Secretly, Secretly; But Unable to Hide it (偷偷藏不住) by Zhu Yi (竹已)~ Chapter 41

Sang Zhi boards on the plane and she finds her own seat. She types something on the WeChat to Sang Yan and then she switches off her phone.

The plane takes off.

Sang Zhi looks at the window and notices Yi He City starts to be smaller in front of her sight.

She then retreats her gaze and closes her eyes to rest for a while. But she has no sleepiness in her. Sang Zhi opens up her backpack and takes out a comic book. She flips open till the last page she read.

Yet she isn’t too focus with it.

Sang Zhi releases her breath and suddenly closes her comic again.

This time she starts to recall what happened last night.

She was sitting down on the snowy ground and Duan Jia Xu appeared. She started to cry. She said that she has someone that she likes, then she threw up on his body. Then she started to say a pile of mess. She cried and yelled. She was too miserable.

Afterwards, he took her home on his back. Then she just forgot about everything else.

But Duan Jia Xu’s today response, she feels that she said something that she shouldn’t say.

She feels something is off.

But if she really says something, he also wouldn’t respond like this today.

Sang Zhi thinks about it. Previously when he was splashed by someone, he also reacted in weird way. Then last night she threw up on his body, and today he looks in very good mood.

Sang Zhi: “……..”

Is that old man in distraught?

—–

She arrives in Nan Wu airport.

Sang Zhi gets off the plane and just follows the direction to get her check-in luggage. She opens up her phone and reads Sang Yan’s reply. She immediately replies. [ I’ve arrived, I’ll come out soon.]

She waits for a while, and finally she sees her luggage. She takes it and comes out.

Sang Yan stands outside the exit door, he is wearing a black thin t-shirt and coat. He is looking at his phone.

Sang Zhi walks toward him.

Sang Zhi looks that he keeps on looking at his phone, she suddenly remembers that he said to her to not call her “Ge Ge”, so she just calls him intimately. “Sang Yan.”

“……” Sang Yan stops and raises his head coldly. “You want to rebel?”

Sang Zhi blinks: “You were the one that said to not call you Ge.”

“I asked you to not asking more money from me? Also, don’t tell me that you are living frugally there.” Sang Yan examines her.

“…..”

“Next time don’t pretend to be miserable.” Sang Yan takes the luggage from her and says: “Remember to diet before you go home.”

Sang Yan is unhappy. “I’m just 40 kg.”

“Em.” Sang Yan says: “You are quite fat.”

Sang Zhi chokes. “You don’t look like you are 150 cm?”

Sang Yan just “em” casually: “Are you even 100 cm?”

“……..”

—–

Sang Rong is on business trip to another city. In the house, there’s only Li Ping. On the dining table, there are several dishes prepared. She is still in the kitchen cooking.

Hearing the noise outside of the kitchen, Li Ping immediately comes out, her hands are wet.

Sang Zhi jumps and hugs her.

It’s been months since their last meeting, Li Ping misses her so much. She frowns and examines her. She keeps on chattering about how Sang Zhi turns so skinny.

She smiles so happily.

Very quickly, she notices Sang Yan, who is standing behind Sang Zhi. Her expression just changes. “You little brat, you know how to go home? That Wang Yi’s daughter, did you meet her? That woman waited for you around an hour!”

It’s the first time Sang Zhi hears about this, she immediately turns quite. Her eyes roll rapidly. She is looking at both of them.

“How could you just introduce someone for me?” Sang Yan places Sang Zhi’s luggage on the other side and says lazily: “Didn’t I tell you that I’ll not go?”

Li Ping scolds him for a while, then gets inside the kitchen again.

Sang Yan doesn’t really mind it. He just goes and sits down on the sofa.

Sang Zhi immediately walks toward his side and asks curiously: “Ge Ge, you have a blind date?”

“…..” Sang Yan looks at her: “What is your business with it?”

“I just want to ask.” Sang Zhi feels so interested, “do you want to go?”

