Zhou Yutong: ?????
He Jinxing's coming-of-age ceremony speech was very interesting, and there was constant applause from the audience. The boring routine speeches suddenly became something to look forward to this year.
But even so, when it came to the second half of the speech, there were still a small number of people who were so distracted that they didn't hear a single word -
Gou An, who was staring blankly with his chin propped up;
He Ran was staring at the open collar of his elders at home, with turbulent emotions in his heart; and Lu Wan was sitting in the corner but couldn't help but tilt his head to look at the five-hole button on the collection table of the borrowing game.
Lu Wan had seen this button before. The brand logo of Loyal Loron on it was more hidden and low-key than that of ordinary custom-made ones. If you didn't get close to it, it would be difficult for ordinary people in the social circle to find it.
Perhaps when they were hiding in the narrow space under the shadow of the cabin, a beam of moonlight shone down and allowed her to see the words clearly...
Inevitably, I recalled the man's smiling face when he rejected me. He looked exactly the same as the man standing on the podium now.
At this moment, Lu Wan suddenly realized that some people were not as approachable as they seemed. Their gentle whispers were just a barrier around them, which was transparent but extremely hard and no one could get close to them.
My sight uncontrollably slid to the corner of the row in front of me, to the person who had just thrown the five-hole button onto the table...
At this moment Gou An also looked dazed, and when everyone began to applaud enthusiastically because of something the man on the stage said, she took the opportunity to carefully turn her head, yawned, and rubbed her eyes, looking very sleepy.
A tiny spark called jealousy spread across the overgrown wasteland.
It wasn't something as boring as a button. It was like when a tornado swept through, with panic and chaos everywhere, but when I looked up, I saw that the person standing in the center of the tornado was unharmed. That person was pampered and protected, as if he had never known that such an earth-shattering phenomenon was coming.
It's a natural feeling of disappointment.
It was at this moment that Lu Wan truly realized that perhaps people are really born different and never start from a fair starting line...
Just like when she courageously asks for something she will be rejected, Gou An's nonchalant attitude always turns the tide in the end, as if God has already arranged everything for the best for her.
Lu Wan knew that it didn’t mean that it was impossible to catch up, but compared to those who were ahead from the beginning, those who fell behind would probably suffer a lot more.
The coming-of-age ceremony speech lasted about an hour. At about one o'clock, the people in the banquet hall finally dispersed. Some people were exhausted after jumping up and down all night and were eager to go back to the cabin to sleep. Some people discussed going to the bar to have some fun...
They don't have any mandatory activities scheduled for the next two days of the cruise, so they can sleep until they wake up naturally in the embrace of the cradle of the sea tomorrow, so it doesn't matter how late they play tonight.
Lu Wan walked alone along the corridor towards the cabin. He got a little lost and took a few detours. Unexpectedly, he bumped into the conversation between the uncle and nephew of the He family.
"Why is your button in Gou'an's place?"
The boy lowered his voice, but he couldn't hide his anger.
He Ran was probably drunk, otherwise he would not have spoken to the elder he respected in such a menacing tone.
"…Why?" The man had been giving a congratulatory speech for an hour, and now his voice sounded a little hoarse and lazy. "Probably because you never thought of confirming the content of the same note, and when Gou An met you, you had already given your button to someone else."
There was a slight pause, perhaps mixed with a sigh.
"So much so that I was also implicated and held accountable."
He also complained.
After being blamed by the robber, the silent silence lasted for a few seconds.
"You asked me to give it to her!"
He Ran couldn't bear it any longer and pointed out the truth.
"Huh? I didn't." He answered innocently, "I just told Miss Lu that I'm not the only shirt worth more than 20,000 yuan on the ship."
"You asked her to come to me!"
"The above sentence can also answer this question."
"Uncle, you..."
Not sure if it was an illusion, but even from such a long distance, Lu Wan could hear the tremor in He Ran's voice, "Are you interested in Lu Wan? If you were really interested, why would you even care about a button——"
Standing in the corridor, the moment she heard her name, Lu Wan realized that she should walk away immediately, but she couldn't do it. The high heels on her feet seemed to have suddenly grown roots and connected to the soft carpet, fixing her firmly in place.
