Chapter 43 (Part 4)

Outside the hotel was a spacious boulevard.

The moonlight shone on the ground, appearing cold and icy.

Mingxi watched the familiar figure in front of her. He was tall and thin in the moonlight, and the shadow of the leaves fell on him. His pace was fast.

Mingxi's heart was beating fast. Yes, she didn't get it wrong on Thursday. It was Fu Yangxi who came out of the dean's office that day.

It's just that she didn't know that he dyed his hair black.

He came, but why did he turn and leave?

Fu Yangxi felt that he shouldn't have shown up. When he came, he saw the two people at the entrance of the hotel room.

He stood in the corner with his knuckles all pale. The blood rushed from his limbs to the top of his head, turning his whole body cold.

Although he was mentally prepared before coming, that he might meet Zhao Mingxi who was with Shen Liyao, but he found that even if he really wanted to accept this fact, he still felt terribly defeated.

The sky was very dark.

Mingxi couldn't catch up with him. Mingxi couldn't help stopping.

"Fu Yangxi." Mingxi shouted.

Suddenly, she could feel her grievance seeping out of her sour nose.

—It was an emotion she would not have towards others.

“I—”

Mingxi didn't know what to say. She merely hadn't seen him for a few days, yet suddenly he felt unfamiliar. Moreover, she could see that Fu Yangxi had been avoiding her, although she didn't know why. But Mingxi couldn't help but stop him.

A lot of emotions felt sour at its core.

Finally, they all gathered in the brain, and the sentence that blurted out was, “My shoelaces are untied.”

The air seemed to stand still. The moonlight swayed and the shadows of the trees on the ground were also rocking with the wind.

Fu Yangxi stopped abruptly.

His tall figure moved and his shoulders began to turn.

At this moment.

Everything seemed to have slowed down.

Fu Yangxi turned his head and glanced at Mingxi.

He didn’t say a word and suddenly began to walk back.

After two steps, he ran towards her with his head lowered.

It was quiet all around. Mingxi looked at him.

The sound of shoes stepping on the ground seemed to be stepping on Mingxi's heart with each step.

Fu Yangxi ran back, silence and the injuries of being abandoned hanging from his dark hair.

She didn’t want him anymore, but whenever she yelled he would come back.

He knelt down and tied Zhao Mingxi’s loose shoelaces.

He did it very slowly.

Mingxi lowered her eyes and broke the silence, “Are you here to celebrate my birthday?”

"Yeah," Fu Yangxi replied dully.

He laced Mingxi's shoes and stood up.

Mingxi raised her eyes to look at him. Today's Fu Yangxi was a little different from normal.She didn't know if it was because of his black hair, but his eyebrows were heavier and the arrogance between his eyebrows was gone, only the retreat and the unwilling youthful spirit remained.

He looked behind Mingxi.

Mingxi subconsciously followed his gaze and turned her head.

When he saw Mingxi turning her head, his whole body stiffened. He said in a soft voice, “I’ll spend your birthday with you after you’re done with the others. No matter how late, please call me later, alright?”

"I'll wait for you." Fu Yangxi retreated to the most humble position.

"Zhao Mingxi! You can't go." Shen Liyao chased after Mingxi from the hotel with big strides.

Mingxi realized what he was carrying in his other hand a transparent crystal box with gold medals in it.

He wanted to give this to her.

"I'm serious," Shen Liyao calmly said. “About what I said to Aunt Dong that day.”

Fu Yangxi also saw it clearly. He glanced at Mingxi subconsciously and swallowed. He tried his best to suppress the hostility and jealousy that was surging in his eyes and turned to leave.

He couldn't keep watching, otherwise he couldn't guarantee what he would do.

"Wait." However, Mingxi grabbed his wrist.

Mingxi was afraid that he would run away.

Mingxi wasn’t sure whether Fu Yangxi liked her or if he just treated her as a follower.

But she instinctively wanted to clear up the relationship with Shen Liyao in front of him.

Even if he wasn’t aware of his own feelings yet and just treats her as a follower, she didn’t want him to misunderstand her.

Fu Yangxi was stiff and didn't turn his head. He wondered, does she want me to stay and witness Shen Liyao’s confession to her?

