Chapter 54 N-Temptation

Chu Beiling opened her mouth, and for a moment she had the impulse to agree, but reason quickly prevailed.

After a brief silence, he shook his head and refused outright: "No, just tell me the address, and I'll go there myself tomorrow morning."

Xing Yu's gaze paused for a moment, only a brief instant—

He nodded, and said generously and with a sense of relief, "Okay, I'll send you the address in a bit. We'll meet at the door at 9:30 tomorrow morning."

After agreeing on a time, Chu Beiling walked to the door, then remembered the medicine box and turned back: "Where's my medicine box?"

"Wait a moment." Xing Yu went to the bedroom to get the medicine box and gave it to him.

Chu Beiling accepted it: "Thank you."

After saying that, he turned and walked out. Just as he reached the entrance, he heard a loud "crash" behind him as glass fell to the ground.

Chu Beiling was startled and turned around abruptly. Xing Yu was bent over, one hand covering his stomach and the other supporting himself on the dining table. He was about to lose his balance and was slowly sliding towards the ground.

Chu Beiling's heart tightened, and she rushed to Xing Yu's side in one swift step, supporting him and helping him to his feet. She looked at Xing Yu's pained expression and frown.

He asked worriedly, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing. I've been drinking a lot for business dinners these past two years, so my stomach gets upset occasionally. It's nothing serious, I'll be fine after a while." Xing Yu reached out and grabbed Chu Beiling's trench coat sleeve tightly. "It's late, you should go home early. I'll be fine soon."

Now that Chu Beiling had seen it, how could he just leave? "Stomach pain is no small matter. Don't force yourself. I'll go to the hospital with you."

Xing Yu didn't want to go. Even if there was no problem, he would be exposed. He said very understandingly, "It's really nothing. You'll be fine after a while. If you have something to do, go back first. It's really late."

Chu Beiling: "Xing Yu?!"

"Hmm." Xing Yu almost leaned against him, practically hanging on like a sloth: "If you can't stand up, help me to the sofa and get me my stomach medicine while you're at it. I'll be fine in a bit."

Chu Beiling was still worried: "Really, there's no need to go to the hospital!"

"Going to the hospital will only get you stomach medicine, there's no need," Xing Yu said, making up a story without batting an eye.

Chu Beiling nodded: "Okay, if you really feel unwell, remember to tell me, don't force yourself."

Xing Yu's lips curled up slightly: "Mm."

Chu Beiling freed one hand and put it around Xing Yu's waist to help him toward the sofa.

Xing Yu leaned on him, his 1.8-meter height pressing down on him. The few steps from the dining room to the living room took them five or six minutes to walk before they reached the sofa.

Just as he settled down on the sofa, Xing Yu stretched out his foot and hooked Chu Beiling's ankle, pulling him down with him.

Losing his balance, Chu Beiling stumbled forward, but fortunately he managed to catch himself in time, steadying his body with his hands and avoiding crashing directly into Xing Yu's arms.

But their current posture is even more ambiguous than if they had directly bumped into Xing Yu's arms.

Chu Beiling placed her hands on either side of Xing Yu's body, half-bent her knees on his legs, pressing against his inner thighs, trapping Xing Yu in the sofa and his embrace with a shrouding and oppressive posture.

They were so close, their breaths mingling, their heartbeats echoing the rhythmic chimes of the clock on the wall.

For a moment, no one moved.

In the dim light, Xing Yu raised his right eyebrow slightly, a hint of interest in his expression: "What are you trying to do?!"

Chu Beiling coughed lightly, quickly stood up, and awkwardly changed the subject: "Where is your first-aid kit?"

Xing Yu raised his chin, indicating: "In the TV cabinet."

Chu Beiling turned and walked towards the TV cabinet. After taking out stomach medicine from the medicine box and handing it to Xing Yu, she went to the kitchen to get a glass of warm water and brought it over.

Xing Yu accepted it: "Thank you."

Chu Beiling watched him swallow the medicine, then took the cup from his hand and placed it on the coffee table.

