Chapter 41 How could you give up halfway through pursuing someone?

"Boss Hao, what can I do for you?" Jian Zhen asked as she answered the phone.

"Ah, Xiao Jian, I heard you're back in Beijing, so I'm inviting you over for drinks. We have a few new fruit-flavored sweet wines that we've got this spring, I'm sure you'll like them." Hao Jiaren said, while winking at Xu Weisheng beside him.

Jian Zhen was silent for two seconds on the other end of the phone, then chuckled and asked, "Who told you I went back to Beijing?"

Caught off guard by the question, Hao Jiaren hadn't even thought of a response when he heard Jian Zhen calmly say, "I'm sorry, Mr. Hao, I am indeed at home, but it's not a good time to drink lately, so I won't be going. Please also tell someone that I hope he treats every relationship with his whole heart, the last one and the next one."

After saying that, she slammed the phone down.

Hao Jiaren took the phone away from his ear, and Xu Weisheng asked impatiently, "What did she say?"

Hao Jiaren was still pondering the hidden meaning in Jian Zhen's words, and the more he thought about it, the more something seemed off. He frowned and looked at Xu Weisheng: "You cheated on me, kid?"

"What am I supposed to chop?!" Xu Weisheng cried out in pain, looking up at the sky and putting his hand to his forehead.

"She doesn't want to see you." As someone who's been through it all, Hao Jiaren knows that girls like Jian Zhen often have one thing in common—they're unrestrained and decisive when it comes to relationships. When their feelings are strong, they're willing to give everything, but once they decide to let go, they disappear from your world without leaving a trace.

He sighed, patted Xu Weisheng on the shoulder and said, "There must be some misunderstanding between you two. If you still want things to work out with her, you'd better try to win her back as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the more her feelings for you will cool down. Don't wait until they drop to absolute zero, or you'll really have no chance."

Xu Weisheng was well aware of this principle, but since they couldn't meet or talk to each other, he couldn't very well climb through someone's window in the middle of the night, could he?

Once this absurd idea popped into his head, he couldn't shake it off. Luckily, Hao Jiaren got him a security patrol map and schedule for Jian Zhen's residence and warned him, "Don't do it if you don't want to go to jail."

He barely managed to suppress the thought.

Hao Jiaren had spent several days with him without any results, and he couldn't stand him anymore. What was the point of two grown men hanging out together every day?

"You have so much money at home, aren't you going back to keep an eye on it?"

Xu Weisheng said with a sense of world-weariness, "The bank will help keep an eye on things."

"What about the huge legacy and family conflicts that Xu Lijun left you? Can the bank bail you out?"

Xu Weisheng said indifferently, "The company's operations are managed by professional managers. Xu Lijun never trusted me and never thought of letting me take over. He only wanted me to be a minor figure like a tour guide because he was afraid that if I was idle, my reputation would be bad and I would have difficulty finding a partner... There are lawyers for family disputes. The mother and son just want money. I will give them more."

Hao Jiaren teased him, "You're already having a hard time finding a partner now."

Xu Weisheng was speechless, gazing at the other person silently, his eyes conveying a plea for "something to do."

"Actually, I have a good idea, but I don't know if you'd be willing to use it?"

"What idea?" Xu Weisheng sat up straight and looked at him. Now, apart from the Sunflower Manual, he was willing to try any other unorthodox methods.

"Xiao Jian, where did she graduate from again?"

Xu Weisheng suddenly realized, "That's right, we've been together for so long that I've completely forgotten Jian Zhen's initial identity in front of me—she's my junior sister!"

He immediately called Dean Jiang. To avoid being caught lying, he simply revealed his background: "Teacher, my junior sister and I are in love, but recently we had a misunderstanding and she argued with me. I can't find her now. Could you do me a favor and ask her to come out?"

Dean Jiang suffered a serious illness at the end of the year, narrowly escaping death, and was forced to retire early. He was idle at home all day, feeling frustrated that he had nowhere to contribute his remaining energy. When he heard that such an important and crucial position was needed for him, he immediately became excited. However, considering the reality, he clicked his tongue twice and said, "Jian Zhen's family background is not simple! Have you thought it through?"

Xu Weisheng said shamelessly, "Teacher, it would be a pity if a handsome and talented young man like me didn't become a prince consort."

Dean Jiang couldn't tell if he was joking or genuinely confident in his appearance, so after hesitating for a while, she gently reminded him, "In matters of the heart, the worst thing is for one person to be all looks and no substance. But then again... Jian Zhen's temper isn't easy to deal with. If you two could get together—"

“They are a match made in heaven!” Xu Weisheng blurted out.

After hanging up the phone, Hao Jiaren asked him about the result. He lightly slapped himself twice and said, "I've thrown away half my life's worth of face. It's not a loss to exchange it for a chance to explain."

Dean Jiang invited Jian Zhen to the faculty and staff restaurant in the school cafeteria. Jian Zhen didn't find out why, but since the old man had come to invite her in person, she couldn't refuse. So she took a fruit basket, put on some light makeup, and went to the appointment.

"You've come all this way, why bring anything!" Dean Jiang was delighted to receive her fruit basket. He placed it on the table and looked at the strawberries inside, exclaiming, "You remind me of a former student. He once came to visit me, carrying two large bags full in his left and right hands. I thought he was just thanking me because he had made a lot of money. But when we chatted, I found out that he had gone bankrupt and came to ask me for help. I was really dumbfounded."

