Guan Yue heard that each of the three Fu brothers had their distinct traits. Fu Qingye was mature and handsome, while the temperament and androgynous face of this young man in front of her were enough to beat those beautiful men and women in the entertainment industry.
“Have a seat and make yourself comfortable,” Shu Baiyu smiled lovingly as she looked at Fu Qingxuan and Xixi.
Yueyue said that the two of them were a good-looking couple. This was true, but Shu Baiyu thought that they did not look like a romantic couple.
Fu Qingxuan pulled out a chair for Shen Xi and watched her sit before he bent slightly and elegantly laid out the napkin on her lap like a gentleman. Then, he pulled out a chair for himself and took a seat.
This was the first time Shen Xi enjoyed his attentive service. She was not used to it and thought to herself, “What a good actor! He’s truly worthy of being the brother of the great Film Emperor. It’s a pity that Fu Qingxuan didn’t enter showbiz, otherwise, he would’ve won an Oscar.”
Fu Qingxuan seemed to have sensed Shen Xi’s thoughts and turned to smile at her charmingly.
Shen Xi was speechless.
The food was served soon after.
Everyone had an appreciation for beauty. Guan Yue was no exception. Sitting opposite the stunning couple, she was in a great mood and felt that the food tasted better than usual.
Shen Xi did not like to eat cilantro, but she loved Sichuan-style hot and sour fish with pickled mustard greens, which happened to be loaded with cilantro. Since it was impolite to pick at her food at the table, she decided not to touch it, but as a foodie, it was torture not getting to eat her favorite food.
That fish on the table looked extremely tempting. Its pickled aroma awakened her taste buds.
In the end, Shen Xi still could not help but take a slice of the hot and sour fish.
When Fu Qingxuan saw Shen Xi getting one slice, he followed suit.
Shu Baiyu looked at the two people across the table as they calmly picked away the cilantro leaves stuck to their pieces of fish with focus. Their actions and expressions were indescribably similar, so she laughed and jokingly said, “You kids are really like twins!”
“Who wants to be twins with him?!”
“Who wants to be twins with her?!”
Fu Qingxuan and Shen Xi said simultaneously, then turned to look at each other with disgust.
Shu Baiyu could not help but laughed out loud and asked, “Yueyue, what do you think?”
She was waking up the dreamer with her question.
Guan Yue was a little shaken and nodded her head in agreement. “Yeah, so similar.”
She had always felt that Xixi and Fu Qingxuan were very much alike, with the same temperament, little movements, and expressions. She mistook the similarities for the tacit understanding between a young couple, but she always felt that something was off about it although she could not pinpoint exactly what it was.
When her teacher said so, Guan Yue suddenly realized that she was looking in the wrong direction from the beginning. Rather than a couple, these two were more like twins, but no one knew which one of them was the older one.
“How are we similar?” Shen Xi muttered and threw a sidelong glance at Fu Qingxuan.
‘How ridiculous!’
‘I’m nothing like this childish brat!’
“We’re not similar,” Fu Qingxuan denied it vehemently. He took a bite of the fish and could not help but quietly glanced at Shen Xi.
‘Ridiculous!’
‘Why would I look like Li Jingran’s daughter?’
Shu Baiyu looked at both of them. Even when they looked at each other with contempt, they were surprisingly alike. She laughed noncommittally and did not continue on this topic. “Eat more.”
‘Are they not alike?’
‘I think they’re similar enough.’
It was not just their little expressions and actions, even their preferences were the same.
Xixi did not like lemonade.
Although Fu Qingxuan did not say it, he never touched his lemonade.
They both like to eat spicy and sweet dishes.
They did not eat the purple cabbage in the salad, nor did they eat the carrot inside the stew.
Neither of them touched the garlic eggplant dish on the table.
After dinner, it was already 9:00 pm.
By the time they arrived at Fu Qingxuan’s house, it was already 10:00 pm.
After Shen Xi took a shower, she knocked on the door to the study. “Fu Qingxuan, I’m leaving tomorrow.”
When Fu Qingxuan heard that she was leaving, his heart suddenly felt empty and his nose felt a little sore. However, he said indifferently, “You don’t have to report your whereabouts to me.”
Shen Xi grunted. She felt strangely upset and did not know what was going on. She had just met this person less than a week ago and already had this kind of damned attachment to him.
Fu Qingxuan’s eyes were swollen and his narrow eyes were glistening in the light.
‘Meanie.’
‘Just leave.’
‘Why did you have to tell me?’
‘Now you make me so sad.’
It was quiet outside, so Fu Qingxuan thought that she had left.
Unexpectedly, his door was knocked on again. Shen Xi asked, “Fu Qingxuan, does your family put up Spring Festival couplets[1] for the New Year?”
Fu Qingxuan retorted, “Who doesn’t put up Spring Festival couplets at home?”
Shen Xi replied, “So when are you going home?”
Fu Qingxuan thought that he would never see her again and was so upset that he threw a tantrum. “None of your business!”
Shen Xi had an indescribably good temper probably because she was leaving soon. “Then let’s write some couplets and put them up before I leave.”
Fu Qingxuan refused, “No!”
Shen Xi said, “Then do you have red paper and ink at home?”
Fu Qingxuan was even more aggressive this time, “I don’t know!”
Shen Xi ignored him, grunted, and kicked his door. She then turned around and called Fu Qingye. Under Fu Qingye’s guidance and description, she soon found red paper, an artisan knife, a ruler, brush, and ink. She was ready to write the Spring Festival couplets.
Since Shen Xi and Fu Qingxuan would be gone, no one would be at home, so pasting a Spring Festival couplet at the front door would make the house look more festive.
If she was in her hometown at this moment, friends and families would already be visiting each other. Children would set off firecrackers and fireworks. At night, there would be Dragon Dance and Lion Dance[2] performances along the street. It would be extremely lively.
In this foreign country, let alone these activities, Shen Xi did not even see a red lantern[3].
Fu Qingxuan lost interest in reading and never flipped a page of the book he was holding. He tried to listen to the movements outside, but the soundproof in the room was too good, so he could not hear anything.
When he pushed the door open, he saw the girl kneeling to lay out the red paper on the floor of the empty area of the living room. She looked serious as she wrote the Spring Festival couplets. Shen Xi noticed him and stopped writing, then turned to him and smiled brightly. “Young Master, would you like to write one?”
Fu Qingxuan watched as the girl rubbed her hand on her face. A drop of ink had smeared onto her face somehow. He laughed at her, “You look like a clown!”
Shen Xi was stunned for a moment. She then lifted her hand and rubbed her face, this time, smearing more ink on her face.
Fu Qingxuan pointed at her and mocked her. “Are you writing couplets or are you writing on your face? Are you gonna stick your face to my front door?”
Shen Xi looked at his smug face and got annoyed. She directly pressed her inky hands on his face, imprinting four fingerprints on his handsome face. She dragged her hands from the left to the right of his face, making it look like a cat clawed his face.
“Young Master, now we’re the same!” Shen Xi laughed smugly and made a face at him. “Clown!”
[1] Chinese New Year tradition in which lines of poetry were handwritten in black or gold ink on red paper and were pasted on both sides of the front door, with a four-character idiom on red paper pasted horizontally above the door frame. These couplets served as festive decorations and wishes for a better year to come
[2] Traditional Chinese dances in which a team of performers would put on dragon or lion costumes, typically performed during Chinese New Year or other religious or cultural festivals for good luck and fortune
[3] Chinese New Year decoration representing wealth and prosperity