Finally Being Snatched Away at My Wedding by My Ex-Boyfriend - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Deprivation of Light

Once the sounds in the courtyard died down, Pei Xing led Su Yuan as they stood up.

Su Yuan peeked out the window uneasily. “They’re gone, they’re gone… but it doesn’t look like the rain will stop. What can we play?”

Pei Xing leaned against the windowsill, arms crossed, a trace of a smile in his eyes. “What indeed?”

Su Yuan walked over to a wall filled with Blu-ray discs and began to browse carefully. “Do you watch black-and-white movies? Hmm, maybe not suitable for summer. The summer in The Notebook is beautiful, but you don’t seem like the type to enjoy Nicholas Sparks films.”

“I haven’t watched many movies. You decide.”

Ultimately, Su Yuan picked a film and asked Pei Xing to draw the curtains.

In an instant, the room was deprived of light, leaving only the flickering glow of the screen reflecting on Su Yuan’s intensely focused face.

Pei Xing suddenly felt that Su Yuan looked like someone who belonged in a movie.

The boy being watched turned his head, the corners of his mouth curving slightly. “Watch the movie first, then watch me.”

Pei Xing withdrew his gaze, adjusted his sitting position unnaturally, and took a sip of water. The water in the glass bottle tasted strange; Pei Xing frowned, glancing at the unrecognizable French label.

“You don’t like it?”

“I don’t hate it.”

Su Yuan narrowed his eyes suspiciously, looking like a little fox.

Perhaps emboldened by the dim light, Pei Xing reached out and lightly rapped the back of Su Yuan’s head with his knuckles. “Watch the movie.”

To Pei Xing, movies were an extreme luxury spending hours doing nothing but watching. His life didn’t have that much time to waste.

However,

Pei Xing looked at Su Yuan; the brilliant lights of the movie’s fairground flickered across his face.

It didn’t feel like a waste.

It was a romantic drama: the protagonists meet in a summer town, the hero hangs from a Ferris wheel to ask the heroine out on a date, and they fall head-over-heels.

Too fast, Pei Xing thought. It’s impossible to love someone in such a short time.

His logic instinctively rebelled, but he quickly reminded himself it was just a movie.

The film was paused at 31:09. The protagonists were in an abandoned house, dreaming of their future home. Suddenly, he really wanted to know the ending.

Pei Xing looked at Su Yuan, who had just finished a phone call and stepped out of the bedroom.

Su Yuan stopped by a tropical green plant, pursing his lips, his brow slightly furrowed.

This expression wasn’t foreign to Pei Xing. He stood up reflexively. “Is something wrong? I can come back later.”

“A call from home,” Su Yuan said softly. “They want me back.”

Pei Xing froze. In this room filled only with ghostly blue light, it felt as though his summer had ended prematurely.

He wanted to nod and say “Okay,” but when he spoke, the words were something he hadn’t planned.

“When will you be back?”

Su Yuan shook his head, his voice light and filled with an honest distress. “I don’t know.”

Pei Xing felt as if he were waking from a dream. He walked to the window and pulled open the heavy curtains. The rain outside had intensified at some point, trapping the entire courtyard in a thick mist.

“Maybe the rain will stop tomorrow. It would be easier for you to travel then.”

In his world, rainy days were “bad” weather plans were canceled or delayed, as if forcing the poor to give up on things.

“Now,” Su Yuan said. “The car is already downstairs.”

The calls urging him home weren’t new; Su Yuan had stalled for a long time, so the family had simply sent a car. Su Yuan slung on his white messenger bag and opened the door. Pei Xing was waiting outside with an umbrella.

“I’ll walk you out.”

Once in the car, Su Yuan gently tugged at Pei Xing’s damp sleeve and handed over the little ibis plush.

“Don’t listen to it today, and don’t listen to it tomorrow… wait until I haven’t been back for many days. Or,” Su Yuan looked at him, his gaze soft yet stubborn, “listen to it when you miss me.”

His voice was tiny, nearly drowned out by the rain outside.

Su Yuan leaned against the car window. The glass and mirrors were obscured by endless streams of water; he could only see a blurred black silhouette standing at the courtyard gate until the car drove far away and it disappeared.

…

In the high-speed rail station lobby, Su Zhen and Su Jingzhang had been waiting for a long time. They immediately pulled him into their arms upon seeing him.

“Xinxin, if you didn’t come back soon, your grandfather’s old bones wouldn’t be able to hold up much longer!”

