Chapter 128: Want to Cooperate with Me?

Xia Xi stared at Fu Li for a long time, not agreeing to him on impulse; she calmly thought for a while, and a puzzled expression slowly appeared on her face: "What do you gain by doing this?"

She is after Xu Yanfeng, but what does Fu Li want?

Only a fool would do an ungrateful, thankless task.

She didn't believe Fu Li would help her selflessly; he must have an agenda.

Fu Li fixed his gaze on her clear black-and-white eyes; after a moment, he lowered his lashes and gave a light smile, yet she wasn't fooled and remained quite sober.

He said, "Frankly, I grew up with Xu Yanfeng; over these years I've never seen him stumble. His life has been too smooth, too bland, like a stagnant pool—I want to see him defeated and admitting loss."

The confusion on Xia Xi's face turned to suspicion: "Is that all?"

Fu Li nodded, picked up a chopstickful of dish, tasted it—indeed, it wasn't to his liking. He forced down a few bites, giving Xia Xi time to consider.

After about five minutes, Fu Li asked her, "How's your consideration? Want to cooperate with me? Actually you have nothing to lose, there are many benefits. Imagine: if you successfully provoke Xu Yanfeng, you'll get a glimpse of his true inner thoughts; if not, you'll just stay where you are and keep chasing him."

He is absolutely a successful negotiator; every word he says makes Xia Xi waver.

Wang Qiuyu quietly approached Xia Xi and said, "I think this handsome guy makes a bit of sense; the ultimate trick in pursuing someone is to make him jealous! I used to chase guys like that before—I remember I found a cute younger schoolmate to provoke him."

Xia Xi had never pursued a guy before; Xu Yanfeng was her first, and her way of pursuing him was all self-explored, with no real technique. She half-believed, half-doubted: "Is this the ultimate trick? I feel it's more like a lunatic's trick."

Wang Qiuyu: "You'll know once you try; I won't say it works 100%, but at least it can make him……"

Her words were cut off abruptly, because Wang Qiuyu saw Xu Yanfeng walking over with a tray, and she quickly shrank her neck, afraid he'd hear.

The boy stopped beside the table, not looking at Xia Xi, only at Fu Li; his gaze was somewhat intense, his voice low: "Not leaving?"

Fu Li thought he still had something to ask Xu Yanfeng later, so he couldn't chat deeply with Xia Xi; before standing, he exchanged a look with her, deliberately keeping his words vague to provoke thought: "Xia Xi, think it over again; I'll wait for your reply."

From the moment Xu Yanfeng appeared here, Xia Xi's gaze toward him never shifted; hearing that, she casually replied, "Oh."

Xu Yanfeng barely widened his eyes; she actually said "Oh"—did she agree to Fu Li's request to consider seriously? Consider what? Consider agreeing to Fu Li's pursuit?

Huh.

Xu Yanfeng pressed his lips together, no longer waiting for Fu Li, and left first.

He had taken only a couple steps when he heard Fu Li behind him say, "I forgot—I still don't have your contact info; why don't we add each other on WeChat for future convenience?"

"I didn't bring my phone." Xia Xi spoke truthfully; this morning's physical test left no place to store her phone, so she left it in the dorm.

Xu Yanfeng's usually straight lip line relaxed, slightly lifting.

But the next second, he heard Xia Xi say, "Just remember my phone number; you can search for my WeChat."

Xu Yanfeng elongated his face.

Xia Xi recited a string of numbers; Fu Li entered them into his phone, shook it at her to show he'd memorized them, then picked up his tray and followed Xu Yanfeng's pace.

Xia Xi gave him her contact info—not because she'd decided to cooperate with him, but because she considered that he and Xu Yanfeng were closely connected, and later she might be able to ask him for news about Xu Yanfeng.

After returning to the dorm, Xia Xi first went to the bathroom to shower; she didn't plan to go out in the afternoon, so she put on home clothes, climbed onto the bed, pulled out her phone, and sat cross-legged against the wall.

In WeChat lay a friend request; Xia Xi accepted it.

Fu Li cut to the chase: "Have you decided?"

Xia Xi: "You seem rather anxious?"

Fu Li: "Aren't you anxious?"

Xia Xi: "What's there to rush? Xu Yanfeng won't get a girlfriend right away; my chances are great."

Fu Li praised her confidence.

Xia Xi stopped talking to him, her body tilted, she curled her legs and lay on her side; the phone slipped freely from her palm. She thought of Fu Li's words in the cafeteria: after all this time, does Xu Yanfeng really feel nothing for her?

