Chapter 103 Swallowing [VIP]

Chapter Summary: Let it be, let it be.

They were drinking glass after glass of wine.

Fu Xianyin had a lot of empty bottles piled up beside her. She didn't know how many bottles she had drunk, nor did she count them. She just drank one bottle after another, one after another.

The alcohol was being consumed at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Everyone drank too much.

The questions they asked were increasingly bold.

Fu Xianyin's luck remained mediocre after that. She didn't ask anyone any questions, nor was she asked anything in return.

She was happy to have some free time, drinking and listening to gossip.

Gu Linzhao's luck wasn't as good as hers after that. He drew an unusually small card. At first, no one dared to ask him anything. They asked him about his favorite food, favorite places, and interesting experiences.

Fu Xianyin thought it would be the same this time. She absentmindedly rubbed the playing cards, her eyes lowered, reflecting in the burning firelight. Suddenly, she heard a question asked by someone:

"Mr. Gu, over the years, is there anyone you can't forget?"

The fingertips loosened.

The playing cards fell from his hand.

Fu Xianyin subconsciously reached out to grab it, but a sudden gust of wind blew a card directly into the burning campfire.

The flames quickly engulfed the paper, and Fu Xianyin watched as the card burned little by little in the flames, gradually turning into ashes and falling into the campfire.

She heard a soft, faint voice:

"have."

The crowd started to jeer, everyone was curious, and some people, whether from drinking too much or just being naturally bold, just asked the question directly:

"Could it be his first love, Mr. Gu?"

Gu Linzhao smiled, without offering any other excuse or changing the subject.

He nodded frankly, admitting it: "Yes."

However, the crowd was not satisfied with just hearing such an answer.

"President Gu, could you please elaborate?"

"That's right, Mr. Gu."

The commotion and jeering from the crowd were all directed in this direction.

For a fleeting moment, Fu Xianyin even had a strange feeling that she was in the center of a crowd, just like Gu Linzhao, being watched and teased.

She took a big gulp of wine.

The cold liquor flowed down her throat. There was hardly any liquor left in the bottle. She reached out to grab another bottle, but her fingers missed.

A bottle of wine that had been lying there had somehow ended up in Gu Linzhao's hands. He didn't drink it; he just held it and let it sway around.

Fu Xianyin heard him say, "What do you want to hear?"

The crowd immediately fell silent.

Some people say, "What kind of person could make President Gu still remember him so fondly?"

Gu Linzhao said, "She is very well-behaved."

good?

Fu Xianyin was taken aback.

Then she heard Gu Linzhao continue, "Very obedient, very cute, very beautiful."

She overheard someone say, "So, Mr. Gu likes obedient girls."

no.

etc.

What do you mean, "good boy"?

Was Gu Linzhao talking about her?

What do you mean by "well-behaved," "obedient," and "cute"?

Aside from the fact that she is beautiful, what other descriptions of her are related to her?

Could it be that Gu Linzhao's first love wasn't her, but someone else entirely?

So all this time, she's been holding onto this thought for so long, only to find out that the person Gu Linzhao has been longing for isn't her at all?!

Fu Xianyin felt increasingly uneasy. She put down the wine bottle, turned directly to Gu Linzhao, and said bluntly:

"Your first love..."

Gu Linzhao looked at her with a smile and said, "What, does Teacher Fu know my first love?"

We've been tricked.

This was the only thought that crossed Fu Xianyin's mind.

He was lying to her.

This is the second idea.

Her voice wasn't loud; no one except Gu Linzhao could hear it. However, everyone could hear Gu Linzhao's words. Everyone turned to look and asked:

"Does Teacher Fu know President Gu's first love?"

"What a small world."

"Did Teacher Fu know President Gu a long time ago?"

As questions rained down on her, Fu Xianyin watched Gu Linzhao's smile grow wider and wider, and her heart sank straight down.

She tried to compose herself and said, "No, I don't know him. I'm just curious about what Mr. Gu's first love was like."

She was afraid that Gu Linzhao would say something he shouldn't, so she quickly cut him off:

"Mr. Gu wasn't finished speaking yet."

