Chapter 232 Extra 3 The love between men and women is really complicated...
Guan Xia knew that it would take a long time to conclude the Wu Yang case, but she didn't expect it to take so long. It took so long that Meng Lan was discharged from the hospital and taken home by her sister. It took so long that her new house, which had been a mess, was cleaned up. Of course, this was due to the great efforts of Director Ren and his men from the Pingjiang District Branch. It also took so long that autumn turned to winter and there were several light rains mixed with coldness.
It was drizzling again. Guan Xia, wrapped in a thick coat, was staying in the study to work on the settings for a new comic. She had finally managed to fool the editor, and then she looked up to find that the rain had stopped. She stretched and planned to go downstairs to throw away the trash and take a walk. She had been staying at home for two days. Although she opened the window from time to time, it was still a bit stuffy.
After throwing out the trash and taking a walk, Guan Xia stopped by the supermarket to buy some snacks and fruit. As she entered the residential complex, a red sports car pulled up next to her. Pang Le's stunningly beautiful face peeked out of the car, looked at her with a frivolous raised eyebrow, and said, "Hey, beautiful lady, why are you walking alone? Are you feeling lonely? How about I come with you?"
After just over a week of not seeing each other, Pang Le had become increasingly unruly due to Lu Tingfeng's influence. Guan Xia glanced at her unhappily, "Aren't you and Lu Tingfeng having a hot affair? How come you have time to come to my place today?"
Guan Xia deliberately teased her, but Pang Le didn't feel embarrassed at all. Instead, his expression changed and he said in a serious tone, "This is a long story. Let's talk about it in detail when we get back. It's too cold outside. Hurry up and get in the car."
Guan Xia saw that they had already entered the residential complex and were actually not far from her building. She was too lazy to get in the car, but before she could refuse, Pang Le got out of the car and snatched the two handbags from her hands.
Guan Xia had no choice but to follow her into the car.
Even though the distance was so short, Guan Xia still fastened her seat belt properly.
Pang Le's eyes lit up with a slight smile as he casually asked her, "I haven't seen you for almost ten days. How have you been recently? Have you been staying up late? Have you eaten three meals a day? Have you been staying at home all day without going out?"
Pang Le was asking the same old questions again. Guan Xia was so tired of hearing these questions that her ears were about to get callused. She answered very smoothly, "I've been doing well recently. I haven't stayed up late. I go to bed at 10 o'clock every day and get up at 7 o'clock. I have three meals a day and occasionally have a midnight snack. Not only do I go out every day, but when the weather is good, I also go for a morning run. It rained today, so I ran on the treadmill at home."
After Guan Xia finished answering, she heard Pang Le's praise with a smile, "You are so good."
Guan Xia rolled her eyes at her again.
Less than two minutes after getting in the car, they arrived at their destination. It was not yet time to get off work, and there were parking spaces everywhere in the community. Pang Le did not park in the underground garage, but simply parked downstairs of Guan Xia's house.
After picking up his things from the car and preparing to go upstairs, Pang Le suddenly took two steps back as if he saw something. Then he called Guan Xia with some surprise, "Guan Xia, come and see, this seems to be Xu Nian's car. Is he back from Jianyang City?"
Guan Xia walked over in surprise, took a closer look and said, "It looks like Xu Nian's license plate number, but I don't know. He didn't call me, and I didn't hear any movement from his house."
As the two were discussing, Guan Xia's cell phone in her pocket rang. She took it out and saw that it was indeed Xu Nian's.
As soon as Guan Xia answered the call, she heard Xu Nian say, "Guan Xia, aren't you home? I'm back and brought you some local specialties, but no one opened your door when I knocked."
She really came back. Guan Xia mouthed the words to Pang Le, then said with a smile, "I'm downstairs. Wait for me. Pang Le and I will go upstairs now."
After hanging up the phone, the two of them walked quickly into the elevator. Pang Le pressed the floor button and said with a smile on his face, "Speak of the devil, and he'll appear. Lu Tingfeng mentioned Xu Nian to me a few days ago, saying it's been over two months, and why hasn't he come back yet? Could he have married into Jianyang City? And now he's back today. I'm going to complain to Xu Nian later."
These words made Guan Xia couldn't help but look at her. She didn't know if it was Guan Xia's illusion, but she always felt that although Pang Le had a bright smile, her tone was gnashing. Could it be that Lu Tingfeng offended her?
Soon the elevator stopped at the 9th floor. As Guan Xia stepped out, she saw Xu Nian. It had been so long since they last met, and apart from being a little thinner, he seemed to have not changed much. He was still energetic and radiant. She didn't know how many things he had brought back from Jianyang City. Besides the things on the ground, he also had some in his hands. He pursed his lips and smiled as he greeted Guan Xia, "You're back?"
