When I Meet the Moon - Chapter 21

Chapter 21

“Then if I send it, he might not reply to me,” Yun Li said hesitantly, her voice growing softer and softer. “And before, when I asked him for his contact information, he didn’t give it to me...”

“That was the past, it doesn’t mean the future,” Deng Chuqi reasoned with her. “Besides, am I wrong, Lili? Have you liked him ever since you asked for his contact info?”

Yun Li didn’t speak; she lowered her head and twirled the small soccer ball in her hand.

“Have you ever expressed your feelings to him again?”

Yun Li shook her head.

“Do you think he knows?”

Yun Li shook her head again. “He seems to look at me like a junior, just like Fu Zhengchu. He treats me totally normally.” Remembering those hundred-plus unanswered text messages, Yun Li said gloomily, “If he found out, he probably wouldn’t ever talk to me again.”

Knowing Yun Li’s personality, Deng Chuqi couldn’t bear it. “Have you been proactive at all?”

Yun Li immediately said, “I have.”

“How have you been proactive? Tell me about it yourself.”

“I talked to him...”

“And then?”

“Well, I just talked to him...”

“...”

Probably figuring there was no hope for Yun Li’s personality, Deng Chuqi began trying to talk her out of it. “Forget it, why don’t we just give up early? Actually, Xiaoxia’s maternal uncle isn’t that great anyway, aside from having a decent face and a better family background.

“Besides, his temper isn’t very good either, is it? He keeps a cold face every day, and you don’t even dare to speak when you’re facing him. It makes the two of you look like you’re acting in a silent movie.”

Right as she finished speaking, she saw Yun Li staring at her with a somewhat unhappy look. “He just doesn’t talk much. You can’t talk about him like that just now. He’s a very good person.”

Deng Chuqi was stunned. She thought for a long time, unable to figure out how Fu Shize’s pure, desireless, and ice-cold face could correspond with that description.

“Lili, is it possible,” perhaps afraid of hurting her feelings, Deng Chuqi chose her words a bit more carefully, “that you’re just attracted to his face? You’ll get tired of looking at this face eventually. When two people are together, personality is what matters most.”

Yun Li shook her head and said, “If it’s Fu Shize’s face, I could look at it for a lifetime.”

Deng Chuqi: “If this face can only be looked at by other women in the future, can you accept that?”

Yun Li remembered that night when Fu Shize sat quietly by her side, watching her play with fireworks.

Thinking of a similar scene happening between him and another woman, Yun Li felt as though her breath was choked off instantly.

She looked at Deng Chuqi, pondered for a moment, and asked, “Then do you think I should pursue him?”

Deng Chuqi nodded affirmatively.

“Then do you think the probability of me succeeding is high?”

Deng Chuqi nodded. “It should be about zero point one percent.”

“...”

Yun Li had only ever been the one pursued. Back in undergraduate school, boys had expressed affection for her, bought her small gifts, and asked her out to play, but she had turned them all down.

Yun Li had no desire to develop relationships, nor did she like spending time with people she wasn't close to. Her few experiences of being pursued had all left her with bad memories.

Deng Chuqi was a fickle person; if a man loved her, she would date him, and if he didn't, she would switch to someone else, so she couldn't offer Yun Li any real advice.

The two of them searched the internet for a lot of information, and most of the advice given was to flirt and run away—don't be too direct, create more opportunities, and wait until the other party starts to like you before poking through that layer of paper.

Yun Li could also imagine that if she confessed her feelings to Fu Shize right now, his reaction would probably be a direct refusal, followed by minimizing contact in the future.

As it neared nine o'clock, Deng Chuqi’s time was up and she prepared to leave. Before walking out, she asked Yun Li if she wanted to call Xia Congsheng, as they might still be at Fu Shize’s place.

Yun Li’s initial reaction was to refuse, but under Deng Chuqi’s gaze, she had no choice but to nod.

