Chapter 71#

“Let’s not, it’s getting a bit late.” Yan Zishu felt lazy and a bit reluctant, “And it’ll be very cold when we come back.”

“Watching the sunset is best right now. You’ve lived on the island for so long, you haven’t even seen it, right?” Fu Jinchi put his arm around him and urged, “Let’s go, while it’s still the tail end of autumn. It won’t be as beautiful once winter starts.”

Yan Zishu narrowed his eyes suspiciously, wondering how good that dispensable scenery could really be.

In the end, he was dragged to change clothes and went out.

Shigu Island was named for its shape resembling a stone drum. On the back of the drum was a cliff that looked like it had been chopped out, with towering reefs and coarse gravel. It was a place that most travel guides wouldn’t mention; tourists often favored the more playful seaside bathing beaches and rarely visited here.

On the way there, the two brushed past a young fisherman who was running.

Yan Zishu, covering his long sleeves and trousers, turned to look. The other person was wearing only a pair of sports shorts all over. He wasn’t tall but was solid and muscular, with not an ounce of excess fat, revealing the unique dark and shiny skin from years of exposure to the wind and sun by the sea.

Fu Jinchi noticed his gaze and raised his eyebrows: “Good-looking?”

Yan Zishu glanced at him askance: “Don’t be jealous over nothing, you haven’t been made official yet.”

Hearing this, Fu Jinchi laughed instead, found his hand, and held it. Yan Zishu didn’t shake it off.

The destination was at the other end of the island. It took quite a while to walk there, but after arriving, the scenery before them couldn’t be called dispensable as Yan Zishu had defined. The two sat on a certain reef by the sea, timing it almost perfectly. The sky was originally dark blue, and soon the sun set to the west, outlining the clouds with golden edges.

Yan Zishu watched intently. Before long, the crimson sunset glow spread across the sky like flames and quickly extended, blazing fiercely, attacking towards the top of their heads. The blinding sun left a scorching afterglow, dyeing him and Fu Jinchi red as well. As far as the eye could see, a sky full of fire burned passionately, penetrating heaven and earth, with nowhere to escape.

In this world-inverted fire, they could only snuggle up to each other.

No matter how advanced human stage design technology is, only nature can create this miraculous and unique charm.

Yan Zishu opened his mouth; this shock made his heart palpitate, but he was not a poet, and what came out was only: “It is very beautiful.”

Fu Jinchi gave a “Mn”.

Twilight was just a brief transition. The sky soon dimmed, night gradually fell, and stars twinkled overhead.

Once the sunlight was gone, the temperature on the beach dropped immediately. Fu Jinchi quickly wrapped him in a coat.

Yan Zishu smiled, the clear radiance of the night falling into his eyes. Hooking the other’s neck, he took the initiative to give him a long kiss.

After being burned by the fire of this sunset, he cast aside the faint reserve that usually lingered, passionate but without distracting thoughts. Fu Jinchi took off Yan Zishu’s glasses, closed his eyes and devoted himself to it, pressing tightly against his back, just wanting to knead him into his arms.

This seemingly frozen picture was shattered by the annoying ringtone of a mobile phone.

Yan Zishu withdrew first and took back his glasses to put them on. Fu Jinchi answered the phone with a dark face. But the location here was remote, and the signal wasn’t good, so the communication was quite unsmooth. Finally, Fu Jinchi ended the call with a “contact later”.

However, Yan Zishu had already heard something: “Matters in Dongcheng?”

Fu Jinchi put away his phone: “Yes.”

Yan Zishu nodded understandingly.

Him staying in this paradise for a long time didn’t mean Fu Jinchi had no business to attend to. This call would come sooner or later.

Fu Jinchi didn’t know what he was thinking, but he didn’t seem in a hurry to go back and deal with it immediately. He sat with Yan Zishu on the reef for a while longer before suddenly speaking: “Fu Weishan’s case is going to have a second trial.”

“Mn?” Yan Zishu was stunned, “So it’s about this.”

“Do you not sympathize with him at all?” Fu Jinchi asked with a hint of sarcasm, “After all, he was your old employer.”

“Not really.” Yan Zishu immediately grasped the correct answer, “How can a worker sympathize with a capitalist? The law has the final say.”

“Heh.” Fu Jinchi sneered with unclear meaning.

Yan Zishu actually realized from this tone that he must be thinking about how stubbornly he refused to change jobs at the beginning.

Thinking of this, Yan Zishu couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward himself, but ultimately couldn’t explain it, so he just accepted it.

“What about you?” Yan Zishu asked, “It’s been so long, do you want to talk about what grudge you have against him?”

“That’s a lot. Suddenly asking, I don’t know where to start.” Fu Jinchi said this seemingly distressed. However, after thinking for a moment, he finally found one, “To prevent you from sympathizing with him unnecessarily, should I give you a preventive shot?”

If Fu Jinchi were to say it himself, he tended to take it for granted that his grudge with Fu Weishan was destined.

Born in such a vortex-like environment, there was almost no path for peaceful coexistence. Various past disagreements, as he said, could not be counted completely, only examples could be given. For instance, when Yan Zishu asked, what quickly came to his mind was when he was fourteen or fifteen years old, during the Spring Festival, he went back to the Fu family’s old mansion with his mother to celebrate the New Year. At that time, Fu Jinchi was called to the study by Fu Zhizhang for a lecture. His mother suddenly had an asthma attack in the large living room. It was cold at the time, and her phone battery froze and shut down, so she could only ask the people around her for help nearby.

