Chapter 70: Did you want to kiss me before?
Seeing that Chen Jizhou was starting to lose, Jiang Meng quickly interrupted, making a gesture to separate the two of them: "That's enough!"
She changed the subject and asked Xie Zhuo, "Did you come alone?"
Xie Zhuo found an empty seat and calmly sat down: "Su Yu is still resting at home. She's quite tired from her graduate studies."
Jiang Meng said "Oh" and nodded: "Then let her brain rest more. I think she's quite busy. She only replies to WeChat once a day."
Thinking about their business today, she asked, "By the way, do you know how to play cards?"
Xie Zhuo boasted, "Winning some of your money is a piece of cake."
Jiang Meng couldn't help but laugh: "Don't speak too soon. Where did you learn to spout such nonsense?"
Xie Zhuo glanced at Chen Jizhou: "One who stays near vermilion gets stained red, and one who stays near ink gets stained black—but it's true that we easily won against you, that's not considered boasting."
“Wow, you’re all so arrogant.” Jiang Meng raised her face and smiled proudly at him. “There aren’t many war gods like me who are low-key and unassuming. Don’t forget, I was trained by my mother.”
As she spoke, she leaned lazily into Chen Jizhou's arms, took his hand, and wrapped it around her waist.
Xie Zhuo said that this was quite a novel experience.
But he couldn't bear to look, so he looked away and leisurely drank his water.
Even when they were very young, there were signs that the two were in cahoots.
As the third person in their friendship, Xie Zhuo never felt jealous of their closeness. For example, when they were learning ballroom dancing in elementary school, Chen Jizhou would "go to any lengths" to stand next to Jiang Meng, using both soft and hard tactics to drive away the boys one by one. As one of those boys who was driven away, Xie Zhuo was the first to run away, eager to give Jiang Meng up. He had no desire to hold her hand at all.
Xie Zhuo stayed with them, sometimes walking in front of them, sometimes behind them, and sometimes side by side. He was quiet by nature and too lazy to speak, and his silence when he was with the two of them was often due to contempt and disdain.
He sometimes felt that the team could function without him.
However, the triangular structure is the most stable.
We really can't do without him.
Jiang Meng would feel uncomfortable.
When friends of the opposite sex walk together, people will always speculate, especially during adolescence. Peers are particularly sensitive to topics like love and romance. If she were to do something with Chen Jizhou, she would definitely leave room for Xie Zhuo, who would play a role in clarifying things.
When there are many people involved, it becomes a solid and genuine friendship.
She was no longer so afraid of rumors, nor of friendships turning sour.
As for who fell in love first, and when? Xie Zhuo had pondered this occasionally. It was only after the two of them started showing some interest that he specifically looked into that direction and began to get a clue.
Chen Jizhou has always treated her very differently.
He later saw a quote: "More than friends, less than lovers."
These two are the first two that come to mind.
Xie Zhuo dared not laugh at Jiang Meng's slowness; in this respect, the two were equally matched.
His assessment of Jiang Meng's naiveté was simply that it was understandable, which served as a small consolation.
In some ways, they are actually the same kind of people.
Thinking of this, Xie Zhuo's expression turned slightly contemptuous.
Chen Jizhou held his phone, looking at the screen casually: "We're one short for the mahjong game. I'll find someone else, a high school classmate."
He scrolled through his contacts, and after a while, he saw a certain name, stopped, and looked up at Xie Zhuo.
Xie Zhuo knew him all too well; that half-smile was clearly a mischievous idea coming up again.
As expected, Chen Jizhou said, "How's Song Zixuan? I haven't even thanked him properly. He's been keeping you in check for me ever since we were assigned to different classes."
Xie Zhuo didn't speak, took a sip of water, and quietly gave him a look.
Chen Jizhou smiled and spun his phone around: "What's wrong? After all these years, we still can't meet?"
"Go ahead and call. There's no show you want to see." Xie Zhuo said calmly and nonchalantly, showing great composure and magnanimity.
Chen Jizhou looked at him with a probing gaze, then suddenly said, "Actually, the reason you disliked him back then was because of Su Yu, right?"