Guan Xia also smiled and said, "I'm back."
I don’t know if it was a wrong feeling, but Guan Xia looked at Xu Nian and always felt that Xu Nian was a little different from usual. He seemed a little unnatural and nervous when greeting her. It couldn’t be that they hadn’t seen each other for too long and looked at her a little strangely.
After a moment of random thoughts, Guan Xia walked over and took the things from Xu Nian's hand. "Didn't you say you brought me some local specialties? Are these? This is too much. Did you bring some for Sister Ji and Zhong Xiaoyu as well? That's fine, I'll bring them over for you when I meet them later."
Xu Nian dodged Guan Xia's outstretched hand, stepped aside and said, "No need, I can carry it. You open the door. And these are for you. I also brought Sister Ji and the others. They are at my house. Qi Bai has been clamoring to come back for a dinner party and not leave until he's drunk. I'll take them to him then."
After opening the door, Guan Xia wanted to bring the things at the door in with Xu Nian, but Xu Nian refused and just asked her to pour a glass of water and he could do it himself.
Guan Xia didn't force it. While she was in the kitchen pouring two glasses of water, Xu Nian had already cleaned up and piled them neatly in the corner of the living room against the wall. Seeing her come out, he took the cup of water from her hand and put it on the coffee table while saying, "These are all delicious foods I ate during my time in Jianyang City. I brought them back for you. There are sweet, spicy, and sweet and sour ones. The sweet ones are not too sweet, and the spicy ones are not too spicy. The taste is very refreshing and will not irritate your stomach. You can eat them with confidence, especially the snacks. If you don't want to cook in the morning and are too lazy to order takeout, you can have them for breakfast."
It was the first time that Guan Xia heard Xu Nian talk so much about things other than the case, and he was very detailed, as if he was afraid that Guan Xia would forget and gave her careful instructions.
Guan Xia felt that he seemed a little different from before, but without thinking too much about it, she nodded and agreed, "Okay, but this is too much. How did you bring it back? By express delivery? If you brought it back with your luggage on the plane, it would be overweight."
Xu Nian took a sip and smiled, "It was delivered back. I calculated the time and it's the same day I returned to Yongquan City. So the production date is very fresh. You can eat it with confidence."
Guan Xia felt like laughing when she heard this. Was this the issue she was concerned about? She was worried that it would be too troublesome, but since the things had been brought over, Guan Xia didn't continue to dwell on the issue.
Guan Xia originally wanted to ask about the case, but just as she sat down on the sofa, Pang Le asked, "By the way, Xu Nian, you just said that Qi Bai has been clamoring for a dinner party. So, have you agreed on a time for the dinner party?"
Xu Nian sat down next to Guan Xia and said, "Qi Bai is planning on the 6th or 7th, which happens to be this weekend. Are you guys free?"
After asking this question, Xu Nian subconsciously looked at Guan Xia.
Guan Xia said nonchalantly, "My new comic is still in the preparation stage. I'm free anytime, Saturday or Sunday."
"I'm fine with that too," Pang Le said enthusiastically, "but I just checked the weather forecast today. It's going to rain on Sunday, but it's going to be sunny on Saturday. How about we schedule it for Saturday? If we don't get drunk, we can sleep in on Sunday without affecting work on Monday. How about that?"
Pang Le obviously thought his idea was great, and his eyes curved into crescents from laughing.
Xu Nian agreed immediately, "Okay, then on Saturday, I'll notify Qi Bai and the others."
"Then I'll inform Sister Ji and Xiaoyu," Pang Le said immediately, "Then it's settled. See you on Saturday."
"Okay," Xu Nian nodded, "See you on Saturday."
Perhaps because Pang Le was here, Xu Nian felt that they had something to talk about, so she left after not sitting for long.
After sending Xu Nian out, Guan Xia first looked around the pile of specialties before sitting back on the sofa. She grabbed a pillow and hugged it in her arms. She looked at Pang Le and said with a smile, "Okay, Xu Nian is gone, and it's just the two of us. Just tell me what's going on. Haven't you been inseparable from Lu Tingfeng recently? Why did you come to my place today? Did you miss me, or did you have a conflict with Lu Tingfeng? Tell me the truth."
Without anyone else present, Pang Le immediately let himself go. He kicked off his slippers and slumped over on the sofa, resting his head on Guan Xia's legs. He pouted and said, "You really can't hide anything from me. I came here to get some peace and quiet. I only just realized that Lu Tingfeng is quite clingy."
