Chasing My Husband! The "Crown Prince" of the Beijing Circle Is Wildly Unruly! - Chapter 24

With the arrival of the college break, Wang Xinghe’s noodle shop enters its slow season. The normally bustling shop is now deserted, and he barely sees ten customers a day. Wang Xinghe leisurely lies by the floor-to-ceiling window at the entrance, enjoying the rare winter sun. He doesn’t feel cold with a thin blanket covering him.

“Ding-a-ling—” The sound of the door opening breaks the afternoon’s tranquility and makes Wang Xinghe open his eyes from his semi-conscious state. He sees that it’s Zhao Yan, and a smile immediately appears on his face. He stands up to greet him. “Yanzi.”

Zhao Yan is holding a gift box he carefully selected and some dried scallops that Wang Xinghe likes to eat. He places them on the table.

“You gave me your address last time, and I thought I had to come see how busy you were after I finished my work,” Zhao Yan says, looking around. The small shop is still in the same light-Chinese style, with brown-red tables and chairs and the unchanging “Everything goes as you wish” decoration.

“You’re only telling me the good things, but where are all the people?” Zhao Yan asks.

Wang Xinghe laughs. “My little shop caters to college students. They’ve all gone home, so it’s quiet now.”

“What about you? You’re so busy with your company. Why did you come here?” Wang Xinghe asks in return.

Zhao Yan yawns, and his handsome and refined face shows signs of exhaustion. He takes off his wire-rimmed glasses and rubs his eyes. “I came here yesterday. I just finished a real estate project here and wanted to see you before I have to go back to Kyoto tonight.” As Zhao Yan speaks, his eyelids droop.

Wang Xinghe looks at the time. It’s 2:30 p.m. “Have you had lunch yet?” Wang Xinghe asks.

Zhao Yan shakes his head. “I didn’t have time to eat. I want to try the beef knife-cut noodles that have college students flocking to you. I want to see what that star product tastes like.”

Wang Xinghe smiles and shakes his head. “It’s not that exaggerated. The noodles are popular partly because of the trend and partly because they’re cheap.”

Wang Xinghe turns to the kitchen and lights the stove, kneading the dough on the cutting board. Zhao Yan gets up and stands by the window, watching Wang Xinghe knead the dough, his eyes soft. Sometimes, he can’t understand himself. He knows that seeing him will make him sad for days, so why does he still come?

“I think they come because you’re so handsome,” Zhao Yan says without thinking.

Wang Xinghe doesn’t deny it. He has been told he is good-looking since he was a child, no matter where he goes. He is immune to it and has gotten used to it.

“Are you used to living alone in a different city?” Zhao Yan is still a bit worried about him, leaving his hometown and living alone. If it were him, he wouldn’t be able to stand a moment of loneliness.

“It’s peaceful. I think it’s great,” Wang Xinghe says truthfully. He is very satisfied with his current life.

Wang Xinghe adds a double portion of beef and half a portion of noodles for him, and blanches four portions of bok choy. He brings the bowl to the table. A hint of emotion crosses Zhao Yan’s eyes.

“You still remember after all these years,” Zhao Yan says. In high school, he and Wang Xinghe used to eat beef noodles together. Wang Xinghe had a big appetite and would eat one and a half portions. He didn’t like bok choy and rarely ate beef. Zhao Yan was the opposite. They always worked together.

“Yeah, I can’t forget,” Wang Xinghe says. There is no need to hide it. After all, Zhao Yan was a very, very good friend for three years in high school. There’s no need to deliberately forget those happy times.

Zhao Yan picks up his chopsticks and takes a piece of beef. It is soft and tender, and the flavor of the beef and spices are perfectly balanced. “Is it profitable? This is all sirloin and flank steak,” Zhao Yan says. His eyes are misty, so he takes off his glasses.

Wang Xinghe looks at the glasses and takes out a wet alcohol wipe he always carries. He takes his glasses and carefully wipes them with the wipe. As he wipes, he says, “It’s okay. I make a little profit.”

Zhao Yan looks at his fair and slender fingers wiping his glasses, and his heart skips a beat again. But he knows Wang Xinghe’s personality, and his eyes are filled with sorrow.

He places the glasses on the clean, brown-red table. The glasses glisten faintly on the table, spotless. Zhao Yan eats the noodles until the bowl is clean. He wipes his mouth, puts on his glasses, and says, “Xinghe, I have to go. I’ll come again next time.” He looks at his wristwatch.

Wang Xinghe looks at the gifts on the table. “Next time you come, don’t bring anything.”

Zhao Yan nods. “Okay, I’m leaving.”

Wang Xinghe stands by the door of the shop and watches him get into a Maybach. He watches the black car get further and further away. He returns to the shop and takes the gifts Zhao Yan gave him upstairs.

The New Year is approaching. Snowflakes cover the entire city. Wang Xinghe stands by the window, his eyes looking through the falling snowflakes. He seems to be back in that warm snowy night last year. A scene of him and someone else holding hands under a street light and kissing. But the scene is quickly blown away by the cold wind. What’s in the past is in the past.

There is no need to make many preparations for a New Year spent alone. Wang Xinghe simply buys some alcohol, some instant meals, and a small cake. He lies on the cream-colored linen sofa upstairs. There are beer bottles all over the floor. His face is flushed, and he is a bit tipsy.

“Buzz, buzz, buzz—” The phone’s vibration gives him a headache. Wang Xinghe fumbles for his phone and slides to answer after a long time.

“Hello—hiccup—” Even though he’s drunk, his voice is still soft. The hiccup, however, reveals his intoxication.

“Are you drinking?” Lu Jingze exhales. “Come downstairs and open the door.” Lu Jingze’s voice sounds unreal to Wang Xinghe. He hiccups again. “What door…?”

Lu Jingze closes his eyes, already numb from the cold. “The beef knife-cut noodle shop. At the door.”

Wang Xinghe, in a daze, catches the name of his shop. His consciousness is blurred. He mumbles, “We’re closed… no delivery… no noodles… no beef…”

Lu Jingze: “…”

Lu Jingze coaxes him softly, “Can you please open the door? Or you can tell me you won’t open it to my face.”

Wang Xinghe’s head is spinning. He staggers downstairs, opens the glass door, and pulls up the roller door. The wind and snow immediately rush in. The cold wind makes his consciousness even more blurry.

Lu Jingze, dressed in black, walks into the small shop, quickly pulls down the roller door, and locks it. He looks at the barefoot, drunken Wang Xinghe and sighs. He takes the phone from his hand, puts it in his pocket, and carries him up in his arms.

Wang Xinghe has gotten much thinner than he was a year ago. The red and tired eyes of Lu Jingze are filled with an uncontrollable heartache. Wang Xinghe shivers from the coldness of his embrace. He blinks his eyes dizzily. “It’s so cold…”

Lu Jingze quickly carries him upstairs. The floor is full of cans, and there is only a small cream cake on the table. Nothing else. The Spring Festival Gala is still playing happily. Lu Jingze’s eyes are filled with emotion, and he feels like a knife is stuck in his heart. Is this how he spends his New Year’s when no one is with him?

He finds the bedroom and gently places him on the bed. Wang Xinghe is not asleep yet, just dizzy and his consciousness is blurring. He looks at the tall, familiar person in front of him. Wang Xinghe thinks, How did I dream of Lu Jingze?

Lu Jingze takes off his baseball cap. The heating in the room is sufficient, so he takes off his down jacket. He sits by the bed, and his cold hand gently strokes Wang Xinghe’s face, which is even smaller than his own hand. “Why didn’t you listen? Why didn’t you eat well?”