Chapter Nineteen (Part One)

  My premonition was confirmed on the third evening, and something unsettling landed successfully while I was having dinner with Yan Lang. That thing is... Zhou Yueyue.

  Zhou Yueyue appeared in front of me with a dejected expression, glanced at the food on the table, and went to the kitchen to get a bowl and chopsticks. After eating, she automatically poured herself a glass of boiling water and sat in the living room for a long time, holding the cup. Yan Lang noticed that Zhou Yueyue was acting strangely today and didn't dare tease her, so he finished his meal and went back to his room to study math. He occasionally came out under the pretext of getting a drink to take a look at the situation. I sat beside her, guessing many things in my heart. I remembered that when we broke up, she was discussing geography with He Dashao, and He Dashao is a serious person. It's likely that they didn't see eye-to-eye, and she got angry and hit him. Looking at the situation now, it's likely that she even sent him to the hospital.

  Zhou Yue remained silent for a long time, lowered his head and took a sip of water, finally saying the first sentence of the day: "I've taken care of He Bi."

  I thought so, and responded with a "uh-huh", waiting quietly for what came next, ready to hear how she would describe He Dashi's thrashing.

  Zhou Yue covered her face and let out a "hmmph": "I didn't want to either, but he provoked me first, saying I hadn't found a boyfriend in two years, implying that I still had feelings for him and was waiting for him. He made me sound like... uh, what's-her-name, the one who cried at the Great Wall? I think her last name was Meng, Meng something Liang?" After finishing speaking, she immediately propped up her head: "Wait a minute, don't remind me, let me think for myself... Ah, got it! Meng Liangyu. That song is sung so well: Meng Liangyu, crying at the Great Wall, an eternal injustice, who can bear to listen..."

  I thought it was indeed an ancient injustice, the lady who cried down the Great Wall must not forgive Zhou Yue for changing her name. After struggling for half a day, she corrected her: "No, you're talking about Meng Jiangnu, as for that Meng something Liang, Meng Jiangnu did have a husband named Wan Xiliang, but these two people should have nothing to do with Mengliangguan."

  Zhou Yue bowed her head in contemplation, then nodded and said: "Oh, I also feel that something is off. Hearing you say this, Meng Liang should be a young man's name, where would there be a girl with this name? Haha. Meng Jiangnv is a good name, it's just this Meng Jiangnv, Meng Jiangnv is infatuated... I'm an art person, why did that kid say I look like Meng Jiangnv, saying I'm so infatuated? Isn't he insulting me? This is personal attack! I think no matter what, I must regain the face of a future artist, so I casually said that these past two years, I've actually been going in and out of the world of smoke and flowers every night, and have already cultivated myself into an unparalleled seductress."

  I looked at the peerless beauty in front of me, who had several acne on her forehead, and forcibly suppressed the idea of telling her that Meng Liangguan was actually a place name. Moreover, I thought that if He Daxiao still had illusions about her, this conversation would be extremely heartbreaking to hear.

  I asked the peerless demon queen: "What did Da Shao say after hearing your words?"

  She tilted her head to one side: "He didn't believe me." Then she tilted it back, looking at me with a bewildered expression: "They say that monks compete for a stick of incense, and people compete for a breath of air. I was competing for that breath of air, and the atmosphere was just right, so I took care of him. You know, I... uh, what was it again? Definitely saw blood, I told him it was my aunt's sudden visit, but he didn't believe me at all, then insisted on marrying me. Alas, we artists don't bother with trivial matters..."

  I reacted for half a day and finally understood, shocked: "Listening to you say that, it seems like it wasn't you who took care of him, but rather he took care of you?"

  "Now the key issue is not who did what to whom, but that he insists on marrying me and I mustn't give in. I need to find an excuse, so I'll tell him that actually I already have a boyfriend. He said as soon as he came back he asked around, these two years I've been with you all along, there's no way I had a man, my heart was empty, so I'll just tell him that actually..."

  She looked at me timidly, and I coaxed her: "Actually what?"

  She took a sip of water: "I told him, actually, that I was hurt too deeply by him back then, and had completely given up on love between men and women. My sexual orientation underwent a fundamental change, and I ended up with you. We've been together for two years now, and he somehow found out. Well, people can't always get what they want... But we're really happy together now, so please just ask him not to bother us again..."

  I was choked by a mouthful of water for half a day and she was so angry that she had nothing to say.

  Zhou Yueyue saw that I had no reaction, and was encouraged to continue: "He saw me make a poisonous oath, and actually believed it. He just wants to hear you admit our relationship in person, and if he hears it from your own mouth, he won't bother me again."

