Yang Fei nodded thoughtfully, but quickly gave me a smile and put her arm on my shoulder.
"It's okay... If you can't forget, then forget slowly... I'll always be with you!"
After a pause, she continued, "Ruan Qi, you have to believe that everyone's departure is preordained! Even if you can never forget her, you can't hurt yourself anymore, okay?"
"Why?"
"Because... because... because seeing you in such heartbreak, I'll be sad too, and I'll ache for you!"
I teased her, "But I'm the one screaming my lungs out, and you're just watching the show! How could you be sad?"
Yang Fei's temper flared up again when she heard me, and she grabbed my ear, but still said softly.
"Because in this world, only a fool like me would feel sorry for a bitter gourd like you!"
...
I figured she was probably tired; she hadn't even gotten into bed before she started rambling.
...
"Why were you here so late at night? And how did you find me?" I casually asked Yang Fei.
"You have the nerve to ask! I sent you so many messages, and you didn't reply to a single one!" Yang Fei said to me, hands on her hips and fuming.
Hearing this, I quickly reached for my phone in my pocket, but I couldn't find it.
"Maybe I left it in the car, or maybe I was too excited and threw it into the Huangpu River."
"You're so broad-minded! You lost your phone, and you're not even looking for it?"
"If you still had an ounce of decency, it probably ended up in the car."
I nodded and walked towards the car in the distance, but when I got there, I was dumbfounded again. My car keys were also gone.
At this moment, Yang Fei also followed from behind. Seeing me at a loss, she touched her forehead, then sighed and continued.
"Don't tell me you were so excited that you threw your car keys into the Huangpu River!"
"Uh… judging by the current situation, it's probably just as you said!" I replied awkwardly.
"You really don't have an ounce of decency!" Yang Fei looked at me speechlessly.
Then, Yang Fei yawned and gently rubbed her eyes.
That's right, it was probably around two or three o'clock now. If she hadn't appeared here and woken me up, I would definitely have stayed here all night.
"Tired? I'll take you back to school." That was the only thing I could do for Yang Fei right now. I couldn't do anything else; it would be crossing the line. I wasn't a man without boundaries.
"What else? If it weren't for you, you bastard, going crazy in the middle of the night, I wouldn't be here. I'd definitely be in bed, sleeping soundly!"
"Then I'll take you back to school first."
"Ruan Qi! You're such a jerk!" Yang Fei's emotions suddenly flared up, and she pointed her finger at my nose, cursing.
I was stunned by Yang Fei's sudden change of expression, and then I stared at her, wide-eyed.
"Fei-jie, what's wrong with me taking you back to school?"
"You really are a straight man!" Yang Fei covered her forehead, trying her best to suppress her anger.
"I'm a girl, out here in the middle of the night, and I didn't even have time to grab my keys. Plus, there's a curfew at school. How am I supposed to get back?"
"Right, you know what? Give me your ID. I'll get you a room. You can rough it for tonight?"
"I didn't even grab my keys. You think I have my ID?"
"Wait! What are you doing?" Yang Fei immediately wrapped her arms around herself, backing away several steps to put what she considered a safe distance between us.
I rolled my eyes at her and said, "Do I seem like that kind of person? If I were, would you be here with me at this hour?"
Hearing this, Yang Fei glanced at me and finally relaxed her guard, jogging back to my side.
"Seriously, you can't go back to school, and you can't stay at a hotel. So, what exactly do you want to do?"
"Uh… How about… going to your place?"
My first reaction to that was to refuse. "No way, absolutely not!"
"Why? Are you really so heartless as to leave me here alone? I'm a beauty, a celestial being! You really don't know how to cherish!" Yang Fei retorted, unwilling to be outdone.
"Hey, don't be ungrateful! The only reason I don't want you to go is to protect you! A man and a woman alone under one roof, aren't you afraid I'll turn into a beast?" After saying that, I raised an eyebrow at Yang Fei, hoping to make her give up the idea.
But Yang Fei didn't buy it at all. She grabbed my ear again, and this time she pulled hard.
"Ouch, it hurts! Sister Fei, stop! I won't tease you anymore!"
Hearing this, Yang Fei still didn't stop. Instead, she raised an eyebrow at me and said,
"You think you can?"
"Tonight, no matter what you say, you have to take me in! Got it?"
"Why should I? Sister Fei, isn't this the same as breaking and entering?" Although Yang Fei was pulling my ear, I still couldn't lose in terms of momentum!
"Damn it, how dare you ask why! Just because a beautiful, heavenly woman like me came to find you at night! Just because I was worried you, you bastard, would be sad! Are those reasons enough? I'm asking you, are they enough!"
I felt guilty about Yang Fei's reasons. Thinking carefully, in all of Shanghai, only she would appear by my side at this hour of the night, regardless of the consequences. Only she would care about me this much, and only she would stay with me at this moment, preventing me from continuing to suffer.
Emotionally and rationally, I couldn't leave her alone outside. If she encountered a bad person, I would feel guilty for the rest of my life, even living in the double shadow she and Mi Xinxin cast on me.
That's right, I gave in.
"Hey, alright, alright! Fei-jie, stop twisting my ear! You've made it red. I agree, okay?"
"Hmph, that's more like it! You've got a bit of a conscience! So, how do we get back?"
"Don't look at me! I threw my car keys and phone into the Huangpu River!"
"Is your home far from here?"
"It's not too far, about a half-hour taxi ride. But it's not easy to hail a cab at this hour!"
"I didn't plan on taking a taxi anyway! How about we walk back? Consider it a stroll."
"Fei-jie, don't joke with me! My legs will break if we walk back!"
"Damn it! Where did you get the idea that I'm joking? Are you weak? You can't even handle this!"
Yang Fei's face was expressionless. From the few days I'd spent with her, I could tell she was serious. I took a deep breath and said to her.
"For a man, you can say he's poor, you can say he's ugly, you can say he's short, but to say he's weak… that's crossing the line."
"You better think it over, I'm not carrying you!"
Seeing that I agreed to her "unreasonable" request, Yang Fei immediately patted her arms, showing off the "muscles" of her slender, fair arms. I knew she was playing along. I also showed her my proud biceps and eight-pack abs.
...
All the way back, Yang Fei and I were joking around. We finally got back to my place before dawn. I was past the point of being tired and was actually a bit hyper, so I wasn't very tired.
But Yang Fei, being a slender woman, had been up all night with me without resting. Plus, we'd walked a long way. She was already so tired she could barely keep her eyes open. So, the moment she saw the sofa in my house, she just collapsed on it and immediately fell asleep.
I carried Yang Fei to my bed in a princess carry, helped her take off her shoes and socks, and tucked her in. Then, I closed the door and left.
I wanted her to get some good rest and didn't want to disturb her. But since I hadn't slept all night either, I collapsed on the sofa and immediately passed out.
...