Chapter Twenty

Because of her illness, Zhou Mo's homeroom teacher gave her a few days off. During these days, Zhou Mo stayed in the small courtyard, watching the gate at the same time every day. Unfortunately, the gate remained motionless, showing no sign of being opened.

By the third day, Zhou Mo's illness had almost completely subsided. This was thanks to her mother and father for taking good care of her health, which meant that all that trouble she had gone through was just a minor illness.

Zhou Mo turned to Qi Xiao, who was her only 'personal resource'.

Qi Xiao's first reaction to what Zhou Mo was about to do was to try to stop her, but after meeting Zhou Mo's unusually serious gaze, she silently swallowed back what she wanted to say, "Are you really going to go find He Ru?"

"That's a troublesome person."

Zhou Mo sneezed. "How troublesome."

"You know the third thief, right? He's in charge of the northern area, while He Ru is in charge of the southeast and west. The He family has been doing this for generations, but they've only kept a low profile in recent years. He Ru has a strange personality; he smiles at everyone. It's said that he's only been angry once in his life, and that time someone even died."

Zhou Mo: "..." I don't really want to complain, but there are a lot of things to complain about. Who said this? I don't believe that He Ru didn't get angry, cry, or make a fuss when she was a child. Is there a time limit to this "supposedly"?

Qi Xiao scoffed at Zhou Mo, "Don't you believe me? I'm really not joking."

"It's really not that funny."

Qi Xiao sighed helplessly, "If it weren't for you, I would have turned around and left long ago. I'm not going to patiently explain things to you."

“I know.” Zhou Mo leaned on Qi Xiao’s shoulder, her movements revealing a hint of vulnerability. “I’m just not reconciled. My dad was clearly saving someone, but in order to protect someone else’s reputation, he had to take the blame. Even if the matter is hidden and covered up, people who still remember this will think he’s a bad person and will hate power. There’s nothing I can do about this now. I can only sympathize with them and understand how pitiful they are of me.”

Qi Xiao stroked Zhou Mo's hair, and the two snuggled together. "What exactly do you think of Yu Xi?"

"He is probably the only target I can see and reach."

Qi Xiao didn't really understand Zhou Mo's thoughts. She felt that Zhou Mo had become somewhat extreme and was drifting further and further away from the beautiful girl she had once admired. However, she still didn't want to give up on being friends with Zhou Mo.

Perhaps subconsciously, Qi Xiao didn't think there was anything wrong with Zhou Mo's behavior; the only problem was that the difficulty level was too high.

"Is there really no other way? Do we really have to go to He Ru?"

"He seems to like me a little."

Qi Xiao sat bolt upright, grabbing Zhou Mo's shoulders and looking at her in disbelief. "What? He actually confessed to you?!"

Zhou Mo gleaned something from Qi Xiao's reaction: "You know he likes me?"

"Me." Qi Xiao bit her lip, unsure how to defend herself.

Zhou Mo squinted and looked Qi Xiao up and down. "Qi Xiao."

"Okay, okay, I remember I promised you, so I won't lie to you." Qi Xiao secretly glanced at Zhou Mo, "Actually, we all knew each other before. We were young and didn't know anything, so we played together. Don't overthink it, it was just playing house, playing with mud, cards, Ultraman, Kamen Rider, shoes, Barbie dolls."

Zhou Mo interrupted Qi Xiao's explanation of how to play; if this continued, she might have to recall what she played as a child.

Qi Xiao: "Later, as we grew up, we understood many things, and our relationship faded. But our childhood friendship remained, and we still contact each other occasionally. As for He Ru liking you, yes, yes..." She glanced at Zhou Mo again, trying to gloss over it in a very low voice, "I just... I know."

"What?" Zhou Mo leaned closer. She hadn't heard a word Qi Xiao said, and she really thought her ears were blocked.

“Just…&**%%.” Seeing that Qi Xiao was being dishonest, Zhou Mo held up two fingers and bent them. Qi Xiao immediately hid behind her, “No, I’ll talk, I’ll talk, don’t tickle me.”

“Once when we went out, he saw my diary and found out that I wanted to be friends with you. Later, he drank a bit too much and told me that he liked you.” Qi Xiao carefully observed Zhou Mo’s expression. “I immediately reprimanded him.”

"condemn?"

Qi Xiao's eyes darted around. "Yes, condemnation."

Of course, it's not about condemnation.

Instead, they lashed out.

At that time, He Ru was sitting in the corner of the KTV sofa. He had drunk quite a bit, and his face was flushed. He stared straight at Qi Xiao, who was standing with his hands on his hips cursing for a long time. Qi Kai and Shawn Ke were not there at the time, and the people around did not know what was going on. These two were considered powerful figures, and no one dared to intervene.

The KTV became unusually quiet for a moment.

Suddenly, Qi Xiao heard He Ru laugh, and then he received a thumbs up.