Gu Linzhao looked at her and asked, "Didn't you finish? I remember you said it clearly, or is there something else that Teacher Fu wants to know?"

"No," Fu Xianyin said softly, averting her gaze. "That's all."

"I do have something else I'd like to ask Professor Fu."

Gu Linzhao asked, "Is there anyone Professor Fu still fondly remembers?"

All eyes in the crowd turned back to her.

Fu Xianyin's hand holding the wine bottle was trembling slightly.

She took a deep breath and said with a smile, "Then let's wait until President Gu wins before asking me."

It seemed as if God was looking after her.

Fu Xianyin didn't lose a single game until the very end.

Many people on the project team were quite drunk, and they were walking unsteadily.

Fu Xianyin had drunk quite a bit, and her head was spinning from the alcohol, but she was still conscious.

She slowly lagged behind the crowd as she walked back.

Hu Chengcheng went to take care of the other drunk people. Fu Xianyin watched the campfire gradually die down and then looked up at the sky.

The starry sky had changed somewhat since she first saw it, and for some reason, a word suddenly came to Fu Xianyin's mind.

Time flies and stars shift.

She looked away after a short while and continued walking slowly. The few hours she had been sitting outside had almost frozen her to the bone, but for some reason, Fu Xianyin suddenly didn't want to go back.

So she stopped.

She wanted to wander around aimlessly, but when she turned around, she saw Gu Linzhao.

He was behind her.

It seemed to have been following her the whole time, for quite some time.

Seeing him turn around, Gu Linzhao raised an eyebrow and asked, "What's wrong? Don't you want to go back?"

Fu Xianyin looked at him, and for some reason, suddenly blurted out, "You haven't been drinking?"

Gu Linzhao said, "I drank a little, but I'm much better than a drunkard."

Fu Xianyin: ...

She wasn't so drunk that she couldn't tell who Gu Linzhao was cursing.

She rolled her eyes slightly and defended herself: "I'm not drunk."

"Really?" Gu Linzhao's tone was somewhat perfunctory, like he was coaxing a child. He said, "Okay, whatever you say."

Fu Xianyin: ...

She wasn't drunk, but the alcohol still had some effect on her.

My initially cautious heart opened up without me realizing it, and the bottom line I had been holding firm to retreated silently.

She heard herself say, "You're so annoying."

"What exactly do you want?"

Her voice had lost the crispness it used when she was cursing; perhaps because she had been drinking, it had instead become somewhat slurred and slurred.

Gu Linzhao looked at her and said softly, "Don't you know what I'm going to do?"

"Fu Xianyin, do you really know nothing at all?"

The blinding sunlight streamed in through the window as Fu Xianyin sat on the bed, slowly searching through her memories.

When she returned to her room last night, Hu Chengcheng hadn't arrived yet. But by the time she finished showering, Hu Chengcheng was already asleep.

She couldn't remember the exact time of her return trip, and she figured no one would reply to her message in the group chat anyway. Hu Chengcheng was asleep, and she couldn't just wake her up directly.

After much thought, the most appropriate thing to do was to ask Gu Linzhao.

So she went and asked.

Perhaps emboldened by alcohol, Fu Xianyin didn't think anything of it when she asked last night, but she realized she was crazy when she woke up this morning.

Gu Linzhao told her that she didn't need to set an alarm clock and could sleep in as late as she wanted.

Before going to sleep, Fu Xianyin was still saying that she couldn't possibly sleep until whatever time she wanted, and if she missed the bus back, how would she get back by herself?

As it turned out, she actually slept until the sun was high in the sky.

The bed next to her was empty. Fu Xianyin closed her eyes, so angry that she wanted to slap herself.

She got up, packed her things, and took her room key to check out downstairs. But as soon as she got to the lobby, she saw Gu Linzhao sitting on the sofa.

As if sensing something, Gu Linzhao raised his head.

He stood up, walked over, and very naturally took the box from Fu Xianyin's hands.

Fu Xianyin asked, "Where are they?"

Gu Linzhao said, "Let's go back."

Fu Xianyin asked, "And what about you?"

