Chapter 57 No other men allowed.
The fireworks along the riverbank continued their blaring, bursting forth in clusters of ever-changing shapes and colors. The onlookers craned their necks, their faces beaming with happiness. As the old year drew to a close, it seemed all their obsessions and worries would eventually vanish with the fireworks. Through the beautiful scene before them, they made wishes for the new year.
As the sound of fireworks faded from Shen Mengqing's ears, she took control and aimed directly at Yu Xin's soft lips.
Just as they were about to touch, Yu Xin casually raised his hand and blocked her forehead.
Shen Mengqing opened her almond-shaped eyes wide and looked at Yu Xin with a puzzled expression.
Yu Xin smiled slightly and said, "It's not appropriate."
"?"
baffling.
Shen Mengqing's expression instantly turned cold. She moved to sit down and asked him, "What do you mean?"
“Didn’t you say that our previous relationship was built on desire, so the feelings weren’t strong? Before you fall in love with me, I think we shouldn’t repeat the same mistake.” Yu Xin looked at her and said mischievously, “Of course, if you admit you love me now, I’ll naturally let you do whatever you want with me.”
Shen Mengqing blurted out angrily, "I don't care about you, it's not like I don't have other men..."
Yu Xin suddenly pulled out one hand and tightly gripped Shen Mengqing's slender wrist. He tugged, and Shen Mengqing lost her strength and fell onto the sofa without support. Yu Xin also pounced down on her, and to avoid hitting his head, he propped himself up with his elbows.
He looked down at Shen Mengqing, his gaze traveling from her eyes to her red lips, then down to her collarbone.
"Shen Mengqing, you're not allowed to mention other men." His eyes flashed as he said quietly, "You're the one who'll suffer in this."
The position was awkward, and Shen Mengqing's waist ached from the stretch. After staring at Yu Xin for a few seconds, she raised her hand, pressed down on his shoulder, and pushed him away with a little force.
Shen Mengqing and Yu Xin sat there staring at each other, Yu Xin still holding a mouthful of jealousy, staring straight at her, unable to swallow it or spit it out, the sourness making his teeth ache.
After a moment, Shen Mengqing remembered that Yu Xin, the brave man who had acted righteously, hadn't eaten yet, so she asked him, "Are you hungry?"
Yu Xin snorted coldly: "You're only asking me now?"
He had barely finished speaking when he saw that Shen Mengqing seemed to have turned her head away and didn't want to talk to him anymore, so he quickly added, "If I had asked a few minutes later, I would have starved to death in your house."
"Okay, I'll go get you something to eat."
She wasn't in the mood to cook, so she took some leftover cold dishes and braised dishes from lunch from the refrigerator, then found a cup of instant noodles and put it on the table.
Yu Xin was indeed very hungry, so he took the chopsticks and started eating.
Shen Mengqing sat opposite him, sipping a glass of warm water. Seeing Yu Xin looking travel-worn, she suddenly asked, "Why didn't you spend New Year's Eve with Aunt Chen?"
Yu Xin said calmly, "It's not like she doesn't have family. She went home with Chen Mo and her husband."
Shen Mengqing nodded, then suddenly thought of Liang Meilin. She tentatively asked, "Don't you have a mother too? Why don't you live with Aunt Liang?"
"..."
Yu Xin put down her chopsticks, took out a tissue to wipe her hands, and said, "Shen Mengqing, my relationship with my mother is a bit complicated."
“I should have told you that my parents divorced when I was very young, and my mother remarried shortly after. When I was a child, my father didn’t care much about me, and my mother never came back to see me either. I found out that my mother had two more children when I was in middle school and I heard people gossiping about me behind my back.”
“I was so curious about her life that I wanted to ask her in person if she could really forget me completely, as if she had never had me. I also wanted to see how she treated her two children. I got her address from Aunt Chen and went there secretly after class. It happened to be one of her children's birthdays. She was very happy, holding his hand and carrying a cake in her other hand, leading him into the apartment building.”
Yu Xin still vividly remembers that scene. He was like a stray dog in the shadows, quietly crouching behind a grove of trees. He knew Liang Meilin's license plate number, and when the car stopped downstairs, his heart nearly leaped out of his chest.
He fantasized that Liang Meilin would see him as soon as she got off the car, then burst into tears, weeping as she embraced him, telling him how much she had missed him all these years and how much she couldn't let him go.
Unfortunately, it was her youngest son who got out of the car first. He was six years younger than her and much more lively and outgoing, hopping and skipping around and capturing Liang Meilin's entire attention. Liang Meilin was carrying a cake, smiling as she waved it in front of her youngest son and affectionately patted his head.
Her words carried on the wind to his ears: "Honey, let's eat cake when we get back, okay? Your sister's home from school too, let's blow out the candles together."
