Evil Love Appears chapter 44

There were no late-night high-speed trains, and Xu Jiale suppressed the idea of driving for two hours in the middle of the night to go to H City.

It wasn’t the fear of the hardship; it just wasn’t suitable to make a big fuss given the state of their relationship.

He sent two WeChat messages to Wen Ke and learned that Fu Xiaoyu had booked a hotel near the hospital. After they both went back to rest, Xu Jiale felt a bit more at ease.

Xu Jiale initially believed that Fu Xiaoyu would secretly run to H City to see Han Jiangque and then return to work in B City the next afternoon at the latest.

However, it wasn’t until the afternoon meeting for the Love app project that Xu Jiale discovered Fu Xiaoyu was surprisingly absent.

He opened the DingTalk app and saw that Fu Xiaoyu’s status read, “On vacation.”

On vacation?

Fu Xiaoyu on vacation? Xu Jiale had never seen this status in the past six months.

He couldn’t help but send a message on DingTalk: “What happened to you?”

The message remained “unread.”

It was almost magical that Fu Xiaoyu didn’t respond on DingTalk during his vacation.

Xu Jiale didn’t ask any more questions but, after work, drove directly to H City.

Besides weekends, he would sometimes make time to visit H City to check on Han Jiangque and spend time with Wen Ke. So, this wasn’t an entirely unexpected action.

However, he hadn’t eaten anything before leaving, and while driving, he bought two ham sausages at a gas station, eating them on the go. He arrived in H City, tired and dusty, just before nightfall, but he couldn’t find Fu Xiaoyu at all.

Xu Jiale inquired at the hotel’s front desk, and they informed him that Fu Xiaoyu had checked out and left half an hour ago.

It was an infuriating feeling to miss someone by sheer coincidence. He smoked several cigarettes to calm himself down. Then he couldn’t help but call Fu Xiaoyu on DingTalk.

No response.

Xu Jiale was getting a bit annoyed, but he calmly took Wen Ke to a well-known Cantonese restaurant for a late-night meal.

Wen Ke, who was now only a few months away from giving birth, walked with a waddle, looking somewhat like a duck. He never talked about how sad he felt, but even though he was in the late stages of pregnancy, he still looked exhausted. His face was marked with numerous dark spots due to his poor health, making him appear quite pitiable.

Xu Jiale specifically ordered a shark bone soup for Wen Ke to help him recover. They conversed quietly but deliberately avoided the subject of Han Jiangque, as if they were purposely steering clear of that name.

After the late-night meal, even though it was already late, Wen Ke said he wanted to visit the hospital to see Han Jiangque before returning home. Xu Jiale had to drive the omega back to the hospital.

On the way, DingTalk suddenly made a sound.

Xu Jiale endured it until he parked the car before he finally looked at the message sent by Fu Xiaoyu:

“Taking a ten-day leave to return to my hometown. Won’t be available on DingTalk for the first five days, but will begin to respond to some urgent work messages during the last five days. I’ve also documented all the matters to be arranged and handed over as cloud documents, and the work projects that I need to review after returning have been organized into spread sheets, which I’ve shared with everyone’s email.”

The message was quite lengthy, but the second half had that typical tone and behavior of Fu Xiaoyu.

However, the first sentence…

Xu Jiale stared at the first few words for a long, long time, as if trying to pierce through the screen of his phone.

…

In the twilight that day, Fu Xiaoyu, alone, dragged his suitcase onto the S7712 high-speed train bound for Shuncheng.

Shuncheng, a small city that was approximately an hour’s drive from both B City and H City.

Fu Xiaoyu rested his head against the train window, silently watching the gradually darkening sky outside until the train entered the pitch-black night.

It had been a long time since he had gone back home, even though that “home” was so close to the city where he worked.

From last year to this year, even during important times like the Spring Festival and New Year, he had used work as an excuse to avoid going back, despite Fu Jing’s furious protests.

Even in the past month, with Han Jiangque sinking into an endless coma, he still appeared daily at the Twin Stars Building, firmly controlling all affairs.

To outsiders, it seemed that Han Jiangque’s severe injury hadn’t broken him, and he remained like the giant quartz clock on the wall, always on duty and incredibly precise.

It was the critical juncture for IM Group, and he had to be firmly anchored there like a pillar, ensuring that this massive enterprise didn’t experience any chaos.

But slowly, ever so gradually, as things stabilized, he felt weaker.

Yesterday, after seeing Han Jiangque in the middle of the night, Fu Xiaoyu originally intended to rest at the hotel before returning to work in B City.

In this period, he had secretly come here a few times in the middle of the night, struggling to find suitable accommodations. He didn’t want to stay at Han’s family house, so he often made do with this nearby budget hotel.

