Zhang Xinyue looked like a little punching bag, her mouth capable of holding soy sauce bottles.
She was truly aggrieved, always feeling like she was offering a warm face to a cold backside; if she didn't seek out Chen Pingjiang, Chen Pingjiang wouldn't seek her out.
If she took the initiative to find Chen Pingjiang, she felt she was devaluing herself too much.
Coupled with the bet with Cong Nini, it made her feel a bit stuck.
In fact, all of these were self-imposed worries; plainly speaking, it was still pride.
When she heard Chen Pingjiang went to rescue Cong Nini, she claimed not to care, but inwardly she was incredibly upset.
Moreover, Chen Pingjiang had now become a prominent figure at Dongcai University; if anyone at Dongcai University hadn't heard the name Chen Pingjiang, one would have to question whether they were even a student or faculty member there.
Even in the dormitory, Chen Pingjiang was occasionally mentioned.
Startup star, worth tens of millions – these adjectives were added to Chen Pingjiang, making Zhang Xinyue feel the distance between them growing wider and wider.
Like a kite with a broken string, no matter how hard she tried to pull it back, it was useless, and thus, the sense of grievance in her heart grew even stronger.
Zhou Guanghan sat in the back row feeling very awkward, thinking that such dull silence wasn't good.
He immediately spoke to Zhang Xinyue:
"Are your bones alright?"
Zhang Xinyue shook her head:
"If my bones were injured, I probably wouldn't be able to get out of bed right now. Actually, I can walk now, it just hurts after walking for a while."
Chen Pingjiang subconsciously looked over at the front passenger seat:
"Then weren't you quite tough just now?"
Zhang Xinyue pouted and said nothing more.
After getting on the ring expressway and driving for over an hour, when they passed a service area, Chen Pingjiang planned to use the restroom and light a cigarette.
He walked around to the front passenger side and opened the car door:
"Let's go, I'll help you to the restroom."
This made Zhang Xinyue blush terribly.
She had just said she didn't want to go, but Chen Pingjiang pulled her down by one arm.
Zhang Xinyue was both annoyed and amused, letting Chen Pingjiang support her step by step to the restroom.
"Go in yourself, beyond this, my heart is willing but my strength is insufficient."
After relieving himself and shaking, Chen Pingjiang zipped up his pants.
Zhou Guanghan timely handed him a cigarette, and the two squatted by the restroom door, puffing away.
"Jiu Laoye, which one is Jiu Laolao?"
Zhou Guanghan was very confused; he had called Zhang Xinyue and also Yan Yan, but he never knew who the real one was.
Just now, it made him afraid to call out randomly.
"Neither. Zhang Xinyue and I haven't been in touch for several months."
Chen Pingjiang blew out a smoke ring and said leisurely.
Zhou Guanghan asked, puzzled:
"Then last time at the shop, didn't you say Senior Sister Yan Yan was your girlfriend?"
"Uh."
Chen Pingjiang thought for a moment:
"To be precise, we are currently still 'lip friends'."
They had kissed, but their relationship wasn't confirmed, so it was indeed 'lip friends'.
Perhaps Chen Pingjiang's support had some effect, as Zhang Xinyue's little temper subsided slightly:
"On the eighth day of the first lunar month, there's a high school reunion. Are you two coming?"
Zhou Guanghan didn't speak but looked at Chen Pingjiang.
Chen Pingjiang shook his head:
"I'll probably be back at school by the eighth."
He wasn't very interested in such class reunions.
Some people reminisced about the past, looking for memories; some showed off; some wanted to rekindle old flames.
High school classmates who hadn't seen each other for half a year, reuniting, already had a hint of unfamiliarity.
Each person's smile held new stories.
In his previous life, Chen Pingjiang had never attended any class reunions.
"Oh, alright."
Zhang Xinyue seemed a little disappointed, nodding and hesitating to speak.
Two hours later, they arrived in Tongcheng, and Chen Pingjiang first dropped Zhang Xinyue off at her home.
