49 "Money and Magic" Complete (Full Story)
Jiang Zhu rushed to a deserted place not far from her home.
There were a few dilapidated houses here, overgrown with weeds. A man stood in the shadows, his back to her.
Jiang Zhu clutched the pepper spray in her hand and asked nervously, "Hello? Is this Tingtai?"
A figure slowly walked out from the darkness. It was Meng Tingtai, with a pale face but bright eyes.
Jiang Zhu breathed a sigh of relief, but because of the surrounding environment, she still felt a stone in her heart that she couldn't let go for a long time.
Meng Tingtai didn't notice Jiang Zhu's abnormality, or rather, he was immersed in his own thoughts.
There was silence between the two for a while. After a while, Jiang Zhu broke the silence.
"I'm here, what do you want to talk to me about?"
Jiang Zhu asked dryly. By now, she already knew that Meng Tingtai had hidden many things from her.
Meng Tingtai stared at his hands, which looked identical to everyone else's, and asked, "Jiang Zhu, do you believe that unnatural creatures exist in this world?"
Jiang Zhu didn't understand why he brought up such an irrelevant matter, but she answered honestly, "I'm an atheist, but I also know that there are things in the world that can't be explained by science."
Meng Tingtai took a deep breath and said, "Do you believe that superpowers exist in this world?"
Jiang Zhu was even more puzzled. She turned her head to look at the serious Meng Tingtai and said, "Scarlet Witch-like? I don't believe it."
Meng Tingtai stopped, looked at Jiang Zhu, and said something earth-shattering: "What if I told you that I am the one with super powers?"
Jiang Zhu's first reaction was to laugh. How could someone come up with such a lame excuse to explain to a girl? No one would believe such a ridiculous reason, right?
But looking at Meng Tingtai's serious face, Jiang Zhu realized that he was serious.
Either he's crazy, or I'm crazy. Jiang Zhu concentrated and held her breath: "How do you prove it?"
Meng Tingtai seemed to have anticipated Jiang Zhu's reaction, which was why he invited her here.
He picked a green weed, which still had water droplets on it and looked extremely fresh and tender.
Meng Tingtai slowly closed his palms and said, "My ability is to accelerate the passage of time on objects..."
Two seconds later, he opened his palm, and there was withered weeds in the palm of his hand.
Jiang Zhu didn't believe it, she suspected Meng Tingtai was performing a magic trick for her, so she tried to find the loophole in the magic, but failed.
"I didn't lie to you." Meng Tingtai showed a hurt look on his face.
Jiang Zhu smiled bitterly: "How can I trust you? You've given me such a big problem."
Meng Tingtai walked to the wall and said, "...Actually, I can also accelerate the weathering of inanimate objects."
The brick in his palm seemed to have lost its last life in an instant. With a little force, it was all crushed into ashes.
Jiang Zhu believed it. She quickly figured out the key point. She took a deep breath and said, "So you don't want to have deep contact with people. You're afraid that they'll have other ideas after knowing your secret, and you're also afraid of accidentally hurting them. Your superpower...it can hurt people!"
Jiang Zhu was very smart and guessed everything. Meng Tingtai smiled bitterly and nodded, "Yes, that's why I have been hesitating whether to tell you. You are the first person to know my secret."
First, does this mean that Meng Tingtai has lived alone with this secret for more than 20 years?
Meng Tingtai shook his head. "Not that long ago. I got this thing when I was about five years old. I killed a stray cat because of it..."
Meng Tingtai shuddered slightly as he recalled the unforgettable scene from his childhood. He had always fed that stray cat, it was still very small, but he watched it die before his eyes.
Jiang Zhu had a complicated expression. Her hand lingered on Meng Tingtai's back, and she wanted to put it on him but stopped in mid-air.
She was thinking about whether she and Meng Tingtai should take their relationship a step further.
Meng Tingtai confessed his secret as he wished, but Jiang Zhu was not happy. Meng Tingtai's secret was not a matter of principle, it should be said that he was also a victim.
