Chapter 48
Chapter 48
After receiving the news from Xu Zhaoli that Chen Ye had left, Shu Yao hurried into the bar.
Go straight to the box.
Xu Zhaoli and Zhao Meir were waiting in the box. Balloons with the words "Happy Birthday" were pasted on the wall, shining with gold, which was magnificent.
Shu Yao closed the door and asked in a low voice, "Where did he go?"
Xu Zhaoli said: "I said I had a stomachache and asked him to go downstairs to help take care of me."
The waiter who was still sticking balloons on the wall said, "Huh?" "But I just saw Brother Chen go to the back alley."
"Maybe he went to make a phone call." Xu Zhaoli didn't think much of it and said, "Yaoyao, go buy some time. The cake is almost here. Let's hurry up and set it up. Make sure you come in at least twenty minutes later."
"Okay." Shu Yao followed the waiter to the work area.
The door of the back kitchen leads directly to the back alley and looks a bit old. When Shu Yao pushed it open, there was a slight but long creaking sound, and a gust of cold wind rushed in.
She stepped down the stairs. Her eyes had not yet fully adjusted to the darkness. Before she saw anything, she heard the man's faint cry of pain.
Then, with the help of the faint moonlight, he saw the outline of Shen Ye's back.
Shen Ye probably didn't notice the movement behind him. He squatted on the ground with his legs open, his left arm resting on his legs, and patted the face of the person on the ground with his right hand: "Zhou Beichuan, if you really had drugged her, you wouldn't be alive now."
"You fucking..." Zhou Beichuan struggled to raise his upper body, but when he saw a figure not far away, he suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Yaoyao?"
At this moment, he felt Shen Ye's obvious stiffness.
It was as if the scene from more than seven years ago was replaying itself.
Because he often saw his father committing domestic violence when he was a child, Shu Yao had a psychological trauma about fighting, so he has always hated men who use violence at every turn. In the past, when he saw boys who loved fighting in school, he would avoid them.
Zhou Beichuan also saw her fear and disgust when Chen Ye walked towards her that year.
So, he instantly felt like he had grabbed a life-saving straw.
Zhou Beichuan's expression was painful, and he whispered again, "Yaoyao."
But Shu Yao ignored his existence. She only looked at his back, and her gentle voice was blown away by the night wind: "Chen Ye."
This voice finally called Shen Ye back from his chaotic thoughts.
He slowly stood up and turned to look at her. Under the moonlight, his gaze was like a still lake, its emotions unreadable. This time, he didn't move forward, but simply stood there, as if awaiting her judgment.
Shu Yao could feel the uneasiness in his heart.
She took the initiative and walked towards him.
Holding his hand, she acted as if she hadn't seen anything and asked, "Are you done? Let's go back."
The tone of her voice when she said this didn't sound like she saw him fighting, but more like she had just watched him review a document. It was gentle and almost everyday.
Not only Shen Ye was surprised, Zhou Beichuan also couldn't understand it.
He covered his abdomen and said to Shu Yao in disappointment, "Yao Yao, have you lost your ability to distinguish right from wrong? He hit me today, but he might hit you tomorrow."
Shen Ye's left hand, which was held by her, suddenly tightened.
Shu Yao didn't show much emotion, but her eyes grew colder. She looked down at Zhou Beichuan and said, "Drugging? You deserve it, don't you?"
"You believed him when he said I drugged you? He's completely spreading rumors! We grew up together, how could I possibly do something like this to you?"
Shu Yao firmly held Shen Ye's hand and said to him, "I don't trust my husband, so how can I trust a classmate I haven't seen for seven years?"
After that, she took Shen Ye's hand and walked into the door without looking back, while Shen Ye followed her, lowering his eyes to look at the back of her head without saying a word.
After the door was closed, the little light from the room disappeared completely.
Zhou Beichuan lay on the dirty brick floor, his body aching slightly, but no matter how much pain he felt, it was nothing compared to the fact that Shu Yao chose to believe Chen Ye.
It was obvious that Shu Yao chose to walk towards him that time.
But in seven years, everything has changed.
The moon was like a sharp bow, hidden in the dense dark clouds, with no stars around it.
He took out his cell phone with great effort and pressed the emergency dial, but just a second before the call was connected, he stopped.
He was absolutely certain that he was the only one who knew everything about the medicine. He had deleted all the purchase records and so on. Moreover, so many years had passed. How did Shen Ye know about it?
But Shen Ye dared to say that, what if he really had evidence in his hands?
If he called the police, Chen Ye would at most be detained for a few days for assaulting someone. If Chen Ye released the evidence, his career and reputation would be ruined.
Thinking of this, Zhou Beichuan's arms slowly lost strength.
The phone fell to the dirty ground with a "bang" and the screen fell into darkness.
*
After Shu Yao brought Chen Ye in, he remembered Xu Zhaoli's instructions to delay for twenty minutes.
