Chapter 77#

In the end, of course, no agreement was reached, but no refusal was made either. It was simply put aside to be discussed later.

Yan Zishu temporarily ended the topic with the all-purpose phrase, “Let’s go eat first.”

Fu Jinchi slowly put on his suit jacket, which he had newly found in the wardrobe. The thicker coat he had worn when he arrived was taken off the hanger, patted, unfolded, and put on Yan Zishu.

It was a size too big for Yan Zishu, with the sleeves drooping over the backs of his hands, but fortunately, it was winter clothing, so it wasn’t too obvious.

“These clothes of yours are all too thin.” Fu Jinchi rummaged through his clothes again casually, seeming to regret not thinking of it earlier. “We should get you two thick ones. It’s still very cold in Hong Kong during the coldest days. You never say anything.”

“Mn.” Yan Zishu was much more afraid of the cold than he was now, especially his hands and feet, which were cold most of the time. His clothes were all bought with the help of Zeng Peirong and her friends back then. They were basic styles made of common fabrics. When the temperature dropped, he would just add another layer.

In Fu Jinchi’s particular and critical eyes, they were inadequate in every sense, too shabby.

“Tomorrow we’ll go to the main island to buy some,” Fu Jinchi decided on the itinerary just like that. “What they sell on this island isn’t wearable.”

*

After delaying for so long, it was a bit late to go to the restaurant. There weren’t many people, but luckily there was still a relatively convenient food supply.

Watching Fu Jinchi familiarly swipe his card, Yan Zishu stood aside and smiled imperceptibly—

At this stage, it seemed enough to have someone pay his bills every day.

Don’t think about the past, don’t think about the future, just feel that days like this are just right.

Yan Zishu wasn’t so lofty as to think that love alone could sustain life and that he must live a life without spending a cent of the other person’s money.

But everything has a limit. That kind of giving without regard for consequences was beyond the syllabus for him.

Even while waiting for the meal, Yan Zishu was still lost in thought. When Fu Jinchi put a stack of property gift agreements in front of him, frankly speaking, he really hadn’t experienced such a scene. Rationality came first, and most of his concerns were actually not related to romance.

Yan Zishu even remembered a long time ago, when his parents divorced, how his mother accused his father of being the party at fault, how they quarreled loudly at the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau over the division of property, and how his father finally resolutely turned his head and left, preferring to leave with nothing.

In short, none of them were pleasant memories.

Thinking of his parents whom he would never see again made him feel somewhat melancholy. And in this melancholy, as fine and boundless as silk rain, Yan Zishu couldn’t help but feel down, and developed a bit of cowardice and doubt towards the feelings within reach.

“Is there a man who can be relied on?” This was what his mother said. “When I was young, your dad was so affectionate! He wouldn’t even let me wash a bowl, saying my hands were so delicate and shouldn’t touch cold water. Look at now? He despises me for being old and faded, right?”

His slightly more restrained father also finally complained: “Can you be reasonable? You weren’t such a shrew before.”

All roads lead to Rome—you’ve changed, you weren’t like this before.

Yan Zishu really didn’t want to imagine what it would be like if he and Fu Jinchi had a falling out one day.

Call him a pessimist, but Yan Zishu always felt that vows of eternal love were actually the most unreliable things.

He was probably the kind of person who thought about how to write a divorce agreement before getting married. He was just afraid that Fu Jinchi was being impulsive now, and when they fell out and quarreled in the future, looking back at today’s actions, the momentary touching feelings would all turn into laughable acts.

It is said that a person’s emotional ability is constructed in their original family, and Yan Zishu seemed to lack this key link from the beginning of his growth process, and Fu Jinchi—forget it, Fu Jinchi seemed even worse than him.

So he himself doubted what kind of normal family two such people could form.

Teenage Yan Zishu had once decided that even if he fell in love in the future, he shouldn’t have such high expectations from the beginning. In this way, he probably wouldn’t one day accuse the other person of “you’ve changed”. And now he probably still hadn’t improved, still firmly believing that such words themselves lacked meaning.

Who doesn’t change?

The staff served the roasted meat rice. The roasted meat was a small dish, and the side dish was Chinese kale that hadn’t changed for a hundred years.

“You’ve been in Hong Kong for several years, have you noticed a problem?” Yan Zishu poked with his chopsticks and couldn’t help sighing, “It’s fine that vegetables are more expensive than meat here, but they especially like to serve Chinese kale—aren’t there any other green vegetables?”

Fu Jinchi smiled and pushed all the crispy skin of the roast goose in his dish to him: “If you don’t like it, don’t eat it.”

“No need to give it to me, eat it yourself.” Yan Zishu tried to stop him, but the other party had already placed it in his bowl.

“So if we go to live in Rongcheng,” Fu Jinchi said, “you can get used to the taste there.”

“Go eat spicy hot pot?” Yan Zishu imagined.

“Don’t even think about it,” Fu Jinchi refused flatly.

Actually, Yan Zishu didn’t have any special dietary restrictions anymore, just a normal diet to ensure sufficient nutrition. Only spicy food irritated the stomach and easily caused violent coughing from overexertion, which was not good for him.

