63 Are you crossing the line?

"The one I like now!" Jin Lang's words were resounding. Since no one else was in the room, he was speaking to Liu Yuwei and expressing his feelings to Zhang Yi. Xiao Zhou, clutching his takeout bag awkwardly, was the first to break the silence. "Um... I didn't know we were having guests, so I only packed dinner for one..." Liu Yuwei, feeling the amount of information she'd taken in today far outstripping her capacity, quickly replied. "It's okay, we've already discussed our business. I happen to have a meeting with friends tonight, so I won't interrupt you guys' work." "Then I'll walk you downstairs!" Jin Lang naturally picked up her tote bag. At the entrance, he suddenly shifted his grip, firmly grasping Liu Yuwei's wrist, as if afraid she'd escape. Once in the elevator, he still showed no sign of letting go, instead pressing his fingers further between hers. Liu Yuwei struggled, but his grip tightened, their palms pressed together, the heat rising in the enclosed space. "Are you overstepping your bounds?" his voice hinted with disapproval. Jin Lang moved forward, gently stroking the protruding bone of her wrist with his thumb. "Zhang Yi and Xiao Zhou are the closest people to me besides you. I don't want others to speculate about our relationship." "So... what's our relationship now?" Liu Yuwei asked, looking up. Jin Lang pondered for a moment, then softly replied, "You have the final say." "I know this kiss today doesn't mean you accept me. The fact that you're asking that question means I haven't reassured you yet." "Take your time, I'll keep trying!" The streetlights in the neighborhood cast their shadows long, and they walked hand in hand along the winding sidewalk to the gate. From a distance, they looked like an ordinary couple taking an after-dinner stroll. "I have to go to the airport later to return to the set, so I won't have time to see you off." "It's okay." Liu Yuwei pulled her hand away, her skin feeling slightly cold the moment it left his grip. "I've repaid the favor!" The taxi started, and a WeChat message from Jin Lang quickly arrived on her phone. [Wait for me!] "Where are you going?" The driver glanced at the smiling female passenger in the rearview mirror. Seeing it was still early, Liu Yuwei gave Xiaohe's address. … Smoke billowed from the barbecue stall at the entrance of the alley, and the grease sizzled on the iron plates. As Liu Yuwei turned into the residential complex, carrying her takeout boxes, she ran into Xiaohe, walking out in her furry snow boots. "Liu Yuwei, are you the worm in my stomach? I passed by that stall after work, and the aroma was so wafting that my mouth watered, but I couldn't resist buying anything!" "Then what are you doing?" Liu Yuwei called...

"The one I like now!"

Jin Lang's words were powerful. There was no outsider in the room. He was speaking to Liu Yuwei and also to express his attitude to Zhang Yi.

Xiao Zhou, holding the takeaway bag awkwardly, was the first to break the silence.

"Um... I didn't know we had guests, so I only packed dinner for one person..."

Liu Yuwei felt that the amount of information he received today far exceeded his brain's capacity, so he quickly replied.

"It's okay, we've already finished talking about our business. I happen to have a meeting with friends tonight, so I won't disturb you from talking about work."

"Then I'll take you downstairs!"

Jin Lang naturally picked up her tote bag. At the entrance, he suddenly changed his hand and accurately grasped Liu Yuwei's wrist, as if he was afraid that she would escape.

After entering the elevator, he still had no intention of letting go. Instead, he became more aggressive and inserted his fingers between her fingers.

Liu Yuwei struggled, but he held her tighter, their palms touching, and the heat in the enclosed space continued to rise.

"You've crossed the line a little bit!"

There seemed to be a hint of dissatisfaction in the voice.

Jin Lang walked over and gently stroked her protruding wrist bone with his thumb.

"Zhang Yi and Xiao Zhou are the closest people to me besides you. I don't want others to speculate about our relationship."

"So...what is our relationship now?"

Liu Yuwei looked up and asked him.

Jin Lang thought for a moment and answered softly, "You have the final say."

"I know this kiss today doesn't mean you accept me. The fact that you asked this question shows that I haven't reassured you yet."

"Take your time, I'll keep trying!"

The street lights in the community stretched their shadows very long, and they walked hand in hand along the winding sidewalk all the way to the gate. From a distance, they looked like an ordinary couple taking a walk after dinner.

"I have to go to the airport to return to the crew later, so I won't have time to see you off."

"fine."

Liu Yuwei pulled his hand back, his skin feeling slightly cold the moment it left his palm. "I've finally repaid that favor!"

After the taxi started, the phone soon received a WeChat message from Jin Lang.

【Wait for me to come back! 】

"Where are you going?"