So after walking a few steps, she stopped in the corridor.
Given Zhou Beichuan's timid and face-conscious personality, he would definitely not call the police, so she was not worried about that.
Shu Yao pulled her hand back and turned to face him.
His palm was empty, Shen Ye looked down, then reluctantly took it back and put it in his pocket.
He looked at her slightly cold expression and realized that she was probably just giving him face in front of outsiders, and now was the formal trial.
His throat was dry. "Are you angry?"
"Not today." Shu Yao didn't ask him about what happened just now. He just pointed out gently but sharply, "Chen Ye, I don't like watching people fight, and I don't like you fighting even more."
"I know." Shen Ye explained in a low voice, "I haven't fought in the past few years, let alone..."
Not like your dad either.
But knowing that she didn't want to hear this name, he stopped talking.
Shu Yao felt more and more that he was very similar to Little Biscuit. When he knew he was wrong, he would just hang his head and let himself be scolded and beaten.
Sighing silently, she pulled his hand out of his pocket again. Under the bright light, the abrasions on the back of his hand joints were particularly obvious. She bent down and blew on it, then asked, "Does it hurt?"
Shen Ye’s Adam’s apple rolled: “A little.”
"Is there a medicine kit?"
Chen Ye took her hand again and took her to a staff lounge nearby. Although it was clean, it was also small and cramped. Apart from a single bed, a small cabinet and a small round table, there was nothing extra.
He pulled Shu Yaola to sit on the bed, then took out the medicine box from the cabinet.
Shu Yao seemed to have experience in treating wounds. She took a bottle of mineral water from the cabinet, rinsed the wound briefly, and then used a cotton swab dipped in iodine to disinfect it.
In the quiet atmosphere, the lively music from the dance floor can be faintly heard.
Only then did Shen Ye remember that something was wrong: “Why did you come here suddenly?”
"I..." Shu Yao lowered his head, his expression invisible. "Tiantian had something urgent to do, and I was bored alone. I heard you were at the bar, so I thought of coming over to hang out."
"Why don't you call me and I'll pick you up."
"It was very close, so I came here by myself." Fortunately, the wound was not big. After disinfecting it, Shu Yao helped him put on a small piece of gauze.
"Then you—" Shen Ye paused and asked again, "Do you really believe me?"
"Yeah." Shu Yao put the used cotton swab into a discarded gauze bag and looked at him. "But it's been so many years, how did you know?"
Chen Ye took out the recorder from his pocket and briefly told him about Lu Wanqiao's visit.
Shu Yao suddenly realized: "So, those things on the Internet that benefit Lu Wanqiao were arranged by you?"
Shen Ye: “Yeah.”
Shu Yao played the recording slowly and calmly.
After listening, he remained calm.
Closing the medicine box, she rested her elbows on the table, supporting her face, and looked at him sideways: "But since you have this, why didn't you just play the recording when he asked me whether I believed you or him?"
Seeing her leisurely posture, Shen Ye's stiff body gradually relaxed, and he returned to his usual nonchalant tone: "I don't care about her life or death, but it's a transaction after all. Selling out the partner like this goes against the code of a businessman."
"Oh." Shu Yao responded softly and lowered his head to twist the cap of the mineral water bottle.
Chen Ye stared at her expression, thinking of her previous question, and suddenly realized something belatedly. He imitated her previous action, also supporting his head, and slowly moved forward: "You are not..."
Shu Yao straightened his back like a cat whose tail was stepped on: "I didn't."
"I didn't even tell you what you were doing, why are you so excited?" As he spoke, he moved closer, a smile in his voice, and every word seemed to be trying to hook her.
"I'm not excited."
As he moved forward, she retreated.
But the space was small, and Shu Yao's back suddenly hit the wall.
“If you mind—” Chen Ye’s expression was serious, not like he was joking, “I’m going to play it in front of him ten times now.”
"Isn't that against your business principles?"
"My wife is almost gone, what's the point of having rules?"
Shu Yao couldn't help laughing, her rosy lips slightly raised. Chen Ye watched and remembered the feeling of their lips touching last time. Unfortunately, he was not prepared that time, and it was over before he had time to savor it.
His Adam's apple rolled slightly, and Chen Ye's eyes gradually became deep.
It was as if there was a string pulling him forward slowly.
Shu Yao sensed his intention, and her long eyelashes trembled slightly. As she placed her hands on his chest, a rough shout suddenly came from outside the door:
“Brother Shen!”
Then came the off-key and contrived singing:
"Baby, what are you doing? Are you asleep? What are you doing? Why aren't you replying?!"
Shen Ye: "..."
*
"Bang!!!"
"Happy birthday!!!"
Although he had prepared himself mentally because he felt everything was too strange, when the colorful fireworks exploded above his head, Chen Ye still had a moment where he would rather go back and listen to the waiter finish singing.
Seeing the huge birthday cake on the coffee table, Shen Ye remembered that today seemed to be his birthday.
