Please Be More Serious Chapter 73-74

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Chapter 73 – Sugar

When Zhengqing arrived at Yin Ting’s

home, he found her with red puffy eyes. She was frustrated and upset.

‘Have you been reading the comments?’

he asked her. Yin Ting started to cry.

‘I wanted to see the reaction after the

statement was made.’ She said tearfully.

Zhengqing did not speak. Instead, he

pulled her with him to the couch and held her in his arms for a little while.

After she seemed to have settled, he asked her to go and wash her face and get

ready to go out.

‘Why don’t we just order nice

takeaway?’ she asked. She was very comfortable there she was, she didn’t want

to move at all. She really didn’t want to go out; she wanted to hide at home.

It would be much better.

‘No. We must go out.’ Zhengqing

insisted. The more you hide, the more you let them win. ‘The table has been

booked. We are going to buy flowers and buy rings.’

Yin Ting was surprised, ‘You still

want to do that?’ but today is so sad. She didn’t want to be sad while picking

a ring.

‘We are going.’ He said as he pushed

her up and kept her from flopping back. ‘You promised me, do you want to go

back on your word? This is only a little setback. You’re bound to be sad, and

bound to be hurt, but there is good food to eat, streets to stroll on, and your

own life to cherish. Go and change into beautiful clothes.’

Yin Ting pouted and shuffled away.

Zhengqing followed her to her room. He

helped her to pick her clothes and he chose a bright red jacket to wear over. Yin

Ting saw the jacket after she came back from washing her face, it was such a

happy colour. She looked at Zhengqing; he wasn’t his usual sombre black but

coffee brown instead. She had a thought, ‘I’ll put on make-up.’ She said. She

had to dress well to go out tonight

‘Hao,’ Zhengqing replied.

Yin Ting sat at her dressing table and

began to apply her foundation. Zhengqing watched her. Yin Ting saw him watching

her and suddenly felt shy. She got up and pushed him out of her room, ‘Don’t

watch a girl putting on her make up.’

‘Why can’t I?’ he protested. But he

got relegated to the living room to watch TV.

She returned to her dressing table.

She could hear the television outside. She looked at herself in the mirror;

really ugly, she thought. Her eyes were swollen and her nose was red. Her whole

face looked lifeless. She thought of Zhengqing’s words, took a deep breath, and

put on her make up.

As she finished, she gradually she

found she was feeling better.

She changed her clothes and picked up

a handbag, then she went to the living room. The television was on but

Zhengqing was not watching. His gaze was focussed on the coffee table, his

expression was serious. She could not tell what he was thinking.

‘I’m fine,’ she said.

He looked up to see her and he

laughed. He rose and pulled her into his arms and asked, ‘Can I kiss you? Will

I ruin the make up?’

But he didn’t wait for her to answer

before kissing her.

The gentle but involved kiss ended, he

looked at Yin Ting’s lips, ‘It seems as though it has rubbed off.’

She didn’t not how to reply, she had lost

her head. She pulled him back to her room. She wiped the lip gloss from his

lips and reapplied hers.

Zhengqing held her from behind as she

reapplied her make up. Their eyes met in the mirror. He kissed her hair, ‘Very

good looking,’ he said, ‘Very spirited. You look very good.’

Yin Ting was filled with warmth. She

knew what he meant.

Very spirited; this was right.

They went out for dinner. They didn’t

talk about the happenings online. Yin Ting was still feeling low, and still

embarrassed, so her appetite wasn’t very good. Although she knew she should not

be cowardly, knowing and doing were two different things. Her mind was filled

with the misconceptions and ridicule that she had been subject to on the net.

She shuddered at the thought that she would go through this every time she put

up a post.

After their dinner, Zhenging took her

on a gentle stroll to the jewellery store. He asked the attendant to show them

their selection of paired engagement rings. The lady served them

enthusiastically, and showed them a few styles.

As Yin Ting looked at the rings, she

remembered she had planned to take photos when they bought the ring and post it

online to share her happiness. But now she was afraid. It made her upset.

‘Which one do you like?’ he asked

softly in her ear.

