Always By Your Side

Chapter 20: Mandarin Duck Score

At night in the city, the lights were dazzling.

As soon as she got into the taxi, Yuanyuan toppled over. Her whole body was pressing down on Wang Yue. At this time, Wang Yue especially wanted to buy a block of tofu and hit her to death. This so-called “disaster one brings on oneself”, Wang Yue had finally tried it for herself. This Monday for the office union’s activity, everyone had the attitude of eating without charge, trying to persuade each other to drink. This girl, she only poured herself a few more classes of wine, who would have known that her alcohol tolerance was so bad!

Wang Yue sighed deeply. Fortunately, she’d asked for Yuanyuan’s address before dragging her out of the hotel. Otherwise, Wang Yue probably would’ve had no choice but to take this girl back to her place.

The road conditions at night were very good, and it didn’t take long to arrive at Hongfeng New Village. Wang Yue paid for the taxi and half-dragged Yuanyuan out of the car. After fumbling around, she found Unit 13. The corridor was quite narrow. There were some things that had been piled up from other families from time to time. Wang Yue walked and stopped, breathing heavily like an ox as she finally hauled Yuanyuan to the fifth floor. When the hallway lights on the fifth floor came on, she finally let out a long sigh of relief.

The stairs had a two-family layout. A man was leaning against the door of 502. His head was originally lowered, but because Wang Yue’s movements were so loud, he looked up at this moment. Wang Yue discovered that the warm hallway lights were half-bright and half-dark, and those lights were shining on him, creating a sense of mystery.

However, she knew this person. Moreover, she had a profound impression of him—Fu Beichen.

At this time, Yuanyuan probably felt uncomfortable in her position, her neck twisted and turned. She took out a hand and swatted the left side of Wang Yue’s chest. Wang Yue raised her head awkwardly and happened to see Fu Beichen straightening. He took a step forward and said, “Give her to me.”

Wang Yue spent half a second pondering over it, and then resolutely decided to hand Yuanyuan in her arms over to Fu Beichen. A handsome, fashionable, and talented man, even if he took action against Yuanyuan, it would be Yuanyuan who took advantage. After Wang Yue watched the two enter the house, she smiled satisfactorily in her heart: Yuanyuan, I’ll wait for you to thank me.

Confused and disoriented, Yuanyuan grabbed the arm of the person beside her, dimly wondering why Wang Yue had suddenly become so much taller.

“Sis…Sister Wang, thank you.”

When Yuanyuan collapsed on the bed, a blanket gently covered her.

“Sister, I want to drink water.”

After a while, she was pulled up again and fed two sips of water.

The alarm clock beside the bed was ticking away, and Yuanyuan let out a few drunken, unwritten murmurs from time to time.

Time passed by, and Yuanyuan gradually sobered up. She pressed her forehead and sat up, only to discover a person sitting at the desk in front of her.

The ceiling light in the room was not turned on, only the small yellow lamp on the desk. He sat with his back to the light. Yuanyuan could only see a bit of his outline. She couldn’t see his appearance clearly, but she recognized him in almost an instant.

Fu Beichen!

Yuanyuan vaguely recalled what had happened before—he helped her to the bed, he fed her water. Meanwhile, she seemed to have called him “sister” several times…

She wailed in her heart.

She saw Fu Beichen stand up. After taking two tissues from the tissue box on the desk, he went directly to her. She didn’t understand why, but then he pulled the messy, medium-length hair on her face behind her ears and wiped her nose with the tissue.

“You have a nosebleed.”

Yuanyuan quickly snatched the tissue and said hurriedly, “I’ll do it myself.”

“You have rhinitis, don’t drink too much alcohol. If you drink, your blood circulation will accelerate. The capillary blood vessels in your nasal cavity will expand and the increased permeability of the capillary walls will make your nose bleed.”

Yuanyuan pressed her nose and listened, ill at ease.

The nosebleed quickly stopped. Yuanyuan held the blood-stained tissue and asked, “You came to me…is something the matter?”

Fu Beichen lowered his head to look at her: “I am a prophet coming to save the dying.”

“……”

Suddenly, Yuanyuan reached out and covered her mouth.

Fu Beichen realized something. Before he had time to back away, Yuanyuan had already vomited. Some acid water was spit out, and more than half of it landed on his clothes.

