Evil Love Appears chapter 12
Fu Xiaoyu had planned to stay in Europe for a full two weeks, even though the work schedule originally only required him to be there for ten days. However, he intentionally extended his trip.
There was a reason for this of course. A few days ago, Fu Jing had called him and asked him to come home for New Year’s.
Without thinking, Fu Xiaoyu had told Fu Jing that he would be on a business trip in Europe during the New Year and couldn’t make it home.
As expected, Fu Jing had erupted in anger over the phone, launching into a barrage of furious curses.
Listening to half of it in silence, Fu Xiaoyu used a video conference as an excuse to hang up the call.
So even though the business trip was just an excuse, Fu Xiaoyu had Wang Xiaoshan change his flight ticket to after the New Year, claiming that he wanted some time for shopping in Europe.
This was probably out of fear of Fu Jing, a fear that had been ingrained in him since childhood.
Fu Jing’s pent-up anger had been building for a long time. It wasn’t just due to his disappointment over the Han Jiangque situation but also because of his dissatisfaction with Fu Xiaoyu’s habit of not returning home for the past few years unless absolutely necessary.
The harshest time had been when Fu Jing had directly yelled at him, “Since you don’t want to come home, why don’t you just die outside?”
Fu Xiaoyu remembered that before his stepmother, Alpha Tang Ning, had appeared, Fu Jing would often get into fights with people. Sometimes it was because vendors at the market gave him the wrong change, other times it was because the upstairs neighbor’s leaking floor caused damage to their home, and sometimes it was because unscrupulous alphas took advantage of him.
Over time, people in that area gradually learned that Fu Jing was not to be messed with. However, idle gossip was abundant, and many people would say all sorts of things with a mocking and disdainful expression.
Fu Jing’s fierceness wasn’t limited to outsiders; it applied to Fu Xiaoyu as well.
When he was in primary school, while other kids would be taken out to McDonald’s or amusement parks by their parents if they scored well on exams, for Fu Xiaoyu, any score below full marks would be a nightmare.
Fu Jing would drag him onto the balcony, make him hold up the exam paper where he didn’t get full marks, and for every point he missed, he’d receive a slap. One point was one slap, two points were two slaps. All the while, he would question him, “Why are you so dumb? Why are you so useless? Do you realize your mistakes?”
As he cried and apologized while getting hit, neighbors would stand on their balconies, shamelessly watching them as if they were watching some post-dinner entertainment.
More than the searing pain on his face, the crisp sound of those slaps, one after another, left a lasting impression on the young Fu Xiaoyu—a feeling of having his dignity shattered in front of a crowd.
As he grew up, Fu Xiaoyu gradually learned not to dwell on those childhood memories. However, at the same time, except when necessary, he also stopped going home.
In Europe, Fu Xiaoyu was dealing with IM Group’s affairs. Everything went smoothly, and he finished all his work three days ahead of schedule. Consequently, he sent Wang Xiaoshan back to China ahead of time.
The day when the assistant boarded the plane and left happened to be Christmas Eve, so Fu Xiaoyu was left alone in Germany.
The night was lively, with people wearing Santa hats everywhere, celebrating merrily. Fu Xiaoyu tried to book a restaurant for dinner but couldn’t find an available table. In the end, he felt a bit lonely as he stayed in the hotel and ordered room service.
He ordered a traditional German dish—Schweinshaxe (roasted pork knuckle). The hotel kitchen had roasted the pork knuckle to crispy perfection, served it with mustard sauce and German sauerkraut. When they brought a large platter of it to him, the aroma was overwhelming.
However, Fu Xiaoyu hesitated for a long time. In the end, he only took a few bites of the crispiest skin and avoided touching the meat that glistened with golden fat. He slowly ate all the sauerkraut and white asparagus.
Because it was Christmas, the table was adorned with several bright roses, and a “Merry Christmas!” was written on them.
Such grandeur felt a bit pitiful when he was dining alone.
Fu Xiaoyu sat by the large floor-to-ceiling window in the hotel room, looking at the fireworks continuously lighting up the night sky outside. He drank champagne by himself and stared at the remaining pork knuckle on his plate for a while.
It was only when his phone vibrated suddenly that he snapped back to reality.
Lowering his head, he saw that an unusually ugly Shin Chan pooping emoji had jumped to the forefront of his WeChat messages.
-.-: Merry Christmas!
-.-: How’s your cold? Feeling better?
During the past few days of his business trip, he and Xu Jiale had only chatted about the progress of their final love project on DingTalk, and not much else.
The arrival of this message was quite unexpected.
Fu Xiaoyu put down his wine glass, prepared to type “I’m fine” and a few words of thanks, but then deleted it and typed again—
Fu Xiaoyu: I’ve finished all the medicine you brought, and I’m feeling much better now. Thanks.
-.- replied with a “1”.
Another “1,” and then another, as if he had nothing more to say.
Fu Xiaoyu felt a bit of frustration, not knowing what to reply. He poured himself another glass of wine, stupidly staring out of the window for a while.
Just as another firework blossomed brilliantly in the night sky, Fu Xiaoyu’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.
The time difference between China and Germany was seven hours. So, about seven to eight hours earlier, while it was still afternoon in Germany, many work groups in China had already exchanged polite New Year greetings.
At that time, Fu Xiaoyu had been busy with something else and hadn’t paid much attention.
Except for Xu Jiale.
Xu Jiale had intentionally waited for seven hours, until it was Christmas night on his side as well, to send such an ordinary message: “Merry Christmas.”