Fleeting Midsummer

Chapter 14: A Love Confession After a Secret Love Finishes (1)

The moment I woke up, I sized up my strange surroundings. I wasn’t like the girls in romantic fiction who would first size up her own outfit after a hangover because I knew myself well. My figure and appearance was really insufficient to unleash the beast within any male. Plus, when I had half woken up, I had already remembered what had happened yesterday. My head was not as painful as I’d thought it would be, but the long distance running from yesterday made my legs shiver as they stood up.

This was a very simple room. A wall clock hung on the wall while one corner of the room had a desk. Just a bookshelf and a single bed, nothing else. I guessed this was Fang Yuke’s room. I didn't think that this rascal would have a room even in Beijing.

I opened the room door, and prepared to find some water to drink. The moment I went out the door, I saw that there was a person lying on the sofa in the living room. Fang Yuke was wearing the flimsy shirt from last night but it had more wrinkles than it did yesterday. I softly and quietly found the kitchen and poured a cup of water; bored to death as I sat in the kitchen, thinking: What if I left like this. Did I need to greet him? Did I not need to? Did I need to?

While I was thinking, I subconsciously turned the TV on. This was one of my biggest bad habits. At home, besides sleeping, I would turn on the TV. I did not care about the TV content but it was just to make the place seem more lively.

A fighting sound from an wuxia film suddenly came through, finally waking him up. I didn’t need to be worried. I could just greet him and avoid the problem by walking away from it.

Fang Yuke hadn’t gotten ahold of himself and known where he was. He stared blankly at the TV which flashed on the screen. When he stood up, he turned the TV off and lay back down on the sofa.

I didn’t expect that this pig would not even notice that there was an additional girl sitting with him. In any standard drama, shouldn't I begin to shout: “Ah-” loudly? After which, the boy would begin to panic, while covering my mouth to protest his innocence. Even though his thoughts would not be innocent, in reality, it was something that was completely inconceivable. The girl would then doubt him while thinking about whether or not she should force him to swear on the heavens. Lastly, the boy would be extremely wronged even as he did what he was told without questioning. Finally, wouldn’t both of the parties involved develop a love hate relationship?

I suddenly realized that the guy would have to be from a Korean drama. Korean dramas were full of romance. At most, Fang Yuke and I would be friends. If we really became like that, it would be a joke~~ I would have to transform into Ru Ting; maybe then I would scream loudly. However, if it really was Ru Ting, it’s hard to say whether or not they would do that completely inconceivable thing. Maybe they had already done the inconceivable, it was just that my pure brain merely assumed that they were not like that? The more I thought about it, the more my thoughts strayed and I began to laugh loudly.

Perhaps the sounds of my laughter woke others up easily. Fang Yuke was suddenly aware of something and sat upright with a ‘whoosh’. He stared at me blankly and asked me “Am I dreaming”?

I ran over, barefoot, and pinched the back of his hand and said “You’re not dreaming. This servant’s chastity has been destroyed by you, don’t even try to deny it.” My dear friend Fang Yuke finally woke up, smiling while he rubbed the area that I had pinched and said "Don’t talk nonsense. Are you drunk? You kept tossing till I only managed to sleep at 3 o'clock in the morning.”

I felt slightly apologetic. All the unhappiness that I felt towards Fang Yuke in the past was thrown into the wind. I was very grateful towards everything that he had done for me yesterday. If I had not been able to rant, I would not be as relaxed today.

I smiled bashfully “I remember that in the past, I would just fall asleep whenever I was drunk. It is easy to take care of me, eh.”

“You really do fall asleep well when drunk. While sleeping, you cry out that you’re thirsty, hungry, want some more beer and even fall down from the bed. You even puked all over my jacket and I had to shamefully bring it to the dry cleaners.”

“Really? Hehe.” I started to feel very embarrassed.

Fang Yuke no longer continued to expose what I did. “Yesterday, I slept on the sofa to act as your doorkeeper and I haven’t even bathed. What do you want to do? Have you taken a bath?”

Actually, I had already smelled how stinky my body was. Fang Yuke was such a neat freak that being able to tolerate the state that I was in was probably not an easy task. I laughed and said “You can go ahead and bathe. I’m going to buy some clean clothes. If I meet the people from our dorm like this, I wouldn’t be able to explain myself.”

Fang Yuke nodded his head and passed me the key. “Bring your phone with you as you go out. If you get lost, you’ll be easy to contact.”

