Chapter 148
Han Shengyi only took one look at Cao Lu and scared her away. Han Shengyi thought to himself, it was just as Chu Jiujiu said, Cao Lu was not scared at all.
At this time, Chu Jiujiu also raised her head from Han Shengyi's chest.
She took a step back, leaving the embrace-like position.
Cao Lu arrived at the right time. Chu Jiujiu was tired from playing and out of breath, so she leaned on Han Shengyi to rest for two or three seconds, and then she saw it and misunderstood it.
Chu Jiujiu heard footsteps, but she didn't pay much attention to it. After all, she didn't think her previous behavior was particularly inappropriate.
She naturally distanced herself from Han Shengyi, then looked up and asked him, "Was there anyone there just now?"
Han Shengyi hummed and replied, "Cao Lu."
Chu Jiujiu: “…”
She felt a little complicated, and by the way, she thought of four words - enemies often meet on a narrow road.
In just such a short time, the song changed again. Chu Jiujiu had never heard this song before, and of course, her attention was not on the music.
She curled her lips and said, "Cao Lu likes you."
In just six words, it sounds a bit jealous and sarcastic.
Han Shengyi shook his head. "She doesn't like me."
Chu Jiujiu looked at him in confusion.
Han Shengyi explained, "True love isn't like that. She's just casting a wide net. If it were another person named Han Shengyi, she would say the same things to that person."
Not wanting to play around anymore, nor standing to talk, Chu Jiujiu immediately ran to the cement pool next to her and sat down. She called Han Shengyi over and said, "Brother Shengyi, you sit down too."
Han Shengyi is a mysophobe and he wants to refuse.
But he could never refuse Chu Jiujiu's invitation.
The moment he sat down, Han Shengyi held his breath, as if he had made a great sacrifice.
…
Chu Jiujiu invited him over because she wanted to have a good chat with him. She had a question that she had always been curious about. "Brother Shengyi, tell me, what is true love?"
Chu Jiujiu had never heard the song being played, but Han Shengyi had. It was his father's favorite song, called "Nessun Dorma." The music started from the hall, passed through the corridor, and finally, fell into their ears. The song that was almost deafening in the hall sounded like a flowing stream to them, softly and slowly, telling a story.
Looking at Chu Jiujiu's eyes full of curiosity, Han Shengyi smiled imperceptibly.
"True love means wanting to be with her very, very much."
"I want to see her when I open my eyes, and I want to dream of her when I close my eyes. Wherever I go, she must follow me. If she doesn't want to, then I can follow her. This is not a compromise, but my bottom line. The maximum time I can tolerate being apart is only three days. If it exceeds this period, I will panic and will be unable to do anything. This feeling is not pleasant at all."
Chu Jiujiu was stunned for a long time after hearing this.
Is this love? It sounds weird.
Chu Jiujiu, as clever as she is, quickly gave a different example, "But don't Chu Shao and Weiwei like each other too? They've been apart for more than three days, and even a year before that, and they still love each other."
Han Shengyi asked softly, "How do you know if they are suffering?"
Chu Jiujiu was stunned.
"Liking them will make them feel uncomfortable, but being uncomfortable won't eliminate their love."
Chu Jiujiu suddenly remembered the days when Chu Shao went to do odd jobs. When Wen Xiuwei was at home, he was always in a bad mood. When Wen Xiuwei went out to film, Chu Shao also became more silent.
Yes... they were unhappy too, but they endured it.
Thinking of this, Chu Jiujiu suddenly felt emotional: "It's really not easy for Chu Shao and Weiwei."
Han Shengyi also agreed and said: "If it were me, I wouldn't be as generous as them."
Chu Jiujiu turned her head and looked at him.
Han Shengyi also turned his head. The two sat side by side. Every word Han Shengyi said could be clearly heard by Chu Jiujiu. "My tolerance is very low. If I can't see the person I like for such a long time, I will go crazy."
Just like when Chu Jiujiu had originally agreed to a seven-day vacation in Qinhuangdao, he'd mentally prepared himself, figuring he could call her every day, so he endured it. Later, she and Director Ma went on another inspection trip to Henan, and they wanted to extend it by three days. Thinking three days only lasted seventy-two hours, he gritted his teeth and endured. But then, the Tangshan earthquake struck. Although Chu Jiujiu returned quickly, he was in the capital, while he volunteered in the disaster area. All told, they were apart for nearly a month.
Han Shengyi never said how much he missed Chu Jiujiu, but since then, he has extremely hated separation.
At that time, he hadn't realized that he liked Chu Jiujiu. Now that he realized it, he couldn't stand the long-term separation.
Chu Jiujiu didn't know that the person he was talking about was herself. She stared at Han Shengyi, and the emotions in her heart were similar to her current expression - unpredictable.