She looked at his shirt that had suffered a calamity. From head to toe, it was as if a basin of ice water had been poured on her.

Heaven! Earth! Now her image in front of him must have been completely ruined, right?

“I’m sorry!” Yuanyuan’s complexion was unsightly.

Fu Beichen stroked her head and took off his dark-coloured cardigan that had avoided an unpleasant fate. He threw it on her bed, turned around, and went to the bathroom.

What did that mean? Yuanyuan failed to understand. Because the taste in her mouth was so disgusting, she got up and staggered to the kitchen to rinse her mouth. When she came back, she passed by the bathroom door. She subconsciously looked inside the half-open door. With just one glance, her face turned red. All she could hear was her heart leaping up from her chest and into her throat, it kept thumping—

Fu Beichen had his back turned to her, shirtless, and was throwing his shirt into the bathroom sink to thoroughly wash with water. His skin was warm and white, there was not a single trace of flab on his body, and his waistline had distinct lines. She could faintly see the side of his abdominal muscles…

Fu Beichen turned his head as if sensing something and saw the person standing outside the door. Facing each other, Yuanyuan was about to leave right away in embarrassment, but she heard him calmly say, “Wait.”

Yuanyuan immediately halted. She was still a little tipsy.

“Where’s your hair dryer?”

“In the bathroom cabinet.”

After she finished speaking, she forgot to move and stood there foolishly.

Fu Beichen rubbed his shirt twice, wrung it out, then placed it on the edge of the sink. He opened the bathroom cabinet door and glanced inside before saying, “It’s not there.”

“Ah?” Yuanyuan remembered that it was there, but she didn’t dare to go in.

Fu Beichen didn’t seem to notice her embarrassment at all. He said very naturally, “Is it somewhere else?”

Yuanyuan could only brace herself and go in. The bathroom was very small, only three square metres. She opened the bathroom cabinet with a hint of doubt and discovered that the hair dryer was lying peacefully inside.

“Isn’t it here…” Yuanyuan had just turned her head when she felt a pair of arms gently embrace her waist.

“Why didn’t you pick up my calls? Yuanyuan.” Fu Beichen’s voice was very tender, and he spoke slowly, as if he was talking in his sleep, or saying words of love.

The blood supply in Yuanyuan’s brain was insufficient. She blanked out.

“Help me dry my clothes, okay?”

“En…”

Fu Beichen released his hands. Yuanyuan picked up his shirt and shook it out, then turned on the hair dryer. The rumbling sound promptly filled the small space, and gradually, the unceasing heat caused the bathroom temperature to rise. Fu Beichen stood behind Yuanyuan, not even blinking as he watched her—the neckline of her pajamas was a little too large, exposing a fair neck and a bit of her shoulders.

Because she didn’t dare move too much, Yuanyuan stood rigidly for a full fifteen minutes. At this time, Fu Beichen suddenly reached out and felt the hem of his shirt, and then said, “It’s almost dry, keep going.” His voice was low, as if he was suppressing something.

Fu Beichen did not expect that his concentration would be so fragile. He grabbed his shirt and put it back on.

“But it’s not dry yet,” Yuanyuan stammered a little. “It will be uncomfortable to wear.”

Fu Beichen let out an “it’s fine” and turned sideways to leave the bathroom.

Yuanyuan was stunned for a moment, then suddenly felt a little angry in her heart. He had hugged and kissed her, and taken advantage of her, but he didn’t like her. Then could she take advantage of him too? In any case, she still treasured him.

Taking advantage of the alcohol, she courageously grabbed Fu Beichen’s hand and said with a desperate face, “Let me kiss you for a bit!” After speaking, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed Fu Beichen on the lips. Then she said with a fiery face, “Okay, you can go, I’m going to sleep.” Finished, she let go of his hand, turned around, and walked out of the bathroom first.

She walked to her room, closed the door, and threw herself on the bed. As she fell asleep, she chanted in her heart: I’m drunk, I’m drunk, I’m drunk…

How good would it be if he liked her…

If the person she liked could treat her well by one point, she would definitely return it by one hundred points.

As expected, before Fu Beichen left that night, he stood in her living room, gazing at her room door. He touched his lips, distracted for a long time.

When Yuanyuan woke up the next day, the morning light was faint and her surroundings were very quiet. After a while, she seized the quilt and covered her face, “Ai, after getting drunk, aren’t you supposed to forget when you wake up?!”

