Chapter 42 Flower and Bird Market Are you short of money recently?
On weekends, there is a flower and bird market.
Luo Shu, who was walking in front, looked back every three steps.
"Fang Qingzhuo, hurry up."
I thought he was taking too long, so I just stopped and waited for him. "I'm not saying anything bad about you, but you're so slow. What are you going to do when you get older?"
“…”
With his own consideration, I said, "It would be embarrassing for my wife if I couldn't compete with other old men for square dancing territory."
“…”
Then, without giving him a chance to argue, he was dragged into the rows of tree shadows.
The evergreen trees in Shenzhen are always new to look at in winter, and Fang Qingzhuo feels that Luo Shu is the same, with endless energy and unpredictable thinking, which mysteriously lures him all the way into a store.
Bending down, I gazed through the glass at these colorful little fish that looked like colorful gems from a distance. They were quite beautiful.
"Is it easy to raise a dog in the dormitory?" he asked.
The school of fish suddenly dispersed, and what came into view was a more beautiful face.
The air suddenly became still, and the little creatures he'd praised earlier instantly vanished into a dull, background image. Fang Qingzhuo couldn't help but wonder if what he saw was just a dream, then he'd be willing to sleep forever.
Their lines of sight suddenly overlapped, and Luo Shu smiled at him, "Of course it's hard to keep it in the dormitory, so I bought it for you."
Fang Qingzhuo was stunned. In fact, she had a pair of eyes that were very loving, without any impurities.
Even when they returned to Jinmao Mansion, Fang Qingzhuo was still worried and anxious as Luo Shu, in her slippers, busied herself with the long-unused built-in large fish tank that was used to separate the entrance and the living room.
From what he'd observed, Luo Shu didn't have any particular favorites, like food, clothing, or daily necessities. She didn't have a specific favorite food, fruit, or brand, but she was incredibly persistent. Her milk tea had to be 90% sugar, and she had to chew the tip of her strawberry the first time she took a bite. The same thing went for small animals, too. She'd never refuse a cat or a dog, and now, out of the blue, she'd started raising fish. Was this a metaphor for him? Early on, her impulsive nature had made him feel insecure, convinced that her claims of liking him were just a playful pursuit, seeking novelty.
"Fang Qingzhuo, the water tank is too high. Can you help me pour the fish in?" Luo Shu stood on tiptoe and called out to the guardian knight behind her.
Hearing this, Fang Qingzhuo lifted the door of the secret cabinet and raised his arm high. The little fishes plopped into the water one by one, wagging their tails smoothly to adapt to their new home.
It was sunset at this time, and the warm afterglow of orange and red intertwined with each other was reflected on the glass of the fish tank through the floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room, which was very unique.
Luo Shu turned on the camera to record the scene, her heart and eyes filled with joy.
Fang Qingzhuo felt ignored and went back to the living room sofa to lie down in a sullen manner. Every minute he would stick his head out to look at the entrance, but he returned disappointed every time. He stopped pretending and stared at her back as she was determined to find various angles to shoot the film. His own lonely figure was like a moth that could only circle around the aperture without looking back and flew into the fire.
Originally, his world only consisted of himself, but since Luo Shu came into his life, he couldn't even glance at anyone else, including any single-celled organisms.
She is fine.
How could those crappy fish be more interesting than him? He had no vision and was unhappy so he started looking for Zhuang He to play ranked games.
After being busy all afternoon and not having time for a nap, Luo Shu felt very sleepy. She yawned and stretched her body. She habitually called out to the person next to her, but there was no response. She turned around and found that the person was sitting cross-legged on the sofa playing games and muttering to himself. She immediately understood that he was complaining.
While saying how sleepy she was, she returned to the living room, climbed onto the sofa, and knelt on Fang Qingzhuo's thighs with her knees apart. She wrapped her arms around his neck, buried her face in his shoulders and dozed off. Her movements were natural and smooth.
