Chapter 15 – years
Thinking about it now, life has always been a mixture of bitterness and joy.
There are things you hate but have no choice but to face, but there are also joys that fill you with excitement and happiness.
Though the happier you are, the more painful it becomes to savor those memories again after everything has changed and the people are no longer the same.
Just like...
Xiang You lowered her head and looked at the coffee cup, which had only a little coffee left at the bottom.
She picked up the spoon and stirred it futilely. The metal spoon clinked against the ceramic cup with a bright “clang, clang.”
The sound drew Meng Ou’s attention. He stared at her emptying coffee cup and said, “Another cup?”
“No.” Xiang You shook her head. “I’m afraid I won’t be able to sleep tonight. I still have to get up early for work tomorrow.”
“I see.” Meng Ou smiled softly. “Then I’m the opposite. I have to catch a red-eye flight back, so I’ll be spending the night at the airport.”
Xiang You couldn’t help glancing at him.
What kind of company was this? So stingy that they bought their employees red-eye flights.
Tch. With a company like this, there were actually people willing to stay.
A whole jumble of strange thoughts came bubbling up.
Fortunately, her mouth was tightly shut at the moment, and not a single word escaped.
Actually, back when she was studying in City A, Xiang You had taken plenty of red-eye flights too.
Occasionally, she had even bought flights with layovers. A direct flight only took two or three hours, while a connecting flight could drag on for nearly an entire day.
After all, given her family’s circumstances, plane tickets that cost over a thousand yuan were indeed not cheap. Anyway, she had been a student then, and the thing she had the least value for was time.
Meng Ou’s circumstances were slightly better than hers. He was at roughly the level where he could buy a plane ticket costing over a thousand yuan without having to hesitate.
It was precisely that little bit of extra financial leeway that allowed him to stay in City A without a second thought.
After all, he had a pillar of support behind him, one that could lend him a hand when necessary.
Although that hand could incidentally help Xiang You too, she did not want to entrust her life to someone else.
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Meng Ou.
But there were many things that could not be sorted out simply through trust or love.
Back then, just to keep Xiang You company, Meng Ou often acted one way on the surface and another behind her back.
He would buy a direct-flight ticket and send his parents a screenshot of the booking, then turn around and change it to the same flight as Xiang You’s.
They spent many days at the airport.
During the day, when people came and went, and at night, when there were still quite a few people around, but the waiting hall was clearly in a different state from the daytime.
They would guess which flight would be delayed, and they would also guess what everyone was flying away to do.
From a very young age, Xiang You had liked to space out.
To other people, she was merely daydreaming, but in reality, she was observing human beings.
So when it came to guessing people, Meng Ou was slightly inferior to her.
Since there was no way to actually verify their guesses, most of the time, the winner was decided according to their mood.
Most of the time, Xiang You was right. Occasionally, Xiang You would also “show mercy” and admit that Meng Ou was right about a few.
Whenever Xiang You was declared right, she would be so happy that her eyes narrowed into crescents, taking endless delight in such a trivial victory.
And Meng Ou would rarely fail to indulge her: “I give up. Tell me, did you minor in criminal investigation?”
“Hmph, hmph...” Xiang You deliberately furrowed her brows and looked him up and down. “Come clean. Have you been hiding something from me?”
“Yes.” Meng Ou answered with unusual decisiveness.
Xiang You’s expression stiffened for a moment. “What did you hide?”
Meng Ou relaxed against the back of his seat. “Aren’t you good at reading people? Guess.”
Xiang You grew a little anxious.
She stared at Meng Ou from one side to the other, but no matter how she looked at him, all she saw was that handsome, annoyingly smug face she so often faced.
What could he be hiding?
When it came to secrets between lovers, there was nothing more obvious than some kind of betrayal in love.
A whole mess of guesses drifted through Xiang You’s mind, each one worse than the last.
The more she thought about it, the sadder she became. She was just about to say “break up” when, all of a sudden, a wide, flat box was held out in front of her.
