Chapter 30: Returning Home

The rain was not comparable to the heavy rain in Changsha where they met last summer.  It was just that the drops were so dense it drenched Jin Fubai’s face. He impatiently brushed his hair exposing his forehead and his wet shirt stuck to his skin. Cutting a sorry figure full of anxiousness it made her emotions stir.

Standing in the traffic, Xiang Yu waved and jumped, calling him, “Jin Fubai! I’m here!”

Hearing this, Jin Fubai suddenly looked back, looking straight at her. They stared at each other on an unfamiliar street overseas through the misty rain. They had not seen each other for a long time and as a result, their eyes brimmed with emotions in the rain.

Xiang Yu watched Jin Fubai throw the police megaphone in his hand back to the police and strode towards her. He pulled her wrist to leave, pulling Xiang Yu back to her senses, “I haven’t paid for the taxi yet.”

Standing in the rain Jin Fubai exchanged a few words with the taxi driver and took out his wallet, paying the taxi driver.

He turned around and embraced Xiang Yu. Through the noisy and congested traffic, the police sirens and the rainfall he gently guided her into the car.

Jin Fubai remained silent the whole way as the car drove out of the road to the airport. Xiang Yu went over to him in the hotel’s elevator and hooked his finger, tentatively asking, “Are you upset at the fact that I am here?”

Jin Fubai looked back, his gaze fell deeply into her eyes and said, “I heard that there was an accident with a Chinese person on the road to the airport and thought it was you.”

Before Xiang Yu could say anything, he grabbed her waist and she almost fell on his chest. She raised her head and her lips were blocked by his kiss.

In this country this hotel was probably not Li Chi’s property. The decoration style is simple and Xiang Yu was not used to it. Jin Fubai didn’t live in a suite but the place was surprisingly spacious. Xiang Yu who was held by him was placed down as he took off his shirt soaked in rainwater.

Xiang Yu had her back towards him as she felt Jin Fubai push her skirt up to her waist and hold her from behind. This was probably the craziest of all their love affairs.

Afterwards, they hugged each other and lay on the bed. Jin Fubai held up the white dress that was wet from the rain, squinting, he asked Xiang Yu, “In Changsha last year did you wear this?”

Xiang Yu’s whole body was exhausted as she nodded weakly and said yes.

During the four months that Jin Fubai was absent, although they did not meet, he called and sent messages to her almost every day but since they didn’t meet, there were many topics to talk about. They stayed awake late into the night as Xiang Yu told Jin Fubai about the trivial things in her life. She talked for a long time before suddenly stopping, “These trivialities, are they boring?”

Jin Fubai chuckled in her ears, “Very interesting, keep talking.”

Maybe it was because he was infected by Xiang Yu, he also talked about his family business but Xiang Yu didn’t understand it. Nevertheless, she was quiet. She listened carefully and only remembered Jin Fubai’s sigh in the night. He said his inability to reverse the outcome of a desperate situation roughly described the situation.

In the early morning, Xiang Yu woke up a little dazed. Hearing the phone ringing by the bed she subconsciously picked the phone up and put it to her ear, “Who?”

There was a gentle elderly on the phone. The elderly coughed a few times and with a voice full of surprise she said a few words in Cantonese. Xiang Yu’s mind cleared up and she held the phone in shock.

Fortunately, Jin Fubai came out of the bathroom at this time. She had a stressed look on her face, she covered the speaker and said to him with an agitated voice, it’s not good. I received a call from your family, it seems to be your grandmother, she’s speaking Cantonese but I don’t understand…

Jin Fubai didn’t have any special emotions. He smiled, took the phone in her hand and spoke a few Cantonese words to the person on the phone.

When he hung up, Xiang Yu asked nervously, “Is it your grandmother, did she say anything?”

Jin Fubai, the hooligan had put on a nightgown loosely after showering and deliberately changed clothes in front of her. As he slowly buttoned his shirt, he smiled and said, “It’s nothing, my grandmother asked if you were her grandson’s future wife. She asked you to come and sit with her if you have time.”

Xiang Yu was taken aback, “Then did you agree?!”

“Aren’t you the future grandson’s wife?” He said this sweetly, and Xiang Yu’s heart beat fiercely a few times but she didn’t respond again.

After that day, Jin Fubai didn’t have much time to accompany Xiang Yu.

Jin Fubai abroad is also not the same as in China. Sometimes when she drinks water at night or goes to the bathroom, she discovers Jin Fubai has come back. Maybe because he worried about waking her up he didn’t come to bed to sleep. Instead, in his suit he leaned on the sofa with his eyes closed.

His eyebrows were always frowning with what seemed like an endless amount of sorrow. And in all his sorrow, he never let her in.

Xiang Yu would come over to sit on his lap at night and help him untie his tie.

Often, Jin Fubai would suddenly open his eyes, full of hostility and defensiveness. When he saw that it was Xiang Yu, his eyes softened, he looked at her affectionately and pulled the tie in her hand, kissed her lips and wrapped the tie around her wrist, “Did you want to do something spicy?”

During those moments in bed, he had an unspeakable fierceness and Xiang Yu was tossed so hard that she couldn’t even bother to leave the hotel and ate at the hotel’s restaurant.

He spends very little time with her but never ignores her. One day, Xiang Yu was sitting in the restaurant. A waiter spoke to her in another language to say Mr. Jin has arranged lunch for you.

Xiang Yu didn’t expect that the lunch Jin Fubai arranged for her was the bone broth she was obsessed with when they were in Changsha. Opening the soup’s lid the fragrance smelt delicious. She took a spoonful of it to taste it and the taste was exactly the same as she remembered.

She didn’t know whether Jin Fubai invited the cook to come abroad or used other methods. She was reminded of the words “Mounting a house for thousands of miles for a concubine’s smile, no one knew it was due to lychees”. It was an ancient poem by Du Mu, to win Concubine Yang’s heart Xuan Zong travelled far and wide to send fresh lychees to Concubine Yang.

Xiang Yu thought jokingly she was being treated as a “noble concubine”. She sent this message to Jin Fubai, and Jin Fubai replied, saying, you only want this much? Just a noble concubine?

Later, Xiang Yu ate the soft and sticky hibiscus decorative border on the side and reflected. Firstly, why did she think about being a noble concubine? The second was to reflect on herself. After more than ten years of school, once she graduated, she only remembered the “scandalous” verses and can’t remember the entire poem?

When she was thinking about this a shadow was cast over the table. Xiang Yu raised her eyes and saw a man standing by her table in a suit and leather shoes, looking to be Chinese.

The man looked at Xiang Yu and smiled. He asked politely, “Miss, can I sit at this table with you?”

She was sitting at a two-seated dining table, did this man want to sit opposite her and have a meal? Obviously, the restaurant was only half full, why did he want to sit at the same table with a stranger?

Xiang Yu had just eaten the hot bone broth soup with hibiscus flower and her mind was filled with a satisfying comfort. She was not alert thinking he was just an ordinary person trying to hit on her. So she propped her cheek up with one hand, put down the silver spoon in the other, shook her fingers and casually refused, “I’m sorry, someone is sitting here.”

The man turned a deaf ear to her refusal, pulled the chair out and sat opposite Xiang Yu, “I heard you live in room 404?”

Xiang Yu realized then that the man in front of her might not be simple when he said her room number. She glanced at him calmly and couldn’t make out his purpose, so she could only ask, “If so?”

“Nothing.”  The man laughed, the fine lines stretched around the corners of his eyes looked harmless but his words were sharp, “Miss Xiang, what is your relationship with Jin Fubai? Are you his lover?”

If Xiang Yu was more sensitive she would have realized that he said Jin Fubai. Not Mr. Jin.

There were many people in the hotel’s restaurant. Xiang Yu felt she had watched too many spy movies as she glanced towards the safety exit and then said, “No, I am Jin Fubai’s girlfriend.” Jin Fubai had been affectionate with her for the past few days which gave her the courage to say such things without showing a guilty conscience. Rather she was neither humble nor overbearing.

