Chapter 13 Her tone was far too familiar…
Her tone was so familiar that Li Xingzhou was stunned for a moment, as if he had returned to the past, when the two of them were just like that, one of them restraining his love and playing along with her, and the other of him being prickly, cold and arrogant.
The box he was so obsessed with throwing into the river was fake, and Huang Shiyu's ruthless breakup with him was also fake; it was all fake.
This is exactly what is meant by "flowers in a mirror and the moon in the water." Ripples spread across the water, and it's time to wake up.
"Let's go, I'll take you back." Li Xingzhou looked at Huang Shiyu for several seconds before saying this.
To Huang Shiyu, that look was relaxed and polite, as if he were simply fulfilling his final duty to the person he had saved.
Huang Shiyu sat on the bench, sorting and packing the used disposable medical supplies as he replied, "I don't plan to go back to my place today."
Huang Shiyu thought that if those people couldn't find her, they would definitely continue to stake out her place. If she went back now, wouldn't she just be handing herself over to them?
Moreover, she needed solid evidence to call the police. If those people heard the news and ran away, then she would be making a false report, which would anger them and they might do something unpredictable.
Little did anyone know that Li Xingzhou's thought process was unlike that of ordinary people; it was like a bicycle riding on a rugged mountain road, taking a hundred and eighty turns.
"You don't need to go to such lengths to get my attention."
Huang Shiyu paused in his packing, feeling bewildered and completely unable to understand what he was saying.
"What do you mean?" Huang Shiyu finally asked.
"You're not going back to where you live?" Li Xingzhou paused, then his lips curled into a half-smile. "So, are you planning to go to my place?"
"..."
Huang Shiyu said, "You're overthinking it. I'm just worried that those people are waiting for me where I live right now." She looked up, glanced at him, and continued, "Do you understand now?"
Actually, she glared at him, meaning that she was just a weak woman who didn't know how to defend herself, and that she had no intention of fighting a losing battle, nor did she have any thoughts on the level of what he implied. She asked him not to be so narcissistic.
Li Xingzhou showed no embarrassment or discomfort after misunderstanding, and calmly said, "What are you thinking? I asked you to go back to your place so you could pack your bags and move today. Do you really think you can come back in a few days?"
“Besides, even if we set aside our past relationship, we still have a bond from when we were classmates. If an old classmate is in trouble, we should help them.” Li Xingzhou’s tone was natural, as if he was giving her a way out. “My family also has a left-behind child, so one more won’t make a difference.”
Without even thinking, Huang Shiyu refused, saying, "No need, I have a place to stay."
Fearing that the other person might think that his tone was too cold, he added, "I'm staying at my friend's house. You've met her before; she's that girl."
After a long while, just when Huang Shiyu thought the other party would continue to remain silent, she heard Li Xingzhou chuckle.
"Oh, the one you mentioned, your boyfriend."
The last three words, whether he did it on purpose or not, were spoken in a flippant and upturned tone.
Huang Shiyu looked up, wanting to explain, but met his ambiguous smile. This topic was impossible to explain; where to even begin? The more she tried to explain, the more confused she became.
Huang Shiyu gave up struggling with Li Xingzhou and immediately gave up.
"Yes, I'll be staying there later, so don't worry about me, old classmate."
Li Xingzhou raised an eyebrow, said nothing, and lowered his eyes to watch her organize the used disposable medical supplies.
Just when she thought this little incident was over, Li Xingzhou didn't give her that chance at all.
She had just finished tying up the sorted medical waste and hadn't even had a chance to organize it when Li Xingzhou snatched it away, adding the comment: "Your aesthetic sense is still the same as before; everything in your hands inevitably gets tied in a knot."
These words brought back memories for her.
Back in high school, seats were assigned based on grades. Both of them were well-known in the class, so they naturally ended up sitting together.
It was around that time that Li Xingzhou discovered her quirk: whenever Huang Shiyu felt itchy, she would fiddle with whatever was at hand, claiming it was to relieve stress.