Jiang Meng's interest was piqued, her eyes lighting up as if she had heard something incredibly interesting. She looked at Xie Zhuo and asked, "Oh? You dislike Song Zixuan?"
Wait a minute, this is the key point: "Oh? Is it because of Su Yu?"
She rested her chin on her hand, looking thoughtfully at Xie Zhuo, then at Chen Jizhou, as if asking: How do you, a liberal arts student, know these things? Then she frowned, as if questioning herself: Am I really that slow to react?
Xie Zhuo urged, "Are we still playing cards or not?"
He looked at Chen Jizhou with a "I'm going to hit you if you don't play cards" look.
Chen Jizhou laughed and tossed his phone back onto the table: "Gossiping isn't allowed either, you stingy person."
"Stingy." Jiang Meng blindly took sides.
Xie Zhuo, not to be outdone, brought up old grievances: "You got drunk back then because of Jiang Meng, didn't you?"
Chen Jizhou was taken aback for a moment, then said, "When? I don't remember such a thing happening."
His expression was calm, and he genuinely seemed to have no recollection.
Xie Zhuo scoffed, "What do you remember? You just make things up and try to glorify yourself."
Jiang Meng then said, "Oh?" and asked, "You've been drunk before?"
“Yeah,” Xie Zhu interrupted, speaking with feigned seriousness, “He confessed to me after drinking too much and made me like him.”
Jiang Meng: "..."
Chen Jizhou: "..."
"Of course, it's also possible that he mistook me for you and confessed his feelings in the wrong way."
Chen Jizhou vaguely remembered which time it was. He was quite clever. Xie Zhuo's reminder made him realize that he had probably said something outrageous. He glanced at Jiang Meng and smiled helplessly, "Don't listen to his nonsense."
Jiang Meng finally learned to distinguish right from wrong: "No way, Xie Zhuo doesn't spout nonsense like you."
She wagged her finger at him and frowned, saying, "Chen Jizhou, how many things do you still not know about?"
Xie Zhuo nodded in satisfaction, adding fuel to the fire: "There's plenty more."
Chen Jizhou laughed and didn't refute, looking at Xie Zhuo: "Trying to stir things up."
He looked at Jiang Meng again and explained to her, "I'm just shifting the blame. This is how I deal with my parents at home, and he's learned all my tricks."
Xie Zhuo: "Who wants to learn from you? Be realistic."
Just then, his phone rang.
Xie Zhuo answered the phone, and Su Yu on the other end said she was downstairs.
He immediately stood up: "Why didn't you say anything? I would have come to pick you up."
A few seconds later, he picked up his clothes and went out again: "I'm coming down now."
Jiang Mengzhen was really provoked. After Xie Zhuo left, she insisted on pulling Chen Jizhou aside to ask what had happened.
Chen Jizhou smiled helplessly and said honestly, "I don't remember much. Who remembers drinking too much? But I've drunk a lot for you, and it wasn't just back then."
Hearing him so nonchalantly brush off the topic, Jiang Meng felt a pang of sympathy. She shifted the hand that had been gripping his arm to rub and touch Chen Jizhou, asking, "Are you... feeling very uncomfortable?"
Chen Jizhou thought for a moment: "Drinking is fine, but... that time when we met up, you told me to stop messing around, that's the thing that left the deepest impression on me."
He left room for maneuver in his words, which left the deepest impression, meaning he hurt the most.
After her initial surprise, Jiang Meng looked ashamed and said, "Did I hurt you so much? Why weren't you braver back then?"
Chen Jizhou seriously recalled for a moment, "Why not be a little braver?"
“When it comes to love, courage alone isn’t enough,” he asked Jiang Meng at that moment. “If I told you, would you like me?”
Jiang Meng also recalled that evening from her student days, and after a moment of thought, said, "To be honest, I would thank you."
As expected, Chen Jizhou smiled with relief: See, it doesn't make much difference whether I say it or not.
He touched the top of her head with his palm and gently rubbed it, as if to comfort her, as if to say that it was all over.
