Side Story 2: The Grim Reunion of a Prodigy

Do geniuses also have worries?

Yes, Zhou Zeyu thought. Even a genius who is one in a million has many troubles. For example, the problem that is troubling her the most right now is how to end her cold war with Cen Zheng.

Unable to handle the problem herself, she nervously sought help from Zhang Yuan, who was also a senior colleague, thinking that since he and Cen Zheng were the same age, he should understand her thoughts to some extent. However, after hearing the whole story, Zhang Yuan only said one sentence very concisely.

"You're really something to be able to piss her off."

After hearing this, Zhou Zeyu became annoyed. She grinned and said that he couldn't fool her like that. Zhang Yuan was so annoyed by her that he had no choice but to drop his pretentious face and speak directly.

"What can I do about what's going on between the two of you? If you want to end the cold war, you can just apologize if all else fails."

Zhou Zeyu refused, "I didn't do anything wrong, why should I apologize?"

That being said, she was actually quite unsure of herself when it came to determining who was better, so she didn't continue the discussion on that point. She cleared her throat and said, "Then you should tell me whose fault this is."

Zhang Yuan thought about it seriously for a while, then said, "You two both have problems."

Zhou Zeyi knew he would say that, and thinking that asking would be pointless, he scoffed, walked to the other side and sat down, no longer arguing with him about the issue.

To be honest, this cold war really happened inexplicably. The cause of the incident can be traced back to a week ago when Zhou Zeyu accidentally twisted his wrist. Under Cen Zheng's insistence, he had to rest for several days and was watched over like a prisoner.

But she couldn't stay still. Taking advantage of Cen Zheng's inattention, she slipped out to a garden party and happened to come across an amateur table tennis competition. With nothing else to do, she played a few rounds and was caught red-handed.

"Keep being stubborn and see if I get even angrier." Before their cold war officially began, Cen Zheng threw out these words with a livid face.

At the time, Zhou Zeyi didn't take it seriously and tried to brush it off with a laugh, so he subconsciously replied, "Mind your own business, I'm fine!"

When Zhou Zeyi saw Cen Zheng's increasingly grim expression, she realized that something was wrong, but it was obviously too late for her to make amends. Because of her "continued to be stubborn," Cen Zheng was really angered by her.

Then for a whole week, Cen Zheng ignored her.

The two still ate breakfast together in the morning, sitting face to face. Cen Zheng still gave her half a meat bun as usual, and let her bowl of soy milk cool down before giving it to her. But whenever Zhou Zeyu thought the relationship had eased and wanted to speak, she was still met with that expressionless face.

During team training, Cen Zheng would still subconsciously call out three more sit-ups when counting her, and kindly refrained from reporting Zhou Zeyu's lazy and slacking attitude. However, when Zhou Zeyu shamelessly tried to talk to her with a smile, no one paid any attention to her.

It was always the same. Zhou Zeyu felt that her relationship with Cen Zheng was no different from before. She was neither angry nor sarcastic, but she just refused to talk to her.

Maintaining the same attitude but remaining silent is the most disgusting Cold War tactic in the world, Zhou Zeyu was absolutely certain of it.

"You're just too stubborn. What's wrong with admitting your mistake? Do you think Cen Zheng would really hold it against you?" I forgot who said that to her.

That's the logic, of course. Zhou Zeyu herself knows that with Cen Zheng's temper, he wouldn't really get angry with her. The cold war is probably just to prevent her from being too stubborn in the future. But here's the question: does knowing the logic mean that Zhou Zeyu will give in?

No, because, as that person said, Zhou Zeyu's biggest characteristic is his stubbornness.

In other words, she would never apologize for anything she felt was right.

This matter was originally a mess. Zhou Zeyu was kept under strict control by Cen Zheng, but she herself did not like this feeling of being disciplined. Cen Zheng had to ask about everything concerning her, no matter how big or small, even whether the filling in her meat buns in the morning was fresh pork.