“You’re right, absolutely right, Sister Qi.” He Ru staggered to her feet and walked toward Qi Xiao. Qi Xiao knew that Qi Kai hadn’t left and wasn’t afraid of He Ru. He Ru approached her and whispered in her ear, “Then you’d better not let me find out that you two are friends, otherwise, I’ll curse you like that too, calling you a lowly lackey just like your brother.”

Qi Xiao wasn't actually that angry, because she knew He Ru was right. The Qi family had always been He family's lackeys, and it was only in Qi Kai's generation that they slowly began to stand out.

Those who forget their roots and origins will not go far, which is why the Qi family never cared whether others called them lackeys.

Qi Xiao didn't care that He Ru was being sarcastic. At that time, she didn't know that she could be friends with Zhou Mo, so even if she was called a lackey, she was very happy. It was such an honor to be associated with someone she admired.

Of course, Qi Xiao wouldn't tell Zhou Mo all that. She picked and chose to tell the whole story, "But I really don't know what he likes about you. Why are you so mysterious and a smiling tiger since you were little?"

Zhou Mo recalled that He Ru had never appeared in her memory. That day, he seemed to be a long time away from her, but in reality, he was still some distance away. It was precisely because she did not feel threatened that she was so bold. Of course, Yu Xi's presence also played a role.

Deep down, she still wanted to believe that Yu Xi would stand by her side.

This trust had a source, but Zhou Mo herself never expected to be so certain about it.

"If you ask me, Momo, Yu Xi is gone, so don't go looking for him. It doesn't matter where he goes or which city he goes to. We should just live our own lives."

Qi Xiao held Zhou Mo's hands in his own, his expression sincere and full of concern for Zhou Mo.

"He won't leave this city."

"If he leaves this city because of me, how important I must be to him."

Qi Xiao had no idea how to offer advice, and even when she opened her mouth, she didn't know what to say.

"But what can be done..."

"You asked Sean, didn't you? He doesn't know where Yu Xi is."

Zhou Mo patted Qi Xiao on the shoulder, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Qi Xiao really wanted to say, "No, you didn't, you really didn't."

But when she met Zhou Mo's eyes, she became a staunch supporter of Zhou Mo, "Yes, I believe you, Momo."

Zhou Mo: "..." There's no need to believe that much.

Meeting He Ru went even more smoothly than she had imagined, completely different from what was portrayed in TV dramas. The place He Ru arranged to meet was a coffee shop with an extremely open view. The coffee shop was decorated in a minimalist style, and what was eye-catching was that there was a wishing wall in the shop. The wall was covered with sticky notes of all kinds, all of which had been put up recently. A small portion of them were prayers for the dead, a small portion were reflections on life after surviving, and the rest, which was the most numerous, were confessions of love.

Zhou Mo stood in front of the wishing wall for a long time. She had people she wanted to wish for, but she had no intention of writing them down.

The chair next to her was pulled out by the newcomer, and He Ru plopped down and started writing a wishing note on her own. Zhou Mo had no intention of prying into other people's privacy, but she couldn't resist He Ru's insistence on doing so, and the note was practically stuck to her forehead.

"What's the meaning?"

"Confess your feelings? Qi Meimei's big mouth must have let it slip."

Seeing that He Ru was being so direct, Zhou Mo realized she didn't need to rack her brains for an opening line. She pulled out a chair and sat down. "Have we met before?"

"I thought you would ask me about Yu Xi directly."

“That’s one thing, but my thing is the biggest.”

He Ru rested his chin on his hand and tilted his head to look at Zhou Mo, his eyes full of admiration. He nodded in agreement, "That makes sense. I'm glad you asked me this question first, so I plan to answer you where Yu Xi is first."

"The steel mill in the south of the city, processing room number three."

This address sounds familiar. Isn't this the address where Shawn took her to find Yu Xi and get that batch of goods last time?

That's a warehouse, right? Yu Xi has been staying there these past few days?

How about it: "Aren't you going?"

“There’s another answer,” Zhou Mo answered frankly, while He Ru lowered her head and laughed, “Just kidding.”

Zhou Mo: "?"

"I was just joking with Qi Xiao. I've never met you before. It was the first time a few days ago. I just read her diary and found it funny, so I was just teasing her. I didn't expect her to actually take it seriously. You didn't take it seriously, did you? I don't like playing with other people's feelings. It's so tasteless."

One gangster said that playing with feelings is low-class, but he's done even more low-class things and still has such a ridiculous bottom line.

Zhou Mo couldn't immediately tell whether He Ru was telling the truth or not.

It was absurd yet somehow justifiable.

After all, there isn't a single normal person in this group.

"Okay, I'll talk to Qi Xiao."

"say what?"

"You're just teasing her."

He Ru laughed even louder, buried his head in his arms, waved one hand at Zhou Mo, and said in a muffled voice, "Go on."

Zhou Mo then got up and left. After she left, He Ru's laughter stopped. He opened his palm, and a sticky note with his wish written on it appeared in front of him. On it, a line of words was written neatly: "Can you be my girlfriend?"

He Ru answered himself: "No."

The price of falling in love at first sight is too high for him to afford.