Guan Xia touched Pang Le's smooth and voluminous long curly hair and retorted seriously, "Which boyfriend of yours wasn't clingy?"
Pang Le quickly corrected, "We are still in the stage of flirting with each other, we are not together yet, he can't be considered my boyfriend yet."
Guan Xia was a little surprised to hear this. "You two haven't even gotten together yet, and you already dislike his clinginess?"
Pang Le was silent for a moment, then said reluctantly: "It's not that I dislike it, it's just..."
Pang Le hesitated for a long time without making any clear answer. Guan Xia couldn't help but ask, "What is it?"
Not knowing what happened between them, Pang Le suddenly sighed, looked at the ceiling, and said in a helpless and complicated tone: "He is just too serious."
This sudden remark made Guan Xia think she was hallucinating. After a moment's pause, she asked in confusion, "Too serious? What do you mean?"
Pang Le suddenly turned over and sat up, sitting cross-legged next to Guan Xia. "Here's the thing, my relationship with Lu Tingfeng was going pretty well. He's handsome and interesting, and his way of speaking and doing things is very much to my liking. I also thought carefully about concluding our relationship, but after chatting with Zhong Xiaoyu yesterday, I wanted to back out."
Guan Xia was confused. "What? You want to back off after chatting with Zhong Xiaoyu once? What does your matter have to do with Zhong Xiaoyu? Could it be so ridiculous that you two good friends fell in love with the same person?"
Countless melodramatic plots she had seen flashed through Guan Xia's mind. Just as her thoughts were running wild, Pang Le patted her speechlessly and said, "Put away your comic book brain. Zhong Xiaoyu and I get along quite well, but that doesn't mean we'll fall in love with the same person."
Guan Xia suddenly became more serious and asked, "Then tell me in detail what happened."
Pang Le said helplessly, "I just called Zhong Xiaoyu out of habit to chat, and we talked about Lu Tingfeng. Then Zhong Xiaoyu told me that she had spoken to Lu Tingfeng on the phone a few days ago. Lu Tingfeng mentioned that the house at home was a bit small and he planned to buy a larger one. He also asked Zhong Xiaoyu if she had ever been to my house and what the decoration was like. Listen, listen to what this means. We are not even together yet, and he is already considering the house. The most outrageous thing is that he even considers my preferences when decorating it. What does this mean?"
Guan Xia listened attentively, but to be honest, she really didn't make any connection, so she subconsciously asked, "What does it mean?"
Pang Le glanced at her and said bitterly, "It means that before we even started dating, he's already included me in his plans for the rest of his life. He's obviously serious about it."
Pang Le slapped himself angrily as he spoke, "I told you to let the beauty get you, and now you're done, right? You knew you couldn't easily provoke him, but after being sober for so long, you suddenly lost your mind."
Pang Le patted himself a few times and then sighed, looking very melancholy.
Guan Xia wanted to understand her, but she was inexperienced and couldn't comprehend her situation no matter how much she thought about it. She could only offer honest advice: "If you regret it, you two aren't together yet, so why don't you just end it? Why are you acting like the sky is falling?"
Pang Le sighed again and said, "I wish it were that simple, but the bad thing is that Lu Tingfeng knows me a little bit now, and he dresses completely according to my preferences. I feel a little reluctant to break up with him so directly, but if I don't, I'm afraid that the novelty will wear off after he becomes serious. I can't break up with him. I'm only 25 this year, and my life has just begun. There are so many beauties in this world, it's hard for me to give up the whole forest for a tree like him."
Guan Xia listened carefully, but she couldn't empathize with her feelings. She could only comfort her helplessly, "Anyway, you two haven't started yet, so there's still time. Think about it again, think about it carefully."
Pang Le said somewhat distraughtly, "You're right. I need to think about it carefully."
Guan Xia imitated the way Sister Ji had comforted herself before and patted Pang Le on the back to comfort her. There was no change on her face, but she couldn't help but think in her heart, does it take so much to consider when having a relationship?
But she had watched so many TV dramas and novels before, and the lovers in them either got together naturally or went through many twists and turns before being together. But no matter which situation, it seemed that they had never had the same concerns as Pang Le.
Guan Xia thought about it and finally came to the conclusion that Pang Le was too philanthropic. In fact, she was a little worried when she knew that Pang Le and Lu Tingfeng were in a hot relationship. If the two broke up one day, how could she and Xu Nian continue to cooperate? After all, although Xu Nian and Lu Tingfeng didn't seem to get along well on the surface, they grew up together after all, and she was still quite afraid of that kind of awkward atmosphere.
Guan Xia thought a lot and couldn't help but think that the love between men and women is really complicated.
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