So whether or not he actually went through with the fight is not important. Zhou Zeyu just wanted to find an excuse to put up a little resistance.

So here's the problem: both of them are waiting for the other to admit defeat first. Zhou Zeyu wants Cen Zheng to be less controlling, while Cen Zheng wants Zhou Zeyu to be less stubborn. The two of them can't agree on anything, so they're stuck in the same place.

And then... another week passed.

Of course, Zhou Zeyi wouldn't admit that she was becoming overwhelmed, tossing and turning in bed unable to sleep, her mind preoccupied with this matter, which was like a thorn stuck in her heart, slowly becoming her most troubling thing recently.

But whether she succeeded in deceiving herself or not, the truth is stark: she simply couldn't pretend nothing was wrong.

I'm so anxious! I'm so anxious! I'm so anxious!

Moreover, as time went by, she could also feel that Cen Zheng's attitude was slowly changing. Before, her attitude towards Zhou Zeyu was no different; she simply didn't speak. However, now even her attitude was becoming worse.

For example, Zhou Zeyu subconsciously reached for the steamed buns on her plate, but was slapped away by her. He also habitually did three fewer sit-ups than usual, but watched helplessly as she reported forty-seven.

That's really... showing absolutely no mercy.

This made Zhou Zeyu even more anxious. Every day when she lay in bed, she started to have wild thoughts again. For the first time, she began to waver, thinking about whether she should just lower her head and admit her mistake. After all, even a stubborn person can't stand being given the silent treatment.

However, many times she deliberately dawdled until the very end, awkwardly approaching Cen Zheng, clearing her throat in an affected manner, and preparing to say something, only to have Cen Zheng inexplicably pulled away, or someone suddenly appear at an inopportune moment, interrupting Zhou Zeyu's words.

Zhou Zeyi wouldn't admit it, but she was actually furious. She didn't know if God was deliberately working against her, or if He simply didn't want her to admit her mistake.

So she completely gave up on herself and decided to stop talking altogether.

The talkative Zhou Zeyu endured another week in this difficult way, and was no longer inseparable from Cen Zheng as usual. When eating, she would deliberately bypass her and sit at the table next to her, and when training in groups, she would deliberately pull others to team up. These were all very childish tricks, but Zhou Zeyu insisted that Cen Zheng was not the only one in the world who would use passive-aggressive tactics.

She will too.

However, to Zhou Zeyu's horror, he suddenly felt that something was wrong.

She accidentally tore her clothes during training and wanted to ask the logistics department to exchange them for a new one, but then she realized belatedly that she didn't know her size or even what style of training clothes she was wearing.

She slept until 10 a.m. and completely missed the team's individual physical examination. When she was reprimanded, she felt confused and said that she didn't know anything about it. Later, she found out that she hadn't even checked the text message notification on her phone.

When she went to the hospital to change her dressing, the doctor asked her about her dietary restrictions and allergens. She confidently said she didn't have any, but the doctor told her, speechless, that she was allergic to penicillin and even criticized her for being extremely careless about her own affairs.

Yes, she has never been very attentive to her own affairs, always thinking that it's fine to just get by. And as it turns out, even though she was careless to an excessive degree, she has managed to get by peacefully for the past two years.

That's because someone is taking care of her.

Who is this person?

Zhou Zeyi certainly knew this.

In fact, just as Coach Xu said before, Cen Zheng had indeed spoiled her too much, to the point that she took the training clothes in the closet, the verbal notifications for physical examinations, and the doctor's instructions when changing dressings for granted, because she didn't need to do these things.

How could this be? Zhou Zeyu wondered. How could she not have realized that Cen Zheng had already completely infiltrated her life? When did this start?

The logistics department staff found her odd when they saw her, because she had never been there before. She had also gotten used to keeping her phone on silent, because someone was always there to notify her. As for the allergen, she had long since chosen to forget about it, because every time she went to change her dressing, someone else would tell the doctor first.

