Zhang Ningwu watched the both of them hold hands and leave together. The part that left her defeated was how he had grabbed Tang Yuanyuan’s hand first. With a sullen look, she returned to where Mrs. Zhang was and chuckled.
“I told you. There was no way he didn’t have a partner unless he had some peculiar preferences.”
Mrs. Zhang patted her shoulder. “I didn’t think of that. There was also a rumor that the Tang Family’s daughter was a fatty so I figured he couldn’t possibly like her. Who knew she would suddenly become so thin? And so pretty…” She sighed. “Looks like she has grown up into a beautiful lady.”
Zhang Ningwu snorted. “Even if she was fat and did not stand a chance, I wouldn’t have stood a chance either. Exceptional men are rare to women. A man like him would have had women eyeing him a long time ago. It makes me scared to even think about it. I don’t want to get ripped into pieces in the process.”
“You’re not thinking about it but there are people who are, silly girl.” Mrs. Zhang shot her a sidelong glance. “Forget it. You’re not even half as pretty as her yet. Let’s go. We’re changing targets. Let’s see if there are other decent men.”
…
Tang Yuanyuan left the venue under Yuchi Yishu’s guidance. After escaping the place where everyone had their eyes on her, she was finally able to let out the breath she was holding and relax from her previous demeanor. Despite blushing when he held her hand earlier, she was now hugging his arm. “I’m so tired, Yishu.”
He kneeled down in front of her and mumbled, “Lift your leg.”
She lifted her leg without knowing why. He then grabbed her ankle and reminded her, “Hold on to my shoulder.”
“Huh?”
She did as she was told and supported herself on his shoulder, then watched as he took off her heels. He was also extra careful in the process but the pain still made her wince. The shoes were new. She had done some preparations beforehand, but her skin had always been thinner and weaker. Now, her ankles and heels were covered in blisters, which looked rather alarming.
“Unless you really need to for an occasion, don’t wear shoes like these again in the future.”
“Okay,” she replied obediently. “Today was an important occasion. I’m fine, Yishu. It doesn’t hurt that much.” She proceeded to put the shoes back on.
However, he grabbed her ankles to stop her from moving. She felt perplexed as she looked at him. “Yishu?”
“Your feet are already hurting. Don’t wear them anymore. Are you trying to make it worse?”
“But if I don’t wear them…” She hesitated. “Okay then; give me my shoes. I’ll walk barefoot. It looks quite clean here so there shouldn’t be any glass.”
He narrowed his eyes at her and inferred, “Before this, you used to whine to me all the time to carry you. Why are you shy now that you’ve become an adult?”
She started to blush and did not answer him; she had a reason for not letting him carry her, after all. The dress she was wearing that day was a formal dress with extremely thin straps. The moment she put the dress on, she was worried that it would break off on its own. The designer repeatedly told her not to worry as the straps would not break off that easily and to trust her. Nonetheless, it was Tang Yuanyuan’s first time wearing a dress that had such thin straps and that was also very long. She was fairly worried.
“Get on. I’ll carry you to the parking lot.”
“No.” She immediately shook her head and took two steps back barefoot. “I’ll wait for you here.”
He stayed there and looked at her. “What are you scared of?”
“Nothing.” She just felt like the dress was too impractical. What if the straps actually give way later?
After they looked at each other for a moment, he took off his coat and draped it over her, covering her pale shoulders that were exposed just before. “Wait for me here.”
“Okay.” Tang Yuanyuan watched his back as he walked off and the smile in her eyes faded. Although they worked hard to escape, the issue with Meng Kefei was still on her mind and would not go away. I really don’t know where we went wrong. Why did Fei suddenly cut ties with me? Before it happened, she had a feeling that Meng Kefei did not want to be friends with her anymore. But she later felt like she was slandering her by thinking that way. She did not think that it would actually turn out to be true. Moreover, it happened on the day she entered adulthood. God really gave me a big present on my first day into adulthood. Tears were welling up in her eyes again. She quickly wiped them off and took a deep breath. It’s nothing. Don’t cry. Yishu will be worried. Besides, I already sorted out my feelings earlier. She looked up and fluttered her eyelids several times, pushing back the tears right away.
Not long after, Yuchi Yishu arrived in his car. The car stopped in front of her. As the gentleman he was, he got out of the car and opened the door to let her in. She hesitated when she saw the passenger seat.
“What’s wrong?”
She pursed her lips. “I just remembered when you let someone else sit here.” Lowering her head, she got in.
That remark made him pause for a moment. He narrowed his eyes and looked at her in a funny way. “That was ages ago. You still remember it?”
“I don’t have Alzheimer’s. Of course, I remember.”
He glanced at her briefly then closed the door and circled back to the driver seat. When he leaned over to buckle her seatbelt for her, he said in a low voice, “You need to learn how to forget bad memories. Don’t keep them piled up in your head. Do you think your head is a rubbish dump?”
He only meant to stop her from remembering those bad memories, but after pondering for a moment, she felt like something was not right. So, she glared at him. “Yishu, are you saying that I only have rubbish in my head?”
He was dumbfounded. While that was not what he meant, he suddenly felt like there was such an implication after being questioned by her. Before he could say anything, she aimed her fist at his chest. It looked like she had used a lot of force, but her punch was light when it landed on his chest and it did not hurt or even tickle. She also had accessories on her slender wrist that were reflecting light.
He grabbed her small fist without realizing it. “I didn’t mean that. Don’t think like that. I was truly wrong for what happened last time, so just forget about it now. Let me go this once, okay?”
