Chapter 23 Li Xingzhou's words...
Li Xingzhou's tone was the same as before, as if it were covered with ice. As soon as he said this, it was like a thunderclap from a clear sky, making Huang Shiyu shudder.
The scene of Li Xingzhou saying those words suddenly flashed into my mind.
On a night of torrential rain, with an umbrella teetering precariously, Li Xingzhou's usually smiling eyes and brows were unusually cold, like the perpetual snow on Mount Fuji—heavy and hard.
And that unforgettable sentence:
"Come back to me if things don't go your way in the future."
Li Xingzhou's words immediately lingered in her mind, constantly reminding her of this past.
The parking lot was dimly lit. The two stood facing each other, as if separated by a layer of glass. Huang Shiyu could only see his tall figure and indifferent eyes, which now seemed to be shrouded in a dark mist, and the emotions flowing in his eyes were unreadable.
This scene seemed strangely familiar to her, as if she had experienced it not long ago.
After a while, she remembered.
This was their first meeting at the restaurant after their reunion, and it was in this very scene.
However, things are different now. Back then, they could pretend not to know each other and treat each other like air. Now, they can only grit their teeth and maintain a superficial peace between them.
Huang Shiyu originally thought that seeing how disheveled and pitiful she looked, the other party would at least politely give her a ride. Unexpectedly, the other party thought she was begging him and complained about her attitude. However, after several previous interactions, she knew that Li Xingzhou was used to not playing by the rules, so she didn't think much of him this time.
But she would absolutely never beg him! Never in this lifetime!
If she remembered correctly, C University just built a subway station this year, right on campus.
"Sorry, you go ahead with your work. I suddenly remembered there's a subway station nearby. I can take the subway there. You're so busy, it's probably not on your way, so I won't bother you." (A desperate attempt to save face.)
"No trouble at all. Didn't Xiang Zhinan tell you that I'm a member of that fencing club?"
What did Li Xingzhou mean by that? Was he testing what was going on between her and Xiang Zhinan? Or was he trying to find out how far their relationship had progressed?
However, she could understand, after all, Xiang Zhinan was her brother, and she had some past entanglements with Li Xingzhou.
If the roles were reversed, and Lu Xiao were Xiang Zhinan, she would do the same as Li Xingzhou.
After all, helping a good friend make a decision is something a friend should do.
However, her relationship with Xiang Zhinan wasn't so close that she had to report everything to him; they were just friends. He must have misunderstood her during the move.
"No, it was just the first day I helped him out, and he mentioned that he was a member of this furniture club."
Huang Shiyu is usually very honest and doesn't lie. Except when he's doing business, he might exaggerate and brag to his partners. He's quite sincere to his friends and subordinates, and doesn't seem like a boss because he's not ruthless enough.
Li Xingzhou was silent for two seconds before speaking bluntly: "Oh, he's using my membership."
Huang Shiyu glanced at him, but her vision was not clear and she couldn't make out what he was thinking.
However, she felt that Li Xingzhou's tone sounded unhappy, as if he was holding a grudge about something. But she was probably overthinking it, since people's actions cannot be judged by common sense.
However, Li Xingzhou spoke up again: "Let's go, I'm going there anyway, it's on my way."
These words are even more chilling than the previous one.
Didn't they complain about her attitude when she asked for help? Why did she suddenly change her mind now?
"Let's go, there shouldn't be too much traffic at this time, but it'll be hard to say later." Li Xingzhou took out his car keys, glanced at her, and turned to open the car door, completely forgetting that he was the one who complained about Huang Shiyu's bad attitude when asking for help, but now he was planning to take her along.
"Then I'll transfer the money to you later." She just remembered that meal last time. She wasn't even sure if that counted as treating Li Xingzhou, since she was the only one eating there. At most, she only treated Li Xingzhou to a bottle of water.
She didn't want to owe anyone favors anymore.
"You really think of me as your driver?" Li Xingzhou paused, his hand already touching the car door. "Fine, whatever you want, get in."
