Sun Rain Chapter 15

To pick up his parents from the airport, Fu Xuanliao woke up early the next day.

Shi Meng woke up hearing the movement, rubbing his eyes as he asked, “Do you want me to come with you?”

Fu Xuanliao chuckled, “In what capacity would you go? As a daughter-in-law?”

The slightly groggy Shi Meng instantly sobered up, turned over with a cold face, presenting the back of his head to Fu Xuanliao.

While changing, Fu Xuanliao replayed the conversation and felt his words had been a bit sharp. Thinking he still needed to help Gao Lecheng arrange a meeting, he sighed at the mirror, walked back into the bedroom from the walk-in closet, and with a long stride, got onto the bed, bracing his arms on either side and pressing his body down on Shi Meng.

Uncomfortable with the hot breath fanning his cheek and neck, Shi Meng helplessly turned his head to meet his gaze.

It wasn’t a workday, so Fu Xuanliao was dressed in simple casual wear, and his hair wasn’t set with gel, making him look less mature and stable, and exponentially more youthful and energetic.

In a daze, Shi Meng felt as if he was seeing the boy in the school uniform from years ago, and the harsh words he was about to say softened, “What… are you doing?”

“Looking at you, is that not allowed?” Fu Xuanliao raised an eyebrow, “And also to ask if you’re free next week.”

On the way to the airport, Fu Xuanliao told Gao Lecheng over the phone that the matter was settled.

Gao Lecheng flattered him, “Not bad, Old Fu! I thought it wouldn’t work out.”

Fu Xuanliao sneered, “I had to sell my looks; it would be too embarrassing if it didn’t work.”

“Don’t be so modest. Besides looks, our CEO Fu has other capabilities to show off, otherwise, how could he have Shi Shao wrapped around his finger?”

The more he listened, the more wrong it sounded. Fu Xuanliao felt like he had become a historical femme fatale who bewitched a monarch. Annoyed, he changed the subject, “Do you still remember what I did on Christmas Eve during our senior year?”

Gao Lecheng pondered for a moment, “Hmm, that’s so long ago… I just remember we drank together that night. Afterward, you said you had to go to school. I tried to persuade you not to go, saying it was snowing outside, but you insisted.”

“And then?”

“Then I went home. We weren’t at the same school or on the same route. The next thing was the following day, you were grinning like an idiot, saying the gift had been delivered.”

“…” Fu Xuanliao was offended by that description, “Who’s an idiot?”

“Haha, just kidding. I mean you were extremely happy the next day; your voice on the phone was cheerful.”

Fu Xuanliao was speechless. Seeing the gift he sent being worn on the wrist of the person he loved, how could he not be happy?

But he still felt something was off, as if he had missed something. Unable to recall it, Fu Xuanliao had to ask for more help, “Did I contact you again the night before?”

“No,” Gao Lecheng said, “You ungrateful bastard, you must have been having fun with someone else. How could you remember a brother in need like me?”

Hanging up the phone, Fu Xuanliao let out a long sigh of relief.

That was it—Shi Mu ran into him drunk when she went to retrieve the gift and took him home, fed him soup, and they lay on the same bed, opened the gift, and talked a lot.

Such gentle actions, such comfortable interaction—how could that have been Shi Meng? If it really was Shi Meng, how would that old watch have ended up on Shi Mu’s wrist later?

After all, everyone knew that possession and destruction were instincts rooted in Shi Meng’s blood. Once something fell into his hands, he would never allow that old watch to be returned to its original owner.

Four years ago, Fu Xuanliao had personally witnessed and experienced Shi Meng’s madness of destroying what he couldn’t have.

Thinking of the storm that night, and the dozens of glaring eyes, Fu Xuanliao felt a chill run through him. He forced a smile, as if mocking himself for wasting time on such an impossibility, and also as if celebrating that he had managed to survive until now under such extreme control, which was truly difficult.

The roads were slippery due to the melting snow, but he rushed and managed to pick up his parents immediately upon their return.

Fu Qiming was the same as ever, greeting him with a stern face and asking about the company’s operations. The father and son talked for half the journey, nearly arguing over differing strategies for a certain project, before Jiang Rong gently interjected, “Alright, alright. You just got back, so rest first. You two can continue talking after dinner.”

They ate at home. Jiang Rong had called the cooking auntie in advance. Due to traffic congestion from the melting snow, the auntie called to say she would be half an hour late. Jiang Rong went to the kitchen to see if there were any ingredients she could quickly prepare.

