Chapter 112: Two Women Vying for Affection

The next morning I got up, I was disappointed. The imagined situation didn't happen; Pangzi not only didn't catch a cold, but when he got up he was still energetic, shouting and arguing with Chen Mo a few rounds.

... This goddamn martial arts training is the most annoying; I (brother) made my first calculation, how could it end up like this? It's unreasonable, this is absolutely unreasonable.

"Hehe, have you brushed your teeth…? Today I invited Sister Jingjing and Yao Yirong to go shopping." Just as I was feeling down, Pangzi eagerly patted my shoulder.

"Let's go shopping, where to go shopping? I'm off today, I'll go too…" Chen Mo poked his head out from washing up in the restroom and chimed in.

"Holy shit, you're coming along shopping too? You're meddling way too much." Pangzi immediately clenched his fists in protest.

Chen Mo gave him a sideways glance: "Your protest is useless; I'm a personal bodyguard—lots of people wish they could get this but can't."

"What personal protection, I don't care for that, and besides, who knows who's protecting whom?" Pangzi muttered under his breath; he naturally didn't dare say it loudly, otherwise if Chen Mo heard it, there'd probably be another argument.

Hearing that, I fucking felt there was an opportunity! Although the "cold" plan failed, going shopping would definitely create countless opportunities for them.

So the three of us set out. Originally there were four, but Yuan Qiu had been playing too wildly these days, and Chen Zheng sent us an invitation to his party tomorrow. To conserve energy for what matters, Yuan Qiu decisively rested at the inn, nurturing his spirit to be in peak condition for tonight's ball.

Thus, only the three of us remained for the shopping trip. Along the way, I intentionally or unintentionally distanced myself from Pangzi to give them a chance. But Pangzi and Chen Mo are like bitter enemies—whenever they meet they argue, with no moment of peace. I began to doubt last night's prediction: are they fated to be together, or do they bear a grudge?

At ten o'clock, we met Yao Yirong and Silijing at the snack street in Aomen.

Yao Yirong wore a white casual outfit today, exuding youthful and sunny vitality, while Silijing changed into a light purple suspender dress, adding a touch of mature dignity.

Upon seeing Silijing, Pangzi hurried over, panting and fluttering, holding an umbrella and asking about everything to fawn over her.

Meanwhile, Yao Yirong looked at Chen Mo with some surprise and quietly asked me, "Who is this?"

Chen Mo generously extended a hand and gave the two women a self‑introduction.

Afterward she said, "I'm their personal bodyguard." That remark only intensified the two women's curiosity.

Finally I could only brace myself and recount the whole experience to the two women; although I didn't embellish it, the process was indeed fraught with danger.

What left me speechless and rubbing my forehead was that, after I finished recounting the whole incident, Yao Yirong suddenly gasped, "Wow!" and loudly exclaimed, tightly gripping my shoulder, blinking her big eyes, and complained, "You guys are really not enough—such a fun thing and you didn't even invite me."

I… you sure this is fun and not scary? This is the kind of thing that could get you beheaded in a minute.

"No way, no way, from now on I'll follow you two." Yao Yirong puffed her cheeks in dissatisfaction, then pointed at me and, in a commanding tone, said, "Chen Hai Sheng, Sis now orders you: you must capture that cute snake infant; I want her as my pet."

I… a snake infant, a cute pet! Well, I can only speechlessly rub my forehead and sigh—this girl's worldview is seriously twisted.

Yao Yirong kept pressing for details of what had happened, while the atmosphere over there seemed a bit strange.

Pangzi clung to Silijing like a little lapdog, constantly surrounding her. Yes, that fawning manner is truly aptly described as a lapdog.

Chen Mo, meanwhile, played the role of Edison, occasionally interjecting a couple of remarks, often making Pangzi cough up three liters of blood—but with Silijing present, Pangzi could only swallow his anger and endure his frustration; the only thing he could do was glare at Chen Mo with murderous eyes.

As for how frustrated Pangzi is, my words won't do—let the facts speak.

When we reached the flower shop, Pangzi picked up a bouquet to give Silijing; at first Chen Mo said this.

"These flowers are truly beautiful—the petals are vivid and jade‑green, they smell of a special fragrance; giving beautiful flowers to a lovely person is perfect."

He then shifted tone, speaking in an occasional‑recollection, plain manner: "But I've heard that nowadays many flower sellers, to keep flowers from wilting, spray lots of preservatives on them, and this flower scent, they say, is actually chemical perfume; women who smell it will get lots of horrible wrinkles, and the longer they touch the flowers, the more they contact the preservative, the less they'll age—oh!"

"Never age?"

When everyone looked at Chen Mo in surprise, he slowly nodded, rolled his dark eyes, thought for a while, then slapped his forehead and exclaimed in realization: "Exactly, it's those dried corpses often shown on TV—the ones dug up have not turned to bone after many years because they consumed too much preservative."

