Love Rival Is Getting Prettier Everyday - Chap 197
Chapter 197: Do You Know the Other Side of the Fairy?
Bai Qingquan was surprised. After so many years, he was still the person that Shi Lei had loved in his youth. Looking through a time filter, this poked his heart even more. Someone who had liked him so consistently for all this time, as long as Bai Qingquan didn’t hate him, couldn’t help but feel moved.
On one hand, Xiang Zi felt distressed for his friend due to his infatuation, and on the other hand, he felt that Shi Lei and Bai Qingquan were unlikely to get together.
Bai Qingquan was a star; a big, well-known star. His identity as a celebrity in and of itself would already establish a sense of distance. They could only be seen from afar and not be blasphemed.
“How long are you planning to stay here this time?” he asked Bai Qingquan.
“I’m going back tomorrow,” Bai Qingquan said.
“You haven’t been back for many years, right?”
“I’m too busy with work,” Bai Qingquan said. “I don’t have much time to rest year-round. If it wasn’t for the 50th anniversary of my alma mater this time, I probably wouldn’t be back.”
“You are a big star in our school and in Xichuan County,” Xiang Zi said. “We have all watched and I have also watched your new movies in the cinema.”
“Is there a cinema in our county?” Bai Qingquan asked.
“It was built three years ago, and now there are three of them. They are on the other side of the Trade City… Oh, yes. You may not know about Trade City. A few years ago, a commercial center was built opposite Xinhua Supermarket.”
Bai Qingquan hadn’t been back for too long. He would only occasionally visit his uncle and aunt, but usually leave in a hurry. He hadn’t even realized all the changes in his county.
“The development of the county in the past two years has been quite rapid,” Shi Lei said next to him.
“How about you? When will you go back?” Xiang Zi asked him.
Shi Lei said, “Just here for these two days.”
“New Year’s coming, so your company should be very busy, right?” Xiang Zi said, “I called you a few days ago and you were so busy, but I didn’t expect you to come back suddenly.”
After he finished speaking, he glanced at Bai Qingquan faintly. Bai Qingquan was drinking soup with his eyes lowered, holding the bowl with his slender and thin fingers.
The change was truly great. Xiang Zi had seen him during their school years. At that time, Bai Qingquan was the uncrowned beauty of their school, but at that time, he didn’t know how to dress and was a bit too cowardly. Now, he looked so vigorous that it didn’t seem like he would be someone to come out of a poor place like this. It was as if he had been born elite and rich.
There was a clean smell coming from inside out.
All three understood the meaning behind what Xiang Zi said. Shi Lei only smiled and didn’t speak, while Bai Qingquan was the same, but his heart was beating rapidly. Shi Lei had come back for him.
He was touched. He originally had love in the brain and easily fell in love. Shi Lei’s emotional persistence had warmed his heart. Thinking that he had been in love with him all these years and had come back specifically for him made his heart a bit sad.
Xiang Zi didn’t stay long. “It’s getting late, so I’ll head back first. You two can keep talking.”
Shi Lei got up, and he hurriedly stretched out his hand and motioned. “I’ll call you later.”
As he said it, he looked at Bai Qingquan before saying, “I’ll send you off.”
Bai Qingquan also got up and watched him leave before sitting down again. He had finished his bowl of soup. Shi Lei asked, “Would you like another bowl?”
“I’m good,” Bai Qingquan said. “I should go back too.”
Shi Lei got up to pay the bill, and Bai Qingquan waited for him at the door. After settling the bill, Shi Lei put on his jacket, buttoned up the hat on his head, and said, “It’s so cold here.”
After being in the fields for a long time, when he returned to his hometown, he felt that the winter here was drier and colder.
“Did you drink too much?” Bai Qingquan asked.
He felt Shi Lei’s walking was slightly staggered.
Shi Lei smiled and said, “A little bit. I drank too much with Xiang Zi today.”
The two drank nearly two bottles of baiju. The amount of alcohol was quite amazing.
“Where are you going back now?” Shi Lei asked.
“The hotel.”
“It’s a bit far away.”
“That’s fine. I can get some exercise in.”
“Then I will send you,” Shi Lei said.
Bai Qingquan smiled and asked, “Are you okay?”
“I’m okay. I only had a few drinks,” Shi Lei took out his cigarette and lighter as he said this. This time he looked at Bai Qingquan and asked, “Is it okay?”
“I’m good. You can smoke yours.” He didn’t hate the smell of smoke, and he inexplicably thought that men who smoked were very manly.
Shi Lei’s cigarette-lighting action was still very skillful. The fire from the lighter illuminated his eyes. With just the right roughness and ruffian look, he took a breath, consciously moved to the lower vent, and walked along the street with Bai Qingquan to Renmin Road.
“There are street lights here now,” Bai Qingquan said.
“It was installed the year before last.”
Then the two of them were silent for a while.
The air was a bit ambiguous, and he didn’t know what to say. Bai Qingquan put his hands in his pockets and walked silently. A few teenage boys walked over on the opposite side, laughing. Their voices were particularly crisp in the middle of the night. When they came face-to-face, Bai Qingquan was afraid of being recognized, so he slightly tilted his head towards Shi Lei and waited for the group of boys to pass. After they passed him, he gave them a glance and smiled.
They should all be students from No. 2 Junior High.
He was only 24 yet he had begun to envy these teenage students when he saw them. Youth was really beautiful. For these kids now, their youth was much better than his back then.
