Chapter 36: Warning to Rivals, Their Eyes Are Especially Red Upon Meeting
"—Are my lips swollen?!"
A gasp came from the second-floor bathroom.
Mu Tingyu stood in front of the mirror in disbelief, looking at herself from left to right, then whispered to the person next to her, "It's all your fault!"
Xing Ze leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed, his brows relaxed, and gave a soft "hmm": "It's my fault."
She turned around angrily and glared at the person who showed no remorse.
Unfortunately, her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were still moist, so she didn't seem to be glaring at anyone, but rather seductive, lacking any intimidating power.
She gritted her teeth: "Actually, you're just drunk, aren't you? You weren't like this before!"
Xing Ze raised an eyebrow: "How was it before?"
"......"
—She seemed like a cold and aloof type before!
Not only was he unmoved by her coquettishness, but he also often forbade her from touching him, and if she went too far, he would flick her forehead. He was a true gentleman who was not tempted by beauty.
Who knew that after that unspoken understanding was broken, he acted as if some taboo had been lifted, his movements becoming heavy and fierce, pressing her down and kissing her for a full twenty minutes before finally letting go.
What kind of upright gentleman is he! He's all pretending, pretending!
But she could never bring herself to say such a thing, so she could only angrily push him away.
Xing Ze leaned firmly against the doorframe, not moving an inch: "Don't you like it?"
"......"
"Didn't you say you could accept all of me?"
“”
Mu Tingyu: "I like it, I like it so much."
"Then give me another kiss."
"......"
How could he say something like that so calmly?!
Mu Tingyu readily admitted defeat and clasped her hands in a fist salute to him: "Hero! Hero, please have mercy and spare this humble woman. My mouth is too tattered to show anyone!"
Xing Ze remained unmoved and reached out to hook her waist.
She swiftly dodged backward and then slammed the toilet door shut with a loud bang.
"I need to change my sanitary pad. You can go downstairs now!"
"......"
Xing Ze's voice came through: "Wait until you've changed."
"Are you crazy?!" Mu Tingyu said angrily in a low voice, "Get down here now, what if someone sees us?"
He said in a nonchalant tone, "So what if I saw it?"
"no!"
"......"
Xing Ze raised an eyebrow: "I remember, we weren't having a secret relationship?"
Upon hearing this, Mu Tingyu's face flushed instantly.
No, how can this person say such things so naturally?
The change in identity was too fast!
She hasn't gotten used to it yet!
"...We've only just started talking, let me get used to it first."
Her voice softened and came through the crack in the door in a muffled way.
Xing Ze lowered his eyes and remained silent for a few seconds before speaking, "Okay, come down and drink some hot water after you're done changing."
Mu Tingyu responded from inside.
He stood at the toilet door for a while, then slowly went downstairs and met Shaoyue, who was going to use the toilet, on the first floor.
Shaoyue greeted him, "Brother Xing."
Xing Ze nodded slightly and turned to walk towards the kitchen.
Shaoyue gripped the handrail and asked hesitantly, "Is Tingbao upstairs?"
"Um."
"Did she... just go upstairs to look for you?"
Xing Ze turned his head to the side: "Mm."
Upon seeing his cold reaction, Shaoyue was shocked: "—You rejected her?"
"......"
Xing Ze couldn't quite understand her thought process, so he frowned and replied, "No."
"Oh," Shaoyue patted herself, still shaken, "So you two are together now?"
"..." He seemed somewhat displeased. "I don't know."
"N-I don't know?"
"She doesn't want to talk about it."
Shaoyue paused for two seconds, then said, "Oh, she doesn't want to go public?"
"......."
Shaoyue glanced at his face, racked her brains for a while, and said, "...Uh, maybe, Tingbao is a little shy. After all, it's her first time dating."
Xing Ze didn't reply, but instead asked, "Did she often receive love letters in college?"
Shaoyue: "......."
Oh no, why are they suddenly starting to interrogate me?
Who told him this? How did this topic end up here?
Wait a minute, isn't this the wrong person to be questioning? What did she do wrong this time?
"Uh...some people will...someone will send her..." she carefully chose her words, "not particularly often..."
