Don't be So Proud

Chapter 10.1 — To Like Two People (1)

The bushes were hidden behind the campus’s tree-lined pathway. In between, there were several basketball courts that were partitioned from each other by trees and shrubs, and this separation created a sense of quiet and calm.

On the court next to them, three boys were practicing shooting hoops, and as the ball struck the concrete ground, it would give off sound after sound of a bouncy-sounding thud, thud. They would occasionally throw out a sentence or two of casual chitchat. One of them, a boy with the nickname, Da Huang, told a funny joke. Shen Xi, who was lying in He Zhi Zhou’s embrace, was amused by what she heard and giggled lightly. But when she lifted her head, her gaze collided with He Zhi Zhou’s warning look.

Bewildered, Shen Xi asked, “Big Brother He, why are you staring at me?”

He Zhi Zhou did not want to explain anything. Just now, they had been snuggling and hugging for so long, and he had thought that Shen Xi was having butterflies in her stomach. It turned out, though, that she was listening to those boys telling jokes on the court next to them. Bringing his head down, He Zhi Zhou gazed fixedly at Shen Xi, determined to pull her attention back onto himself. Softly, he spoke, “I heard what you were shouting when you were down off the stage earlier.”

Shen Xi did not believe him. “There’s no way you could have heard it, because I didn’t shout anything at all.”

He Zhi Zhou: “Nope, I could hear it.”

Shen Xi blinked at him. “Okay, then, tell me, what did I shout?”

Leaning his body over, he put his lips right beside Shen Xi’s ear and repeated those words. It was actually a fairly pure, innocent sentence, but because of the warm air that He Zhi Zhou blew out, Shen Xi’s ears and face grew bright red as she listened to him and bashfully she buried her face against his chest.

He Zhi Zhou touched his hand against Shen Xi’s head. Likely as a result of having tried out being the height of a woman before, he particularly enjoyed the feeling of consoling Shen Xi with the height advantage he now had.

Quietly, Shen Xi rested against him. He Zhi Zhou had already removed his sequins suit, and he wore only a white t-shirt on his upper body. Because he had just been dancing, that white shirt carried the scent of sweat.

Shen Xi used to hate men’s perspiration. If a man were to sweat, in her eyes, that made him a stinky man. When she was a child, if Shen Jian Guo was sweaty, she would not let him pick her up either. But now, she was able to rest her face on his chest that had perspired. She genuinely did not dislike his perspiration. The faint scent of his body and the smell of his body wash mingled together, and combined with his heavy and strong heartbeat, they gave her a peaceful feeling that stirred her.

He Zhi Zhou’s gaze was soft and gentle like water. Her heart was pounding like a drum. Never had she thought that on such a summer evening, the two of them needed only to hold one another in their arms and then even feeding the mosquitoes could cause her heart to palpitate with different types of sweetness.

Shen Xi tilted her face upward to gaze at He Zhi Zhou. He wasn’t planning on doing anything?

He Zhi Zhou returned that look in her eyes. What should he do?

Seeing no reaction from He Zhi Zhou, Shen Xi displeasedly turned her lips upward into a pout. When He Zhi Zhou saw Shen Xi’s pouting lips, he stretched out his pointer finger and pushed them back down.

Shen Xi’s eyes were wide, the blacks of her pupils clearly distinct from the whites of her eyes as she stared at He Zhi Zhou. Hello? Were they going to be able to happily have this relationship?

He Zhi Zhou’s finger contacted the softness, the moistness of those lips. And then, the next second, he tilted her chin upward and slowly brought his face down.

Shen Xi hastily shut her eyes. One second, two seconds, three seconds, four seconds, five seconds…

Why hadn’t he kissed her yet? Cracking a slit open in one eye, she stole a peek at him. But she had only just opened that eye before He Zhi Zhou’s lips arrived. She shut her eyes once more. In an instant, it was as if a breeze was caressing past her cheek, like a wind that had come from the very tips of a tree and brought with it a leaf that now drifted down to land on her shoulder.

Their four lips softly, gently came together. Shen Xi inhaled a deep breath, and her eyelashes fluttered. If He Zhi Zhou wanted to steal her heart, it was already his to have.

Little by little, he moistened her lips as well as her heart.

