Chapter 9: Eavesdropping**

“Have you two been involved for a long time?”

Silence. The room was deathly quiet.

Zhang Tao lost control and grabbed Zhang Kuo’s collar angrily. “Zhang Kuo, be honest with me. When did you and Ming Xue start this?”

Zhang Kuo let Zhang Tao grab his collar, neither struggling, resisting, nor speaking.

Zhang Tao grew impatient and tightened his grip, nearly leaving red marks on Zhang Kuo’s neck. Zhang Kuo’s breathing became difficult, but he bit his teeth tightly, seemingly refusing to speak.

Zhang Tao stared hard at Zhang Kuo’s face. Seeing his resigned attitude, he suddenly loosened his grip, gasping for breath, voice full of grievance: “Zhang Kuo, I came today because I still consider you a friend.”

“You’re quiet and keep to yourself, but we’re all from the Zhang family. I think there’s still some bond between us. Besides, you helped me get transferred to a different workshop just yesterday. I owe you.”

“I’m just being honest with you. Once this gets out, everyone will think you and Ming Xue have been sneaking around all along, which is like putting a green hat on Gui Xiwen’s head. You know what kind of temper Gui Xiwen has, right? Do you think he’ll let this go?”

“Zhang Kuo, if you wait for him to act, I don’t know how long you’ll be in the hospital. I came to get the facts first. If you tell me the truth and you weren’t involved with Ming Xue before, I might be able to calm Gui Xiwen down.”

Zhang Tao’s words were both soft and hard.

Everyone in the compound knew what kind of temper Gui Xiwen had. Besides, his father was the deputy factory director. If things got serious, it wouldn’t be impossible to fix.

Zhang Kuo, perhaps moved by Zhang Tao’s intention or worried about Gui Xiwen, was silent for a moment and then said, “I didn’t have much to do with Ming Xue before.”

Zhang Tao was silent upon hearing that.

This matched his guess—he had been wandering around the compound daily and had never seen any interaction between Zhang Kuo and Ming Xue.

“So why are you suddenly marrying Ming Xue?”

This was what Zhang Tao could not understand—two people who seemed to have no connection and didn’t suit each other suddenly coming together. It was baffling.

Zhang Kuo was silent for a while, then said calmly, “Actually, this marriage was proposed by the Ming family.”

Zhang Tao was stunned, his eyes almost popping out. “You mean it was proposed by the Ming family? Ming Xue herself wanted to marry you?”

“Yes.” Zhang Kuo nodded.

Zhang Tao almost lost his voice. He stared at the situation, trying to process it, but couldn’t. “Zhang Kuo, don’t tell me the wedding date next month was also decided by the Ming family.”

“You guessed right.” Zhang Kuo said calmly.

Zhang Tao wiped his face hard, grabbed his short hair, then patted his face a few times, as if trying to wake himself up from a dream.

But he was in reality, his face still stinging from his own grip, hurting slightly.,

Zhang Tao slumped into the chair, feeling as though the world had suddenly turned surreal.

After calming himself down, he blinked a few times, looked at Zhang Kuo, and asked, “Then why did you agree?”

This time, Zhang Kuo didn’t hesitate. His response came without thinking: “Why wouldn’t I agree?”

Zhang Tao was momentarily stumped.

His gaze shifted around for a while, then he chuckled in realization. “True, you really don’t have a reason to refuse. Mingxue is beautiful, tall, comes from a good family—there’s hardly anything to criticize about her. So many young men in our compound have had their eyes on her. It’s just a pity that back then, she only had eyes for Gui Xiwen, so no one else stood a chance.”

“A girl like Mingxue wouldn’t have trouble marrying whoever she wanted. If she says the word, there are few guys in this place who’d turn her down.”

After saying that, Zhang Tao leaned in close to Zhang Kuo, smiling inquisitively. “Zhang Kuo, you used to like Mingxue too, didn’t you?”

Zhang Kuo’s right hand stayed tightly clenched in his pocket, where the Chinese knot that Gu Ying had given him was. He gripped it tightly in his palm, his face calm and unreadable.

The room stayed silent. Gu Ying didn’t want to hear the answer anymore.

Her expression was unreadable, but her pale lips and hurried footsteps revealed her emotions.

After walking a few steps, she felt the fruit candy in her pocket. She had taken a detour to the supply co-op to buy it as a gift to congratulate Zhang Kuo.

She turned back and looked at the deep red lacquered door of Zhang Kuo’s house. Her eyes grew darker.

After a moment’s thought, she turned around and headed back.

Zhang Tao walked out of Zhang Kuo’s room, lit a cigarette, sighed deeply a few times, stuffed one hand in his pocket, and hurried toward the open space on the east side of the compound.

He hadn’t gone far when he unexpectedly ran into someone—Gu Ying.

Normally, Zhang Tao would’ve teased Gu Ying a bit, but today he didn’t have the mood. He still needed to talk Gui Xiwen into thinking straight.

He didn’t say anything, but Gu Ying stopped him first. “Zhang Tao.”

Zhang Tao was a little surprised. He turned back to look at the small figure of Gu Ying. After a few puffs, he stubbed out his cigarette underfoot and looked up, asking, “What is it?”

“Gui Xiwen must be in a bad mood right now, huh?”

Hearing Gui Xiwen’s name from Gu Ying’s lips, Zhang Tao felt a strange sensation rise in his chest. It was exactly the same feeling he’d had when he found out about Mingxue and Zhang Kuo’s engagement.

He shivered inexplicably and suddenly felt irritable. His tone turned impatient: “You and Gui Xiwen aren’t even close. Why are you asking?”

