Chapter 8
The first time Chen Pu clearly knew that someone was pursuing him was when he was in the second year of junior high school.
The girl is sweet, a little beauty, gentle and pretty, and many boys in the class like to tease her. She sat in the seat in front of Chen Pu and always brought him delicious food. Every time Chen Pu played basketball, she would watch on the sidelines with her friends. When Chen Pu couldn't answer the questions in the exam, she threw notes at him. But Chen Pu was unwilling to copy. It turned out that he was very wise, because the beautiful girl scored lower than him.
There was a rumor in the class that she liked him. At first Chen Pu ignored it. It wasn't until Valentine's Day in the second year of junior high school, when no one was around after school, that she handed him a box of chocolates with a blushing face.
Even though Chen Pu, the head of the class at the time, was a completely straight man, he instantly understood what it meant. He reacted almost without thinking.
Three hard words: "I don't want it."
Walk away.
Of course, thinking back on it afterwards, Chen Pu was still a little nervous, but not much. After school, he played ball with his brothers and soon forgot about it.
The little beauty was left alone in the classroom, crying, with her two friends beside her trying to comfort her. The next day, the beautiful girl found an excuse to change her seat and stay away from this cold-hearted person.
In the following years, Chen Pu experienced girls from other schools whistling on his way home from school - he glared back at them; he experienced several girls giggling at him and blushing as they ran away on the way to the men's restroom - he was in a hurry to pee and became even more upset; he also found several love letters in the drawer, but he didn't even dare to open them to read them, for fear of being chased by the girls, or of them crying - he clearly didn't do anything, but they made it seem like he was a playboy - so he simply tore them into pieces and threw them into several trash cans separately to prevent someone from mixing them up and embarrassing the girls. But he tore it so loudly that everyone had a common impression - Boss Chen Pu was a cold beauty who was very difficult to pursue.
In his second year of high school, Chen Pu met the second girl who was clearly pursuing him. The girl is very cute and outgoing. She gets along well with many people in the class and is also quite familiar with Chen Pu. She always liked to talk to Chen Pu, always asked him out to play, and wanted to get into Chen Pu's gangster circle. Chen Pu sensed it, but he didn't like girls with this kind of personality, so he deliberately distanced himself from her.
The girl was smart and noticed it quickly. Another time, she insisted on following him and a few boys to play billiard, and even pestered him to teach her. The brothers all laughed and stayed away. But Chen Pu couldn't really teach her, so he blurted out, "No, I only teach my girlfriend."
The girl held the club and stared at the round white ball: "Then do you think I can do it?"
"I'm afraid not." Chen Pu leaned over and hit the ball with one stroke. The white ball hit the black ball accurately into the hole. "You're not my type."
"What's your style?"
Chen Pu thought about the fact that the girl's grades were similar to his, and made a decisive move: "I like good grades."
The girl was angry: "How good?"
Chen Pu said casually, "Top 20 in the grade."
Of course, after this word got out, the girls ranked in the top 20 in the grade would take a detour when they saw Chen Pu, but that’s another story.
However, what Chen Pu said was not entirely an excuse. The only girl he had a crush on in middle school was a top student. That was in his first year of high school. He performed exceptionally well in his only selection test and got the opportunity to participate in the city-wide mathematics competition—his math, physics and chemistry were also good. The first place in the whole city in that competition was a girl from another school. The girl is very pretty, she ace the exams, and she is calm and collected when she goes on stage to receive the award. Chen Pu was struck at once. There is a saying that goes: "A man is most charming when he focuses on his career." But Chen Pu felt that it was equally suitable for women. Later, he secretly went to other people's school gates a few times. Later I found out that he would participate in the National Olympiad in his second year of high school, and if nothing unexpected happens, he would be admitted to Peking University or Tsinghua University. After feeling a sense of loss, he felt relieved.
They are not destined to be on the same path. Chen Qingsheng believes that if you like her, just watch her spread her wings and fly high.
