The Beauty Said She Has A Secret Crush On Me - Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Zhuang Lu completely ignored the provocation. However, while Wen Zhuo was restraining her, Zhang Kunrong stopped hitting Cai Jing but started pulling at Cai Jing’s clothes, yelling, “Let’s see you slut around now!”

“Senior, don’t stop me.” Zhuang Lu looked sharply at Wen Zhuo.

Wen Zhuo frowned slightly, as if pondering. “Junior, they are a couple. Zhang Kunrong is not ill-tempered; he knows his limits.”

Zhuang Lu’s eyes grew colder bit by bit as Wen Zhuo spoke. She looked seriously into Wen Zhuo’s eyes and realized he truly thought this way. For the first time! For the first time, she felt like she didn’t know Wen Zhuo. The boy in front of her couldn’t see the violence inflicted by the so-called boyfriend on his girlfriend. He only placed his hope in the abuser’s self-restraint, or rather, deep down, he agreed with the boy’s anger. In an instant, Zhuang Lu was reminded of the final stanza of Woman in the Mirror:

If your completion still relies on death in the end, then you and the era of the Classic of Poetry and the Tang Dynasty what difference is there?

Before, when she read this poem, she always reflected on it from a female perspective. She thought that a woman’s innate freedom should be the freedom of everything, the freedom to step out of her own constraints, because the biggest obstacle right now stemmed precisely from women’s self-imposed limitations. Therefore, women should love themselves, not pity themselves; they should use their independence to take on their responsibilities, refuse to admit spiritual weakness, refuse to be cowardly, and not require too much guidance from others. They should live practically, live with dignity, and live independently.

But at this moment, Cai Jing’s frail arms were wrapped around herself, curling up, yet unable to escape the man’s powerful fists, unable to escape the force that tore at her clothes. She wailed like a dying sparrrow. But the people around watched, staring on, because they felt the little sparrow had an owner, the little sparrow was wrong, and thus the owner’s violence was justified.

Just because a woman is a slut, does a man have the right to harass her? Just because a woman cheats, does a man have a reason to commit violence? Just because they were in a relationship, does it provide a basis for indifferent onlookers? And for a man to use his inherent strength to commit violence against a helpless, weaker person, and for such a man to receive sympathy—it seemed they didn’t even realize that violence itself is not justice.

In this “lesson” watched by the crowd, the helpless, crying girl was not just Cai Jing, but a pathetic symbol with no human rights, only obligations, accompanied solely by authority and violence.

This was not a problem that female self-reliance alone could solve. In this instant, Zhuang Lu understood that the direction of her Contemporary Literature assignment was not wrong, but it was too much like a moon reflected in water—a fool’s dream.

In that very moment, Zhuang Lu pushed away Wen Zhuo’s restraining hand without a word. She didn’t spare Wen Zhuo another glance. Her corpulent body slammed into Zhang Kunrong like a speeding car. The boy, who was over six feet tall, was knocked flying, stumbling back several steps before falling to the ground.

Zhuang Lu used both hands to shield Cai Jing behind her. Cai Jing, who was originally wearing a trench coat and a short skirt, was now only wearing a basic knit shirt. Thankfully, her skirt, which had been pulled down, revealed she was wearing stockings underneath, but the stockings were torn in several places, exposing white skin. One side of her face was severely swollen, her eyes were red and tear-stained, her long hair was messy, and her whole body trembled.

Zhuang Lu’s appearance caused a commotion in the scene. The tall guy who had been talking to Wen Zhuo helped up Zhang Kunrong, who had been slammed aside. “Fatty, what are you doing!”

Zhang Kunrong glared viciously at Cai Jing behind Zhuang Lu. Zhuang Lu felt Cai Jing shrink further in fear, hiding behind her. Luckily, her own cross-section area was large enough to hide a person completely.

But when she looked sharply at Zhang Kunrong, her entire aura changed.

Wen Zhuo looked at Zhuang Lu, remembering how she had shielded him that time at Brother Yan’s place. She looked exactly the same, only now she was as steady as a mountain.

“I should be asking you what you are doing! Since when is hitting people not illegal!”

Zhuang Lu’s tone was incredibly cold. However, her appearance still couldn’t stop the onlookers from discussing amongst themselves. Wu Nianxi even heard people complaining about Zhuang Lu’s figure. Then, seeing Zhang Kunrong’s tightly clenched fists, looking ready to strike Zhuang Lu in the next second, she didn’t take time to weigh the consequences. Without thinking, she used her frail body to protect Zhuang Lu. “It is truly unacceptable for you to treat a girl like this!” She attempted to stir public opinion so the other party wouldn’t dare to strike.