The two sat opposite each other. At first, Fang Qingzhuo was still able to hold her and play games, but he became more and more absent-minded as time went on, and simply threw away the game at the crucial moment: "Luo Shu, tell me the truth, what's the point of buying this fish? I'm making this clear today, whoever buys it is responsible for it. If you dare to give up raising it halfway, I will sue you for abandonment."
"Where are you going to accuse me of abandonment?"
"Don't worry about me. I have plenty of ways anyway."
"Fang Qingzhuo, winter vacation is coming soon."
"I wonder if these fish are also taking a winter break to travel to my place."
"?"
"Fang Qingzhuo, you are so cute." Luo Shu laughed so hard that her chest trembled, and the heartbeat beneath her body resonated at the same frequency.
"I said winter vacation is coming and I have to go home. Let them stay with you for two months."
The setting sun pouring into the living room stretched the curves of their shadows very long. Just at that moment, the wind blew up, lifting a thin curtain.
The wetness in my heart was completely dried by the sunset, and the messy thoughts were like dandelion seeds floating in the wind, falling into the soil marked as private territory and setting up camp.
The silent embrace lasted for a long time, so long that the color of the sky slowly faded. There was still some time before it was completely dark. A slight sigh passed through the air. It might be the whisper of leaves blown by the wind, or it might just be an auditory hallucination. It was hard to guess.
"Are you short of money recently?"
The question was unexpected. Luo Shu raised her eyes and aimed at the questioner. The face in the light was too blurry to discern the true emotions. Only the pair of pupils reflected the reflection outside the window, forming two points of light, staring at her without any hesitation.
"Do I look like a beggar?" she retorted, throwing the question back.
It just doesn't look like that, and Fang Qingzhuo couldn't figure it out.
Thousands of strands of curiosity took root, sprouted, and bore fruit, trapping him in an emotional cycle and causing him to moan without reason.
He looked through her phone. There was no other WeChat account, no messy social media apps, not a single trace. It was so clean that only he was left.
Is this how it is done?
He was confused, puzzled, and crazy. His phone was full of records. How could he be having an affair with other men?
His name is in her WeChat chat background; the pinned text on her WeChat is "Fang Qingzhuo is a stingy person, but he corrects his mistakes when he knows them"; her photo album is full of every little detail about the two of them. On the night of their first hug, he sent her a screenshot of his heartfelt words, "I've been hugging you for so long today that my body is full of your scent. I can't stop missing you as soon as we separate"; and there are countless other photos and videos.
He held her tightly with his dark eyes and spoke from the bottom of his heart, "It would be so nice if there were only the two of us in this world."
"Fang Qingzhuo, what exactly do you want to say?" Luo Shu vaguely sensed something was wrong, so she fumbled to turn on the floor lamp.
The light instantly spread and illuminated the area. In just a few seconds, Fang Qingzhuo's eyes had completely changed. He pulled her back into his arms and soothed her softly, "Oh, I just want to say that your boyfriend is rich and can make a lot of money. If you need anything, just come to me."
"I need nothing. I want you to go to the library with me tomorrow afternoon, okay?"
After spending so long together, Luo Shu didn't dare to say that she understood Fang Qingzhuo completely, but she did understand him a little bit. He hated being told to do something, and on the contrary, he didn't know how to refuse when the tone changed to negotiation.
"Tomorrow afternoon?"
"Why? Do you have something to do tomorrow afternoon?"
"Yes, yes, but don't delay. I'll come over to accompany you once I've dealt with it." He rested his chin on her shoulder, like a cold-blooded vampire craving for blood, and moved closer and closer to her.
Thinking too much will lead to the trap of nihilism, and he must cut off the source.
The next day, in a high-end member box known for its privacy, the tough black and gold style decoration gave off an uninvited sense of oppression.
Beneath the exquisitely decorated Swarovski crystal chandelier with gold threads, nine men sat in different postures and with different expressions, but their common focus was on the direction of the only entrance and exit.
