Don't be So Proud

Chapter 9.6 — Do Not Use Your Pride to Hurt Her (6)

Do you know what “Once, there was a good thing right in front of him, but he had even especially scorned it and not wanted it. Now he really, ridiculously missed it!” is? Looking down, He Zhi Zhou stared at his palm that was curved into a bowl shape.

But, it seemed it wasn’t that big.

His fingers rounded in a bit more.

It seemed it was still smaller than that.

His fingers again, again, again curled inward until finally, they had formed a small, little bowl. He Zhi Zhou gave a little chuckle. Then, with no expression on his face, he leaned into the seatback of the computer room’s blue chair. Nearby, there were four or five male students who were trying to get past the school’s network to download a certain movie. He unintentionally threw a glimpse there. Sure enough, no matter how big the ones inside the screen were, they weren’t as cute and lovely as the ones that belonged to him.

Those boys, who were not far from him, noticed that someone was peeking. They were all audacious first-year students. One of them knew who He Zhi Zhou was and enthusiastically invited, “God He, you need this?”

Calmly turning his head away, He Zhi Zhou tidied up his computer and then stood. “No need. I have my own.”

A newborn calf is not scared of tigers. This bold, first-year student immediately grabbed the corner of He Zhi Zhou’s shirt. “Great God, please share!”

Share?! He Zhi Zhou’s coolly swept a look over him, then tossed out one sentence. “No, I will enjoy it all by myself.” Saying this, he picked up his own computer and left the computer room.

Along the way, He Zhi Zhou received a phone call that came from overseas, but he talked for only one minute before hanging up. The call had come from his father, asking him when he would be going to the United States. He directly tossed back the answer, “I’m not going.”

“Reason?”

“No reason.”

Was there really no reason? He Zhi Zhou did not even believe it himself.

Brawny gave Shen Xi four tickets to the Youth Cup. They were very hard to get.

It was the “god effect.” Once He Zhi Zhou’s name appeared on the Youth Cup performers list, the unscrupulous Students’ Union had already begun to use it to advertise and boost interest for the event. Hence, the Youth Cup, which originally had had a rather tepid reaction, instantly became the grand event of the year, and the price for tickets shot up like a boat on the rising tide. Not only did it become a situation where tickets were hard to get, people even began to scalp the tickets.

Brawny truly had pulled strings with people he knew in order to get these four tickets. As a result, when he brought them to Shen Xi, his tone unconsciously carried traces of smugness. “Xi Xi, if it weren’t for the fact that I, Zhou Chen, have a bit of status in the Students’ Union, most people absolutely would not be able to get four tickets in one go.”

Shen Xi was never stingy with her praise. She patted Brawny on the arm. “Zhou Chen is awesome! Zhou Chen is the most awesome!”

As Brawny stared at Shen Xi’s beaming face, his heart gave a flutter. What should he do? His thoughts had turned to that soft, adorable Leader again. But alas, Leader, that torturing little vixen, had transformed back into his original deadpan self. The melancholy that he felt in his heart was inevitable. Sighing heavily, he fished out one more ticket from his pocket. “Xi Xi, would you be able to help me give this to Zhang Ran? She’s kind of been ignoring me lately.”

Shen Xi hesitated for quite a while but then nodded. “All right.”

Zhang Ran was also a student in this university town, but it would be a half an hour walk to get to where she was. In fact, Shen Xi was not really all that willing to do this run for Brawny, but sadly, seeing that the romance path in Brawny’s life was so torturous, she decided that she would help him out with this.

However, there was one other reason why she did not want to help Brawny deliver the ticket. When she was still living in dorm room 921, she had received several text messages from Zhang Ran. Those messages that Zhang Ran sent to He Zhi Zhou had also asked about homework and studies or vacation and travel, but her tactics were much smarter than the likes of Xia Wei Ye, who would simply outright ask to meet up.

Zhang Ran had been stringing Brawny along the whole time, but at the same time, she was also interested in another person in the same dormitory—He Zhi Zhou. She had not really taken any of it to heart before, but now Shen Xi was going to watch out and be more cautious. When Shen Xi thought about the fact that she was so clear on who liked He Zhi Zhou, she immediately felt a sense of having superior intelligence.

Shen Xi got ahold of Zhang Ran. Zhang Ran came down from her girls’ dormitory with a stuffed doll in her hand. She asked, “Shen Xi, is there something that you came looking for me about?”

She handed the ticket to Zhang Ran. “Brawny asked me to give this to you. He’s inviting you to go watch S University’s Youth Cup tomorrow night. Brawny will be performing in it.”