The stir-fries in the faculty cafeteria were quite good; the high heat and strong stove made the stir-fried eggplant much more fragrant than those in the store. Jian Zhen's mother was the head of the kitchen at home, and this middle-aged woman strictly adhered to healthy eating principles to maintain her figure—less oil, less salt, less sugar. She hadn't tasted such fragrant eggplant in a long time. She stuffed a large mouthful into her mouth, chewing as she thought, "There can't be that many coincidences in the world. Teacher Jiang invited me to dinner; it definitely can't be related to that annoying guy—"

Dean Jiang went on to describe Xu Weisheng's miserable state, but even after Jian Zhen had finished half a bowl of rice, he still hadn't heard Jian Zhen express any curiosity about the senior's identity. So he finally revealed his true intentions and asked, "Do you know who this student is?"

"Could it be Xu Weisheng?" Jian Zhen asked with a fake smile.

"Hey, how did you guess it was him? Do you two know each other?" Dean Jiang's tone was exaggerated, even Jian Zhen couldn't stand it anymore. She instantly lost all her smile, put down her chopsticks, and said, "Teacher, did he ask you to invite me out?"

Dean Jiang realized the atmosphere was awkward, but he was too embarrassed to lie, so he could only stammer, "Uh, ah..."

"Is he here now?" Jian Zhen grasped the key point.

Dean Jiang placed his hands on the edge of the dining table: "Well..."

"Teacher, I'll be going now. I'll invite you again next time when he's not here." Jian Zhen stood up, nodded apologetically to Dean Jiang, and turned to walk towards the cafeteria entrance.

As she passed by the dining tables, Xu Weisheng suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist from a seat by the aisle. He then stood up and whispered, "Jian Zhen."

Jian Zhen laughed angrily, turned around, raised her arm, and asked, "Are you sure you want to act out a soap opera with me here?"

Xu Weisheng looked at her. It had only been a little over a week since they last met. They had lost contact for much longer than this many times, but never before had he felt so deeply what it meant for each day to feel like an eternity.

"Let go," Jian Zhen said coldly.

After the stalemate, Xu Weisheng let go. He was frustrated to find that he was a fool, a complete fool when it came to relationships. He never knew how to advance or retreat. How had Jian Zhen put up with him for the past six months?

Jian Zhen glared at him, turned around and strode out of the cafeteria. She originally wanted to cross the campus and take a taxi home directly from the west gate, but when she got to the gate, she found that Xu Weisheng was already waiting for her there.

Xu Weisheng mentally prepared a series of responses, such as: "Jasmine and I aren't what you think," "Jasmine is actually my biological mother," and "I haven't deleted the chat history, do you still want to see it?"

But the moment he sensed Jian Zhen's appearance, he turned his head and saw her standing among the falling peach blossoms, her hands behind her back, her chin slightly raised, letting out a heavy sigh, turning her face away with a speechless expression.

She's naturally good at making people angry; no wonder Dean Jiang said, "Jian Zhen has such a terrible temper..."

Xu Weisheng suddenly couldn't help but laugh. He realized that this person had obvious personality flaws just like himself. One was hesitant and the other was impulsive; one was insecure and the other was arrogant. They were truly a perfect match, a match made in heaven.

He still has the nerve to laugh? Jian Zhen rolled her eyes, turned around and left. Honestly, their school doesn't only have one gate!

Xu Weisheng took a step to catch up, and the two of them sped up in unison. Students passing by on both sides couldn't help but turn their heads: What an eye-catching couple's drama!

Xu Weisheng laughed as he started running, and Jian Zhen resisted the urge to run too—it would be too embarrassing—and turned back to yell at him, "Can you please stop following me?!"

"No way." As Xu Weisheng chased after her, he vaguely felt as if he had returned to his school days. Back then, he didn't have time to experience love, but heaven was merciful and, many years later, gifted him a time capsule, allowing him to immerse himself in the student's identity. Love and hate immediately became simple. He laughed and said unreasonably, "Why don't you go call the police!"

Jian Zhen rolled her eyes to the sky. If she didn't want to damage the campus environment, she would have liked to grab a clod of dirt from the flower bed and smash this bastard to death!

Xu Weisheng kept chattering from behind: "Hey! Jian Zhen! Listen to me, Jasmine is sixty years old!"

"I'm sorry, Jian Zhen! I'm sorry, okay?"

"What if I ask Lin Sheng to come and apologize to you—"

When Jian Zhen heard him shout that Jasmine was sixty years old, she was shocked. In addition, she couldn't bear the embarrassment, so she stopped and turned around. Unexpectedly, Xu Weisheng was already behind her, and the two almost bumped into each other. Fortunately, Xu Weisheng held her shoulder to prevent a campus road accident.

He took a half-step back, supporting himself on Jian Zhen's shoulders, bent down to meet her gaze, and his eyes gleamed with a smile that could blind anyone: "You've got it wrong. I haven't given up. It's you who set the rules for yourself and didn't follow them, Jian Zhen—"

He took a breath to steady himself, then retorted, "How could you give up halfway through chasing someone?"

Ugh! I'm jealous of my mom!