The man raised his eyebrows slightly, not expecting her answer. He was silent for a few seconds before spitting out a few words in another language with a smile. It was like a ridicule but the irony was heavier.

Xiang Yu was not good in the language but she still understood such simple words. He said, wow true love.

When most people encounter such a situation felt like they are either encountering a rival or found the other person meddling. But Xiang Yu didn’t have any special emotions. She was still drinking the soup and only glanced at the man opposite, nodded, and said with certainty, “Bingo, we are sincere.”

Xiang Yu’s mood wouldn’t be affected because of other people’s deliberate words and deeds. What’s more, she is experiencing the life of a “noble concubine” today, drinking the bone broth soup with hibiscus flower Jin Fubai brought from more than 10,000 kilometres away.

How could she not continue to eat it?

The man on the opposite side spoke several times. Xiang Yu acted like she couldn’t see him, scooped the soup to her lips, and even played snake.

The man probably didn’t think Xiang Yu had such a calm temper. He froze for a while and suddenly smiled, “No wonder Jin Fubai likes you. Interesting.”

He talked about a man’s interest in a woman very frivolously and Xiang Yu didn’t lift her face, “Listening to your tone, you don’t have a partner, right?”

“People like us don’t need a partner; do you understand?”

“Okay, there is a pitiful person who doesn’t have a true love.” Xiang Yu continued to play snakes.

The man finally stopped sitting down, got up and walked to Xiang Yu. He leaned in and said in a low voice in her ear, “Miss Xiang, if you say that true love is abandoning one’s family and betraying relatives then I can’t agree.”

Xiang Yu’s snake hit its tail, dying. She put her phone down and smiled, saying with a bright expression, “Who would want to be family with a dog?”

That was a singular sharp moment in her 22 years. There are such noisy people who are not even deeply involved in the matter.

It was only after many years later Xiang Yu saw a face on TV and she knew he was the heir of a well-known domestic company surnamed Chu. It was just at that time she didn’t know the young President Chu, but of his younger sister, Chu Linlang.

When Jin Fubai came out of the villa, the sky was already dark. He wanted to go to the hotel to find Xiang Yu and casually found an excuse to leave.  After a few steps, the driver followed, “Mr. Jin.”

“What? My grandmother hasn’t fallen asleep yet?”

“The old lady is asleep, it’s about Miss Xiang.”

Jin Fubai turned his head, “Talk.” 

“In the afternoon Miss Xiang had a little incident., Chu Jue found Miss Xiang and he said something to Miss Xiang.” 

The Chu family has always wanted to marry the Jin family. If Chu Jue found Xiang Yu, it would be weird if he said anything good. Based on the situation Jin Fubai constantly felt uneasy on the way to the hotel.

Pushing open the door to the room he saw Xiang Yu in the lounge. She knelt on the sofa and rested on the backrest to look at the scenery outside the window.

He had told the hotel staff to move the sofa to the window. Xiang Yu has always played games in the hotel these days and he was worried she would feel bored. Fortunately, there was a beautiful crown-shaped tree outside the window and the scenery was not too bad.

She lay by the window looking at the moonlight outside, her hair blew in the breeze when she looked back and her eyes were stained with the colour of the lights from outside the window. She smiled at him. Jin Fubai was silent for a moment thinking she was going to say something serious but she only said, “Jin Fubai, the moon in the sky is so beautiful, like freshly cut nails.”

• Very neat and smooth. 

Jin Fubai laughed in surprise and leaned over to kiss her from behind, “Did you meet something unhappy in the afternoon? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Xiang Yu softly said in between the kiss, “No, I only met an irrelevant person.” After a pause, she said, “The bone broth and hibiscus flowers are delicious. It’s a pity you were not there, this was the most unhappy thing for me today.”

There was a lot of tenderness in her eyes, it was enough to soothe all of Jin Fubai’s feelings of impatience.

Jin Fubai twisted the buckle on her back through her clothes and put his hand in, “Maybe I’ll have time tomorrow afternoon to take you out for a walk?”

“Okay.”

“If I don’t accompany you, you won’t go out, huh? Not afraid of being suffocated in the hotel, so lazy now?” he said as he continued to twirl his fingers, rubbing her.

Xiang Yu smiled in his arms, “I’m here to accompany you, not to travel. I don’t want to go out if you are not there. It has nothing to do with being lazy.”

But on the next day, Jin Fubai still didn’t have time to accompany her. For the whole day, Xiang Yu heard no news of Jin Fubai in the hotel.

He came back late at night wearing a black suit with a black shirt underneath. Like a night-time killer in a movie, he quietly opened the door of the hotel, walked in and sat on the sofa.

Xiang Yu slept restlessly that day. Maybe it was because she drank too much coffee while playing games in the afternoon, and she couldn’t get into a deep sleep. So when Jin Fubai came back even if his movements were light, she felt it.

Instinctively she felt that he was in a very bad mood, worse than the late night when it was raining outside.

Without turning on the light or wearing shoes, Xiang Yu walked to Jin Fubai in the dark and snuggled into his arms, “What’s the matter?”

His body was covered in the ice-cold night and she pressed her warm body against his to help him keep warm. For a moment she felt like a wife who had been married to him for a long time.

Jin Fubai hugged her waist, rarely did he not take the opportunity to take advantage of her. He only buried his head in Xiang Yu’s neck, his voice hoarse like a patient with a severe cold. He said, “Xiang Yu, stay with me for a while.”

Jin Fubai smoked half a pack of cigarettes that night but remained silent. Xiang Yu accompanied him until the sun rose to the horizon outside the window and the sun shone slightly through the lush canopy into the hotel room did Jin Fubai take out his phone from the pocket of his pants. It turned out his phone was turned off the whole time. Many missed calls and messages flooded in the moment it turned on.

Xiang Yu didn’t close her eyes all night, her mouth was a little dry and she licked the corners of her lower lip before asking him, “Jin Fubai, should I rebook the ticket and stay with you for a few more days?”

Jin Fubai kissed her on the forehead. “No, I can’t spare the time to come over anymore. Go back and wait for me.”

Jin Fubai didn’t take her to the airport personally. When Xiang Yu washed he had already changed into another all-black suit, wearing a tie. After getting dressed, Jin Fubai took Xiang Yu’s hand and comforted her simply, “Trust me, don’t think about it. Wait for me to come back.”

Xiang Yu turned around and standing on her tippy toe kissed the side of his face, “Okay, I will wait for you.” 

Xiang Yu didn’t know what had happened to Jin Fubai then. It wasn’t until a week after returning to China when she was using her computer to scan the news at work she happened to see the notice of a person’s death: The co-founder and chairman of company xxx in the top 100 suffered an emergency abroad and was unable to be rescued. On June 31 2013, she unfortunately passed away at the age of 85.

June 31st was the date she returned to China. Xiang Yu typed the unfamiliar name of the deceased in the notice into the search engine and saw the background information of the deceased elderly. On the top, it said she is Cantonese.

In the introduction, there are photos of her when she was younger. She was dressed in a formal suit and sat with a few men. She had sharp eyes and a determined look, she was a strong woman. The sharp inner corners of her eyes looked very similar to Jin Fubai.

But Xiang Yu had heard her voice, gentle and kind.

When Xiang Yu was at the hotel that day, she answered Jin Fubai’s call. The elderly spoke softly in Cantonese, asking her if she was Jin Fubai’s girlfriend and she had also said she wanted her to sit with her sometime later. Unexpectedly, such an elderly would suddenly die.

Yet, Jin Fubai didn’t disclose the loss of a close relative to her. In his most fragile and gloomy moment, he just smoked cigarettes and stayed up all night. Fortunately, she had the opportunity to be by his side that day.

Xiang Yu suddenly regretted that she did not stay abroad for a few more days to accompany Jin Fubai.

