Chapter 11. Fu Han must have forgotten...
Fu Han probably forgot what he did last night. He woke up as if nothing had happened, took a few cold medicines, and went back to his arrogant and unapproachable self. Ji Qingyu then cooperated with him and pretended to have amnesia.
The doctor said it was because he drank too much alcohol and had too many emotional fluctuations; Fu Han had been overworked recently.
Ji Qingyu had no idea how tired Fu Han was, and Fu Han never told her.
The doctor gave him a lot of advice, including to him, the family member, but Fu Han didn't care about his health and continued to leave early and return late every day.
Ji Qingyu couldn't control him; he was busy writing songs himself.
Ji Qingyu's phone rang.
He touched it and saw it was Nannan. He pressed the answer button, and a cheerful female voice came from the other end: "Teacher, when are you coming? I've finished all my homework, you have to come and check it!"
"I'll go tomorrow." Ji Qingyu thought for a moment, then went to look at the script and new song he had brought. "Nannan, how's your part of the stage play rehearsing going?"
"I practiced very seriously," Nannan said.
“Hmm,” Ji Qingyu said, “You’re all on summer vacation now, right? If you’d like to give it a try, I can get everyone together.”
"Okay!" Nannan's voice was cheerful, with a few cheers, and Ji Qingyu laughed along with her.
Beijing has many performance halls.
He contacted the cheapest one, but even so, it still cost him more than half a year's savings. The performance hall was on a small hill, in the suburbs, but it was very close to the homes of his children.
They started rehearsing. The owner of the performance hall was a shrewd alpha. After discussing with Ji Qingyu, they decided that they would start selling tickets in a month, and that it wouldn't be worth the ticket price. The venue fee for that month would double.
Nannan held Ji Qingyu's hand and said, "Teacher, don't worry, we're all here for you."
The stage play is a rock version of Grimm's Fairy Tales. Ji Qingyu wrote all the lyrics and music by herself, and the children also had their own roles.
The music was written by Ji Qingyu bit by bit, which wasn't too difficult for him, but the remaining areas he had never ventured into before gave him a headache.
The stage set, the props, everything. He didn't even dare bring these things home; knowing Fu Han's personality, he would definitely say they were just paper scraps.
Ji Qingyu became very busy. For several days, she even stayed in the performance hall late at night thinking about set design and scene transitions, revising her script over and over again.
He started preparing for this stage play when he first started working with his daughter and the others. It wasn't just because the children needed a formal performance venue to build their experience, but also because he wanted to create more of his own works.
People never feel tired when they are doing what they love.
When Ji Qingyu returned home, the entire house was dark. He moved very quietly, not wanting to offend Fu Han. He lay down on the bed in the guest room and fell asleep. For several days in a row, he did not see Fu Han, which actually made him feel relieved.
When he returned home one evening, he saw the guest room light was on.
Fu Han sat on the edge of the bed with an unfriendly expression.
Ji Qingyu turned on her phone; it was already 3 a.m. Fu Han had gone out for a meeting early this morning, so why was he still awake at this hour?
Ji Qingyu smiled politely, her back pressed against the door. Fu Han seemed to only then realize her presence, shifting his gaze from the book in his hand to Ji Qingyu, and slowly raising an eyebrow.
"What are you standing there for?" Fu Han asked. "Come and lie down."
"I don't think it's necessary." Ji Qingyu smiled awkwardly, unsure of what to do with her legs. Fu Han's expression was unclear in the dim light; his thin lips were pursed together, like a Buddha statue in the night.
"Are you... going to sleep here? This bed is a bit small, it might be a little cramped," Ji Qingyu cautiously reminded him, a hint of ingratiating smile on her face.
Fu Han seemed not to understand his meaning, and impatiently pulled his hair back, revealing his smooth forehead, which made his already sharp features appear even more pointed. He raised his chin and said, "It's my home. Do I need your permission to sleep wherever I want?"
