Married Thrice to Salted Fish

127.

Mobile phones, cameras, cars, air conditioners weren’t the only things Lin Qingyu knew about Jiang Xing’s hometown. He also knew a little about the food here. Fortunately, Jiang Xing often talked to him about these things. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to maintain his composure in this strange world.

“I want to eat what you often eat.” Lin Qingyu said.

What Jiang Xing most frequently ate were the housekeeper’s home cooked meals. During the National Day holiday, their housekeeper had asked for leave and when his aunt heard about it, she invited him over to eat. Obviously, he couldn’t bring a stranger to his aunt’s house. It didn’t cost much to treat someone to a meal. He’ll just treat it as entertaining an online friend he was finally meeting face-to-face.

Jiang Xing saw a shopping mall near the exhibition hall and suggested, “Shall we go to the shopping mall?”

Lin Qingyu said, “Shopping mall? Do they sell your clothes there? I want to change.” It was really quite hot here and not only was his current outfit very eye-catching, it could also cause heat stroke if worn for too long.

Jiang Xing looked at the beauty quietly — Is it not enough that you’re cheating me out of a meal, you’re also cheating me out of a set of clothes?

Fine, with your beauty, being cheated is worth it.

The two walked to the entrance of the mall. Lin Qingyu didn’t have a mobile phone and couldn’t scan his code to enter. Fortunately, he could register manually.

Lin Qingyu looked at the strangely shaped pen and said to Jiang Xing, “You write for me.”

Jiang Xing was a little puzzled. He picked up the pen and asked, “What’s your name?”

“Lin Qingyu.”

Jiang Xing paused. “Which Qingyu?”

“The Qing for clear and the Yu for feathers.”

Jiang Xing smiled and said, “What a coincidence. I just read a novel called “Huai’s Refusal of the Monarch” and there was a character named Lin Qingyu in it.”

Lin Qingyu said lightly, “En, I’m that Lin Qingyu from “Huai’s Refusal of the Monarch”.”

Jiang Xing thought he must have heard wrong. “Huh?”

The two of them standing there at the entrance to the mall, registering, meant that they were in the way of others who wanted to get in. Jiang Xing didn’t have time to ask and simply said, “What’s your ID number and mobile phone number?”

Lin Qingyu said, “I don’t have that sort of thing.”

Something was wrong; something was very wrong. Jiang Xing put down the pen and took Lin Qingyu aside. He asked, “What did you mean by that just now?”

“I meant what I said literally.” Lin Qingyu said, “I am from the Dayu and you and I also met in the Dayu.”

Jiang Xing looked like he’d seen a ghost. This… should he praise Lin Qingyu’s con for being novel?

Lin Qingyu thought it necessary to explain clearly to Jiang Xing. “It’s a long story. Let’s go someplace cool and I’ll explain to you in detail.”

Jiang Xing regained his composure and saw a nearby milk tea dessert shop that didn’t require you to register. And so he took Lin Qingyu inside and sat him down. “You wait here for me.”

“Where are you going?”

“Aren’t you hungry?” Ever since Lin Qingyu said he was hungry, it kept nagging in his mind, “I’ll go buy you something to eat.”

Lin Qingyu’s lips curved into a smile. “Thank you.”

Jiang Xing bought two cups of milk tea, four donuts and eight egg tarts. He inserted the straw for Lin Qingyu and handed it over. “Here, try it.”

Lin Qingyu didn’t take it. Instead, as though it were the most natural thing in the world, he took Jiang Xing’s hand, bowed his head and took a sip of the milk tea. Surprise flashed in his eyes. “Jiang Xing, this is delicious. I like it.”

After standing in the sun for a while, Lin Qingyu’s cheeks were slightly reddish, looking more enticing than the donuts.

Jiang Xing couldn’t help laughing. “You’re so cute.” As soon as the words were out, he was stunned.

What is he saying? How could he say such frivolous things to a boy he’d just met for the first time? When did he get so greasy?

Lin Qingyu has long been accustomed to Jiang Xing’s “greasiness”. He took two big mouthfuls of milk tea and ate an egg tart. When he no longer felt so hungry, he said, “Have you ever thought that one day you would be transmigrated into the world of “Huai’s Refusal of the Monarch”?”

“……Never.”

Lin Qingyu explained everything in detail. He and Jiang Xing met each other, got to know each other and fell in love; from the Nan’an Hou’s Mansion to the General’s Mansion, and finally to the Imperial Palace. Jiang Xing had died three times and they were married three times. Finally, he talked about Xu Junyuan, “I don’t know if Xu Junyuan has already found out that we’ve left the Dayu. But if he knows what’s good for him, he should already be thinking of a way to get us back.”

After Jiang Xing heard Lin Qingyu’s words, his first reaction wasn’t to call 110. Instead, he thought of that dream he had during his nap. He dreamt that he’d lived and died, died and lived again and there was a beauty in a wedding dress—these were basically consistent with what Lin Qingyu had said.

He seriously suspected that he was going out of his mind. He actually felt that what Lin Qingyu said wasn’t completely made up.

Lin Qingyu saw that Jiang Xing still didn’t believe him yet so he raised his hand, pointed at Jiang Xing’s Adam’s apple and said, “You have a mole here.”

Jiang Xing instinctively looked down. His headphones were still hanging around his neck, blocking his Adam’s apple, so Lin Qingyu shouldn’t have been able to see it.

Lin Qingyu continued, “Your birthday is on the fifth of October. Your mother was a very strong person and was very strict with you. She forced you to learn ancient Chinese calligraphy and required you to be proficient in everything. You didn’t disappoint her and though tired of studying, you still manage to secure first place. You are very good at attaching protective screens and you can play the Xiqin—for you, it should be called an Erhu…”

Jiang Xing ate a donut to calm his shock. “Did you investigate me?”