“You were hiding... this?” Xiang You pointed blankly at the box resting on her lap, tears still swirling in her eyes.
“Mm-hmm...” Meng Ou used a tissue to dab away the tear hanging from her eyelashes. “My mouth got the better of me. There goes the surprise.”
It was a birthday present. Xiang You’s birthday was the following day.
However, counting from midnight, her birthday had actually already arrived.
Thanks to Meng Ou, she was welcoming her birthday with tears.
Inside the box was a vinyl record.
It was from a band she liked, one that Meng Ou had spent half a year tracking down through overseas online shopping before finally getting his hands on it.
Xiang You felt that she ought to be a little happier, and felt that she should probably say thank you too.
But her expression was completely beyond her control, and her tears kept pattering down.
“Yoyo, I’m sorry. I really am.” The tissue from just now had been the last one, so Meng Ou could only use his thumbs to wipe her tears away again and again. “I won’t joke around with you like that anymore.”
To make it easier to wipe her tears, he cradled Xiang You’s entire face in both hands.
Her face was very soft, still carrying a little of the baby fat that had not completely faded, squeezed into a cute shape.
Those tears rolled down through the gaps between his fingers, sliding over his wrists with a warm, ticklish sensation.
“You really aren’t hiding anything else from me?”
Xiang You was already terribly upset because of everything she had imagined in her head.
The question was supposed to be an accusation, but with her voice thick with tears, she sounded a little pitiful.
“No.” Meng Ou’s expression also became serious. “When it comes to relationships, I’ve only hidden one thing from you. That was before I confessed to you, when I didn’t tell you right away that I liked you.”
“And after that, never again. There’s nothing now, and I promise there never will be.”
“Actually, I really want to say that I’ll love you for the rest of my life or something like that, but I’m afraid you’ll think it sounds too fake. So I’ll promise you this instead. As long as I’m with you for one day, I’ll be faithful to you for that day.”
Xiang You unexpectedly received a heartfelt confession.
She blinked away her tears, then suddenly grinned and said, “Meng Ou, I was lying to you!”
“Ah...” This time, it was Meng Ou’s turn to be stunned.
He withdrew his hands, looking utterly dejected. “Xiang Youyou... you really got me. Do you know how nervous I was just now?”
“Okay.” Xiang You still couldn’t outdo him, and in one second she laid her true feelings bare. “Actually, I wasn’t lying to you just now. I really was sad.”
And then, because she wanted to crack a joke and get one back, she ended up admitting it herself before even a minute had passed, as if that only made her feel worse.
Meng Ou stared at her for two seconds.
“Whether you were lying to me or not, everything I just said was sincere.”
Xiang You wanted to be moved for a moment, but remembering that all is fair in love and war, she said, “Then is what you just said true?”
It seemed the other party had gotten smarter.
Meng Ou gave an exasperated smile. “It’s true.”
“This is true too?”
“True.”
“What about this one?”
“Still true.”
“Then...”
“Xiang You.” Meng Ou interrupted her. “No matter how many jokes I’ve played on you before, when it comes to the fact that I like you, I would never lie to you. Oh, right, this sentence is true too.”
Xiang You stared at him for quite a while.
Those dark eyes looked unfathomably deep, yet in truth they were so clear that you could see straight to the bottom at a glance.
Actually, it was very simple to tell whether Meng Ou was lying.
At least every time he seriously called her by her full name, he was telling the truth.
Without exception.
She didn’t know whether Meng Ou had realized that she had discovered this pattern.
Of course, it was also possible that Meng Ou had deliberately been reminding her of it.
But regardless, Xiang You was willing to believe what he said.
Even if it had all been an act, at least he had not revealed the slightest flaw right up until the breakup. That would have been an absolutely convincing prank.
•
“Then it looks like you should have another cup.”
Xiang You looked at his cup. Since he had to stay up late tonight anyway, another cup of coffee seemed quite necessary.
Meng Ou shook his glass, flicking the two straws lying across it off to one side. Then he tipped his head back and, in keeping with his principle of thrift, drank every last drop.
