Chapter Ninety-Five: The Lingering Ghost
Lin Yu placed the dried coconut shell back on the table and gave a summary of his life over the past few years. "After struggling in Shanghai for so long, it seems like I haven't accomplished anything. Sometimes I think, maybe I should just go back to my hometown."
"Back to Linjiang?" Yao Fangfang took a swig of draft beer and sighed contentedly.
"Well, life at home is at least stable, and the pace isn't so fast," Lin Yu said with a self-deprecating laugh. "Every day feels like I'm carrying a broken bucket and being chased by a dog."
"In the end, everything in the bucket was spilled out, and I don't know what they were busy with for nothing."
"When did you become so ambitious?" Yao Fangfang called to the kitchen staff to order another plate of spicy stir-fried mango snails, then turned and asked, "For your career? Or for a man?"
"I'm not doing it for anything else, I'm just doing it to make myself happy."
"You'll be happy if you go back to your hometown?" Yao Fangfang remained noncommittal. "If you're not happy in Shanghai, you might not be happy back in your hometown either."
She licked the oil off her fingers and looked at Lin Yu meaningfully. "You just haven't had enough experience. Once you've experienced more, you'll become immune. If I really asked you to go back now, you might not be willing."
"Your most urgent task right now is to fix your broken bucket."
Upon hearing this, Lin Yu raised an eyebrow. "Fangfang, when did you become a philosopher? You can spout off a whole bunch of profound truths." She took Yao Fangfang's beer mug and poured some for herself as well.
"If you want a comfortable life, either you have the ability to make the environment accommodate you, or you have no choice but to accommodate the environment." The freshly caught mango snails were steaming hot and spicy. "You always have to learn to make choices."
"And you? What are you willing to give up, and what do you hope to gain?"
Lin Yu leaned closer, took a deep breath, pinched the snail body with two fingers, put it to her lips and gently sucked out a snail meat. The fresh and spicy juice burst on her tongue, making her cough lightly twice.
"You don't understand me yet. Of course, the only one I want to protect is myself." Yao Fangfang stared blankly at the condensation sliding down the beer mug, her fingertips unconsciously drawing circles on the glass.
"As for what we have to give up... it might be Zhang Yunzhou, and if it really comes to that... maybe my son too."
Upon hearing this, Lin Yu dropped the snail shell in her hand onto the table with a thud. "What do you mean?" She stared at Yao Fangfang's suddenly dim profile, momentarily confused.
"It's nothing." Yao Fangfang raised her glass and lightly clinked it against Lin Yu's, her deliberate lightness masking a hint of reluctance. "Hey, seriously... how about I come to Shanghai to stay with you?"
"Here for tourism?"
"Come to work, come to live." Yao Fangfang's tone was frighteningly calm.
"What about Zhang Yunzhou?" Lin Yu had a bad feeling.
"Why bother with him?" Yao Fangfang slowly wiped her hands. "I've been accommodating him and his whole family all these years, it's really annoying."
She put down her napkin, her gaze resolute as she looked up. "Maybe one day, we'll break up."
"Don't say things like that so casually." Lin Yu grabbed her wrist. "Have you had too much to drink?"
"Maybe." Yao Fangfang had a faint smile on her lips, her upturned eyes slightly red, and her innate charm became even more pronounced under the influence of alcohol.
"Marriage, it's all about patching things up," Lin Yu reassured him, feigning nonchalance. "How did he bully you? Tell me, and I'll fly over and beat him up right now!"
"Oh, so now it's your turn to comfort me?" Yao Fangfang chuckled, her eyes glistening with tears. "Where's that indignant person from just now? Did you eat them as snacks?"
"You don't know me?" Lin Yu waved his hand dismissively. "There are plenty of things that can make me sad, but there's basically nothing that can make me sad for more than three days."
"Including men?"
"Including men."
"Including work?"
"uh-huh!"
Lin Yu already had a general plan for her career path, and her post-holiday interview schedule was full, so she wasn't overly panicked and still had the energy to investigate her friend's background. "So, what exactly's going on between you two?"
Yao Fangfang has a cold exterior but a warm heart. She's especially sharp-tongued and merciless in her sarcasm towards those she dislikes, leaving them speechless. Many suitors in school were rejected by her, but Zhang Yunzhou persisted.
She is always very reserved about her own affairs, only letting her guard down and revealing her forthright and genuine side in front of close friends.
In Lin Yu's eyes, Yao Fangfang had always been a very insightful person. She had suffered a lot in the past because of her straightforward temper.
But over the years, she has not only taken good care of Zhang Yunzhou and her son, but even her strong-willed in-laws have praised her highly.
Her expression was gloomy, lacking her usual radiance. But Lin Yu guessed that she had probably just had a minor disagreement with Zhang Yunzhou and would make up in a couple of days.
Her craving for a cigarette was nagging at her, but she had no cigarettes with her. Frustrated, Yao Fangfang ran her fingers through her hair and sighed self-deprecatingly, "I'm almost thirty, with a family to support, and suddenly I want to be self-reliant. Isn't that ridiculous?"
“But in my eyes, you’ve always been the best.” Lin Yu’s gaze was intense, without the slightest doubt. “Although you have no worries about food and clothing now, if you’ve always had the idea of going out to work, you might as well give it a try.”
"Self-sacrifice is no longer fashionable in this day and age. This is your life, and you have the right to put your own likes and dislikes before anything else."
