Chapter 70 Nosebleed The blood instantly flew out of the hand he was covering...
The screen was filled with a clip from the variety show "Swap Life." Feng Da had muted the sound, but just watching that familiar clip, Zhu Yingning could already automatically dub it in her mind—
"I sprained my ankle. What's wrong with asking him to carry me?"
"I carried him because he couldn't walk. Can anyone lend a hand and help him get up?"
…
She was sweating profusely and felt sympathetic. She looked behind her and secretly thanked God that Xu Sirui was not there, otherwise he would probably be ashamed and angry to death again.
Guo Yingying's eyes widened in shock. She took Feng Da's phone and held it close to her face, examining it again and again. She looked up in disbelief, comparing it to Zhu Yingning's face. "This is... Si Rui and... you?"
She wanted to protect Xu Sirui's dignity, but she felt it was difficult to lie, so she could only smile weakly.
"I was thinking you looked familiar. I must have seen you somewhere. So you've appeared on a variety show before? No wonder." Feng Da propped his chin up with both hands and smiled brightly at her. After Guo Yingying's shock subsided, he took the phone, switched to the video interface, and said, "There's more."
Zhu Yingning thought he was going to pull up another video clip, but he clicked on a webpage and displayed it in front of her. He sighed, "You've been through all this? It's not easy."
Have you experienced these things?
She looked up in confusion, and after seeing the screen clearly, her whole body froze.
It was the interview that was distorted by the reporter.
Guo Yingying took Feng Da's phone again and carefully browsed the report on the website. After reading it, she glanced at her with a look of surprise and sympathy: "Your parents actually forced you to get married...? Is this true? How tragic."
She had the energy to worry about Xu Sirui's reputation just a second ago, but now it felt like dust was strangling her throat. Her throat was dry and her face was pale. After a long time, she squeezed out a sentence that resembled an excuse: "No..."
Feng Da and Guo Yingying didn't hear her weak defense. They were completely immersed in the newly dug up gossip, talking back and forth.
"So you are being sponsored by Xu Sirui now? No wonder you come to him so often."
"Fortunately, you were supported by his family, otherwise it would have been so miserable."
"Did your parents really force you to marry an old man?"
"Your place is too horrible. It's the 21st century and you still have this kind of thing going on."
"I didn't expect you to have such a hard time."
Did they say something very vicious? No... Zhu Yingning thought slowly.
They even seemed to care about her.
But even though there wasn't any such thing, why did these words, falling into the air filled with the aroma of coffee, sound like countless slaps in her face, burning hotly?
She felt indescribably embarrassed.
This overwhelming embarrassment, like a tsunami, cruelly engulfed her, standing on the shore with nowhere to hide, suffocating her in the deep current, squeezing her toward the darkness of the deep sea. Her hometown suddenly transformed from a faded portrait into patches on old clothes, holes in socks, and the unraveling lines on the collar of a T-shirt. Her chest swelled with an unprecedented sense of embarrassment, and for the first time, she tried to hide her head, as if covering an ugly birthmark.
Feng Da and Guo Yingying didn't notice her abnormality and continued to talk excitedly. Just when she felt that she was about to melt into the seat and turn into a puddle of sewage and flow away from here, the French window beside her was suddenly knocked hard from outside.
A knock.
Zhu Yingning shuddered and looked in the direction of the voice.
She saw Xu Sirui standing outside the French window, his tall figure reflected in the French window, with a ghostly aura and a face as dark as Bao Gong. He didn't look at Feng Da and the others, but only stared at her, mouthing, "Come out."
"...Sorry." She pointed outside the floor-to-ceiling window at Xu Sirui who seemed to be there to collect a debt, and apologized to Feng Da and Guo Yingying that she had to leave. Then she hunched her shoulders and left her seat dejectedly. She dejectedly rolled to the front desk to pay for her drink, and dejectedly came to Xu Sirui again.
Seeing her come out, he still ignored Feng Da inside, turned around and led the way, striding forward, and said unhappily: "Why are you with them?"
Zhu Yingning didn't know what he was angry about, but after being interrupted by him, the embarrassment that had just been so strong that it seemed to drown her disappeared. She hurried to catch up with him and asked curiously, "Can't I be with them?"
