Chapter 139 We'll share the snow in this life, and grow old together.
Qiu Chen pulled Fang Qibai out of the bar to smoke.
With a flash of light, the cigarette butt burned two orange-red dots in the thick night.
Qiu Chen's fingers, which were holding the cigarette, turned bright red from the cold in no time. He casually asked, "So you're planning to spend the Lunar New Year in a rented apartment this year?"
Fang Qibai had no intention of returning to the Fang family, and he had realized that too.
Since the passing of Madam Leng, he has only returned to the Leng family home once.
Fang Qibai casually slipped one hand into his coat pocket, leaving the other hand, which was holding a cigarette, hanging down naturally. He gave a curt "hmm" without any emotion.
Qiu Chen exhaled a puff of white mist, which was quickly swept into the biting winter wind.
Whether Fang Qibai returns or not, he will still be the eldest son of the Fang family, bearing this surname.
Wealth, status, resources, and connections will not change because of Leng Qiyi and Fang Zeheng's divorce.
The Leng family went bankrupt and was acquired, but Leng Qiyi paid off all the debts immediately, which makes it easy to guess that she and Fang Zeheng reached an agreement.
Leng Qiyi's mental strength and spirit have declined significantly, and she drinks heavily every day at the Leng family's old house.
Fang Qibai went back to visit his mother once.
His mother's resentment and hysteria no longer caused him pain.
He no longer wanted to live like a perfect mannequin, burdened by his mother's goals and expectations.
Once everything is torn away, there is utter relief.
Qiu Chen, with a cigarette in his mouth, said, "It's so boring being all alone. Come to my house for the New Year."
Fang Qibai's gaze fell on the young woman who came out of the bar to answer the phone: "We'll see."
The little girl had her hair tied in a high ponytail, revealing her small face, with a few stray strands of hair falling down. She answered the phone attentively and obediently.
Qiu Chen glanced in the direction of his gaze.
Perhaps noticing their gaze, the little girl gave them a gentle smile.
Qiu Chen smiled and gestured with his chin toward A Yuan.
After Zhu Wan finished her phone call, Yi Jia, who had come out of the bar looking for someone, pulled her back into the bar. He lit another cigarette and said, "You and Fang Qizhou seem to be getting along quite well now."
They can eat at the same table, or sit together and drink.
There is a sense of relief after the dust has settled.
Even as an outsider, he knew that the issues between the two were irreconcilable.
A brotherly relationship that's neither too close nor too distant is better than one of them always having to draw blood when they meet.
Fueled by the alcohol, he asked Fang Qibai, "Goubai, tell me honestly, have you ever had feelings for Zhu Fan?"
Fang Qibai paused in his action of lighting the fire.
Qiu Chen exhaled a smoke ring. "You smoked a lot during the time Zhu Fangang and Fang Qizhou were together."
Her mood was off too.
Fang Qibai held the lighter between his fingers and toyed with it. "No."
If I had to pinpoint my mindset at the time, I'd probably be afraid that Zhu Fan would provoke Fang Qizhou and bring about consequences I couldn't bear.
They were also worried that Fang Qizhou wasn't taking the relationship seriously and was just playing around.
After all, Fang Qizhou does things entirely based on his mood.
Qiu Chen chuckled, "Now I realize that my worries were a bit unnecessary."
Fang Qibai hummed in agreement and stubbed out the remaining half of his cigarette.
Seeing that he had stopped smoking, Qiu Chen took two deep drags on his cigarette and said, "It's too cold outside."
Zhu Fan saw Qiu Chen and Fang Qibai come in and said that he was ready to leave.
Qiu Chen glanced at his wrist; it was already eleven o'clock.
Everyone had been drinking that night, so Zhu Fan called a designated driver.
Zhu Wan covered her lips and yawned. When she heard that Brother Chen had asked her sister to leave her there to pay for the drinks, she quickly grabbed her sister's clothes.
Qiu Chen stopped teasing A-Yuan, saying, "You're so sleepy you can barely keep your eyes open. Go back and rest. Send me a message when you get home."
Zhu Wan nodded and said, "Okay."
As Zhu Wan got into the car, Yi Jia pulled her aside and whispered in her ear, "Wan, wait for my message, and I'll take you out for something nice to eat."
Zhu Fan looked at Yi Jia.
Yi Jiachao mouthed to Zhu Fan: I want to hire some male models for my sister, we'll do it together then.
When Fang Qizhou looked over, Zhu Fan quickly covered Yi Jia's mouth with her hand.
Fortunately, Fang Qizhou didn't see it.
Yi Jia gave A Yuan a playful smile, "Your sister has a boyfriend and is very strict with him. It'll just be the two of us going then."
Zhu Wan shook her head so hard it looked like a rattle drum.
Zhu Fan sat in the back of the passenger seat, one of her hands being played with by Fang Qizhou, who was also sitting in the passenger seat.
She pinched A-Yuan's rosy cheeks and said, "Take off your clothes if you're hot."
Snowflakes began to fall outside the car window without my noticing.
Zhu Wan took off her down jacket and hugged it to her arms.
The Chinese New Year is just around the corner.
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As the year draws to a close, Beijing has been blanketed in snow.
The Zhu family home was spotless, cleaned by the housekeepers. Meng Yin replaced the carpet and placed fresh flowers on it.
The villa was already filled with a New Year's atmosphere.