Li Xingzhou sat next to her, glancing at her whether he wanted to or not. Every time he caught her in the act, he would just smile and then make a smug comment: "With your skills, you won't be afraid of losing your job in the future. Come work for my company then, and you can sit next to me every day and tie your knot."
Huang Shiyu always took it as a joke and said shamelessly, "With your company, it might go bankrupt before I even lose my job. You should worry about yourself first."
A joke from years ago is about to come true, except that it's her company that gets acquired, while Li Xingzhou's business continues to thrive.
Huang Shiyu was in a surprisingly good mood this time, and instead of arguing with him, she asked, "Do you want it?"
Actually, it wasn't that I didn't confront him; I just changed my tone and approach. As the saying goes, the calmer you are, the more the other person seems like a madman.
Li Xingzhou glanced at her briefly, then at the knotted medical waste in her hand, his voice devoid of emotion, "Go get your luggage."
"No need, I'll have someone come and move it in a few days." Huang Shiyu took out his phone, preparing to take a taxi to Lu Xiao's residence.
She didn't intend to trouble Li Xingzhou any further, treating what had just happened as an unforeseen incident. She and Li Xingzhou were like two parallel lines that would never intersect, nor did she want them to.
Ultimately, she was mainly concerned about her remaining self-esteem, afraid that if he saw the environment she lived in, he would say something sarcastic, such as, "You got 500,000 yuan and you live in this shabby place? After all these years apart, you've only gotten worse."
She didn't want to hear these things.
Li Xingzhou remained silent, staring intently at her with deep eyes. The two maintained their respective positions, locked in a stalemate. Huang Shiyu was not afraid of Li Xingzhou's gaze, which seemed to want to pierce through her. Having been in the business world for so many years, what kind of gaze hadn't she seen?
However, Li Xingzhou's gaze was too intense, and he still felt a little uncomfortable in the bustling street. The two were about the same age, only a few years out of college, and were too naive in the face of this city. The key point was that the two of them, one sitting and one standing, were silent, and in the eyes of passers-by, they looked like a young couple arguing.
Both of them are very eye-catching, so even though Huang Shiyu was looking down at her phone, she couldn't help but feel uneasy. She had only one thought in her mind: Who said that you don't have that many spectators in your life?
She felt that this statement was very wrong, because she also heard a very faint voice saying, "Forgive him, he looks like he's about to break."
Is Li Xingzhou about to break?
Huang Shiyu finally looked up and couldn't help but look over because of this nonsensical remark. Li Xingzhou was already staring at her, and their eyes met easily.
Time has truly limited many things and locked away many emotions, all locked in their eyes, covered by a deeper color, just waiting for the right moment to unveil this darkness. But right now they are all too tense, as if they are imprisoned by their own rules, or more accurately, the time has not yet come.
The last rays of the setting sun had faded, and the city lights were bright. Li Xingzhou's peach blossom eyes reflected a few dim lights, and the shadows of the lights on his long eyelashes rested at the corners of his eyes, like resting butterflies, making him excessively beautiful.
Li Xingzhou's eyes were deep and unreadable, and his voice was as cold as a late autumn day in Shanghai in October: "You really are so cold-hearted that it's irritating."
This time, Huang Shiyu didn't argue with him. Instead, she said in a particularly sincere tone, "Thank you for today. You can go back now. I'll just take a taxi there."
She observed Li Xingzhou's expression and added a very polite remark: "I'll treat you to a meal sometime. When are you free?"
“If you don’t want me to carry your luggage, then I’ll take you there myself. Otherwise, I won’t feel at ease,” Li Xingzhou said. “After all, I’m the one who saved you. What if something happens to you while you’re waiting for the bus? I’ll be the first person to be invited for a chat by the police.”
Listening to his absurd reasoning, Huang Shiyu, unusually good-natured, explained, "You haven't done anything wrong, what are you afraid of? Besides, there are surveillance cameras here, so the police can't find you no matter what."
