Fleeting Midsummer

Cliche Misunderstandings Will Always Occur Coincidentally (1)

Ever since I was little, my dream was to be Sleeping Beauty. She didn’t need to get up from bed or go to school. Only her bed accompanied her for ten years. After she woke up, she could even kiss my Prince and have more tens of years ahead of her. Even though Fang Yuke was a poisonous tongued prince, he was still a prince, possessing all of the qualities of a Prince: First of all, this pretty boy overlooked the wind like a jaden tree, distinguished and elegant. He fit the appearance of little Won Bin. Secondly, this pretty boy was top notch at his studies, completely invincible. Last, he came from a family with a literary reputation, with hereditary benefits such as rank and wealth. In short, I had hooked onto a wealthy husband. I laughed, proud of myself.

I laid supine, on the bed in the guestbed, wiping at the saliva that fell from the corner of my mouth as I foolishly laughed towards the ceiling. During summer vacation, it was a pity that all my friends went swimming, and exploring, so I had no one to talk to. My rapidly expanding state of mind was incapable of enjoying this with my dormmates, as I was unable to stop myself from saying everything on my mind. I could only call my mother to announce the good news. Ahh life was hard for this old woman. At long last, one affair had been done right. My mother answered the phone and impatiently said, “Aren’t you interning here? If you have something to say then come over to say it. I’m playing mahjong.”

I laughed calculatingly like an evil person.

My mother was about to erupt: “Do you think that calling doesn’t cost money?!?! Do I have to use my brains to protect myself from other people leaving bombs everywhere? Don’t create chaos. If I can’t get good mahjong tiles, then I’ll find you to calculate the bill!”

Aww just like at my status at home. For a mahjong game, a daughter was about to be assassinated.

However, I was feeling good so I wouldn’t bother about this problem: “Congratulations, in the future you’ll have a handsome son-in-law.”

The phone resounded with a BANG from the other end with ample strength. Then, quietness emerged.

After a long time, she slowly said, “Bring him home tomorrow.”

Mother was indeed an impetuous person: “You’re not afraid I won’t lose face by bringing him home immediately afterwards?”

My ma exhausted her voice: “Someone like you finally picked someone up back home, and I’m sooo happy. Who cares if it loses face?”

Even though her words were very logical, seeing that it was from my mother, my heart still felt a bit of shock: “I don’t have to bring him home. You know him. It’s Fang Yuke.” When I spoke of this name, I had already flung my old mother’s ear piercing words behind me. What I got back instead, was pure happiness. In the past, I had not discovered, how liking someone could be such a pleasant feeling.

At the other end, my old mother laughed even more wretchedly. Sure enough, old ginger was hotter than young ginger [1]: “How will my son-in-law escape my fingers? Haha……”

I couldn’t help but sweat. After all she was still a highly conservative old woman.

My old mother suddenly used a solemn and grave tone of voice to tell me: “If you let him go, then don’t come home anymore. Since you’ve dug up gold, then you must protect it well. You haven’t lived for nothing all these years.” When she finished, she put down the phone.

Finally, I had made Wen Tao’s description of “one cannot sleep soundly in the endless night” a reality. The clock was already pointing to 3:00 but I still could not sleep. My passion sure surged up violently. In the middle of the night, the aftermath of expressing my affections was arriving late. The second day, when we gathered together, I was still sleeping in the hotel, until I was pulled off of the bed. I opened my eyes and saw Fang Yuke. I thought I was still dreaming beautifully, so I prepared to close my eyes and sleep more. Fang Yuke hastily seized my face like he was holding onto a tiger skinned cat as he said, “Don’t sleep anymore, don’t sleep anymore. The sun is high in the sky. Everyone’s waiting for you.”

I looked at him sluggishly, wondering if I had really become his girlfriend or not.

Fang Yuke saw I was not awake, and patted my head: “Just now, I called you so many times, but you wouldn’t wake up. If I hadn’t grabbed your hotel card, we would have all thought you died by suicide. Hurry and wash your face.”

I yawned as I got off the bed and wore my shoes, slowly making my way to the bathroom. I was shocked at my friend’s hair in the mirror. I squeezed toothpaste out, and walked out with bubbles all over my mouth: “I finally know what’s wrong. How can you come into my room randomly? If this gets out, my lifetime’s innocence will be ruined by you.”