Jiang Zhu wanted to take more time to think about this issue. At the same time, she promised Meng Tingtai that she would keep this secret until she died.
Of course Meng Tingtai believed her.
That night, Meng Tingtai and Jiang Zhu talked a lot about his past, and Jiang Zhu also understood why she had never heard him talk about his family.
Meng Tingtai's biological father died when he was very young, and his mother remarried. Because of that thing, the mother and son could never open up to each other and gradually drifted apart.
Jiang Zhu felt sorry for Meng Tingtai as he calmly narrated these things. She knew that he must have had a hard time without the company of his family.
The next morning, Jiang Zhu arrived at the store tired.
Zhixi was talking with great interest about the confession that appeared outside the Fang Building last night.
"It was in big pink letters: 'Would you like to try a different kind of relationship with me?' They said there were fireworks going on for a long time by the river. It's a shame I didn't see the woman's name, so I have no idea who she was. Oh, so romantic! If someone confessed to me like that, I'd say yes immediately."
Jiang Zhu was distracted and only heard the word Fang. She suddenly remembered Fang Xiyu who was left behind by her last night.
What's wrong with him?
Jiang Zhu called Fang Xiyu, and Fang Xiyu's voice on the phone sounded the same as usual. He tentatively asked, "Have you resolved the issue between you and Meng Tingtai?"
Speaking of this, Jiang Zhu pursed her lips: "No, I don't know what to do."
Fang Xiyu felt happy and disappointed. He was happy that Jiang Zhu was not with Meng Tingtai, but he was disappointed that Jiang Zhu did not reject him.
"By the way, what was the matter that made you ask me to stay yesterday?"
Fang Xiyu's nerves were immediately raised, but thinking of his childhood friend's words, he held his breath and said, "I have something very important to tell you. Are you free tonight?"
In the evening, Jiang Zhu came to the riverside as agreed.
Fang Xiyu didn't book a high-end western restaurant, but took Jiang Zhu to the riverside, a place they should have been at last night.
Jiang Zhu wore a floral dress, while Fang Xiyu was dressed formally. He gave her a bouquet of flowers and shrugged, "I wanted to give it to you last night."
Jiang Zhu took it, took a deep breath of the fragrance of the flowers, and said with a smile: "What good day is today? Why did you think of giving me flowers?"
This is the first day I confessed to you, Fang Xiyu said in his heart.
But he didn't say it out loud. He took Jiang Zhu and walked slowly along the river. He said, "Actually, when I first saw you, what I thought was, how could this woman be so fierce that she actually came to my house to cause trouble."
Jiang Zhu also remembered, and she laughed, "Who told you to add fuel to the fire and post that kind of stuff outside? Hey, my secret Jiang's Spicy Hot Pot was belittled by you like that. I'm very angry, okay!"
Fang Xiyu begged for mercy: "Okay, okay, it's all my fault. I've reflected on it. Employees work very hard, and the boss can't deprive employees of the freedom to have extra meals privately."
"You're a good kid if you admit your mistakes and correct them. I forgive you on behalf of your employees."
Fang Xiyu continued to reminisce: "I didn't expect that after all these twists and turns, we became friends. Do you still remember the time when I was hospitalized because of the spicy food?"
Jiang Zhu laughed: "Of course I remember. I was so scared when you fainted in my shop. On the way to the hospital, I kept thinking that my ingredients were very fresh and there was no way you could get food poisoning. I was finally relieved when I heard it was an allergy to the chili peppers. You really scared me that day."
Jiang Zhu patted her chest, as if she was still frightened by what happened that day.
Fang Xiyu always looked at her with a smile.
He said, "I didn't know I was allergic to chili peppers. When I was young, my family rarely prepared spicy food, and later, I stopped eating spicy food. That day was the first time I realized how serious allergies can be."
