Chapter 75 Gossip is neither beautiful nor romantic
After hearing his question, she seemed surprised and began to think deeply.
Xu Sirui was furious when he saw that she still needed to think before answering this question. Just as he was about to taunt her, "Are you trying to make a list?" she finally moved, softly uttering two words: "No."
Although there were only two words, he seemed to be smoothed out and his anger subsided a little.
Then she raised her head, looked him straight in the eyes, and said sincerely, "You are more important to me than anyone else. You are special."
“…”
His cheeks flushed slightly, as if boiling water had been poured over him, and he immediately shouted back, "Are you being cheesy? Are you disgusting?"
"What's so corny or disgusting about it?" Zhu Yingning exclaimed in surprise. "I was just saying what was on my mind." After a pause, she commented, "You're the one who's so awkward, Xu Sirui."
She spread out her heart, as if dissecting out delicate textures with a scalpel, with bright red blood beating in her heart. She was never afraid of being refuted or hurt.
He knew she had the ability to speak her truth without hesitation, but he still couldn't handle the situation calmly. He sat there for several minutes, unable to muster a calm response. The heat on his face only grew as she looked at him. He simply stood up and covered it up with a, "I'm going to the bathroom to wash my hands."
"Oh, okay, go ahead." She watched him leave.
Not long after, the waiter came over and served the snacks. Zhu Yingning moved the envelope away and put it away to avoid being splashed with oil. When Xu Sirui came back, she stood up and said, "I'll go wash my hands too. You can eat first."
"It's okay. I'll wait for you."
After he agreed, he subconsciously wanted to take out his cell phone or game console to kill time. He felt nothing in his trouser pocket and then remembered that he had left all his electronic products at Zhang Lin's house before going out. This was because he didn't want to get addicted to games in the middle of the meal and take out a cell phone to play non-stop, which would be very rude to her.
Sometimes he hoped he didn't care enough, sometimes he hoped he was polite enough. Xu Sirui felt like a fool. He sighed, tapped his fingers on the table to count the beats, and looked out the window at the night view with his chin in his hand, bored.
The women's restroom was on the first floor. Following the waiter's instructions, Zhu Yingning quickly found her spot. After washing her hands, she was about to head upstairs when she heard a voice that was both familiar and unfamiliar coming from the table next to her. She paused, turned around, and realized it was Feng Da.
Feng Da and a dozen or so people who looked like they were from the same school sat around a high table. Next to him sat Guo Yingying. Guo Yingying seemed a little angry, her face dark, her lips pressed into a hard line.
Zhu Yingning wanted to go up and say hello, but seeing Guo Yingying's expression, she thought it might not be convenient for them right now. She raised her leg and tried to continue walking up. The next second, she heard someone say, "He usually pretends so much, I really can't tell his family is..."
"Yeah, if I hadn't had a relative working in the court and seen the verdict of his family's case, even Yingying and I would have been kept in the dark by him." Feng Da stirred the drink in his cup with a spoon and said, "His father must have spent all the remaining money on public relations. Now there is no report of his family's incident on the Internet. I heard that their family had an accident at the end of the recording of the variety show, so the variety show was shortened by a few episodes compared to the first season. I guess the producer of the variety show was also bribed by his father, and no information was leaked at all." He sighed and said, "If the parents are like this, the children they raise will definitely be..."
Variety show?
Zhu Yingning quickly caught the key words in their conversation. She instinctively knew they were talking about Xu Sirui, and judging by Feng Da's words, they were definitely not good. Her heart felt like it was tied to a huge rock, sinking rapidly.
"That's enough." Guo Yingying suddenly raised her head and interrupted Feng Da, "Stop talking."
Feng Da wore a calm smile on his face and spoke softly in a comforting tone, "It's okay, Yingying. Who hasn't made mistakes when they were young? He's so good at pretending that he even fooled me. It's normal for you to like him..."
"I've said enough!" Guo Yingying roared, her face flushed. She grabbed her bag that was on the chair next to her, turned around and ran away.
A classmate laughed and said, "Feng Da, you pissed off Ji Hua, why did you point out her secret crush directly?"
He shrugged and smiled: "She should learn to face reality."
"But you said Xu Sirui's mother went to jail. For such a big thing, there should be some substantial evidence. Otherwise, just relying on your words..." someone raised doubts.
Feng Da said calmly: "Of course there is evidence. How could I be the kind of person who would make up rumors out of thin air?"
He took out an old newspaper from his backpack and handed it to everyone.
The person sitting opposite him wanted to reach out to take it, but before he touched the corner of the newspaper, a hand reached out from the corner, passed over him, took the newspaper, and tore it into pieces in front of everyone.
Under everyone's horrified gaze, Zhu Yingning crumpled up the newspaper crumbs and slowly but decisively stuffed them into Feng Da's glass, bit by bit.
The unfinished drink soaked the crumpled newspaper, the smell of ink mixed with the sweet smell of saccharin, and the atmosphere was dead and stagnant.
It wasn't known how long it took before Feng Da finally came out of his petrified state. He chuckled softly, as if he hadn't noticed what she had done, and greeted her as if nothing had happened: "Yingning, are you here for dinner too?"
