Chapter 913
IF18
Hu Mengdie's smile froze, and the next moment she handed the phone to Li Zhuangsheng.
Perhaps it was just his imagination, but Li Zhuangsheng sensed a hint of exasperation in the other person's voice as he questioned:
"Who is this?"
Li Zhuangsheng glanced at the photo. It showed a beautiful young woman with her hair hanging down, covering half of her face. The photo was blurry, as if through a thin veil of clouds, making her look beautiful and pure.
"Hey, when did this come about..." Li Zhuangsheng paused for a moment, then suddenly remembered and slapped his forehead, "I know, it was taken last semester!"
"Do you know who she is?"
"Zhu Zhixue, you two met just a couple of days ago."
“I lent her my phone before, and that’s probably when the video was taken. I almost forgot about it,” Li Zhuangsheng muttered.
"Zhu Zhixue?"
Hu Mengdie frowned as she stared at the photo. Upon closer inspection, it was indeed Zhu Zhixue. The front-facing camera on her phone had very low resolution, and given that it was nighttime and her hair was down, she hadn't recognized her at first.
She remembered this person. She was quite famous in high school, but in her memory, she seemed to have become a female hooligan, always acting shady and disreputable.
Why did you lend her your phone?
“Oh, she borrowed it to take home and play with at night,” Li Zhuangsheng explained.
He felt a strange pressure, as if he had done something wrong. And why did Hu Mengdie care who he lent his phone to? It was like she was a girlfriend who had caught her boyfriend cheating.
"Oh...I see, it's quite pretty!" Hu Mengdie smiled, biting her lip. "No wonder you've kept it on your phone all this time."
Well, you stinky Li Zhuangsheng, so you're a cunning and dishonest person too!
"I had no idea..."
Li Zhuangsheng thought to himself, "I've forgotten all about it. I wouldn't have remembered it if you hadn't brought it up."
Although he has several learning apps on his phone, he never opens them. He mainly uses them to read novels and read anime.
"Fine, keep it if you want."
Hu Mengdie clearly didn't believe her, gave a cold laugh, and handed the phone back. Zhu Zhixue was indeed beautiful, and large-breasted; it was normal for Li Zhuangsheng to have a crush on her.
It's so uncomfortable, it really makes me feel unwell.
Hu Mengdie felt a pang of sadness. She had always thought of herself as Li Zhuangsheng's number one, but now it seemed that the number one spot had been taken away by someone else.
That despicable Zhu Zhixue! Who gave you the right to leave your photos on someone else's husband's phone?! What a slut! What normal girl would do that?!
Hu Mengdie left in a huff, leaving Li Zhuangsheng completely bewildered.
This sounds too much like jealousy, doesn't it? No, no, you've been watching too much anime. You and she have absolutely no relationship, why would she be jealous? Besides, Hu Mengdie is jealous because of you? Don't confuse the two-dimensional world with reality!
In reality, a stunningly beautiful girl won't fall for you for no reason!
Li Zhuangsheng was confused. Suddenly, he remembered that the other party had asked him to set the selfie he had just taken as his wallpaper. Should he do it?
What the hell would I set that up? If the classmates saw it, they'd think I was having an unrealistic crush on Hu Mengdie! Besides, if Li Xiuyu ever saw that my phone wallpaper had been changed, she'd be in big trouble if she went to tell her dad.
Well, she left without saying anything, so I'll pretend I know nothing.
Li Zhuangsheng opened the photo album and glanced at it a couple more times, then silently lowered his head to continue reading "Y-kun's Story," though he was already somewhat distracted at this moment.
Hu Mengdie is really baffling, she seems to know him very well... It's really baffling.
Zhuang Sheng, dreaming of a butterfly… Li Zhuang Sheng silently recited a few words, counted the number of strokes in his name, and was about to count them on his fingers when he suddenly came to his senses and cursed himself for acting like a child.
Another day passed, and Li Zhuangsheng, as usual, huddled in his shop at noon, reading comics. "Will Hu Mengdie come today?" he wondered.
Actually, he wanted to go to a different restaurant today because he was getting a little tired of eating the chicken rice for three days in a row. However, when he thought of Hu Mengdie, he came here anyway.
If he goes to another store, and Hu Mengdie needs to find him, won't she be unable to find him?
But what could Hu Mengdie possibly want from him? It was simply that Li Zhuangsheng wanted to see Hu Mengdie again.
He felt that his encounters with Hu Mengdie over the past three days were just a coincidence, probably because she happened to be passing by, saw him, and said hello.
Although Li Zhuangsheng had no recollection of knowing Hu Mengdie at all, perhaps Li Xiuyu and Hu Mengdie were friends.
Regardless, Li Zhuangsheng was looking at the comics absentmindedly. This time, he was worried about Hu Mengdie's sudden attack, so the comics he was reading were relatively wholesome.
However, he sat in the shop all afternoon, but Hu Mengdie did not appear.