Fang Yuke wiped off the bubbles on my face. His face still wore a hint of an evil smile: “It’ll be great if this gets out. The farther it gets, the better. It’ll be best if this gets out to Wen Tao’s ears. I want to see Wen Tao super sullen. In the future, let’s hold hands in front of him and show off.”

Men were always childish. But as I kept listening, I automatically remembered the last sentence. Thus, I began to laugh.

Fang Yuke warmly brushed off my hair that stuck up in the air trying to fly: “Be obedient. First go comb your hair.”

I walked even more eagerly towards the restroom. With some water, I managed to press my hair down again.

Today’s assignment was to go to visit the wickerwork craftsmen among the people. Actually, I didn’t care about the theme. Love was sufficient for me to lose all my wisdom. What’s more, I didn’t have much IQ in the beginning. Originally, I would pretend to be aloof. Even if I was in love, I would reflect a “Currently still inspecting and studying” powerful attitude. But grudgingly, my external appearance and inner thoughts coincided which caused my whole face to laugh, with some distortion……

Tan Yi walked over uneasily: “Sis-in-law [2], nothing’s wrong with you right? You’ve already laughed to a bamboo basket for a whole morning.”

I had never felt that “sis-in-law” could sound so pleasing to the ear before. I patted Tan Yi’s shoulders: “As a person, you must be happy. Our hometown has so many cool wickerbasket arts, which can become one of the pillars of our economic development. Art and economics complement each other in this way, jointly improving. I can’t help but feel my heart move with happiness, full of comfort.”

Tan Yi scanned our surroundings: “You didn’t come here to accept an interview, so who are you acting for?”

I sighed: “As an alumni from Peking Uni, I often have to ponder many deep things. If children don’t understand this, I can totally understand why.”

Tan Yi looked at me like he was looking at a freak: “You’ve been possessed? Do you know where you came from?”

“Whence life comes, and where death goes, has always been a perplexing thought ever since the ancient times. If you are curious, sis-in-law can sit down to talk with you about this.”

Tan Yi finally could not stand my Tang Sen form, so he made a fist, hinting he wanted to beat me up.

I immediately acknowledged my mistakes: “In fact, this poor Buddhist nun came from the East Tang Dynasty. She specializes in going to the Western Paradise to worship Buddha to seek her offspring……”

Fang Yuke laughed when he heard us being flippant, with a quiet and content appearance.

In the afternoon, I prepared to nap in the hotel for a moment. As to prevent from being as sleep dead as I was this morning, I especially made my phone ring every five minutes for my alarm clock.

Right after I had made my heart at ease, I splayed out on the bed, heaving a light knock on the door. I lay on the bed and pretended I hadn’t heard it. The person at the door dedicated himself to knocking at the same frequency, almost as if he knew I was trying to sleep.

I angrily got up from the bed I had just been about to fuse into. When I opened the door, I saw the exquisite [3] Ru Ting standing in front of me full of grievances. I felt sympathy [4] and immediately apologized for opening the door late.

My heart faintly felt uneasy. I hadn’t been with Fang Yuke for a day, so there was no time to investigate his past. I always liked to convince myself first. Dating should be viewed broadly and paied attention to. The past was something meant to be forgotten. How many romantic fiction novels had been written internationally. Even movies and dramas told us one thing: Confused lovers often could not obtain God’s blessing, and would create unceasing doubt and jealousy. It would only lead to forcing the couple to part ways [5].

But I knew even more clearly that I would not go investigate because I was afraid. If the same third party had successfully seized the throne, I had no position to ask of his previous relationship with his old primary wife. Even if Fang Yuke didn’t have any relationship with her, Ru Ting had  a deep love towards him that everyone knew about. As for me, she robbed me of what I cherished [6], and I lacked the confidence. My rival was too strong. In each dangerous moment, I did not know if I could win to the ultimate end.

[1] Old ginger was hotter than young ginger: Older people have more experience (LOL)

[2] Actually, Tan Yi calls Lin Lin 小可嫂嫂 which refers to: Xiao Ke's wife/sister-in-law. But I shortened it to sis-in-law because it's shorter and the mood is more evident LOL

[3] 如花似玉: Literally means like a flower and jade. In this case, it means exquisite.

[4] 怜香惜玉之心 (idiom) To have tender, protective feelings for the fairer sex.

[5] 分道扬镳 (lit.) to take different roads and urge the horses on (idiom)/ Fig. To part ways