It was late summer when she saw Jin Fubai again. At that time Xiang Yu had managed to relax at the company, sitting in front of the computer at the front desk all day, her shoulders and neck felt somewhat unbearable. Jin Fubai was not in the country and she had a lot of free time so she simply brought an annual card to the tennis court to play tennis when she had time.

She had a meal with Tang Yuchi that day and he sent her to the entrance of the tennis court. Tang Yuchi raised his jaw, “Hey, a woman is wearing the same outfit as you.”

Xiang Yu exited out of the car in curiosity. Such a coincidence, she saw the girl who asked her about her clothing brand at Li Chi’s venue in winter, it was Miss Almond-eyed. Miss Almond-eyed waved goodbye to a man smiling very sweetly.

Miss Almond-eyed saw Xiang Yu getting out of Tang Yuchi’s car and she seemed to want to say hello but she shyly withdrew her hand as if considering something. The girl didn’t pay attention to her facial expression and her smile became a little strange.

Xiang Yu still took the initiative to speak to her, “We meet again, we matching today.”

Miss Almond-eyed’s eyes lit up like a chirping little sparrow, jumping over to talk to Xiang Yu. “I found these clothes in the shop that you gave me the name of. The clothes in this shop are really pretty! Are you here to play tennis too?”

“Yeah, you too?”

“Yes, yes, I also came here to play tennis.” Miss Almond-eyed was very excited. “Last time I talked to you a few older sisters said that I shouldn’t talk to you saying you would be annoying.”

“Why would I be annoying?”

“Because Mr. Jin…” Miss Almond-eyed hesitated for a moment and said in a low voice, “Because Mr. Jin’s status is too high. I am following President Qu and I have to talk to those of similar status to President Qu. Otherwise, it would be bad for him, someone would say that he…”

“President Qu, is he the one who sent you here?”

Miss Almond-eyed nodded with red ears, “Yes, he is very good. Today he even brought me a bracelet.” She stretched out her thin wrist and a chain of diamonds gleamed on it.

Perhaps it was because she often met Miss Almond-eyed when playing tennis there were gradually rumours in the circle that Xiang Yu had finally “fallen out of favour” and was abandoned by Jin Fubai. So she could only mix with some “low-grade goods”. Xiang Yu had heard of these rumours vaguely but she didn’t care.

The only thing that worried her was at the end of August Jin Fubai had finally returned from abroad. When Xiang Yu finished playing tennis that day, she turned around with a racket and suddenly saw Jin Fubai sitting on a chair in the rest area with his legs wide open, drinking half of her mineral water.

Xiang Yu ran all the way over and grabbed the water bottle, “You are drinking it all, what will I drink?”

Jin Fubai’s eyes were full of smiles, “I rushed to see you when I got off the plane and you won’t even let me drink from the same bottle?”

“What are you doing? You’re back today? Didn’t you say next week?”

“I missed you so much I came back early.”

Xiang Yu was carried by him and placed on his lap. Upon closer inspection, she discovered Jin Fubai lost a lot of weight. She remembered the notice of that person’s death, the night he was smoking in silence while abroad and the news of him holding his close relative who passed away but he had never shown a weakness.

Xiang Yu’s eyes were red and she called him, “Jin Fubai.”

This person hadn’t had the slightest idea of telling his grievances to her. He rubbed her buttocks and looked down at her tennis skirt, “You didn’t play very well but the clothes look good.”

Xiang Yu held back her tears and hit him, “Why are you so perverted! Forget it if you’re not serious!”

Jin Fubai smiled and leaned into her ear, “When you jumped up, guess what I saw?”

---

Author: 殊娓

http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=516328

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Chapter 29: LA

In the blink of an eye, it was June. In Beijing, it was already warm enough to wear a skirt. On Xiang Yu’s way to work both sides of the road were green with plants and roses bloomed abundantly.

Jin Fubai has been abroad for 4 months. To her, he only said his grandmother was not in good health but she was aware that he had other reasons for not being able to leave. It was just that he didn’t say and she wouldn’t ask.

After the new year, Xiang Yu was also busy with her small company and there were a few weekends when she had to work overtime. The boss of the company is called Zhou Lie, he is a 25, 26-year-old man, he looks upright and the employees call him “Zhou Bapi” in private. It wasn’t about his appearance, but rather due to the conflict between the employees and the boss.

_{Lie in his name means violent, upright is Zhou Zheng with the same Zhou.}

^{Zhou Bapi, the same Zhou is a character from a Chinese animation (半夜鸡叫), he is an evil landlord who abuses his workers.}

Xiang Yu and Zhou Lie were somewhat close and she didn’t call him “Zhou Bapi” despite having to work overtime. Although she aspired to be a salted fish, even when she works overtime a lot or has a lot of work pressure, she can be regarded as hardworking and there are not many negative emotions.

The advantage of this is that there is always a mini telescope hanging next to the badge on her chest. When she would go to Zhou Lie’s office, she would hold it out in front of her boss and look at the other side.

There was a beautiful vase of poppies on the opposite table for a few days in mid-June. Xiang Yu held the bronze telescope and glanced at the flowers, mindlessly a smile hung on her face when she heard Zhou Lie say, “Assistant Xiang, shall I put a table in this office for you?”

She put down the telescope, not falling to his scheme, “NO, although I have two jobs, my goal has always been to be a full-time front desk employee. You should hire a suitable assistant soon.”

Zhou Lie wasn’t one to talk much so he just nodded and said got it. When he finished looking at a part of a document carefully and raised his eyes, Xiang Yu still hadn’t left. She was standing by the window seeming like she was contemplating something, in a daze.

Zhou Lie knocked on the tabletop and asked, “Is there anything else?”

Xiang Yu looked back with her telescope and tentatively said, “Boss, you say, I have been so diligent and hardworking since before the new year till now, would I be able to apply for an annual leave in advance?” She hasn’t been employed for a full year yet and according to the company’s policy, she cannot take annual leave.

But Zhou Lie has seen Jin Fubai’s car more than once, and at one time he found a telescope to look at the opposite office building. The entire 7th floor on the opposite side was empty with only a flower on a desk.

This also explains why the company had big projects coming in after the new year and why it was smooth sailing. So, he knew it was because Xiang Yu was employed in his company and that a certain “upper level” made it much easier for him.

Zhou Lie thought about it briefly and nodded in response, “Okay, when you want to take a break, write a request and send it to me directly.”

Actually, Xiang Yu wanted to take a vacation because of Jin Fubai. Jin Fubai called at noon and was silent for nearly a minute, not saying a word.

The weather in Beijing was fine and the sun was shining brightly. When Jin Fubai called on the phone Xiang Yu was having lunch. The pasta in the convenience store was heated in a microwave and with a slice of cheese melted into the tomato beef sauce, the taste was not too bad.

Facing the high-rise noon sun with earphones in her ears, she heard Jin Fubai’s silence and silently put down the plastic fork in her hand. For a moment, she thought she was in a far far foreign country on the same silent night as Jin Fubai.

Xiang Yu was also silent for a long time before she lowered her voice and called him anxiously, “Jin Fubai?”

The person on the phone seemed to have just returned to his senses. After a pause, he said, ” What are you doing?”

“I’m having pasta from the convenience store for Lunch, it tastes good. When you come back, shall I invite you to eat it?”

Jin Fubai’s mood had returned to normal at this time. He smiled and teased her, saying once he had travelled all the way back to China, was she going to invite him to eat pasta from a convenience store? He also asked her if she was late this month and missed the attendance bonus.

Xiang Yu told him not to jinx her, saying she had perfect attendance for two months. After a while, she said softly, “I have saved up my salary over the past few months. You can eat whatever you want when you come back.”

Jin Fubai asked with a chuckle, “Miss me?”

“Yeah.”

Hanging up the phone Xiang Yu felt a little uneasy and didn’t even eat a few bites of pasta. In that minute silence, she felt a kind of powerless desolate feeling in Jin Fubai. So, she came up with an idea, she was going to find him.