She didn’t find ingredients, but she did find a bag of sugar-roasted chestnuts in the fridge. Looking at the brand, it was from a popular online shop that Jiang Rong had seen, rumored to require queuing for several hours to buy.

Fu Xuanliao was usually busy with work, so he clearly hadn’t bought them. While tidying up the house, Jiang Rong also noticed that Fu Xuanliao’s room was much tidier than she expected. Although the desk was still messy, at least the quilt on the bed was spread out, clothes weren’t scattered everywhere, and the worn bathrobe was even neatly folded at the head of the bed.

A woman’s intuition is usually accurate. After dinner, while Fu Qiming went downstairs for a walk, Jiang Rong pulled her son onto the sofa and asked, “Xuanliao, has someone been staying here?”

“Yes,” Fu Xuanliao replied, “Gao Lecheng came over twice.”

Under his mother’s seemingly all-knowing gaze, Fu Xuanliao voluntarily surrendered, “Besides him, there was someone else.”

Jiang Rong didn’t press him. After a brief pause, she tentatively asked, “Was it Xiao Meng?”

Fu Xuanliao pressed his lips together, remaining silent, his expression visibly worsening.

This was tacit confirmation. Jiang Rong glanced at the obvious bite mark on his lip and understood, “I suppose it wouldn’t be anyone else.”

The transaction with the Shi family was a taboo topic in the Fu family; no one usually wanted to bring it up. But Jiang Rong had returned specifically to deal with this matter, to remove the thorn in everyone’s heart. After much consideration, she decided to clarify things first, “What are your feelings toward Xiao Meng now?”

“What feelings could I have for him?” Fu Xuanliao said without hesitation, “I can’t avoid him fast enough.”

Jiang Rong nodded, “Then your father and I can confidently go to the Shi family to negotiate.”

Hearing the word “negotiate,” Fu Xuanliao paused.

“Wait a little longer,” he said after some thought, “The cooperation project with the Shi family has just started. What if it gets implicated…”

Jiang Rong had already considered everything and interjected, “This matter is bound to affect the relationship between the two families, but the Shi family isn’t entirely unreasonable. We can show enough sincerity in the cooperation.” She looked at her son with heartache, “Your father and I have lived half our lives. What good is earning more money? Nothing is more important than your happiness.”

After a moment of silence, Fu Xuanliao suddenly scoffed, “Happiness? Joy?”

He hadn’t thought about these two vague words for four whole years. Since signing that humiliating contract, he had lost the right to pursue happiness.

He could only passively receive, doing whatever he was told, going wherever he was directed. He didn’t even care if he was happy himself; life went on anyway, and this was the only way it could continue.

Jiang Rong felt guilty toward her son, which gave her the courage to bring up the old matter now, “You are still young, and you have plenty of time to start a new relationship. Since you don’t like Xiao Meng, you don’t have to force yourself to interact with him after the contract is terminated.”

By all accounts, this was what Fu Xuanliao had dreamed of for four years. Yet, hearing it from his mother, he didn’t feel the sense of relief he had imagined.

He inexplicably thought of that bag of sugar-roasted chestnuts, the ice cream at the amusement park, the many kisses mixed with pain and the taste of rust, and Shi Meng’s bright eyes when he looked at him.

These fragments came so suddenly that in his panic, Fu Xuanliao even began to wonder if he had developed Stockholm Syndrome, forced into being a masochist by that lunatic Shi Meng.

He ran a hand through his hair, shaking off the chaotic thoughts, and stood up.

“I don’t think the Shi family will be that easy to talk to. Let’s discuss this later,” he picked up his jacket and put it on. “I’m going out for a walk. If I don’t show up soon, Old CEO Fu will start raging again.”

Jiang Rong also stood up, seeming to have more to say, but ultimately only saw Fu Xuanliao to the door, watched him get into the elevator, and then sighed softly.

They say a timely snow promises a good harvest, and with the snow falling, the Lunar New Year was approaching.

After much coordination, and changing the time repeatedly, the four busy people finally managed to gather just before New Year’s Day, traveling in two cars to Gao Lecheng’s newly opened resort in the suburbs.

Shi Meng kept his head down, fiddling with his phone, chatting with someone. Fu Xuanliao, who was driving, yawned several times. To keep himself awake, he started making small talk, “Didn’t you used to dislike using your phone?”

Shi Meng finally looked up, glancing at the driver’s seat, “You said it yourself—that was before.”

Fu Xuanliao was caught off guard and choked up. The look in Shi Meng’s eyes, as if he were looking at an idiot, made his temper flare. He wasn’t sleepy anymore, but he nearly ground his teeth to dust.

