CH 85.3

After the performance, it was the highlight of the party.

The rope of destiny.    

Shen Xingsui actually didn’t have much interest in this. After all, he didn’t really hope that the Goddess would randomly arrange someone for him to be his destined partner. However, it was a good omen to follow the custom here, so he still participated in the event. 

There were many long threads on the table. Shen Xingsui walked among them and picked up a rope at random. According to the regulations, he needed to tie a wooden token to the rope and hang it on the tree, waiting for the torch to burn. When it’s over, he can take the token down and see who the other half is tied to the same rope as yourself.

Shen Xingchen came over and said, “The two of us won’t take the same one, right?”

Shen Xingsui was really baffled by his brother’s miraculous train of thoughts. “The Goddess probably wouldn’t make such an arrangement.”

Shen Xingchen just teased him, and soon went to play with others.

It was getting late, Shen Xingsui remembered an important matter. After finishing the wooden plaque, he went to the staff to ask the time. Hearing that it was almost ten o’clock, he felt a little anxious.

Anyway, there was nothing to do next, and the live broadcast was almost over, so he asked for a leave. He sneaked back to the small yard where he lived, and borrowed the small kitchen from the owner.

So when the guests found out that Shen Xingsui was missing, it was already past eleven o’clock.

The director said, “Everyone has worked hard. Suisui has already gone back first, everyone should go back to rest.” 

It’s like when everyone was divided into groups at the beginning, Fu Jinxiao and Shen Xingsui shared a courtyard. When Fu Jinxiao walked back slowly, he found that the light in Shen Xingsui’s bedroom was not on, but the kitchen was still on. 

When he walked in, he found that a pot was steaming hot, and Shen Xingsui was filling something into the pot.

Fu Jinxiao was a little surprised, “What are you doing?”

“You’re back!” Shen Xingsui exclaimed, almost burned his trembling hand as a result. He said, “Sit in the yard for a while, and I’ll be there soon.”

Fu Jinxiao took a closer look, and found that Shen Xingsui was actually cooking noodles. There were no packaged dried noodles in this small yard. There was, however, a pot of flour on the table not far away, and there were various traces of the making of hand-rolled noodles. From the look of the dough, it was well-proportioned albeit a little rough. There’s also a hard-boiled egg and chopped green onion on this bowl of noodles.

Fu Jinxiao suddenly guessed something, his eyes darkened, but the corners of his mouth curled up into a smile, “Grandma told you?” 

Shen Xingsui nodded slightly, but was a little nervous, “I’m sorry…I knew it secretly without telling you…”

“No need to apologize,” Fu Jinxiao stood under the light. Rather than the usual indifference in his eyes, he actually showed a gentle smile. “Instead, I want to thank you.” 

Shen Xingsui breathed a sigh of relief.

That’s right, today is Fu Jinxiao’s birthday and also the anniversary of his biological mother’s death.

For a long time, in order to avoid this matter, the Fu family has always postponed Fu Jinxiao’s birthday celebration by more than ten days – this even included Fu Jinxiao’s “public” birthdate. 

His grandmother knew that this day of every year was actually the most difficult day for Fu Jinxiao. No one would wish him a happy birthday. As if his birthday, the day he was born, wasn’t something worth celebrating. 

Fu Jinxiao wasn’t the type to wear his heart on his sleeve. He kept everything bottled up tight inside his chest. No one knew what he actually thought, but his grandmother certainly knew.

Old Lady Fu had seen Fu Jinxiao grow up. She had seen many times the then-young child bought himself a small cake and ate it secretly in his bedroom. People said that the young master of the Fu family had a great reputation, but she knew that sometimes, he was just a child who could only curl up in a corner alone during his actual birthday. 

Shen Xingsui brought the noodles to the table outside, and sat next to Fu Jinxiao. He felt a little awkward. “I have never been very good at cooking, and there’s not much ingredients because we’re still filming. I really don’t know what to do, so I just roll it out by hand, if it tastes bad…”

Fu Jinxiao took the bowl of noodles.

This may be the simplest, crooked, and worst meal he has eaten in the past few years. Those who know him well know that he was a picky eater. But at this moment, the man sitting on the chair just picked up the food silently. He ate the crooked, haphazardly-cut noodles with his chopsticks. He was very quiet when eating – his movements might be very elegant, but looked very serious. Slowly, he finished the whole bowl. 

He didn’t eat the egg, however.

Shen Xingsui looked at him suspiciously. Met with those looks, Fu Jinxiao gave him the egg and said, “We’re both been busy all day. Eat some first, and I’ll make you some food later.” 

Shen Xingsui opened his mouth subconsciously, and accepted the egg. He commented, “Huh, I cooked it quite well this time.”

Fu Jinxiao curled his lips into a smile, “Well, it tastes very good.” 

Actually, this bowl of noodles was very far from “adequate”. The noodles had a weird texture, and the soup was a little too bland.    

Fu Jinxiao put down his chopsticks and commented, “The food is not bad, I think it’s delicious.”

Shen Xingsui let go of his hanging heart, and he breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m glad, then.” 

The square was still lit up with various lights, looking like blurry spots of red from afar. After all, today was a major festival day, and even this late in the evening, there were still many people singing and dancing. Even the sound of cheers and fireworks could still be heard from time to time. 

Fu Jinxiao said, “I’ll cook something for you again.”

Shen Xingsui quickly stopped him and said, “Wait a minute.”

Fu Jinxiao looked at him in surprise.