I went out and found the supermarket easily. I also bought some meat and vegetables on the way.

As I entered the door, I noticed that he had already finished bathing. I brought the meat and vegetables to the kitchen and said to him “You should cook some food while I bathe. I’m starving.”

Fang Yuke stared at me in disbelief. “ Please. Is this how you treat your savior? Why should I have to cook?”

I glowered at him: “Because you are the host while I am a guest. Does it make sense to let the guest cook? Not to mention that I don’t know how to. Why don’t you go downstairs to buy some cup noodles, I’ll cook one for you then.”

After speaking, I self righteously closed the toilet door.

After bathing, I came out and smelled a delicious aroma coming from the kitchen. Hehe, I knew he was someone who knew how to cook. If not, wouldn’t his fingers, which were as long as that of a pianist's fingers, go to waste?

Fang Yuke was definitely an amazing guy. He was even able to produce such delicious looking dishes with such limited resources. I picked up some braised pork with my bare hands and stuffed it into my mouth. Not bad, not bad. It was oily but it wasn’t greasy at all. He could even replace the chefs at Peking University canteen.

He took out a bottle of Minute Maid Orange Juice from the refrigerator and said “Here, from today onwards, drink orange juice instead of beer.”

I took it happily and took a sip. “Fang Yuke, apart from your poisonous tongue, you are close to perfection. Anyone who marries you is definitely lucky. Thinking about it, it’s better to introduce Julie to you. I cannot watch helplessly as such a prime specimen is lost.”

Fang Yuke took a bite of the food. “You finally recognize my abilities. But I still have only one thing to say- you should not be thinking of such warped things.”

As he said this, I began to feel troubled. What should I do about the final exam? I shouldn't have any troubles with any of my classes, and I should have been able to scrape by with a pass. However, I slept throughout Computer class. In Russian Art History, I might as well have been in another classroom. Ugh.

It was as if Fang Yuke could understand what I was thinking. He said “There shouldn’t be any problem with the exam for the Computer class. If I help you note down the important points and give you remedial classes, you should be able to pass.

The stress towards the end of this period did not allow me to settle the emotions from my heartbreak and forced me to use all my energy to conquer the exams. It was as if an alarm had sounded off within every student and it became popular for the emergency lights to be turned on within all the dormitories. The restaurants outside the south gate had long since been occupied by the students. Actually, with my optimistic, self-comforting nature, looking at everyone prepare for the exams at the last minute, my eyes filled with tears as I thought that I had found some comrades. However, when I saw that the top student Ah Ling was holding his textbook even while he was at the toilet, I finally understood that staying up all night to study was not a privilege exclusive to the bad students. The last few weeks were merely the long stretch towards the end of the 100 metre sprint. There was no student who did not run, it was just that marks were awarded depending on the speed of which you ran.

The first week was the elective course exam, the second week was the computer exam, and the last two weeks were specialized course exams. Luckily, I planned ahead. In the first school year, I only chose an elective course. As long as I worked hard at “Russion Art History”, it would be okay. The marks for attendance were worth 30 points, I usually scored 30, while the final exam test would be worth 40 points. I had already estimated that I had already scored for attendance, which was worth 30 points. Normally, points would be scored by participating in class discussion. I pretended that I knew what I was doing until I got into the best team so no matter what, I would still get a minimum of 20 points. This way, as long as I managed to get just 10 more points, I would pass. In other words, as long as I got ¼ of the questions correct, I would pass. My “Russian Art History” test went smoothly on Friday. I invited Julie to eat a meal of Ximen chicken wings with me. Even though I didn’t dare say that I would pass my exams with flying colors, it wouldn’t be a problem for me to get a pass. I patted Julie’s shoulders happily, explaining like a veteran: “You must have a plan for everything you do. The moment I got into school, the first thing I did was find out the repercussions of failure. Then, when I selected courses, the first thing I did was to investigate how to score for the class. See, in the end, I have settled things effortlessly.” Julie didn’t react the same she last time, and she didn’t retort. It’s just that, the words she said made the chicken wing, which was in my mouth fall out. “It’s not wrong to plan, but you also have to have an overall plan. I would like to remind you that the mandatory computer test is happening next Thursday. You can rely on mechanically memorizing everything for Art history, and things like that, but you spent 5-6 days just preparing for it before in order to reach a stage where you just passed. What are you going to do about the liberal arts computer class then? There is a lot of scientific knowledge . Plus, this class isn’t scored in the ordinary way. Your final exam is the single hammer that determines the heavens and the earth. I spent the entire week looking at computer lecture courses, and I only looked at my elective course material the day before its exam.”

