Best Friend
As the night deepens, the hustle and bustle of the food stalls slowly subsides.
Zhou Jianxing scanned the code to pay the bill, then watched Ajie half-holding and half-hugging Xiao Min, who was a little tipsy, and hailed a taxi and disappeared around the corner of the street.
The streets that were crowded just now quickly became deserted, with only the street lamps casting lonely halos of light on the ground. The aroma of crayfish and beer malt had not yet completely dissipated in the air.
The evening breeze blew, bringing a little coolness, brushing against my hot cheeks, and indeed dispelled a lot of the drowsiness after the meal.
Zhou Jianxing and Chu Wei walked side by side on the sidewalk, their shadows stretched longer and shorter by the street lights.
"I'll go to your house and sleep with you tonight." Chu Wei's voice was particularly clear in the quiet night.
This sentence used to sound so ordinary. They had shared countless nights, squeezed into Zhou Jianxing's not-so-spacious little bed, chatting about gardening and their hearts until their eyelids drooped and they fell into a deep sleep.
But at this moment, these words gently struck Zhou Jianxing's heart, causing awkward ripples.
Everything was different. Her body remembered the warmth and touch of another person, and her heart was firmly occupied by another person.
Even though she knew that Chu Wei had no other intentions and she herself had no other thoughts, the mere imagining of sleeping in the same bed with another person, even if it was her best friend, made her feel an indescribable sense of weirdness and guilt quietly grow.
Doing so would be like an invisible betrayal of Wen Lingyi.
"Sister Wei," Zhou Jianxing said hesitantly, slowing his pace. His fingers unconsciously scratched the side seam of his overalls, trying to organize the difficult words. After a long time, he squeezed out a few words, "This... isn't appropriate."
"Huh?" Chu Wei was stunned and quickly waved his hands to explain, "No, Xingxing, please don't misunderstand me! I don't have that intention towards you at all! If I really had that intention, I would have done it long ago. Why would I wait until today, until someone else did it?"
She paused, her voice slowing down. "It's nothing, really. I just feel like I haven't spent time with you properly in a while, and I miss you. And you're in a relationship, aren't you? I have a lot of gossip to ask you."
"There were so many people at the dinner table just now that I didn't feel comfortable asking about many of the things they were talking about."
Zhou Jianxing also hurried to explain, her cheeks flushed: "Sister Wei, you misunderstood. I know you didn't mean that. It's just... I feel... a little weird now." She couldn't find a more accurate word to describe the subtle discomfort in her heart.
Chu Wei stared at her for a few seconds, then suddenly burst out laughing. He reached out and pinched Zhou Jianxing's cheek gently, grinning wickedly, "Oh! Not bad, Zhou Jianxing! I didn't realize you were so 'chaste'? Are you even developing 'womanly virtues' by falling in love?"
After the joke, Chu Wei's expression turned a little more serious: "Honestly, I was really worried when I saw you looking so distracted a while ago."
"My shop was not too busy last week, so I took some time to visit you at your house to see what was going on with you. But my aunt told me that you were in a relationship and hadn't been home recently." She paid attention to Zhou Jianxing's reaction, and sure enough, she saw the tips of his ears turning red at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"She even secretly pulled me aside to ask about it, asking if I knew who that 'man' was, what he did, and what he was like." Chu Wei continued, a hint of inquiry in his tone, "So, judging by your reaction, you two... have already slept together?"
It seemed like there was nothing to hide. Zhou Jianxing lowered his eyelashes, nodded honestly, and responded vaguely in his throat, not daring to look up at Chu Wei.
Chu Wei understood and resumed her pace, the two continuing to walk along the quiet street. Her tone of voice remained natural, as if discussing tomorrow's weather. "So, are you 1 or 0?" She asked directly, not feeling shy.
Zhou Jianxing stumbled. She had read some online novels, so she naturally understood what the two numbers represented.
Although she has a heart to be 1, but in front of Wen Lingyi, she is indeed a 0, a complete pillow princess.
"It should be... 0." Her voice was as low as a mosquito's hum, and her cheeks became even hotter.
"Huh?" This time it was Chu Wei who stopped in surprise. He turned around and looked at Zhou Jianxing carefully in the light of the street lamp. "I thought you were definitely 1! You are actually 0?"
If you think about it carefully, it doesn't seem impossible.
