CH 83

Chapter 83 – Yearning Agreement

He would always remember

Pei Tingsong found that he had nothing to do and felt even more bored to death. Since he was worried recently, simply reading books wasn’t very effective in meeting his needs, which was why he had secretly ordered a Sudoku book online, for he wanted to learn Fang Juexia’s unique emotion management method.

However, just as he got started, he found himself confused and unfocused. At one point, he even wanted to go online to find a tutorial, but unfortunately, his sneaky actions were discovered by He Ziyan. 

“Oh, Sudoku, little philosopher.” He Ziyan was holding the Haagen Dazs ice cream he had bought in his hand, and his headphones were hanging from around his neck.

Pei Tingsong didn’t know what he was feeling guilty of, but he covered the Sudoku book with his hand. “Aren’t you writing songs? How come you spend hours writing, but then suddenly start going out to fish?”

“Don’t change the subject.” He Ziyan teased him intentionally, “Come, Gege will have a look, how many have you filled out?”

“Get up, don’t sit on my bed.”

“Wow, not only did you learn Sudoku, but also how to maintain cleanliness as well.” He Ziyan grew more energetic the more he teased, and next, he opened the window to shout at the balcony next door, “Teacher Fang, quickly come here and help with some Sudoku.”

In this way, everyone learned that Pei Tingsong was attempting to do a Sudoku puzzle. With the attitude of holding a broken pot that he was about to throw down again, Pei Tingsong went to Fang Juexia’s room with his Sudoku book. Ling Yi wasn’t there, so it was just the two of them. 

Fang Juexia had heard what He Ziyan had announced a long time ago. When he turned around to greet Pei Tingsong, his face carried a smile. “You are doing Sudoku ah.” With a smile, he picked up the book in his hand and showed it to Pei Tingsong. “I’m reading this.”

With this, he seemed to be expressing to Pei Tingsong: You see, I’m doing the same silly thing as you.

His previously slumped down mood was swept away by Fang Juexia’s open and lovely expression. Pei Tingsong put the Sudoku book on the table, and then laid down on Fang Juexia’s bed, looking at him with his eyes as he requested, “Teacher Fang, teach me.”

“How are there any students who, when begging for help, would immediately lay on their teacher’s bed as soon as they arrive.”

Pei Tingsong raised his eyebrows. “I’m just such a student.”

Fang Juexia choked. Fearing that Pei Tingsong would continue to tease him on this topic, he could only compromise with himself. “Alright, alright, alright, I’ll teach you.”

Pei Tingsong, who was still a student, had dyed his silver hair back to a low-key dark brown. Anyway, they were past the publicity period, and he looked a lot more obedient like this.

Fang Juexia pulled him up, took a stool, and made him sit properly. One by one, he taught him some of his own tips about how to fill in the Sudoku boxes, explaining things such as explicit number pairs, explicit arrays, and unique solutions, etc. He explained every single one of these very thoroughly. 

He was very patient and spoke in a gentle voice. He really felt a bit like a teacher. From time to time, he would ask him, “Do you understand this? It’s not actually that hard.”

Pei Tingsong nodded. Only now had he come to know that Sudoku also contained so many tips and techniques. It also wasn’t that boring when Fang Juexia explained them. On the contrary, he would analyze these techniques and link them back to logic. No wonder many mathematicians in history also carried the title of being philosophers.

He looked at Fang Juexia’s serious side profile, unable to help himself from drawing closer. 

Pei Tingsong wondered if it would be a little blasphemous to kiss him at this time.

But he really wanted to kiss him.

Pei Tingsong’s thoughts were disturbed by the sudden vibration that came from his cellphone. He looked down and saw that it was his older sister calling, a person who never contacted him in such a proper manner usually. 

A few days ago, it had been his living-the-high-life mother who had called ten times a day, as if she had finally remembered that she had given birth to a son in her life. Yet, Pei Tingsong didn’t tend to her at all, just skimming through the messages she had sent. 

Her concern for him was false, but her personal interest was true.

Finally, it was now his Jie’s turn. Pei Tingsong knew that her purpose was most likely against that of their mother’s. Although this Jiejie, who was seven years older than him, was usually cold and proud, she at least regarded him as a real person. 

“Why aren’t you picking up?” Fang Juexia asked.

Pei Tingsong thought about it. “It’s my Jie. If she calls, it’s definitely not for anything good.”

Fang Juexia knew that his family situation was complicated, and he didn’t want to intervene, but he also saw that Pei Tingsong wasn’t exactly rejecting the idea of picking up the call. It was more like he was playing at throwing a childish temper, so Fang Juexia pushed. “Maybe it’s something big, take the call ba.”