The driver looked at the smiling female passenger in the rearview mirror.

Seeing that it was still early, Liu Yuwei told Xiaohe's home address.

…

The barbecue stall at the entrance of the alley was filled with smoke, and the grease sizzled on the iron plate. As Liu Yuwei turned into the residential complex with her takeout box, she ran into Xiaohe walking out in her furry snow boots.

"Liu Yuwei, are you the worm in my stomach? I passed by that stall after get off work and the aroma was so fragrant that my mouth was watering, but I couldn't help but not buy anything!"

"Then what are you doing?"

Liu Yuwei looked at Xiaohe's strange outfit - the lace of her pajamas was visible under her down jacket, and guessed that she was going to the door to find food.

"Hey, isn't the purpose of life to have fun?"

Xiao He rushed to grab the plastic bag from the other person and said righteously, "I don't want the curves I gained by suppressing my appetite!"

After entering the house, Liu Yuwei realized that Xiaohe had been on business trips recently, so she had sent her child back to her hometown for a while under her mother's persuasion. As expected, there are only women behind a woman, and a mother's backer is still her mother!

With food in her stomach, Xiao He sighed, "There's wine and meat..."

He then put his arm around his friend's waist and said, "There are beautiful women too... this is the happiness!"

She suddenly moved close to Liu Yuwei's face and observed it carefully for a while.

"Woman, I see you are full of energy and have a rosy complexion. Could it be that you are being nourished by a man?"

After saying that, he poked Liu Yuwei's collarbone with his finger, raised his eyebrows and squinted his eyes, the meaning of which was self-evident.

Liu Yuwei slapped her claws away, but the tips of his ears turned red. "It hasn't come to that."

Xiaohe looked serious and said something shocking.

"The sex education manual for teenagers says that sex isn't just about penetration; oral sex, hand jobs, etc...."

"No, no!" Liu Yuwei quickly interrupted her and muttered softly, "It was just holding hands and kissing."

"Wow, you two are innocent middle school students! What's the most sexually charged male celebrity? Could it be..."

Liu Yuwei widened his eyes, a little surprised by Xiaohe's sharpness.

"How do you know who I'm talking about?"

Xiao He shook her phone. "Honey, no matter how busy you are, you still have time to check Weibo! He so openly reposted the article you worked so hard on. How could there not be something fishy going on?"

"Although I hate cheating scumbags, it doesn't stop me from supporting you in eating him out!"

"He can't be considered cheating."

Liu Yuwei blurted out, then took a few sips of beer and told his friend everything from the confession in Berlin to the secrets discovered today.

As the story unfolded, the empty can in Xiaohe's hand made a crackling sound as it was squeezed.

"So...are you ready to accept him again?"

"I haven't thought about it yet, I'll just take it one step at a time. I used to think I shouldn't start if I didn't have a good outcome, but now I think it's okay to enjoy the process."

The pull ring of the beer can was opened with a "click", and the foam overflowed and wet Xiaohe's fingertips.

"Sister, you finally got it. Cheers to you!"

"But I still want to ask, do you mind his later relationship with his first love?"

Liu Yuwei raised his head and drank the wine, "A little bit, but haven't I dated other men? Let's call it even!"

There was a burst of applause.

"Sure, sure. Life is only 30,000 days long, so be happy every day!"

"Yukio Mishima said that a man's greatest pride is when a woman falls in love with his body, not his temperament, talent, or brains! Just think of it as coveting a man's beauty and simply enjoy it. You have talent and brains anyway!"

"Stop it!" Liu Yuwei threw the pillow beside her into Xiaohe's arms, "How can you make me sound like a horny female hooligan..."

"Food, sex, and nature are all part of our nature! I saw a post a while ago and wanted to share it with you, but now it seems like it's useless!"

"What?"

Xiao He took out her phone, flipped through it for a long time, and slowly read to the screen, "How can you tell if your inability to let go of someone is due to love or obsession? Imagine whether you can accept him falling in love with someone else or if he leaves this world completely?"

Liu Yuwei fell on the sofa laughing, "What kind of cliché is this? Why is there such a life-or-death situation? This isn't an idol drama!"

The two chatted until midnight that night. Liu Yuwei had to go for a physical examination the next day, and the hospital was closer to Xiaohe's home, so he just stayed there.

Before going to bed, the phone screen lit up and Jin Lang sent a landing message.

…

Every time adults go to the hospital, they lament that nothing else matters compared to their health. Then, after leaving the hospital, they return to working overtime, staying up late, and enjoying the lavish food and drinks.

When Liu Yuwei walked out of the hospital gate, the midday sun made her squint her eyes, and the little episode in the locker room just now lingered in her mind.

