Chapter 98: Overweight I really don’t dare to look at you

The store manager was naturally referring to Zhu Zhiwei.

Yi Yi explained that she and Zhu Zhiwei had originally agreed to return to work on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, but they'd bought the wrong ticket and had to return a day early. Yi Yi had nothing better to do in her small rented studio, so she decided to come over to the shop to tidy up for the opening the next day. But when she arrived, she happened to see Zhu Zhiwei being picked up by a man.

"That man was driving a Porsche." Yi Yi emphasized.

Emily said: "Our store manager is a woman who can afford LV and Hermes, so of course she wants a Porsche to match it. By the way, how does the man look? Is he handsome?" When the question of appearance was mentioned, the whole person became excited.

"Not handsome." Yi Yi spread her hands. "Just an average-looking guy, probably in his thirties."

"Hey, she's a bit old. Our store manager is only in his early twenties, so he should be able to find someone better." After expressing her regret, Emily noticed that Zhu Yingning was silent and asked with a smile, "Yingning, do you know your sister has a boyfriend? Do you have any thoughts?"

She finally came to her senses and admitted, "I... don't quite understand this."

But after listening to Yi Yi and Emily's description, this guy has good conditions, so maybe it's a good thing, she thought.

The gossip about the store manager was naturally just talked about in private. Yi Yi and Emily were not the type to take the initiative to ask Zhu Zhiwei "Do you have a boyfriend?", and Zhu Yingning was even less likely to do so. Everyone maintained their sense of boundaries, waiting for the day when Zhu Zhiwei felt the time was right to tell them.

When she returned home in the evening, Zhu Yingning found her schoolbag and began packing the things she would take to school tomorrow.

Halfway through packing, she thought of an important question -

School starts tomorrow. Will Xu Sirui go with her?

She thought it best to ask him. She left her room and was about to knock on his bedroom door when she heard the landline in the living room ring. She went over and saw it was Wu Bo's number. She picked up and said, "Hello."

"Oh, you're still alive," Wu Bo said on the other end of the phone. "Why haven't you logged into QQ since New Year's Eve? I sent you several messages and you didn't reply. I thought something might have happened to you."

"I'm fine." She didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

When friends haven't seen each other in a while, they naturally have a lot to talk about. Wu Bo couldn't stop talking once he started. He first talked about his idol-chasing, saying that he had become obsessed with Bigbang, a Korean group, during the Spring Festival. He chattered about their songs and even started singing to himself on the phone. He sang for five or six minutes before finally changing the subject and saying that he had accidentally gained weight during the Spring Festival.

"My parents always say I'm as fat as a pig. I wonder if that's really an exaggeration. They've said that so many times that I've almost lost the confidence to go to school."

"That's definitely an exaggeration," Zhu Yingning consoled her. "It's normal to gain a few pounds from eating greasy food during the Lunar New Year."

"Have you gained weight too?" Wu Bo asked hurriedly.

"I've gained weight, too."

"How many pounds?"

"About three pounds."

Wu Bo screamed when he heard this. "Three pounds?! Only three pounds—ah! How can that be called fat? You don't even know how much I weigh."

Zhu Yingning then readily asked, "How much weight have you gained?"

She sighed, "Forget it, I won't say anything. Anyway, when you see me tomorrow, you must not laugh at me."

"How could I laugh at you?" Zhu Yingning quickly swore an oath.

After finishing the phone call, she walked towards her room as usual. When she reached the guest room, she suddenly remembered that she came out to find Xu Sirui, so she moved to Xu Sirui's room.

She raised her hand and was about to knock on the door when she suddenly heard a voice from behind: "Are you looking for me?" The voice was lower than usual, and a warm air flow brushed past her ear.

Zhu Yingning was almost frightened to death, with goose bumps on the back of her neck. She took a step forward, put some distance between them, and then turned around to look at him: "You're not in the room?"

"I was just taking a shower."

He still had a towel draped over his shoulders, and every few seconds a drop of water gathered at the end of his hair, seemingly about to fall away. Because the room was heated, he was dressed lightly, wearing only a long T-shirt and trousers, the loose, soft cotton fabric outlining his youthful figure.

She naturally looked up at his face and found that his face was pale and pink due to the steam from the shower, especially his lips, which were as red as rotten rose petals. She only took one look and felt a subtle embarrassment. For the first time in her life, she raised her eyes and stared at his collar and asked, "Is there something you want to talk to me about?"

"?"

Xu Sirui chuckled, "Do you want to listen to what you are saying? Aren't you standing at the door of my bedroom?"

"Oh." She touched her nose, her eyes unconsciously dropping down a little, mobilizing her brain cells that had temporarily frozen, and recalled why she came to see him. "I wanted to ask if you were going to school tomorrow."

He said, "It doesn't matter."

"What does it mean to be indifferent?"

"It means that if you really want me to go, I can go reluctantly." He looked at her eyelashes that became more noticeable because of her lowered eyes.

"I think I want you to go," she whispered, "but whether you go or not depends on your own wishes."

"Then go ahead."

"oh……"

At this point in the conversation, Zhu Yingning thought it was time to end it. For some reason, she guessed that it was because he was still steaming from his shower, and it was really hot standing in front of him.

As she was about to go back to her room, Xu Sirui suddenly asked, "Are you nervous?"

He asked this question very softly, almost breathily, with a hint of vocal cord vibration in his low voice.

