End of Side Story
11
During the week leading up to the end of the year, Li Yingqiao was so busy that she almost missed her flight back to Fengtan.
The incident started when Villy was talking late at night. She was woken up by Zhang Zongxie's phone call. Just as she was about to get up to turn on the light, she suddenly remembered that there was still someone lying in bed. So she got out of bed in the dark and tiptoed to the study.
The moment the door closed, the half-naked man on the bed woke up. It wasn't late; the city lights outside were still bright, and the dazzling neon lights between the buildings mingled with the familiar desires of urban men and women, casting an ambiguous glow on the carpet. The man's back muscles were clearly defined and smooth; with the sound of the door hinges, his back muscles tensed slightly, and half his face unconsciously buried itself in the pillow.
Li Yingqiao had just celebrated his birthday today, and his cerebral cortex was still in a state of peak adrenaline, so he wasn't actually asleep. Watching the woman's figure disappear through the crack in the door, and remembering that she had deliberately turned the phone ringer up to the maximum before going to bed, Yu Jinyang couldn't help but frown.
No wonder she always has insomnia; she really needs to change jobs.
He thought he earned enough, then chuckled self-deprecatingly into his pillow. "Crazy, Yu Jinyang, how could you think like that? If she finds out, Li Yingqiao will beat you to death in bed."
Zhang Zongxie was probably woken up by someone. He leaned against the headboard, his voice sounding tired and hoarse: "Lilith called Villy to confirm, and she swore she didn't do it."
The room was heated by the underfloor heating. Li Yingqiao had casually thrown on a nightgown, which happened to be the modal material one. She quickly glanced at the post in the dimly lit study, her voice drowsy: "I know."
“You trust Villy? Don’t forget, she’s the one who made the recording,” Zhang Zongxie reminded her.
“I might believe you if you said she bribed Xu Junfei, but I wouldn’t believe a word of it if you said she sexually bribed him. Villy is obsessed with looks.”
Indeed, those who are obsessed with appearances can understand those who are obsessed with appearances the best. Zhang Zongxie remained silent because he was thinking of someone.
"Is my brother asleep?"
"Yeah, he's been a bit tired lately," Li Yingqiao said, a smirk playing on her lips as she browsed the comments on the post. "Also, can you stop taking advantage of him all the time?"
Zhang Zongxie said, "It's his birthday today? I had Lilith buy him a gift. I'll bring it to the company tomorrow, and you can give it to him."
Li Yingqiao was taken aback. "How did you know?"
Zhang Zongxie calmly said, "It's Mr. Yu's circle of friends."
Um... Li Yingqiao fell silent.
Actually, there are still two days until Yu Jinyang's real birthday, but Yu Renjie inexplicably wanted to eat cake today, so he sent him a WeChat message asking if he could celebrate it two days earlier so he could buy himself a cake as a reward.
Given his recent criminal record, Yu Jinyang specifically reminded him in his reply: "It's up to you, but leave some for your sister."
Yu Renjie didn't leave a single bite, and was so angry with the ice cream cone that he burst into tears. Tang Xiang couldn't coax him, so she had a video call with Yu Jinyang and the other man for an hour, asking Li Qingtian to judge the matter.
He kept blaming her during the video call, saying, "I called her but she didn't respond, and the cake was about to melt, so I had to eat it all to avoid wasting it, and wasting food is shameful. She may not have learned the Eight Honors and Eight Shames, but you two must have, right?"
What can you do even if you've studied it? This young person who filed the report kept crying, large tears falling onto the camera, as if expressing overwhelming grievances.
Li Qingtian was heartbroken, so she could only seriously reprimand the defendant: "Your sister is very reasonable. She wanted to replace Dad, and she even knew to call her brother to let him know. Can't you let her know before you eat cake?"
Yu Renjie: "..."
Seeing that things weren't going well, he moved his head out of the camera's view, so that if he couldn't see him, he wouldn't be able to scold him.
