Chapter 51
Another burst of fireworks exploded, bursting into colorful and dazzling displays in the night sky, eliciting gasps from the crowd who all raised their phones to take pictures.
However, at this moment, Xu Qingzhou stared at Chi Jun as if he had suddenly lost his hearing.
The sounds of fireworks, conversations, and exclamations all vanished, as if a vacuum glass dome had suddenly fallen, isolating everyone and everything except for Chi Jun's words, which echoed endlessly within the dome.
"I hope Zhouzhou likes me."
"I hope Zhouzhou likes me."
"I hope Zhouzhou likes me."
How could this be?
Wasn't Chi Jun always worried that she had ulterior motives towards him?
Why would she wish that... she liked him?
Shock and confusion intertwined in her mind, a jumble of thoughts that froze into a chaotic mess. Xu Qingzhou finally couldn't hold back any longer. She stared at Chi Jun with wide, round eyes in astonishment.
Chi Jun also looked down at her.
His gaze seemed deep in the flickering light of the fireworks.
Amidst the rising fireworks and the interplay of light and shadow, the two stared at each other in silence for a full five seconds.
Chi Jun suddenly smiled.
He seemed to have heard a very funny joke, putting one hand on Xu Qingzhou's shoulder and clutching his stomach with the other, laughing so hard he was bent over.
Xu Qingzhou only felt Chi Jun's arm, which was resting on her shoulder, trembling slightly. She was puzzled by his laughter until, after laughing for a while, Chi Jun, with a smirk, mischievously reached out and flicked her ear twice.
"What, Zhouzhou's hearing isn't deaf anymore?"
Xu Qingzhou: "..."
She should have known...
Chi Jun was just joking on purpose, trying to scare her.
That's true. He's such a playful person. He's probably made similar jokes with countless girls before. Didn't he say things like "I suspect you have ulterior motives towards me" before?
So it's really not surprising that he made that joke.
Thinking of this, the slight displeasure that had just surfaced in my heart was quietly suppressed.
Even Xu Qingzhou herself didn't know why she had felt a little angry just a moment ago.
*
The fireworks show was originally scheduled to last for twenty minutes.
About ten minutes later, Li Rui worried that it would be difficult to walk back later, and asked Chi Jun and the others if they wanted to walk.
Anyway, the fireworks weren't anything special; they were all the same old tricks. Everyone agreed, and as they squeezed their way out of the crowd, Li Rui was still nagging about going to that Sichuan restaurant for a late-night snack, so as not to waste this New Year's Eve.
Chi Jun turned to Xu Qingzhou and asked if he wanted to go.
When Xu Qingzhou heard him ask this question, and then remembered that Chi Jun hadn't eaten much that evening, he nodded.
The Sichuan restaurant isn't far away; it's a ten-minute walk with two turns.
It seemed that no one wanted to waste New Year's Eve sleeping. Even at this hour, the Sichuan restaurant was still packed with guests and bustling with activity. Xu Qingzhou and his group had to wait in line for a while before they were able to get a table.
The menu was passed around among several people.
Xu Qingzhou didn't have any particular dishes in mind. Seeing that the three people in front of him had ordered very spicy dishes, he was worried that he couldn't handle it, so he also ordered a serving of iced glutinous rice balls and a serving of crispy pork.
After waiting for a while, the dishes were served one after another.
Li Ming was a lively person, chattering away at the dinner table like a cheerful little sparrow. She not only added Chi Jun on WeChat and mocked her brother Li Rui, but also frequently asked Xu Qingzhou:
"Sister Zhouzhou, can I have some of your glutinous rice balls?"
"Sister Zhouzhou, I want to try your crispy pork."
"Sister Zhouzhou, is your salted lemon soda good? Can I have a sip?"
Xu Qingzhou was naturally not stingy.
She politely and kindly shared half of her food with Li Ming. Li Ming, biting into a glutinous rice ball, smiled happily and said, "Sister Zhouzhou, you're so kind. You're the kindest person I've ever met!"