Li Xingzhou got into the driver's seat and saw Huang Shiyu walk to the back seat through the rearview mirror. He almost laughed out of anger: "You really think of me as your driver?"
Huang Shiyu paused, his hand on the car door handle still. He looked at Li Xingzhou in the driver's seat, puzzled, not quite understanding what he meant.
Then, I heard him say, "I hate it when people treat me like their driver."
Huang Shiyu: "?"
Didn't you just say it was fine? What's going on now?
Li Xingzhou probably sensed Huang Shiyu's thoughts from her eyes, but his tone remained as indifferent as ever: "You've sat in the passenger seat before, haven't you?"
Huang Shiyu thought: Last time it was an emergency, and she didn't think too much before getting in. This time she paid, and her relationship with Li Xingzhou was that of driver and passenger. There was nothing wrong with her sitting in the back seat. Besides, if she remembered correctly, Li Xingzhou had a blind date. In the last glance she saw him, the two of them were obviously having a very pleasant conversation. What if she sat in the front passenger seat and his blind date saw her? That was the most fundamental problem.
Clearly, Li Xingzhou had no idea what Huang Shiyu was thinking, and urged her again, "Hurry up, we'll get stuck in traffic later."
Huang Shiyu blurted out her thoughts directly: "Isn't it inappropriate for me to sit in the passenger seat? It might affect your blind date if she sees it."
She tried to phrase it in a tactful way.
Li Xingzhou raised an eyebrow, his tone very calm: "You care a lot? Don't worry, I'm not that petty."
“This isn’t about me being petty, but if you have a partner, we need to maintain the proper distance between opposite sexes, for the sake of both of us.” Huang Shiyu released her hand from the car door, took a deep breath, and continued, “I don’t know how you view this issue, but I have my own principles, and I hope you can respect them.”
Huang Shiyu has a very good grasp of the appropriate distance between herself and her friends, whether it's with men or romantic partners. The reason she has Shen Nanfeng's WeChat is because Lu Xiao was her roommate and good friend at the time. The two of them were always together, and Lu Xiao treated her like family. Shen Nanfeng knew this, so they had each other's contact information, but it was all because of Lu Xiao.
Li Xingzhou thought to himself: He simply didn't believe that Huang Shiyu, sitting right in front of him at the restaurant, hadn't heard his businesslike tone and attitude! She couldn't just make a judgment based on a single glance outside the restaurant! They were discussing business, negotiating a partnership! Couldn't they discuss a partnership if the blind date didn't work out?
"Huang Shiyu." Li Xingzhou's gaze shifted from the rearview mirror to the steering wheel. Whether he dared not look directly at it or was timid, looking at the familiar black steering wheel gave him a strange sense of security.
"Just ask you this: do you really care whether I have a boyfriend or not?"
"No." What does this have to do with anything? Was she talking about this with Li Xingzhou?
"Then why can't I sit in the passenger seat?" He looked up again, groping for Huang Shiyu in the rearview mirror.
"The passenger seat of a person of the opposite sex who has a partner and the passenger seat of a person of the opposite sex who doesn't have a partner are completely different things. I can accept sitting in the passenger seat of a person of the opposite sex who doesn't have a partner, but I can't accept sitting in the passenger seat of a person of the opposite sex who has a partner. Do you understand?" It was too convoluted and almost made Huang Shiyu dizzy.
"Huang Shiyu." Li Xingzhou called her name again, staring at Huang Shiyu in the rearview mirror, and solemnly declared: "I don't have a boyfriend, and I don't have anyone I'm going on blind dates with."
Their eyes met in the small mirror. Huang Shiyu was taken aback, unsure whether it was because of the words or simply because their gazes had unexpectedly met.
The next second, she heard Li Xingzhou say to her, "Now you can get in the car, right?"
In the end, Huang Shiyu sat in the passenger seat. The car was cramped, and Li Xingzhou's strong perfume scent wafted over her. With every breath, she felt as if her lungs and spleen were filled with this smell. It was so overpowering that she felt as if it was trying to melt her into the air.
The car had just entered a period of rush hour traffic. Li Xingzhou glanced at the rearview mirror and never looked away again.
