"Xiao Yao? This is Yu Bowen."
Xiao Yao paused upon hearing the voice on the phone, then asked uncertainly, "Yu Bowen?"
Yu Bowen chuckled softly and confirmed, "It's me."
Xiao Yao put her phone down and glanced at a string of numbers on the screen. "Is this your phone number?"
On her birthday, she and Yu Bowen did not exchange contact information.
"Yes, you can save it if you want."
Xiao Yao chuckled, "Why wouldn't I be willing? It's not like we can't be friends."
Zhong Xuyang's behavior that day angered Xiao Yao. He already disgusted her enough by treating her and Lin Wenwen as the same kind of person, but he didn't trust her either, which she couldn't stand.
She has always been frank and straightforward, and she couldn't understand those awkward and hidden emotions, nor did she feel that they should be magnified and indulged. Therefore, she made it clear to Zhong Xuyang that she would not change herself because of his suspicion and shadows, and she also let him think it through himself.
Now she can be friends with whomever she wants.
Unexpectedly, Yu Bowen said, "Your phone number was given to me by Xuyang."
Xiao Yao was stunned. She wanted to ask Yu Bowen where he got her phone number. But how could Zhong Xuyang have given her number to Yu Bowen?
"Did you need something from me?" She even went to Zhong Xuyang specifically to ask for his phone number.
“It’s not that I have something to ask you…” Yu Bowen sighed, “Don’t be angry with Xuyang.”
Hearing this, Xiao Yao understood why Yu Bowen had called her.
“Last night, Xuyang and I went out for drinks. He drank a bit too much and kept apologizing to me. Actually, I wasn’t angry. I know Xuyang’s character and I know he’s not the kind of person who’s petty. Besides, we men don’t have that many little emotions between us. But he was quite depressed. He said he shouldn’t have doubted you and me, and that you’re angry and ignoring him now.”
Xiao Yao didn't know what to say for a moment.
To be honest, a few days have passed and she's not that angry with Zhong Xuyang anymore. She's been ignoring him these past few days so he can calmly think things through about her and Lin Wenwen, and about their relationship.
Seeing that Xiao Yao did not respond, Yu Bowen began to speak well of Zhong Xuyang, "I can tell that Xuyang really likes you. He wasn't this nervous about Lin Wenwen before. He became so irrational because he was afraid of losing you."
"So he asked you to call me?" Xiao Yao asked.
Yu Bowen quickly denied it, "No, he knows you don't like others interfering in your affairs, but I still want to talk to you."
Xiao Yao was curious about what Yu Bowen wanted to talk to her about, but after waiting for a while without hearing him speak, she asked, "What do you want to talk to me about?"
Unexpectedly, Yu Bowen said with a troubled expression, "Actually, I don't know what to talk to you about. It's just that my girlfriend and I broke up before, and Xuyang helped us get back together, so I want to help him too."
Xiao Yao laughed when she heard this. She thought he would have a long explanation to give her, but thinking about it, she realized that he genuinely wanted to help Zhong Xuyang.
She had always known that there was a reason why Zhong Xuyang was so popular. He was always willing to help his friends and treated them with sincerity. True friends would reciprocate with sincerity, which was why she didn't want him to lose those friends he cherished because of Liu Yang.
"I won't talk about what the future holds for me and him, but I think the last thing Zhong Xuyang should lose is you friends."
"Don't say that. You are the one he wants to spend his life with. The birthday party that night was actually specially organized by Xuyang for you, just to introduce you to our group of friends. He wants you to be part of his circle and to be with you for a long time."
Xiao Yao was a little surprised. She hadn't expected Zhong Xuyang to throw a birthday party for her. Their relationship wasn't even official yet, and he was already thinking so far ahead.
"What was his reaction when you asked him for my phone number?" Xiao Yao suddenly asked curiously.
"He didn't react much, just paused for a moment, and then gave it to me." Yu Bowen actually knew Zhong Xuyang would react this way when he asked the question; he wasn't really on guard against him.
Xiao Yao teased, "He didn't give you a hard time?"
Yu Bowen's first reaction upon hearing Xiao Yao's joke was to breathe a sigh of relief for Zhong Xuyang. The fact that he could joke around proved that he was no longer that angry with him. "If he dares to keep his face sour, I probably won't be able to call you."
Xiao Yao asked, "Why?"
Yu Bowen replied, "Because I would throw my phone directly in his face."
After saying that, they both laughed silently.
After laughing, Yu Bowen knew he didn't need to say anything more. Before hanging up, he said to Xiao Yao, "Xuyang told me you've liked him for ten years. He was shocked and felt you were very precious, which is why he's so afraid of losing you. Since you've liked him for so long, you should know better than anyone whether he's worth your love. Nobody's perfect. Are his actions really so unforgivable? Can't he have a chance to change? I hope you can think it over carefully and have a proper conversation with Xuyang."
——
"Uncle Xu, what do you think is your plan to do about this?"
Xu Wangde looked at Qian Mingjun, nervously rubbing his hands.
"Xiao Jun, for the sake of Uncle Xu watching you grow up, could you please not tell Ren Jin about this?"
Qian Mingjun recently discovered that steel was being stolen from the construction site. They don't check the materials every day, but some workers reported that the steel was being consumed faster than usual, so he checked the surveillance footage. He found that Uncle Xu had been leaving the construction site lately carrying a large bag of things and returning empty-handed.
Last night, he secretly followed Uncle Xu out and caught him red-handed at a scrap yard.
"You mean you want me to protect you?" Qian Mingjun asked, frowning.
Xu Wangde took out a cigarette and handed it to Qian Mingjun, saying with a forced smile, "Just pretend you didn't see that, okay? You know Xu Xin too. He's going to be a father. I just want to get some money for his wedding. You can come to his wedding banquet too. You don't need to give a gift. I'll arrange a seat for you."
Qian Mingjun laughed and pushed away the hand offering him a cigarette. "I won't go to the banquet. What you need to do now is to pay me back the money from the stolen steel."
Seeing Qian Mingjun's uncompromising attitude, Xu Wangde's smile froze. He put away his cigarette and hesitated for a long time before saying, "I don't have the money right now. How about you deduct it from my salary? But it has to be after my son gets married. I need the money right now, so you can't deduct it from my salary now."
Hearing Xu Wangde's words, Qian Mingjun didn't know whether to call him shameless or laugh at his ignorance. "Uncle Xu, I've calculated that you stole tens of thousands of yuan worth of steel from the construction site. Do you know that if I call the police now, you'll go to jail? And you still want to get your son married?"
Xu Wangde thought to himself that he had only sold a small amount of the steel on the construction site, which was not a big deal. He could just consider it a loan. He would pay it back after Xu Xin got married and he worked for Ren Jin for a few more months. Besides, the construction site was still under construction, and he did not trust that Ren Jin would make a big fuss about it.
Xu Wangde became increasingly convinced that Ren Jin would not call the police to arrest him, so he started acting like a rogue with Qian Mingjun, saying, "Go ahead and call the police if you want. Anyway, I don't have any money to pay compensation. At worst, I'll just go to jail!"
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