Chapter 28 It Hurts
As soon as Zhu Zhenghao finished speaking, he received a cold glare.
He immediately raised his hands in surrender, desperately trying to survive, and added, "I was just kidding!"
But in reality, he did feel that Song Juelan was acting strangely. Wen Zhi already had a child, so he shouldn't have any feelings for her.
He had previously told Song Juelan that it wasn't easy for Wen Zhi to raise the child alone, and that it was a good thing to meet new people, but he never expected that Song Juelan would fall into this trap himself.
Zhu Zhenghao remained silent for a long time, preparing himself mentally, before asking in a heavy tone, "So... you like him?"
The word "like" made Song Juelan's face stiffen slightly, and her breath caught in her throat for a moment.
This was a completely foreign concept to him. He had never liked anyone before and didn't know what it felt like to like someone.
After a long silence, he finally said in a low voice, "I don't know."
Although Zhu Zhenghao didn't want to see Song Juelan fall for someone with a child, he couldn't help but say, "You said you always want to see him, isn't that liking him?"
Song Juelan was taken aback again.
He really wanted to see Wen Zhi every moment. Every time he saw Wen Zhi, his mood would inexplicably improve, and his heart would beat especially fast when he had physical contact with Wen Zhi.
Is this what liking someone is?
Song Juelan felt his heart pounding against his chest, a sweet, honey-like sensation spreading and filling his entire chest cavity.
But then he remembered how Wen Zhi looked on the bus that day, on the verge of tears, when she mentioned her ex-husband.
Wen Zhi clearly still cares about that person.
Song Juelan's heartbeat gradually returned to normal, and he tasted a slightly astringent flavor on his tongue.
Even if he likes Wen Zhi, it will only bring her trouble and burden, and they might not even be able to remain ordinary friends.
He subconsciously wanted to avoid this possibility.
Perhaps his feelings for Wen Zhi could only be described as having a good impression, not as liking her.
Finally, Song Juelan simply shook his head: "No."
Zhu Zhenghao looked incredulous and asked, "Then what do you mean?"
Song Juelan lowered his eyes in thought, his slender fingers unconsciously curling up.
Even if he didn't like her, he wasn't satisfied with just being ordinary friends with Wen Zhi. At the very least, they had to be closer and more special friends.
“I want to get to know him better,” Song Juelan replied calmly.
Zhu Zhenghao stared at that expressionless face for a while, pondered it in his mind, and then believed it.
Although Song Juelan's statement was a bit far-fetched, it couldn't be more absurd than Song Juelan falling in love with a single father, so he chose to believe the former.
Thinking about it carefully, Wen Zhi is indeed a very interesting person. She has a gentle personality, is good-looking, and is about the same age as them. It's perfectly normal to want to be friends with her.
"You should have said so earlier! You scared me to death." Zhu Zhenghao breathed a long sigh of relief.
It wasn't that he looked down on Wen Zhi, but rather that a promising young man like Song Juelan shouldn't become someone else's stepfather.
If Song Juelan really did become someone's stepfather after helping out at his swimming pool, he would have indirectly set them up, and he would probably be gossiped about and criticized at future class reunions.
Thinking of this, Zhu Zhenghao suddenly became wary again: "How close do you want to be to him?"
The image that flashed through Song Juelan's mind was of Wen Zhi waking up in his arms that morning, and his Adam's apple bobbed slightly.
But that seemed to cross the line that should exist between friends.
So he casually replied, "It's about the same as between you and me."
Zhu Zhenghao immediately revealed a smug smile and patted him on the shoulder: "Hey! I've known you for so many years, our relationship is definitely top-notch. But you've only known Mr. Wen for a short time, it won't be that easy to build a good relationship with him."
Upon hearing Song Juelan categorize him as a "good friend," Zhu Zhenghao immediately felt flattered and decided to help his good friend come up with a good solution.
"Let me think." Zhu Zhenghao's eyes darted around, and he immediately came up with an idea. He snapped his fingers and said, "I've got it. You have to make him develop some special feelings for you."
Song Juelan didn't understand a single word: "What do you mean?"
Zhu Zhenghao patiently advised him: "Think about it, in Mr. Wen's heart, whose feelings are the most special?"
Song Juelan lowered her eyes, and two answers flashed through her mind instantly—her ex-husband and Xiao Tang.
He only said the latter's name: "Xiao Tang".
“That’s right! So what you need to do is make him develop similar feelings for you.” Zhu Zhenghao paused, “In other words, make him feel fatherly love for you.”
"..."
Seeing Song Juelan's face darken visibly, Zhu Zhenghao quickly clarified, "I'm serious, I'm not joking!"
He earnestly advised, "Just like those who have younger siblings, when they see someone younger than themselves outside, they will unconsciously feel affection and want to take care of them, and before they know it, their relationship will get better and better."
“You’re all grown up now, he definitely won’t really treat you like a child anymore, but as long as he develops those special feelings for you, won’t he become closer to you?”
Song Juelan's tense expression relaxed a little.
He didn't like Wen Zhi treating him like a child, but... he did crave the tenderness Wen Zhi gave him.
*
After returning home, Wen Zhi took a shower and collapsed onto the bed, hugging her fluffy blanket tightly, rubbing her legs against it, and then burying her face in it.
Just as she was about to fall into a deep sleep, she remembered that she still needed to tell Song Juelan that they had arrived home.