Xu Qingzhou smiled sheepishly and was eating slowly and casually when suddenly, a burst of enthusiastic applause and cheers, along with whistles, rang out from the northwest corner of the shop.
Everyone turned to look at the source of the voice, and saw a young man in a shop assistant's uniform walk to the center of the shop, holding a white doll that was almost half a person's height, and say:
"Now, it's time for our most exciting part! The eating contest!"
“Same as always,” he pointed to the table next to him with hamburgers, “whoever eats the most of these spicy chicken burgers on the table gets their meal for free that night, and they also get this fox plushie I’m holding!”
Upon hearing this, the young people in the audience who loved to join in the fun applauded and began to nominate people from their table to participate in the competition.
Soon, two or three chubby men went up.
The shop assistant holds up the doll:
"Is there any more? Is there any more?"
Xu Qingzhou was eating glutinous rice balls when he stared at the white fox doll in the shop assistant's hand and couldn't help but glance at it a few more times.
Just then, Li Ming pushed Li Rui hard from the opposite side:
"Cousin, you should go too. Whether it's free or not is another matter, I just want that fox!"
Li Rui glanced at her and said, "Just say you want me to die of hunger."
Just then, Chi Jun stood up.
"I'll go."
Xu Qingzhou knew that Chi Jun loved excitement and fun, but he really didn't expect him to participate in this kind of activity. He was a little shocked and before he could persuade him to reconsider, Li Ming across from him had already started yelling at Li Rui:
"Look at you, what kind of older brother are you? It's one thing to be less handsome than others, but you're also so clueless—"
Li Rui had been compared to Chi Jun all night, and her self-esteem had been trampled to the ground. She thought that even this was a competition. She thought, "Isn't this just a competition to eat?"
He's not as good-looking as Xu Jun, not as good at games as Xu Jun, not as good at basketball as Xu Jun, but surely he can't even be worse than Xu Jun at eating, right?!
He simply refused to believe it!
So, without even swallowing the mouthful of tripe in his mouth, Li Rui spat it into the trash can with a "whoosh," rolled up his sleeves, and stood up.
"Fine, I'll go! I'll win you a plush toy tonight!"
Li Ming stared at the trash can with disdain:
"Alas--"
*
There were eight men sitting in a row at the long table, each with a pile of hamburgers wrapped in oil paper in front of them.
The crowd was packed with onlookers, three or four deep. Since Chi Jun was also a contestant, Xu Qingzhou squeezed his way to the front. Before the competition began, he even wrote down some instructions on a piece of paper:
If you can't handle the spiciness, don't eat it; it'll upset your stomach.
Don't eat until you're stuffed; if you can't finish, that's fine too.
Chi Jun turned his head and gestured with his chin at her.
"Just you wait and see."
Xu Qingzhou put away the paper and pen, looking at him with some concern.
Soon, with a whistle from the staff, the men at the table began to wolf down their food.
Chi Jun ate quickly, but his eating manners were not bad at all. On the contrary, he ate in a neat and clean way. In addition, he was also very good-looking. Before he knew it, Xu Qingzhou was pushed to the side by the girls who enthusiastically came forward to cheer him on.
"Go! Go! Go!"
"come on!"
A chubby man saw his wife standing in front of Chi Jun, cheering him on. He was so angry that his eyes almost popped out of their sockets. He threw his hamburger aside and refused to eat it.
"Who the hell are you cheering for, you old hag? Your husband's right here!"
A burst of laughter erupted from the crowd.
The man simply stopped competing, got up, and dragged his wife outside.
"Let's go, let's go, let's stop competing, let's go back and eat!"
Meanwhile, a skinny boy, his face flushed red from the spiciness, downed the water in his cup in one gulp and waved to his companion.
"I can't take it anymore, it's too spicy, it's making my teeth hurt."
After saying that, he took a bottle of water from his friend, drank it to relieve the spiciness, and watched others eat with great interest.
About five minutes later, three more men gave up.
However, it wasn't because they couldn't handle the spiciness, but because they had eaten so many large hamburgers that they were completely stuffed. One person even let out a "yue" sound as soon as he stood up, covered his mouth, and scrambled towards the toilet.
