Chapter 34: Where Does the Sourest Vinegar Come From?

Zhou Xiaoru did not have the slightest doubt and replied.

"I'm eating at the cafeteria. Have you finished work?"

"Yeah, finished work... You... what are you eating?" she asked, deliberately trying to find a topic.

"I'm eating spicy hot pot. By the way, have Jiang Bufan and the others returned to the dormitory?"

"Uh..."

Holding the phone, Xiao Lan hesitated for a moment, then Jiang Bufan immediately reacted and shouted into the phone.

"We've all returned. Do... do you want us to pack some for you to bring back?"

As soon as Zhou Xiaoru heard that they had already returned, she began to complain a little.

"You and A Xiang went out for a meal, did you get yourselves lost, or did you eat yourselves! I sent you messages on WeChat and you didn't reply. I'm about to starve to death in the dormitory."

"Hehe, baby, you can't blame us for this. A Xiang and I were just... just called out to eat by Gu Liyan..."

Before they made this call, they had already been struggling for quite a while outside the cafeteria.

Should they tip off Zhou Xiaoru first?

But they also wanted to see what the outcome would be if things continued to develop like this.

Would this male assistant provoke Gu Liyan into taking action and starting to pursue Zhou Xiaoru again?

They were actually very clear that no matter how stubborn Zhou Xiaoru was or how much she denied it, it couldn't change the fact that she hadn't forgotten about Gu Liyan.

If Gu Liyan became interested in Zhou Xiaoru after getting to know her again, then as her good friends and besties, why wouldn't they be happy to help?

At this moment, Du Feng, who had gone to the other side to get chopsticks, finally returned.

And in his hand, he now had two more things—two bottles of drinks.

He had taken advantage of the time he went to get chopsticks to buy something to drink on the way back.

But when he saw the man sitting behind Zhou Xiaoru, his expression changed.

At this time, Zhou Xiaoru was still on the phone and completely failed to notice his change in expression.

And as soon as she heard that Gu Liyan had invited Jiang Bufan and the others out to eat, she was instantly like a lit stick of dynamite! A barrage of bombardment went online!

"Why did he invite you to eat! A weasel inviting you little hens to eat, and you actually dared to go?! Aren't you afraid that the wolf in sheep's clothing will sell you off to some mountain village?"

At this moment, Du Feng had already walked slowly back to his seat and sat down.

Unlike his pleasant demeanor just a moment ago, his expression had become somewhat heavy, and he was preoccupied with his own thoughts.

And the man sitting behind them heard the conversation on Zhou Xiaoru's phone clearly, without missing a single word!

His eyebrows were already so angry that they were about to twist into a rope.

On the other end of the phone, the few people still staking out outside were enduring this storm-like roar!

Jiang Bufan could only coax her with kind words, "Oh, don't worry. For people like us, even if he dared to kidnap us, he wouldn't be able to sell us. Besides, we also wanted to go and verify whether your ex-boyfriend has any problems in the male department."

These words, heard in Zhou Xiaoru's ears, took on a different meaning.

"Problems in the male department? Did you sleep with him?!"

"Pfft, pfft, pfft! What nonsense are you talking about! We only went because of the free meal. Don't let your imagination run wild. I only called to tell you so you wouldn't blow your top when you got back."

It was certain that Zhou Xiaoru would blow her top today, but a preventative shot, whether useful or not, still had to be given.

Gu Liyan invited them to eat? Zhou Xiaoru's brain instantly twisted into a giant knot...

In her view, there was definitely a conspiracy here! A huge conspiracy!

Seeing that she had said enough, Jiang Bufan left it to Zhou Xiaoru's own intuition and fate.

If she still didn't discover the person sitting behind her, then she couldn't blame anyone else when she got sold off.

At this time, the spicy hot pot window had already called their number, so Du Feng had to get up to fetch the food.

Jiang Bufan seized the opportunity, intending to give her one last hint.

"You eat first, we'll talk when you get back. By the way, the young man sitting opposite you is actually quite nice."

After saying this, without waiting for a reply from the other end, she quickly hung up the phone.

Zhou Xiaoru's pupils constricted upon hearing this, and she subconsciously scanned the people in the cafeteria...

When her gaze swept past the display window beside her, she didn't notice the long legs sitting behind her at first, but instead caught sight of three idiots preparing to retreat!!

Furious, she stood up with her phone, pointed at the window, and her fierce expression was quite ferocious!

"You guys!!"

When were these three idiots there? How did she not notice anything? What on earth were they doing?

At this moment, Du Feng had already walked over with the cooked spicy hot pot.

Seeing that ferocious expression, he asked.

"What's wrong?"

Zhou Xiaoru withdrew her gaze, sat back down, took two deep breaths, and chanted a mantra in her heart, telling herself not to be angry!

"Nothing, just too hungry."

The knot in her brain had now turned into concrete; she couldn't sort it out at all and could only muddle through.

Du Feng just glanced faintly at the person opposite him, then glanced at the space behind her...

At this moment, Zhou Xiaoru kept staring at the steaming spicy hot pot. Until Du Feng brought the second bowl back, she hadn't even picked up her chopsticks, just sitting there staring blankly.

After watching for a while, realizing she was spacing out again, she quickly slapped her own face.

Seeing this, Du Feng subconsciously put down the bowl in his hand and leaned over, grabbing the hand that was about to slap her face a second time.

