Walking out of the hotel, they stood by the roadside.
The temperature was around freezing at night, but the streets were crowded with people flowing like water. Although it was late, the city remained brilliantly lit.
It wasn’t too far from Xu You’s home, just about a ten-minute walk.
Along the way, there was a street performer playing love songs on guitar. The melody was gentle. Xu You stopped to listen for a while, clearly enjoying it.
“You seem to be enjoying it. Can you sing?” Xie Ci stood beside her, watching her relaxed expression. He couldn’t help but tease her.
She didn’t respond.
Xie Ci curved his lips, thinking of something amusing. “You can’t even sing children’s songs without going off-key.”
Xu You looked around, her chin buried in her scarf, voice muffled, “Why do I need to know how to sing just to enjoy music?”
“Then why listen if you can’t sing?” He replied quickly.
Xu You glanced at him and asked seriously, “Does studying guarantee good grades?”
“I don’t study anyway.”
“…..”
The wind was cold as she walked aimlessly with the crowd, her long black hair flowing softly behind her.
Crowds rushed past them, with couples holding hands coming from the opposite direction. Xie Ci walked beside her, continuing their earlier conversation, “Honestly, during exams, if I don’t show off to the teachers, they might actually think they’ve taught me something.”
After a long pause, Xu You burst out laughing.
“There’s something wrong with your brain. I don’t want to talk to you.”
“Hey, now you’re insulting me?” Xie Ci narrowed his eyes and moved closer, “Aren’t you afraid I’ll beat you up? Don’t you know I’m the boss?”
He said it so seriously that Xu You laughed again, “Since you’re the boss, of course I’m scared.”
“You have quite the temper.”
She recalled something, “On my first day after transferring, I saw you fighting, and then you forced me to do your physics homework.”
“Wait, wait, wait.”
Xie Ci was confused, “Making you do my homework is true, but when did I fight?”
“I saw it with my own eyes.”
She said quietly, “It was because of your ex-girlfriend.”
Hearing Xu You bring up old matters, Xie Ci felt a bit guilty.
After all, he had caused quite a bit of trouble, and who could remember which incident she was talking about…
But…
“That’s false accusation. Besides you, when have I ever fought over a girl?”
“I even heard your slogan.”
Xu You’s expression was bland as she deliberately teased him, “It went something like… ‘Is Yi Zhong chaotic or not… Brother Ci decides?’”
“…….”
“You were quite something.”
Xie Ci laughed and cursed, “That was just for fun, hahaha damn, did you hear the first half of it? The complete version?”
He wasn’t embarrassed at all and proudly recited: “Yi Zhong’s little king, with several houses in the city; Is Yi Zhong chaotic or not, Brother Ci decides.”
His tone was proud and arrogant.
Xu You stared at him silently.
But that phrase…
Xie Ci blinked, thinking back.
Suddenly realizing something, he turned and asked, “You’re not talking about Fu Yi Shun, are you?”
Xu You: “How would I know who it was?”
“Damn, that idiot.”
He was irritated and uncomfortably rubbed his nose, “When others look for trouble with me, I can’t back down, right? What about my authority as the grade boss? It wasn’t for any girl.”
“Why are you the grade boss? Did you self-proclaim it?” she asked seriously.
Xie Ci made an “ah” sound and showed a mischievous smile, “Because I’m handsome. So handsome I’m number one, isn’t that cool?”
Xu You looked at his profile, not wanting to dwell on this topic.
She turned and walked towards another street.
Xie Ci followed behind, with a half-smile, tilting his head and coughing once.
“You’re jealous,” he asked lazily.
Xu You couldn’t be bothered to respond, “I’m not. Who’s jealous?”
“You are, little jealous one.”
He couldn’t help but reach out and pinch her ear cartilage, his fingertips touching affectionately.
Just as Xu You was about to struggle, he wrapped his arm around her neck from behind.
Xie Ci tilted his head slightly, his arm tightening slightly as he said softly near her ear: “We’re all almost adults, can’t we be more honest?”
As they walked and talked, not paying attention, they bumped into a little girl who was running and jumping around.
The little girl, holding a pinwheel, crashed into Xu You’s leg, then fell to the ground and began crying loudly.
Xu You was caught off guard and froze for two seconds before quickly kneeling beside the little girl, gently patting her back: “Are you okay, little sister? Big sister didn’t mean to…”
The little girl just kept crying, ignoring her. She covered her face with her hands, her big eyes filled with tears that kept falling, her face turning red.
