Chapter 17 17 You should have expected this day when you fell into my hands.
Dusk fell, and the setting sun weakly enveloped half of the city. In summer, the daylight hours were relatively long, and by the time the sun set, it had already exhausted itself and died. The glass windows outside the office building shimmered with golden light, and the residual warmth was still there, like a wild carp that had evolved without its cheeks.
This industrial park is currently undergoing expansion, and with the influx of talented individuals, the development of public spaces has received increased attention. A popular saying has emerged: "Work exhausts you, leave work to strengthen your body." In addition to the company's free gym and yoga studio within the office building, there's a free, reserved gymnasium not far from the building, featuring a court for ball games. Many people go there after work to play ball. There's also a swimming pool next door, though a swimming pass is required for entry.
The first floor of the East Hall houses a badminton court on the left and a basketball court on the right. The center section houses open halls at both ends. Both areas, featuring mirrored walls, are now being utilized as dance studios. The second floor houses table tennis courts and a rock climbing gym. All other sports are located in the West Hall.
Free things are hard to book, especially popular venues like badminton and basketball courts. The official mini-program often has bugs, but fortunately, for Fu Yu, bugs are more comfortable than no bugs. The server hosting the mini-program is relatively lightweight. It releases reservations every morning at 6:00 a.m., so it's understandable that it would get stuck due to the influx of traffic. Moreover, a program that can get stuck like a super old man's PowerPoint presentation must not have a very accurate time judgment. Manually setting the system time and shaking it will make it believe it.
Even with this uncanny skill, Fu Yu only enjoyed the benefits a little earlier than the amateur masters. Later, the group of badminton players also learned of this method, but courts were still difficult to reserve. Therefore, when they could negotiate, he and Wu Jiang would share a net with others or play doubles. Reservations were made every half hour, and they often played for two or three hours at a time, sometimes seeing off three groups of people from dawn to dusk.
Wu Jiang sat on a bench wiping his sweat and taking a break. Fu Yu, wearing a white sleeveless badminton suit, was playing one-on-one with a heavyweight player on the court. Another player who was traveling with the other player was also resting off the court. The two of them were counting the score, which was currently tied at 6-6.
"You're quite flexible, buddy." This man had a green dragon tattoo on his forearm, and Wu Jiang silently called him Tattoo Brother.
"Yes, he's very tough to play against. It's not easy to beat him," Wu Jiang said. He knew Fu Yu's style of play very well. If you wanted to receive the ball, he'd pass it to you in a moment if he was in a good mood. If he didn't want you to receive the ball, he'd inevitably dribble back and forth. His backcourt game wasn't anything special, but in the frontcourt, he was a top-notch schemer. The subtle adjustment of his glasses after each shot made him look even more conspiratorial.
The tattooed man asked as he was wrapping his hands with rubber bands: "What kind of racket is he using?"
Although Wu Jiang believed that Fu Yu's conspiracy theory was purely his personal trick and not because of the badminton racket, he still told Tattooed Brother the brand and model of the racket.
On the court, Fu Yu bent his knees and jumped up in an instant. When he swung the racket, his right shoulder rotated, his deltoid muscles tightened, his left arm was raised high to aim, his waist and abdomen exerted force, and the racket chopped down a shadow with the sound of wind.
"This ball shouldn't be spiked like this," Tattooed Man predicted, "It's definitely not going to get over the net."
Before Wu Jiang could finish his seconding motion, the badminton just happened to brush past the net, somersaulted playfully, and landed squarely on the opposite side.
Tattooed guy was speechless, "Awesome."
At the end of the game, Fu Yu narrowly won. He lifted the hem of his jersey to wipe away the sweat, the glistening beads of sweat glistening against his fair skin. He walked to the dugout, where Wu Jiang handed him a bottle of water. He tilted his head back and gulped down a large gulp. The sweat dripping onto his collar proved he wasn't indifferent to the world. That play was also a gamble for him. After all, there was a win or a loss. Losing didn't mean much, but winning would alleviate some of the nagging thoughts and anxieties that were brewing.