A burst of merciless laughter erupted from the crowd.
In the end, only three contestants remained—Chi Jun, Li Rui, and another unnamed man.
Clearly, the unknown man was almost too full to eat anymore. He ate the hamburger slower and slower until finally, unable to bear it any longer, he clutched his stomach and waved his hand.
"No, I really can't go on."
The man announced the end of the battle, leaving only Chi Jun and Li Rui on the battlefield.
Li Rui had been mocked by his cousin all night and was determined to save face. While wolfing down his food, he didn't forget to hurl insults at Chi Jun, trying to overwhelm him with his imposing manner.
"Xu Jun, I'm going to beat you tonight."
"Xu Jun, if you lose later, you'll have to kneel down and call me daddy!"
"Xu Jun, I may not be as good-looking as you, but I'm an expert at eating!"
"..."
However, five minutes later—
"Xu Jun, are you a hippopotamus in disguise? How can you eat so much?!"
"Xu Jun, you son of a bitch, stop eating! Stop eating, do you hear me?"
"Xu Jun, give me some face, damn it!"
With the hamburger almost filling his throat, and no matter how much he pleaded, Tian Chijun showed no sign of stopping, Li Rui closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and decided to focus his energy and continue the fight.
Unexpectedly, as he gathered his strength and raised his hands upwards, before he could even press them down—
A sudden "yue" came out of nowhere, and before anyone could react, Li Rui spat it out!
Amidst panicked screams, the onlookers scattered in all directions.
Li Rui, holding onto the table, was still waving.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry... yue..."
In the end, Li Rui finished as runner-up, suffering the embarrassing result of vomiting.
Chi Jun successfully won first place, not only earning a free meal for tonight, but also winning the white fox plush toy.
However, Li Rui, who ate until he vomited, didn't lose too much, as he still got a mask as a reward.
However, the mask had a blue face with fangs and a few tufts of hair on its face, making it look really ugly and scary.
Looking at Chi Jun again, there was almost no abnormality on his face, and even his protruding belly was not very obvious. He was holding a white fox doll that was half his height in his arms, and he still looked as dashing and debonair as ever.
Li Rui felt increasingly resentful as he looked at the mask. After hastily finishing his acceptance speech, he threw the ugly mask onto the table before even reaching it.
"Take this, Li Ming. You're only fit for this mask now."
Li Ming rolled his eyes at him.
"You're the one who's worthy of it!"
After saying that, she put down her chopsticks and happily went to greet the doll in Chi Jun's arms. But when she got there, Chi Jun stepped aside and passed the doll directly to Xu Qingzhou.
Xu Qingzhou brought a piece of spicy chicken to his mouth with his chopsticks and froze.
She pointed to herself in confusion: "For me?"
Chi Jun raised his chin:
"What are you standing there for? Hug me!"
Xu Qingzhou then realized that Chi Jun had participated in the competition because of her.
She only glanced at the doll because it was cute and resembled Chi Jun in his fox form. Since the hamburgers for the competition were spicy and huge, she never even considered participating or letting anyone else participate.
But Chi Jun still found out.
As Xu Qingzhou received the doll, a warm and tender feeling filled her heart.
It felt as if the doll wasn't being held in one's arms, but rather completely filling one's heart.
She took out paper and pen:
【Thank you】
Chi Jun chuckled but didn't say anything.
Xu Qingzhou: [Are you alright? Is your stomach upset?]
"Very good."
Seeing that he was indeed acting normally, Xu Qingzhou gradually felt relieved.
At the same time, Li Ming also realized what was going on.
At the time, she thought that Chi Jun had volunteered to participate in the competition to win a doll for her because Li Rui had refused to participate in the competition for her.
Unexpectedly, it was all for his younger sister...
Although it was an awkward situation, Li Ming was a straightforward person. Seeing that the doll had already been given to Xu Qingzhou, she immediately offered to buy it again.
"Sister Zhouzhou, what price do you want? I'll buy it."