“No, no need,” Ji Qingyu said. “Then you rest, I’ll go to the master bedroom.”
Fu Han's expression carried a sense of impending storm.
Exhaustion made him exceptionally impatient. He casually tossed the book on his lap onto the bedside, his posture nonchalant and his eyes icy. "Ji Qingyu, you've been coming home after midnight every day these past few days. Is this a hotel? You don't even bother to say hello, you just sleep and leave?"
"I'm not better yet, and you need to rest too." Ji Qingyu didn't know what illness Fu Han had relapsed into. He was also very tired and didn't want to deal with things here, so she softened her tone and pleaded, "I'm afraid of disturbing you. Could you please not come again tonight?"
"Why should I?" Fu Han sighed. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and fierce tattoos swirled on his muscles as if they were alive, with the ferocious beast's eyes wide open in anger.
"I...I already said, I'm not better yet."
"so what?"
"So I'm not feeling well, I can't take it, I... I'll let you hug me, okay?" Ji Qingyu blushed and felt hot as he tried to resist; he was truly exhausted.
"What kind of condition is that? I can hug you now." Fu Han leaned casually against the bedside, tilting his head with interest as he spoke softly.
Ji Qingyu didn't know what to do. He lowered his head slightly, his hair hanging down, and his voice was as soft as a mosquito's buzz, "Then, can I hug you?"
"What?" Fu Han raised an eyebrow. "Who are you hugging?"
Ji Qingyu's voice became even softer. His hands clenched together, and he cursed Fu Han several times in his heart, but his words remained obedient: "Hug...husband."
Fu Han chuckled, looking at him with amusement. Unusually, he didn't object. He stared at Ji Qingyu for a long time under the light, then turned off the light, turned over, and left with a cold back view.
Even someone as thick-skinned as Ji Qingyu would feel embarrassed to say such a thing. He took off his clothes, changed into his pajamas, curled up on the bed like a hamster, and shrank into the quilt.
The two of them could only press tightly together on the small bed, and he reached out and put his hand on Fu Han's waist.
The alpha's body temperature is too high.
As Ji Qingyu thought this, she was too tired, her eyelids drooped, and she fell asleep uncontrollably. The faint scent of green plums, combined with the refreshing cool-toned aromatherapy, relaxed Ji Qingyu's nerves that had been tense for a long time.
In his dream, someone was gently and rhythmically patting his back. He felt a cool sensation on the back of his neck, and a comforting herbal scent lingered around his nose.
He didn't sleep all night. When the alarm clock rang, he slowly opened his eyes and found the space beside him empty.
Reluctant to admit it, this was the best night's sleep Ji Qingyu had had in a while.
Fu Han left again.
Ji Qingyu went to the performance hall as usual. There were no performances recently, so the entire hall was empty except for an uncle sitting in a seat watching them rehearse.
Nannan played the guitar several times and got the notes right, but she started making mistakes when she started dancing.
Sweat began to bead on Ji Qingyu's forehead, but he didn't show it on his face. He continued to encourage him, "Don't rush, let's try again. Take it slow."
He felt a sharp pain in his back as he squatted down, so he could only stand below the stage and watch them rehearse. Before he knew it, someone else had appeared next to him.
The middle-aged man, holding a thermos and wearing thin-rimmed glasses, said, "Who choreographed this dance for you, little one? It's too difficult for a child, and it doesn't match the music at all."
"I hired someone online," Ji Qingyu said somewhat warily, then asked, "Who are you?"
"I'm the security guard here. The performance hall and the woods on the mountain belong to me. I live on the back of the mountain." The uncle pushed up his glasses and instructed the girl, "Little girl, don't jump. Watch how I jump."
Ji Qingyu found it somewhat absurd, but putting herself in the man's shoes, she worried that he might hurt his back. She watched as he found a red rope and tied it around his waist, actually looking quite imposing. He then shoved the thermos into Ji Qingyu's hands, saying, "The rest of you kids, stop playing and come over here to watch."