I indignantly said to Julie: “Can’t you just wait until I finish today before saying this? Since you’ve said this, I have to stay up all night!”

Julie snickered: “Who asked you to preach in such a high and lofty manner? I am reminding you not to be happy too early. Right, the school will be closed after next next week’s specialized course tests are finished, so you can look as much as you want. But next week, if you’re still hugging that emergency light to spend the night, you will probably go blind. Why don’t you come over to my house to study?”

I shook my head: “Forget about it. Even though I don’t study well, I still have many peculiarities when I study. I am not accustomed to strangers pampering me at the side, and I can’t let your parents clear the area on my behalf right? But thanks, Julie.”

Julie laughed: “You are really hard to serve. You don’t need to thank me. You have no way to reciprocate anyways. But do you think you can understand it by yourself? Even I am having a bit of trouble.”

When I heard “no way to reciprocate” my mind began to spin again: “Don’t you have something towards Fang Yuke? Why don’t I create an exceptionally good opportunity for you. Not only will you have a very able person to answer questions, you can even fish a wealthy hot guy with your hook and bait?”

Julie shot a glance at me: “Why wouldn’t you give such a good opportunity to yourself?”

I saw Julie’s disbelieving appearance, and got anxious. I fished out my cell phone and called Fang Yuke. Fang Yuke seemed to be in a bustling place, as there were numerous laughs that came from that speaker.

After Fang Yuke picked up the phone, he didn’t say anything for a long time. He probably found a quiet place before saying in a low voice: “What’s up?”

The power that I had saved up from a moment ago was actually enough to arrogantly order Fang Yuke around, but Fang Yuke cut off my momentum when he picked up the phone. I suddenly forgot why I had called him. In my evasive responses, quite a while passed before I said, “Nothing” and then hung up. I didn’t even know why my heart was flustered.

Julie cupped one fist in the other hand at the side, enjoying the scene: “What? You picked up the phone just to hear the other person’s breathing? How romantic, eh...”

Julie hadn’t finished when Fang Yuke called me back. This time, I began to draw from my experience and lessons, and I breathed deeply: “Fang Yuke, I have been kidnapped. You have to get to Ximen Chicken Wings within five minutes, otherwise the other person is going to kill me for ransom, and I will never let it go.”

I hung up on the phone satisfactorily. Julie crossed her legs. All I needed was to give her some melon seeds, and then I believe that my neighbor, Xiao SHan’s mom and my mom would congregate together and gossip. She winked at me and said, “Are the both of you teaching the art of flirtation. After hearing such childish words, my teeth almost dropped. Plus, you’ve been taken hostage, but how can you say that you will never let him go? You should have said that even if I become a ghost I won’t let you off. I really saved Xiao Xi bro from this burden. When the skeleton of the dead has not yet trembled, he or she will immediately tie a new knot with a new lover.

When I heard Xiao Xi’s name, my heart thumped for a moment. The past few days, I had always wanted to pass my tests and I had never thought of him.Even if my mind was wandering, and I thought of it, I would tell myself that I could not indulge in flights of fancy. Right now, his name was like a thin needle, which entered my heart.

Julie had probably seen my painful expression and realised she had said the wrong thing. She immediately said, “Ah, don’t feel sad anymore. Isn’t he just one guy? If you really can’t let him go, you can become the third party. He hasn’t married yet, so you still have a chance.”

I pretended like I didn’t care and said casually: “Yup, I will start planning again in winter break.”

Julie laughed at me: “How can you still plan? These types of things can’t keep up with the changes.”

I laughed and retorted: “I just love to plan. Later, I will even plan a scene of a blind date, and become a matchmaker for once!”

After I finished, I saw Fang Yuke running towards us. I made a face at Julie as Julie, that fiend had already understood at last.

Fang Yuke pulled a chair over and sat down: “What are you doing? Even limiting the time I take to show up here?”

I didn’t pay heed to his words and pushed Julie towards my chest: “Lemme introduce you two. This is my dorm mate, Julie. Julie, this is the computer genius, Fang Yuke. Last time when you were installing the computer software, you met. In short, everything pertaining to computer courses, you can ask him.

Just now, that gossipy person who had flip flops on as she crossed her legs had completely changed into a new person. She smiled demurely: “Hello, I hope you’ll be able to treat me kindly.”

