Shuijing
I woke up in a really good mood the next day despite the few hours of sleep I got. What happened last night kept replaying in my head and I giggled because I could still feel his lips on my skin. I shook it off and got out of bed to get ready for the day.
Ah Si and the rest of the boys were already up and were playing a game of volleyball with Ximen's date whose name I didn't bother asking for and Kiki as their audience but I'm pretty sure that with the idea of 4 hot single and not too mention rich boys playing volleyball, they had already attracted a larger audience. I took a shower and changed before going to wake up Shancai in the next room. I was dressed in a dark blue scalloped edged halter top, blue and white sweat shorts with white flip flops. I fastened on some small silver hoop earrings, grabbed my phone, and placed my sunglasses on top of my head before heading to Shancai and Ah Si's room.
I knocked on the door and Shancai opened the door, greeting me with a smile.
"Good morning Shuijing," she said shyly and I gave her a smile back. She was dressed as well. She was wearing a red and white shirt with a striped long sleeve top and white shorts with black flip flops.
"Good morning Shancai, let's go eat?" I asked and she nodded as we headed downstairs to have some breakfast.
We headed down to the restaurant where they were heading breakfast and Shancai seemed to be a little shy. I pushed the plate of bacon towards her.
"Help yourself Shancai," I said as I dug through my omelet. She smiled and proceeded to eat. My mind wandered to her and Lei last night.
"Shancai, can I ask you something?" I said as I sipped my juice while looking at her. She nodded as she kept her head down and chewed her food. I leaned forward.
"What were you and Lei doing by the beachfront?" I asked which made her choke a little and I hurriedly passed her a glass of water which she hurriedly drank in a few seconds. She turned to look at me. I guess she didn't expect me to ask that as she blushed profusely.
"Um... Well... I uh-" She tried to explain but was struggling. I held my hand up to stop her from panicking.
"If you're worried about me telling Ah Si, don't worry. I have no intention of letting him know." I reassured her and she seemed to relax a bit.
"We were just talking about what happened in Paris and about...Jing," she said the last part softly which made my smile drop slightly.
"Oh.," I said as I tried to keep the smile on my face.
"He told me that they lived together in Paris for a while and that Jing was so happy when she saw him. They were so happy.." She trailed off and my smile ultimately dropped.
"But?" I asked, urging her to continue the story.
"But it didn't last long..Jing became busier and busier with attending school during the day and interning at a law firm at night. He waited for her every day and every night. He noticed that she had smiled less and less and was more tired than usual. She had built a wall around her that he said that even if he had become air, he couldn't find a way in. He felt so useless that he couldn't do anything for her.. he said that no matter how much he loved her, he was still the same autistic boy who hid in the corner." Shancai said which made me slightly tear up.
'So that's what happened... That's why Lei is acting this way..' I thought.
"Thank you for telling me Shancai. Don't worry, this will stay between us." I said as I gave her a small smile. She nodded and smiled back. I stood up and pulled her along with me.
"Well, we shouldn't keep them waiting. You know how Ah Si gets when you're not in his sight." I teased while she huffed. I laughed as we walked over to the beachfront where the boys were playing. Kiki and Ximen's date were sitting near the loungers in some overly skimpy bikinis. Along with a few other guests who were dressed similarly. I laughed at their desperate attempts to get the boys to look their way by scandalously pulling down their bikini tops. Not that the boys were paying attention to them, they were too busy having fun and laughing at each other. I smiled. I missed seeing them like this. Just happy and creating memories.
There was a fairly proper amount of guests huddled near them, watching them play. Ximen and Meizuo gave them a few waves and winks every once in a while which I rolled my eyes at and huffed in annoyance. I tried to move closer but was pushed back by some of the girls. Shancai tried to move closer to seat at one of the loungers near the boys but was pushed back as well. Now I was irritated. I cleared my throat.
"Excuse me? I do believe you're in our way." I said and some of the girls tried to glare at me while Shancai stood close to me, not backing down.
"Hey! We were here first! We're watching the F4 play so get lost!" one girl, I assumed she was the little leader of this posse, said. I noticed she was intently looking at Meizuo but I shook off my already built up annoyance and smirked as I looked down at what she was wearing. An insanely tight red two-piece with the top part obviously stuffed with an insane amount of padding. I laughed and took my sunglasses off from my eyes. The girls around her gasped and some even pointed at me in awe. They seemed to recognize me. Good.
"If you don't wanna get kicked off this island, I suggest you move while I'm asking nicely." I threatened with a smile on my face. But this girl wasn't backing down and she dared to grab my arm. It hurt a little bit since her nails were long and might I add was painted a hideously neon pink color. Ugh. The girls around her gasped
"Shuijing!" Shancai exclaimed as she tried to intervene but I held up my hand to stop her.
