Chapter 319: Side Story. Xie Jingzhou

Side Story. Xie Jingzhou

Unexpectedly, just as the third brother Xie Jingting was preparing his wedding, the second brother Xie Jingzhou, who usually kept quiet about big matters, directly produced his marriage certificate.

At that moment, everyone in the Xie Family was dumbfounded.

Only Tushan Jiu was quite calm, closing and opening her eyes; a day passed, ah, pah, wrong — it was just closing and opening her eyes, and the truth became clear.

It turned out to be the girl who had pursued Xie Jingzhou, been rejected, and cried (end of chapter 190, beginning of chapter 191).

Her name was Cheng Cheng; she transferred in her third year of high school to the high school where Xie Jingzhou studied, and that day she bumped into him at the corner of the stairwell.

As Xie Jingzhou was looking at his phone, his phone fell to the ground because of this, the screen broke, Cheng Cheng said she would compensate him for his phone, but Xie Jingzhou didn't mind and said he also bore responsibility, so she didn't need to pay.

But Cheng Cheng felt guilty; indeed, it was because she was looking at the doorplate and not watching where she was going that caused them to collide.

She suggested adding each other on WeChat, but Xie Jingzhou refused and then left.

Afterwards, she unconsciously kept paying attention to him, and gradually came to like him.

But the focus of the Cheng Family's business was not domestic but overseas; after the college entrance exam, her family had her return there to attend university.

Cheng Cheng was a girl who dared to love and hate; once she was sure she truly liked him, she openly expressed her feelings and began pursuing Xie Jingzhou.

After being rejected twice, she also realized that Xie Jingzhou had no interest in dating, so she stopped bringing it up.

She knew he excelled academically and had already been recommended early to Nanjing University; she told her family about this, saying she liked a boy who studied well and had good character, and she wanted to strive to win him over.

The Cheng Family was very open-minded; her mother and father also doted on her, supporting her decisions as long as they didn't harm her, encouraging her to bravely express her feelings, which was not a bad thing.

So Cheng Cheng also applied to Nanjing University.

On the day she was admitted to Nanjing University, Cheng Cheng's mother told her, "If he really doesn't like you, don't force it; it's not your fault, just lack of affinity. If you get tired of pursuing him or give up, go home; later there will be someone better waiting for you."

Cheng Cheng naturally understood this; she could like him, but she would absolutely not be humble.

Thus, Cheng Cheng formally embarked on her open and bold pursuit of a husband.

However, she did not neglect her own responsibilities for the sake of pursuing him; she followed him to apply for the same major he was in, choosing the art program she liked.

She liked drawing, liked capturing all the beautiful and passionate things.

Although their majors were different, she also appeared before Xie Jingzhou every day to find topics to chat with him.

She had a lively, sunny personality, like a little sun, always with endless topics to talk about.

Xie Jingzhou, initially unaccustomed to this, gradually became accustomed.

After becoming familiar, she straightforwardly said, "Xie Jingzhou, I know you don't like me yet, but I want to fight for myself; from now on, I'll give you a daily confession each day. When you someday like me, just agree, and I'll be your girlfriend."

From then on, she really did give a daily confession every day.

She also had her own studies, so when they didn't meet in person, she would send him a message to go through the confession routine.

Xie Jingzhou gradually became accustomed to her presence; the two grew more familiar, and their topics increased.

One day, Cheng Cheng ran a fever, felt dazed, and forgot the routine; Xie Jingzhou in the lab checked his phone many more times than usual.

He finally called her directly; Cheng Cheng's roommate answered, saying she had a fever. Xie Jingzhou put down his lab work, went to the girls' dormitory building, picked up Cheng Cheng, and took her to the hospital.

After this incident, Cheng Cheng felt that Xie Jingzhou might like her a little, but he just hadn't realized it yet, so she became even more determined.

But good times didn't last.

At the end of her first year's semester, the Cheng Family's business encountered some problems, so she had to return home.

Xie Jingting saw Xie Jingzhou reject her, and she cried that time; it was her last attempt to fight for herself, after which she would truly bid farewell to her first flutter of heart.

That day, on the way from the teaching building to the dormitory.

She asked Xie Jingzhou in her usual teasing tone: "Hey, Xie Jingzhou, let's go through the routine today — I like you; can you be my boyfriend?"

Xie Jingzhou gave a helpless smile: "Sorry, I don't want to date right now."

Actually, he didn't understand why they had to be in a romantic relationship; being friends could also maintain long-term companionship.

After all, once a romantic relationship enters the other's private sphere, if they find they're incompatible they'll break up, in which case they might not even be able to stay friends.

But Xie Jingting had also said that when two people are involved and one likes the other, they cannot possibly remain just friends.

Actually, Cheng Cheng made him feel that getting along was easy and comfortable, making her very suitable as a friend.

Why must he like her?

He couldn't figure it out, so he directly stated his own thoughts.

He said: "Cheng Cheng, can you stop liking me?"

Xie Jingzhou's words were like a thunderbolt from a clear sky, striking Cheng Cheng's head and continually echoing in her ears.

After all, it was her first flutter of heart, ending in regret, causing Cheng Cheng to completely lose composure and burst into tears.

Watching her cry, Xie Jingzhou furrowed his brows tightly, felt a strange sensation in his heart that quickly flashed, but he didn't grasp it.

Xie Jingting called him, and he said to let him go first.

He had his hands in his pockets, wanting to feel whether he had brought tissues.

But the tissues had been used up at the restaurant.

The outbreak of emotion is momentary; Cheng Cheng quickly adjusted, knowing that crying further would be embarrassing.

In the blink of an eye, she saw his hands in his pockets and his brows still furrowed, and instantly understood that she had misunderstood.

He seemed never to have liked her.

Those moments she had imagined were merely her imagination.

Cheng Cheng took a deep breath, wiped the tears from her face, and revealed a big smile, with deep dimples at the corners of her mouth.

She said: "All right, the routine is done, I'm leaving, Xie Jingzhou, goodbye."

Xie Jingzhou's hand in his pocket twitched slightly, "Mm, goodbye."

That goodbye really became a farewell.

During that winter break, he received no more messages from Cheng Cheng, and the daily routine ended on the day they said goodbye.

He felt somewhat lost, inevitably reflecting on whether his words that day had been too harsh.

However, they again thought of what Xie Jingting said: if one person likes another, and then they no longer like them at all, or they unilaterally end the relationship, then those two people are very likely to revert to being strangers.

And they are probably like that now, right?

The more they thought, the more agitated they felt; Xie Jingzhou had never felt such emotions before, instinctively feeling it was difficult, harder to figure out than experimental data, unable to make sense of it at all.

Thus, Xie Jingzhou moved into the lab overnight, shifting their focus to the research project.

After that, Cheng Cheng truly disappeared from his world.