After the physical examination, she went to change her clothes. A woman in a pink physical examination suit was sobbing quietly, with the cabinet door open, blocking her face.

At first, her crying sounded like a stream that was deliberately suppressed. Liu Yuwei thought she didn't want to be discovered, but her voice gradually turned into a flood that broke through the dam.

"How are you?"

Liu Yuwei took out a tissue from her bag and handed it over. When the person looked up, she realized that the other person was a young girl.

"I'm not good... I... I..."

The girl was twitching and couldn't even utter complete words.

"I'm not in a relationship, not married... I don't want to die... Why me!"

Liu Yuwei probably guessed that the physical examination must have found some problems, so she could only comfort him softly.

"Early detection, early treatment—that's the point of a physical exam. And you haven't even seen a doctor for further examination yet. How can you so easily sentence yourself to death?"

The girl cried even louder after hearing this.

"The ultrasound doctor said it's not very optimistic. Doesn't that mean it's malignant, cancer..."

"Cancer isn't completely untreatable. Thyroid cancer has even been excluded from critical illness insurance coverage!"

"Really? Thyroid cancer can be cured?"

The girl raised her head, tears still rolling down her face.

Liu Yuwei didn't expect that he had hit the mark unexpectedly. After a while, the girl slowly calmed down.

On the way back to the law firm, Liu Yuwei kept thinking, if what happened today happened to him, would he also be completely broken down like that girl.

The assumption made her empty stomach tighten suddenly.

In the past, when she saw patients with tubes all over their bodies in movies and TV shows, her first reaction was that they wanted to die with dignity when they were old, and would never lie in bed and languish in pain.

But what if you don’t wait until you are old?

Then she would probably collapse like all ordinary people, then tremble as she searches for treatment options, learn to read the medical terms represented by various combinations of letters and numbers, and grasp every life-saving straw.

Big words come only because death is far enough away. Without illness, one can never experience the longing for life.

The ordinary daily life that you occasionally get tired of may be the tomorrow that others dream of, or even the other side that some people can never reach.

…

When Liu Yuwei got out of the subway and arrived near the law firm, it was just lunch time. Hungry, he followed the smell into a noodle shop.

Emerald scallions float in the red oil, juxtaposed with russet meat sauce and golden peas. The owner, speaking in a thick Sichuan accent, kindly advises, "Eat it while it's hot, it won't be as tasty if it gets cold!"

Liu Yuwei suddenly realized that life is nothing more than a combination of these slices of moments. Delicious noodles, lovely people, warm light. Happiness is never earth-shattering, but rather the accumulation of countless "here and now."

"Sister Yu Wei, come and eat noodles too!"

A familiar voice sounded in my ears.

Xiao Meng took the order and sat down on the bench opposite her. They hadn't seen each other for a while since Liu Yuwei changed her job.

“I saw the article you wrote, it’s great!”

As he spoke, Xiao Meng raised his thumb, lowered his voice and leaned over.

"But how did you find Jin Lang and ask him to help forward it?"

Liu Yuwei didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and could only say, "It must be a coincidence!"

Stirring the noodles in his hand, "But I still have to thank him!"

"High-quality idols, investing in them is worth it!"

"But..." The girl's voice suddenly sounded a little lost.

"What's wrong?" Liu Yuwei asked curiously.

"Everyone in the fan group is guessing that he might be in a relationship!"

Liu Yuwei was startled and suddenly inhaled the chili oil into her trachea, followed by a violent coughing fit. Xiao Meng quickly stood up and patted her on the back.

"Are you okay, Sister Yu Wei?"

Liu Yuwei shook her head, her cheeks flushed strangely, and asked nonchalantly, "How did you know?"

"He never used to answer any relationship questions, even magazine interviews with a perfunctory one or two sentences. But yesterday, during a livestream, a fan asked him what kind of girls he liked, and he actually answered. And while he was talking, he couldn't suppress the corners of his mouth!"

Xiao Meng excitedly clapped the wooden table, causing the person eating noodles next to her to look back at her.

"So what did he say?"

"There's nothing special about him, he's innocent, kind, clear-headed, honest..."

Liu Yuwei was very familiar with this phrase; it was exactly what Jin Lang had teased her with that day. Her mood was like a hydrogen balloon floating in the air filled with the aroma of food.

The big screen on the bar had finished broadcasting "News on 30 Minutes" and the weather forecaster's crisp voice sounded.

"Guiyang, moderate to heavy rain, 2℃ to 6℃..."

Liu Yuwei seemed to remember something, placed the chopsticks on the edge of the bowl, and opened WeChat.

Is it raining where you are?