Chapter 48: Chasing the Wife

“Xiaoying, it’s me.”

Hearing her voice, Fu Chaoying’s heartbeat surged out of control.

Ye Jiayuan stood outside her bedroom door, staring at it. A flicker of complicated emotion passed through her brows and eyes.

There seemed to be no movement inside. Ye Jiayuan took a deep breath and said softly, “Then get some rest first. I’ll wait outside.”

Fu Chaoying let out a dazed breath, only to feel something press down on her again so quickly that she could barely breathe.

There was still no sound from outside the door, but Fu Chaoying couldn’t calm herself. In a daze, she opened the door, only to run straight into Ye Jiayuan’s deep eyes.

Those eyes were calm, yet there seemed to be a hint of tenderness in them, along with something more complicated. Fu Chaoying couldn’t quite make it out.

“Aunt Wu said you didn’t eat tonight, so I had her heat up some char siu buns.” Ye Jiayuan met her eyes, her voice very soft, her tone a little careful.

Fu Chaoying felt terrible, but her mind was in complete chaos; she had no idea how to respond when Ye Jiayuan suddenly took her wrist and drew her into her arms.

“Are you not going to want me anymore?” Ye Jiayuan’s tone carried the same caution as before.

Fu Chaoying’s nose stung at once. A sharp ache spread through her heart, making it hard to breathe in that warm, fragrant embrace.

Fu Chaoying opened her mouth, but no words came out.

Her cool gentleness, her caution, her occasional jealousy, her restrained gaze, her possessiveness—everything was surging into Fu Chaoying’s heart at that moment, leaving her unable to say no.

Ye Jiayuan let out an almost imperceptible sigh, then lifted a hand to stroke her back in a soothing motion. “Baby, if there’s anything you want to ask, I’ll answer you one by one.”

Fu Chaoying asked blankly, “When did you start liking me?”

Even though she had prepared herself for a long time, once the words actually left her mouth, they still came out choked and trembling.

Ye Jiayuan noticed immediately. She let go of her and gently cupped her face. Seeing the redness at the corners of her eyes and the tip of her nose, she lifted a hand and softly brushed her cheek. “Don’t cry.”

Outside the window, it was already pitch-black. Warm indoor light fell across her face, bathing her in a soft glow.

But was this tenderness real?

Fu Chaoying looked away, then heard her say, “I can’t remember exactly when.”

“But when I realized I liked you, Yian had already told me she’d succeeded in confessing.”

That had been during junior year; they hadn’t had much contact back then.

Fu Chaoying had expected something like that, but hearing it said so plainly still made her look at Ye Jiayuan in disbelief.

“So that’s why you later distanced yourself from me,” Fu Chaoying murmured.

“Sorry. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to control myself.”

“But you controlled yourself very well,” Fu Chaoying said, her eyes stinging as she looked at her. “Until this weekend, I couldn’t even tell whether you liked me. I didn’t dare imagine you’d already started liking me so long ago.”

Ye Jiayuan had always been cool and self-possessed, steady and rational; she rarely revealed what was in her heart.

Ye Jiayuan had no defense for that. She only wanted to pull her into her arms again, but then saw Fu Chaoying slowly lift a hand.

“Sis Jiayuan, let’s calm down for a while first.” Fu Chaoying looked up at her, her eyes full of an indescribable mix of conflict and struggle.

Ye Jiayuan gave a slight nod. Fu Chaoying’s heart ached. She slowly turned around and was just about to step into the bedroom when Ye Jiayuan caught her wrist.

“Are you breaking up with me?”

Fu Chaoying turned back and gave a slight shake of her head, the corner of her mouth lifting into a pale, powerless smile. “Just... cooling off.”

Fu Chaoying gently pulled her hand free. The instant she closed the door, she slid down to the floor.

Countless images kept flashing through her mind, and Fu Chaoying began to doubt whether they had even been real.

After a long while, there was another knock at the door. Fu Chaoying was about to say she wanted to rest when Aunt Wu’s voice came from outside.

“Xiaoying, the char siu buns are heated up. Eat a little, at least.”