As Zhang Xinyue got out of the car, she happened to run into her mother returning home from work.
Shi Xingmei had sharp eyes.
Seeing her daughter alight from an Audi A6, she was first startled, then saw Chen Pingjiang through the front windshield, and her expression immediately turned unpleasant.
Shi Xingmei, of course, knew Chen Pingjiang.
At that time, when Chen Pingjiang and her precious daughter were dating, she had even been invited to school by the homeroom teacher for a talk.
At that time, she had opposed Zhang Xinyue's early romance.
What angered her most was Zhang Xinyue going against her and her husband's wishes to apply to Dongcai University.
No matter what they said back then, she wouldn't listen.
Zhang Xinyue seemed possessed, and later, when she asked the school teacher, she found out Chen Pingjiang happened to be studying at Dongcai University.
In Shi Xingmei's perception, her daughter used to be so well-behaved; she blamed Chen Pingjiang for bewitching her daughter, making her disobedient.
Mother and daughter had been in a cold war for almost an entire summer, but what was done was done.
Now seeing Chen Pingjiang again, how could she have a pleasant expression?
The anger in her heart hadn't subsided yet.
Chen Pingjiang also had a headache seeing Zhang Xinyue's mother, but no matter what, she was an elder, so he got out of the car and greeted her with a strained smile.
"Let's go, upstairs."
Too lazy to bother with Chen Pingjiang, Shi Xingmei dragged Zhang Xinyue's suitcase and walked into the building entrance.
Zhang Xinyue, standing in place with an awkward and anxious expression, said to Chen Pingjiang:
"Don't be angry, my mom is just like that. I'll text you later, I'm going up first."
Zhou Guanghan chuckled foolishly at this scene.
Chen Pingjiang turned his head to look at Zhou Guanghan sitting in the back, giving him an annoyed glare:
"What are you laughing at?"
"Ah."
Zhou Guanghan immediately stopped smiling:
"I just thought that there aren't many people who can scare you, Jiu Laoye. Zhang Xinyue's mother probably ranks first."
Recalling the embarrassing incidents from high school, Chen Pingjiang also shook his head with a helpless smile.
Shi Xingmei, her ability to break up couples was quite extraordinary.
Chen Pingjiang had a period of battling wits with her.
Their breakup, in addition to Chen Pingjiang being too lazy to keep coaxing Zhang Xinyue's proud antics, also partly stemmed from being annoyed by Shi Xingmei.
...
Zhang Xinyue, following Shi Xingmei, rushed into the house like a wild horse unbound, sprawling on the sofa, groaning comfortably:
"Home is the most comfortable place."
Shi Xingmei poured a glass of water and walked over, kicking Zhang Xinyue's outstretched leg:
"I haven't asked you about Chen Pingjiang yet."
"Ouch!"
Zhang Xinyue cried out in pain as her injured leg was kicked:
"What was that for? I fell in the snow last time and it hasn't fully healed yet."
Shi Xingmei's expression changed, and she asked with concern:
"You fell that badly? It's been a month, hasn't it?"
"It's fine, it's almost healed."
After a long while, Shi Xingmei thought for a moment and then continued to ask:
"You and Chen Pingjiang, what's the situation between you two?"
"Friends."
"Just friends?"
"Yes!"
Shi Xingmei still didn't believe it:
"Where did he get that car?"
Zhang Xinyue peeled an orange, turned on the TV, and replied without even turning her head:
"He bought it himself."
"That car costs hundreds of thousands, where would he, a student, get the money to buy it?"
Shi Xingmei felt her mind starting to reel.
This was quite a deviation from her understanding.
In her view, her daughter went to Dongcai University to find Chen Pingjiang.
They had an early romance in high school, so it was normal for them to continue dating.
However, Zhang Xinyue's expression didn't look like she was lying.
Shi Xingmei worked as an accountant in a small local company, and even her company's boss drove nothing more than an Audi A6.
