When I Meet the Moon - Chapter 87

Chapter 87

Xu Qingsong's light chuckle echoed from outside the door. Yun Li froze, her mind spinning rapidly as she weighed whether to pretend she hadn't heard him and offer a defense in front of He Jiameng, so that Fu Shize—who was almost certainly standing right outside—could hear...

"I told you to smile more," Xu Qingsong teased. His voice wasn't loud, but the lounge's soundproofing was poor, and every single word reached the ears of the two people inside the room crystal clear.

The two looked at each other in dismay.

Xu Qingsong opened the door directly, revealing Fu Shize standing beside him.

"Little He, you can head off work first," Xu Qingsong offered He Jiameng a graceful way out. Secretly letting out a sigh of relief, she grabbed her bag and walked out. Remembering Yun Li, she turned around and gave her frantic winks. "Idle Cloud Teacher, are you leaving with me?"

Yun Li said sluggishly, "I'm leaving with my boyfriend..."

He Jiameng wanted to tell Yun Li that they had just badmouthed someone, and now that very person was blocking the doorway. If she wanted to wait for her boyfriend, she could do so outside, lest Fu Shize fly into a rage and do something drastic.

She gestured frantically with her facial expressions at Yun Li. Seeing that Yun Li didn't seem to get it, she asked in a crisp tone, "Why don't you leave with me first? Where is your boyfriend right now?"

Yun Li replied dryly, "Right in front of you..."

"..."

He Jiameng's smile froze. Her eyes widened as she turned toward Xu Qingsong in complete disbelief. He waved his hand, laughing helplessly. "It's not me."

"..."

Watching He Jiameng flee in embarrassment, Yun Li sheepishly rubbed the tip of her nose.

Xu Qingsong had changed into a new outfit today. Before Yun Li could get a good look, Fu Shize stepped right in front of him. Standing there like a statue, he seemed to be telling her—

If she was going to look, she was only allowed to look at him.

Trying to ease the atmosphere, Yun Li said, "Sister Jiameng still loves to joke around like that..." Finishing her sentence, under Fu Shize's steady gaze, she offered an awkward smile herself.

Xu Qingsong suggested, "Let's go grab a bite to eat."

Fu Shize gave a listless "Mhm," extending his hand toward Yun Li.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she trotted over and placed her hand in his palm.

After enjoying a Western dinner with Xu Qingsong at a garden restaurant, Yun Li and Fu Shize drove home.

Finally having an opportunity to be alone together, Yun Li said softly, "Don't be mad about what Sister Jiameng said earlier."

Worried Fu Shize might think she hadn't stood up for him, she hurriedly explained, "I just didn't get a chance to explain to her."

"Oh." Fu Shize's tone was flat. "I thought you just didn't dare to scold me yourself."

Choking on her words, Yun Li blurted out, "Where do you get off saying I don't dare..."

Realizing there was something off about her knee-jerk reaction, Yun Li quickly corrected herself, "No, wait—I wasn't planning to scold you at all."

Fu Shize glanced at her, offering no further comment.

After arriving home, Fu Shize didn't bring the matter up again, even taking the time in a remarkably good mood to arrange the bouquet of purple statice.

Yun Li took a moment to review the meeting materials for the next day. Meanwhile, Fu Shize sat quietly beside her reading a book, the occasional sound of turning pages filling the air.

A scene like this was actually quite heartwarming.

Yun Li couldn't help curving her lips into a smile, which led her to believe Fu Shize had completely forgotten about what happened earlier that day.

The clock hands reached eleven o'clock. As she turned on the hot water, intense sleepiness washed over Yun Li. With an early morning meeting scheduled for the next day, all she wanted was to quickly clean herself up and head to bed.

By the time she finished her shower and returned to the bedroom, she could hear the sound of water being poured in the kitchen, followed by the sound of the shower.

Yun Li had just finished drying her hair and was pulling out the hair dryer when his damp chest pressed against her back. She could feel water droplets dripping directly from his hair onto her neck, sliding down inside her collar. She resisted, "No... I have work tomorrow..."

"Mhm..." he cooed softly, pressing a kiss onto her neck.

