So You Like Me Too

And then send a picture to the most handsome person who you can think of.”

    Shen Lin obediently finished the tea, took some pictures with a slightly blushing face, and sent it to Fu Xueyan, who still had not replied.

    At seven o’clock in the evening, Shen Lin looked at the office building across the street. Fu Xueyan had not got off work yet. So he just cleaned up the store and then closed the door to leave. When he came out, he saw a car parked in front of his store. He raised his head to see Fu Xueyan coming down from the car. He came in front of Shen Lin, one hand hidden behind his back. When Shen Lin saw his face full of smiles, he even forgot to say hello.

    Fu Xueyan stared at him for a few seconds, and then said with a smile, “To reward the bravest Boss Shen, I decided to give him a rose as a representative of the mystery man.”

    Before giving Shen Lin a chance to react, he took out the bright red rose which he was hiding behind him, “This is an award for the injured Boss Shen.” Right after saying this, he inserted the rose into Shen Lin’s breast pocket, as its branch was cut into a suitable length for it, ” This rose has a lot of memories in it, so be sure to keep it safe.”

***

Nowadays Fu Xueyan is very busy with the company’s work. The company was taking in interns from colleges. During their initial stage, they didn’t hold much scope.

It’s been two weeks since they last met, and Fu Xueyan will occasionally send him a text message in his spare time. Shen Lin saw with much satisfaction and happiness, that this mode of contact was like two friends getting along..

He had liked Fu Xue Yan for many years and no longer believed that he had any hope of being able to tell him.

In the evening Xiang Fei who was accompanied by Zhang Ziyi invited him to a meal. He has always been quite envious of Zhang Ziyi and Xiang Fei, because they mutually liked each other, from student days until now.

Xiang Fei placed his hands on Shen Lin’s shoulders to speak: “The dishes from this restaurant are particularly delicious. I just wanted to take only you along with me, but Zhang Ziyi followed along.”

Shen Lin said with a smile, “ If you don’t take him along with you, he will start crying.”

Zhang Ziyi with his hands in his pockets, asked Shen Lin with an expressionless face, “Shen Lin, what possessed you?”

Xiang Fei was also shocked, “Good boy! Did you really make fun of Zhang Fei!?”

Shen Lin asked as if he found it strange, ”Did I? ”

“Yes, you did!” Xiang Fei said while hugging him. Zhang Fei immediately pulled him apart and asked, “Just talk. Why do you wanna hug him?“ 

Xiang Fei was so excited that he shook off his hands, and said, “You go away. It is really nice that good boy is happy every day. Fu Xueyan is a magician.”

Zhang Ziyi suddenly realized, “No wonder. So you saw Fu Xueyan?”

Shen Lin nodded happily, “Yeah! We’ve become friends.”

Xiang Fei looked at him with eyes filled with happiness, “That’s great.”

He has been watching Shen Lin secretly like Fu Xueyan for so many years. During Shen Lin’s school days, he was an introvert. Apart from Xiang Fei, he rarely talked with any people. The crazy things that happened in Shen Lin’s plain life were all for Fu Xueyan.

 For the first time, he said to Xiang Fei that he liked someone while blushing.

For the first time, he was so stirred up that he took Xiang Fei to fight the gangsters who blocked Fu Xueyan’s path.

    Xiang Fei clearly remembered that on that day Shen Lin pulled him along to go to the school’s neighborhood to block those gangsters. Those gangsters were from another school and they were mad at Fu Xueyan because of their school beauty having a crush on him. Fu Xueyan was the most popular guy in their school. He was famous for stealing many girl’s hearts. He repeatedly refused that girl but she still relentlessly tried to pursue him. The Boss of the gangster’s group liked the girl but she didn’t like him back. So when he got to know that she like Fu Xueyan, he was pissed off by Fu Xueyan.

    When Shen Lin happened to pass by that street, he heard their plans. Without even thinking much he ran back to the school anxiously and pulled Xiang Fei to rush outside. Xiang Fei while running out with a doughnut asked, “Good good, what are you doing? Why are you running?”

    Shen Lin pulled him to run without saying anything. So the two stood in the alley, where some seven or eight tall punks stood. Xiang Fei swallowed the last bite of his doughnut and wiped his mouth with a sleeve. He asked, “What’s going on?”

Shen Lin’s eyes showed a steady expression but his voice was small, “ Beat them.”

“What?”

    Several tall gangsters looked at the two delicately looking high school students coming over to them and they asked, “What do you want?”

Shen Lin calmly replied, “Fight.”

“Huh?” That group of punks instantly burst into laughter, ” Are you courting your death by overestimating your abilities?”

“Why don’t you stay in a safe place like a weak chicken?”

Shen Lin ignored them and said with a not-so-loud voice, “As long as you don’t go blocking Fu Xueyan, I won’t beat you guys up.”

“F*ck, who the hell are you?”

Shen Lin thought about it and said, “Fu Xueyan refused Cheng Xinxin.”

The head of the gang did not bother talking to him, “First we will beat up you guys, and then we will go block that stupid idiot Fu Xueyan!”. Even before his words were finished, Shen Lin had already swung his fist at the former, the head of the gang was instantly confused, he shook his head in disbelief, and then he called up his subordinates, “All of you  go beat them!”

Shen Lin and Xiang Fei had been training from their childhood itself. So it was not a difficult task for them to beat some gangsters. Since hearing the name “Fu Xueyan”, Xiang Fei knew that this matter was not something going to end well. So he immediately wanted the punks to run away fast since the ability of Shen Lin was not something that the punks can beat.