However, last night, while he was asleep, the floor drain in the hotel room suddenly started back flowing dirty water, accompanied by an unpleasant gurgling sound.

Fu Xiaoyu, standing in the dirty and foul-smelling room, waited for the hotel staff to change his room for over ten minutes. Suddenly, he felt like he was about to break down.

The decision to take a leave of absence happened abruptly, in a flash.

After changing rooms, Fu Xiaoyu hardly slept. In the early morning, Tang Ning called him.

In fact, it wasn’t surprising at all. Since Han Jiangque’s accident, both Fu Jing and Tang Ning had been calling him more frequently. Fu Jing would still shout at him to come back home, but he couldn’t really do anything about it.

“Xiaoyu, how have you been lately? Have you been eating well?” Just like before, Tang Ning gently and softly reminded him, one sentence at a time.

That day, Fu Xiaoyu, for some unknown reason, didn’t brush off the phone call with a few perfunctory words. Maybe it was because he was serious that day. He suddenly heard Fu Jing’s voice in the background.

“Xiaoyu, come back home for a few days, okay? Qingming Festival is approaching, and we can visit your grandma’s grave together, and also, spend time with your dad and I. Seafood has been available early this year. I went to the market a few days ago, and the prawns are as big as your hand, lively and bouncing around. When you come back, I will buy seven or eight jin and steam them for you, alright?”

Tang Ning paused and said softly, “Xiaoyu, it’s been so long; come back for a few days.”

In that instant, Fu Xiaoyu’s nose suddenly felt a sharp surge of emotions.

“Okay.” He suddenly said in a hoarse voice, “Auntie, I… I’ll take a few more days off, and I’ll take the train back tonight.”

Fu Xiaoyu could imagine that taking a ten-day leave would shock both IM Group and the Love app project team, but…

He was truly exhausted.

He had always centered his life around B City.

B City was great, a metropolis with a rich nightlife and excellent urban development. He once believed that having B City was enough, but it wasn’t until Han Jiangque’s accident that he realized there were so many downsides to B City.

In recent days, every time he stood in the office at the top of the Twin Stars Building and looked down at the brilliantly lit North City district…

He felt pain because he missed Han Jiangque.

This place had once been his pride, his creation, and with Han Jiangque’s wholehearted support, it had become the North City district it was today.

North City had already become an integral part of this city.

But what about him?

He’s drifting in such a big city, feeling around, not even touching a solid wall.

For so many years, this was the first time that Fu Xiaoyu wanted to go home.

It turns out that life is not just about City B, life also needs a little Shuncheng.

…

It was already late at night when he got home.

The high-speed rail station in Shuncheng was poorly constructed, with no elevators. Fu Xiaoyu could only carry his luggage down the long staircase, dust landing on his trousers step by step.

Tang Ning came to pick him up with Fu Jing. When Fu Jing saw him, he got angry all of a sudden and scolded him, ‘Look at you, what have you become? I’ve told you many times to eat well, but you just…’

“Alright, alright,” Tang Ning took the luggage and placed it in the trunk, smiling and saying softly, “Don’t blame the child, he has finally come back.”

“Who told him not to come back all the time!”

Fu Jing retorted, but once he and Fu Xiaoyu sat together in the back seat, he couldn’t help but secretly reach over to touch Fu Xiaoyu’s hand, and said softly, “It’s so cold.”

Fu Xiaoyu sat stiffly, and after a while, gently withdrew his hand.

Tang Ning had indeed steamed a large pot of shrimp for him. After not having eaten well for so long, he didn’t have an appetite at first, but it was different when he was at home by himself.

Fu Jing sat across from him, staring at him intently.

He couldn’t pretend, so he had to open the shrimp one by one, eat the plump and sweet shrimp meat, and swallow it down.

Tang Ning saw him eating and felt a little relieved. She sat down and peeled one for Fu Jing too.

Fu Xiaoyu raised his head and looked at his stepmother feeding Fu Jing shrimp, suddenly lost in thought.

In these days, he had been immersed in sorrow, and even though he saw Xu Jiale every day, the self that had once wanted to approach Xu Jiale so naively before Han Jiangque’s accident seemed so distant.

It was only in this moment that he recalled that throbbing and sweetness that the Alpha had brought to him. His heart suddenly ached.

With such a huge change in life, it was as if his emotional life had suddenly been cut off.

Could things really continue as before? Could he continue to live as before, continue to love someone…

…

In the few days in Shuncheng, Fu Xiaoyu was unexpectedly silent, but also surprisingly obedient.

He and Fu Jing took care of his room together.