In the past, when Yan Zishu was here alone, he could add a little chili sauce to his bowl. The chili sauce in Hong Kong wasn’t spicy at all, and no one would bother him. But as long as Fu Jinchi was around, he had absolutely no chance to touch it again.

“Why don’t we have a BBQ by the seaside bathing beach ourselves?” Yan Zishu suddenly thought of something and suggested, “Last time seeing them having so much fun, barbecuing facing the sea, it was actually quite romantic.”

He didn’t dislike this activity, it was just that the object of sharing last time was wrong. But the liveliness of the Ding family still touched Yan Zishu, and inexplicably gave birth to a bit of interest in “family activities”, which became unforgettable.

Yan Zishu was a bit worried that Fu Jinchi wouldn’t be interested, but it proved to be superfluous.

Rather, Fu Jinchi agreed readily.

Thinking of Ding Hongbo’s photo in the tabloid, if conditions permitted, he wouldn’t mind exposing his identity and inviting reporters to take pictures again.

Yan Zishu didn’t know what he was thinking, but now, they had another item on their schedule.

No need for a nap in the afternoon. Yan Zishu planned to go to the reading room to find a book to read, and Fu Jinchi accompanied him.

Coincidentally, on the bookshelf at the entrance, they saw a “Rongcheng Travel Guide” as soon as they entered.

Yan Zishu just reached out his hand when he suddenly received a call from the sanatorium switchboard, telling him that a visitor was waiting in the reception room. It was a woman who refused to give her name, asking if he wanted to receive her.

Yan Zishu glanced at Fu Jinchi. If it was Zeng Peirong or her friend, they should have been able to call him directly.

“Go and see, then you’ll know.” Fu Jinchi’s expression didn’t change, but he made the decision himself, “I’ll go with you.”

As a result, they met that Miss Lisa again in the same reception room as last time.

At that time, she was Ding Hongbo’s girlfriend who was having a conflict with him. Now, Ding Hongbo planned to get engaged to her.

This was the news she came specifically to tell Yan Zishu, holding her small chin high, with a few traces of provocation in her expression.

Yan Zishu was a bit stunned, and when he came back to his senses, he just twitched the corners of his mouth slightly, giving a polite but somewhat plain reaction.

If it were before, he would have said some polite words like “congratulations”. Now he lived more straightforwardly; if he didn’t want to say it, he wouldn’t.

It seemed she still didn’t believe it after all.

Lisa pulled out an engagement banquet invitation from her handbag, plain white hollowed-out printed paper, emitting a faint fragrance of roses. Mr. Ding did not appear, and most likely was still sleeping upstairs at this moment. Yan Zishu was somewhat helpless; most likely this girl was acting on her own initiative.

Should he accept this or not?

However, like a victor without a fight, claiming to invite, she handed the invitation to Yan Zishu in a way that allowed no refusal.

Halfway through, it was intercepted by a hand with distinct joints.

Fu Jinchi took the invitation without permission, with his usual cynical look, opened it and looked at the names on it.

His gaze fell on the three traditional characters of “Ding Hongbo”, and he sneered with unclear meaning.

Lisa frowned with her delicate brows. Today she wore thick black eyelashes and appropriately curved eyeliner, a shoulder-baring black dress. Compared with last time, there was nothing inappropriate in her image, and her proud back was straighter and straighter, until she almost felt some back pain.

To break this slightly stiff atmosphere, Yan Zishu coughed and finally brought out the word “congratulations”.

Lisa was accustomed to using only Cantonese and English daily, while her Hong Kong-style Mandarin was a mess. Yan Zishu didn’t pay attention, and the conversation was taken over by Fu Jinchi. As the two talked, Lisa’s expression became not very good-looking again.

Fu Jinchi spoke very fast. Yan Zishu roughly understood that he was sighing that Ding Hongbo and her relationship was written like that by the paparazzi, yet they could still persist in coming together. It showed that the tabloids were indeed talking nonsense, and the relationship between the two was originally stronger than gold, which was really surprising.

Fu Jinchi’s Cantonese accent was not aggressive, even somewhat sexy, with a little bit of ridicule, but it did not hide the malice hidden in the cotton.

However, this weird way of speaking was obviously something Lisa, who was used to being straightforward, was not good at responding to.

Seeing her becoming more and more embarrassed, her face and eyes turning red, at this time someone had to play the good cop and someone the bad cop. Yan Zishu smiled helplessly, patted Fu Jinchi’s knee, and just said: “If you don’t mind, please give me one more invitation.”

Of course, this sentence was said to Lisa, but she didn’t react for a moment.

Yan Zishu explained in English: “After all, look—” he gestured to Fu Jinchi, “I also have a boyfriend with whom I have a good relationship.”

Lisa kept a straight face, finally understood, her expression was a bit surprised and a bit complicated, turning red and white for a while.

Yan Zishu said: “If it is convenient, you can consider inviting us to attend together.”

He gave everyone a way out, indicating that he was no longer single, so stop making a fuss.

Just as Lisa was about to say something, Fu Jinchi burst out laughing again: “It seems inconvenient.”

Probably this person had cultivated to the level where he was annoying as soon as he opened his mouth. Just an ordinary sentence, coupled with his expression, made Lisa look like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. She took out another invitation from her bag, threw it on the table, left a sentence “Sincerely welcome”, and walked away.