Newlyweds
"He deserves a beating." Deng Yi turned the steering wheel to the left, and in less than five minutes, they arrived at their home.
Hearing Deng Yi's words, Zhou Ji'an, who was leaning against the car window, laughed heartily. "I also think he deserves a beating. I originally wanted to take the opportunity to punch him, but I was afraid he would talk nonsense, so I restrained myself."
Something is dissipating like the thick rain clouds in the sky.
Deng Yi smiled slightly, glancing at the road ahead, and casually remarked, "I thought you liked his type."
"Did he tell you I liked him? Did he also say I tried to pursue him but failed?" Zhou Ji'an said with disgust. Seeing that they were almost home, he sat up straight and waited to get off the bus.
Deng Yi was taken aback and turned to look at her uneasily.
The day before Zhou Ji'an and Deng Yi broke up, Wei Jinglin went to Deng Yi's studio and started giving orders.
At that time, Wei Jinglin had already expressed his dissatisfaction with Zhou Ji'an and Deng Yi's relationship.
In front of people other than his elders, Wei Jinglin always acted arrogantly.
He said disdainfully, "How could you possibly be interested in Zhou Jian? She's so ordinary."
When he failed to provoke Deng Yi, he continued, "Ordinary people like her love to keep chasing after high achievers like us."
After saying that, he pretended to have accidentally let something slip: "Didn't she tell you? She pursued me for a long time but couldn't win me over because I felt that she was too insignificant compared to the other girls who pursued me."
Deng Yi suspected that Zhou Ji'an had overheard his conversation with Wei Jinglin, "You..."
Zhou Ji'an curled his lip and said, "He was like a lunatic at school, spreading rumors everywhere that I pursued him but failed."
“I know you two are childhood friends, but I just don’t like him, I even hate him, so please don’t let me go to places where he might be.” Zhou Ji’an said seriously as he opened the car door.
Deng Yi gripped the steering wheel, looked at her, and said with utmost seriousness, "He and I are not friends."
Zhou Ji'an could sense that there was a problem between Deng Yi and Wei Jinglin, and she said this only to confirm it further.
So she nodded and said, "That's good."
The trunk was opened, and Zhou Ji'an picked up a large bag of groceries, but Deng Yi took it from him, saying, "It's too heavy, I'll carry it."
Zhou Ji'an insisted, "I can lift it."
Deng Yi smiled and said, "I know you can lift it, but your job is very physically demanding, so you need to be more careful in your daily life, especially by lifting less heavy objects."
Inside the elevator, Zhou Ji'an couldn't help but look at himself, empty-handed, and Deng Yi, carrying two large bags of groceries in each hand.
She was so engrossed in watching that she realized Deng Yi had already finished speaking when he was talking to her.
"What did you just say?" Zhou Ji'an asked.
Deng Yi quickly shifted his gaze from the elevator door back to Zhou Ji'an, repeating his question: "I said you hate Wei Jinglin, so why did you attend his housewarming party?"
“Oh.” Zhou Ji’an nodded his chin and leaned back against the carriage wall, saying, “He invited me. I just wanted to take this opportunity to see how big the gap between the rich and poor really is.”
Zhou Ji'an turned to meet Deng Yi's confused expression and added, "He went to the same university as me, majored in the same subject, and joined a company that wasn't as good as mine. Although he started working two years earlier than me, I was shocked that he bought a large apartment so quickly."
“Back then, I didn’t know that your parents were very wealthy. I thought you were just from an ordinary local family.” Zhou Ji’an looked intently at Deng Yi.
Before Deng Yi could give his usual calm response, Zhou Ji'an continued: "However, I immediately realized that even if you come from ordinary families, you're already at the finish line because you were born in Ji City."
Zhou Ji'an raised his eyebrows and said in a casual, worldly manner, "Otherwise, I wouldn't have agreed to marry you without much thought when you asked me to and promised to give you anything."
"I was thinking that you definitely wouldn't give me everything, but the little things you casually let slip should be enough for me to use for a long time." Zhou Ji'an couldn't stop herself. When she reminded herself to brake, she found that she had already said everything she wanted to say.
However, Zhou Ji'an didn't regret it. Anyway, there were no audience members around them now, so she didn't need to act.
Zhou Ji'an hates acting.
Every time she acted with Deng Yi, she would think of those actors she had occasionally seen on her roommates' and colleagues' computer and mobile phone screens, who tried their best to perform but whose acting skills were still clumsy.
But Deng Yi is different. He is a natural actor. He can play any role with ease, which is why he loves acting.
"Does that mean you wouldn't agree to marry me if I were penniless?" Deng Yi gripped the handle of the shopping bag tightly and stepped through the door that Zhou Ji'an had opened.
Zhou Ji'an corrected him, "Our marriage is a sham."
Deng Yi then asked, "If it were a real marriage, would you agree?"
His follow-up questions were natural, simply to keep the conversation going and reduce the awkwardness of them being a fake couple.
Zhou Ji'an avoided his gaze and said in a natural tone, "No."
But as soon as she finished speaking, she couldn't help but look up at his expression, trying to find even a trace of disappointment in it, and then added, "Whether it's a real marriage or a fake one, I won't agree."
