Wu Mangmang immediately climbed up from the sofa. Lu Sui saw her eyes showing fierce light, looking like a vicious little leopard, just short of baring sharp claws to scratch his neck.
“I heard you talking on the phone about holding a wedding in September,” Wu Mangmang tried to prove she wasn’t being presumptuous.
Lu Sui stood up and put away the hair dryer, frowning slightly: “I really can’t remember such a thing. Are you sure I was talking about my wedding with you? How come I don’t even know about it myself?”
Wu Mangmang was stunned. Although she had heard fragments, she really couldn’t definitively confirm that Lu Sui was referring to their wedding.
So Wu Mangmang waved her hand: “I’m too lazy to argue about this with you. It doesn’t matter anyway. Since you don’t want to marry me and I don’t want to marry you, that’s perfect—let’s not waste each other’s time.”
After Wu Mangmang finished speaking, she ruffled her hair twice, reached for her bag, and prepared to leave.
But Lu Sui was quick-eyed and fast-handed, grabbing her bag first: “Let’s talk.”
Wu Mangmang shook her head. She felt extremely conflicted—she was terrified of being Mrs. Lu, but after hearing Lu Sui say he had no intention of proposing, her heart felt both sour and angry. Right now she just wanted to cry and didn’t want to deal with Lu Sui at all.
“Since you like my bag so much, you can have it,” Wu Mangmang calculated that as long as her phone was in her jacket pocket, everything would be fine.
Wu Mangmang walked to the door and tried several times but couldn’t open it, only to discover that Lu Sui had locked the door from inside with the key.
This man was truly cunning—it seemed he had already decided not to let her leave.
Wu Mangmang had the intuition of a sheep entering a tiger’s den.
“Sit down, Mangmang, let’s talk,” Lu Sui patted the sofa beside him.
Wu Mangmang felt like a lonely clown, while Lu Sui sitting quietly on the sofa watching her was her audience—she wondered if she had entertained him.
“I’ve already talked to you. We’re not suitable. Please let me go,” Wu Mangmang pressed her back against the door, maintaining the maximum distance from Lu Sui.
“Your groundless rejection isn’t talking,” Lu Sui said. “I don’t have much time to keep dragging this out with you. Mangmang, let’s talk today. Whatever the result, I promise not to disturb you anymore, how about that?”
The condition was too tempting. Wu Mangmang had to nod and slowly moved to sit beside Lu Sui, though she still maintained a person’s distance between them.
Lu Sui poured Wu Mangmang a glass of water: “Is being with me very stressful?”
Wu Mangmang held the cup, not wanting to speak, just nodding.
“If we don’t get married and just date, would that reduce your pressure?” Lu Sui asked.
Wu Mangmang didn’t understand what Lu Sui meant.
“Mangmang, I think you might have misunderstood me,” Lu Sui said. “I don’t need a wife. If I really needed one, we both know I wouldn’t have waited until now, and it wouldn’t be you.”
This wasn’t exactly a compliment. Wu Mangmang tried hard to overcome the hurt feelings in her heart, keeping a straight face without speaking.
“Because of mutual attraction, we try dating. If we’re compatible we stay together, if not we part ways,” Lu Sui continued.
“Then let’s part ways,” Wu Mangmang couldn’t help but speak sarcastically.
“But last time at Dongshan, I discovered I still have feelings for you, so I want to try again,” Lu Sui said.
What feelings, my ass?!
“Why should I try with you? I’m looking for someone I can marry. I told you this long ago,” Wu Mangmang was about to explode.
“Are you sure?” Lu Sui asked lightly.
Wu Mangmang looked away, not wanting to make eye contact with Lu Sui, but he lifted his hand to turn her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes.
“Among the people you’ve dated, quite a few proposed to you, didn’t they?” Lu Sui asked.
The Wu family was well-off, Wu Mangmang was a great beauty, and although her personality was somewhat strange, most of the time she was well-behaved and gentle, so there were many who wanted to have a flash marriage with her.
Wu Mangmang slapped away Lu Sui’s hand: “Are you investigating me?”
Among the boyfriends who had dumped Wu Mangmang, some had indeed proposed to her. Flash marriages weren’t rare, but each time she either ran away in fright or was so scared she overacted—none had good endings.
Fear of marriage seemed to be a natural thing for her.
Lu Sui calmly withdrew his hand: “You don’t want to get married, and I have no intention of forcing you to marry.”
Actually, Wu Mangmang only admitted after their breakup, during her self-reflection, that she was more or less frightened by the approaching marriage.
Although Lu Sui was denying it now, Wu Mangmang knew quite clearly in her heart that if Lu Sui wasn’t serious about her, Lu Jianan wouldn’t have appeared, and she wouldn’t have had the opportunity to attend the Lu family’s Spring Festival gathering—that was clearly family treatment.
Was Lu Sui now promising her not to be bound by marriage?
Wu Mangmang looked at Lu Sui: “I don’t understand, why me specifically?”
Wu Mangmang asked this question, originally thinking Lu Sui would casually brush her off, but he just looked into her eyes and said: “Because I like you.”
It was really rare to hear the word “like” from Lu Sui’s mouth.