“Indeed.” He said, “Do you have any recommendations?”
“This is my first time here, so I don’t know what’s good either.” Xiang You shook her head. “Anyway, don’t order a latte. It’s expensive, and the taste is pretty average too.”
Meng Ou tapped the tabletop lightly with a bent finger and thought for a while. Then, suddenly, he held out his hand to her. “Can you give me the coupon from earlier?”
Xiang You thought for a moment before realizing which one he meant.
She fished the coupon she had just accepted out of her pocket and handed one over.
The coupon had gotten folded in her pocket. Meng Ou flicked his wrist to smooth it flat, then narrowed his eyes at the tiny print.
“Sea Salt Cheese Wangzai Thick Milk Latte, and Grape... no, Grape & Lychee... Is it a crime to give things simple names?” Meng Ou said this, but obediently read the whole thing out anyway. “Grape & Lychee Coconut Cold Brew Latte. Which one do you think tastes better?”
The more Xiang You listened, the deeper her frown became.
They both sounded pretty cursed.
But there was another question besides that one. “Are you going to drink two cups by yourself?”
“I’ll buy you one. No need to thank me,” Meng Ou said, very self-aware.
Xiang You had originally wanted to refuse, but her half-open mouth suddenly could not produce a word.
Was it really worth it to be separated by just one cup of coffee?
Anyway, if she didn’t have a second cup, there was a good chance she wouldn’t be able to sleep peacefully tonight either.
What’s more, between her and Meng Ou...
Was it really worth it to be separated by just one cup of coffee?
“Sure.” Xiang You answered readily.
The coupon was only valid for three new drinks. One was the one Meng Ou had ordered earlier, which the two of them had both tasted, and it was obvious that neither of them wanted to order it again.
“Let’s try that grape one,” Xiang You said.
It sounded a little more refreshing.
“What a coincidence. I want that one too.” As he spoke, Meng Ou stood up and walked toward the ordering counter.
Xiang You thought about it, then followed him.
“Two cups...” Meng Ou took a deep breath. “Two cups of grape.”
“Why did you stop reading?” Xiang You quietly laughed at him.
Meng Ou gave her a sidelong glance. “You want to hear it?”
Who would want to hear that?
“I want to hear it.” Once again, her mouth ignored the commands of her brain and began spouting nonsense.
The barista was a little over a meter away from them, diligently entering their order, when Meng Ou suddenly bent down, coming extremely close to her.
It was as if a great mass of warm, heated wind had blown over, carrying with it the crisp coolness of early autumn, while half the light was stolen away.
His warm breath brushed against her earlobe. Her ear tickled, and her heart trembled along with it.
“Grape...” Meng Ou had barely started speaking when he got stuck. And, as luck would have it, he had already handed over the coupon. He held out his hand. “Give me another one.”
Actually, all he had to do was look up. Weren’t the words on the menu much larger than those on the coupon?
Xiang You lowered her head and felt around in the left pocket, but found nothing.
Before her hand could even reach the right side, someone reached over for her.
It was a close-fitting thick cotton dress.
As an ex who had already broken up with her, he shouldn’t be standing this close to her, much less casually touching her clothes.
Meng Ou had absolutely no sense of boundaries. He was so annoying.
She mentally condemned him for half a minute, but in truth, that hand had never touched her.
The coupon was sticking out just a little from her pocket, and Meng Ou pulled it out in a single second.
Then what had touched her?
His breath? The breeze he had stirred up? His warmth?
Whatever it was, it was Meng Ou.
Meng Ou had touched her.
So she wasn’t wrong to condemn him.
Meng Ou repeated what he had just done, flicking his wrist to shake the coupon flat.
The little breeze he created brushed against her chin, tickling her.
“Grape & Lychee IMissYouALittle Coconut Cold Brew Latte.” After saying it, Meng Ou crumpled the coupon into a ball, tossed it back into his own pocket, straightened up, and stepped back.
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