Zhang Ran let out a couple sounds of “ha ha.” Not only did she not take the ticket, she even shoved that stuffed doll into Shen Xi’s hands. “Zhou Chen gave this to me. Help me return it to him, and while you’re at it, tell him not to pester me anymore. I’m not worthy of it!”

This little errand-running role she was playing had sure managed to annoy a certain someone with all her running. Looking right at Zhang Ran, Shen Xi told her with seriousness, “Then give me a reason that I can bring back to Brawny.”

Zhang Ran instantly became incomparably cold and snooty. “No reason. I don’t want to talk to him anymore, nor do I want to have any sort of interaction with him. We’ll leave it at that. Goodbye.”

After Zhang Ran left, Shen Xi hugged that stuffed doll and, bowing her head, sighed regretfully. Then, she began to carefully scrutinize this doll. It turned out to be a cute alpaca. Shen Xi suddenly understood, and she shook her head. Now, even she felt that Brawny deserved it. How could he give a girl a “grass mud horse”? He sure lacked intelligence! [草泥马, which literally means “grass mud horse” is a “creature” created by Chinese netizens to be used in place of profanities. The name in pinyin is “cao ni ma” which is a homophone to a phrase in Mandarin that means, “f*** your mother.”]

Holding that grass mud horse in her hand, she called Brawny, repeated word for word Zhang Ran’s message to him, and also asked what she should do with the grass mud horse. Brawny replied directly that he would just gift it to her. Then, rather feebly, he asked, “But… what is grass mud horse?”

Shen Xi: “The thing you gave to Zhang Ran.”

“Huh? That’s a grass mud horse?” Brawny was surprised. Xi Xi, don’t think you can fool me because I’m not that educated. Isn’t that a white giraffe?”

White giraffe?! Shen Xi hung up on Brawny. She was already totally speechless. But, one round of errand-running had earned her an extra ticket and a grass mud horse, so all the way back to the dorm, Shen Xi was humming and singing happily, “I have a grass mud horse, but never did I ride it…”

After Shen Xi was back in her dorm room, she counted up the seat tickets that she had on hand. When Dou Dou returned, she gave one to her. Hugging her, Dou Dou cried gratefully, “The going price of one ticket has been hyped all the way up to two hundred yuan. Shen Xi, you’re so awesome!”

Shen Xi nodded in satisfaction. She still had four tickets. Brawny’s original intention was for her to share them with her dormmates anyway. Therefore, when Chen Han and Xia Wei Ye returned, she held the tickets in her hand and asked them about going.

Chen Han needed to seize every minute to practice her dance, so shaking her head, she turned down the offer. “Thank you, but I don’t have time.”

Xia Wei Ye, on the other hand, did accept it and rather unnaturally said, “Thank you.”

Shen Xi blinked. Like a little child who had just learned her manners, she replied, “You’re welcome.”

Tilting her head down, Xia Wei Ye looked at the ticket, the jealousy in her heart overflowing. She genuinely wanted to go watch He Zhi Zhou’s performance, but sadly, you could not buy a scalped ticket now even if you wanted to. But here, in the end, Shen Xi actually had five tickets, and they were all awesome front row, center seats.

After distributing the tickets amongst her dormmates, Shen Xi still had two left over. Remember the “Islet in the River” Weibo account, she secretly posted on it:

I’ll be dancing on stage tomorrow. Feelng nervous. I still have two tickets on hand. Anyone want them? Forward this post and tag three friends with an @ for a chance to win them!

Brawny was practically hanging out on the Weibo of “Islet in the River” every day. He was the first to leave a comment.

Leader, you’re back? Brawn Brawn misses you…

Monkey also waved his hanky and cried in the comments:

Leader, me want, me want!

He Zhi Zhou was in the recharging center for meal cards when he saw this Weibo post. By the time he spotted it, the number of reposts was already very high. He glanced down at the two meal cards he was holding. One was his own, the other was Shen Xi’s. He had originally intended on reloading them both with money, but after seeing that Weibo post, he didn’t want to put single cent in!

Using his real account in Weibo, he sent a private message to “Islet in the River”:

Delete your new Weibo post!

Who the heck was this? What a cocky way to talk! How was Shen Xi to know who this person, whose ID was a string of English letters, was? Without saying anything, she suavely blacklisted the dude. How dare he order her around, humph, humph!

On Thursday at six in the evening, S University’s Youth Cup took place as scheduled in the school’s Hall No. 2, and nearly everyone in the school, male and female, rushed to that hall. Half an hour earlier, Shen Xi had gone over to dorm room 921 to do Monkey and Brawny’s makeup. That morning, He Zhi Zhou had already put up a sullen face, and when she asked him to do makeup, he refused.

All right, then. Shen Xi worked on Brawny’s makeup. Brawny asked her, “Xi Xi, are you able to do my makeup so that it takes the breath away of everyone everywhere?”