"No." Xu Sirui glared at her unreasonably.
"Why?"
"No reason. Are you familiar with them?"
She curled her lips and quietly defended herself: "I'm not familiar with it. It's because Feng Da invited me that I..."
"Just because he invites you, you have to agree? Even if you don't know him well, you agree? Next time a beggar appears on the roadside and invites you to scavenge, are you going to pick up some trash and go with him?"
“…”
She was just about to persuade herself not to argue with Xu Sirui, who was in a rebellious phase and would remain so for a long time, when she suddenly came to her senses and angrily said, "You're mean to me? How dare you be mean to me? I haven't even argued with you about turning in your paper early! And why are you here? I thought you went home, so you didn't go back. Would you rather wander around outside doing nothing than stay in the classroom and check the paper twice more?"
“…”
This time it was Xu Sirui's turn to remain silent. He didn't answer, and of course didn't look back. He just quietly quickened his pace, trying to shake her off without making a sound.
"Xu, Si, Rui——"
Zhu Yingning chased after him with gritted teeth.
**
During the National Day holiday, the flow of people was huge. Zhu Zhiwei's clothing store not only did not close, but also held a big promotion, and business was extremely hot. Zhu Yingning ran to her every few days, so busy that she had no time to pay attention to Xu Sirui.
On the fifth day of the holiday, she changed into her work clothes and followed Yi Yi to other floors to distribute flyers and solicit customers.
The building was bustling with people, and they struggled to navigate the crowd. With her previous experience handing out flyers on the street, Zhu Yingning had developed a thick skin. Regardless of whether the other party accepted or refused, she would just say thank you and hand the flyer over. Most people, unable to react, would instinctively take it. After handing the flyer to a young couple, Zhu Yingning realized belatedly that they seemed to be someone she knew. Looking up, both she and the couple were startled.
Dai Yize said, "Fuck, why are you here?"
He was carrying bags of cosmetics and women's clothing. Shao Yanjun was behind him, using a folding mirror to touch up her lipstick. Upon hearing this, she raised her eyelids and looked over. She raised her eyebrows indifferently and asked slowly, "Are you working here?"
As soon as she finished saying "yes", Shao Yanjun raised the corner of his mouth, lowered his head and glanced at the flyer briefly, and said, "Interesting." He patted Dai Yize's shoulder and made a decisive decision, "Let's go and take a look."
"Where are you going?"
"This is the shop where the country girl works."
Zhu Yingning: “…”
She thought for a few seconds before realizing that the little country girl was describing her.
Dai Yize seemed unhappy and kept mumbling and complaining: "I have so many things in my hands, why don't we go back first? There's nothing good about Tu Niu's store. It must be as tacky as her."
But it was obvious that between him and Shao Yanjun, Shao Yanjun was the one who had the final say. She walked quickly according to the address on the flyer, and Dai Yize could only follow her humbly like a weakling of the big boss.
Zhu Yingning should have continued distributing flyers, but the more she thought about it, the more anxious she became, worried that Zhu Zhiwei would be bullied. After hesitating for a moment, she said goodbye to Yi Yi and turned around to catch up with them.
When they arrived at the destination, Shao Yanjun and Dai Yize were a little confused, as if they didn't expect that the place where she worked was so "high-end". They stood at the door and looked up and down at the store for a long time, and finally stepped in when Zhu Yingning greeted them, "Come in and take a look."
"Oh my God... I can't believe it." Dai Yize seemed to no longer feel the weight of the bags in her hands. She rolled up her arms, put all the bags in her arms, and walked among the clothes racks like a lady patrolling the streets.
Five minutes later, he picked out a dress and asked Shao Yanjun, "Do you want to go to the fitting room to try it on? I think this dress suits you very well."
Shao Yanjun was squatting on the ground choosing leg-exposing artifacts and underwear. Hearing this, he didn't even raise his head: "No need, I trust your taste. Go and pay."
"What are you picking?" Dai Yize came over holding the skirt.
"Stockings, bra."
"This pattern is nice." Dai Yize reached out and picked up a lace bra. His expression was normal and his tone was steady, as if what he was holding in his hand was not a bra, but a rag that could be used to wipe the table.
