"Are You Still Addicted?" Book One (Addicted Fanfiction)

"One Scared Fish. One Worried Fish."

  Tuesday had come in the blink of an eye. Ying Yue was dressed and waiting for Gu Hai. The sun was high, bright and beautiful in the sky and the birds were playing outside. As Ying Yue stood on the front steps, waiting patiently, her stomach was in knots. She had a bad feeling and couldn't shake it away. The gardener smiled and tilted his hat at her in a friendly way and she tried her best not to be rude. She smiled back at him and then heard the front door open and close. Jiang Yifei stepped outside wearing a pretty yellow dress with matching slippers. Her hair was loose around her shoulders and she smiled at her as she handed her a hat to help block the sun.
  "Wear this," Jiang Yifei said, "it will help with the glare."
  Ying Yue put the hat on and looked down at her own dress. It was a sundress with red and pink flowers all over it. The hat was made from some kind of straw and she adjusted it so that it covered her entire face.
  When Gu Hai finally pulled into the driveway, Gao got out and opened the doors for them. He was such a gentlemen, Ying Yue thought to herself. Yan Ya Jing was lucky to have him. He smiled and slightly bowed at them before shutting the door.
  "How is the married life?" Jiang Yifei said as they backed out of the driveway and onto the street.
  Gao turned his body so that he could see them better and said, "It is quite pleasant. I love it. We are so happy together. Yan Ya Jing bakes all kinds of delicious sweets. I feel like we've opened up the best bakery in the city."
  "Yan Ya Jing bakes?!" Gu Hai said. In all the years that they've worked together she had never once brought anything to work. He would have loved to try her cooking. He would tease her about it the next time that he saw her.
  Gao nodded. "She is a great cook! She tries different recipes and is always trying her hand at something new," he said.
  "That's great," Jiang Yifei said. "I'm happy that she is having fun in her marriage."
  Ying Yue turned her head and looked out of the window. She was quiet.
  Jiang Yifei wondered if talking about marriage made her feel uncomfortable. She changed the subject for the sake of Ying Yue. "Where are we going anyway?" she asked.
  "We are going fishing. Don't worry, I've brought you ladies very comfy chairs to sit in. You two can just sit back and enjoy the nice weather," Gu Hai said. "We can have lunch nearby after and you two can walk around to the shops if you feel like stretching your feet."
  They drove for a while more and Ying Yue began to realize that she was familiar with the area. Her heartbeat sped up. Suddenly, her mouth went dry. "Where are we?" she asked.
  "We're in Tianjin, Gao said. "There is this great place near Chaobai New River that I used to fish with my father.
  Ying Yue gave panicked eyes to Jiang Yifei. She pulled out her cellphone and went into the 'notes' application. She typed something out and then showed it to Jiang Yifei.
  It read, 'This is where I used to live! Xiaoping lives here!'
  Jiang Yifei's eyes went wide and her mouth hung open, shocked.
  Gu Hai pulled into a little shop so that he and Gao could buy live bait for their fish hooks.
  "We can wait in the car," Jiang Yifei said.
  The men nodded and left.
  "Don't panicked," Jiang Yifei said as soon as they left and was out of hearing distance.
  "What are we going to do?! I don't want to be here!" Ying Yue shouted. She was on the verge of tears. This explained the weird feeling she had in the pit of her stomach. Her palms began to sweat. She felt hot all of a sudden.
  Jiang Yifei watched as her friend grew hysterical. Her heart ached. Ying Yue's husband had to be a monster! There was no way a man could make a person react like this. She began to rub Ying Yue's back gently. Then she dug into her bag and pulled out a bottle of water. "Drink some of this and breath," she said.
  Ying Yue did as she was told and tried to calm herself. After a few minutes, she was finally able to control her breathing. She pulled out a few tissues from her own bag and wiped at her face quickly. She didn't want Gu Hai to see her like this when he got back. He would only ask questions and she wouldn't be able to handle that. It would bring on too much stress.
  As if he was summoned like a genie, Gu Hai's silhouette appeared in the distance. Gao walked alongside him and they were laughing at something as they moved towards the car.
  The women hurriedly adjusted themselves to look happier and in good spirits as the two men closed the distance between them and the shop. When they entered the vehicle, Jiang Yifei gave Ying Yue a look as if to say, don't worry, everything will be okay.
  "Does anyone want to see the live bait?" Gu Hai asked, holding up a bag of worms. He purposely teased them and snickered. But to his surprise, Ying Yue reached out and took the bag from him. Jiang Yifei was the one who yelped and shifted her body away.
  Ying Yue opened the bag and looked down at all of the worms. They moved about, unaware of how unlucky they were. Soon they would be attached to hooks and fed to the fish. She felt sorry for them. It wasn't their choice in life to be treated this way. She related her own situation to the worms and felt guilty somehow. She had the urge to set them free once they arrived at the pier, but knew that Gu Hai and Gao would be disappointed. She blinked down at them and thought of how unfair it was.
  Gu Hai found a close enough parking spot and they got out. The men grabbed everything from the trunk and the women followed them to the pier. Gu Hai set up the chairs first and the women sat down and watched as they began to set up their equipment. There were a few people already fishing in the distance, their buckets and coolers placed nearby.
  Jiang Yifei looked up at the sky and pulled out her cellphone to check the time. It wasn't noon yet, but once it was, the sun was going to make sitting there uncomfortable. She looked over at Ying Yue, who was fidgeting her fingers, and surveillancing the area nervously. "Relax," she whispered to her friend, "we have these two well built men here to protect us."
  Ying Yue was more worried than nervous. She took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and tried to relax.
  They watched as Gao threw out his reel and shifted his weight. Gu Hai did the same thing and they began to have a conversation amongst themselves. It was nice to see how relaxed and calm the men were. No wonder guys liked fishing so much.
  Ying Yue decided to keep her mind occupied. She got up from her chair and went to join the fellas. She asked a few questions about fishing and they answered as best as they could. It seemed simple enough, so she tried her hand at it a few times using Gu Hai's line.