Fireworks-grilled barbecue (Part 6)
Jia Shugui slammed the wig and black-rimmed glasses off the table and threw them onto the floor, then stood up abruptly.
He stared intently at the boy in front of him, whose forced smile and radiant smile were not genuine.
"He Yinxin, explain yourself!"
He Yinxin, hands in her pockets, still had that spring-like smile on her face. She raised an eyebrow at him and mimicked his tone: "What's up, Lao Jia? What brings you here?"
"What the hell? When did you, AI, learn to imitate humans?" Jia Shugui was completely exasperated. "Explain yourself! What are you trying to do by making me pretend to be a long-haired, greasy man to meet that girl?"
"And then, out of nowhere, he brought back a bag of barbecue!"
"Do you know that I almost threw up when I played a greasy guy?"
"What are you trying to do by dressing me in all this messy stuff?"
"I don't have the kind of charisma that can pull off a long-haired, melancholic man!"
Jia Shugui started ranting and raving, while his hands were busy stuffing skewers into his mouth one after another.
His mind was filled with He Yinxin's words when she had urged him to wear those clothes.
"This outfit is really cool. I specifically asked my cousin for her opinion."
"She said he looked a lot like the melancholic, artistic long-haired man who's all the rage online."
"Remember, all you need to do is make a lasting impression on that girl, and she'll definitely remember you."
At that time, driven by lust, he truly believed himself to be a melancholic, artistic young man under He Yinxin's AI-like praise, and used that as a basis to appear in front of Jiang Yichun.
Then he saw Jiang Yichun looking confused, and He Yinxin sitting behind her with no expression.
Jia Shugui considered a million possibilities at that time, but in the end, the smaller party controlled the larger party.
He tried to strike up a conversation, but was stunned by what the girl in front of him said:
"You must be Xixi's boyfriend?"
When did I get a girlfriend? How come I didn't know?
He looked up at Lao He for help, but only saw He Yinxin's indifferent lips:
"Keep acting."
His mind was completely messed up by the two people's barrage of attacks. Having never been in a relationship before, all he could think of were the melodramatic stories he had watched as a child.
Driven by a desire for revenge against He Yinxin, he harbored malicious intentions.
He started putting on a charming and affectionate act, until the two people in front of him subtly and overtly mocked him for being cheesy, at which point he picked up his barbecue and strode away.
"So, the barbecue was alright, right?" He Yinxin watched him throw a tantrum but still kept eating, and finally managed to utter a sentence.
Jia Shugui finally stopped his incessant chatter and said "Eh."
He then mumbled an answer: "Yes, yes, not bad. You've got a good eye for picks."
He Yinxin shook her head: "It wasn't me who chose it, it was Jiang, Jiang, who chose it."
"It's the person I had dinner with."
After saying that, he paused for a moment, then coughed heavily a few times, turned his head away, and fiddled with the hair behind his ears to cover his bright red earlobes.
Jia Shugui's gaze towards He Yinxin gradually changed from that of an enemy; he twitched his nose, sensing a hint of gossip.
The resentment on his face gradually faded, replaced by a strange, wicked smile.
Jia Shugui deliberately dragged out his words:
"Wait a minute, He Yixin, you with thick eyebrows and big eyes, are you trying to betray your brother?"
"He said he'd treat me to barbecue, but was he actually trying to woo that girl?"
"If you want to pursue a girl, just tell me, bro. Why go through all this trouble?"
He Yinxin's ears turned red, spreading to his cheeks. The scarf he used to cover his face was already clutched in his hand: "I didn't pursue her. I just wanted to help her, I didn't mean to pursue her."
"After all, we're already friends."
"Friends helping each other is a normal behavior in human society."
"Stop, stop, stop. I don't have time to waste with your grandstanding, you sociologist." Jia Shugui slammed the barbecue on the table. "I don't care what your relationship is with that girl, but where's my girl? Where's the girl you promised me?"
“He Yinxin, you saved my life before, and you have a good reputation in the hospital, that’s why I trust you.”
"I've already sacrificed my pride for your future happiness, Brother He, please don't let me down."
He Yinxin glanced at him and chuckled, "Oh right, I almost forgot."
He took out his phone and did a few things: "She sent you her WeChat message."
Jia Shugui didn't even have time to wash his hands; he used his greasy palms to open the phone screen.
He Yinxin shared an account with a cat avatar and the ID "Stata, let me go".
Without saying a word, Jia Shugui added the other party's account, and the other party quickly agreed.
Jia Shugui began by greeting everyone:
[Hello, I was introduced by He Yinxin. May I ask your name?]
The other party quickly replied: "Just call me Xixi. My name is Yang Xuexi."
[Perhaps I should call you Brother Shugui, my boyfriend?]
【I'm your precious Xixi.】
These three short sentences caused Jia Shugui's pupils to dilate in shock.
He could still hear He Yinxin's words from Jiang Xuemei: "Are you Xixi's boyfriend?"
He looked up in disbelief at He Yinxin, who was typing expressionlessly in front of him, and squeezed out a single word through gritted teeth:
"you?"
"You know Xixi, you made me pretend to be Xixi's boyfriend, and then you pushed Xixi onto me?"