“Is it worthwhile for me to go to the blind-date?”

“But you also have no girlfriend ah.” Sang Zhi considers thoughtfully and thinks of the reason. “Are you feeling embarrassed to go?”

Sang Yan leans on the sofa and feels so lazy to mind her.

Sang Zhi thinks about Duan Jia Xu, who is asking her to introduce someone for him. She hesitates for a while and speaks up. “If not you could go together with Jia Xu Ge?”

Hearing this Sang Yan lifts up her eyes.

“Recently he seems to be longing to find himself a girlfriend, you could go to Yi He to find him. Perhaps let him to come to Nan Wu to find you.” Sang Zhi says sincerely: “Then you guys could be in group to join a blind-date?”

“……”

“But if you do that.” Sang Zhi suddenly feels that something is off, “you possibly more in disadvantageous side, because you will be set off by him…. if not you guys……”

Sang Yan says coldly: “Could you shut up?”

Sang Zhi chokes back her words and mumbles: “Forget it, you should be alone to spend your remaining years.”

Just in time, Sang Yan’s phone rings. He looks at it and suddenly smiles. He looks like he is in a good mood.

“Xiao Gui, let me tell you something.”

Sang Zhi looks at her: “What?!”

“Recently there’s a woman that want to chase after me.” Sang Yan says. “So I have no time to respond to other person, okay?”

“………..” Sang Zhi feels that she hears it wrongly. She says: “You said, that someone wants to pursue you?”

“So.” Sang Yan turns off the screen and says: “You let that Duan Jia Xu, goes happily by himself to the blind date.”

Sang Zhi: “……..”

—–

Not long after Sang Yan graduated from the university, he moves out from the house. So after the dinner, he also doesn’t stay too long and just says goodbye with Li Ping.

Sang Zhi helps Li Ping to tidy up the table then goes back to her bedroom and tidies up her own things.

She prepares the clothes for Sang Rong and Sang Yan to two different plastic bags. Looking at this, Sang Zhi also remembers that Duan Jia Xu said that he would give her a New Year present.

She doesn’t know what would he give her this year.

During her eighteen birthday, Duan Jia Xu sends her a makeups set. That time she was preparing for college entrance examination test. She just thanked her and never remembers that moment again.

Afterwards, she put that makeup set on her dressing table and she never touches it.

The time she moves to Yi He, she also doesn’t take it.

Thinking of this, Sang Zhi stands up and goes to her dressing table. She takes it and notices it’s quite expensive one.

She thinks that now he should live in better condition than he used too.

He has car now too, he also lives in quite good area.

Ay.

But why she always feels that he lives a miserable life.

Sang Zhi sits down on the ground and places her chin on the bed. She keeps silent about thing she wants to do.

She is at loss.

The she recalls, today in his car. She considers what she heard.

–“Okay.”

The previous sentence is.

— “Around your age.”

“…….”

Forget it.

She should hear it wrongly.

Moreover maybe he just joked and teased her.

But it seems wrong.

He never says that kind of words before.

“……”

Sang Zhi feels annoyed.

She climbs on the bed and rolls her body. Sang Zhi takes out her phone, she doesn’t want to think about this matter again. She sends a message to Duan Jia Xu. [ I’m home.]

Thinking about it, Sang Zhi adds another sentence. [Jia Xu Ge, my Ge seems to have a girlfriend now.]

Ge Ge number 2: [Em.]

Sang Zhi scratches her head and tries to probe him: [She seems to be quite young.]

Sang Zhi hesitates: {Your Ge will not carry on with underage girl.]

After a while.

Duan Jia Xu sends a voice note.

Sang Zhi’s heart beats so fast., she starts to become nervous.

That man says reasonably: “Adult, graduate from high school, in university. Isn’t it called a young adult?”

Then he sends again.

He sounds like he finds this matter to be funny: “How could he not be with her?”

—-

Because of Duan Jia Xu’s words, Sang Zhi feels that this thing is too absurd. She couldn’t sleep through the night. From her rational judgement, she feels he is just saying those words from the onlooker perspective.