The annual leave was approved on June 20^th. Xiang Yu took nothing and went to the airport alone. When she received a call from Tang Yuchi on the way, the young master asked in surprise, “Are you really going to find Jin Fubai?”

“Yes, I want to play for a few days and Zhou Lie gave me a ten-day holiday.”

Tang Yuchi couldn’t say much on the phone, he just told her to pay attention to her own safety, remember to report to him when she was abroad, remember to charge her phone and don’t turn it off at any time, if he couldn’t contact her it would worry him. He was overly sensitive; it was like she was going into retreat on a deserted island. Xiang Yu said okay and then hung up.

In fact, she hesitated on going to Jin Fubai. Foreign countries are another “circle” of Jin Fubai. She is not sure whether she should disrupt the current peace.

She was not sure if the Jin Fubai she would meet is the same person as the Jin Fubai in Beijing.

But people living a peaceful life craved for a romance even more. Even when Du Mu wrote “Red Cliffs”, he wrote the sentence “The two Qiao’s locked deeply in Bronze Bird Terrace”. She is but an ordinary person, missing a bit of rationality in love, wasn’t this normal? She’ll accompany him if he needs her.

^{Another ancient poem based on a war. Bronze Bird Terrace is known as a place of pleasure and the Qiao sisters were renowned for their beauty.} 

Jin Fubai worked in the family business from February to April. He met with shareholders every day and listened to them argue their stance. The conservatives and radicals fought against each other, as did members of the conservatives between themselves. People with bad personal relationships confronted each other and those with close personal relationships also argued. The quarrelling and noise made him have a headache.

It was late at night and because of the different opinions, a major shareholder threw his teacup and walked away.

His grandmother was in poor health these days. She coughed at night and the coughing made her eyes go red. She finally fell asleep earlier today and Jin Fubai did not dare to disturb her. He smoked silently in the air and then called Xiang Yu.

In fact, Jin Fubai couldn’t mention these things to Xiang Yu. It was very late at night and he missed her so much.

When his phone rang, he smoked in silence and didn’t speak to Xiang Yu. After being silent for a long time, Xiang Yu’s careful breathing came through the phone and she finally tentatively called him, Jin Fubai? The voice was so soft as if one was looking at the pond for the moon but at the same time afraid of breaking the moonlight.

Jin Fubai’s irritability gradually calmed down under this voice. After chatting casually, he hung up the phone and turned around, his grandmother stood silently behind him.

Her face was old and wrinkled, she was in poor health today, her face pale. So what if she had a net worth of over 100 million dollars? The same person couldn’t resist aging.

Jin Fubai’s grandmother is the only person Jin Fubai is close to in his entire family. Both of his grandfather’s family are family friends and they were also the best business partners, these were the achievements of his grandmother.

She was a powerful woman when she was young. His grandfather died young and Jin Fubai’s mother’s entire family was expanded into what it is now by his grandmother.

While she was a person who could produce clouds with the turn of her hand and rain with another, she was also a kind elderly. She was the only elderly who urged him to marry a girl based on how compatible she was with him and not because of family interests. That’s right, the only one.

The wind was heavy at night and his grandmother felt weak when she coughed. She took Jin Fubai’s hand and told him in Cantonese, Fubai, don’t be too angry, after all, we are all ants on the same boat.

The reason why she was respected was not only because of her exceptional means but also because of how she always made one feel comfortable. She was the leader of an entire corporation, and yet said she was an ant.

Jin Fubai calmed the hostility in his body and nodded, saying yes.

Because of the persuasion of his grandmother, Jin Fubai did not show any hostility in the next two days. He even spent a large sum of money to entertain several shareholders to discuss ways to win the support of some radical shareholders.

It’s just that the lunch banquet that day was not pleasant. A respected old man mentioned at the dinner table, “The young lady from the Chu family admires Fubai, perhaps marriage is the best way to get the support of all the families.”

Jin Fubai was humbly nodding his head while listening to the elders’ speeches and suddenly heard such a proposal. He slowly raised his eyes and snorted coldly, “Am I a male prostitute? The Jin family has hundreds of billions of assets and I need to sell my body to maintain it?”

He said this vulgar sentence and the people at the table were embarrassed. Someone jumped out to make peace and, in the end, even the old man changed to another topic. However, Jin Fubai had always had a grand and heroic character that was difficult to dispel and did not respond at all. At this time, Jin Fubai’s phone rang.

It was a message sent by Xiang Yu:

    [Jin Fubai, I’m at the LA Airport.]

Jin Fubai stared at the message for nearly half a minute and then looked up again, his face slightly darkening. He took his phone and got up, “Sorry everyone, I need to take a call.”

Jin Fubai stood in the quiet corridor and talked with Xiang Yu. She raised her voice in a noisy environment full of foreign languages ​​and said joyfully, “I want to stay in LA for a few days. If it is convenient, can you give me a hotel address close to you?” She said I can wait for you at the hotel if you have time to see me.

He was busy currently and she didn’t come at a good time. But her words were so considerate that made him want to make time.

At that time WeChat was far less developed than it is now and its functions were not so good. It was only recently one could add a location when posting photos in Moments and it wasn’t possible to message one’s location in chat. So Jin Fubai glanced at the closed door behind him and said, “I’ll get someone to pick you up.”

Xiang Yu refused his request saying that her annual leave was precious and waiting for him to pick her up meant wasting time at the airport. She might as well call a taxi herself.

Jin Fubai also couldn’t really walk away and he gave her the name of a hotel, saying softly, “Wait for me at the hotel.” 

His fickle and agitated attitude disappeared when he returned to the dinner table. He took the initiative to poor wine for the elders at the table, apologising, that he was too young and to please bear with him. The old man who proposed the marriage smiled, accepted his apology, and in the end, they had a pleasing chat.

Exiting the hotel, Jin Fubai escorted several elderly people into their car and watched them leave. When he was about to take the car key handed over by the waiter at the door, he suddenly heard someone discussing a major accident in a foreign language.

Seven vehicles collided on the road to the airport killing 5 people on the spot. Among them is a woman who is Chinese.

Jin Fubai suddenly glanced back, the car key in his hand dropping on the marble step.

In LA that day there was a continuous light rain and the weather was gloomy. Wrapped in Jin Fubai’s black shirt and a white skirt, Xiang Yu sat in the car and waited for the road to clear.

The cars under the downpour were blocked and she couldn’t see the end to the traffic. The cars behind them kept honking their horns for unknown reasons. In front of Xiang Yu was a line of policemen, ambulances came and went. The traffic police were still at the scene with foreign policemen in dark blue uniforms among them. She didn’t know what they were talking about.

A driver pulled out and said a series of sentences in a foreign language, Xiang Yu’s language proficiency was limited. She could vaguely guess that the driver was saying, what bad luck, don’t know when the traffic jam will clear.

She had played Snake on her phone on the plane and only stopped playing until her phone ran out of batteries. She could only wait for the police to resolve the issue before going. The sky got darker, the rain still pouring, there was no Snake and Xiang Yu closed her eyes in boredom.

About an hour later, she vaguely heard someone calling her name. The man spoke in Chinese.

Was it Jin Fubai?

Xiang Yu pushed the car door open in the rain, holding onto the car door, she stood on her tippy toes and saw Jin Fubai in the crowd.

How should she describe the scene? Everyone had turned into a silent background and only he travelled back and forth in the rain. Behind him were two police officers who were at a loss and wanted to stop him but they did not dare to step forward. He took the loudspeaker from the policeman behind him, his eyes which were always full of affection, were panicked and his brows were frowned as he frequently called her name, “Xiang Yu! Xiang Yu!”

If it was possible to use sound to indicate that you love someone. It must have been Jin Fubai’s anxious call at this moment.

---

Author: 殊娓

http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=516328

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Chapter 28: Concerned

Jin Fubai’s schedule should be very packed. Xiang Yu was being held by him on the bed when she heard the phone carried in his coat’s fine cashmere material making a muffled buzz sound on the bedside table.