Or does she want all three of us to celebrate her birthday together?

Fu Yangxi's heart went cold. He thought hopelessly, Little Mask really is heartless.

But the next second.

What he heard was—

"Sorry, I don't want to celebrate my birthday with you."

Fu Yangxi felt dizzy. Is she saying this to me?

He was like a stiff stone slab falling down an endless pit, like he was about to fall into a nightmare. He took a deep breath, turned his head slowly and looked at Zhao Mingxi.

But Zhao Mingxi was looking at Shen Liyao.

Wait a minute?

The next sentence Zhao Mingxi said to Shen Liyao was, “Shen Liyao, I'm sorry. I've told you clearly several times that even before I changed classes I stopped liking you.”

"The other day I was coerced by Aunt Dong to eat together, but because I was concerned about the pride of my elders, I didn't say this on the spot."

"I went to explain the truth to Aunt Dong afterwards. She should also respect my opinion in the future and she will not forcefully match the two of us anymore."

With each sentence coming from Mingxi, Shen Liyao's face turned a shade paler.

However, Fu Yangxi was stunned for the first time. Then, the blood poured back little by little, and his pale face returned to a healthier look little by little.

His brain hummed and his heart pounded— Little Mask is rejecting Shen Liyao?

She isn’t rejecting me?

She’s rejecting Shen Liyao?

She said she didn't like Shen Liyao even before she changed classes?

Fu Yangxi's sanity returned bit by bit, and he also slowly regained sensation in his cold limbs.

She said she doesn’t like Shen Liyao.

She didn't like him long before she changed classes.

That early?

—Fu Yangxi realized that he almost laughed out loud so he quickly clamped his lips shut.

"So please take your birthday gifts and cake back. I don't like you."

Mingxi's attitude was firm, cold even.

"If you continue doing this in the future, we won’t even be friends anymore."

Shen Liyao's face was extremely ugly.

Even though he realized that Zhao Mingxi was avoiding him, he never thought that she would be unwilling to even celebrate her birthday as friends.

Why did things turn out to be like this?

…

He wanted to say something, but Zhao Mingxi had already dragged Fu Yangxi away.

…

Fu Yangxi was being dragged by Zhao Mingxi. At this moment, his whole person was like an old TV set in disrepair, thinking over and over again about what Zhao Mingxi had said to Shen Liyao.

Every time he repeats it, the corners of his mouth would move a little upwards uncontrollably.

The frequency of his heartbeat had reached its highest peak and blood surged up to his head.

His whole person was light and fluttering. If he wasn’t being dragged, he might have floated to the sky.

“Little Mask, you—”

Mingxi held his hand, her eyes sparkling. “Xi ge, let's go celebrate my birthday.”

Warmth came from the palm of her hand, warming Fu Yangxi's frozen blood. All the sadness in the past few days seemed to be driven away by this sentence.

What she said was ‘Xi ge, let's go celebrate my birthday’.

Not ‘Shen Liyao, let’s go celebrate my birthday.’

Does this mean that Shen Liyao is now a passerby to her?! Passerby A! Passerby B! Passersby C!

Fu Yangxi confirmed this again.

Fu Yangxi suddenly said, "Is there a playground around here?"

Mingxi: ?

Fu Yangxi wanted to run 300 laps around the playground. He suppressed his expression, trying his best not to behave as ecstatic as the MVP of the national football team.

"So where did you disappear to for the past few days?"

"I was held back by my grandfather." Fu Yangxi was too embarrassed to say that he saw her, Shen Liyao and the Dong family eating at a western restaurant and found a place to hide in frustration.

…

Half an hour later, Mingxi was wearing Fu Yangxi's coat, and was taken to a private room in a luxurious hotel.

There were pink, yellow and blue balloons everywhere in the box. "Happy 18th Birthday" was pasted on the windows.

The biggest cake was pushed out by Dong Shen and He Yang.

Ke Chengwen and Jiang Xiuqiu were both here. Jiang Xiuqiu was woken up when they both entered the room.

Mingxi's nose felt sour. She couldn't help whining, “I thought you guys forgot my birthday."

"How is that possible?" Ke Chengwen exaggerated, “Xi ge—" Xi ge would remind us almost 800 times a day.