She subconsciously held her breath until after a moment of silence, she heard the man chuckle.
"I never said anything like that."
Maybe it was late at night, and even demons get tired sometimes.
Or maybe he is tired of playing guessing games and dealing with questions from his juniors...
"Ah Ran, you were the one talking to yourself from the beginning to the end, weren't you?"
So the hypocritical mask was torn off, revealing the hideous and cruel true face.
Lu Wan heard her heart being thrown up high and then falling hard. When she lost her voice at the corner of the corridor because of the boy's slip of the tongue, she knew in her heart that there was still a question that she had not finished asking -
The most critical issue.
He appeared again and again, and each time, at the most critical moment, he would casually reach out to help her, just like forcibly pushing a toddler who knew nothing to the spotlight...
Behind her, the silent and tall figure of a man always stood there, so no matter who tried to push her down, it became an impossible task.
"That--"
What about Gou An?
The young man at the corner finally made a sound. Lu Wan bit her lips reflexively, but when her heart beat like a drum, all the sounds at the corner disappeared.
Perhaps because they were afraid of getting an answer they didn't want to hear, which would mean they would be completely sentenced to death, the ostrich effect once again appeared on the younger generation. At the last moment, He Ran tightly shut his mouth.
After a long time, hiding behind a huge antique vase, Lu Wan saw He Ran's back as he left in a hurry.
When the banquet was over, Gou An respectfully went to the stage and put the five-hole button back into his bag.
At this time, all the members of the Qianjin Group had already digested this earth-shattering fact with great insight. Zhou Yutong even made a few jokes: "What? Are you going to sew the buttons back on for Uncle Buttocks yourself?"
Gou An was sweating coldly and reached out to cover her dog mouth that could not spit out ivory.
The crowd did not go to the bar for a second party. Instead, they returned to their respective rooms with laughter. By the time they finished removing their makeup and washing their hair, it was almost four in the morning, thus ending a chaotic day.
Gou An had a particularly chaotic day, so she slept very soundly. The next day, she opened her eyes and checked the time on her phone. The time 15:23 almost blinded her eyes.
My phone is already filled with various WeChat accounts.
Except for a few curious babies who left her messages in the middle of the night, "Is the LL OS five-hole button you handed over from He Jinxing? I can't think of anyone else except him. Please tell me. I can't sleep tonight." The rest of them sent some random messages early in the morning, chatted with her, asked her if she got up, and finally asked her if she was sure she was still alive.
Zhou Yutong is more direct.
[Shy Groundhog: If you don’t get up, I’m going to kick the door and see if there’s a man lying in your bed.]
Gou An replied with a question mark ".", and within a minute, the other party called her and asked her in a cheerful tone if she wanted to come to the bar for afternoon tea.
Go to the bar for afternoon tea.
Shy Marmot sent her two photos of small cakes. The baked cakes were paired with a dollop of cream and a few chocolate beans sprinkled on top as decoration. That was all -
This is probably the most decent dessert the bar can offer. If He Jinxing knew that these kids would give him so little worry, he would probably be willing to save the huge expense of hiring a French pastry chef to run a formal afternoon tea restaurant on the third deck.
Speaking of Hejinxing.
Gou An left the friend group that kept urging her to come to the bar quickly, and scrolled down with her finger. Of course, the avatar of a certain Crayon Shin-chan was not at the top of the chat list -
Because it only lit up a few times.
But the last chat was still fresh, and it stopped before the dinner started yesterday, when the man asked her in a matter-of-fact tone if she needed to throw the annoying person off the boat.
For no reason, his heartbeat quickened. Gou An turned over in bed and moistened his dry lips with the tip of his tongue.
After thinking about it, I finally took out the button from my bag, took a photo, and sent it.
And add words.
