Chapter 45. If you love me, kiss me

Xu Jiaru had been daydreaming at home the whole day. After a quick dinner at around five in the afternoon, she put on her backpack and went back to school for evening self-study.

The school was very close to home, and Xu Jiaru arrived at school in less than 20 minutes. There was still nearly half an hour before the evening self-study class started. There were a few people sitting sparsely in the classroom, some were doing their homework, some were eating, and some were chatting and gossiping.

Xu Jiaru sat down against the wall, took out a sketchbook from her bag and opened it. The first page showed a man in a suit with one hand on his chest, leaning against the French window, gazing at the crescent moon in the sky and drinking coffee leisurely. His eyebrows were delicate and his figure was tall and straight.

Her hands couldn't help but lightly trace on the sketchbook, the corners of her mouth lifted up unconsciously, and her pair of watery autumn eyes stared at the man in the painting, as if she wanted to engrave him deeply in her heart.

At this moment, Xu Jiaru was patted on the shoulder by someone. She tried to cover her sketchbook in panic, but the person had already sat in front of her and saw all her movements. He raised his eyebrows, leaned over the table and said slyly, "Oh, our beautiful Jiaru is in love again."

"You scared me to death." Xu Jiaru glared at Fang Ziyao coquettishly.

Fang Ziyao shrugged nonchalantly, sighed helplessly and said: "I was wondering why you are so stubborn, you just hang on your brother Fei's thousand-year-old iron tree and never look back. Look back, the vast lush forest behind you waiting for your love is so beautiful, much better than your brother Fei's cold ice!"

"You are not allowed to say that about him." Xu Jiaru glared at Fang Ziyao fiercely, pursed her lips and retorted, "He was not like this before. You have no idea how good he was to me—"

"Stop, stop. I'm tired of hearing it even if you didn't say it." Fang Ziyao interrupted her quickly. She really felt that her best friend was possessed. She didn't know what kind of magic potion her brother Fei had given her that made Jiaru reject all the confessions and feel sad for him alone.

Seeing Xu Jiaru staring at the sketchbook obsessed, Fang Ziyao also leaned over. In fact, she had seen it many times, but every time she looked at it again, she couldn't help but exclaim: "Jiaru, your painting is so beautiful."

Xu Jiaru smiled and said proudly, "That's because my brother Fei is good-looking."

Fang Ziyao curled her lips indifferently, she didn't believe that there were such beautiful people in the world. It was definitely Xu Jiaru's built-in filter that beautified her to look like this. After all, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. If she was really this beautiful, how would the current popular young actors feel?

"Oh, right." Fang Ziyao suddenly remembered something, opened her schoolbag, took out two letters and two gift boxes, and placed them on Xu Jiaru's desk, "This is what someone asked me to give to you—"

Before she finished speaking, Xu Jiaru took a glance and understood what it was, and directly refused: "I don't want it, you can either return it or keep it for yourself."

"I would like to keep it, but it's not for me." Fang Ziyao muttered, "Besides, a life without a love letter is incomplete. Wouldn't it be nice if you could just accept it as a souvenir? It's fine as long as you don't agree."

Xu Jiaru glanced at the cover of the love letter doubtfully. On it were the four words "Xu Jiaru received" written in black water-based pen. It was so ugly that it irritated the eyes. She looked away with some disdain. Suddenly, she remembered something that happened many years ago. She was so excited that she couldn't help it. She looked at Fang Ziyao with shining eyes and said in surprise, "Thank you, Yaoyao. Please ask the teacher for sick leave for me. I have something to do and I will leave first. Love you."

"Hey, where are you going?" Fang Ziyao asked loudly.

Xu Jiaru waved without even turning her head: "Go home and find your love letter!"

…

Mrs. Liu was packing in the living room. When she saw Xu Jiaru rushing in from outside, she asked in surprise, "Young Miss, why are you back? Did you forget something?"

"I've asked for leave because I have something to do. You just go about your business and don't worry about me." Xu Jiaru said with a somewhat excited smile.

"The young lady looks very happy. Is there any good news?" Mrs. Liu was also infected by her excitement and couldn't help asking.

"Ah, is there?" Xu Jiaru smiled foolishly, unconsciously raising her hand to touch her neck, "Then I'll go up first."

"Okay." Mrs. Liu shook her head and smiled, and then quickly instructed, "I prepared midnight snacks in the kitchen. Miss, you don't eat much at night, so remember to heat it up when you are hungry."

"I got it. Thank you, Mrs. Liu." Xu Jiaru responded, turned and walked into the room, threw her schoolbag on the bed, and immediately lay on the ground and pulled out a small box from under the bed.

It was a dusty box, old but very clean, probably because Mrs. Liu cleaned it often.

Xu Jiaru was excited. She held the box and sat cross-legged on the carpet against the bed. She noticed that her hands on the lid were trembling slightly and she felt a little homesick.

She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before carefully opening the lid. There were many things inside - such as Barbie dolls, fairy tale books, watercolor pens, building blocks, puzzles, etc., all of which were given to her by Brother Fei when she was a child. Xu Jiaru took them out one by one and looked at them. Scenes from the past floated before her eyes, moistening her eyes. The more she looked, the more sweetness and sadness in her heart became, intertwined into one, and she didn't know whether she was crying or laughing, or both.

