Ex-boyfriend

Before Xu Yue could reply, his cell phone rang.

　　The abrupt noise broke the spell.

　　Xu Yue took out his mobile phone and saw the caller ID displaying Su Yanwen’s name. Chu Yi seemed to have felt it. While holding down his hand he said, “A’Yue, don’t pick it up.”

　　Of course, Xu Yue could not ignore Su Yanwen’s call. He gestured towards Chu Yi and took his phone to the balcony to answer the call.

　　After the call was connected, Su Yanwen’s voice came through. His tone was unusually grave as he said, “A’Yue, there’s been an accident.”

　　Xu Yue’s heart constricted. He asked, “What happened?”

　“Didn’t we send the order of Jiamei to the factory in C City? Just now the manager of the factory called to inform me that a fire broke out in there.”

　“What? Are there any casualties?”

　“No. Everyone is fine. But our batch of goods has suffered serious damage…”

　“If I remember right that consignment was to be shipped next month.”

　“Yes.”

　“How much did we lose?”

　“That’s still unclear. Manager Wang hopes that we will send someone over to deal with this matter right away. I was planning to go over immediately.”

　　Xu Yue directly said without thinking over, “I’ll go with you.”

　“A’Yue …”

　“You can’t be solely responsible for such an important matter. It’s also hard to drive to C City at night. It’s better to take turns driving.”

　　Su Yanwen muttered, “Ok. Fine.”

　    “I will contact you after I pack my things.”

　　Xu Yue hung up the phone and turned around to find Chu Yi standing right behind him.

　   “What’s the matter?” Chu Yi asked.

　　Xu Yue briefly explained about the fire in the factory and informed him, “I’m planning to go to C City tonight.”

　　Chu Yi stared at him with dark eyes and asked, “With Su Yanwen?”

　“This matter is serious. He can’t handle it alone.”

　“Isn’t Fu Mingjie there to help him?”

　“Yanwen called me. I can’t shirk my responsibility.”

　　Chu Yi sneered, “Right, just as convenient for him to get you all alone.”

　　Xu Yue said exasperatedly, “This is work.”

　“What if… I don’t want you to go?” Chu Yi’s hands encircled Xu Yue’s shoulders as he whispered softly, “A’Yue, stay with me.”

　　If it was Xu Yue from ten years ago who had heard Chu Yi’s words, he would have been willing to go through fire and water[1].

　　But, after all, he was not who he was ten years ago.

　　Xu Yue of now was cool-headed and tenacious. He gently pulled away Chu Yi’s hand and said, “Don’t make this difficult. I’ll be back after I have settled this matter.”

　　After speaking, he turned, entered the bedroom and packed the clothes to bring along.

　　Chu Yi was at Xu Yue’s heels, refusing to let go. He said, “Must you go tonight? Can’t you wait until tomorrow? Stay tonight and I’ll go with you tomorrow.”

　“Since it is Jiamei’s consignment, it will be very troublesome if delayed.”

　“What trouble can’t money solve? There is no problem in this world that money can’t solve. If there is, that’s certainly because enough money wasn’t spent.”

　　Xu Yue didn’t have too many clothes. He picked a few pieces of clothing and stuffed them into a suitcase, grabbed a few items of daily necessity and soon enough he had finished packing. As he dragged the suitcase to the door, he said, “That’s probably how Young Master Chu solves problems. But that’s not me. I’m just an ordinary person.”

 When he was about to open to the door to leave, the doorbell rang and Su Yanwen’s voice came from outside, “A’Yue, it’s me. Are you home?”

　　Xu Yue was about to open the door but was caught by Chu Yi.

　　Chu Yi stepped forward. While deliberately blocking the door he reached out and grabbed Xu Yue’s collar, tugged it down and pressed their lips together.

　　Just like that kiss in the school storeroom many years ago.

　　Xu Yue was out of breath.

　　He didn’t recover until the doorbell rang again. Su Yanwen shouted from the other side of the door, “A’Yue, are you home?”

　　Chu Yi snorted and bit Xu Yue’s lip hard.

　　Xu Yue was in pain but he managed to say, “Give me five minutes.”

　　Only then did Chu Yi retreat. His voice was low and soft when he said, “A’Yue, you refused to reconcile with me and I obliged. You let Su live next door, I put up with it. Now all that I’m asking is for you to stay with me tonight. Can’t you do that for me? You have no clue how important tonight is for me.”

　　Xu Yue was flabbergasted. Wasn’t it just Christmas? What’s so important? But it is true that Chu Yi had spent a lot of thought and effort into tonight. He couldn’t just leave. So, he said, “I’m sorry but this matter is truly too urgent. Wait for my return. When I’m back, I’ll celebrate with you, alright?”

　　Chu Yi gazed at him profoundly, suddenly smiled and said, “I’m afraid that after tonight, it will be too late.”

　    “What will be too late?”

　　Chu Yi didn’t answer, just asked, “Do you really have to go?”

　     “Of course.”

　　Chu Yi stayed quiet for a moment. When he spoke again, he returned to smiling, “Okay. But you are in such a hurry. You haven’t even eaten dinner yet.”

　“I’ll grab something on the way.”

　“Drive safe.”

　“Yeah.”

　“Don’t forget what you promised. When you return, you must dance with me the remaining half.”

　“Okay.”

　　Chu Yi moved from his position, gently adjusted Xu Yue’s collar and said with a smile, “Go ahead.”

　　Xu Yue was in awe at Chu Yi’s rapid change, but with Su Yanwen anxiously waiting outside the door he didn’t have time to think about it. He picked up his suitcase and went to open the door. The moment his hand touched the doorknob, he heard Chu Yi shout out, “A’Yue.”

　　When Xu Yue turned his head, he saw a black shadow flash past, hitting his forehead hard.

　　He felt a sudden pang of pain following which the whole world revolved and his body fell over. As his vision gradually blurred, he saw Chu Yi’s barefoot step on the floor, those fair and fine ankles –  

so beautiful[2].

[1] Kun Yi Wei Lou wrote ‘上刀山下火海’ ‘shàng dāo shān xià huǒ hǎi’ which means ‘ascend mountain of daggers, descend into inferno’. 刀山火海 (dāo shān huǒ hǎi) refers to extreme danger.

Super sidenote:
Gunung Mulu National Park in Malaysia has jagged karst formations formed by dissolved limestone (Source|Forbes) that looks like a mountain of daggers.

刀山 (dāo shān) is one of the 18 Levels of Hell (Diyu). So is 火 (fire).
上刀山 (shàng dāo shān) refers to the following ritualistic stunt.

[2] Kun Yi Wei Lou wrote ‘好看’ ‘hǎo kàn’. The phrase finds sarcastic usage in Chinese. Therefore, alternative translation would be ‘how embarrassing’. I’m took into account the fact that Xu Yue was talking about Chu Yi’s feet in the above line. However, there is a possibility of him expressing his embarrassment over falling for Chu Yi’s trick yet again.