“How could that be?” Su Yuan took Su Zhen’s arm. “Grandpa will live to be a hundred!”

Su Jingzhang glanced at the empty hands of the driver and bodyguard. “Xinxin, didn’t you bring any paintings back this time? What am I going to hang in my newly renovated office?”

“I’ll bring them when I go back in a few days!”

“Go back? What do you mean”

Su Jingzhang was cut off by Su Yuan pouting about his back aching after a seven-hour train ride. “Baby, if you took the private jet, it would only take two hours.”

Su Zhen shot Su Jingzhang a glare. “The child doesn’t like it, so stop mentioning it. Go sit in the back car yourself.”

Once in his car, Su Yuan messaged Pei Xing.

[Su Yuan: Out of the station now. So tired. 🙁 ]

He put down his phone and chatted with his grandfather, telling him about the newborn ibis chicks and mimicking their open-mouthed begging for food. But he didn’t mention the meat pies, the lychee shaved ice, the plums… or Pei Xing.

Thinking of this, he held Su Zhen’s arm and spoke seriously: “Grandpa, I heard about something very terrible this time. You must help me look into it!”

Su Zhen listened, his finger tapping the armrest. “Compensating only ten thousand is indeed unreasonable, and the mother passed away because of it… It’s a small matter. That area is a Progressive Party stronghold; it works out well for…”

Su Yuan sat up straight, crossing his arms huffily. “No! I don’t want this mixed up with your politics. I want an apology and fair compensation, but don’t let them know we made them do it. I want that bad person to feel genuine, enlightened remorse.”

…

Back home, Su Yuan was exhausted and had no appetite, but he forced himself to eat a little so he could take his medicine. He slept until noon the next day. It seemed that once he left Fuxian, his regular schedule evaporated.

Lying on his pillow, Su Yuan opened the messages from Pei Xing.

[Pei Xing: Why don’t you take the plane? Do you dislike it?]

[Pei Xing: Those cats came looking for you right after you left. They miss you.]

[Pei Xing: Morning.]

Three messages afternoon, night, and morning. They were as restrained as the way Pei Xing looked at him.

After returning from a hospital check-up, Su Yuan saw servants in the banquet hall moving flowers and tablecloths. The security department was sweeping for risks, preparing for the upcoming gala. The elections were over, and the Workers’ Party had won a landslide victory a cause for celebration for the Su family.

But he had no interest; he felt only a sense of aversion.

If only I had an older brother, he thought. Then I wouldn’t feel so guilty toward my family for wanting to do my own thing, like Chu Fei.

“Su Yuan!”

As if summoned, Chu Fei jumped in front of him. “You’re finally back! Let me introduce you to my girlfriend!”

Chu Fei was two years younger than him and starting at Huaihai University this year. He was dressed like he’d just finished a West Coast livehouse show. His new girlfriend was petite and cute; she blushed upon seeing Su Yuan.

Su Yuan greeted them and sat on a sofa in the conservatory while Chu Fei rattled on. He felt a sudden spark of confusion. How could two eighteen-year-olds differ so much in their levels of quietness?

Just then, Chu Xiao followed Su Jingzhang down from the second-floor study.

“A-Fei, be quiet. Xinxin just finished his check-up; he’s likely tired.”

“Big brother, I just haven’t seen Su Yuan in so long, I missed him.” Chu Fei grabbed Su Yuan’s arm as he was trying to reply to a text. “Su Yuan, why are you always on your phone? Look at your handsome brother and cute sister-in-law!”

Su Yuan whispered, “You’ve had four girlfriends in three months. Did your family buy a ‘Fast-Track Marriage and Divorce’ pass at City Hall?”

Before Chu Fei could argue, his older brother hauled him away. “Got that much energy? Come inspect the venue with me. Xinxin, get some rest.”

Su Yuan gave an “OK” sign. He opened his chat and reached for a glass of water on the table. A hand reached out to give it to him. He realized only then that he was alone in the conservatory with the girlfriend Chu Fei had brought.

Su Yuan gave a polite smile and set the water down, but suddenly, his hand was gripped tightly.

“Su Yuan, do you remember me? You were sketching at Mingyue Lake in Jiangcheng, and I was sitting right across from you! You said you wanted to get into the Huaihai Academy of Fine Arts well, I got in too! I only got close to Chu Fei because of you…!”

