Always By Your Side

Chapter 22: Regret and Trust

Fu Beichen waited for Yuanyuan to get into the car. He didn’t drive immediately; he just looked at her. Yuanyuan was baffled and asked: “What’s wrong?”

“What would you do if I ever did something to let you down?”

Yuanyuan thought for a while, then said: “Are you playing with me and then abandoning me?”

Playing and then abandoning? Fu Beichen held his breath, “No, no way. No way in this life.”

Yuanyuan’s expression was happy, and then she said straightforwardly: “Then it’s fine, I will forgive you for the rest.”

At this time, Yuanyuan’s cell phone rang. It was actually Professor Fu calling. She glanced at Fu Beichen subconsciously, and Fu Beichen also saw the name on the screen of her cell phone. He nodded at her and motioned for her to answer.

“Professor Fu?” Yuanyuan was a little nervous because the professor’s son was nearby…

“Xiao Cheng, I’m sorry to bother you on the weekend. What is your editor-in-chief Zhang’s phone number? Can you give it to me?”

“Oh, oh, please wait.” Yuanyuan immediately scrolled through her contacts, noted Zhang Yueren’s phone number, put the phone back to her ear, and reported it to Professor Fu to record.

“Okay. Thank you, Xiao Cheng.”

“No problem, no problem.”

“Even if you don’t need to get a manuscript you can still come to my house to sit and chat.”

“Okay…”

After hanging up the phone, Yuanyuan looked at Fu Beichen and said, “Your father seems to like me a lot.”

Fu Beichen’s reply was to lean over and lightly kiss the barely visible beauty mole between her brows. “Of course, you’re the person I like.”

Yuanyuan had been with Fu Beichen for a long time. These kinds of words made her heart flutter, but it was unlikely for her to blush at the drop of a hat now. In moments like this, she could even reply with: “Expert Fu, you have a good eye.”

That day, as soon as Fu Beichen returned home, he received a text message: Senior Brother, do you still remember my older cousin Zhao Jue?

Fu Beichen frowned and murmured to himself for a while, then he replied: Apologies.

“Apologies?” Just an “apologies”? Shen Yu looked at the phone screen and smiled. After what Fu Beichen had said to her last time, she had been immersed in a gloomy mood. She really wasn’t as worthy as her older cousin…

For more than two years, she had always heard the professor say that Fu Beichen had no intention of looking for a girlfriend. She believed that maybe he’d always had her cousin in his heart. Later, she saw his care for Cheng Yuanyuan, as well as the tenderness and single-mindedness with which he looked at her. It seemed that before, his life had been a blank space. He was just waiting for her to come and fill in the emptiness.

Only then did Shen Yu understand how ridiculous her previous way of thinking was.

Today her roommate had pulled her out to watch a movie, where she saw them again.

Fu Beichen had led Cheng Yuanyuan by the hand. The two resembled sweethearts who had loved each other for an awfully long time.

She finally couldn’t help but send him the condemning text message after returning to the dormitory.

When all was said and done, did he have a piece of land in his heart where he buried her cousin, whose body couldn’t even be found?

And yet she only got a simple “apology”. Nothing else.

As soon as Yuanyuan arrived at the office the next day, she was pulled by Wang Yue. “Yesterday, I saw the car that came to pick you up, and I saw the person in the car. Miss Cheng, are you and Mr. Fu truly inseparable, even resting and flying together?”

Resting and flying together? Yuanyuan retorted: “We haven’t been ‘together’ yet, don’t talk nonsense.”

Wang Yue couldn’t help pinching her cheeks with both hands, “Little guy, you are too cute.”

Yuanyuan was helpless. She’d just told the truth.

When she was about to get off work, Yuanyuan received a call from Shen Yu. Ever since Shen Yu had divulged her interest in Fu Beichen last time, Yuanyuan didn’t dare to see her. On top of that, Yuanyuan was now together with Fu Beichen, so she felt sorry towards Shen Yu.

“Yuanyuan, last time you said you wanted to invite me to dinner. I’ve waited for you for so long, I’ve been forced to ask on my own.” Shen Yu’s voice was still as bright and beautiful as before.

“Ah?” Yuanyuan didn’t remember this at all, but regardless of whether she’d said it or not, she apologized. “I’m sorry, I’ve been too busy recently. How about tonight?” Yuanyuan understood a little from the last time they’d gone out to buy clothes that Shen Yu was the type to keep her word. It could clearly be seen that she was candid and would say it herself. Anyway, Yuanyuan really did have spare time. Fu Beichen was busy with work-related matters.

“Okay, it’s a deal!”

Yuanyuan let Shen Yu decide the place. Shen Yu chose a hot pot restaurant called “Jin Guan Cheng”. After Yuanyuan got off work, she went directly there.

“These are dishes from your hometown! You can make the recommendations.” Yuanyuan sat down and quickly passed the menu to Shen Yu.

Shen Yu was not polite and ordered everything in one breath. Lastly, she also ordered two bottles of alcohol.

After the food and drinks were all served, Shen Yu wanted to pour wine for Yuanyuan. Yuanyuan put her hand over the cup, “My capacity for liquor is really bad. Every time I drink, I make a fool of myself.” Ultimately, Shen Yu wasn’t reluctant and poured sip after sip into her mouth. Very soon, her face flushed red.

Yuanyuan was afraid that Shen Yu would get drunk, so she tried her best to cook the latter vegetables. When she looked up, she saw Shen Yu watching her attentively. Her gaze was burning, and in an instant their gazes intersected. The corners of Yuanyuan’s mouth twitched and she asked, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I think you are the type that is more and more good-looking the more I look at you.” Shen Yu supported her chin with one hand and slowly swirled the wine glass with the other. “But your eyesight is not good.”