  I barely squeezed out a bit of sanity amidst the thunderous applause to wave my hand in refusal: "My reputation is already not great, now I'd be inexplicably adding another label as a homosexual, this won't do, this absolutely won't do."

  Zhou Yu looked out the window for a long time, then slowly let out a sigh: "I don't know if you've been paying attention to the school BBS these past two days, but on Thursday night, there was a couple at the basketball court setting off fireworks in the misty rain... it was so romantic. Some classmates even took pictures of the couple and posted them on the BBS..."

  My heart skipped a beat and I felt a chill run down my spine.

  "What a pity it's too far away and it's at night, the photo effect is terrible, only two blurry shadows can be seen."

  I let out a sigh of relief.

  "But we're so familiar with each other, I'm sure I can still recognize that girl as Song Song even if she's changed."

  My cup shook and I said hastily: "Make an appointment with He Dashi at a specific time, and let me know when it's set..."

  In the past, when watching Qiong Yao's dramas, in situations where the male and female leads had misunderstandings, it was usually the male supporting actor who would appear and pretend to be the female lead's new love interest, in order to achieve the effect of tormenting the male lead physically and mentally, making him exhausted and heartbroken, unable to hate or love the female lead, only able to vent his anger. Nowadays, times have really progressed, men and women are equal, and the role of the male supporting actor can also be taken over by the female supporting actor.

  In the evening, I received two phone calls. One was from Lao Da and the other was from Zhou Yueyue. Lao Da reiterated on the phone that he would protect the privacy of celebrities at all costs and would never leak a word about Qin Mo and me. At the same time, he also hoped that I could cooperate and support the women's friendly basketball match at the TV station and radio station next afternoon. I agreed. Zhou Yueyue informed me on the phone of the time to meet with He Dashao, which was also set for next afternoon. For convenience, I changed the meeting place from the Reindeer Cafe to a small forest next to the basketball court. There are stone tables and stools, intense photosynthesis, rich oxygen molecules, and a peaceful atmosphere that makes it easy to talk without getting too excited or violent. It's the first choice for many couples to negotiate their breakup.

  Forty minutes before the basketball game started, He Dashao was already waiting in the woods. I walked up with Zhou Yueyue, one after the other. A few pieces of hazy sunlight shone through, making the young man under the tree look particularly tall and slender. I said: "Are you really going to cut off all ties with him? If that's what you mean, I'll go all out later."

  Zhou Yueyue fell silent for a while, not speaking. At this time, a young woman holding a child suddenly appeared beside He Bi, probably just coming from the shaded path behind, chatting with He Bi. I turned my head to look at Zhou Yueyue, and her face turned even paler.

  I said: "What's wrong with you."

  She sneered three times, making me break out in a cold sweat: "Damn, I thought he really couldn't let go of me. It turns out that he brought his old love to show off in front of me."

  Ordinary people would have fled in tears, but fortunately, Zhou Yueyue was never an ordinary person. He put on a smiling face and quickly went forward: "Hey, isn't this Teacher Wu? I heard you got divorced last time, so now you're with He Shao? He Shao, you're too stingy, such a big happy event didn't even tell us old friends to celebrate together." After finishing, he also patted He Shibai's shoulder like brothers.

  The little bird-like Mrs. Wu, who looked ageless, glanced at He Bi with a swift glance and smiled awkwardly at Zhou Yueyue: "Long time no see, Yueyue."

  Why bother frowning and going to pull Zhou Yueyue: "It's not what you think, we just happened to meet." However, Zhou Yueyue was agile and dodged the pull with ease. The dim sunlight turned the scene under the tree into a puppet stage, and I stood not far away, feeling like I was watching a shadow play. Suddenly, a voice in my mind said: "Luo Luo, it's not what you think..." I was taken aback for a moment, thinking that this sentence was indeed the most classic phrase to use when caught cheating.

  Zhou Yueyue turned around and beckoned to me, I remembered my duty and immediately jogged over. She warmly grasped my hand and smiled at He Dasao: "Let's not make things complicated from now on, we two have no relationship starting today, hey, we originally didn't have any relationship anyway, it was all you who were deliberately trying to create a relationship. In short, you and Teacher Wu can live well together, and I and Song Song can live well together too. Look, you've forced me to change my sexual orientation, if you force me again, I'll have no choice but to go get a sex change."

