Xiang Yu glared at him, walked away with his scarf, went downstairs and looking back, she saw Jin Fubai smoking a cigarette while leaning on the car. In the foggy winter morning, he smiled and looked at her.

Xiang Yu waved once more before turning around again and walked into the company building. The diamond earrings were stained with the cold air, it was icy, it was as if he had drunk ice last night and kissed her earlobe with cold lips.

In this sudden upheaval, it was not Jin Fubai who Xiang Yu was upset with but herself. Jin Fubai hasn’t changed from start to finish, he is even more fascinating than she had thought, he is gentler and more considerate. Her worries stemmed from the fact that she wanted more.

This uneasiness did not last long. After all, it was the end of the year and Xiang Yu was still oppressed by the small and run-down company having to work overtime every day. Even meeting with Jin Fubai was a rare occasion. The company she worked for was a magazine company, in 2012 the paper media was actually going downhill. Even the professors in the School of Journalism had said that the paper media would go down but it was strange that this small broken company was really busy by the end of the year, perhaps it was because it was understaffed.

It’s not too tiring and it was not a task that required brain power. One day when she was squatting in the printing room to change the ink cartridges for the company’s printer the company’s boss suddenly appeared behind her.

The boss is a young man, probably two or three years older than Xiang Yu, he was a person with very few words. He handed the ink cartridge to Xiang Yu. “It’s been hard on you during this time. What are your expectations for the year-end bonus other than your performance bonus?”

Xiang Yu did not say her expectations for the bonus, “Yes, I want to be a full-time salted fish.”

•  I forgot to mention when this was used before. But for those that don’t know what a salted fish is, it basically means that she doesn’t want to do anything. It has also been used in other ways in the novel such as she has no big dreams or she wants a simple life.

The boss laughed, “I’m afraid that will be difficult to achieve.”

Xiang Yu sighed, “Then add more money, I can’t work like this and make no money.”

In fact, sometimes she thinks that it’s better to be busy like this. Calculating and counting on her hands, the last time she saw Jin Fubai was a week ago. Maybe if she doesn’t get in touch with the other, she won’t become so greedy, just maintain the initial fascination and baseline likes, waiting for them to get tired of each other and then they will naturally break up.

But this kind of thinking was really naive, Jin Fubai didn’t give her such a chance. It’s hard to say whether he did it intentionally or not but he was always so tempting.

With Xiang Yu’s salted fish character, the first thing that she gets tired of is actually work. She looked at the piles of materials that needed to be copied and printed in one afternoon and she suddenly became annoyed. It was also on this day that she returned to the front desk with a ward of photocopied documents that a courier boy wearing a heavy down jacket waited at the front desk.

“There is a delivery for Xiang Yu.” The courier brother put down the package and hurriedly left.

She didn’t seem to have brought something online recently. The box was only the size of a palm and Xiang Yu opened it suspiciously. What laid in the black velvet box was a finely crafted mini telescope that had an old looking dark copper colour.

When Xiang Yu got the telescope her phone rang and Jin Fubai said on the phone, “Xiang Yu, look across from you.”

Xiang Yu’s company only occupied one-third of the first floor of this office building. Probably because of the renting crisis the company’s location was not good. Except for the boss’s office and the meeting room, the other rooms have no windows. On this boring day filled with work, she longed for a little surprise. She held the phone and ran to the boss’s office, she knocked on the door and probed him, “Can I borrow the window?” 

The boss nodded and agreed, leaving the office to her, the other two employees were determined to be salted fish employees and retired.

Xiang Yu was like a high school student; she ran in with her eyes bright and raised the telescope to look across. She lowered her voice and asked the person on the phone, “What did you want me to see?”

“The glass office building opposite your company on the same floor as yours.” Xiang Yu looked over and saw through the clear wall windows on the 7th floor opposite her was Jin Fubai.

Jin Fubai was wearing a white sweater of a certain famous brand’s new winter product standing by the window with one hand in his pocket and in the other hand, he held a telescope smiling at Xiang Yu. There was only a desk and a chair beside him, nothing else.

At first, Xiang Yu thought he had friends at a certain company opposite to her but the more she looked at it, the more it seemed to be wrong. How could a company be like that? The table is facing towards the window?

Jin Fubai was on the phone and in a casual tone, “I want to see you but you always work overtime so I had to buy the floor opposite and come to see you from time to time.”

In fact, at that moment, when she recalled it many years later she still felt that it was a rare and precious moment in her life. They were in different office buildings separated by thick glass windows across a busy street and they smiled at each other.

There was a small snowfall that day and it melted when it hit the ground. On the street, it was a little damp. Xiang Yu put her palm on the cold glass, ten thousand years in a glance. At that moment, she suddenly wanted to kiss him.

This was the first time someone has bought an office building just because they wanted to see her.

Jin Fubai is like a cloud, he floats indefinitely, but also, he would not only stay in the sky above you. But all his freely changing transformations would fascinate you and it’s hard to free oneself from this situation, it was very troublesome.