Yun Li's legs went weak instantly. She tried to pry his fingers away, but Fu Shize effortlessly pinned both of her wrists with one hand, nudging against her from behind as he whispered near her ear, "Am I all show and no substance?"

Flustered and exasperated, she called out anxiously, "Fu Shizhe!"

Yun Li attempted to stop his actions, emphasizing to him, "When I call you by your full name, it means I. Am. Angry!"

She articulated every single word of the last few syllables, yet her voice was soft and limpid, carrying not the slightest hint of deterrence.

Fu Shize's dark eyes gazed at her, his thin lips opening slightly: "Fu Shize."

Yun Li: "..."

Yun Li: "Fu Shizhe."

"Fu Shize."

"...Fu Shizhe."

Yun Li couldn't distinguish the difference between retroflex and flat consonants, but she wasn't foolish—she could clearly see the amusement twinkling in his eyes. She blocked her face with the towel, ignoring him.

Fu Shize took the towel from her hands. "Don't be angry."

Cupping the back of her head through the towel, his tone sounded completely natural. "Let me help you straighten out your tongue first."

Her memory flashed back to that night on the way to buy fried rice noodles, when the man had stubbed out his cigarette and said flatly, "Straighten out your tongue and say it again."

While Yun Li was still dazedly immersed in the memory, Fu Shize's face merged with his past self. She was pressed down onto the bed, his invading tongue immediately tangling with hers.

As his palm slid downward, Yun Li attempted to resist, but his cool hand against her skin reached every corner of her body.

Fu Shize lifted her chin, his voice raspy. "Say it again."

Yun Li's voice caught in her throat. Looking into those eyes, she completely abandoned all resistance, obediently calling out, "...Fu Shizhe."

"Still wrong." Turning his head, Fu Shize brushed his nose against hers. Sensing her legs gradually tensing, his other hand casually stroked her lower lip. "Relax."

"I'm just teaching you how to say my name right."

...

A patch of the bed had been soaked by her damp hair. Yun Li squatted beside the bed, pulling off the fitted sheet. Thinking of the scene earlier, she touched the crimson tips of her ears.

She took a glance at her phone, unsure whether she would even be able to get out of bed tomorrow morning.

Early the next morning, after suffering painfully in bed for a short while, Yun Li reluctantly dragged herself up to wash her face and put on makeup.

Beside her, Fu Shize was far more energized than she was.

During breakfast, Yun Li snatched a small piece of toast from his plate as an act of petty revenge.

After sitting in the meeting room for quite some time while the others had yet to arrive, someone opened the door right as the meeting time drew near. Both were surprised upon seeing each other.

Yun Li had heard Xu Qingsong mention her before, but actually running into her was entirely unexpected.

Compared to two years ago, Lin Wanyin's appearance hadn't changed much. Upon seeing Yun Li, she froze only briefly before striding up to her with an overbearing air. "What are you doing here?"

Seeing Yun Li remain silent, she sneered mockingly, "Oh, I get it. You weren't satisfied after being dumped by A-Ze before, and now that you heard he's staying at the university to teach, you came knocking at his door again?"

"..."

Yun Li looked at her speechlessly.

Believing she had struck a nerve, Lin Wanyin said with smug satisfaction, "Don't waste your breath. It was understandable that A-Ze took a fancy to you back then, but now, stop humiliating yourself."

Two years ago, Lin Wanyin had suffered a setback in front of Yun Li, so she had no other desire now than to vent her grudge.

Yun Li asked, "Do you know who his current girlfriend is?"

Lin Wanyin shrugged indifferently. "Don't know."

Yun Li paused for a moment before saying, "It's me."

Hearing those words, Lin Wanyin's expression stiffened before she spat out coldly, "Oh, so you shamelessly badgered A-Ze until he gave in."

Over the past few years, none of Lin Wanyin's overtures to Fu Shize had received a single response. Unwilling to be looked down upon, she said with haughty pride, "I don't even need to mention A-Ze to gain tons of followers now. I couldn't care less about your relationship."

