Chapter 10 (8)
It's a rare occasion for Bai Yuankai to ask Kang Long to play tennis with him.
This was a must-do during my time abroad. Since returning home, I've only spent about one dollar. I've been so busy.
On the university tennis court, two men battled fiercely, with Kang Long emerging victorious. Entrepreneur Bai Yuankai had indeed neglected exercise.
"No more," Yuan Kai sighed, "I'm getting old."
Kang Long handed over a bottle of water and said, "Every year is different."
"Do you feel that way?"
"My dad was still alive last year," Kang Long said, a little melancholy. "It felt like a dream."
"So," Yuan Kai paused after taking a sip of water, "you decided to get married because of Chairman Kang?"
Kang Long immediately felt something was wrong. When did Lao Bai start calling him "Chairman Kang"? It must have been Yu Shuang who taught him.
"She sent you?"
"who?"
"I knew you wouldn't just come to play ball with me."
Bai Yuankai raised the water bottle and said, "It's completely simple, just like this thing."
"Don't try to persuade me."
"I won't persuade you." Yuan Kai waved her finger. "That doctor has a big butt." She pointed at Dr. Songzi. Kang Long said nothing.
Yuan Kai continued, "I didn't expect you to like this." He added, "It seems that Teacher Yu's is not small either." It was a joke between men.
Kang Long had to fight back, "That princess of yours," the one Yuan Kai had talked about in the past, "has a butt like a pumpkin, why didn't you say anything."
Yuan Kai patted Kang Long on the shoulder and said, "Brother, tell me the truth, how many have you dated?"
"How many have you dated?" Kang Long was embarrassed and had to ask back.
Bai Yuankai put down the water bottle and counted on his fingers one by one, "About ten, I can't remember clearly."
Kang Long complained, "You bastard. You play with women, you should go to jail."
Yuan Kai deliberately said cynically, "You can't have only two, right? Not enough."
Kang Long said, "I'd rather have one."
"A man must have at least four women in his life," Bai Yuankai said of his theory: "first love, confidante, wife, and mistress."
Conlon goes to elbow him.
Yuan Kai dodged and said with a smile: "Let me help you calculate, your first love is Yu Shuang."
You are right.
Kang Long couldn't argue. Lao Bai knew him too well. He felt embarrassed about falling in love at such an old age.
"A close female friend," Old Bai counted on his fingers. "Yu Shuang counts too," Kang Long said with a wry smile. Bai Yuankai continued, "Wife, undecided. And mistress, also Yu Shuang."
Kang Long disagreed, "How did she become a mistress?"
Yuan Kai explained, "Don't get it wrong. A mistress is a woman with feelings, not the mistress you think of."
"What's the difference between a confidante and a mistress?" Kang asked.
"A confidante doesn't mean you have sex with someone, but a mistress is a sexual relationship." Bai Yuankai concluded, counting on his fingers, "So Yu Shuang is your first love, confidante, and mistress, and you're still unwilling to give her the status of wife."
"What do you mean I don't want to give it?" Kang Long held his breath.
"I don't want to, you have to give it to Dr. Songzi."
"Did she ask you to say that?" he asked again.
"No." Bai Yuankai denied again, "Objectively speaking, if I were you, I would look for Yu Shuang."
"Why?"
"She's not snobbish, she's straightforward."
Kang Long remained silent. Yuan Kai wiped his sweat with a towel and prepared to retreat. He had already accomplished the task assigned by Yu Shuang with flying colors.
"Sister Jia, who are you?" Kang Long suddenly counterattacked.
Bai Yuankai almost tripped.
Kang Long pursued, "First love? No, mistress? Confidante? Wife?"
It seems that none of them count. Yuan Kai fell into the hole he dug himself.
Interesting. Indeed, Yu Jia doesn't seem to fit into any particular role in his life. Calling her a confidante isn't quite accurate either. They haven't quite understood each other.
"Don't worry about me," Kang Long hit him on the head with his racket. "I'm in such a mess myself, how can I interfere?"
"I'm really worried about you." Yuan Kai also said.
"Thank you."
"Women are so powerful nowadays." Bai Hang said in a low voice.
"Is Sister Jia powerful?" Kang asked.
"She's not that great," Bai said. "She's just too incompetent. Sometimes I really wish she could be a little more powerful."
After escaping the forest, the fighting subsided. Negotiations between the parties resulted in a temporary peace. However, Moon City had been looted, and the floods had left the entire construction site in ruins. Yu Meng needed to negotiate with the local government, demanding at least some relief, even if not compensation.
Yu Meng immediately made a long-distance call to Yu Jia. She was touched to learn that Luan had come to Myanmar to "rescue" someone on Jia's request. Haoyu and Zhengyu were about to return home for vacation, and she didn't have time to go back to take care of them, so she entrusted them to Yu Jia.
Yu Jia readily agreed. But Yu Meng didn't let Luan go back. He didn't even mention it himself. After all, it was a chaotic place, and having someone around was always better.
After leaving the forest, Yu Meng regained his arrogance and warned Luan, "Don't think that you can do whatever you want just because you saved me."
Luan Chengyun raised his hands, helplessly, and smiled, "I'm a good person."
The two of them rented a room three kilometers away from Moon City. It was a local farmer's house, on the second floor, a large room with only a bed and a table.
No matter how much money you give, it will be useless. This is the only condition.
