His face showed little emotion, but Yun Li felt extraordinarily at ease. She returned to his side with a gentle smile.
From last night until now, she had felt like she was living in a dream. Now, she found a sense of reality in his subtle actions.
After breakfast, Fu Shize borrowed Xu Qingsong’s car and drove to the zoo.
“Don’t you need navigation?” Yun Li was surprised to see him start the car directly. Fu Shize made an affirmative sound: “I often came here as a child.”
Yun Li: “Have you been to that zoo before?”
Fu Shize: “Yes.”
Yun Li: “Won’t you find it boring to go again?”
Fu Shize looked at the road ahead, and paused for a few seconds before saying: “Not if I’m with you.”
…
The zoo was over half an hour’s drive from the guesthouse, with various Christmas decorations hanging at the entrance. After parking, Yun Li and Fu Shize scanned their electronic tickets at the entrance. The staff gave them a map of the park. The area was quite large, with specific markings on the map.
Both of them now knew each other’s feelings.
This was their first real date.
Being a weekend, the park was quite crowded, mostly parents with children and couples. Yun Li lowered her head to study the map.
“Wait a moment,” Fu Shize suddenly said, turning to go to the convenience store near the entrance. Yun Li didn’t think much of it, focusing on identifying a few points they could visit on the map.
When she came back to her senses, a shadow fell over her. She looked up to find Fu Shize holding a new parasol, the tag still attached to the handle.
With his fair skin, dark eyes, and eyebrows, and now wearing a black jacket under the black umbrella, he looked a bit like he was avoiding the sunlight.
Yun Li: “I brought sunscreen, do you need some?”
Fu Shize: “…”
Fu Shize: “Where to?”
Yun Li casually pointed to a place on the map, and Fu Shize glanced at it before heading directly in that direction.
Under the umbrella, they still maintained some distance to avoid brushing against each other.
As they walked forward, Yun Li noticed nearby couples, many of whom also had the boy holding an umbrella for the girl.
He must have seen this and specifically bought an umbrella.
After spending over three hours, they had toured the entire park. Yun Li received a message from Deng Chuqi: [Are you out with Xia Xia’s uncle?]
Yun Li: [We’re at the zoo.]
Deng Chuqi: [Don’t just look at animals, remember to do the real thing.]
Yun Li: [?]
Deng Chuqi: [Pluck this aloof flower!!!]
Yun Li: [He’s sober today, should he talk to me clearly?]
After Fu Shize’s initiative last night, Yun Li also expected they would have a more formal communication about their relationship today.
As the one who had been repeatedly rejected before, Yun Li had to admit she didn’t want to be the one to bring it up.
Fu Shize didn’t seem particularly interested in the surrounding entertainment, only participating when Yun Li wanted to play.
When they reached the park exit, there was a goldfish scooping stall by the roadside.
Yun Li stood at the side, watching a young man carefully scoop up a goldfish and put it into a transparent plastic bag with water for the waiting girl beside him.
They both looked to be in their early twenties.
Yun Li hinted subtly: “Don’t they look like they’re in a campus romance?”
Fu Shize: “…”
He voluntarily bought ten scooping nets, handing five to Yun Li to catch the small goldfish in the pool.
Yun Li had never played this before and underestimated the difficulty. After repeatedly having her net broken by the water or pierced by the fish, she updated her understanding and turned to look at Fu Shize beside her.
He was the same.
He stared at the fish in the pool, not moving.
Yun Li tried to comfort him: “It seems a bit difficult…”
Fu Shize seemed not to have heard her words. With an expressionless face, he stood up: “Boss, give me 30 more nets.”
The stall owner hurriedly turned to count the nets, handed them to Fu Shize after counting, then pointed to a QR code on the wall nearby and said: “Just scan this code to pay.”
Fu Shize took half and handed them to Yun Li.
Yun Li took them in a daze: “Do you want this fish?”
Fu Shize held the scooping net, focusing intently on the pool. Hearing Yun Li’s question, he answered: “No.”
After a few seconds.
He continued: “Just a bit hard to believe.”
That he couldn’t scoop up even one.
Yun Li understood his thoughts and found it a bit amusing.
She held the net but didn’t intend to continue scooping, instead squatting beside Fu Shize to watch his actions. Unlike his usual self, his expression remained unchanged, but there was some emotion in his eyes.
Fu Shize looked up, nodding towards the scooping net in her hand: “Not playing?”
Yun Li nodded.
Fu Shize: “Then give them to me.”
