Chapter 139: Forms Of Address
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
Zhou Wenxu spoke about fan circles so clearly, it completely changed how Xi Mo used to see him.
But he was a very reliable bodyguard. Otherwise, Xi Mo wouldn’t have let him handle her home security all this time. He stood at the door and chatted with Ruan Yesheng for a bit, then remembered his duty and said, “Miss Ruan, I need to get back to work. Let’s talk again when we have time.”
“Okay, go ahead, Mr. Zhou,” Ruan Yesheng nodded.
Earlier, Ruan Yesheng called him “Mr. Two” because seeing Zhou Wenxu reminded her of how back in college, Xi Mo’s bodyguards were numbered by their classmates. She said it without thinking. Now she corrected herself, thinking it was better to call him Mr. Zhou.
Zhou Wenxu said, “Just call me Mr. Two like before.”
There was a bit of guilt in Ruan Yesheng’s eyes. She smiled and said, “Back in college, I was childish. I shouldn’t have called you Mr. Two. You have a name. I should call you Mr. Zhou. That sounds more proper.”
Zhou Wenxu quickly waved his hand. “Back then, I thought it sounded fun. Miss Ruan, you can just keep calling me Mr. Two like before, it’s fine. Mr. Two sounds more familiar than Mr. Zhou, and it’s special too.”
“Special?” Ruan Yesheng said.
Xi Mo’s eyes shifted slightly and looked at Ruan Yesheng.
Zhou Wenxu was open and direct, not the kind of person who played around with fake polite talk. He always spoke sincerely. He said, “Yes, I think the name Mr. Two sounds special. No one else calls me that. When I hear it, it actually makes me happy.”
“Alright, Mr. Two.” Ruan Yesheng’s smile deepened a bit. “Then I’ll keep calling you that from now on.”
Zhou Wenxu let out a hearty laugh, then looked at Xi Mo and said, “Got any new orders for me?”
“Didn’t I just say earlier there’s nothing planned?” Xi Mo was still caught up in regret. She probably wouldn’t get over it that fast.
But Zhou Wenxu said, “That was earlier. This is now. Now that you know you missed all those gifts and letters Miss Ruan gave you before, I thought you would want to get them back.”
Xi Mo: “…”
She really was full of regret, and deep down she did want to find those gifts and letters right away.
But who asked Zhou Wenxu to say it directly?
Xi Mo gave Ruan Yesheng a sideways glance.
Ruan Yesheng did not say anything, but her eyes curved with a smile. She kept looking straight at her, with expectation that could not be hidden.
Zhou Wenxu looked serious and said to Xi Mo, “Anyway, the gifts and letters you received all these years were put in the building where we lived. Most of them were not lost. I will bring people to help you look. Maybe we can find some.”
Xi Mo: “…”
…Zhou Wenxu, do you dare to reveal it even more clearly?
Xi Mo kept a straight face and said, “Go back to work first.”
“Not planning to look for them?” Zhou Wenxu sounded a little regretful.
Xi Mo didn't answer directly, she only said, “Wait for me to arrange it.”
Zhou Wenxu nodded and turned to leave.
Xi Mo felt the awkwardness crawling up along her spine. She lowered her gaze and stayed silent for a moment. Then she raised her eyes and looked at Ruan Yesheng, saying, “Back then, I didn’t mean to not open your gifts and letters. I just… didn’t see them.”
“I know, don't mind it,” Ruan Yesheng only acted like she was complaining a bit. She did not really blame her and smiled. “Who told you to receive so many gifts and letters? How could you manage all of them?”
When she found out that the gifts and letters she sent out never truly reached Xi Mo’s hands, she did feel a bit disappointed. But this was not Xi Mo’s problem.
During the time she acted as Xi Mo, she received countless fan letters and gifts in her place, so she naturally understood the feeling of gifts and letters piling up like a mountain. To open all of them was completely impossible. Whether it was the gift boxes or the letters, she could only randomly pick a small part to open.
Xi Mo really cherished the fans’ sincerity.
Lu Qingming would organize all the letters received during a certain period and give them to Xi Mo. Xi Mo would then pick some letters to read. She said she did not like reading letters where fans harassed her and found them annoying, but those cute and warm ones, she liked reading them.
