The sound of Xu Qingsong’s soft laughter came from outside the door. Yun Li froze, her mind racing as she considered whether to pretend she hadn’t heard him and tried to explain herself to He Jiameng, hoping Fu Shize, who was likely outside, would overhear.
“I told you to smile more,” Xu Qingsong teased. His voice wasn’t loud, but the poor soundproofing in the break room allowed every word to reach the ears of the two women inside.
They looked at each other, dumbfounded.
Xu Qingsong opened the door directly, with Fu Shize standing beside him.
“Xiao He, you can head home now,” Xu Qingsong said, giving He Jiameng an out. She secretly breathed a sigh of relief, grabbing her bag and heading for the door. Remembering Yun Li, she turned back and frantically gestured with her eyes: “Teacher Xian Yun, would you like to leave with me?”
Yun Li spoke slowly, “I’ll go with my boyfriend…”
He Jiameng wanted to tell Yun Li that they had just been talking about someone who was now blocking the doorway. She could wait for her boyfriend outside to avoid any potential outbursts from Fu Shize.
She made exaggerated facial expressions at Yun Li, and seeing that the other woman didn’t understand, she asked in a clear voice, “Why don’t you come with me first? Where’s your boyfriend?”
Yun Li replied dryly, “Right in front of you…”
“…”
He Jiameng’s smile froze, her eyes widening in disbelief as she looked towards Xu Qingsong. He waved his hand, chuckling, “It’s not me.”
“…”
Watching He Jiameng flee in embarrassment, Yun Li sheepishly rubbed her nose.
Xu Qingsong had changed his outfit today, but before Yun Li could get a good look, Fu Shize stepped in front of him. Like a statue, he seemed to be telling her – if she wanted to look at anyone, it should only be him.
Yun Li tried to ease the tension, saying, “Sister Jiameng always likes to joke around…” As she finished speaking, she gave an awkward smile under Fu Shize’s gaze.
Xu Qingsong suggested, “Let’s go eat.”
Fu Shize responded with a listless “Mm” and held out his hand to Yun Li.
She sighed in relief and took a few small steps to place her hand in his palm.
After having Western food with Xu Qingsong at the Garden Restaurant, Yun Li and Fu Shize drove home.
Finally having a moment alone, Yun Li said softly, “Don’t be angry about what Sister Jiameng said earlier.”
Worried that Fu Shize might think she wasn’t defending him, she quickly explained, “I didn’t get a chance to tell her.”
“Oh,” Fu Shize replied flatly. “I thought you were just afraid to criticize me yourself.”
Yun Li choked, blurting out, “I’m not afraid…”
Realizing her initial response was problematic, she explained again, “No, I mean, I wasn’t planning to criticize you at all.”
Fu Shize glanced at her but said nothing more.
After they got home, Fu Shize didn’t bring up the incident again. He even seemed to be in a good mood as he tended to the bouquet of violets.
Yun Li took the opportunity to review some materials for tomorrow’s meeting. Meanwhile, Fu Shize sat quietly beside her, reading a book. Occasionally, she could hear the sound of pages turning.
The scene was quite cozy.
Yun Li couldn’t help but smile, feeling that Fu Shize must have completely forgotten about the day’s events.
As the clock struck eleven, Yun Li felt overwhelmed with drowsiness while turning on the hot water. With an early meeting the next day, she just wanted to quickly wash up and go to bed.
When she returned to the bedroom after her shower, she heard the sound of water being poured into the kitchen and the shower running.
Yun Li had just finished drying her hair and was about to use the hairdryer when she felt Fu Shize’s wet chest press against her back. She could feel water droplets from his hair falling onto her neck and sliding down into her clothes. She protested, “No… I have to work tomorrow…”
“Mm…” he murmured, kissing her neck.
Yun Li’s legs instantly went weak. She tried to pry his fingers away, but Fu Shize effortlessly grabbed both her wrists with one hand. He pressed against her from behind and whispered in her ear, “Am I all looks and no substance?”
Embarrassed and frustrated, she urgently called out, “Fu Shizhe!”
Yun Li tried to stop his actions, emphasizing, “When I call your full name, it means I’m angry!”
She enunciated the last few words carefully, but her soft voice carried no hint of intimidation.
Fu Shize’s dark eyes looked at her as his thin lips parted: “Fu Shize.”
Yun Li: “…”
Yun Li: “Fu Shizhe.”
“Fu Shize.”
“…Fu Shizhe.”
Yun Li couldn’t distinguish between the retroflex and alveolar consonants, but she wasn’t stupid. She could see the amusement in the corners of his eyes. She covered her face with a towel, ignoring him.
Fu Shize took the towel from her hands. “Don’t be angry.”
He cradled the back of her head through the towel, his tone casual: “Let me straighten out your tongue first.”
Her memory flashed back to that night, on the way to buy fried rice noodles, when the man extinguished his cigarette and said calmly, “Say it again with your tongue straightened out.”
Yun Li was still dazed, lost in the memory, as Fu Shize’s face merged with that moment from the past. He pushed her onto the bed, his tongue immediately entwined with hers.
