70 Don't Leave Me Again
On Monday, when Liu Yuwei dragged her still-unhealed body out of bed, Jin Lang was still fast asleep in her bed. His ear, peeking through his tousled black hair, still bore the marks of her last night's passion. Jin Lang, by some stroke of luck, had learned the code to Liu Yuwei's front door, and for a while, he'd come almost daily. When he wasn't busy, he'd drive directly to pick her up from work, much to her dread. Once, by chance, she ran into an acquaintance in the elevator. Seeing her also go to the parking lot, he casually asked, "Is your boyfriend picking you up?" Without a second thought, Liu Yuwei raised her voice and denied it. Later, to avoid further detection, she developed a method: she'd go to the first floor with a colleague, pretend to go to the bathroom to touch up her makeup, and then slip out through the emergency exit to the garage. Liu Yuwei felt like she had a bit of a secret agent in her, a mixture of nervousness and a touch of secret excitement. Sometimes, Jin Lang would prepare a meal for her at her house. Tired after a long day, she entered the house to the aroma of food under the warm, soft light. Liu Yuwei instantly understood Liu Wenjun's expectations of Yuyao, or rather, the expectations most men in this society hold for women and family. So this is what being waited on like this feels like, like crawling into a warm bed on a cold night. In the past, facing this situation, Liu Yuwei would probably have wondered if he could continue to "dedicate himself" to her for decades. But now, she decided not to dwell on uncertainty. Perhaps no relationship in the world is static. Regardless of the outcome, he was willing to give at this moment, so she simply needed to experience it for what it is. Life is a long journey, but at least this one, she had a smile and someone to accompany her. Of course, the effort in the kitchen often yields double in the bedroom. The tenderness at the dinner table always translates into a surging tide in the bedroom. Even if he was too busy during the day to keep in touch, no matter how late it was after work, Jin Lang would return to that old neighborhood. One early morning, he entered the house. The bedroom door was ajar, letting in a ray of warm yellow light—a light left on for him. As far as his eyes could see, Liu Yuwei was curled up in her blanket, her long hair covering the pillow, her breaths steady and even as she slept. He stood by her bed, watching her for a long moment, ultimately placing a kiss, lighter than a feather, on her smooth forehead before retreating back to the living room. He feared the warmth would disturb her dreams, and even more so, he feared he would lose control and cling to the soft blankets like a vine entwining an old tree. In the middle of the night, thirsty, Liu Yuwei went to the kitchen to get some water and stumbled upon this comical yet pitiful scene: a 5'86" tall man huddled on a loveseat, a thin blanket barely covering half his waist, his long legs and arms barely…
On Monday, when Liu Yuwei dragged her still-unrecovered body out of bed, Jin Lang was still sleeping soundly on her bed. The traces of her passion from last night were still on his earlobe, which was exposed between his messy black hair.
Jin Lang turned a disaster into a blessing and got the password to Liu Yuwei's house door. After that, he came to report almost every day for a period of time.
When he was not busy, he would drive directly to pick up Liu Yuwei from get off work, which made her scared.
Once, she happened to run into an acquaintance in the elevator. Seeing her also heading to the parking lot, the other person casually asked, "Is your boyfriend here to pick you up?" Without a second thought, Liu Yuwei immediately raised her voice and denied it.
Later, in order to avoid being discovered again, she figured out a way to make contact: first go to the first floor with her colleagues, pretend to go to the bathroom to touch up her makeup, and then sneak to the garage through the emergency passage.
Liu Yuwei felt that she had some potential as a female spy, and she felt nervous but also had a bit of secret excitement.
Sometimes Jin Lang would prepare meals for Liu Yuwei at her house and wait for her to come back. After a tiring day, she would enter the house and be greeted by the aroma of food under the warm and soft light.
Liu Yuwei instantly understood Liu Wenjun's expectations of Yuyao, or rather, the expectations most men in this society have for women and family. So this is what it felt like to be waited on like this, like crawling into a warm bed on a cold night.
In the past, Liu Yuwei, faced with this situation, would likely have wondered if he could continue to "dedicate himself to love" like this for decades. But now, she's decided not to waste her mind on uncertainty. Perhaps no relationship in the world is static.
No matter what the outcome is, he is willing to give it to her at this moment, so she just needs to experience it truly.
Life is a long journey, but at least in this part, I have someone to accompany me while I smile.
Of course, the effort in the kitchen often returns to the bedroom twice as much. The tenderness at the dining table always turns into a surging tide in the bed.
Even if he was too busy during the day to keep in touch, Jin Lang would return to the old neighborhood no matter how late it was after work.
