Chapter 32 (The Thirty-Two Chapters) - An eyesore
Luo Xincheng hadn't expected that Fu Zhiheng could type such a long paragraph in the short time it took her to type such a short sentence.
The keyboard must be smoking from all that typing.
Although he couldn't see his expression through the screen, Luo Xincheng guessed that he must be quite embarrassed and was probably racking his brains to figure out how to cover up the little incident from earlier.
Fun.
She had originally intended to pretend she hadn't seen that message, but now she wasn't going to do that anymore.
Luo Xincheng: [Why withdraw? What you said makes a lot of sense; people really shouldn't be held back by past feelings.]
Fu Zhiheng: [...That's not what I meant.]
Luo Xincheng: [What does that mean?]
He didn't reply.
Luo Xincheng laughed: [It's clear that Mr. Fu is very carefree when it comes to relationships. He's obviously a rational person and would never indulge in romance.]
Luo Xincheng: [After breaking up with his ex, Mr. Fu probably didn't feel down for long and quickly moved on to a new relationship.]
Fu Zhiheng: [No.]
Fu Zhiheng: [No new feelings.]
This time they responded quickly.
But Luo Xincheng didn't continue the conversation; instead, she steered the conversation back to the previous topic: "[Did Mr. Fu go to Chicago alone? Did he visit any of the popular tourist attractions?]"
Fu Zhiheng: [That time I only stayed for two days, and the time was tight, so I didn't see many tourist attractions.]
You only stayed for two days and then you ran into me? That's lucky...
Luo Xincheng suddenly didn't know what to say.
But Fu Zhiheng's desire to express herself was inexplicably strong: "[Is that guy really not your boyfriend?]"
Luo Xincheng: [No, why would you think he's my boyfriend?]
Fu Zhiheng: [Because you laugh so happily when you're with him.]
Luo Xincheng: [Haha, really?]
Fu Zhiheng: [He seems to like you a lot too.]
Luo Xincheng: [...]
Her attitude became playful: "Why do you seem disappointed that I didn't end up with him? Are you shipping us?"
She paused for a moment: [Do you know what "shipping" means?]
Fu Zhiheng: [I know, my internet speed isn't that slow.]
Fu Zhiheng: [I just feel that if you two had feelings for each other but never got together, you might regret that relationship that ended without a trace, and keep thinking about him.]
Fu Zhiheng: [But if you've ever been in a relationship with him, you know what it feels like to be in love with him. You might only feel disgusted when you think of him later, and you won't think about him anymore.]
Luo Xincheng: [???]
Luo Xincheng: [What a refreshing and unconventional reason.]
Most of the guys she'd met wanted girls they liked to have as few romantic experiences as possible, wishing they had a completely blank romantic history. This was the first time she'd heard Fu Zhiheng think like that.
But based on her understanding of Fu Zhiheng, no matter how magnanimous he claims to be now, if he had actually been with someone else, he would definitely be thinking about it all the time, and would take every opportunity to thoroughly smear her ex.
Fu Zhiheng: [Do you still think about him now?]
Luo Xincheng finally remembered the amnesia setting she had created for him, and casually made up a story: [After that car accident, I can't remember many people I met in college. As for the person you mentioned, I don't even remember their name anymore.]
Fu Zhiheng: [Like this.]
Luo Xincheng was at a loss for words: [Hmm.]
Fu Zhiheng: [Is it possible that you two were actually together, but you have amnesia and don't remember?]
Luo Xincheng: [???]
She replied, half-laughing and half-crying: "[Life doesn't have that many dramatic plot twists, Mr. Fu. Your most urgent task right now is to uninstall Green River Novels.]"
Fu Zhiheng tried to correct his image: [I know, I was just joking.]
Luo Xincheng yawned: [It really is funny. I was sleepy, but you made me laugh and I'm a bit more awake now.]
Fu Zhiheng: [Are you sleepy? It's really late.]
Fu Zhiheng: [Go to sleep if you're tired, don't stay up late, you have to go to work tomorrow.]
Luo Xincheng was speechless: [Work, work, work, all you ever think about is work? Every time you try to persuade me to go to sleep, your excuse is that you have to work the next day...]
Fu Zhiheng: [Is it because tomorrow is indeed a workday, or did you take the day off?]
Luo Xincheng: [...] No.
She yawned again, her eyelids growing heavy, making her reluctant to type any more: [Going to sleep.]
Fu Zhiheng: [Good night.]
Luo Xincheng: [Hmm.]
...
After the chat ended, Fu Zhiheng stared intently at the word "hmm" and remained silent for a long time.
He didn't really care about those unnecessary rituals; it wasn't like he couldn't hear her "goodnight," so he really wouldn't get a good night's sleep.
There's no need to worry about it.
He stared blankly at the now quiet chat interface for a while, then tapped his finger and clicked into her Moments.
Her new Christmas post has already received many likes, and probably many comments as well.
However, because he only had Jiang Xu as a friend, he only saw the interactions between the two of them.
Merry Christmas! I'm spending Christmas with you all again this year! Let's celebrate together again in the future!
-Shengheng Group-Hailing Technology CSO Jiang Xu: Why are you suddenly being so mushy? Have you been possessed?
-Chengcheng: Are you sick? Don't ruin the festive atmosphere! [angry]
Jiang Xu, CSO of Shengheng Group and Hailing Technology: Hahahaha.
Jiang Xu, CSO of Shengheng Group-Hailing Technology: By the way, you left one of your earrings at my house. Should I leave it with me or send it to you?
-Chengcheng: I thought it got lost on the road. Please send it to my home when you have time. Thanks.
Jiang Xu, CSO of Shengheng Group and Hailing Technology: OKK~
Fu Zhiheng read through the text word by word, his face expressionless.
