TYRPSM Chapter26

During the Lunar New Year, neither Nie Yunshen nor Shu An was in China.

However, the two of them did not go to the same place; Nie Yunshen accompanied his parents to a tropical island in the Indian Ocean for a vacation, while Shu An went to Tokyo on a business trip.

Nie Yunshen originally didn’t want to go. For decades, his parents had flaunted their affection to a “dog-abusing” degree, and after retirement, they had flown all over the world to have fun, visiting the North and South Poles, Europe, Asia, and Africa. They had never mentioned bringing him along before. For them to suddenly book a three-person itinerary this time, there had to be some ulterior motive.

As soon as he tried to show a tiny bit of suspicion and refusal, he was smacked on the back of the head by Mother Nie. “Can’t I want someone to serve tea, pour water, and hold a parasol while I’m sunbathing?” Faced with such a fierce mother, Nie Yunshen felt resentful but didn’t dare speak up, so he gave a vague agreement. However, Mother Nie later told him privately that Father Nie had suffered an episode of high blood pressure during their previous trip to Iceland.

Nie Yunshen was shocked and asked why he hadn’t been told and why they would bother traveling so far if that were the case. Standing on the balcony and looking at her husband tending to the plants in the courtyard, Mother Nie’s gaze unconsciously turned extremely tender. She said, “The world is so big; you can’t tie someone who loves to have fun to the house just because of a small risk.”

Given the circumstances, Nie Yunshen felt it was his responsibility. In addition to the Spring Festival holiday, he applied for two days of annual leave in advance through the bank’s system to coordinate with his parents’ schedule. When he returned to Fenghua Li after work that evening, he told Shu An about his Spring Festival arrangements with a bit of guilt. Shu An, however, told him that he happened to have things to do as well; a major collaboration he had been pushing in Tokyo had run into some trouble and required him to finalize it in person. As for the Spring Festival, as a boss, there were no days off.

“And Mr. Huo?” Nie Yunshen had met Huo Qizheng before and habitually used a more formal title.

“He’s going to New Zealand.”

Nie Yunshen froze, thinking to himself, could it be… Shu An knew what he was thinking and explained: “He’s not going to see my mother. Ms. Shu dislikes him; seeing him would only cause unnecessary grief. He owns a piece of land in Queenstown and habitually stays there for a few days when he’s free. I suppose even breathing air that’s close to her is enough for him.”

Nie Yunshen’s expression became somewhat subtly comical. He didn’t know what to say about such “hopeless romantic” behavior; after a long pause, he managed to make a dry remark: “The old gentleman is certainly devoted.”

“Isn’t he just? He’s even bought a burial plot over there, saying that since he can’t disturb her while he’s alive, he might as well stay on the same continent as her once he’s dead.”

Nie Yunshen was thoroughly shocked, looking at Shu An with nothing but an instinctive, continuous blink. Shu An let out a soft laugh as he reached out to graze Nie Yunshen’s face like a dragonfly skimming the water, and said softly, “I am more blessed than he is.”

The “blessed” Boss Shu and Director Nie, who was traveling for his parents, flew out of the country on the same day with one heading east, the other heading south. In the rush of departure, Nie Yunshen felt like he had forgotten something from the moment he passed security. It wasn’t until he had busily settled Father and Mother Nie into their cabin seats that he finally remembered: he had forgotten to ask for a parting kiss!

Amidst the stewardess’s sweet broadcast reminding passengers to power off their devices, Nie Yunshen let out a regretful click of his tongue. As his phone slid into his pocket, he leaned back into the wide, comfortable first-class seat, realizing he had already started to miss Shu An.

After all, the next day was not only the traditional Chinese New Year’s Eve-Eve but also the first Valentine’s Day since he and Shu An had been together…

It was for this reason that the following day, as Nie Yunshen lay lazily amidst the bright scenery of a foreign beach with turquoise water, blue skies, white sand, and silver waves before him, and beautiful girls in bikinis and well-built men passing through his field of vision in twos and threes, he didn’t even move his eyes. Instead, he pulled out his phone to scroll through Moments.

He didn’t reach out to Shu An because, calculating the time difference, it was currently evening social hour over there. Earlier, Boss Shu had squeezed in a quick message to say he had arrived safely during his lunch break; they hadn’t said much before Nie Yunshen proactively ended the conversation. After all, the other party was there to extinguish a professional fire, and it really wasn’t right to disturb him with trivial romantic matters.

Refreshing his Moments, every single Valentine’s Day update was a bit of an eyesore; girls showing off flowers, jewelry, and designer bags, and guys sharing snippets that were either self-deprecating or sickeningly sweet. He gave a “like” to Feng Hao’s post of his three-year-old “little lover¹Refers to his daughter“, posted a row of middle fingers under Du Cheng’s nauseatingly lovey-dovey selfie, and finally sighed. Pulling down his sunglasses and closing his eyes, he tried to take a nap in the rustling sea breeze.

Sleeping was out of the question. The moment he closed his eyes, his sense of hearing suddenly became acute as if there were an incomparably gentle voice, low and soft, calling his name…

“Fuck.” Nie Yunshen grabbed his phone, swiped his thumb to unlock the screen, and dialed the number without a second thought.

“Baby?” When that voice came clearly through the receiver, Nie Yunshen knew he had broken into an immediate smile. Not just a smile, but a sense of total physical relaxation, as a fine, tingling current ran down his spine. He cleared his throat and said to Shu An with perfect composure, “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

“……” There was a moment of silence on Shu An’s end, followed by a soft laugh. The low, magnetic sound waves felt like an exquisitely steady hand, gently stroking one’s most comfortable and sensitive spots. Nie Yunshen heard Shu An ask him, “Did you miss me?”

“Yeah,” Nie Yunshen crossed his legs and answered frankly. “It’s the holiday, after all, just felt like being festive.”

“Then… can you keep missing me after the holiday is over?” The voice was gentle and slow like a cautious negotiation.

Nie Yunshen raised his free hand to press down on the corners of his mouth, which he couldn’t stop from curling upward. He cleared his throat again before speaking: “Well, that depends on your performance.”

This kind of zero-substance mushiness didn’t last too long; Nie Yunshen could hear the faint sound of movement on Shu An’s end. Having that one “baby” from thousands of miles away was enough to satisfy him. After hanging up, he was in a great mood; he got up to scavenge a pile of fruit and drinks to honor his mother, then dove into the infinity pool and swam happily for over half an hour.

When he said, “depends on your performance,” he was joking but he didn’t expect to actually receive a call from Shu An that night.

Father and Mother Nie went to bed early, and the nightlife arranged by the island resort was quite dull. Nie Yunshen had been rolling around on his bed for a while, debating whether to play games or “review” his sour-smelling²Refers to the lovey-dovey posts. Moments, when his phone suddenly rang. Two bright words appeared on the screen: An Ge.