“Don’t cry, don’t cry, please don’t cry.”
Xu You was flustered, using her hands to wipe the little girl’s tears. She had no experience comforting children, so she just said whatever came to mind, her tone anxious but gentle: “Little sister, don’t cry. Would you like big sister to buy you some candied haws?”
The little girl instantly stopped crying, her shaking shoulders freezing. She quickly and softly responded, “Okay.”
Then, as if worried Xu You hadn’t heard, she added: “I want to eat candied haws, auntie will buy them for me.”
Xu You: ………
Xie Ci stood to the side with his hands in his pockets, openly laughing.
The little girl finally noticed there was a big brother standing nearby.
He was clean-looking and handsome, especially when he smiled, very attractive to women.
Because regardless of age, all females like good-looking people.
The little girl immediately reached out her arms without thinking and said between sobs: “Want hug.”
Xu You had no choice but to help wipe her nose with a tissue. Supporting herself on her knees to stand up, she bent slightly, put her arms under the little girl’s armpits, and lifted her up with effort.
Oh my, so heavy.
She grimaced, a bit unsteady, taking two steps back before Xie Ci steadied her waist with his hand.
“Would you like brother to carry you? Auntie isn’t strong enough,” Xie Ci said, slightly raising his eyebrows at the little girl in Xu You’s arms.
“Okay!”
So Xie Ci took the little girl.
Xu You walked a few steps, picked up the fallen pinwheel from the ground and handed it back to the little girl.
“Little sister, where are your mom and dad?”
Xu You was half a head shorter than Xie Ci, just at eye level with the little girl.
She wiped the tears from the little girl’s face and asked patiently, “Why are you alone?”
“Don’t know…”
The little girl hugged Zhou Dang’s neck, shaking her head left and right, “Daddy disappeared.”
Xu You frowned with concern, “Ah, how far have you wandered?”
“Auntie, I want candy…”
Xie Ci silently watched their interaction, his gaze fixed on Xu You.
She didn’t notice, still worried about the lost little girl. She looked around, but all she could see was a sea of moving heads.
“Should we take her to buy candied haws first?” Xie Ci tilted his head towards Xu You, asking quietly in her ear.
Xu You immediately refused, “No, we can’t take the child away, we need to stay here and wait for her parents.”
At that moment, the phone in his pocket started vibrating. Xie Ci took it out with one hand and put it to his ear, “Hello?”
It was Xu Xiao Cheng’s voice on the other end, incredibly noisy, immediately asking loudly: “Are you coming back today or not?”
Xie Ci was already tired from carrying the chubby girl with one hand, his tone impatient, wanting to end the call quickly, “What is it? I’m busy.”
“Damn, Xie Ci, are you even a brother anymore? Just focused on accompanying your girl,” Xu Xiao Cheng complained.
Xie Ci’s tone grew more impatient, “You’re being so annoying, just tell me what’s up.”
Xu Xiao Cheng made a ‘hey’ sound, “Well, we’re planning to go to Four Carats, you know, Chen Jing’s friend’s bar.”
“Can you cut the unnecessary talk?”
Xie Ci hadn’t caught the point of Xu Xiao Cheng’s words yet.
“I just ate a lot, I’m stuffed, probably won’t be able to drink much later.”
“Eat all you want, your ugliness isn’t because you’re fat.”
Xu You had been looking down carefully questioning the little girl, when she suddenly heard Xie Ci joking around again.
She couldn’t help but smile.
Xu Xiao Cheng laughed on the other end, “Are you coming to celebrate New Year’s with us? Qiu Qing Qing is here too.”
“She’s here?”
“Yeah, Chen Jing won her over, doesn’t that make you mad?”
“Withmejjthings.” [T/N: Written in English.]
Xie Ci replied calmly in English.
The other side didn’t understand, staying quiet for two seconds before asking, “What does that mean? Why did Ci suddenly become so fancy?”
Xie Ci laughed at himself, “What does it have to do with me? Can’t even understand that.”
“Hahahahahaha.”
“Who’s Chen Jing?”
He had no impression at all.
“The one whose hair looks like a WiFi router.”
Xu Xiao Cheng tentatively asked, “Are you coming?”
Xie Ci laughed coldly, noncommittally, “My wife is more important, how can you guys compare?”
…..
