Chapter 73
Through the rain, a person holding a black umbrella could be vaguely seen. As they got closer, it became clear that the person was wearing a light-colored hoodie, black pants, and white shoes.
The outfit was very ordinary, but the face behind the umbrella, slightly raised, suddenly gained a lot of inexplicable sophistication. Even the originally messy, continuous rain seemed to become the background in an instant.
Zhang Zhiming's family is relatively well-off. Although they don't wear luxury items from head to toe, a few pieces of clothing and a few pairs of sneakers would still cost two or three thousand yuan.
In addition, he pays attention to his image management. Even though he has an ordinary appearance, he dresses neatly and cleanly, and with his brightly colored and high-quality clothes, he exudes a sharp and handsome aura from the inside out.
However, this kind of "coolness" is based on inner confidence.
When the foundation is unstable, this self-identified "coolness" naturally becomes unstable as well, and it teeters on the brink of collapse in the wind.
At that moment, Zhang Zhiming felt like a groundhog.
It's still a groundhog dressed in red and green, trying its best to disguise itself as a noble and elegant pet mouse.
He felt embarrassed, but this also gave rise to a strong sense of crisis.
Who are you?
Zhang Zhiming stared at the person in front of him, his tone quite unfriendly.
The person in front of him seemed to sense his hostility, glancing at him indifferently, their voice soft but carrying a hint of mockery.
And who are you?
Zhang Zhiming took a breath and forced himself to stay calm.
"Zhang Zhiming".
As he spoke, he turned to look at Xu Qingzhou and added, "Xu Qingzhou's friend."
The person opposite him twitched the corner of their mouth, their face expressionless.
"Oh, my name is Xu Jun."
The moment those words left his mouth, any lingering hope Zhang Zhiming had was instantly shattered.
Xu Jun.
He certainly remembered that name.
Xu Qingzhou just mentioned that her boyfriend's name is Xu Jun.
He had initially thought it was just a made-up excuse she was using to reject him, but unexpectedly, the real Xu Jun was standing right in front of him, and indeed, just as Xu Qingzhou had said—
She's better looking than him.
She's taller than him.
Her temperament... is better than his...
Zhang Zhiming's heart sank, feeling as if the sky had fallen. Xu Qingzhou, standing beside him, wasn't feeling much better—
When she saw Chi Jun suddenly appear, her first reaction was, of course, surprise.
After all, it had been a fox for so long, how could it suddenly turn into a human again?
what happened?
However, the matter is already settled, and we can ask questions later. Right now, there is a more serious problem: she just lied to Zhang Zhiming and said that Xu Jun was her boyfriend.
When she lied, she never imagined that Chi Jun, who was supposed to be a fox, would suddenly appear here.
Now that Chi Jun has appeared, Zhang Zhiming is very likely to test him, whether openly or secretly, to see if he is really Xu Qingzhou's boyfriend.
The two had always referred to each other as brother and sister in public.
Now that Zhang Zhiming is suddenly probing and questioning her, can Chi Jun react quickly and help her cover up the lie?
Even if she helps to smooth things over, won't he feel like she's caused him trouble?
After all, he might have to constantly explain this lie to others in the future, and it might even affect his future relationships with girls...
Just now, in order to make Zhang Zhiming give up, Xu Qingzhou didn't think much and directly brought up Chi Jun's name. Now that Chi Jun himself has appeared, she belatedly realizes just how troublesome this lie is.
In a moment of urgency, Xu Qingzhou stepped forward first.
She wanted to leave without saying a word, completely severing any further communication between Chi Jun and Zhang Zhiming.
She didn't care whether Zhang Zhiming would think she was guilty because of this; her only thought right now was not to trouble Chi Jun with this.
As for Zhang Zhiming's side, she even shamelessly planned that she could later make up an excuse that he misheard the name, that it was "Xu Jun," "Qu Jun," or even any "Jun" would do—anything but "Xu Jun."
He reached out his hand towards Chi Jun's arm.
Unexpectedly, it was intercepted by Chi Jun's hand in mid-air.
Xu Qingzhou was stunned and before she could react, Chi Jun grabbed her hand and pulled her under his umbrella.
At the same time, through the dense, muffled patter of raindrops hitting the umbrella, she heard Chi Jun's voice, speaking to Zhang Zhiming—
"I am her boyfriend."
It feels like a heavy hammer blow to the heart, but the sensation varies from person to person.
Zhang Zhiming had just prepared the question he wanted to ask, but before he could even utter it, he froze on the spot.
Xu Qingzhou's heart skipped a beat, as if Chi Jun had already seen through her lie, and a huge sense of shame welled up from the bottom of her heart.
Her hand moved unconsciously.
