Extra 8: Zhou & Zhu-2 (End)

Friday, February 14, 2020.

After work, Zhu Qing left her office and walked to the subway entrance more than 300 meters away.

In the busy city center, vendors were selling roses, approaching young couples.

A handsome but annoying face flashed through her mind. Zhu Qing looked away and texted He Ye: [How is it? Did Lu Jin invite you out for dinner?]

He Ye replied: [No, he probably didn’t mean it at all. Don’t say that again.]

Zhu Qing was surprised.

She knew from Zhou Xiangming that Lu Jin hadn’t moved on from He Ye in the past few years and even waited for a chance to see her. Why didn’t he show any interest tonight?

Curious, Zhu Qing decided to ask Zhou Xiangming.

Zhou Xiangming was still at his office.

As a manager, he had his own workspace.

Through the one-way glass, he watched employees leaving for the day. Some looked normal, while others seemed in high spirits.

Zhou Xiangming turned in his chair, looked out the window, and picked up his phone.

Valentine’s Day again.

He wanted to ask Zhu Qing out for dinner, but he didn’t want to seem too obvious.

She had said that even if all the men in the world died, she wouldn’t consider him.

Thinking of the tone Zhu Qing used, Zhou Xiangming sneered. He wanted to see what kind of “good” man she would choose instead.

Suddenly, his phone dinged with a message from “Little Pig Ah Q^[1]refers to Zhu Qing..”

Zhou Xiangming’s heart raced. She was contacting him during the holiday. Did she finally realize how great he was and want to confess her love?

He quickly opened the message.

Little Pig Ah Q: [We tried so hard to help, but tonight Lu Jin…]

Zhou Xiangming’s smile faded.

She wanted to know what Lu Jin was thinking, so he tried to help her find out. Unfortunately, Lu Jin didn’t share anything with him, just like before.

Even though Zhou Xiangming was in a bad mood, he replied to her normally.

In the end, she turned her back on him and ignored him after using him as a tool.

Zhou Xiangming sneered, “What about you? Are you going to spend this night alone again? How about I lend you my room for a night so you can hold hands and take some photos?”

Zhu Qing had just walked into the subway station when she received the message.

People were bustling around her, and as she looked at the message, her vision suddenly blurred.

It felt bittersweet and made her want to laugh.

What was she looking forward to?

Maybe from the very beginning, he only saw her as an old classmate and had no romantic interest at all. She had just been enchanted by his good looks and some small gestures.

This feeling was not pleasant at all.

Zhu Qing didn’t want to expect anything anymore, nor did she want to be just his “old classmate” anymore.

She quickly wiped her eyes and turned off her phone screen.

You can still have a happy Valentine’s Day without a boyfriend.

Zhu Qing invited He Ye, who was also feeling lost, out for dinner and to a beauty spa, never mentioning the annoying man.

They both seemed to enjoy themselves.

But people can’t deceive themselves.

Zhu Qing felt uneasy, and she could see that He Ye was a bit distracted.

Just when Zhu Qing wanted to suggest a new activity to lighten the mood, He Ye received a message from Lu Jin.

Silly He Ye, who was trying hard to pretend that she didn’t care about Lu Jin, suddenly brightened up at this message from him.

That’s Lu Jin—how could he not like He Ye!

Zhu Qing was happy for He Ye. As regretful as she felt when they broke up, she was glad now.

Zhu Qing didn’t want to be a distraction keeping He Ye from reaching out to Lu Jin, and she didn’t dare to stand in He Ye’s way.

She could no longer hide her jealousy. She was envious that on this Valentine’s Day, He Ye found a wonderful relationship while she had nothing.

“I’m going home too, to watch a movie with my mom!” 

Zhu Qing laughed loudly and ran a long way. When she stopped to catch a taxi, she still waved to He Ye with a bright smile.

Once she got in the car, however, Zhu Qing put down her phone, tilted her head, and let the tears roll down her cheeks.

Six years ago, Zhou Xiangming sighed to her, saying he never expected Lu Jin would be so heartbroken after a breakup.

Zhu Qing had never experienced heartbreak.

She just wanted to know which was worse: the pain of a broken heart or the pain of waiting in vain.

The weekend followed Valentine’s Day.

Zhu Qing didn’t want her parents to notice she was feeling down, so she went out to play nearby and stayed in a homestay alone at night.

She didn’t come back until Sunday afternoon.

The taxi stopped outside her apartment complex. Zhu Qing got out and walked a few steps when she suddenly saw a Land Rover parked at the entrance.

Zhu Qing pursed her lips.

While she hesitated to turn around, the driver’s door of the Land Rover opened, and a tall figure stepped out.

Zhu Qing lowered her eyes.

When she graduated from college, she had grown to 1.55 meters tall, while Zhou Xiangming had reached 1.9 meters tall.

She was already tall enough; why couldn’t she be just a little taller? 

Her mind wandered, but Zhou Xiangming had already walked up to her with a gloomy expression: “Why did you block me?”

Zhu Qing wanted to laugh. She looked up and smiled at him: “I don’t like you.”

Zhou Xiangming’s face darkened further: “How did I offend you?”

Zhu Qing replied, “Every year, you laugh at me for being single during the holidays.”

Zhou Xiangming said, “…That’s it? Don’t you laugh at me every year?”

Zhu Qing retorted, “Yeah, but now I don’t want to tolerate you anymore. I’m blocking you. You can block me too, and we can pretend we never met.”

After saying that, she tried to walk past him.

Zhou Xiangming frowned and grabbed her arm: “No, is it really that serious? We’ve been classmates for so long. You want to end our friendship just because of some teasing?”

Zhu Qing replied, “Let’s just leave it at that.”

Zhou Xiangming wouldn’t let go.

Zhu Qing swung her bag at him, hitting his wrist.

The bag was soft, so Zhou Xiangming didn’t feel pain, but Zhu Qing’s genuine indifference frightened him enough to make him let go.

Zhu Qing didn’t look back and left quickly.

Zhou Xiangming stood there, stunned.

But he couldn’t accept this breakup.

In the following days, Zhou Xiangming left work early every day to meet Zhu Qing outside her office. He sincerely apologized for teasing her on Valentine’s Day and promised never to make fun of her being single again.

Zhu Qing was too annoyed to listen, but since Zhou Xiangming showed up every day, she eventually had to remove him from her blocked contacts on the condition that he wouldn’t come to see her again.

Zhou Xiangming breathed a sigh of relief.

For years, he had chatted with Zhu Qing on WeChat almost every day, sharing everything from major events to little moments, even sending her photos of cats he saw on the street.

Zhou Xiangming truly believed that once their WeChat friendship was restored, it wouldn’t be long before he could win Zhu Qing back.

However, he overestimated himself or underestimated Zhu Qing’s determination to cut ties with him.

After they reconnected, every message he sent went unanswered.

In early March, Zhou Xiangming went climbing with Lu Jin and He Ye.

Watching Lu Jin take out washed strawberries and hand them to He Ye, Zhou Xiangming suddenly thought of Zhu Qing.

During college, he often bought fruit, and when they agreed to study together, he would wash some in advance and bring them to the classroom or library for her.

There was a petite girl, barely reaching his shoulder, who had a great appetite. She would eat the strawberries while studying, her cheeks puffed out as she quickly finished them.