Chapter 36 The holiday is ending, let's get going...
The holiday is coming to an end, and school is about to start.
After finishing his last song in the performance hall, the audience watched him intently. Some people asked for his contact information, but he refused.
Today was another ordinary day of finishing work. I went out through the dilapidated iron back door and entered a narrow alley. The sky was high and vast, and it was a warm and sunny evening.
Ji Qingyu, carrying her guitar, walked out of the alley into a bustling commercial street. Beyond the overpass lay the university town, filled with couples and friends, each holding a drink and wearing a bracelet that shimmered beautifully.
He bought a jianbing guozi (Chinese crepe) from a street vendor. Food near the university town is inexpensive, but the quality is also generally poor. The paper bag was greasy, but he didn't care. Just as he was about to wrap it with a tissue, someone suddenly snatched the food from behind him.
Ji Qingyu's stomach rumbled, and the food he was about to eat flew away. He turned around in surprise.
Fu Han's face was expressionless. He took two bites of the jianbing guozi and commented, "It's awful."
"Keep your voice down, the boss can hear you." Ji Qingyu paused for a moment, then lowered her voice and whispered to Fu Han.
Fu Han's voice was flat: "Why are you eating this? I'll take you to eat something better."
"No, thank you," Ji Qingyu declined. "I need to go back and feed the cats."
"Cat? What cat?" Fu Han asked, leaning down to look Ji Qingyu in the eye, very close.
"It's a stray cat. Maybe because we sell fish, the cat always likes to stay on our rooftop. I forgot to leave some dried fish for it today." After Ji Qingyu finished speaking, Fu Han had already eaten his egg pancake in two bites. The pancake had chicken strips, fried dough sticks, and two eggs in it, so it was quite expensive.
Ji Qingyu was a little reluctant to part with it.
But soon Fu Han treated him to an even more expensive Korean meal. Although it was just a slightly better shop nearby, Ji Qingyu still felt a little embarrassed when he saw the table full of food.
"Hurry up and eat. Aren't we going back to feed the cat?" Fu Han rested his head on his hand, picking up a piece of rice cake with a bit of boredom. Ji Qingyu looked at him, and Fu Han lazily raised his eyelids. Ji Qingyu looked away and went to get the juice on the table.
"If you like that cat, why don't you adopt it?"
“Taking care of a cat takes too much effort. Besides, it might not want to be locked up in a small house. Maybe it prefers freedom?” Ji Qingyu said quietly.
Fu Han went to see Ji Qingyu and suddenly asked, "What about you? What do you like?"
"Me?" Ji Qingyu was taken aback. "I don't have any ambitions. I just want to keep singing. I feel very happy right now."
After quickly finishing her meal, Ji Qingyu picked up the packaged dried fish and prepared to go home. As customers came and went, she turned into the alley on her way out and bumped into a couple kissing. Ji Qingyu was startled and her face immediately turned red.
"Yes, I'm sorry..." he apologized awkwardly. The couple blushed and moved away, taking a step back. He bumped into Fu Han, who was as tall as a wall.
Fu Han placed one hand on his shoulder, feeling the warmth emanating from it. Fu Han lowered his head and said, "Why are you so easily embarrassed?"
Ji Qingyu stared blankly at the face in front of her.
Fu Han patted his head; Ji Qingyu's hair was soft.
"Which direction is your home in?" Fu Han asked.
"Huh? My home?" Ji Qingyu didn't react. "Why are you asking about my home?"
"I'm bored, so I'll feed the cat with you." Fu Han rested one hand on his neck, stretched his neck a couple of times, and then looked down at Ji Qingyu. "Let's go, it's getting dark."
The two walked quite close, their hands almost touching, when Fu Han suddenly asked, "You don't know how to cook, do you?"
"How did you know?" Ji Qingyu was taken aback. His guitar had somehow ended up on Fu Han's shoulder. "Isn't it normal for a high school student not to know how to cook?"
"I saw your lunchbox a couple of days ago. No wonder you sound like a kitten, so weak and listless," Fu Han said casually.
Lin Ying went out, and Ji Qingyu was just doing something casually; what did it have to do with Fu Han?
“I’ll be going to bars for the next few days too, and I can bring you takeout, since I can’t finish it all anyway,” Fu Han said.
Ji Qingyu looked at him with some surprise, not expecting him to say such a thing.
Sunlight cast silhouettes on the two of them. The bus swayed and rocked. After getting off the bus, they walked a few steps to an alley near Ji Qingyu's house. Fu Han went into a supermarket and bought two boxes of bird's nest and cherries. Ji Qingyu tried to stop him, but Fu Han stuffed a fruit plate into his hands, saying, "Hold this for me."
The neighborhood is full of familiar faces. A neighbor recognized him and greeted Ji Qingyu. Seeing what Fu Han was holding, she quietly pulled Ji Qingyu over and said, "Qingyu, bring your boyfriend home. Kids shouldn't be in relationships so early."
“We’re not in that kind of relationship…” Ji Qingyu explained anxiously.
Fu Han heard them talking, he smiled, gently put his arm around Ji Qingyu's shoulder, and said, "Hello, Auntie."
The neighbor looked at the two of them, covered her mouth and smiled, "Don't worry, I definitely won't tell your mother."
"No, Auntie...you've really misunderstood." Ji Qingyu tried to explain, but the neighbor had already left.