_{I just wanted to put a comment here, I’ve directly translated ten thousand years in a glance from the original text because this part itself is a bit vague. There are many ways to interpret this. Whether that is ten thousand years has passed, she wishes that they would stay like this for ten thousand years, it felt they/she have been in love for several lifetimes.}

To his surprise, Xiang Yu stayed with Jin Fubai for the week. After working overtime she would follow him to eat dinner or sometimes they would take a seat at Li Chi’s gatherings at night and on the weekends, they would drive through the suburbs. But she would not stay overnight with Jin Fubai in the hotel.

Overtime became less boring. Occasionally, Xiang Yu would pick up the telescope and take a look out the window and she would see a bright red rose or other flowers in the vase on the opposite window’s desk.

In fact, she knew that he didn’t necessarily plant the flowers himself. But it was still pleasant.

On December 21, the end of the world as predicted by the Maya people was this day. In retrospect, it was like a party at night. On the Internet, at 11:11 at night, it was widely circulated that the end was coming. The street was so lively that it seemed like Christmas came in advance and many people under the guise of the words “If you don’t do it now, there will be no more chances to” went to do things that they would not have done under normal circumstances.

Xiang Yu worked overtime as usual that day. After work, she wore her scarf and walked outside of the building. She even thought: Would someone cheat on this day? After thinking about that, she raised her eyes and saw Jin Fubai standing next to the car.

He had probably stood there for a while and had smoked more than one cigarette, his fingers were a little reddened by the night wind. Jin Fubai opened his arms as Xiang Yu ran towards him and hugged him. “Why are you here?”

“Didn’t you say it’s the end of the world? Came to accompany you.”

Xiang Yu couldn’t say why but her nose suddenly became sore. He is really the most considerate lover in the world.

“Why are your eyes red? Really afraid?”

He thought that she was afraid of the end of the world, but in fact, Xiang Yu was even more afraid of his meticulous tenderness towards her. She was afraid that she would have a day like that and she would hate to leave.

Dinner was at Li Chi’s hotel. After the meal, Xiang Yu naturally stayed with Jin Fubai. The heating in the hotel was a little too much, the room was hot like summer and the sky outside the window was gray with a haze to it, it really felt a little like doomsday.

Xiang Yu looked at the window for a long time, the cold air outside of the window blew in along the open window brushing her nightgown. Jin Fubai dragged the person into his arms and closed the window.

“It hasn’t been that long; didn’t the doctor tell you to keep warm?”

“It’s almost 11 o’clock, what shall we do?”

He smiled a little differently and deliberately put emphasis on the first word, “Do—what? “

Xiang Yu lightly hit him. It was strange that day, they didn’t really want to roll in the sheets and like a pure couple, they just sat together picking movies.

It was a Korean movie that was chosen by Xiang Yu. Jin Fubai would look at his phone and occasionally look at it. Just halfway through the movie, the male lead died unexpectedly and the female lead wept bitterly. Xiang Yu was a little emotional and with red eyes, she leaned against Jin Fubai’s arms and sniffed her nose. “If my boyfriend dies, I will cry like that too.”

Jin Fubai kissed her amusedly. “What did you say? Didn’t expect you to be this good to me?”

“You are not my boyfriend.” She was still staring at the TV screen as she said this very casually.

After saying this the two of them were silent. It was already past 11:11 and the end of the world had not come. Jin Fubai brushed off the wet marks on the corners of her eyes with the back of his finger and said nothing.

---

Author: 殊娓

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

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Chapter 14: At Midnight

When meeting “Succubus”, Xiang Yu didn’t have any fluctuating emotions.

She thought that since the last time Jin Fubai said that “Succubus” was the irrelevant person at dinner, it is estimated that she lost a lot of face. When she happened to meet her this time, she would definitely get revenge. Of course, it was to get her back, it was impossible to trouble Jin Fubai.

However, Xiang Yu is not a person who could be bullied, it didn’t matter if they yell at her, anyways, it didn’t hurt or itch, and it was all rumours and nonsense, as long as she didn’t let it get her heart. But she didn’t want to save her face.

From the few bottles of Armand de Brignac, she didn’t drink too much and she regarded it as a reward for her hard work for doing overtime. At most, she would go back and secretly feel distressed.

The decision was made, she just didn’t expect that once the wine was ordered, a waiter in a vest walked over and don’t know what was said in the ear of “Succubus”, but the face of “Succubus” suddenly turned pale as if she was about to change back to her original form and Xiang Yu was shocked. Afterwards, “Succubus” turned her head, gave her sisters a wink and several women ran away with their bags in a grief.

Only a fiery red fur collar was dropped on the sofa, she didn’t know to who it belonged.

Who would quietly appear to help her at this time? Feeling something, Xiang Yu turned around just in time to see Jin Fubai walking slowly from a brightly lit place.

He wasn’t wearing a down jacket and instead, he wore a beige long cashmere coat with a black shirt underneath, dressing like a model who had just walked off a big show. Why was he dressed like it? Maybe it’s because he has a deeper temperament than a model.

Jin Fubai’s affectionate warm eyes looked at her deeply.

Xiang Yu was a little surprised, lying on the back of the sofa watching Jin Fubai slowly walk towards her. He stood in front of her, leaned over and touched her face, “Silly?”

“…Why are you back? Didn’t you say you were going to come back after Chinese New Year?”