Gu Linzhao said, "I'll wait for you."

The way he said "waiting for you" sounded so natural.

Fu Xianyin even felt that if she showed any emotion such as shock, it would seem particularly inappropriate.

So she simply nodded, pushed her suitcase towards him, and went to the front desk to check out.

The room key had barely been handed out when Gu Linzhao came over pushing her suitcase.

He casually placed his fingers on the suitcase handle and said, "Let's go."

Fu Xianyin followed him for a couple of steps, and only realized what was happening after being hit in the face by a blast of cold wind outside.

Where to?

She asked.

Lu Heyu's car was already parked in front of the hotel. Gu Linzhao carried both of their suitcases to the trunk. He opened the car door for her, and without answering her question, he simply said, "Get in the car first."

Fu Xianyin felt as if she had no choice.

Even if it's a pirate ship, she has to drift on the vast ocean with the pirates.

The car door slammed shut by Gu Linzhao. Fu Xianyin watched his retreating figure and suddenly remembered the question Gu Linzhao had asked her the night before:

"Don't you really know what I want to do?"

Actually, the topic didn't end there.

She drank quite a bit, but it was far from enough to make her lose her mind. On the contrary, because she had drunk some alcohol, her mind was less constrained and became more agile.

She immediately replied, "I didn't ask that question, of course I don't know."

She turned to leave, but Gu Linzhao grabbed her wrist.

The cold wrist bones were enveloped in warmth.

In that instant, a thought suddenly popped into Fu Xianyin's mind.

Even though they'd been frozen in the snow for so long, why were his hands so warm?

Before she could make another move, she saw Gu Linzhao suddenly bend down and look her in the eye.

The snow has started falling again.

Snowflakes, still icy, pelted her face. Fu Xianyin felt that her ears had long since lost all feeling. Looking at Gu Linzhao's face, she suddenly felt a little short of breath.

When did I develop this problem after drinking?

wrong.

It wasn't because of drinking.

It was Gu Linzhao.

He was really too close.

Fu Xianyin was so close that she could feel his breath and smell his faint fragrance; she was so close that she could touch him if she took just one step forward.

She was so close that she could kiss his lips if she looked up.

This is a restrained posture.

He stood before her, his stronger body shielding her from the oncoming wind and snow, just enough to cover her completely.

Her wrist was still being held by him. Fu Xianyin moved slightly, and she felt the pressure on her wrist increase.

She heard him sigh softly, and then he said, "Fu Xianyin, stop making a fuss, okay?"

toss.

She was just twisting her wrist; how could such a small movement be considered a disturbance?

She wanted to argue, but found that her lips opened and closed without making a sound.

Is there no sound, or can't she hear it herself?

She didn't know.

She wanted to speak, but when she opened her mouth again, his fingers covered her lips.

The next second, Fu Xianyin felt a blur before her eyes, and her cheeks suddenly felt a little warm.

The sound of the car door closing rang out again.

For some reason, Fu Xianyin raised her hand and touched her cheek.

She still doesn't know the source of that warmth; perhaps it was when Gu Linzhao pressed his lips against hers and then gently touched her cheek.

Or perhaps.

He leaned down and gently kissed her.

Fu Xianyin's intuition told her it wasn't the second one.

She and Gu Linzhao are now just superior and subordinate, boss and employee. Even if they get closer, they can only be considered exes.

Gu Linzhao would not do such a thing to his subordinates, much less to his predecessors.

She's just despicable.

The scenery outside the car window receded, but the warm yet fleeting touch on my cheek lingered.

Fu Xianyin even wanted to press her face against the cold car window to cool down. However, after turning her head away, she realized how foolish and irrational that was.

We had no choice but to give up.

The car smoothly started moving, and Fu Xuanyin took out her phone and swiped around aimlessly. She hadn't been scrolling for long when a voice suddenly came from beside her:

How do you plan to spend the Chinese New Year?

Chinese New Year.

Fu Xianyin then realized that tomorrow was Lunar New Year's Eve.

Before she could speak, the person next to her spoke again.