Gu Ying took out a bag of fruit candy from her pocket and handed it to him. “If he’s in a bad mood, I won’t bother him. Could you please give him this bag of candy and thank him for the sugar coupon he gave me last time?”

So, Gu Ying was only trying to thank Gui Xiwen. Nothing more. Zhang Tao relaxed. Only then did he realize that he had been scared.

He was scared that after just finding out about Zhang Kuo and Mingxue, he’d suddenly have to face something going on between Gui Xiwen and Gu Ying. His whole worldview might collapse on the spot.

Realizing he had misunderstood Gu Ying, Zhang Tao felt a bit remorseful. He’d been too harsh with her just now.

Gu Ying always spoke softly and looked like an honest, straightforward girl with no hidden agenda. He really shouldn’t have used that tone with her.

Zhang Tao softened his voice and said gently, “Alright, I’ll pass it to him.”

“Thank you.” Gu Ying gave him a warm and harmless smile, bowed politely, and turned to leave.

Watching her small and delicate figure disappear, Zhang Tao weighed the bag of fruit candy in his hand and turned quickly toward the open space on the east side of the compound.

Gui Xiwen was sitting on a concrete pipe in the open area, surrounded by a haze of smoke. The ground below him was littered with cigarette butts.

His handsome face was hard to see clearly through the smoke, but his eyes gleamed coldly in the mist.

Zhang Tao approached and sat beside him, lighting up a cigarette too.

Amid the smoke, he said, “I asked Zhang Kuo. They weren’t seeing each other before. The marriage was proposed by the Ming family.”

Gui Xiwen said nothing. He exhaled a long stream of smoke that blurred his eyes.

After a long while, he ground his teeth and let out a cold snort: “They weren’t seeing each other and now they’re getting married just like that?”

The wedding was scheduled for just a month later. That was awfully rushed. Hard to believe there wasn’t something between them beforehand.

Zhang Tao looked at Gui Xiwen’s dark expression and didn’t know if he should say more or not.

He hesitated, then finally added honestly, “Zhang Kuo said the wedding date was also set by the Ming family.”

Gui Xiwen angrily threw his cigarette butt to the ground and crushed it underfoot. He immediately turned to leave.

Zhang Tao quickly blocked his path. “Xiwen, where are you going?”

Gui Xiwen stared into Zhang Tao’s eyes, voice cold: “Move!”

Zhang Tao didn’t budge. He couldn’t. If he let him go now, something bad would definitely happen.

“Xiwen, I asked him myself. What—don’t you even trust me?”

Gui Xiwen said nothing, but both fists slowly clenched.

Finally, he kicked a nearby camphor tree. The repressed fury shook loose a few dried leaves from the trunk.

He folded his arms and leaned against the tree, face gloomy. “What exactly is Mingxue trying to do?”

Seeing that Gui Xiwen no longer planned to confront Zhang Kuo, Zhang Tao sighed in relief and quickly said, “Who knows? A woman’s heart is like a needle in the ocean. I’ve never figured them out.”

“Take Mingxue, for example. Wasn’t she completely into you before? She even got her parents to work on your parents just to get engaged to you. She used to like you like crazy. Then suddenly she’s marrying someone else.”

“Oh, right. Come to think of it, all this started after she fell down that time. After that, she seemed like a totally different person—confused and unpredictable. Don’t you think it might be like what Uncle Zhao the gatekeeper said?”

Gui Xiwen raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Zhang Tao glanced around sneakily, then leaned closer to Gui Xiwen’s ear and whispered, “Possessed.”

Gui Xiwen immediately pushed Zhang Tao away and looked at him irritably. “Go back and reread your Marxism-Leninism books. What era are we living in? You still believe in that nonsense?”

Zhang Tao chuckled. “I just heard it from Uncle Zhao. I didn’t believe it at first either, but honestly, there doesn’t seem to be a better explanation. Otherwise, I’ve racked my brains and still can’t understand why Mingxue would choose Zhang Kuo.”

“Then why would Zhang Kuo agree?” Gui Xiwen suddenly asked.

Zhang Tao immediately put on a knowing smile. “I don’t get how women think, but I do understand men. Mingxue has such great qualities—if she wants to marry someone, no man would refuse.”

After he finished, Zhang Tao noticed Gui Xiwen’s expression growing darker and quickly added, “I know you turned her down before, but come on, who else has your kind of qualifications? Those guys not as good as you—getting to marry Mingxue is like winning the lottery.”

Sensing he was making things worse, Zhang Tao quickly pulled out a small bag of candies from his pocket in an attempt to change the subject. “Oh right, Xiwen, I ran into Gu Ying on my way over. She asked me to give you this bag of sweets to thank you for the sugar coupons you gave her last time.”

Gui Xiwen’s train of thought was interrupted. He looked a little surprised. “Gu Ying?”

“Yeah, that girl who looks like an ugly duckling—Gu Ying. Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten her?” Zhang Tao said in an exaggerated tone.

Gui Xiwen didn’t respond. He took the fruit candies and narrowed his eyes, lost in thought.

After a long while, he suddenly asked Zhang Tao, “You said Mingxue is such a catch that no man would refuse her?”

Zhang Tao was puzzled but nodded. “Yeah.”

“Then… do you think I’m a catch?” Gui Xiwen asked.

“Are you kidding? If you’re not a catch, then no one is. You have no idea—whenever we go out together, all the girls only look at you. If you ever said the word, I don’t know how many of them would line up to marry you.”

Zhang Tao, who was getting carried away, suddenly paused and eyed Gui Xiwen suspiciously. “Why are you asking?”

Gui Xiwen chuckled coldly, took a candy, unwrapped it, and popped it in his mouth. “Nothing. Just curious.”