When I Meet the Moon - Chapter 80

Chapter 80

Fu Shize lowered his eyes without a word.

Chen Jinping continued: "You've become quite famous since you started dating. You've turned into after-meal small talk for all the teachers in the department. They even mentioned it when we bumped into them last time. You should have told us earlier—your dad was so happy he almost jumped up on the spot."

Fu Dongsheng chimed in cheerfully, "Son, whose daughter is she?" Catching sight of the milk carton in Fu Shize's hand, he instantly realized: "The milk must have been bought for you by the girl, right?"

Fu Shize did not have the habit of drinking milk himself.

"You've met her," Fu Shize said. "You even sent her a gift."

Fu Dongsheng's eyes lit up, the fine wrinkles at the corners of his eyes glowing with youthful vigor: "Did you two get back together?"

Fu Shize gave a noncommittal hum.

No matter how many times they questioned him, Fu Shize only offered simple replies. Fu Dongsheng immediately transferred him a sum of money to serve as dating funds. Fu Shize didn't show much excitement, simply uttering a quiet, "Thanks, Dad."

When facing them, Fu Shize neither acted spoiled nor showed vulnerability; he practically never shared his inner thoughts with them, resembling a rebellious adolescent from another family, yet he would always slip them a piece of candy whenever they felt down.

In his early years, Fu Dongsheng and Chen Jinping had spent far too little time accompanying him. Harboring guilt in their hearts, they hadn't placed too many demands on him either.

However, both of them approached problem-solving from a practical, goal-oriented perspective.

As they approached retirement age without growing particularly close to their son, they had no choice but to set their sights on the next generation.

Fu Dongsheng said earnestly: "Son, the two of us spent all these years pursuing our free time, and there's one thing we deeply regret."

He sighed: "It's that we had children far too late."

"..."

Fu Shize probably hadn't expected to be pressured into having children so early.

With the two people on the other side of the call continuing to take turns explaining the benefits of having children early, he stared at the pair on the video screen and stated flatly: "We're still just dating."

Fu Dongsheng: "Then isn't the next step marriage?"

"..."

Fu Dongsheng: "Son, we have to be responsible when we're in a relationship. I remember Lili graduates this year, right? It's time to settle things down. Don't wait until the girl has to push for it."

"..."

"If it's inconvenient for you, son, both your mother and I have plenty of time and flexibility. Do you have Lili's parents' contact information? We can go have a cup of tea with them."

"..."

Unwilling to listen any further, Fu Shize declared: "The signal is bad, I'm hanging up first."

...

During dinner tonight, while Fu Shize went to get the dipping sauces, Yun Li took the opportunity to ask Zhou Tuo for Jiang Yuan's parents' contact information and address.

Zhou Tuo had reminded her that Jiang Yuan's parents still could not accept his passing, and deep down, they still harbored resentment toward Fu Shize.

The elderly couple lived in Nanwu City. When Yun Li made the phone call, a soft and gentle female voice answered on the other end. Hesitating for a moment, she took a deep breath and asked, "Hello, is this Jiang Yuan's home?"

Jiang's mother spoke softly: "I am Jiang Yuan's mother."

Yun Li: "Hello, Auntie. I'm a junior schoolmate of Senior Jiang Yuan. I only recently learned about what happened to him. Senior helped me out during a competition in the past, and since I'll be heading to Nanwu later on, I wanted to ask if I could drop by and visit you both once I arrive."

Yun Li heard a steady male voice in the background asking who it was. After Jiang Yuan's mother replied, "Yuan-yuan's classmate, she wants to come see us," she turned back to the mouthpiece and said, "Alright then, come on over for a visit. Auntie will cook for you."

After exchanging a few polite pleasantries, they hung up the phone.

Lowering her gaze, Yun Li thought that Jiang Yuan's parents sounded like exceptionally kind people.

She still hadn't figured out what she should say to Jiang Yuan's parents.

Lying in bed, her thoughts drifted back to the events of tonight.

Fu Shize genuinely wanted to walk out of the shadows of the past.

At the same time, she vividly recalled how Fu Shize had pushed her skirt up above her waist, his normally ice-cold hands burning scorchingly hot as they repeatedly kneaded the skin around her waist.

At the mere thought of that image, her body grew burning hot all over again.