Fu Chaoying’s heart suddenly quivered. She got up and opened the door, only to find Aunt Wu standing there alone. She still couldn’t help asking, “Where’s Sis Jiayuan?”

“She said she has an important meeting tomorrow and left first. Did you two have a fight?”

Fu Chaoying silently shook her head, then took the char siu buns from her. “Thank you, Aunt Wu. It’s nothing.”

Fu Chaoying set the plate of char siu buns on the table, but her gaze remained fixed outside the window. It was pitch-black out there. She remembered that one day, when she had just woken up, Ye Jiayuan had been sitting by the window reading.

Fu Chaoying let out a soft sigh. After eating two char siu buns, she went into the bathroom to shower.

She turned the rock music up very loud, but it still couldn’t drown out the tangled thoughts in her head.

After drying off and wrapping herself in a bath towel, the first thing Fu Chaoying did when she stepped out of the bathroom was ask Shen Guannan to go drinking.

But Shen Guannan had just finished overtime and was too exhausted to move. “Why don’t you find Fu Chaohua?”

Fu Chaoying pressed her lips together. “She probably doesn’t have time either.”

Still, she gave Fu Chaohua a call. The other woman answered almost immediately.

“Xiaoying, what’s wrong?”

“Sis, are you free right now?”

There was a pause on the other end before she said, “I can be free.”

Fu Chaoying guessed she might have interrupted her rest, so she quickly said, “It’s fine, Sis. You go ahead and do your thing.”

“Wait?” Fu Chaohua hurriedly cut in. “I’m not busy. Do you want to drink or get a late-night snack?”

At this hour, those were really the only two things they could do.

Fu Chaoying said softly, “I want both drinking and a late-night snack.”

“Okay. Send me the address.”

Fu Chaoying randomly picked a barbecue place and sent her the address.

She blow-dried her hair in a few quick passes, changed into something simple, and headed out.

By the neighborhood gate, Fu Chaoying suddenly remembered she had forgotten to tell Fu Chaohua not to bring Dong Muyu along; by then, though, it was too late to say anything. They were already on their way.

Fu Chaoying took a ride-hailing car to the barbecue restaurant, only to run into Fu Chaohua right at the entrance.

Seeing that she was alone, Fu Chaoying finally relaxed.

Fu Chaohua looked at her less-than-great complexion. “What, did you fight with Sis Jiayuan?”

Fu Chaoying found it hard to say out loud, so she only let out a soft sigh. “I’m a little hungry.”

Fu Chaohua nodded, hooked her arm through hers, and took her inside. In no time at all, she ordered a pile of skewers and a dry-pot dish, then asked, “What do you want to drink?”

“Need to work tomorrow. Beer.”

After ordering, Fu Chaohua chatted idly with her and didn’t mention Fu Chaoying’s troubles at all. She knew her younger sister too well; Fu Chaoying always needed a bit of alcohol before she’d be willing to voice the emotions she’d been bottling up.

The two of them clinked glasses. After several rounds, a faint flush spread over Fu Chaoying’s cheeks.

Only then did Fu Chaohua ask, “Why do you look so lost, like you just got dumped? What happened, really?”

Fu Chaoying’s eyes stung slightly. She forced a small smile. “Sis, do you believe me if I say Sis Jiayuan told me she started liking me a long time ago?”

Hearing that earth-shattering gossip, Fu Chaohua’s eyes widened. She confirmed again and again that she hadn’t misheard. “Huh? Sis Jiayuan? Liking you? A long time ago?”

Fu Chaoying nodded, then smiled faintly. “I think it’s unbelievable too.”

“How long ago?” Fu Chaohua pressed. “Could it have been... when you and Ye Yian were still together?”

Fu Chaoying gave a steady nod. “She said yes.”

“How could that be? She’s always been so busy with work. You hardly even saw her these past few years.”

“Did you sense it yourself?”

Fu Chaoying’s lips curved in a pale smile as she shook her head. “Not at all. I even suspected she didn’t like me.”

Those polite, distant mannerisms had once made Fu Chaoying wonder whether she had done something wrong.