The cabinet full of “Five-Year Mock Three-Year College Entrance Examination,” “SAT Question Bank” was still neatly arranged. The awards he had won in high school, the admission letters from American universities, were all framed and hung up.

Afterwards, he went to sweep the graves with Fu Jing, burned paper, and that day it was drizzling. Fu Jing and him shared an umbrella, and a few raindrops splashed on his face.

Fu Jing suddenly reached out to touch his cheek, wiped away the raindrops for him, and then sighed, “You’ve lost weight… don’t keep thinking about Han Jiangque, okay? Everyone has their own destiny, you have to believe in fate, right? You need to look forward!”

He turned his head, not wanting to speak.

On the afternoon of sweeping the graves, Tang Ning secretly took him to the balcony and said to him, “Xiaoyu, don’t stay home all the time. Auntie has found a friend your age for you, he’s an Alpha. He works in B City most of the time, and his family runs a hotel, he’s quite well-off. But don’t think too much about it, just consider it as making a new friend.”

Fu Xiaoyu couldn’t control himself, he suddenly looked up, gazing at Tang Ning and asked, “Auntie, are you setting me up on a blind date?”

He rarely spoke to Tang Ning in such a sharp tone.

Tang Ning’s expression looked a little embarrassed, and she spoke softly, “No, it’s actually your father who has been mentioning it to me, and I finally found someone. After what happened to Han Jiangque… I wanted to take it slow. But seeing you like this, your father and I both feel heartbroken. We just want you to get over it as soon as possible. If you don’t want to meet him temporarily, that’s fine too. I’ll give him your WeChat, and you can talk slowly… when you’re feeling better. You can just have a simple conversation, and if it’s not suitable, just forget it, okay?”

Fu Xiaoyu clenched his teeth and refused to speak.

“Xiaoyu, be obedient…” Tang Ning continued in a gentle tone.

“I won’t meet him,” Fu Xiaoyu said directly, and he turned around and walked back, almost bumping into Fu Jing, who had been eavesdropping on the side.

Fu Xiaoyu didn’t bother with Fu Jing’s embarrassed expression, walked to the hallway, put on his coat, and walked out into the early spring’s chilly weather.

…

When Xu Jiale saw the friend’s circle that Fu Xiaoyu posted, there were 9 hours left before his late-night flight to Vietnam.

After the final stage of the love app project stabilized, Xu Jiale, as a participant, occasionally visited his mentor, who was conducting fieldwork in Vietnam. As they were both in Asia at the same time, his mentor proposed that Xu Jiale also come over for a look, and Xu Jiale naturally couldn’t refuse.

It was just a friend’s circle post.

But Xu Jiale stared at it for a long time.

Since Fu Xiaoyu returned to his hometown, they had not been in contact. Given that the other party had clearly expressed an unwillingness to receive messages, Xu Jiale, being a tactful person, would not disturb him.

But he would often open Fu Xiaoyu’s WeChat and DingTalk just to look. That’s why he noticed the post so quickly.

Fu Xiaoyu had never posted in his friend’s circle before, this was the first time.

It was a photo, with no accompanying text.

In the picture, there was an old and neglected amusement park, in the fading light of the setting sun, it was a very bleak scene.

The amusement park was backed against a dried-up river, with no visitors and no children inside. The pirate ship’s “ship” was half-peeled, and the sign hung limply in the air, dispirited.

Xu Jiale had an intuition that Fu Xiaoyu was standing in this old and deserted amusement park at the moment.

What was Fu Xiaoyu thinking?

Xu Jiale knew that he didn’t have time to think about it. He carried a heavy cat bag with Xia’an inside, but after walking a few steps, he stopped again, took out his phone, and looked at the photo several times…

He had just 9 hours left, if he rushed by car to Shuncheng and then returned, it would take three hours, plus half an hour to get to the airport, and the time to board, he would have four hours left…

It was tight, but it was doable.

Very rushed, but it was possible.

Xu Jiale couldn’t control himself anymore, and sent a WeChat message to Fu Xiaoyu:

-.-: I have an urgent matter and need your help.

-.-: I have to make a trip to Vietnam suddenly, can you take care of Xia’an for four days, just four days.

The time was so tight that the excuse he came up with was a bit clumsy.

But, like destiny, Fu Xiaoyu responded immediately.

Fu Xiaoyu: When?

-.-: Right now, I’m driving to see you, and I’ll bring Xia’an to you.

Fu Xiaoyu:…

Fu Xiaoyu: Okay, even though I don’t know much about taking care of a cat.

-.-: I’ll write down what you need to buy, and things you need to pay attention to! This cat is very well-behaved, just had a bath, you don’t need to worry about anything, don’t be nervous. Wait for me, I’ll be there in an hour by car.