One morning, he entered the house. The bedroom door was ajar, letting in a ray of warm yellow light, a light left on for him. As far as he could see, Liu Yuwei was curled up in her quilt, her long hair covering the pillow, her breathing steady and even as she slept soundly.
He stood by the bed and watched for a long moment, but ultimately he only placed a kiss, lighter than a feather, on her smooth forehead before retreating back to the living room. He was afraid that the warmth would disturb her dreams, and even more afraid that he would lose control and become entangled in the soft blankets like a vine entwining an old tree.
In the middle of the night, Liu Yuwei was thirsty and went to the kitchen to get some water, when she saw this funny and pitiful scene: a 1.86-meter-tall man was curled up on a double sofa, with a thin blanket barely covering half of his waist, and his long legs and arms almost hanging to the ground.
From that night on, Jin Lang said goodbye to the sofa and officially took over half of the bedroom bed. He also took advantage of Liu Yuwei's business trip to move more personal belongings, treating this place as his second home.
When the hostess returned home, there were pairs of slippers placed in the entrance hall, and a silver razor was added next to her essence behind the mirror cabinet; and the grid on the bottom layer of the wardrobe, which was originally piled with various vacuum bags, was now neatly filled with his clothes.
Later, Liu Yuwei unexpectedly discovered that the graduation photo of her and Ren Yiming on the photo wall had disappeared, and was replaced by the photo of Jin Lang and her in front of the Brandenburg Gate.
Like a frog in boiling water, Jin Lang gradually invaded her life.
Liu Yuwei still hasn't figured out how to define their relationship, but no matter from which angle you look at it, cohabitation has become an indisputable fact.
Perhaps there is no need to rush to define it. Just as the morning always follows the night, some things will happen naturally and quietly.
During this period, Jin Lang did not mention meeting Li Xin again, but due to the nature of his work, Liu Yuwei inevitably met Zhang Yi and Xiao Zhou several times.
Zhang Yi remained polite yet distant, barely speaking to Liu Yuwei, only nodding and smiling. Xiao Zhou, on the other hand, became familiar with her, calling her "Sister Yuwei" all the time, and even privately told Liu Yuwei that he would help her "keep an eye on" Jin Lang. The revolutionary front quickly switched sides.
Liu Yuwei had already assumed in her mind that Jin Lang's friends probably knew about her existence, so when she received a call from Shen Cheng that day, she thought that Jin Lang was up to something again.
Visiting the Cultural and Creative Park again, the flowers and trees here were completely different from the bleak winter I remembered last year. Back then, Liu Yuwei was anxiously pondering Jin Lang's relationship with Xingguang, and the possibility of running into him was a mixture of resistance and panic.
But no one expected that after a few months, fate would be like a pair of scissors in the hands of a gardener, which could change the established growth trajectory of the plant with a click, and under the catalysis of people, things and events, new branches would grow.
In the conference room, the sunlight cast mottled shadows on Liu Yuwei's hands.
Secretary Chen brought a cup of hot tea and said, "Lawyer Liu, Mr. Shen has something urgent to attend to. Please wait for a moment!"
Liu Yuwei nodded, and the hot air carrying the scent of jasmine rose up, triggering a fragment of memory in her mind.
"Secretary Chen, I really appreciated your reminder during our first meeting. You even changed the bottled water to hot tea. If I had drunk iced tea that day, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to finish my conversation with Mr. Shen."
Secretary Chen wore a professional smile, but her mind was already swirling with thoughts. Jin Lang's every action that day, from delivering water to buying medicine, was connected to Lawyer Liu. Add to that his spontaneous revelation that they were old classmates, and it's easy to imagine a story. If this were a TV show, she'd be acting as an NPC, offering clues to a romantic relationship.
"Lawyer Liu, I dare not take credit for myself. That day, Jin Lang said he had a sore throat and wanted some hot water, so I prepared tea for everyone."
Liu Yuwei's expression froze for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure.
Her palms were warm, and she put the teacup back on the table, but the corners of her lips curled up uncontrollably.
"Thank you anyway!"
There was a softness in his voice that he didn't even notice.
"You're welcome. I'll go see if Mr. Shen's meeting is over."
Secretary Chen's steps quickened as he turned around. He reached the door and glanced back, only to see Liu Yuwei looking down at his teacup, looking like he was holding a freshly peeled piece of candy, and even the air was filled with a hint of sweetness.
After a while, Shen Cheng pushed the door open and walked into the conference room alone. Liu Yuwei leaned over and looked back, but the expected person didn't appear, only an empty corridor.
"Is Jin Lang not here?"
The moment the words fell, a thick cloud happened to float past the window, and the light in the conference room suddenly dimmed.
