Chapter 42. Boys helping boys

"Am I also beautiful when I quarrel with you?" Ruan Tang suddenly changed the subject and winked at him.

Feng Xue looked confused: Huh?

Ruan Tang stuck out her tongue, walked over to him, took his arm, and said, "You don't believe it, do you? It seems my acting skills are not bad."

"What you just said... was it a joke?"

Ruan Tang sighed and said: Not entirely, just treat it as a rehearsal for a quarrel scene in advance, so that you can get familiar with it first, in case we really have a big quarrel one day and you can't adapt.

"Who would predict that there would be a quarrel just after being together for a short time?" Feng Xue felt both angry and amused.

Ruan Tang picked up a piece of mango from the chopping board and put it in her mouth, then suddenly frowned.

"What's wrong? Is it sour?" Feng Xue asked hurriedly.

She shook her head and said: No, it's very sweet.

"Sweet is not good."

"The psychological trauma of quitting sugar. Things that are too sweet make me feel very insecure. I just ate this and I think my face is going to turn another shade yellower."

"Exaggeration, don't scare yourself, idiot."

"I think falling in love is like the growth of fruit, from sour to just right, then to ripe, and finally rotten. The perfect taste only lasts for a short time, so how can we live in harmony forever?"

Feng Xue was silent for a moment, and then said in an extremely serious tone: It is not good for women to be angry often, just like just now. If you are really angry, then scold me to vent your anger, and then I will discuss a solution with you.

"You don't have to be so rational all the time," she said, stepping forward and wrapping her arms around his waist from behind, pressing her face against his black shirt. A hint of sweat seeped through the fabric, mixed with the smell of laundry detergent, and hit her nose, but she didn't find it unpleasant. She remembered a theory she'd read before about someone you like having a scent that only you can smell. She sniffed greedily again, her lust rising. She asked softly, "How about going to your house to watch a movie tonight?"

Feng Xue asked in a muffled voice: Aren’t there 83 days left?

Ruan Tang jumped off his back as if she had been electrocuted, her face flushed as she asked: You...how did you know?

"Didn't you drag me to look at your old photos that day? I accidentally saw Xu Wei's message when you switched pages..."

Ruan Tang now understood what it meant to regret a single mistake for the rest of her life. She shouldn't have set up the countdown that day, and even if she had, she shouldn't have written it so bluntly...

"Then what do you think? Don't you want to..." Ruan Tang walked around to hug him from the front, her fingers wandering around his waist, her chin resting on his chest and looking up at him.

Feng Xue put down the fruit knife, held her in his arms, looked down at her, and said with a smile: Just let it be.

"You act so indifferent, I reasonably suspect that you are denying my charm." Ruan Tang poked his chest with one hand in dissatisfaction, trying to push him away.

But Feng Xue did not intend to give her this chance. He held her tightly in his arms with both hands, lowered his head slightly and buried his face in her hair, saying: Of course not, I just feel that there is a long time to come. Although I don’t know why, I can endure it and wait with you until the number becomes 0.

Noticing that he used the word "forbearance", Ruan Tang laughed and said: Shouldn't a good girlfriend make a man endure too much?

He sighed and deliberately joked: If you want, I'm always here to accompany you.

"Anytime? Doesn't it seem like men's performance plummets after they turn thirty? Shouldn't we choose the right time, the right place, and the right people?"

Feng Xue bit her shoulder lightly like a cornered rabbit and whispered: You can try it, I only speak with facts.

But in the end, Ruan Tang was unable to inspect the goods in advance. Xu Wei suddenly called and asked Ruan Tang to bring a windbreaker to pick her up. Her tone sounded very calm, like a pool of stagnant water, which made Ruan Tang's heart tighten inexplicably.

The location sent by Xu Wei was a high-end apartment near the Financial Street. When Ruan Tang entered, she was asked to fill out a form to register.

As soon as she entered the hall, she saw Xu Wei sitting upright in the public reception area. She was wearing a crimson casual suit. Ruan Tang noticed that two buttons on her silk shirt were missing. It was not until Xu Wei stood up that she understood why Xu Wei asked her to bring a windbreaker. There was a small hole near her thigh in her trousers, and she looked like a wrinkled beauty magazine that had been rubbed and spread out.

"What happened?" Ruan Tang tried her best to control her voice, but her voice couldn't help but tremble when she spoke.

Xu Wei put on her windbreaker, as if she had put on a layer of armor again and was fully armed. She smiled at her and said: Let's leave here first.

"There's someone up there, right?" Ruan Tang pulled Xu Wei, her chest heaving a few times. She pulled out her phone and said, "Take me up there. I'll start a livestream and let everyone get to know this beast with me."

Xu Wei sighed and said: I didn't suffer any loss, I'm just so hungry, can you accompany me to eat something first?

The two of them chose a nearby Hong Kong-style tea restaurant. Xu Wei looked like she hadn't eaten for three days. She ignored Ruan Tang who was sitting opposite her with a sullen face and devoured a basket of shrimp dumplings, a French toast and a bowl of wonton noodles in one breath. Only then did her face brighten up.

Not long ago, a senior executive from a video platform contacted Xu Wei, saying they were planning a romantic variety show and wanted to invite her as a guest. Initially, he scheduled the meeting at the platform's office building, but later explained that he was on annual leave and would officially begin preparations for the show afterward. He then arranged for her to meet at his studio. To allay her concerns, he even created a group chat and scheduled all the other guests for the same time. When Xu Wei arrived, the others hadn't arrived yet. The producer, jokingly, made tea and told her to drink while she waited. The other person, a seemingly elegant, middle-aged man, was also very talkative. As they chatted, their true intentions became apparent.

After eating and drinking, Xu Wei regained her former vitality. She stood up, walked to the opposite side, pulled out the chair next to Ruan Tang, sat down, and asked: Guess why I didn't let you go up just now?

"You... still want this opportunity and don't want to offend him?"

Xu Wei shook her head. "Of course not. They're from a video platform, and they're all about the internet. Do you think we can easily sanction them with our influence? Just put them on the trending search list, and they'll just deny it."

Ruan Tang picked up the dinner knife on the table and held it in his hand, saying indignantly: I really want to castrate all these beasts whose genitals control human nature!

Seeing that she was as angry as a puffer fish, Xu Wei couldn't help laughing and said: Do you know what he said when he pounced on me and pressed me down?

"Like you? Have been noticing you for a long time? Want to make a deal with you?" Ruan Tang racked her brains and reviewed the various true stories and fictional TV dramas she had read online before. She felt that these were the reasons.

Xu Wei sneered and lowered her voice: He said that he had seen me using marriage to ruin my fiancé's reputation online before, and said that women like me pretend to be noble on the surface, as if we are doing justice for the heavens, but in fact, we are just trying to attract attention and establish a heroine image to attract fans and make money. He said he wanted to strip off my disguise and cleanse my soul. Isn't it funny? Scumbags can actually empathize with scumbags. It's really boys helping boys.

"I really don't understand why the law is so lenient towards women? It's up to these men to judge whether women are good or bad. As long as they say you're a bad woman, they can bully you openly. What kind of bullshit is this?" Ruan Tang was so angry that she almost flipped the table on the spot. After calming down a little, she asked, "So what are you going to do? Just let it go?"

"Of course not." Xu Wei raised her eyebrows. "Since he wants to uphold justice, then I will help him and let him sacrifice himself for the justice he upholds."