Jin Fubai gently scratched the bridge of her nose with the back of his index finger, “‘You can drive a horse across a long continent, there is no time to look back, understand?”

Xiang Yu thought he was eager to return to Beijing because of something major, so she raised her head and asked him, “Why don’t you have time to look back?”

_{This is from another poem called 入朝洛堤步月}

Jin Fubai’s romantic words came through his fingertips, “For you.” After he finished speaking, he bowed down and kissed her.

There was a little chill from outside on the man’s lips, her body was familiar with the fragrance of agarwood, and the entanglement of his lips and teeth with hers made one feel addicted for no reason.

That day, Xiang Yu didn’t know that Li Chi was also there. Later, she saw the photos that Li Chi took which he had sent to Jin Fubai’s phone: In the nightclub’s debauched and corrupted environment, the room was full of smoke, and Jin Fubai supported her on the back of her neck, kissing her. He wore a coat, and she only wore a sweater, it seemed that he really looked like a travel-worn lover who came back from abroad just because he missed her.

Xiang Yu was also willing to believe that Jin Fubai was like this. So, she was very happy that day. She put her arms around Jin Fubai’s neck, and afraid that the environment was too noisy for him to hear she leaned to his ear and said, “Have you heard anyone talk about the Maya people’s prediction? It is said that December 21^st 2012 is the day the world will end. The sun will not rise again on December the 22^nd. I was thinking the other day that if you don’t come back, it would be the end of the world, wouldn’t I also never see you again? “

Jin Fubai turned his head and saw Xiang Yu frowning; her fear was real. His tenderness and patience were also real.

Jin Fubai picked up Xiang Yu’s down jacket, helped her put it on, picked the person up and walked out in plain view. The black Mercedes with 5 fours on its license plate is parked at the entrance of the nightclub. After getting in the car and exiting the hustle and bustle, he said in a comforting tone, there are so many highly-skilled and sophisticated scholars in the world. If it was truly the end of the world we would have already been prepared to face it. Wasn’t it advertising companies and movie companies who use this stunt to make money?

There is a disaster movie called “2012” Xiang Yu watched and she felt confused when she saw it. She thought about it and thought so too. Everyone was following in the steps of another and she also felt like a kind of unconcerned person who blindly followed the crowd.

“You believe this kind of thing just because you missed me?” Jin Fubai understood it this way.

He didn’t ask her if she wanted to go home, nor did he say where he would take her, but when the car drove out of the nightclub street Xiang Yu quickly recognized that this was the way to the hotel.

She looked at the retreating street lamps outside of the window, “No.”

Jin Fubai’s face was slightly disoriented, but he still turned his head towards Xiang Yu, and looked at her earnestly, “But I often look at my phone, and I often wonder if you are there. What time it is or try to guess what you are doing.”

“You haven’t taken the initiative to contact me.” Jin Fubai stared at the street that was too long he couldn’t see the end of, and asked, “There are other men interested in you by your side? Before me. Or after me?”

He looked a little cold as his face narrowed and he smiled, like what he said seemed to be true. Xiang Yu didn’t figure out why he suddenly asked this, and only replied, “No, my personality is like this. I don’t take the initiative to contact others.” 

At the red light intersection, there were no other cars besides them on the road. Xiang Yu yawned with her hands against her lips as Jin Fubai was waiting for the red light he stretched his hand over, pulled the hem of her sweater, rubbed her spine carefully, and changed the subject, “Did you lose weight again?”

“Maybe.” 　

Xiang Yu’s back was stretched very straight. After 45 seconds of the red light, his warm fingertips pulled away and held the steering wheel again. By intuition, this night would probably not be simple.

It was the same hotel suite. Jin Fubai walked in with Xiang Yu and observed her slightly sleepy face. He asked her warmly, “Still working overtime during this time?” 

“Didn’t the company’s assistant resign? I have to work overtime and I have to copy and print out files. I’m very busy.”

Xiang Yu changed her shoes while talking, her shoes were Dr Martin boots. She had to untie the laces, she was shaking and standing unsteadily. Jin Fubai supported her around her waist and said softly, “Go take a hot bath and go to sleep after washing.”

Blinking, Xiang Yu couldn’t believe that he just let her go. Or maybe, this “sleep” had another meaning?

After taking a shower, she sat down on the bed in Jin Fubai’s bedroom. His beds all had brand-name bedding. Someone was probably cleaning here from time to time but did not dare to move his things. The box of cigarettes he placed next to the bed last time, Xiang Yu accidentally remembered that there were three more inside, and after a few months, it was still the same as before.

Jin Fubai took a shower next door and came out wearing a nightgown, thinking of something he turned downstairs and came up again.

Only a bedside lamp was lit in the bedroom, giving of a faint beige light. Xiang Yu leaned on the bed and saw Jin Fubai standing by the door throwing a bright object, maybe because it was late at night, she subconsciously felt that he had thrown a bright star.

In the palm of her hands, she saw a pair of diamond stud earrings tied together with a string. The diamond is one carat, and looking at the tiny brand logo on the silver she knew that this brand was definitely expensive.

Jin Fubai said, “Didn’t you say you lost an ear stud?”

It was not a long-awaited reunion gift, but she had previously casually complained that her ear studs could not be found, so he bought her a new pair as if he should have done so, casually and naturally.

