Chapter 12 Fujiomi

Xincheng Food Stall is located at the entrance of the Food Street and is doing a booming business. As soon as eight o'clock in the evening, the store is packed with guests.

Bai Xincheng was frying Yangzhou fried rice for the three children. Behind his father's back, Bai He kept begging his mother not to tell his father about what happened at the police station in the afternoon.

Dad's temper is much hotter than Tang Xin's. If he knew that Bai He had been to the police station for fighting, she would have no good time for the entire summer vacation.

Bai Xincheng brought three plates of Yangzhou fried rice to the table, wiped his sweat with a towel, and asked curiously, "What did you do this afternoon? Why did you ask your mother to pick you up?"

Bai He kept tugging at her mother's sleeve. Tang Xin hadn't wanted to hide it from her husband, but seeing how frightened Bai He was, she had no choice but to say, "It's nothing. A few kids broke some sculptures at a comic convention. I'm supposed to take care of it."

"A figure." Bai He reminded in a low voice, "It's a figure."

"Oh, the figurine was broken, and I had to pay for it before I could leave." Tang Xin said.

Bai Xincheng put one hand on his waist, frowned and asked, "Whose hand is so rude?"

Qi Lang and Yan Yi pointed at each other at the same time, and Bai He... pointed at Qi Lang.

Qi Lang: ...

We should be united against external threats, right?

He had no choice but to point to himself: "Dad, I broke it."

Bai Xincheng: "You broke it? Why are you asking my wife to pay for it?"

"this…"

Tang Xin quickly tried to smooth things over: "Don't they all call you dad?"

Bai Xincheng's eyebrows knitted together, "You really treat me like a son? I can't afford to raise a son like you. I heard from Sayuri that you get millions of dollars in pocket money a month, right?"

"That's an exaggeration." Qi Lang laughed, "Not that much."

Bai He secretly told Yan Yi: "I've seen his text messages, and he must have hundreds of thousands."

Bai Xincheng walked over to Bai He and placed his hand on the little girl's thin shoulder. "I don't care what's going on with you, but remember one thing: no matter what happens, you two must protect my daughter and not let anyone bully her."

"That's for sure." Qi Lang said with a smile, "Sayuri is like my own sister. I have to protect her even if I die."

"That's good. I'll go get busy first. You guys eat and then go home and do your homework."

"Dad, we've already graduated!" Bai He quickly corrected, "There's no homework."

"Oh, right, we've already graduated. I've been so busy... I almost forgot. So after dinner, let's go to Qi Lang's house and play games."

As soon as Bai Xincheng left, Bai He breathed a sigh of relief and made eye contact with her mother.

Tang Xin tied an apron around herself and said to her in a chastising tone, "Don't do it again! Otherwise, I'll show you how your dad will punish you."

"I promise I won't!"

After Tang Xin left, Bai He was also very hungry and ate his meal in big mouthfuls.

Qi Lang picked up the green beans that he didn't like from the plate and put them into Bai He's bowl one by one.

This is also a common thing. When the three of them eat together, if he doesn't like to eat something, Bai He will help him eat it for fear of wasting it.

This time was the same, she indulged him and even helped him pick up the beans.

Yan Yi was a little annoyed by his behavior and murmured, "If you want to eat, eat. If you don't want to eat, get out. What a lousy habit."

Qi Lang was too lazy to pay attention to him and just said to Bai He: "Your brother is like he's eaten firecrackers all day long."

Bai He was also puzzled and whispered, "Yan Yi is very stable. He only eats firecrackers when he sees you."

"Then I wonder why this is happening." He deliberately tapped Yan Yi's plate with his chopsticks. "Am I not your best buddy? Logically, shouldn't our relationship be better than hers?"

Yan Yi pushed his chopsticks away: "Eat your meal, you're talking too much nonsense."

Qi Lang smiled, lowered his head to eat, and when he found some green beans, he no longer gave them to Bai He. Instead, he picked them out and put them on a napkin to throw away later.

Bai He said, "You're wasting money. Give it to me. I love it."

"I've already eaten this meal."

"What does it matter?"

She didn't mind, and Qi Lang naturally didn't mind either. When he saw the beans, he picked them up and gave them to Bai He. The two of them ate slowly.

Even though Yan Yi ate in a very polite manner, he ate faster than the two of them. After eating, he wiped his mouth, waited for Bai He to finish eating, took her plate to the kitchen to wash it, and then turned around to wipe the small table with a rag until it was shiny.