One of the men in sportswear kept checking the time: "Didn't we meet at 3 o'clock? Why haven't you come yet?"
The bespectacled man in the lead was a little more patient: "Wait a little longer, maybe they've arrived."
As soon as he finished speaking, two heavy, intricately carved armored doors were slowly opened by two staff members in vests. Another man in a black suit and uniform lowered his head and respectfully handed a paper bag to the tall man standing in the dark with both hands. The man tilted his head slightly, revealing a sharp jawline from the shadows. He took the paper bag and moved his lips, as if explaining something.
His every move instantly nailed the atmosphere from inside to outside into a special silence.
Fang Qingzhuo, from dull to bright with just half of his profile.
It was about six or seven steps from the door to the main table. This distance alone made him exude an air of submission, enough to make those inside feel ashamed.
From the moment he entered the door to the moment he sat down, nine pairs of eyes looked at him at the same time. Previously, there was no place to be found among the large group of people at the table, but when he sat down casually like that, the priority was instantly clear, and it went without saying.
Unfortunately, the protagonist had no interest in chatting, as if the people present had nothing to do with him. He first took out a cigarette from the cigarette box and held it between his teeth, then touched his pocket, and then seemed to realize that he had no lighter and turned to glance at the person on his right. The person immediately understood and took out his own lighter, but did not give it to him but helped him light the cigarette. After he did all these actions, he realized how cowardly he was.
The long-lost smell of nicotine swirled towards him. Fang Qingzhuo didn't take a puff, but instead held it between his fingers and let it burn quietly.
He quickly glanced at the people sitting at the same table as him, not even wanting to keep their faces in his sight.
Straight to the point: "Aren't you going to show me the evidence? Where's the evidence?"
The man with glasses must be the one who contacted him. He immediately sent a paper transfer bill stamped with the platform's red seal and some chat messages.
"I've learned all this. I want to see your phones."
Fang Qingzhuo didn't ask for their opinions, but directly reached out to the person on his left to ask for it.
The man with glasses winked, and the phone fell into Fang Qingzhuo's palm.
After flipping through the pages for about half a cigarette, Fang Qingzhuo turned from the content posted in the circle of friends with the note "girlfriend" to the page of lovey-dovey chats. He frowned when he saw a photo of food, because the original background of the photo was him, but in this chat record, he was the only one who was cropped out.
Without saying a word, he threw the phone into the ice bucket.
The phone owner couldn't sit still anymore. He stood up and fished the phone out of the wine barrel with a distressed look on his face. He then accused Fang Qingzhuo, "You can't throw someone else's phone even if you're angry."
Man with glasses: "Now you should believe it."
Fang Qingzhuo asked back: "What is your purpose?"
The man with glasses said righteously, "We are all in the same boat, so I want you to stand up with us and expose the fact that she has seamless connections and is even having multiple relationships at the same time, so as to prevent the next victim from being harmed by her."
After finishing a cigarette, Fang Qingzhuo put it out in the ashtray, picked up a bag of cash on the ground with his left hand and threw it onto the table.
"I'm in a hurry, so to make a long story short, here's three times the amount you were scammed out of, in cash, and I want to move on from this."
The man with glasses was incredulous: "Not only are you not blaming her, you're also protecting her?"
"We won't take this money."
Fang Qingzhuo looked at his fearless face as he waited for his death, and raised the corner of his mouth: "You can choose not to accept this hush money, but the prerequisite is that you can walk out of this door."
He dusted off his hands, stood up, and glanced at the others present. "I don't think your unwise choice represents the opinions of everyone else. Anyway, you can sit as long as you like. If you're thirsty or hungry, there's always someone at the door to greet you."
As he walked out of the door, the last trace of gentleness and pretense on Fang Qingzhuo's handsome face evaporated with the air, replaced by a creepy gloom.
That's ridiculous.
Whether in essence or appearance, he is different from them.
He is Luo Shu's official boyfriend, and these rats in the gutter are not worthy of being compared with him.
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