Carefully pondering upon it, you could feel that the man seriously took it to heart and it was very touching.

Carrying the ear studs Xiang Yu asked, “I haven’t determined that it was lost. If I find it, would you not have spent your money in vain?” 

It was also a coincidence that when she took the new ear studs and laid down on the bed, she felt that there was something behind her neck, it was a little cool. When she took it out, it was her earrings that had been missing for months. Xiang Yu couldn’t laugh or cry, “It turned out that it was really a waste of money for you.”

“More for you to wear.” Jin Fubai said, downplaying it.

As he took off his nightgown and pressed on the bed, coming forward, he seemed to be thinking about the days in his heart, making sure that her period had passed before he held her waist. The man had a particularly warm body temperature, even on this cold winter night, Jin Fubai did not have cold hands and feet, every inch of his skin was hot.

Xiang Yu’s hand gently moved forward to stop him from kissing. Her fingertips touched his warm chest right on top of his heartbeat, causing her fingers to curl up for a second.

Perhaps it was unexpected that she would stop him, Jin Fubai paused slightly, holding her wrist and pulling her hand to his lips, then kissing the back of her hand. He asked a little doubtful, “Don’t want to?”

“No…”

Xiang Yu shook her head. With a girl’s unique tenderness and a bit of jealousy, “Was there anyone who had anything with you from those women in the nightclub?”

Unexpectedly she would ask such a question. Jin Fubai was stunned for a moment, squinted his eyes as he recalled the looks and clothing of those women, he smiled and asked her, “I have that kind of taste?”

“Then what is your taste it?”

He leaned down and kissed her, “You.”

Their lips and teeth were dependent on each other, Xiang Yu was very tense, her eyelashes rustled, and her kisses were a little stiff. She was able to face up to her nervousness, clasping his neck, and she tremblingly discussed, “I may not have experience, you can teach me.”

“I know.”

Maybe she liked Jin Fubai because of his gentleness, calmness and consideration. Unlike those ignorant youngsters, there were always some impulsiveness and recklessness under the pretext of being “young”.

Jin Fubai probably also endured it uncomfortably, sweating at the corner of his forehead, and yet he still smiled against her forehead, “What do you wish for me to do?”

His voice was never harsh, nor was it like a trickle of spring water. There was a kind of laziness when lying in the afternoon sun on a rocking chair. But this description seemed to be too bright, not like him.

Maybe his voice should be like a setting sun hanging lazily at the end of the earth sinking deeply into the horizon.

Xiang Yu thought for a long time and finally had an answer at midnight. When he came over from behind, he asked in her ear do you want a finger or mouth?

She finally figured out that his voice was not lazy, but neither was it hurried or slow.

Even in love he never loses control.

---

Author: 殊娓

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

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Chapter 13: Profile Picture

The heating in the nightclub was extremely warm, Xiang Yu took off her down jacket, set it aside, and ordered two low-alcohol cocktails and a Corona. The Corona imported from Mexico was placed on the black marble countertop. The waiter in a waistcoat bowed his head and asked, “Shall I open it?” Seeing Xiang Yu nod, the waiter opened the beer and placed a quarter of a lemon in the bottle, “Please enjoy.” 

In the morning on the phone, Xiang Yu explained to Tang Yuchi saying that the “abortion” thing was fake. Tang Yuchi listened for half a day before he breathed a sigh of relief, immediately reacting in disbelief and asked her, “So Jin Fubai order a professor of gynaecology in the middle of the night because you had period pain? He’s that kind of person?”

After he asked that, Xiang Yu couldn’t answer immediately. A lot of things happened that night, it was complicated, and she couldn’t have guessed whether Jin Fubai would have been so gentle without Li Mao’s words at the table. Tang Yuchi probably also felt that this matter would be unclear if it was said in just one sentence so he asked Xiang Yu to go to the nightclub with him saying that they would play around and chat.

“Can’t you find a cafe to chat at in the afternoon?” Xiang Yu asked with a yawn.

“What’s the point of a cafe? Drinking too much coffee tends to darken the skin.” Tang Yuchi refused very decisively, “Besides, I don’t have time during the day. Today, An Sui was getting her hair done and a manicure.I have to accompany her.”

Xiang Yu cursed under her breath and hang up the phone. She has been working overtime a little bit too excessively these days, and asking her to go to the nightclub to jump around at night is simply killing her even more. If it weren’t for the face of her godparents, she would never agree.

In this job, she was originally at the front desk receiving a few visitors every day, spending most of her time at the front desk playing snake. In the end, the assistant of this tiny broken-down company resigned and they turned Xiang Yu, a salty fish, into a busy person with two jobs. Especially at the end of the year, she would work overtime at every turn, crazy.

Green spotlights and strobes lights split the nightclub into countless chucks, with a group of young people dancing on the dance floor. Xiang Yu lazily leaned on a dark red sofa, drinking a cocktail and sending a message to Jin Fubai.

It should be morning on his side, and the message sent to her was only one word:

　　[Where?]

Xiang Yu sent him the name of the nightclub. She didn’t know what Jin Fubai was doing as he didn’t reply to the message for a long time.