She grabbed a total of three people, a half-grown boy and two nannies. The servants in the family all listened to Mrs. Fu’s command. No one dared to call an ambulance, and they kept lying to her saying they were going to call a doctor, but in fact, no one moved.

That half-grown boy was quite kind-hearted, telling her to wait there, saying he would go find her son for her right away. As a result, he turned around and went straight into Mrs. Fu’s room, told Mrs. Fu about this as a joke, and went to enjoy family time with her.

Naturally, that half-grown boy was Young Master Fu Weishan.

It was more than an hour later when Fu Jinchi came out from Fu Zhizhang’s place. Looking for his mother, he searched all the way to the large living room before seeing her sitting on the cold floor. Many Fu family members came and went nearby, indifferent, at most taking a curious look, no different from seeing a homeless person lying on the street. Even after many years, even if Fu Jinchi had forgotten how he felt when he saw this scene, he would never forget this image.

And hearing these things now, Yan Zishu also found it unimaginable. This Fu family was a system of its own, like a nest full of zombies, with everything in it except humanity. He didn’t know what to say, and put his hand on Fu Jinchi’s knee, seemingly comforting him.

Fu Jinchi held his hand and continued: “But guess what, until last year I asked Fu Weishan about this matter, and he had completely forgotten. He felt it was very trivial, saying that even if there was, it was just a prank, and asked me back why I remembered it for so many years.”

Yan Zishu withdrew his gaze from the pitch-black sea level and turned to look at him, his eyes black and white.

Fu Jinchi smiled instead: “Actually, it’s nothing. Later, my mother was sent to the hospital and still made it for treatment. It’s just that, since then, I’ve really wanted to see Fu Weishan. If one day he is besieged on all sides and no one reaches out to help him, will he cry?”

He added: “Those two nannies cried—later they couldn’t survive in Dongcheng and went back to their hometown crying. But Fu Weishan, a grown man, I feel should be stronger than my mother and the nannies. Who knows, we’ll have to see. What do you think?”

Yan Zishu turned his face away and coughed: “If he goes to prison, usually people are made to turn over a new leaf and start a new life.”

“That’s great, I also hope to see a brand new Young Master Fu in the future.” Fu Jinchi stood up and patted his clothes, “Yan Zishu, if you give him any look other than gloating, I will be sad.”

“Probably not.” Yan Zishu smiled upon hearing this and said seriously, “Besides, I’m also very partial. I’ve been on your side for a long time. Is there any need to doubt this?”

Seeing the light in Fu Jinchi’s eyes, he seemed greatly pleased. Men need to be coaxed; this is a truth at all times.

At this moment, the tide had risen high. Fu Jinchi helped Yan Zishu stand up too, and the two returned along the undulating rocks.

When they reached the main road, Yan Zishu was carried back on his back.

It was dark. When he was getting off the reef, he stepped on empty air. Although Fu Jinchi grabbed him, he still sprained his ankle. Walking to the side of the concrete road, he lifted his pant leg to check. He was limping a little, and there were a few scratches on his leg. Fu Jinchi wanted to carry him in his arms, and Yan Zishu’s first reaction was to refuse.

He wanted to say he wasn’t that delicate that he couldn’t even walk, but thinking that the return journey to the sanatorium was the same distance as when they came, which wasn’t close, and looking at Fu Jinchi’s eyes, he suddenly changed his words, acting shamelessly: “You carry me on your back.”

Fu Jinchi really turned around in front of him as told and lowered his body.

Yan Zishu wrapped his arms around Fu Jinchi’s neck, lying on his solid and powerful shoulders, clutching the fabric on his shoulders in his hands, a swelling emotion expanding in his heart. Fu Jinchi didn’t need sympathy. The path he chose himself, whether good or bad, he would walk down it.

Having told the first thing, there was a second. Fu Jinchi suddenly said: “I haven’t told you much about my mother before, right?”

Before this, Yan Zishu only knew that she committed suicide by jumping into the sea. He asked carefully: “Do you want to talk about it?”

Fu Jinchi said: “She was a very traditional woman. The village she grew up in was very conservative and feudal, with the idea that the husband is heaven. Later she came out to work and entered a nightclub. deep down she was always very inferior, feeling that she could never marry into a good family again. She felt that since she followed Fu Zhizhang, she had to be committed to him for life, otherwise there would be no other way out, and no other man would want her in the future.”

Yan Zishu said: “For the older generation, many grew up in such an environment… At least she still had you.”

Fu Jinchi said: “Having me only made her feel even more that since she had a child, she couldn’t leave my father. No matter how I persuaded her, she wouldn’t listen. When I was young, I thought it was because I was incapable and unreliable, and it would be better when I grew up. Later I found out it was useless. Some people, as long as they stubbornly believe in something, it’s useless no matter what others say. She simply wasn’t willing to rely on me, so no one could save her.”

Yan Zishu whispered on his back: “In any case, she has been freed. Don’t be too sad.”

Fu Jinchi said: “There’s nothing to be sad about. I actually hate her a bit.”

Yan Zishu asked: “Why?”

Fu Jinchi said: “Probably mourning her misfortune and angry at her indisputableness.”

Yan Zishu tightened his arms around his neck: “It’s not that you were incapable. It shouldn’t be your fault.”