Fang Yuke nodded his head. It counted as the exchanging of greetings, and used a peculiar expression to glance at me. I glanced at him, and hinted at him to recall the sister I had brought up many times in the past.

I called for a few more chicken wings, and conveniently poured a few bottles of beer. Fang Yuke also changed into an adorning and virtuous male: “Don’t drink beer anymore, you should drink orange juice.” I couldn’t stand it anymore. If a woman said this, I would just think that she was being a lady. As a big grown man saying this, he not afraid of losing face. If you think about it, wouldn’t a hot guy drinking fruit juice while eating chicken seem very effeminate?

I was very demanding as I said, “Drink beer.”

Julie, this filial child, immediately said, “Fang Yuke, you can drink beer. Lin Lin and I can drink juice.”

This time, Fang Yuke didn’t say anything, so I took it that he had accepted tacitly.

Since Fang Yuke’s poisonous tongue had not yet exposed itself, I wanted to explain the significance of the gathering this time to prevent this rascal from sneering and speaking sarcastically while bombarding me after this event. I laughed as I asked Fang Yuke: “Do you need to study for the the exams?”

“Need.”

Fxxk, even you need to study? Don’t tell me you also study in the washroom while almost losing consciousness in the yellow light? “Then where do you usually study? How long do you usually study?” I continued to interview him.

“The dormitory or outside of school. It depends on my feelings and how much time I need to study.”

“Then may I ask whether your excellency’s mood is currently more happy or sad?”

“Within my happiness is sadness, and within my sadness there is happiness.”

“Then may I ask what is your ratio of happiness to sadness?”

“What are you asking about this for?”

I had finally gotten to my first official question. I laughed and said, “When you are happy, you can do a little favor and help out Julie . Julie said that she can’t really understand the content in the computer class, but she doesn’t have time to ask. Julie has some guests staying hat her house, so there is simply no way to study. Didn’t you rent a house off campus? Right now, for late night studying, there is no place to go and simmer. Why don’t you offer it. If Julie tests well, and gets this year’s scholarship I will definitely be the first one to treat you to a meal.”

I secretly looked at Julie. This lady was currently looking at me with such respect. I had never thought that I would have the potential of drafting up making up lies. I probably have the makings of a match-maker.

Fang Yuke didn’t even think about it, and immediately answered: “All right, no problem.”

I maintained an O shape with my mouth in wonder for a long time before closing my mouth. I had even prepared myself with bucketloads of persuasive words. I didn’t think that he would answer so quickly. I was secretly disappointed that I was unable to ride on my earlier momentum and that it was now useless.

“But I have a condition.” Fang Yuke slowly said.

I just knew that this rascal wouldn’t be that easy to convince. I excitedly prepared a retort. Without waiting for me to open my mouth, Fang Yuke said, “The condition is you.”

This time, my mouth became an O shape again. I looked at Julie again. Julie resentfully looked back at me, almost as if I had done something that let her down.

I paused and thought about it for a moment. Then, I made a heavy decision: “Fang Yuke, I know that when some people are playing matchmaker, other people will often include oneself. Just like how those celebrities that enter the entertainment circle frequently accompany others to be interviewed, while being the one to get hired instead in the end. But you also understand, I have a heavy spirit of loyalty and self sacrifice. You should not covet your friend’s wife (idiom), men’s rules within women is applicable as well. Since my friend is interested in you, it is impossible for me to have even a fraction of a thought towards you. You also have Ru Ting , but even if Ru Ting is gone, you still have countless young ladies waiting to be trampled by you…..” I secretly glanced at Julie’s face again. Julie’s face had already become full of black lines.

Fang Yuke didn’t talk for a long time. It seemed, that after a good while, he definitely was not at a rush to speak: “What I mean is that while I am helping Julie with school, I hope you can also be present. Julie is a girl all alone at my house , coming in and out. If it spreads, people won’t think highly of her; in addition, I feel that since I’m helping out, I might as well help both of you at the same time. I also don’t wish to see you fail your computer, otherwise I will have let down your mother who asked me to take care of you and entrusted you with me. As for the countless young girls that you say are waiting for me to trample on them, while I am grateful to you thinking so highly of me, but I have still fallen in love with my angel. I’m afraid that I will have to disappoint both you and those young ladies.”

My face heated until it could boil an egg. Julie even passionately and quietly asked: “Who’s the angel he’s talking about? Ru Ting?”

I secretly fiercely bit out two words “xx……”