TFS | Chapter 37

As the self-appointed strategist of the group, Xu Zhou had seen more than his fair share of the world. He had even once relied on nothing but his quick tongue and silver-tongued chatter to make an English teacher cry.

But under Xu Linruan’s relentless, shameless slander, the boy still flushed bright red with anger. “What the hell are you talking about? You think I’d like you?”

“Oh? You don’t like me? Then why do you always pick on me?” Xu Linruan tilted her head and looked at him with an unreadable smile. “Do you just dislike the sight of me, or is there another reason?”

Xu Zhou caught a bad feeling from that look. In a panic, he reached out to cover her mouth. “Shut up. Stop talking nonsense.”

Xu Linruan bent at the waist and dodged him. “Let me think about what the reason could be.” She tilted her head and let out a thoughtful “hmm,” then suddenly seemed to remember something. Her expression turned strange as she looked at him. “Could it be… that you actually like Qi Xiaoyue, so that’s why you hate me this much?”

After saying that, she even nodded with all the solemnity of someone making a serious deduction. “That would explain why you keep targeting me. Looks like I didn’t guess wrong. Jealousy has made you lose your mind, so you hate me this much, right?”

Fuck, right what?

Jealous, my ass.

Xu Zhou was so furious he felt steam pouring out of every one of his seven orifices[[1]], and he wanted nothing more than to rush over, shake her shoulders hard, and shout the truth into her face a hundred times: he was straight, straight, a steel-iron straight guy, and the kind of woman he liked was the bright, alluring older-sister type. Who the hell would like that cash-strapped idiot of a rich young master?

But seeing the person in front of him look thoughtful, and then grow even more strange in the way she looked at him, Xu Zhou turned green with rage.

He had never been slandered like this before. In his fury, he could no longer keep up his usual composure. The boy rushed forward to try to cover her mouth, but he moved too fast and stumbled on the corner of a table by the roadside. He fell flat on the ground.

To make matters worse, he ended up knocking her over too. Their bodies hit close together, and Xu Zhou caught the scent of shampoo in her hair. His mind went blank for a split second.

Xu Linruan shoved him away in disgust. After standing up, she took a few steps back. “Heh, young man, are you trying to get my attention on purpose? So you can even fall on me on flat ground. I have to say, that method is really impressive.”

Fuck, was she using his own words to shut him up?

Xu Zhou’s face darkened. He had clearly just tripped by accident. When had he fallen on flat ground, and intentionally at that? How could this guy be so shameless?

Seeing the embarrassed look on his face, Xu Linruan pressed further. “Oh? You’re blushing too. What’s wrong, did I hit the sore spot, so now you’re embarrassed?”

“Fuck off!”

Xu Zhou finally couldn’t hold it in and cursed. At her mocking expression, he scrambled to his feet, his handsome face red to the ears. It took him half a day of struggling before he finally squeezed out a sentence. “Xu Linruan, do you have any shame at all? Who the hell likes that cash-strapped idiot?”

“You don’t like him? Then that means you like me.” She smiled at him faintly, her tone unbearably casual. “Too bad, though. You’re too late. Your big sister already has a boyfriend.”

Xu Zhou was practically driven mad by her shamelessness. It was the first time in his life he’d met such an unreserved girl. Why was this woman’s mouth so venomous?

The girls he’d met before were always gentle and obedient in front of him. When had there ever been one as shameless as Xu Linruan?

Pushed past his limit, the boy couldn’t even be bothered to maintain his usual gentlemanly manners anymore. He rushed over and covered her mouth directly. “Shut up.”

He didn’t realize at all that the position was far too intimate. He only wanted her to stop talking, or else he really would be angered into illness. So he covered her mouth with one hand and grabbed her shoulder with the other, unconsciously pulling her into his hold.

Xu Linruan couldn’t dodge in time this time. Being pinned by him, she couldn’t move. Anyone who didn’t know better might have thought they were a sweet little couple roughhousing and bickering.

She looked up at him, her bright eyes carrying a faintly strange expression. “Have you ever heard a saying?”

Xu Zhou froze for a second. He knew it definitely wouldn’t be anything nice, but he still asked reflexively, “What saying?”

“A friend’s wife is not to be messed with[[2]].” Xu Linruan lowered her head to glance at their positions, then looked back up at him. The contempt in her eyes made his scalp tingle.

Xu Zhou didn’t quite react at first, his expression stiff. He looked down at the girl he was holding in his arms, and his face instantly went green. Fuck, this time he really couldn’t wash himself clean even if he jumped into the Yellow River!

Xu Linruan, meanwhile, remained even calmer. After criticizing him thoroughly, she pulled out her phone to call her boyfriend. “I can’t believe you’re this kind of person?”

“No, I have to tell Qi Xiaoyue. He really can’t judge people for shit. His good brother, the one he’s been playing with since childhood, actually tried to take advantage of his girlfriend. That’s just too shameless. This is truly the collapse of morality and the decay of humanity…”

“…”

Fuck, couldn’t he just admit defeat?

He had never been this thoroughly denounced in his life.

Xu Zhou was left utterly battered. His handsome face burned red, and he wanted to say he hadn’t taken advantage of her at all, but this guy’s mouth was far too vicious. He simply couldn’t outtalk her.

And seeing that she really was about to contact Qi Yue with her phone, Xu Zhou’s expression twisted even more. He grabbed Xu Linruan’s wrist at once and started apologizing.