Time passed minute by minute, but the little girl’s parents hadn’t shown up yet.
Xu You checked her watch, standing on tiptoes to look around.
Xie Ci didn’t mind, playing with the little girl while carrying her, “Hey, why do you call her auntie but call me brother?”
“Huh?” The little girl was getting sleepy, stammering: “Because brother is handsome.”
“Oh…”
Xie Ci deliberately dragged out his tone, glancing at Xu You, “So handsome means brother, isn’t auntie pretty?”
Xu You was calling her parents to explain the situation, too lazy to pay attention to him.
“Yes, a little girl, we’ll wait a bit longer, if her parents don’t come we’ll take her to the police station.”
Xu You looked down, kicking a small stone in front of her, saying: “It’s okay, I’m with my classmate, don’t worry…”
After a few more words of advice from the other end, she hung up.
Xie Ci was still playing, saying: “She’s brother’s girlfriend, you can’t call her auntie, okay?”
He really had patience with children.
However, listening to their conversation still made Xu You’s temples throb.
The lively scene on the street showed no sign of the late hour. New Year’s Eve had an unimaginable attraction for young people, as if this special time could bring them great joy, and everyone was playing to their heart’s content.
They waited with the little girl for a long time, enduring the wind, until finally a young couple arrived.
They were the little girl’s parents.
They had clearly been frantically searching, and the mother immediately burst into tears while hugging her daughter.
The father was much calmer and had the energy to repeatedly thank Xu You and Xie Ci.
By the time everything was resolved, it was very late.
The crowd was noisy, lights flickering.
Xu You sighed tiredly, squatting down to rest for a while.
Xie Ci leaned against the railing watching her, not saying anything.
They stayed like this for a minute.
“Hey.” Someone pulled at her scarf.
Xu You turned her head.
Xie Ci held the corner of her scarf, his gaze wandering over her face, “Since it’s already so late, want to go watch fireworks by the river?”
“Are they big fireworks?” Her gaze didn’t meet his, instead drifting to somewhere far away.
“You’ll know when we get there.”
The riverside was indeed lively, bustling with crowds, young couples could be seen everywhere holding glow sticks and being affectionate.
“Want me to buy you some flowers?” Xie Ci’s eyes casually swept over the street vendors along the way.
Xu You walked forward, saying indifferently, “No.”
He took her hand, “Don’t get lost.”
Xu You struggled a bit, confused, “Don’t hold onto me.”
“Honey, stop being difficult, I’ve admitted I was wrong, okay?”
Xie Ci deliberately spoke very loudly, drawing side glances from people around them.
Someone nearby teased, “Young couple having a fight?”
Xie Ci replied, “No, my wife is very well-behaved.”
Xu You froze, “Don’t say random things.”
Seeing her expression so tense, Xie Ci laughed, not letting go of her hand, and casually asked: “Am I not your boyfriend?”
Xu You sighed internally. She brought her hands to her neck, wrapping her long scarf around several times.
Her chin tucked into the scarf, her eyes squinting from the wind.
Xie Ci clenched his back teeth.
“Xu You.” He called her name softly, “If you dare say no, you’re in trouble.”
Just as Xu You was about to speak, the crowd around them suddenly became animated.
Thousands of people counted down together, many couples were already embracing and kissing, whistles and screams and all kinds of excited sounds echoed by the river.
Five four three two one.
The last second of this year, the first second of next year.
In an instant, fireworks exploded across the sky.
Bang bang bang, continuous fireworks lit up the dark sky. The sparks falling from the sky seemed to fall into her eyes.
Xu You looked up.
So beautiful.
Xie Ci pulled down Xu You’s thick scarf, revealing her clean, delicate chin.
His eyes were like a wolf’s, his mouth twitching slightly as he slowly bent down, “Are you trying to kill me?”
As he finished speaking, Xie Ci pressed his face down.
His thin lips pressed against hers and sucked, he used a lot of force, kissing her heavily.
She heard his deep, heavy breathing.
After turning and repeating, their glued lips parted slightly, connected by a strand of silver. He moved back a tiny bit, his eyes pitch black, firmly capturing Xu You’s gaze.
His voice was low and hoarse, “Try it? If it doesn’t work, then forget it.”
Finally, at last.
Finally came her ultimately helpless sigh.
Xu You lowered her head, resting it on Xie Ci’s shoulder, mumbling: “Next time don’t bite my lips, it hurts.”
Leave a Reply