She muttered, “Zhou Chen, isn’t that just trying to make things hard for me?”

Brawny: “……”

Ha ha. He Zhi Zhou, who was sitting not far away, finally gave a laugh. Sneaking a peek at him, Shen Xi began humming a little tune. In the end, she smilingly swaggered out of the door, her hand even holding an apple that Lin Yu Tang had given her.

Bringing her SLR camera along, she went to meet up with Dou Dou and the others. Tonight, Dou Dou and Xia Wei Ye had purposely done themselves up nice and pretty, and as they stood amongst the crowd of male engineers, they were especially eye-catching. Those, loooong, slender, fair legs, whoa! Shen Xi ably and nimbly led them to that big hall, got their tickets checked, and went into the venue, her actions so easy and familiar it was as if this was her own school.

Tugging on her hand, Dou Dou remarked in surprise, “A’Xi, I find that you’re really familiar with S University.”

Shen Xi blinked. She was very familiar with it because she had studied here for a month. But this was what she told Dou Dou: “I have a good sense of direction.”

Dou Dou tilted her face down. Ha ha.

When they were getting their tickets checked before they stepped inside, the Students’ Union staff had given everyone a glow stick.

After they found their seats, Shen Xi sat down with her glow stick. She sent a text message to Lin Yu Tang:

Tang Tang, are you going to come watch?

Lin Yu Tang sent back a reply:

No. Cheer them on for me.

Lin Yu Tang’s reply had been fine, very good, in fact, but Shen Xi still felt a twinge of sadness. After some time passed, all the lights in the hall dimmed. The Youth Cup had begun. She sent back an “Okay, then,” to Lin Yu Tang, and then put her mobile phone back into her pocket.

The male and female masters of ceremonies breezed out onto the stage, holding hands. The stage curtain was pulled open, but the backstage workers were not careful and accidentally pulled it a little too far. When Shen Xi lifted her head, she caught sight of He Zhi Zhou, who was already backstage. Out of his entire sequins suit set, he was wearing only the pants, while his upper body was garbed in a white, short-sleeved shirt. He stood, aloof and withdrawn from the rest of the world, amongst a crowd of excited people, and his face was stony—he seemed angry.

He was still angry?! Shen Xi found this unbelievable. Sometimes, she really did feel that He Zhi Zhou was so sulky and stuffy. Craning her neck, she tried to catch another glimpse of him, but then the workers pulled the curtain back into place and she could not see backstage anymore.

Backstage, reporters for the school paper had arrived, and they all wanted to interview He Zhi Zhou. Holding a small microphone, they came up to He Zhi Zhou. “God He, may we have an interview with you.”

He Zhi Zhou: “My apologies.”

He Zhi Zhou did not want to be on camera, but Brawny and Monkey sure did! They had been in university for three years already, but their names had not even appeared in the school newspaper yet. They both shuffled closely in together. “Interview us.”

The reporter reluctantly shifted her target. “Okay, then. May I ask, why did God He choose to participate in the Youth Cup?”

Goddammit! Could she ask questions about them?!

He Zhi Zhou found a slightly quieter place to rest for a while. From his angle, he happened to be able to see Shen Xi down below. Tonight, she was wearing a white blouse and green skirt. Her hand held a glow stick, and there was a slightly dazed look to her as she tilted her head to the side. But, she looked very adorable. He really wanted to just touch her.

When a man likes a woman, what is the feeling he has? Even in the most painful and tormenting of times, he can still brew up those feelings, stirring and arousing his heart.

He did admit that his hormones had been raging a little strong this last little while, and his body felt somewhat as if it was burning up… He Zhi Zhou kneaded his forehead. The earlier performances on the program had already begun, but here he was still thinking all this random nonsense.

And plus, it was just too early for some things… No matter what, he should at least wait until graduation.

But should it be Shen Xi’s graduation?

Or… his graduation?

Dorm room 921’s trio dance was the next one on the program. Monkey pulled out his mobile phone and requested that they take a photograph together. The result, though, was that Brawny’s face took up half the screen, and He Zhi Zhou was only able to get a small little piece of the side of his face in. Getting a copy of the photo from Monkey, He Zhi Zhou sent it to Shen Xi right when they were about to step out onto the stage.

In just a bit, watch carefully—and you’re only allowed to watch me.

And then, he slipped on his black, sequins suit jacket and put on his white mask.

The music began to play.

Shen Xi lifted her eyes back up from the screen of her mobile phone. The curtains were pulled open. The stage lights came on. The glow sticks in the venue were nearly all raised en masse. The cheers and shrieks were deafening.