If she randomly came across an interesting fan letter, she would also read it with a smile on her lips.
But there was no helping it. There were just too many.
The starry sky was vast. If each person was a star, Xi Mo was like the one among them that shone the brightest. She was surrounded by so many, so many little stars that liked her. How could she possibly respond to every single star’s feelings?
“You couldn’t finish reading the gifts and letters you received before, but all of them were kept?” After hearing what Zhou Wenxu said, warmth had already quietly risen in Ruan Yesheng’s heart. She softly asked Xi Mo.
Mm.” Xi Mo vaguely answered. “Most of them are placed on the third floor of the next building.”
Even though many of the birthday gifts were given because of her father Xi Ji or her own face, and people came to curry favor, after all, they were given by others. It would be impolite to throw them away. So she let the trusted helpers go open them.
After confirming they were not things that rot or grow mold easily, they would be kept as they were. But she never looked through them herself, so she did not know what those gifts actually were.
As for fan gifts, Xi Mo told the company to screen them. She only accepted handmade gifts and rejected all others. This could greatly reduce the number.
Handmade gifts often needed a lot of time and effort. If she refused them, it would really trample on their sincerity. Xi Mo felt they should be properly kept. As for things like letters, those were written stroke by stroke by fans, and they did not take space, so they were all kept.
“The third floor is all used for these?” Ruan Yesheng had never been to the next building, so she asked.
Luckily, Xi Mo had two houses here. The place was big. If not, just storing these gifts and letters would already be a big problem.
“More or less.” A hint of worry appeared on Xi Mo’s face. She said, “Your gifts and letters were sent during college. At that time I was still living at the Xi family manor. I had not moved here yet. When I moved, the ones placed in the manor were all brought over together. In that process, I do not know if anything got lost.”
“It’s alright,” Ruan Yesheng comforted her. “It’s okay even if some were lost. They weren’t anything important anyway.”
But Xi Mo frowned.
"Go inside, it is cold standing at the door." Ruan Yesheng reached out and held her arm, then smiled at her.
Xi Mo did not speak anymore. She followed Ruan Yesheng inside and closed the door.
The two of them walked back to the sofa and sat down, continuing to watch the variety show from before.
In the show, Shen Qingbie was like a happy fruit. Ruan Yesheng almost laughed until her eyes teared up several times. Xi Mo’s eyes were staring at the TV, but her mind was heavy.
Ruan Yesheng rarely had the chance to relax and watch TV. Sometimes she would also check her phone, chatting with close friends, and occasionally looking at her Moments*.
*WeChat feature similar to Facebook Timeline
She refreshed the page and saw Lin Tingshuang had posted a photo. It was a selfie of her and Lin Tingyu.
From the angle, it looked like Lin Tingshuang was holding the phone. Lin Tingyu bent down and rested her hand on the back of the wheelchair. Her smile was warm and gentle. Behind them was a floor-to-ceiling window. In the distant background, there were rows of tall buildings. The farther it went, the blurrier the outlines, under the gray and hazy sky.
Ruan Yesheng left a comment: "Back to Shanghai?"
Lin Tingshuang had just posted the photo not long ago, so she replied almost instantly. She also added several cute emoticons. "Good morning, Ruanruan. A’Ting and I already came home today."
She knew that Ruan Yesheng and Xi Mo had come out of the hospital, so she added another sentence: “You are at home too, right? How is your body feeling?”
Ruan Yesheng glanced sideways at Xi Mo, then vaguely replied, “Mm, I am in Shanghai too. My body is recovering well. How about you?”
“I’m good too. I feel a lot better than the past few days.”
Ruan Yesheng saw that Lin Tingyu and Cui Jiayu both liked the photo.
Lin Tingshuang seemed like she did not expect Ruan Yesheng to comment on her post and got a little excited. She treated this place like a chat window and kept replying to Ruan Yesheng, saying: “I just saw that Jiajia quietly liked it again, but Jiajia almost never comments on me.”
Ruan Yesheng replied, “Do you like ‘likes’ or do you like ‘comments’?”
Lin Tingshuang replied, “I like ‘likes’, I like ‘comments’ more, and I like ‘likes’ and ‘comments’ together the most.”
