Chapter 39 "I want to hug you."
Jiang Muzhou usually works from home, so there is no workstation for him here.
He found a spare computer, plugged in a USB drive, and started copying the materials that Wang Yuemeng had prepared.
Su Cheng's back was pressed against the cold wall, her tense feet began to go numb, and she felt as if she were sinking into a soft cloud.
Her senses were somewhat blocked.
The sounds of keyboard and mouse mingled together, blurring into a buzzing sound in her ears.
Every now and then, she would dredge up old grievances and interrogate her sensitive and fragile heart.
Is this really what I wanted?
If she wants to go further, she must be prepared to accept two possible outcomes: either she gets what she wants, or she returns to square one.
There is no foolproof plan; this is the risk one must take in pursuing true love.
After much deliberation, she realized she couldn't afford to gamble; she couldn't bear to give up this hard-won warmth.
She only hoped that this dream could continue for a long time.
"Miss Su, how did you and A-Zhou meet?"
Wang Yuemeng's voice rang out.
Su Cheng shook herself and pulled herself back to reality.
This is the first time I've heard someone refer to Jiang Muzhou as "A-Zhou".
"We were high school classmates."
"You also graduated from No. 1 High School?" Wang Yuemeng's eyes lit up, his tone filled with admiration. "Those who can get into No. 1 High School are all top students. I'm also from Linhai, but I went to No. 12 High School."
"So you and..." She hesitated slightly, mimicking his way of addressing her, "A-Zhou, you knew each other since high school?"
"We only got to know each other in Beijing; we were roommates."
"You got into Tsinghua and Peking University from No. 12 High School?" Su Cheng's eyes widened slightly, her tone filled with surprise and admiration. "That's amazing!"
"Hey, I don't have that ability." Wang Yuemeng scratched his head and chuckled twice. "I'm from the School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. When I was a sophomore, I met A-Zhou while looking for a place off-campus, so we decided to share a place. We're both from Linhai, so we naturally got to know each other after a while."
Wang Yuemeng was a talkative person, and it was through him that Su Cheng learned about Jiang Muzhou during his university days for the first time.
Jiang Muzhou was pursuing a double degree, which involved a lot of classes. At first, he could only take on some commercial video work on weekends. Later, when his coursework became easier, he took advantage of the holidays to shoot some humanistic documentaries and started working as a self-media creator.
Inspired by Jiang Muzhou, Wang Yuemeng also tried opening an account to shoot funny videos.
Initially, it wasn't very popular, but fortunately, Jiang Muzhou was good at seizing trending topics, helping him to reposition his video audience and optimize the narrative rhythm, and the number of views quickly increased.
The two accounts have very different styles, yet both have gained a large following, surpassing ten million followers each.
Wang Yuemeng majored in computer science in college, but he never developed an interest in writing code.
During the summer break after sophomore year, the college suddenly issued a strict order that every student must complete an internship. Students rushed to submit their resumes to major internet companies, vying for those grueling jobs that required working from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and only paid 70 yuan a day.
Wang Yuemeng lay sprawled on the sofa, wailing and lamenting that he had no choice but to take off Kong Yiji's long gown and sell himself cheaply.
This isn't an internship; it's clearly a modern-day indentured servitude contract!
Just as he was getting into a heated argument, Jiang Muzhou silently pulled a bright red official seal from his pocket and stamped it on Wang Yuemeng's internship certificate.
It turns out that Jiang Muzhou had long foreseen the development prospects of short videos. He not only operated his own account but also established an MCN agency and signed several live streamers.
Wang Yuemeng perked up immediately upon hearing this and joined in. The two had a clear division of labor: Wang Yuemeng was responsible for discovering new talent and negotiating contracts, while Jiang Muzhou focused on video content creation and business coordination.
Short video shooting does not require advanced technology; a smartphone is all that's needed for ordinary people to realize their creative dreams.
Recognizing this, they plan to leave Beijing, where land is incredibly expensive, after graduation and set up their studio in their hometown of Linhai City. They even designed a real-life film studio specifically for shooting short videos.
With two top-tier online influencers boasting tens of millions of followers, the company has rapidly grown, with its business encompassing three major sectors: text and images, short videos, and live streaming. The team has also expanded to dozens of people.
After listening, Su Cheng glanced at Jiang Muzhou, who was still copying materials not far away, and couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration.
Short videos may seem to have a low barrier to entry, and anyone can make them, but precisely because of this, the competition is extremely fierce.
She didn't know what Wang Yuemeng's account was, but if she remembered correctly, "Du" had already become one of the top accounts in the field of humanistic documentary.
Jiang Muzhou is such a person. He can not only do his best, but also share his knowledge and mentors. He has remained unchanged over the years.
This is perhaps one of the reasons why so many people like him.
Wang Yuemeng didn't notice Su Cheng's wandering gaze. He counted on his fingers as if they were his own treasures, "Like 'The Sweet Daily Life of Meiya and Xiaobai,' which records the lives of couples, 'Your Class is the Noisiest in the Whole Building,' which imitates the homeroom teacher's lecture, and 'The First Task is to Uninstall Yangshizi,' which uses a long watermelon effect to act out a domineering CEO novel. These popular accounts were all created by us."