They had come dangerously close to actually doing something.

She felt a trace of involuntary regret—if only they hadn't been in the dormitory today.

While washing up, Yun Li called Fu Shize. The light was still on over on his end, and he looked bleary-eyed, as if he had just been woken up by the phone call.

He propped his phone against the wall, showing himself lying on his side in bed, his fingers slightly curled. His eyes were closed, and the blanket pulled up to the bridge of his nose.

He looked like a well-behaved cat drifting off to sleep.

Yun Li smiled brightly: "Are you pretending to be asleep?"

"Sleepy." Without opening his eyes, Fu Shize rolled over onto his back, resting his forearm across his forehead: "My head hurts."

Yun Li: "That's why you're only allowed to drink just this once."

Fu Shize remained silent.

With a straight face, Yun Li demanded: "Why aren't you answering me?"

Remembering his conversation with his parents, Fu Shize suddenly asked Yun Li: "Does your dad like to drink alcohol?"

"..."

Unsure why he had suddenly brought up Yun Yongchang, Yun Li replied: "He likes to drink."

Fu Shize: "Then next time, I'll have to keep him company with a few drinks."

"Don't drink with him," Yun Li retorted unhappily. "Don't go trying to suck up to my dad. Last time he was so fierce to you, I didn't even want to talk to him anymore. Let's wait until we get our marriage certificate before bringing you home for a meal with him."

Seeing that Fu Shize gave no response, Yun Li felt a tinge of dejection: "My dad has a relatively strong desire for control, and he's unreasonable too. I hope you won't mind. What's between the two of us only concerns the two of us."

After explaining at length, she solemnly stated: "I'll handle whatever issues come from my dad's side."

"Lili," Fu Shize called out. He opened his eyes, rolled onto his side to prop up his head, and asked leisurely: "Are you thinking about getting our marriage certificate?"

"..."

Stunned for a moment, Yun Li flusteredly tried to cover up her tracks: "I was just thinking about the concept of getting a certificate!!"

Fu Shize didn't harp on the point.

Noticing his listless appearance, Yun Li asked with a trace of embarrassment: "Were you really suffering tonight?"

At the time, after she brought the milk back, he had changed into loose pajama pants, and that physical reaction had only become all the more unshielded. Thinking back on it later, Yun Li figured he must have had an awfully hard time holding back.

"Back when you were on the bed, I had no choice but to sit right on top of you, so things might have gotten a little out of control..." Her voice trailed off into a whisper. Fu Shize chuckled and asked her: "Are you trying to make me suffer even more by describing that scene out loud?"

"..."

"It's fine," Fu Shize said indifferently. "Whenever you say no, I won't go any further. I respect your choice."

With that, he deliberately added: "Even though it really was quite agonizing."

"..."

When the person before her said these things, his tone didn't fluctuate much, yet every word, phrase, and action reflected his deep upbringing and character.

Fu Shize had always respected her immensely.

A wave of emotion washed over Yun Li, though she still put up a stubborn front with her words: "Then you should exercise some self-control."

After all, he wasn't the only one suffering.

She was suffering too, and she had exercised self-control as well.

After finishing the call, she did some online shopping. The shopping app seemed to have eavesdropped on her phone call, recommending all sorts of peculiar little boxes to her.

Refusing to acknowledge the turbulence inside her heart, she felt a lingering sense of shyness.

She could only repeatedly tell herself: Buying these things is just for a rainy day; you have to take responsibility for your own body and actions, and you need a clear understanding of the impulses and hormones a twenty-four-year-old should have.

This didn't mean she actually wanted to do anything.

Right, she didn't want to do anything at all.

Instinctively, she felt that if anything truly were to happen, someone like Fu Shize would never premeditate or prepare these things in advance.

...

Perhaps because too many things had happened in a single night, Yun Li struggled with insomnia and woke up before half past six.

Checking her phone, she saw that Fu Shize hadn't sent her a message at six o'clock as he usually did.

Yun Li got up, washed up, and while making breakfast, remembered him saying his head hurt before hanging up last night, which left her with a vague sense of unease.

Turning off the stove burner, she grabbed her keys and headed straight out the door.

Since Yun Li wasn't a student at Xikeda, she had to sneakily tail someone else to get into the building. Reaching Fu Shize's door, she knocked several times and waited for a moment, but it was the neighbor next door who opened up instead.