In the past few days, they have hardly spoken to each other on the phone and sent very few texts.

In the last text that was shown, Xiang Yu said to him that she had lost a diamond earring and couldn’t find it. Jin Fubai replied with a message: Don’t think about it, I’ll buy you a new one.

Xiang Yu remembered that he had called her at the airport the day he had just landed abroad. He said that it was a ten-hour flight and that he wanted to smoke after getting off the plane. When he habitually touched the box of agarwood sticks, he only touched a piece of dry moss thanks to her.

She could almost imagine Jin Fubai standing in an airport in a foreign country, graciously pulling out moss from the box. He must have been helpless and aggrieved at the time. So, Xiang Yu suddenly laughed with her eyes down in the flashing nightclub, under the sound of DJing and the DJ shouting.

When Tang Yuchi arrived in a hurry, what he saw was this scene: a crowd of demons disorderly dancing in the nightclub, the smell of alcohol and cigarettes mixed together, and there were countless kinds of unknown perfumes. And Xiang Yu sat in it, smirking at her phone.

How would you describe her smile? Maybe it was like when one likes someone, everyone would laugh in such a soft and stupid manner, right?

With a down jacket over his arm, Tang Yuchi couldn’t help slowing down. When he heard the rumours about “the woman who appeared next to Jin Fubai,” he almost thought of Xiang Yu in first.

Growing up together, he has never failed to understand her. When he mentioned Jin Fubai that day, he knew from the look in her eyes that Xiang Yu couldn’t easily forget the name “Jin Fubai”, and instead, she would only sink deeper and deeper.

Tang Yuchi sat down beside Xiang Yu, took a cocktail and drank two sips. In fact, it was hard to tell, he wasn’t sure of what the outcome of Xiang Yu and Jin Fubai being together would be, so he could only ask, “Tell me about Jin Fubai.” 

The nightclub was noisy and Xiang Yu said a lot. He couldn’t hear it word by word but seeing her expression, she was not ready to break it with Jin Fubai. She had known what she has wanted since she was a child, and what she can and cannot ask for.

She is so smart, maybe there will be a different ending?

Or maybe it will all go in vain. Tang Yuchi thought it was impossible to know now and he didn’t have much to say. After all, all he knew about Jin Fubai was through other people, and Xiang Yu had actually come into contact with this person.

Tang Yuchi had a headache for half a day and so he could only say solemnly, “Xiang Yu, now that you are with Jin Fubai be more cautious.”

Xiang Yu held up the beer bottle and laughed, “I’m not going to go on a horse-riding expedition, as if I would die. “

“I heard he used to…”

Xiang Yu handed Tang Yuchi a bottle of beer and changed the subject, “How are you and An Sui?”

She didn’t want to listen. Tang Yuchi didn’t say anything, he only paused and replied, “We are still the same.” 

“I’ll ask An Sui to have a meal together. It has been a long time since I last saw her.”

Tang Yuchi suddenly frowned, “I always feel that she has been hiding something from me recently.”

With that said, when An Sui called and said that she wanted to go out for dinner, Tang Yuchi still went to accompany her and before leaving he asked Xiang Yu, “Do you want to come with me?”

“I’m definitely not going to go to be a third wheel.” Xiang Yu pointed to the last bottle of Corona in front of her, “I’ll leave after drinking. Leave me alone and go.”

After Tang Yuchi left, she turned on her phone and glanced at it again but Jin Fubai still didn’t reply. He rarely did this, generally, he was the one who took the initiative to send messages, and he was also the last to do it last time too.

Xiang Yu picked up the bottle and the sofa next to her suddenly sank. She thought it was Tang Yuchi who was returning. Just as she wanted to look back and ask if An Sui had ditched him, when she turned her head, she saw a strange woman’s face in the light. She was not completely unfamiliar looking, she looked a little familiar, a cluster of green lights dangled shining on the woman like a debt collector.

“Succubus” Xiang Yu thought in her heart.

Xiang Yu saw the diamond nail polish on the hands of “Succubus”, and then vaguely remembered that she had a relationship with this “Succubus” at the dinner table a few months ago, but when they had met, it was painted in a red nail polish. That person was not very pleasant, Jin Fubai said that she was Li Chi’s former love.

“Succubus’s” nails dangled in front of her as she smiled happily, “We met again. What a coincidence, my sisters and I couldn’t find a table, why don’t we join your table?”

Xiang Yu didn’t have any unique expression and she took a sip of the beer, “It’s up to you.” 

The woman’s friends were similar to her, sitting together it was as if they were identical siblings. All of them had thick false eyelashes, the bridges of their nose stuffed with prostheses, and their faces were all like melon seeds. Xiang Yu took a glance and withdrew her eyes.

A few of the women pointed out something. For a while, they talked about how there are some women who have a despicable life, thinking that they could fly to branches to become a phoenix after they were pregnant. Then after a while, they said that they didn’t know what it was like to be sent to a hospital for an abortion. When Xiang Yu heard this she couldn’t care less about them.

“Succubus” gave a brilliant smile and turned to ask Xiang Yu, “Miss Xiang, might as well invite some of my sisters to drink, my sister will introduce you to other men.”