Ji Qingyu felt his ears burning. He turned around in annoyance, only to find Fu Han still smiling. He glared at him, slapped the other man's hand off his shoulder, and walked home alone.
Fu Han laughed even more heartily.
The beautiful face cast a lovely silhouette in the sunlight. Fu Han followed, his hand resting on Ji Qingyu's waist. A breeze stirred, carrying the fragrance of osmanthus blossoms.
"Fu Han, if you keep teasing me like this, don't come looking for me again." Ji Qingyu's angry voice was soft, so Fu Han released his hands from Ji Qingyu's waist and lowered his head to brush away the ends of Ji Qingyu's hair.
"I'm sorry," Fu Han's voice sounded very serious. "It won't happen again."
Ji Qingyu reached for her keys, opened the door, and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the cat wasn't there. Fu Han, supporting himself against the doorframe, followed her in, looked around, and asked, "Where's your mother?"
"She went out to buy supplies and probably won't be back today." Ji Qingyu put the dried fish in the stray cat's bowl, then turned around and saw Fu Han casually walk into his bedroom.
"You, you mustn't...go in."
It's too messy.
Ji Qingyu's room was bright, though it wasn't a very big room. The books on her desk were scattered haphazardly, mostly sheet music. The bed sheets were newly changed and smelled of sunshine.
Fu Han picked up the half-written sheet music on the table, put the guitar off his shoulder, and handed it to Ji Qingyu: "Play me a song."
"It's not finished yet."
"Even half a song is fine."
"I'll play something else for you."
"I want to hear things that no one else has heard before."
Okay. Ji Qingyu lowered her head and plucked two notes, not seeing Fu Han's expression. For a moment, neither of them spoke. Then, listening to the music, Fu Han suddenly asked, "Ji Qingyu, do you have someone you like?"
"Huh? No, no."
Fu Han flicked the label on the desk, and Ji Qingyu continued to flick it.
"You don't even have a type you like?"
"No……"
“Actually…” Fu Han leaned down, about to say something, when two meows suddenly came from the window. Ji Qingyu put down her guitar, the song still unfinished. Fu Han was left behind, guitar and all.
"Where did you go?" Ji Qingyu walked to the balcony, opened the security window, and let the cat in. The stray cat affectionately rubbed against the back of Ji Qingyu's hand, acting cute. Then it saw the alpha standing behind Ji Qingyu.
It stared at Fu Han warily, and Fu Han looked back at it.
“It’s okay,” Ji Qingyu said. “It’s not fierce. If you give it dried fish, it won’t bite you.”
Ji Qingyu handed the dried fish to Fu Han, who squatted down with a displeased look. The dried fish was tiny in the alpha's hand. The three-flowered dog stared at Fu Han for several seconds before slowly walking over and taking a bite of the dried fish from his hand. It ate quickly, and after finishing, it looked up at Ji Qingyu and barked twice.
"See?" Ji Qingyu lowered his head, his hair falling down and obscuring his profile. He was smiling, a gentle and beautiful smile. He raised his hand to gather his hair behind his head. "It's very well-behaved."
After a long silence, Ji Qingyu turned his head and found Fu Han looking at him with a gentle gaze: "Has anyone ever told you that you're a little silly?"
"You're the silly one," Ji Qingyu said with a smile. "I just want to live like this forever, without having to think too much. I'm already very happy."
Fu Han sighed and sat cross-legged on the wooden floor: "The song we were just playing hasn't finished yet."
Sanhua meowed twice and snuggled up to Ji Qingyu, refusing to leave. Ji Qingyu had no choice but to put her hands on the floor and laugh, her voice slow and gentle: "If you want to hear it, I'll sing it for you."
The hospital lights flickered twice; the wind picked up outside.
Ji Qingyu gripped the doorknob and pushed the door open. The two doctors inside were stunned. The younger one gasped, and the two looked as if they had seen a ghost. Ji Qingyu stared intently at them, her eyes icy cold.
“What do you mean? Explain yourself,” Ji Qingyu said.
One of the doctors, who had the most dealings with Ji Qingyu, knew he couldn't hide it any longer and could only sigh.
“Mr. Ji, you should know that it’s already quite remarkable that Ms. Lin Ying has been able to endure her illness for so long. We couldn’t bear to hide it from you, but we had no choice because of the pressure from above.”
"How much longer?"
"The surgery time I told you about is at the latest that it will take until then."
Ji Qingyu's expression froze. He nodded and turned to walk towards Lin Ying's ward. Halfway there, his phone rang. He tried to hang up, but the other person persisted, repeating the call over and over. He picked it up and saw it was Ma Yu.
"Hello..." Ji Qingyu answered the phone.
"Xiaoyu, look at Weibo! Fu's Group has sued Ji Ran, accusing him of stealing trade secrets. Netizens are in an uproar."
"Does it matter?" Ji Qingyu said, "I understand." Ma Yu paused, noticing something was off in Ji Qingyu's tone: "Xiaoyu, what's wrong?"
"I'm fine." Ji Qingyu hung up the phone, but his phone rang again two seconds later. He looked down and saw that it was Fu Han this time.
Ji Qingyu hung up the phone, but Fu Han kept calling, so she muted the call.
No need to apply for a few minutes of visiting time anymore, the doctor opened the ward and let him in. He leaned against Lin Ying's bed and put his head next to Lin Ying's hand.
He just wanted to stay quietly by her side, to stay with her forever. His phone screen lit up and went off repeatedly in the dark, but no one paid any attention.
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