"Don't call me by my name." Her face darkened, and her voice was not loud but very clear. "I feel sick."
Feng Da's smile faded.
"You're Xu Sirui's friend, right?" She was furious and incredulous, saying with extreme disappointment, "He considers you a friend, how could you fabricate rumors about him like this?!"
"Really? I'm spreading rumors?" Feng Da seemed to find it incredible. He laughed twice and said softly, "Yingning, you were deceived by him. His mother is in prison. He didn't tell you, right?"
"Try saying that nonsense again!!"
She completely empathized with Guo Yingying's sudden outburst. When people are excited, it's really hard to control their voices. One moment they might be calm and collected, and the next, like a firecracker, their voices exponentially explode. She even wanted to grab the glass she had mangled and dump the newspaper crumbs and drink inside on Feng Da's head, but she held back. She dug her nails into her palms, forcing herself to calm down. She faced the table full of people and explained, "Xu Sirui's mother was simply assigned to work out of town. Don't listen to his nonsense. Spreading rumors is not only unethical, it's illegal!"
If she hadn't added that last, scripted addition, everyone at the table might have been fooled by her, but as soon as she added the statement that spreading rumors was illegal, those with low sense of humor couldn't hold back their laughter and burst out laughing.
Feng Da was also laughing, but not outright, but rather a scornful laugh. He wiped the tears from his eyes and said, "Sent to work abroad? Did he tell you that?"
His contemptuous laughter made her even more irritable, her blood boiling. She stood there and took a few deep breaths. She wanted to say something more angrily, but before she opened her mouth, someone grabbed her wrist from behind.
Everyone who was laughing slowly stopped laughing.
Zhu Yingning looked down at the slender white fingers gripping her wrist, and her heart skipped a beat - Damn it, he heard everything.
Xu Sirui stood behind her and spoke in a cold voice, with only one word: "Go."
Although it was just one word, one could tell that this "go" was the result of intense suppression. The voice was hoarse from endurance and on the verge of going berserk.
She didn't move, feeling that this matter shouldn't be let go like this. What would it mean to leave like this? What if Feng Da continued to make up stories? But Xu Sirui pulled her hard from behind, almost breaking her wrist. She stumbled as he pulled her away, quickly retreating under the gazes of everyone, some of whom were either probing or watching the show.
When they reached the first floor door, Zhu Yingning realized that he wanted to leave. She quickly pulled her wrist back and said anxiously, "Xu Sirui, we didn't do anything wrong. Why should we leave?"
Xu Sirui then stopped and turned half his body to look at her. His face was frighteningly dark, and his eyes were slightly red with some kind of anger. He gritted his teeth and said, "Because I'm ashamed." His voice was trembling.
She was stunned: "...Do you think I'm embarrassing?"
"I'm so fucking ashamed of myself!!" He suddenly raised his voice, and the last syllable broke with excitement.
"What do you have to be ashamed of?!" She was also angry. "Isn't it just that he made the wrong friends? He's not the only friend I have in my life! He's slandering me and backstabbing his friends. He should be the one feeling ashamed!"
"Damn it!" Xu Sirui collapsed instantly and roared, "Do you have to admit with my own mouth that everything he said is true before you will believe it?! Yes!! Everything he said is true, that's why I feel ashamed of myself. Are you satisfied?!"
After he finished yelling, all the guests at the door looked over in surprise. Zhu Yingning's head was buzzing and her eardrums were aching. Her heart was beating fast, but this speed had nothing to do with shyness or emotion; it was simply the shock of the truth.
……What's the meaning?
Could it be that Zhou Tianlan was really in prison as Feng Da said, instead of being sent to work elsewhere?
Her pupils constricted, and she stared blankly and bewilderedly at Xu Sirui standing before her. He roared at the top of his lungs, still gasping for breath afterward, his eyes red and his body trembling slightly, as if he couldn't control his muscle contractions.
Before she could fully process his words, he shook her wrist off and left without a word.
It was not until his back disappeared around the corner of the street that she came back to her senses. She stamped her feet and tried to catch up with him. After running two steps, she realized that the food and money were still on the second floor.
What should I do? Should I chase him first or go back upstairs to pack up the food and then take the money?
If this were an idol drama, the protagonist would definitely choose the former without hesitation, and would not even have such a disgusting conflict in her heart. But unfortunately, reality is so unaesthetic and unromantic. It only took her three seconds to decide to go back upstairs first. After all, Xu Sirui was such a grown-up that it was unlikely that he would be abducted and sold, but his money could really be stolen.
Not only did she go back upstairs, but she also inevitably passed by Feng Da and his table again.
Everyone at the table - including Feng Da - watched her walk over in silence. After five or six minutes, they watched her walk away in silence carrying the packing box and envelope.
Zhu Yingning came to the cashier and wanted to pay the bill. When she asked, the waiter behind the cashier said, "The boy you were with just came back to pay the bill."
“…”
She imagined the scene where Xu Sirui walked away angrily, but turned back halfway to pay the bill. She felt like laughing and crying, and at the same time she felt so aggrieved that she wanted to find a sandbag to beat him up, or tear off all her clothes and run around the street howling like a monkey.
What a hell of a day.
What a fucked up reality.
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