Chapter 33
When Xia Weining was in college, she would always replay the scene of the quarrel over and over again, blaming herself over and over again, and always trying to find ways to say nice things and express herself as much as possible in exchange for a chance to "reconcile".
After work, she would also have conflicts with her friends and was accused of being selfish by her friends. This was the first time she heard someone evaluate herself like this. She found it incredible and felt uncomfortable for a while.
Later, she was blocked and deleted from WeChat by the same person, but she was no longer moved. She told herself that it was okay and she was not sad at all. These things would never affect her again.
She respects everyone and every friendship. She treats everyone sincerely when they come, and does not force them to stay when they leave.
In this society, no one can live without anyone else.
The last day before winter vacation was actually equivalent to a holiday, as the main day was for distributing report cards. Xia Weining was not the class teacher and could have stayed away from school. She had nothing to do, so she went around the school to relax.
After the meeting, I wanted to go find Xia Li, but Tan Ya stopped me and asked, "Did you have a fight with Huai Zhou?"
"It's not really a quarrel." Xia Weining lowered his head. "I can't explain it."
"Uncomfortable?"
"It's not hard." He raised his head and smiled bitterly, "Do I need to apologize to him?"
"No need, Huaizhou is not a stingy person."
Xia Weining touched his nose and disagreed with this statement.
If he really wasn't a stingy person, why would he quarrel with her like this and not speak to her for a long time? In Xia Weining's opinion, he really cared about her.
But she still couldn't figure it out, so she asked Tanya, "Do you know why Sheng Huaizhou reacted so strongly?"
"I don't know." Tanya smiled meaningfully. "You need to find out for yourself."
"What's the meaning?"
"You'll understand it slowly in the future." Tan Ya smiled and touched Xia Weining's face, quite teasingly, "I have something to do, so I'll leave first."
Xia Weining looked at her back, full of questions, wondering what she was talking about.
I was walking and thinking about something, and I didn't pay attention for a moment, so I bumped into someone. I groaned, looked at the person and apologized, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."
"Teacher Xia, I'm looking for you."
"Looking for me?" Xia Weining was obviously stunned. "Is there something wrong, Teacher Zhou?"
"My friend opened a restaurant, let's go there together."
"I won't go."
Zhou Renting looked a little disappointed. "I've been rated an excellent teacher. Just consider this a celebration for me."
"Oh well."
Xia Weining went to the restaurant with him.
"Teacher Xia, I promise you will like this meal very much."
"Yeah?"
Xia Weining didn't know where his confidence came from, and couldn't help but feel curious about the meal.
"It's just ahead."
Xia Weining looked in the direction he pointed and saw a hot pot restaurant.
"Shall we have hot pot today?"
"This is the first hot pot restaurant opened in our county. It is very popular and there are long queues for reservations every day."
Xia Weining nodded frantically, "hmm" in agreement, with desire in her eyes about to overflow. She was craving hot pot so much. She used to reward herself with a hot pot when she got her salary, but now she hasn't had it for a long time.
Seeing the love in her eyes, Zhou Renting's mouth curled up happily. It seemed that he had chosen the right place for today's meal, and he felt a lot more relaxed.
The two of them walked to their seats under the guidance of the waiter. Xia Weining took the menu and scanned the dishes. Although they were not that rich, they were already good enough at this time.
"You look so serious, are you familiar with hot pot?"
Xia Weining chuckled and put down the menu, "You choose."
"I'm fine with anything, just order whatever you like."
"Are you sure?"
Zhou Renting nodded, smiled and took a sip of water, "Sure."
"Oh well."
Xia Weining chose a slightly spicy hot pot base. The store didn't have a double-flavored hot pot yet. She liked spicy food, so to accommodate Zhou Renting, she chose a slightly spicy one, which she thought everyone should be able to accept.
She was lowering her head to order food when the waiter led a group of people to the table next to them. "Please sit here."