Yuanyuan heard this and was confused.

Shen Yu watched her and continued: “You’re actually as stupid as my older cousin, looking at someone like Fu Beichen that way.” After she finished speaking, her wishes were fulfilled when she saw Yuanyuan frown.

Shen Yu lay on the table, closed her eyes, and murmured: “Cheng Yuanyuan, Fu Beichen killed my cousin…”

Yuanyuan’s eyes widened in disbelief. She heard Shen Yu say unhurriedly, “My older cousin’s name was Zhao Jue. I know for certain Fu Beichen never mentioned her to you. From childhood, my cousin not only ranked among the best for grades, but she was also a beautiful-looking person. My mother compared me to her every time, and every time I would lose. Later, she met Fu Beichen and fell in love with him. She chased him for two years, and finally they got together. But soon after, Fu Beichen suddenly broke up with her. Do you know what happened to her in the end? She jumped into the sea, and her body couldn’t even be found…Tell me, is Fu Beichen a good person?”

Yuanyuan opened her mouth to speak. She didn’t believe that Fu Beichen was such a person.

“Still don’t believe it?” Shen Yu asked. Opening her eyes, she took out a photo from her bag. It was a photo of two young people. The girl had long hair that hung to her shoulders, long shapely eyebrows with apricot eyes, and a smile on her lips. She really was very beautiful, and the boy next to her—was Fu Beichen.

“You’re drunk.” Yuanyuan stood up and said, “I still have a manuscript to write tonight, so I have to go back early. If you’re full, I’ll send you back to school.”

Shen Yu stared at her with a complicated expression in her eyes, “You want to send me? Haha, to thank me for telling you the truth?”

“No, I believe in Fu Beichen. But, you’re drunk. I have to take you back.” Yuanyuan called for the waiter and paid the bill. She pulled Shen Yu up, half-supporting and half-hauling her out the door, and called a taxi to H University first. Along the way, Shen Yu actually seemed to be drunk. She didn’t say a word, only leaning against Yuanyuan. It was unknown whether or not she had fallen asleep.

In the car, Yuanyuan said in a soft voice: “I’m so sorry your cousin chose to leave you in that way. I can understand your sadness. When my father left, I also felt sad. Very sad. My close family member who had always been by my side all of a sudden ceased to exist. I couldn’t hear his voice anymore, I couldn’t see him anymore…But, everything will be fine. If you don’t feel fine now, it’s because it’s still not the end. This is a sentence I like very much, Shen Yu, I’ll give it to you.”

After getting out of the car, Yuanyuan woke Shen Yu up and delivered her all the way to the downstairs of her dorm.

“No need to send me, I…live on the first floor,” Shen Yu said as she staggered and swayed.

“Okay, then you be careful. Goodbye.”

Seeing Yuanyuan’s back slowly disappearing down the tree-lined boulevard in the distance, Shen Yu smoothed her hair, stood up straight, and said lightly: “Cheng Yuanyuan, I played dirty tricks on you. I feel really guilty…”

Back in the dormitory, Shen Yu turned on her computer. As if the demons and gods were at work, she logged in to Zhao Jue’s QQ. There was still nothing in it like before, just a big pile of QQ emails which were mostly junk and advertisements. But in the midst of these, however, she finally noticed an email coming from abroad. Clicking the email open, there was a reminder from a website that rented servers, saying that the domain name was expiring and there were fees to renew it. This domain was Zhao Jue’s name in full pinyin. Shen Yu clicked on it and found that it was a blog.

The contents recorded inside made Shen Yu colder and colder. In the end, she held her head with both hands, and her entire body felt like it was being pulled apart until she was empty. It turned out that this was the actual truth.

Yuanyuan lay in bed that night, hesitating for a long time before she finally called Fu Beichen on the phone: “Zhao Jue, do you recognize that name?”

The person on the other end of the phone paused slightly. “En.”

“Today, Shen Yu told me about her. Zhao Jue is her older cousin. She seems to have misunderstood you. How about you go and have a talk with her?”

“You heard what she said, don’t you have any other thoughts? You only think she misunderstood me?”

Yuanyuan nodded, then realized that she was on the phone, so she let out an “en”.

Fu Beichen said warmly on the other side, “I’ll handle it. You rest early.”

“Okay.”

Early the next morning, Yuanyuan received a call from Shen Yu. Shen Yu’s voice was exhausted: “Yuanyuan, I’m sorry. The words I said about my senior brother…don’t take it to heart.” Yuanyuan was glad, did that mean that the misunderstanding had been resolved?

“It’s fine. I didn’t believe it anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”

This kind of trust…what could she say? Shen Yu thought a little bitterly that even if she was intent on destruction, she had a feeling it was unlikely to be effective. She heard Yuanyuan feign inadvertence as she comforted her, saying softly: “Shen Yu, if you can’t find a friend to accompany you when you go shopping, you can find me.”

“Okay.”

In fact, Fu Beichen hadn’t gone to Shen Yu. In his opinion, he didn’t care much about what others thought of him. Moreover, he also didn’t want to go and comment about the deceased. Towards Zhao Jue and towards her relatives, except for an apology, any other words paled in comparison.

Funny anecdote, my mom was trying to find some authentic Chinese porcelain dinner sets and I decided to flex my knowledge about porcelain from this story (hahaha) I was like “:^) Maybe find something from Jingdezhen, they’re famous for their porcelain!!!” and my mom was like “!!! I just bought a set from Jingdezhen!!!”

Anyway, Happy New Year! I hope everyone is happy and healthy in the year of the tiger!