late at night
Zhong Yunxi had planned to pick up his grandmother at the entrance of the community early in the morning to go to the flower market, but because of the oral medication he took before bed, he was drowsy and didn't wake up early in the morning.
When he arrived at the flower market, his grandmother had already finished shopping and was going to have breakfast, so he ate with her.
He was worried about Bai Yi and asked, "Grandma, how was Xiao Yi's mood yesterday?"
"I don't know what happened, I didn't eat dinner. I probably ate at work. When I got back, I went straight to my bedroom."
Bai Yi used to live in Xiangcheng. When he got off work the day before the weekend, he liked to go inside to play games and watch movies, since he didn't have to get up early the next day anyway.
This kind of schedule is perfectly normal for young people.
Grandma noticed that he looked a bit pale and said, "But you don't look so energetic."
Grandma didn't know that the two had argued again yesterday, so Zhong Yunxi didn't bring it up again. He just told the old woman a few words about his schedule over the past week and said, "Grandma, I have never taken marriage lightly. I will not divorce Xiaoyi."
Grandma remained silent this time. He knew the problem she had mentioned to him before and that it would need to be solved sooner or later. She just hadn't expected him to make a decision and plan so quickly.
When they returned, Zhong Yunxi still helped them carry the flowers and walk the dog.
He hadn't come for a few days, and Bubble didn't recognize him anymore. It took a while of teasing and playing with him before he let Bubble hold the leash.
"Grandma, what does Xiaoyi usually do on weekends?" Zhong Yunxi wanted to know her lifestyle in Xiangcheng.
Grandma glanced at him: "You two have been together in Vietnam and Hong Kong for so long, didn't you know?"
He said, "I know, I go shopping, drink coffee, play games, and sleep in."
Grandma smiled and nodded, "In Xiangcheng, besides what you mentioned, she would also go shopping, eat out, and attend concerts with her senior classmates, Xiaoyuan. At home, she would play with bubbles, play the piano, and read books. Just the things that young people do these days."
Zhong Yunxi hummed in agreement: "She has more friends here than in Yuegang."
"You don't know anyone here, do you?"
"Yes, I've never been to Xiangcheng before."
Grandma asked one more question: "It must be tough working here again."
"It's alright. I'm friends with Mr. Chen from Dongchen Fund in Beijing. He has already made arrangements in the Southwest Chinese medicine industry and is familiar with some local departments. We can connect with resources. I'll come to Xiangcheng often in the future and visit him more often."
He spoke simply in a few words, and his grandmother merely nodded, not acknowledging that what he did could secure his marriage to Bai Yi.
After dropping his grandmother off at the apartment complex, he consciously didn't go upstairs with her. Instead, he handed his things to Aunt Sun downstairs and even picked up Bubble and petted it.
Back home, no one mentioned Zhong Yunxi, but when Bai Yi was eating, Paopao jumped onto her lap and snuggled against her, so she knew that Zhong Yunxi had been there.
Bubble was covered in his perfume; she did it.
She put the bubbles in to keep it from rubbing against her, and asked Aunt Sun to take it to the pet store for a bath today.
In the morning, Xue Meng arrived in Xiangcheng. Besides work-related matters, he also reported to Zhong Yunxi about the several houses he had selected.
The boss wanted to settle down in Xiangcheng, so the house couldn't be taken lightly. Xue Meng focused on the villa. When he was cleaning up Boyuntan, Zhong Yunxi told him that Bai Yi liked to live in a villa.
“The houses in the villa communities you mentioned that are currently available are not very suitable. The best villa area in Xiangcheng is on the Fourth Ring Road, which is not too far from here.”
Zhong Yunxi nodded: "Okay, you go ahead and choose first. Pick a few sets with a style similar to Boyuntan, and then I'll make the final order."
Xue Meng sorted the documents he brought onto his desk and then went to do other things.
He stayed in Xiangcheng for the entire weekend, including Monday morning.
At six o'clock in the morning, I would go to the entrance of the community to pick up my grandma and aunt Sun, and we would go out to the flower market, have breakfast, and walk the dog.
His grandmother would tell him about Bai Yi's past, mentioning her parents' divorce and how she was taken by her grandfather to Xinjiang for a summer vacation one year. She got along very well with the children in the mountain village there, and after returning, she often sent them books and clothes. She still keeps in touch with some of them.
“She grew up in a different environment than you,” Grandma emphasized.
Zhong Yunxi simply nodded: "I know, but Grandma, the environment in which I grew up cannot determine whether Xiaoyi and I can be together."
They showed no sign of backing down in the face of difficulty.
He also emphasized, "The moment I saw her, I wanted to marry her."
grandmother:……
“Grandma, you also said that I am purposeful and resilient in doing things, but when I am with Xiaoyi, I have no purpose, only intention. In the past, I could judge whether something could be done and to what extent it could be done based on instinct and experience. I am an investor, and I will never waste time and energy on things that have no results or where the effort is not commensurate with the results.”