Han Shengyi has someone he likes, which is a good thing, and he likes that person so much, which is even better. Han Shengyi, who is kind to others, is the biggest reassurance in the marriage, and they will definitely live happily in the future.
It was a good thought in her heart, but Chu Jiujiu's current expression did not seem to be related to hearing "good news".
Chu Jiujiu didn't say anything, and Han Shengyi didn't say anything either. Chu Jiujiu stared at him, and Han Shengyi lowered his eyes and let her look.
Everyone has a different personality, so everyone's reaction after falling in love is also different. Chu Shao will attack immediately and speak directly. To others, they may think that he is annoying and too straightforward, but Wen Xiuwei is attracted by this. She doesn't like to guess, and she doesn't like those who seem to be reserved but are actually dirty at heart. Chu Shao directly expresses his love for her and his unkind thoughts about her, which makes her accept it quickly and then fall in love with him.
As the saying goes, you should use the same lid as the pot. This is the truth.
But Chu Shao's pot is definitely not worthy of Chu Jiujiu's lid, so Chu Shao's boyish pursuit method will not be enough to win over Chu Jiujiu.
Perhaps because of their similar bloodline, Chu Shao is straightforward, and Chu Jiujiu is even more straightforward. If others talk to her, she will definitely be happy and will immediately express her thoughts directly. If she likes something, she likes it, and if she doesn't like something, she doesn't like it. Just like poor classmate Fang Cheng, he didn't even get a suspended death sentence, but was directly sentenced to death.
Han Shengyi is not stupid. He knows that Chu Jiujiu has a simple personality. If others have no ill will towards her, she will not mobilize the nerve called intelligence in her brain. She cannot understand and has no feelings. No feeling = dislike. All the male comrades before him died because of this equation.
Chu Jiujiu is not a romantic person at all, but her selection criteria for her partner are very romantic.
It must be love at first sight, otherwise she would feel that she doesn't like the other person.
It was as if the idiom "love grows over time" had been deleted from her dictionary. If she didn't feel anything for someone at first sight, she would never put him/her on the list of "potential candidates for development". So, Chu Jiujiu's list has been empty till now.
What Han Shengyi has to do now is to put his name on this list.
Of course, he couldn't tell Chu Jiujiu, but had to let Chu Jiujiu realize it herself.
"It turns out that Brother Shengyi is so nice", "It's so happy to be his wife", "I used to be treated like this, but I won't have it again in the future", "It would be great if Brother Shengyi liked me", Han Shengyi wanted her to realize this.
This process is difficult and may take a very long time, but Han Shengyi believes that he can do it.
Chu Jiujiu is such a lazy person, she will definitely not be willing to part with him.
Should we say that Han Shengyi is too sinister or too humble? It turns out that in his eyes, his attraction to Chu Jiujiu is only that of a nanny.
…
Han Shengyi pretended to be enjoying the music and the breeze. He let Chu Jiujiu look at him casually. Chu Jiujiu really didn't realize that he was doing it on purpose and looked at him for a long time.
About half a minute later, Chu Jiujiu withdrew her gaze.
The funny dancing smile just now had completely disappeared. Chu Jiujiu never dwelled on past emotions, not when she was unhappy, nor when she was happy. Her IQ was average, and she could only be considered smart among ordinary people. She was called a genius only because she lit up a talent called memory.
She has an excellent memory, and all the good and bad memories will follow her for the rest of her life. This skill would have caused her great pain, but Chu Jiujiu has learned a skill since she was a child, which is not to recall. Later, after continuous reinforcement from Chu Shao and Chu Liqiang, this skill has reached a superb level. Chu Jiujiu can forget things whenever she wants, and will only remember them again when she needs to.
But now, Chu Jiujiu frowned unconsciously.
She seems to be reminiscing all the time these days.
Recalling how good Han Shengyi had been to her in the past, and the look on Han Shengyi's face when he talked about the "person he liked", she felt bad. Something she had been used to for a long time was broken, and this was not the first time.
Han Shengyi was close to that group of friends in the circle, and was making plans to kill someone with a borrowed knife every day. Chu Jiujiu was also like this, and could not help thinking about every action and every word Han Shengyi said, trying to figure out what he wanted to do, and guess what he would become in the future.
Chu Jiujiu was very unhappy at that time, and now she is even more unhappy than before.
But there is an essential difference between these two things. Killing someone with a borrowed knife will bring trouble upon yourself, while falling in love for the first time is a 360-degree, all-encompassing thing called happiness.
Chu Jiujiu really felt that there was something wrong with her mentality, and she began to wonder if there was something wrong with her.
Not figuratively, but literally.
Chu Jiujiu had read too many different books. All of a sudden, she pulled out two books related to psychology from her memory. Children like her lost their parents prematurely, so when they grow up, many of them will show extra dependence on their partners, and some will even have changes in their sexual orientation. Some people lost their mothers early and will become more dependent on women, and some people lost their fathers early and will become more dependent on men.