"Dad, stop hiding, you're on camera now." Yu Jinyang was even more rebellious, with the air of someone who held a chicken feather as a royal decree, raising Li Yingqiao high and speaking calmly, "How dare you, our Li Qingtian hasn't finished speaking yet."
Yu Renjie: "If you keep insulting me, I'll run away from home."
Yu Jinyang: "That ice cream cone could sell a house."
Tang Xiang calmly added, "Yes, the ice cream cone is someone who helped snails sell houses."
Li Qingtian, impartial and incorruptible: "...Did you get the snail's permission?"
The ice cream cone immediately cried out in protest: "Round dog!!"
Regardless, proceed with the court proceedings—
But that's a story for another time.
“Okay,” Li Yingqiao said, getting back to the main point, “Shall I have Xiao Liang issue a statement first?”
“I just finished a phone call with Xu Quyu, and I agree with her. Let’s put it aside for now.”
"Let them slander Villy? Spread rumors about female executives at Convey? Is this your idea, or did you persuade Xu Quyu to do it?"
Zhang Zongxie paused for a moment and then said, "Is this aimed at Villy? What do you think?"
Li Yingqiao quickly calmed down, her knuckles gripping her phone tightly.
Zhang Zongxie spoke again: "Villy is the one among us who is the easiest to be caught out of. Do you know why? It's not because the other party is targeting her, it's just because she fits the bill."
Because her ambition and desire were written all over her face.
Because of the sexy photos she posts on social media and her great figure that she doesn't mind showing off.
Li Yingqiao asked, "What did Villy herself say?"
Zhang Zongxie said, "She said it was interesting."
Li Yingqiao laughed out loud, "Okay, I got it."
Li Yingqiao hung up the phone, opened her social media app, and saw that Villy herself had indeed launched a direct attack, her barrage of words: "Let me put it this way, whether it's directed at me or Convey, I'll take it all. After all these years in the internet industry, do you think I don't understand what you're trying to do? Have I wasted my time? Come on, didn't you say I had an improper relationship with Xu Junfei? @XuJunfei, come out and say something. Someone's spreading rumors about you, are you going to do anything about it?"
Xu Junfei only replied with one message: "Sis, if you're going crazy, find someone else. I've already quit my job. No wonder people say you're all looks and no brains."
Villy directly scolded him: "Do you know why women's breasts are on the outside? Because we also need to grow brains, while you men's breasts, which don't grow, are all in your brains. Your brains are occupied and diseased by your big breasts, so how can your brains grow? So who is the one with big breasts and no brains? From now on, I will use this term to scold you."
Xu Junfei replied with a cupped-hands emoji: "I'll check, I'll check, okay?"
Villy: "I don't care if you investigate or not, I've already called the police."
Her fighting spirit is so strong that she doesn't need public relations at all. The comments section has already been turned around thanks to her silver tongue, with everyone praising her as "V-sister 666" (a Chinese internet slang for "awesome").
Oh dear, I already told you not to mess with her.
Li Yingqiao happily turned off her phone, leaned against the edge of her desk, and was no longer sleepy. Looking at the neon lights outside the window, she unconsciously tilted her head and began to think about what the women of Xiaohua City were like.
Strong, bad-tempered, loud-voiced...
Tang Xiang was very strong. She disliked that Tang Xiang was dirty all over after catching crayfish in the field. She didn't care that Tang Xiang's husband was her mortal enemy. She picked Tang Xiang up from the ground and took her home to bathe with Yu Jinyang.
Sister Qin is a woman who loves to look beautiful. She changes into different styles of cheongsams every day, and she never wears the same one twice in a month. But she has a very loud voice; if she loses at cards, she can make the whole street cry with her cursing.
Liang Mei has a bad temper. Sometimes when she gets angry, she can even argue with the dog. Zhu Xiaoliang innocently said, "Why are you arguing with it?" Liang Mei said, "Li Yingqiao sometimes imitates dog barks so well that I can't help but want to curse at any dog I see."