On the day before the Lunar New Year, Zhu Fan brought her boyfriend home for lunch.
Meng Yin and her husband started preparing this meal early in the morning.
Zhu Fan watched Fang Qizhou all the way and said, "Fang Qizhou, you look incredibly handsome and dashing dressed like this today."
A black overcoat hung crisply over his body, a sliver of cool gray turtleneck sweater peeking out from the collar, perfectly concealing the faintly visible tattoo lines on his neck. Straight white trousers accentuated his straight legs, and boots clung to his feet, still damp with slush from the snow. His attire was impeccably formal and restrained, his hair meticulously styled.
Fang Qizhou, carrying the gift, squeezed Zhu Fan's fingers, which he had stuffed into his pocket.
His gaze toward her was dependent and tender.
The driver got out of the car and made several trips to unload all the gifts he had brought.
Meng Yin and Zhu Linjun came out of the kitchen to greet them, both with smiles on their faces.
Zhu helped the old lady get up from the sofa.
Fang Qizhou spoke, his voice clear and polite, "Grandma, Uncle, Aunt."
Please let the old lady sit down and talk.
Zhu Fan pulled Fang Qizhou to sit on the sofa in the living room.
Grandma Zhu looked at her granddaughter and the boy holding hands, her gaze gentle yet scrutinizing.
Zhu Wan was used to calling him "brother-in-law," so the word just came out of her mouth.
Meng Yin and Zhu Linjun exchanged a glance and saw the smile in each other's eyes.
Zhu Wan was glanced at by her grandmother, winked at her sister, and sat down properly.
Looking at the gifts filling the living room, Meng Yin gave her daughter a reproachful look, "I told you to invite your boyfriend over for a simple meal, why did you bring so many gifts? It's too much of a waste."
Fang Qizhou accepted the teacup from Old Madam Zhu with both hands, his nonchalant demeanor largely disappearing.
"Auntie, it was my insistence that I bring it."
Zhu Fan looked at the gifts.
These gifts were prepared by Fang Qizhou over a week, who traveled all over Beijing to buy them.
Zhu Linjun sat down on the sofa.
Meng Yin handed over the kitchen work to Ji Shu.
Zhu Fan looked at Fang Qizhou, who was sitting on the sofa, chatting calmly and politely with his parents and grandmother, and stroked his chin before asking A Yuan, "Aren't we a bit redundant?"
Zhu Wan nodded.
After sitting for another twenty minutes, it was finally time to eat.
Zhu Linjun opened a bottle of his treasured wine. "How's Xiao Fang's alcohol tolerance? Can he have a drink?"
That noon, the old lady also drank a couple more cups than usual.
Fang Qizhou's face didn't flush when he drank, so it was impossible to tell if he was drunk or not.
Zhu Fan sat next to Fang Qizhou, watching his bowl of food being filled again by his mother after he finished eating, and her eyes crinkled with laughter.
After lunch, Fang Qizhou was called to the study by Grandma Zhu to play chess.
Zhu Wan took out a pair of gloves from her coat and gave them to her sister, then pulled her back to stop her from going upstairs: "My snowman is almost finished with only half a head, sister, come with me to build a snowman."
Zhu Fan stroked his chin. "Grandma told you to hold me back and not let me go up?"
Zhu Wan smiled and nodded.
Ji Shu came out of the kitchen carrying a tray of honey water.
Zhu Fan wasn't worried about being called to Fang Qizhou by her grandmother.
She could tell that her parents and grandmother were very satisfied with Fang Qizhou.
In the freezing cold, Zhu Wan's hands were red and frostbitten.
Zhu Fan Gun's snowman head is finished.
She took off her gloves and put them on A-Yuan's hands, then sculpted bear ears for the little bear snowman and applied blush.
Finally, she took off the scarf from her neck and put it on the snowman.
Looking at the snowman she and her sister had built together, Zhu Wan felt a great sense of accomplishment: "The snowman my sister and I built is definitely the most beautiful and cute one in our WeChat Moments."
Zhu Fan sniffed and breathed on his frozen hands.
The next second, my hand was held in a pair of strong, warm hands.
The buzz continues to grow.
Zhu Fan looked up and saw Fang Qizhou. "Have you finished talking with Grandma?"
Fang Qizhou brushed the snow off her eyebrows and hair and hummed in agreement.
Zhu Fan asked him what he had talked about with his grandmother.
Fang Qizhou pulled her frozen hands inside his clothes, "Tell Grandma not to worry, I'll date you."
Zhu Fan placed her hand on his stomach skin and felt the clearly defined abdominal muscles.
She herself felt that her hands were as cold as ice.
Fang Qizhou was essentially warming himself up by placing an ice cube on his stomach.
Fang Qizhou's warm skin quickly warmed her frozen hands.
Zhu Fan smiled and said, "Fang Tiantian, aren't you afraid of getting cold?"
Snowflakes fell on Fang Qizhou's eyebrows, eyes, and hair.
"It's not cold."
Zhu Fan hugged Fang Qizhou's arm. "My hands are already warm, I don't need to keep them warm anymore. Come with me and walk in the snow for a while."
Let us share the snow together in this life, and grow old together.
Grandma Zhu stood by the study window, gazing at the young boy and girl standing in the snow, a smile appearing in her eyes.
She's observed people her whole life, and there are very few she's wrong about.
Her granddaughter has found someone who loves her wholeheartedly, and she feels very at ease.
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