Chapter 33: A Sour Taste

In the dark of night, the street lamps hanging high on both sides of the school road were all lit.

They illuminated the originally pitch-black road, making it bright and clear.

And under one of those street lamps, four people of varying heights were standing there.

It is no exaggeration to say that the light from the street lamp, shining on their faces, made each of them look like "ox-headed and horse-faced" demons.

Other passersby on the road, seeing that scene, all automatically moved to the other side of the road, feeling a bit creeped out.

Looking from afar, they were like ghosts from a past life coming to collect a debt, each with a ghostly green light flashing in their eyes.

If one were to compare them to an animal...

In this situation, at this moment, they were like loyal and devoted wolves! Coming to catch a cheating she-wolf!

Zhou Xiaoru, who had already entered the cafeteria, suddenly felt a chill run down her spine.

It was so cold that goosebumps fell from her scalp to her toes, one layer after another.

She thought to herself, could it be because she wasn't wearing underwear? Is that why she felt insecure?

Thinking that even though she was dressed so modestly, Du Feng had still seen at a glance that she was wearing pajamas underneath...

Subconsciously, she tightened her coat again, thinking that the way a man looks at a woman and the way a woman looks at a woman are truly very different!

A woman looking at a woman looks at the woman's exterior...

For example, figure, appearance, clothing, the skincare products on the face, the lipstick on the mouth, and even the contact lenses in the eyes.

But a man looking at a woman looks at the "interior"...

And he wants to see right through you at a glance!

But she would never have guessed that the group of bad friends she had been waiting for in the dormitory had long since been asked out by the handsome Gu.

Even Xiao Lan, who had just gotten off work, had been "intercepted" halfway by Gu Liyan.

Gu Liyan's purpose was obvious; he knew he had thoroughly annoyed Zhou Xiaoru this time, and he was also afraid that Zhou Xiaoru would put him on her "blacklist" again.

That was why he asked Jiang Bufan and the others out, hoping they could mediate the situation.

It's just that, perhaps even he himself didn't know what he was thinking now, or what he was doing.

Was he really afraid that his aunt would call and pester him again, telling him to get on good terms with Zhou Xiaoru?

Or was it actually because of something else...

Right now, he wasn't very sure either.

But in the eyes of bystanders like Jiang Bufan and the others, Gu Liyan was clearly like someone who couldn't eat the grapes yet kept thinking about their taste.

They unanimously felt that the little scumbag Gu had an ulterior motive!

Yet, things that were easy for them to understand were different when it came to a certain Xiaoru.

Even if ten knives were held to her neck, she wouldn't believe that Gu Liyan had changed his nature...

And changed it in a twisted way, turning and turning until he became interested in her!

No matter how much she didn't believe it, right now, the people eyeing her like tigers were not just Gu Liyan, but also her group of bad friends.

Jiang Bufan also hadn't expected that one day, Gu Liyan would take the initiative to find them for the sake of Zhou Xiaoru.

It seems Yao Xiang was right before; the current Zhou Xiaoru is the brand-new beginning that is re-attracting the scumbag Gu.

They couldn't help but think of the old man in that ancient town who told fortunes for Zhou Xiaoru...

That was a master! To see through everything at a glance! And to calculate it so accurately! Truly ruthless!

At this moment, they all believed that the destined dragon among men for Zhou Xiaoru was Gu Liyan! There was no doubt about it!

The three of them, Jiang Bufan included, had already exchanged a look in private.

Because at this time, Mr. Gu had already walked to the side and started smoking, looking somewhat annoyed.

Seeing this, Jiang Bufan couldn't help but guess that it looked like Gu Liyan knew that boy.

Because they had just clearly felt that the tall, thin boy who was with Zhou Xiaoru had already seen them...

And then, he had quickly entered the cafeteria.

At this moment, through the eye contact between the three, they decided to let Jiang Bufan speak first.

Although, one is soft-mouthed after eating someone's food, and Gu Liyan had treated them to a meal tonight.

But after all, they were Zhou Xiaoru's "family," so the three of them couldn't just hold hands and turn their backs on her.

Jiang Bufan thought for a moment and decided to focus on probing; although all signs pointed to Gu Liyan having issues, he hadn't explicitly stated his attitude about wanting to pursue their Xiaoru.

So, it was better to be careful!

Pretending to clear her throat, Jiang Bufan deliberately walked a bit closer behind the man who was smoking with his back to them, fearing that he wouldn't hear what she said.

She feigned asking Xiao Lan and Yao Xiang, "Who is that boy? I've never seen him before."

Xiao Lan, on the side, received the signal and knew it was her time to perform; with a flash of inspiration, she took over the conversation and replied.

"Is this the boy Xiaoru mentioned before, the one she had a good impression of?" She said this with a very serious look on her face.

Sure enough, as soon as these words were out, the man's smoking motion paused, and his posture and back looked even more irritable.

And at this moment, the strongest support, Yao Xiang, came online.

In the dark of night, Yao Xiang's small eyes were also flashing with a crafty light.