By the way, she actually has a talent that seems to be unknown to most people.
She imitates the sounds of various small animals with remarkable realism.
Several times during high school, when she was tutored at Liang Mei's house, she would bury her head in the table and imitate the chirping of crickets on the balcony, then pretend to feed the crickets, taking the opportunity to slack off for a while. Liang Mei couldn't tell at all, and Yu Jinyang seemed to have never noticed either.
She laughed and started to get up. Just as she turned around, she saw someone leaning against the study door, not wearing his pajamas properly, only the bottom two buttons haphazardly fastened, revealing a large section of his chest that left much to the imagination. She wondered how long he had been watching her.
Their eyes met, and Yu Jinyang straightened up and walked towards her, sitting down next to her with one long leg extended. He tilted his head to look at her and asked, "What are you thinking about?"
Li Yingqiao rested her head on his shoulder and suddenly asked with great interest, "Yu Jinyang, can you bark like a dog?"
"What kind of trap are you setting for me now?"
"It's not a condom anyway."
He silently looked down at her, speechless.
"Woof! Woof!" Li Yingqiao barked first, looking at him with great interest. "Hurry up, let's see who can imitate it better."
Yu Jinyang kept his mouth tightly shut, maintained a proper posture, crossed his arms in front of his chest, and activated a defensive stance: "No."
"Hurry up."
"No. Do you want to go to sleep? It's my birthday if you don't."
Li Yingqiao ignored him and quickly kissed him on the cheek: "Hurry up."
"Woof." He kept a straight face and his voice was tense, like a wary little dog barking at a stranger.
Li Yingqiao was satisfied, laughing and rubbing against his shoulder, barking softly in a relaxed "woof." She explained:
"You were an i-dog just now, and I'm an e-dog."
He finally couldn't hold back and burst out laughing, his shoulders relaxing as he said helplessly, "Li Yingqiao, are you sick?"
Before he finished speaking, Yu Jinyang reached out and pulled her into his arms, then lowered his head and kissed her forehead. He then turned his gaze to the window, watching the neon lights outline their intertwined reflections on the transparent glass. After a moment, he turned back, his long gaze falling on her, and kissed her forehead again.
Li Yingqiao actually thought it was all a bit crazy. They were barking like dogs in the middle of the night, and then they hugged each other, kissing each other's foreheads. She liked this kind of kissing without any lust, so she tilted her head back and kissed him hard on the forehead.
"Yu Jinyang".
"Hmm?" He looked at her gently and softly, brushing her stray hairs behind her ear, waiting for her to continue.
Li Yingqiao's hair was secured at the back of her head with a shark clip. As he moved it around, some of it came loose. She tied it back up as she said, "I apologize to you. Actually, what I said at the barbecue stand was meant to upset you. I never thought about being friends with benefits with you. My initial thought was that if I could find you as a friend again when I came back to Fengtan this time, I would be very happy. I didn't really think that much about it."
"When did you start thinking so much?"
“You keep asking me if I still like you, keep asking and asking—” Li Yingqiao sighed sadly.
Yu Jinyang gave her a cold glance: "You sound a bit troubled, Li Yingqiao."
She smiled and said, "Before you kept asking, I had considered never getting married. I might have children, but no partner. Like my mother."
"How can you have children if you don't get married?" Yu Jinyang, born into a regular family and raised with traditional views on marriage and family, felt his values were being challenged. "Who would want to have children with you if you don't get married?"
Li Yingqiao stared at him intently, blinking her eyes and chuckling.
Yu Jinyang glared at her: "...Li Yingqiao! You still say you haven't thought about it!"
Li Yingqiao touched his face: "Meow meow, we're all good friends! With such good genes, you're definitely my first choice."
Yu Jinyang grabbed her hands that were trying to cause trouble, pinned them behind her back, and used his other hand to pinch her chin, threatening her without any real force: "...Li Yingqiao, we're finished."