Fu Chaohua hesitated. “But Sis Jiayuan doesn’t seem like the type to lie.”

Then she sighed and added, “Still, who knows. I might be too biased when it comes to her.”

Fu Chaoying laughed softly. “Didn’t Sis Jiayuan give me the ‘Magnolia Painting’? I kept testing her after that, and she never took the initiative, but she never rejected me either.”

“Her indulgence toward me was a little... beyond what you’d expect from a family friend’s younger sister. Then, while Ye Yian was pestering me and she herself had plenty of admirers, I finally tested her and asked if she wanted to be my contractual girlfriend. She turned me down.”

“If she liked you, why did she refuse? Shouldn’t she have just taken the chance and made it real?” Fu Chaohua asked, puzzled.

Fu Chaoying was silent for a moment, then said, “Maybe because she knows exactly what she wants.”

At her level of business success, Ye Jiayuan was naturally the kind of person with a very clear goal. What she wanted, and how she could obtain it, was probably already crystal clear in her mind.

Fu Chaohua understood. “That makes sense. What happened after that?”

“After that, I felt awkward and kept my distance from her for a while.”

“Then on Dragon Boat Festival, she suddenly asked me if I wanted to be her girlfriend.”

Fu Chaohua seemed to realize something all at once, but then she frowned in confusion. “So she confessed to you then?”

Fu Chaoying was silent for a long while, then gave a self-mocking laugh. “You’re talking about the usual process, but our Sis Jiayuan isn’t an ordinary person.”

“Huh? If she didn’t confess, how could she ask whether you wanted to be her girlfriend?” Fu Chaohua thought about it for a moment. After staying in an ivory tower for too long, her mind had gotten a bit single-track; her thinking was blunt and straightforward.

“She said she didn’t have time for blind dates or dating, and I was the most suitable choice.” Fu Chaoying recalled the scene that day and Ye Jiayuan’s cool, composed expression.

She could still pursue someone like that? Fu Chaohua was stunned. “...That reason is lofty enough that you can’t even refuse it.”

Fu Chaoying laughed softly. “Then today I went back over every step of her strategy, and I couldn’t tell whether it started with the ‘Magnolia Painting’ or with that invitation to the old Singapore gala.”

“For a moment, I didn’t know whether I should be happy or sad.”

“Happy, because she’s liked me for a very, very long time, and she was willing to spend time and energy on me, drawing me in step by step.”

“Sad, because I kept trying to figure out what she really thought, kept testing whether she liked me, and what kind of me she liked.”

“Most of the time, she’s cool and restrained. Only in rare moments, if I provoke her a little, might she show even a bit of possessiveness toward me.”

“She’s so rational and self-contained that it makes me feel a little... uneasy.”

Fu Chaoying took a few more sips of wine; her eyes grew even more sore and damp. “I admit my personality is too sensitive and twisted. I don’t know how to face her now, and I also don’t know how to face this awful version of myself.”

More than anger, what she felt was confusion; she didn’t know what to do.

Fu Chaohua pressed a hand over her glass and said in a low voice, “You’re not awful.”

“Jiayuan is used to being on top, in control; that goes for love too. She takes the role of the hunter.”

“If she really started liking you so long ago, if she really wanted to get you, then she had to make every move carefully and never show her hand.”

“Because strength is what people naturally admire. If she revealed her feelings too early, she’d be at a disadvantage.”

“That’s the so-called rule: the one who falls first loses.”

Fu Chaohua concluded, “But her past experience taught her she can’t lose.”

“So the problem between the two of you comes down to this: she treated your relationship like some kind of game. She’s used to controlling the pace and keeping everything in her hands, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she never gave you her real feelings.”

“Maybe it’s better for both of you to calm down for a while, and for Ye Jiayuan to think it through herself.”

Fu Chaohua blurted it out, and only afterward realized she’d actually dared call Ye Jiayuan by her full name; perhaps because she was going to become her little sister’s future wife.

Fu Chaoying nodded. “I told her that.”

Fu Chaohua sighed and patted her shoulder. “And you?”