Li Xingzhou took out his car keys, glanced at her, and said with apparent impatience, "Stop dawdling, I'll take you there. My time is precious; every minute and second is burning through my wallet."
He's right. The mental health medical products launched by Sunac are now achieving record sales, meaning that every minute and every second is burning through RMB for Li Xingzhou.
Huang Shiyu thought to herself: In the end, she would have to treat Li Xingzhou to dinner anyway, and she would have to spend money to take a taxi. Since he was willing to give her a ride, if she continued to be pretentious, she would want to punch herself.
So in the end, Huang Shiyu got into Li Xingzhou's car. The two remained silent all the way to their destination. Apart from Li Xingzhou asking her for the address before she got in, the two seemed to really be in a driver-passenger relationship. The car was so quiet that even the slightest breathing could be heard. Huang Shiyu stared at the buildings outside the car and the scenery along the way without saying a word. She didn't dare to speak, because she knew that beneath the calm atmosphere lay turbulent emotions, and she didn't know which word would become the fuse.
Upon arriving at their destination, Huang Shiyu got out of the car and pressed the door handle, saying, "Thank you so much for today. I'll treat you to dinner when you have time."
Li Xingzhou turned his head, staring intently at her, a slight smile playing on his lips, and kindly reminded her, "Do we have each other's contact information?"
"..." She had forgotten about this matter; she had deleted Li Xingzhou's contact information six years ago.
Just as she was trying to salvage the awkward situation, Li Xingzhou seemed to see her predicament and mercifully helped her out, saying, "Let's skip the meal; it's just something I did on the side."
This should have been a happy occasion for everyone, since Huang Shiyu disliked being associated with Li Xingzhou the most.
However, Huang Shiyu insisted, "I will repay this favor to you when I have the chance."
After saying that, Huang Shiyu slammed the car door shut and turned to walk towards the gate of the residential area.
In Huang Shiyu's life creed, not wanting to be associated with Li Xingzhou is one thing, but owing someone a favor is another.
Li Xingzhou watched Huang Shiyu's figure disappear into the room until it gradually turned into a black dot and disappeared completely before he slowly withdrew his gaze.
Li Xingzhou didn't start the car immediately. He casually took a cigarette and put it in his mouth without lighting it, instead staring in the direction Huang Shiyu had left.
When people are in a quiet space, their thoughts tend to wander.
Then, amidst these jumbled thoughts, he remembered New Year's Eve six years ago.
It was his first year studying music in Germany. There were very few Chinese people at the school, and he spent the Chinese New Year with a few Chinese friends he had just met.
After a meal, there are always some activities to do, and Truth or Dare is always a timeless classic.
He looked at the contents of the note, smiled helplessly, and decisively took out his phone to dial the number in China.
He knew what he was doing. It wasn't due to alcohol; he was perfectly sober. He knew perfectly well that Huang Shiyu would never answer this call. It was an overseas number, and given Huang Shiyu's wariness, she would hang up immediately.
That's why his movements are so fluid and graceful.
Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned; the call went through the instant he dialed.
He heard Huang Shiyu's sweet, sleepy voice as she softly asked into the phone, "Is something wrong?"
The wine, freshly filled to the brim and still bubbling crookedly, was carefully poured out drop by drop under Li Xingzhou's watchful gaze.
He stood there for a moment, as if looking for a foothold, and then, amidst the cheering gazes of the crowd, he threw the note into his wine glass. Soon, the contents of the note were soaked and blurred. Li Xingzhou twitched the corner of his mouth, and in the last three seconds of the countdown, he changed the contents of the note without permission, saying very seriously, "Happy New Year, Shiyu, and I hope you are happy every day."
A note from the author:
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The note contains a secret belonging to Xiaozhou. I'll see if I should reveal it later. You can all guess!
Happy New Year, everyone! Are you overwhelmed with red envelopes?
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