S University’s Youth Cup had come to an exciting, fiery end. In a single night, the fan count of “Islet in the River’s” Weibo account surged by tens of thousands. The number of fans who followed Shen Xi’s original Weibo account, “Faint is Dawn’s Light,” was only a fraction of “Islet in the River’s.” Hence, she even more so was not willing to give this Weibo account back to He Zhi Zhou.

Monkey and Brawny both had quite a large swell in fan numbers also. Monkey was a man who knew how to build things up for himself, and immediately, while there was still momentum, he registered a Weibo account called “Yang Lei’s National Fan Group.” Yes, that was right; Monkey’s real name was Yang Lei, and he had proclaimed himself the Monkey King who had been trapped and pressed beneath the three stones. Later, He Zhi Zhou had ended up just calling him “Monkey.”

[The “Lei” in his name is磊, which is actually made up of three 石, the character for stone. In legends, Buddha once trapped the Monkey King beneath his Five Finger Mountain.]

Copying Monkey, Brawny also did some reforming and started up something new, registering the account “The Gathering Camp of Chen Chen’s Female Fans.” His purpose was very clear—he did not want male fans, only female ones. He was leaving his last little bit of love of the male gender for the Leader that he held in his heart. (Note: Only the soft, adorable Leader counted.)

Before the start of the Youth Cup, Brawny had suffered a break-up because he had given Zhang Ran a “white giraffe.” The arrival of these fans mended that wounded, broken heart of his again.

In reality, everyone had a clear understanding of the relationship between Brawny and Zhang Ran: Zhang Ran had treated Brawny as a fallback, and Brawny did not necessarily really have much for feelings for Zhang Ran, either. And plus, Zhang Ran’s weight in his heart was not even greater than Leader’s importance to him. (Note again: Only the soft, adorable Leader counted.)

Brawny had only been upset for a very short period after Zhang Ran broke up with him, and his fans were very quickly able to pull those low spirits back up again. But even now, he still had not recovered from the fact that his soft, adorable Leader was gone from him.

Midday that day, when they went together to have lunch, Brawny gave several rather resentful glowers at He Zhi Zhou, believing with certainty in his heart that He Zhi Zhou must have hidden the other Leader away.

He Zhi Zhou did not bother paying any attention to Brawny.

Shen Xi was having lunch with the dormmates of dorm room 921. The reason for this was that she had left her meal card with He Zhi Zhou, so naturally she needed to come here to find him. Coincidentally, all of dorm room 921 was eating together today, so she had tagged along with them.

When they were lining up to get their food, Shen Xi was standing in between He Zhi Zhou and Lin Yu Tang. They were both more than 1.8 metres tall, and with her 1.6-something metre build, she instantly became the cream filling of a cream-filled sandwich cookie.

And what was even worse was that these two people did not give any consideration to what she might feel and were talking over her, discussing the subject of today’s experiment. The two men’s voices drifted back and forth above her head. Shen Xi lifted her gaze. She really could not understand a single thing. A difference in profession was like being in totally different worlds!

Lin Yu Tang was in front of Shen Xi, and after he had gotten his food, he stayed where he was to wait for her. Shen Xi was still getting her food, and she told the woman on the other side of the window, “Auntie, I’d like a pork chop, the biggest piece you have.”

The auntie was haughty. “I don’t know which one is the biggest.”

In a serious voice, Shen Xi told this auntie who was serving the food, “It’s the sixth one down from the top and third one in from the left…”

Resigned to this fate, the auntie found that biggest piece for her. He Zhi Zhou, who was lining up behind Shen Xi, was left speechless.

Shen Xi got another two dishes that she liked to eat. After she was done, the auntie input twenty-five yuan in the card reader. Prices had gone up again!

The meal cards for S University and the normal college were interchangeable. Shen Xi put her card over the reader. The transaction wouldn’t go through. There was not enough in the balance! But it had just been reloaded with two hundred yuan! Where did it all go? Shen Xi had completely forgotten that when she went to the supermarket yesterday, she had used more than one hundred and ninety yuan. Turning to He Zhi Zhou, she asked, “Did you use my card?”

He Zhi Zhou merely let out a couple laughs of “ha ha,” feeling that all unnecessary explanations would just be lowering himself. He handed his card directly over to Shen Xi, but it turned out that Lin Yu Tang was even faster and had already stuffed his own card over to her. “Take it to use.”