His hand slid downward. Yun Li was still resisting, but his cool hands touched every inch of her skin.
Fu Shize lifted her chin, his voice husky: “Say it again.”
Yun Li’s voice caught in her throat. Looking into his eyes, she completely gave up her resistance and obediently called out, “…Fu Shizhe.”
“Still wrong,” Fu Shize said, tilting his head so their noses brushed lightly. Feeling her legs gradually tense up, he casually caressed her lower lip with his other hand. “Relax.”
“I’m just teaching you to say my name correctly.”
…
The bed was damp from her hair. Yun Li crouched beside it, pulling off the sheets. Recalling the scene from earlier, she touched her flushed earlobes.
She glanced at her phone, unsure if she’d be able to get up in the morning.
Early the next day, Yun Li suffered in bed for a while before reluctantly getting up to wash and apply makeup.
Fu Shize beside her seemed much more energetic.
During breakfast, Yun Li stole a small piece of toast from his plate as revenge.
After sitting in the meeting room for quite some time, with others still not having arrived at the company, the door finally opened as the meeting time approached. Both were surprised to see each other.
Yun Li had heard Xu Qingsong mention her, but seeing Lin Wanyin in person was unexpected.
Compared to two years ago, Lin Wanyin’s appearance hadn’t changed much. Upon seeing Yun Li, she was momentarily stunned. Then, she approached aggressively: “What are you doing here?”
Seeing Yun Li’s silence, she sneered, “Oh, I get it. You couldn’t accept being dumped by Ah Ze before, and now that you’ve heard he’s staying to teach at the university, you’ve come running back?”
“…”
Yun Li looked at her wordlessly.
Lin Wanyin felt she had hit the nail on the head and said smugly, “Don’t waste your energy. It was understandable that Ah Ze liked you before, but now, you’re just embarrassing yourself.”
Two years ago, Lin Wanyin had been put in her place by Yun Li. Now, she had no other thoughts but to vent her frustrations.
Yun Li asked, “Do you know who his girlfriend is now?”
Lin Wanyin shrugged indifferently. “No idea.”
Yun Li paused for a moment before saying, “It’s me.”
Hearing this, Lin Wanyin’s expression froze. She scoffed coldly, “Oh, so you’ve shamelessly clung to Ah Ze.”
Over the past few years, Lin Wanyin hadn’t received any response to her requests from Fu Shize. Not wanting to appear inferior, she said haughtily, “I have plenty of fans now without even mentioning Ah Ze. I couldn’t care less about your relationship.”
Feeling increasingly uncomfortable, she continued mercilessly, “You’re not as young as me, not as pretty, not as educated, and you’re such a coward, too scared to chase after a psycho… Ah Ze must have agreed to date you just because you pestered him so much…” She listed a series of things, as if trying to convince herself.
In the past, Yun Li would have been deeply hurt by Lin Wanyin’s words, possibly becoming discouraged and withdrawn.
But now, she felt no turmoil at all.
She wasn’t shaken by the other’s attacks or her view of herself. She knew she wasn’t as Lin Wanyin described, and she knew the person Fu Shize loved wasn’t like that either.
Yun Li had no interest in arguing with her. She said calmly, “No matter how great you think you are, I’m your uncle’s girlfriend.”
“Also, we probably won’t see you again,” Yun Li emphasized, “We might as well cut ties completely.”
Lin Wanyin angrily retorted, “How can you talk like that? No one will like you if you behave this way.”
Yun Li had thought that after two years, even the most immature child would have grown up a little, let alone Lin Wanyin, who should be around twenty now. Yun Li looked up and asked her, “Do you have an account on E-station? How many followers?”
Lin Wanyin snorted lightly, her tone carrying a hint of pride: “Over ten thousand.”
Yun Li tilted her head and said, “I have over a million followers.”
“…”
“So, the people who like me should outnumber those who like you, right?” After saying this, Yun Li added, as if unable to resist, “What do you think?”
As people started arriving for the meeting, Lin Wanyin angrily grabbed a few flyers from the newspaper rack and stormed out, slamming the door.
Yun Li didn’t dwell on this incident. She opened her folder and reviewed today’s materials once more.
After the EAW meeting concluded that day, Yun Li said goodbye to Zhang Yanxin. She had booked a flight back to Xifu that evening, while Yun Li and Fu Shize would return the next day.
Once in the car, Fu Shize suddenly said, “Let’s go to North Mountain Maple Forest.”
Yun Li vaguely remembered that North Mountain Maple Forest was a famous wealthy area in Nanwu City.
She had never directly asked about Fu Shize’s family background. After hesitating for a moment, she inquired, “Do your uncle and aunt earn a lot as professors?”
Fu Shize briefly explained, “They invested in YouSheng Technology when it was founded and hold shares.”
YouSheng Technology was the headquarters of both EAW and Yun Li’s company. Xu Qingsong’s parents were the founders of YouSheng Technology.
Yun Li started calculating how much money she had in her personal savings. Noticing her silence, Fu Shize asked, “What’s wrong?”
“I want to buy a house with you,” Yun Li said seriously. She scrolled through her phone like an accountant, her expression showing a hint of joy. “I just calculated, and I think I have enough saved for a down payment.”