Not long after Lin Tingshuang posted, Lin Tingyu showed up and instantly hyped her up in the comments: “A'Shuang’s photo looks pretty because A'Shuang is really pretty today, so the photo turned out pretty.”
Lin Tingshuang was amused by Lin Tingyu and replied to Ruan Yesheng below: “A'Ting is standing right next to me, and she’s still commenting on me.”
Cui Jiayu also came out from lurking and bubbled up a comment: “Lin Tingyu, aren’t you disgusting?”
Lin Tingyu replied to Cui Jiayu with a smiley face emoji: “I’m praising my little sister, are you jealous?”
Cui Jiayu cursed her in the comments, but the words got censored by the system and were covered up by a few asterisks. She almost went crazy from anger.
Lin Tingyu replied to her, "Jiajia, be good, use proper words."
Cui Jiayu was scared the system would eat her words again, so she just replied with three words, "Your uncle*."
*大爷 (dà yé) means Uncle from father's side and also son of the idle rich/self-centered show-off, Usage: to call out someone's bullshit.
Lin Tingshuang asked Cui Jiayu, "Jiajia, I heard from Brother Jiashu that they want to transfer you back to Shanghai, but you just won't come back. Now that we're not in the same city, we can't even meet. If you could come back, that would be great. We could have dinner often and play together like when we were kids."
When Ruan Yesheng saw Lin Tingshuang's reply and the two words 'Jiashu', she finally confirmed that Cui Jiayu's brother really was Cui Jiashu.
She didn’t know much about Cui Jiashu. Once Yan Tinghuan got back, she have to ask her carefully.
Cui Jiayu replied to Lin Tingshuang, "Who said I’m not coming back?"
Ruan Yesheng replied to Cui Jiayu, "Officer Cui’s getting transferred back to Shanghai too?"
"Yes, already confirmed with my brother. The transfer order will come in a while." Cui Jiayu replied real fast. It looked like it was a rare break, she wasn’t busy with a case right now.
The four of them were in the comments. You replied to me, I replied to you, then I replied to her. It was a messy stew. Very soon, a tall building was built in the comment section.
Lin Tingshuang typed: “It feels kinda messy chatting like this. How about I add everyone into one chat? What do you all think?”
Ruan Yesheng and Lin Tingyu agreed gladly.
Even though Cui Jiayu replied with just “troublesome,” she still joined.
When Ruan Yesheng went in and saw, the group chat was first called “A’Ting and A’Shuang.” Looked like it used to be Lin Tingyu and Lin Tingshuang’s secret little place to chat.
But after everyone came in, Lin Tingyu changed the name. She changed it to: “Sisters who love each other.”
Cui Jiayu was the first to complain about the name: “Why is it always ‘Family who love each other’ or ‘Sisters who love each other,’ it’s like this all over the country. Can’t there be just a little change?”
Very soon, Lin Tingshuang changed the name again. She changed it to: “Shanghai Sisters who love each other.”
Ruan Yesheng: “…”
Lin Tingyu: “A’Shuang did well changing it.”
Cui Jiayu: “…”
What kind of change was that? Was there any clear difference between Zhang Guihua and Zhang Guihua from the west end of the village?
But actually, everyone inside the group was indeed from Shanghai.
Lin Tingshuang: “Jiajia, didn’t you say to Brother Jiashu before that you didn’t want to transfer back? How come you suddenly changed your mind?”
Cui Jiayu: “That suspicious Yang Zhen showed up in Shanghai this morning. He rented a place, signed a long-term lease. Looks like he’s planning to stay long in Shanghai. It’s not convenient to go over there with the district I’m in now. Yang Zhen is connected to two cases, I have to get these two cases investigated properly. At first, I didn’t want to go back so soon, but now that I think about it, going back is not bad either.”
Ruan Yesheng saw that message, and her heart skipped a beat. She immediately turned sideways and handed her phone to Xi Mo.
Xi Mo had been sitting right next to Ruan Yesheng. She noticed that Ruan Yesheng had been chatting with someone just now, chatting very warmly. Her fingers typing hadn’t stopped at all.