A sense of loss welled up in Li Zhuangsheng's heart. It seemed that it really was just a coincidence before, and his fate with Hu Mengdie should have come to an end... Moreover, she seemed very unhappy when she left yesterday, and he even sprayed water on her while drinking.
Ugh.
Li Zhuangsheng sighed softly, feeling a wave of shame wash over him, embarrassed by his own meager expectations. Unrealistic expectations, self-righteousness—nothing could be more humiliating!
The school across the street had already opened, and more and more day students were arriving, bringing a few more students to the once quiet shop. Disappointed, Li Zhuangsheng put away his phone and prepared to go into the school when suddenly a beautiful figure appeared before him.
It was Hu Mengdie; she finally arrived, albeit late.
"Oh, you haven't entered the school yet?" Hu Mengdie blinked, her voice teasing.
"Ah...ah ah..." Li Zhuangsheng was both surprised and delighted. "I, I was just about to go in!"
Seeing the change in Li Zhuangsheng's expression, Hu Mengdie smugly snorted to herself.
Serves you right for making me angry. So today I deliberately left you hanging for a while. How does that feel?
"Give me your phone!" Hu Mengdie held out her hand.
"Huh?" Li Zhuangsheng was slightly taken aback.
"Please let me use your phone!" Hu Mengdie said again.
"..." Helpless, Li Zhuangsheng reluctantly handed the phone to Hu Mengdie.
He already knew what the other party was going to do.
Sure enough, upon seeing that the desktop still displayed the original photo of Li Xiuyu, Hu Mengdie's lips curled slightly, as if in a cold smile and displeasure.
She opened the photo album again, saw that Zhu Zhixue's photo was still there, and sneered again:
"Oh, so the photos haven't been deleted yet."
She returned the phone to Li Zhuangsheng, snorted, ignored him, and headed straight for the school.
Li Zhuangsheng scratched his head, realizing he had inexplicably angered the other person again, and he was embarrassed and didn't know what to say.
Should we delete her photos?
To be honest, I'm quite reluctant to part with it... but since they asked me to delete it, I guess I'll delete it anyway.
Li Zhuangsheng sighed inwardly, his face contorted with worry. It seemed that Hu Mengdie was truly angry, though Li Zhuangsheng didn't know exactly why she was angry.
By the way, I set a password on my phone, so how did Hu Mengdie know my unlock password?
It seems she and Li Xiuyu really are friends. Did Li Xiuyu tell her? But why would Li Xiuyu, who seemed perfectly fine, tell someone my phone password?
……
During the afternoon break, Li Zhuangsheng was dozing off, propping his head up with his hand. Suddenly, he heard a noise in front of him. Li Zhuangsheng struggled to open his eyes and saw who it was.
"You and Hu Mengdie have a good relationship!" Zhu Zhixue said with a forced smile. She seemed to be trying her best to remain relaxed and composed, but there was a hint of sourness in her voice.
"Huh?" "Stop pretending, everyone saw it! You and Hu Mengdie were chatting and laughing!"
Li Zhuangsheng's slow-moving mind worked slowly, and it took him a while to process the information.
"No, when did I ever chat and laugh with Hu Mengdie?"
Li Zhuangsheng shook his head in denial. Hu Mengdie was the school beauty and the most successful socialite, but he didn't want to "climb the social ladder."
Besides, he really didn't joke around with Hu Mengdie, especially at noon today. The two of them exchanged less than three sentences, and he had completely offended Hu Mengdie.
Zhu Zhixue bit her lip and smiled: "Whether you have it or not, you don't. What's the point of pretending!"
"But I really didn't! We only exchanged two sentences!"
"Are you two very close? Why are you talking to each other?"
"She and my sister are friends, so she just said hello."
"Oh...really?"
Why would I lie to you!
Zhu Zhixue stared at Li Zhuangsheng, her face turning from annoyed to delight: "I knew it! When did you meet Hu Mengdie? Was it yesterday too?"
"More or less, I'm not familiar with Hu Mengdie," Li Zhuangsheng said, shaking his head.
"Mmm, good boy!" Zhu Zhixue laughed and patted Li Zhuangsheng's head. "There are so many pretty girls in our class, so you don't need to go outside and attract unwanted attention!"
Li Zhuangsheng blushed slightly. He didn't like being patted on the head by girls like a child, but he didn't feel disgusted when Zhu Zhixue patted his head. On the contrary, he was secretly happy.
"Stop it!" Li Zhuangsheng shook his head, feigning displeasure, and shook off Zhu Zhixue's hand. "The Buddha said, 'All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows, dew, and lightning; thus should they be viewed!' I'm not interested in dating!"
"Haha, are you going to practice Buddhism again?"
"That's right, this humble monk has already attained the state of Arhat!"
As usual, Li Zhuangsheng chatted nonsense with Zhu Zhixue, but in his heart, he felt increasingly strange about Hu Mengdie.