"You, young man, you're quite handsome, but why are you so dull? Go and accompany me on the piano." Ji Qingyu realized that the uncle was calling him, and immediately responded. He put his thermos on the piano and sat down listlessly.
When the song ended, Ji Qingyu was completely stunned. This person was definitely a professional dancer, and he almost wanted to beg him to be their dance teacher.
"You're amazing! I haven't taken my eyes off you for a moment." Ji Qingyu said all sorts of flattering things, and the uncle was very pleased, patting Ji Qingyu on the shoulder.
"When I was young, cough cough, I was quite successful," the uncle said. "Just call me Lin Feng."
"How glorious was it?" Ji Qingyu inquired.
"The neighborhood committee's drama troupe is just a blade of grass," Lin Feng said without any modesty. "Teaching you greenhorns is more than enough for me."
"Young man, I see you have dark circles under your eyes. You're so young, yet your back is already so bad. Are you not exercising enough?" Perhaps because Ji Qingyu was so sweet-talking, Lin Feng asked her a few extra words of concern.
Ji Qingyu smiled bitterly.
With Uncle Lin Feng's help, today's rehearsal time was shortened by a third, and the parents arrived to pick them up before dinner time.
Nannan's mother was too busy with work to come over early, and her father happened to be away on a business trip. After thinking about it, Ji Qingyu decided to end her overtime work early and take Nannan to the mall to find something to eat.
But before he could even get on the bus, Fu Han called him via video.
"Come home for dinner tonight. Your lawyer will also be coming over to finalize your copyright matters." Fu Han looked a little tired. His secretary was beside him, turning pages and handing him documents.
"I have to have dinner with my students, so I might not be able to go back," Ji Qingyu said gently.
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone. Fu Han also saw the little boy being held by Ji Qingyu's hand. Nannan looked at Fu Han and whispered to Ji Qingyu, "Wow, so handsome!"
"Bring her over to eat with us." After Fu Han finished speaking, someone called for President Fu again. His gaze swept over Ji Qingyu's face twice, and he said, "Hang up."
Ji Qingyu was somewhat helpless. He squatted down, put his hand on Nannan's shoulder, and asked in a questioning tone, "Nannan, do you want to go home with Teacher to eat? If you feel uncomfortable, we can stay outside. Teacher is fine with that."
"Let's go!" Nannan exclaimed excitedly. "Teacher Ji, your husband is so handsome! He's totally my ideal type!"
Ji Qingyu remained silent for a long time, feeling that Nannan's taste in men was poor.
The way home was much farther than the way to the mall, so Ji Qingyu called a car. The whole way, Nannan's eyes were wide open. Seeing her like this, Ji Qingyu was already worried that if Fu Han ignored Nannan, she would be traumatized in her childhood.
"Teacher Ji, let me tell you a secret, I've actually seen what's been going on online lately." Nannan leaned against Ji Qingyu. "They've been saying a lot of nasty things, but I know what kind of person you are. Don't pay them any attention. Teacher Ji, if your husband really has something going on with your brother, no matter how handsome he is... I... I won't like him..."
Nannan was only a fourth-grade student with limited energy, and she slowly closed her eyes as the taxi jolted along.
Ji Qingyu lowered her shoulders, allowing Nannan's head to rest in a suitable position.
The shadows of trees outside the window overlapped and swept by, and the dim, yellowish light made everything seem unreal. Half of the long summer had passed, and the cicadas' calls had weakened.
The car radio was playing entertainment news in an exaggerated tone: "Fu Han has appeared in the VIP seats at Ji Ran's concerts many times. Now, the two are embroiled in a copyright dispute. I wonder if Fu Han still has feelings for Ji Ran."
The driver seemed to recognize Ji Qingyu, glancing at him through the rearview mirror. Ji Qingyu awkwardly looked away, his heart tightening, his thoughts drifting back to the summer six years ago, carried by the radio broadcast.
It was just as hot and humid then, making people feel restless and weary.
A note from the author:
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