She bit her lip as she looked at

the tray of glittering rings. She picked a simple pair, ‘This one is good,’ she

said.

‘Is this really okay?’ he asked,

thinking that they looked too simple.

‘Yeah,’ she nodded. He had said it

was an engagement ring, not wedding rings, so why was he buying a pair? If she

was paying, she would not hesitate, but it was from his pocket, she felt bad

for him. (Zuben: He’s the VP, stop feeling bad for him) She remembered he still

had a loan to pay off. He worked so hard, it wasn’t easy to make money. And the

gift he had gotten for her father during the Spring Festival cost a lot

(Zuben: and was kind of a waste)

‘This one,’ she confirmed.

‘Okay,’ he nodded to the attendant,

‘She likes this one.’

The attendant smiled and gave Yin

Ting to try them on to get her size, after which she led Zhengqing to pay. Yin Ting sat watching

his wide shoulders and back, and remembered what he said to her, "It is not a

question of staying in the event; it is a question of your life. Will you no

longer enjoy your life?"

Yin Ting stared. Her life…

What was her life? She didn’t have

to work hard. She was fortunate enough to be able to have good food and

clothes, the love of her family, the love of her boyfriend, and caring friends.

Her life was to accompany her father, take care of her brother, find nice

shops, go to fun places, help the people she could, share the happy things with

her friends. Her life was to make people around her happy and it made her

happy. Her life was very plain and simple. (Zuben: I wouldn’t call it “plain”)

She had no big business, she had no

twists and turns, but she was busy everyday, fulfilled and comfortable. She

loved her life. She was very happy.

To no longer enjoy her live? Such a

thing was to terrible to contemplate.

She looked at Zhengqing, his back

was still to her. She suddenly felt panicked. She rose and went to him, wanting

to be near him. Just then, Zhengqing collected the bag from the attendant and

turned to see her.

He strode forward and pulled her

hand, ‘You look like a lost child,’ he said with a smile.

She didn’t reply, but held his hand

and rested her head on his shoulder.

‘Let’s go buy flowers and then go

to my place and play with Miao, okay?’

‘Okay.’ She really had no opinion;

she just wanted to be near him.

The flower shop was across the

street from where the car was parked. Zhengqing asked Yin Ting to wait for him

near the car, while he went to buy the flowers. She was feeling dejected so she

quietly waited.

While she waited, she stared at the

pavement she stood on. Her phone began to ring. It rang for a while before she

reacted and took out her phone. It was a number she didn’t know, but she

answered it anyway.

The other party cleared her throat,

and with a seemingly nervous voice said, ‘Hello, am I speaking to Miss Yin

Ting?’

‘Yes,’ Yin Ting was also nervous.

‘Hello, Miss Yin, I am part of the

marketing team for Xiu, my name is Xu Ting.’

Yin Ting’s heart leapt in her

chest, something bad had not happened again, had it?

‘I am sorry to bother you,’ Xu Ting

said.

‘Yes, what happened?’ she asked

coldly. She had begun to imagine the worst. Was it a new round of battle? Was

it that Xiu had had enough of the harassment and vitriol that they are

cancelling her participation? Does she quit, can’t she quit? Let’’s not guess,

don’t make up, don’t scold. She had dragged down such a good company, hurt her

friends and fans. Can’t they not look for trouble?

Yin Ting wanted to say this, but her throat closed up. The person on the

line was also silent, which made Yin Ting’s heart sink further.

‘My name also has Ting in it,’ the

person called Xu Ting said.

Yin Ting groaned.

‘On my face, under my ear, is a

birthmark. It is ugly, and my facial features aren’t good.’

Yin Ting was got more paranoid.

What did this mean?

‘A year ago…ah, I’m sorry, I’m just

too nervous I forgot to say first of all, I am a fan of yours.’

Yin Ting blinked, completely

confused.