However, having said that, putting aside this short and shy history of secret crush, Chen Pu still has some experience in dealing with girls' advances and pursuits. No matter whether a girl is extrovert or introvert, whether she says it openly or implies it, when she is truly in love, her face will definitely turn red and her eyes will definitely brighten. There was expectation and sadness in those eyes. That is a girl's softest concern. Even if she is aggressive enough to block you in the billiard court and almost do anything to you, her eyes will show anxiety and fear.
But Li Qingyao is completely different.
She said the most frivolous words and stepped into his territory - both work and life. She always acted joyful and excited, as if she was about to jump into his arms at the next second. But there was no sincerity in her eyes, and she followed the routine carelessly. Chen Pu knew with his eyes closed that she never meant what she said.
Chen Pu wouldn't be stupid enough to think that she really had that kind of intention towards him. At first, he was confused for a few days as to why Li Qingyao liked to go crazy with him. Later on, I gradually became too lazy to care about it.
Zuo is just naughty.
But a girl as young and outstanding as her doesn't have much sincerity, and she enjoys teasing in a bad way. For Li Jincheng's sake, he didn't bother with her.
To be honest, after living with him day and night for more than a month, he still felt a little uncomfortable if Li Qingyao didn't go crazy one day!
——
On the afternoon that Li Qingyao had made an appointment with his high school classmates to meet up, he received a message from Chen Pu just after getting off work: [Old place. 】
Li Qingyao slowly moved downstairs. Chen Pu's car was still parked under the tree in the corner of the yard. She walked over on crutches and knocked on the door. The car window slowly lowered, revealing Chen Pu's dull face: "Wait for me to carry you? Get in the car."
He had already started the car. With people coming and going around, Li Qingyao had no choice but to get into the back seat.
As the car drove out of the compound, Chen Pu's expression relaxed a little and asked, "Shall we eat outside, or should we take you home and order takeout?"
"I have a reunion with my high school classmates today. Please drop me off in front and I'll take a taxi."
Chen Pu was a little surprised. After all, this was the first time he saw this workaholic homebody who was comparable to himself, having a social activity. But he has always been a very sensible person, so he didn't ask any more questions and just said, "I'll just take you there."
Li Qingyao instinctively wanted to save another fifteen, but he said, "How can I be so embarrassed?"
Chen Pu was too lazy to pay attention to her hypocritical politeness and said simply: "Address."
Speaking of which, Ma Junhong ordered a place that Chen Pu was very familiar with, Zhou Ji Seafood. Chen Pu often ordered takeout from his restaurant and invited his colleagues to eat there several times, so he still had a lot of money left in his membership card.
Chen Pu parked the car familiarly. He was too embarrassed to turn his back on her in public, so he helped her into the revolving door. Li Qingyao said, "I can go in by myself, you go back."
Before Chen Pu could answer, one of the account managers in suits and skirts standing in the lobby came up to him with a smile and said, "Mr. Chen, you are here. How many people are there today? I don't think you have booked a private room."
Chen Pu waved his hand and said, "I'm not eating today. I'm giving it away." He then asked Li Qingyao, "Which box?"
Li Qingyao glanced at Chen Pu with a half-smile. Without the policeman's skin, this man actually looked a bit like a rich and idle man. She said, “2015.”
At this time, the account manager also saw the crutches in Li Qingyao's hand and the bandages on his feet, and said awkwardly: "Sorry, we don't have an elevator."
This restaurant has a large single-story area, with only two floors, and next to it is a large spiral staircase. It is magnificent and very grand, but there is no elevator.
Chen Pu said to the account manager, "It's okay, go and get busy." He took the crutches from Li Qingyao's hand, held her arm with his other hand, and said, "Let's go, the food will get cold soon."
Li Qingyao heard a hint of sourness in these words. I was about to say that I didn't need him to send me off, but I swallowed the words. She held the handrail of the stairs with one hand and let him support her with the other hand, with an attitude of a lady. She complained three or four times on the corner staircase of less than 40 steps, sometimes complaining that he walked too fast, and sometimes complaining that he held on too tightly. Little Chen Zi was so angry that he laughed, but when he turned around and saw the smugness in her eyes, he cursed in his heart, but he held it in and continued to be a human crutch without complaint.