A waiter happened to pass by and was stopped by a few women. The women deliberately made things difficult for her, “It’s better to drink Armand de Brignac, what do you think Miss Xiang?” 

Armand de Brignac is a very expensive champagne in the nightclub. How high would the price be? If any table ordered this kind of wine, the nightclub would get a hula-hula flashing lantern and put it on the table, proving the “honour” of the guests at the table.

Sitting among the women Xiang Yu looked a little lazy, but there was also a certain kind of firmness and loftiness in her. A generous family could sometimes give people such confidence.

She snapped her fingers and said to the waiter, “Armand de Brignac is also good, open a few bottles at this table, not the gold ones, but pink ones, kawaii.” After speaking, she smiled, “However, even though I share the same table with these few people, we are not familiar, I will only settle my own account.”

The Armand de Brignac with a golden bottle is priced at 8888.

The pink bottle is priced at 15,999.

In fact, it was not that pricey but nightclubs are expensive. A case of beer costs 700 yuan.

_{A pink bottle costs ~900AUD, which is 4500 yuan. So, it’s basically triple the original price. While 700 yuan for a case of beer is double the standard price and Kawaii was what was originally said.} 

After Xiang Yu finished talking, several women’s faces changed. They were all women who went to nightclubs to fish for a financial backer and no one was in the condition to pay for themselves. They didn’t expect Xiang Yu to really not back down at all.

When Jin Fubai came, he saw Xiang Yu patrolling every woman in front of her with a sharp look he had never seen before. She wore a pure white high-necked sweater with a body-hugging design showing her slender waistline and a low-rise jean. While sitting with her legs crossed, a small piece of her white skin was exposed behind her waist.

Xiang Yu held a bottle of Corona loosely in her hand, her posture relaxed. Her lips opened and closed, as the nightclub was noisy Jin Fubai couldn’t hear what she said. Looking at the mouth shape, she was asking those women, why didn’t they talk anymore?

Jin Fubai smiled suddenly, he hadn’t seen her for several months, but Xiang Yu has always aroused his interest easily.

Li Chi who stood beside Jin Fubai watched for a long time and mumbled, “I went to the airport to pick you up, but because you heard that Xiang Yu and a man came to the nightclub. What’s up? Where is the man? This is not it, a group of snake-faced women?” After Li Chi finished speaking, he suddenly widened his eyes, “F*ck me, isn’t that the girl I’ve played with before?”

“You know and you’re still not driving them away, don’t let them be annoying.”

Jin Fubai dropped this sentence, went to the nightclub manager and pointed to Xiang Yu’s table, “I want to settle the bill.” 

The manager was startled by Jin Fubai’s sudden appearance, and said tremblingly, “Mr. Jin, the bill for this table is on another customer’s credit card…” After that, the manager didn’t dare to say anything else and only sent information about the reserved table under Jin Fubai’s eyes.

Jin Fubai looked down slightly, and it said on the reservation book that the person who made the reservation for the table for Xiang Yu was: Mr. Tang Yuchi. Below it was the phone number of this Tang Yuchi.

“Then deduct from his card.”

Jin Fubai waved his hand and searched for the phone number on WeChat as he walked. The WeChat name card that popped up was very interesting. The picture was a white ceramic bottle with the word “ugly” on the bottle.

Jin Fubai had seen this bottle. At Changsha Airport, Xiang Yu had patiently wrapped the bottle several times and signed a check-in list for fragile items. The ceramic bottle brought back from thousands of miles is now the WeChat profile picture of another man.

Jin Fubai stared at the photo on the screen and narrowed his eyes.

---

The author has something to say:

Regarding the age gap that everyone is concerned about:

Yuyu was 21 years old and Jin Fubai was 28 years old when they first meet, so their age difference is 7.

Note:

Also, I forgot to put it in while I was translating but in one of the chapters, there was an author’s note saying that the novel is a HE. 

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Chapter 12: Bai

_{Continuing on from the last chapter this title is in Cantonese and can be roughly translated to Bai Ah where ah is used to refer to someone affectionately and the bai from Jin Fubai but I thought it was a bit awkward so I just used Bai.}

Jin Fubai was a very generous lover, if you tell him to coax you, he will really make you feel his affection every time. Suddenly Xiang Yu who heard ‘like’ in Cantonese was stunned in his arms for a while and did not answer in time.

Jin Fubai didn’t say anything more, just bowed his head, kissed her and placed her into the car. Jin Fubai drove the car with Xiang Yu late into the night back and forth through Beijing. The lights in all of the houses were silent, and only the lights of some large enterprises were still lit up dimly.

Parking at the front of a 7-11 convenience store on the road, Jin Fubai got out of the car and bought two packs of sanitary pads and a hot water bottle. He put the plastic bag with the things he brought in the back seat and Xiang Yu turned to look at him from the front passenger seat while holding the back of the seat. She looked like she wanted to talk but hesitated as if something aroused within her mind　　

“Hmm?”

Xiang Yu rarely put on a full face of makeup. She would often simply put on her base makeup, a little bit of eye makeup and then lipstick, this kind of makeup only takes 5 minutes. At this time, it was around 2 hours past midnight and from when she slept in the hospital almost all of her makeup was gone.

