Chapter 59

"Don't you understand yet? We're all just ordinary people." Wei Huai leaned back on the bench, shedding his usual outward demeanor, sitting freely and casually. Just sitting like this, he felt an unprecedented sense of ease.

Li Zhenliang didn't understand, and he didn't want to understand. His body honestly resisted the situation before him. "I can't control you anymore. Do whatever you want, but don't drag me into this. Don't drag me into this again."

"Whatever." Wei Huai closed his eyes.

Li Zhenliang turned around to leave, but hesitated to take that step. The night concealed his expression. "I'm a little jealous of Yu Xi."

"Haven't you always been jealous?"

Li Zhenliang didn't speak. He slowly forced a smile, silently raising his eyes to stare at Wei Huai.

Wei Huai opened his eyes at some point and looked at him. "We are all like that, which is why Zhou Zheng is very good at judging people and has never made a mistake."

"Wei Huai, you'd better shut your mouth."

Even so, you still don't want to understand?

Li Zhenliang strode towards Wei Huai and threw a punch at him without warning. Wei Huai was no pushover either; he had grown up with Li Zhenliang and the others since childhood, so naturally he couldn't be left defenseless. However, this wasn't the place for a fight. The punches had barely exchanged two rounds when a girl's exclamation rang out, followed by shouts of "Brother, buddy, it's not that serious!"

Wei Huai disliked fighting, and even more so, he disliked fighting in front of others.

He forcefully pushed away the crazed Li Zhenliang, and bent down to straighten the wrinkles on his clothes. "Alright, stop doing such childish things. You're in your mid-twenties now. You're not like a kid who didn't understand anything and would fight whenever you're unhappy."

Li Zhenliang, with a gloomy face, brushed aside the arm of the person next to him, gave Wei Huai a deep look, and left.

Wei Huai was a prominent figure at Z University, so after he left, the news quickly spread throughout the entire university.

Some speculated that Wei Huai fought because of a girl, while others guessed it was because Wei Huai was too arrogant and offended people outside the school.

There are many different opinions, some are on the sidelines, and some are completely off-topic.

Zhou Mo learned of this news from Wei Huai, the person involved. Zhou Mo did not expect Wei Huai to ask her to fulfill this exchange condition so quickly.

"Wouldn't this confirm the rumors that you fought for love?"

Wei Huai walked beside Zhou Mo with his hands in his pockets, completely unconcerned about the stares of those around them. "Who cares?"

"Senior, aren't you a bit out of character? What happened to the brooding, brooding male college student you were supposed to be?"

Wei Huai chuckled and flicked Zhou Mo's forehead. "Want to guess if this is my current persona?"

Zhou Mo tucked a strand of hair that had been blown by the wind behind her ear. "I'm not curious about strange things."

"Didn't you just ask me that? And then you criticize me? That's not a good idea, junior. I even fought for you."

"Isn't that because you and Li Zhenliang aren't smart?" Zhou Mo bluntly exposed Wei Huai's excuse, kicking away a pebble at her feet.

Wei Huai raised an eyebrow. "He'll get angry if you say that."

“He was already angry with me.” Zhou Mo recalled, “What I said to him that day was even worse than directly calling him sick. I felt like he was about to hit me.”

"But he ended up hitting me."

“You mentioned Yu Xi,” Zhou Mo said decisively. “If he can’t hit me, he can only hit you.”

Wei Huai shrugged. "See? Weren't we fighting because of you?"

"Don't say that," Zhou Mo said. "Why don't you just say that you two fought because of Yu Xi? I often wonder if Yu Xi has some kind of 'beautiful, strong, and tragic' script, plus a 'popular' aura that is sometimes effective and sometimes not."

"You girls really have a vivid imagination."

"Reality is even more unbelievable than I imagined, isn't it?" Zhou Mo stared at Wei Huai's face. "No one would believe that someone would sacrifice their entire life's freedom for something that is actually not important at all."

“What matters isn’t the thing itself, but the pretext.” Wei Huai made no attempt to hide the cynical look in Zhou Mo’s eyes. “That’s how society is. There are many more unbelievable things out there. Without these things, there would be no us.”

“Zhou Mo, actually you’re not really suited to be a journalist. Someone like you will die because of yourself sooner or later.”

"Smart people should go into business, make money, deceive people, and embrace their wonderful life."

Zhou Mo lowered her eyes. "Just like you?"

"Oh, are you praising me for being smart?"

Zhou Mo sneered and continued walking forward, "You actually think this is a compliment."

"Of course, what else could this be but a compliment? It can't be flirting, can it?"

Hearing this, Zhou Mo stopped and turned around to look at Wei Huai in disbelief. Wei Huai was unimpressed. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You don't think I'm a heartthrob for so many girls just because of my looks, do you? You don't understand women at all. What they like is the sexual tension I exude unintentionally."

Zhou Mo made a nauseating face.

"Men are really confident."

"And I'm ordinary." Wei Huai added the second half of Zhou Mo's sentence that she hadn't said, "Everyone in the world is an ordinary person, I just want to be an ordinary man who is a little special."

