Chapter 25
"What nonsense are you spouting, Little Fish?"
After dinner, Huang Ruoyu sent the two children upstairs to their bedroom to sleep.
So when Cheng Shi was sitting on the sofa in the living room, idly pressing the TV remote, Huang Ruoyu came downstairs and hesitantly sat down next to him, and solemnly apologized to him again.
"I'm sorry for everything I've done..." Huang Ruoyu said like a child who had made a mistake. "Everything that's happened lately has been my fault. But now I have good news to tell you: I've come up with a perfect plan!"
But Chengshi's mind was still a mess, so he couldn't hear anything. He felt like a lion, an eagle, or some other testosterone-fueled beast, which was why he had wolfed down his dinner and then stuffed a huge piece of chocolate fondant cake into his mouth like a wolf that hadn't eaten for three days; and while opening his birthday present, he kept repeating "Great, great"—just like he had said to Candy that afternoon.
But now, this beast has to sit obediently on the sofa, next to his wife, listening to her humble apologies…
But Cheng Shi felt like a heartless beast. He coldly observed Huang Ruoyu and found that she was no longer worth looking at: she was too old, too tall, too thin, and she was too enthusiastic today.
Cheng Shi wanted to rush outside and vent his emotions in some violent way—like punching the pomegranate tree, or running wildly around Central Park for kilometers, or even leaping over the wall until he collapsed, exhausted, in the barren desert. But he did nothing. He simply closed his eyes, reached out, and pulled Huang Ruoyu into his arms. He held her desperately, crumpling her expensive lace apron, squeezing and caressing the hollows of her back, trying to alleviate the pain he felt from his recent infidelity.
At the same time, Cheng Shi whispered into Huang Ruoyu's neck, "Oh, little fish, my darling!"
"Don't rush, let me tell you first." Huang Ruoyu continued, seemingly trying to stop Cheng Shi, "Do you know what I've been doing all day? I've been thinking about you. Brother Stone, I've come up with the most perfect... Stop it, wait, I love you, but listen to me first, wait, I..."
Cheng Shi knew that the only way to shut Huang Ruoyu up and make her disappear from his sight was to kiss her lips. So the sofa seemed to tilt, and the two of them fell down.
“Brother Stone…” Huang Ruoyu whispered in Chengshi’s ear, breathing rapidly, “I really, really love you. But please stop and listen to me… Oh, no, no, don’t stop, don’t stop. Don’t stop!”
"What did you say?"
"How about... we go back to the bedroom?" Huang Ruoyu said, her face flushed and panting. "But if you don't want to, that's fine. You can stay here if you want. I love you."
"Let's go back to the bedroom." Cheng Shi forced himself to stand up, then reached out and pulled Huang Ruoyu up as well. "But I want to take a shower first."
In fact, Cheng Shi was silently calculating her current physical capabilities and felt that it would be best to stall for as long as possible.
"No, don't go. Please, Brother Stone, don't go to take a bath, I won't let you go!" But Huang Ruoyu didn't realize the fatal problem and tugged at Chengshi's arm, pleading.
"Stop messing around, I need to take a shower first."
"Why?"
"For no reason."
Cheng Shi felt that every step he took required all his strength. He suddenly felt that he was really old, but wasn't he just 35 years old today? Why did just one sexual encounter make him feel so powerless?
"You're so mean!" Huang Ruoyu linked arms with Cheng Shi and walked upstairs with him, but continued to act like a little girl, "You're so mean! You're such a bad guy! But Brother Shi, do you like all the gifts? Do you like the tie I gave you? I searched the whole SKP before choosing it."
"I really like it; it's the best tie I own."
Hot water flowed over his body, but Candy clung to Chengshi like a second skin, so he had to scrub with all his might to remove her. At that moment, Chengshi felt he should confess to Huang Ruoyu; he should hold her hands tightly and tell her, "This afternoon..."
Narumi turned the water from hot to cold, letting the cold water pour over his head—he hadn't done this in years, probably the last time being when he lived in Tree Village and was hanging out with those rock musicians, going crazy. The intense stimulation of the cold water made Narumi sway his body, as if trying to escape the icy chill, and then he couldn't help but gasp for breath, but he still forced himself to silently count to thirty under the cold water before turning off the shower.
After being given a cold shower, Chengshi indeed cheered up. So, should he tell Huang Ruoyu about what happened today? Why should he do that? Chengshi felt he had no reason to confess to her. What the hell was the point of doing this? Only a complete idiot would confess!
"You look quite refreshed." Huang Ruoyu had changed into a black lace nightgown, her jade-like body partially revealed as she reclined on the bed. "Come here, sit here, let's chat for a while. Look what I prepared for you!"
Huang Ruoyu placed a bottle of white wine and two glasses on the bedside table, but Chengshi didn't give her a chance to pour the wine into the glasses or say anything more for a long time. Afterwards, Huang Ruoyu only left Chengshi's embrace for a second, because she had to pull down her shoulder strap so that her nightgown could slide smoothly down her body.