She then took a deep breath and continued: "Preservatives, whether eaten or touched, are the same—they get inhaled through the nose. Once you inhale too much, hehe… you really won't age."

After saying that, she gave Silijing a meaningful look.

Frightened, Silijing threw the flowers away and immediately ran, face pale, to the restroom.

Meanwhile, Pangzi, who had been trailing behind Silijing, glared at Chen Mo with murderous eyes, wishing to tear her apart and eat her alive.

This scene, naturally witnessed by me as an onlooker, I can now confidently declare: Chen Mo's feelings for Pangzi go far beyond what appears on the surface; beneath this seeming rivalry lies a woman's jealousy.

Although I think their relationship developed somewhat confusedly, at least I can affirm that Chen Mo's feelings for Pangzi exceed friendship and have even lightly crossed the line into love.

However, Pangzi, that blockhead, is essentially an idiot—he not only fails to sense Chen Mo's affection, but thinks Chen Mo is targeting him, constantly looking for ways to embarrass him.

The guy is a blockhead, the girl holds back out of propriety and can't bring herself to say it. So this little drama… who knows when it'll reach a conclusion.

Soon, the old conflict wasn't resolved before a new one arose.

We few came to a park; not far away, many white pigeons were resting there.

Knowing Silijing likes pigeons, Pangzi volunteered, puffing his chest, to catch those pigeons resting on the grass.

But Pangzi's bulky build meant that before he could reach the pigeons, they spread their wings and flew away.

After a long while, he hadn't even caught a single feather. I was about to tell him to give up when, lo and behold, something very dramatic happened.

All I saw was Pangzi bowing, lunging forward—he missed the pigeon but kicked a small stone, and his whole body rolled down the slope like a ball.

When Pangzi finally returned to us, his whole body was covered in mud, looking as if he'd crawled out of a foul ditch, filthy and reeking.

Pangzi chuckled sheepishly, scratching his dirty head with a grimy hand, and apologetically told Silijing, "Sister Jingjing, I'm really sorry—I messed up and didn't catch the pigeon."

I hadn't even spoken when Silijing covered her nose with a tissue and unintentionally stepped back a little.

"It's fine, go wash up—I'll first go buy a bottle of mineral water; I'm feeling a bit short of breath." After saying that, Silijing turned and left; her tone was flat, but I could see a hint of disdain in her eyes as she turned away.

Yes, I saw the disdain.

This made me involuntarily feel a surge of anger from my feet to the top of my head. Damn, my brother risked life and limb to catch a pigeon just to cheer you up. Now the pigeon wasn't caught and he ended up covered in mud—you don't even offer a word of comfort, yet you look at my brother with that gaze. What the hell do you mean? A man who risks life and limb to catch a pigeon does it solely to make you happy; isn't that worth at least a smile from you?

At this moment I suddenly felt a strong dislike for Silijing—disliking her character, disliking the way she looks at Pangzi.

After Silijing turned and left, Pangzi remained standing there alone, smiling foolishly.

At that moment Chen Mo ran over and threw a snide, sarcastic remark at Pangzi.

"I told you to behave yourself, but you wouldn't listen—now look, you've made us look like fools in the beast world."

I and Yao Yirong immediately burst out laughing at Chen Mo's cutting remark; Yao Yirong was so amused she sprayed the water she was drinking.

"Damn, I've long found you hateful, you bitch—from the shopping trip to now you've been targeting me everywhere. You wanna fight?" After that jab, Pangzi's pent‑up anger flared up on his face.

"Hell, you fat idiot, do you even think before you speak? I'm a cop, not a thief, and if you want to fight, I'll gladly oblige." Having said that, she assumed a fighting stance, ready to go all out against Pangzi.

Seeing that they were about to go from a war of words to a physical scuffle, I and Yao Yirong rushed to push them apart, each on one side. I understand Pangzi's mood—anyone would feel bad after being bothered all morning—but Pangzi is an insider, lacking my outsider's clear view, so he can't grasp what Chen Mo is thinking.

"Get lost… I don't want to see you anymore. From this morning till now, you've been nothing but a troublemaker, never meaning well." Pangzi's emotions ran high; he believed Chen Mo's meddling was premeditated, aimed solely at getting revenge on him.

"Fine… you want me to leave, huh? To be honest, I've wanted to go for a while—obviously certain people never even gave me a glance, yet they cling to me like annoying plaster, trying to suck up. I've had enough of them, I'm disgusted, I don't want to spend even a moment with those irritating cling‑ons, not even a moment." Having said that, Chen Mo stomped her foot angrily and turned away in a clean, curt manner.

However, I caught a fleeting hint of heartache on her resolute face.

"Dog skin plaster, disgusting—I don't want to be together even for a moment," is that really true? I couldn't help asking myself.

Women, indeed all.