Chapter 63 Extra | If someone hadn’t told me this was love, I would have thought it was a naked sword.
"Xu Wei has been acting strangely lately. Do you think she is..."
"Are you dating someone else?" Feng Xue finally took her eyes off the three huge screens and looked at Jia Yingjun. Seeing that he was drinking beer as usual, but the can in his hand was crushed beyond recognition, she couldn't help laughing.
Jia Yingjun coughed twice and said with an aloof look: I don’t have no confidence at all.
Feng Xue shrugged and said: Anyway, you haven't confirmed your relationship, so there's nothing wrong with what others do.
"That won't do!" Jia Yingjun slammed the beer can on the table. "Dating isn't like bidding for a project. Besides, with my conditions, is there anyone better?"
"What are your requirements? Xu Wei has seen the world. If you like her and still try to play the game of fishing, you'll end up with nothing."
Jia Yingjun spread his hands: Okay, okay, I'm getting cocky. I admit that I'm just an ordinary person, okay?
Feng Xue smiled and continued: Don't underestimate yourself, you still have many advantages.
"It's rare for you to praise me. Tell me about it. I'll find a way to tell her casually someday so she knows how much it would be a loss if she missed me."
"For example, confidence."
Jia Yingjun's face turned dark, and he simply raised his hand to turn off the main power switch in front of Feng Xue's desk.
"Let's go eat fish in the suburbs this weekend? Is Teacher Xu free?" Jia Yingjun sent a WeChat message to Xu Wei.
Xu Wei put the phone close to Ruan Tang and said helplessly: Wasn't it just the day before yesterday that he said his coffee pot was broken in the middle of the night and I didn't let him in? Is there any need to be so sarcastic?
Ruan Tang was chewing sunflower seeds and flipping through the spoken English textbook when she frowned and asked, "Any questions? Doesn't he usually call you Teacher Xu?"
"That's because you don't understand him."
"Oh wow, you know him so well, and you two are soul mates, so why haven't you confirmed your relationship yet?" Ruan Tang closed the book and put down the melon seeds, looking at Xu Wei with pretended seriousness as if he was really waiting for an answer.
Xu Wei replied briefly, put the locked screen of her phone aside, hugged the pillow and thought seriously, then answered: Probably... I just don't want to rush too fast. I think I should be cautious before starting a serious relationship, and... being single is really great.
"agree!"
Seeing Ruan Tang raise her hand with such excitement, Xu Wei was visibly stunned for a moment before asking, "Are you planning on hiding here with me for a few years and then telling Feng Xue you've graduated and returned?" Or are you planning on...
On the day Ruan Tang left, Xu Wei calculated the departure time and sent her a WeChat message wishing her a safe journey. Unexpectedly, not long after the WeChat message was sent, she saw Ruan Tang dragging a suitcase at her doorstep.
"Even before we were together, I was wondering when he would finally pull himself together," Ruan Tang put down the sunflower seeds in her hand and clapped her hands, then set the book aside and dusted off the sunflower seed crumbs on her hands. "But on the day I left, when I saw him wearing the formal suit I'd only seen in my dreams and told me he was back at work, I didn't seem that happy. I know he wanted to make more money, and a lot of it was because of Congcong, but I just feel bad. I wanted to move on, partly to get away from it for a while, and partly to give him space and time to deal with the situation. Now it feels like I'm forcing him. Everything is clearly moving in the direction I expected, so why do I feel so uncomfortable?"
Xu Wei poured a glass of water and handed it to Ruan Tang, saying softly: Then you should stay here for a while. Although people always say that escape cannot solve problems, as time goes by, the problem will always reveal its essence. Maybe you will understand your own heart, and then you will naturally know what to do.
Ruan Tang went forward and hugged Xu Wei, resting her head on her shoulder, and said in a muffled voice: Weiwei, how can I live without you?
"By the way, did you email the school? Did they agree to your application for deferred admission so easily?"
"Yeah." Ruan Tang nodded.
Xu Wei was puzzled: What reason did you use?
"I..." Ruan Tang stood up and stretched as she walked towards her temporary bedroom, saying vaguely: It's... family reasons, I'm going to bed first.
The next day, when Ruan Tang received a voice call from Jia Yingjun, she thought she had been exposed. She looked at the incoming call page like an ant on hot pan. It was not until the other party called the third time that she made up her mind and clicked to answer the call.
"Ruan Tang?" Jia Yingjun's voice sounded normal, but she still looked at the time and pretended to be lazy, as if she had just woken up from a dream. She asked: "Mr. Jia? What do you want to talk to me about? My time here..."
"Here's the thing. I'm going to get straight to the point. Be prepared."