She lifted her neck up and there was an uncontrollable moan when she spoke, “Phone…” 

Jin Fubai buried his lips around her neck and whispered, “Don’t worry about it.”

They didn’t talk about the quarrel over the phone, only continuously making love. After, they simply embraced each other exhausted, and fell asleep.

In the early morning, Xiang Yu vaguely heard Jin Fubai on the phone in the bathroom ordering someone to prepare a private jet for him.

Before leaving, Jin Fubai lightly kissed her forehead, the touch of his lips was warm and soft as if he wanted to pour all his tenderness into her forehead. Xiang Yu struggled, wanting to say something to him but she couldn’t get rid of the sleepiness after being tossed around.

Maybe she grabbed Jin Fubai’s clothes and said something, or maybe not. When Xiang Yu was completely awake, the mattress on the other side of the bed was already cold and only half a pack of cigarettes remained on the bedside.

After that day, Jin Fubai was always abroad. He occasionally called Xiang Yu and he would send her some random photos:

    Once it was the fuzzy outline of when the sun rose through the horizon.

    Once it was the moonlight reflected in a still pool.

Xiang Yu used these photos to piece together Jin Fubai’s living environment abroad. It was probably an astonishingly large villa. He took photos of places with the same decoration style but at different places.

Through those early dawns and lonely nights, she could infer that he was busy after going abroad and his mood was not good.

The photo of her and Tang Yuchi hugging was not mentioned by Jin Fubai until a long time after the event.

It was a weekend and Xiang Yu had lunch at Tang Yuchi’s house. Jin Fubai happened to call at this time. Under the gaze of her godfather, godmother and Tang Yuchi she took the phone and left the room to pick it up. It was like having a secret crush at school.

Closing the door to the guest room, Xiang Yu answered the phone and greeted Jin Fubai in a low voice, “Hello?”

It was another quiet night over there. Jin Fubai’s voice was tired but he was still in a good mood to joke with her, “Talking in such a low voice? Are you cheating on me?”

“…I’m eating at my godparent’s house.”

Maybe because Jin Fubai heard she was at Tang Yuchi’s house he gave a soft “tsk”.

Xiang Yu deliberately said, “What’s wrong, it’s not good to eat here because I’ll be secretly photographed by another?”

Jin Fubai smiled, “Being secretly photographing is nothing, at most I’ll get jealous and want to fly back to find you.”

Xiang Yu said to him, why are you jealous, I said that I had asked Tang Yuchi to accompany me to resize the ring. Jin Fubai, still joking told her: I thought with me away, you would seduce others with the skills you learnt from me.

True, Jin Fubai had taken her to that restaurant and kissed her on the bridge. Xiang Yu’s emotions had already settled so she curled her lips and said, “Who told your friend’s cousin to be so annoying, he must have something to do with Tang Yuchi’s ex-girlfriend.”

“He is so annoying; one look at him and you lose your temper at me, don’t see him again in the future.” Jin Fubai commented on Li Mao in a half-hearted manner.

Sometimes the relationships between people were so strange. Xiang Yu and Jin Fubai thought they were reasonably rational people but on that night they were out of control and their rationality died. One unreasonably picked a fight and one returned to Beijing late at night just to coax a person.

They didn’t think they would make such a move but strangely, they seemed to have become even closer after the quarrel.

Jin Fubai should have been tired after a long day and after speaking a few words, the sound of opening a water bottle came through the phone. Xiang Yu leaned against the door to the guest room and specially brought up a topic.

“Jin Fubai, have you read the news? There was a man and woman who had an affair in a car. They turned on the heater after turning the engine off and they were poisoned by carbon monoxide, almost dying.”

“Quite a long time.” Jin Fubai commented vaguely.

Xiang Yu was dissatisfied, “I’m not talking about how long it was.”

Jin Fubai smiled, “Then are you teaching me to not turn on the heater in the car if I cheat?”

“Of course not, I’m telling you that if you cheat it will not end well! You will die!”

The person on the phone smiled and said, “Yes, yes, I see.”

Hanging up the phone, Xiang Yu came out of the guest room with her phone and Mother Tang asked, “Is Yuyu on the phone with your boyfriend? What kind of person is he? How is his family?”

Xiang Yu was speechless for a moment.

The name “Jin Fubai” was too difficult to say. Should she say, “My boyfriend and I have a very good relationship but he probably will never marry me”?

It was Tang Yuchi who was biting into a piece of ribs, pretending to act relaxed, helping her solve the problem, “What kind of boyfriend would there be, she probably can’t even get married, crashing at our house to let you two to recognise her as your daughter,  you two were the ones who raised her! “

Tang Yuchi was beaten twice by Mother Tang with the napkin box, “Shut up! I think you are the unwanted one! Why are you cooped up at home all day long where is An Sui? I haven’t seen you contact her recently?”

At this time, Xiang Yu used her chopsticks to poke at the soup of braised pork ribs and with a depressed tone, “Godmother, are there still spare ribs in the pot? I haven’t had enough.” 

The topic was finished and Mother Tang immediately turned her head and said, “There is some, let your godfather get some.”

Xiang Yu and Tang Yuchi secretly glanced at each other and looked helpless in each other’s eyes. They rescued each other and they were helpless with each other’s situation.

After the meal, Tang Yuchi leaned against the balcony window, carrying a bottle and asked Xiang Yu, “You say if you think about it, he is unlikely to take you as a wife.”

She didn’t know if he really wanted to ask her that. Or did he want to ask about An Sui who he had spent a long time together with at school.

A table and a set of chairs were placed on the balcony of Tang Yuchi’s home. Xiang Yu sat on the chair, resting her cheeks in her hands, “I picture that he loves me.”

“Love? He has this kind of thing?”

Xiang Yu remembered that night when Jin Fubai rushed back from the Hong Kong Airport. It was inevitable that he was jet lagged but he said he did not feel at ease wherever he went and had to coax her first. So, she squinted her eyes in the sunlight and smiled faintly, “There is some.” 

It’s just that this “some” made it hard for her to give him up.

Jin Fubai has been busy for more than three months, entangled in family disputes and schemes every day.

Occasionally, he would receive messages from Xiang Yu, all trivial things. But when he saw her messages, his brows loosened and he felt an unprecedented amount of relaxation.

Once she complained about a traffic jam in Beijing during the morning rush hour saying she was late and lost her full attendance bonus. She was very heartbroken. Jin Fubai received the message at 7 o’clock at night when he was abroad and the group strategy meeting had not ended even after 5 hours. He didn’t bother to listen any more, turned his head back to message Xiang Yu and asked her how much the attendance award was.

Xiang Yu:

    [A full 200 yuan! I’m heartbroken! ]

Jin Fubai stared at the message on the phone silently curling his lips. In front of him full of different business sectors, the diagram densely packed and a random project is worth tens of millions.

But none were like her 200 yuan, lively and lovely.

Jin Fubai looked around coldly, it was appalling that everyone’s eyes were filled with lust and greed.

For a moment, Jin Fubai suddenly rejoiced that he loved someone. So he could still be a little tender on a night like this.

At the end of the meeting, his voice was exhausted and he called Xiang Yu, “What are you doing?”

The voice on the phone was faintly resentful, “Eating the cheapest lunch in the cafeteria.” It seemed like she was mourning for her 200 yuan bonus.

Jin Fubai lit a cigarette, “When I come back and we go for dinner, what do you want to eat?”

“Let’s talk about it when you come back. Have you eaten yet?”

“Not yet.”

The girl on the phone urged, “Then go eat.”

“Going.”

Jin Fubai suddenly remembered when he kissed her on the forehead in the early morning at the hotel suite before he left to go abroad. Xiang Yu, who was trapped in a silk quilt, grabbed the corner of his clothes. Her wrist, a victim of his passion when he held onto her, leaving behind a purple-red mark on her arm. She did not open her eyes; her hands were not strong and her expression had some grievances.