“You have a secret that no one knows. When you were in second grade of elementary school, you once broke your mother’s perfume bottle and then blamed it on your little dog. The dog’s name was Xiao Mi.”

“Who told you all this? Jiang Xing asked incredulously, “My cousin?” No, even Pei Zhiqi didn’t know that he’d framed Xiao Mi.

“You told me yourself.” Lin Qingyu said, “You’re the only one who knows about this, aren’t you?”

Jiang Xing’s entire being was torn.

Who is he? Where is he? Is this world real or not?

Lin Qingyu saw a shop selling fishing gear opposite their shop and added, “You also like fishing.”

Jiang Xing had fallen in love with fishing when he was Gu Fuzhou. He said that fishing was the most wonderful sport in the world. Later, Jiang Xing became the emperor and he had very little free time. He wanted to sleep, cling to him and occasionally fish. So he would ask him to accompany him to sleep or go fishing with him.

Finally, Lin Qingyu was wrong about one thing. Jiang Xing calmed down and said, “I don’t like it.” He doesn’t even know how to fish.

Lin Qingyu said, “No, you like it.”

Jiang Xing was very sure. “No, I don’t like it.”

Lin Qingyu didn’t want to waste his words. He stood up and said, “If you don’t believe me, go and have a look at that store.”

Jiang Xing froze as soon as he stepped into the fishing shop. Why did he feel like he was in heaven? He felt as much joy here as he did visiting a sneaker store. He suddenly felt that not only could he fish, but that he could fish with ease. The entire Pearl River wasn’t enough for him to fish.

It was over. He already felt in his heart that what Lin Qingyu said was the truth. Is he crazy or is the world crazy?

Jiang Xing had a somber expression on his face, saying nothing. Lin Qingyu thoughtfully said nothing, giving him enough time to digest. When the two returned to the street, blown by the sweltering wind, Lin Qingyu finally understood why Jiang Xing always said that air conditioners saved people’s lives.

Before Lin Qingyu could speak, he heard Jiang Xing whisper, “Clothes.”

“What?”

“You have to change out of that Hanfu before we talk about anything else.” Jiang Xing still had countless questions in his mind, but the strange thing was that he was more concerned about whether Lin Qingyu felt hot in his outfit. “I’ll take you to my house and you can wear my clothes for now — Is that all right?”

“Of course its fine. I’ve always wanted to visit your house.” Lin Qingyu said, “How do we get there?”

Jiang Xing turned on his phone and glanced at the taxi app. It was the National Day holiday and it was dinner time, there were a lot of people taking taxis and the APP warned him that he’d have to wait at least 20 minutes.

“I want to try riding that.” Lin Qingyu pointed to a car passing in front of them. “Can you drive?”

Jiang Xing’s heart tightened and he said, a little bit defensively, “Uh, no.”

Lin Qingyu was a little disappointed. “I thought you could do everything.”

Jiang Xing felt that he’d been dealt a violent hit.

Lin Qingyu remembered that Jiang Xing came here on a shared bicycle. He asked, “Are we going home on a shared bicycle?”

“Let me take you to take the subway.” Jiang Xing said leisurely, “You came all the way from the Dayu, how could you miss Line 3 and Line 5 during the evening rush in Guangzhou? I must take you to experience it.”

“Subway?” Lin Qingyu looked around and saw a sign with the word “subway” written on it, “Are we going there?”

Jiang Xing’s face changed slightly and he thought he had caught a flaw. “Wait a minute, if you’re really from ancient times, how can you read simplified characters? You also know about shared bicycles?”

“You taught me.”

“Okay, my apologies.”

Lin Qingyu walked towards the subway station, but was stopped by Jiang Xing. “I was just kidding with you,” Jiang Xing said with a smile, “You can’t squeeze into the subway with your clothes like that.”

Jiang Xing called their family driver. “Uncle Chen, it’s me. Are you free now? Can you come and pick me up? …No, not the one near the school. It’s the holidays, I’m not staying there anymore. It’s the one in Zhujiang New Town. My current location is…”

It would take about ten minutes for the driver to get to them. Jiang Xing hung up the phone. He looked at the beauty in splendid clothes holding a cup of milk tea and called out hesitantly, “Lin Qingyu?”

Huh? Why did it feel so awkward?

Lin Qingyu raised his head, furrowed his brows and said, displeased, “What did you call me?”

Jiang Xing quickly changed his words. “Qingyu.” As soon as he said this, Jiang Xing suddenly became enlightened and at ease. “How about you take the wig off first? Just looking at it makes me feel hot. It must be worse for you.”

“Have you gone dumb from shock?” Lin Qingyu sighed, “This is my hair.”

Men in ancient times did have long hair. Jiang Xing stared at Lin Qingyu’s long locks of hair hanging down his chest and said, “Are you really not wearing a wig?”

“En.” Lin Qingyu knew that Jiang Xing liked touching his hair, “Do you want to touch it?”

Jiang Xing was stunned. He asked, “Can I touch it?”

Lin Qingyu said, “If it’s you, you’re free to touch it.” Jiang Xing had touched every part of his body, inside and out.

Jiang Xing stretched out his hand and carefully picked up Lin Qingyu’s long hair. It was very light, very soft; silky and cool.

In an instant, a picture vaguely flashed through Jiang Xing’s mind: he and Lin Qingyu were lying together on a large bed. Lin Qingyu was lying on his back and he was lying on his side, carelessly playing with Lin Qingyu’s long silky hair.

Holy crap, Lin Qingyu really did seem to be his wife.

This was cause for celebration!