Ruan Tang's heart instantly jumped to her throat. She squatted on the toilet lid, clenched her fists, took a deep breath, and asked: Is it Feng Xue...
"I'm planning to propose to Xu Wei, but time is tight, so I won't invite you back. I know you two have a good relationship, so could you help me record a video? Something like the ones online... um... you know what I mean, right?"
"Oh, I know. It's like those little videos on dating shows where the guests' friends and family record encouragement and send their blessings."
"Yes, very good."
"Wait! Proposal?!" Ruan Tang belatedly realized the key point of the conversation, and jumped up from the toilet lid and exclaimed in surprise. Then she covered her mouth, opened the bathroom door, and went out to investigate.
She breathed a sigh of relief after seeing Xu Wei go out to take a picture of the note left on the dining table.
"Is there any problem?" Jia Yingjun sounded a little unhappy.
Ruan Tang quickly waved her hands in the air and asked knowingly: I'm just a little surprised. It's only been half a month since we last met, and you... are together?
"Isn't marriage first, love later a popular idol drama cliché?"
Ruan Tang laughed dryly and said: Mr. Jia, you are quite trendy. You know all this.
Jia Yingjun seemed to be encouraged and replied: It's just a joke, I just think it takes too long to express love and then talk about marriage, I am more eager for Teacher Xu.
"Okay, I got it. I will send the video to you as soon as possible." Ruan Tang agreed immediately and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He thought that Feng Xue had discovered his abnormality and sent him to spy on him.
"Thank you." Before hanging up the phone, Jia Yingjun reminded: By the way, this matter... please keep it secret from her.
In the following days, in order to write good copy for the video, Ruan Tang often stayed in Xu Wei's study to read various books and make up for her shortcomings. Xu Wei just thought she was bored and did not ask any questions.
Three days later, Ruan Tang sent a video of herself crying so hard that half a pack of tissues was soaked to Jia Yingjun. Unexpectedly, he only replied with an "ok" and an emoticon package saying "thank you for your hard work".
She held her phone in her arms, looking at the two replies with a mixture of laughter and tears, and couldn't help but sigh: Why do I suddenly feel like I'm being silently exploited by capitalists?
She then opened the chat with Feng Xue. To conceal her true identity, she lied, saying she had just arrived in a new environment and had a lot to adjust to. She was also very tired, so she hoped they wouldn't contact each other too frequently and that they could just go about their own business. The last message she had received was two days ago, a little after midnight. Feng Xue had sent her a photo of her dinner: a simple bowl of noodles with a fried egg.
On the day of the proposal, Xu Wei dressed very simply and casually, considering that they were just going to the suburbs to eat fish. She wore a Dior printed jacket with black trousers, Dior sneakers, and a baseball cap, looking like she was going on an outing.
When she was about to go out, Ruan Tang pulled her back and asked: Are you going to wear this on a date with Jia Yingjun?
"What date?" Xu Wei said with a stern face: It's just a meal together.
Ruan Tang looked her up and down and asked: Are you two alone tonight?
"How about you come with me?"
"I just wanted to ask if there's anyone you care about at tonight's dinner."
Xu Wei rolled her eyes: I'm going to the suburbs, what's wrong with wearing this?
"Just..." For the first time, Ruan Tang experienced what it felt like to be so anxious that she scratched her head but was helpless. She rubbed her hair and said with determination: If you regret it later, don't blame me for not reminding you today.
In the end, Xu Wei went out wearing this outfit. Ruan Tang walked back and forth in the living room for dozens of times, and finally decided to go to Xu Wei's cloakroom to pick out a white silk long skirt, packed it up, and risked being discovered by Feng Xue to call a car to go to the place where Jia Yingjun had made an appointment in advance.
The place Jia Yingjun had chosen to propose was a private kitchen in Huairou, the same restaurant that the three of them had gone to eat at when he first announced his intention to pursue Xu Wei.
When Ruan Tang's express car stopped at the road outside the store, the sky had gradually darkened. The moon climbed up the hillside leisurely. The insects in the mountains sang a symphony, echoing with the warm lights in the private kitchen courtyard at the foot of the mountain.
The express driver's tone began to become a little impatient as he urged Ruan Tang to get off the car for the tenth time. He said: Miss, the platform reminded me that I stayed in one place for too long and asked me if I needed to call the police.
Ruan Tang saw that everyone in the courtyard was sitting at a table, eating and chatting. The furnishings in the courtyard were as usual, and there was no sign of a proposal. She reluctantly apologized to the driver and got out of the car. She found a more secluded place, hid behind a big tree outside the store, opened Dianping.com to find the store owner's contact information, and planned to ask him to help deliver the clothes.