  I hastily said: "Dear, you can't go for a sex change, your height is less than 1.75 meters, if you become a man, you'll be a second-class disabled person."

  Zhou Yueyue said: "If I were a second-rate disabled person, would you be disgusted with me?"

  I immediately said, "How is this possible? We've been through so much and finally got together. Even if you turned into a grass by the roadside, a chair in the classroom, or a croissant in a bakery..." At this point I was already feeling unwell, but still summoned up the courage to finish the sentence: "...I won't... abandon you."

  "You're too good."

  I humbly said: "I'm not that good, you're better, you're the best." After finishing, the two of us collectively shivered slightly without noticing.

  Teacher Wu was already stunned, He Dashi's face turned pale, and he didn't speak for a long time. I finished stuttering, thinking that it was about time to take drastic measures, so I immediately recalled a romance novel I had flipped through a few days ago, and sincerely grasped He Dashi's hand: "Just let me be with Yueyue, the things we've been through are not something you can imagine, you can live well without her, but I really can't survive without her." Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of Zhou Yueyue, and saw that the corners of her mouth were twitching slightly.

  He Dashi pulled out his hand to support his forehead, after a long time, he said: "Yan Song, I don't know how things became so complicated. You don't understand what Yueyue means to me..."

  I couldn't help but think that this scene was too cheesy, every line of dialogue was so over-the-top, it was simply overwhelming.

  I gritted my teeth and said, "She is just a scenery in your life journey, losing this scenery you still have countless sceneries, but in my life journey there is only her this one scenery, if I lose her I will have nothing."

  Zhou Yueyue was already unable to hold on, pulled me and said: "There's nothing more to say, your match is about to start too." Then turned his head to He Bi and said: "We'll take our leave first, see you later."

  "What's the point? The sound of Yuanyuan came over, suppressing her voice: "Yueyue, do you still remember that I promised to accompany you to Meihua Mountain to watch the sunrise on your birthday?"

  Zhou Yu was taken aback for a moment without turning his head. I asked in surprise: "Watching Sun Quan at Plum Blossom Mountain, is this a secret code?"

  Zhou Yue pulled me along, shaking his head: "It wasn't a secret code. At that time, I hadn't broken up with him yet. After watching Wu Yusen's 'Red Cliff', I immediately fell in love with Sun Quan and wanted to go to Meihua Mountain to see the place where Sun Quan was buried." He sighed and continued: "Sun Quan, a famous general of the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period, is a model for successful men. He's well-versed in both literature and martial arts. Although he wasn't very outstanding at first, his shot at Cao Cao during the Battle of Red Cliff was really cool. From then on, he gained confidence, leading troops to fight while also writing diligently. He perfectly combined these two interests, writing about his experiences as a general into a book that has been passed down for centuries. It's truly invaluable."

  I thought carefully again and again, but couldn't think of any book written by Sun Quan. I turned to ask her, and she said in surprise: "The Art of War? You don't even know such a famous book?"

  I gazed at the white floating clouds in the sky and suddenly felt a little sentimental, saying: "You know what? You should read more classical Chinese books when you have nothing to do."

  But she obviously wasn't listening to what I was saying, and instead sighed and said: "Life is really unpredictable. To be honest, I don't know why I bother with that kid, forget it, never mind."

  I thought so too, everyone has their own way of living, never mind, I won't say anything more.

  Zhou Yueyue pushed me into the basketball court, telling me to go in and warm up first, while she sat alone on the outside. Just as I stepped onto the court, she grabbed me back, looking at me anxiously for a moment before saying, "Song Song, don't you think I'm a person who's especially illogical?" I patted her shoulder: "You're an artist, what do you need logic for? If artists had logic, they'd just end up being street performers and not real artists." She felt comforted, sat back down in the chair beside me, and waved at me.

  The ball game is about to start. Our column group, compared with other column groups of the TV station, may be slightly inferior in terms of ratings, but when it comes to track and field events, we are truly unbeatable, leading the way. Each member has one or even two sports specialties, winning honors for the station in various sports competitions, thereby helping the station receive a significant amount of prize money from the school, which is really a blessing in disguise. I often think that this is probably why our program is so bad that the station head can't bear to abolish it. And this time, the basketball game was even undertaken by our "Academic Wide Angle", making the leader feel extremely proud.

  The game was already half over, and the outcome was clear. Unless the broadcasting station brought in a Shaolin monk disguised as a woman to play basketball, the chances of turning defeat into victory were extremely slim. I looked up at the outside of the court and saw that Zhou Yueyue had already disappeared without a trace. This kind of one-sided game really wasn't worth watching. Yue came over during the break and leaned against my back: "The person talking to Jiang Tian outside the court seems to be... Master Qin?"

