Chapter 42: A Sudden Kiss
During the five minutes she lay on Fu Yu's back, Tang Ke racked her brains to say something salty to lighten the atmosphere, but she failed and remained silent the whole time.
The noisy sounds only swirled in her heart.
Is she too heavy? Where should I put my hands? Oops, are my leggings showing? His watch is poking at my leg... He looks like he has two whorls on the back of his head. I heard boys with whorls are smarter... My arm is burning. Is he getting a heat stroke? Did he just pinch her leg? Where is he taking her? There are so many people watching. What's his expression right now?
“…”
Fu Yu put her down and asked the staff at the Love Station for two Band-Aids. There were no seats available, and most people sat on the floor, but that wasn't a good option for Tang Ke, wearing a slip dress. He tore off the Band-Aid, knelt on one knee, and waved to her.
"Come here and hold my shoulders."
Tang Ke felt bad and forced a smile: "It's okay, I can do it myself."
She gently put down the bag containing the peripherals, moved the cross-body bag behind her, and lifted the hem of her skirt to check the injury on her heel.
A large blister appeared on my left foot, and the right was even worse, the blister already a bloody sacrifice. It would have been fine if I hadn't looked at it, but now that I've done so, the pain seems to have reached its maximum.
She sighed and took the Band-Aid from Fu Yu, only to find that he was still kneeling on the ground.
"Get up, I won't fall," she advised.
Fu Yu had no intention of standing up. He rested his wrists on his knees, raised his chin, and said, "You try it first."
Tang Ke bent down, unbuckled his shoes, and dropped his messenger bag as he leaned sideways. The chance of someone being killed by a messenger bag is low, but not zero.
She straightened up awkwardly and rearranged her cross-body bag. It was just a small mistake and nothing to worry about. Could the world be more understanding and tolerant of people with sensory integration disorders?
"Forget it, you almost wished everyone a happy new year." Fu Yu grabbed her wrist, pulled it to his shoulder, tilted his head, and said, "Sit down."
Tang Ke was confused: "What do you mean?"
"Sit on my shoulders and I'll help you stick it on."
"..." Tang Ke retreated, "There are no slaves in New China."
Fu Yu didn't waste any time talking to her. He put his arms around her thighs and pressed her onto his shoulders.
Tang Ke made a strange sound: "I can't crush you to death."
He lifted her heel and gently put a band-aid on it, retorting, "It won't hurt you to death."
Tang Ke still spoke in a strange voice. She said she was an islander from the Animal Forest Club.
Fu Yu was not affected. "Lift up the other one."
Tang Ke stood on tiptoe, "Jade feet."
"Don't move." Fu Yu patted the back of her foot lightly.
Tang Ke raised his shrill voice and pretended to be a eunuch, "Rebellion..."
After putting on the band-aid, Fu Yu waited for her to put on her shoes before slowly standing up and saying, "Wait a minute, I'll go wash my hands."
Tang Ke deliberately smacked his lips hard, "If you think it's dirty, then just don't touch it in the first place."
"Grandma, I have your blood on my hands. Can I use it to summon a spirit beast or something?"
A "Naruto" cosplayer happened to pass by them.
Tang Ke knew he was in the wrong, so he picked up the items on the ground and said, "I want to go too."
The women's restroom was packed, requiring a queue. The pain in my heel didn't completely go away after two band-aids; it only slightly lessened the friction, and the blister was still very noticeable.
Finally, after returning to the hotel with a lot of bags, the first thing Tang Ke did when he sat down was to throw off the beautiful torture device under his feet and sighed comfortably.
"I ordered medicine takeout and it will be delivered later." Fu Yu said.
Tang Ke hummed and stared at the ceiling in a daze.
In fact, she had a lot of things to do, such as photo editing, watching the video of the afternoon's stage performance, and arranging the peripherals she bought and the materials she received today, but she didn't have the energy to do any of them.
"Fu Yu." she called out.
"Um?"
"I feel so empty right now."
It was like having a lucid dream, I was sweating all over, the good things faded away one by one, and fatigue and confusion came flooding in.
Fu Yu took off his contact lenses, came out of the bathroom, looked at the man slumped over on the bed, and said, "Is it an empty heart or an empty stomach?"
