BSS - Chapter 66

Chapter 66

Deng Chuan hadn't expected Xu Wei to drive her to a lakeside restaurant in the suburbs.

Several local universities were situated in this area. As night fell, the academic buildings lit up one after another, creating a river of high and low lights facing the sunset. The flickering reflections fell upon the lake's surface, and the water's own deep blue rippled quietly in the darkness.

Twilight was at the window, the lake in view. Deng Chuan gazed at the lake and the distant lights, feeling her mind calm in a way it never had before. Xu Wei's soft inquiry reached her ear: "Is there anything you don't eat?"

Deng Chuan came back to her senses, met Xu Wei's gentle eyes, and shook her head.

The restaurant specialized in Cantonese cuisine, so Deng Chuan told Xu Wei not to worry about her opinion. After Xu Wei ordered, she saw Deng Chuan staring at her and smiled. "What is it?"

She asked with a smile, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Deng Chuan said, "Why did you suddenly decide to treat me to dinner?"

Hearing this, Xu Wei tilted her head and thought for a moment before saying, "You came all this way to see me. Can't I treat you to a meal?"

Deng Chuan blinked and teased, "Providing food and lodging, and now treating me to dinner. To think there's someone as kind and generous as Teacher Xu in this world."

"Mm," Xu Wei said seriously. She wanted to raise her hand and stroke the kid's eyes that were looking at her so earnestly, but she held back. "So... you have to cherish me."

"Of course." Deng Chuan grasped the fingertips she hadn't extended, smiling obediently. "I'd be a dog if I didn't cherish you."

The words were a bit convoluted, but they revealed the kid's sincere effort to make a solemn vow. Xu Wei tried to suppress the smile at the corners of her lips, pulled her fingertips free, and said with mock seriousness, "Then let's practice."

She held out her palm to Deng Chuan. "Left hand."

Stunned, Deng Chuan placed her left hand in Xu Wei's palm.

Neither of them had forgotten the earlier joke about the Samoyed.

Deng Chuan's performance was up to par. Xu Wei smiled, squeezed her hand, and praised, "So obedient."

The two talked for a while, and the dishes arrived one after another. Choy sum with minced garlic, boiled shrimp, roasted goose, crispy char siu, white cut chicken, and an abalone pot with tomato sauce. The main staple was congee cooked in a clay pot.

Xu Wei served Deng Chuan some congee, telling her to eat more. There was no way the two of them could finish all the food on the table, but she wanted Deng Chuan to try everything.

"Our last get-together was here. I think the food is quite authentic," she explained.

Deng Chuan nodded seriously and picked up her spoon to eat the congee. Then she heard Xu Wei say, "But last time we were in a private room, so we didn't have such a nice view."

Their window seat did indeed have a first-rate view. Deng Chuan glanced outside in agreement, then said smugly, "That's because this kind of scenery can only be seen by you and me together."

Xu Wei was most susceptible to these kinds of words. Not knowing what to say, she sighed, dipped a peeled shrimp into the sauce, and brought it to Deng Chuan's lips. "Hurry up and eat. Stop talking."

Deng Chuan popped the shrimp into her mouth. It was tender and springy, fresh and sweet-delicious, just as expected.

So she put down her spoon, wanting to peel shrimp for Xu Wei, but was stopped by another whole shrimp being placed at her lips. "Don't. I'll do it. Don't get your hands dirty."

Xu Wei finished peeling the shrimp, piling the meat onto a small white porcelain plate where the colors complemented each other beautifully. Deng Chuan had just finished a bowl of congee.

She served herself more congee, then placed a piece of crispy char siu into Xu Wei's bowl, watching her with an intense gaze.

Xu Wei looked at her and ate the piece of unsauced crispy char siu in one bite.

The kid, satisfied, lowered her head to nibble on a roasted goose leg.

Halfway through the meal, Xu Wei's phone rang.

She gestured for Deng Chuan to keep eating as she answered the call.

She didn't say much. Her expression remained calm, and she would occasionally respond gently. She was speaking in her hometown dialect, which Deng Chuan couldn't understand, but judging by her expression, the conversation seemed peaceful.

The call wasn't long. Xu Wei said something at the end and then hung up. She looked up and met Deng Chuan's gaze, smiling. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Deng Chuan said, "It's so amazing hearing you speak Chaoshan dialect."

Xu Wei asked her, "Want to learn?"

Deng Chuan nodded excitedly.

A piece of white cut chicken landed in her bowl. Xu Wei said nonchalantly, "What's there to learn? I don't speak Chaoshan dialect when I talk to you."

But Deng Chuan said, "It's not the same."

Xu Wei smiled and retorted, "How is it not the same?"

"That's your home," she heard the kid before her say. "I'm going to go home with you."

"I promise you," Xu Wei said seriously, "you won't have to speak Chaoshan dialect even if you come home with me."

Her last sentence hadn't quite conveyed her meaning, and Deng Chuan wanted to say more. But Xu Wei interrupted her. She looked at her quietly and said, "Besides, I'm not going back."

"I abandoned my hometown, and my hometown abandoned me. So, you don't need to care too much about it."

