Chapter Eighty-four

  Many years later, Yu Cai Ping attended a social gathering for the first time and her only impression was when Qi Shu Fan whispered in her ear. At that moment, even Yu Cai Ping, who was known for being fierce, was intimidated by the so-called party and Qi Shu Fan's glamour outside. As soon as she entered the room, she threw herself onto the bed, wanting to cry but unable to produce a single tear due to dry eyes. She wanted to laugh, only to find that her facial muscles were stiff from smiling too much and couldn't move anymore. After staring blankly for a while, she slowly closed her eyes, thinking she wouldn't be able to sleep, but unexpectedly fell into a deep sleep as soon as she did.

  Waking up from a dream, it was still the eternal 5:30. I stared blankly at the dawn light coming through the gap in the curtains, got up to wash my face, and went upstairs to the third floor.

  The fresh air in the morning made Yucai's slightly aching head feel a bit clearer, but she felt inexplicably tired, picked up a book and closed her eyes again.

  When Qi Shu Fan came upstairs to call Yu Cai for breakfast, what he saw was Yu Cai curled up on the swing with a book in her hand and her eyes tightly closed. Her pale face glowed softly in the morning light, but somehow looked fragile. Qi Shu Fan's heart ached immediately, he picked up the thin quilt to cover her, touched her face, "Little Cai——"

  She hummed in response but didn't open her eyes.

  "Are you tired from last night?"

  Uh, to be honest, I was scared.

  "Should we go eat breakfast now or wait a bit?"

  "I'm sleepy—"

  Qī shū fán hěn shì wēn róu de bāng tā lǐ le lǐ líng luàn de tóu fà, "nà nǐ zài shuì yī huìr"

  Translation:

  Qi Shu Fan gently helped her tidy up her disheveled hair, "Then you sleep a bit more".

  Yu Cai gazed blankly at his tall back slowly disappearing at the staircase, patted her own face with a self-mocking smile, and then closed her eyes again.

  But ten days later, when Shi Chengyu brought the unruly Shi Xiaomei to their doorstep, Yu Cai finally knew what it meant to be unable to control one's temper.

  Shi Xiaomei came to the door, obviously because of Qi Xiaoshuai's face. As soon as she heard Yu Cai's refusal, she was dissatisfied: "Hey, you went to that Song Zhiyuan's invitation last time, but you won't go to my elder brother's?"

  The words of Yu Cai are blocked, okay, indeed a bad precedent should not be set.

  Shi Chengyu looked at Yu Cai with a sincere expression, "Yu Cai, I also know that you and Qi Shiyu don't like these gatherings, but since you are Uncle Qi's nephew and niece, such occasions can't be avoided. My father has always been grateful for your help back then, and he hopes to properly thank you through this gathering."

  Yu Cai twitched the corner of her mouth, your old man obviously just finished building a new house and was having a celebratory banquet, Guan's wife's knitting business, sounds really good!

  "We will arrive on time."

  Yu Cai looked at Ji Shi with a surprised expression, and the latter nodded to her, "You're not always interested in real estate?"

  Yu Cai Jian was so angry she wanted to hit the wall, all she cares about is money, okay?!

  "Then you must go, this dinner party will have real estate experts attending, I can introduce you to them and you can ask for their advice if you have any questions."

  "Uh, I didn't mean it that way, and I'm not interested in real estate either."

  Shi Chengyu seemed to have not heard her words, "Then it's settled".

  "By the way, is Xia Yunyun going?"

  Shi Chengyu paused for a moment, "If you want to take her away, it's also okay".

  Alright, Yucai understood, it turns out Xiaomei is still not qualified to go.

  Shi Xiaomei was dissatisfied, "Don't take her with you!"

  "Huh, you don't like her?"

  "She's prettier than me!" Shi Xiaomei hummed.

  Yu Cai lost her smile, Shi Chengyu was embarrassed, "Jue Er, don't talk nonsense, let's just say goodbye, Yu Cai, I won't disturb you two anymore, I'll leave first".

  After Shi Cheng and Yu walked away, Yu Cai cautiously opened his mouth, "A Shi, I want to know the reason, uh, don't fool me with something about being interested in real estate".

  She raised her eyes and looked back at him faintly, "Don't you want to see his whole life?"

  Yu Cai was stunned for a while, and after a long time, she murmured out a call to A Shi, her voice dry and hoarse.

  She glared at him quietly, her anger and hatred almost making her rush over to shout at him: "If you keep staring at me, I'll cry in front of you!"

  The next few days, Yu Cai fell into an unprecedented self-abhorrence and despair. The culprit, Qi Xiao Shuai Ge, coldly watched without any intention of comforting or yielding. Qi Da Shuai Ge, who didn't understand the situation, asked a few times but couldn't get anything out of him, so he concluded that Yu Cai was ill and sent his secretary to escort Yu Cai to the hospital.

  Qishou Fan's new secretary, a capable woman in her forties named Ren Hui, took Yu Cai to the Provincial Hospital. To their surprise, the doctor actually found something wrong with her and said a lot about low blood sugar and low blood pressure, making Yu Cai feel like she was on the verge of death. She returned home in a daze, carrying a bunch of medicine.

  But when Ji Xiao saw Yu Cai really about to put the medicine in her mouth, he finally lost his composure, "Are you crazy?"

  Yu Cai's eyes were calm and flat as she looked at him, "I'm really sick, low blood sugar is no big deal, but low blood pressure is a bit of a problem. Although it's not a huge issue, the doctor suggested I take some medicine."

  Ji Shi hummed and Yu Cai burst out laughing, "A Shi, you've actually learned how to get angry!"

  Qī shì zhī bù zì rán niǔ tóu qù kàn chuāng wài, yù cǎi jiāng shǒu zhōng de yào rēng jìn lèsè tǒng, "hǎo ba, wǒ gāng gāng shì piàn nǐ, wǒ yī diǎn shì dōu méi yǒu, nà yīshēng gūjì yě jiù shì gè jiānghú piànzi".

  "Wait a moment," said Ji Shi quietly, "If you don't want to go—"

  Yu Cai interrupted him, "This time we've already promised, no matter what, we have to go".

  Qī shì zhī diǎn tóu, yù cǎi xiào xiào, "bú guò shí chéng yù hái suàn bù cuò, gēn tā duō jiāo wǎng jiāo wǎng yě hǎo".

  English Translation:

  Qishishi nodded, Yu Cai smiled and said, "But Shi Chengyu is not bad, it's good to get along with him more."