Chapter 48. Works
Ruan Tang accompanied Xu Wei home and had a hospital meal with her that Jia Yingjun had sent. The two chatted casually until she fell asleep. It was almost evening when they returned.
Feng Xue sent a picture of himself making coffee, saying that his current skills were basically enough to leave his master in the dust. With him in the store, she could rest assured and spend time with Xu Wei.
Ruan Tang was walking on the road holding her mobile phone in both hands. The setting sun dyed the clouds in the sky into a jar of thick honey, and generously added a touch of honey to the eyes of lovers. She replied: Pick a weekday next week to move with me.
"Are you going to pledge your love to me for this small favor?"
Seeing his instant reply, Ruan Tang's smile deepened, and she replied in a pretentiously cold tone: Forget it.
Feng Xue quickly retracted the above statement and quoted her words, "Pick a weekday next week to move with me." She replied neatly: OK.
On the subway ride home, Ruan Tang was so squeezed she couldn't lift her hands when a WeChat message suddenly lit up her phone. She remembered she'd sent Feng Xue a photo of the packed subway before boarding, and thought it might be a reply from him. She struggled to enter her password with one hand to unlock the phone and check the new message.
I didn’t expect it to be Fu Bei.
"Xiaotang, I happen to have a meeting near your store this afternoon. Would you like to have dinner together?"
This man always seemed to have the magic to make her unhappy for a second.
When the subway arrived at the station, she was pushed onto the platform by the surging crowd. She stood there motionless, mechanically scrolling through the chat history between her and Fu Bei.
Before being removed from the blacklist, the last message between them was five years ago, when Fu Bei said to Xiaotang, "Take good care of yourself."
She remembered that after she resigned from the hospital that day, she sent many WeChat messages to Fu Bei, asking him why he didn't explain clearly to his wife and why he made her so embarrassed. Seeing that he hadn't replied, she called him many times, but he just sent a message when she was exhausted: Xiaotang, take good care of yourself.
Later, after coming into contact with many men, Ruan Tang realized that for some men, bombardment with messages and phone calls actually has no effect. You think that you can get an answer by affecting their lives and making them annoyed, but you don’t know that some men have more than just one mobile phone, and once the mute mode is turned on, everything will be fine.
Since Fu Bei, she has never sent more than three WeChat messages or made more than one phone call to a man. A man who wants to respond to you will not make you anxious.
Thinking of what Xu Wei had said before, Ruan Tang directly opened Fu Bei's information settings page, but the moment she clicked "Delete Contact", her fingers became hesitant again.
She thought for a moment, returned to the chat interface, and replied: OK, send me the address.
Fu Bei quickly sent the location of the private kitchen and asked if she wanted to pick her up. He was even more attentive than he had been many years ago.
After saying that, Ruan Tang jumped on the subway heading home. When she finally arrived at nine o'clock, the table full of exquisite vegetarian dishes looked like Fu Bei, a middle-aged man who had not gained weight or lost hair. They were pleasing to the eye but had no appetite.
When he saw Ruan Tang, he had been waiting for nearly two hours but there was no trace of annoyance on his face. Instead, he showed his signature smile, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deepened a little. He said: I am very happy that you agreed to come and have dinner with me. You are very special today.
As he said this, he even stood up and pulled out the chair for her himself.
He used the word "accompany me". Ruan Tang suddenly realized that although so many years had passed, some things had not changed at all. For example, although this man appeared to be respectful, humble and gentle on the surface, his words revealed the arrogance of "I am the center of the universe".
Ruan Tang looked down at her sweatshirt and jeans, smiled and sat down across from him, nodded and said: Some things must always be said face to face.
"We can sit together and have a peaceful meal again. It makes me miss it so much." Fu Bei narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at her, and said: I remember I told you before that I like your collarbone the most. Later, you liked to wear off-shoulder clothes for a while. You know, I think this kind of loose clothes is a blasphemy to a woman's figure.
Ruan Tang felt her fist harden again. She reached into her sweatshirt pocket, touched the diamond necklace, and began to think about how to hit him in the face in a more aggressive way.
She couldn't help but sneer and said: But I think a man's malicious gaze is a blasphemy to women, so please take your eyes away from me.
"Look at you," Fu Bei smiled and shook his head, "Your speaking skills have improved a lot in recent years. You have such a good foundation and a high starting point. Don't be influenced by those extreme feminist people on the Internet."
If I understand correctly, the starting point he is talking about should be himself.
Ruan Tang scoffed. "Whether I'm an extreme feminist or not, what does it have to do with you? You don't think I'm releasing you from the blacklist just to rekindle our past, do you?"
The man opposite her remained calm and collected. He picked up a piece of food with chopsticks and placed it on the white porcelain plate in front of her, saying, "I know broken mirrors cannot be mended, so don't dwell on it. I was the one who wronged you back then, but you also gained a lot from me, didn't you? Sometimes, when I think back over the years, I feel that our relationship has gone beyond love. Xiaotang, you are my most satisfying work."
It had clearly been six or seven hours since she last ate, but looking at the table full of delicacies, Ruan Tang suddenly felt nauseous, with a physiological urge to vomit surging through her body. She clenched her necklace tightly, and her palms were hurt by the diamond pendant.
"It seems like you've had a good life these years, so please don't be so hostile towards me, okay? Don't be like a child. Men like innocence that goes just enough." Fu Bei personally picked up the red wine and poured it into the glass in front of her.
She looked at the jumping red liquid, as if every drop was shouting: Come on, come on, use me to throw it at him.
But she suddenly understood that people like him couldn't be understood by normal people. From the day they met in the office building, Fu Bei had been enjoying her anger, like watching an abandoned puppy jump and wag its tail at the sight of him. Whether it was the slap she had wanted to return for years or the necklace she threw in his face, it was a testament to his love turning into hate.
Thinking of this, she suddenly calmed down.
"Do you think you can represent men?" Ruan Tang picked up the glass of wine and shook it, then put it to her nose and sniffed it. The rich fruity aroma calmed the churning in her stomach a little.
Fu Bei sat down again, supported his chin with his thumbs and looked at her. After thinking for a moment, he said: At least it represents the group of men within your range of choice for a spouse.
"Forget it. Actually, I came here today just to tell you to please stay away. It's true that I was young and ignorant back then, which is why I got involved with you for so long. But that doesn't mean you're the one who'll write and draw on this blank piece of paper of mine and leave a lifelong mark. You think you're amazing for turning me into a vase that lives by fawning over men, right? But let me tell you, in my eyes, you men are nothing but arrogant and gullible ATMs. Now I'm tired of playing with you."
She always had a bright smile on her face. She tilted her head back and drank the glass of red wine. She saw several WeChat messages pop up on her phone. Feng Xue called her to ask if she was at home. The tomato and beef brisket soup he cooked today was delicious. He planned to close the shop early and give it to her as a midnight snack.
Ruan Tang sent Feng Xue a location message and said: Come here to pick me up.
After she finished speaking, she squeezed the necklace, put it in her pocket, and stood up to walk out.
Soon, Feng Xue appeared at the door of the restaurant. When she got on the motorcycle, she saw Fu Bei standing at the door of the restaurant looking at her with a complicated expression.
In the evening, she was drinking tomato beef brisket soup when she suddenly received a WeChat message from Fu Bei: Xiaotang, I am very disappointed in you.
Without thinking, she closed the dialog box, opened the appraiser she added last time, and said: I have a carat diamond necklace. I will send you a photo later and you can help me see how much it can be sold for.
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