Chapter Twenty-Nine: Rumors and Gossip
"You like children?" Chu Zhen asked me in the car.
"I can't explain it, maybe it's because I feel sorry for her!" I have no concept of children, after all, an unmarried student doesn't have a maternal instinct so strong that she wants to be a mother.
“Heartbreaking things happen all the time in this world, and they are things we cannot change or stop.”
"Can we come to see him often?" At this moment, I was still thinking about the baby boy in the cradle.
"Okay~"
"Did you forget to ask the dean his name?"
“Chu Lin! Chu as in Chu Zhen, Lin as in Lin Dang,” Chu Zhen said.
"When was this name chosen?" I was a little surprised. Many people take their parents' surnames, but this baby boy's name was taken from both my and Chu Zhen's surnames.
"The decision was made with the director while you were playing with the baby. The director could tell you genuinely liked it, so he agreed." Chu Zhen drove, his eyes fixed ahead. He spoke so casually, but it stirred something within me. Chu Zhen and I had our own "child."
"Lin Dang, it's a bit unreasonable for you to still be pretending to be stupid now." After speaking to Huang Yanyan, she began to give me a lecture.
“A man like Chu Zhen might be concerned about saving face, but he has already made his hints quite clearly. He has done it several times already. Now that he has made his stance clear, if you continue to ignore it, you are really being unreasonable.”
"But you didn't say it outright. Do you expect me to ask you directly, Chu Zhen? Do you like me? Yan Yan, I have my pride too, okay?"
"Is saving face really that important? Look at me, I've completely lost face in front of Chen Weiqi."
"That's you! You're shameless. I can't do that. I have a sense of shame!"
"Lin Dang, you might regret this later." Huang Yanyan had a lot of opinions about my views on love. She felt that this era could be considered a matriarchal society, and that one should take the initiative to express their love instead of waiting for men to do so. I, however, always believed that in relationships, only when men take the initiative will the relationship last; otherwise, it won't be cherished. This is why I pretended not to understand until Chu Zhen pointed it out.
"Where's Chen Weiqi? I haven't heard from him in ages!" The best way to change the subject for Huang Yanyan is to talk to her about another man.
"Lin Dang, our relationship has improved a bit since you were poisoned. I haven't told you because you've been busy lately," Huang Yanyan said smugly.
"Looks like my misfortune is your good fortune!"
"Maybe. I suddenly wish you had Alzheimer's, then Chen Weiqi and I would have more to talk about. And then, we'd be together. It's just that Chu Lin is a nice name, but Chen Huang or Huang Chen doesn't sound so elegant..."
I'm speechless. What started as a discussion about my reputation turned into a discussion about naming her and Chen Weiqi's child. To put it bluntly, we dug out a long-forgotten Xinhua Dictionary.
"Didn't sleep well~" The next day, I started "praying to Buddha" in front of the computer.
"It's alright. Huang Yanyan was too noisy last night, she kept insisting on naming the child."
"Child? Whose?" Chu Zhen asked, puzzled.
"It's between her and Chen Weiqi~"
"Are they together?"
No, not at all.
"Then why the rush?"
"It's because we have kids now!"
"Yes, yes, I'm sorry, I saw the door was open so I came in~" I had barely finished speaking when I heard Xiao Ai's nervous voice.
"Um, Xiao Ai, you misheard me~"
That's it, now there's no way to clear my name.
"I didn't hear anything, Professor Chu. This is today's interviewee. Please take a look. If there are no problems, I'll go arrange it."
"Okay, go ahead!" I can't believe my eyes, Chu Zhen actually said it with a smile.
"Aren't you going to explain?" Xiao Ai closed the door behind her when she left, which has caused a huge misunderstanding.
“An explanation is just a cover-up, and a cover-up is the truth. Don’t you know that?” Chu Zhen smiled.
"It's all over, it's all over. Three men can make a tiger, rumors spread like wildfire, who knows how it will be by tomorrow."
I was wrong. I underestimated how fast rumors spread. When I went to lunch, everyone was looking at me strangely. I even heard someone say behind my back, "That's Chu Zhen's girlfriend. I heard she's already pregnant."
"What are you worried about? Face it calmly. Rumors stop with the wise!" Chu Zhen was really good at adding fuel to the fire; he even sat down opposite me with his plate.
"Why are you eating so vegetarian today? Here, have this chicken leg." Chu Zhen picked up a chicken leg and placed it on my plate.
"I knew it! Who could possibly work under Chu Zhen? I heard he even works in his office. If it weren't for that connection, I definitely wouldn't have made it!"
"Yeah, this girl seems to be an intern. She's so young and already has a child. But I haven't heard anything about Chu Zhen getting married. Looks like she had a child out of wedlock."
"I heard that Chu Zhen cares about her quite a bit. Last time, when he found out Lin Dang was in the fire, he went looking for her like a madman."
"Yeah, I think she interned with Chu Zhen before, and she even threw a tantrum at him back then. Think about it, how many people would dare to throw a tantrum at Chu Zhen? Without that connection, how could it be possible?"
...
During the meal, everyone discussed our relationship without any restraint, resulting in countless versions of the story. I really admire myself for being able to finish the meal under such circumstances.
"Xiao Ai, you're really amazing!" When I got back to the office, everyone was gathered together discussing it, and I knew what they were talking about without even asking.
"Lin Dang, when did you and Teacher Chu get together? If that's the case, were you pregnant during your undergraduate years?" Xiao Ai asked gossipy.
"Do I need to tell you? Don't you have anything to do?" Chu Zhen came in a little later than me, and when he heard the question, he said with a dark face.
I followed Chu Zhen into the office; the morning had been too dazed.
"Take your things and come with me." Chu Zhen said as soon as he sat down. Well, it's not so bad to be a deserter for now. It's better to ignore what others say.
When I went out, I could sense that people around me were acting strangely. It wasn't just in the office; everyone I met on the way gave me strange looks.
Chu Zhen drove in silence the whole way, and I didn't ask where we were going.
"What are you doing at the eye hospital?" Chu Zhen stopped at the entrance of the eye hospital.
"Let me take a look at your eyes. I think you're not just nearsighted, you're a little blind!" Chu Zhen didn't get out of the car.
"Who do you think you are? My eyes are perfectly fine, what are you looking at? Can't you speak properly? You're the one who's blind!"
I don't know what Chu Zhen does, but I don't like the way he talks. I'm the one who was wronged today, but he acts like he's the one who's angry.
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