“Auntie, I was wrong. I really was wrong, okay? I was the one in the wrong before…”

“I promise I won’t say those things again, and I won’t bully you again. Don’t call Qi Yue. Otherwise, that guy might really fly back here…”

Even though he hadn’t actually done any of those things, he knew that kid well enough. If Qi Yue found out he had accidentally knocked Xu Linruan down, he might really fly back just to peel off a layer of his skin.

Xu Linruan brushed aside the boy’s hand, her fine brows lifting slightly. If he had just apologized earlier, wouldn’t that have been the end of it? He had to waste her time making a scene. As expected, he was a little bastard who needed a proper beating.

After that, the number of times Xu Zhou came looking for trouble dropped sharply. There was even a period when he looked at her with such a strange expression that it was as if she had some terrifying thing stuck to her body. Whenever he saw her on the road, he would turn around and leave, acting as if he had not seen her at all.

Xu Linruan said she didn’t care in the slightest. She was only too happy if this guy stopped coming to bother her.

Although Qi Xiaoyue had gone abroad, his habit of sticking to people like glue still hadn’t changed. He called seven or eight times a day, always right on schedule. It was annoying, sure, but now that no one was nagging in her ear, she actually found it a little hard to get used to.

Xu Linruan felt like she was becoming a little strange. And she couldn’t be harsh with that guy either. If she was even a little fierce, the boy would get委屈, whining to her through video chat, shoving his big face right up to the screen and looking at her pitifully while calling, “Ruanruan, Ruanruan…” Anyone who didn’t know better would think she was the one bullying him.

Only after Xu Linruan threatened him openly and covertly again and again did he finally learn to rein it in a little.

By July, Xu Linruan had been admitted into a top medical university in Jing City with a ranking in the top ten of the province. Her outstanding looks and unique aura made her the most eye-catching graduate of the year.

At the same time, under his good brother’s insistence, Xu Zhou also picked an average third-rate university and followed Xu Linruan to Jing City.

His grades were just a tiny bit better than Qi Yue’s, and when the scores came out, he had just enough to get into some obscure no-name university.

Actually, for him, university was just about killing time. Whether he studied or not didn’t matter. Once he graduated, he’d go intern at his father’s company anyway.

It was just that during this period he felt off all over, and he didn’t even know why. Maybe it was because school was about to start. Everything he looked at seemed irritating.

Especially when Qi Yue asked him to follow along behind his girlfriend like a little tail and take care of her, Xu Zhou’s mood grew irritable all at once.

He wasn’t some errand boy for other people. What kind of look was it, running around happily taking care of someone else’s girlfriend?

…

Outside the barred gate of the neighborhood below, Xu Zhou crouched for a long time before finally waiting for Xu Linruan to come out.

“Here. Congrats on graduating, Xu Linruan. This is a graduation gift from your boyfriend.” Xu Zhou had been nagged to death by his good buddy and finally agreed to the request, though he was extremely reluctant when he handed over the gift.

“What is this?” Xu Linruan looked up in surprise. What he handed her was a gift bag tied with a little yellow flower, very delicate-looking.

Xu Zhou curled his lip. Meeting Xu Linruan’s beautiful eyes, he looked away a little unnaturally. “What else would it be? It’s a gift, obviously. Why don’t you open it and see for yourself?” He folded his arms, trying to look casual.

Actually, at first he had really disliked this woman. He thought she was fake and pretentious, and only someone like Qi Yue, who had never seen much of the world, would fall for her.

But as they got along afterward, he found that this woman actually had quite a few merits. Putting aside what had happened between them before, Xu Linruan’s personality was actually pretty good. She had principles in the way she treated people and handled things, and her thinking was fairly mature. She also complemented Qi Yue’s personality well.

Before he realized it, he didn’t hate her that much anymore. Maybe because his relationship with Xu Linruan had improved lately, she looked much more pleasing to the eye now too.

Actually, the gift was prepared by Qi Yue for her, to celebrate his girlfriend’s successful graduation. Since he wasn’t in the country, he had asked Xu Zhou to deliver it personally, saying that would better show his sincerity.

Xu Zhou hadn’t refused, and he had even picked out a pair of ear studs and put them in the box on the side. He figured the two of them were friends now, so giving a graduation present wasn’t a big deal.

So when he saw Xu Linruan smile as she unpacked the gift, he subconsciously ignored the small surge of pleasure that rose in his chest.

That was strange. He felt like something was off about him.

Inside the box was a fan-shaped blue diamond necklace and a pair of square ear studs. The design was novel and unique, and once worn, it made her look very elegant. After opening it, Xu Linruan tried them on. She didn’t ask who had bought them, though she didn’t know that Qi Xiaoyue actually had such taste.

That night, during a video call, the guy was once again acting spoiled and begging for praise, confessing his love to her through the screen. Even though he hadn’t personally handed them to her, it was still the only token of his feelings he could send at the moment.

After that, Xu Zhou began returning to his old behavior again. No one knew what Qi Yue had said to him, but he kept coming up to her again and again. Occasionally he would throw out a sarcastic line or two, though this time it really wasn’t malicious.

Xu Linruan found it incredibly annoying. Anyway, every time this guy came by, he’d end up so angry he’d see stars. She figured the man was probably begging for a beating and needed a proper thrashing before he’d behave.

Xu Zhou himself didn’t know what his problem was. Maybe his brain had gotten water in it. He kept approaching Xu Linruan under the pretense of being a good brother, and although he was supposedly there to look after her on someone else’s behalf, only he himself knew that something was different now.

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