Before making the call, Yun Li tidied up her hairstyle. This time was different from the past; it was essentially the first attempt at making up her mind to pursue Fu Shize. When the ringing tone sounded, Yun Li’s chest rose and fell, and countless future possibilities of failure had already flashed through her mind.

Before she could hang up, Fu Zhengchu answered.

It was easy to tell that the background where Fu Zhengchu was similar in style to the one in the photos; he probably hadn't gone back yet.

“Sister Qiqi, my sister’s phone is with me. I don’t know where she went.” Fu Zhengchu stood up, looked around his surroundings, and then returned to the camera view.

“Are you guys still eating? It looks pretty lively over there,” Deng Chuqi said perfunctorily.

Fu Zhengchu began telling them about today’s dinner gathering. Within two minutes, Deng Chuqi interrupted him and asked, “Who’s there?”

“Little Uncle and Brother Qingsong are both here. Oh, do you guys want to say hello to them?” After saying that, Fu Zhengchu stood up without looking at the camera, appearing to walk upstairs.

Deng Chuqi pushed the phone forward, leaving most of the screen view for Yun Li.

Fu Zhengchu went up to the second floor, walked down a corridor, and then flipped the camera toward a room.

From the video, Fu Shize could be seen sitting at the head of the bed, his tie already untied and his collar buttons undone.

Xu Qingsong was standing nearby, and both of them looked toward the camera. Fu Shize took a drag from a cigarette, creating a fleeting blur of gray smoke in the frame.

He frowned slightly and said to Fu Zhengchu, “Turn off the recording.”

“I’m video-calling Sister Lili and the others. Little Uncle, say hello.”

Ever since entering the room, Fu Zhengchu had kept the screen aimed at himself, so Fu Shize had only seen him walk in holding the phone and assumed he was recording.

Right then, he directly snuffed out the cigarette, his expression showing a trace of awkwardness.

As the camera moved closer, that expressionless face was instantly magnified.

His silence made Fu Zhengchu a bit awkward, so Fu Zhengchu turned the camera back. “Sister Lili, Sister Qiqi, don’t mind it, Little Uncle is just not very polite...”

Fu Shize said deliberately and leisurely, “Without seeing anyone, how am I supposed to say hello.”

“I forgot.” As soon as Fu Zhengchu finished speaking, Yun Li saw the screen begin to rotate one hundred and eighty degrees, and then Fu Shize’s face appeared in front of the camera once more.

Yun Li noticed that the collar buttons which had been open earlier were now fastened.

Yun Li waited for a moment, and seeing that he didn’t speak, she took the initiative to say, “Long time no see.”

The moment the words left her mouth, Yun Li instantly regretted them.

Clearly... they had met just a few days ago.

Fu Shize didn’t linger long, muttered an affirmative sound, and then handed the phone back to Fu Zhengchu.

Yun Li was almost driven to tears by this completely unattached indifference.

A few seconds later, Yun Li heard Xu Qingsong say, “I heard Sanyan opened a bar, seems like it’s called Overtime Bar. Should we go check it out?”

Fu Zhengchu: “It’s a bit late for that, I still have class tomorrow.”

Xu Qingsong smiled. “Nobody said they were bringing you.”

“No way, I’m going too.” Fu Zhengchu looked back at the camera and told Yun Li, “Sister Lili, we’re going out to have fun. I’ll have my sister call you back later.”

Seeing that the call was about to end, Yun Li blurted out, “Are you guys going to Overtime?”

She paused for a moment and said, “We’re heading over there in a bit. I heard business is really good there. Do you want us to help reserve a table for you? It’s Sunday today, so it should be pretty crowded.”

At first, Fu Zhengchu had also wanted to invite them, but he felt the hour was too late. Hearing Yun Li’s words, he agreed to meet at Overtime at ten o'clock.

Yun Li didn't know about this Overtime bar. After hanging up, she searched the internet and found it was located opposite Shang'an Plaza, a thirty-minute drive away.

The shop was situated on Nanwu City's famous bar street. The bar’s decor looked more like a barbershop, featuring a black sign with the pure white shop name glowing on it.