Actually, Shi Meng wasn’t deliberately ignoring him; he had just added Sun Yanfeng on WeChat, and the other party was talking business.

—This is the cat your mother raised. Isn’t it cute?

He sent a photo. It was a black and white cat, with one black and one white patch around its eyes. Compared to the trash can next to it, it looked quite plump and round.

Shi Meng replied with an “Mhm.” Sun Yanfeng immediately asked if he was willing to adopt it.

—Your mother booked a tour group, and I also hope she can travel more. You just need to help raise it for two months.

Shi Meng stared at the words on the screen, lost in thought, recalling the cat he had seen at Teacher Sun’s house, rubbing back and forth against his pant leg, opening its round, glass-bead-like eyes to meet his gaze.

While thinking, Shi Meng was jolted back to reality by a sudden brake. As his body lurched forward, his phone slipped from his hand onto his lap.

Picking up the phone and lighting up the screen again, he saw that the “Mhm” he had been hesitating to send in the dialogue box had been sent. Shi Meng turned to glare at Fu Xuanliao, as if questioning why he braked so suddenly.

“We’re here,” Fu Xuanliao lifted his chin, speaking with righteous indignation mixed with the satisfaction of having exacted revenge. “Why are you spacing out? Aren’t you getting out?”

Gao family’s resort had acquired expensive land, surrounded by beautiful mountains and rivers, and embraced by pine forests. Although remote, it was not short of tourists who came specifically to visit.

During the New Year’s holiday, it was bustling. While registering at the front desk with Gao Lecheng, Fu Xuanliao asked, confused, “Do you have to register to stay at your own hotel?”

“Mhm, our hotel has strict check-in procedures and security management to ensure the safety of our customers’ lives and property,” Gao Lecheng took Fu Xuanliao’s ID card and handed it to the front desk attendant, asking at the same time, “One room is enough for you and your partner, right?”

“I wouldn’t mind if you reserved two rooms,” Fu Xuanliao said.

“That makes me sound stingy,” Gao Lecheng chuckled. “Just one room then. There’s no reason for an old married couple to sleep separately.”

Fu Xuanliao couldn’t be bothered to argue with him. He turned and leaned against the marble table, looking out at the people strolling by the fountain outside the hotel lobby.

More accurately, two people: Shi Meng had brought along the agent named Jiang Xue.

Fu Xuanliao hadn’t interacted much with this woman before, only hearing that she was the same age as him. Today, they formally met, but before he could introduce himself, the woman rolled her eyes, turned away, and looked as if she disdained talking to him, leaving Fu Xuanliao puzzled.

Looking now, Shi Meng was the one who drew more attention between the two. Today, he was wearing the white down jacket he wore at the mall last time. His legs, encased in jeans, were slender and long. The hood framed his fair, delicate face. If you looked closely, he seemed to be smiling with his eyes curved.

“What are you looking at?” Gao Lecheng waved his five fingers in front of his eyes.

Fu Xuanliao snapped out of his daze, clearing his throat, “I see your taste is getting worse. That woman isn’t suitable for you.”

Gao Lecheng followed the direction he had been looking, seeing Jiang Xue smiling flirtatiously, “I also asserted that you and Shi Meng weren’t suitable back then, but aren’t you two doing great now?”

Fu Xuanliao was startled, “Which eye saw that he and I are doing great?”

Gao Lecheng leisurely replied, “Both eyes saw it.”

Fu Xuanliao didn’t believe him, but he felt irritated and couldn’t help but take it to heart.

To prove that “doing great” was pure nonsense, he looked toward the fountain again.

From a distance, Shi Meng took a parasol from Jiang Xue’s hand, opened it, held it over his head, and slowly walked into the center of the fountain.

The clouds were high and the sky vast, the spring water clear and cold. The umbrella surface drew an arc. The person who disliked rain but was named Rain stood within it, looking up to find the source of the light. Separated by a curtain made of water, the soft lines of his profile seemed to be steeped in a layer of translucent white glaze, blending into the scenery of the painting.

It wasn’t until he felt the phone in his pocket that Fu Xuanliao suddenly came back to his senses, realizing he had subconsciously wanted to take a picture of this scene.

Muttering a curse, Fu Xuanliao quickly turned his back.

Gao Lecheng took three room cards, confused, “What’s wrong?”

When he looked at the view outside the floor-to-ceiling window, he understood and immediately pulled out his phone, switching to camera mode.

Before he could press the shutter button, the phone was snatched away by the person next to him.

“What’s so great about taking pictures?” Fu Xuanliao said with a dark expression and a bad temper, “He looks like a mushroom getting rained on.”