Chapter 130: A Small Breakup: I'm on Your Side
This question was a little beyond the comprehension of a teenager, and Zhu Yingning tried hard to search his mind for similar incidents.
Where she lived, there were all kinds of couples. Some married out of love, but the vast majority were arranged by their parents through blind dates. Most marriages that lasted ended in a mess. She had no answer for his question, so she said, "I don't know."
He probably didn't expect to learn the ultimate truth from her. He simply let go of her hand and stared blankly into the void behind her, muttering to himself, "Perhaps the only thing in the world that never changes is change itself."
Love and liking seem too pale in the face of change.
She took out a new tissue and handed it to him, and this time Xu Sirui took it.
He wiped the half-dry tears from his cheeks. Some tears went into his mouth and were swallowed unconsciously.
Tears are salty, more bitter than sea water.
**
When he arrived at the hotel room at night, Xu Sirui was still in a bad mood. He went to sleep alone in his quilt.
Zhou Tianqing pulled her over and asked what happened, her tone cautious: "Did you have a fight?"
Zhu Yingning shook her head and said no, but it was not appropriate for her to take the initiative to tell him such a private matter under such circumstances. She was not sure whether Xu Sirui would be willing to let a third person know, so she said nothing for the time being.
The next day I left Hong Kong and headed north back to Beijing.
The house was empty; Xu Zhengkang wasn't there. Zhu Yingning didn't know if this was a good thing or not. On the one hand, she felt rebellious and thought Xu Sirui should give Xu Zhengkang a beating to vent his anger. On the other hand, she realized with dismay that a beating wouldn't mend the emotional wound he'd sustained. Extreme disappointment leaves one without the energy to fight back. When the disappointment is too extreme, even hitting or scolding someone becomes unappealing.
Xu Sirui has been sleeping.
He slept so much that she couldn't help but wonder if he had narcolepsy. Every morning when she woke up, he was still asleep. When she returned from tutoring, he was still asleep. He only ate one or two meals a day, at irregular times. When he woke up, he would drowsily order takeout, and even then he rarely spoke to her.
She was worried that he would retreat into his previous state and wanted to cheer him up, but she felt that even saying the word "cheer up" seemed indifferent and cruel.
When the summer vacation was about to end, Zhu Yingning went to Xu Zhengkang's company to visit him.
This time she still couldn't find a way to get through the access control system, so she told the security guard downstairs that she wanted to go to the 17th floor to find Xu Zhengkang, but he just replied, "Then you contact him yourself."
She tried to call Xu Zhengkang, not holding out any hope, but unexpectedly Xu Zhengkang answered the phone. What was even more unexpected was that there was not a trace of guilt or embarrassment in his tone. Instead, it was so natural, as if nothing had happened.
With his help, she successfully crossed the access control and entered the office building.
Xu Zhengkang's office is not big, and he doesn't even have many employees. He can see all of them with just a glance around.
His desk and furnishings were luxurious in a way that didn't fit in with the small office space, and looked quite expensive. Zhu Yingning noticed that the wooden sculpture on his desk seemed to be missing a corner, and she wasn't sure if it was the same wooden sculpture he had used to injure Xu Sirui.
"Why did you come to see me?" Xu Zhengkang stared at the computer screen, clicking the mouse with his hand. He pointed his chin towards the reception sofa and said, "Sit down."
"No need to sit down, Uncle Xu." She squeezed her palms together to gather her courage. Although her voice was still a little trembling and her voice was not loud, she said, "I just came here to say a few words."
"Oh?" He finally looked up from the computer screen and looked at her with interest.
It is said to be interesting, but this kind of looking is more like the superior watching the inferior helplessly and contentedly.
Zhu Yingning took a deep breath and said, "That day was Xu Sirui's birthday."
He hadn't expected her to say this, and had expected her to utter even more indignant condemnations or threats. He wasn't afraid of her threats, because he controlled her tuition fees. Whoever controlled the economy was in a dominant position, and those who were sponsored were always inferior.
"Are you done?" Xu Zhengkang asked.
Zhu Yingning clenched her palms and announced her decision under his cold gaze: "One more thing - I will pay my tuition by myself from now on. I don't need your help."
She calculated that the money she earned from tutoring could cover her tuition and her family's living expenses, but from now on her living expenses would be tight. But that didn't matter, she could spend less, she had always known how to be frugal.
Even though this was just a small, incomplete breakup, because after all she was still living in Xu Zhengkang's house, using the hourly workers he hired, sleeping on the mattress he bought, and using the room he gave her, but even if it was just such a small and powerless breakup, she hoped to use this action to let Xu Sirui know that she was on his side.
When she said she would pay for her tuition herself, her voice was still low and trembling, and she spoke without any momentum. However, Xu Zhengkang was still slightly surprised by her decision, and then he said nonchalantly: "If you want to pay for it yourself, then pay it yourself."