【Don’t be afraid, I can win: What should I do about this? 】
Maybe I had anticipated this moment when I took the button back from the borrowing game table yesterday.
A little timid.
But I did it anyway.
About ten minutes later, when Gou An was drowsy again in the afternoon sun and waves, the Crayon Shin-chan avatar eating bread finally lit up.
【HJX: You took this back. 】
[Don't be afraid, I can win: What if I don't take it back? Do I just want to throw away the shirt worth tens of thousands of dollars? ]
【HJX:? 】
【HJX: Take it back to the counter. 】
【HJX: I have no problem with you sewing it yourself. 】
With Zhou Yutong's teasing last night as a prelude, this statement couldn't even be said to be creative enough to scare her.
Gou An replied without thinking, "Okay."
Perhaps she answered too frankly and confidently, and didn't feel that there was any technical gap between her skills and those of the craftsmen of the century-old brand. There was silence on WeChat for about half a minute.
Then.
【HJX:……】
I gave her six points back.
Gou An: “…”
[Don't be afraid, I can win: To prevent further embarrassment, I'm going to ask you awkwardly now - are you mocking me with the above sentence? ]
She asked sincerely.
【HJX: No.】
【HJX: I’ll give you the shirt later. 】
【Don't be afraid, I can win: Why is it later? 】
【HJX:……】
【HJX: Just woke up, slowly. 】
Gou An: Oh.JPG.
I have no idea what the natural tone of reporting the itinerary means, but what follows is a photo taken outside the window from an angle that shows that the person is lying in bed.
The windows were wide open, the screens fluttering in the wind, and the suite on the upper floor had a broad view. Outside the window was blue sky and white clouds. A few seabirds that were a little too fat were squatting on the windowsill with their heads tilted, looking at the camera in bewilderment.
Gou An laughed out loud and replied "Yes, there is a bird", then turned over, closed his eyes, and continued to sleep.
It was not even five in the afternoon and the sun was already about to set.
In the bar's private room on the second deck.
He Jinxing's phone lit up without warning, and no one was prepared -
At this time, a group of bored uncles were playing a boring game, which was basically putting their mobile phones together and walking around a bottle of wine. Whoever's phone screen lights up first gets to buy the whole bottle of wine.
Before the game started, everyone posted on their Moments to say "Please don't disturb me if you don't have anything to do". He Jinxing usually didn't have much social interaction, and his friends were basically all sitting in the box at this moment. Of course, he couldn't post anything on his Moments, and he didn't expect anyone to look for him.
After a moment of stunned silence, the third son of the Jiang family, Jiang Yi, was the first to say "Oh". Chen Jinli considerately presented a large beer glass filled with ice cubes, and this glass was prepared to be used to drink the entire bottle of foreign wine in front of it -
"It's not even dark yet."
He Jinxing smiled and said, "Does it have to be like this?"
"Why didn't you say this when you first proposed playing this game?" Seeing He Jinxing fail in this matter was simply satisfying. Jiang Yi was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling. "Don't try to cheat. You're a grown-up!"
He Jinxing poured the wine into the glass, picked up his phone and took a look, thinking that if some blind He's senior executive was looking for trouble for no reason, he would find fault and deduct his year-end bonus to transfer the pain -
He opened WeChat and took a look. He was stunned. After a few seconds, he raised his eyebrows and instantly gave up the idea.
Jiang Yi: "His expression is not right."
Chen Jinli: "This look of being a little troubled and a little happy is so disgusting."
Jiang Yi: "I have never been in love, so I don't know. What do you think, brother?"
Jiang Zaiye, who was called from the corner, stretched out his legs and said, "You ask me? How can a stinky bike rider have a relationship?"
Chen Jinli lamented that it was a pity that Gou Yu was no longer around. He was the best at dating. I heard that when he was in school, he probably acted out all the plots in campus romance novels in order to pursue his wife...
Jiang Yi added with great self-awareness: "Don't you know why he's not here?"
He is dominated by his wife.