"Come to my place to play video games later." Qi Lang suggested.

Bai He was about to agree when Yan Yi suddenly said, "There are a lot of guests tonight, so I'll stay and help my uncle and aunt."

Hearing him say this, Bai He quickly said, "Then I'll stay and help out too."

Qi Lang said to Bai He unhappily, "Let him stay and work, you come and play with me."

Although Bai He wanted to go, she thought better of it: "Since my godson has stayed, why can't my biological daughter not stay? That way, my parents will like her even more. That won't work."

Yan Yi corrected her: "I'm not a godson."

Qi Lang sneered: "Look at him, he has no conscience."

Bai He knew that Yan Yi felt uncomfortable, so she rubbed his smooth short hair and told him not to bother with Qi Lang.

After dinner, Qi Lang waved his hand and went back first.

Bai He and Yan Yi stayed to help clean up the tables and chairs, serve the dishes and wash the dishes. Even though Tang Xin repeatedly said she didn't want their help, she never let them work in the store, and the store had enough employees.

However, today is the weekend and there are a lot of customers in the store. Bai He and Yan Yi were busy until after nine o'clock. When there were fewer customers, Bai Xincheng asked them to go back.

Yan Yi accompanied Bai He all the way home under the moonlight. She walked in front and he followed behind, carefully stepping on her shadow.

"Although I'm a little tired today and got beaten, I don't feel unhappy at all." Bai He turned around and said to Yan Yi, "It was quite fun."

Seeing her sweaty little face filled with smiles, Yan Yi couldn't help but smile: "Which part is fun?"

"Well, it's fun to dress up as a red panda, it's fun to help Qi Lang fight, and... it's fun for the three of us to go to the police station together... haha."

Yan Yi reminded her: "Did you... forget something?"

Bai He turned back blankly: "What?"

"Your action figure."

"Ah!" she screamed, "I forgot to buy my Liang Xiao and Qin Shen! What should I do!"

Yan Yi shrugged: "Maybe it's online."

Bai He quickly took out his mobile phone and searched on Taobao, and found that the same authentic figurine cost more than a thousand yuan.

Obviously, the goods sold at the comic convention today were high-quality imitations.

"Forget it." Bai He sighed, "I can't afford it. These two genuine ones are beyond my reach."

Yan Yi leaned over to look at the prices and said, "Let's talk about it later. You can't choose which one you want anyway."

"That's right. When I grow up and can earn enough money to buy it myself, and have more experience and know what I want, I won't be so entangled and can firmly choose one of them."

"That's right." Yan Yi nodded vigorously.

"It's also possible that by then I won't like either of them anymore, and if I come across a more interesting love game, I'll switch to another husband."

“…”

"Can you be more focused?"

Bai He giggled at him, spread her hands and said in a pretentious manner: "Well, I am such a romantic and passionate woman, what should I do?"

Yan Yi caught up with her, put his strong arm around her shoulders, and controlled her: "You'll know when the time comes."

"When the time comes, you'll know...what I will do."

This cold and low voice sounded in his heart.

The siblings reached the gate of the residential complex, and Bai He suddenly said to Yan Yi, "I want to go to Qi Lang's house. I'm worried. He got hit a lot today. I want to see how he's doing."

Yan Yi said, "Let's go. I'll go with you."

Bai He thought for a moment and said hesitantly, "How about you go back first?"

Yan Yi glanced at her and saw the evasive look in the little girl's eyes, knowing that she was harboring some ulterior motive.

"Can't I... go?" he asked deliberately.

"Well...it's not impossible..."

"Then let's go."

"Yan Yi!" She held his strong arm, shook it, and said a little coquettishly, "Let me go alone, okay?"

Yan Yi insisted: "It's very late now."

"It's not late, it's just after nine o'clock. I just went to see him. It doesn't matter whether it's late or not. We are good friends."

Yan Yi saw that Bai He really just wanted to go to him alone. He didn't want to make her unhappy. After a moment of hesitation, he compromised and said, "Come back before ten o'clock, or I'll knock on the door."

"no problem!"

Bai He sent Yan Yi back to the community building, and walked towards the Qi family villa with light steps like a bird out of a cage. Halfway through, he remembered that he had not bought medicine.

Given his personality, he would definitely not bother going to the pharmacy to buy it himself.