Yuanyuan walked to the living room. She was certain that there was no one else in the house except for her at this moment.

“Wait, maybe nobody was here last night. Fu Beichen and that forced kiss and whatnot, was it a dream after drinking?”

Yuanyuan turned her head around and saw his cardigan laying beside her bed.

Soon after, her phone rang in her hand. It was a text message from Fu Beichen: Good morning.

While Yuanyuan brushed her teeth, she looked at herself in the mirror and smiled like a fool. He didn’t despise her. Maybe he even liked her somewhat.

That day, Yuanyuan walked towards the morning sun. The late autumn morning was already a little chilly, but her heart was as warm as springtime in April or May.

When noon approached, Yuanyuan received a call from Fu Beichen: “Do you have plans for lunch?”

Yuanyuan had been drowsy while looking over a manuscript. It lead her to be a little sluggish. “I’ve already agreed to go eat at a newly-opened restaurant with my colleagues. I’ll look for you when I finish work, I happened to bring your clothes with me.” She glanced at the paper bag on her desk.

“I’ll go to pick you up. But it might be later.”

“In order to see you sooner, I’ll go find you, okay.” After Yuanyuan said these words, her became aware of her bashfulness. Then she heard the person on the other end of the phone say with a smiling voice, “Okay, I’ll trouble you.”

Yuanyuan had already been to the Porcelain Research Institute before, so she was familiar with it when she went again.

Opening the door to Fu Beichen’s office, there was no one inside like before. But quite soon, Fu Beichen came back.

Fu Beichen was wearing a black suit today, his temperament suddenly somewhat elite. It was Yuanyuan’s first time seeing him dress so formally. She couldn’t help being stupefied for a while. Immediately after, she handed him the paper bag with his cardigan in it. Before Fu Beichen could say anything, a voice called from the corridor outside: “Beichen, Director Zhang wants to have dinner together tonight.” The person calling out was Fu Beichen’s colleague, Zhan Hongyu.

Fu Beichen said softly to Yuanyuan, “Wait for me.” He walked outside the door and asked Zhan Hongyu, “Why does he suddenly want to have dinner?”

“Just now you left in a hurry. After the meeting, Director Zhang got a call from someone in Jingdezhen saying that they’ve arrived. So Lao Zhang told us not to leave early and that tonight we’ll have a meal together. Lao Zhang mentioned your name, he said you absolutely must attend,” Zhan Hongyu said while taking in a breath. Zhan Hongyu was two years older than Fu Beichen. All year round he wore black-rimmed glasses and kept a cigarette in his hand. At one glance, he looked like a high-level intellectual. 

Fu Beichen raised his hand and pressed the space between his eyebrows, showing his difficulty.

Zhan Hongyu lowered his voice and said to him, “Lao Xia is coming too, do you really have the heart to let me fight without support? If you dare slip away, don’t blame me for going back and taking a few photos of you to recruit a wife online. You will definitely have an endless stream of visitors, a scene of the whole town turning up.” Zhan Hongyu threw down these ruthless words, then went into his office next door with a smile.

Fu Beichen didn’t bother to tell him that recruiting a wife meant that a woman was recruiting someone into her family. He just shook his head wordlessly.

“You guys have an event tonight? Then I’ll go first.” Yuanyuan waited for Fu Beichen to come back to say this. In her heart, she was a little disappointed.

Fu Beichen smiled in his heart. How could he let her leave like this?

“We’re supposed to have a meeting with some guests tomorrow. They’ve arrived from out of the province,” he explained. After pondering, he asked: “How about you go together with me?”

“Me?”

“You don’t want to go?”

“It’s not that. Your office has invited guests for a meal. If I go, what will it have to do with me? Besides, I don’t know anyone, so I’ll just sit there uncomfortably,” Yuanyuan grumbled, yet she also felt that they had just met. She was reluctant to part with him right away.

“Who says you don’t know anyone? You know many of them.” Fu Beichen smiled, he was determined to coerce her.

“How is that possible?” Yuanyuan didn’t believe it. “Then tell me who they are.”

“Gao Ling, Wang Jiawen.” Fu Beichen said these two names with a smile, then added, “Fu Beichen.”