Jin Fubai took her slender wrist into his hand, his thumb gently fumbling with the red marks on her skin, “What’s wrong? Did I do it too hard yesterday, now you feel wronged?”

Xiang Yu’s voice was quiet and Jin Fubai leaned over, barely hearing what she was talking about– “Jin Fubai, I am not normally like this. I have never been so unreasonable in a relationship before…”

Her voice was a little hoarse, he wasn’t sure if it was because of sleepiness or if it was because of something else, she seemed confused and fragile.

Jin Fubai kissed her fingertips, “I know, I will treat you well.”

When he said that sentence, he was really genuine, so the current turmoil made him particularly irritable.

Jin Fubai family’s company members are divided into two groups. One group is the conservative group, which believes that the current excessive diversification strategy will cause disasters for the company. The other group is the radical group, who believes that if they do not insist on diversified acquisitions, they won’t be able to obtain new areas for profit.

His grandmother is a conservative, Jin Fubai has not picked a group but he has always represented his grandmother. Perhaps because his grandmother is old and her status is shaky, the conservatives are in a difficult situation.

Jin Fubai is too lazy to deal with these people, but in fact, he supports the group his grandmother is in and is unwilling to take any risks. The only battle he didn’t prepare for was Xiang Yu.

In this turbulent and risky relationship, Jin Fubai stood by the window with a cigarette. The phone in his hand was calling Xiang Yu, who was more than 10,000 kilometres away. On this silent night, he frowned, “Xiang Yu, I miss you so much.”

---

Author: 殊娓

http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=516328

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Chapter 27: To Coax

Xiang Yu remembered her first encounter with An Sui. She and Tang Yuchi had just started the first year of high school. Their school held an art festival and everyone was excited like it was Chinese New Year. Some people wanted to show off their looks and would secretly wear separate clothes under the school uniforms. They would remove their school uniforms before entering the auditorium when the teachers could not control them due to the crowds. Tang Yuchi was one of those people who wanted to show off.

He took off his jacket in the school auditorium showing a black short sleeve, the logo was an eye-catching double G. He squeezed through the crowd to Xiang Yu’s side, grabbing her Coke and drinking the remaining half in the bottle. Then he wiped the corners of his mouth with the back of his hand, and said excitedly, “Look at the platform!”

Xiang Yu hit him with the empty bottle of Coke, “What are you looking at! Is there something worth seeing in the choir?”

“Look at the second-to-last row, the girl on the far right, isn’t she pretty? I am going to chase her.”

Xiang Yu followed Tang Yuchi’s description and saw a girl in a white shirt and plaided skirt. With a bun hairstyle and a pair of deer eyes, she looked very delicate and pretty.

Tang Yuchi was very proud as if the girl was already his girlfriend. He grabbed Xiang Yu’s shoulders shouting in her ear, “How’s she? Looks good? Aren’t her eyes particularly big?”

Xiang Yu glanced at someone’s chest, “It’s quite big.”

“…… Where are you looking at? I’m talking about eyes! Eyes!!! Xiang Yu, can you show some respect for my future girlfriend?! “

The past was like a wave rippling in her mind. The An Sui in front of Xiang Yu, was still a woman with a pair of deer eyes. It is just that the way that she drew her eyeliner and her long fan-like eyelashes, blurred the young girl’s youthfulness, instead, being mature and charming.

Li Mao’s hands were dishonest and even if there were people around him when he walked into the jewellery store, he rubbed her through her clothes. An Sui’s smile could probably be described as if she wanted to stop him but when she raised her eyes, she saw Xiang Yu not far away and her smile collapsed.

Xiang Yu and An Sui looked at each other for a short moment and then they withdrew their eyes instantly. She kept a composed face through this moment considering An Sui’s face.

But, in fact, Xiang Yu wasn’t that calm, she was worried that Tang Yuchi would come to her at this time and she couldn’t help speeding up her pace.

Fortunately, Tang Yuchi thought she was going to answer Jin Fubai’s call. He didn’t want to hear the two of them being lovey-dovey so he leaned against the counter to look at a bracelet.

When Tang Yuchi turned his head and saw Xiang Yu approaching, he shook the bracelet in his hand, “Do you think this bracelet will look good on me?”

Xiang Yu stabilized her mind and roasted him as normally as possible to the best of her ability, “Girlish.”

Her ring design was too complex, there was no gap between the inner ring full of diamonds and the staff said it was difficult to make it smaller. Finally, using a traditional manner, a small layer of transparent string was knitted on the inside for it to just fit.

After altering the ring, Xiang Yu took Tang Yuchi to eat and she asked him to go to a restaurant where she had previously eaten with Jin Fubai before. It was so expensive, it was like she was being robbed.

Tang Yuchi was not kind when ordering, it was as if he was actually here to eat. After ordering, he asked, “Do you want to order this discounted dish? Don’t you like discounted things?”

Xiang Yu gritted her teeth, “It still costs 200 yuan after the discount!” 

The dishes came out one by one, but she didn’t think about how to tell Tang Yuchi. She could only tangle up a chopstick of sea cucumber and put it in her mouth, the feeling was the same as chewing wax. After much deliberation, Xiang Yu was still ready to use the most direct way.

Long-term pain was worse than short-term pain. A sharp knife can cut the mess.

Xiang Yu took a deep breath, “Will you…” contact An Sui.

“No.” Tang Yuchi interrupted Xiang Yu suddenly.

Xiang Yu was taken aback and looked at Tang Yuchi abruptly. He hung his head down, his chopsticks fiddled with a small piece of fish on the plate, looking quiet and lonely.

Tang Yuchi randomly poked at the white fish’s belly, turned it over and back again, not stabbing it. After a long time, he put down the chopsticks in his hand, took off the watch on his wrist, and gently placed it into the bamboo basket containing fishbone and crab shells on the tabletop.

It was a Swatch, Tang Yuchi’s cheapest watch but he had worn it preciously for many years.

It seems that it was on a Valentine’s Day when they were in university that Tang Yuchi received this watch and showed it to Xiang Yu very excitedly, “Look, my wife bought it for me.”

At that time, he was obsessed with motorcycles from abroad and posted a picture riding a Yamaha, wearing a heavy helmet. His following group of friends commented that it was cool but he responded one by one asking them to look at his watch, saying that his wife bought it.

Someone was welcoming guests outside of the private room, and they said politely in a joyful tone that they had not seen each other for many days and asked if they gained weight since they last met. The person being greeted laughed, yeah yeah, I gained weight again and ate well during Chinese New Year.

Xiang Yu asked at this moment, “Did you see?” 

Tang Yuchi raised the corners of his lips and smiled, “I saw it, she found such a tall man, they were too conspicuous standing in the crowd, how could I not see.” After a pause, he said, “And it’s her, would I not recognize her?”

He said the last sentence very lightly. After speaking, Xiang Yu saw a tear slip from the corner of Tang Yuchi’s eye and smash into the plate in front of him.

Xiang Yu knew that the “she” Tang Yuchi was talking about was An Sui.

The meal ended very early, the good ingredients were wasted, and none of them were in the mood to taste it seriously.

After the meal, Tang Yuchi wanted to go home and asked her if she wanted to come too. Xiang Yu shook her head, she knew he needed to be alone.

After Chinese New Year, the sky gets dark very late unlike in the middle of winter when night was after 4 o’clock and it was so dark that it would make one feel lifeless. When they walked out of the hotel, it was dusk, and the two stone elephants carved in front of the store were caged in dim lights as if they had come to life.

The water still flowed under the long bridge and the little lions carved on the bridge rails remained vivid. Xiang Yu and Jin Fubai had already been on this bridge, resolving their misunderstandings and they even kissed affectionately here.

But at this moment, she was standing on the long bridge with a small knot in her heart. Because she heard Tang Yuchi say in an unexpectedly calm voice, “Xiang Yu, fortunately, you are here today.”