Fu Yangxi stepped on his foot before he could say it.

The expression on his face was distorted.

They all sat down around the cake.

Because it wasn’t 12am yet, she couldn’t blow out the candles and cut the cake.

Jiang Xiuqiu sat lazily in the corner. He took a look at Zhao Mingxi, followed Zhao Mingxi's line of sight which fell on Fu Yangxi and suddenly laughed playfully. He suggested, “Let's play a game of truth.”

The atmosphere suddenly warmed up.

Minxi couldn't help but allow her attention to fall on Fu Yangxi. She felt a little regretful about the fact that he had dyed his hair black. Red was also very nice, but… how do I put this into words… His temperament is different now. He is still the same person, and he’s still very handsome. The more Mingxi looked, the faster her heart beat.

The moment she realized that she likes Fu Yangxi, she began to think that Fu Yangxi was good in every way.

Fu Yangxi was sitting next to Zhao Mingxi. All the sadness and grievances during this period of time turned into a redness that spread from the tips of his ears.

What's going on? Why do I feel like the way Little Mask looks at me has changed a little?

Is it my misperception again? Or am I being overly narcissistic again?

The first spin of the wine bottle turned to Mingxi.

Jiang Xiuqiu glanced at Fu Yangxi then at Zhao Mingxi. He asked out of the blue, “Zhao Mingxi, my question is, if Fu Yangxi and Shen Liyao fell into the river at the same time, who would you save?”

Fu Yangxi’s body went stiff. He couldn't help but glare at him and motioned with his eyes which said, ‘You're so f*cking impatient to ask this kind of question. Zhao Mingxi just ended her last crush, so she will definitely choose Shen Liyao. You’re just purposely trying to irritate her—’

But he didn't expect to see Mingxi answer without even a second thought, “I will save Fu Yangxi.”

“...”

???

Fu Yangxi looked at Zhao Mingxi incredulously, his mind blank.

Jiang Xiuqiu seemed to be smiling. He quickly spinned the wine bottle a second time. It turned to Zhao Mingxi again. “Looks like we’ll have to ask Zhao Mingxi a second question. Is Fu Yangxi better looking with red hair or black hair?”

Fu Yangxi became nervous again.

Little Mask will definitely choose black...

In the end, he heard Zhao Mingxi answer, “As long as it’s Fu Yangxi, everything looks good."

“...”

The people in the private room: “...”

Zhao Mingxi thought so in her heart, so she said so on her lips.

She kept her gaze on Fu Yangxi's face. She hadn't seen him for a week, so she couldn't help but look a little more.

Ke Chengwen said, "Little Mask, you're pretty good at complimenting people.”

In this joyful atmosphere, Zhao Mingxi made Fu Yangxi's cheeks hotter and hotter. His heart was about to explode.

Thump, thump, thump.

He clenched his hands in his pockets, his face flushed. What's the matter? Did Little Mask suddenly open up the six vessels of the body*?

*According to ancient Chinese medical theories, there are in fact, only two main vessels in the body, namely the Conception and Governor vessels, located at different acupuncture points which control the flow of the human body's Yin and Yang energy respectively. Fu Yangxi most likely got the numbers wrong (cute).

Jiang Xiuqiu immediately asked the third question, “If Ke Chengwen and I fell into the water at the same time, who would you save?”

Mingxi's mind was still on Fu Yangxi, so she subconsciously said, "I will save Fu Yangxi."

“...”

The whole room fell into silence.

An awkward atmosphere started to spread out.

Ke Chengwen couldn't help yelling, “There is no Fu Yangxi in this question!”

"..." Mingxi let out a slow noise of realization. “Oh, then I- then I will save Ke Chengwen.”

Ke Chengwen: …

Wait, what's the matter with your reluctant expression???

"Well, what can I do when I am simply too charming?” The cool and cocky Fu Yangxi has returned.

He tried hard to hold back the corners of his mouth from rising.

However, the little bird in his heart had resurrected on the spot, flapping its wings frantically, wishing to stand upside down and do 300 push-ups. All this exposed his joy and delight.

ray's note: screaming crying hyperventilating i can't breathe are you guys seeing this oh my gosh i'm choking PLEASE FINALLY YES!!!