But in the next second, Chi Jun held her tightly and even more firmly.
Then she heard Chi Jun speak to Zhang Zhiming again, his tone polite but not indifferent—
"Please don't harass my girlfriend anymore."
*
Xu Qingzhou couldn't remember what Zhang Zhiming's expression was after Chi Jun said those words.
She only remembered that she felt like she was holding a little deer in her arms, jumping and kicking so hard that her breathing became uneven, and her face felt like it was being roasted by fire, burning hot.
To calm herself down, she walked about twenty meters away, estimating that Zhang Zhiming should be completely out of sight through the rain, and then quickly broke free from Chi Jun's hand.
Chi Jun turned to look at her.
Xu Qingzhou didn't even dare to lift her head, just kept walking forward silently, and as she walked, she would quietly move her face closer to the umbrella so that the cold air from the rain could cool her face.
Perhaps her little gesture was too obvious, because Chi Jun looked at her and suddenly laughed.
Xu Qingzhou felt a pang of guilt and quickly turned her face back.
Because they had already wasted a lot of time today, and it was getting late, and since they were both outside, Chi Jun suggested that they simply have dinner outside before going back.
Xu Qingzhou agreed.
After thinking about it for a while, the two decided to go eat Sichuan food.
Because of the rain, the Sichuan restaurant wasn't crowded. When the two approached, the waiter came over from afar, warmly led them inside, served them tea and water, and brought them the menu.
Xu Qingzhou first selected a dish of garlic-flavored pork belly and two bowls of rice, then handed the menu to Chi Jun.
Chi Jun put down his phone, a smile on his face, and said:
"It's been a long time since I've eaten out, I'm going to order more today."
After saying that, he twirled his pen and began to carefully browse the menu.
Warm light fell from above, and across a table, Xu Qingzhou sized up Chi Jun.
For more than a month, he had only been dealing with a tiny fox. Tonight, he was caught off guard and saw Chi Jun in human form again. Even though an hour had passed, Xu Qingzhou still felt a sense of disorientation.
Perhaps it was because they hadn't seen each other for a long time, or perhaps it was because they were suddenly facing each other again, but Xu Qingzhou felt that Chi Jun seemed to have become... even more handsome.
For some reason, Xu Qingzhou, who had praised Chi Junshuai to his face before, felt inexplicably embarrassed tonight because of her own thoughts.
She silently lowered her head, tore open the plastic seal on the tableware, and rinsed the bowls and chopsticks with hot water.
While washing and ironing, I couldn't help but glance at Chi Jun a few more times.
Unexpectedly, the last glance was caught by Chi Jun himself.
He crossed his arms, leaned back in his chair, and smiled.
"Spying on me?"
Xu Qingzhou scratched his ear awkwardly, then steeled himself and pulled out a pen and paper to change the subject:
Why did you suddenly change back?
Chi Jun raised an eyebrow: "Don't you like it?"
This question seems a bit strange.
Xu Qingzhou thought for a moment, then honestly replied: [I like it]
Chi Jun curled his lips, and while opening his two palms to examine them, he said, "I don't know either. I just took a nap and woke up back to normal. I guess after resting for more than a month, I've finally accumulated enough spiritual energy."
"It's much faster than last time."
Xu Qingzhou nodded.
Then you should be careful not to waste your spiritual energy in the future.
Just then, the waiter brought over the garlic-infused pork belly. Chi Jun picked up his chopsticks and said, "I understand."
Because the Sichuan restaurant wasn't crowded, the kitchen was quick to prepare the food; within five minutes, most of the dishes had been served.
Xu Qingzhou was indeed a little hungry, so he ate in silence.
Midway through, Chi Jun took a sip of his cola and suddenly asked, "Has that boy been harassing you lately?"
This naturally refers to Zhang Zhiming.
Xu Qingzhou bit her chopsticks and nodded silently.
“You should have told me in advance,” Chi Jun said, placing a pig’s trotter into her bowl with his chopsticks. “Even if it was inconvenient for me, at least Li Rui and the others could have come over to help you out of this predicament.”
Xu Qingzhou nodded slightly.
However, recalling the situation at that time—
She was somewhat puzzled.
How do you know he's harassing me?
Actually, aside from his somewhat annoying words, Zhang Zhiming only sent her flowers and chocolates; he didn't do anything inappropriate.
Chi Jun: "Is there even a need to look at this?"
Xu Qingzhou: "?"
Don't we need it?
Just as she was wondering if he was not human, possessing superhuman abilities even in seeing people and things, Xu Qingzhou saw Chi Jun staring directly at her, and he raised his lips and said:
"I now feel that every man has ulterior motives towards you."