Xiang Yu deliberately teased him for the atmosphere to be lighter, purposefully joking, “If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have gone to the jewellery store. “

Tang Yuchi also smiled cooperatively, “Then for this meal, you have made amends to it.”

If people really had a balance in their hearts, then Xiang Yu’s balance is now in favour of Tang Yuchi. In a flash, she felt childish and dreaded because the “enemy” of her friend was someone from Jin Fubai’s side. When she thought of Jin Fubai, she became extremely angry.

But she didn’t go home and came to Jin Fubai’s hotel suite alone. The bedroom had been cleaned up long ago. The handful of roses had been placed in a crystal vase and there was still a slight fragrance of agarwood in the room.

Xiang Yu sat on the bed and there was a message from Jin Fubai a few minutes ago on her phone:

    [Changing at Hong Kong, I’ll board the plane an hour later.]

Xiang Yu looked at it for a while but didn’t reply. However, Jin Fubai called.

In fact, at this time, Xiang Yu didn’t want to talk to Jin Fubai. Even if she had returned to the hotel yearning for him, she couldn’t guarantee that she could talk to him peacefully.

Jin Fubai is Jin Fubai and Li Mao is Li Mao. They are merely familiar with each other, don’t be angry, be rational. Xiang Yu said this silently in her heart and picked up the vibrating phone in her hand.

Jin Fubai was probably in a coffee shop at the airport, the surrounding environment wasn’t quiet. His voice was lazy and gentle, he asked her if she had dinner, whether the ring resizing went well, and whether she wanted to buy another one.

Xiang Yu answered almost everything on the phone. Jin Fubai chuckled, “What’s the matter, are you unwilling to talk to me? Was it because I didn’t spend Valentine’s Day with you, so angry now?”

Maybe it was because of his gentleness, maybe she was too dependent on him these days. The more you love, the more you can’t control your emotions.

Xiang Yu couldn’t help but ask Jin Fubai, “Why didn’t you tell me that Li Mao’s new woman was Tang Yuchi’s girlfriend?”

“Are you angry at me for this reason?”

Jin Fubai paused, he sighed softly on the phone, his tone still gentle. He said, Xiang Yu, I do have opportunities to know about their affairs but I don’t always pay attention to everything. There are dozens of gossips in the circle every day, how I can care about everything?

Finally, he said, “What’s more, I’ve been with you these days.” This was to the point and she could tell that Jin Fubai didn’t want to fight.

He was right, he had a chance to know but he was not a nosy person. These things, she shouldn’t blame him, they have nothing to do with him.

Xiang Yu thought about these things in her mind clearly but she blurted out another reaction, unreasonably, “You really haven’t heard of it? You know what kind of relationship I have with Tang Yuchi… ..”

Jin Fubai sneered suddenly and his tone became rough, “What kind of relationship do you have, would someone take a picture of you and him embracing each other and send it to me?”

Hug? She and Tang Yuchi? Was it at the entrance of the hotel just now?

Someone took a picture of them and sent it to Jin Fubai? So, he called during his layover? It was not that he missed her to the point where he would contact her whenever he was free…

Xiang Yu’s voice also became chilly and she said a heavy sentence, “Jin Fubai, you people are not only heartless but petty and nauseating.”

“Xiang Yu.” Jin Fubai’s voice warned implicitly.

This was the only quarrel between her and Jin Fubai in more than half a year. It was also the only time she had lost control of her emotions in 22 years.

When Xiang Yu hung up the phone, the phone slid from the palm of her hand onto the bed and her tears were also dripping on the bed. Jin Fubai didn’t call again, maybe he had already boarded the plane.

She knew that she was very unreasonable but she couldn’t help it. Xiang Yu did not fall asleep until late at night, she couldn’t sleep properly and she had a few intermittent dreams. All of which were of the chaotic lights in Li Chi’s venue where she could not find Jin Fubai.

Xiang Yu twisted uncomfortably and suddenly felt the mattress sink. She woke up from her dream and screamed when she saw a shadow leaning over the bed.

In the next second she fell into the embrace of an agarwood scent, “It’s me.”

“Why are you back?”

Jin Fubai accurately found her eyes in the dark and gently wiped her tears away. He sighed, “Was it not that I made you cry? I won’t feel at ease wherever I go, I’ve come back to coax you.”

---

Author: 殊娓

http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=516328

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Chapter 26: Lover

It was late when they exited Li Chi’s venue. There was no starlight that night and even the moon did not shine, hiding behind a layer of cloud. Instead, the place was lit by neon lights and the night was not too lonely.

Xiang Yu held her bag in front of her chest with one hand, her posture like that of students carrying books. It was different from other women who deliberately and in an arrogant manner carried their luxury bags. Her other hand was held tightly by Jin Fubai.

Li Chi did not wear a coat, only a light green striped suit when he came out. He took Jin Fubai’s shoulder to send him off and slightly attentively, “Brother Jin, how can you drive when you’ve been drinking? Should I call my driver?”

Jin Fubai lightly brushed away Li Chi’s hand, “Your sister-in-law will drive. “

“Oh oh oh, my sister-in-law is driving, then get back safely.”

Jin Fubai unlocked the car, first helping Xiang Yu open the door to the driver’s seat and after she got in, he sat in the passenger’s seat by himself.

Outside the car, Li Chi stood by the side of the car. He bent over and looked into the car, “Brother Jin, sister-in-law, drive slowly.” 

Xiang Yu started the car and found that Jin Fubai had sat into his seat with closed eyes. She thought he had drunk too much. and so she could only throw her bag in the back seat, lean over, and struggle to fasten his seat belt. Then she lowered the car window, and responded to Li Chi’s farewell, “Bye Li Chi.”

Li Chi waved his hand that had three diamond rings on it and the diamond light flashed as he smiled and said, “Bye bye sister-in-law, drive slowly.” 

When the car drove halfway through the street, the colourful lights in front of the venue behind them were no longer visible and Jin Fubai suddenly said, “You’re quite willing to talk to him.” He suddenly said these words and Xiang Yu who was focused on driving was shocked.

“Aren’t you sleeping?”

“No.”

Jin Fubai’s attitude towards Li Chi was very indifferent today, and he didn’t respond to him. Li Chi had told jokes several times but he didn’t show any expressions. He didn’t fail to understand why Li Chi called “Xiang Yu” when Xiang Yu first went to the venue. Xiang Yu was willing to give way to Li Chi, but he was unwilling.

Thinking of this, Jin Fubai opened his eyes, leaned into the back of the chair and turned his head to look at Xiang Yu, “I didn’t know you were such a considerate sister-in-law.”

Xiang Yu didn’t pretend to not understand what he was saying and with both hands on the steering wheel, she truthfully said, “Well then what can I do? Li Chi is your friend and wants to save face for you. Even if he does something wrong, I can’t embarrass him in front of you. Am I right?”

She drove well, the speed was not too fast, instead slow and unhurriedly in the dim light of the night. When she met an intersection, even if there was no shadow of anything on the street in the middle of the night, she would slow down a bit and look around.

The heating in Li Chi’s venue was very high and Xiang Yu was probably hot. She tied up her collarbone-length hair, and there was a small braid on the back of her head. It was a few inches long, like a bird’s tail, quite funny. She also has a beautiful neck, looking like a student with her back straight and who earnestly drove a car.

But occasionally when she looked into the rear-view mirror, she would inadvertently glance to the right, her eyes holding a hidden charm. It reminded him of the times when he pressed her sensitive parts, she would become coquettish and look at him with a thin layer of tears in her eyes. During those moments, her eyes would be filled with confused affection, like she was trying to remember him through her tears. He found it very heart-pounding.

Jin Fubai tilted his head and looked at Xiang Yu for a while, his breathing slightly disturbed. He took out a cigarette and lit it. With the cigarette in his mouth, he held Xiang Yu’s wrist, putting it on a certain part of himself and with a very lustful tone, “What’s the use of being considerate to them, why not be considerate to me?”

Xiang Yu’s whole body was pulled, swaying, and the car shook on the unmanned road.