  I was taken aback, and following her gaze, I raised my head, squinting my eyes to take a look. Not far away, under the tree, the man wearing a three-piece suit with an overcoat on top was indeed Qin Mo, who had been out of sight for three days.

  I nodded: "Yeah, it should be him."

  At this moment, a bicycle happened to whizz by them, Jiang Tianling dodged nimbly and stuck close to Qin Mo. I watched as the bicycle sped away, Jiang Tian and Qin Mo pulled open a little distance, heads lowered, saying something.

  Yue Lai sighed and said, "Little Sweet is quite capable, you see, her face is flushed just right, truly showing off her shy nature, but this is also too close, people around are watching."

  "I thought for a moment and said: 'Probably it's just to make the people around watch, so as to create public opinion easily. If that man doesn't comply, use public opinion to bind him, coerce him, force him, and he'll definitely comply.' Have you seen The Truman Show? The power of public opinion is incredibly strong and twisted." After finishing speaking, I shivered with a chill.

  Yue Lai laughed and said: "You're quite thoughtful, are you going to treat your boyfriend like this in the future?"

  My scalp is numb, thinking back to my undergraduate days. Because of the simple folk customs in the border areas, when my classmates found out that I had a son at such a young age, they couldn't help but show strange looks, and I was drenched in sweat. In the past, I suffered from public opinion torture, and this life will never become the center of public opinion again. Using public opinion to force men's hands is good, but it's not quite suitable for me, what a pity.

  I grasped the ball and took three big steps towards the basket, staring in amazement as the basketball flew over the rim in a beautiful parabolic arc, heading straight for Jiang Tian. Luckily, Qin Mo reacted quickly, pulling Jiang Tian away just in time, and stretching out his long arm to catch the ball in the nick of time. I patted my chest in relief, and Qin Mo's eyes fixed on me, scanning me from head to toe before smiling slightly and tossing the ball back over before I could even react. As the basketball hurtled towards me, my nervous system suddenly froze, leaving me completely unsure whether to catch it or dodge, and all I could do was watch in horror as the ball slammed into my forehead with a loud thud, only managing to mutter: "Too accurate..."

  The scene immediately became chaotic, and Yue Lai shouted from the side: "Song Song, are you okay?" A few other team members also wanted to rush over, I was hit until I saw stars, waving my hand while squatting down with my head in my hands, wondering how there could be bloodstains. Just a moment ago it was just a few drops, but now it had become a small puddle the size of a bottle cap. Before I could figure out what happened, my body felt light and I was already being carried away by someone. Qin Mo's face didn't look very good, as he walked while saying to someone on the side: "You all continue with the competition, I'll take her to the hospital."

  Then came Jiang Tian's voice, softly: "How about I come along too? I'm more familiar with the school infirmary, besides, you also accidentally bumped into her because of me..."

  Qin Mo said: "Never mind, this has nothing to do with you."

  I was in a daze and touched my nose, staring at the blood all over my hand for half a day, thinking that today I really had eight lifetimes of bad luck with blood.

  My nosebleed wouldn't stop, Qin Mo hugged me and almost started jogging, I used a napkin from who-knows-where to cover my nose, speechlessly staring at the sweat on his forehead: "I'm saying, three days ago you confessed to me, three days later you're willing to kill me for some little loli, what were you thinking?!"

  "He breathed lightly: 'Don't speak, lift your head up.'"

  After getting on the car, I felt more and more wronged, bringing up old matters again: "What were you thinking?"

  He furrowed his brow tightly, driving the car as if it was about to take off. I was already dizzy and disoriented, and being tossed around like this made me even more lightheaded. After finally arriving at the hospital, we spent nearly an hour taking photos and stopping the bleeding, leaving me exhausted. Qin Mo usually liked to play with my hair, but under these extraordinary circumstances, my head was suspected of being severely injured, so he didn't dare make any sudden movements. He hesitated for a moment before grasping my hand tightly: "If you're tired, just take a nap first." I thought that after checking me out for so long, the doctors wouldn't let Qin Mo's rough handling give me some kind of terminal illness, would they? With this terrifying thought in mind, I gradually drifted off to sleep.

  We all understand what you really mean is flirting with Yan Song, but the key is... your strength is truly too great.

  P.S: This article is actually set in a fictional background, C City T Encyclopedia is fictional, so there's no need to guess.