The Beauty Said She Has A Secret Crush On Me - Chapter 15

Chapter 15

By the time Zhuang Lu and Wu Nianxi reached the vicinity of the school, it was nearly midnight. The campus was deserted, not a ghost in sight, save for some lights coming from the graduate student dorm area near the road.

The dorm manager was already asleep. Zhuang Lu patted her pocket. Thank goodness, she had brought her ID card.

She handed the ID card to Wu Nianxi. “Let’s go, we’re getting a hotel room!”

“Ah?!” Wu Nianxi’s eyes widened, her innocent eyelashes fluttering softly. Before her mind could fully register what was happening, Zhuang Lu was already leading her into an alley across the street from the school.

Zhuang Lu chose a budget hotel she had stayed in before. This was the same hotel her parents had stayed in when she first enrolled. It was small and inexpensive but fully equipped.

The young lady at the front desk was watching a drama. She didn’t even look up at the two girls. After registration, she handed them the key card and went back to watching the drama, hugging an electric heater.

From the TV drama, the male lead’s confession could be heard: “I love you. I swear on my life, I will never fail you in this lifetime!”

The front desk girl’s eyes shimmered with tears for the love portrayed in the drama.

Zhuang Lu entered the room and saw a large bed. But she had clearly asked for a twin room. She scratched her head. “The front desk made a mistake. I’ll go down and change it.”

The hallway was freezing cold. The deep winter night was ruled by the howling cold wind. Wu Nianxi stamped her feet. “It’s too cold. Don’t change it.” As she spoke, she turned on the heater in the room.

It wasn’t until the room temperature gradually increased that Wu Nianxi felt a bit comfortable. Zhuang Lu came out of the shower, wearing only a pair of grey thermal top and bottoms, looking slightly undignified. Meeting Wu Nianxi’s gaze, Zhuang Lu felt a flicker of embarrassment for the first time in her life. She reached for the long coat on the back of the chair to put it on, but heard Wu Nianxi wink with a slight tease, a warm smile on her pure, innocent face. “Zhuāng Zhuāng, you actually have quite a big chest!”

Zhuang Lu’s chest was indeed not small, but it wasn’t obvious under her clothes because she also had a lot of flesh around her stomach.

“Ah… Mm… Mm.” For the first time, Zhuang Lu didn’t know how to respond. She stammered and immediately wrapped herself in the long coat.

Wu Nianxi stopped teasing her and stood up to take a shower. Before she even stepped into the bathroom, a soft “gurgle” came from her abdomen. She rubbed her stomach. She was hungry.

But she didn’t have the habit of eating late at night, so she decided to ignore it.

Zhuang Lu, however, seemed to have received a signal. A light flashed in her eyes, and her tone was cheerful. “There’s a noodle shop nearby. Their ginger noodle soup is an absolute must-try. I’ll go buy you a bowl.”

“No need, it’s too much trouble.” Wu Nianxi refused quickly, not wanting to bother Zhuang Lu.

Zhuang Lu’s eyes darted. She outwardly agreed, even saying, “Niannian, your hair looks quite greasy. You should wash it too.”

As the sound of splashing water came from the bathroom, she immediately dressed completely and bolted out.

While showering, Wu Nianxi touched her hair, then pulled a strand and sniffed it under her nose. A fresh, clean scent of shampoo rushed into her nasal cavity. She wrinkled her nose, her naturally sweet appearance most endearing.

“It’s not greasy at all. Humph.” She muttered.

But she obediently started washing her hair anyway.

As she washed, she thought, Did Zhuāng Zhuāng smell something bad when she hugged me just now?!

Ah! No way! I should be clean, right? I shouldn’t smell pungent, right? I shouldn’t have any other body odor, right!

When Wu Nianxi had thoroughly washed herself from top to bottom and came out with her hair wrapped in a towel, she saw Zhuang Lu opening the door, covered in dust and bringing in a gust of cold air.

Her nose was red from the cold, but she held up the food, smiling brightly. “Can’t let you starve!”

This sentence warmed Wu Nianxi from head to toe, just like the heat in the room.

She thought she might remember this sentence for the rest of her life, and this bowl of steaming hot noodles in the winter night, topped with a rich, soft-boiled egg.

Zhuang Lu was not a meticulous person; her personality was somewhat rough. But seeing Wu Nianxi hugging the bowl of noodles, her eyes red like a little rabbit’s, her small mouth pouting as if she was about to cry, Zhuang Lu quickly changed the subject. “Hey, your hair hasn’t been blown dry yet. You eat, and I’ll blow it for you.”

Without waiting for Wu Nianxi’s reply, she grabbed the hairdryer and sat down majestically behind Wu Nianxi, starting to dry her hair.

As she dried, she laughed and said, “Class committee member, you’re lucky. This is my virgin blow-dry! How is it, customer? Is the pressure okay?”

Wu Nianxi gently bit into the soft-boiled egg, fighting back the tears welling up, and nodded.