The conversation ends here.
After leaving the office building, she looked up at the pale sunlight. The bright sunlight scorched her skin, making it burn. She felt her heart also slightly warm. She felt the pressure suddenly increasing, but more of a sense of relief and joy. She trotted back home.
As soon as I opened the door, Xu Sirui's face was right in front of me.
He was changing his shoes at the entrance, looking like he wanted to go out. He didn't stop until his eyes met hers, and then he put on his slippers again. He asked with a dull face, "Where did you go just now?"
She slowly realized that he was going out to look for her, and asked in surprise, "Are you going out to look for me?"
"No." He turned and walked towards his bedroom.
Zhu Yingning fished her phone out of her trouser pocket, only to discover he'd called her several times, but her phone was on silent, so she hadn't answered. Hadn't he been sleeping the entire time? How had he noticed she'd gone out during her non-tutoring hours? Was it a coincidence, or had he been unable to sleep at all, suffering from severe insomnia, and simply stayed in bed?
Whatever the possibility, one thing is certain: his clinginess has become so serious that it's a bit like separation anxiety.
Zhu Yingning felt helpless and distressed. She sighed imperceptibly and told Xu Zhengkang everything about her visit.
He was stunned for a long time after hearing this, with complicated emotions in his eyes, and asked: "Then what about your tuition?"
"I can earn it myself." She tried to lighten the mood with a harmless joke. "As long as my aunt can help me find a few more students who can earn 80 yuan an hour, maybe by the time I graduate from high school, I can save enough for college tuition."
He didn't smile at her joke. Zhu Yingning bent her index finger and scratched the tip of her nose with the second and third joints. She thought that she should stop joking so casually. Joking requires talent. Some people can sound humorous and funny just by saying something casually, while some people - like her - can sound awkward when they say something.
Just as she finished thinking, Xu Sirui walked up to her, lowered his eyes and looked at her for a long time, then suddenly said: "I will support you."
She was stunned for a few seconds, then she reacted and chuckled, "How are you going to fund it?"
"I'm going to make a lot of money," he said, paused, and added, "A lot of money."
"How are you going to earn it?"
"I can continue developing games, or take on more substitute play, and if that doesn't work, I can continue to be a model, and then..."
"No." Zhu Yingning interrupted him, looking him straight in the eye. "I don't need you to do this for me, Xu Sirui. I hope you develop games just because you like it, and not because you feel a sense of responsibility 'for me'. I don't want you to force yourself to return to an environment with models you don't like just for me. Besides, I have hands and feet. If I really can't do it, I will ask you for help, but now I can do it, and I don't need to accept favors when I can do it."
With every word she spoke, his shoulders slumped a little. In the end, he looked a little aggrieved, as if she had just scolded him instead of stating the facts. He whispered, "...but I really want to do something for you."
She thought he looked so pitiful, and it made her feel inexplicably soft-hearted. She wanted to reach out and touch his head. After thinking for a moment, she said, "If you really want to do something for me, please help me find more students, preferably those who live nearby, or even online."
"Okay." Xu Sirui nodded solemnly.
**
On the first day of her second year of high school, Zhu Yingning was briefly worried that Xu Sirui would not go to school like before. Fortunately, he got up as early as she did that morning, not only had breakfast, but also packed his schoolbag.
On the subway to school, he told her, as if afraid she had forgotten, "Wait for me to have lunch together at noon."
"?"
She replied with a smile, "Okay."
After a summer break, the students in the class were very excited when school started, chatting animatedly in groups of two or three.
The following process is similar to the previous school opening process. The teacher just talks about the classroom discipline for the new semester and then sends someone to move the new books.
The only difference was that since they were in their second year of high school, Hong Qingyang said in the math class before the class meeting, "Let's elect new class leaders in the class meeting later, and give other students who want to be class leaders some opportunities."
There were complaints from the audience, all saying, "Hey, Brother Yang, class meetings should be used for self-study! Why not just continue the class leadership system from the first year of high school? Why waste time selecting the same people again?"
"Do you want to study or chat?" Hong Qingyang ruthlessly exposed them. "We still have to go through the school's required procedures. Protests are invalid. get out of class dismissed."
After he left, Zou Hao and others were not very nervous. After all, they had been class leaders for a whole school year, and as long as they had not done anything hateful, their classmates would vote for them as usual.
When Wu Bo came to see Zhu Yingning, he also said, "Brother Yang is really capable of making trouble."
She said this hoping to get some agreement, but Zhu Yingning looked thoughtful, which puzzled her. She waved her hand in front of her eyes and asked, "What are you daydreaming about?"
Zhu Yingning came back to her senses: "No..."
After a few seconds, she pursed her lips as if she had made up her mind, and suddenly said, "Wu Bo, I plan to continue running for class monitor."
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