Xing Yu rested his hand on his stomach, his brows furrowed, looking like he was still in a lot of pain.

Chu Beiling asked worriedly, "You really don't need to go to the hospital."

"No need." Xing Yu rubbed his stomach. "It's just from drinking at a business dinner, nothing serious."

Chu Beiling frowned: "Have you been drinking a lot at business dinners these past two years?"

Xing Yu raised his eyelids and looked over: "It's alright, not too much."

"you……"

"Um?!"

The ambiguous atmosphere from just now seemed to still linger in the air, with a subtle tension flowing between the two.

Neither of them spoke, and they stared at each other in silence.

Chu Beiling opened his mouth, wanting to care about him, but he was afraid of getting caught up in endless questions again. He wanted to leave, but he was worried about leaving Xing Yu alone at home.

Sitting there like this, enveloped by his aura, Chu Beiling felt restless and uneasy.

Seeing his embarrassment, Xing Yu broke the silence: "Did you buy the car you're driving now?"

“Well, it’s hard to get a license plate for a gasoline car, you have to go through a lottery, but there are no restrictions on new energy vehicles, so I just bought one.” Once the topic was started, Chu Beiling said a few more words, so that the two of them wouldn’t just sit there staring at each other in awkward silence.

Xing Yu sat up straight and looked over: "Renting an apartment and buying a car in Hangzhou, are you planning to settle down here and not go back to Singapore?"

Chu Beiling remained silent.

Xing Yu's voice changed: "Are you still leaving?"

Originally, Chu Beiling didn't plan to go back after returning, but now he just wants to escape and pack himself up and send himself to a place thousands of kilometers away from Xing Yu.

Xing Yu glanced at Chu Beiling, waiting for his response.

After a long silence—

Chu Beiling said, "Okay, we'll wait until this project is finished."

Xing Yu's heart sank to the bottomless sea, and the two remained silent for a moment.

After their reunion, silence seemed to be all that remained between them.

After an unknown period of silence, Xing Yu asked, "We must go back!"

Chu Beiling glanced at him and met his gaze: "Why are you staying here instead of going back?"

He genuinely wanted to know what he could do here if he didn't go back, since his so-called 'home' was in Singapore, not in China.

Everything here was unfamiliar to him, completely different from what he remembered.

Chu Beiling knew this was normal, but he still found it hard to accept.

"There's really nothing I can do here," Xing Yu said with a wry smile. "Is there absolutely nothing about this city where you lived for seventeen years that you'd miss?"

Yes, of course we have!

Otherwise, how could he have dreamed of returning for the past ten years, dreaming of his own return?

Chu Beiling took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, staring intently at Xing Yu, not letting go of the slightest detail: "Why do you care whether I stay in Hangzhou or not?"

Xing Yu didn't answer why, but instead asked, "If I said I cared, would you stay?"

The phone rang; it was Fu Xingzhou.

He wouldn't call him at this hour unless it was something extremely important.

Chu Beiling sighed inwardly. It seemed that he and Xing Yu would have to put all their phones on silent next time, otherwise someone or something would always interrupt them.

"Leo, what's up so late?" Chu Beiling answered the phone and got up to go to the balcony.

Fu Xingzhou asked, "Zhu Qing'an hasn't gone crazy again, has she?"

Chu Beiling chuckled: "No."

Since reporting Zhu Qing'an's condition to Fu Xingzhou a few days ago, Zhu Qing'an has been much calmer these past few days and hasn't been bothering him with hangovers anymore.

Fu Xingzhou nodded and added, "If there's a next time, you'll kick him back to Singapore."

Chu Beiling didn't have Zhu Qing'an's gossip spirit and wasn't particularly interested in their relationship, but seeing how much trouble he'd been causing lately, she couldn't help but ask, "What's going on between you two?"

“What could possibly happen? There’s nothing,” Fu Xingzhou said. “There’s no way anything could happen.”

Chu Beiling didn't quite believe that there was no affection between the two, otherwise, when Zhu Qing'an was acting recklessly in Singapore, it was always Fu Xingzhou who indulged him.