She really wanted to know who Ruan Yesheng was talking to, chatting so happily, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask.
She didn’t expect Ruan Yesheng to shove the phone right under her nose. She froze for a moment.
When she saw clearly the few lines of words Cui Jiayu had sent on the screen, her face darkened.
Not long after Cui Jiayu sent that message, it was recalled.
Ruan Yesheng could tell, this was on purpose.
Cui Jiayu wanted to explain to them why she had to return to Shanghai. But since it involved part of the case, she couldn’t say it outright. So she sent it out first, then recalled it to erase the trace.
"Yang Zhen is in Shanghai?" Xi Mo frowned. "And plans to stay long?"
"The contract says long-term rent. Looks like he’ll be staying a while." Ruan Yesheng felt faintly uneasy. "His family and the cops are looking for him everywhere. There's no way he doesn’t know. What is he doing coming to Shanghai at a time like this?"
"I don't know," Xi Mo said. "It’s hard for us to dig that up. But Cui Jiayu’s keeping a close eye on him. She tracked him to Shanghai this fast. Looks like she’ll have to keep checking."
Everyone in the chat group got what Cui Jiayu meant. Nobody said anything else about Yang Zhen and just changed the topic.
Ruan Yesheng also sent a lot of replies.
The chatting eased her tension. Her smile slowly returned as she looked at her phone screen.
Xi Mo's frown deepened. Seeing them chatting so happily together, yet only she wasn’t part of it, she suddenly felt a subtle displeasure.
It was like a bunch of kids playing together, and no one invited her. How could she not be mad?
But she didn’t show it on her face. She just stared at Ruan Yesheng, then glanced at the screen, and asked coldly, “You’re chatting with these good sisters, can I look? Would it be inconvenient?”
Ruan Yesheng was sharp and delicate. Of course she knew what Xi Mo was thinking. But with Xi Mo’s usual proud and aloof manner, she definitely wouldn’t take the initiative to join in.
But if she didn’t join, Xi Mo would keep being unhappy.
Ruan Yesheng couldn't bear to let Xi Mo be unhappy. So she privately contacted Cui Jiayu and the Lin sisters, asking them to add Xi Mo.
The Lin sisters were of course happy to do so.
Cui Jiayu, being Xi Mo’s secret hardcore fan, had volcanoes erupting in her head, then a Pacific tsunami, then mudslides rolling down the mountains. She was so excited she couldn’t even describe it.
After a while, Xi Mo got three friend requests in a row. Her expression stiffened a bit as she looked at Ruan Yesheng.
Ruan Yesheng had an innocent look on her face. “Maybe they remembered you’re also from Shanghai and want to be close-loving Shanghai sisters with you.”
Xi Mo: “…”
“Will you accept them?” Ruan Yesheng asked softly.
Xi Mo didn’t say anything, but she approved all of them.
Lin Tingshuang then invited Xi Mo into the group chat. Xi Mo didn’t decline, but she didn’t say anything either.
Cui Jiayu had already gotten Xi Mo’s private contact earlier and was drowning in happiness. Now seeing Xi Mo also join the group’s chat circle, her heart is beating like crazy. She kept thinking of what to say, hoping to leave a good impression on Xi Mo.
She thought over and over, then asked Cheng Yu to send over the police promotional video she joined before, then she sent it into the chat.
The others saw Cui Jiayu sent a video and clicked it to watch.
The promo started with aerial shots, showing a top-down view of the police station. Then the camera changed, entered from the gate. One row after another of police in uniform stood tall and sharp in the frame. They were split into several small teams, and each team leader said a strong and powerful promo slogan.
When it came to Cui Jiayu's team, she looked bold and heroic on screen, smiling, reading her lines with rising and falling tone:
Follow the law, loved by all, flowers bloom when you go by!
Break the law, proof is tight, rot in jail till you die!
It actually rhymed quite well.
Lin Tingshuang: "Jiajia’s so cool!"
Lin Tingyu: "Jiajia, I suggest you recall this, what do you think?"
Other than that, no more replies.
Ruan Yesheng held her phone and laughed. After watching Cui Jiayu’s promo video, Xi Mo had a complicated look but said nothing.