At least from her thinking, between her and Duan Jia Xu, they only have six-years age gap.

But Sang Zhi has known him since she was thirteen years old.

So perhaps in his eyes, she will be always be that thirteen years old girl.

Even if he thinks that he could have relationship with a girl in her age, but it may not include her.

Sang Zhi couldn’t sleep, at the middle of night she sits up. She gets off her bed and takes out that cardboard box. She uses a box cutter to open the tape. She takes out all of the things.

She looks at the ugly doll, which Duan Jia Xu gave her if she wanted it.

Sang Zhi places it on her bed and looks at it for a while.

After a while, she says dispiritedly: “If, I say if, you don’t see me as a kid……”

“It’s also impossible for me to chase after you.” Sang Zhi pokes on that rag doll. She emphasizes: “I also have a lot of pursuer, I am so pretty. Moreover, you are old. After few years, supposedly you will start to have wrinkle.”

Sang Zhi mumbles: “In your dreams!”

—–

Qian Fei’s wedding is set on the the eight days after the beginning of the year.

Because he lives in Nan Wu, and Sang Zhi is also quite familiar with him. He often picks her too. Few times, he also comes to her home to have dinner.

So for the wedding, he also invites Sang Zhi to come.

That day.

Sang Zhi especially changes her clothes and goes together with Sang Yan. She is arranged to sit down with Qian Fei’s college classmates’ table. Most of them are men.

Then Sang Zhi notices Duan Jia Xu.

Sang Zhi knows that he will come so she is not really surprised.

But she couldn’t help herself to not glance at him for several times.

Today Duan Jia Xu wears a simple white shirt and black suit. He looks formal. He is sitting on the opposite of her. Beside him, there’s a woman. This time she is chatting with him.

Sang Zhi withdraws her gaze, she suddenly feels something is wrong so she glances at him again.

She suddenly notices that his tie that he wears today is given by her

Duan Jia Xu seems to realize that Sang Zhi is watching him, he looks at her. The corner of his eyes are curving. He says something to the woman next to him then he stands up and walks to Sang Yan’s side.

He discusses with the man beside Sang Yan, then both of them exchanges their seat.

Sang Zhi sits beside Sang Yan.

She hears Sang Yan’s laughter, and his words: “Duan Jia Xu, I just sit down, you are so impatient to come and meet papa?”

Duan Jia Xu lowers his eyes and changes his tableware. He doesn’t really pay attention to his words.

“Call me Papa.” Sang Yan leans back on his chair, then takes the red envelope that Sang Zhi put on the table. “Though the New Year had passed, but Papa will still give you red envelope.”

This red envelope is given by the relative that suddenly came over to visit when Sang Zhi was about to leave.

Duan Jia Xu’s eyes move, he looks at Sang Zhi and puts up his side face to look at Sang Yan. He says: “I couldn’t call you Papa, how about if I call you Ge?

Sang Yan raises his eyebrow: “You could also call me Da Ge.”

Duan Jia Xu looks at Sang Zhi once more, he laughs and shows no burden or struggle. He just calls Sang Yan so easily.

“Em, Ge Ge.”

This is too shocking.

“…..”

Sang Zhi is almost choked, she takes a tissue and coughs for several times.

It’s a silence for few seconds, Sang Yan just keeps silent and watches Duan Jia Xu like he doesn’t know him. He says: “Who are you trying to disgust?”

“Ge Ge.” Duan Jia Xu takes the red envelope and knocks on the table. He says: “Thanks.”

Sang Yan says expressionlessly: “no need to thank me, give it back.”

“I’ll accept this red envelope.” Duan Jia Xu pretends like he doesn’t hear him and just puts the red envelope inside his pocket. “Okay, in the future you will be my Ge Ge.”

Sang Yan: “Are you crazy today?”

“No,” Duan Jia Xu laughs. “Thank you Ge Ge.”

“………”