Thinking of this, Bai He turned back to the gate of the community and bought Yunnan Baiyao and some blood-activating and blood-stasis-removing ointments, as well as a box of Band-Aids at the big pharmacy across the street.

Thinking of how he held her in his arms today, Bai He could still feel the scorching heat of his body, burning her cheeks.

He did it subconsciously, as if protecting her...it was instinctive.

Is it really just because of friendship? Although he is also very good to his friends...

Does he have any feelings for her that go beyond friendship?

He even joked with his mother about the tea ceremony... He called her mother and father "Dad and Mom".

If he really didn't feel anything, he wouldn't scream like that.

Does he like her a little bit too?

The more Bai He thought about it, the redder and hotter her cheeks became. She stood at the edge of the gravel path and couldn't help but cover her face with her hands.

It’s over. If she keeps thinking like this, Bai He will be too embarrassed to go find him.

She stayed alone in the woods, took deep breaths, and calmed herself. Then, as usual, she went to find him naturally and applied some medicine on him as a way of repaying him for protecting her.

Well, that's normal!

Bai He waited until his heartbeat calmed down a little and walked towards the villa. However, when he got closer, he found two people standing at the door of Qi Lang's villa.

She immediately jumped under the coconut tree like a cat, stood in the shadow of the bushes, and looked over there.

The girl had long straight black hair with a princess cut and wore high heels. Her hot and tall figure seemed to reach Qi Lang's chest.

She handed a package to Qi Lang.

Qi Lang stood at the stairs outside the villa. The evening breeze blew his short hair in front of his forehead. The moonlight shone on his beautiful facial features. His profile was angular. He was chatting and laughing with her.

Bai He could clearly hear the girl's bone-soft laughter.

She recognized her. It was today's Princess Ji, and she and Qi Lang had added each other on WeChat.

Bai He hid deeper into the shadows.

When Qi Lang was chatting and laughing with other pretty girls, she seemed to not recognize him. He became strange and distant, no longer her close friend who had grown up with her.

She felt inexplicably ashamed.

The surroundings were quiet, with only the chirping of summer insects. She heard Princess Ji say to him, "I saw that you were injured, so I bought medicine for you."

"Thanks, my arm still hurts."

"Are you okay?"

"good."

"Hey, do you have a girlfriend?"

Hearing this, Qi Lang narrowed his peach blossom eyes slightly: "Just broke up."

"That's great, what do you think of me?"

Bai He's heart tightened, and she hid behind a tree and looked over secretly. She didn't see any blushing or shyness on Princess Ji's face.

She looks like... a very outgoing and optimistic girl, brave enough to take the initiative when she meets someone she likes.

She and Bai He are two completely different types of people. God knows how much she envies such a girl.

"I've followed your video account." Princess Ji continued, "You're so handsome, with a lot of girlfriend fans. I've been waiting for you to break up. It's our fate to meet today. You won't be willing to refuse me, right?"

Qi Lang lowered his head and sneered: "You are quite direct."

This smile touched the heart of Princess Ji. She stared at him intently, the love in her eyes almost madly saying, "Promise me, promise me! Promise me!"

She even tugged at his sleeve coquettishly.

"How old are you?" Qi Lang pulled his hand away.

"Like you, I'm graduating this year," she said cheerfully. "But just to give you a heads-up, I didn't do well on the college entrance exam, so I'll probably go to a third-tier university or a junior college. But I'll go to your city. We won't be in a long-distance relationship. How do you do?"

Qi Lang didn't seem to mind this. He leaned lazily against the cold stone wall at the door and said jokingly, "Then I have to take precautions in advance. I am a person whose novelty wears off quickly. I may not be able to hold on until the results are released."

"I have confidence." Princess Ji moved closer to him, almost whispering in his ear, and whispered under her breath, "I will...infinitely prolong your sense of freshness."

Qi Lang remained unmoved, a calm smile on his face: "You have the capital to be confident, but the feeling of freshness depends on whether you have the inner compatibility."

"This is the first time I've heard something like this. You're so handsome, shouldn't you be the president of the Appearance Association? It also depends on your inner qualities."

"Looks can spark sexual desire," Qi Lang said bluntly, "but sexual desire, well, it's actually pretty empty. I'd rather have a soul connection. At some point in life, we can just smile at each other with understanding. That's the most comfortable feeling."

"Wow, there are actually boys who would say that sex is boring. This is the first time I've seen this."