But the punks were very brave, so they didn’t back off. Shen Lin’s punches were powerful. Even though they were bleeding by the end of the fight, several punks had fallen on the ground even without being able to stand up. Xiang Fei’s face was swollen red. He looked at the punks lying on the ground and then saw the thin body of Shen Lin’s whose emotions weren’t clear from his eyes as it was covered by his bangs. Blood could be seen in the corners of Shen Lin’s mouth. He took his schoolbag from the ground and patted it to remove the dust. He walked up to the gangster’s Boss, “ You should not try to find Fu Xueyan. My family is from San Qing, from the Shen line of martial arts. If it hurts, come find me.”

“Xiang Fei, let’s go.”

Xiang Fei followed him and looked at his straight back, the straight back showed strength and loneliness. That group of punks was not lightly beaten. Shen Lin’s father has always been strict and if you know him it can be estimated that this was softer than a lesson by him. Xiang Fei rubbed his red and swollen face and when he looked at Shen Lin who was walking in front of him, he suddenly felt at that moment that Shen Lin was a really romantic person. But although he was in love, he didn’t dare say that to Fu Xueyan.

***

Three of them walked into the restaurant and saw that all the seats were full. Qiang Fei looked for some seats and at last, they waited outside the restaurant. They chatted while waiting. Shen Lin’s mood was very good and he talked a lot too. And after 20 minutes they found a seat. And the seat next to them was occupied by Fu Xueyan.

“Shen Lin?” Fu Xueyan looked at the three who just came in with a surprised look. Shen Lin didn’t expect to see Fu Xueyan here. He was so surprised that he forgot to greet him again.

The person sitting opposite Fu Xueyan was his colleague who took the initiative to start talking, “ Do you know them?”

Fu Xueyan nodded, “ This is the boss of the coffee shop downstairs.”

“Ah, I have drunk a lot of coffee from your shop. Why don’t you guys sit along with us? We only have been here for a short while.”

 Xiang Fei saw a rare chance and bumped Shen Lin, “Good boy, sit inside”

“Ah!…….”

“Idiot, move inside.”

Fu Xueyan saw his foolish appearance and he stood up smiling and pulled a chair for him to sit,” Sit  here.”

Shen Lin with a tense body sat on the seat obediently.

The two people meal turned into a five people one. Shen Lin who was sitting close to Fu Xueyan didn’t know what to do. He was so nervous that he wasn’t even able to hold his chopsticks properly. Xiang Fei looked at him helplessly. He hoped that Shen Lin will not disappoint him but Shen Lin’s brain was already dead. After the meal, they talked for a while but Shen Lin wasn’t able to understand anything. He only remembered that Fu Xueyan had used the serving chopsticks to serve all of them the food. He doesn’t even remember what he ate. Only after they left was he able to feel a bit intact. 

When they separated, Fu Xueyan actively volunteered to send off Shen Lin. But Xiang Fei was a bit uneasy about it. He originally wanted to say something but when he saw the expectant gaze of Shen Lin, he decided to give up. He quickly went away by pulling Zhang Ziyi and muttered, “ Good boy Shen has changed a lot. He wanted me to go away quickly.”

Fu Xueyan pulled his hand and said as if he didn’t care, “ It is very good.”

“What?”

“I think Fu Xueyan is quite interested in him.”

“But I am still not relieved. Shen Li gets so nervous near Fu Xueyan and everyone who is not blind can clearly see that Shen Lin likes him. His love for him is overflowing. Then how can a smart person like Fu Xueyan not see this?”

 “Are you afraid that Fu Xueyan will cheat him?”  

“Yeah. After all, he has been liking him for a long time. And if Fu Xueyan cheats him, I am afraid good boy won’t be able to bear it.”

“Nah, he already has a lot of different people chasing him and also silly people like Shen Lin.”

“Then what makes Good Boy attractive to Fu Xue Yan ah.”

“I guess it is his foolishness.”

“If you talk about my friend like that again, be careful that I might beat you up.”

Fu Xueyan didn’t drive his car when he came over, so he asked Shen Lin’s opinion and decided to walk a little way first before taking a taxi back.

There is a night market near the restaurant and it is very lively with people coming and going. Both of them walked by the side of the street while talking. Basically, it was just Fu Xueyan talking and Shen Lin nodding.

After walking for a while, Shen Lin suddenly stopped. He had eaten too much and now his stomach was aching. He waited a lot of time before telling embarrassedly to Fu Xueyan that he wants to go to the toilet. Fu Xueyan felt that he was so adorable on seeing his shy appearance. But he felt that he was being a bit too shy, so helped him out of the embarrassment by saying, “I want to go too. Let’s go together.”

Shen Lin knew that he was helping him, so he thanked him in a low voice.

After a while, Shen Lin came out. Fu Xueyan was already waiting for him in the original place.

When he saw Shen Lin walking over, he suddenly said, “Stop.”

Shen Lin who was just about to take a step forward didn’t move his feet. He looked at Fu Xueyan not know what to do.

Fu Xueyan said with a slightly mysterious voice, “Just when I came out, I saw some people performing magic tricks. Actually, I can do it too.”

Shen Lin was slightly surprised, “Re.. really?”

“You don’t believe me?”

Shen Lin quickly explained, “No, I believe you.”