Perhaps other girls would think “like” was too shallow, but for Wu Mangmang, “like” was just right.
Good feelings were too vague, love was too heavy—a little bit of liking was perfect.
No love lasts forever. The once unforgettable feelings had already dried up, hadn’t they?
Unfortunately, Wu Mangmang had passed the stage of needing borrowed love for warmth, or Lu Sui might really have moved her.
“Sorry, the person I want isn’t you.” Wu Mangmang felt she saw this very clearly.
Lu Sui was tempting her to start over, but Wu Mangmang still saw various schemes in him.
First, he targeted the people around her, “buying off” Zeng Ruling and Dai Tingting.
Then there was the strategic retreat of leaving, which might have been a real business trip, but it definitely had some element of playing hard to get. No contact for half a month, then appearing directly—Wu Mangmang had seen this tactic in many novels she read with Zeng Ruling.
Now he was giving ultimatums while putting on a heart-to-heart attitude. How beautiful he thought this was!
Wu Mangmang stood up: “I’m leaving.”
Lu Sui’s face darkened almost enough to rain: “I’ll see you off.”
Wu Mangmang took her bag from Lu Sui’s hands: “No need. You don’t need to waste any more time on me either. I’ll stay in City A from now on, so we won’t have many opportunities to meet in the future. I wish you happiness.”
Lu Sui didn’t insist on seeing Wu Mangmang downstairs.
The evening breeze in mid-March wasn’t too cold anymore. Wu Mangmang walked with her hands in her jacket pockets, shrinking her neck against the wind at the stairway entrance. When she reached downstairs, she looked up at the sixth-floor window—she couldn’t see clearly if anyone was by the window. She thought that when she returned to the dorm, she would definitely be scolded by Zeng Ruling for being self-destructive again.
The next day when Wu Mangmang went downstairs, her eyes swept around but she didn’t see Lu Sui. She thought that Mr. Lu was indeed a busy man—it was truly remarkable that he had been able to waste a week of his precious time recently.
Zeng Ruling nudged Wu Mangmang’s shoulder: “Who are you looking for?”
“No one,” Wu Mangmang said.
“With that dejected look on your face, who are you trying to fool?” Zeng Ruling said. “You’ve brought this on yourself, haven’t you? Yesterday Mr. Lu asked me about you—he went to the hotpot restaurant to find you, right? You came back so late, I thought you weren’t coming back last night.”
Wu Mangmang didn’t speak.
Zeng Ruling took out her phone, found Lu Sui’s number and handed it to Wu Mangmang: “Here, take it. If you miss him, call him. Although girls should maintain some dignity, don’t be too aloof, or you might flip the whole plate.”
Wu Mangmang shook her head.
Zeng Ruling was frustrated at her lack of progress: “Fine, Wu Mangmang, don’t regret it. Don’t cry in the middle of the night calling other people’s names anymore.”
Wu Mangmang blushed at Zeng Ruling’s words, stubbornly saying: “When did I ever cry myself awake in the middle of the night?”
“How could you not? If you don’t believe me, ask Tingting. You were even calling Lu Sui’s name,” Zeng Ruling said.
“That’s impossible!” Wu Mangmang stared with disbelieving eyes.
“How is it impossible? Otherwise, do you think I’m the kind of person who can be bought with a KFC meal?” Zeng Ruling shouted.
Dai Tingting tugged at Zeng Ruling’s sleeve, meaning don’t make a big scene.
Zeng Ruling removed Dai Tingting’s hand and gave her a “don’t worry” look.
She had come to understand Wu Mangmang’s character—despite her high looks and cool demeanor, she was a typical goddess-level person, but if you got to know her well, you’d discover she had an extremely good temper with people she cared about and could tolerate anything.
Wu Mangmang bit her lip. She wondered why Zeng Ruling had turned so quickly—so there was this factor involved.
But had she really called Lu Sui’s name in her dreams at night?
That evening Wu Mangmang had an elective class. The teacher for this course was humorous and witty, teaching exceptionally well. His class was particularly hard to get into—Wu Mangmang had great luck to be selected. If you arrived even slightly late, you could only stand at the back of the classroom to listen.
Wu Mangmang went to the classroom right after dinner, but unfortunately the students got crazier each week. It was said that someone had been sitting in the classroom since five o’clock today. For this kind of class, using notebooks to save seats would be thrown away in minutes.
Previously, Guo Xuefeng had helped her save seats for this class, so Wu Mangmang never worried. These past few weeks had really troubled her.
The classroom was packed with people, with no empty seats visible. Wu Mangmang’s phone vibrated. She took it out and saw: “Come to the front.”
Wu Mangmang walked down the steps and saw Lu Sui sitting in the third row center.
The sight of Mr. Lu, at his age and with his presence, coming to save seats was quite comical. Wu Mangmang couldn’t help but laugh, though she wondered if the girl sitting to his left needed to be so enthusiastic and proactive.
Girls these days were truly liberated and bold. Of course, you couldn’t blame them—big cities always had more leftover women, so to avoid being left behind, it was best to seize opportunities while young and market themselves.