Deng Chuan opened her mouth. The Xu Wei before her was calmly speaking such heartless words. She had left her hometown, determined never to look back, yet her eyes were clearly filled with melancholy. Even tonight's restaurant choice was a Cantonese one-was that a coincidence, or was it intentional? She couldn't sort out her thoughts, her mind completely captured by the gloom on Xu Wei's face, like a sponge that would never dry, letting emotions drip, drip, drip away.

She had also experienced the feeling of being away from home. In Beijing, those occasional blue-gray moods-had they also appeared in Xu Wei's past life?

Compared to her own brief time away from home, in the past that she had no part in, Xu Wei had spent so many long nights all alone. What was she thinking back then?

Those emotions were perhaps like the deep, dark lake water outside the floor-to-ceiling window right now.

Deng Chuan held her breath, feeling a little suffocated. Having thought this far, she was completely at a loss for words.

She wanted to reach out and take Xu Wei's hand, but she was still wearing greasy disposable gloves. She could only offer a comforting gaze with her eyes-helpless, yet filled with heartache.

Xu Wei noticed her expression, took the initiative to smile, and gently comforted her in return. "Don't overthink it-I'm doing very well now. I'm doing what I love, living the life I want. It's okay."

Deng Chuan couldn't speak. She stared at the vibrant color of Xu Wei's lips, but felt her heart grow heavy and damp with her words.

"Besides, I have you." Xu Wei reached out to touch Deng Chuan's face. Only then did she notice the kid's eyes were wet, like a bush drenched by rain. "What's wrong? Why are you being so silly-"

Xu Wei looked exceptionally bright and gentle under the light. But Deng Chuan uncharacteristically dodged her hand and lowered her head, stuffing a piece of white cut chicken into her mouth to hide her expression. She chewed the tender chicken without tasting it, tears welling up but not falling, stuck in her chest, making the chicken in her mouth taste salty and bitter.

She ate while crying, her tears falling so much that Xu Wei was at a loss, able to do nothing but quietly hand her tissues.

After this experience, the meal left an exceptionally unforgettable impression on Deng Chuan. From then on, she developed a love-hate relationship with Cantonese food, just like her feelings when she thought of Xu Wei's hometown.

After they finished eating, Xu Wei drove around the area a few times to cheer Deng Chuan up. There was a bustling and lively food street in the nearby university town. While watching the road ahead, she glanced at the kid's expression out of the corner of her eye and sighed, "We came out for dinner, but I ended up making you cry. What am I going to do?"

Deng Chuan's expression had been listless. Hearing this, she tried to pull herself together. "I'm fine."

Xu Wei wasn't one to repeat herself, so she didn't comment on that, simply driving her around the area for a while. The two got out of the car and walked down the street, buying a watermelon and some small wontons to take back for a late-night snack or breakfast. It was a rare chance to walk hand-in-hand with Xu Wei, and Deng Chuan's mood gradually improved. In the end, both of them were drenched in sweat from walking.

They drove all the way home. As soon as the door opened, Zhou Liu darted over in the darkness, circling the takeout containers they were carrying.

"Be good, go take a shower." Xu Wei put the watermelon and takeout containers in the fridge, went into the bedroom to turn on the air conditioner, and then pushed Deng Chuan into the bathroom. She herself went into the en-suite bathroom in the bedroom to shower.

Deng Chuan was covered in sweat, completely enveloped in the hot, sticky feeling of summer. Even though she felt much fresher after showering, the emotions in her heart still made her feel as if she hadn't escaped a spiritual sweatiness. Her whole being felt heavy and damp.

The gift box in her pants pocket was still unopened. After her shower, Deng Chuan stared at it for a moment, then resolutely took it in her hand.

She came out of the bathroom. The living room was pitch-black. Xu Wei and Zhou Liu seemed to be in the bedroom; a faint light seeped from under the closed door.

Deng Chuan tentatively pushed the door.

The door was ajar and opened with a push.

But the scene before her left her stunned.

Countless tiny, twinkling light bulbs, each one intensely bright yet infinitesimally small, hung above a sea of flowers made from clustered bouquets. Deng Chuan recognized many familiar flowers: Elsa roses, stargazer lilies, champagne roses, red roses, and baby's breath.

The room looked as if it had been sprinkled with starlight.

Amid the light and shadow, Xu Wei stood beside the lights and flowers, her eyes deep, her bare shoulders revealing a breathtaking beauty. She walked toward Deng Chuan and reached out to embrace her young lover, who was frozen in place before her.

In a daze, Deng Chuan felt Xu Wei's approach. Pressed against her body, she truly felt her presence. In her embrace, all the heavy, dim, and sticky emotions faded away, leaving only the sparkling, fragrant Xu Wei in her arms.

Deng Chuan didn't hug her back. She unconsciously tightened her grip on the gift box in her hand. The hard case cleared her thoughts slightly. Her young heart began to tremble from the romance of the moment and the romance yet to come.

Trembling, she reached out and hugged Xu Wei back. Courage quietly bubbled up inside her. Holding her, she fumbled with the ribbon on the gift box.

The moment the ribbon fell to the floor, Deng Chuan heard Xu Wei murmur in her ear, "Wish me a happy birthday."

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