The two of them reserved a large booth, and the rest of the group arrived a quarter of an hour later. Fu Zhengchu naturally sat down beside Yun Li.

The group hadn't changed their clothes yet, having only taken off their ties. Fu Zhengchu loosened his collar, took the drink menu, and told Yun Li and Deng Chuqi to look at it first.

Yun Li rarely went to bars and had no concept of the flashy names on the menu, so she casually pointed at one.

Glancing toward Fu Shize, she saw him sitting diagonally in front of her, leaning back against the seat. His current state seemed quite relaxed.

Deng Chuqi: “Are you guys having a family dinner today? Is it Little Uncle’s mother’s birthday?”

Xia Congsheng smiled. “Yeah, my great-aunt prefers to host these family gatherings, and among the relatives with good relationships, many are classmates from the same generation. They’ve been close since back then.”

The title "great-aunt" always gave people the feeling that the other person must be very old.

Seeming to notice this, Xia Congsheng explained a little: “Great-aunt and great-uncle are professors at Xike University and have strong career ambitions, so they had children late. That’s why Little Uncle is even younger than me.”

Just then, the drinks were served. The group picked up their glasses to toast. After drinking along with the crowd, Yun Li felt a burning sensation so intense that hot tears instantly rushed to her eyes.

This drink was way too spicy.

No wonder her glass only had three centimeters of liquid at the bottom—was that pure alcohol?

After adjusting her state for a moment and forcing the tears back, Yun Li let out a breath inwardly, feeling grateful that her awkward moment just now hadn't been noticed by anyone.

More rounds of drinks were served one after another, all ordered by Fu Zhengchu.

Thinking of his alcohol tolerance, Yun Li couldn't help saying, “Fu Zhengchu, drink a little less.”

“Sister Lili, since we’re out having fun, we have to enjoy ourselves to the fullest.” Fu Zhengchu pushed a few glasses toward Yun Li’s direction. “Want to try some?”

Yun Li shook her head helplessly.

After finishing his first drink, Xu Qingsong stood up, saying he wanted to go say hello to the owner of this bar. Fu Shize didn't follow him, instead walking over to sit at the bar counter by himself.

Deng Chuqi poked Yun Li in the waist.

Yun Li caught her drift and made the excuse that her drink wasn't very good, heading to the bar counter to mix a new one.

After walking over, Yun Li discovered that Fu Shize was sitting in front of the bar counter, lowering his head to play with dice. The way he played was also strange: he rolled three dice and looked at them, then rolled four and five, and once the count reached a certain number, he would start over.

Just as she was planning to walk over, a graceful female figure suddenly emerged from the side, leaning against the bar counter, resting her chin on her hand, and staring fixedly at Fu Shize.

“Handsome, can you buy me a drink?”

Having finally mustered up her courage, only to have someone else cut in line right in front of her, Yun Li froze in place.

Fu Shize was still rolling the dice and didn't utter a word.

The woman repeated herself, “Is that okay?” Seeing him act so indifferent, she reached out her hand intending to touch Fu Shize’s collar.

Thinking she was going to touch Fu Shize’s face, Yun Li blurted out instinctively, “Auntie, wait a second.”

“...”

Interrupted halfway through, the woman frowned and looked toward Yun Li with an unkind tone: “Little girl, flirting also relies on first-come, first-served, understand?”

“Besides, who’s an auntie?”

The woman turned around, her anger level about to max out. Yun Li pressed her lips together and said, “He’s my friend.”

Yun Li pointed toward the booth and said, “There are a lot of people over on our side, and we’re all students. Auntie, don’t force my friend to buy you a drink, or I’ll call the counselor.”

“...”

The woman looked somewhat speechless, picked up her drink glass, and walked away.

This interruption ruined Yun Li’s original plan. Just as she was hesitating whether to return to the booth, Fu Shize lowered his gaze toward the empty seat beside him and said in a low voice, “Sit here.”