Defeated By Love

He was the one who liked to wear women’s clothing and because of that, he would always be chased around the streets getting beaten by his mum. In the past, she would come to this store to buy things and he would tease her by making his voice slightly higher and getting her to call him sister.

Shu Nian didn’t want to at the beginning and had thought that this person was very strange.

But over time it slowly became a habit.

“When did you come back?” He didn’t wear women’s clothes like before and his hair was cut short which made him appear a little more handsome. He smiled and said. “I haven’t seen you in a long time.”

Shu Nian spoke in a hurry. “I came back yesterday.”

The man didn’t ask anymore and pointed to the bottle of orange juice: “That’s 7 yuan.”

Shu Nian paid with her phone: “I’ll go back now. Happy New Year.”

“Happy New Year.”

The man stood where he was, looking at her back and suddenly remembered the past. At that time, there was always a slim, tall and gloomy teenager walking beside her.

One was tall and the other short and they had vastly different temperaments.

When they stood together, it was especially harmonious. She looked like a little rabbit with a wolf’s tail.

When he teased Shu Nian, the teenage boy would always stand in front of him supporting a cold face.

He would be very unhappy, and his emotions were always easy to decipher.

These two were born in Shiyan Town and had grown up here too. But in the end, this place had become the very last place they wanted to come back to.

The man sighed and suddenly stopped Shu Nian: “Little sister.”

“…”

“Are you still in touch with the boy from the Xie family?”

Shu Nian held the orange juice and stood where she was: “What’s wrong?”

The man scratched his head, but he didn’t know whether to mention it or not: “His father is extremely ill and I just thought that it was necessary to mention it but you don’t need to think too much into it.”

When Shu Nian got home, Aunt Chen’s son had left. She didn’t ask what he was there to do and the three of them had New Year’s Eve dinner together. Then, they all went to the living room to watch the Spring Festival Gala and chat.

Deng Qingyu came after 8PM but Wang Hao and Wang Linxi were nowhere in sight.

While they were chatting, Shu Nian carried her clothes in her arms to the bathroom for a shower.

When she came out, her grandparents were getting ready to go to bed. Deng Qingyu looked tired and smiled at her. She took the clothes she brought with her and was going to take a shower too.

Shu Nian was surprised: “Mum, you aren’t going back today?”

Deng Qingyu replied. “I came over to accompany you and will go back tomorrow.”

Shu Nian didn’t say anything.

Seeing her expression, Deng Qingyu half-joked: “What’s wrong? Are you unhappy that your mum came over?”

Shu Nian quickly shook her head: “No.”

When Deng Qingyu entered the bathroom, Shu Nian went back to the bedroom with her phone and sat on the bed before remembering the phone call made by Xie Ruhe last night.

She was very sleepy at that time.

When Xie Ruhe said something, a few times she had need to take a while before understanding the meaning of his words.

Shu Nian didn’t remember much what they talked about. She just remembered that Xie Ruhe asked her if she wanted to stay up for the New Year and she had agreed. But after a while, he suddenly said that he remembered the wrong date.

Then, Shu Nian went to bed.

At first glance, Xie Ruhe was probably very eager to find someone to accompany him to welcome the New Year.

But today Deng Qingyu came to stay the night with her and she couldn’t accompany him. She bit the knuckle of her index finger and thought about it for a moment before sending him a WeChat message:【Happy New Year.】

Xie Ruhe quickly replied:【Shu Nian, Happy New Year.】

Shu Nian scratched her head and said.【I’m going to bed.】

After a while, Xie Ruhe replied:【En, good night.】

Shu Nian also said good night but there was no feeling of ease because she didn’t know if he spent New Year’s Eve alone or went to his grandpa’s house. She was worried that he would be alone during the festival.

Thinking back to what the man had said in the convenience store today, Shu Nian was a little hesitant to tell him.

Xie Ruhe’s father…

Finally, Shu Nian gave up the idea.

It just so happened that Deng Qingyu came back from the bathroom at that time. She came over to dry Shu Nian’s hair with a hairdryer and then went to the side to blow dry her own hair.

Shu Nian looked at her and whispered. “Won’t Uncle Wang be unhappy that you came here?”

“No.” Deng Qingyu said, “how can a grown man be so stingy?”

Seeing that her expression didn’t seem to be lying, Shu Nian was relieved and continued to play with her phone.

After a while, Deng Qingyu put the hairdryer on the table and came to lie on the bed, squeezing under the quilt with her. She looked sleepy and her voice was gentle as she told her what happened today.

It didn’t take long for Deng Qingyu to fall asleep.

In order to accommodate Shu Nian, Deng Qingyu didn’t turn off the lights. The room was bright and clear.

Shu Nian couldn’t sleep and stared at the white ceiling feeling a little lost. It wasn’t quiet outside at all and she could faintly hear the sound of laughter and the sound of fireworks bursting in the sky.

Shu Nian looked in the direction of the window.

She thought back to the year of her sixteenth birthday. A teenager who waited for an unknown time outside and had patiently knocked on her window. Together, they froze outside, protected the same candle and talked about what they wanted to do in the future.

Unconsciously, they also welcomed the New Year together.

Thinking of that, Shu Nian picked up her phone and took a look at the time.

It was almost midnight.

She pursed her lips and made up her mind to creep out of bed.

Deng Qingyu slept soundly. She didn’t notice her movements and turned over but Shu Nian was scared by her. After half a minute of staying frozen, she slowly got up and left the room.

She seemed to have gone back to the time when she would secretly go out to find Xie Ruhe without Deng Qingyu’s knowledge.

Shu Nian wrapped herself in a large coat, but her body still trembled in the cold as she walked into the yard.

She took a deep breath and turned on the phone to call Xie Ruhe.

It rang 3 times before it got picked up.

Shu Nian was feeling breathless and she didn’t know what to say for a moment.

Afterwards, Xie Ruhe opened his mouth. His tone was groggy with a little drowsiness like he had just woken up and was still stuck in a dream.

“Shu Nian?”

Hearing his tone, Shu Nian paused and hesitated to ask. “Are you sleeping?”

“Yeah.” Xie Ruhe said. “You said you were going to bed.”

“…”

“So, I went to bed too.”