Don't scare her with things you're not sure about. If she thinks the memory is nice, leaving it as a vague mystery is also beautiful.
"But I think I might have liked you a little bit before, just a tiny bit. If you were 100%, I was probably 30%-40%."
Jiang Meng confessed to him: "My basis for judging whether I like someone is whether I want to kiss them. At that time, I probably didn't, or maybe I was too innocent."
"Besides, I had a lot of trouble at home during that time, so I didn't have time to think about these things. I just felt that our friendship had become stronger, that I couldn't live without you, and I even thought, 'I really want to go with you...'"
Chen Jizhou gazed at her calmly and deeply, a hint of emotion welling up in his clear eyes.
Jiang Meng tightened her grip on him, leaning against his shoulder, and softly asked, "What about you? Did you want to kiss me before?"
Without hesitation, Chen Jizhou didn't hide anything and laughed frankly, saying, "Yes, I think about it every day."
"..."
She blushed involuntarily: "Oh, then you're a bit more lewd than me."
Before she could finish speaking, he lifted her chin, and before she could react, Chen Jizhou easily and deeply penetrated her, his tongue entwining with hers in a fierce and passionate kiss that instantly made her lips wet and burning. As people get older, they experience a surge of desire. Before, she wouldn't even dare to dream of kissing, thinking it was too erotic. How could she have imagined those intimate moments of connection that she would later cherish so much? Right now, a passionate kiss lasting only a few seconds amplifies her emptiness. This kind of deep, intense, and surrendering kiss usually only happens in bed.
Jiang Meng was afraid she would lose control of her emotions, so she tried to dodge him. Chen Jizhou squeezed her hand that was hanging on his shoulder and said in a low, husky voice, "Kiss me for a while, it's getting a little cold."
She didn't go to him, but he followed and kissed her.
At the entrance.
Su Yu walked in, Su Yu walked out.
Xie Zhuo walked in, Xie Zhuo walked out.
After the two of them acted as doormen for half a minute, Jiang Meng finally noticed that Xie Zhuo hadn't closed the door when he left, so she quickly gave Chen Jizhou a push.
He stepped back, and Jiang Meng wiped the saliva from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, got up, and ran over happily: "Su Yu!"
She stretched out her arms and gave him a warm hug: "Long time no see, baby."
Su Yu wore a fluffy knitted hat and a light apricot fleece jacket. Jiang Meng hugged her tightly, and Su Yu smiled and patted her back: "Long time no see, Jiang Meng."
As she raised her head, her slightly oversized hat nearly fell off.
Chen Jizhou came over, tugged at her hat, ruffled her hair, and smirked, "I missed you so much, little bunny."
Su Yu's mind went blank. A chill made her yell "Aww!" and snatch her hat back: "You're so naughty!"
Jiang Meng asked her, "Did you just come from home?"
"Yes, I'm busy with a new project, and it's driving me crazy."
Chen Jizhou tilted his head, looked at Su Yu, who was short and stout, and saw her upright and pretty student-like appearance. He looked at her with amusement and said, "People who are busy with research projects also play mahjong?"
Su Yu said, "I'll learn a little. Everyone needs some space for entertainment."
Xie Zhu hummed in agreement, squeezed Su Yu's hand, and said to her calmly, "Don't be afraid, I'll teach you how to ruin their reputations."
Su Yu raised her fist and nodded firmly.
Xie Zhuo adopted an air of "I also have outside help," raised his eyebrows, and glanced at the two opposite him with a look of certainty.
Chen Jizhou revealed a sharp glint in his eyes, smiled disdainfully, turned and walked towards the mahjong room, saying in a lazy tone that showed he didn't take him seriously at all: "You? You'd better figure out how to cover your own losses first."
Jiang Meng continued blindly following suit, adding, "Yeah, Lao Xie, you'd better find a way to cover your losses. My mom is invincible, you know. I have the genes of a gambling god!"
After sitting down, Xie Zhuo explained the rules to Su Yu and carefully showed her the cards, asking, "Is there anything you don't understand?"
“That’s about right,” Su Yu thought for a moment and said, “It’s alright, I saw my family fight when I was little, so I know a little about it.”
