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TRANSLATOR – ANNIE
“Thank you, thank you.” Shangguan took the ticket and seemed to express from the bottom of his heart, “You are such a good person!”
The police commanded the tow truck to put the car down, and then scolded Shangguan: “Even if you are in a hurry with your girlfriend, you must pay attention to the traffic rules.”
“Yes, yes, of course”
“And, little girl.” The policeman turned his face and scolded Du Xiaosu, “What are you doing releasing your temper on the road? It’s dangerous!”
“Indeed!” Shangguan batted his eyes at Du Xiaosu, “Let’s go. Let’s eat barbecue.”
After getting in the car, Du Xiaosu said: “You lie so effortlessly.”
“Of course, I’m the director of a listed company.” His expression was very serious, “Do you know what a listed company is? It’s just like telling a big lie with a poker face.”
Du Xiaosu finally couldn’t help but chuckle.
Shangguan praised her: “Look at how beautiful you are when you smile. You should smile more.”
She smiled again a little sadly.
Originally she thought he would take himself to that bustling Brazilian restaurant, who knew he would take her to another district and find a small restaurant: “Let me tell you, the best barbecue in the city is here.”
She didn’t expect him to eat at such a place. The place was small and the table was still greasy. There was always smoke wafting in the shop. The waiter was indifferent to them, but the barbecue was indeed delicious. He ate until grease was all over his mouth. He asked her, “Is it delicious?”
She nodded, her mouth full of meat.
He was very satisfied with her eating: “That’s right, you will be happier when you are full.”
She took a sip of juice and said, “I’m not unhappy.”
“Look at you, lying again.” He said casually, “Your eyes are full of sadness.”
She was taken aback, and then smiled: “I didn’t think that apart from lying, your literary sense is also quite smooth.”
“Actually, I won most-dateable artistic young man of the year.” He raised his glass, as if infinitely humble and polite, “Thank you.”
She didn’t expect to become acquainted with Shangguan from this. He was very idle and very chatty. There were always two or three days a week where he couldn’t find someone to eat, especially on the weekends, so he would always call her, “Come out for dinner, eating buddy.”
So she thought it was strange: “You don’t have to be busy with business over the weekends? You guys, don’t you socialize a lot?”
“I’m the second generation, do you know what it means? It is like the kind of people that are only responsible for spending money and don’t make money. Aside from eating, drinking, and playing, I don’t need to do anything else.”
She asked him: “Your father doesn’t care about you?”
“He’s busy. How could he have the time to take care of me?”
“Then you don’t have to inherit the family business or anything?”
“With my eldest brother there, I’m not even in the equation. Moreover, we weren’t born to the same mother. Ai, this stuff can’t be explained in one to two sentences, so I won’t tell you.”
She didn’t expect such a happy Shangguan to have such a complicated family background. She couldn’t help but think of TVB’s dramas about rich families. It was the proverb that each family had a hard-to-read scripture, so she understandingly didn’t ask further.
What they ate that day was Huizhou cuisine. The whole restaurant was an old Huizhou ancestral hall. It was demolished brick by brick from Huizhou, and then moved here and restored one by one. The wood carvings and stone carvings were breathtakingly exquisite. It had the real charm of antiquity. A century-old antique, being within it was already a kind of enjoyment, but it was even rarer that the dishes were also very delicious.
Just, she didn’t expect to meet Lin Xiangyuan and Jiang Fanlu.
Du Xiaosu’s expression changed when she saw Jiang Fanlu’s delicate makeup face from a distance. Yet, Jiang Fanlu also saw them and said something to Lin Xiangyuan. Lin Xiangyuan glanced at them. He looked a little helpless, but still got up and walked over with Jiang Fanlu.
Such a huge city, with a population of tens of millions, why does she always meet with people where both parties are least willing to see each other?
Du Xiaosu swirled her spoon in the fish soup, thinking a little wearily.
After Jiang Fanlu came over, she only glanced at her, and then greeted Shangguan with a smile on his face: “Little Uncle.”
Du Xiaosu looked up at Shangguan in astonishment. Shangguan nodded his head casually. In front of outsiders, he always had that casual manner: “You’ve also come to eat?”
“Yes.” Jiang Fanlu seemed to have really met an elder and looked a little respectful, but Du Xiaosu felt that she had never seen the world.
He didn’t introduce Du Xiaosu to Jiang Fanlu, nor did he introduce the couple to Du Xiaosu. He only said to Jiang Fanlu: “Then go eat. You don’t need to care about me.”
On the other hand, Lin Xiangyuan still glanced at Du Xiaosu. Du Xiaosu focused on eating, ignoring them.
When they left, Shangguan said, “A distant niece and her husband.”
Her emotions did not change at all: “You have such a big niece?”
He was a little bit bitter: “My dad gave birth to me when he was well into his years. We have many relatives in our family. Distance and close relatives, not only do I have nieces, I even have grandnephews and grandnieces.”
Du Xiaosu didn’t put this chance encounter on her heart at all, but didn’t expect Lin Xiangyuan to call her after a few days.
He called her mobile phone and asked her out to meet.
She declined, but Lin Xiangyuan insisted: “Why don’t you decide? I only have a few sentences to tell you. You can leave immediately after. I won’t delay you for a long time.”
She felt like laughing: “Mr. Lin, if you have anything to say, it’s alright to say it on the phone.”