Feeling rather awkward, Yun Li looked at the person, who looked somewhat familiar—a pair of narrow eyes behind gold-rimmed glasses wore a malicious look. Lowering his voice, the neighbor asked: "Are you Fu Shize's girlfriend?"

She paused and nodded.

The bespectacled man put on a pretense of profound insight and adjusted his glasses: "Don't let him fool you. He's been bringing a woman back to his dorm every day recently—look at that, one just left last night."

"..."

Yun Li wanted to tell him that last night's person was also her.

"Their bed was creaking away all night last night, you know." To prevent her from doubting him, the bespectacled man pulled out his phone and said: "I even recorded the audio. Do you want to listen?"

This snide and sarcastic tone finally made Yun Li remember who this person was, though the guy clearly didn't recognize her anymore.

They hadn't even gone that far last night. Realizing that Chen Lirong was slandering Fu Shize, Yun Li's expression chilled as she knocked heavily on the door two more times.

Chen Lirong wore a bizarre, weird smile on his face. Yun Li said unceremoniously: "That was me last night too. If you ever talk trash behind his back again, I'll take your recordings and mail them straight to your president's suggestion box."

The door opened, and Yun Li walked straight inside.

Brimming with anger, she saw that Fu Shize lacked energy, so she temporarily pushed the matter with Chen Lirong to the back of her mind.

As soon as she entered, Yun Li grabbed his pajamas and began checking him over. Fu Shize let her mess up his hair as he spoke with a nasal twinge: "Woke up late."

Only then did he pick up his phone to check the time; it was around 7:30.

Yun Li had sent him several messages on WeChat, presumably out of worry that something might have happened to him.

Realizing this, he tapped his phone a couple of times.

The phone in Yun Li's pocket vibrated. Pulling it out, she discovered that Fu Shize had sent her a message: [Good morning]

Even though she was already standing right in front of him.

"I owe you that one," Fu Shize said.

Being fed sugar bright and early in the morning, she contentedly sat down by the bedside. Fu Shize murmured softly: "I'm going to wash up. Help me find an outfit."

After he left the room, Yun Li walked over to his wardrobe.

She loved seeing Fu Shize wear white shirts and casual trousers with a suit-like cut, as it gave him an intensely youthful aura. Picking out that exact set of clothes, she placed them on the bed.

When Fu Shize returned, he looked much clearer-headed, with droplets of water still clinging to his face, making him look fresh and clean. Lowering his head to kiss Yun Li, he asked gently: "Are you sleepy?"

She didn't usually wake up this early.

Yun Li curved her eyes: "I'm not sleepy at all when I see you. I don't want to close my eyes for even a second." Following his lead, she grew bolder, leaning close to his ear and whispering: "I just want to keep looking at you."

Fu Shize chuckled and began unbuttoning his shirt right then and there.

Yun Li: "..."

She grabbed his hands: "What are you doing?"

"Changing clothes." Fu Shize glanced down at her. Realizing she had misunderstood, Yun Li uttered an "oh," and completely forgetting what she had just said about wanting to keep looking at him, she obediently turned around.

She heard the rustling sound of clothes being shed. Soon, his shirt appeared in her field of vision, tossed casually onto the bed by him, followed by his pants. The movements behind her stopped, and Fu Shize said: "This isn't a full set."

Yun Li was momentarily stunned.

Fu Shize handed his clothes to her from behind. Yun Li looked down; it was indeed a complete set of a top and pants. She said: "They match."

Fu Shize: "They aren't complete."

"..."

A sudden realization hit Yun Li: "Are you talking about your underwear?"

"Mn."

"..."

Underwear!! Well, damn it, that really was a complete set.

Showing no intention of backing down, Fu Shize stood right behind her without moving an inch.

Yun Li: "Are you naked right now?"

Fu Shize gave a languid "Mn."

Yun Li felt that she was only one step away from blurting out the word "pervert."

With extreme grievance, she lowered her head, covered her eyes, and shuffled over to the wardrobe.

Fu Shize reminded her that they were in the bottom left drawer. Yun Li pulled it open, revealing neatly folded pairs of underwear stored inside.

Daring not to look too closely, she randomly pulled one out.