"Let go." I said calmly. She just laughed annoyingly. If you've ever heard nails scratching against a chalkboard, that was what it sounded like.
"Or what? You'll cry?" She threatened as she continued to laugh. I just smirked and looked her in the eye.
"Me? Cry because of a desperate snake like you? You wish." I bragged as I gave her a smile. She glared at me and dug her nails into my arm. Okay, now that seriously hurts. Being an heiress technically meant I wasn't allowed to start physical fights or anything scandalous that could potentially damage my family's name but that doesn't mean I can't have some fun and harmlessly threaten someone. Ah Si does it all the time.
"Hey! You should let her go." One girl said which just made this ugly little gremlin scoff.
"Why?" she stupidly asked.
"Don't you know who she is?" the girl said in disbelief. I smirked.
" She's just some dumb bitch who thinks she can get with the F4." She said and my smirk dropped. Oh no, she didn't. Shancai looked at her in shock.
"Say that again," I said as I glared at her and she smiled.
"You're just a bitch." She repeated smugly and at the same time, some other girl held out her phone and showed her an article. I saw the headlines and smirked. There was a picture of me and the headline read:
TENGTANG SHUIJING, YOUNGEST DAUGHTER OF THE TENGTANG FAMILY HAS BOOSTED THE REVENUE OF THE TENGTANG INVESTMENT GROUP BY 110%
I saw how her eyes widened and her jaw dropped when she read the article and saw my picture then looked back at me. She abruptly let go of my arm which was now a little red from her holding it tightly. Shancai held it and checked to see if she had scarred my arm. There were long white dragging lines along my arm that were bleeding slightly.
"Are you okay Shuijing?" She asked in concern and I nodded and smiled through the pain. I stepped closer to the girl who had held my arm and with each step I took, she stepped back.
"What did you say I was again?" I mockingly asked as I watched all the color drain from her face. She was stuttering and tried to find the words but couldn't. I smirked. I saw Shancai smile a bit from the corner of my eye.
"If I recall, you said: " She's just some dumb bitch who thinks she can get with the F4.". I said as I smiled.
"I-I'm so sorry! I didn't know!" She said as she started to cry and I just scoffed and giggled at her. I looked back at the boys who stopped playing. I assumed they noticed the commotion and they walked over to us but I kept my eyes on the girl who was sobbing in front of me.
"Is there a problem here?" I heard a voice say near me and turned to see Meizuo with an unreadable expression. His eyes traveled to my red arm and his face twisted in anger. He stalked over to me and gently grabbed my arm. He looked at me with concerned eyes.
"Are you okay? What happened? " he asked as he gently caressed the reddened part of my arm and I nodded. Ah Si, Ximen, and Lei had walked over as well. I saw their eyes widened when they took a closer look at my arm. Ah Si turned to the girls, clearly infuriated.
"Who did this?" He demanded and he turned to the girl who was sobbing.
"Was it you?" he said as he pointed his finger at her which only made her sob harder. I noticed that she was the only one left standing there, the rest of the girls walked away probably as an attempt to not get involved in the mess.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!" She said as she continued to cry.
"You should be!" Ah Si shouted and I walked closer. I placed my hand on Ah Si's shoulder and gave it a squeeze, prompting him to turn to me. 'I'm okay.' I said through my eyes and he nodded. I walked closer to the girl and gave her a smile.
"Next time, make sure you know the person you're bumping heads with okay? Trust me when I say that you don't want me as an enemy." I snarkily said as I patted her head and the said girl scurried away in fear. I laughed a little and turned my head to the boys and Shancai. They looked a little scared. Ah Si gave me a proud smile as I laughed slightly.
"What?" I asked innocently.
"Sometimes, I really think you're scarier than Ah Si." Ximen joked which made Ah Si glare at him. I laughed as I walked over to a lounger and the boys with Shancai followed suite. They all sat down and grabbed their drinks. Ah Si was trying to go near Shancai who was beside me but decided against it and sat beside Lei. Ximen sat on my other side in his lounger while Meizuo sat at the foot of my lounger, continuing to hold my arm.
"Are you really okay?" Meizuo asked as he grabbed the first aid kit from one of the resort's employees. I looked at my arm and saw that there was some blood slightly dripping. I would be lying if I said it didn't hurt. He sighed and pulled out some ointment and start applying it to my arm. I winced.