At most, I could only send three letters a day.
But she would never dare to say those words aloud.
Seeing his displeasure, Shaoyue quickly added, "But she hasn't accepted a single one! She refused them all!"
Xing Ze asked casually, "Including Wang Jiale's?"
A thought flashed through Shao Yue's mind, and she instantly understood.
—Oh, this is a case of rivals meeting, their eyes blazing with hatred!
"Including, including!" She nodded vigorously. "He hasn't even glanced at her! That kind of straight guy like Wang Jiale, who only cares about looks, will never win over our Tingbao!"
I'm sorry, colleague.
"Besides, Tingbao is usually very busy, running around doing part-time jobs every day, so she doesn't have time to deal with those people."
Xing Ze's brows were still furrowed, and it was unclear whether he was satisfied or not with the answer. He simply nodded at her and said, "Thank you."
Seeing him turn to leave, Shao Yue inexplicably called out to him, "Um... Brother Xing."
Xing Ze stopped in his tracks.
Actually, the age gap between them wasn't that big; Xing Ze was only a few years older than them. But for some reason, Shao Yue still felt a little intimidated when facing him.
She gripped the handrail tightly, and before he could turn around, she gritted her teeth and spoke.
"Tingbao was quite popular in college."
She impulsively called for help, so she had no choice but to continue speaking.
"...She was my roommate, so we met when we first entered university and we got along quite well."
"She was quite poor at that time and didn't have money to buy cosmetics and new clothes, so she almost never dressed up. The few times she did dress up were only at parties or formal occasions."
"She always wore the same T-shirts and jeans, and even after she started earning money through painting, she never changed them. Even so, people would still ask about her on the school walls—and they still do now."
"She's popular, has a good personality, always smiles at everyone, and seems to have no temper at all, so she has a lot of friends."
"But actually, when I first met her, I felt that she didn't need anyone else in her life at all—she didn't care about anyone's coming or going, nor did she care too much about anything. She was really indifferent and lived a very carefree life on her own."
Shaoyue deliberately lowered her voice and spoke rather quickly.
"But you may not know that she is actually very stubborn. She only does what she wants to do and only believes in the people she thinks are right."
"It might be related to her childhood environment? She is very independent, unwilling to rely on others, and doesn't like to be constrained. When she encounters a problem she can't solve, she will keep it to herself and then make a decision quietly."
“Actually, what I just wanted to say was…” Shaoyue took a deep breath, “She’s not like she seems, always happy and carefree. She might also run away, talk to herself, and do things you might not understand… but these are things she believes are right in her heart.”
Xing Ze stood there quietly, his back casting a long, blurry shadow.
"Brother Xing, I've known her for so long, and I've never seen her treat anyone this proactively."
So, you don't need to worry.
Shaoyue gripped the handrail, looking at his broad, straight back, and whispered, "It's not easy for her to like someone, so please, don't hurt her."
Xing Ze hummed in agreement.
He turned his head and said solemnly, "Thank you."
This "thank you" carried a significantly different weight than the previous one, and Shaoyue knew he understood.
She breathed a sigh of relief, smiled and waved to him, then went upstairs.
Xing Ze stood still, without moving.
After a while, the faint sound of two girls talking could be heard from upstairs.
He listened quietly for a few moments, knowing they wouldn't be coming down anytime soon, then turned and walked towards the door.
They played cards and drank quickly. In just over half an hour, almost all that was left on the table were empty cans. Even the little bit of osmanthus wine that had been left in the wine jar before he left was completely wiped out, not a drop left.
"Brother Xing is back?" Huang Jing said with a smile when she saw him return. "Sister En said that you've been gone for so long that one '8' isn't enough. You have to drink a penalty shot."
“He knows how to hide,” Xing En replied without turning his head. “He’ll know to come back once he’s finished drinking.”
Xing Ze looked at Xing En, who was squatting on the ground: "What are you doing?"
Xing En pointed with the foxtail grass in his hand: "Look, can't you see? I'm just teasing you."
On the chair next to her, Zhang Xin lowered her head slightly, her cheeks flushed, and greeted Xing Ze somewhat blankly: "Brother Xing."