He considered himself to have a good temper, but after two months in Hangzhou, he was being tormented by Zhu Qing'an two or three times a week, and Chu Beiling was almost at his breaking point.

Not to mention in Singapore, Zhu Qing'an would go crazy every two days, and do something like this once in a while.

Chu Beiling asked bluntly, "You're condoning him if there's no reason why?"

“He can take the normal path, it’s not like he can’t accept it, just like me, he can’t change back.” Fu Xingzhou sighed: “Besides, he’s my cousin’s son.”

"..." Chu Beiling was stunned for a moment by this bombshell before she came to her senses.

As expected of Zhu Qing'an, she's crazy enough to even have her cousin on her mind.

"Let's not talk about me anymore," Fu Xingzhou asked, "The first phase of cooperation with Chu Meng is almost over, right? What about you? What are your thoughts?"

Recalling Xing Yu's state just now, and his words, Xing Yu asked, "If he cares, will he stay?"

If Xing Yu had said this when he first returned, he wouldn't have given it much thought. After struggling and fighting so much, and going to great lengths to find a way to get back to China, he didn't just want to come back to handle a project.

But now—

Chu Beiling was also unsure whether to stay in the country.

Could he stay in China and watch Xing Yu be so affectionate with someone else without questioning it? No, he couldn't do that, and he found it hard to accept.

Chu Beiling hesitated for a moment, still unable to say that she would definitely go back, especially after Xing Yu asked her: "Let me think about it some more. Anyway, I need to get the domestic projects on track, and there's still some time."

Fu Xingzhou nodded: "Okay, just let me know when you've thought it through."

Then she said, "By the way, I ran into Aunt Li the other day. She asked me what kind of work I had arranged for you in Hangzhou. You couldn't go back to Singapore for the Spring Festival, so I sent you there. I told her that the domestic projects were demanding and time was tight and that you needed to finish them quickly. As for what you said and whether she believed it, I don't know."

Chu Beiling understood: "Thank you for your trouble."

“It’s no trouble.” Fu Xingzhou felt a little sorry for him and worried about him: “No matter what happens between you and that person in the future, or other men, you still have to deal with Aunt Li’s situation. Otherwise, you will repeat the same mistakes, unless you follow her wishes and get together with that Lin’s Bank heiress.”

His throat was dry and parched. Chu Beiling swallowed hard. "I understand." After a pause, he said, "I won't do as she says."

He didn't choose to separate from Xing Yu back then because of Ms. Li's dissatisfaction and interference.

Now he is even less likely to compromise because of Ms. Li's dissatisfaction.

All the choices he made were simply because he followed his heart.

If he is willful, if he is wrong, if all the mistakes are his fault.

Over the past ten years, he has done everything he was supposed to do.

Chu Beiling has a clear conscience.

Fu Xingzhou emphasized repeatedly, "I really can't stand Zhu Qing'an kicking him back to Singapore, so he won't be so ungrateful." Having said everything he needed to say, he said, "Okay, you should get some rest too."

After hanging up the cable, Chu Beiling stayed on the balcony for a while longer in the cold wind until she was numb from the cold before returning indoors.

Xing Yu closed his eyes and leaned back on the sofa, fast asleep. Chu Beiling didn't think much of it and went straight to the master bedroom.

When Chu Beiling entered this bedroom again, which was exactly the same as the one he had in Zhalongkou years ago, he still felt a sense of disorientation, as if time and space were out of place, making him unaware of what day it was.

It's as if nothing has changed, everything is still the same.

Take a moment to clear your mind—

Chu Beiling pulled the blanket from the bed and went outside to cover Xing Yu, then sat down next to him.

Xing Yu's breathing was shallow and fine. A faint light streamed in through the window, and looking at his sharply defined features, Chu Beiling couldn't help but reach out his hand. Just as he was about to touch him, his hand froze in mid-air.

After a moment, Chu Beiling withdrew her hand that had been about to touch his eyebrows and eyes.

That night, the two sat side by side on the sofa, one eye open and the other closed. Chu Beiling was not asleep, nor was Xing Yu.