She naturally followed up, "I heard Xiaoru say that a boy has been treating her to dinner often lately; it seems he's her colleague. Could it be this person?"

These words were not something they had made up out of thin air.

Every time Zhou Xiaoru came back from work, she would tell them about things at the company.

And they all knew that there was a male colleague at Tengyuan whose younger sister was at their school, and she often ate with that male colleague.

They even knew that this male colleague was the assistant by Gu Liyan's side.

Therefore, considering all the above, as well as the handsome Gu's reaction...

They guessed that this tall, thin boy was nine times out of ten that male colleague.

Besides this, the men around Zhou Xiaoru are like endangered animals, practically extinct; even if there are one or two, they are all people they know.

As the saying goes, three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang; they never expected that this unintentional bet would actually pay off!

Jiang Bufan struck while the iron was hot, saying, "What was that boy's name again? Maybe he's pursuing Xiaoru; it's already evening, and he still came to find her for dinner..."

As she spoke, she feigned a thoughtful look, trying to recall his name.

And the other two also seemed to be trying hard to think of the boy's name.

At this moment, a certain man who had already lit his second cigarette, upon hearing this, flicked his slender middle and index fingers with force!

That freshly lit Zhonghua cigarette was snapped in half just like that!

Then, he answered the question the three were pondering in a dull voice.

"His name is Du Feng, he is my assistant."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Lan put on an expression of 'sudden realization', let out a cooperative "Oh," and then said something that made the man beside her stride directly toward that canteen.

"So, my brother-in-law is named Du Feng..."

Xiao Lan said this on purpose, and how could Gu Liyan not hear it? Yet, hearing such words, he found them extremely grating.

Without saying a word, he stepped out with his long legs, his face cold, and headed onto the main path toward the Sixth Canteen.

And behind him, the three women instantly giggled like vixens!

At this time, inside the canteen.

Zhou Xiaoru was holding a basket, choosing vegetables...

After she had looked around the canteen just now, she didn't know what to eat; perhaps because she hadn't eaten all day, her mouth tasted very bitter.

Thinking she might as well eat something with a strong flavor, she came to the spicy hot pot window.

She even introduced to Du Feng how delicious the spicy hot pot here was, which ended up with Du Feng also coming over to prepare to eat spicy hot pot.

Although it was already past eight in the evening, there were still people coming to the canteen to forage for food intermittently.

The two of them were picking and looking through two refrigerators filled with various vegetables.

Zhou Xiaoru even introduced what was delicious and what was not.

That appearance of theirs was somewhat like a couple.

And Du Feng, while listening, would look from time to time at the person who was talking with such animation.

He knew even more that his judgment would not be wrong; Zhou Xiaoru was the girl he wanted to date.

At this time, there were quite a few people eating spicy hot pot, and by the time their spicy hot pot was cooked, twenty minutes had already passed.

Du Feng was even thoughtful enough to let Zhou Xiaoru find a seat first, and when the spicy hot pot was ready, he went to bring it over for her, and also went to get her chopsticks and a spoon.

And our Miss Zhou didn't have to do anything; she just had to sit and wait.

Even the money for the spicy hot pot just now was paid by Du Feng.

Zhou Xiaoru found a spot by a large display window, and after sitting down, she rested her chin in her hands and thought...

Tomorrow, she still had to invite Du Feng out again for a proper meal, if only to thank him for his care over this past month.

Thinking that she was about to resign from Tengyuan, she couldn't help but sigh again; her beautiful career dream had shattered, and it was time for her to wake up...

At this moment, in the spacious Sixth Canteen, the lights in some areas were already turned off; it was scattered, with some places bright and others dim.

And Zhou Xiaoru did not know that, just after she sat down, at the emergency exit behind her...

A black figure suddenly appeared there.

As that figure moved continuously, he had already, without anyone noticing, moved to the seat behind Miss Zhou!

It was not hard to see that the owner of this figure was a man, and a very handsome man at that!

Because at this moment, he had already attracted several girls nearby to secretly peek at him.

Just as Zhou Xiaoru was anxiously waiting for the spicy hot pot, the phone on the table rang.

She looked at the caller ID; it was Xiao Lan calling.

She thought that perhaps she had already finished work and gone back, discovered she wasn't there, and so called.

She answered the phone, "Hello..."

At this time, in a place Zhou Xiaoru could not see, besides the man sitting behind her like a secret agent...

Outside that display window, by the stairs, in the darkness, in the night, the other three women, like paparazzi, were squatting there, watching the movement inside the window.

When they saw Gu Liyan slowly sit down in the seat behind her...

All three of them felt a bit of a chill!

That man is a bit terrifying! If Zhou Xiaoru really ends up with someone like that, is it a blessing or a misfortune!

But for a certain Xiaoru who was oblivious to all this, she only had eyes for the spicy hot pot right now!

Xiao Lan held the phone, while the other two were trying hard to press against the phone, fearing they might miss something.

"Hello, Xiaoru, where did you go?"

As she spoke, her eyes were fixed intently on the movement diagonally across...