Having teased her just enough, Fu Shize was fully dressed two minutes later. Yun Li suddenly recalled something he had mentioned a long time ago: "Why are you wearing pajamas? Didn't you say you liked sleeping naked before?"

Lowering his head to button his cuffs, Fu Shize replied offhandedly: "It depends on who I'm sleeping with."

"..."

As they were preparing to head out, Yun Li finally brought up the incident with Chen Lirong.

"When I came over earlier, that guy next door was bad-mouthing you. It was that Chen-something-rong we ran into before." Yun Li felt her whole body crawl with discomfort just thinking about him. "He even said he recorded the audio from your room—oh... what we were saying just now might have already been recorded by him."

"..."

Hearing Yun Li's words, Fu Shize's expression didn't change much as he walked straight over to knock on Chen Lirong's door. The other party seemed to have anticipated this and didn't dare to open it.

Fu Shize let out a dry, mocking laugh: "Want me to kick it open for you?"

A flurry of footsteps sounded from behind the door before Chen Lirong pulled it open a crack. With an indifferent expression, Fu Shize asked him: "Where's the phone?"

Looking sickly pale, Chen Lirong handed his phone over to Fu Shize. Fu Shize swiftly opened his audio and video storage, deleting everything directly based on the timeline of when he himself had been in the dorm.

Opening the photo gallery, he found quite a few stealthily taken pictures—aside from candid shots of himself, there were photos of other people as well.

Chen Lirong's life seemed to forever revolve around observing others. In his early years, he had tried to prove himself through an excessive number of romantic flings, harassing any female creature he laid eyes on, only to be rejected by everyone. Because his own life was such a failure, he always hoped for others to fare worse, or proactively slandered people in an attempt to make himself feel better.

Fu Shize had no interest in scrolling any further. He completely cleared out the photo album, deleted all backups in the cloud storage, and tossed the phone back to him.

He didn't even have the slightest interest in wasting a single word on the guy.

Yun Li added a parting remark: "If I ever catch you doing this again, get ready to spend time in prison."

Her tone carried a chilling edge.

"..."

As they started walking downstairs, Yun Li noticed Fu Shize's gaze and wondered if she had been a bit too bold just now. Hesitantly, she said: "He sent me a lot of photos of you and your former teammate in the past. That guy seems kind of perverted."

Secretly recording audio through the partition wall made Yun Li's skin crawl just thinking about it. Feeling uneasy, she stopped walking and looked up at Fu Shize.

Fu Shize was someone who feared nothing. "Don't worry," he said calmly.

Yun Li: "Well, I'm not really worried. I want to protect you too. There must be quite a few people like Chen Lirong out there who hold a grudge and slander others simply because you're outstanding."

Incapable of achieving greatness themselves, yet envious of someone else's brilliance, they resorted to malicious online attacks in an attempt to drag the other person down by the ugliest means possible.

Because of his excellence, Fu Shize had already suffered enough from jealousy.

Fortunately, Fu Shize wasn't all that fragile.

At least, not anymore since being with her.

She paused: "I just think you're the best person in the entire world, and someone like you deserves the love of everyone in the world."

"I don't need the world to love me." Fu Shize lowered his gaze. They had reached the downstairs area, and the fluffy cotton-like seeds of the kapok tree drifted onto her face, tickling her skin. Through the sparse floating lint, she saw his lips part.

"I only need the person who loves me to include you."

"Then I promise you," Yun Li looked up at him, "that person will definitely be me."

Only after speaking those words aloud did Yun Li realize that this was what a truly healthy romantic relationship looked like. This time, they were completely honest and trusting with each other, offering mutual support and tolerance.

She genuinely felt that he was her armor, and she was his armor.

...

Two days later was Chen Jinping's birthday. Fu Shize would be having lunch with them that day, and after carefully selecting a gift, Yun Li asked him to take it along.

Accepting the gift, Fu Shize didn't say anything further and went back to writing his thesis.

Yun Li couldn't hold back anymore.

"Aren't you going to ask me if I want to go with you to see Auntie?"

Generally speaking, since their relationship was stable and she had specifically prepared a birthday gift for Chen Jinping, meeting the parents was a natural next step.

Fu Shize had his own considerations. Glancing at her, he said: "I'll go meet your parents first.”