Yun Li: “…”
Yun Li: “I didn’t know you had such a strong competitive spirit before.”
Fu Shize’s gaze remained on the fish pool. After a long while, he asked: “You don’t like it?”
“…”
“I do like it quite a bit…”
Hearing her response, Fu Shize’s hand paused, and another net broke. He put it down indifferently and continued as if nothing had happened.
After using thirty nets, there were several goldfish in the small bucket. He bought a small glass tank, poured the goldfish in, and bought some fish food.
Before leaving the zoo, Yun Li thought for a long time before saying to Fu Shize: “Let’s take a photo together.”
Fu Shize didn’t refuse: “There’s no one to help take it.”
Yun Li didn’t mind: “Just use the phone’s selfie mode. You’re tall, can you hold the phone?”
He didn’t resist, following her instructions to take up the phone and press it a couple of times.
After wandering around other Christmas markets near the zoo for a few rounds, close to mealtime, Fu Shize asked her: “Shall we go back together tonight?”
Yun Li thought for a moment. The next two days were the HR department’s year-end trip, also to this guesthouse. If she was going to participate, there was no need to go back.
She had a class on Monday.
Yun Li nodded.
After returning to the guesthouse, the others had already packed their luggage. Xia Congsheng had already taken a car of people to leave.
Fu Shize first went upstairs with Yun Li to get their luggage, then when they came back downstairs, Xu Qingsong and Fu Zhengchu were already in the car. Fu Shize put the luggage in the trunk, and they sat in the back seat.
As soon as the car started, Fu Shize leaned towards her to fasten her seatbelt.
Fu Zhengchu kept staring at the rearview mirror, grinning as he observed the two’s actions after getting in the car. After Fu Shize sat back in his original position, Yun Li looked up and met Fu Zhengchu’s eyes in the rearview mirror, instantly feeling extremely embarrassed.
Fu Zhengchu sent Yun Li a screenshot of their chat interface, where he had directly changed her contact name to “Little Aunt”.
“…”
Xu Qingsong glanced at the rearview mirror: “What are you holding in your hands?”
Fu Shize didn’t explain much: “Fish.”
Xu Qingsong didn’t ask them, directly driving the car to the entrance of Qilixiangdu. Only after Yun Li got out of the car did she realize Fu Shize had also followed.
Yun Li: “Are you still going to EAW?”
Fu Shize: “Sending you back.”
She hadn’t expected this reason, since the car had already reached the community entrance.
Yun Li looked at the time, it was just after eight.
Yun Li: “It’s still quite early… Shall we go buy some fried rice noodles?”
Fu Shize didn’t refuse.
The last time the two walked this road together was when they first met, and four months had passed unknowingly.
Fu Shize still remembered the way, walking side by side with her.
Yun Li had bought from here many times, and the shop owner could recognize her. Rarely seeing her bring a man, he said: “Little miss, is this your boyfriend?”
The shop owner would often chat with Yun Li when she bought fried rice noodles, so they were quite familiar. Yun Li naturally denied: “No.”
Fu Shize: “…”
Yun Li muttered to herself: “Not yet.”
The shop owner didn’t hear clearly and made a long questioning sound. Yun Li waved her hand, smiling to indicate it was nothing.
Fu Shize remained silent at the side.
“It’s ready,” the shop owner handed the takeaway bag to Yun Li. Before she could reach out, Fu Shize directly took it, “Thank you.”
After walking a few steps, Fu Shize stopped: “There’s a box in the pocket.”
Yun Li was stunned for a moment, was he asking her to help take something out?
She was on his left side and reached into the left pocket of his coat, feeling a box with a cool texture. She took it out.
It was a small mother-of-pearl box, with shell pieces inlaid in the shape of clouds on the surface. Yun Li guessed what it was but still asked, suppressing the excitement in her voice: “Is this for me?”
Fu Shize saw the girl standing in front of him, her long, thick eyelashes trembling slightly, her eyes below filled with joy. He couldn’t help but curl his lips: “Yes, a Christmas gift.”
After their mutual feelings were acknowledged, it became impossible to control the growth of this sprout.
Yun Li carefully put the mother-of-pearl box in her bag.
She was still immersed in the joy of receiving her first gift when the person beside her suddenly asked: “Where’s mine?”
Yun Li: “…”
Yun Li’s smile froze.
This, she hadn’t prepared a gift.
How could she have imagined that on a trip, their relationship would take such a big turn?