Yu Meng said, "I'll sleep on the bed, and you sleep on the floor." Luan Chengyun was as gentle as a sheep. He agreed.
After sleeping there for two days, a rash appeared on his back. Yu Meng felt bad and decided to share half of her bed with him.
"You must follow the rules." She warned again.
Luan Chengyun still said, "I am a good person."
The project needed to be cleaned up before it could proceed. The construction team had already disbanded, and new hires were needed. This was a real challenge. Finally, Luan stepped in and found a team of people from nowhere, offering them a pay raise and willing to work. Yu Meng hired a nanny, a middle-aged local woman, who was responsible for daily cleaning and cooking.
After three meals, Yu Meng couldn't stand it anymore. The food made by the nanny was really unfair to her taste. She could only rely on herself.
Yu Meng divided her time well, working half the day and managing her own life the other half. She actually picked up her bag and went grocery shopping. Her luxurious handbag was out of place in a Burmese market. But that was Yu Meng. She was nearly dead, so why would she waste her bag? She could use it to store the vegetables. It had to serve people.
The vegetable vendors in Myanmar are quite unsophisticated. They sell by the pile, not the pound. My math is not good, so I can't calculate the weight. By the pile, it's easy to tell. This makes Yu Meng miserable. He buys a bunch of them right away.
There are some vegetables that Luan doesn't even recognize, so when I ask her, she just says, "It's edible!"
For his first time cooking, Yu Meng served a huge pot of soup. Since Luan had saved her life, Yu Meng invited him to dine with her. Luan Chengyun respectfully obeyed. No chopsticks. He used a spoon. Soup with rice.
Luan scooped a spoonful and put it into his mouth, his expression showing great enjoyment. "It's delicious," he said. "It's been a while since I've had your cooking."
Yu Meng scooped a spoonful, a big spoonful, put it in his mouth, and then spit it out with a "wow".
"You will die if you tell the truth!" She denied the fruits of her labor.
Luan Chengyun laughed heartily. He had eaten bad food and suffered, and he thought she should be the same. Suffer.
Happiness comes from sharing hardships.
Even cooking was such a failure. Yu Meng threw her spoon on the table dejectedly and sighed deeply. What should she do? Her Moon City project was a bottomless pit. Yu Meng felt like all her strength was almost gone.
At night, it was hot and full of mosquitoes, so we used an old electric fan, blowing through the curtains. Knowing Yu Meng was afraid of the heat, Luan Chengyun fixed the fan head so it was pointed at her. Yu Meng refused. Instead, she shook her head. The bed was too small for sleeping upright, so the two of them had to sleep sideways. It felt like a kang in Northeast China. The moonlight was bright and menacing.
I don't know why, but the moon here is always so strong. Yu Meng felt this way the first time she came here, so she named the project Moon City. Insects chirped all around, making her feel annoyed. Yu Meng felt a little melancholy. Luan Chengyun reached out and covered Yu Meng with a thin piece of clothing. Yu Meng turned to him, as if in a rage, "Why are you so nice to me?"
In the darkness, I couldn't see his expression, but I could hear him smile slightly.
"Why did you come to save me?" she continued to ask.
"Do you want me to watch someone die without helping?" he asked.
"Wouldn't it be a relief for you if I died?"
"I hope everyone can live well." His tone was soft and suitable for the night.
"You don't hate me?"
"No, no," Luan said repeatedly, "I hate myself. I made an unforgivable mistake and lost the beautiful..." He couldn't continue and didn't know how to describe it.
"Stop being so literary." Yu Meng turned to the other side and forced herself to sleep. Of course she could feel the change in him. The moment she saw him in the cat ear cave, she almost fell in love with him all over again. The environment is what inspired it. When she got out of the forest and returned to the town, she told herself to calm down. Everything he did was great, and she owed him a big favor, but all this was not enough to bring them back together. For so long, Luan Chengyun seemed to have found many women, and there were also several rumors of marriage, but it was all talk and no action, and not a single one was serious. What was going on? What did it mean? She couldn't figure it out.
The two of them lived in peace for a few days. One day, the landlord installed a shower. It was truly unprecedented. They said it was brought from China and was a great product. Yu Meng and Luan both used it. After using it, Yu Meng even borrowed some talcum powder from the landlord's child. It was the rainy season and the hot flashes were coming, and Yu Meng needed some refreshment. After it went into the account, Lao Luan said it smelled really good. Yu Meng said it was an old brand. Lao Luan put his nose close to Yu Meng's arm and sniffed it. Like a dog's nose, he touched it gently. The air was filled with fragrance. Luan Chengyun moved closer, half of his body pressed on her legs.
Yu Meng instantly understood his intention and struggled a bit.
Lao Luan suddenly said, "I'll listen to you."
Yu Meng was stunned for a moment. She was a little unaccustomed to his sudden gentlemanly behavior. He had never been like this before.
"You said to start again." Luan Chengyun did not move.
Yu Meng was caught between a rock and a hard place. Her desire was aroused, but her mind told her this was Luan Chengyun, a flood, a beast. She said nothing. Luan slowly climbed off her legs, as if the tide was receding. Yu Meng couldn't bear it. In the damp darkness, she hummed softly. The tide immediately rose. Yu Meng clutched his back, as if clinging to a sampan, to prevent herself from drowning in the vast current. The storm raged for a while, then finally subsided. The two lay side by side, panting, silent, both savoring their long-awaited reunion.
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