It turns out that the "friend" she mentioned spending Christmas at a friend's house was Jiang Xu.
His gaze swept over the end, and he pursed his lips as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.
OK is OK, why the repetition of words... and that tilde at the end, so disgusting.
He glanced at the time of their conversation; it had been two minutes earlier.
He had already said goodnight to Luo Xincheng by then, and she replied with an "Mm".
So after sending him that "hmm," she sent Jiang Xu so many messages.
I understand.
After all, when young people say they're going to sleep on their phones, they don't actually put their phones down and go to bed immediately. It's perfectly normal for them to scroll through their phones for a while and reply to messages.
I understand.
He took a deep breath, calmed himself down a bit, and then looked at the photo she had posted on her WeChat Moments.
Although there were five people in the photo, he felt that Jiang Xu and Luo Xincheng were standing particularly close, almost to the point of being an eyesore, whether it was psychological or not.
He saved the photos, skillfully cropped them, separated Luo Xincheng, and finally put them into an album named after her.
The album contains very few photos; most of them were saved from her WeChat Moments after they added each other on WeChat.
In high school, she said she didn't like taking pictures. Not only did she not take any herself, but she also domineeringly forbade him to take any for her, saying that she was afraid he would make her look bad in the photos. Even though he repeatedly assured her that he would take good pictures, she still refused.
So until the breakup, the only photo he had of her was a class photo.
He scrolled through the carefully restored photos in the album, looking at them one by one, and soon reached the bottom, his fingertip stopping on a photo from two years ago.
If Luo Xincheng could see this scene, she would be surprised to find that the background of this photo is exactly the same as the one Xu Peiyi took, the same clear blue lake, only the shooting position is different.
He stared blankly at the photograph, his memory seemingly pulled back to that summer.
Bright sunlight, the boundless Lake Michigan, skateboarders lining the lakeside trails, the cheerful music from ice cream trucks drifting far away, and colorful picnic blankets spread out on the green grass by the lake, adding fresh patches to the otherwise monotonous greenery.
That afternoon, as he strolled dejectedly along the soft shores of Lake Michigan, preparing to board his flight home that very evening, he never imagined that just two minutes later, Luo Xincheng, whom he had been longing for, would be walking hand-in-hand with a girl, chatting and laughing with her, past him on the nearby trail.
The moment his gaze fell upon her carefree smile, Fu Zhiheng almost thought it was a hallucination born from his thoughts of her.
He never expected to see her here.
In a dramatic turn of events, just a moment ago he was feeling melancholy and depressed because he couldn't see her, and the next moment, she appeared in his world without any warning.
Unbelievable, it's like something out of an idol drama.
When he came to his senses, he realized that he had been following Luo Xincheng for quite a while.
This is not good; he despises himself in his heart, and following others is not good.
But he couldn't help it.
What a coincidence! He really didn't expect to see her here. He had spent the whole day at the University of Chicago yesterday but hadn't been able to spot her.
He was secretly pleased with this, feeling that he and she were destined to be together.
Even when she later discovered that there was a handsome foreign boy by her side who was also very attentive to her, her joy was not affected in the slightest.
They had already broken up for almost two years by then, so it was perfectly normal for her to start a new relationship. He was just an ex, so why should he care so much?
He tried his best to comfort himself with a broad-minded attitude, forcibly ignoring the bitterness rising in his heart. He raised his phone and zoomed in on Luo Xincheng, who was chatting and laughing with his friends by the lake.
They were quite far apart, and his eyesight wasn't good, so this was the only way he could see her face clearly.
She was talking to her friends and laughing happily. The brown-haired, blue-eyed boy next to her was also laughing happily, while tidying her long hair that had been blown about by the wind.
That's quite thoughtful.
Fu Zhiheng commented calmly.
Two bright, smiling faces were projected onto his screen. As he looked at them, he felt a slight sting in his eyes.
It made him want to hide in a dark corner to cool off.
When they were still together, Luo Xincheng always teased him, saying he was a mushroom growing quietly in a dark corner, which was especially cute.
He was quite happy to hear that, because she said he was cute, even 'especially' cute.
Later I realized that being cute was useless.
Because she doesn't like mushrooms.
She likes sunflowers that grow facing the sun.
I like Kilakila; he's sparkly, has an infectious smile, and is the most eye-catching guy in a crowd.
At the time, he thought the answer was very abstract, but later, he gradually began to understand it.
The blue-eyed boy currently beside her is undoubtedly her favorite type: young, handsome, and flamboyant.
He would spread his arms to feel the wind blowing, and when he smiled, his eyes would squint into crescent moons, revealing a set of white teeth, and then he would let out a series of clear and cheerful laughs.
Fu Zhiheng could never laugh out loud like that.
His personality is inherently introverted, reserved, low-key, and shy. He doesn't like attracting too much attention or having too many people looking at him, as it makes him uncomfortable or even anxious.
Therefore, he wouldn't make any large movements in a crowd that would attract so much attention, nor would he make any loud noises that would be clearly audible to a large group of people around him, and he certainly wouldn't show any exaggerated smiles that required him to use all the muscles in his face to force them out...
No wonder Luo Xincheng was tired of him; he really was boring.
A similar thought flashed through his mind, and his hand trembled, blurring the photo he had just taken.
He expressionlessly swiped away the discarded photo and took another one, aiming it at Luo Xincheng's face.
When they were together, he was afraid of upsetting her, so he never dared to secretly take pictures of her. But now that they've broken up, she doesn't care anymore.
He was determined to take pictures, and he took lots of pictures.
If she's unhappy about this, she can hire a lawyer to sue him for infringing on her portrait rights.
He has plenty of time to fight her in court.
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