After another while, Bai Qingquan asked, “What exactly do you do?”
“I first started working under a master who did decoration work. Later I started a small company with a friend called Livable Decorations,” Shi Lei said.
Bai Qingquan nodded and said, “It’s good to be your own boss. I sometimes… occasionally think, and still think, about how you are now and how’s your life.”
Just like most boys in their hometown, they would go to work after junior high, and when they hit their early twenties, they would come back for a matchmaking, get married, then return to work. Children and the elderly were the main people in their hometown, but it was impossible for people to work for a lifetime. When this generation of migrant workers reached their elderly age, they couldn’t keep up with the times and would be gradually eliminated. At that time, their children would also be married, so with no work, they returned to their hometown to take care of the grandchildren.
Such a life was the fate of the elderly here, and there were too many people resigned to this fate. It was impossible to say whether they deserved sympathy or not or whether they were miserable or not, but he always remembered a sentence in his junior high politics textbook that stated that the highest goal of society is the free and comprehensive development of human beings.
There were many people in this world who had a freer and more developed life, and he hoped that Shi Lei would have that kind of life, just like him*.
*Clarity: He’s saying that most people in his hometown only have one road. They go to work after junior high, get married, have kids, and once they get old, return to their hometown to take care of their kids while their own kids go to work. Rinse and repeat for each generation. He hopes that this isn’t the life for Shi Lei and that it will be similar to his, where he took a different path and had more freedom from this “fate”. Whether or not these people’s lives are pitiful or miserable, well, only they can tell you, but as the saying goes, ignorance is bliss.
“Do you think of me occasionally?” Shi Lei asked.
Bai Qingquan: “Nn. To many people, you are the kind of person who will never be remembered, right?”
Shi Lei smiled and said, “It’s not much better now than when I was a kid.” He may have become more stable and mature, but his bones haven’t changed much. Inside, he was still him.
Bai Qingquan turned to look at him and saw Shi Lei staring at him intently. He smiled at Shi Lei.
Shi Lei was dressed very casually this time, unlike during the day, when he looked like a successful person. He was wearing loose black pants and a black down jacket. Everything was ordinary but was propped up by his good figure, with wide shoulders and long legs. He was wearing a hat that was a bit deep and almost covered his eyes. His eyes were black and hazy, but they were exceptionally bright, as if they were reflecting the light from the streetlamps. The bridge of his nose was prominent, tall, slender, and straight, and the corners of his face were more distinct. It showed off a tough look. His chin was neatly shaven, unlike when they had first met in the morning, where he could see cyan stubble growing.
‘What a heavenly dish. Perfect to his aesthetics,’ Bai Qingquan secretly thought. Though the man was a bit rough, he was perfectly handsome.
Bai Qingquan had followed several internet celebrities. Among them was a beauty blogger who had successive boyfriends who were all ugly. Even the fans didn’t understand the aesthetics as she was really beautiful, yet she couldn’t find a handsome boyfriend. If those were the kind of men she dated, what could a bunch of fans have hoped for? Then suddenly she announced on Weibo: [I like the feeling of being ruined!]
The destruction of a beautiful thing was not only the result of a sexual psychology that a few people pursue but also of the innate possessive nature of a man. If you wanted to make a big onslaught treat you like a spoiled rag doll, breaking you over and over again, wasn’t this kind of psychology similar?
It was just that he belonged to the world of beauty, and he must remain handsome, but he also had similar thoughts in common with these people. That was, he also thought that men who looked rougher and more ruffian were sexier.
And to this point, he and Shen Jintai were different. Shen Jintai liked the type like Yan Qiuchi. Men who were abstinent from lust and extravagance. He felt that that quality was a turn-on for him.
However, Shen Jintai had told him that before people fell in love, they all had standards for their future lovers, but in fact, the one that many people finally found were very different from their original standards.
“I was looking for a little beauty like you, but in the end, I found Yan Qiuchi,” Shen Jintai said slyly.
Love still depended on the specific relationship.
As Bai Qingquan walked, he tried to think about the possibility of being with Shi Lei. The rough and ruffian wolf dog gong was worthy of a white and tender fairy like him…
Well, he wasn’t really a fairy.
Thinking of this, Bai Qingquan suddenly had an idea in his mind, which shocked him.
Alt. His alt account!
His alt account was exposed, and everyone knew about it. Would Shi Lei, a person who’s obsessed with him, not know about it?
Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me, fuck me!
His face turned red suddenly, and he suddenly felt that he was pretending to be a fairy in front of Shi Lei all this time when, in fact, the person might have already known that he was a man who was thirsty for love…
It seemed like his famous brand clothing was stripped off in an instant.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
He immediately turned his head and glanced at Shi Lei, intending to leave immediately.
The author has something to say:
Don’t worry, you will always be a treasure that cannot be blasphemed, but you’ll be blasphemed in Sishi’s heart!
PS: ALTHOUGH OUR SISHI IS CHARACTERIZED AS A MAN, IT DOESN’T MEAN HE ISN’T HANDSOME! Bai Qingquan is so handsome that in the eyes of extremely beautiful people, it’s not as comparable, but it’s still enough*!
*Clarity: Shi Lei is “handsome” in the sense that he’s better looking than the average person (and in good shape), but compared to a celebrity, he’s not comparable. His aesthetic is more like the gangster bad boy type than the handsome, beauty type. Think of it like that.