The bar on the boat was run by Jiang Yi. From the drinks to the people, the entire Jiang Yi's place was moved here. Now all the well-known figures were sitting there, and there were also many third- and fourth-tier celebrities who were currently in the hottest and rising stages.
The box was quite large, and there were some people from other familiar circles, including Jiang Yi. Everyone seemed not to mind that they had never met before today, and they were all having fun together.
In addition to He Jinxing, Chen Jinli and Jiang Zaiye, the other two people who said they were not monks but lived strictly according to the monk's behavioral standards, formed an iron triangle in the corner, drinking and chatting about their own things.
The beauties in the box have little to do with them.
Even though they may be the primary target of some people.
At this moment, no one noticed that when Gou Yu, who was not present, was mentioned, the person holding the mobile phone paused and glanced over lightly.
But soon the attention returned to the phone.
[Don't be afraid, I can win: I just fell asleep again by accident, where are you? Are you awake? ]
He Jinxing turned his head and saw the young lady sitting on Jiang Yi's lap hugging the third young master of the Jiang family's neck and kissing him loudly on the face.
Jiang Yi: "Yingying, don't be like this!"
Little sister: "My name is Miaomiao."
He Jinxing: “…”
The man rubbed his brow with a finger as if he had a headache. He hesitated for three seconds. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble and an explanation that might not be necessary or obligatory, he replied with a single word, "Yeah".
When the other party asked him where he was, he just pretended not to see it.
The reason I used to convince myself was simple: although it had little to do with him essentially, the scene at this moment was too complicated to describe and I was afraid that it might lead the child astray.
The responsible elder stood up while thinking about how to protect the pure hearts of the younger generation.
Jiang Yi, who was standing next to him, caught a glimpse of his movements, put his chin on the shoulder of the girl in his arms, and looked at He Jinxing lazily: "Where are you going?"
"Toilet."
Jiang Yi pointed at the bottle of foreign wine and said, "Finish the wine before you go."
Under the supervision of his friend who refused to let him go, He Jinxing drank the entire bottle of wine, smoothed his hair, and this time he was really going to the bathroom to wash his face and sober up.
I have to meet the younger generation later, and I can’t look too unpresentable.
Exhaling a breath of burning air with a strong smell of alcohol, the man opened the door of the box. His tall figure took a step forward and almost bumped into someone outside who was also going to the bathroom.
The man was thrown one meter away by the door that suddenly opened. He jumped back on one foot and hit the wall of the corridor. He looked up and saw the man standing at the door. His eyes slowly widened in shock.
He Jinxing and Zhou Yutong looked at each other in silence for more than ten seconds.
At this time, a pleasant female voice came from the box behind He Jinxing: "Mr. He, are you leaving soon? Don't be so anxious. Do you need to sing? Can I order a song for you?"
He Jinxing: “…”
Mr. He didn't know why someone who hadn't said a word all night suddenly cue him at this time, and he didn't even know who that person was.
As his face became more and more expressionless, Zhou Yutong reflexively stretched her neck to look at the sound in the box, then looked through the open door at the situation inside the box. She briefly uttered "ah".
This "Ah" alarmed at least two people——
Chen Jinli was originally chatting with Jiang Zaiye with his head tilted, but he paused, put down the wine glass in his hand, and turned around.
He Jinxing, who was blocking the door like a door panel, did not move much. He just lowered his eyelashes, then raised them again, and looked at the girl in front of him calmly: "You haven't seen me here before."
Zhou Yutong: “…”
I'm not blind, sir?! He Jinxing: "I can let bygones be bygones for calling me a nickname."
Zhou Yutong: “…………”
He Jinxing: "I thought I was deaf no matter what you and Chen Jinli said on the deck last night."
Zhou Yutong: “……………………”
He Jinxing: "Otherwise tell your dad everything."
Zhou Yutong: “?????????????”
The door of the box was slammed shut, and the girl huddled in the corner was bewildered. She had just passed by to pee, but for no apparent reason she was slapped with a death threat in the face.
(End of this chapter)