Lin Yu reached out and covered Yao Fangfang's cold hand with his own. The warmth of her touch warmed Yao Fangfang's cold and lonely heart little by little.
"Remember, Fangfang? I told you not to lose heart, I'll always be there for you."
After having a few drinks, the two of them picked up their shoes, walked barefoot on the soft sand, and slowly walked back to the hotel along the same path they had come from.
We encountered several foreigners on the road, one of whom waved enthusiastically to them from a distance.
At first, Lin Yu thought he was flirting with Yao Fangfang. After all, this kind of thing was common, and she had become immune to it when she was in school.
Only when I got closer did I recognize that the boy who had been jumping around earlier was the same boy I had met at the hotel during the day.
Lin Yu generously pulled Yao Fangfang over. "Anything interesting?" she asked, striking up a conversation with a few people in her limited English.
Upon hearing this, the boy's eyes lit up, and he immediately began to describe his experiences while snorkeling that afternoon with great enthusiasm.
He rattled off a bunch of things at such a fast pace that Lin Yu could only catch a few words. After a while, he just looked completely bewildered.
At this moment, the boy's companions behind him burst into good-natured laughter, teasing him for his eagerness, comparing him to a peacock spreading its tail feathers.
The boy scratched his head sheepishly and looked at Yao Fangfang standing next to Lin Yu. "Your friend?"
"Hmph!" Lin Yu raised his chin smugly.
“No way, it’s legit!” The boy turned around and exchanged a convinced look with his companions, finally believing Lin Yu’s earlier statement that all Chinese girls were uniquely beautiful.
"I told you!" Lin Yu smiled and winked. "Next time, just trust me on Day one." The group stood together and burst into laughter.
The sea breeze gently carried this praise from a foreign land into the warm night.
"So, what's your name?" Before Lin Yu and Yao Fangfang could answer, the boy eagerly introduced himself.
“Call me Liam! It means strong warrior! As you see!” He rolled up his sleeves with a show of bravado, bending his tanned, muscular arms.
Looking at his youthful appearance, Lin Yu felt as if he were seeing Chen Guang in his younger days, even though it was only a few years ago.
“Yu Lin, and... Fangfang!” She pointed to herself, then to her friend beside her, giving a brief introduction to Liam and his companion.
“Great! So…” Liam rubbed his hands nervously, then smiled, revealing a row of perfectly white teeth.
“Tomorrow we plan to go snorkeling on our own. Wanna join us. You two!” Liam held up two fingers, pointing at Yao Fangfang and Lin Yu at the same time.
The two of them were mainly on vacation these past few days and hadn't really planned any specific itinerary.
Lin Yu turned to ask Yao Fangfang for her opinion, but as he hesitated, a familiar voice suddenly came from the dark coastline behind him.
Would you mind bringing one more person?
Everyone turned around in unison. Chen Guang looked like a merman returning from the deep sea, his shirt clinging to his body in the night wind, revealing his clearly defined muscles.
He walked step by step on the gentle waves, the moonlight dyeing the sea behind him into floating shards of silver, but suddenly dimming when it touched his figure.
The six-person team was formed in this haphazard way. Lin Yu didn't care at all about Chen Guang's sudden visit, looking at him as if he were air.
If other people's first love is a white moonlight, then Chen Guang is Lin Yu's absolute black moonlight, a dark cloud hanging over him, a haunting ghost.
But Chen Guang didn't care. He greeted Liam and his group in a friendly manner, introduced himself as a friend of Lin Yu and Yao Fangfang, and managed to squeeze into their group.
After finalizing the itinerary for the next day, Chen Guang said goodbye to Liam and her group, and then followed Lin Yu and the others back to the same hotel.
Lin Yu didn't ask a single question about when he found out he was coming to Sanya for vacation or when he booked the hotel room, determined to maintain his indifferent attitude to the end.
She kept her eyes glued to the changing floor numbers, not even glancing at him. The elevator stopped at their floor, and Lin Yu stepped out, disappearing down the corridor with Yao Fangfang without looking back.
Chen Guang was left alone in the elevator, which continued to ascend, and the mirror reflected his slightly upturned lips.
......
The next morning, Liam and his friends checked the weather forecast and tide schedule. They then went to a shop near the hotel to buy snorkeling gear.
Based on yesterday's experience, they then led the way, driving two rented cars to Fenjiezhou Island pier.
Chen Guang followed Liam's car in an SUV. Lin Yu deliberately avoided the passenger seat and squeezed into the back seat with Yao Fangfang, his face cold.
The atmosphere in the carriage wasn't great throughout the journey, but Yao Fangfang broke the silence and started chatting with Chen Guang.
"What did that big mouth Zhang Yunzhou say to you?" Her eyes held a knowing look, knowing that Chen Guang was able to come to her door so quickly because there must be someone behind him giving him instructions.
Chen Guang glanced at him in the rearview mirror, his eyes revealing a resolute determination. "When he comes tomorrow, you interrogate him yourself."
"What?" Yao Fangfang ripped off her sunglasses, leaned forward abruptly, and braced herself against the front seat, her expression turning cold. "What's he doing here?"
Since their last hysterical argument, the two haven't spoken properly for two months.
She simply moved to another apartment to focus on her exams, leaving him to handle all the childcare responsibilities. Zhang Yunzhou, being sensible, hardly bothered her during this time.
Yao Fangfang stared at Chen Guang's tense profile, then suddenly sneered and leaned back in her seat. "When people are doing bad things, they really aren't afraid of hardship or fatigue."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