Unfortunately, the internet in the mountains was too bad, so she squatted outside the store and fed mosquitoes for nearly an hour. Although she was wearing long pants, her legs were still covered with bites.
Ruan Tang lowered her head and sprayed floral water on herself while thinking about how much red envelope Xu Wei should give her, a bridesmaid who had worked so hard. When she looked up again, she found a large truck parked outside the store.
There is a double door on one side of the truck's cargo box. When opened, it opens an entrance to this small mountain shop like a holy temple.
A melodious symphony accompanied by white and light pink balloons floated out of the cargo compartment. Ruan Tang stretched her neck and saw the big "Marry Me" sign in the cargo compartment, and her eyes instantly became sore.
It was completely dark. Ruan Tang saw Xu Wei's car parked diagonally behind the truck, so she moved to her car in the dark and squatted down. She found that the view here was indeed excellent and relatively hidden, so she felt relieved and looked carefully at Jia Yingjun and Xu Wei in the cargo compartment.
I heard him say: Teacher Xu, we met in a verbal battle that was not really a debate. In our daily interactions, we always have different opinions and are on opposite sides, but on the topic of marriage and life, I hope to join your camp.
Ruan Tang was crying her eyes out, sniffing hard, as if she had accidentally inhaled a passing insect, and then sneezing violently. A hand reached out from somewhere and handed her a stack of tissues.
"Thank you, boss." Ruan Tang took the tissue and blew her nose vigorously a few times. After she felt better, she turned her head and looked in the direction where the tissue was handed to her.
At this moment, Feng Xue was standing beside him, looking at Jia Yingjun who was putting the ring on Xu Wei's finger, and sighed softly: So you like this, but it's a pity that it can't be used anymore, I have to think of a new way to propose.
The night in the mountains was exceptionally clear, with the moon high in the sky, but Ruan Tang felt as if a bolt of lightning had exploded directly above her head.
She pursed her lips, took a deep breath, and explained: Feng Xue, you... I... Actually, I...
Feng Xue gently rubbed her head, stretched out his hand and held her in his arms, but still looked towards the direction of the cargo compartment, and said softly: I didn't expect to see you again so soon, I have to thank Yingjun.
"No, why are you so..."
"Calm?"
"You...know everything?" Ruan Tang felt her scalp tingling.
Feng Xue stretched out his other hand and flicked her forehead, saying: I'm not a prophet. A week ago, I asked my classmate in Milan to help me send you something, but he said he had asked around and hadn't heard of you, so I guess...
"Guess what?"
"I guess... maybe you changed your mind, or... need some space to be alone? I don't know, but I just want to know that you're safe. Actually, I didn't intend to expose you today. It's just that someone is in such a miserable state, and I really couldn't bear it."
Feng Xue took out a small bottle of herbal ointment from his pocket and asked: Can you come to my car and I will apply it on you?
After dealing with the bruises on her legs, Ruan Tang followed Feng Xue back to the courtyard. Everyone showed varying degrees of shock when they saw Ruan Tang, except Feng Xue, Xu Wei and Zhang Haoyu.
Zhang Haoyu whistled, stood up, rushed to Ruan Tang, bent down and hugged her, and then found that Ruan Tang and Feng Xue exchanged glances.
"It's my birthday today. We haven't seen each other in so long, so a friendly hug wouldn't be too much, right?"
Ruan Tang frowned and asked: Isn’t your birthday in winter?
"Birthdays are days worth celebrating, so I reversed the process and unilaterally decided that all days worth celebrating are my birthday, so the day you marry Brother Xue is also my birthday." Zhang Haoyu smiled with his eyes narrowed, his mouth wide open, revealing a row of sharp white teeth.
It was already late at night when they returned. Ruan Tang listened to Feng Xue's breathing and looked at the night scene outside the window. Soon she felt her eyelids getting heavy and dozed off on the back of the passenger seat.
Feng Xue stretched out a hand to hold hers, but Ruan Tang slapped his hand away, closed her eyes and frowned, saying: Drive safely!
"So what was the reason Xu Wei mentioned for postponing her enrollment that you didn't tell her?"
"No... nothing special, I just made up an excuse. You drive carefully and I'll take a nap!" Ruan Tang closed her eyes guiltily.
In a drowsy state, Ruan Tang remembered what Xu Wei said that day: hoping that someone would change for you is liking them, but hoping that they would be happy is probably love. When you fall in love with someone, you always do it without realizing it and risk your life. That's why those writers compare love to a sword. If love is as sharp as a sword, then perhaps we should turn it into a weapon to protect each other, rather than something to hurt ourselves.
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