While being dependent, there may also be some possessiveness, which is essentially due to the lack of childhood.
Chu Jiujiu analyzed her own heart coldly. Everyone has a dark side. Chu Jiujiu used to think that her dark side was her family. She was afraid of losing her family again. Now it seems that she seems to have a bit of an Oedipus complex.
...Isn't that right?
If that were the case, shouldn't she be more dependent on Chu Shao and Chu Liqiang? However, when Chu Shao was dating and she mistakenly thought that Chu Liqiang was going to remarry, she didn't have so many negative emotions.
Chu Jiujiu's analysis was as fierce as a tiger, and soon she got herself into trouble.
…
She didn't speak for a long time. Han Shengyi waited patiently for a while, but he couldn't wait any longer.
"Wine?"
Chu Jiujiu turned her head back.
Han Shengyi pointed to his wrist and said, "It's nine o'clock, let's go back."
Chu Jiujiu nodded and stood up.
The first social gathering was very successful and lasted until 10 o'clock in the evening. Everyone was still reluctant to leave and the school leaders were also very happy. It is estimated that by the end of this year, many campus couples will be born.
Han Shengyi sent Chu Jiujiu downstairs. They came back early, so there were not many people downstairs. They stood at the door. Chu Jiujiu said to him, "Then I'll go upstairs."
Han Shengyi hummed, "See you tomorrow."
Chu Jiujiu was about to turn around when she heard Han Shengyi say, "Don't hide from me anymore."
Chu Jiujiu paused.
She wanted to ask, aren't you afraid that the person you like will misunderstand you when they find out? However, after a moment's hesitation, she didn't say it out loud. Han Shengyi had already taken a step back, pointing his chin at the door, "Come in quickly, it's windy at night. Remember to close the windows when you go to bed, otherwise you'll catch a cold."
Then, Chu Jiujiu really went upstairs.
She said nothing, neither explaining why she was avoiding him nor offering any words of warning.
After returning to the dormitory, Chu Jiujiu quickly washed up and got into bed. It was only half past nine, but she looked like she was going to sleep. Shen Dongkui was in the dormitory. When she saw her, she suspected that something had happened to her at the social gathering.
Chu Jiujiu had her back to her. She faced the wall and wrapped herself tightly in the quilt. Her face was hot and her heart was beating very fast. She didn't want Shen Dongkui to notice anything was wrong with her.
Don't get me wrong, her two reactions have nothing to do with the legendary heart-throb. She is just feeling guilty.
Extremely guilty.
She felt she had done something wrong.
When she came back, she had the chance to say those words, but she didn't say a word because she didn't want to. She had her own selfish motives. Chu Jiujiu had done more outrageous things in her life, but she had always been self-righteous and didn't think she had done anything wrong. Only tonight, she knew she was wrong and made a mistake.
Covering her head with the quilt, Chu Jiujiu thought sadly, it's over, she is going to become a bad woman.
…
They couldn't go home during the National Day holiday, but they could on weekends. Route 332 had now become their exclusive route home. Chu Jiujiu returned home with a backpack, and Chu Liqiang announced a good news to them.
He got promoted again.
Before, he was the division political commissar, and now, he is the army deputy political commissar.
He only jumped one level, but it was an essential advancement. He no longer managed a troop, but began to manage an entire military region.
A military region is not a war zone. There are many military regions across the country, but there are only five war zones. Chu Liqiang's goal is to become a first-level leader of a war zone. As for climbing up further, he has no desire to do so.
In peacetime, military generals are not as good as civil officials. Moreover, Chu Liqiang is very self-aware. His abilities are outstanding among the generals in the army, but if he reaches the real center of the vortex, he will probably be tricked again.
Forget it, forget it, he already has a son and a daughter, and he will have a grandson in a few years. His relatives are doing well, and all his enemies are dead. Chu Liqiang no longer has the spirit of fighting for his life to climb up. Now, he just wants to take it step by step and wait for the day when he can enjoy his grandchildren.
According to custom, good things should be celebrated by taking the whole family out to a restaurant. The two families sat together and had a happy meal. During the meal, Grandpa Han was very emotional. He held Chu Liqiang's arm and said that he was a young man to be feared.
Chu Liqiang still has room for improvement, but Grandpa Han is gone. When the old generation looks at the new generation, many complicated thoughts will always arise.
However, these emotions came and went quickly. In addition to having a good relationship with Grandpa Wang, Chu Liqiang also had a good relationship with Grandpa Han. For different reasons, these two old men really cared about him, and he was willing to tell the two old men his thoughts.
Grandpa Wang felt a little sorry for him, because in his opinion, if Chu Liqiang was willing to try again, he would have the possibility of reaching a higher, or even the highest, position.
