Chapter 113: Guilty Conscience
After leaving the multimedia classroom, Zhu Yingning went to the bathroom first and changed out of his suit.
Although she'd sworn only minutes earlier that the suit was her weapon, she felt suffocated after three days of formal wear. It felt like she was trapped in a mask that forced her to sit properly, like a child trying to pretend to be an adult. She'd brought a change of casual clothes, and with a T-shirt and jeans, she finally felt the breath of her own skin. As for the suit, if anyone asked, she had a prepared explanation: weapons should be kept securely in their bags.
She had considered everything, but unfortunately no one asked her why she wasn't wearing a suit. Everyone was more concerned about her amazing acceptance speech on the stage. When she came out of the bathroom, she heard someone calling her "Suit Sister" and "King of Value for Money."
Wu Bo was also amazed: "I think you can become a little famous on the Internet."
She made a sad face, then said with a smile, "That's achieved my marketing goal."
"Light luxury yet friendly, plain yet elegant." Xu Sirui suddenly said behind her.
It's fine if the person says it themselves, but when someone else repeats it, it's hard not to get irritated. She got goosebumps and turned around to hit him: "Xu Sirui!"
Wu Bo watched speechlessly as the two men in front of him started fighting.
Oh, it should be said that Xu Sirui was the one who was beaten unilaterally.
"Hey, hey, can you two be more mature?" she kindly reminded them, "Xu Sirui, your beautiful friend Xia Jiayi is coming this way."
Zhu Yingning had no choice but to let him go for the time being and straightened out the wrinkled corners of her clothes.
As expected, Xia Jiayi led her team members towards them. Stopping in front of Xu Sirui, she asked with a smile, "How about we have some free time after the game? Do you want to go out for dinner together?" After saying this, she briefly glanced at Zhu Yingning and Wu Bo and asked, "Will you guys come too?"
The moment she looked over, Wu Bo turned away. After gaining weight, she was even more afraid to look beautiful women in the eye, for fear of seeing her own ugly reflection in their beautiful pupils.
Zhu Yingning said happily, "I'm fine. If it's not too much trouble, I can go with you."
Wu Bo hesitated to speak, and finally nodded slowly under the gaze of others.
Xia Jiayi nodded and said, "Let's go to a Western restaurant I often go to. Do you have any dietary restrictions?"
Everyone said no.
After everyone followed Xia Jiayi to the school gate, Wu Bo pulled Zhu Yingning to the back of the group and whispered, "Don't you think this isn't a good idea?"
"Hmm?" Zhu Yingning asked curiously, confused, "What's wrong?"
"Oh, that's it..." Wu Bo felt helpless and powerless, wishing he could pry open her head to see if it was nothing but knowledge. "Can't you see? That Xia Jiayi only wants to invite Xu Sirui. We'll just be a third wheel if we go there."
The term "light bulb" was also taught to Zhu Yingning by Wu Bo. She learned the term from a magazine Wu Bo lent her and understood that it refers to a bystander who interferes with others' love lives.
Although Zhu Yingning was a little slow in emotions, she was not so slow as to be stupid. She could see that Guo Yingying had a vague affection for Xu Sirui. Now, with Wu Bo's hint, she also vaguely felt that Xia Jiayi seemed to have some feelings for Xu Sirui.
"...Then what should we do?" She was a little confused.
Wu Bo sighed. "How should I know? Either I run away or I keep going. What do you think?"
"I..." Her mind was rarely blank. She hesitated for a long time before mumbling, "I think... well... how about we just follow them?"
The further he spoke, the softer his voice became, with the final syllable of "吧" swirling like a falling leaf.
She was terrified that Wu Bo would ask her why she had followed him, since she herself didn't know why. If Wu Bo suddenly asked her that, how would she answer to appear to have a clear conscience?
Fortunately, Wu Bo did not ask this question. Instead, he stroked his chin and agreed thoughtfully: "Yeah, it would be so strange if we suddenly slipped away. There are so many third wheelers here anyway, the two of us won't make a difference! Let's go." As he spoke, he pulled her to catch up with the main group.