Sitting back on the chair again, Shen Xingsui quietly took out a small box from his arms and handed it to Fu Jinxiao, saying, “This is a gift.” 

Fu Jinxiao has received countless gifts of rare treasures in his life.

He doesn’t lack anything, and no gift will surprise him. But when he opened the box, he saw a wood-carved Chinese Trumpet Vine1aka Campsis grandiflora. flower. It was clearly hand-carved, but the sculptor’s craftsmanship was a bit too rough, and he could see it at a glance. Many flaws could be seen, but under the dim light, Fu Jinxiao could still see some hidden small knife marks on Shen Xingsui’s fingertips.

He discovered it when he took the medicine that day, and he thought about going to check it later, but he didn’t expect it to be because of this.

This somewhat crappy flower was carved by the youth in front of him bit by bit. This was not the most expensive gift he ever received, but it was the most precious gift. 

Shen Xingsui said nervously, “Maybe it’s a bit rudimentary, but I really can’t think about what you would be lacking. Uhm so… I apologize for the quality, it’s the best I can make.” 

Fu Jinxiao hurriedly whispered his reply, as if his breath was lacking, “I like it very much.”

Again, Shen Xingsui felt relieved. A smile appeared in his eyes, and he just felt that the efforts of these days were not in vain.

Unexpectedly, Fu Jinxiao said, “I have something for you too.”

Shen Xingsui was a bit confused, because today wasn’t a special day to warrant him a gift. 

Instead of clarifying, Fu Jinxiao took out two wooden tokens from his pocket. One of the wooden tokens was… the token in which Shen Xingsui’s “destiny rope” was tied to it today. And the other was its pair, tied together by a red thread.

When he saw this, Shen Xingsui’s eyes bulged in surprise. He knew the implication, but wasn’t brave enough to seriously consider it. 

“I-is such coincidence really can happen? The two of us tied together with this rope?” 

Fu Jinxiao chuckled, as if his question was a bit silly. “Well, there is no such coincidence.”

Shen Xingsui: “Then…”

“I searched for all the tokens near that tree,” Fu Jinxiao whispered, “It took me a while, but I found your token, and from there, I followed the rope until I found its pair. Sadly, it was tied to another one than someone had got. After getting their permission, I cut theirs and tied your rope to mine.” 

Only then did Shen Xingsui realize that the rope between himself and Fu Jinxiao had been broken once and then tied artificially. 

Theirs wasn’t originally connected, like a parallel thread, and there shouldn’t be fate connecting them together.

Even Shen Xingsui did not dare to extravagantly imagine that there would be any such fate.

But…

But…

Regardless of the circumstances, their ropes still ended up tied together.

Entangled, connected, bound together.

Shen Xingsui stared blankly at the two connected wooden tokens. The suppressed feelings in his heart bursted out, overflowing. The corner of his eyes even turned red. For some reason, his fingers were trembling as he picked up his wooden token. “You… you found it.” 

Fu Jinxiao nodded. “Yeah.”

Shen Xingsui looked up at him, asking in disbelief, “Why?”

The square not far away was still brightly lit, illumination dancing across the horizon. The fireworks exploding in the sky added a bit of brilliance and romance to the whole night. Standing tall, the evening spring breeze blew across the yard, and the man sitting opposite him was the bright moon that he had loved for decades.

“Because I want to be with you,” Sitting beside him, Fu Jinxiao said in a clear and firm voice, “That’s why I found it.”

Shen Xingsui’s heart trembled. In fact, he had always vaguely guessed that Fu Jinxiao… likes him. But he wasn’t very sure – was this “liking” just a passing interest? Just for fun? 

But there were so many tokens on that tree.

Just how long did he spend looking for his? 

He might as well have never had to do it, but he did it anyway.

Just like the fate between them, in fact, there shouldn’t be a possibility for it to be intertwined. But still, Fu Jinxiao found him, in the vast crowd of other wooden tokens. He found Shen Xingsui, this humble and insignificant young man. 

Shen Xingsui’s eyes were red, he was a little at a loss. He was dazzled by joy, but still befuddled by why such a thing could actually happen. Stuttering, he asked, “Ho-how did you… find it? There’s so… so many tokens, right? I thought… I thought it was impossible…” 

Sitting opposite of him, Fu Jinxiao’s handsome face still managed to move each time he saw it, regardless how often he actually saw it. 

They were very close, so close that they could feel each other’s breath, so close that they could cuddle together for a long time without being separated, so close that Shen Xingsui even wondered if this was a dream.

Fu Jinxiao firmly said, “Nothing is impossible.”

Fireworks were set off again in the square, shining the stone statue of the Goddess in gorgeous lights. The statue stood silently, as if silently caring and protecting all living beings, blessing many couples for their happily-ever-after. 

Fu Jinxiao leaned over, and gently and piously placed a kiss on Shen Xingsui’s lips. Their bodies pressed into each other, body heat mixed up, creating a dizzying warmth that spread across their bodies. The kiss gradually became deeper. Shen Xingsui’s hand also fell on Fu Jinxiao’s body, as if tightly surrounding the two of them, making sure they will still be together even after this dreamy kiss was over.

Fu Jinxiao’s voice was deep and magnetic, his eyes dimmed slightly, looking at the red lips of the youth, he whispered, “Because I love you.”

So—

It doesn’t matter if it’s far away.

It doesn’t matter if their “destiny” isn’t tied together.

‘I will still find you.’ 

The red string of fate is actually a legend/myth that came from China. It’s now well-known across the globe thanks to pop culture.