Gu Linzhao asked her, "Are you going back to Beichuan?"

On the phone, the group chat message remained unchanged: Cheng Zhaozhao's question: "[Yinyin, are you going back to Beichuan for Chinese New Year this year?]"

Fu Xianyin stared blankly at her phone.

She didn't answer, and Gu Linzhao didn't urge her either, he just waited quietly to the side.

After a long pause, Fu Xianyin said, "I didn't buy a ticket back."

Gu Linzhao suddenly smiled.

His laughter was abrupt; Fu Xianyin didn't even understand what was so funny about it. Then she heard him say in a somewhat helpless tone, "Fu Xianyin, this seems to be a question that can be answered with just a yes or no."

"YES or No."

or.

Fu Xianyin opened her mouth in vain, but before she could say anything, Gu Linzhao added, "I've bought the tickets for you."

Fu Xianyin asked, "When did you buy it for me? How did you know...?"

Gu Linzhao said, "I bought your plane ticket along with the plane ticket. Also, Fu Xianyin, you came out for team building with Xingfan Technology. How will you stay in the hotel without your identification information?"

Fu Xianyin shut up.

Gu Linzhao asked, "Going back?"

He seemed to see through Fu Xianyin's attempt to evade the question, and with one sentence, he shut down all of Fu Xianyin's words.

He said, "If you need to pack your things, we'll take you back to the hotel, and you can leave after you've packed up; you don't need to work during the holiday, and everything on the project can be put on hold."

He was pressuring her.

Force her to go back.

Or rather, force her to tell him herself that she won't go back.

It seemed like a long time had passed, yet it also seemed like only three or five minutes.

Fu Xianyin heard herself say, "I don't have anything to pack."

"I have no plans to work overtime."

The journey from Beijing to Beichuan wasn't far; Fu Xianyin slept on the plane and arrived there.

Both of them only brought a small carry-on suitcase, so they didn't need to wait for their checked luggage. They could go straight home after getting off the plane and leaving the airport.

After getting off the plane, Fu Xianyin still had an earphone in one ear, and the music was playing intermittently. She was too lazy to turn it off and just listened to it on and off.

She took out her phone, ready to hail a taxi home. However, after opening the taxi app, she suddenly realized...

She has no home in Beichuan.

As if a piece of her heart had suddenly gone empty, Fu Xianyin stared blankly at the screen on her phone, lost in thought.

It's strange, actually, because according to the years she lived there, she should be considered a native of Linlan.

She was born in Linlan, grew up in Linlan, and lived in Linlan for seventeen years.

She only transferred to Beichuan in mid-September and left in early June of the following year. If we also deduct the two months she spent in Beijing, all in all, she only stayed in Beichuan for half a year.

Only half a year.

It turns out it's only been six months.

She spent far more time anywhere than she did in Beichuan.

But why is she still so attached to Kitagawa?

It even gave rise to something that shouldn't exist, called a sense of belonging.

After the phone remained unresponsive for a long time, it slowly locked. In the reflection of the screen, Fu Xianyin saw her own face.

Her lips were slightly twitched, but her eyes were no longer wandering.

The song is playing in my ears.

I just don't want to run away anymore.

The more painful it is, the clearer one becomes.

Who cares? Who cares? It's all a joke.

This wish also became a spell.

The answer is no longer a mystery. [1]

She didn't want to run away anymore.

I don't want any more mystery-like results.

Numb, in pain, yet fully conscious.

She didn't want any of them.

The heart is clearly the most undeniable evidence.

Since all the information points to that result.

So that is the result.

So be it, let it be.

Even if she were swallowed by the tide, she didn't want to live like this, deceiving herself, any longer.

[Author's Note]

Today I'm releasing a 10,000-word update (it's a paid chapter today)! Praise me!

This 10,000 chapters have emptied all my drafts. I really don't have a single chapter left and have to write everything on the spot, sob sob~

Oh dear, I'm such an idiot! I put this chapter in my drafts folder but forgot to set the timeout...

[1] The lyrics are from the song "Wanting to Drink but You Persuaded Me to Get Drunk" by Ideal Backyard.