Grandpa Han felt that Chu Liqiang was right. The current situation was already very good. If one had no ambition, then one should not take any more risks. It would be good for himself and his children, and it would also be a comfort.
None of the four children in their family is a parasite. Other children would like their father to climb as high as possible so that their future life will be smoother, but Chu Shao and his friends are all very hardworking. Even the youngest Chu Jiujiu has a clear goal. They do not rely on their families and are working hard towards their goals. Not to mention relying on adults for support, they have even begun to think about supporting these adults instead.
During the meal, Grandpa Han told everyone that a meeting would be held in December.
In recent years, due to social instability, the conference was not held regularly. It might be held at any time, but decades later, it was held every five years.
Hearing this, Han Shengyi suddenly raised his head, while Chu Jiujiu was still gnawing on the chicken wings.
Chu Liqiang also heard the news, but he was not as well-informed as Grandpa Han. "Do you know what the changes are this time?"
Grandpa Han nodded. "I heard that they want to open up the economy."
Upon hearing this, everyone showed a thoughtful expression, but everyone had different ideas.
What Grandpa Han was thinking was, this is definitely a big move, today's society is changing so rapidly.
Chu Liqiang was thinking about the economy. It seemed that it had nothing to do with the army. A soldier's only mission was to protect his country. Developing the economy was the business of businessmen. Since ancient times, the military had never been involved in business. It seemed that he could relax.
Grandma Han was wondering, how would this be opened up? Would the ban on private sales be lifted? That would be fantastic. She'd always felt bad for her children, who had never tasted anything delicious. If private sales were allowed, a whole host of delicious foods would surely reappear. Great, great, candied haws would be available again.
Han Shengyi was thinking that someone had handed him a pillow just as he was dozing off. It seemed that there was no need to rush to set up a factory. Once the economy opened up, many small changes would come into being. He needed to see what the country needed most and was most willing to pay for before making a decision.
Chu Jiujiu was thinking, the garlic chicken wings are so delicious, can she order another plate?
…
After eating and drinking, everyone returned to their own homes.
Han Shengyi went back with his grandparents. As soon as he got home, Grandma Han suddenly remembered something and picked up a letter from the table. "Shengyi, this is from Chu Shao. It just arrived this afternoon."
Han Shengyi was stunned for a moment. Chu Shao usually didn't write to him. He only mentioned him in the letters to Chu Jiujiu. He knew there must be something wrong when things were unusual. Han Shengyi opened the letter with a look of caution.
Then I found that there were only two lines of words on it.
I have agreed with my dad that you should call me on the 9th of this month and we can have a good talk.
Just you, don't tell anyone else.
Han Shengyi: “…”
The word "talk" was so powerful that it could be felt through the paper. Han Shengyi could almost imagine how angry Chu Shao was when he wrote this letter.
He read the letter calmly, then Han Shengyi put it away without changing his expression. Let's talk, who's afraid of you?
He turned to go upstairs. Seeing his movement, Grandma Han coughed stiffly. Then, Grandpa Han seemed to suddenly remember something and quickly waved to Han Shengyi, "Shengyi, come sit here with Grandpa."
Han Shengyi: “……???”
Han Shengyi was confused, and Chu Jiujiu was no less confused. She sat innocently on the sofa. Opposite her, Chu Liqiang stood and poured her a cup of tea.
He smiled brightly, "Jiujiu, how have you been doing in school recently?"
Chu Jiujiu blinked her eyes and spoke frankly, "It's fine, but I'm too busy. I'm always sleepy and don't have time for a nap. I want to buy another pillow and put it in the classroom so I can take a nap—"
Chu Liqiang listened to a few words and saw that she was about to lose control again, so he quickly interrupted her. When chatting with Chu Jiujiu, he must not let her lead him around, otherwise he would only hear a bunch of nonsense or words that he could not understand at all.
"Really? Then buy it," Chu Liqiang laughed. "Jiujiu, besides being busy with studies, how are you getting along with your classmates? Is there anyone you have a particularly good relationship with?"
Chu Jiujiu nodded happily upon hearing this. "Yes! It's my roommate, her name is Song Xiaoying. I told you, she's married, but I like her very much. I feel so comfortable talking to her. I—"
Chu Liqiang: "Stop, stop, stop. Besides her, is there anyone else?"
Chu Jiujiu was stunned for a moment, then shook her head, "No more, the others are just ordinary classmates."
Chu Liqiang didn't believe it, "Not even one?"
Feeling that Chu Liqiang was a little disappointed, Chu Jiujiu called out a few more names, all of whom were classmates who were a little closer to her, and all of them were girls.
Chu Liqiang: "..."
After a moment of silence, Chu Liqiang felt that he could no longer beat around the bush, otherwise Chu Jiujiu would never realize what he wanted to know.
Chu Liqiang laughed again, feeling a little tired, "Are there no male classmates?"
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