Initially, when Zhuang Lu stepped forward, the crowd hadn’t reacted much, mainly because Zhuang Lu looked more intimidating than the two big guys. But after the pitiable, Lin Daiyu-like Wu Nianxi spoke, the onlookers seemed to wake up, and more people stepped forward to voice support.

“What kind of man hits a woman!”

“Her cheating was wrong, but you can’t hit her!”

“Don’t come any closer, or I’m calling the police!”

“It’s wrong for him to hit you, but your cheating is truly disgusting. You should talk things out, or break up. Why bother when there are plenty of fish in the sea.”

“This girl deserves a beating, but this looks bad. In broad daylight.”

Zhuang Lu’s ears were filled with an increasing volume of noise, but she kept staring fiercely at Zhang Kunrong. It seemed that if the two big guys moved even a finger, she would pounce and violently snap their necks.

Finally, Zhang Kunrong and the tall guy walked away furiously. But before leaving, Zhang Kunrong left a sinister threat.

He said, “Cai Jing, you wait, I’ll settle the score with you!”

And at that moment, Zhuang Lu heard a clear female voice. The voice immediately followed, saying, “Your actions have already violated her many rights. We can completely sue you for intentional assault and insult! You better think carefully!”

Zhuang Lu looked in the direction of the voice and saw an extremely beautiful girl, almost comparable to the beauty Wu. She seemed to have just arrived, holding a phone with an active call. Her beauty was striking deep-set eyes, a high nose bridge, and lips as red as fire.

The beauty’s keen phoenix eyes swept over the continuously weeping Cai Jing, then looked at Zhuang Lu, giving the latter a faint smile. “I know her. I’m taking her to report the case now. Thank you.”

Zhuang Lu nodded, revealing Cai Jing, who she had been shielding. “It was the right thing to do.”

The beauty looked at Zhuang Lu again upon hearing this. A hint of a smile spread across her exotic, heavily defined eyes, like a peony painted on paper. Compared to Sister Hong with the pretty nails, this older girl possessed a graceful and dignified splendor.

Zhuang Lu’s hand was gently held. She saw it was Wu Nianxi, whose small face rested lightly against Zhuang Lu’s arm. Zhuang Lu heard her soft whisper, “Are you alright? I’m so glad you’re okay. I was really afraid you’d get hurt.” Then she looked up at Zhuang Lu with those moist eyes, her big eyes filled with anxious tears. “Don’t be so impulsive in the future. I’m truly afraid you’ll get hurt, really.”

Zhuang Lu’s chest tightened, and her nasal passages felt a familiar sourness. Was this what friendship was? It was truly comforting.

She gently patted Wu Nianxi’s back with her other hand. At this moment, she suddenly didn’t want to say anything. In a flash, her gaze pierced through the dispersing crowd and keenly caught Wen Zhuo’s eye. The senior still stood in the crowd like a green pine, radiating captivating brilliance. His gaze was still gentle, and the sun shone from the east, perfectly illuminating his jade-like face. His handsome appearance was just as it was when they first met, but Zhuang Lu suddenly felt he wasn’t quite so handsome. He was just like everyone else—two eyes and one mouth, and so skinny, like a clothes rack.

Zhuang Lu didn’t know what Wen Zhuo was thinking now. She just lamented how quickly they had reached a fork in the road!

Sometimes, if there are fundamental differences in one’s three perspectives (values, world view, life outlook), one cannot form a deep friendship. The greatest fear is being too brief with one’s acquaintance and too deep with one’s words, eventually leading to mutual harm. Because those perspectives are a person’s bottom line.

Wen Zhuo saw Zhuang Lu’s gaze. That gaze no longer held the bright spark that made him unconsciously smile; it only held the cold wind howling through a Northern winter, capable of splitting one’s face open. That chubby face was expressionless, covered in frost. Then, she turned and walked away, pulling Wu Nianxi with her, without giving him another look. Wu Nianxi, like a small rabbit, quietly followed the bear-like Zhuang Lu. Wen Zhuo watched their receding figures and suddenly felt a little regretful.

He took out his phone, wanting to say something to Zhuang Lu, only to realize he hadn’t replied to the text she sent a few days ago. He seemed to have forgotten to reply.

Senior, you played awesome!

Beneath that single sentence, Wen Zhuo felt somewhat complicated.

The man who was usually meticulous in his dealings with others helplessly exited the text message screen.

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