Shen Cheng was also puzzled. One of these two people sent him a WeChat message reminding him: "Please ask Tiancheng to arrange a senior lawyer to review the contract. Don't ask Lawyer Liu, she has changed her position."
The other one asked directly when he saw me - "Why is Jin Lang not here?"
Putting several recent events together, my clever brain seemed to be connected to electricity, and a clear idea burst out in my mind.
"You two...are together again?"
Liu Yuwei's ears felt hot, and she asked reflexively, "Didn't he tell you?"
When I raised the teacup to my lips, I found that only a few curled petals were left at the bottom. I pinched the handle of the cup with my fingertips and turned it half a circle, trying to hide my panic.
"This brat always hides things from me!"
Shen Cheng angrily threw the blue clip in his hand onto the table.
"I should have just made him sign this unequal treaty!"
"So, Mr. Shen asked me to come here to review the contract?"
"How could it be otherwise? I treat him as a friend and work so hard for him, and yet he treats me like a beast of burden!"
Liu Yuwei was amused by his sarcastic tone, her eyebrows curved into crescents, and she said in a serious and comforting tone, "We are probably not... together, so he might want to wait and tell you to save you from being happy for nothing."
Shen Cheng was not stupid either. He could tell that Liu Yuwei was trying to excuse Jin Lang. He said that the important thing was to do the business first and he could settle the other matters later.
"Take a look at this first!" He handed the folder to Liu Yuwei through the air, his voice a little deeper.
"He wants to sign a bet with the investors, and I can't persuade him even if I try to talk him out of it!"
A while ago, Jin Lang excitedly told Liu Yuwei one day that a young director named Lin Zijian also accidentally saw the story of the father and son. When a good chef meets good ingredients, it takes like-minded people to work together to cook a good dish.
But pots, pans, oil, salt, sauce and vinegar all require money to buy. Even with actors like Jin Lang who have their own traffic and topics, people who pay for it can't help but worry that the private beef noodles will shrink into the size of Master Kong.
Liu Yuwei spent a quarter of an hour going over the contract. The main creators almost assumed unlimited joint and several liability, basic labor remuneration was linked to the results of the bet, and there were broad and strict moral risk clauses. No wonder Shen Cheng called it an "unequal treaty" and it would not be an exaggeration to call it a "sale contract."
When he returned home with the document, the snail boy was just serving the last plate of steamed sea bass. The melancholy Liu Yuwei felt over the contract was softened somewhat by the atmosphere of daily life.
Using chopsticks to pick up the last mouthful of rice in the bowl, she spoke casually.
"How's the planning of your movie going?"
"I remember you said before that the director and screenwriter had met?"
Jin Lang was serving her soup and smiled when he heard this.
"Well, it's going very smoothly. Zhang Yi recently helped me contact several platforms and film and television companies, and we're in talks about investment. If nothing unexpected happens, we'll have results soon."
He spoke lightly, as if it were just a normal chat after dinner.
Liu Yuwei put down his chopsticks and tilted his head. "What kind of story is it? Can I give you a spoiler?"
"A man returns home to attend his father's funeral, but clues indicate the old man's death was unnatural. Despite their difficult relationship, he resolves to uncover the cause of death. While investigating his father's life and relationships, he truly understands his taciturn father and unravels the knots of his youth."
She held her chin and rested her elbows on the table. "It seems a bit suspenseful!"
"Yes, it's a rare and good story." Jin Lang met her gaze and said frankly, "Of course I also have my own selfish motives."
The air suddenly became quiet, with only the occasional soft hum of the kitchen refrigerator. Liu Yuwei watched his Adam's apple move and asked softly, "You still have a knot in your heart about your uncle's accident, don't you?"
Her eyes were as gentle as the moonlight, yet sharp enough to penetrate all disguises.
"When your movie comes out, let's go back to the Acropolis to see him, okay?"
He didn't say anything, just looked at her, with stars welling up in his eyes, and nodded vigorously with a smile.
The two of them carried the plates into the kitchen together. As soon as Liu Yuwei picked up the plastic gloves, she was suddenly pulled into his arms by a strong force.
Jin Lang leaned over and buried his head in the crook of her neck, his breathing trembling slightly.
"Xiaoyu..."
His voice was muffled in her soft hair, "Don't leave me again."
The perfect display of weakness quickly softened Liu Yuwei's heart.
She hugged Jin Lang's waist with her backhand, her palms touching the warmth that penetrated through his clothes. She reached out and gently patted his back, saying one word with certainty - "Okay!"
The night outside the window flowed into the room, stretching the shadows of the two people very long, entwining and falling on the floor. The feelings that grew silently were secretive and surging.
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