Su Yuan’s eyes went round with shock, his shoulders hunching. He couldn’t shake her off and didn’t want to make a scene, enduring it for a long time before finally calling for help.

…

Fifteen minutes later, a heavily scolded Chu Fei came to apologize.

“Su Yuan, I’m so sorry. I scared you. I didn’t know she was like that… I thought she truly loved me for my looks and my money, but… she loved you! Waaaaah…”

A servant was applying a warm compress to Su Yuan’s reddened wrist. “You’re a grown man, stop crying. But your taste in people really needs an upgrade.”

Chu Fei wiped his eyes and nudged him, gesturing toward the back.

Su Yuan turned and saw Chu Xiao staring grimly at his useless younger brother. He spoke up to help: “Brother Chu, A-Fei didn’t know. Don’t scold him anymore.”

Chu Xiao smiled, but his face hardened again as he looked at Chu Fei. “You brought several friends today. Go now and check if there are any other ‘strange’ people among them.”

The farce became a joke at the dinner table.

Chu Fei felt wronged. “Fine, my girlfriend was here for Su Yuan, but what about those other friends? They’re all guys…!”

Chu Xiao saw the expressions of Su Zhen and Su Jingzhang and kicked his brother under the table. “Zip it.”

Su Zhen, sitting at the head of the table, smiled. “We really don’t understand what young people are thinking these days. Those Progressive Party folks are drafting some ‘same-sex marriage’ bill; it’s nonsense. That’s exactly why they lost the re-election.”

Chu Xiao rose to pour wine for Su Zhen. “Grandpa Su is right.”

The refracted light from the crystal chandelier fell on Su Yuan’s face, making him look less bored than he felt. He moved the vegetables around with his fork, thinking that if it were Pei Xing, he would have made them taste delicious.

What is Pei Xing doing now?

Su Yuan set down his fork, said he didn’t want to eat anymore, and walked out to the terrace. In the night sky, a crescent moon rested on the treetops—it was very cute.

He took a photo from a specific angle and sent it to Pei Xing.

[Su Yuan: The big tree is the moon’s little bed.]

Chu Xiao followed him out. Su Yuan told him to look at the moon and the tree, asking what he thought they looked like.

“What do they look like? Aren’t they just the moon and a tree?” Chu Xiao signaled two servants carrying a blue brocade box. He opened the lid. “When I was on a business trip with Uncle Su, I saw a piece of top-tier mutton-fat nephrite jade.”

Inside the box lay an ibis, carved from a single piece of white jade pure white and lifelike.

Beautiful, but fragile.

It made Su Yuan very sad.

Su Jingzhang walked over, his face full of admiration. “A-Xiao was so thoughtful. Even as busy as he was, he watched over the carver every day, fearing it wouldn’t be perfect or that you wouldn’t like it. We all agree it’s just as beautiful as our Xinxin.”

Su Yuan thanked him and wobbled upstairs.

In the dining room, Chu Fei was entertaining Su Zhen, practically ready to start singing and dancing; on the terrace, Su Jingzhang and Chu Xiao were still talking about business this mine, that mine.

Su Yuan felt like that jade “Xinxin” he hadn’t seen with his own eyes yet, wobbling as he flew toward his bedroom and finally collapsed onto the bed. The precious ibis imprisoned in a brocade box, the constant hum of the air conditioning and fresh-air system in the sealed room made it hard for him to breathe.

His phone rang. He hoped it was Pei Xing.

Pei Xing had sent a photo: two plums on a branch hanging over the crescent moon.

[Pei Xing: The plums are the moon’s eyes.]

Su Yuan finally laughed, but soon felt sad again. Without hesitation, he dialed Pei Xing’s number. The few seconds of waiting felt like an eternity.

“Su Yuan?” Pei Xing’s voice was low.

Su Yuan thought of the interrupted movie and the torrential rain. His voice sounded damp as he called out the name: “Pei Xing.”

The person on the other end seemed to be listening to those two syllables very intently, forgetting to answer for a moment.

“Pei Xing.”

Su Yuan called again, lightly rubbing his eyes against the bedding.

“Mm?”

Su Yuan wanted to call a third time, but fearing the other person wouldn’t understand his meaning, he asked in a very soft voice, “Have you listened to the little ibis?”

…

Fuxian, the small building, behind the desk.

Pei Xing gazed out at the dark balcony, Su Yuan’s voice in his ear and the little ibis in his hand.

“Pei Xing, have you?”