Yes, she was in a hurry to get back, so they hadn't had dinner yet. Tang Ke sat up suddenly, his eyes sparkling: "Order takeout!"
Grilled cold noodles with soy sauce, spicy and sour cold noodles, tender fried skewers, and iced drinks will make this night no longer empty and lonely.
"cheers!"
"cheers."
As they ate, they planned their itinerary for the next day. They needed to check out before noon. The subway line to West Lake passed through Hangzhou East Station, so they could store their luggage there. The high-speed train would arrive home around 7 or 8 p.m., just in time to not affect their work the next day.
Thinking that it was Fu Yu who snatched the tickets, the hotel he booked, the suitcase he pushed on the road, and the medicine he bought for her injury, and only the small favors such as the high-speed rail tickets and food and water were provided by her, Tang Ke couldn't help but sigh:
"I've noticed that you're a little, how should I put it, too caring."
Fu Yu's cheeks puffed up. He paused after hearing this, then instantly returned to normal and asked, "Isn't it good to be able to take care of people?"
"Not really. Generally speaking, if someone shows too much kindness for no reason, he is either a traitor or a thief. If you take too much care of me, I will think you have ulterior motives." Tang Ke directed the fried skewers in his hand, his tone pretending to be relaxed, but his eyes were actually fixed on the face of the person next to him.
She didn't know why she said such a tentative word, but her intuition was getting louder and louder, and no matter how hard she tried to play deaf and dumb, she couldn't ignore it, and it kept tempting her to take this tentative step.
Seeing that he didn't answer for a long time, she added half-jokingly: "Kidneys and so on..."
Fu Yu drank the water slowly, making sure his throat was clear, before saying, "Maybe this is what a normal husband should do? Otherwise, you expect me to do nothing and just watch coldly. After work, I take off my shoes and lie on the sofa. Wouldn't it be annoying to you?"
Tang Ke choked and scratched his nose, "Is this true? Is your dad like this too?"
"Yeah, my dad is like that too."
Tang Ke clicked his tongue: "You are different from your father, which means your mother taught you very well."
Whether it was good or not is another matter, but it is true that Qiu Yanfang's teachings were very memorable. Fu Yu said: "She taught me that if you want to succeed, you can't be lazy. She taught me to be active. If you can't clean your own house, how can you clean up the world? She taught me that family is the most important thing and don't go against girls, otherwise..."
"Otherwise what?"
"Otherwise she'll leave."
Tang Ke was curious about the specific meaning behind this sentence, but she was not sure whether she was qualified to ask further questions, so she just looked at him silently.
"She almost divorced my dad before. At that time, Fu Zhou was still breastfeeding, and my grandparents took me to and from school. I don't know what happened between them. One day she came to pick me up and didn't let me see my dad. I stayed at my grandmother's house for two weeks, and then I heard that it was because my mom had just given birth and needed someone to take care of her. But my dad not only didn't care about her, but also said that she didn't need to be so pretentious after having given birth to her second child. She was at her grandmother's house, and her grandparents, as well as my uncle, everyone took care of her, including me, who was still in elementary school. I would also learn to bring her water and wash her feet. She felt that her husband was useless and wanted a divorce."
Fu Yu tells the story of the previous generation in a straightforward manner. Looking back on history from the perspective of the present, it no longer stirs up much of a stir.
"Later, the divorce didn't go through. She said it wasn't because my dad came to apologize, but because she felt that her son had a conscience, and for my sake, she gave him another chance. In fact, I wanted to say that my face shouldn't be used like this. My dad didn't ask me to borrow it, so I can't let him take advantage of it for nothing. Think about it, Fu Zhou's face is cleaner than mine. If he lost his mother or father, no one would borrow his face to make a fuss."
What a good boy, Tang Ke thought, she wanted to give birth to him after hearing it.
"So your mother later focused on you? No wonder you are so capable sometimes. I thought it was..." She stopped herself and swallowed the second half of the sentence in time.
Fu Yu propped the back of his hand behind his ear and looked at her lazily with his eyes slanted: "Why?"
Tang Ke looked away guiltily. How could she say that? She couldn't just say straight out that she suspected he was interested in her...
"It's nothing. If I were to get married, I'd marry Wolf. A man like him is a role model..." She suddenly began to sing in an abstract way, and suddenly began to clean up the mess on the table in an abstract way.