He did celebrate his birthday when he was a child, but Qian Manqing always made a big deal of it, either dressing him up as the Little Prince on a white horse or as Detective Conan. Chen Ye thought it was too exaggerated and too troublesome, and since junior high school, he completely rejected this kind of birthday ceremony.
He smiled and kicked Xu Zhaoli: "Do you think this is very creative?"
Xu Zhaoli pulled off the ribbon on his head and pointed at Shu Yao: "It's your wife's idea. It has nothing to do with me."
"..." Chen Ye nodded seriously, "It's quite creative."
Shu Yao said awkwardly, "Well, I haven't really celebrated my birthday much... I can only imagine so much."
"I'm kidding." Chen Ye pulled Shu Yao to sit on the sofa and glanced at the two people at the door in confusion. "My wife and I are celebrating our birthday. Why are you guys staying here?"
"You thought we wanted to keep it." Xu Zhaoli and Zhao Meir rolled their eyes in tacit understanding, threw the gifts in their hands onto the sofa, and went out.
The box suddenly became quiet.
He was caught fighting but was not held accountable, and he even helped celebrate his birthday. Shen Ye now had a kind of arrogance that came from surviving a disaster. He leaned back leisurely, put his right hand on the sofa behind her, and said lazily: "No gift?"
"Yes." Shu Yao opened the candle packaging in his hand and said, "You blow out the candle and make a wish first, and I'll give it to you when you're done."
Chen Ye took a candle from the box, inserted it, lit it, closed his eyes and made a wish, blew it out, and pulled it out.
"Okay." The whole process took no more than ten seconds.
Shu Yao didn't even have time to turn off the lights.
But it doesn’t matter, the birthday boy is the most important, as long as he is happy.
Shu Yao took out a small box from her bag. When Chen Ye opened it, he saw a pair of rings. They were obviously made by her, but the patterns were different from the previous pair.
This time, the man’s ring has a puppy and the woman’s has a rabbit.
Shu Yao naturally took his hand, took off the old one, and put the new one on him.
Shen Ye followed suit and helped her put it on, pressing the ring on her ring finger with his thumb and turning it in a circle: "How do you give a ring?"
"Didn't I tell you before? If that one is too cheap, I'll win by quantity. This is the second set."
"Then why a puppy?"
As Shu Yao stuffed the box containing the old ring into her bag, she explained, "Sometimes, I'm not that sensitive to other people's emotions. Like when we moved, you were unhappy, but I didn't notice. So I thought, if only there was something that could let me clearly see whether you were happy or not."
She reached out and pressed down the puppy's tail, and Shen Ye discovered that the tail could move.
"If you're unhappy in the future, just push your puppy's tail down, and I'll know you're unhappy. If the puppy's tail is raised, then I'll know you're in a good mood."
Chen Ye fiddled with the little tail that was less than one centimeter long and bent as if he had found a toy.
Unfortunately, the tail only rises to the two o'clock position.
Otherwise, with how happy he was at the moment, his tail would have been up to the sky.
He suddenly leaned in, his pupils appearing even darker in the dim light. "You said you're not that sensitive to other people's emotions. Now, I have four words in my mind. Can you sense them?"
The distance between them was very close. Shu Yao leaned against the corner of the sofa, looking straight at him without giving in: "Yes."
Shen Ye: “What is it?”
Shu Yao: "You want to kiss me."
"Not accurate." Shen Ye chuckled and said, "It's: I'm chasing you."
Shu Yao's heart suddenly skipped a beat. She had always felt that the relationship between them was like a hot spring, not cold, but not overly hot either. It might not be a bad thing to just continue to develop peacefully and steadily.
This was the first time he had so openly stated his desire for a response.
And he said "in" instead of "want to", as if he was determined to pursue her regardless of whether she allowed it or not.
Perhaps he noticed her hesitation, but Chen Ye rubbed the top of her head, stepped back, and placed a piece of cake with the words "Chen Ye" on the porcelain plate on the table and handed it to her, saying nonchalantly, "Don't rush to give me an answer. You can do it before you're eighty."
Shu Yao: “…”
You are so patient.
But after he said that, Shu Yao instantly felt no more psychological pressure.
She took the cake and took a few bites. The ring on her right ring finger reflected the sparkling light.
Only then did Shen Ye realize that rabbits also have tails, but because they are very short, he didn't see it clearly just now.
Shen Ye casually asked, "Can a rabbit's tail move?"
Shu Yao: “Yeah.”
The rabbit's tail was originally curled up, and his words seemed to remind Shu Yao. She looked up at the clock on the wall, then slowly pressed the rabbit's tail down.
Shen Ye:?
He suddenly felt something was wrong and reached out to press the back of her hand: "What are you doing? You just said you weren't angry."
"What I said is, I won't be angry today."
Following her gaze, Shen Ye looked up.
00:01.
Today, it’s over.
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