Qi Lang scoffed: "It's not that it's boring, it's just not that interesting. You see, you don't get what I mean."

"It's like a tongue twister. I don't understand. I'm not as smart as you, or as good as you in grades. Anyway, I just think you're handsome. I want to date you and even..." She lowered her voice and leaned close to his ear, "I want to sleep with you."

This straightforward and bold declaration did not change Qi Lang's expression at all. He said nonchalantly, "There are many women who want to sleep with me, but I don't want to sleep with any of them."

"No way, no way, no way." Princess Ji opened her eyes wide, "You've never slept with a girl?"

Qi Lang shrugged, not feeling ashamed, and certainly not proud: "I told you, I want to find someone who fits in."

"Then those ex-girlfriends of yours who are like flowing water..."

"I do have serious relationships with them, and I try to understand their inner thoughts. Unfortunately, there are very few people who are compatible with me. Some of them are even less comfortable than I am with a female friend of mine."

From the conversation with him, Princess Ji gradually discovered that this guy was actually quite serious about relationships and was not the so-called playboy.

If you want to win him over just by looking good...it's hard.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that his girlfriends are all beautiful. What he really wants is a so-called soulmate.

Finding such a person is harder than winning the lottery.

But Princess Ji didn't want to give up: "It doesn't matter, let's give it a try, maybe we will be a good match."

Princess Ji was determined to win Qi Lang today. She quite liked boys with aspirations like him, unlike those guys around her who just wanted to sleep with her.

Qi Lang's dark eyes swept across her face casually: "I'm not very familiar with you."

He turned and went back to the villa. Princess Ji was full of disappointment, but still wanted to fight for it.

Just before entering the room, Qi Lang said calmly, "Let's see if we get along well."

…

Bai He got out of the elevator and stood alone in the corridor at the entrance for a long time. She didn't hear most of what they said, but she heard the last sentence: Qi Lang was willing to try dating her.

She held the medicine bag in her arms. In the pitch-black silence, the plastic bag made a rustling sound, just like her broken heart.

If there were no illusions, there would be no disappointments, and even less heartache. Hasn't it been like this for so long?

Like a friend, she could even joke with him.

After the college entrance examination, it seemed as if some possibility was like a seed sprouting from the soil, secretly growing in a secret corner of her heart.

She had expectations of him.

So my eyes were sore, my throat was sore, every inch of my skin was sore, and even breathing was slightly painful.

She could never express her love as boldly and passionately as Princess Ji.

If it's possible, if she has the courage, maybe... maybe...

No, she was delusional.

I simply can't say it. Such a heavy love, such a love that has been buried deep in my heart for so many years, how can I say it lightly.

So...it's her fault, it's her fault...

An ordinary and dull girl like her can only play B-games on her mobile phone.

Suddenly, the rusty iron security door opened, and a soft yellow light shone on Bai He's frightened face, catching her off guard and making her feel embarrassed...

She quickly covered her eyes with her elbows to block the light.

"I...I'm fine." Facing Yan Yi, she tried to cover up, "I just...fell down."

Yan Yi saw Princess Ji leave from the window, and also saw her walking back in a daze. He saw everything.

The young man came out and slowly pulled down her arm. Bai He lowered her head with red eyes.

He was so heartbroken that he almost lost his breath. He held her in his arms with one hand. The little girl could no longer hold back and hugged Yan Yi tightly, sobbing silently.

"He can't see you, but in my eyes and heart... there's only you."

Such a voice emerged in his mind, but he could never speak.

"If...if I had run faster, even faster, and caught up with Princess Ji, wouldn't they be together? I was slow. I'm always a step behind and can never catch up with him."

"Hayi, my heart hurts."

Yan Yi hugged her, closed his eyes tightly, and suppressed the trembling in his voice: "You only want him? Only him?"

"You know me... I've liked him since I was a child, only him."

Yan Yi's heart was broken. It was like a blunt knife grinding into flesh, drawing out dripping blood with each cut.

"Okay, I'll help you." His voice was so hoarse that it was almost silent.

Bai He raised her red eyes and looked at him.

He concealed the brokenness in his eyes, held her little face in his hands, and gently wiped away the moisture from the corners of her eyes with his calloused fingertips.

He would give her whatever she wanted.

She wanted to kill someone, he buried the body; she died, he committed suicide for love; the man she wanted, he did everything he could to help her get him...

Yan Yi had long been a prisoner and was her only subordinate.