She ignored him, her mouth was pinched into a bird's beak shape, and she pouted innocently, trying to kiss him, saying, "...Meow, I'm sleepy."
Yu Jinyang turned his face away, not letting her touch him. Lying on the bed, he resisted the urge to kick her off. He turned to his side, wrapped himself tightly in the blanket, and covered himself up close.
He decided to protect himself before getting married.
12
A week ago, Yu Jinyang officially signed with WG.
Zhang Zongxie saw the news on social media. He didn't know much about the street dance scene, but Lilith's boyfriend was the owner of a streetwear brand that collaborated with WG and other brands, and knew almost everything about You Xiaofan. Lilith told him that WG was a leading street dance label in China, and its founder, You Xiaofan, was a leading figure in Chinese street dance, a highly controversial and talked-about B-boy with immense influence in the industry.
During the days the show aired, WG's official website directly announced that Yu Jinyang had become the third official partner since the establishment of WG. Some people congratulated him, while others were dissatisfied and asked Yu Jinyang what qualifications he had, and how a B-boy who had no ranking in any major competitions could stand in front of You Xiaofan.
However, a few insiders applauded the reconciliation between the former good brothers, regardless of whether it was a marketing tactic by You Xiaofan, since he had never lost an underground battle.
This incident caused a huge uproar online, even reaching Zhang Zongxie, who rarely follows the street dance scene. He did something that he would have previously considered incredibly stupid: he asked Lilith to contact the brand department to delete some of the more pointed comments. Even if Yu Jinyang himself saw it, he might not have cared.
However, before Lilith could reply, online opinion had already reversed. Someone posted a video from many years ago online, asking them to watch it before speaking. Although it did not eliminate all the doubts, most of them had already fallen silent.
Zhang Zongxie hadn't expected to enjoy the video so much before he clicked on it. He thought he was too old, but it turned out he was. Young people didn't seem to feel anything when they watched it. The comments were saying that the older you are, the more easily you are moved by this kind of video. So, taking advantage of his advanced age of thirty-five, he watched it three times without any hesitation.
When the foreigner made the squinting gesture at their Chinese team member for the third time, confirming it was a deliberate provocation, he finally vaulted over the fence with one hand and left the field.
Even more impactful than the battle scenes were the overwhelming, synchronized shouts in the video, like a tsunami erupting, each one louder than the last: "China! China! China!"
And standing in the center of this colorful, bustling, and glamorous dance floor, at the center of everyone's attention—
Yu Jinyang, who was just over twenty years old, was still wearing a simple white T-shirt and sweatpants.
Zhang Zongxie saw the old comments under that video.
"The Guinness World Record for the one-handed Air Flare is six consecutive spins, and this guy did it five times. Currently, the record for all international competitions is only five spins."
"What's truly impressive is that he could have ended the match with his signature move, but he didn't. Instead, he finished with a basic version of his teammate's signature move. This wasn't holding back; it's a special etiquette in the battle arena called 'giving way.' He countered and overwhelmed the instigator with the opponent's killer move, then politely returned the favor with someone else's signature move. That's why the final move, while not as difficult as the one-handed AF, still got the audience fired up and received thunderous applause. And this is the true meaning of the Breaking spirit—respecting your opponent and the culture of each other's countries."
There are also some new comments added this year.
"I became a fan of the show and came here to do some research. Is this D321? Wow, it looked so young back then."
"I have to say, You Xiaofan is really lucky."
"You Xiaofan, you're really wasting talent! You should have let him out earlier, otherwise your variety shows would have been losing money for years! Now that you've only released him, it seems you really don't have any fresh faces left."
"Now you're a complete mature man. But bro, has anyone ever told you you're serious? You're such a pure cold-faced dad type. You Xiaofan, let me show you the way: use his modeling to create online breaking tutorials."
"Okay, okay, bestie, I'm very satisfied with this."
Zhang Zongxie clicked his tongue and threw his phone away, but unexpectedly, a notification popped up at that moment.
