With nowhere to sit, the two found a sheltered corner outside the courtyard and stood facing each other, some distance apart.
"Is your dad...at home?" Yang Youlan asked.
Shi Meng nodded: "Yes."
The woman took a small step closer to the wall: "You didn't alert anyone when you came out, did you?"
Shi Meng thought for a moment and said, "No."
Yang Youlan belatedly realized that she was acting like a thief, and quickly explained, "You know, your dad doesn't let me get too close to you."
“Yes,” Shi Meng agreed. “I know.”
The mother and son hadn't seen each other for a long time, and they didn't have much to say to each other. Yang Youlan awkwardly exchanged pleasantries: "Have you been working hard lately? You look thinner."
These words were completely unlike what she would say, so I was stunned for a long time, and only a meaningless syllable escaped from my throat: "Huh?"
Yang Youlan dismissed his attempt to appease her, her face immediately darkening. "What are you 'ah's' for? You ungrateful little thing! You've entered the Shi family and are living a good life, so you don't want your mother anymore." She poked at the fabric covering Shi's chest with her finger. "Do you even remember who your real mother is? I came all this way to celebrate your birthday!"
Her voice was shrill and high-pitched, but Shi Meng secretly breathed a sigh of relief—that was more like her.
It was past midnight, and Shi Meng responded with an "Mmm".
After her outburst, Yang Youlan realized she had spoken out of turn, looked away, and snorted, "That woman, is she good to you?"
The question was about Li Bihan.
Shi Meng wasn't sure what kind of answer Yang Youlan wanted to hear. Once when he was a child, after returning home from the Shi family, Yang Youlan asked him the same question, and he said "okay." Yang Youlan grabbed a broom and beat him severely, yelling as she did so: "How could she possibly be good to you? You little brat, you take a little something from her and you're already siding with her. I've raised you for nothing!"
Later, when asked again, Shi Meng learned her lesson and answered "no." But she didn't know what she had done to offend Yang Youlan. She pushed Shi Meng, crying and laughing at the same time, muttering contradictory things. One moment she said, "Why should she treat you badly?" and the next she put her hands on her hips and cursed that she deserved it, saying that this was all retribution.
I laughed until tears streamed down my face, I was like a madman.
This time, Shi Meng also didn't know how to answer, so he could only purse his lips and remain silent.
Yang Youlan seemed to have figured it out as well, and then asked, "What about your father? Is he good to you?"
Shi Meng nodded.
Yang Youlan was finally relieved and muttered, "That's right, he only has you as his son, how could he possibly mistreat you?"
Shi Meng vaguely knew that Yang Youlan asked these questions not to find out if he was alright, but to get an answer and find some peace of mind.
For example, this time she took it upon herself to bring some things: a shirt, a dragon fruit, and a jar of milk candy.
“These are all your favorite foods.” Yang Youlan stuffed all of these, along with the colorful plastic bags, into Shi Dai’s arms. “The shirt was made by Mom herself. Don’t you love wearing shirts? You even wear them to bed.”
Shi Meng opened his mouth, but ultimately did not refute.
Before parting, Yang Youlan remained calm and showed a rare glimpse of a loving mother.
“You must have heard from Teacher Sun that I have a cat.” She looked at Shi Meng, reached out to smooth the hair on his forehead, and said with a smile, “It’s always jumping around and always meowing at me, just like you.”
As Yang Youlan saw Shi Meng off at the courtyard gate, a clear sense of reluctance was evident in her eyes.
This is one of the very few times in the past two decades that the word "kindness" can be associated with her. The last time was four years ago, when she learned that Shi Mu had terminal leukemia and threw a tantrum, insisting on getting a bone marrow match.
At the time, Shi Meng was somewhat confused, but also felt it was understandable. After all, everyone liked Shi Mu, and no one wanted him to die.
"Be careful," Yang Youlan reminded her as the iron gate opened. "Don't let your dad find out... He doesn't want you to see me."
As he walked a few steps inside, Shi Meng turned around as if possessed and saw Yang Youlan still standing at the door.
She was undeniably beautiful, with two eyes like glass beads set in her oval face. Her lips, even without lipstick, possessed a delicate and charming fragility, yet this did not diminish the brilliance of her features. She loved wearing dresses, perhaps precisely because she knew her own strengths.
But now, the evening breeze lifts the hem of her skirt, and her figure under the rusty streetlights is lonely, with sadness inexplicably flowing in the air.
Before going to sleep, Shi Meng placed her shirt beside her pillow, unwrapped a candy, and put it in her mouth, letting the sweetness spread throughout her mouth.
Then, miraculously, I had a good night's sleep.
The next day was a bright and sunny day. Shi Huaiyi, unusually, did not go out for "socializing" and instead stayed home to have breakfast with his wife. Shi Meng, as a guest, was pulled to sit at the table, which almost brought Li Bihan to tears. He truly became the most unlucky person in the family.
Shi Huaiyi said with a headache and helplessness: "You still have Sihui and Xiaomeng, they are all your children."