“…” These three, she really did know them. People who could be journalists were good at accumulating contacts. Although Yuanyuan wasn’t like others in her profession, she was able to turn strangers into fellow villagers in an instant. She was itching to have broad and deep conversations about crops and farming with tears in her eyes, and she didn’t have stage fright—apart from facing Fu Beichen occasionally. As a result, for situations like this where there were both friends and strangers, it was exactly the opportunity to expand connections and network. If she refused again, and Zhang Yueren found out someday, he would definitely vomit three litres of blood and pass judgement on her life. Once the lid was on her coffin, he would say something like, “This child could not be taught.” But more importantly, she really wanted to stay with Fu Beichen longer, so she agreed.

When Zhan Hongyu saw Cheng Yuanyuan, he was inevitably startled. “No way Beichen, how could you move so fast? Respect, respect.” Once he saw Yuanyuan clearly, he let out a sound of surprise, “Wait, this seems to be…from last time…” After that, he looked at Fu Beichen again. “Okay ah, Beichen.”

Hearing this, Yuanyuan was confused. Fu Beichen bent down to her ear and whispered some words.

At this time, from head to toe, it seemed like Yuanyuan was bound by an invisible rope. Fu Beichen’s warm breath blew in her ears, making her unable to move at all.

And what he’d said was this: If someone messes with the score later, I’ll rely on you.

What did messing with the score mean? Ordering food? Or would someone in the room order a song to add to the fun? Yuanyuan suddenly thought, Right, the latter is probably it, since Fu Beichen isn’t well-versed in music…She couldn’t help but think that if he was in trouble, she would surely be bound to help.

Yuanyuan wore an expression that said “I understand” as she looked at Fu Beichen. Although her face was still red, her heart was already full of hot blood.

Before taking their seats, Fu Beichen first introduced Yuanyuan to his colleagues in the office—only saying her name and occupation. In fact, the majority of Fu Beichen’s coworkers had already seen Yuanyuan before. They had some regard for her in their hearts.

“Beichen ah, how did you invite Little Editor Cheng? We’ve had continuous meetings this afternoon, and we only arranged this meal at the last minute.” Director Zhang, who had never seen Yuanyuan before, asked curiously.

“I originally made a dinner appointment with her today,” Fu Beichen replied succinctly. Director Zhang was well acquainted with him, so he understood immediately. Before he could react, someone arrived.

This person was just like Wang Xifeng’s1 style, speaking before he arrived, “Sorry, sorry, I’m late.” Everyone looked at the door in unison.

“This is our Comrade Xia who just returned from a business trip.” Director Zhang pointed out the person that had arrived to Yuanyuan. “With you here today, maybe he can remove some thoughts.”

Yuanyuan didn’t understand.

Lao Xia was roughly forty-five years old give or take, with a medium height, slight plumpness, and not much hair. Still, his face was white and his nose was round, with a kind appearance. Overall, he wasn’t ugly. As soon as he arrived, Yuanyuan saw Zhan Hongyu on the opposite side retreat one step back, shrinking to the corner.

Then she heard Lao Xia say to Fu Beichen: “How is our research institute’s youngest and most promising Expert Fu doing lately?”

Fu Beichen had a smile on his face as he replied, “Still very busy, but I’ve gained a little.”

“Oh?” Lao Xia’s sight immediately swept to Cheng Yuanyuan beside him. His eyes lit up and he said to Fu Beichen, “Good boy, you move so quickly. You still haven’t introduced me.”

Because Yuanyuan had already assimilated with everyone now, she no longer felt the slightest unease. Before Fu Beichen could open his mouth, she took the initiative to say hello: “Teacher Xia, hello, I’m the editor of Chuancheng magazine. My name is Cheng Yuanyuan. I’m Fu Beichen’s…friend. Tonight I’ve come to dinner as a freeloader.”

After Lao Xia listened to her with a chuckle, he patted Fu Beichen on the shoulder and said, “She said she’s merely your ‘friend’. It seems that you still have not succeeded, comrade, you still need to work hard, ah.”

It was only then that Yuanyuan finally understood. When Fu Beichen had previously said “mess with the score”, he was referring to chaotic mandarin ducks.2

Yuanyuan said rashly, “He doesn’t have to work hard, I’m chasing him.”