The more she thought about it, the more unsettled she felt inside, making her words all the sharper: "You aren't as young as me, not as pretty as me, and your degree isn't as high as mine. Plus, you're such a coward—you didn't even dare to chase after a pervert when you saw one... A-Ze must have agreed only because you gave him no choice..." She listed a whole string of things as if trying to reassure herself.

In the past, Yun Li would have been deeply hurt by Lin Wanyin's words, perhaps falling into despair or hiding away from conflict.

But now, she felt not the slightest ripple in her heart.

She didn't let her self-image be shaken by the other girl's attacks. She knew she wasn't what Lin Wanyin claimed she was, and she knew the person Fu Shize loved wasn't whom Lin Wanyin described either.

Yun Li had no interest in arguing with her and said flatly, "No matter how great you think you are, I am your uncle's girlfriend."

"Besides, your uncle and I most likely won't be seeing you again," Yun Li emphasized. "Cutting ties completely feels fine too."

Lin Wanyin said furiously, "How can you speak like that? If you act like this, nobody is going to like you."

Yun Li had assumed that after two years, even the most childish kid would grow up at least a little—especially since Lin Wanyin should be around twenty years old by now. Raising her eyes, Yun Li asked her, "Do you have an account on Station E? How many followers do you have?"

Lin Wanyin snorted softly, her tone laced with pride: "Over ten thousand."

Yun Li tilted her head. "I have over a million."

"..."

"So, there should be way more people who like me than like you," Yun Li said, before adding a rhetorical question with mock pity, "Don't you think?"

The meeting attendees gradually started arriving. In a fit of rage, Lin Wanyin grabbed a few flyers off the rack and slammed the door behind her as she left.

Yun Li didn't pay the incident any mind, opening her folder to review the day's materials once more.

After the meeting at EAW concluded that day, Yun Li bade farewell to Zhang Yanxin. Zhang Yanxin had booked a flight back to Xifu that evening, whereas Yun Li and Fu Shize were heading back the following day.

Getting into the car, Fu Shize suddenly remarked, "Let's go to Beishan Maple Woods."

Yun Li had a vague recollection that Beishan Maple Woods was a well-known wealthy district in Nanwu City.

Having never taken the initiative to inquire about Fu Shize's family background, she hesitated briefly before asking, "Is being a professor that lucrative for your parents?"

Fu Shize explained briefly, "When You Sheng Tech was founded, they provided capital and held shares."

You Sheng Tech was the headquarters parent company for both EAW and Yun Li's firm, and Xu Qingsong's parents were its founders.

Yun Li began calculating the contents of her savings stash again. Seeing her go quiet, Fu Shize asked, "What's wrong?"

"I want us to buy an apartment together," Yun Li said solemnly. Flipping back and forth on her phone like an accountant, a hint of joy lit up her features. "I just ran the numbers—the money I've saved should be enough for a down payment."

"No need."

"Yes, there is," Yun Li insisted in a firm tone, muttering to herself, "I can't be a dead weight."

"..."

...

Fu Shize parked the car in the courtyard. Finding nobody home, he turned on the lights and led Yun Li straight upstairs.

His room was on the third floor.

The room was spacious, featuring floor-to-ceiling windows and an en-suite bathroom, with the curtains thrown wide open.

Fu Shize took off his coat and hung it on the coat rack, looking over at Yun Li, who stood rooted to the spot.

"Stay overnight here tonight."

"...But I didn't bring any change of clothes, nor my makeup bag."

Fu Shize replied, "Wear my clothes. Makeup remover is in the bathroom."

On the right side upon entering were books and models. Yun Li walked over to inspect them. There were quite a few original English books alongside volumes in another language. Pulling one out and flipping through it, she asked Fu Shize, "What language is this?"

Fu Shize glanced at her. "Spanish. My maternal grandmother teaches Spanish."

"Can you speak it then?"

Fu Shize hummed in affirmation. "She doesn't speak Mandarin with me."

"..."

Yun Li had heard before that some families would have each member speak a different language to the children, immersing them in a multilingual environment from an early age.

Curious, she asked, "Say a sentence then?"

Fu Shize looked down at her and opened his mouth.