‘I’m your fan. I came across your

blog a year ago. I had graduated from university for six months and still

hadn’t found a job. I did very well in my studies, but I am ugly. Some

companies even told me directly that my image is not good enough, and if I was

hired I would bring down the image of the company. Some potential employers

even said there was no way for me to have contact with the customers, it would

be unfavourable to business. All my applications were for marketing roles, not

front desk or public relations, what did my appearance have to do with

anything? But all the companies I applied to were mindful of this aspect.’ She said

with a wry laugh.

‘I became so desperate, I thought

maybe I should have surgery on my face.’

Yin Ting couldn’t speak; she could

not understand why Xu Ting was telling her these things.

It seemed Xu Ting did not need Yin

Ting to respond because she continued, ‘One day, I received an interview notice

for Xiu, a marketing planning position. I sat at home wandering around the

internet, I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want to go and be rejected. I thought

if I went I would be rejected anyway. While browsing, a friend linked one of

your posts, I still remember what you wrote: Winter brings severe cold, the

tree shakes of its leaves, but why do the leaves grow again in Spring? Your

answer was neither the cold winter nor the arrogant tree trunk can prevent the leaves

from showing their beauty. Without the leaves, there is no majestic tree.

Without the leaves, the tree isn’t perfect. As long as there is a little

warmth, it will break through the obstacles and show its beauty. The picture

you put along with the post was of deciduous scenery, with a tree with

yellowing leaves on which you drew a smiling face and a pair of strong arms in

the guts pose. I saved that picture, it’s now my computer desktop picture. At

the time, I thought about it deeply and found your point of view interesting.

Usually the leaves in winter are described as sad and weak, but it was the

first time they had been described as strong. It spurned me on to go to the

interview. I thought if the leaves are vibrant what ever the season, I should be

too. I shouldn’t be depressed but try again. I was lucky enough to be hired,

and I have been a part of Xiu ever since.’

Yin Ting began to understand; this

person has called to comfort her. She gave a sad smile and said, ‘Miss Xu, you

were hired because of your ability, it has nothing to do with leaves.’

Xu Ting laughed as she replied, ‘I

know a picture of dying leaves didn’t magically grant me a job, but what I

wanted to let you know is that, the picture and word encouraged me at that

time. Since then, I began to follow your blog, and found the post to be very

interesting. You have never complained, or written negative things about

anything or anyone. You always seem happy, everything you write is about the

beauty of this or that. Everything is good. When I read your blog, it makes me

happy. Life from your point of view is very beautiful. I envy you a lot and I

like you a lot. When our managers started discussing the Beautiful Dream event,

the first person I thought of was you. You have gone to so many places and

written so many travel journals, I thought this event was especially

appropriate for you. When I saw your ID amongst the one hundred and fifty

invitations, I was especially happy. Your post being recommended also made me

happy. I told my colleagues about you, that I had been following you for a long

time. But I never could have imagined the awfulness that happened today, I

think you must feel terrible. I know our managers have called you. And I know I

should not contact you in my capacity, but I got your phone number and decided

that I wanted to let you know my thoughts in particular. So I presumed to call

you.’

Yin Ting did not know what to say,

but ‘Thank you,’

‘I wanted to say to you that, those

questionable and malicious rumours should not stop you from writing what you

want. Your writing is good, the pictures you take are beautiful and most

importantly, you let me see the world through your eyes. And there, I see a

beautiful world. Reading your blog makes me happy. I look at things from your

perspective and feel positive. I know there have been a lot of harsh words from

people today, and it has made me very angry. But I have also been angry that

you haven’t appeared all day. I was also worried you didn’t say anything on

Weibo. I know I’m just a little fan and maybe my words are useless but I wanted

you to know that I like your blog. I like your chicken soup stories. And I want

to tell you not to give up. Do you remember when you wrote; why is sugar sweet?

To make you happy, was the answer. It made me laugh, but to be honest, I didn’t

think it meant anything. But along the way, I thought, sugar is not a

necessity, it’s an adjustment, but it makes people happy. So many people love

Tingting Yuli413; you are the sugar to our lives. We support you, and want you

to be happy everyday.’

Ying Ting’s nose was full and her

eyes were hot, ‘Thank you,’ she said.

‘I want to thank you for the joy

you have brought. I will continue to follow you. Please do not give up.’