Wu Nianxi didn’t have a large appetite. After eating half the bowl of noodles, she couldn’t eat anymore. Zhuang Lu immediately took over, showing no sign of distaste, and wolfed down the rest of the noodles with the same chopsticks.

“It’s still that taste! It’s absolutely divine! The spiciness of the ginger is just right, and it’s especially flavorful.”

Watching Zhuang Lu eat was a pleasant sight. Wu Nianxi didn’t even notice the sincere and gentle smile on her own lips.

Once they had both brushed their teeth, it was time for bed.

For some reason, Wu Nianxi suddenly felt a bit awkward. She lay stiffly on the bed, unsure what to do with her hands and feet.

Zhuang Lu turned off the light. In the darkness, she climbed into bed and murmured, “This is my first time sleeping with someone else.”

Wu Nianxi felt Zhuang Lu lying next to her, then shifting closer. She thought, This is also her first time sharing a bed since the older sister, that’s why she’s so nervous.

She gently pressed her small hand against her heart, soothing the rapidly beating organ.

Just as she was finally settling down, feeling a hint of calm, Wu Nianxi felt Zhuang Lu suddenly turn onto her side, instantly shortening the distance between them. She could even feel the heat emanating from Zhuang Lu’s body!

Then she heard Zhuang Lu say, “I can’t sleep. Every time I think about Cai Jing, I feel terrible. Look at the comments under that post—so many boys swore they had slept with Cai Jing. But I believe Cai Jing’s words.”

“I believe her too. I don’t think she would lie under those circumstances. When she said Zhang Kunrong drugged her, that should also be true.” Wu Nianxi was very calm. A Chinese idiom even surfaced in her mind: “The cry of a bird about to die is mournful.”

“Exactly! What are those people thinking! For them, it might just be a joke. They don’t care what harm Cai Jing might suffer in this frenzy of kicking someone when they’re down! Their heads are full of air!”

“Isn’t that just how it is? The joys and sorrows of human beings are not shared.”

“There might not be much empathy, but at least one should be a kind person! Isn’t that the most basic thing?” Zhuang Lu sighed. “When I was in high school, a girl moved into the apartment below mine. She lived alone and was afraid of danger, so she bought some men’s clothes and hung them on the balcony. She didn’t dare to turn off the lights at night, so she left the living room light on. Just these two things started rumors that she was a sex worker, constantly bringing men home and running a business there. Some people even claimed emphatically that they saw several men coming and going, with all sorts of colorful and scandalous details—so precise that only someone squatting by the bed could know. Before long, the landlord drove the girl out. Later, I heard she developed depression, and then another rumor spread, completely unrelated, that she had contracted an STD. Tell me, why are there people in the world whose thoughts are so filthy and whose mouths are so vicious?”

Wu Nianxi felt as if these sentences were knives flying toward her, cutting her pretense into pieces. She was wrapped in the blanket but felt as if she was standing naked in public. At least be a kind person. But was she truly kind? Whether it was timidly hiding behind the older sister as a child, watching her get bruised protecting herself while she only cared about her own escape—she abandoned the older sister. Even after that, she quickly integrated into normal life, never daring to look at the older sister again, as if trying to quickly cut off that painful past. She was heartless, not like a person at all.

Zhuang Lu continued to sigh faintly on the other side. “A girl’s growth is like fighting monsters. Beauty and ugliness are judged by others, and good and evil hover precariously. Among these big monsters are the immature self and a world that is not kind enough. I remember reading a book in high school called The Girls. After reading it, I felt terrified, nervous, and angry. There’s a line I still remember clearly: ‘I spent that whole time preparing myself. Those articles told me that life was just a waiting room until someone noticed you. Boys spent that whole time becoming themselves.’

“In fact, we are all products of society. We absorb information to shape our values, but the world is not kind enough, and society is not fair enough. Why should girls accept male dominance? Why should they become dependents of others? Why is personal will minimized? Why should one package oneself up like a gift according to worldly standards, seeking to be entrusted? Why should one compromise and tolerate the harm of others? Why should one consider the bigger picture and suppress one’s own discontent?”

Zhuang Lu’s voice was low. Every question was gentle, not angry, but this soft questioning was even more moving. After a long time, Wu Nianxi finally responded. She turned onto her side, facing Zhuang Lu, watching the faint light from outside illuminate Zhuang Lu’s profile eyes closed, lips stubbornly pursed.

Wu Nianxi suddenly understood Zhuang Lu’s meaning. Her voice traveled into the ear above the adjacent pillow. “Being a girl, no apologies needed.” With just that sentence, she seemed to confront her utterly despicable self during that period of unpleasant memories.

Deep into the silent night, after Zhuang Lu had fallen asleep, Wu Nianxi gently shifted her body so that their hands lightly touched, drawing warmth from Zhuang Lu’s body. It felt like fresh blood flowing into her own body. Wu Nianxi murmured, “I may not be a good girl, but I will try hard to be a kind person. With you, to be a kind person.”

Support The Beauty Said She Has A Secret Crush On Me