Chapter 8 Who's Nervous and Who's Overheating

Xu Weisheng was quite surprised by Jian Zhen's appearance, and his first reaction was that the other party had come to seek revenge. As for what kind of revenge, it was naturally that invalid copyright contract, so his back tensed up instantly.

However, Jian Zhen's smile quickly dispelled the misunderstanding. She pinched the brim of her cap and fanned herself with it, speaking as naturally as if she had known Xu Weisheng for ten years: "Are you about to get off work?"

Xu Weisheng also had something to say: "How did you find your way here?"

They both spoke at the same time, and they both stopped at the same time.

Jian Zhen paused, smiled, shrugged, and said, "It's only fair. Thank you for returning my phone. Are you free? Let's grab a bite to eat."

"I'm not hungry." Xu Weisheng was full of secrets, while Jian Zhen's curiosity was written all over his face—he'd better stay away.

Jian Zhen raised an eyebrow. Taking the initiative to ask a man out to dinner was already a new experience for her, let alone being rejected. After all, she was the one who always rejected others.

She said impatiently, "I'm hungry."

Xu Weisheng glanced at her in surprise, as if to say, "So what? What does this have to do with me?"

However, his straightforward expression only lasted a short time, so short that Jian Zhen didn't even notice his resistance. She took out her phone to check the map and muttered, "What's there to eat nearby..."

Xu Weisheng looked at the top of her head. The last time he saw her in the billiard room, her hair color was still orange-yellow after being washed out. This time, it had been dyed back to black. It seems that she dyes her hair quite often, but her hair quality is very good. It's really strange. What kind of hair dye did she use?

What's strange isn't just her hair color. From their limited interactions, Xu Weisheng deduced that Jian Zhen was an arrogant and immature art student, dedicated to practicing individuality to the end. But now, standing face to face, with her head down and struggling with the restaurant... she actually exuded a simple and innocent charm.

Well, she's still my junior sister, and it's not easy for her to come all this way to see me.

Xu Weisheng pointed to a dumpling restaurant on the screen and suggested, "This Northeastern Chinese restaurant is pretty good."

“That’s it then. You lead the way.” Jian Zhen readily put her phone in her pocket, looked up at him, and Xu Weisheng had no choice but to take off his work clothes, smooth the hair that was flattened by his hat, coughed lightly, and prepared to go over and say goodbye to the manager so he could leave work early.

He had only gone halfway when the manager kept gesturing and waving at him, meaning: Hurry up and go!

Xu Weisheng smiled helplessly, turned around and waved to Jian Zhen, leading her away from the movie theater.

On the way, Xu Weisheng was still struggling with the initial question: "How did you find your way here?"

"The address is on the express delivery slip you gave me." Jian Zhen followed him through the streets of Yungang Town, and in the distance, she could see Qianling Mountain under the sunset. The road under her feet was also undulating. Yungang, Yungang, is not only a place where the clouds in the sky rest, but the ground under her feet is also like clouds, making her feel as if she were in a dream.

Xu Weisheng remained silent, so Jian Zhen expanded on her answer, detailing her transportation experience. Not content with just talking about transportation, she went on to describe the shimmering river, the fragrant spicy hot pot restaurant, and the child who revealed his workplace…

She spoke unusually frequently, leaving almost no time for silence. It wasn't until the two of them sat down at the restaurant and ordered their food, and Xu Weisheng poured her a cup of piping hot barley tea, that Jian Zhen finally stopped and had a chance to catch her breath.

"You came all this way just to treat me to a meal?" Xu Weisheng took a tissue and reached out to wipe the remaining oil stains on the glass tabletop.

"What else?" Jian Zhen smiled, picked up her cutlery so he could wipe the table for her.

"You're too kind." Xu Weisheng wanted to say, "I didn't think you were such a polite person," but the words that came out were, "You're much more polite than I expected." As he spoke, he wiped the area in front of her, and then took out a tissue to wipe the area in front of himself.