"good!"
Her youngest son responded enthusiastically.
After they went upstairs, Yu Xin stood quietly for a long time without moving, until an old man in the neighborhood noticed the motionless boy. The old man asked him who he was looking for, and Yu Xin remained silent for a while, unable to say a word, before turning and walking away.
...
Pulling herself out of her memories, Yu Xin's lips curled into a bitter smile as she stared intently at Shen Mengqing and said softly, "Do you know why I came to Yusheng?"
Shen Mengqing was taken aback. She had indeed often heard Jiang Yu mention that Yu Xin originally did not want to take over Yu Sheng's business.
She asked in a deep voice, "Why?"
“About six months ago, I gave my father the bank card with all my savings in it, intending to pay back the amount he had spent raising me in order to prevent him from blackmailing me into taking over Yusheng. But just a few months ago, Liang Meilin suddenly contacted me. After many years, the first thing she said to me was to save her child.”
It turned out that Liang Meilin's youngest son had contracted a very rare disease. Various treatments could only maintain his vital signs. Over the years, the disease had almost exhausted all of Liang Meilin and her husband's assets. But at that time, the attending physician told her that she could have surgery abroad. There were doctors willing to try, but the medical expenses were many times higher than before.
In an effort to raise the money quickly, Liang Meilin tried many methods, but her relatives were all poor and she couldn't raise enough.
One day, her husband suddenly thought of her ex-husband and the son she had with him.
Yu Xin couldn't come up with that much money all at once, but Liang Meilin begged him desperately, tearfully confessing that she hadn't cared for him all these years. Whether it was because Liang Meilin loved her youngest son too much, or because Yu Xin really felt a bit of maternal love at some point during her retrospection, he went back to find Yu Mocheng that very night.
Yu Mocheng naturally knew about Liang Meilin's situation. He used this to pressure Yu Xin into taking over Yu Sheng, and even threatened him that otherwise he would specify in his will that all the money be donated to the charity association.
Yu Xin had a very tough time during that period. Liang Meilin would come to him from time to time, asking if he had any way to raise the money. Yu Mocheng was also pressuring him to sign documents, and he unexpectedly fell seriously ill and was hospitalized.
After hearing the story, Shen Mengqing couldn't help but ask him, "So... in the end you gave the money to Aunt Liang, right?"
“Hmm.” Yu Xin lowered her eyes, casting a shadow on her eyelids. “Last time you were at my house, she came over, didn’t she? She came to tell me that her son’s surgery was successful. It was at that moment that I realized that her maternal love had never really stayed with me. It was just that her maternal love for her younger son affected me and made me have a misconception.”
Yu Xin's words made Shen Mengqing's eyes inexplicably sting. She sniffed and comforted her, "When you were little, she must have loved you."
Yu Xin shrugged: "Maybe."
“I’ve gotten used to life without her, so any feelings I have for her are just wishful thinking, things that were never meant to happen to me. Without her, I won’t be sad anymore.”
He remained calm and composed, but for some reason, Shen Mengqing was moved and shed a few tears.
There are people who will shed tears for him.
Yu Xin bent down and leaned towards her, reaching out his large hand to wipe away the tears on her cheeks.
"Don't cry, I'm perfectly fine," Yu Xin said with a light laugh.
He took a moment to hand her a tissue, and Shen Mengqing grabbed it and wiped away her snot and tears, complaining, "It's all your fault. Telling such a sad story during such a happy time as New Year's Eve ruins my mood."
Yu Xin casually stretched out his long legs and wrapped them around the chair Shen Mengqing was sitting on. He whispered, "So how can you be in a good mood?"
Shen Mengqing paused for two seconds, unable to come up with an answer.
Yu Xin asked, "Would you like to see the fireworks?"
"It's almost over, isn't it?" Shen Mengqing estimated the time.
Yu Xin didn't take it seriously: "Then buy them yourself and release them by the river."
Shen Mengqing blinked. The suggestion was too casual, but it had a strangely strong attraction, tempting her to agree.
Yu Xin waited for her for a while, and seeing that she didn't speak, he decisively picked up their coats:
"Let's go, you little tearful one!"
Before Shen Mengqing could finish her banter, Yu Xin pulled her up and led her out the door in a few steps.
Yu Xin has an excellent memory; she remembered the way from her house to the front door after only walking the route once.
After going outside and getting some fresh air, the moisture in Shen Mengqing's eyes quickly dried, and her cheeks tightened, preventing her from crying anymore.
As Shen Mengqing reached the door, she saw several figures entering and felt they looked familiar. Upon closer inspection, she realized they were the three people who had returned from the police station.
Hao Meng was the first to meet her daughter's eyes, and she paused in her steps: "Are we going out?"