So, when she raised her eyes, she gave off a sense of childishness. Jin Fubai’s gaze fell on her face and he asked her, “What did you want to say?”

Xiang Yu was not straightforward, “Jin Fubai, are you hungry?”

“Not hungry.” Knowing it was herself that wanted to eat yet the man deliberately replied that he was not hungry.

“Oh.” Xiang Yu inhaled deeply, “Then I will go by myself.” 

As she said this, she seemed to really want to exit the car with her hands on the handles. Jin Fubai hurriedly stopped her, and leaned against the door of the car outside, “Be honest, what do you want to eat, I’ll buy it, it’s chilly outside, what are you trying to do?”

“I want to eat oden! 3 skewers!”

In the night, she was sitting in Jin Fubai’s car eating oden. She took a ball and delivered it to Jin Fubai’s mouth, “Would you like to try it, it’s really delicious.”

“I’m driving, don’t make trouble.”

“You, this kind of person, have you never eaten oden from a convenience store?”

“Ate.”

Xiang Yu was surprised at this, but Jin Fubai glanced at her, “I was 21 years old too.” But she actually couldn’t imagine, a gracious person like him would squat at the door of 7-11 at the age of 21 and eat a whole portion of oden.

Jin Fubai’s car drove into a hotel and just looking at the decoration, Xiang Yu knew that the owner of this hotel was probably the same person as the one in Changsha.

Once one enters the hotel there is a little western-style angel fountain in the Chinese garden. The funniest thing is that the white marble statue next to the fountain is actually □□, making the overall theme of the fountain look a bit like “a toad wants to eat swan meat.”

_{The boxes are actually copied from the chapters, I’m guessing it was probably ‘naked’}

Xiang Yu couldn’t hold back, holding a cup of oden, she laughed. Jin Fubai seemed to know what Xiang Yu was thinking, and said, “This hotel and that hotel in Changsha both belong to Li Chi.” 

When she heard Li Chi’s name she reflected for a few seconds.

At the dinner table, Xiang Yu didn’t pay too much attention to Li Chi. Her impression of him was just “dressed like a Christmas tree”, “mind is not too clean”, and “excellent emotional intelligence.” But now that Jin Fubai said that, she recalled Li Chi’s outfit and suddenly felt that the hotel’s style was exactly the same as his outfit.

If Li Chi is the owner of the hotel in Changsha, it was no wonder that he would say when shaking hands with her, “I’ve heard of you for a long time and today I’ve finally got the chance to see you. Sure enough, a beautiful woman.”

At that time, Xiang Yu was still very puzzled. 

“Heard of you for a long time?” Jin Fubai didn’t look like someone who would continuously mention the name of a woman.

The owner of that hotel in Changsha is Li Chi, so he knew of her existence as early as July and he had heard of her for a long time. Perhaps he had also checked the surveillance video through the identity as the hotel owner and saw how she met Jin Fubai in a nightgown at the front desk of the hotel.

Seeing Xiang Yu remain silent, and fearing that she would think of Li Mao’s words again, Jin Fubai turned to a new topic, asking her to choose a bedroom at her own will.

Just like in Changsha, he lived in a suite alone with several bedrooms upstairs for her to choose from. Jin Fubai has probably lived here before, as he even had a change of clothes in the hotel room.

Xiang Yu said, “I will live in any room where no woman has stayed overnight.”

“None.” Jin Fubai smiled and glanced at her, seeing her having this kind of tiny thought put him in a rather nice feeling, and then pulled her wrist. “You live next door to me, it’s closer to me.”

He said to her to rest early and not to stay up too late and then went to the next bedroom alone.

Jin Fubai had given her too much gentleness in this night, stirring her up and making her heart go weak. What kind of person would stay in a hotel all year round? Was it like her who occasionally stayed at Tang Yuchi’s house because she didn’t like the openness and quietness of her house?

After taking a hot bath Xiang Yu sat on the side of the bed wearing Jin Fubai’s new shirt. She thought about it, walked out of the bedroom with her pillow in her arms and opened the door to the next room.

Jin Fubai’s bedroom door was unlocked, he should have just finished smoking a cigarette and the air was full of an agarwood scent. The light in the bedroom was not turned on and the curtains not drawn. The moonlight merged into the room from the window, illuminating his profile.

Jin Fubai sat on the bed with his upper body naked, looking up to the door in the dim light, his voice was slightly sleepy as he said, “Can’t sleep?” There was a crystal ashtray at the bedside with several cigarette butts in it. The bedroom had a very large TV, and a few CDs on the DVD player.

Xiangyu walked in with the pillow, naturally placing the pillow next to him on the bed, and then got into his quilt, “No, I will accompany you.”

Jin Fubai gave her a funny look, put his hand under the quilt, squeezed her leg, and tried to pinch her, “Knowing that I can’t do it with you, you’re trying to deliberately torture me isn’t it?”

“I’m really here to accompany you.”

Xiang Yu moved part of her body trying to avoid his hand, but she was hugged around the waist and pressed into his arms. They leaned against each other and Xiang Yu could clearly feel the muscle outlines in his legs.

Maybe it was because she was too stiff that Jin Fubai chuckled lightly and said in a deep loving tone, “I won’t touch you, what are you nervous about?” 