**
It takes seven subway stops to get to the western restaurant. It happened to be the evening rush hour, so the subway station was packed.
Everyone was discussing whether to take a taxi, but when they looked at the road, they were shocked to find it was even more congested than at a subway station.
Finally I chose the subway.
"There are a lot of people on the bus, everyone be careful, keep an eye on the people around you, and don't get separated." Xia Jiayi raised her voice to remind the others.
Zhu Yingning grabbed Wu Bo's clothes tightly and said, "Don't let yourself be squeezed away."
This conversation was perfect for self-deprecation. Wu Bo scoffed, "...You don't want to be pushed away, do you? You're like a piece of paper."
"I'm strong, I won't."
However, it turns out that strength and weight don't necessarily correlate. No matter how strong you are, if you don't have enough weight, you'll still be squeezed out. The stop they boarded was fine; despite the crowds, there was still room to breathe. But the next stop was terrifying, a massive one with a staggering amount of people. As soon as the doors opened, only a handful of people got off, while those who boarded were like locusts swarming through the air.
The power of the crowd was like a mountain and an ocean, which was simply not something a mortal could withstand. Zhu Yingning was completely unable to resist, and the hand that was grabbing Wu Bo's clothes was instantly pushed away.
Xu Sirui was standing not far away opposite Zhu Yingning, and saw that just as Wu Bo had predicted, she was like a piece of paper, with her feet lifted off the ground by the people in front and behind her, and she flew away into the distance, like a bookmark between pages of a book, or a floating leaf on the river.
“…”
He was so amused that he reached out to pull her, but as soon as he grasped her wrist, he was carried towards her by the strong force of the crowd.
People behind him kept pressing against him. The feeling of being shirtless with strangers and sharing other people's stinky sweat made Xu Sirui so nauseous that he almost had his hair stand on end. He shouted impatiently, "Stop pushing!" Unfortunately, the carriage was so crowded that no one paid any attention to him. Not only that, a fitness man with an astonishing tonnage behind him was pushing him in with all his strength, as if he were a sponge and pressing it would create more space.
After a while, he was pushed in front of Zhu Yingning, and even couldn't help but push her against the wall of the carriage.
Seeing that the back of her head was about to hit the wall of the car, Xu Sirui pulled out his hand and cushioned her head in time.
There was a dull sound of flesh crunching.
She felt something on the back of her head. It felt soft at first, but then it felt hard like bone when it pressed to the bottom, causing a dull pain in the back of her head.
A suppressed groan came from above her head. Zhu Yingning looked up and saw Xu Sirui's pale face. She took a few breaths and asked her first, "Are you okay?"
She froze for a moment, wanting to say, "It's okay," to ask him, "Are you okay?" But when she opened her mouth, she realized her lips were pressed against his collarbone. He was still wearing the shirt he'd worn during the competition, the top two buttons already undone, the collar flaring messily to the sides, revealing a small patch of cool, pale skin where his collarbone met his chest. The collarbone felt hard against her, his skin soft, and the sweet scent of his shower gel lingered on her nose.
Talking about laundry detergent is a story of its own. Unlike the typical, conventional tastes of men, Xu Sirui has a distinct personality and a penchant for the sweet, syrupy scent of peach, leading to the scent of all the shower gel in his house. Of course, she probably also has a lingering peach scent, but it pales in comparison to Xu Sirui's, who uses a lethal amount of shower gel every time he showers, determined not to stop until he's completely saturated in the scent.
At this moment, the sweet fragrance lingered around her, and she felt like she was soaking in a jar of overripe fruit pulp. The fragrance of the fruit pulp made her teeth and stomach feel inexplicably itchy.
“…”
She held her breath, pursed her lips silently, and didn't even dare to shake her head, for fear that if she moved too loudly she would kiss him.
Men and women should not touch each other!
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The author has something to say: The countdown to this woman's enlightenment...
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