After listening to him say that, Pei Tingsong pursed his lips and picked up the phone. He put on his earphones and stood up, heading out towards the balcony. He crouched in front of the whole green garden raised by Fang Juexia and started talking in English. He reached out to play with the little hibiscus that had grown into a pink cloud in front of him.

Fang Juexia sat quietly at the table and continued to read that book he hadn’t finished yet. He didn’t know whether he had been born with a keen sense of hearing or he was too attentive towards Pei Tingsong, but Fang Juexia could detect every small change in his tone. 

He felt that there was some conflict going on.

The call didn’t last very long. Pei Tingsong hung up and kept squatting on the balcony. His eyes moved from the little hibiscus to the blue leadwort, and finally fell on the most humble cactus.

He pulled the cactus’ pot out of the corner and put it in front of him, staring at it in silence.

Fang Juexia went over to him, squatted down beside him, and pretended to make a fuss over something normal. “What’s wrong with my cactus, how are the thorns wilting?”

“Alright, you.” Pei Tingsong knew that he was teasing him and so directly told him, “Just now my Jie said that that new British boyfriend of my mom’s is a publisher. He’s beating around the bush and wants my mom to give him the copyright to all of my grandfather’s works.”

Although he said it very simply, Fang Juexia understood the gravity of this matter. “How is that okay? If the other party is not reliable, what will we do? That’s your grandfather’s hard work.”

“She can’t make that decision, because in my grandfather’s will, I am the legal heir to all his works.” At this point, Pei Tingsong couldn’t help remembering the scene of his grandfather’s death.

It had been very chaotic. Everyone’s profit-seeking heart had been exposed in front of a lonely tombstone. He was in the most confused period of his age at only 15 years old. The whole experience had been brutal and manic, pushing his world to the opposite end. 

He hadn’t wanted an inheritance, he had just wanted his grandfather to live again. Yes, that desire was ridiculous.

Pei Tingsong picked up the small watering-can and poured a little water on the cactus. “Just a few days ago, she came to make trouble with me every day, calling me, sending me messages, sending me e-mails, and even said that she would come to see me personally. I ignored her, so she went to my Jie’s place to make trouble. She might have gone crazy.”

“My Jie asked me to take a trip back, break off her idea completely, and sort out the copyrights that have not been managed before, so that my grandfather could also rest at ease.”

Fang Juexia’s brain suddenly slowed down, and he slowly took the watering-can from his hand.

It couldn’t be watered anymore, it’d ruin his little cactus. 

“So you’re going back to the U.S., right?”

Pei Tingsong nodded. “I’ll leave after the recording tomorrow. The matter should be handled within a few days.” He rubbed Fang Juexia’s head. “Do you want to come with me?”

Even though Fang Juexia really wanted to see the place where Pei Tingsong had grown up, he did not want to do so with such an opportunity. He needed to give Pei Tingsong some space of his own, and not render him unable to deal with his family’s affairs and disputes properly because he was concerned about him.

“Next time.” Fang Juexia smiled at him, saying, “I want to go when you have no burdens, just like in your dream.”

Although he could no longer see the old man, at least it wouldn’t be at an occasion when Pei Tingsong was in a tight corner. 

Pei Tingsong tilted his head and thought about it. The corner of his mouth curved up, and he asked, “Then will Teacher Fang take me back to Guangzhou?”

Fang Juexia didn’t speak, instead he stuck out his pinkie finger towards him.

Pei Tingsong didn’t directly stretch out his finger to hook into it. Instead, he took a look behind him, then pulled Fang Juexia over to give him a kiss on his pinkie finger.

“Wanted to kiss you just now.” He whispered in a low voice, and only then did he hook his finger through Fang Juexia’s, thus reaching an agreement.

Pei Tingsong left the next night, after he finished recording for the variety show. It was a private trip, so it wasn’t convenient for Fang Juexia to see him off. He just returned the Roots of Romanticism back to him before he left, so that he could look at it when he was bored on the plane.

He didn’t know if Pei Tingsong would see the annotation he had secretly written, but this feeling was very good. It seemed that he was chatting with the Pei Tingsong of the past, and it was like the surprise of finding an Easter egg.

Back when he and Pei Tingsong hadn’t started doing official fanservice together, besides the work that they had to finish together, he would hardly see him at any other time, and he also didn’t feel anything about it. He spent every day as before, and every day went by very impersonally.

After Pei Tingsong moved back, they were together almost every day, with all the other members. Now, just a few days after Pei Tingsong left, Fang Juexia found it hard. He wanted to contact him and wanted to know about his condition on the other side of the ocean, whether people had been giving him a hard time, and whether or not he was eating well. 