"Where's my cell phone?" Fu Yu asked.
"Here it is." Wu Jiang lifted up his golf bag, and the screen of his mobile phone lit up, clean and without a single notification.
Fu Yu unlocked her phone and opened the chat with Tang Ke. The conversation was still at noon. She'd said her bestie was staying at her house next week, so she wouldn't have to drive her to and from work. He replied with a "good"—but if you broke down the words, you could tell he meant "as if facing a formidable enemy."
They only have so much time to see each other every day, and it was confiscated so ruthlessly and casually. Doesn't this mean that they won't see each other for a long time?
So Fu Yu tried all kinds of medical treatments in desperation.
Tang Ke often forwarded him posts on Xiaohongshu about places to eat, drink and have fun in the same city. He would click on them one by one again as a last-minute effort, like an unlucky student in an open-book exam who frantically searches for the answers but can't find them.
Finally, I found a promotion for grabbing dolls at the game city for 9.9 yuan and 50 coins that was about to end this weekend and was close to the date.
He quoted that post and asked very reservedly, very reasonably, and very understandingly: "This is almost over, do you still want to go?"
As a result, I didn't hear from Tang Ke all afternoon.
No news.
No.
"You look so grim, what's wrong?" Wu Jiang rarely saw him checking his phone so frequently, so she guessed, "Did Old Liu send you another task?"
"No." Fu Yu turned off the screen, dejectedly threw the useless thing onto the golf bag, unscrewed the bottle cap and took another gulp of mineral water.
This is not the way to drink the love potion.
Wu Jiang was confused. "Then what are you worried about? You don't have any work to do, and you're newlyweds. Don't act like you're in menopause."
Yes, he is newlywed and if his wife doesn’t reply to his messages, he looks like he is 20 years older. Isn’t he in menopause?
Fu Yu ignored him and wiped his sweat.
The sticky feeling on his body increased his anxiety. As the sweat evaporated, something was performing a mysterious ritual on him, sucking his soul away. The invisible shackles bound him so tightly that he couldn't breathe.
After a long while, he asked Wu Jiang, "When do you and Xiaoli plan to get married?"
"As for us, we plan to have the wedding first and then get the marriage certificate. You know Xiaoli's family situation. Her parents are getting divorced even though they're old, and she said she'll wait until things settle down before getting married." Wu Jiang tugged at his collar to cool down and continued, "Actually, we've been preparing for the wedding. I've been looking at venues since last year, and it should be done by the end of this year."
"Well, that's good." Fu Yu didn't respond well.
Wu Jiang straightened up with a start, leaned closer and asked, "Hey, when are you and Tang Ke going to have your wedding?"
"No."
"Ah..." Wu Jiang said with a look of regret, "How can this be possible?" "Shouldn't women look forward to weddings more? Xiaoli is really concerned about it. She said it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it has to be perfect."
Fu Yu glanced at the head where the left and right brains were fighting each other and both were injured, and said, "If you keep having this stereotype, I will go to Xiaoli to complain."
Wu Jiang was confused, his eyes wide with question marks: "What are you complaining about? What's wrong with me?"
"She's only serious about marrying you, but you think she's calculating."
"No, you misunderstood me..." Wu Jiang's mind suddenly brightened, and he said tentatively: "Hiss, then you are not holding a wedding because -"
"Because he is frugal and manages the household well." Fu Yu interrupted him and didn't let him continue.
Even if Fu Yu knew the truth, he wouldn't reveal it openly, preferring it to remain a gray, muddled mess. One of the golden rules of programmers is to leave the code as it works, as long as the inputs and outputs are correct. Too much greed will only lead to bad consequences.
He left his seat and asked Wu Jiang to come on and play for a while.
His calves gradually swelled, and his right arm ached from prolonged use of explosive power. After seeing off the heavyweight fighter and the tattooed man, Fu Yu returned to the rest area. His hands barely had the strength they normally possessed; even unscrewing a bottle cap took effort. Wu Jiang had fought less than him, but he tired even faster. He alternated between sitting and running, quickly draining his energy.