She clenched her fist and met Xie Zhuo's calculating gaze: utter disgrace!
Xie Zhuo nodded in satisfaction: He must be utterly disgraced.
“Are you serious? The loser will be fined,” Chen Jizhou hadn’t realized the seriousness of the situation yet. He leaned back leisurely in his armchair, checked the balance in his wallet, smiled slightly, and looked up at Su Yu across from him, saying, “While my family is playing, I can already go up and fight for three hundred rounds.”
His tone was low and languid, which made it seem quite serious.
"oh."
Su Yu paused for a moment, not supporting his claim. After a brief silence, she couldn't help but ask, not about his three hundred rounds of sex, but about his usual boasting to Jiang Meng, "Do you usually brag about yourself like this?"
Chen Jizhou paused in counting the money, looking at her in surprise: "..."
Su Yu looked at Chen Jizhou and blinked: "Will she believe it?"
Jiang Meng: "..."
Su Yu understood the silence: "Oh dear, she's really giving me face."
"..."
Xie Zhuo rested his chin on his hand, unable to resist a smile playing on his lips.
Chen Jizhou's smile vanished instantly. He frowned unhappily, tilted his head to stare at her, and addressed her by her name with the air of an elder, putting pressure on her: "Comrade Su Yu, do you even remember your own surname? Don't forget your roots just because you've found a boyfriend."
Su Yu wore glasses. She wasn't very nearsighted, but she still needed to project an air of authority when necessary. She perched the glasses on her nose and answered calmly, "My surname is Su, and yours is Chen. Is there any connection?"
Chen Jizhou was speechless for a moment.
After a moment of silence, he revealed his trump card and continued to exert pressure, his tone becoming a bit harsher: "Where should I sit during the tea ceremony at the wedding?"
Su Yu: "What business is it of yours to serve tea? You should just stand there."
Xie Zhuo was in high spirits, drinking the cold water in his hand with the elegance of tea tasting, and with a slight smile, he casually agreed: "It makes perfect sense."
"..."
Chen Jizhou glanced at Jiang Meng on his right and noticed that she was biting on a yogurt straw and secretly smiling.
Meeting Chen Jizhou's gaze, Jiang Meng stopped smiling and immediately showed a firm determination to stand with him against the common enemy: I'm on your side!
A few seconds later, Chen Jizhou laughed in exasperation: "The wedding isn't even over yet, and you're already siding with outsiders?"
Upon hearing this, Su Yu immediately put her arms on the mahjong table, smiled, and said, "Your elbows will bend to the left on one side and to the right on the other."
This round she was the dealer, and she raised her hand to press the dice: "Alright, let's start."
Xie Zhuo, in a good mood, raised his hand and gave her a high five, his usually icy expression brightening up.
Chen Jizhou ignored him, being easygoing and overweight, and said nonchalantly, "The winner takes all, come on."
The first round was fiercely contested.
The first person to win was Su Yu.
The group looked at her in shock.
After a long silence at the table, Jiang Meng said, "It's the newbie protection period, it's normal."
Su Yu adjusted her glasses and nodded slowly.
In the second round, Su Yu won.
The group looked at her in shock.
After a long silence at the table, Chen Jizhou said, "Luck is also very important."
Su Yu adjusted her glasses and nodded slowly.
In the third round, Su Yu won.
The group looked at her in shock.
Xie Zhuo smiled and kindly reminded her, "To ruin their reputation is a bit too harsh. Let's save them some face."
Su Yu adjusted her glasses and nodded slowly.
In the fourth round, before he had even drawn a few cards, Su Yu adjusted his glasses and said, "Wait, I think... I won again."
The group stared in shock at the cards she had overturned, exclaiming in unison, "She's been practicing secretly?"
Su Yu looked completely innocent: "No, maybe the doctor's brain is just better."
"..."
"What's wrong? Do you need me to move aside for you?"
"………………"
"I'm sorry then."
Su Yu smiled mischievously and adorably, stretching out both hands and beckoning with her fingers in all directions.
Pay up, pay up.
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