Fu Chaoying smiled helplessly. “Without a doubt, I was already in too deep.”

Though she didn’t want to admit it, from the moment she started waiting for Ye Jiayuan’s messages and looking forward to being close to her, she was already in too deep.

Fu Chaohua could only think to herself that she had once been skeptical of Ye Yian, but Ye Jiayuan... who could possibly resist Ye Jiayuan?

After they finished drinking, Fu Chaohua took a taxi to send her sister home.

Fu Chaoying was perfectly clear-headed, so she waved her off. “I can go home by myself. You go back and keep Sis Muyu company.”

Fu Chaohua shook her head. “I wouldn’t dare let you go home alone.”

Fu Chaoying reached out and hooked her arm through hers, unable to resist acting spoiled. “Sis, you’re so good to me.”

“Cut it out.” Fu Chaohua lightly patted her shoulder.

When the car pulled up to the courtyard gate, Fu Chaohua helped Fu Chaoying out of the vehicle; then she suddenly saw a person standing in the courtyard and jumped in fright.

That figure turned around at once. Fu Chaoying looked up in a daze and met Ye Jiayuan’s deep eyes.

Hadn’t she gone back to Gangcheng? Fu Chaoying’s heartbeat suddenly picked up.

“You drank again.” Ye Jiayuan said helplessly, then walked over.

Fu Chaohua stepped in front of Fu Chaoying. “Sis Jiayuan, I’ll help her.”

Ye Jiayuan’s raised hand froze abruptly.

Fu Chaoying quietly looked away. “Sis Jiayuan, you should go back and rest early.”

Ye Jiayuan watched the two sisters disappear through the door, momentarily dazed.

Then she saw the lights on the second floor switch on all at once. Ye Jiayuan stared for a long time at the window belonging to Fu Chaoying; only after a very long while did she come back to herself.

Fu Chaoying and Fu Chaohua each showered separately; after that, they both ended up sitting in the attic and chatting late into the night.

Fu Chaoying told her about Qin Zhaodi. “When I heard that was her name, I felt so sad.”

Fu Chaohua nodded, showing that she understood.

Fu Chaoying said softly, “Would Sis Jiayuan feel disappointed? The girl she supported clearly fought her way toward a future of her own.”

“And the name of that project is related to me too.”

Fu Chaoying felt even more lost and bewildered.

The love Ye Jiayuan had poured into places she couldn’t see was far more than what she could see.

“Actually, I’m really curious. When you just saw Sis Jiayuan downstairs, did you feel nothing at all?”

Fu Chaoying pressed her lips together and let out a soft sigh. “I was acting.”

Fu Chaohua sighed as well, then asked the question she had not dared to ask for a long time. “So you were acting when Grandma passed away too?”

Fu Chaoying gave a slight nod and looked up at the scattered stars outside the window. “They all said her soul hadn’t left completely yet. I didn’t want her to see me crying when she was truly gone.”

Otherwise, she would worry.

Fu Chaohua’s nose suddenly stung. She turned around at once and held her gently. “Do you want to know what Grandma said to me when she passed away?”

Fu Chaoying quickly turned her head away. “Don’t say it.”

Her voice was already thick with emotion.

Fu Chaohua looked at the back of her head and said softly, “She said that in the not-too-distant future, maybe I’d be your only family member, and she hoped I’d be a good older sister and take better care of you.”

“Sorry. I’d been busy with my studies these past few years and didn’t pay enough attention to you.”

Fu Chaoying hurriedly shook her head, but she couldn’t say anything. Tears were already slipping down her cheeks and disappearing into her hair. The moment she spoke, her voice would tremble and break; she wasn’t used to showing herself like this, even if the person in front of her was her cousin.

Fu Chaohua wiped away her own tears and laughed softly. “Actually, Grandma later smiled and said she wasn’t too worried about you. Even though you’re a little sensitive, you’re very resilient; she believed you could take good care of yourself.”

“The facts have proven that, indeed.”

“Even with what happened with Ye Yian, you were strong. You adjusted quickly.”

