28 Chapter Twenty-Seven
"Li Yingqiao, did anything happen to you outside?"
After he finished speaking, he moved the table aside for her, the corner of the table making a short scraping sound. He stepped aside to make way for her to come out, but Li Yingqiao still didn't move. Instead, she leaned forward and looked up to find his eyes under the brim of his hat, trying to discern whether his words were true or false. Her curious voice rose at the end: "Really—you won't play with me anymore?"
Yu Jinyang simply turned his head to the side and whispered, "Are we leaving or not?"
"Let's go, let's go." Li Yingqiao finally stood up from her seat and walked away from him listlessly, gesturing with her hand to show their heights, "But how did you grow so tall? Did you really have a leg amputated?"
She looked down.
He didn't say anything, turned around and took an umbrella from the bar. Just as he straightened up, Li Yingqiao stood behind him again: "No need for an umbrella, I'm driving. We can go directly to the mall from the hotel's underground parking garage."
Yu Jinyang glanced at her, then handed her the umbrella, pointing with his chin to the red mark on her neck: "Don't get caught in the rain if you're suffering from heatstroke. Keep it in the car and return it to me next time."
Li Yingqiao paused for a moment before taking it. "Actually, Meow, I wanted to ask you for a favor."
Yu Jinyang leaned against the bar, looking down at her. His expression wasn't surprised; instead, he silently breathed a sigh of relief. After so many years of no contact, Li Yingqiao came straight to him as soon as she returned. This proactive Li Yingqiao probably really had something to ask of him.
Otherwise, after so many years apart, she really wouldn't have treated him like this.
He nodded: "Go ahead."
Li Yingqiao's eyes lingered on his face for a moment, but her lips remained tightly held by a thread, making it clear that she found it difficult to speak.
Yu Jinyang didn't urge her. He put one hand in his pocket, leaned against the bar, and watched her patiently, waiting for her to continue.
"You don't have a girlfriend right now, do you?"
"No." He answered succinctly, but he didn't mention that many relatives had been urging his parents to arrange blind dates for him. "What are you trying to say?"
His eyes were like a clear, gentle lake; when he looked into her eyes, they were calm and tender.
Li Yingqiao suddenly felt that she couldn't say those words to him. Although she had come today for this very reason, after so many years of not seeing each other, if they started like this, Yu Jinyang would probably really be angry.
So she changed the subject, made up a random excuse, and said with a smile, "No, I was just asking. Could you come with me to dinner tomorrow? Secretary Li said he wanted to treat me to a meal, but I don't really want to go alone."
When their college entrance exam results were released, Li Boqing made a big show of throwing a banquet for them in town. Li Boqing was very old-fashioned. Since his successful transformation from businessman to businessman, he had also started to adopt the bureaucratic style. Li Yingqiao felt very uncomfortable during that meal.
Even after years of experience outside, dealing with someone like Li Boqing still requires patience, which Li Yingqiao clearly lacked. She and Liang Mei were indeed very similar in some ways, and to this day, they all understood why Liang Mei had approached her in the first place.
Yu Jinyang hesitated for a few seconds, his broad and tall figure enveloping her in the dim light of the bar. He just stood there quietly, like a tree that had taken root, looking at her with deep eyes, without saying a word.
"You're not willing to do this either?" Li Yingqiao could only say, "Meow, pretend I didn't say anything."
Yu Jinyang lowered his eyelids and said, "Okay, send me the address via WeChat later."
"Wow, Yu Miaomiao, after all these years, you're still so easy to talk to!" Li Yingqiao patted him on the shoulder with a grin, then regretted that she might have overthought things. She should have just told him directly, "Can I borrow your Shanghai hukou (household registration)? I want to buy a small apartment in Shanghai for Shuli with a mortgage."
He was the first to push open the door and go out, reaching for the elevator button without saying a word.
"Why are you like this? You're not happy when I praise you?"
"What's bothering you?" He glanced at her.
“If you’re also annoyed by Secretary Li, then don’t come with me. I can manage on my own.” This was not her intention.
“It’s alright,” he said. “I’m free tomorrow anyway.”
Li Yingqiao grinned at him, "Meow, like I said, it's really nice to see you."
There was complete silence until the elevator doors slowly closed. Then, Yu Jinyang replied in a nonsensical voice, "Stop trying to fool me."
He ignored her completely. Even after they reached the parking lot, when Li Yingqiao unlocked her car and prepared to get in, turning back to say "See you tomorrow," Yu Jinyang remained standing still, offering no reply.