This scene seems somewhat familiar.
Chi Jun couldn't help but turn his head to glance at Xu Qingzhou.
The little girl, clutching her doll, looked apologetically at Li Ming and shook her head.
Li Ming didn't expect that Xu Qingzhou, who had such a good personality and had been so accommodating to her every request all night, would refuse her without hesitation when she asked to buy a doll.
She was stunned for a moment, but then she realized that Xu Qingzhou did indeed value this doll.
"Oh well."
She sat back down at the table and was about to pick up her chopsticks when Li Rui threw that ugly mask in front of her again.
"Why would you want a doll? Look at this mask, it looks like you with its blue face and fangs."
"..."
Li Ming: "Take it away, it's hideous!"
Li Rui felt very sad. Even as he walked back after finishing his meal, he kept muttering about the mask he had painstakingly obtained by eating until he vomited. At first glance, it was a bit ugly, but upon closer inspection, it was quite imposing.
For example, hanging it at home can ward off evil spirits, and even thieves will be scared to death if they see it.
As he spoke, he took advantage of the darkness to tell the two girls ghost stories.
"That ghost was a lecherous one, who only liked to pick on virgin girls. At night, he would put on a mask and sneak into girls' rooms..."
As he spoke, he put on the mask and began to act out the scene vividly, reaching out with both hands to feel around:
"Pretty girl...pretty girl, don't run away~~~~~"
Chi Jun laughed: "Isn't it a monster? How did it become a Japanese devil?"
Li Rui ignored him and continued to chase after the two girls who were running ahead with a grin.
Perhaps it was the darkness of the night, but Li Rui's mask was indeed quite frightening. He deliberately staggered forward, chasing after the two little girls, who screamed and ran away, but he also smiled playfully on his face.
As he ran, Xu Qingzhou suddenly stopped in front of a bridge.
She held the doll and looked at the point where the river met the bridge.
It was already past midnight, and the red and blue lights of police cars were still flashing on the bridge. There was a cordon around the area, blocking several onlookers who hadn't gone home yet. Some of them were holding fishing rods, probably fishermen who were night fishing.
Li Rui also felt something was off, so he took off his mask and went over to take a look.
Several people were seen carrying something from both sides up the bridge where it met the riverbank. As the streetlights shone on the object and it got closer, Li Ming suddenly screamed, covered his eyes, and pressed his head against Li Rui's chest.
Li Rui also gasped instantly.
Damn... it's a corpse!
At this moment, Chi Jun also walked over.
Several people were carrying the body and putting it into a van. Under the dim light of the street lamp, the body was already swollen from being soaked in the river, and one of the shoes on the right foot had fallen off.
And it was that right foot, which had lost a shoe, that firmly captured Xu Qingzhou's gaze at that moment.
Because there was a very noticeable large black mole on the deceased's right ankle.
That mole, the same size, the same black mole...
Xu Qingzhou had seen it in another person—
Zhang Pengfei!
With a sudden buzzing in his mind, Xu Qingzhou was completely stunned.
My body, which was warm from running just now, now feels like it's been soaked in icy river water, chilling me to the bone.
She turned her head stiffly, inch by inch, and cast her gaze at Chi Jun.
Chi Jun was also staring at the deceased's foot.
Xu Qingzhou knew that when he was in his fox form, he always liked to circle around Zhang Pengfei's legs, so he couldn't possibly not remember that Zhang Pengfei also had a large black mole that looked exactly the same.
Even so, she clung to the last shred of pitiful hope, silently praying:
Chi Jun won't remember.
He won't remember.
He won't.
However, the last glimmer of hope Xu Qingzhou held was utterly shattered by the voices of the police officers over there—
"We've contacted the hospital, and they said the deceased, Zhang Pengfei, had late-stage pancreatic cancer and did indeed escape from their hospital a month ago..."
Zhang Pengfei.
Zhang Pengfei.
These three words struck Xu Qingzhou's head like heavy hammer blows.
She was holding the doll in her arms, and for a moment, she almost lost her balance.
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