“But when I married Xiaoyi, I didn’t know if she loved me or if she would willingly marry me two years later. She was always thinking about getting a divorce after two years and would remind me from time to time. Even though we were together day and night, sharing the same bed, I was still anxious every single day. If the people and things around me caused her even the slightest disturbance, I would be even more anxious than she was. But I still love her, and I love her more every day than the day before. I didn’t consider any costs with Xiaoyi; she is my ‘any price to pay’.”
Domineering, stubborn, predatory, humble, fearful.
The more beautiful love is, the more twisted the nature within a person can be stirred.
In the end, all Grandma said was, "Try to keep these thoughts to yourself in front of her. Don't make her feel pressured to be with you."
He nodded.
He didn't have a chance to see Bai Yi all weekend.
He came to Xiangcheng this time intending to coax her, but seeing how familiar and natural she was with Yu Shiyuan, he couldn't help but say hurtful things to her and himself.
He knew perfectly well how powerless he was to defend himself when Bai Yi minded Wen Ying, yet he used Yu Shiyuan to question her, leaving her speechless as well.
He deserved to have his ring thrown away by Bai Yi.
If you deeply love someone and an admirer appears in her life, you should reflect on your own actions instead of questioning her.
But he made a completely wrong reaction.
There's only one reason he went to question him: he was afraid.
He wasn't afraid when dealing with Zhou Qi because he knew Bai Yi didn't love Zhou Qi, so he wouldn't take Zhou Qi seriously.
Now, with the halo of his youthful glory shining upon him, Bai Yi doesn't believe he can compare to Yu Shiyuan, and becomes completely lost.
He was used to fighting and grabbing, but he hadn't learned how to handle things gently.
He hurt himself and Bai Yi so deeply before he realized that love is never about defeating the opponent, but about making himself irreplaceable to her.
On Monday morning, as usual, he accompanied his grandmother to the flower market before flying back to Vietnam. He arrived at the East Tower on Hong Kong Island around 9 a.m. to start a meeting and handle work.
When he gets off work in the evening, while others commute by subway or car, he drives a private jet.
He goes to the residential area around 8 p.m. every night to deliver some things before returning to the hotel.
It wasn't anything expensive; sometimes it was a bowl of soup, sometimes just milk tea from Song Kee, desserts from Lei Garden, or a bunny doll, scarf, or hair clip...
He wouldn't come directly to her door; Bai Yi didn't want to see him. He would just make a phone call and ask Aunt Sun to come down and pick it up.
However, Bai Yi wouldn't eat the food he sent, and wouldn't even open the packaging.
On weekends, he would stay in Xiangcheng and bring Lu Xin along, hoping to have a chance to see Bai Yi.
Lu Xin was woken up early in the morning and went to accompany his grandmother to the flower market without even eating breakfast.
“I work for my junior sister in Yuegang on weekdays to help her with Runhe's business, and I come to help you pursue your wife on weekends. Did I break you two up in my past life, and am I paying off my debt in this life?” Lu Xin felt that this life was too bitter.
“I think so too. So you should pay off your debts and accumulate good karma.”
Lu Xin: ...
"How do you plan to repay me?"
Zhong Yunxi got out of the car at the entrance of the residential area. "I'll let you sit at the head table at the wedding."
Lu Xin rolled his eyes: "I don't care about your main table. I won't even take you there. With your reputation and character, you've offended all your relatives and friends. I doubt anyone would want to sit at the main table."
Zhong Yunxi glanced at him and said, "It's fine if you don't want to come, as long as the gift money arrives."
Lu Xin: ...
That's truly shameless.
When Grandma saw that Lu Xin had come over today, she smiled and asked him, "Professor Wu said that Xiao Yi is back. You'll take over the work in Yuegang from her. It's good that you guys are here, so she can slack off."
Lu Xin laughed and said, "Grandma, please don't say that. If it weren't for me, my junior sister wouldn't have encountered all these unpleasant things in Yuegang. It's all my fault. Besides, when Teacher Wu scolds us, it's always my junior sister who stops him."
Zhong Yunxi listened to their conversation, silently taking Paopao from Aunt Sun's hands. Paopao was quite familiar with him now, and would run over and wag its tail whenever it saw him. The dog was rather scatterbrained; it would become affectionate with whoever played with it.
But every day, it gets covered in Zhong Yunxi's perfume, and when it gets home, Bai Yi complains and insists on holding it down while it takes a bath. Now, Bubble isn't affectionate with her anymore.
Lu Xin glanced at Zhong Yunxi and asked his grandmother, "Is Xiaoyi still sleeping in? I called her yesterday and told her that she made plans to go shopping with He Cheng today."
Grandma picked out a few blue-purple lilies and aurora daisies.
Zhong Yunxi looked at the color scheme, picked up a few ice blue flowers and handed them to the florist to package together.
Now he observes the style and color scheme of the flowers his grandmother buys every day, and puts in a few roses of similar colors so that they don't look out of place and won't be thrown away by Bai Yi. His grandmother doesn't stop him.
"Yes, they said they were going to have coffee. There was a girl there, who seems to be dating He Cheng, and Xiao Yuan too. They were meeting up to discuss some script." Grandma said slowly, seemingly intentionally telling Zhong Yunxi.