A crack appeared in Fu Yu's dead fish eyes: "Wow, what an old song."
"Leave me alone."
Tang Ke couldn't look directly at Fu Yu's face for a short time, as if something had already gone out of control. She couldn't tease him without scruples. Her usual tricks no longer worked on him. He was like a top student with excellent learning ability, making the examiners feel ashamed. Unless there were questions he had never seen before, once a question type that had appeared before was thrown out, she would be the only one who would panic, while he had learned how to show off.
What's there to brag about? Tang Ke gnashed his teeth. He scoffed at the virgin man with zero dating experience.
If he's interested in her, why not just say it? Why is he touching her here and there, tickling her off, and always trying to accommodate her? Is he really that good? The legendary naturally devoted person? That's impossible. He's still interested in her, right?
If you're interested in her, just say it!
——Let’s not talk about it.
No matter how much they argued, friendship was no joke. Tang Ke found herself unable to cope with the consequences of his confession. Even if he understood, what about her? Could she find the source of this itch? Itching for affordable goods, and itching for attractive accessories, so could she honestly express the nature of her itch for him? And what good would it do? Even though she hadn't been in a relationship for years, she knew that love was incredibly complicated. She still firmly believed that love shouldn't be mixed into a marriage, otherwise people would become a schizophrenic mess.
So it’s better to just leave it like this and let nature take its course.
It's just that there will be some regrets.
......
Perhaps it was Fu Yu's good start the previous night, because the next day while strolling around West Lake, Tang Ke casually recounted the love stories of his parents' generation, letting him listen as gossip. They sat on a wooden bench by the lake, its surface slightly mottled, but sturdy enough. It was a relatively small spot, not crowded, facing the lake, with a wide view.
On the way, she saw some tourists feeding fish with white steamed buns, so she bought one too. She and Fu Yu each took half, tore it into small pieces and threw them into the lake. Soon, a group of hungry fish, both big and small, gathered around her feet.
Tang Ke explained that her parents, like them, met through a blind date. The difference was that back then, there were no dating groups, only matchmakers. They were attracted to each other at first sight, then began dating, and finally got married after developing feelings for each other. Honestly, that love never materialized in their marriage, so she felt it was unnecessary.
She had only heard stories of their lives before she was born from her parents and older sister, and she was destined to have no way of verifying what they were like. From the time she was old enough to understand, her parents were just her parents, a mediocre couple who had been married for decades, the epitome of a traditional East Asian family.
Giving birth to such a prodigy was a true genetic lottery win, or perhaps a genetic mutation. She'd been a sharp-tongued child, unable to control her mouth and freely expressing her opinions. Her excuse of childish innocence wore off by fourth grade; her height and strength made her ripe for spankings. She covered her buttocks, untamed despite repeated warnings, her unruly nature infuriating her parents, who pinched her philtrum.
But no matter how wild and unruly she was, she grew up in a conservative family, and her underlying idea was still to live a stable life. Otherwise, she would not have lived frugally, would not have taken the civil service exam, and would not have found a suitable person to marry.
"Well, everyone is narcissistic. In the end, it all comes back to myself." Tang Ke realized that she had said too many irrelevant things, and quickly laughed at herself, then threw the conversation to Fu Yu, "What about you? Will you make your parents angry?"
"Yes, I was beaten too," said Fu Yu.
"Will you cry if you are beaten?" Tang Ke looked up at him.
"Yes, and I cried miserably."
His overly calm expression always makes people suspect that he is not telling the truth.
"How bad is it?" Tang Ke asked.
Fu Yu: "The kettle is boiling so badly."
Tang Ke laughed heartily, squatted down to feed the fish, and said, "Take a picture for me."
Fu Yu raised his phone and warned, "Be careful."
"Yeah, remember to take pictures of the fish too."
Tang Ke in the picture looks like a little child, with a lazy low ponytail, eyes downcast, back bent in a relaxed posture, and delusionally trying to communicate with the fish.
"Do you think they will get carbon monoxide?" she asked innocently.
The camera focused on her face illuminated by the sun. Fu Yu pressed the camera button and said, "Ask."
"This one is really fat, look." Tang Ke pointed it out to him. "It's fatter than any other fish, a piggy fish."
The fish seemed unwilling to listen and swam away.
"Hey, it understands. Local fish are quite proud and arrogant."