In the few days since You Xiaofan's dance variety show aired, Convey's memorial service has also been held. The internet is in an uproar, and every time he scrolls through the trending topics, he sees familiar faces. On one hand, there's the turbulent power struggles within a wealthy family, and on the other hand, there's the thrilling street dance battle, interspersed with Villy's fiery verbal battles—it's quite a spectacle. Of course, these are just the fringes of the entertainment industry.
Amidst the chaos, he saw Xu Quyu's account. It was President Xu, who always refused to give any interviews, and she posted a message on social media.
@许渠语V: Whenever a woman gets to the decision-making table, I won't ask her why she came or how she got there. I'll only ask her, "Why did it take you so long? We've been waiting for you for a long time."
She was speaking up for Villy.
I never expected her to be so impulsive.
Zhang Zongxie couldn't help but click his tongue again, wanting to call and ask Li Yingqiao what she was doing. But he didn't need to call; a notification popped up on his phone—Convey's public relations spokesperson, Li Yingqiao, expressed her support for all of Ms. Xu Quyu's decisions.
That's good, everyone's fighting. Looks like he's really going to be sent to Africa.
Of course, Yu Jinyang couldn't see any of this news. He hardly had any social media accounts. It was You Xiaofan who forwarded him frame-by-frame edits of his solo performances from netizens, and the likes and comments were the highest across the entire platform.
At that time, Yu Jinyang had just finished discussing the latest STEAM design series with the designer. The designer had just left, and he was cooking in the kitchen, waiting for Li Yingqiao to get off work, completely unaware of the news online. You Xiaofan, still harboring ulterior motives, said on the phone: "Aren't you really considering building your personal brand? To be honest, the market environment is really not good right now. If you can seize the opportunity, hurry up, otherwise in two years, when you're old and faded, no one will be willing to buy into your brand."
Yu Jinyang knew he was just joking and didn't take it seriously, so he asked him when next year's competition would be.
"What, do you have something in mind?"
"It's nothing. Li Yingqiao asked me last night what I thought about Convey wanting to sponsor them next year."
“Sure. Do you think I have too much money?” You Xiaofan readily agreed, saying in a glib tone, “I’ll go and pay my respects to the sugar daddies tomorrow.”
Yu Jinyang got goosebumps. Standing by the stove, with the phone to his ear, he gasped and said, "I'm not adding oil, I'll just add you."
"Then Li Yingqiao is going to eat me."
"Get lost." Yu Jinyang hung up immediately.
That night, Li Yingqiao didn't return home until very late after socializing, and Yu Jinyang waited and waited but she never came back.
Around 11 o'clock, he couldn't help but pick up his phone and make a call to ask if he should come pick her up.
Just as the dial tone sounded, the phone outside the door rang. Yu Jinyang went over and opened the door.
Seeing Li Yingqiao standing at the door, wearing this black coat, with her head wrapped tightly in a scarf and hat, only her eyes darting around in the darkness were visible, like a thief scouting the doorway, but not yet deciding which house to rob.
He leaned against the doorframe with a smile, his tall figure in pajamas blocking the doorway. "What are you doing, Li Yingqiao?"
He knew Li Yingqiao had a social engagement that evening. Before he woke up in the morning, she whispered in his ear, "Meow meow, I have a social engagement tonight and will be back late."
In his dazed state, he pulled her close, kissed her cheek, and told her to drink less, or he would spank her if she got drunk.
She nodded repeatedly, agreeing quite well.
At noon, he arranged for the studio's designer to come over to discuss the details of the renovation. After the discussion, he sent her a WeChat message.
D321: Drink less tonight, I'll come pick you up.
D321: Bridge?
But she didn't reply.
She was standing at the door, grinning foolishly at him. Although her face was completely covered, with only her eyes showing, the redness under her eyelids showed that she had drunk quite a bit.
Yu Jinyang looked up at the elevator, which had already stopped on the first floor.
This means she had been at her doorstep for a while.
"Are you trying to sober up? How long have you been standing there?"