Yun Li simply felt his voice sounded deep and rich with magnetism. Even if those syllables were completely unfamiliar to her, they sounded captivating. She smiled. "What does it mean?"

"I love you."

The atmosphere in the room suddenly turned intimate.

Yun Li put the book back, then pulled it out again. "Could you read a bit of this book to me?"

"Mhm."

The two sat on the sofa. Fu Shize leaned back against the edge, wrapping his arms around Yun Li from behind. Sitting in his embrace, Yun Li was responsible for turning the pages.

Unhurriedly, he read the first paragraph, explaining it to Yun Li in Chinese afterward.

Yun Li caught sight of a word in the book—

efe.

She said in surprise, "One of my fans has that exact name! I used to talk to this follower all the time while I was in the UK..."

Having been overwhelmed with work since returning home, Yun Li hadn't paid much attention to her direct messages. Feeling a bit guilty, she added, "This follower was really nice and even sent me a lot of postcards. I haven't checked my DMs much after coming back, so they might have tried contacting me again."

Remembering something, she muttered, "This person is also from Xifu."

"What does this word mean?"

Yun Li had quite a few die-hard fans; she had originally thought 'efe' was just a name the fan picked at random.

Fu Shize glanced at her, answering offhandedly, "The letter F."

"Oh..." Yun Li was a half-step slow to react as she moved on to the next line.

A few seconds later, she snapped out of it and looked up at Fu Shize. He remained completely composed, his expression giving away nothing.

A thought that she had harbored for a long time but never dared to believe surfaced in her mind. She poked the back of his hand. "Give me your phone."

There was precisely one person around her whose nickname was "F."

Fu Shize lazily handed it to her from the side. Unlocking the screen, Yun Li navigated across the desktop and opened Station E.

Station E offered personalized recommendations based on videos a user frequently watched. Yun Li froze—almost all the homepage recommendations were related to her past content.

She tapped into the user profile, met with a familiar avatar and username.

Opening the watch history, every single entry was one of her videos.

Even if there were videos by other creators, they were only collaborations where Yun Li made occasional guest appearances.

During all those times when she thought they were separated, he had been right by her side all along.

"I can't believe I only realized this now..." Yun Li murmured, her nose stinging with emotion. Fu Shize kissed her hair, whispering nonchalantly, "It's fine."

He continued holding her fingers, reading through the second paragraph word by word. Yun Li echoed his pronunciation; a characteristic of Spanish was that as long as you could see the word, you could pronounce it.

He taught her for over an hour until Yun Li grasped the rules governing the language.

Though she couldn't understand the meaning, she could read it aloud.

As time wore on, a tired Fu Shize rested his chin on her right shoulder, his cheek pressed against hers. He pointed at one of the sentences, which Yun Li stumbled through reading aloud before asking, "What does it mean?"

"I want to make love to you."

"..."

Fu Shize was merely teasing her, moving his finger to point at the next sentence.

Yet Yun Li reached back to capture his finger, staring at the sentence in the book as she repeated it haltingly.

Reciting it a second time, it sounded smoother than before.

Emphasizing her pronunciation, she turned her head, locked eyes with him, and repeated it once more.

Every syllable overflowed with intense affection. Tossing the book aside, she swung her body around to straddle his lap.

As if striving to compensate for the lonely, one-sided companionship he had maintained during that year and a half, Yun Li's movements were more proactive and passionate than ever before. She kissed his throat before pressing up to take his lips into her mouth, their pressed-together bodies growing increasingly scorching.

In their previous encounters, Fu Shize had always taken the lead. His dark eyes deepened, yet he offered no other movement, simply leaning against the sofa. His fair skin and austere expression made him appear inviolable.

Yun Li's eyes were hazy with desire. "The sound of your voice reading just now..." She paused, "...was a bit sexy..."

Even now, his brows and eyes were tinged with restrained longing, his collar disheveled where she had tugged it open. The allure of this unraveling composure prompted Yun Li to instinctively cup his chin, staring straight into his eyes.

It was as if he were completely wrapped around her finger.

Seeing this, Fu Shize smirked, quietly awaiting her next move.