Would the president be interested in his useless junior’s little secrets, enough to eavesdrop for two whole minutes? For someone like Chu Zihang, whose schedule was strictly regimented, what kind of situation warranted him to pause for two minutes?
“You should have notified your card issuer of your travel plans. Otherwise, when they detect the credit card being used in a different location, they’ll suspect unauthorized use and temporarily freeze the account.” Chu Zihang said, “I know you liked Chen Wenwen when you were in school.”
Lu Mingfei’s heart rate shot up, and his face flushed red like a liver. When Finger revealed his crush on Nono, he hadn’t reacted this much.
Nono was beautiful in an overt, sharp way—like an angel wielding swords and knives. She could be recklessly righteous at times, the type of girl any guy would like. Lu Mingfei suspected that Finger liked Nono too. He never once imagined that Nono would dump Caesar and fall into his arms… well, more accurately, wrap him in her arms given their respective strength levels… So it was pure admiration—beauty and grace attract the gentleman, and even the downtrodden, nothing to be ashamed of, as long as Caesar didn’t know.
But Chen Wenwen was different. Chen Wenwen was a secret. Back when he was still naive and capable of feeling shy, he thought marrying Chen Wenwen would be his lifelong happiness. He tirelessly accompanied her to sit on benches all afternoon, helping her run errands for the literature club like a puppy. At that time, he didn’t like anyone else—he wasn’t shameless, hadn’t been through anything major, just a simple, rustic boy weaving fantasies of a future with that girl. If she had nodded, he would have been eager to give her his life to command… But she wasn’t interested.
He always wanted to bury that part of his story in a tree hole somewhere, thinking it was embarrassing or… maybe it was just that the feeling of liking someone that much was too tender, something he’d be scared for others to discover and ruin.
“You… you…”
“Probably the whole school knew,” Chu Zihang added.
“Don’t say it like that, senior, the whole school knew? We had a no-romance rule back in middle school!” Lu Mingfei was thunderstruck. “If the whole school knew, wouldn’t the dean have called me in for a review?”
“The dean didn’t call you in because he knew you two had no chance. He didn’t need to care about your wishful thinking.”
“Still, it wouldn’t be the whole school, would it?”
“Because others liked Chen Wenwen too, they took your crush on her as a joke, so the whole school ended up knowing.”
Lu Mingfei was stunned. “Zhao Menghua?”
Chu Zihang didn’t answer.
Lu Mingfei was in a daze for a long time, suddenly feeling exhausted. Nono had once said that the farewell party for the literature club was just everyone messing with him. But he refused to believe it; he thought he had hidden his feelings quite well. If only a few people were mocking him, it didn’t matter, as long as Chen Wenwen wasn’t one of them. He’d rather Chen Wenwen never knew he liked her, and that’s why she chose Zhao Menghua. But if even Chu Zihang could speak about his romantic history so fluently…
He was that “i”—lowercase, very small “me”… But there was no “love” and no “you.”
“I don’t mind you standing on the seat, but at this speed, it’s unsafe,” Chu Zihang said.
Only then did Lu Mingfei realize that somehow, he had squatted on the luxurious leather seat, hugging his knees, with his chin resting on them… This posture was somewhere between a Shaanxi farmer on a country ridge and a stray dog taking a break. He quickly jumped down and wiped the shoe prints with his hand, smiling awkwardly.
“It’s fine. I just noticed you weren’t saying anything, so I found a topic to chat about.” Chu Zihang said coolly.
Lu Mingfei was a bit dumbfounded. Huh? What does that mean? So, it was just the president trying to break the silence? Like how the ping-pong match broke the ice for China and the U.S.? He hadn’t even had time to think about why Chu Zihang hadn’t immediately discussed the mission but instead brought up Chen Wenwen. Was this kind of emotionally stirring topic just the poker-faced senior’s idea of “friendly” chit-chat to break the silence between them? Damn! A ping-pong game would’ve been better!
“I’m not Conan…” Lu Mingfei tried to bring up the mission.
“Chen Wenwen used to know you liked her, but she pretended not to, treated you poorly, and made you her lackey. Now, are you still standing up for her?” Chu Zihang’s sharp comment cut him off.
Lu Mingfei wasn’t used to this kind of blunt questioning; he froze.
“Because she became vulnerable, and you pity her?” Chu Zihang gave him a cold, piercing glance.
“She wasn’t bad to me. I liked her, but it has nothing to do with her.” Lu Mingfei got a little anxious.
“Zhao Menghua is upset because Chen Wenwen used to be his girlfriend. And Chen Wenwen still likes him. In his mind, he still feels possessive over her. He can throw Chen Wenwen away, but he doesn’t want anyone else standing up for her.” Chu Zihang raised his eyebrows slightly. “Why did you stand up for her?”
That cold tone was aggressive, like a knife digging out whatever was hidden in his heart. Lu Mingfei suddenly became angry—he didn’t want to discuss this topic, but Chu Zihang was forcing him to. What did Chu Zihang want? He was just a senior, just the president of the Lionheart Society, while Lu Mingfei was Caesar’s underling in the Student Union. He had nothing to do with Lionheart Society, so why should he report his romantic history to the president? They were just doing a mission together, and once it was over, they could go their separate ways! What did Chu Zihang want to ask? Just to make him admit that he was stupid? That the girl had played him back then, made him a laughing stock in front of everyone, and now he was still standing up for her?
“Alright, I know what you want to say. Yeah, I’m stupid, I’m incompetent but still trying to act tough, but I… I can’t stand to see someone being wronged.” Lu Mingfei turned his head sharply towards the window, raising his voice, “Anyway, senior, you’ve never been wronged! You’ve always been the best since you were a kid, you wouldn’t understand!”
The Panamera suddenly decelerated, the tires screeching on the road, coming to a standstill in the middle of the street.
“Get out,” Chu Zihang said.
“What?” Lu Mingfei was stunned. Just a second ago, he almost had a concussion—did he say something wrong that got him kicked out of the car? Could it be… the president had secretly liked Chen Wenwen for a long time, and hearing a rival’s heartfelt confession suddenly made him act all proud?