There is a small open space directly above the stairs with a few sofas and coffee tables for guests to rest and smoke. Next to it is a row of private rooms. There were two men standing there, and when they heard the noise, they looked up.
One of them is Ma Junhong. Even though seven years had passed and he was wearing a shirt and trousers, and his appearance and temperament had become much more mature, Li Qingyao still recognized him at a glance.
The other man was wearing a black round-neck T-shirt and black sports pants, revealing his strong and thin arms. He had a very short flat head, his skin was darker than before, and he was taller. Like Ma Junhong, he had a cigarette in his hand. But the moment he saw Li Qingyao, he put down the cigarette.
Li Qingyao didn't expect that she would meet Luo Huaizheng like this.
She thought she would wait until Chen Pu left, then enter the private room, where she would meet a table of old classmates and exchange polite greetings. When she saw him again, she would be natural, calm and distant. But when this moment really came, after seven years, she saw him standing in front of her alive again, and her heart felt like it was being grasped by an invisible hand, squeezing out a few drops of bitter juice.
Facing the complicated gazes of the two, Li Qingyao subconsciously pulled his arm out of Chen Pu's hand: "Thank you for sending me here, let's go back first."
It was the first time that Chen Pu saw such a forced, absent-minded smile on her face, and he also noticed the slight cold sweat on her palms. He calmly let go of her hand and said in a normal tone, "Can you walk to the box by yourself?"
"That's fine."
Chen Pu nodded and handed her the cane: "Then I'll go. If it's inconvenient to go downstairs later, ask a waiter to help you."
Li Qingyao still didn't want to look at him: "Yeah."
Chen Pu looked up at the two people again, and his gaze finally stopped on Luo Huaizheng's face. Luo Huaizheng didn't notice that. His eyes were only on Li Qingyao. Although he was a grown man, his eyes were slightly red.
Chen Pu turned around and went downstairs.
When Li Qingyao walked over, his face had regained its composure and he smiled faintly: "Ma Junhong, Luo Huaizheng, long time no see."
Ma Junhong said with a half-smile, "It's mainly because you are a very busy person, Sister Yao, a police officer, and you can't invite us normally even if we want to. Today we are hosting a welcome party for Brother Zheng, thank you for giving me face."
This was said in a proper and polite manner. Li Qingyao just smiled faintly: "Not at all. Have the other students arrived?"
Ma Junhong: “There are four or five.”
"Then I'll go in first." After saying that, without waiting for the two to react, Li Qingyao walked towards the box. Unfortunately, she wanted to walk gracefully, but the reality was very cruel. Her crutch tapped on the ground, and her right leg, which was wrapped in gauze and wearing slippers, could only move one step at a time.
Ma Junhong and Luo Huaizheng looked at her. Ma Junhong pushed Luo Huaizheng and lowered his voice: "Why are you standing there like an idiot? Go and help someone. The man just now should not be her boyfriend. The two of them were quite polite."
Luo Huaizheng said in a low voice: "Stop messing around."
Ma Junhong said: "It seems that she was seriously injured. She needs help to go up the stairs. She must have been injured on duty. But she still came today. Whose face do you think it was for? Alas, Sister Yao was such a delicate girl before. It was not easy for her. I remember that there is a step ahead and I don't know if she is familiar with this place. If she falls, it will be all over. I don't care about you. I have to pee urgently." After saying that, he really went to the toilet.
Luo Huaizheng stood there alone.
Before my eyes was a brightly lit corridor, quiet and deep. Li Qingyao turned his back to him and walked hesitantly less than ten meters away. She seemed to have grown a little taller than in high school, but was still half a head shorter than him. Her body movements also looked different. In the past, she would never sit if she could lie down, and would never stand if she could sit, and she just wanted to be bad. Even though she is using crutches now, her thin back reveals the unique coldness of a police officer.
He knew it at a glance.
In the end, Luo Huaizheng did not step forward, but just watched her silently walk to the end, go down the stairs, and enter the box. Only when the cigarette burned out and burned his hand did he lower his head, throw the cigarette butt into the ashtray, and slowly walk towards the private room.
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