“Can I make it up later?” The gift box on her bag magnified her inner guilt, and she shrank back, “I didn’t prepare…”
Fu Shize reminded her: “The drone.”
With his prompt, Yun Li remembered the drone she had made overnight: “It’s in the apartment, I’ll get it for you.”
“Mm.”
Upon reaching Qilixiangdu, Fu Shize consciously stopped a few meters from the door. Yun Li had already swiped open the door, thought for a moment, and then said: “Why don’t you come up with me?”
When Yun Li was pursuing him one-sidedly, this sentence only had its literal meaning, but now the state of their relationship gave this ordinary sentence other ambiguous implications.
Fu Shize didn’t refuse, following her upstairs.
Yun Li turned on the lights, fortunately, the house was still relatively tidy before she left. Fu Shize put things on the sofa, looked around, and placed the goldfish tank in the center of the coffee table.
This wasn’t the first time he had asked about this drone. Yun Li wasn’t sure why he wanted it so much. That night, time was tight, and she had assembled and colored it overnight, but the final product still had many flaws.
At that time, Chen Lirong had ‘warned’ her not to give it to Fu Shize. Worried that she might have stepped on some sensitive area, she hadn’t considered it as a gift again. A few days later, when she met He Jiameng who told her about Fu Shize wanting to date a girl, it became even less possible to give it to him.
“I put the drone on the shelf, it’s a bit ugly,” Yun Li, afraid he might have raised expectations for it, preemptively belittled her work.
Fu Shize casually made an “mm” sound, reached out with both hands to pick up the paper board drone, and moved it to the table.
Fu Shize lowered his eyes to look at this paperboard drone.
Made with simple cardboard glued together, and painted on the surface, it didn’t look very sturdy. He touched the wings, but the color wasn’t very even.
“How about I give you another gift to make up for it?” Yun Li worried he might think she was being perfunctory, after all, the gift he gave looked quite expensive and customized.
“No need.” Fu Shize: “This is very good.”
“Do you want to eat some with me?” Yun Li pointed at the fried rice noodles in the corner of the table. Fu Shize didn’t refuse. She went to the kitchen to get chopsticks and small bowls and also brought two bottles of drinks.
Fu Shize didn’t let her do it, opening the drink bottles himself and putting the fried rice noodles into her bowl.
He didn’t seem to have much appetite, putting down his bowl and chopsticks after just a few bites. He propped up his phone on the table with a tissue, opened E station, and started playing the paper board drone video she had uploaded before.
The video was hastily edited, and the scenes weren’t particularly smooth or coherent. Fu Shize seemed to pay no attention to these details, watching silently until the progress bar reached the end.
She said to the camera word by word — This handmade drone, I plan to give it to a very important person.
“…”
Fu Shize pulled the progress bar back for a few seconds before, playing this sentence again.
“…”
Yun Li lowered her head embarrassedly to eat, muttering: “Don’t tease me…”
Seeing her blushing face, Fu Shize became even more unrestrained: “Wasn’t it meant for me to hear?”
“…”
When Fu Shize refused, Yun Li was a bit bolder. Now that they were more intimate than before, she felt unable to be open, unable to handle their current state.
She could learn how to invite the other person and accept their refusal in a short time, but she didn’t know how two people in mutual love should get along.
It was almost ten o’clock when they finished eating. Yun Li saw Fu Shize at the door. Remembering the shop owner’s question earlier, Yun Li couldn’t help but ask him: “Today, we should count as dating, right?”
Seemingly not having thought she would ask this question, Fu Shize thought for a moment, not directly answering: “What do you think?”
Seeing he didn’t give a definite answer, Yun Li also became a bit doubtful: “It should be… right?”
Fu Shize: “…”
He nodded.
Getting affirmation, Yun Li, valuing the ritual of the first date, said seriously: “It’s my first date.”
Fu Shize looked down at her: “Mine too.”
Yun Li: “How do you feel about it?”
After pondering for a while, Fu Shize slowly said: “Pretty good.”
“When is our next date?” Yun Li tried hard to suppress her smile, attempting to not make her feelings too obvious: “Can it be soon?”
“I have to go on a business trip to Yihe tomorrow.” Fu Shize leaned against the door, thought for a moment, and then looked at her: “Wait for me to come back?”
Yun Li felt warmth in her heart: “Okay.”
As it was coming to an end, he leaned there, not leaving immediately, but continued to look at her for a good while. The two were silent, and only when the lights in the corridor went out did she come back to her senses.