Jian Zhen chuckled softly, her index fingernail lightly tapping the cup. She thought to herself that this person just wanted her to say, "I'm here to pursue you." By the time she finished uttering that line, he would probably already have a prepared refusal ready, just waiting to deliver it from his high and mighty position.

She still didn't do as he wanted.

Jian Zhen swirled the glass around and said quietly, "Being self-righteous is often accompanied by misunderstandings, which is normal. For example, I initially thought you made a living by selling yourself."

"What?" Xu Weisheng was stunned by the line, which was like a thunderclap out of nowhere. He even stopped wiping the table.

"Back gate of the art academy, Rolls-Royce, isn't that you in the passenger seat?"

"I told you long ago not to drive such a flashy car!" Xu Weisheng's ears turned red, and he said speechlessly, "That's my friend's car."

Jian Zhen scoffed, "What kind of friend is he? He drives a luxury car and expects you to work as a bouncer at a billiards hall?"

Hsu Wei-sheng immediately retorted, "Perhaps not every friend is as loyal as you are."

The rapid exchange of words came to a halt. The owner brought over a plate of harvest vegetables, and Jian Zhen smiled as she moved the plate, saying, "That's true. That's why I said before that self-righteousness is often accompanied by misunderstandings."

Xu Weisheng remained silent; she had said both the good and the bad things.

"Can I ask you a question?" The second dish was served quickly. Jian Zhen helped the waiter move the plate of the harvest dish further in. She smelled the pungent vinegar smell of the sweet and sour pork and stepped back.

"No," Xu Weisheng answered without hesitation.

Jian Zhen remained unmoved and continued, "You've been living here all this time?"

Xu Weisheng raised an eyebrow and glanced at her. Jian Zhen then explained, "Outside the Sixth Ring Road, Yungang, Yuejing Garden."

"Is there a problem?" Xu Weisheng asked in return.

“It’s too far from the city. I can’t imagine how you managed to go to the billiards room every day before.” Jian Zhen dipped the tip of his chopsticks in water, drew a long water mark on the table, and then stared at the water mark and hissed exaggeratedly, as if he could see his long commute.

As expected of a recent college graduate, she was full of emotion and energy, brimming with curiosity about the world and strangers. Unlike me, who had been struggling in society for two years, constantly in a low-energy standby state, seeing 99% of people as "boring" and "just so-so."

Xu Weisheng tried to dislike her overly familiar manner, but he couldn't. He found that Jian Zhen had a face that was hard to dislike. Helpless, he could only bury his head in his food and actively reduce her voice to ambient noise.

"Do you make a lot of money at the billiards hall?" Jian Zhen completely forgot that she was the one who suggested coming to eat, and watched Xu Weisheng eat while resting her chin on her left hand.

If the salary is not high, then having to overcome such a terrible commute is just too much!

“I just moved here last week,” Xu Weisheng replied, choosing to answer the previous question.

"Ha." Jian Zhen raised her eyebrows, smiled smugly, and said, "I knew it. Why did you move?"

Xu Weisheng was completely out of options and could only answer whatever she asked, saying calmly, "Unemployed."

"Oh." Thinking that she had played a part in his unemployment, Jian Zhen scratched the back of her head awkwardly, looked up at him and said, "It wasn't a good job anyway, so it's okay to lose it—did Brother Long retaliate against you for what happened last time?"

"Retaliate against me?" Even though Xu Weisheng had prepared himself mentally, he was still amused by this imaginative question and couldn't help but ask, "Retaliate against me for what? How will you retaliate?"

Jian Zhen opened his mouth, wanting to say many things: he stood up for himself and You Yu in the billiards room, he got his phone back from Brother Long, he tricked Brother Long and his gang with an invalid contract...

But she didn't say the last thing. Xu Weisheng's question reminded her. That's right, the once-powerful Brother Long is already behind bars. How else can he retaliate against Xu Weisheng? But if it weren't for this matter, why would Xu Weisheng move to such a remote place and deliberately hide his whereabouts?

"Then who are you hiding from?" Jian Zhen asked pointedly.