So, when Zhang Xinyue said Chen Pingjiang bought a car himself, she was very surprised.
"He's a prominent figure in our school now, a startup star. He must have made a lot of money. Some people online say he's worth tens of millions."
"What?"
Shi Xingmei's eyes widened:
"Isn't he just a freshman? He's only been at school for a few months, right?"
Zhang Xinyue was somewhat intentionally speaking up for Chen Pingjiang.
The young girl hadn't forgotten her mother's past attempts to break them up, and even at one point believed her mother had separated her and Chen Pingjiang.
"Am I lying to you? Just search online and you'll know."
"This kid..."
Shi Xingmei was speechless.
A surge of discomfort rose in her heart, containing both shock and disbelief, as well as a pang of regret.
If she had known this would happen, why had she bothered so much back then?
In fact, as a mother, Shi Xingmei's actions cannot be said to be right or wrong; she was simply trying to better protect her daughter.
She didn't want early romance to hinder Zhang Xinyue's studies, didn't want Zhang Xinyue to go to an unfamiliar city, and didn't quite approve of the somewhat reckless Chen Pingjiang.
Strictly speaking, none of these were wrong.
But who could have imagined that Chen Pingjiang, after only a few months of university, would suddenly rise to prominence, becoming a startup star worth tens of millions?
Each piece of news stimulated Shi Xingmei's brain nerves.
As a hard-working laborer, she clearly understood what ten million represented in that era.
After a long while, Shi Xingmei asked again:
"You just said you and Chen Pingjiang are just friends, what exactly happened? You even went to Dongjiang to find him, did he..."
Upon mentioning this, Zhang Xinyue's hand movements stopped, and she said somewhat sadly:
"We're just friends. Even when I went to Dongjiang to find him, we weren't together. Some things, some people, once lost, are lost."
Seeing the disappointment on Zhang Xinyue's face, Shi Xingmei, as a mother, felt deeply pained:
"Silly girl, I told you not to go then, to honestly go to school in Hecheng, with your uncle to look after you, but you absolutely wouldn't listen. Now you regret it, don't you?
But this Chen Pingjiang is really something else. In high school, I set up defenses everywhere, and he kept finding ways to see you and pursue you. After going to university, haha, this is how it is!"
Zhang Xinyue thought clearly, shook her head and said:
"Back then, you wanted us to break up, even almost going to his family's place, and eventually, it was as you wished. Now, he also has the right not to want to be with me. Of course, I think being alone is quite good too. My dorm mates are all very nice, they take good care of me, and I'm not unhappy."
While saying she wasn't unhappy, her eyes were actually starting to gradually turn red.
Shi Xingmei sighed, unsure if she was angry at herself for misjudging and breaking them up, or angry at her daughter for not listening to her and single-mindedly going to find Chen Pingjiang, or perhaps angry at Chen Pingjiang for not taking good care of her daughter who had eagerly chased him all the way to Dongjiang.
...
Chen Pingjiang turned a corner, first dropping Zhou Guanghan off at his home.
He let Zhou Guanghan out at the village entrance, not planning to enter the village.
He wanted to go home early to see his parents.
It had been several months, and he missed them greatly.
If he went into the village with Zhou Guanghan, he wouldn't be able to leave for at least a day.
The closer he got to home, the more Chen Pingjiang felt a sense of trepidation upon approaching his hometown.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
"Who is it?"
Xu Fangjuan was cooking in the kitchen when she heard the gate being knocked loudly.
She called out curiously, but no one responded from outside.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
"Hey, who is it? Why don't you speak?"
Grumbling, Xu Fangjuan walked out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron.
Pushing open the door, she saw Chen Pingjiang smiling at her, teeth bared, carrying a suitcase.
Xu Fangjuan's face revealed a textbook-level micro-expression from the Beijing Film Academy.
First, her eyes lit up with surprise, then she rolled her eyes, about to close the door again.
Chen Pingjiang panicked at the sight and quickly called out:
"Hey, Mom, Mom, I'm your son, what are you doing?"
