Chapter 29 – Zhong Yuan is jealous
There was an open s.p.a.ce in our backyard. My father had turned it into a vegetable garden. The garden had lots of seasonal vegetables, all of it grown organically. When I was in City B, I bought a few tomatoes but they were grown with fertilisers and hormones. If I kept it eyes open while eating them , I knew I was eating tomatoes. But if I closed my eyes , it didn’t taste like anything natural.
So when I ate the tomatoes grown here by my dad , I almost burst into tears. My dad panicked at my overwrought emotions and asked me what was going on. “ Hey, why don’t you have a few more tomatoes ?”
On that particular day , I was holding a cuc.u.mber in one hand and a tomato in the other. I was eating with great focus while wondering what Zhong Yuan was doing. He had gone out after lunch and was not back yet. I had asked him where he was going , but he had been very mysterious about it. He just told me ,”You will know when it is time .” As if he was an underground spy !
Although I wasn’t happy with all this secrecy , a day without Zhong Yuan around was a day without oppression. I had to wholly cherish such a rare opportunity. So I swung in the hammock under the Phoenix tree , watching the scenery around while eating cuc.u.mber.
Suddenly, a figure blocked my view.
Zhang Xu stood beside me.He bent down slightly and looked at me.
I was shocked by a person suddenly coming into my view. I quickly sat up and looked at him, “ Zhang Xu… what are you doing here?”
He held a bamboo basket in one hand. He looked like a little girl going to pick mushrooms. He saw me looking at him and immediately blushed. He lowered his read and after a bit of silence asked me , “ Why are you not calling me brother Zhang Xu?”
I tidied my hair as I replied ,” Oh, just forgot !”
If I didn’t change the way I addressed him, a certain guy would take revenge !
Zhang Xu continued to keep his head lowered. He twisted and pinched his fingers for a long time without a single word. To me, he looked like a shy daughter in law in front of her mother in law. I really could not gifted out why he was so shy. I remembered that he had spoken to me before and we were no longer enemies. Moreover , he had been a squad header fir ten years. When he spoke to others , he spoke with confidence. What was happening now ?
The more I thought about it, the more I could feel a headache coming on. So I decided to stop thinking about it. I took a bite of a tomato in my have and asked him straight ,” What are you here for?” Please excuse me for the rude words. This old thing had been tortured over a long period. All I wanted to do was rest and enjoy my freedom
Zhang Xu handed the basket to me. “These are some fruits from the family garden. My mom asked me to give them to you. “
I looked down and saw that there were a lot of plums in the basket. They were brightly coloured , plump and juicy. I started drooling. I gulped and shook my head .” No need , we already have so many at home. You can keep it.”
Although I was tempted , I had to prove to my Dad with practical actions that I was a mature person.
Zhang Xu put the basket on the small table and said ,” This year, we had a b.u.mper crop. So we are distributing to all our neighbours. There’s nothing else to it.”
After he says this, I no longer needed to decline. Ok. I had to be polite. So I stared at the plums, secretly running my hands in antic.i.p.ation of when I could lay my hands on them.
After he put down the basket , Zhang Xu stood still. I felt it would be awkward to start eating right in front of him so I asked again,” Is there anything else?”
Zhang Xu once again started the whole shy Daughter in law act and I had to endure it. I gazed at the plums on the table.. those plump fresh fruits were beckoning to me, “ Come and eat me, come eat me..”
Zhang Xu seems to have come to a conclusion., he raised his eyes and looked at me with full focus. Then he said, “ Mu er, I want to ask you…you and Zhong Xu.. are you..are you dating ?”
I was stunned.
I had no idea he was going to say this. After twisting and hesitating for such a long time, all he wanted was to know what was happening between Zhong Yuan and I?
Although some people were already speculating about us, I needed to deny everything to uphold the principle of honesty. So I shook my head and said, “ How is that possible?” I shuddered as I imagined being the girlfriend of someone who was torturing me day and night.
Zhang Xu did not believe me.”But…”
“ We are really not dating.” A voice suddenly rang out. I looked back MR saw Zhong Yun walking into the courtyard with a bag in his hand. He approached us, then stood still, looking at me first. Then he smiled and turned to look at Zhang Xu.
“ We are in a serious relationship.”
Part 2
I had no idea what to say. I knew there was no good way to get out of this situation.
Zhang Xu’s eyes widened. He looked at Zhong Yuan, then at me again. After a long time, I finally said, “ You…”
Zhong Yuan continued to smile evilly. “What has any of this got to do with you? If you are really interested, I can tell you a bit. For example”, he suddenly turned his head and smiled at me, “ for example, Mu er can confirm my size.”
I was speechless.