If Shi Meng hadn't been mentioned, things would have been better, but bringing him along made Li Bihan even more heartbroken: "How can it be the same? My Mu Mu was premature. He was only a tiny little thing when he was born. I didn't even have a chance to see his face clearly before he was taken away... My poor Mu Mu."
When the topic of premature birth came up, Shi Huai felt guilty and had no choice but to give up trying to persuade his wife and continue to gently comfort her.
On such a special day, Shi Meng had only one thing on her mind—Fu Xuanliao hadn't come yet. Was he deliberately not coming, or had he forgotten?
Shi Meng decided to go find him.
I changed my clothes and rushed downstairs, but halfway down I realized I'd forgotten something. When I got back to my room and squatted by the bedside to look for it, I spotted a dragon fruit that was only half-eaten.
There was dragon fruit on the table just now, but no one touched it; it was just there for show.
Shi Meng didn't like eating this strange-looking fruit that wasn't very sweet. Thinking about how Yang Youlan handed it to him last night, he didn't throw it away. Instead, he wrapped it in a paper bag, put it in his pocket, and took it with him.
He first went to Fu Xuanliao's residence.
The Fu family doesn't own many properties; they only regularly live in a large, single-level apartment in a high-end residential complex in the south of the city.
The community was heavily guarded and not easy to enter. Shi Meng found a reason and decisively pressed the number 001. Listening to the long beeping sound was like waiting for a trial, and his heart started racing.
It turned out that Fu Xuanliao was not the one who answered the phone.
"Hello, who is it?"
The male voice sounded somewhat familiar. Shi Meng vaguely remembered that it belonged to Fu Xuanliao's friend, surnamed Gao, whose family ran a hotel business.
"I am Shi Meng." Although reluctant, Shi Meng introduced himself and then asked, "Is Fu Xuanliao here?"
Then I heard a "Holy crap!" from the other end, followed by silence. It looked like the microphone had been covered by a hand.
About half a minute later, the ambient noise, accompanied by another voice, struck my eardrums: "What is it?"
Fu Xuanliao's voice is very pleasant, low but not deep, rich but not thick, and even his impatience has a lazy and casual feel to it.
Shi Meng's ears were a little hot, so he switched the phone to the other side and made the other person wait for about twenty seconds before speaking: "Yesterday was Saturday."
"yes."
"You didn't come looking for me."
"What?" Fu Xuanliao chuckled. "Are you going to deduct my salary?"
"No deduction," Shi Meng said decisively. "Make it up today."
The atmosphere in a private room on the top floor of Heting Pavilion was eerily quiet.
The usually relaxed CEO, Mr. Fu, was surrounded by dark clouds, with extremely low air pressure, as if a spark could ignite him.
Gao Lecheng said regretfully, "I should have said you weren't awake yet and not asked you to answer the phone."
Fu Xuanliao snorted, "It's no use, he'll still come. Last time we were discussing business here, and he came looking for us, didn't he?"
"Then...why don't you go home and hide for a while?"
“He has my home address.” Fu Xuanliao ran a hand through his hair. “Fine, let him come if he wants.”
Gao Lecheng was cautious and instructed the reception staff downstairs not to let people in easily.
The Fu family was not far from Heting. Fifteen minutes later, Shi Meng arrived and was a little confused when the waiter stopped him at the door.
“I’m here to find someone,” he said.
Whether by coincidence or not, the waiter surnamed Xu who was sent to stop him was the same one he had troubled last time.
Xu Zhi was in a great mood after receiving the call from the top-floor private room, and now, looking at the "Young Master Shi" in front of him, he felt a little sympathy for him.
He has the body of a rich young master, but inside he is insecure and fragile, and he is terrified at the slightest sound of trouble—his life is even more pitiful than those fake young masters who are paid to smile without having to put their hearts into it.
However, they still had to stop him. Xu Zhi asked, "Who are you looking for?"
"Fu Xuanliao".
"Mr. Fu, what a coincidence, he's currently discussing business with other guests."
It means I don't have time to meet.
“I’ll wait for him,” Shi Meng said.
Xu Zhi smiled and said, "I'm sorry, He Ting only serves VIP guests..."
Shi Meng then opened his eyes and looked at the person in front of him. Xu Zhi shuddered under his ambiguous cold gaze and almost forgot what he was going to say next.
"Non-VIP guests, please sit outside in the hall."
I thought that once he said that, given his capricious temper, he would either leave or force his way in, since he was allowed in last time. Today's obstruction was obviously deliberately arranged by someone.
Unexpectedly, Shi Meng remained silent for a moment, said nothing, and then turned and left.
The waiting area outside the Crane Pavilion Hall is actually reserved for doormen and drivers, so that they can be on standby at any time.
Shi Meng did not linger there, but went straight outside and stood under the porch to wait.
The location is close to the sidewalk, so you can see the large floor-to-ceiling windows on the top floor as soon as you look up. Gao Lecheng, who lives upstairs, loves to join in the fun. He leaned out the window and almost made eye contact with Shi Meng, but was so scared that he immediately pulled back.