Everyone: “……”

Fu Beichen glanced at her, then looked at her again. It was an incomparable look of pampering and satisfaction. After a while, the people from Jingdezhen also arrived. Gao Ling saw that Cheng Yuanyuan was very different, and soon gave Fu Beichen a demonic smile. Gao Ling decided he had to sit next to Yuanyuan. Because Wang Jiawen was the oldest, as well as the most esteemed by all the experts, his seat was already arranged ahead of time. He didn’t talk much, and as long as someone didn’t overstep, he gladly accepted everything. Everyone sat down one by one, and it could be considered that the banquet was officially starting.

While others talked about elegant and classy subjects, Gao Ling poured Yuanyuan a drink and said, “We haven’t seen each other for quite a while, have a drink.”

“Gao Ling, don’t bother her.” Fu Beichen, who was sitting on the other side of Yuanyuan, reached out and took the glass of alcohol in front of Yuanyuan for himself. 

Gao Ling smiled and said, “Beichen, you won’t drink with me, I can only let Miss Yuanyuan accompany me, ah.”

“I drove. She’s not good at drinking.”

“Protecting the calf like this?”

Fu Beichen picked up the wine cup and saluted Gao Ling, then took a sip.

This time, Boss Gao was amazed. For as long as he’d known Fu Beichen, he had never succeeded in persuading him to have a drink. Now at this banquet, Fu Beichen was drinking to shield her. Yuanyuan did not touch a single drop of alcohol, only drinking a few glasses of orange juice. After the dinner, he sent her home.

“Before the dinner started, you said you were chasing me?”

“……”

Fu Beichen sighed: “It seems that I really…have been too restrained.”

“En?” Yuanyuan’s brain didn’t start for a while. Perplexed, she turned her head to look at the man driving.

Fu Beichen drove the car to the side of the road and stopped. They were on an old street, the trees on both sides had a century’s worth of history, and the branches and leaves were verdant and lush.

“Yuanyuan, I’ve never kissed anyone else.” As he said this, he drew nearer, placing a hand on her cheek. Yuanyuan’s heart fiddled with these words. She could feel the temperature of his palm.

“And I’ve never thought of anyone else.”

“Only you, I want to grow old with.”

“Towards you, I was somewhat restrained. It was because it wasn’t the time to say it yet, but what I say is the truth.”

Yuanyuan looked at the person in front of her.

He liked her.

Truly great, truly great!

She would treat him very well, very well…

Yuanyuan thought about how good it was many times, and silently pinched the flesh of her palm. Oh, this wasn’t a dream.

At last, she couldn’t help hugging him, “So, am I your girlfriend now?”

Fu Beichen lowered his head and slowly approached Yuanyuan’s lips, “What do you think?”

Yuanyuan blushed, but she couldn’t help raising the corners of her mouth. 

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If anyone forgot, Wang Jiawen is one of the great remaining porcelain masters that Yuanyuan interviewed when she went to Jingdezhen.

Also I’m super sorry! I’ve been saying that I’ll finish this translation by the end of January, but I’m behind schedule by about a week or so. Very sorry  There are only five chapters left and two extras left.

P.S. I made a playlist for Always By Your Side here.

Wang Xifeng is a character from Dream of the Red Chamber, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. She is known as a villainess. Apparently it’s her style to be heard before she is seen, and she also has a famous line where she apologizes for being late, so I think that’s why Lao Xia is compared to her. Return.This is also a reference to the name of the chapter (鸳鸯谱). This is a bit hard for me to explain, but let me try. (If anyone is more fluent and can explain better, please do so!) The last character 谱 can mean music score, list, etc. So before, Fu Beichen told her to help if someone messed with the ‘score’. She had no idea what he meant (which is why she thought he meant someone ordering dishes for the table or playing music). When you put 谱 together with the words for mandarin duck (鸳鸯), it’s part of the phrase 乱鸳鸯谱, which is a term that means chaotic mandarin ducks. That means a mismatch coupling. I could be wrong, but I’m guessing Fu Beichen was trying to tell Yuanyuan that if someone tried to match him or a girl came up to him at the dinner, he would rely on Yuanyuan to set things straight because he’s indirectly saying they’re together. Yuanyuan finally gets what Fu Beichen means by ‘score’ when Lao Xia tells Fu Beichen to work harder in his pursuit. Though she still misunderstands a little, which is why she tries telling everyone that she’s the one pursuing him. Everything still works out though! I hope this explanation is accurate.  Return.