I felt that I could only understand a little bit of what Zhong Yuan was saying. Then, his last words penetrated my brain and I lowered my head as my face turned red. Zhong Yuan, you are such a beast ! By saying these words , you are destroying my innocence,my name by your own hand!
I calmed down a little and tried to explain something, only to find that Zhang Xu had already left.
I was really annoyed with Zhong Yuan. “ Why did you say all this to him?”
Zhong Yuan’s smiled calmly and asked,” What did I say?”
I was furious and really didn’t have the patience to clarify my words. Instead, I blushed and turned my head, completely ignoring him.
Zhong Yuan came over and sat on the hammock, staring at me. He touched my arm gently and said, “ Don’t tell me you didn’t notice.Zhang Xu is certainly interested in you.”
I moved aside and avoided him. “That’s probably true, but…”
”So,” Zhong Yuan interrupted me. “I am actually helping you. You certainly would not like to be entangled with him, right?”
I thought about it. His argument seemed reasonable. But I really could but accost the way he tried to help me out.
So I continued complaining, “ If you say such things, people will think that I am a person with a bad character. No one will dare marry me in the future.”
Zhong Yuan smiled and said: “No one wants you anyway.”
This made me blazing mad. Was this guy really helping me by destroying my reputation and future ? I didn’t understand his logic. I glared at him in anger and frustration and shouted, “ Zhong Yuan, will you not be able to digest your food if you don’t abuse me so many times in a day?”
Zhong Yun suddenly turned his face and stared at me without a word. My heart froze. This guy had thus Nikita. Even without a single word, he could kill you with his stare.
I coughed and summoned my courage, “ If I were to look at it clearly, you are obviously destroying my reputation. What kind of help is this ?”
“Mu er”, Zhong Yuan called out and raised one hand to smoothen the hair on my head. My back stiffened with shock. He leaned closer to me all of a sudden. He was so close that the tips of our noses almost touched. He stared at me, his dark pupils reflecting my guarded face. Then he turned his face and whispered in my ear,” Sometimes, I really want to kill you.” Then he stood and walked away.
I sat stiffly on the hammock. A chill pa.s.sed through my body. I knew that Zhong Yuan hated me, but I never realised that he hated me so much. It wasn’t enough for him to torture me every day. He even wanted to murder me!
I really could not fathom why Zhong Yun was so dissatisfied with me. I usually got along fairly well with my teachers and cla.s.smates. Even if I made mistakes sometimes. Sometimes I would end up breaking the lab instruments. The lab teachers would not scold me too much. They would even give me a discount on the reimburs.e.m.e.nt amount. But here I was standing in front of Zhong Yuan , who was not only intent on abusing me Everyday, he even wanted to kill me.
I continued thinking about this. Finally, I concluded that this was probably because Zhong Yuan had very high standards. Maybe, as his playmate and study partner,my work had been below par and that had angered him. Well, if he had told me he was unsatisfied, I would certainly change !
After such profound self reflection, I realised that my att.i.tude had been unfriendly. Anyway. He had helped me. I hadn’t even said thank you. Instead, I had scolded him. Yes, my behaviour had been abominable.
Now my boss was really angry, and I needed to calm him down.
So I carefully washed the basket of plums that Zhang Xu had brought. Then I carried the basket and knocked on the door to Zhong Yuan’s room.
He opened the door and leaned against the door frame, his chin slightly lifted. He looked at me with a very condescending att.i.tude and said, “ You want to say something ?”
“ Zhong Yuan, this is for you.” I handed over the basket carefully to him, as if it was a rare treasure and smiled at him.
Zhong Yuan looked at the plums and raised his eyebrows, “ Is this what Zhang Xu got?”
“ Yes. I haven’t eaten even one. I kept it all for you.” I realised that I was quite skilled at flattering someone.
But Zhong Yuan looked unhappy. “ I don’t eat this.”
I was stumped. I didn’t know how I had offended him. I stood in the same place in silence, hoping that he would offer me some clue.
Zhong Yuan did not speak as well and the two of us continued looking at each other in silence for a long time. Finally, he sighed and said, “ Dumbo, aren’t your arms aching?”
Saying this, he took the basket from my hand and pulled me into the room.
Miumiu – Is Mu er really as dumb as this ? She has every reason to be angry at Zhong Yuan’s declaration, yet she is the one who comes with a peace offering ? Or is she so money minded that she is willing to submerge her ego to keep her boss happy ? Me thinks, that subconsciously she realised ZY his feelings for her and that she reciprocates it. That is why she is upset when he walks away. In her own mind, she is justifying this with stupid rationale, but in reality, she is just behaving like a girl who likes a boy..what do you think ?
Next chapter – First kiss