He paused for a few seconds before saying: “Xiaosu, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
She felt annoyed. How could she fall in love with such a person back then, who would always apologize afterwards, but refuse to bear the consequences.
When she was young, she had really been shortsighted.
She said, “If it’s for that matter from last time, there is no need. I know you wanted to help me, but it made your wife misunderstand. I should be the sorry one.”
He seemed to sigh, but said: “Xiaosu, I know it’s my fault. But you are here alone, so you must take care of yourself.”
She said, “Thank you.” She kept on feeling that this call wasn’t just for those few words. Sure enough, he said, “Xiaosu, do you know the details of Shangguan Boyao?”
As expected.
She thought, he is going to say that he is not a good person.
Lin Xiangyuan said: “He is not a good person, Xiaosu, stay away from him. This kind of playboy, if you become acquainted with him, you won’t even have a place to be buried when you die.
She almost sneered: “Mr. Lin, thank you. Thank you for calling me to persuade me to know when to turn back, but I don’t want your wife to have any misunderstandings, so let’s end this call. As for whether I’m dating him, that is a private matter. You have nothing to do with it.”
She hung up the phone with a “click”, feeling cold all over her body. How could she have ever been so obsessed and in love with this person.
But this incident also reminded her that in the eyes of outsiders, perhaps her relationship with Shangguan is already ambiguous. So when Shangguan called again, she was reluctant to go out, saying that she was busy at work, and seldom went to eat those weird things with him again.
Zou Siqi agreed with this. She said: “That Shangguan has peach blossoms in his eyes. We are good girls, we can’t afford to deal with him nor hide.”
Seeing her puff out her chest, Du Xiaosu couldn’t help but smile: “Girl? I’ll be old soon.”
Zou Siqi gave her a sideways glance: “Yes, you will be twenty-four soon. So old.”
Her eyes dimmed in an instant. Last year, Shao Zhenrong celebrated her birthday, but this year, she was only by herself.
She was only twenty-four years old, but it seemed like half of her life had passed.
Zou Siqi said: “How do you want to celebrate your birthday?”
She said, “I want to go home.”
But she didn’t go home. She took time off and booked a flight ticket to that unfamiliar yet familiar city.
In Shanghai, it was only the tenth day into autumn, yet in the northern regions, it was already late autumn. The trees on the roadside scattered leaves, and pedestrians hurried along the sidewalk, their windbreakers fluttering in the wind. The taxi driver asked her at every street junction: “To Nanhai City? Towards the north?”
In the maze-like old city, she unexpectedly found the little alley in her memory. Although she had only been there once, the moment she saw the two dark courtyard gates, she knew that it was here.
She paid for the ride and got out of the car with large and small packages of gifts.
Before she knocked on the door, she was a little nervous. She didn’t know what she was afraid of. As a result, the caretaker was the first to open the door, asking her who she was looking for.. Before she could answer, she heard Nanny Zhao’s voice asking in the yard: “Who is it?”
She called out softly: “Nanny Zhao.”
The moment Nanny Zhao saw her, she grabbed her hand, tears almost falling: “My child, why are you here?”
She was afraid that she would cry too, so she desperately held back, and said with a smile: “I’ve come to see you.”
“Come into the house, come.” Nanny Zhao took her hand and refused to let it go, “You child, you didn’t even say a word. I should’ve come to pick you up. This place is hard to find.”
“It’s alright, I still remember the way.”
It was because Zhenrong brought her here, so she remembered, firmly remembered. Everything about him, she would always firmly remember.
Noticing the ring of her finger, Nanny Zhao couldn’t help but wipe the corner of her eyes, but still forced out a smile and observed her: “Why have you lost weight? Your second brother also happened to be back today. Nanny Zhao is truly happy you can come to see me.”
It was then that she saw Lei Yuzheng. Under the blue sky of the late autumn in the north, he stood under the eaves. The quiet orange sun of autumn reflected on the top of his hair, making his black hair seem almost blue. Or perhaps it was because he had switched to wear a sweater, appearing gentle and elegant, much different from his usual coldness. She thought of Zhenrong, and felt even more sad.
The caretaker poured tea for her. Nanny Zhao treated her as a child. Not only did she take out a plate of fruit, she also grabbed a handful of chocolates to give her: “Eat, child.”
She slowly peeled the chocolate foil and put it in her mouth. It was sweet and bitter. She didn’t know what to make of the taste. Nanny Zhao personally went shopping for vegetables, and said to them: “You are all eating here today. I’m going to buy vegetables. You all sit down for a while. Little Zheng, talk with Xiaosu a little.”
Du Xiaosu was touched by the homely chatter. When Nanny Zhao left, she didn’t know what to say to Lei Yuzheng. She just silently held the cup and drank tea. It was jasmine tea, with a faint aroma, that lingered in her mouth, sometimes present, sometimes not. The room was very quiet, and the even rarely-heard dove whistles could be discerned. Two jujube trees in the garden could be seen from the large south-facing window. The leaves had almost completely fallen. The branches were covered with red dates, reflecting the autumn colors of the courtyard. Time seemed to come to a stop, leaving only the sun under the eaves, warmly imprinting onto the window, letting people think of the pace of time. She thought of Shao Zhenrong as a child. She wondered if he would also play in such a carefree manner during the autumns of the north.