Huang Shiyu only showed half of her profile, with a few strands of hair falling inside her collar. Today she was wearing a white turtleneck sweater, which added a touch of softness compared to her usual business attire. Her fair face was several shades brighter in the afterglow of the setting sun, a face that even the sunlight seemed to favor.
The towering skyscrapers of the city and the setting sun sinking deep into the horizon all seemed to dance in his eyes, but none of them could compare to the profile reflected in the small rearview mirror.
He thought, if this were a movie, he could press the pause button and stay in this moment.
However, the gradually moving vehicles ahead instantly shattered his self-deceiving delusions.
Before the car in front of him had fully started moving, he looked down, took out his phone, quickly tapped a few times on the screen, then tossed it into the drawer next to him where he kept odds and ends, and started the car.
Li Xingzhou controlled the steering wheel with one hand and glanced at Huang Shiyu out of the corner of his eye.
"Want some oranges? There are some in the drawer, just open it yourself." He even added, "Don't worry, I haven't given any to any other girls."
Huang Shiyu was stunned for a moment, and it took her a while to come to her senses. She realized that Li Xingzhou was teasing her for what she had just said, and that she had mistakenly thought that he had a girlfriend. However, she still said good-naturedly, "No need, thank you."
A while later.
"Want some water? It's right next to you, help yourself." He gave a slight, fleeting smile. "I've never offered any to other girls."
"No, I'm not thirsty, thank you." Huang Shiyu thought, "Will this person ever stop?"
Li Xingzhou asked in a flat tone, "What, are you afraid I'll poison it and you won't drink it?"
"No, I didn't mean that. I'm just not thirsty. Don't overthink it." These words reminded her of how taxi drivers used to ask her if she wanted water or fruit. Back then, Huang Shiyu wouldn't dare to ask, but this time, she simply didn't want to.
"Could you open the bottle for me? I want a drink." As if afraid she would refuse, Li Xingzhou added, "It's inconvenient for me to drive."
Huang Shiyu paused for a moment, took a bottle of water from the side, unscrewed the cap, leaned half her body towards Li Xingzhou, and without even looking at him, directly shoved the bottle mouth to his lips. Li Xingzhou just chuckled when he saw this.
The soft laugh was especially clear in the enclosed space. Although it was just one sound, Huang Shiyu's ears still felt hot.
Neither of them spoke during this process.
After a long while, Li Xingzhou spoke again: "Want to listen to some music?"
"Anything is fine." She didn't dare say no or not want to, for fear that Li Xingzhou would overthink it. She only had one thought in mind: to get to the fencing club as soon as possible so she could find a coach to practice with.
However, traffic jams are common in Shanghai, which is why she has been taking the subway to and from get off work for many years. Taking the subway in Shanghai is much more convenient than driving.
Soon, the car pulled into a place with a sign that read "What a Fencing Club." After Li Xingzhou parked the car, he and she got out together.
"Hey friends, wanna fencing?" The owner of the fencing club looked up from the front desk as soon as he pushed open the heavy glass door.
Huang Shiyu said, "Boss, I'm looking for Coach Lin. Is he here today?"
The owner of the fencing club glanced at Li Xingzhou next to Huang Shiyu before speaking: "Unfortunately, Coach Lin has a class today."
"I see." Huang Shiyu's mood was somewhat downcast.
"Didn't you two come together? Perfect timing, there's still one training room left."
Huang Shiyu looked embarrassed and said, "Is this okay?"
"What's wrong with that? The handsome guy next to you hasn't said a word."
Huang Shiyu was unsure whether Li Xingzhou would be willing to fencing with her. She had made such a fuss about asking him for a ride earlier; he probably wouldn't want to. Thinking about this, she couldn't help but look up at him, only to find him staring at her. His eyes were dark, and there was an emotion she couldn't understand in his gaze. She sensed that he really didn't want to and was waiting for her to refuse him.
Then, before she could speak, she heard an extremely calm voice, but it belonged to Li Xingzhou.
"Can."
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