"Sorry Shui." he said as continued to dab on the ointment on my skin, softly blowing on it to soothe the pain. He looked up at me and I did as well. He still looked concerned and kind of mad. I stared back and smiled.
"I'm fine Zuo, I promise. It just stings a little okay?" I reassured him and he sighed but nodded in understanding. He drank his juice and stared at the ocean. I smiled. 'This is exactly why I fell in love with him.' My thoughts were suddenly interrupted when Ximen spoke. He was staring at something on his phone in shock. It seemed to be a news article of some sort.
"Shuijing, did you know about this?" he asked as he turned to me. My eyebrows furrowed.
"About what?" I asked, confused. He handed me his phone and I almost dropped it when I saw the headline.
TENGTANG JING, EXCHANGE STUDENT IN FRANCE, EXPECTED TO WED THIS YEAR
"Tengtang Jing, an exchange student, fell in love with the son of the mayor of Paris. They are expected to get married by year-end." I read out loud, with the last part in a questioning voice. Ximen, Meizuo, Ah Si, and Shancai had walked over to see the article. They all looked shocked and we all turned to Lei who was nonchalantly drinking his juice.
"Did you know about that?" Ah Si asked him.
"Yes. It's big news in Paris." Lei said dismissively. My eyebrows furrowed. Did he know?
"Is that why you came back?" Ximen asked.
"Lei, do you not care? Jing's about to marry someone else." Meizuo added.
"Why should I care? Everything's over now." Lei answered and in a way, I understood how he was feeling but I felt betrayed that Jie didn't tell me she was getting married. And as if on cue, my phone rang but it wasn't Jie who was calling.
"Hello? Mom? Dad?" I answered in a soft voice which made the rest of them listen in.
"What is this about your sister getting married? Did you know about this?" Dad asked sternly.
"No. I didn't dad. I swear!"I answered and I heard him sigh.
"You better not be lying to me Tengtang Shuijing." He said and I frowned.
"I'm not Dad. I promise. I was just as shocked as you are." I answered.
"All right. Get your sister to call me. I have to talk to her." He said.
"Yes, dad," I answered as he hung up. I sighed and looked at Lei. Why was he pretending that nothing was wrong?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Later that night, I was just lounging about in my room when I heard someone knock.
"Come in!" I said and Ah Si went in with a defeated look on his face. My eyebrows furrowed.
"Ah Si? What's wrong?" I asked as he stared at me. I noticed his eyes were tearing up.
"What is it?" I asked as he began to cry and I gave him a hug. Ah Si was like this overprotective big brother who always thought that violence was the only way out but underneath all that, he was just a lonely little boy who wanted to be loved. We related to each other in that aspect.
"I- I saw them." He said as he continued to cry.
"Who?"
"Lei and Shancai... They kissed," he said which made my eyes widen. Lei wouldn't do that to Ah Si, would he? And Shancai wasn't like that.
"It hurts so much Shui..I've never loved anyone like this.."He said as he cried and I just rubbed his back in comfort. I didn't say much else but just continued to listen as he cried his heart out.
I didn't even notice someone watching us from the crack of my hotel room door.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The next day, we were all in the lobby of the hotel just waiting for the car to take us to the airport. I sat across from Meizuo and fiddled with my fingers. I was still uncomfortable with what I had to hear from Ah Si last night and seeing Lei and Shancai in front of me wasn't helping.
"I can't believe Ah Si just left without us. Wasn't everything fine yesterday?" Ximen pointed out in annoyance and Meizuo nodded.
"Something must've happened," Meizuo said as he turned to look at Lei.
"Lei, did you see Ah Si?" he asked.
"No," Lei answered in a somber tone and Meizuo turned back to face me. I averted my eyes from his stare and looked towards the hotel's entrance.
"We'll ask him when we get back. Let's go." Ximen said as he stood up and grabbed his luggage. Meizuo and I followed suit with Shancai and Lei behind us.
When we got to the airport and boarded the plane, I could still feel the tension. Nobody seemed to notice but me. I guess it had to do with the fact that I knew exactly why Ah Si left the night before. Meizuo noticed my dilemma and put down the magazine he was reading.
"What's wrong Shuijing?" He asked in concern. I gave him a small smile and shook my head.
"It's nothing Zuo. I'm just a little tired." I said and he scoffed. My eyebrows furrowed.
"Okay, what is with you? I don't recall doing anything to make you mad and yet you've been ignoring me since earlier and now you're giving me attitude. " I said as I glared at him. He stayed silent and read his magazine. I sighed.
"Fine. Don't tell me." I said as I grabbed my sleeping mask from my bag and closed my eyes.
'What's his problem?'