In fact, Li Yingqiao had grown quite a bit taller. She was beautiful and outstanding since she was a child. She was very thin in junior high school and looked a bit malnourished. But because her back was always straight, she stood out in the crowd even when wearing a drab school uniform. Tang Xiang had told him many times that when they were children, Li Yingqiao was always the easiest to find when picking them up from school.
Now, she no longer wears that tight, slicked-back ponytail. Her hair is casually draped around her neck, with only the wispy baby hairs on her forehead revealing a touch of her childhood playfulness. Especially when she smiles, she's practically the same as when she was a child. It's just that before, she was as stiff as a flagpole, with a defiant glint in her eyes. Now, she's fuller and more relaxed, much softer, like a leaf brimming with the warmth of spring. She possesses a new kind of refinement and maturity, yet retains the defiant spirit of her youth.
Li Yingqiao held onto the car door, and seeing that he didn't respond, she waved her hand in front of him, "Hi~ Yu Miaomiao, say goodbye."
"Li Yingqiao," he called out to her, his voice not loud, but the empty parking lot made the sound like a stone thrown into a deep lake. Yu Jinyang stood there, his hands loosely in his pockets, looking at her. "You didn't run into anything outside, did you?"
"Don't worry, everything will be fine." She closed the door, got into the car, rolled down the window, and waved goodbye to him: "See you tomorrow."
Yu Jinyang sat reclining in the driver's seat for a long time without starting the engine. He scrolled through WeChat on his phone for a while, then dejectedly threw it into the armrest box.
He should have asked the question he should have asked earlier; actually, asking how he'd been doing these past few years wouldn't have made any difference.
Even though her answer would definitely be that I'm fine, very good, exceptionally good.
Actually, the year they were admitted to university, they both left Fengtan on the same train. He took the 12:15 train to Shanghai, while she took the 12:00 train to Beijing. They looked at each other for a long time in the bustling train station.
Yu Jinyang was surrounded by a lively crowd. Apart from his great-grandmother and grandfather, almost everyone in the family who could breathe came. Even his Labrador, which he had raised in high school, came running over to see him off. Yu Jinyang hugged and kissed it repeatedly, and it took him a long time to coax it back into the car.
For some reason, Li Shuli didn't come to see her off that day, and Tang Xiang and Yu Renjie didn't notice Li Yingqiao in the crowd either; they were too busy arguing with their grandmother.
Because his grandmother secretly slipped a red envelope into his pocket, which was spotted by sharp-eyed Ms. Tang Xiang, who immediately confiscated it and gave his grandmother a severe dressing-down.
“Jin Yang is so old now, please stop giving him red envelopes all the time. You've spoiled him rotten. Besides, we've already given him six months' worth of living expenses in advance. Please stop giving him money behind our backs. If I catch him again, his allowance will be halved…”
Grandma snatched the red envelope back from his mother's hand. Despite her usual frail appearance, she possessed surprising strength at that moment; he couldn't push her away. Her withered hands firmly gripped his wrist, determined to stuff the envelope into his pocket, all the while muttering promises: "This is the last time, the very last time. I promise I won't give you anything again. He's never left here since he was a child. He finally got into university; he needs some money to support himself..."
“You always say it’s the last time.”
"Alright, alright, I'll decide this, Mom. Let's listen to Xiangxiang. This isn't how we show love to our children," Yu Renjie chimed in casually at this point.
Yu Jinyang listened to his maternal grandmother and mother arguing back and forth, when his aunts rushed over from the station entrance. They stuffed two boxes of cornbread into his hands and gave him a large bag of snacks to take on the train. His aunt, who couldn't speak, used sign language to tell him to take good care of himself on the journey. Before Yu Jinyang could thank them, his aunt, her face flushed, hurriedly stuffed a red envelope into his pocket. He was both amused and exasperated. Then his mother started scolding his aunt, repeating the same words without changing them.
At that time, he was about to have his ticket checked. In the midst of the noisy atmosphere, he quietly watched Li Yingqiao on the opposite platform, dragging her suitcase and resolutely boarding the train to the north to study.
In a corner unnoticed by anyone, they exchanged one last glance across the crowded platform. At that time, there was no high-speed rail to Fengtan. Li Yingqiao smiled at him from inside the green carriage, her eyes resolute, yet inexplicably making one's heart ache.
He actually knew what she wanted to say; it wasn't goodbye, it wasn't farewell.
She must have said something like that at that time—
Yu Miaomiao, I'm going to change the world, so don't miss me too much.
[Author's Note]
Happy Children's Day in advance! [Laughing and crying emoji] [Laughing and crying emoji]
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