Zhou Mo gave Wei Huai a thumbs up, "You did it. You're now an ordinary man who's utterly repulsive."

"I suggest you don't throw up, otherwise they'll start spreading rumors that you're pregnant."

Zhou Mo's eyes widened. Wei Huai walked past her and patted her on the shoulder. "You should understand how terrifying people's gossip can be, given the media effect."

"Wei Huai, you're so despicable."

"Oh, we've been found out." Wei Huai smiled at Zhou Mo.

Qi Xiao, who was hiding in the shadows, saw the whole scene of the two arguing. Qi Xiao was picking at the bark of a tree with his fingers, and Fan Nannan was standing next to him.

Fan Nannan, abandoning her usual cute demeanor, said impatiently, "How long are you going to keep watching? Even if you stare them down, you and Zhou Mo won't be friends anymore."

"Blame me."

"Of course it's your fault!" Fan Nannan rolled her eyes. "What's wrong with all of you? It's just Zhou Mo, right? We agreed that we were only getting close to her to get the information on Yu Xi, but now you're not even mentioning the information, and you're not even binding Yu Xi anymore. You're all focused on Zhou Mo?! Hey, can you guys wake up?!"

"Qi Xiao, have you forgotten that you were able to come to Zhengyang only because we withstood the pressure and put on a show? Otherwise, would that old bastard Zhou Zheng have let you leave his sight?"

"Sooner or later, Ning Xuzhi will suspect that we haven't actually fallen apart. If he finds out, how long can Li Zhenliang remain the leader of Zhengyang? Our peaceful days will be over!"

Fan Nannan tried to persuade Qi Xiao with all her heart, but Qi Xiao didn't listen to a word she said.

Her gaze followed Zhou Mo and Wei Huai. "Why is Wei Huai so close to Zhou Mo? They've only spoken once or twice, haven't they? What is Li Zhenliang up to?"

Fan Nannan couldn't help but roll her eyes. "How should I know? Last time, because I was exposed, Li Zhenliang didn't give me a friendly look. Does he really think I'm his subordinate? We've all been together since we were kids. Sometimes I really wonder, why is he the boss when I'm in school?"

Qi Xiao: "Don't drag Zhou Mo into this anymore."

Fan Nannan pinched Qi Xiao's chin and turned her face towards her. "Then, sister, could you please turn your eyes away first?"

“Zhou Mo is determined to break ties with you. Maybe Yu Xi will be next. I really don’t understand what you’ve been doing in Ming’an this past year. You haven’t gotten rid of Zhou Zheng, and you’ve even dragged Ning Xuzhi into the spotlight. If Ning Xuzhi is implicated, we’ll all be arrested and made to take the blame for Zhou Zheng.”

"Heh." Fan Nannan sneered, "Looking at it this way, Zhou Mo is quite clever. Maybe she got some information from somewhere, which is why she pulled this stunt. Her methods are quite clever. She was the one who said she wouldn't be friends with you, but you're the one who feels guilty."

Qi Xiao looked coldly at Fan Nannan, but Fan Nannan was not intimidated by her.

Qi Xiao: "You've never been friends with her, so you'll never understand what that feeling is like?"

Fan Nannan: "How does it feel? Qi Xiao, don't tell me you've become gay?"

"That's the feeling of having your own life." Qi Xiao ignored Fan Nannan and turned to leave.

Fan Nannan dismissed Qi Xiao's words, crossed her arms and leaned against a tree, but her gaze inadvertently fell on the spot where Zhou Mo had just appeared. "Her own life, does she have one? You do, how ridiculous."

"Has Yu Xi contacted you recently?" Wei Huai brought Zhou Mo to a fast food restaurant where there was a wide variety of snacks, and he ordered them all without hesitation.

Ignoring his lavish spending, Zhou Mo ordered a meal for herself.

The waiter asked Zhou Mo what she wanted as a drink in her set meal.

Zhou Mo: "Orange juice, please."

"Okay, please wait a moment, your meal will be served shortly."

Wei Huai waited quietly, assuming that Zhou Mo would answer his question after she finished answering the waiter's question.

But he waited for a long time, and Zhou Mo still didn't speak.

"?Um?"

"You don't think I have to answer your questions just because you ask me, do you?"

"But aren't we on a date?"

"There are many kinds of dates. Some are harmonious and full of laughter, while others are like ours where we don't see eye to eye at all."

Wei Huai laughed, but it was only because he was annoyed by Zhou Mo's theory. "Don't tell me you only plan to accept my date invitation this time and then want the whole childhood record of Yu Xi?"

"I think you wouldn't suffer such a loss."

"Thinking of you!"

Wei Huai got angry, so he only gave Zhou Mo a third of the snacks he ordered. He ate the plum-flavored chicken strips with a huff, stuffing them in one bite after another, completely losing the gloomy, aloof and obsessive temperament he had seen at school.

"Sometimes you guys make me feel like the world is pretty bad."

"Um?"

"I've turned you bunch of idiots into smart people."

Wei Huai: "..." He suspected that Zhou Mo was cursing them.