Zhu Yingning was watching on the side, stunned. On the one hand, she was shocked by the boldness and unrestrainedness of their topic, and on the other hand, she was shocked that they actually had the courtesy to spend money here.
When she paid the bill for them, she felt dizzy.
"Give me a discount." Dai Yize said suddenly.
Zhu Yingning glanced at the checkout interface, confirmed it, and said, "It's already discounted."
"You're using the discount for your National Day event, so why not give us a classmate discount as well?"
Classmates fold...
She was secretly chewing on this novel expression when Zhu Zhiwei came out from behind her and asked with a smile, "Are you Ningning's friends?"
Zhu Zhiwei's temperament made her look like a store manager. Dai Yize immediately perked up, stood at attention, straightened his crooked posture, and nodded shamelessly, "Yes, sister, we are here to take care of Ningning's business."
Ningning...
Zhu Yingning got goosebumps from being so disgusted by his sudden nickname. She shivered and was about to say something when Zhu Zhiwei spoke first, "Okay, thank you for taking care of Ningning. I'll give you an extra discount. On top of the half-price National Day promotion, I'll give you an additional 15% off."
"Thank you, sister! You're such a kind person!" Dai Yize's face was almost wrinkled with laughter. When he glanced at Zhu Yingning, his eyes secretly added a hint of threat, as if to say, "Pay the bill quickly, or I'll beat you to death if you dare to say anything more." She had no choice but to swallow her saliva and give them an extra discount.
After paying the bill, Shao Yanjun threw all the bags to Dai Yize, took out her mirror to touch up her makeup, and strode out of the store. Dai Yize followed her happily, and in the blink of an eye, the two were swallowed up by the crowd, coming and going in a hurry, and disappeared without a trace.
Zhu Yingning then withdrew her gaze and said to Zhu Zhiwei embarrassedly, "Sister Weiwei, please deduct the money from my salary." The National Day sale was already approaching the cost price, and with a 15% discount on a dozen, the business had directly turned into a loss-making business, which made her anxious just watching.
Zhu Zhiwei glared at her unhappily: "If you keep talking nonsense, I'll cut you."
"...Don't cut me." She pursed her lips, knowing that Zhu Zhiwei would not argue with her about the money, but she still felt bad, so she secretly decided to treat her to a meal after she got her salary, and she would go to the Chinese restaurant she had taken her to before.
**
It was already 8:30 in the evening when Zhu Yingning got home from work. She took off her shoes at the entrance and found that Xu Zhengkang's shoes were not at the door, but there were Xu Sirui's shoes and a pair of unfamiliar men's sneakers.
It seems that Xu Sirui's friend is here to visit.
She was just silently guessing who it could be when she heard a furious roar suddenly erupt from Xu Sirui's bedroom: "F---...Xu Sirui, when will you grow up? Can you stop being so childish?!"
It was Sun Mingyuan's voice.
She was pressed against the door, barely conscious of Sun Mingyuan's uncontrolled roar. The next second, even more uncontrolled banging erupted from Xu Sirui's bedroom. Then, with a bang, the bedroom door was violently flung open, the fragile door clattering against the wall with a groaning sound. Xu Sirui burst out, his face as sullen as water, like a demon, his face brimming with the aura of a slayer, ready to slay any god who stood in his way.
People have an instinctive sense of dangerous situations. Zhu Yingning was not stupid enough to offend him at this time, so he quickly moved aside to make room for the door.
As expected, Xu Sirui didn't even look at her. He put on his shoes and kicked the door hard, which was not closed properly. It made a teeth-grinding creaking sound, and then he left without looking back.
After he left, it took a full three minutes for Zhu Yingning's rapid heartbeat to calm down. She moved her aching legs, wanting to go to Xu Sirui's room to check on him. However, she hadn't taken a few steps when Sun Mingyuan ran out, holding his nose. He was stunned when he saw her.
"……Hi."
Zhu Yingning felt that she might have been frightened out of her mind by what happened just now. She actually raised her hand and said "Hi" to Sun Mingyuan like a fool.
Sun Mingyuan probably didn't expect her to be outside, nor did he expect her to greet him like this. He was silent for a few seconds, raised his other hand, responded with a "hi", and nodded politely at her.
At this point, blood immediately spurted out of his nose from the hand he was covering.
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