"I don't have a son like you."
Xu Fangjuan still didn't let go.
Chen Pingjiang forcefully pulled the door open, flashed inside, and rushed into the house.
"I haven't been home for so long, and you don't even say you miss me, you just get angry the moment we meet."
Xu Fangjuan stood with her hands on her hips, then jabbed Chen Pingjiang's forehead with a single finger:
"You know you haven't been home for so long? Not only do you not come home, you don't even bother to make a phone call. Now you've really become a young master."
Chen Pingjiang chuckled, hugging Xu Fangjuan intimately and shamelessly pouting:
"I was busy!"
"Busy with dating or busy online? How are your exam results? Can being busy make you forget your mom? Got big wings now, huh?"
Xu Fangjuan rattled off a rapid-fire speech at Chen Pingjiang like a machine gun.
Chen Pingjiang's forehead broke into a sweat from the bombardment.
"If you're going to be this unwelcoming, I'll just leave."
Chen Pingjiang threatened.
Who knew Xu Fangjuan wouldn't fall for it, and straightforwardly pushed the door open again:
"Then hurry up, don't let the door hit you on the way out."
Chen Pingjiang's mouth twitched, putting on a smile:
"Just kidding, just kidding, why so serious?"
He said, closing the door again.
Xu Fangjuan, having vented, suddenly smelled something burnt, and her expression changed:
"It's all your fault, talking to you, my pot got burnt."
Chen Pingjiang changed into slippers, then collapsed onto the sofa.
Smelling the fresh laundry detergent on the sofa cover, a sense of peace filled his heart.
No place like home!
At this moment, the gate opened, and Chen Guangming arrived home from work.
Chen Guangming, upon entering, didn't notice Chen Pingjiang lying on the sofa.
Instead, he curiously asked Xu Fangjuan, who was cooking in the kitchen:
"Whose car is that at the entrance? It's parked right in front of our gate. I just asked Lao Li next door, and he doesn't know either."
"What car?"
Xu Fangjuan was taken aback, looking out through the kitchen window, she saw a black Audi A6 parked not far from the entrance.
"No way, I need to go say something. Who is it, so inconsiderate, blocking people's gate completely?"
"Mom, you continue cooking, I'll go."
Chen Guangming heard the voice and then realized his son had come home sometime earlier.
A smile appeared on his face:
"When did you come back? You didn't make a sound, so I didn't even notice."
Chen Pingjiang chuckled:
"Your attention was all on my mom, I was just an accident."
With that, he pulled an unopened pack of Huazi from his pants pocket and tossed it to his father.
Chen Guangming's face showed a relieved smile.
He usually smoked ten-yuan cigarettes and rarely smoked such good ones.
Chen Pingjiang went out, got directly into the Audi A6, and found another empty spot not blocking the gate to park.
When the engine sound started, Xu Fangjuan looked out through the small window of the kitchen again, just in time to see Chen Pingjiang getting out of the driver's seat.
"Oh my goodness!"
She felt an inexplicable panic.
Where did Chen Pingjiang get this car from?
He wasn't doing anything bad outside, was he?
"Lao Chen, quickly look, that black car at the entrance is your son's."
Chen Guangming, who was just about to light the cigarette he held, froze in place, not even noticing the Huazi falling onto the coffee table.
He quickly ran out and saw Chen Pingjiang swaggering back, whistling and twirling car keys.
"Is this your car?"
Chen Guangming asked, frowning.
At this moment, Xu Fangjuan also rushed over from the kitchen.
This scene was no less serious than a triple interrogation.
Chen Pingjiang nodded:
"Yeah, I bought it the month before last. What's wrong?"
"Where did you get the money?"
Xu Fangjuan sounded as if she had heard an Arabian Nights tale.
In this era, a car costing hundreds of thousands was incredibly shocking, especially since Chen Pingjiang had only been away at school for half a year and silently drove a car back.
(End of Chapter)
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