Cui Jiayu’s fevered brain calmed down. She regretted it a lot and wanted to click recall, but the time had passed. She couldn’t recall it anymore. She was so mad she almost spat blood. She could only reply under the video: “I slipped my hand. Don’t save it. Delete it, all of you.”
Lin Tingshuang: “Don’t worry, Jiajia, I deleted it.”
Lin Tingyu: “I saved it. For future laughs.”
Ruan Yesheng: “Officer Cui, I deleted it too.”
Xi Mo: “…I didn't see anything. Already deleted.”
Cui Jiayu saw Xi Mo's reply and got so excited, it almost felt like a Pacific Ocean tsunami again. The Pacific Ocean was really busy, probably going to stir up trouble in Cui Jiayu’s heart all day today.
Cui Jiayu’s hand shook a little while typing: “Ruanruan, Goddess, you two don’t have to be so polite. Don’t call me Officer Cui. Use something people who know each other would use.”
She still didn’t dare use the word ‘friend’ in front of Xi Mo, so she tactfully used ‘people who know each other.’ She at least had that bit of self-awareness.
Lin Tingyu: “Ruanruan, Xi Mo, just call her Jiajia.”
Ruan Yesheng: “Okay, Jiajia.”
Xi Mo: “...Jiajia.”
Cui Jiayu: “...”
Cui Jiayu hated that Lin Tingyu stirred things up, but hearing Ruan Yesheng and Xi Mo call her Jiajia, she somehow found it nice to hear. Especially since even Xi Mo called her Jiajia, Cui Jiayu felt like she might faint today.
Names were really an interesting thing. The same name, but when said by someone else, felt completely different.
They chatted for quite a while. Then Cui Jiayu had to get busy, so things finally quieted down.
Ruan Yesheng and Xi Mo finished watching the rest of the variety show. After a while, the helper who went grocery shopping came back and brought in a few bags.
Ruan Yesheng thanked her and told her to go rest. She took out the ingredients from the bags, sorted and washed them one by one, then put them into the refrigerator.
Seeing that it was almost lunchtime, Xi Mo stood beside Ruan Yesheng. She watched as Ruan Yesheng skillfully organized everything, then asked, “What are we eating for lunch?”
Ruan Yesheng motioned toward the different ingredients on the counter while continuing to take out the fruits. She said, “All the dishes are here. See what you want to eat?”
“Chicken breast,” Xi Mo said. “Broccoli.”
"Okay." Ruan Yesheng moved her hand around in the bag, touched something, but didn’t take it out. Instead, she grabbed another one.
Xi Mo saw a bit of bright red showing through that white bag. She leaned in, trying to get a better look. She reached out, opened the bag, and saw a box of bright red cherries inside.
Xi Mo: “…”
Maybe it was because of the script they read earlier, Xi Mo had become really sensitive to cherries. She looked at Ruan Yesheng with a weird expression. “Why did you buy cherries?”
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.
“To eat, of course.” Ruan Yesheng got caught but didn’t panic. She smiled naturally. “Cherries are full of nutrients. Eat more fruit, it’s good for your health.”
Xi Mo went quiet. She seemed to be thinking something over.
Ruan Yesheng reached into another bag and suddenly stopped. Her eyes lit up, like she found something fun.
She pulled it out of the bag, it was a bright yellow lemon, which she held up and shook in front of Xi Mo.
Ruan Yesheng remembered how Xi Mo stopped the helper earlier and whispered something to her. She didn’t hear it back then, but now she understood everything. She said, “I wrote cherries on the list I gave Auntie, but I didn’t write lemons. Why would Auntie buy lemons?”
Xi Mo: “…”
Ruan Yesheng knew Xi Mo well. “Auntie always follows the list when she shops. She never decides things on her own, unless you told her to buy lemons.”
Xi Mo stood in front of her. After a long pause, she finally admitted, “Yes, I was the one who told her to buy them.”
“Why did you want lemons?” Ruan Yesheng saw right through her and smiled.
Xi Mo looked straight into Ruan Yesheng’s eyes and said honestly this time, “I want to drink honey lemon water.”
Author’s Note:
Drink honey lemon water first, then eat big cherries. This little life of cohabitation is so wonderful.