Shen Mengqing chuckled awkwardly twice, and Yu Xin picked up the conversation for her, saying seriously, "Hello, Auntie, I'm Yu Xin, Shen Mengqing's friend. We're planning to go to the riverbank to watch some fireworks."
friend?
Hao Meng glanced at Shen Mengqing. Wasn't he supposed to be the company boss?
Shen Mengqing dryly echoed, "Yes, yes, let's go watch the fireworks."
My aunt is quick-witted and her mouth runs fast: "It's been so long, and you're only just now going to check? Can you even see anything? It's freezing cold, it's freezing!"
Hao Meng tugged at her and said with a smile, "You guys go ahead, young people should go out and have fun. But be careful when you come back tonight, there are a lot of people today."
"Don't worry, Auntie, I will make sure Meng Qing gets home safely."
Yu Xin said sincerely.
Hao Meng nodded, letting the two of them leave.
There were still quite a few people on the street, but not many taxis, and they couldn't get a Didi (ride-hailing service). Yu Xin asked how long it would take to walk there, and Shen Mengqing said about twenty minutes. The two of them immediately decided to walk.
After recovering from the moment Yu Xin and Hao Meng met, Shen Mengqing muttered to herself, "I'm not used to you calling me Mengqing in front of my mom."
Yu Xin found it amusing: "Then what should I call you?"
Shen Mengqing imagined for a moment: "In this case, it should be the full name."
"Too unfamiliar," Yu Xin said lazily, hands in his pockets. "And we can't call him Secretary Shen either."
"Of course, it's not like I'm at work."
"How is Aqing?"
"I got goosebumps."
"I know what you're more comfortable calling me."
"What?"
"elder sister."
"roll!"
Shen Mengqing raised her foot and kicked Yu Xin.
Yu Xin took the kick, bent down and leaned closer to Shen Mengqing, her eyes sparkling with laughter as she said, "Why are you in such a hurry? I'm just imitating Hao Qisi. Hao Qisi calls you 'sister' every day, of course you're used to it. Or have you thought of something else?"
"No, I didn't."
Shen Mengqing glared at him, and Yu Xin couldn't help but burst into laughter.
A cold wind blew obliquely, the shadows of the trees swayed, and the two shadows were cast on the white wall by the roadside, sometimes merging together, and then being pulled apart again with distance and lamplight. Yu Xin's perfume was perfect for autumn and winter; smelling it in this season deepened the desolation of winter, its woody scent etched deeply into the mind.
When the two arrived at the riverbank, they happened to catch a glimpse of the last few fireworks, which were the most numerous and the largest in scale.
The crowd hadn't dispersed yet, and amidst the jostling, Yu Xin subconsciously half-raised her arm to prevent Shen Mengqing from being bumped into. They hadn't bought any decent fireworks on their way here, only the kind of sparklers that you stick on birthday cakes. Shen Mengqing was holding a few sparklers and two cans of beer in her arms, protecting them like precious treasures.
The two walked a few steps and happened to run into a group of people leaving, so they quickly sat down in the open space.
Yu Xin unscrewed the beer tab, and foam gushed out rapidly from the opening. Only after the liquid had all flowed out did he hand it to Shen Mengqing.
Shen Mengqing looked up at the fireworks bursting in succession, took a sip of wine, and let out a refreshing breath.
Yu Xincai opened another can and said, "Why didn't you wait for me and drank it first?"
"Cheers!"
Shen Mengqing reached out and clinked glasses with Yu Xin.
She looked around and suddenly asked, "What wish do you want to make?"
Yu Xin thought for a moment: "I haven't decided yet. What about you? I'll take a look."
"I hope... everyone will be healthy and happy in the new year."
Every time she makes a wish, her first priority is health. When she was a child, she prayed that God would not take her father away. When she grew up, she prayed that life could continue in hope.
In the process of living, happiness is the most important thing.
Infected by the atmosphere around him, Shen Mengqing put down his beer, looked up at the sky devoutly, and hoped that the wishes made by the crowd could be heard by the heavens through the fireworks.
Yu Xin didn't speak, but braced himself on the ground with his hands. Fine pebbles rolled restlessly in his palm, slowly scratching his hand and causing a slight itch. There was also a tearing pain in the wound.
Ignoring everything else, he turned his head and stared intently at Shen Mengqing's profile, seeing the fireworks reflected in her eyes, which were a thousand times more moving than the scenery in the sky.
He had stopped making wishes long ago; before meeting her, he was even somewhat indifferent to desires.
But now, if he were to make a wish upon these fireworks, he thought for a moment and silently prayed in his heart:
I hope that my wishes and those of the people I love can be fulfilled.
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A note from the author:
Xinzi: Applause for my composure!
Poor little dog's confession
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