The Beauty Said She Has A Secret Crush On Me - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

After Wu Nianxi learned that Zhuang Lu liked Wen Zhuo, she unconsciously began to pay attention to Zhuang Lu.

When Tao Ru reluctantly moved back to the dorm, she actively took Sun Rui to check out the situation.

Inside the dorm, Zhuang Lu treated Tao Ru like an invisible person. Tao Ru gritted her teeth but didn’t dare to be insolent in front of Zhuang Lu. Wu Nianxi leaned close to Zhuang Lu, “What are you doing?”

Zhuang Lu’s face was originally frosty, but upon seeing Wu Nianxi, it thawed into the kind of benevolent smile typical of a heavy person. “I want to buy a birthday present.”

“Is it Wen Zhuo’s birthday?” Wu Nianxi whispered close to Zhuang Lu’s ear, mindful of the two other people in the dorm.

“No, it’s my mother’s birthday.”

Wu Nianxi raised an eyebrow, intending to say more, but then saw Sun Rui signal her, reminding her of Sun Rui’s request. She tugged at Zhuang Lu’s clothing. “Come out for a moment.”

The two walked out of the dorm, where Sun Rui was already waiting. She looked at Zhuang Lu, her face a little unnatural, but still bowed to Zhuang Lu. “When I’m wrong, I’m wrong. Regarding the Tao Ru incident, what I did was wrong. I apologize to you. I’m sorry.”

This was the first time Zhuang Lu had received such a sincere apology. Usually, she only heard begrudging apologies under the pressure of her fists. She felt a bit flustered, only managing to rub her head and say, awkwardly, “It’s fine, it’s fine.”

Sun Rui was also very straightforward. She nodded and said, “From now on, only you can call me ‘Four-Eyes Frog.’ I owe you.”

Zhuang Lu was amused by this. All along, most of the girls she had met were whiny and hypocritical like white lotuses. She hadn’t expected to meet two different kinds of flowers in Wu Nianxi and Sun Rui. Zhuang Lu patted Sun Rui’s shoulder. “Alright, alright. You’re actually quite good-looking. I can’t bring myself to say it.”

For the first time, Sun Rui felt a little shy. She also stood on her tiptoes and stretched out her arm to pat Zhuang Lu’s shoulder. “We’ve been classmates for two years, and I’m only truly getting to know you now. Arrogance and prejudice are indeed harmful.”

Wu Nianxi watched the two laughing without any hard feelings, pursing her lips and smiling slightly, which made her look especially beautiful and moving.

During the English class on Tuesday, Wu Nianxi saw Zhuang Lu looking down and swiping on her phone. She stopped twirling her pen, wrote a note, and passed it over.

For the first time in her life, Zhuang Lu received a little note. She felt a little excited inside; no classmate had ever been willing to pass notes with her since childhood—a stack of challenges, yes, but not notes. She opened the note and saw Wu Nianxi’s neat handwriting, but the content made her feel both amused and speechless. After thinking for a moment, she scribbled a few words in a bold, spirited style and passed it back.

Wu Nianxi asked her: Are you chatting with Wen Zhuo?

Zhuang Lu replied: The “Three-Body Problem” e-book. Want to read it? I’ll Bluetooth it to you.

Wu Nianxi: “……”

After the English class ended, Wu Nianxi caught up to Zhuang Lu, her long hair lightly brushing Zhuang Lu’s arm, which tickled a little. “Where are you going?”

Zhuang Lu had one hand in her pocket and carefully brushed the beauty Wu’s hair off her clothing with the other. “First to the library to return books, then to eat.”

“Aren’t you inviting Wen Zhuo to eat?”

Zhuang Lu thought for a moment. “No money. I just bought a gift for my mom.”

Perhaps as compensation for her past self, Wu Nianxi was very generous. “I have money. I can lend it to you first.”

Zhuang Lu said seriously, “No way. My dad taught me since I was little that I can only borrow money as a last resort.”

Wu Nianxi let out a little laugh, instantly looking like a beam of light breaking through the clouds, allowing Zhuang Lu to once again experience the messy “so-called beauty” the teacher described in her aesthetics class.

“You are so funny,” the beauty said.

Zhuang Lu squinted her eyes with a smile. “Want to eat together? But you have to accompany me to the library first.”

On Wednesday, Wu Nianxi woke up early to follow Zhuang Lu for morning exercise. She suddenly thought, “Wen Zhuo also likes to exercise. We can ask him to come along.”

Zhuang Lu seriously guided Wu Nianxi through her warm-up and said dismissively, “Let’s not. We’re not very familiar, and I’ll run, huffing and puffing like a pig—that ‘hūchī hūchī hūchī’ sound.”

Zhuang Lu demonstrated what a ‘hūchī hūchī’ pig’s panting sounded like, which earned her another unintentional, blooming smile from the beauty.

This kind of amused smile was vivid and lively, the upturned corners of her mouth featuring two sweet dimples, and her teeth were neat and utterly adorable.

Zhuang Lu felt her mood for the day had improved.

Later, when Wu Nianxi suggested Zhuang Lu could invite Wen Zhuo out on the weekend, Zhuang Lu was flipping a book with one hand and writing furiously with the other, not even lifting her head as she said that the elective courses all assigned papers, so she didn’t have that kind of free time.

It wasn’t until Tuesday, when Teacher Wang began lecturing about Gu Taiqing again, that Wu Nianxi realized that ever since she learned Zhuang Lu liked Wen Zhuo, she had been more anxious about it than Zhuang Lu was, like a worried attendant to a nonchalant emperor. However, Zhuang Lu and Wen Zhuo had made no progress, while her relationship with Zhuang Lu had surprisingly gotten better. This… could it be counted as friendship?!