A chili seed suddenly got stuck in Xu Qingzhou's throat, and he couldn't help but cough violently.
Chi Jun didn't say anything more, but handed her a glass of water.
Xu Qingzhou took the drink and drank several mouthfuls, which suppressed his cough, but his heart was still pounding wildly.
Fortunately, Chi Jun ate relatively quietly during the rest of the meal and didn't say anything inexplicable. Xu Qingzhou calmed down and was finally able to finish her meal in peace.
On the way back to the rented apartment compound, Chi Jun kept replying to messages on WeChat.
After a while, I made another call.
Walking beside him, Xu Qingzhou could vaguely recognize Li Rui's voice, and she could also tell that he sounded a little excited, but she couldn't quite make out what he was saying.
After hanging up the phone, Chi Jun turned to look at Xu Qingzhou and said:
"Li Rui said he had a few tickets to Happy Valley and invited us to go together tomorrow."
Xu Qingzhou had never been to an amusement park since he was a child.
Considering the tense and serious atmosphere at school lately, and how I can't help but be on edge while being in the thick of it, I figured relaxing a bit wouldn't cause any problems.
Xu Qingzhou nodded in agreement.
Okay, what time is it?
Chi Jun: "Meet at the main gate of Huanxi Valley at 8:30 tomorrow morning."
*
Xu Qingzhou had heard before that the food sold in amusement parks was expensive and the portions were small. Considering that the group would be spending the whole day there tomorrow, she took Chi Jun to the supermarket and bought some groceries to take back.
That evening, with Chi Jun's help, Xu Qingzhou spent an hour or two making some sushi sandwiches and fruit slices.
At 8:30 a.m. the next day, Chi Jun and Xu Qingzhou arrived at Happy Valley on time.
A group of people were already waiting at the entrance of the amusement park. When they saw Chi Jun carrying a big bag, they all laughed at him for carrying so much stuff after just one trip to the park, saying he looked like an old woman.
As a result, they spent the whole morning queuing for rides and rushing around. By noon, they were starving and crawling to the amusement park restaurant, only to be shocked by the price tags. They all began to think that Chi Jun was the wisest person in the world!
"Xu Jun, Xu Jun, please be kind to me, please give me a sandwich..."
"Brother Jun, I...I have a small appetite, so please just give me some fruit!"
"Master Jun..."
A series of fawning faces crowded around him. Chi Jun, with a backpack slung over his shoulder, deliberately and slowly pulled out some food from it while teasing, "Who called me an old woman this morning?"
Li Rui jumped up instantly: "Who said that? Who said that! This isn't a maidservant, this is clearly—"
After saying that, she cupped Chi Jun's face in her hands and called out in a very serious and clear voice:
"--mom!"
"screw you!"
Chi Jun kicked him.
Li Rui dodged quickly, grabbed a piece of sushi from his bag, and ran away.
Xu Qingzhou made three flavors of sushi this time: original, tuna, and pork floss. He also added some crispy rice, which not only looks tempting but also has a rich and layered flavor and a wonderful aroma.
Everyone grabbed a serving and started eating, praising how delicious it was.
Chi Jun was very pleased with himself, and gave Xu Qingzhou a thumbs-up:
"She did it."
Everyone immediately focused their praise on Xu Qingzhou.
A barrage of compliments poured in, making Xu Qingzhou quite embarrassed. Seeing that she had finished the water she bought that morning, she said:
I'm going to buy some water.
Chi Jun: "Go."
The vending machine was about fifty meters to the right. Xu Qingzhou stood in front of the machine, picked out a bottle of mineral water for himself, and selected some different teas and fruit drinks for the other boys.
Everything went smoothly until we got to the point where we were buying the tea that Chi Jun liked, and the machine jammed.
I could clearly see the drink fall through the glass, but when I opened the gate below, there was nothing inside.
Xu Qingzhou squatted down and stood up, then squatted down again, fiddling with the machine several times, but it still didn't respond.
After a while, she caught a glimpse of a couple walking over beside her, who seemed to want to buy water as well.
Xu Qingzhou felt a little awkward. He didn't want to leave and waste the money for a bottle of water, but he was also embarrassed to stop others from buying water.
Just as they were debating whether to ask a staff member to take a look, the woman of the couple standing nearby suddenly stepped forward and kicked the machine with a "bang".
A sudden loud noise startled Xu Qingzhou.
The woman calmly walked forward, bent down, lifted the gate under the machine, took out a bottle of oolong tea, and handed it to her.
It's Xu Qingzhou's bottle.
Xu Qingzhou smiled and breathed a sigh of relief, then quickly took out paper and pen to express his gratitude.
The moment he looked up and saw the woman clearly, he froze.
Is it her?
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