Chapter 25: Thoughts Revealed
Along the way, Su Tao glanced at Hu Xiao with a playful look. Hu Xiao pretended to be indifferent at first, but eventually he couldn't stand it anymore and confessed, "Okay, we're not what you think we are."
Su Tao's shoulders trembled slightly, and he covered his lips and smiled softly, "What do I want?"
Hu Xiao rarely showed her shy, girlish look. She stamped her foot and shyly waved her hands, saying, "Really? We're not what you think. I admit that I like him, but I don't know if he likes me back. Anyway, we're not dating yet."
"Oh~~~ You haven't even started dating yet, yet you chat for an hour and you're still reluctant to leave?" Su Tao didn't intend to let her go so easily and continued to tease her.
Hu Xiao was a thin-skinned person. Upon hearing this, her face flushed like a peach blossom, looking youthful and pretty. She pouted and said coquettishly, "Don't just talk about me. Tell me what happened to you."
Hu Xiao changed the subject, his expression becoming serious as he pressed, "Tell me, why are you making so many men's clothes? Who are they for?"
Su Tao didn't expect retribution to come so quickly. Just now she was the interrogator, and now she was being interrogated. She glanced up with a guilty look on her face and said awkwardly, "Give it to He Chuan."
"What~ to He Chuan?" Hu Xiao's shrill scream stimulated Su Tao to cover his ears unconsciously.
"Didn't I tell you not to get too close to He Chuan?" Hu Xiao had a look of disappointment on his face.
Su Tao's face was a little unhappy. Although Hu Xiao was her good friend, she didn't like others talking about He Chuan like that. "You are prejudiced. I think he is a good person. His background is not something he can decide. As for you saying he is not good, have you ever seen him do anything bad with your own eyes?"
Hu Xiao didn't expect that Su Tao, who usually remained calm even under great pressure, would be so excited. He was choked and speechless for a moment.
"Well...Taotao, tell me the truth, you are not in love with He Chuan, are you?" Hu Xiao paused for a while and said hesitantly with a frown, looking a little worried.
"Haha, how could that be? I'm just thanking him for saving me!" Su Tao was stunned by what Hu Xiao said, and laughed it off guiltily.
In fact, Su Tao herself hadn't figured out her feelings. She didn't know if she was really doing it to thank He Chuan for saving her life or to gain the system's favorability points? Or was it just like Hu Xiao said...
"He...Chuan..." Hu Xiao exclaimed.
"What? I already said that I don't like He Chuan anymore. Why are you still bringing it up?" Su Tao looked at Hu Xiao helplessly.
Hu Xiao desperately winked at Su Tao, who didn't react for a moment. "What's wrong with your eyes? Are you having a seizure?"
Hu Xiao sighed, gave up the hint, and reminded loudly: "He Chuan is behind you!"
The corner of Su Tao's eye twitched, and he turned stiffly and prepared to say hello, but he saw He Chuan turning around with a cold face and walking away.
It's over. This is a complete social demise. I'm usually quite smart, but why am I so clueless today? Su Tao wanted to hit himself on the head a few times.
"Puchi" Hu Xiao couldn't help laughing when he saw Su Tao's dejected look.
"You're still laughing, and you didn't remind me earlier." Su Tao was furious.
"Didn't I remind you? You didn't notice it. You can't blame me. And you said you don't like He Chuan?" This time it was Hu Xiao who joked.
Su Tao no longer had the confidence to continue joking with Hu Xiao, and walked towards the town entrance with a dejected look on his face.
When they arrived at the town entrance, most of the educated youth had arrived. Everyone squeezed forward to make some space, and Su Tao and Hu Xiao sat at the back of the car.
Seeing Su Tao lowering his head and looking unhappy, the educated youth did not dare to ask more questions.
He Xinyi looked at Su Tao's frustrated look and thought that it was because she had snatched the fabric from Su Tao earlier, which had hit Su Tao hard. Suddenly, her self-confidence exploded and she couldn't hide her pride in her heart.
As soon as he arrived at the dormitory, Su Tao lay down on the bed listlessly.
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At noon, the sun was scorching and the earth was baking hot.
He Chuan was walking on the road like a zombie, his whole body felt like it was in an icy cave, and the words "I don't like He Chuan..." kept repeating in his mind. Su Tao's words were like the whistling north wind, and like an ice knife scratching He Chuan's heart, causing a dull pain.
He shouldn't have had any extravagant expectations in the first place, but when he heard it with his own ears, it still exploded in his heart like a bomb, leaving him covered in wounds.