Fu Chaoying wiped away her tears and smiled. “It took me a long time.”

It was just that she was better at pretending, which gave people the illusion that she’d gotten over it quickly.

Fu Chaohua lightly patted her shoulder. “Then you’re amazing too.”

After being hurt that deeply, being able to come out of it was already amazing.

Fu Chaoying gave a soft laugh. “Go back to sleep.”

The sisters came down from the attic with red-rimmed eyes, then each returned to her own bedroom.

“Good night.”

“Good night.”

*

Early the next morning, Fu Chaoying got up to wash up, only to hear a knock at the door.

Her heart suddenly quivered, but then she heard Fu Chaohua’s voice from outside. “It’s me.”

Fu Chaoying opened the door and saw Fu Chaohua looking bright and cheerful. “Morning.”

“Morning.” Fu Chaoying’s lips curved slightly. “Sis, why are you up so early too?”

Fu Chaohua hadn’t officially started work yet and was rarely free; she could have slept until late morning.

At that, she smiled. “I’m taking you to work.”

Fu Chaoying shook her head. “No need. Sleep a little longer.”

But Fu Chaohua followed her into the bathroom and watched her wash up. “I’m not sleepy anymore.”

“Yesterday I forgot to ask, but are you and Sis Muyu already...?”

Fu Chaohua smiled faintly. “Almost. She’s still working on my mom.”

Fu Chaoying’s tone lightened as well. “Then I really trust Sis Muyu.”

Dong Muyu’s social skills were practically unmatched.

The two of them went downstairs one after the other to have breakfast.

Just as Fu Chaohua reached the corner by the dining room, she stopped.

Fu Chaoying’s heartbeat suddenly sped up; she unobtrusively quickened her pace, but she didn’t see any familiar figure.

Fu Chaohua turned back to look at her. “Looking for something?”

Fu Chaoying sat down at the table as if nothing were wrong. “Not looking for anything.”

Fu Chaohua stared at the breakfast on the table. “This doesn’t look like Aunt Wu made it?”

Aunt Wu smiled happily. “You guessed right. It was delivered early this morning by Miss Jiayuan.”

It was a Cantonese-style breakfast; everything in it was something Fu Chaoying had especially liked when she was in Gangcheng before.

Fu Chaoying’s thoughts stirred. She only reached out to pick up a few things and put them in her mouth.

Fu Chaohua, however, followed up on Aunt Wu’s words. “Sis Jiayuan didn’t come? Who did she ask to deliver it?”

“She didn’t come. She asked that... Liu...” Aunt Wu searched her memory for the familiar face’s name.

Fu Chaoying said softly, “Liu Xin?”

“That’s right, Liu Xin! She had her bring it over.” Aunt Wu suddenly understood.

Fu Chaohua nodded slightly. “Then Sis Jiayuan is still in Nanyan, right?”

“I don’t know. She didn’t say.” Aunt Wu turned back into the kitchen to get the soy milk.

Fu Chaohua winked at her sister. “Sis Jiayuan stayed in Nanyan for love?”

Fu Chaoying tilted her head and asked, “Do you still want this char siu bun or not?”

Fu Chaohua snatched it away with lightning speed. “Of course I do!”

Fu Chaoying curved her brows slightly, but a complicated mood still rose in her heart, and she let out an almost imperceptible sigh.

After breakfast, the sisters left together.

The moment they stepped outside, Fu Chaoying abruptly stopped in her tracks. Fu Chaohua looked over as well; the car belonging to Ye Jiayuan was still in the courtyard. “Liu Xin hasn’t left yet? Is she looking for you for something?”

Fu Chaoying glanced at the back seat without changing her expression, but saw nothing; the windows were tinted.

She walked slowly toward her own car, only to see the door of that black sedan open.

Fu Chaoying’s heartbeat accelerated uncontrollably. She naturally shifted her gaze over, but was caught off guard when she met Ye Jiayuan’s eyes.

Fu Chaoying hurriedly looked away and was about to open her car door when she heard Ye Jiayuan’s cool voice.

“Do you want me to drive you to work? I happen to be going the same way.”