"Your ice queen is downstairs, watching you like a hawk." He patted his chest and drew the curtains, then, halfway through, remembered something and asked Fu Xuanliao, "Want to come and take a look?"
Fu Xuanliao casually picked up a magazine from the table: "I won't read it."
How long do you think he'll wait?
"have no idea."
"Tsk, what a 'waiting-for-husband' rock," Gao Lecheng sighed, shaking his head. "I offered my heart to the bright moon, but the bright moon shone on..."
Fu Xuanliao couldn't stand it anymore: "Shut up."
Gao Lecheng shrugged and remained silent.
After a while, he couldn't sit still anymore, so he ran to the window, pulled back the blinds, and looked up: "Look at the sky, it looks like it's going to rain."
Fu Xuanliao paused, turning a page: "Wasn't the sun shining this morning?"
“Yeah, it’s not summer, the weather can change so suddenly,” Gao Lecheng said, puzzled.
When the rain starts to fall, people also become irritable.
He flipped through seventeen or eighteen pages in less than a minute, but not a single word got into his head. Fu Xuanliao threw the magazine aside, stood up, and paced back and forth in the room.
Gao Lecheng found his reaction amusing: "It's alright, Lao Fu. There are umbrellas at the front desk on the first floor; he won't get wet. Besides, isn't his name 'Meng'? Misty drizzle, maybe he just likes playing in the rain?"
Fu Xuanliao replied impatiently, "He doesn't like rain."
Gao Lecheng raised an eyebrow: "Oh, you seem to know them quite well."
Fu Xuanliao couldn't figure out how he knew Shi Meng disliked rainy days. It was probably because when they were kids, he would always find Shi Meng hiding under the table in the attic on rainy days, and when the sun was shining, he would see Shi Meng leaning against the window looking up at the sky.
They are not afraid of the sunlight hurting their eyes.
Thinking of this, Fu Xuanliao ran his fingers through his hair again, thinking that he should have gone on Saturday instead of being forced to comply with the excuse of "absence".
And the painting is still in his possession.
Feeling increasingly frustrated, Fu Xuanliao rushed to the door, not forgetting to steal a long-handled black umbrella before leaving.
Gao Lecheng laughed wildly behind him: "If we're talking about chivalry, we have to call him Old Fu."
Fu Xuanliao said irritably, "I'm afraid he'll stand there and get in the way of Heting's business."
"Don't worry about that. Your Ice Beauty's face is a living advertisement right at the door."
"roll."
Downstairs on the sidewalk, Shi Meng listened to the sound of raindrops. Before she could count to one hundred, she saw Fu Xuanliao's tall figure emerge from the clubhouse entrance, his steps carrying a hint of exasperation.
Shi Meng smiled slightly – I still won this round.
Fu Xuanliao, who had walked up to him, didn't bother with pleasantries and went straight to the point: "Where are you going?"
Shi Meng couldn't think of anything for a moment, so she asked him in return, "Where do you want to go?"
Fu Xuanliao scoffed, "I don't want to go anywhere. Can you let me stay here?"
Shi Meng shook his head without hesitation.
"Alright then, take your time thinking about it." Fu Xuanliao opened the umbrella, covering the two of them, with his other hand in his pocket, looking nonchalant. "Anyway, it's only one day, you can decide how to use it."
The darkness overhead gave her a strange sense of security. Shi Meng looked up at the bottom of the umbrella, then looked down at Fu Xuanliao.
Feeling uneasy under that probing gaze, Fu Xuanliao glared back: "Why are you looking at me? Isn't today your birthday too?"
He's never been one to swallow his pride or surrender easily. The word "also" is a way of reminding you—it's not that I want to remember, but you share the same birthday as him, so there's no way I can't remember.
Shi Meng naturally understood.
He lowered his head slightly; he had just gotten a little wet in the rain, and his thick eyelashes drooped, wetting the corners of his eyes, giving them a strange red tinge. Fu Xuanliao was half a head taller than him, and from this angle, he could just see his open collar and a section of his slender, white neck, with marks on the skin left by violent pinching.
Just the night before last, he almost strangled this guy to death, but today he came to see him as if nothing had happened, and was even made to cry by a few words from him.
"Damn it," Fu Xuanliao cursed inwardly. "When did this guy learn to play the victim?"
In reality, Shi Meng was unaware of the other person's thoughts. Although she was slightly stung by that "also," it was only a light sting and didn't hurt much. Moreover, Fu Xuanliao was just a bit short-tempered and spoke harshly, but he had a very soft heart, which could be seen from the umbrella tilted towards him from above.
What Shi Meng needs to do now is to take advantage of this soft heart to maximize his own interests.
There are exactly fourteen hours left until the end of the day.
After some thought, Shi Meng looked up and said, "Let's go to the amusement park."
Afraid of being rejected, and also afraid that Fu Xuanliao hadn't heard him clearly, he stubbornly repeated, before anyone could agree, "I want to go to the amusement park."
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