“That’s not necessary.”
“It is,” Yun Li insisted firmly. She muttered to herself, “I can’t be a burden.”
“…”
…
Fu Shize parked the car in the courtyard. The house was empty, so he turned on the lights and led Yun Li directly upstairs.
His room was on the third floor.
It was spacious, with floor-to-ceiling windows and an en-suite bathroom. The curtains were wide open.
Fu Shize took off his jacket and hung it on the coat rack. He glanced at Yun Li, who stood motionless nearby.
“Stay here tonight.”
“…But I didn’t bring any clothes or my makeup bag.”
Fu Shize replied, “Wear my clothes. There’s makeup remover in the bathroom.”
To the right of the entrance were books and models. Yun Li went over to take a look. There were many English original texts and books in another language. She picked up one and flipped through it, asking Fu Shize, “What language is this?”
Fu Shize glanced at her. “Spanish. My grandmother teaches Spanish.”
“Can you speak it?”
Fu Shize made an affirmative sound. “She doesn’t speak Mandarin with me.”
“…”
Yun Li had heard that some families have each member speak a different language to their children, immersing them in a multilingual environment from a young age.
Curious, she asked, “Can you say something in Spanish?”
Fu Shize lowered his gaze to look at her and opened his mouth.
Yun Li found his voice deep and magnetic. Even though the syllables sounded unfamiliar, she thought it sounded beautiful. She smiled, “What does it mean?”
“I love you.”
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became intimate.
Yun Li put the book back, then took it out again. “Can you read this book to me?”
“Sure.”
They sat on the couch. Fu Shize lay back, resting against the edge, and embraced Yun Li from behind. She sat in his arms, responsible for turning the pages.
He read the first paragraph unhurriedly, then explained it to Yun Li in Chinese.
Yun Li noticed a word in the book—
efe.
She exclaimed in surprise, “One of my fans has this name. I often chatted with this fan when I was in England…”
After returning to China, Yun Li had been busy and hadn’t paid much attention to her private messages. She felt a bit guilty and said, “This fan was quite nice, even sent me many postcards. I haven’t checked my messages much since coming back. They might have tried to contact me.”
Remembering something, she murmured, “This person is also from Xifu.”
“What does this word mean?”
Yun Li had many die-hard fans. She had originally thought Efe was just a random name chosen by the fan.
Fu Shize glanced at her and casually said, “The letter F.”
“Oh…” Yun Li’s reaction was delayed as she continued to the next line.
A few seconds later, she came to her senses and looked at Fu Shize. His expression was calm, and she couldn’t read his thoughts.
A suspicion that Yun Li had long harbored but never dared to believe suddenly surfaced in her mind. She poked his hand. “Let me see your phone.”
There was only one person around her with the nickname “F.”
Fu Shize lazily handed it to her from the side. Yun Li unlocked it and searched the desktop, then opened the E-station app.
E-station recommends videos based on users’ browsing history. Yun Li was stunned to see that almost all the recommended videos on the homepage were about her past activities.
She clicked on the user interface and saw the familiar avatar and username.
Opening the play history, it was full of her videos.
Even when there were videos of other people, they were ones where Yun Li had occasionally appeared in collaborations with other content creators.
During all those times she thought they were apart, he had always been by her side.
“I can’t believe I only realized this now…” Yun Li murmured, her nose tingling. Fu Shize kissed her hair and said nonchalantly, “It’s alright.”
He continued holding her hand and read the second paragraph word by word. Yun Li repeated his pronunciation. One of the characteristics of Spanish is that you can pronounce words as you see them.
He taught her for over an hour, and Yun Li grasped the patterns.
Although she couldn’t understand, she could read it out.
As time passed, Fu Shize rested his chin on her right shoulder, his face touching hers, feeling a bit tired. He pointed to one sentence, and Yun Li read it out haltingly, then asked, “What does it mean?”
“I want to do it with you.”
“…”
Fu Shize was just teasing her and continued pointing to the next sentence.
However, Yun Li turned back to grasp his finger. Looking at that sentence in the book, she repeated it haltingly.
She read it again, more fluently than the first time.
Emphasizing each word, she turned her head, staring at him as she repeated it once more.
Every sound was filled with intense emotion. She tossed the book aside and straddled him, turning her whole body to face him.
As if trying hard to make up for that year and a half of his lonely, one-sided companionship, Yun Li’s actions were more proactive and passionate than ever before. She kissed his Adam’s apple, then moved up to capture his lips directly. Their bodies pressed close, growing increasingly heated.
In their previous encounters, Fu Shize had always taken the lead. Now, his eyes darkened, but he made no other move, simply leaning against the sofa. His fair skin and ascetic face made him seem untouchable.
Yun Li’s eyes were misty as she said, “Your voice when you were reading…” She paused, then added, “It was a bit sexy…”
Including now, his features were tinged with restrained desire, his collar disheveled from her tugging. This disarray created a temptation that made Yun Li unconsciously grasp his chin, staring at him intently.
He seemed completely at her mercy.
Seeing this, Fu Shize smiled, waiting for her next move.