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
After we had arrived in Shanghai, I hurriedly grabbed my luggage and headed for the exit. I ignored Meizuo's calls for me to wait and walked faster. I didn't even notice that I had bumped into someone and dropped my stuff along with his.
"Oh my god! I am so sorry." I said as I crouched down to grab my stuff and his as well. I handed him his passport and looked up at the stranger who I had bumped into.
'Damn. He's hot!'
He had tan skin, brown eyes, and dark brown hair. He was a little taller than me. He had a kind smile and was wearing a white shirt with matching dark blue plaid pants and a matching jacket. He carried a big brown messenger bag and had on some white sneakers.
"It's all right. I wasn't paying attention," he said kindly as he handed me my phone. I laughed and got up.
"Thank you, I'm Shuijing. Nice to meet you." I said as I held out my hand for him to shake. He shook it and smiled.
"Nice to meet you too. I'm-" He trailed off when he heard, I assumed were his friends, calling him.
"Sorry. I have to go but I hope I see you again." He said and I shyly nodded. He waved goodbye and ran to his friends.
I smiled to myself as I walked out of the airport.
'That was interesting'.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
For the rest of the week, I drowned myself in work and did my best to dodge Meizuo's calls and other messages from the guys. Shancai tried to call me. Even Lei tried to get me to talk but I wasn't up for talking. After Jie's engagement announcement, I was suddenly the center of the media's attention and all sorts of stupid rumors came out. They claimed that maybe Jie was pregnant that's why she was getting married so suddenly or that the Tengtang family was in bankruptcy and stuff like that. I couldn't care less because I had already talked it over with Jie however my parents especially Dad, were constantly on my case. They kept asking if I had any secret boyfriends lying around which I would immediately rebuff and deny.
I groaned as my phone rang for the nth time. Meizuo was calling again. It rang for a few seconds before going silent. I looked back at the paper I was reading when my phone beeped, signaling I had a message. It was a voice mail.
"Shuijing, look I'm sorry for acting the way I did okay? I was just mad about something and took it out on you. Please call me back.."
I sighed and picked up my phone. It rang for a while until the person I called answered.
"Hello?" A sad voice said and I smiled a little. I haven't heard his voice in days.
"Hi, Zuo." I answered.
"Shuijing?... Hey." He said.
"How are you?" I asked and I heard him sigh.
"Listen, I'm really sorry okay? I didn't mean to come off as a jerk- I was just upset and I took it out on you." He said.
"What were you so upset about?" I asked.
"It was stupid Shui..really. Let's not talk about it okay?" He dismissed.
"Come on Zuo, please tell me. Please?" I asked again.
"All right. The night before Ah Si went home, I saw him go in your room so I got curious why he'd go see you in the middle of the night. I peeked through the doorway and I saw you guys hug...I didn't know why but I got mad and I guess I was a little jealous because I thought Ah Si saw you as more than just a little sister. You're my best friend and I don't want you to get entangled between Ah Si's already messy love life." He explained and at that moment, I was grateful that we were talking on the phone rather than in person because I'm sure my face was redder and hotter than a chili pepper right now.
"Zuo, you don't have to be jealous okay? Ah Si came into my room that night because he saw Shancai and Lei kiss so he wanted someone to talk to. I hugged him because I felt sorry for him. You've seen the way he looks at Shancai Zuo. He loves her so much. Besides, I would never see him that way. He's my big brother." I explained as I smiled through the phone.
"All right Shui. Thanks for letting me know. Well, I better let you sleep, you're probably tired. Will you stop by Mingde tomorrow?" He asked and I giggled.
"Sure. Sweet dreams Zuo." I said as I smiled through the phone. I heard him laugh.
"Sweet dreams Shuijing. Bye." He said as he hung up. I squealed in happiness and jumped on my bed.
I sighed as I cuddled Kenny close to my chest.
"Feng Meizuo..." I said dreamily as I squealed and hugged Kenny tighter.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Meizuo
After I got off the phone with Shuijing, I sighed in contentment and smiled. But then again, I wondered. Why was I jealous of Ah Si and Shuijing? We've all been friends since we were in diapers but I couldn't shake the thought of Ah Si liking Shuijing in "more than a sister" kind of way, it just didn't sit right with me.
If it did happen, I couldn't exactly blame Ah Si, Ximen, or Lei for falling for her no matter how impossible it seems. She really has grown up from the little girl who always wore overalls, wore her cap backwards, and played soccer with us. She was a woman now. She's beautiful. Both outside and inside. I smiled at the thought of her pretty face as she laughs.
My eyes widened as I shook off my thoughts.
'No...It can't be..' I thought as I groaned.
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