He proudly raised his round double chin, his tone full of pride, and was about to continue introducing their business empire when a voice suddenly came from behind him: "Brother Meng."
A tall, thin boy wearing a clean white school uniform with a black backpack casually slung over his shoulder walked briskly from the cloth area that Su Cheng had just passed.
Judging from his attire, he must be a popular creator of short videos featuring campus themes.
The boy raised an eyebrow and smiled at Wang Yuemeng, "Brother Meng, is this a newly signed beauty blogger? I've never seen her before."
Before he could respond, he had already moved closer to Su Cheng, his clear puppy eyes staring straight at her. "Miss, want to partner with me? I'm planning to make a campus couple story, and I'm just missing a female lead."
"Unfortunately, you're too late."
A deep male voice came from behind, accompanied by slightly faster footsteps.
The voice was languid and casual, yet it carried an undeniable sense of pressure.
As his gaze swept over the boy in the school uniform, Jiang Muzhou's lips curled into a faint smile.
He casually took a step forward, using half of his shoulder to block Su Cheng, his nonchalant demeanor carrying an aggressive possessiveness, "She's already mine."
-
Su Cheng nestled in the passenger seat, head down, scrolling through her phone screen, hesitantly typing into the Zhihu search bar:
What does it mean when a friend of the opposite sex says ambiguous things?
Press the search button, and relevant answers will quickly appear.
Some people are naturally more enthusiastic or enjoy flirting.
[Either he's feeling empty and wants to be in a relationship, or he's using you as a backup option; in any case, he's not sincere.]
Su Cheng bit her lower lip, the cold light from the screen reflecting in her eyes.
Jiang Muzhou... he can't be that much of a scumbag, can he?
He might just see you as a special friend and is trying to get your attention.
If he only flirts with you when other people are around, he's probably just trying to annoy that unlucky guy, like a dog marking its territory by peeing. The point isn't that he likes you at all.
Su Cheng pinched her burning earlobe, inwardly scolding herself for overthinking.
After all, they're currently working together on a business project, and some people want to break them up as a couple. Jiang Muzhou's comment was probably an attempt to assert his ownership of the relationship.
Or perhaps they simply dislike that person and are deliberately trying to provoke them.
As she was thinking this, her finger unconsciously slid down, and the next answer appeared on the screen:
[Another possibility is that he likes you, but is afraid that confessing would ruin their friendship, so he's testing the waters to see your reaction.]
Su Cheng's breath hitched, and she almost dropped her phone.
She swiped through the page quickly, as if trying to cut off some dangerous thought.
But the phrase "he likes you" seems to have taken root in my mind, repeating itself endlessly, and I can't shake it off no matter what I do.
She tapped her head in frustration, turned her head, and realized that the view outside the car window had changed to the familiar underground parking garage.
Jiang Muzhou brought the car to a steady stop, and Su Cheng, as usual, pushed open the door and jumped out.
But suddenly his foot twisted, and he immediately lost his balance.
She hurriedly grabbed the car door handle, and just as she regained her balance, a piercing pain shot through her heel.
Su Cheng gasped in pain, only then realizing that she wasn't wearing the canvas shoes she'd left in.
The blisters that had been rubbed raw were burst by this twist.
Her legs went weak, and she slid down the car door to the ground, only able to curl up halfway and take deep breaths to relieve the pain.
Jiang Muzhou had just picked up his shopping bag from the back seat when he heard the noise. He immediately put it down and walked over quickly.
"What's wrong?" His voice was filled with barely concealed anxiety.
Su Cheng didn't say anything, but pouted and forced a somewhat awkward smile.
Jiang Muzhou bent one knee, the knee of his suit pants pressing directly onto the cement ground.
His gaze followed her trembling calves downwards, where blisters on her heels were raw and tender, slowly oozing tiny beads of blood.
His warm fingertips touched her cold ankles.
The moment their skin touched, a tingling, electric sensation spread through her, and she couldn't help but tremble slightly.
"pain?"
He applied as little pressure as possible, pressing his thumb against the indentation on the inside of his ankle.
After a simple palpation, the tense brows finally relaxed slightly. "Fortunately, no bones were injured."
He remained kneeling, looking up at her, "Can you still walk?"
Su Cheng's gaze met his.
The wisps of hair on her forehead cast a shadow, obscuring her deep-set eyes and making her expression unreadable.
Her eyelashes trembled, and an absurd thought she had never had before flashed through Su Cheng's mind.
In complete silence, she could only hear the deafening pounding of her own heart.
Her sharp nails dug into the flesh of her palm. She shook her head and mustered her courage: "It doesn't seem like it will work."
My heart pounded against my chest.
Fine beads of sweat trickled down her face as she awaited his response, yet feared he would expose her clumsy lie.
Hearing her trembling voice, Jiang Muzhou assumed she was in great pain.
"Su Cheng, get ready."
He lowered his head, his long, slender fingers hooking the rhinestone ribbon at her ankle, gently untying it, trying to avoid her wound.
She caught his gaze again; his eyes, reflecting the starlight of a summer night, were slowly drawing closer to her.
In an instant, she lost her mind and was instantly immersed in that tenderness.
His voice was soft, yet every word struck her ears clearly.
"I want to hug you."
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