Lu Xin knew Bai Yi's habits in Xiangcheng better than Zhong Yunxi, and asked, "Let's go to that coffee shop in Baize Lake Square. Junior Sister likes their Geisha beans."
Grandma nodded: "She drinks coffee from that place. When she first went to Viet Hong Kong, I asked her if there was a coffee shop there, and she said no."
Zhong Yunxi continued, "In Vietnam and Hong Kong, she likes a coffee shop called BETTY in the East Tower of Hong Kong Island, as well as Song Ji's milk tea."
He brought Bai Yi milk tea in the evening, and her grandmother knew it was from Songji, a brand Bai Yi loved to drink when she was in middle school. But she had never actually drunk it.
Grandma didn't want to discourage him, but it was too wasteful, so she added, "Don't bring her milk tea anymore. She doesn't drink it, and you end up throwing away two or three cups a week. It's such a waste."
Zhong Yunxi lowered his head slightly, picked up a few Kayla roses, looked at them, and asked the florist to wrap them up separately, but he knew that Kayla would definitely be thrown away by her.
His face was expressionless. "Grandma, you don't know her. Even if she doesn't want it, I have to give it to her, otherwise she'll get even angrier. She loves seeing me helpless against her. It's not the first or second time she's thrown my things away; she's thrown them away even more in Vietnam and Hong Kong."
grandmother:……
Zhong Yunxi's words were tinged with helplessness, yet also with a sense of familiarity, making it seem as if they had raised a little troublemaker.
But Zhong Yunxi was afraid that her grandmother would scold her when she got back, so she explained on her behalf, "Please don't blame her, it was my idea to deliver it."
The old man sighed, thinking that these young people nowadays had never experienced hardship, spending so extravagantly on dating.
In the afternoon, Zhong Yunxi had just finished eating when he asked Lu Xin to go to that coffee shop with him.
Lu Xin was truly exasperated with this father. "Can't you let me catch up on some sleep? I have to get up before six in the morning and I can't even take a nap. Even capitalists can't exploit their employees like this. My junior sister definitely won't go shopping right after lunch."
“You came back to catch up on sleep after breakfast. I worked overtime all morning, did I say anything?” Zhong Yunxi stood at his room door, waiting for him to change his clothes.
Lu Xin scoffed at him: "How much money do you make working overtime? I'd go with you to stake out your junior sister, it's just to be your kneeling companion."
Upon arriving at the store, Zhong Yunxi asked him, "Which one does Xiaoyi like to drink?"
Lu Xin pointed to the order page on his phone and showed it to him: "Latte, Geisha beans."
He nodded: "You drink this too?"
"I don't want coffee this afternoon, just give me a sparkling water."
Zhong Yunxi didn't drink an iced Americano today; he ordered himself a drink that Bai Yi likes.
When Bai Yi and He Cheng arrived, it was almost 3 p.m.
They ordered their food and sat down. They saw He Cheng looking at the table to their right and behind them. They turned around and saw Lu Xin and Zhong Yunxi.
The two got up and came over. Lu Xin smiled and said, "What a coincidence! Let's share a table. I haven't been to Xiangcheng for more than half a month."
Bai Yi: ...
Yu Shiyuan: ...
He Cheng was furious when he saw Zhong Yunxi behind Lu Xin, and said to Lu Xin in a sarcastic tone, "You are a real traitor."
Lu Xin chuckled and complained to Bai Yi, "Junior Sister, you go back to Xiangcheng to enjoy your life, while I'm working like a slave between the Yuegang Research Institute and Runhe every day. I don't even get to have a cup of coffee with my senior brother."
Bai Yi looked at Lu Xin, pursed her lips, and didn't want to say anything.
Ultimately, thanks to Lu Xin's thick skin, the two managed to secure a place at the table.
There were six people: Bai Yi, Pei Xin, and He Cheng sat on one side, and opposite them were Yu Shiyuan, Lu Xin, and Zhong Yunxi.
Bai Yi and Zhong Yunxi sat at the furthest corner, while Yu Shiyuan sat opposite them.
She was still wearing her white cashmere dress and her favorite green sandalwood belt. Yu Shiyuan placed his car keys on the corner of the table.
The green sandalwood beads on the keychain complemented Bai Yi's belt perfectly, making it stand out strikingly.
Lu Xin was stunned for a moment when he saw it, and subconsciously glanced at Zhong Yunxi.
He appeared calm on the surface, but actually, just looking at him made my forehead throb with pain.
He was like an outsider, observing the two of them.
He insisted on saying they were childhood sweethearts, as if Bai Yi wanted to show him what the tacit understanding between childhood sweethearts really meant. He wasn't particularly interested in the documentary script and filming before, but today he listened with great interest as Pei Xin and Yu Shiyuan discussed it.
Bai Yi didn't say a word to him, sparing him even a glance, deliberately avoiding him.
He watched Bai Yi drink coffee, then tasted his own. It was delicious, with a rich and mellow aroma.
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