So he sat up again, picked up his phone from the bedside table, opened WeChat, and tapped the simple profile picture with his index finger.
Wen Zhi: [We're home!]
Wen Zhi: [Have you gone back, or are you still working at the swimming pool?]
My phone vibrated twice quickly, and I received a reply.
Song Juelan: [Okay, I understand]
Song Juelan: [I'm still at the swimming pool]
Wen Zhi felt a pang of sympathy for Song Juelan, who had just accompanied them to an event and now had to work at the swimming pool.
Wen Zhi: [Coach Song, you've worked hard! Remember to rest! (hugs)]
I did not receive a reply immediately after sending the message.
Wen Zhi yawned slightly, and just as she was about to put down her phone and go to sleep, her phone vibrated again.
He picked it up and looked at it, his eyes widening slightly.
A cute emoji sits quietly in the chat window.
A round-headed little dog stuck out its tongue and made an OK sign.
Wen Zhi hesitated for a moment.
Is this... really a message from Song Juelan?
He inexplicably thought of a dog in the cartoon that Xiaotang liked to watch that looked a lot like this meme.
The conversation could have ended there, but thinking of Xiaotang reminded him of something else. He pursed his soft lips and began typing intently.
Wen Zhi: [By the way, you've been out in the sun so much these past few days, remember to apply some aloe vera gel or spray some after-sun spray when you get home.]
Wen Zhi: [When I was giving Xiao Tang a bath just now, I noticed his skin was a little red. You should also be careful not to get sunburned.]
After sending those words, Wen Zhi paused for a moment, suddenly feeling like a worried old father.
Xiao Tang's skin is delicate, which is why she gets sunburned easily. But Song Jue Lan looks tough and thick-skinned, so he shouldn't have to meddle in other people's business, right?
Before he could figure out why he suddenly cared about Song Juelan, a reply had already been sent from the other end.
Song Juelan: [Okay, I've got it.]
Wen Zhi stared at those words for a while, then threw her phone aside, buried her face in the blanket again, and rubbed it against the covers.
Never mind, time to sleep.
On the other side, Song Juelan sat on a bench in the swimming pool's rest area, staring intently at her phone.
The phone screen was still showing the chat page with Wen Zhi.
"How's it going? Is it working?" Zhu Zhenghao, standing next to him, winked at him.
Song Juelan read through Wen Zhi's caring words again, word by word, not missing a single punctuation mark: "Hmm."
Zhu Zhenghao said smugly, "I told you, this trick would definitely work. I'll find you some more emojis later."
Song Juelan seemed to be listening to him, slender fingers swiping across the screen before rereading their conversation from the beginning.
Zhu Zhenghao: "..."
Something still doesn't feel right.
*
Two days later, Wen Zhi brought Xiao Tang to her swimming lesson as usual.
When he saw Song Juelan, his eyes paused slightly, and his gaze quickly swept over Song Juelan's entire body, as if something was not quite right.
He couldn't quite put his finger on what was different, but just recently he had touched that body himself, so he could sense the subtle changes.
Song Juelan nodded to him with a normal expression, raised his left hand to hold Xiaotang's hand, and his right hand hung down naturally, but seemed a little stiff.
Wen Zhi felt something was off, so she walked to the bench, sat down, and looked thoughtfully at the person in the pool.
"Mr. Wen, you've brought Xiaotang to class!" A familiar voice came from beside him.
Wen Zhi turned her head and saw Zhu Zhenghao walking towards her.
Just then, he had a question on his mind, so after greeting Zhu Zhenghao, he lowered his voice and asked, "Is Jue Lan alright? I think there's something wrong with his right hand."
“Oh, that one—” Zhu Zhenghao’s expression became a little complicated, “He has a slight muscle strain in his right shoulder.”
These past few days, Song Juelan has been acting strangely, suddenly starting to train his muscles at a high intensity. Although the results were immediate, he also got injured due to the continuous training.
Wen Zhi's expression immediately became tense, and her fingers unconsciously tightened slightly: "Is everything alright?"
Zhu Zhenghao was about to shake his head and say it was nothing when he suddenly remembered something, paused, and smiled, "I'm not quite sure either. You can ask him yourself later."
Wen Zhi nodded with a worried expression.
After class, Xiaotang scrambled ashore on all fours and ran up to Wenzhi, chattering about what she had learned that day.
Wen Zhi wrapped Xiao Tang in a bath towel, but didn't leave immediately. She turned her gaze to Song Juelan on the shore and asked, "Juelan, I heard you injured your shoulder?"
Song Juelan's expression became slightly unnatural for a moment, and he gave a low "hmm".
Ever since that night at the hotel, when Wen Zhi showed obvious interest in his muscles, he began to deliberately train to develop even better-looking muscles.
I didn't expect the training intensity to be so high, and I didn't pay attention to rest, so I accidentally strained my muscles.
Wen Zhi's beautiful brows furrowed slightly as she looked at him with concern: "Is the injury serious?"
Song Juelan instinctively wanted to say it wasn't serious in order to maintain his image in Wen Zhi's eyes.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Zhu Zhenghao not far away, who was shaking his head frantically at him, his features scrunched up.
He hesitated for a moment, then swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue.
Then, he lowered his deep-set eyes, pursed his lips, and spoke in a low voice.
"...It hurts a lot."
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Author's Note: I'm updating a little late today because I made it onto the new book charts. I'll still update at 9 AM tomorrow!
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