He Yinxin also raised her head and looked at Jia Shugui with a forced smile: "That's right, you've already admitted that you're Xixi's boyfriend, so it's only natural to add your girlfriend, right?"
Jia Shugui gritted his teeth: "Is this girlfriend even real? Maybe she's just giving me a girlfriend with a penis?"
"He Yinxin, you must be Xixi."
He Yinxin chuckled again.
He strode up to him and waved his phone screen in front of him.
The cat avatar and the ID "Stata, please let me go" suddenly magnified in Jia Shugui's eyes.
He Yinxin looked down at him:
"That's right, I am Xixi."
"Should I call you Brother Shugui, hmm?"
"Clang!"
The chair Jia Shugui was sitting on fell to the ground, and he grabbed the barbecue bag and hid behind the dining table.
"Don't come any closer!"
He Yinxin frowned: "What are you doing?"
“You make me feel like a stranger, Lao He. You give me a sense of alienation.” Jia Shugui gripped the barbecue bag tightly.
He Yinxin raised an eyebrow: "A sense of alienation? We are physically in the same space, so where exactly are we alienated?"
"I don't care, I need to protect my butt! I never expected you to be like this, He Yinxin!"
"No wonder she's still single, it turns out..."
Before Jia Shugui had even finished playing the role of a greasy boyfriend, he put on a long face and started singing "Chrysanthemum Terrace" in a tuneless voice.
He Yinxin glanced at him and sneered, "Don't worry, even if I like the same sex, I won't be interested in you. You don't have any qualities that could make me fall in love with you."
"Also, 'Chrysanthemum Terrace' was sung off-key."
Jia Shugui persisted, accusing him: "Old He, I don't care about anything else, but isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to chat with a girl using your female identity!"
"You're lying to that girl. She's so cute, if she knew..."
“I…” He Yinxin’s smile vanished instantly, and he turned his face away. “I will be honest with her. When the time is right.”
"Oh? Really? Lao He, did you really use a female account to add that girl on purpose?" Jia Shugui slowly moved out from behind the table and plopped back down in the chair.
"Who would have thought that our School of Management's god is actually such a scheming guy?"
He Yinxin sighed, his hands constantly rubbing his scarf: "It wasn't intentional, I didn't mean to approach her in such a... filthy way."
"It was just... a coincidence."
The blush on the tips of his ears hadn't faded since he started mentioning Jiang Yichun.
Now it was Jia Shugui's turn to sneer:
"Old He, what are you pretending for? You didn't intend to use it, but you still used it in the end, didn't you?"
A moment of silence fell between the two.
Jia Shugui looked at He Yinxin's flushed face, opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn't say anything.
After all, although this person is not very kind today, when I was a college student and was scammed out of 5,000 yuan in an online relationship and was struggling to survive every day, it was He Yinxin who generously brought me food and never charged me a penny.
If it weren't for those three self-selected dishes every day, I might have starved to death during my undergraduate years, successfully making headlines in Huaxing City and benefiting the studies of my three roommates.
Jia Shugui looked down at the barbecue on the table, shook off the hellish joke in his mind, and sighed heavily again.
Besides, the barbecue I got today was really good, and I didn't pay for it myself; Lao He treated me.
It would be really unfair to continue making sarcastic remarks.
“I know.” He Yinxin took a deep breath and finally spoke. “This is a very serious mistake, and I’m working hard to fix it.”
He lifted his foot, turned around, and walked towards his room, number A.
He heard Jia Shugui shouting behind him:
"I can't help you, brother. Good luck to you, Lao He!"
"The only thing I can do, brother, is not to let it slip in front of Jiang!"
He Yinxin stood at the door of room A, sighed, turned around and glanced at him: "Thank you so much."
He closed the door and slid down to sit on the floor, leaning against the door panel.
His rigorous thinking, honed since childhood, led him to review everything that had happened that night.
Jia Shugui's flamboyant demeanor tonight is still vivid in my mind.
Although his acting skills are... hard to praise, his greasy appearance does divert a lot of attention.
Jiang Yichun seemed to have stopped worrying about why "Sister Xixi" couldn't appear, and why "Sister Xixi" didn't appear at the same time as him.
Her gaze was completely drawn to Jia Shugui's greasy appearance.
His unreasonable and argumentative behavior, ironically, achieved the effect that He Yinxin needed.
When Jiang Yichun asked himself whether he was "suitable for dating" or "suitable for settling down," he defused the awkwardness by asking, "Are we friends?" and changed the subject.
I may not be suited for dating or for a stable life.
Shifting attention is indeed a very effective tactic.
But how long can he continue to play the gentle "Sister Xi Xi"?
How long can he maintain this lie about making things work out through group buying?
Having had everything arranged and planned for him since childhood, he was drawn into an endless black hole because of this huge bug.
All around me was darkness and uncertainty.
He could only walk uncertainly toward the uncertain future, adjusting the variable "Jiang Yichun" as he went.
Jiang Yichun knows that he is "Xi Xi". What will she think?
Having never believed in love to begin with, will she still be able to believe in other people's feelings after being deceived?
Is a relationship built on deception a true relationship?
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