A large hand grabbed her shoulder

as Xu Tin hung up. Yin Ting turned to see Zhengqing serious face behind her.

‘Who was calling?’ he asked.

‘A fan.’

He frowned, ‘A fan? Male or

female?’

Yin Ting smiled, ‘Female.’

He handed her the bouquet and

casually asked, ‘What did they say?’

She took the flowers and was about

to reply, when he popped a lollipop into her mouth, ‘There was a sweet shop

next to the flower shop.’

The sweetness spread in Yin Ting’s

mouth. Zhengqing leaned over and kissed her,

‘You said you must be happy when

you eat sugar, right?’

She nodded.

Why was sugar sweet? Because it

wants you to be happy.

Zhengqing wanted her to be happy,

so he was sugar. Xu Ting also wanted her to be happy, therefore, Xu Ting was

also sugar. What about her? She also wanted to make people around her happy,

she also wanted to be sugar.

Everyone actually had hearts of

sugar.

Yin Ting stared and found herself

thinking about chicken soup things again.

Chapter 74 – With you

Yin Ting went home with Zhengqing.

Today was too hard, she wanted him near.

As they drove to his house, she sat

in the car with her lollipop thinking about Xu Ting’s words. The fact that

people she didn’t know cared about her so much and tried to encourage her. She

realised she should call her friends and thank them for their support in all

this. She hoped everyone would not be unhappy with her.

Yin Ting called Qin Yufei first;

she had the worst temperament. Waiting for the call to connect, she began to

regret not calling back earlier. She hadn’t taken the mood of her friends into

account. And Yufei had a big belly, she didn’t know what her situation was

like.

When the call was finally answered,

Yufei shouted, ‘Are you alive? Are you alright?’

Yin Ting was so touched she almost

wanted to cry, ‘I’m fine. I just wanted to let you know I’m fine.’

‘It’s alright,’ Yufei said as she

chewed on something, ‘Do you want to ask me how I am? Don’t worry my baby and I

are healthy and lively. Today, I upgraded my online experience without cursing.

I feel super good. I am always hungry though, so I’m eating a lot.’

Yin Ting laughed and she called her

other friends. Everyone answered and said, ‘Hao, you’ll be fine.’ Yin Ting’s

heart was full of emotion.

When Yin Ting called Mao Huizhu she

was having dinner Wu Fei at the noodle restaurant near their office. She and

Yin Ting spoke for a short bit, and Huizhu gave her some words of comfort.

Huizhu was very touched she couldn’t help but say to Wu Fei, ‘When I first met

Yin Ting, I didn’t like her very much. I had a preconception. After meeting her

and getting to know her, I discovered she is very cute. I used to be too

narrow-minded.’

Wu Fei looked at her for a while

before he replied, ‘Me too.’

‘Ah?’ Huizhu said in surprise,

‘Didn’t you like her from the first moment you saw her?’

‘No, I mean, when I first met you,

I didn’t like you very much. I felt you were very proud, stiff faced and self

righteous.’

Huizhu was shocked.

Wu Fei laughed at her expression,

‘But after getting to know you, I began to find you very cute.’

‘Thank you,’ she replied hesitantly

with a grimace, ‘To know that your first impression of me was so bad, I don’t

want to give you your salary.’

Wu Fei laughed and replied, ‘I like

you very much now.’

Huizhu wanted to laugh and tell him

he was still going to get his salary but she was caught by a light in his eyes.

‘I really like you now.’ Wu Fei repeated

with an enigmatic smile, watching Huizhu.

Huizhu was surprised and caught off

guard, she thought she should answer him but her mind was blank.

Wu Fei looked at her and laughed,

‘Are you done? I will send you back,’ as though he hadn’t said anything

strange.

‘Yes, let’s.’ she replied. She

quickly gathered her things. They had finished eating anyway, they had just

been chatting. It was time to go and back and think about what he was going to

say to make her overwhelmed.

Wu Fei paid the bill and went to

get the car. Huizhu usually took a taxi, but ig the time was right he drove her

home, ‘It’s been a tough day, it’s good that she has gotten through it.’ He

said.