Suddenly realizing this crucial point, Zhou Zeyu became utterly frustrated.

She began to regret it more and more, and felt that she had really let Cen Zheng down. She had taken Cen Zheng's care for so long for granted, but she was also confident that she could draw a line between them.

But is it really possible?

Of course not, Zhou Zeyu certainly couldn't do it.

So she decided to speak up. She jumped out of bed, straightened her messy collar in front of the mirror, smoothed out the wrinkles, took a deep breath, and finally opened the door to her room, ready to go out.

However, when the door opened, Cen Zheng was standing outside.

Cen Zheng seemed unprepared for her to suddenly open the door, and raised an eyebrow slightly, even making conversation as if he were trying to start a conversation: "You're not asleep yet?"

Zhou Zeyu blinked and continued making conversation: "You didn't sleep either, did you?"

The two fell silent, an eerie silence.

In fact, given how things have developed, even a fool would know what these two people mean. But unfortunately, if both of them intend to back down, then neither of them can actually back down.

Zhou Zeyu knew Cen Zheng's temper; she was just as stubborn as herself. If they were to wait for her to speak, it might take until the next century, by which time Zhou Zeyu would be a dried-up corpse. They simply couldn't afford to wait that long.

So she swallowed hard, deciding to speak herself.

Zhou Zeyu was stunned, almost unable to believe that the person standing in front of him was speaking. He looked her up and down in disbelief, and many guesses flashed through his mind. He even began to wonder if she was possessed by an alien.

Cen Zheng tapped her on the head without hesitation, his tone remaining calm to the point of being almost a cover-up. Zhou Zeyu knew that she was actually furious. "What are you looking at? I've already said there are no aliens in the world."

"You guessed what I was thinking again?"

"What is there that I can't guess?"

Zhou Zeyu nodded, suddenly wanting to laugh, but seeing Cen Zheng's awkward, pale face, she decided it was best not to laugh. So she forcefully suppressed her laughter and nodded seriously.

"Okay, can you guess what I'm going to say?"

Cen Zheng had a hint of doubt, but still spoke as usual, "You want to say that you admit you were wrong and that you feel your life is impossible without me."

"no."

Cen Zheng gave a soft hum, "What is that?"

Zhou Zeyu sighed, tilted his head back slightly with a touch of melancholy, and said in a deliberately melancholic tone, "I was just kidding. I really can't live without you, just like you can't live without me."

Cen Zheng was stunned. "What?"

“I’m telling you, you can’t do without me either.” Zhou Zeyu said shamelessly, with a sinister smile. “Then why were you the one who spoke first? Old Captain, your willpower isn’t that great either.”

Cen Zheng wanted to take a deep breath and smile to mock her overestimation of her abilities, but he couldn't take a breath halfway through. In order to avoid making things even more embarrassing, he had to stop and forced a helpless smile.

"You're getting more and more shameless, Zhou Zeyu."

Yes, Zhou Zeyi thought, face is the most useless thing in the world, especially in front of Cen Zheng.

"Also, the meat buns for breakfast lately have become really unpalatable. You were right to choose fresh pork."

"So you've finally realized that?" Cen Zheng laughed. "I thought you never cared what you put in your mouth."

“Where is it?” Zhou Zeyu said, “Then you’re not allowed to say I’m being too stubborn.”

"Why?" Cen Zheng crossed his arms and looked at her leisurely, waiting for her reply.

"Because this little pig looks a lot like you."

Cen Zheng frowned slightly in confusion, but then saw Zhou Zeyu suddenly pull out a small pink pig from behind her back as if by magic, and then stuff it into her arms without saying a word. She grinned at her, then decisively took a step back and closed the door.

She stared blankly at the closed door for a moment, then picked up the pig. The tag was still on, with the words "Prize for the Amateur Table Tennis Tournament at Baiyun Village" written in bold, flamboyant characters.

...

In any case, the torment that had plagued the genius girl for a month was finally over.