Once the lamp of hope was extinguished, life instantly became dark, and He Chuan seemed to have regained the cold and lonely feeling he had at the beginning.
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The next morning, everyone gathered at the village entrance waiting for the team leader to assign tasks.
"He Xinyi and Zhang Guangde weeding..."
"Hechuan, plant soybeans..."
Finally, she no longer had to work with He Chuan. He Xinyi breathed a sigh of relief. If she had to work with He Chuan for a few more weeks, her life would have been in vain. The team leader was really partial. Su Tao only assigned her such an easy task while she had to work as hard as everyone else, He Xinyi complained inwardly.
He Xinyi looked jealously at the woman in front of her. She had a slender figure and a graceful figure. She wore a white coat and her skin was as white as snow. The scorching sun didn't seem to bother her at all. Her black hair was tied into a cute ponytail, and with every nod of Su Tao, the ends of her hair would flutter over her shoulders and behind her.
Why is Su Tao so lucky? She has a wealthy family, loving parents, a wonderful boyfriend, and someone who loves her silently behind her. He Xinyi shuddered at the thought of that person's methods. She has nothing; she has to fight for everything. Su Tao's grades aren't as good as hers, his abilities aren't as strong, his personality is terrible, and besides his beauty, he has nothing else to offer. So, she'll try to take everything away, one by one. In the future, everything will belong to her, He Xinyi. Now, isn't Su Tao's boyfriend hers? (All of them belong to you, He Xinyi? Your parents can become yours, too? You're so shameless! Is Shen Ziqian really yours now? Then why are you so worried?)
Su Tao, aren't you just relying on your pretty face? What would happen if this face was ruined? He Xinyi looked at Su Tao with a vicious look in her eyes.
This week Su Tao's main job is to pick grass for pigs. It seems that she has become a professional in picking grass for pigs.
Su Tao told Tiedan and Erya to go first, and then he chased after He Chuan in the direction he left.
He Chuan saw another person going to school. He felt the figure chasing him from behind, but he did not stop, but instead quickened his pace and moved forward.
He didn't know how to face Su Tao, "I don't like He Chuan", "You like Su Tao", "You are just a toad wanting to eat swan meat", "Su Tao will never like you", Su Tao's words and He Xinyi's words that day kept replaying in his mind, he didn't know when he would collapse.
It wasn't that he didn't feel Su Tao's warmth, care, and devotion towards him. He had once entertained the illusion that perhaps Su Tao had feelings for him, and if he had tried harder to treat her better, perhaps... But it was Su Tao himself who dealt him the blow of reality, as if he had personally stabbed a sharp knife into his heart, causing it to bleed profusely and fail to heal.
A fair and soft hand grabbed his arm, and He Chuan's body stiffened and stopped. The place where the arm touched seemed to have an electric current flowing through his body. He Chuan secretly clenched his fists to suppress his trembling body.
Su Tao touched He Chuan's hand and felt that He Chuan's muscles were tense. Thinking that He Chuan was angry, he explained softly: "Yesterday, I didn't mean that. I said I don't like you, not that I hate you. It's just..." The harder Su Tao tried to explain, the more he didn't know how to start.
"I treat you as a friend." This was all she could say before she figured out her feelings for He Chuan.
"Friend?" The desolate and self-deprecating look in He Chuan's eyes made Su Tao wonder if he had just said something extremely heinous.
Sometimes unintentional words are the most hurtful. It turns out that she had always treated him as an ordinary friend.
Seeing the light in He Chuan's eyes suddenly extinguished, Su Tao's heart sank, and he felt so oppressed that he couldn't breathe for some reason, as if someone was strangling him. Those dark pupils were like distant stars, as if they were right in front of him, yet far away in the horizon, revealing a sense of distance.
She stammered, but didn't know what to say.
He Chuan laughed at himself twice, his bronze skin actually turning visibly pale. "Go ahead, I don't need friends."
He Chuan pulled his arm free and, using the last of his strength, walked to a large tree so far away that Su Tao could no longer see it. He slowly squatted down against the trunk, buried his head deeply, and curled up into a ball. After a long while, he regained his composure, stood up, and strode away again.
Su Tao's mind was blank that day, his eyes were fixed, and he was cutting grass for the pigs mechanically.
"Ouch," Su Tao felt a pain in his hand and saw the bloody red blood oozing out from his knuckles. He thought of the last time he cut his hand and it was He Chuan who used a folk remedy to stop the bleeding. A layer of mist covered his eyes.
"Oh my! Is it that difficult? Isn't it just to know whether you like He Chuan or not?" Without Su Tao calling out, the system intelligence ran out on its own, looking like a little smart kid.
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