When all the papers for the elective courses were finished, Zhuang Lu was deeply absorbed in Yan Lianke’s Ding Village Dream. This was China’s first full-length novel depicting AIDS. Zhuang Lu didn’t particularly like his writing style; it said.

When awareness dawns, clouds bring rain. When awareness dawns, late autumn brings cold. When awareness dawns, those who sold their blood ten years ago will surely get the hot disease today. Getting the hot disease means dying, descending to the netherworld like a falling leaf. The hot disease is hidden in the blood. Grandpa is hidden in the dream. The hot disease is attached to the blood, and Grandpa is attached to the dream.

It was too literary.

But as Zhuang Lu read page after page, her eyes became dry, and a feeling of sorrow surged in her chest, threatening to burst out. She recalled an old book she had read about a reporter’s undercover investigation, which described the living conditions of China’s “blood slaves.” They were numb and tormented, just like the villagers in Ding Village—unable to break free, ignorant, and foolish. But as the reader, an observer positioned above all the characters in the book, the pessimists became more pessimistic, and the optimists fell silent.

Zhuang Lu put down the book and rubbed her eyes. She lifted her head to look out at the Third Athletics Field to the west of the library. She saw many people surrounding the football field, watching the ball arc perfectly through the sky, seeing the girls’ smiles, and the boys’ passion. She thought, the book about the undercover reporter was called Ten Years of Undercover Investigation: Countless Escapes from Death, or something similar.

Her phone vibrated. It was a text message from Wu Nianxi, asking Zhuang Lu to come to the Third Athletics Field and meet at the entrance.

Zhuang Lu felt she couldn’t keep reading, or the tragic emotion would engulf her. So she carefully got up, checked out Ding Village Dream, and headed toward the Third Athletics Field.

Wu Nianxi was dressed in an academic-style top and skirt, exposing two straight, fair long legs in the chilling wind.

As soon as Zhuang Lu walked up to her, Wu Nianxi clung to her arm like a small bird, using Zhuang Lu’s large cross-section to shield herself from the wind. For the first time, she smiled somewhat mischievously, yet her voice was still soft and comfortable. “Do you know why I asked you to come over?”

Zhuang Lu looked at her shivering shoulders and slightly pale lips. She shook her head while taking off her own black mid-length light down jacket and draping it over Wu Nianxi.

Since Wu Nianxi was shorter, Zhuang Lu silently noted that her light down jacket completely covered Wu Nianxi’s calves.

Wu Nianxi was visibly stunned. She tightly gripped the down jacket to keep it from sliding off her shoulders. Regaining her composure, she looked at Zhuang Lu, who was now wearing only her knit shirt, her eyes as gentle as water. “Aren’t you cold like this?”

Zhuang Lu’s large hand stroked Wu Nianxi’s hair. “Lots of fat, not cold. Why did you look for me? Is there a match going on?”

Wu Nianxi looked at Zhuang Lu’s hand that had been on her head. Her heart skipped a beat. She stepped forward and held the large hand with her own slender one. In that instant, she felt a subtle current pass through her mind, creating a momentary blank space.

It was the first time Zhuang Lu had been held hands with by someone other than her parents. She only felt that Wu Nianxi’s fingers were long and thin, which was a little jarring, so she held Wu Nianxi’s hand back with her own thick, soft one.

Wu Nianxi looked up at Zhuang Lu, her lips slightly parted but not uttering a sound. Zhuang Lu looked back at Wu Nianxi in confusion.

It felt like a long time had passed, but it was only a moment. The faint light in the sky hadn’t diminished, and the early winter sun was bold, highlighting the football arcing in mid-air.

“Ah!!! Goal!!!!” A massive cheer swept through the entire field, breaking the tension in Wu Nianxi’s heart and drawing away Zhuang Lu’s attention.

Amidst the crowd, Zhuang Lu saw Wen Zhuo’s smiling dimples. She saw him wearing a sky-blue jersey and white socks, the sight, combined with the slightly pale light, outlining the boys’ vigorous youth and dynamism.

It turned out Wen Zhuo had made the assist, giving their college team the first goal of the game.

“The senior is here too. Let’s go take a look.” Zhuang Lu pulled Wu Nianxi, squeezing towards the front line of the field.

Football in China is far less popular than basketball. The school had six basketball courts, each with twelve hoops, but only one football field, which was shared with the discus and track and field training areas. Yet, for some unknown reason, this match between the Law School and the Materials Science School had attracted many people today, with girls’ screams reaching the sky.

Zhuang Lu heard many girls shouting the names of the players on the field, with Wen Zhuo’s name being the loudest. She belatedly realized: The senior is so popular.

Zhuang Lu protected Wu Nianxi and quickly squeezed to the front in just a few steps. This was also thanks to the fact that most people unconsciously stepped back a little when they saw Zhuang Lu’s build.

Wu Nianxi was half-embraced by one of Zhuang Lu’s arms. Her heart thumped a few times for some reason. It wasn’t until they reached the front and she could breathe fresh air that she felt her face was a little hot. However, soon after, her mind felt even hotter. The Law School team’s forward quickly dodged two Materials Science players, like a sharp knife thrusting straight into the enemy’s backline. He paused for a moment, drew back his right foot and kicked hard. The football flew rapidly toward the goal. The goalkeeper couldn’t save it, and the ball crashed into the net, bouncing high off the ground!

“Gooooooal!”

The spectators were ecstatic. All sorts of cheers erupted in Wu Nianxi’s ears, stimulating even the habitually gentle person to quietly cheer.

Zhuang Lu, who already enjoyed exciting sports, was even more thrilled. She shouted out loud.

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