The doctor said he can’t do it during this period. Jin Fubai entangled her in a kiss for a while. His breathing not disarrayed he only held the person in his arms and put his palm on her lower abdomen through the shirt, “Go to sleep, it’s not early anymore. Don’t go to work tomorrow and sleep in.”

Xiang Yu felt the warmth of his palm and suddenly felt that if this night passed, it would be difficult for them to have such a simple and tender moment again. She won’t be on her period forever and the next time she laid on his bed, some things would definitely happen.

So, she looked at Jin Fubai with a pair of eyes bright, “Are all the CDs on your bedside all movies?”

“Yeah.”

“The serious kind? Or something else?”

Jin Fubai put his lips on her ears, “Guess.”

He was probably sleepy, his voice had become lazier, and she couldn’t tell whether it was intentional or unintentional as when he spoke, the tip of his tongue gently swept on her outer ear.

Xiang Yu’s eyelashes trembled, she tightened her posture and did not flinch and was able to answer him, “I guess all of them.” 

That night she was full of energy, she got up and picked a Hong Kong movie to play. Jin Fubai was obviously very sleepy yet he still hugged her helplessly to watch the movie. “I Corrupt All Cops” was not too old, it was only released two or three years ago and there were many famous actors in it, the plot was not bad.

Xiang Yu saw one of the protagonists played by Eason Chan sitting in a car and handing a white handkerchief to the woman beside him. The woman took the handkerchief, touched it, and found a huge diamond ring inside. The lead said that he has nine wives, but he has never been in a relationship.

Xiang Yu yawned, and even ridiculed herself: Will Jin Fubai get married in the future and feel that he has never been in a relationship before?

She laughed and Jin Fubai who had closed his eyes, sleeping, had awakened, and his eyes were so tired that it was like he had an extra crease on his eyelids, “Aren’t you sleepy?” 

Xiang Yu turned and hugged his neck, using Cantonese in an abnormal manner, saying, “Bai~~, I like you too.”　　

She spoke in a strange tone and there were hints of a Taiwanese accent. And the word “Bai” was like the name of a pet.

Jin Fubai closed his eyes again, pulled her back into the quilt and with a smile on his lips, he touched the remote control to turn off the TV, “Don’t stay up, go to bed.”

After that day, Jin Fubai went abroad and didn’t come back for more than a month, saying that there was an elderly in his family that was in poor health and needed to be watched.

They would occasionally talk on the phone. Jin Fubai did not make any mistakes in calculating the time difference like her parents did and he never called her when she was working. Often at lunch break or on her way to work in the early morning sometimes he would interrupt her playing snake, she would grit her teeth and over the phone call his name, “Jin. Fu. Bai.”

During these situations, the person on the other side of the phone would chuckle and knowingly ask, “What’s the matter?”

In early December there was a light snowfall in Beijing and Xiang Yu wore a white down jacket and while on her walk to work her breath became frosty. When she called Jin Fubai, she asked, “When are you coming back?”

“Miss me?”

Xiang Yu didn’t say a word, Jin Fubai said, “Maybe after Chinese New Year.”

“After Chinese New Year?”

Xiang Yu took out her phone from her pocket and glanced at it, “Chinese New Year is in February, so it will take two months till you’re back?”

At Jin Fubai’s side, it was night and very quiet. He still had the same words, “If you miss me, I will come back early.”

Xiang Yu said, “I don’t need you. If you return in 2 months, then I’ll just have to find someone else to accompany me on Christmas, New Year’s Day and Valentine’s Day.”

Jin Fubai’s laughter came through the phone, mixed with the winter of Beijing. A whistling cold wind rustled into her ears. Xiang Yu heard him say, wait, I won’t let you have this kind of opportunity.

In fact, Xiang Yu is the only one who leads a peaceful life. Jin Fubai took her to out eat and play everywhere. The news spread in his circle for a long time and even when he was abroad, people would often ask if there was a woman around him recently. Jin Fubai laughed and never gave a direct answer.

Many of the stories changed after they were passed on and by the time they reached Tang Yuchi’s ears the rumours had already been passed more than 800 times. The degree of explosiveness also increased by more than 800 levels.

On the second weekend of December, Xiang Yu who was sleeping at home received a call from Tang Yuchi.

She lazily put the phone to her ear and heard Tang Yuchi yell at her in a steady voice, “Xiang Yu, get out here now, see if I won’t beat you to death for godmother and godfather!”

Xiang Yu was quite confused, she sat up stilled for half a minute. Doing the math, she had been dragged by the company to work overtime every day and it had really been a long time since she last saw her godfather and godmother. Although she was guilty, she was not guilty of something worth death, so he didn’t have to kill her right?

She didn’t speak, Tang Yuchi’s crude voice kept coming from her phone, and it sounded like he was going to die of anger. Xiang Yu suddenly remembered that in the evening a few months ago, Tang Yuchi held Jin Fubai’s shirt and said for her to stay away from him.

“…Is it because of Jin Fubai?”

Tang Yuchi was so angry that his voice was trembling, “Xiang Yu, you are really capable. I say why you didn’t even show your face around this time. I heard that he found you the most skilled professor in gynaecology to give you an abortion?!”

---

Author: 殊娓

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

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