Now it was Xu Weisheng's turn to be speechless. He could have refused to answer such a question, or simply remained silent for a long time, but conversations have a tendency to build up. The conversation between the two sides, Jian Zhen and Jian Zhen, had just entered a friendly and honest state, and Jian Zhen was looking into his eyes, unblinking. So Xu Weisheng felt as if someone was choking him and forcing him to open his mouth—

He heard his own voice saying, "Family."

"Huh?" This answer surprised Jian Zhen. She frowned and thought hard, "Your family is chasing you, no, why are they arresting you? Did you run away from home?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Jian Zhen felt incredibly foolish. Running away from home? That term is only used for minors, isn't it? How old is Xu Weisheng? Can't he enjoy the freedom to leave home?

Xu Weisheng put down his chopsticks, took a sip of water, and slowly said, "It's possible that they'll take me back to go on blind dates, do odd jobs, play the role of a dutiful son or grandson, and make me part of a happy and harmonious family. I don't know."

Jian Zhen took a deep breath, sat up straight, and looked at him seriously.

She was completely wrong. She thought Xu Weisheng was a destitute proletarian with an unstable life, but it turned out that he seemed to have a lot of wealth waiting to be inherited, and might be much richer than her, a young lady with very limited pocket money.

When she looked at Xu Weisheng with a different gaze, she immediately noticed that he indeed had many characteristics of a wealthy young man: his relaxed demeanor, his beautiful hair and teeth, his clean and fair skin, and the obvious signs of exercise on his arms...

Jian Zhen then thought of the fake contract. How could a pool hall attendant with limited knowledge know which contracts were valid and which were invalid? Going back further, it all came down to one aspect of knowledge—

Wait! A picture flashed through Jian Zhen's mind in a flash.

I first met Xu Weisheng at the back gate of the Academy of Fine Arts. How could he be there? He said it was a friend's car, but his friend wasn't in the car at the time. Besides, he should be very familiar with this year's graduation exhibition at the Academy of Fine Arts, otherwise he wouldn't even remember my name.

Jian Zhen had an unbelievable guess. She pursed her lips, lifted her eyelids to look at Xu Weisheng and said, "I forgot to tell you, my surname is Jesus, so—" She shrugged and said, "I have to pray before I eat."

"Oh." Xu Weisheng nodded, not understanding why, indicating that he didn't care.

"Can I have your hand?" Jian Zhen closed her eyes, stretched out her hands, and opened her palms.

Xu Weisheng hesitated for a moment, but after all, this was someone else's faith. A few seconds later, he placed his hands on Jian Zhen's palms. Then, the believer Jian Zhen suddenly opened her eyes, looked directly at him, and smiled slyly, saying, "You have calluses on your hands."

Before Xu Weisheng could recover from the shock of being "tricked," Jian Zhen added, "The position is the same as mine."

As she spoke, she withdrew her hand and looked at Xu Weisheng with a confident smile, saying, "You paint too, don't you?"

This person is a bit too arrogant. Even if she is his junior sister, even if she is not unpleasant to look at, even if she came all the way to invite him to dinner... her always arrogant attitude is really unbearable. She is like a proud peacock that is always spreading its tail feathers. Xu Weisheng is now starting to hate even the peacocks in the zoo.

His face darkened, and he wanted to end this inexplicable date immediately and just walk away, but before he could even lift his butt off the chair, Jian Zhen's words pulled him back to his senses: "Do you know Lin Sheng?"

Xu Weisheng slammed back into his seat, his body trembling from the inside out. For a moment, he thought it was an earthquake. Then he came to his senses, his arms tingling with numbness, as if a vampire walking in the sun had his black cloak suddenly ripped off, leaving him awkwardly naked. The sunlight made his blood feel even colder.

After a long silence, he said in a hoarse voice, "I don't know, who?"

Jian Zhen laughed heartlessly: "My idol. When I was in high school, I read his autobiography in a magazine. He said that because he held a pen for a long time, the first joint of his middle finger had calluses."

She raised her right hand, showing Xu Weisheng the callus on the knuckle of her middle finger, and boasted, "The three of us have calluses in the same place!"