He said with heartache, "What are you doing! Why did you suddenly hit yourself!"

Zhou Xiaoru came back to her senses and said with a silly smile.

"Hehe, maybe I'm starving silly." She didn't think too much about Du Feng's gentle and worried eyes, or the fact that his hand was still holding hers.

She withdrew her hand naturally, thinking it was better to finish eating first; she wouldn't be able to figure anything out by thinking here.

She picked up the chopsticks and spoon on the table, preparing to start eating first.

Only after sitting down did Du Feng remember the drink he had just bought.

He pushed one of the bottles over, "This is for you to drink; I'm afraid you'll be stung by the spice in a moment."

One could see that the large bowl in front of Zhou Xiaoru was already covered in chili peppers, a bright red mess.

At this moment, she had already stirred it all up with her chopsticks...

Touched by Du Feng's thoughtfulness, she couldn't help but feel very warm inside; this Brother Du was truly an impossibly good person.

If he could be this good to an ordinary friend, it was hard to imagine how good he would be once he had a girlfriend.

She absolutely had to treat him to a meal tomorrow...

She urged him, saying, "Eat quickly, the spicy hot pot at our school's Sixth Canteen is the best, I'm not lying to you."

Looking at the color in that bowl, Du Feng spoke his worries directly.

"You haven't eaten all day, and now you're eating this; your stomach won't be able to take it. Eat less of this in the future."

He no longer wanted to care why Gu Liyan had suddenly appeared here, and was sitting behind them so brazenly.

Was he afraid that he wouldn't be seen by him!

No matter what, one had to fight for the person one liked; even if the opponent was one's superior, he would not shrink back.

At this time, the person who was eating happily replied indistinctly.

"It's fine, my stomach is perfectly fine, you don't need to worry..."

Speaking of this, she couldn't help but think of Gu Liyan...

When they were together in the past, whenever they ate together, they would always properly go eat fast food.

Gu Liyan did not eat spicy hot pot, nor would he accompany her to eat it.

Thinking of this, she suddenly looked up and asked, "Do you not eat spicy hot pot?"

Just now, she had only been focused on what she wanted to eat and hadn't asked him if he ate spicy hot pot before recommending that he eat this with her.

Du Feng, however, replied with a gentle smile, "It doesn't matter, if you like to eat it, I can accompany you."

That one sentence stunned a certain Xiaoru, and also infuriated a certain gentleman...

The most distant distance in the world is not between life and death, but that I am sitting right across from you eating spicy hot pot, yet you don't know that I like you...

This was the most accurate portrayal of Du Feng's inner thoughts at this moment, but not Zhou Xiaoru's.

Zhou Xiaoru asked a dense question, "Du Feng, are you this good to all your friends? It's truly too blissful to be your friend."

Hearing her ask this, Du Feng was somewhat between laughter and tears; this girl was truly dense, wasn't it obvious enough from what he said?

At this time, before he could speak, Zhou Xiaoru had already started talking again on her own.

"By the way, I plan to resign."

Hearing this, the person sitting across and the person sitting behind both felt a jolt in their hearts.

Du Feng even put down the chopsticks in his hand and asked.

"Why? Aren't you doing quite well?"

Zhou Xiaoru did not stop eating, replying as she ate.

"I just don't want to do it anymore, it's my own personal reason." She couldn't very well tell him that the reason she was resigning was that she was being tormented by the company's senior management to the point of wanting to commit suicide.

Du Feng couldn't help but think of that inexplicable phone call from the morning.

He first glanced at the person still burying their head in the food, then glanced at the man sitting motionless like a mountain behind them.

Then, connecting it to that scene in the underground parking lot on April Fool's Day...

He asked, "You and President Gu... did you know each other before? You two..."

This was a question he had wanted to ask for the past two days; looking at the situation that day, the relationship between the two of them was very subtle...

Finally, the person burying their head in the food finally stopped.

She sighed helplessly, "Sigh... you found out after all..."

She really didn't want the people in the company to know about her past relationship with Gu Liyan.

But thinking that she was already leaving, it didn't matter much whether she told him or not.

Taking out a tissue to wipe her mouth, she decided to tell Du Feng.

"President Gu and I... we knew each other before, and... we used to date, that's all."

Upon hearing this, Du Feng's expression grew increasingly worse.

It was just as he thought; otherwise, Gu Liyan wouldn't have treated him that way, with a hint of hostility, and wouldn't be sitting here right now.

Hesitating, he asked again, "Do you... still like him now?"

As long as she said she didn't like him, Du Feng decided that no matter what, he would not give up the chance to pursue Zhou Xiaoru.

Zhou Xiaoru sighed again, "Sigh... what do you mean, do I still like him now... it's hard for anyone not to like someone like him, but..."

Hearing this, the man behind her grew increasingly dark in the face.

"Let's use an analogy, like a rose; many people love them, many people like them. I used to like roses a lot too. In this day and age, there probably aren't many women who don't like roses. But after he broke up with me, I realized a truth..."

"What truth?" Du Feng asked with anticipation.

The man behind her was also listening intently.

Zhou Xiaoru paused and continued, "I realized that in this world, it's not like there are only roses; there are many other beautiful flowers. Why must I insist on liking roses? I fancy him, but he doesn't fancy me, so why should I bother chasing after him? Don't you agree..."

Hearing this, the previously dim eyes of Du Feng now brightened up...

"Do you mean... you don't like him anymore?"