Sheng Huaizhou, Zheng Rui and Chu Yu came over to eat after get off work, and happened to be next door to them.
It's just such a coincidence.
Zhou Renting greeted them immediately upon seeing them. "Officer Sheng, Officer Zheng, Officer Chu, what a coincidence! Are you eating here too?"
When Xia Weining heard the first name, the pen in her hand paused, and she drew a line on the menu in panic. After she came to her senses, she continued to order, her mind no longer on the menu.
"Teacher Xia, what's wrong? You seem absent-minded."
The three people next to her looked over at the same time. Xia Weining lowered her head even more. Sheng Huaizhou's eyes suddenly narrowed, and his peripheral vision quickly swept over her.
"It's okay." Xia Weining grabbed her hair awkwardly. "I'll go mix the condiments. Do you want some?"
"Okay, help me make a bowl."
"good."
The moment she stood up, she met Zheng Rui's expression of enjoying herself, nodded and said hello. But in a moment, she caught a glimpse of Sheng Huaizhou, who was lowering his head to send a message.
Neither of them expected that their next meeting would be like this, and no one tried to break the silence.
Xia Weining suddenly let out a breath. He was still daydreaming, but others might not take it seriously at all and had already forgotten about it.
He raised his hand and patted his forehead to keep himself awake, slowly adjusted his state, and walked to the small material area.
Chu Yu stood up and said, "Huaizhou, go and prepare the condiments."
"You go first, I'll go later."
"Oh well."
Xia Weining returned with three bowls of side dishes and placed one in front of Zhou Renting. "Try the sesame sauce one. I'll have one with sesame sauce and one with oil sauce."
Zhou Renting was a little surprised, "Teacher Xia, do you know a lot about hot pot?"
"Of course, my favorite."
Sheng Huaizhou paused when he heard this. Xia Weining would always reveal some details about her living environment that was ahead of others from time to time.
Zheng Rui was very curious about this. "Miss Xia, are you from Sichuan or Chongqing?"
"No, I'm a local born and raised here."
"Then you know so much about hot pot."
Xia Weining realized that he had let something slip again and tried to make amends, "I ate it before when I was out of town."
"No wonder."
Xia Weining no longer paid attention to these things and started to concentrate on eating. Chu Yu also came back with some side dishes.
"Huaizhou, Zheng Rui, try this beef, it's very tender."
"I can do it myself." Sheng Huaizhou said the first words since he arrived here, "It's okay to have a relaxing meal with friends."
Zhou Renting wanted to pick up some food for Xia Weining, but when he heard this, he paused and the food hung in the air.
Xia Weining noticed his actions and hurriedly took the plate and said, "Thank you."
"It's okay, as long as you like it."
"You should eat quickly too, I can do it myself."
"Wow." Zheng Rui exclaimed, looking at them curiously, "Is there something going on between you two?"
Zhou Renting looked at her with a hint of shyness in his expression, and cautiously probed, "I like Teacher Xia very much, but I don't know if she will give me a chance."
“Cough cough cough…”
Xia Weining didn't expect him to be so direct. She couldn't breathe and the food got stuck in her throat. The spiciness made her throat hurt. She coughed over and over again, and tears came out.
"Drink some water quickly." Zhou Renting quickly handed her some water.
I drank two glasses of water before I felt a little better.
"I'm going to the bathroom."
She knew she must look very embarrassed, so she quickly ran away, stood in front of the bathroom mirror, looked at her red face, and splashed water on her face.
Why did he make a fool of himself again and had to embarrass himself in public?
She was a little annoyed and stayed in the bathroom for a long time before leaving.
"Miss Xia, you're back." Chu Yu greeted her with a smile, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, thank you."
After what happened just now, she no longer had the appetite to eat, but it wasn't appropriate for her to leave, so she could only sit there in agony.
"Huaizhou, why aren't you eating?" Zheng Rui felt very strange. "You were the one who said you were hungry before leaving get off work."
"I'm full."
"You eat air?"