Before Chengshi could even caress Huang Ruoyu, she was already trembling.
For the second time that day, Cheng Shi discovered that acts of love could render him speechless. However, he hoped his lover would be equally silent, so he kept hoping Huang Ruoyu would utter her silly, theatrical ramblings tomorrow. He didn't actually know what she intended to say; he simply didn't want to hear her voice and was powerless to resist her passionate words. All he wanted to do now was lie in bed, smiling in the darkness, confused, guilty, and yet happy all at the same time, before drifting into a deep sleep.
"Brother Stone?" Huang Ruoyu's voice seemed to come from a very distant place. "Don't fall asleep yet! If you fall asleep now, I'll have gotten that bottle of wine for nothing! Besides, I really have a lot to tell you. Listen to me, this is the most perfect plan I've thought of all day!"
A minute later, Cheng Shi realized that staying awake wasn't actually that difficult. Sitting next to Huang Ruoyu like this, covered with a soft summer blanket, leisurely sipping white wine under the moonlight, and listening to Huang Ruoyu's voice rising and falling, actually felt quite nice—regardless of whether Huang Ruoyu's tone sounded like she was reciting lines, her loving voice was still very pleasant to listen to.
So, with a bit of reluctance and helplessness, Chengshi began to listen attentively to Huang Ruoyu's "perfect plan".
Huang Ruoyu frankly stated that the reason she had such thoughts was because she had been feeling down for the past six months, and because she had been missing Chengshi all day, as well as her love for Chengshi.
Therefore, Huang Ruoyu's "perfect plan" is for the whole family to "permanently" escape Beijing and move to Dali to settle down before the start of the fall semester this year, and start their new life there.
Therefore, Huang Ruoyu carefully calculated the accounts for Cheng Shi: Although they owed Cheng Shi's brother, Cheng Guo, a considerable amount of money for the down payment on the villa, they still had some savings. In addition, the money from selling the two cars and the villa would also be a substantial sum. The key point was that if Cheng Guo's money was not in a hurry to be repaid, then the money they had was enough for them to live comfortably in Dali for the rest of their lives.
Anyway, Cheng Guo is a big businessman and doesn't lack money at all. Besides, he said back then that the down payment was a donation to his younger brother and sister-in-law, and there was no question of repaying it. Moreover, if Cheng Shi and Huang Ruoyu hadn't been so "bold" back then, Cheng Guo would have been willing to pay the full amount to buy No. 5 Napa Valley...
"It won't be long before we're settled in Dali, and it'll definitely be better than it is now. You know what? Dali is now an international countryside, a real countryside, unlike fake countryside like Central Park. The air, the food, and the people there are all better than in Beijing! Haven't you heard that the middle class is fleeing Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou on a large scale? And I've checked, Dali has organic farming, handmade markets, art exchanges, educational communities... Most importantly, we can stay there as long as we want, isn't that great?!" Huang Ruoyu said excitedly, holding a wine glass, her face glowing.
Cheng Shi cleared his throat and said cautiously, "Uh, Xiao Yu'er, this matter... we still need to think about it carefully. I don't want to owe my brother anything. It's his business if he has money; even close brothers should keep clear accounts. Besides, we need to consider what kind of job I can find in Dali."
"You don't need to look for any job!" Huang Ruoyu exclaimed excitedly. "Brother Stone, I've always believed that if you wanted to find a job, you could find the best job anywhere in the world, because you have the ability. But that's not important right now. What's important is that you don't need to look for a job at all! Because I'll be the one working!"
Cheng Shi looked at Huang Ruoyu and laughed.
"Don't laugh, let me finish!" Huang Ruoyu threw down her wine glass, softly leaning into Cheng Shi's arms, her eyes sparkling as she stared at the ceiling. "Do you know how much money you can make as a live streamer these days? You know how many people have been urging me to do live streaming, right? And several of my classmates have become famous for live streaming and making short dramas, earning tons of money. My circumstances aren't any worse than theirs, so why can't I? And do you know how low the cost of living is in Dali! You can rent a villa for 2,000 yuan, and eat a vegetarian buffet for 5 yuan! Even if I don't become a live streamer or make short dramas, do you think we can live there for a lifetime?"
It seems Huang Ruoyu has made up her mind to enter the live streaming or short drama market. Although she didn't specify whether she wanted to do live-streaming e-commerce or produce short dramas, she told Chengshi that she had already found out everything: she contacted a classmate who runs an MCN company today and chatted with him. According to her classmate, she could easily earn enough money to support her family, and if she did well, she might even be able to hire some nannies or assistants to take care of her family's daily life. In Huang Ruoyu's words, it was practically a "perfect plan," and she just wondered why she had been so resistant to taking this step before.
The only thing that bothered Huang Ruoyu was that while she was excitedly talking about her plans, she had to constantly stop Cheng Shi from interrupting her, and she also had to remind him with less and less patience that none of this was funny.
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