She pressed her palm on a hard object and she curled up like she was hit but an electric shock, calling at him, “Jin Fubai! I’m driving! We might get into a car crash.” Actually, she wanted to be more aggressive but after she felt the firmness in his pants, a certain memory in her body awakened earlier than her reasoning could, and the tone of her voice was not like anger, but like flirting.

Jin Fubai didn’t let go of her wrist, rubbing his thumb on her bone, “If it’s the two of us it’s not death, it’s called dying in the name of love.”

Xiang Yu threw his hand away, “Who wants to die with you.”

“Then what do you want? “

She felt complicated when she heard the word “do” and Xiang Yu slammed the gas pedal unbearably, “Jin Fubai, don’t talk.”

Jin Fubai opened the window of the car. The smell of smoke dissipated in the night breeze and he laughed loudly.

In fact, it was really a joy to fall in love with Jin Fubai.

On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, February 14th, Xiang Yu’s parents failed to return home to Xiang Yu because they had taken over a new project. In the early morning when her parents did not come back, she opened her sleepy eyes, turned around and embraced a handful of fragrant roses in her arms.

Because she had stayed up late, Xiang Yu was still not completely awake yet, she stared at the roses for a long time before slowly widening her eyes and calling out, “Jin Fubai?”

The sound of water in the bathroom stopped and Jin Fubai came out wearing a nightgown.  He lifted his wet hair to the top of his forehead, stood by the bed, leaned over, touched her cheek and kissed her, “Happy Valentine’s Day.” 

Men are indeed warm-blooded animals, not afraid of the cold. In the winter, Jin Fubai always likes to take a cold shower. His lips and fingers were cold. To avoid the coldness Xiang Yu turned her head, burying into the red roses, rubbing her face against dewdrops.

This was the last day of Xiang Yu’s New Year holiday and she suddenly felt that this day was very precious. Being tossed till midnight yesterday, she didn’t want to stay in bed and laze around. She got up in a hurry after lying in bed with Jin Fubai for a while.

Originally Jin Fubai and her would spend Valentine’s Day together. But when Xiang Yu was sitting by the bed and wearing jeans, she heard Jin Fubai answering the phone downstairs. At first, his tone was normal and probably because the person on the phone was his grandmother he spoke in Cantonese. But when another call came, she didn’t know who was on the other side of the phone as Jin Fubai’s tone became more and more impatient. In the end, he didn’t even speak Cantonese and responded with a few sentences in Mandarin. Finally, he sneered and said, “Don’t talk to me about this. Is this something I can decide on?”

When Jin Fubai called, he didn’t deliberately hide from Xiang Yu and she could hear it all. She had also heard him make a call to ask someone to book a flight to another country at noon.

Regarding Jin Fubai’s matters, she wouldn’t ask more even if she heard it all. This was her way of protecting their relationship.

When Xiang Yu pulled the jeans up to her thigh and stood up to continue to put it on, Jin Fubai came up from downstairs. He was still angry from the phone call and unexpectedly, when he entered the door, he saw his girlfriend with her back to the door holding her pants and her plump buttocks were covered with a patterned lace fabric.

Jin Fubai finally smiled, walked over and rubbed her, “I didn’t do it enough yesterday? You’re seducing me in the morning?”

Xiang Yu pulled up her jeans and turned to hit him. The loose ring between her fingers flew out again, rolling under the bed.

Xiang Yu was taken aback and knelt down by the bed to look for it. Her posture was more seductive than when she pulled up her pants.

Jin Fubai glanced at the time and frowned regretfully. It’s too late.

He picked up the person and kissed her deeply, “Don’t look anymore, I’ll find someone to find it for you.”

It was the hotel staff who hooked the ring out from under the bed and after the staff left, Jin Fubai put the ring on Xiang Yu’s hand. When he bought the ring, the designer suggested an 11 but he felt that Xiang Yu’s fingers were thinner and ordered a 10, he didn’t expect it to be like this.

“When I have time, I’ll take you to pick a new one.”

It was at this time that Xiang Yu tactfully mentioned the phone call he had and said, “Actually, I have other things to do too, you don’t always have to accompany me.” She didn’t ask him what he was busy with, only saying, go ahead and do whatever you need, I’ll wait for you.

She’s really realistic. Jin Fubai was full of affection, and he held Xiang Yu, kissing her on the back of her neck, “I’m going abroad. I’ll be back in a few days, wait for me.”

“Ok.”

“How are you going to spend today?” He asked uneasily.

Xiang Yu showed Jin Fubai the message on her phone, it was sent by Tang Yuchi:

[A friendhood emergency! For valentine’s day can you not pay more attention to your lover than your friend, come out and accompany me!]

     [I really don’t want to watch your godfather and godmother being affectionate to each other, they are both feeding each other for breakfast, I’m dying!] 

     [Help! SOS!]

Jin Fubai glanced at Tang Yuchi’s profile picture, he appeared to be unhappy but he still said, “I’ll take you there.”

“Aren’t you going to the airport?”

“There’s still time, I’ll drive you there first.”

When Jin Fubai drove her to Tang Yuchi’s front door he suddenly frowned and said, “Xiang Yu, are you going to the hot springs with your childhood friend?” He still remembered Xiang Yu saying that she wanted to go to the hot spring with her parents.

Xiang Yu raised her hand with a smile, and showed him the ring, “I asked Tang Yuchi to accompany me to change the ring to a smaller size so I don’t lose it. Don’t buy a new one, it’s a waste of money.”

The man was satisfied, he got out of the car and opened the door for her. Then he pressed her on the car eagerly and kissed deeply. Perhaps his dissatisfaction was too obvious that Xiang Yu’s eyes also quietly reddened and put her arms around his neck and asked, “Then come back soon, okay?”

“Good.”

Xiang Yu watched Jin Fubai drive away and then she turned around to see Tang Yuchi leaning against the door. Young Master Tang held his neck and deliberately retched, “I’m going to throw up.”

Xiang Yu glanced at him, “Really?”

“Throw up your mum! I was disgusted by you and Jin Fubai, you even came downstairs to my house to kiss, deliberately trying to abuse me?!” Tang Yuchi swung his arm around Xiang Yu’s neck, “What shall we do to pass time?”

Xiang Yu flicked him away, “Drive me to resize a ring.”

When Tang Yuchi got into the car he pulled out his sunglasses and put on them, “There are couples everywhere, looking at them makes me feel annoyed.”

In fact, Xiang Yu saw that on Tang Yuchi’s wrist was a watch that had been picked by An Sui for him a few years ago. She didn’t know if this young master with an unkind mouth but a soft heart would contact An Sui on this special day.

Many people say, don’t look back. But in fact, how many could let go of these feelings, whenever you want to let go of them there are always memories that come out to disturb your mind.

Xiang Yu went to a famous jewellery store, stood in front of the counter and took off the ring, “Excuse me, can I make this ring smaller?”

Tang Yuchi picked up the ring, “Did Jin Fubai select this? Good taste.”

In fact, after having arrived at the jewellery store that day, Xiang Yu was talking on the phone with Jin Fubai. She covered the microphone in the bustling store and told him to call her once he arrived. Jin Fubai said, why do I miss you so much already.

If nothing happened afterwards, even after he had to fly abroad it would still be a very good Valentine’s Day.

When Xiang Yu put the phone away and raised her eyes, she suddenly saw a fairly familiar figure, Li Chi’s cousin, Li Mao. Perhaps because of the story he told at the dinner table where they first met or not, but Xiang Yu had always had a natural dislike for Li Mao.

She subconsciously wanted to avoid Li Mao but she could clearly see the woman holding his arm. Last night, she heard people say that Li Mao had been entangled by a “vixen” recently, and she heard how clever the woman was.

However, Xiang Yu didn’t expect that the woman in those men’s mouths would be An Sui.

If she suddenly felt sick of that circle for a moment. Then it must be now.

---

Author: 殊娓

http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=516328

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