Fu Yu: "I'll send it to you once I've taken it."
"Let me see." Tang Ke sat back down and couldn't help but sigh at the photo: "Have you ever studied photography before? It's a beautiful photo."
Especially the light and shadow on the character's face, which makes her facial features look particularly three-dimensional.
"I haven't learned that," he said. "Maybe beauty is in the eyes of the beholder."
Tang Ke glanced at him amusedly and said sarcastically, "When did you become so slick?"
Fu Yu: "To prevent you from calling me old-fashioned and mediocre when I get older."
?
Why do you still take it for granted?
Tang Ke leaned back slightly, slumping against the back of his chair. "I didn't mean to imply anything, don't think too much about it. The above remarks are only directed at Cricket and my parents."
The steamed bun in Fu Yu's hand was only the size of a ping-pong ball. He broke it into five pieces and slowly threw them into the water to feed the fish.
“I can’t help but think about it,” he said.
Tang Ke was stunned for a moment, but not particularly surprised. He blinked and asked, "Why? Could it be that you actually have super sensitive skin?"
"Maybe, it's more sensitive to you." Fu Yu brushed off the debris in his palm.
"Why? I'm just talking nonsense. You don't have to take it seriously." Tang Ke was eager to distance himself from the matter and threw the steamed buns one after another quickly.
"Can you be irresponsible just by talking nonsense?"
“…” Tang Ke said nothing.
Fu Yu turned his head and looked at her, "If you don't say anything, I will also think too much."
It's really hard to please. Tang Ke was in a state of confusion.
She could surrender, but he'd better be talking nonsense now. Don't be serious about this, it's scary.
"So what do you want? I tell you, it's impossible to change me."
Fu Yu: "Yeah."
What then? Hello? What then? Moshimoshi?
Tang Ke waited for what he would say after he said "hmm", but he just remained silent. The fish in the lake were screaming louder than him.
She suppressed the waves in her heart, watched the ripples on the lake surface gradually subside, and forced herself to accept the circles of periods.
Well, maybe he had the same thoughts as her, so he stopped abruptly. This was for the best, as no one was interested in the answer.
Language receded like the tide, some fish came ashore, some fish were stranded, and she didn't want to be the stranded ones.
The leaves rustled, and Tang Ke had never expected that at this time there would be a breeze blowing, breaking up the floating light, causing the water to ripple and all things to revive.
She clearly saw his movements, like a slow-motion shot in a movie, full of flaws, but she forgot to hide - a soft touch spread across her lips.
!!!
Fu Yu leaned down and gently covered her lips, moving so close to her clumsily and without any skill that he was even very careful with his breathing, or to be more precise, he held his breath.
The kiss was sudden but not reckless, like a glass of boiled water with the taste of alcohol.
Tang Ke stood frozen in place, his eyes blurry, until he peeled off slowly, his eyelashes trembling hesitantly, his breath so close to her trembling, and when he was about to kiss her again, she found her voice.
“Someone…”
She must have lost her mind. Why would she say this? It doesn't help the current situation at all.
Fu Yu's eyes reflected her confused expression. He opened his mouth, then turned his head away, stood up, and kept a certain distance from her.
Everything happened so suddenly that neither the instigator nor the blushing figurine could immediately organize clear and coherent language.
The silent yet surprisingly hot atmosphere lasted for a while, and finally someone broke the deadlock.
"Tang Ke, I—"
"You're dead." Tang Ke interrupted him fiercely, but he didn't dare look him in the eye. "What if someone sees us?"
"..." Fu Yu's Adam's apple rolled up and down, his hands hanging between his legs, "No one saw it."
"What if the fish see us?" Tang Ke only had the momentum of accusation but no logic.
She didn't know what she was saying, and her calmness was all fake.
"Fish..." Fu Yu felt a sour and bitter taste in his throat and couldn't swallow it.
“They can’t remember,” he said.
Tang Ke bent over, rested his elbows on his knees, and held his head in his hands, thinking - it was strange that he could think at all, he was completely out of control.
"Don't talk to me for now. Someone's having a party in my head, and it's shaking."
-----------------------
The author has something to say: "I guess you want to get closer too~"
After more than 40 chapters, I finally got a kiss [erect ears rabbit head], but I was so frustrated
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