During the meeting, he defended her, lashing out at Zhou Xiaoyu; that night the library lost power, she hid in his embrace, his heartbeat quickening; after the basketball game, she made a bet with him, and he accepted the loss; today's physical test, her clumsy lie—he not only didn't expose it, but came over to help her stretch her legs……Could all this be her own wishful thinking?

Xia Xi felt a bit sad and also a bit discouraged.

She picked up the phone that had fallen onto the sheets, lit the screen, and saw the chat interface with Fu Li, whose chat background was a photo of Xu Yanfeng. She stared at that face for a few seconds, then exited and tapped Xu Yanfeng's avatar.

After biting her lip and pondering a moment, Xia Xi typed a few characters, closed her eyes, and sent them.

What Fu Li said doesn't count; she wants to ask Xu Yanfeng herself.

Xu Yanfeng and Fu Li left school in the afternoon, went to a coffee shop, and discussed unfinished work.

"The old man's test of me allows no mistake; after thinking it over, I can only turn to you for help." Fu Li pushed the documents forward, adopting a pleading posture: "Please help."

Xu Yanfeng opened the proposal, skimmed it at a glance, and still had presence of mind to ask Fu Li: "Even though you know you can't afford any mistake, you still have the mind to chase Xia Xi?"

Fu Li's expression froze slightly, then he smiled: "That's different."

"This shows you still don't take seriously the task Old Man Fu entrusted to you." After Xu Yanfeng gave a light evaluation, he uncapped the pen he carried and directly circled the unreasonable parts on the paper.

Fu Li offered no rebuttal.

A message came in on Xu Yanfeng's phone; he temporarily ignored it, finished reading the whole proposal, closed it, pushed it to Fu Li, picked up his coffee cup and took a light sip: "If I were you, I wouldn't waste time revising this plan."

Fu Li humbly asked for advice: "What's wrong?"

Xu Yanfeng set down the cup, casually picked up his phone, and replied: "Better to redo it."

Fu Li: "……"

Xu Yanfeng lowered his eyes, tapped the screen with his fingertip, switched to WeChat, and saw the message Xia Xi had sent him.

WeiaiXYF: "Not even a hint?"

Xu Yanfeng's brows furrowed slightly; he didn't understand what that meant.

He put the phone down, couldn't help himself, picked it up again, and asked her if she had sent it by mistake.

Xia Xi seemed to be waiting by her phone; as soon as he moved, she instantly replied: "No mistake—I'm just asking if you feel even the slightest flutter for me?"

Xu Yanfeng paused, for the first time appreciating the magic of text, how precisely it can convey a person's emotion. He stared at the words on the screen, and before his eyes slowly appeared the image of Xia Xi's overly beautiful face filled with pity, hurt, and grievance.

Xu Yanfeng put the phone down again, forcing himself to shift his focus, not to think deeply, not to be taken in.

Xia Xi is best at pretending, isn't she? She must be repeating her old trick, acting pitiful to win his sympathy.

She even added Fu Li on WeChat! What a liar!

Fu Li said, "What are you thinking about? I called you twice and you didn't hear."

Xu Yanfeng snapped back to attention, looking at him: "What?"

Fu Li curled his fingers, tapping the document on the table, and asked cautiously: "Do you really think this proposal won't work, that it won't pass the old man's scrutiny, or do you have a problem with me?"

"If you don't trust me, why come to me for help?" Xu Yanfeng said indifferently, "You might as well go find Camel, or Tang Yizhou."

Fu Li: "......"

Those two are both unreliable; what's he looking for them for?

He trusts Xu Yanfeng, so this proposal won't be altered; it's scrapped, and he'll find another time to redo it.

Setting aside the immediate problem, Fu Li took a sip of coffee, his fingers tapping irregularly on his knee: "What kind of gifts does a girl like Xia Xi like? Jewelry? Clothes and bags? Flowers and perfume? I've never pursued a girl, I don't know—you're smart, give me some ideas."

Xu Yanfeng's face darkened, he stood and straightened his collar: "If there's nothing else, I'll be going."

"'Tsk, is 'Xia Xi' some forbidden word? Why do you leave whenever she's mentioned.' Fu Li worried he'd really annoyed him, and since he still needed his help later, he lowered his head and apologized: 'I won't bring her up, okay?'"

Xu Yanfeng sat back down, finished his whole cup of coffee, glanced at the message Xia Xi had just sent, and replied to her.