She didn't speak, but closed her eyes, shook her head vigorously, her steps unsteady, and stumbled towards him.
Yu Jinyang quickly steadied her, "Who brought you back?"
"Your brother."
"I'll slap you, and besides, he's my brother."
Li Yingqiao hugged him tightly, saying, "Yu Jinyang, I'm so happy today, so I'm having a little more to drink."
He had originally intended to say coldly, "If you like standing so much, just stand at the door to sober up." But hearing her say she was happy, a part of Yu Jinyang's heart simply collapsed.
The last time I heard her say how happy she was was when she received her college acceptance letter. As soon as the package arrived at her shop, she rushed downstairs to share her joy with him. That time, he was very unhappy. They had clearly agreed to go to Shanghai together. She achieved unexpected results on her exams, and under the persuasion of Liang Mei and Zhu Xiaoliang, she chose Beijing without hesitation. Even without discussing it with him, he had considered changing his application to R University, but Li Yingqiao didn't try to comfort him; she even argued with him. So, he also went to Shanghai without hesitation, out of spite. That moment of happiness turned into unhappiness, and they parted on bad terms.
He had something he wanted to say to her that day, but he didn't say it until she left in a huff. He later edited it into a text message but couldn't send it. It was saved in the drafts folder on his Samsung phone from high school.
After returning to China, he looked back at the text message; the wording was still quite immature back then. At this moment, he wanted to know why she was happy, and whether her happiness had anything to do with him. So, he casually hoisted her onto his waist, carried her into the house, and pressed her against the door, kissing her tenderly. Li Yingqiao covered her mouth: "I'm sorry, I'm intoxicated right now."
He laughed out loud, pinched her cheek, and said, "You still know that? Will you still drink in the future? Will you still not reply to my messages? Will you still have someone else take you home?"
"I've been so busy today," she said. "After the memorial service, Mr. Xu and I were interviewed, so I haven't been able to check my phone."
"Was it successful?"
She nodded emphatically.
"Are you so happy because the memorial service went well?"
"Yes!" She cupped his face in her hands, her palms burning under the influence of alcohol, her eyes sparkling. The alcohol made her somewhat incoherent, her logic not as clear as usual, but for the first time, it made his heart race.
"And also, I was so happy to see you before I left this morning! I was so glad the memorial service went smoothly! And I was so happy to see you still here when I came back tonight! Yu Jinyang, will I see you again tomorrow morning?"
Actually, she wasn't sobering up at the door; she was just too afraid to push it open. During the period right after the Rainbow Youli incident, she and Sister Hu often drank until midnight before returning to their apartment. Several times, when she opened the door, she thought she saw Yu Jinyang, only to find him gone again when she woke up in the morning. He was actually still in Chicago.
He had heard her say many sweet nothings with ease and without any flaws, but this was probably the one she spoke most awkwardly and clumsily, yet it was the one that made his heart flutter the most.
After Li Yingqiao finished speaking, she left the person aside and fell asleep, leaving Yu Jinyang alone, his eyes red-rimmed, squatting by the bedside. He kissed her forehead one last time, and his tears fell along with it, soaking her forehead.
She noticed it, reached out and wiped her hand, murmuring, "Yu Jinyang, it's raining."
He propped his arms on either side of her, looked down at her, chuckled, and another tear uncontrollably fell onto her forehead.
"It's pouring rain," he said.
"Stop crying," she said. "You seem to think I'm a fool."
"Pretending to be asleep, huh?" He smiled, tears welling up in his eyes again.
There was no sound. He wiped it away for her, then lay down on the side as if all his strength had been drained, staring straight up at the ceiling.
Yu Jinyang closed his eyes, and the text message from his high school manuscript flashed through his mind.
—Li Yingqiao, have I never properly praised you?
—Actually, you are much more capable than I imagined.
Congratulations! I wish you a safe journey and hope you find good teachers and wise friends on your academic journey.
May our friendship last forever.
—No, it should be, I love you forever.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