Who would give someone like Pei Tingsong a hard time? This worry of his was a bit superfluous.

Later, when he thought about it carefully, he understood that what all this ‘whether or not’ was, clearly, he just missed him. 

The time difference was very big, but Pei Tingsong still called him in the morning and at night. Most of the time, Fang Juexia was still in his quilt, having either not gotten up yet or having not fallen asleep yet. After listening to Pei Tingsong for a while, he felt even more that he either couldn’t get up or couldn’t sleep. 

In order to replenish himself a bit, Fang Juexia resumed his training-devil pace, and practiced dancing along with learning vocal music and lyrical writing every day. Today, when he came in, there were two trainees dancing in the practice room. They were a little afraid of him and moved aside as soon as they saw Fang Juexia.

Am I that scary? Fang Juexia began to reflect on whether he was too cold in his daily life. At the same time, he also casually watched the little trainees dance. One child fell to the ground and tried to get up smoothly, but he couldn’t get up after several times. 

“You’re not putting in enough power here.” Fang Juexia stepped forward and taught him himself, “Your core should be tight. If you’re loose here, you can’t get up.”

The little trainee was flattered. He didn’t expect that the senior of the company who was so popular now would be so approachable. Clearly, he seldom even smiled. 

Fang Juexia had worked too hard as a trainee. He had made all kinds of mistakes and had summed up his experience, so he had more knowledge to give when teaching others.

“Right, you need to practice control. Otherwise, the fixed point won’t look good.

“Very good. This turn was more stable than just now.”

These few people unconsciously spent a night in the practice room. It was already very late, and the two children wanted to invite Fang Juexia to eat with them, but he refused, “How can I make you guys treat me?”

There was no one on the road any more. Watching as the two children left the company from below, Fang Juexia turned to go to the underground parking lot, preparing to drive back to the dormitory.

The lights in the parking lot were not bright. The pale white lights directly hit the gray concrete floor, and it was dead silent. Fang Juexia squinted in the direction of his car. Night blindness affected his vision quite a lot, and it took him a great amount of effort before he managed to find his car. Just as he was about to open the door, he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps.

That sense of being followed, which he hadn’t felt for a long time now, reappeared.

His heart jumped up. Even though his senses were so sensitive, before he got the time to turn around, he was hit hard by someone from behind and slammed into the wall. The back of his waist was in severe pain, and his forehead directly banged against the white wall. For a moment, his head was dizzy, his eyesight dimmed, and his brain filled with fog. 

This couldn’t be a stalker fan. 

Fang Juexia’s hands were propped up against the ground, and his brow was wrinkled in pain. At this instant, he vaguely saw a shadow on the wall. It was that of a human figure, who was holding a slender thing in his hand, about to hit him with it again. Fang Juexia skilfully dodged to one side, his instinct making him move faster, after which he turned around.

Dang—a steel rod fell to the ground and rolled to his feet.

To his surprise, another tall person appeared behind him. He crisply and decisively subdued the man who had just attacked Fang Juexia from behind, who was about to knock him unconscious with a steel stick, and he pressed this attacker against the car.

“Hello, Mr. Fang. In order to avoid misunderstandings, I’ll explain to you first.” The tall man said, “I’m the bodyguard arranged by Young Master Pei to accompany you. I’m also the one he entrusted to investigate the issue of you being followed.”

Upon hearing Pei Tingsong’s name, Fang Juexia finally felt relieved. His throat was dry and hoarse, containing a trace of the taste of blood.

“This person has been following you for a long time. He kept lingering by your car just now and has now finally been caught. I’m very sorry that he still managed to hurt you a little.”

Fang Juexia supported the back of his waist and stood up. “It’s okay.”

Fortunately, Pei Tingsong had found someone to follow him, otherwise he didn’t dare to imagine what would happen after that; he hadn’t expected anyone to be so vicious.

“Look, do you recognize this person?” With that, the private bodyguard twisted the ruffian’s arms and pulled them over to face Fang Juexia.

Fang Juexia had poor eyesight, so he tried to get closer by taking a step forward.

“Let go of me!”

Hearing this voice, he halted in his steps. His whole person was frozen in place and could not move.

He also managed to see that person’s face. This person was much older and as thin as a rake, but he still recognized him.

“I told you to let go of me, don’t you understand human words? I’m his dad! See if you dare to touch me!”

Throughout his entire life, Fang Juexia would never forget how this person had pointed at his face and the birthmark on his face.

As he said with complete certainty— you were born to be a failure.