‘What?’ Huizhu jumped and felt that

there was hidden meaning in his words.

‘I’m talking about Yin Ting.’

‘Oh, right,’ she said in a rush,

‘It’s just a small matter. The most important thing is that she does her own

thing well. It’s alright for others to misunderstand and judge, but she will

get through.’

Wu Fei smiled. After a while he

said, ‘Yes. Don’t worry about other people’s thoughts and judgement. The most

important is that you’re doing well.’

Huizhu frowned and took a

surrepticious glance at him. He seemed to be concentrating on driving and not

speaking. Huizhu was upset. Did Yin Ting’s situation stimulate Wu Fei? How

strange was he? What he meant was not want she wanted; it must not be.

Yin Ting did not know Huizhu was

also stimulated. After she called all her friends, she was comfortable. When

she arrived, Miao-dada was at the door to greet them. But when Yin Ting held

out her hands to carry it, it ran. So Yin Ting chased the cat around the house.

She finally caught it and they played on the carpet. She laughed happily.

Zhengqing sat beside them silently

watching cat and woman play.

After she played a lot with the

cat, she lay down beside Zhengqing. When there was nothing happening, the

troubles surfaced again. She asked him, ‘Serious, you tell me; what should I

say?’

‘What do you want to say?’

Yin Ting wanted to say that she had

been defamed, but instead she asked, ‘Should I write a statement?’

‘Okay.’

‘What would you write?’

‘I would right that I won’t budge

just because I am being misunderstood my malicious speculation.’

‘That sounds arrogant.’ She said,

she still felt worried and very embarrassed by the whole thing.

‘You can delete all those

nauseating comments and block the commenters.’

‘That’s really arrogant.’ She said

as she played with his hand, ‘I looked at it today, I would need to delete

seven to eight thousand comments, and it’s so late now. The comments may have

reached ten thousand. ‘

‘You can set forbidden comments.’

Yin Ting did not reply for a bit

then she asked, ‘You say when they look back on their dirty words; what do you

think they would feel?’

‘Probably would be very proud of

themselves and their fighting strength, their strong sense of justice and that

they are worthy of admiration.’

Yin Ting smiled, ‘You are laughing

at them, oh?’

‘Yes.’ He replied.

Yin Ting sighed, she wondered maybe

the people who were attacking her were really mocking her like Zhengqing said

really felt that they are super good.

‘Don’t think about it; don’t be in

a hurry to make a decision. Sleep and tomorrow morning, you will find that this

matter is not a big deal. We all love you. The most important thing is to love

your people, those others are irrelevant.’

Yin Ting closed her eyes and buried

herself in Zhengqing’s arms. She knew he was right; many people did care about

her. She will continue to post and make others happy. But what could she write?

Should she write it tomorrow? What could she write about?

‘Can you be with me all the time?’

she asked, her voice sounded a bit pathetic.

‘Yes, I can. I have not been accompanying

you.’

‘I won’t be able to sleep; my heart

is in a mess. Can I stay with you?’

Zhengqing looked at her, ‘You don’t

want to go home?’

‘Is that alright?’ she asked.

‘It’s alright.’ He replied as her

caressed her hair. She breathed a sigh of relief assured that he will take care

of her. ‘My bed divides in half.’ He said.

She suddenly sat up and looked at

him, ‘No naughtiness.’

‘Do I look like some one who takes

advantage? Or are you in the mood?’

‘No,’ she replied, she was really

depressed, ‘Can I hug Dada to sleep?’

‘Hmm, he doesn’t like cuddles but

you can try.’

‘Can you help me call my brother

about tonight? I will be embarrassed if I had to do it.’

‘…’

Zhengqing had to brazenly call his

future brother in law to inform him that Yin Ting was staying over because she

was depressed. Yin Shi was alright with

it. Yin Ting burst into laughter just then. Zhengqing turned to see her teasing

Miao-dada with a ball.

Yin Shi also heard the laughter of

the sister who was depressed and needed comfort. He was silent for a moment and

decided to pretend not to have heard. He informed Zhengqing that Guohao was

going to discharged at noon the next day and asked him to inform Yin Ting.