Finally, evening self-study ended, and Li Zhuangsheng ran quickly towards the bike shed. A short while later, Li Xiuyu appeared, but this time accompanied by a pretty girl.
The other person was slender, with short, neat hair that barely reached their shoulders, and possessed a graceful and aloof air.
"Hello, brother." The girl smiled when she saw Li Zhuangsheng.
"Hello……"
Li Zhuang gave a forced smile and cast an inquiring glance at Li Xiuyu.
"She had something to do at home today and asked me to take her home," Li Xiuyu explained casually.
"Oh, okay." Li Zhuangsheng nodded. "Then you take him home, I'll head back first..."
“You’ll come with me to deliver it!” Li Xiuyu’s eyes widened.
Li Zhuangsheng had no choice but to obediently follow behind Li Xiuyu.
Yi Yunshui sat on the back of Li Xiuyu's seat and turned to look at Li Zhuangsheng. Whether it was his imagination or not, Li Zhuangsheng felt that the other woman's gaze seemed somewhat displeased.
But this can't be blamed on me... Li Zhuangsheng thought to himself.
Yi Yunshui was in the same high school as him when she was in the first year of junior high. Because of her outstanding appearance, she was nicknamed "Little Dragon Girl". At that time, both Liu Yifei and Li Ruotong were extremely famous, which shows that she was also a school beauty in a certain sense.
However, because of this, something unpleasant happened to the other person, forcing them to transfer schools, which made Li Zhuangsheng very angry for a long time.
Because he spent very little time at No. 1 Middle School, Li Zhuangsheng never met Yi Yunshui during junior high. However, after entering high school, he would occasionally run into her because she and Li Xiuyu were classmates in the first year of junior high.
Li Xiuyu has many male friends, and they are all quite enthusiastic, at least in front of Li Zhuangsheng, which complements the cold Li Xiuyu perfectly.
Yi Yunshui sat on the back of Li Xiuyu's electric scooter, holding her waist, and chatted and laughed with her the whole way, but Li Xiuyu remained indifferent, occasionally replying with a word or two. But Yi Yunshui was not annoyed by this and remained enthusiastic throughout.
Li Zhuangsheng felt he had nothing to say to Yi Yunshui, so to avoid an awkward silence, he maneuvered his electric scooter to create some distance between them.
Before he was placed in a different class in his first year of high school, the boy sitting next to him was madly in love with Yi Yunshui. He spent all his time writing love letters to her during class, but unfortunately, it didn't work out. He had often heard that Yi Yunshui was the aloof type, but from her conversation with Li Xiuyu, Li Zhuangsheng couldn't see any aloofness in her at all.
Perhaps Yi Yunshui is just shy and aloof to strangers, but very warm to her friends.
Perhaps because of Li Xiuyu's influence, Yi Yunshui always greeted Li Zhuangsheng with a smile and called him "brother" whenever they met. This made him secretly pleased for a while every time he encountered Yi Yunshui.
After taking Yi Yunshui home, Yi Yunshui smiled and waved goodbye to Li Xiuyu. She even lingered for a moment to say goodbye to Li Zhuangsheng behind her.
The brother and sister then went home along the main road. A gentle evening breeze was blowing, and as it approached the end of September, a slight chill finally appeared.
"You and Yi Yunshui seem to have a good relationship," Li Zhuangsheng said, trying to make conversation.
"It's alright," Li Xiuyu said casually. "She just treated me to lunch today."
What kind of food?
"The self-service hot pot restaurant near Jinyuan Garden."
"Holy crap, I know, I know, that must be 60 people! That's so rich! I've never been to a buffet before!"
"If you want to eat it, you can treat me next time."
"Have you no shame? Why didn't you treat me?"
"I have no money."
"You're talking nonsense! I know exactly where your secret stash of money is!"
"You dare to move a muscle!"
"Do you know how a miser dies? He dies from being stingy!"
As the brother and sister bickered, Li Zhuangsheng suddenly remembered something: "Oh right, you and Hu Mengdie must have a good relationship, right?"
Li Xiuyu turned his head and slowly looked at Li Zhuangsheng, who slightly looked away.
"I don't know her." Li Xiuyu said indifferently. "You want to pursue her? Then I can't help you with that."
"I didn't! Why would I chase after her!" Li Zhuangsheng shouted, hurriedly denying it.
Besides, you must know him!
"Hehe, I knew you wouldn't have the guts to do that, so why did you suddenly ask about her?"
"...It's nothing, I was just asking casually."
Li Zhuangsheng sighed helplessly. He had originally wanted Li Xiuyu to put in a good word for him with Hu Mengdie... but then he thought that there didn't seem to be anything worth talking about between him and Hu Mengdie.
Since there is no enmity between us, why should we talk about sympathy?
Li Xiuyu glanced at Li Zhuangsheng: "I am indeed not familiar with Hu Mengdie, but if you really need her help, I can assist you."
Li Zhuangsheng waved his hand with a wry smile: "Never mind, it's alright." (End of Chapter)