Wu Mangmang said “excuse me” all the way as she squeezed to sit beside Lu Sui.
“How come you’re here?” Wu Mangmang asked.
“I came to see your school’s most popular teacher,” Lu Sui said.
“Didn’t you say yesterday that after our talk, regardless of the result, you wouldn’t bother me anymore?” Wu Mangmang said stubbornly and pretentiously.
“Am I bothering you? Obviously you’re bothering me,” Lu Sui’s lips curved slightly as he glanced at the girl beside him.
Wu Mangmang leaned forward to get a good look at that girl. No wonder she dared to be so proactive and enthusiastic—she was really beautiful and young too.
“I really am bothering you, so I’ll leave,” Wu Mangmang made a motion to get up.
Lu Sui grabbed Wu Mangmang’s hand: “Wu Mangmang, know when to quit, understand?”
Wu Mangmang pouted and looked at Lu Sui without speaking.
“All the things I never did in college, I’ve done them all with you,” Lu Sui said with a bitter smile.
“Don’t say it so sentimentally—you’re looking for the shadow of your youth in me,” Wu Mangmang wouldn’t fall for Lu Sui’s trick. “Besides, you haven’t done everything—you haven’t helped me carry hot water yet.”
“Fine, I’ll help you carry it tonight, okay?” Lu Sui said.
Although the teacher’s class was excellent, after two ninety-minute sessions, Wu Mangmang seemed not to have heard a single word—she was too busy looking at Lu Sui’s hands.
His hands were slender and beautiful, and his handwriting was very good. It was said that Mr. Lu had practiced calligraphy for over ten years as a child. For these ninety minutes, these hands had been helping Wu Mangmang take class notes.
After class, Wu Mangmang acted like she got a bargain but complained: “Do you feel like your life is particularly complete now? Following me, you’ve experienced all the things you never experienced in college.”
“I suppose so,” Lu Sui said.
“How does it feel?” Wu Mangmang asked.
“I feel that a goddess who was so hard to pursue must be properly treasured,” Lu Sui said.
Wu Mangmang snorted and raised her chin: “Who says you’ve pursued me successfully?”
This comment was really pretentious.
Lu Sui ignored Wu Mangmang’s stubbornness: “Can you accompany me to dinner?”
“Haven’t you eaten yet?” Wu Mangmang asked, then realized she was being stupid. How could Lu Sui have eaten dinner if he managed to get such a good seat?
Girls have one particularly bad trait.
When a guy is pursuing her, she torments him relentlessly, not treating him like a person at all. But once she’s won over, she knows to feel sorry for her own man. Wu Mangmang couldn’t avoid this cliché either.
Sitting in the porridge restaurant, Wu Mangmang received a WeChat message from Ning Zheng.
“Did Lu Sui save you a seat or not?”
Wu Mangmang was only surprised for half a second before guessing the whole story. She secretly glanced at Lu Sui, who was looking at the menu, and replied to Ning Zheng with one word: “Yes.”
Ning Zheng looked at that “yes,” was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed, saying to the bartender: “Send everyone in the house a drink, on me.”
Shen Ting asked: “What’s the occasion?”
Ning Zheng laughed and cursed: “Who would have thought Lu Sui would have such a day? What an eye-opener.”
Shen Ting raised an eyebrow.
“He called me today asking for advice on how to pursue women. Damn, he actually asked me to teach him how to pursue the woman I like. Tell me, does he have any humanity left?” Ning Zheng said.
“What did you teach him?” Shen Ting asked.
“Four-word secret formula: persistent pestering,” Ning Zheng held up four fingers.
Speaking of persistent pestering, it was absolutely the top strategy among the thirty-six stratagems for pursuing girls. “101 Proposals” once told us that as long as you persistently pester, even a loser can win the goddess.
As for Wu Mangmang and Lu Sui, last night it seemed like an unsolvable deadlock, with Wu Mangmang having already sentenced Lu Sui.
Last night she truly felt they couldn’t be together, but when she woke up this morning and didn’t see Lu Sui, thinking he had definitely given up, her heart felt sad. She thought Lu Sui wasn’t really as fond of her as he claimed, or how could he give up so easily?
This proved that her rejection last night was absolutely right—what was worth a second chance with such an insincere man?
But now, Wu Mangmang looked at Lu Sui and her thoughts changed. She felt that maybe Lu Sui really did like her tremendously.
Women were such fickle emotional creatures—a little bit of genuine feeling could pierce through their soft hearts.
Her phone vibrated again. Ning Zheng asked: “Did you take photos? Let me tell you, such photos could go to auction for at least a million starting price.”
Wu Mangmang glanced secretly at Lu Sui across from her again and replied: “What a pity, I didn’t. I’ll definitely remember next time.”
“There’s a next time?” Ning Zheng suddenly felt a bit sorry for Lu Sui.
Before Wu Mangmang could finish typing, she saw Lu Sui put down the menu and look over. Wu Mangmang guiltily hid her phone in her jacket pocket.
“It’s okay, if you have messages, just reply,” Lu Sui said.
Wu Mangmang looked at Lu Sui—she really wasn’t used to him being so easygoing about her phone.