Zhengqing understood the connotations; Yin Ting had to be home before her

father. Don’t let him know she stayed over.

But Zhengqing decided to pretend he

did not get it, and responded as promised. The two men talked more and then

rang off.

As Yin Ting lay on Zhengqing’s bed

that night, she realised she was shy. The shyness and awkwardness displaced

some of her depression. Because Zhengqing had been watching her all evening,

she hadn’t been able to look on her blog to access the situation or leave a

message. She asked him to look for her; he informed her it was best not to look

at the comments without some psychological girding lest she would be affected.

‘Do you want me to help you delete

and blacklist them?’ he asked.

‘No,’ she replied, ‘this is also a

step in psychological girding.’

Now she was in bed with Zhengqing

with the cat at her feet. She realised her mood had changed subtly. With her

worrying about her online issues, she didn’t feel it was enough to share a

gesture in bed, or else she would not respect her boyfriend.

While her brain was in a cranky

mess, Zhengqing’s arms pulled her into a warm embrace.

‘Don’t think about it and go to

sleep,’ he said. His voice in the darkness was warm and extraordinarily

magnetic.

‘I won’t quit.’ She announced.

‘Very good,’ he replied dropping a

light kiss on her forehead.

‘But I cant think about what to

do.’

‘You are upset, you shouldn’t think

about it. Now it is time to sleep. Tomorrow is another day.’

‘Can it?’

‘It will.’

‘It was only a day, but it feels

like it has been forever.’

‘So it’s time to sleep.’ He said as

he kissed her forehead and her eyelids, ‘I will always be with you.’

She wanted to say her heart was too

chaotic to sleep, but she gave a big yawn. Zhengqing caressed her back and

looked at her tenderly. I hope tomorrow will be alright, she thought.

She fell asleep.

When Yin Ting woke up, she was in a

little daze not recognising where she was. Then she remembered she was in

Zhengqing’s home.

She was nestled in his arms with

her back to his chest, his arms circled her waist. He was still asleep; his

breathing long and deep. As she became more awake, she realised why she woke

up. Zhengqing had black out curtains for his bedroom, but a corner of the

curtain was turned away letting in the light of the morning sun. The room was

in total darkness due to the curtain but because of that twist, sunlight was

invading.

She stared at the invading ray of sunlight for a while and

then sat up. She gently left the circle of Zhengqing’s arms and went to his

study to get his camera. When she returned to the bedroom, Zhengqing was waking

up.

‘What’s wrong?’ he asked.

‘I saw the sun,’ she replied with a

bright smile.

He didn’t understand. He watched

Yin Ting adjust the lens and take a shot.

‘So?’ he asked.

‘The sunlight is beautiful.’ She

replied with laugh. She took a few more shots, and then rushed into bed to show

Zhengqing, ‘Look, the sun is beautiful.’

‘Ah,’ he replied. His angel’s

chicken soup thoughts broke out again. He kissed her cheek. He really loved her

smile, his angel should be happy.

‘You’re beautiful and you laugh

beautifully.’

Yin Ting giggled.

He laughted too. He turned to his

bedside dresser and pulled a box from the drawer.

‘Since the sun is beautiful and

you’re laughing so happily, then we can wear the rings.’ He announced as he

opened the box. He took out the woman’s ring and slipped it on her finger, ‘Happy

new day, wife. Be happy everyday.’

She stared blankly at the ring,

‘This isn’t the one I picked.’ She had picked a plain one; this one had a large

diamond on it.

Zhengqing kissed her and said, ‘A

man should keep his woman in mind when making decisions. I decided to change

this one.’

As Yin Ting looked at the ring, her

eyes grew hot. She looked up at him, ‘You were right. When you blink it will be

a new day. A new day is different. I have thought of what to do, I have seen

the sun.’

Nothing can stop it because it

should exist. Just with a little warmth, it will break through obstacles and

show its beauty.

As beautiful as the sun.

Apologies for the typos.

Three more chapters!!!

❀ Chapter &%&^