Jiang Zhu suppressed a smile and said, "It's not really that serious. I remember you were arguing with someone when I came back from buying porridge."
Fang Xiyu glanced at her and said, "I'm quarreling because of you."
"ah?"
"Haha, I was just kidding. I guess I fooled you."
"cut."
Fang Xiyu suddenly said, "But when you stood in front of me without asking why, I was very touched. At that time, there were still conflicts between us, but you still chose to believe me."
Jiang Zhu looked at the scenery by the river and said leisurely, "Because I know you're not the kind of person who makes trouble for no reason, because you were sick at that time. Sick people are the ones who deserve the most care. What's more, I'm the kind of person who helps relatives but not others."
Jiang Zhu said mischievously, "That guy isn't even half as handsome as you, and his words are rude."
Fang Xiyu stopped and stared at Jiang Zhu quietly, with unusual emotions rolling in his eyes.
"I think that's when I fell in love with you."
The wind was blowing by the river, and Jiang Zhu was stunned.
Fang Xiyu has affectionate eyes, but he rarely looks people in the eye, always holding his head high. But after befriending Jiang Zhu, he gradually changed. Employees were discussing how Fang was now less likely to curse and wake people up late at night. Chairman Fang also received a Father's Day gift from his son, though it looked like it had been prepared by his secretary.
Fang Xiyu changed because he fell in love with the outgoing, cheerful and kind-hearted female store owner Jiang Zhu.
"I quickly realized my feelings, but you said you liked Meng Tingtai. I didn't want to bother you, so I took a step back and chose to be your friend. However, you and Meng Tingtai are not together, and you are worried about him, which makes me sad. So I decided to take this step. I want to confess my feelings to you. I want you, and me, to give you a fair chance to compete."
"I originally planned a fireworks confession for you last night, but unfortunately I missed it. Today's confession is relatively simple, nothing in it, but I think you should prefer this simple confession."
Fang Xiyu looked at Jiang Zhu affectionately and said gently, "Jiang Zhu, I like you. Are you willing to try a different kind of relationship with me?"
Fang Xiyu's confession caught Jiang Zhu off guard. In just two days, she received confessions from two men.
She had never had the kind of feelings between a man and a woman towards Fang Xiyu before, but it was undeniable that she felt relaxed when she was with him.
Jiang Zhu hesitated. Fang Xiyu was already her friend. How should she deal with this relationship?
The next morning, Jiang Zhu called Zhixi and her best friend and told them the general situation.
"You mean a handsome guy you like and a rich handsome guy who likes you confessed their love to you at the same time?!"
Zhixi immediately guessed the identities of the two and covered his mouth, "Principal Meng and Mr. Fang?! Oh my God!"
Jiang Zhu nodded helplessly.
Zhixi and her bestie said in unison, "Of course we'll choose the rich one." "Of course we'll choose School Prince Meng!"
"Money is important! Come on, didn't you say he took you to the big-name stores? He even gave you a gift, how thoughtful! The life of a rich man's wife means countless amounts of money!"
"Emotional value is more important. Xiao Meng, the school hunk, has such a great personality. A boyfriend with a stable mood is more precious than anything else, okay?! Mr. Xiao Fang has a really bad temper. The employees who often eat at our restaurant are always complaining about their boss."
"Choose money!"
"Choose Meng!"
…
Jiang Zhu was so annoyed by their noise that she simply shouted, "Stop!"
"Let me think about it, give me some more time."
At the end of the story, Meng Tingtai returned to school and looked at the flower bud in his hand and suddenly realized something. He turned around and ran to the car back to the beginning of the story.
As for Fang Xiyu, he looked at the skirts that he had bought and that Jiang Zhu had tried on, and got into the car with them in his arms.
They all went to Jiang Zhu's restaurant at the same time and met outside the store at the same time.
Jiang Zhu pushed open the door of the store, and the last scene was a picture of the three of them in the same frame.
"Money and Magic" end.
【Author’s words】
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