"The reason? Just because you're poor?" Deng Yi stood upright, not in a hurry to put the ingredients into the refrigerator.
There was no disappointment in his expression, only politeness in continuing the conversation.
Zhou Ji'an chuckled self-deprecatingly, "Yeah."
Deng Yi smiled and nodded, saying, "Fortunately, I've saved up some money over the years."
Zhou Ji'an suddenly lost his desire to laugh. Seeing Deng Yi's smile, he also began to feel irritated. His expression darkened, and he pointed out the key point: "It should be thankful that our marriage is fake."
"Is that so?" Deng Yi asked casually, picked up the bag again, and finally walked towards the kitchen.
Zhou Ji'an followed behind him.
There was homemade unsweetened yogurt that Zhou Ji'an had filtered yesterday in the refrigerator, which was originally intended for Zhou Ji'an's breakfast today.
Deng Yi's sudden return last night and his suggestion to have dinner at his parents' house disrupted Zhou Ji'an's plans, so she had no choice but to have him serve as lunch now.
“Of course.” Zhou Ji’an looked at the somewhat empty refrigerator, then glanced at Deng Yi, who was arranging the food.
Deng Yi paid for the groceries and the flowers he bought in the morning, making it seem like she married him just to take advantage of him.
Zhou Ji'an wanted to pretend to ask Deng Yi not to make her lunch, but she was afraid that Deng Yi had no intention of making her lunch at all.
Zhou Ji'an, who had been hesitating in front of the refrigerator door for a long time, was holding yogurt, kiwi, and blueberries. He used his elbow to push against the refrigerator door and turned around, almost bumping into Deng Yi.
He was holding a lot of ingredients, so he must have already sorted out all the ingredients in the bag.
"Are you hungry?" Deng Yi asked, then paused and added, "Could you open the refrigerator door for me?"
Zhou Ji'an silently put down what he was holding, went back to open the refrigerator door for him, and answered his question: "Yes, this is my lunch."
With one hand on the refrigerator door, Deng Yi looked at her intently and asked, "Losing weight?"
Zhou Ji'an didn't want to eat alone with Deng Yi, even though Deng Yi might not cook and invite her to eat together.
She didn't want their sham marriage to feel so natural.
A little awkwardness between them would make her feel more present.
Zhou Ji'an knew that it was a pathetic thing to seek a sense of existence in a marriage that was entirely a transaction, but there was nothing she could do. Her pathos had become an unstoppable river the moment she agreed to Deng Yi's fake marriage.
“No, I always eat like this.” Zhou Ji’an walked to the kitchen counter again and bent down to assemble the food.
Zhou Ji'an thought she wasn't exactly lying. She didn't like eating food from restaurants. In recent years, in order to squeeze out more time for rest and exercise, she ate very simple food every day. She would never cook food if she could eat it raw, and she would never fry or stir-fry food if she could steam or boil it.
"Why?" Deng Yi stood in front of the refrigerator without moving.
With a spoonful of yogurt, fruit, nuts, and oatmeal still in his mouth, Zhou Ji'an turned his head and mumbled, "Simple."
"Is that so?" Deng Yi didn't ask his guess, but instead picked up the ingredients that had been separated on the counter and put them in the refrigerator.
Zhou Ji'an stole a glance at him, and as if he sensed it, his gaze fell on her.
Pecans are so crunchy that even with gentle chewing, they still make a crunching sound.
Immediately afterwards, the sound of rushing water filled the silent space.
Deng Yi wiped his hands and said, "If you want to use the food in the refrigerator, use some; otherwise, it'll be a waste if it spoils."
Zhou Ji'an stopped chewing and looked at him in confusion.
"I'm going out to eat and see some friends," Deng Yi said emotionlessly, folding his handkerchief.
“Okay.” Zhou Ji’an nodded slowly in response.
The sound of the door closing shattered the silence in the room.
Zhou Ji'an breathed a sigh of relief, took his bowl of yogurt to the table, sat down, and ate while looking at his phone.
Wei Jinglin's profile picture was unusually glaring in the WeChat message interface.
Zhou Ji'an clicked on it.
"Deng Yi has violent tendencies. Get rid of him as soon as possible, or you'll be beaten up before you know how to run away."
"Don't blame me for not warning you later. Also, because you unconditionally sided with him today, I won't help you even if you get beaten up."
Zhou Ji'an found it very funny.
Even after all these years, he still pretends to be a good person in front of her.
Maybe he doesn't even realize he's pretending to be a good person?
Zhou Ji'an turned off the screen and focused on eating her lunch.
If all the celebrities with poor acting skills in the entertainment industry were sent to Deng Yi and Wei Jinglin's neighborhood, wouldn't their acting skills improve dramatically in no time?
Yu Xi squinted and looked several times, still unsure, then gently patted her friend across the table and said, "Can you help me see if that's Deng Yi sitting over there?"
My friend turned around and looked closely for a few seconds, then whispered, "It really is. Is this person here to observe people, just like you?"
"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't." Yu Xi smiled faintly.
At noon, the restaurant was crowded. Yu Xi had to walk past several customers picking up their food before she reached the corner where Deng Yi was.
"A newlywed, coming to a small restaurant to eat noodles all by herself?" Yu Xi asked, her hands loosely in her coat pockets and her eyes lowered.
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