The box gradually became empty. At the bottom there was only a slightly yellowed notebook and next to it was an old pencil with a thick and round tip.

At this moment, Xu Jiaru's memory was instantly pulled back to that sunny afternoon in the orphanage, when a boy with clear features and a gentle voice led her to write down their names stroke by stroke...

Xu Jiaru tightened and loosened her hands several times before she made up her mind to reach out and pick up the notebook.

She opened the cover, and the handwriting on the first page was still as vigorous and handsome as she remembered. She stroked it gently with her trembling hands, and his clear and pleasant voice seemed to ring in her ears: "You and me, Jiaru and Xie Fei..."

This is the first and last love letter in her life.

In a trance, Xu Jiaru's eyes were blurred, and drops of hot tears flowed out of her eyes and dripped down her cheeks onto her hands. She was startled and realized that she had been crying like rain without realizing it.

…

By the time Xu Jiaru came downstairs, she had calmed down. Apart from her red eyes, there was no sign of crying.

"Mrs. Liu?" Xu Jiaru called out twice, but no one answered. She then realized that it was almost eleven o'clock. No wonder she felt a little hungry.

She touched her belly, went straight to the kitchen, took out the midnight snack prepared by Mrs. Liu from the refrigerator, put it in the microwave, heated it up, and it was ready in a few minutes.

“Ding Dong——”

Just as Xu Jiaru put the midnight snack on the table, the doorbell rang. She was stunned at first, then she was delighted and walked towards the entrance in two steps.

It must be Brother Fei who is back. He hasn't come back so early in a long time. It's just in time for us to have a midnight snack together...

She was so happy that she didn't even think about how someone with a key could ring the doorbell.

Xu Jiaru opened the door happily, and a faint smell of alcohol mixed with a hint of woman's perfume hit her face. Then she saw three familiar men - Xie Fei and his two old friends, Tang Jun and Guo Rong.

She was stunned for a moment, looked at Xie Fei with some worry, and asked anxiously: "What's wrong with Brother Fei?"

Tang Jun waved his hand and said with a smile: "It's okay, it's okay, he's just drunk, he'll be fine after a good sleep."

"Xiao Jiaru, do you have any hangover medicine at home? Feed one to Young Master Xie first. It's been so many years, but he still can't drink. He fell down after two glasses of wine." Guo Rong said with a sigh.

"Yes." Xu Jiaru nodded, and while the two were helping Xie Fei into the house, she quickly ran to the living room to find the medicine box, took out a hangover pill, then poured a glass of warm water, and trotted after them.

Tang Jun and the other man helped Xu Jiaru hold Xie Fei's head and fed him the medicine in a few seconds. Guo Rong clapped his hands as if he had accomplished a great deed, put his arm around Tang Jun's shoulders and said with a smile, "Oh, we're going home. My waist is about to fall apart."

Tang Jun slapped his paw away in disdain, looked at Xu Jiaru and said, "It's getting late, we'll leave and won't disturb your rest."

Xu Jiaru nodded, stood up and saw the two of them out. She stood at the entrance, feeling complicated and even uncomfortable. She wanted to ask them what they did today and why Brother Fei smelled of a woman's perfume, but in the end she opened her mouth and stopped herself from speaking.

Seeing her like this, Tang Jun could not help guessing what she was thinking, so he lowered his head and sniffed her collar, pretending to complain and scolding: "Guo Rong, this playboy, flirts with women everywhere, making me smell all over. I really can't stand it."

At this point, he seemed to remember something and said to Xu Jiaru: "Jiaru, Xie Fei must have a lot of it on his body, you should wipe it off for him later, so that he won't sleep uncomfortably."

Xu Jiaru's uneasy heart settled instantly. She nodded happily and was about to agree, but Guo Rong next to her muttered, "It's not smelly at all, it's quite fragrant, little Jiaru, do you smell it?" As he spoke, he handed his sleeve to Xu Jiaru and looked at her expectantly.

The closer she got, the stronger the smell became. It was exactly the same as the smell on Xie Fei. Xu Jiaru wrinkled her nose unhappily. She didn't like the smell of someone else on Brother Fei.

She pursed her lips and uttered a word coldly: "Stinky."

Guo Rong's eyes widened in disbelief, and he covered his chest and wailed, "Xiao Jiaru, you broke my heart, my little heart!"

Tang Jun kicked him on the butt, rolled his eyes and said, "Actor, go home."

Guo Rong waved at Xu Jiaru, rubbed his butt and chased after her: "Fuck you, Tang Jun, you have to compensate me for my tender butt..."

After watching the two of them leave in the car, Xu Jiaru closed the door and went to Xie Fei's room. He lay quietly on the bed. Perhaps because of the headache caused by being drunk, his ink-stained eyebrows were slightly wrinkled. His meticulously dressed suit was now a little messy, and his tie, which was always tied neatly, was casually torn open, revealing his delicate and well-shaped collarbone...

Xu Jiaru swallowed with a dry mouth. It was really unfair for Brother Fei to be so lazy and charming. She walked to the bedside and squatted, and stretched out a trembling hand.