Without looking at his face, Zhou Jianxing was tall and straight, with a sharp and handsome figure in work clothes. But once you looked at his face, his round eyes always had a silly look, his nose was round and blunt, and when he smiled, his canine teeth were faintly visible, making him look more sweet and gentle.
If you only look at this face, it seems reasonable to say it is 0.
Is it shameful to be a zero? Zhou Jianxing heard the surprise in Chu Wei's tone, and a little confusion and embarrassment rose in his heart.
"She doesn't let me touch her." Now that things had come to this, Zhou Jianxing simply confessed his troubles honestly.
After saying this, the grievances and frustrations that were difficult to conceal found an outlet.
Chu Wei's brows furrowed in frustration. "Your partner...isn't he the type with a muscular body, short hair, and a chest binder?"
She couldn't imagine who would be willing, or have the ability, to let Zhou Jianxing do just 0, given her conditions. She couldn't help but ask curiously, "How tall is she? How much does she weigh?"
"No." Zhou Jianxing immediately shook her head, her voice lowered, her eyelashes fluttering rapidly. "She doesn't have much muscle, she has long hair, and her breasts..." She almost buried her head in her chest, "her breasts are also very big."
She never asked about Wen Lingyi's specific height and weight, but she was very familiar with Wen Lingyi's perfect figure.
Zhou Jianxing silently compared his own height and weight and estimated, "She's a bit shorter than me, probably... around 1.75 meters? She looks thinner than me, probably weighs less than 55 kilograms."
"Oh?" Chu Wei was even more confused.
Her flower shop clients include many same-sex couples. She's observed that lesbians rarely strictly distinguish between 1 and 0 roles like gay men do, preferring to be spontaneous. How could someone only be 1 and not 0?
Moreover, according to Zhou Jianxing's description, the other party seemed to be the type with extremely feminine charm? This was far from the image of a "dominant party" she had expected.
"Then you came to my flower shop earlier and asked me a bunch of questions about whether or not to get married," Chu Wei suddenly remembered and keenly sensed something was wrong. "What did you mean?"
Since he was in love with a woman, domestic law did not recognize it at all. Zhou Jianxing's worried questions at that time seemed particularly abrupt and strange.
Zhou Jianxing came to a complete stop, her hands clenched quietly at her sides, her fingertips digging into her palms, causing a slight sting. She couldn't answer this question.
"Sister Wei," she raised her head, her lips pressed into a pale straight line, "stop asking... okay?" After saying that, she immediately lowered her head and quickened her pace forward, as if afraid of being questioned further. Her back looked a little hurried and stiff.
Chu Wei watched her almost fleeing figure, and instantly understood most of what was going on. Although the specific details were unclear, Zhou Jianxing's evasion itself explained a lot.
She sighed and took a few quick steps to catch up. Since Zhou Jianxing didn't want to talk, she naturally wouldn't press him. To her, the most important thing was Zhou Jianxing as a person, her friend. No matter what happened, she would stand by Zhou Jianxing.
"Xingxing." Chu Wei chose her words carefully. Based on Zhou Jianxing's previous statement and reaction, she had already formed a rough and unsettling picture of the mysterious "lover" Zhou Jianxing had mentioned.
A woman who is older than Zhou Jianxing, married, beautiful, and full of feminine charm, and who has absolute dominance in the relationship and even does not allow Zhou Jianxing to touch her.
This doesn't sound like a healthy and equal relationship. Chu Wei's heart sank.
"Are you sure she really likes you?" Chu Wei's voice turned serious, and his question was sharp but caring. "Isn't she just looking for you to relieve her loneliness and have fun?"
Although some words may be unpleasant to hear, they are like bitter medicine. Problems will not disappear automatically if you avoid them.
Zhou Jianxing nodded: "She should like me." But the end of this sentence was involuntarily filled with a little weak hesitation, "It's just... maybe she doesn't like me that much." The second half of the sentence was even more light and airy, and she herself didn't know whether she was stating the facts or comforting herself.
Perhaps, liking something and having fun can exist at the same time.
"Do you really like her that much?" Chu Wei looked at her suspiciously.
If the feelings involved are not that deep, based on Chu Wei's social experience, it would be wise to withdraw from such a complicated and dangerous relationship in time.
With Zhou Jianxing's appearance and personality, it is not difficult for him to find a few reliable and suitable partners.