In order to avoid exhausting themselves, the two decided to end their physical fitness activities today.
Fu Yu took a final look at his phone and discovered that he had received two new message notifications on WeChat ten minutes ago.
"Wait a moment."
Wu Jiang, who was packing up his equipment, stopped what he was doing and asked in confusion: "What are you doing?"
"Go to the court and find out if there are any usable balls. Bring them back." Fu Yu handed him the badminton tube like a beggar, while his attention was completely on his phone.
Wu Jiang understood it all at a glance, "Is it Tang Ke who is looking for you?" She couldn't help but roll her eyes at him, and went to pick up the trash while holding the badminton racket, muttering to herself.
Tank: "Go! If you hadn't told me, I would have almost forgotten!"
Tank: "I was super busy today. I had a meeting this afternoon, and I was on the phone with my junior boss for over an hour this evening. I cried a lot."
Fu Yu's whole body seemed to be brushed by feathers, and it felt numb and tingling all over.
ForU: "Thank you for your hard work, Director Tang."
ForU: "/kittenpathead.jpg"
Tank: "It's not hard work, but a hard life"
Tank: "Where did you go today? Your WeChat step count is almost 30,000."
ForU: "I didn't go anywhere. I was playing ball with my colleagues at night."
Fu Yu took a photo of the court and sent it to her.
Tank: "I saw Wu Jiang hahahaha"
Tank: "Why don't I see you? Newcomers are posting photos."
His heart, which had been clenched for so long, was soothed by her words. Fu Yu knew he was a loser, so he let her do whatever she wanted. He had only heard that falling in love with a mistress was a mistake, but he had never heard of falling in love with his wife and not knowing how it would end. He was an outlier.
Fu Yu took a selfie with his squash-like head at an extreme angle and clicked send.
Tank: "Mobile Phones for Elderly People on the Subway"
ForU: "It's all sweat, don't be too strong"
Tank: "Go away, hahahahahahahahaha"
Tang Ke skillfully cut the photo into a square and added the following text: "Are you there? Check out those abs."
Save the emoticon package and send it to me.
ForU: "?"
Tank: "You should have known what would happen if you fell into my hands."
ForU: "..."
"Are you done yet? Can we go now?" Wu Jiang came back dragging a bunch of scrap balls. Seeing that he was still dating online, she couldn't stand it any more. "Can we go home and talk? I know your relationship is over."
Fu Yu stuffed the phone into Wu Jiang's hand, then took off his shirt and pretended to take his racket out of his bag. He said, "Go, take a secret photo of me."
"?" Wu Jiang didn't understand what he meant by this and couldn't help but curse: "Are you sick or am I sick?"
"My wife is checking up on me."
"oh."
Wu Jiang stood ten meters away, zoomed the camera eight times, and took a picture of Fu Yu's white back. In the camera, he turned around, revealing his white abdominal muscles, and took another picture. He squatted down to tie his shoelaces, and took another picture.
Anyone with a discerning eye could see he was spreading his wings like a peacock. Wu Jiang, having experienced this herself, knew it all too well. Fu Yu usually covered himself up like a Russian nesting doll, but when it came time to report to his wife, he actually took it off without a second thought.
"Is that ok, handsome guy?" Wu Jiang returned the phone to him.
Fu Yu didn't care how his brothers teased him. He conscientiously picked out the photo that showed his abdominal muscles and was ready to hand it in. However, at the last step, he hesitated.
In fact, he knew that it was just her talk and she was not really interested in his body. The reason why he closed his eyes and covered his ears and fell for it was simply because he had been restless for an entire afternoon and night and was thinking about her.
If he gets angry, will she do anything to him... or forget it.
He even chose to take photos in the congested state after exercise. How stupid.
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The author has something to say: Tang Ke: Stop talking nonsense, let me see it first.
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