Cao Yaxi laughed and said, "Brother Xin's alcohol tolerance is really not good. He's like this after just one round of playing cards with the ladies."
“More than that,” Huang Jing glanced to the side speechlessly, “there’s another one who’s about to collapse.”
"Jiale drank quite a bit tonight. Didn't we say before we came that we'd just have a casual drink?"
"Who knows?" Huang Jing shrugged. "Maybe he's just having a bad day in love."
Wang Jiale was unaware that someone was talking about him, and he kept his head down, motionless.
Xing Ze lowered his eyes and said to Xing En, "You stay at a hotel tonight, and take Mu Tingyu with you."
Xing En turned her head in surprise and looked him up and down: "You can't sleep in your room?"
Xing Ze glanced at her indifferently.
Xing En rolled his eyes speechlessly: "...Old-fashioned."
Suddenly, as if noticing something, she squinted and thoughtfully examined the front of his shirt.
Xing Ze followed her gaze.
There were two barely noticeable folds in the fabric of his shirt at the chest—as if someone had pulled them out.
"......"
Xing En laughed, raised an eyebrow and said to him, "Why don't we ask Xiao Tingyu for her opinion?"
"......"
Before he could speak, Mu Tingyu's voice came from behind him.
"You guys drink so fast?" she exclaimed in surprise. "Oh dear, two of you have already passed out."
Huang Jing waved her hand: "They're too bad; their alcohol tolerance hasn't improved at all."
Xing En smiled and patted Xing Ze's shoulder.
Xing Ze couldn't stop her and could only watch helplessly as she walked towards Mu Tingyu.
Xing En hooked his arm around Mu Tingyu's shoulder and pulled her towards him, speaking in a volume only the three of them could hear, as if he wanted to stir up trouble.
“Honey, I’m too embarrassed to ask you directly, so I’ll ask you instead—do you want to sleep at a hotel with me tonight?”
Mu Tingyu was puzzled when she heard this and turned to look at him.
Xing Ze didn't seem embarrassed at all, and calmly met her gaze.
The next second, Mu Tingyu lowered her voice and said to Xing En with some surprise, "Huh? But I put my pillow in his room."
“…” His brow twitched.
Xing En burst into laughter and gave him a very mocking look.
"......"
He frowned and said, "No..."
Before the words were even finished, Wang Jiale, who had been keeping her head down and silent, suddenly started making a fuss: "--Tingyu, is Tingyu back?"
Everyone was taken aback.
He looked quite drunk, his face flushed, and he kept shouting as he looked left and right: "Where's Tingyu? I... I have something to say to her!"
Huang Jing, both amused and exasperated, pressed him down into a chair: "What's gotten into you all of a sudden? Go to sleep!"
"Who's gone mad? Why has she been inside for so long? She..." His gaze swept over a spot, then he suddenly paused, a smile spreading across his face. "Ah, Tingyu, you're here! I've been waiting for you for so long..."
He staggered to his feet, barely managing to steady himself. Perhaps due to being quite drunk, his words were slurred: "Tingyu, I...I wanted to talk to you, but you've been inside for so long and haven't come back..."
For a moment, the area under the tent was completely silent.
Wang Jiale had been feeling depressed for two days, focusing solely on getting drunk. Completely oblivious to the various expressions on the faces of the people around her, she continued recklessly, "...Actually, actually I've always liked you. From the moment I saw you, I...I liked you...I sent you so many love letters, and you rejected them all, but...I still like you..."
He strained his eyes, still tinged with alcohol, trying to make out the girl's expression in the distance, and pleaded.
"I...can I...?"
Suddenly, his expression froze.
Xing Ze reached out and pulled Mu Tingyu into his arms.
His strong forearms tightly encircled her waist, almost completely enveloping her in his aura.
Then he turned his face to the side and kissed her ear with a strong sense of possessiveness.
The scorching heat made Mu Tingyu shrink back involuntarily.
Xing Ze grabbed her, staring blankly at Wang Jiale with a frighteningly dark gaze.
"I'll answer for her."
The voice was deep and menacing, like a warning.
"Can't."
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