Zhou Jianxing nodded vigorously, with a large amplitude. Even though she had never had any experience in love, she was extremely sure.
The constant thought of the other person, the fluttering of the heart when seeing the other person, and the empty and weightless feeling in the heart when not seeing each other, are all manifestations of liking the other person very much.
"Sister Wei, I really like her very much." Her voice was not loud, but every word was pronounced clearly. "I miss her so much if I don't see her for a day. I have tried not to like her so much, but I can't do it at all."
"It's easy to get hurt when you like someone too much, little star." Chu Wei looked at the pure and warm light in her eyes, feeling helpless and distressed.
Zhou Jianxing has a simple mind and direct and strong feelings. She is really afraid that Zhou Jianxing will be burned by this feeling and hurt by the complicated human heart.
But on second thought, perhaps only when you are young can you have the passion and courage to love someone without caring about anything else and wholeheartedly.
And loving someone makes it impossible to completely avoid the risk of getting hurt.
Every failure makes you wiser, and experience itself is growth.
Thinking of this, Chu Wei quickly adjusted his mentality.
"It's okay," she reached out and ruffled Zhou Jianxing's hair, messing up her already frizzy hair. "If you like him, go after him bravely! I support you!"
"Then how can I make her like me more?" Zhou Jianxing's eyes were drawn into a s-shape.
Chu Wei smirked and leaned closer to Zhou Jianxing, lowering his voice and whispering something into her ear. Zhou Jianxing's cheeks flushed quickly, even her ears and neck were stained crimson, which was particularly obvious under the streetlight.
She listened very carefully, and although she was almost fuming with embarrassment, she finally nodded solemnly to Chu Wei.
"By the way, Sister Wei," Zhou Jianxing stopped and asked as they reached the intersection where they parted ways, suddenly remembering something, "Are you free tomorrow, Saturday?"
"What's wrong?" Chu Wei didn't answer immediately. The shop did have a lot of pre-ordered flower baskets to make tomorrow, as well as weekly flower deliveries for several regular customers, so the schedule was pretty full.
"Can you go shopping with me tomorrow?" Zhou Jianxing hummed softly, and his fingers unconsciously twisted together again, "I want to buy some cosmetics and clothes."
She remembered Wen Lingyi saying that she liked her to dress up more.
She wanted to look better and be more worthy of her.
Chu Wei folded his hands over his chest, pretending to be scrutinizing her. He looked her up and down before clicking his tongue twice: "Okay! For the happiness of our little Xingxing, even if it's crowded tomorrow, I have to squeeze out time for you!"
Zhou Jianxing's eyes widened, curved into a beautiful arc, and she took a step forward, hugged Chu Wei's arm and shook it gently, with a hint of coquettishness in her voice: "Sister Wei, you are the best~"
Chu Wei smiled and pushed her hand away, his tone sour: "Come on! Don't try this on me. Now your heart is full of other women."
Zhou Jianxing felt a little embarrassed by what she said. After thinking it over carefully, he asked hesitantly and troubledly, "Sister Wei, do we need to avoid suspicion from now on? For example... we can't hug each other casually anymore?"
She thought of Xiao Min's previous worries and began to feel troubled herself.
"Ah?" Chu Wei was almost amused by her bizarre train of thought and laughed bitterly.
This kid is so honest and cute, or maybe it can be said that after getting a girlfriend, her "female virtues" have improved by leaps and bounds.
Chu Wei restrained his smile, turned around, faced Zhou Jianxing, and stared into her eyes: "Do you have feelings for me?"
Zhou Jianxing looked back blankly, his eyes clear and pure, "What do you feel?"
Chu Wei couldn't help but hold her forehead, a headache coming on. Did she have to be so blunt? She rubbed her temples: "Would you like to sleep with me?"
Zhou Jianxing opened his eyes wide, as if he had heard something incredible. He quickly shook his head to deny it, his tone firm: "Of course not! How is it possible!"
Chu Wei finally smiled again, a much more relaxed smile: "Neither would I. Since neither of us has that kind of thought towards each other, then why are we avoiding each other?"
"Just because you have a girlfriend, do you have to push all your friends away and completely cut off even normal physical contact and communication?"
"Love is love, friendship is friendship, there is no conflict."
Zhou Jianxing listened to her words. Although he didn't fully understand them, he nodded as if he understood them.
The evening breeze blew gently through the empty streets, making a rustling sound.
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