Sheng Huaizhou rolled his eyes at him and said, "Eat your meal."
The atmosphere at the scene suddenly became awkward. Zhou Renting hesitated several times before finally summoning the courage to speak: "Teacher Xia, I'm serious. I hope you can seriously consider this."
Xia Weining lowered her head even more tightly, her face burning hot, and she wished she could find a hole in the ground to crawl into. Doesn't she understand that she has to say these things in public?
"Teacher Xia, am I too abrupt and scared you?"
Zhou Renting was very anxious.
"I'm fine." Xia Weining fanned herself gently with her palms and smiled, "It's just that the whole thing is beyond my imagination."
"It's okay, don't worry, take your time to think about it, I'll wait for you."
Xia Weining gave an awkward but polite smile. In fact, she wanted to refuse now, but was afraid of hurting so many people and decided to talk about it later.
Sheng Huaizhou suddenly picked up the water, drank it all, and put it heavily on the table.
Zheng Rui was startled, "Brother, who offended you?"
Xia Weining looked in the direction of the movement and met those deep, dark eyes. His eyes were like black holes, and the magnetic force inside slowly attracted her, surrounded her, and swallowed her up. She was trapped by this magic and forgot to move for a moment.
Sheng Huaizhou also noticed something unusual and hurriedly ended the unbearable eye contact.
Both of their heartbeats quickened.
After the meal, Sheng Huaizhou didn't eat a single bite of food, but drank a lot of water. He was very angry.
The dinner was finally over, and Xia Weining breathed a sigh of relief, no longer having to suffer. After saying goodbye, he left quickly, walked to the bookstore and went straight to the second floor, where he curled up on the sofa and had a comfortable sleep.
It felt so good to be undisturbed, so she slept until the evening. She rubbed her eyes, stretched, put away her blanket, and went downstairs.
Zhou Caimei was busy, and when she saw her, she hurriedly greeted her, "You're awake."
Xia Weining glanced around and asked, "Where are Uncle and Xia Li?"
"I went to buy some goods. Xia Lifei insisted on going with me, so I took her along."
"Okay, then you go ahead and do your work. I'm leaving now."
"Let's eat first before we go."
"No more."
She hadn't digested her lunch yet, and she still felt uncomfortable thinking about it.
Walking slowly alone on the street, I felt very depressed. After Zhou Renting did this, I would feel embarrassed when I saw him in the future.
"I'm back."
Xia Weining looked up blankly and unknowingly walked to the community. Standing in front of her was Sheng Huaizhou, who had disappeared for many days.
"Hmm." Xia Weining stared at him and looked at him quietly, "Where did you come from?"
"I just parked the car, but you, what are you thinking about?"
"Does it have anything to do with you?"
He couldn't help but let out a low laugh, "Your thoughts are written on your face, there's no need to guess."
Xia Weining was speechless. "What does this have to do with you?"
"Are you happy today?"
"Yes." Xia Weining stopped and looked at him, "Of course I'm happy when someone confesses to me."
"What about you?"
"Me." She pointed at herself and smiled, "Of course I agreed to him. At my age, if I meet someone who likes me, I certainly can't miss it."
Sheng Huaizhou was sulking in the back, clenching his hands in the air and practicing a set of military boxing.
"Do you think he's right for you?"
"What the hell does this have to do with you?" Xia Weining couldn't understand his train of thought. "What on earth do you want to say by blocking me in the middle of the night?"
"You have to think carefully about matters of the heart and not make impulsive decisions."
"What do you care?"
Looking at her back, Sheng Huaizhou felt like he was really crazy. Why did he come here so late at night to bother with nothing? Besides being scolded a few times, all he gained was a knot in his chest. He pressed his chest and said quietly, "If you bother with her again, I'll be a dog. I've never met such an ungrateful person."
Xia Weining went upstairs without opening the door. She stood on the stairwell and looked through the window at the man standing downstairs. His figure was so long that it seemed to touch her heart.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