Her gaze landed on the person in the middle—He Zhi Zhou. He was wearing the mask, and she could see, beneath that mask, that pair of eyes that looked cool, yet resigned. Her heartbeat sped up, and inwardly, she somewhat wanted to giggle.

The music was very upbeat and dynamic, and when Dou Dou heard it, she became exhilarated. “Whoa-oa-oa! It’s this song!”

Shen Xi hid her face with her hands. She was so bashful, you know. The music was the song, Sexy, that she had selected. A very sensual and rousing song. To match the feel of the song, she had choreographed six bold and provocative moves.

Sure enough, when He Zhi Zhou, Monkey, and Brawny did those suggestive and suave moves, the applause below surged up like the tides.

In the flashing light of the glow sticks, Shen Xi also felt a little dazzled.

You’re so sexy, sexy, sexy,

I need your love, I need no hesitation

……

Feel me now and stop the conversation

No, no, no, don’t stop the desire, no, no, no, no, no

……

Down off the stage, there were continuous squeals of “Islet in the River, I love you!”

Brawny also had his own fans: “Brawn Brawn, I love you!”

And also Monkey’s: “Monkey, we love you love you!”

Of course, the most numerous was still “He Zhi Zhou, I love you!” Cry after cry of “He Zhi Zhou, I love you!” rang up from amongst the screams. Shen Xi twisted her head to look this way and that. Oh no, what should she do? She seemed to have done something stupid.

Dou Dou yanked on her hand. “Xi Xi, hurry up! You yell too!”

Shen Xi inexplicably became demure and reserved. The other girls, who did not even know He Zhi Zhou, were all yelling this out, one after the other, but she, the person who actually had an official title and status, was embarrassed. She shook her head, feeling an itch in her heart.

At the same time, the song was about to come to an end, and the trio dance was entering its final climax.

I’m in the mood to make love to you

And I’m dreaming of your body that’s built for two

……

Dou Dou was still urging her, but Shen Xi still could not make herself shout those words. She opened her mouth. So embarrassed. In the end, Xia Wei Ye actually cried out first, “He Zhi Zhou, I love you! I really love you!”

Shen Xi wanted to vomit blood. She grabbed Xia Wei Ye. “You’re not allowed to yell that. Not allowed to yell that!”

Dou Dou also joined in to help Shen Xi. Covering Xia Wei Ye’s mouth, she whipped her head around and shouted, “Xi Xi, hurry up and yell it out, hurry up and yell!”

Shen Xi summoned courage onto herself. Alright, hands in fists! But the result was, when her mouth opened slightly, all that came out was a little cry of “He Zhi Zhou…”

Dou Dou: “A’Xi, louder. Even I couldn’t hear you.”

Shen Xi’s eyes looked toward the front, and she nearly grew dizzy because of the flashing and fluctuations of those hazy stage lights. The dance was about to finish on the final dance move. The final move was that they would all point with both hands, one in front of the other, into the audience below the stage. With her heart feeling as if it was hanging, Shen Xi rose to her feet along with He Zhi Zhou’s actions.

Her eyes were fixed on He Zhi Zhou up ahead; he, as well, was gazing right at her. When the dance came to an end, he pointed his fingers directly at her.

Applause rose up all around, echoing out for a long time.

And I’m dreaming of your body that’s built for two…

“……”

It was a pity that in the end, Shen Xi still had not yelled out those words.

Dou Dou chewed her out. “Wimp! You’re such a wimp!”

Shen Xi did not care. Yeah, she admitted to being a wimp, but right now, she was a wimp that felt sooooo sweet. Oh, what should she do? She stood up from her seat, anxiously wanting to be backstage so she could see He Zhi Zhou.

Backstage, Shen Xi high-fived each one of them. “Give me five!”

“Give me five!” Brawny was still submerged in the world of dancing and had not stepped out of it yet. Even while giving the high five, he was still waggling his rear end at Shen Xi and was given a sharp kick from Monkey.

He Zhi Zhou handed the dance mask in his hand over to Shen Xi. His voice was tinged as well with a hint of sexiness that was a result of being happy as he asked her, “Were you satisfied with that?”

Satisfied, oh, satisfied! Feeling shy once again, Shen Xi nodded her head like a chick pecking at rice. She raised ten fingers. “I give you full points!”

He Zhi Zhou took advantage of that moment to take her hand into his.

That night, Monkey was treating everyone to a late-night meal, but by the time they all stepped out from the hall, they were not able to find He Zhi Zhou and Shen Xi anymore. This was because He Zhi Zhou had taken Shen Xi and left first…

The myriad of stars filled the night sky. The light of the moon was clear but dim. The wind rustled through the leaves. And somewhere in the bushes of S University, there was hidden a couple.