Her hand was already on the door handle of the guest room, but when he asked her that, she paused: "...No."

"Then why don't you dare look at me?" He turned slightly to the side, facing her, with a faint smile in his voice, "Hey Zhu Yingning, it's normal to covet my beauty. After all, I..."

Before he could finish his words, she interrupted him. She turned her head and looked up into his eyes, her ears burning red as she whispered, "You're very beautiful, but I really don't dare to look at you."

After saying that, she pressed the doorknob, walked into the guest room, and closed the door in front of him.

After closing the door, she did not leave immediately. She stood behind the door and fell into deep thought. After thinking for a long time, she shook her head, shook off the distracting thoughts that she could not figure out, and returned to the desk to continue packing her schoolbag.

The door separated the connected space. Xu Sirui stood outside the guest room door, his mind blank.

Her words were like some kind of medium that could conduct heat, transferring the redness of her ears to him and turning it into a raging fire.

He felt an inexplicable itch in his heart, and he couldn't help but reach out his hand. His fingertips touched the iron door handle, and it suddenly chilled him to the touch before he came to his senses. He held it with his five fingers for a long, long time.

He held the door handle for so long that the cold door handle was warmed by his body temperature. He took a deep breath and slowly let go of his hand.

**

School started, and after being away from school for half a semester and a winter vacation, Xu Sirui finally set foot in this place again with his schoolbag on his back.

When they said goodbye on the stairwell, Zhu Yingning whispered to him, "If you feel uncomfortable, don't force yourself..."

Now that they were here, she said this as if she was looking down on him. Young Master Xu became ill again, exhaled heavily through his nose, and said, "Just take care of yourself."

Then he put on the disguise of a paper tiger and went to his classroom in a haughty manner.

Zhu Yingning also turned around and went to her classroom.

She found her seat and had just stuffed her bag under the desk when she heard Wu Bo's voice: "You didn't come earlier than me today."

It was all Xu Sirui's fault for being so slow before going out... She muttered to herself and turned around to say hello to Wu Bo. When she turned around, the smile on her face almost disappeared.

After a full three seconds, he finally uttered a greeting like a tape: "Good morning."

Wu Bo covered his face and wailed, "You think I'm as fat as a pig, too, right?!"

"No, no." Zhu Yingning quickly waved her hands, "It's just that I haven't seen you for a long time, and I'm too happy."

"You don't have to comfort me!" Wu Bo said desperately, still holding his face with his hands. "Everyone who came in and saw me just now was scared by me. I know I look terrible now."

Wu Bo was a bit overweight, but Zhu Yingning believed that as long as one was within a healthy BMI range, the difference between being slender and plump was simply the difference; health was paramount. However, after the New Year, Wu Bo had clearly become overweight to a degree that was affecting his health.

She opened her mouth, wanting to warn him, but then she realized that Wu Bo, who looked in the mirror every day, must know his body shape better than anyone else. Saying things like, "You look overweight," "Your weight doesn't seem healthy," would only annoy him unnecessarily. As for reassurances like, "You're very thin," "You're not fat at all," they seemed even more hypocritical and ineffective.

After careful consideration, she chose the method she thought was appropriate and said, "It's okay, Wu Bo. If you don't like your current weight, we can get to school earlier every morning. I'll accompany you to the playground for a run, and you'll be back to your old self soon."

It was clear that this remark hadn't comforted him at all. As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Bo's eyes reddened. He lowered his hand, forced a smile, and said, "You really do think I'm fat."

After saying that, he stopped looking at her and turned back to his seat.

Zhu Yingning was so frightened that she took a few steps towards her. She wanted to explain, but she was afraid that the more she painted, the darker the skin would get. She was so worried that she didn't know what to do when she heard Shao Yanjun sneer beside her, "Don't waste your energy."

She turned her head to look at Shao Yanjun, who said bluntly: "You and her are totally on different wavelengths. Save your energy, or the more you talk, the more the little fat girl will hate you."

“…”

She frowned, and without responding to the topic Shao Yanjun was talking about, she only said, "Don't give her a nickname like that."

Shao Yanjun raised his eyelids and said expressionlessly, "Little Fatty, Little Fatty."

“…”

"If you even find the nickname 'little fat girl' offensive," Shao Yanjun shrugged with a smile, as if enjoying a good show. "Won't Zheng Zekai and his group be furious when they get here? They're much more foul-mouthed."

**

Shao Yanjun was right. When morning reading was about to begin, Zheng Zekai arrived with his two younger brothers.

When they first entered the classroom, they didn't notice Wu Bo until the younger brother sitting two rows behind Wu Bo sat down in his seat and casually complained, "Damn, where did this wall come from?" That attracted the attention of others.

Zheng Zekai also looked over, stunned for a few seconds, then laughed strangely twice: "Oh my god! Dabo, I haven't seen you for a whole winter vacation, how come you've become a tank?"

His voice was loud and booming, spreading from the last row to the entire class. The others in the class looked over, and Wu Bo inevitably became the focus of everyone's attention.

Little brother number two also laughed and echoed: "Fat pig."

I don't know who started it, but after a few chuckles, the whole class burst into laughter.

Sometimes, the people who laugh along do not have any subjective malice, but just hear the laughter of other people around them and laugh along unconsciously.

But it is precisely this kind of detached laughter that does not constitute chronic torture for the person involved.

Wu Bo's head bent down like a branch weighed down by the snow.