Take it to use… Did he know what “putting on a pretentious show” was? This was it!

Shen Xi stared down at those two cards. Ah, such a rock and a hard place. Which card should she bestow her favour upon?

Swiftly extending his arm, He Zhi Zhou placed his card directly onto the reader. After the amount was successfully deducted, he at last opened his mouth and insipidly instructed, “Give the card back to Third so you don’t accidentally lose it.”

Lin Yu Tang merely pressed his lips together. “If it’s lost, I can just get a replacement.”

When they had finished getting their food, Shen Xi walked beside Lin Yu Tang. She asked him about his plans for going home during the summer break. Lin Yu Tang replied, “I probably won’t be able to go back until the middle of August. I’ll be doing an internship job in July.”

Shen Xi: “Will you get paid for your internship?”

“Yes, but not much.” Lin Yu Tang told her a number.

On her fingers, Shen Xi did some calculations. And then, she looked at Lin Yu Tang with an expression of worship, as if Tang Tang was going to be stepping out the doors to do something big and important.

He Zhi Zhou strode past her and gave a light cough. “The food’s getting cold.”

At the table, Monkey and Brawny had already begun eating. When Shen Xi took a seat, Brawny lifted his head and grinned at her. “Hi, Xi Xi. Does Dou Dou, the girl in your dorm, have a boyfriend?”

Shen Xi did not want to even pay attention to Brawny. She had not seen a man as cheap as him before, and definitely did not want to shove Dou Dou into a relationship that would be like a pit of fire. She questioned Brawny, “Zhou Chen, didn’t you just break up with Zhang Ran? Shouldn’t you at least be sad for a bit?”

With a look of absolutely no shame, Brawny replied, “I’ve already been sad.”

Fine. Not talking to Brawny anymore, Shen Xi turned away from him. Discovering one of her favourite foods on He Zhi Zhou’s plate, she cried delightedly, “The four-joy meatballs [pan-fried pork meatball] seem especially round today. How come I didn’t see them just now?”

Without even lifting his head, He Zhi Zhou told her, “Grab some from my plate yourself.”

“Okay.” With her chopsticks, Shen Xi picked up the roundest one off of He Zhi Zhou’s plate.

Monkey expressed his views on Brawny’s “proactiveness in searching for his next relationship.” “Based on what I see, the people that we date now at our age have an eighty-percent chance of becoming someone else’s wife. What’s the point of being so proactive like you?”

There needed to be a point to dating someone? Brawny did not get it. Pulling out the most important point from what Monkey had said, he asked, “Someone else’s wife?”

“Yup.” Monkey tactlessly nodded. “It’s the advice and experience from our senior schoolmates, and they were gained with blood and tears. Haven’t you heard this before?”

Brawny shook his head. Then, the expression on his face grew even more exhilarated. Lifting his brows, he said, “If it’s with someone else’s wife, doesn’t that make it even more exciting?”

Monkey vomited blood.

Brawny even adorably added, “You mean, that’s not the case?”

Not wanting to continue this discussion any further, Monkey upped and changed his seat, going over to eat with Lin Yu Tang.

That sentence that Monkey had stated, that “the girls that current male university students are dating all end up becoming someone else’s wife,” was the meaning behind it, then, that “men who are dating currently are all just raising a wife for someone else”?

Shen Xi mulled over this carefully, and then she began to feel horrible.

After lunch, He Zhi Zhou accompanied Shen Xi to the normal college’s meal card recharging centre to reload her balance. Right when He Zhi Zhou was about to pull out his wallet, Shen Xi used her body to stop his action. “Big Brother He, I’ll do it myself.”

He Zhi Zhou was puzzled. “Hmm?”

Very logically, Shen Xi explained, “I know that right now, when you guys are dating, you’re just raising a wife for someone else. If I do end up becoming someone else’s wife in the future, wouldn’t that mean I made you waste too much money?”

He Zhi Zhou set his hands firmly on Shen Xi’s shoulders. “I’m not that generous.” He was not so generous that he would raise a wife for someone else. And, he was not so generous that he would allow her to become someone else’s wife.

But alas, Shen Xi just had to misunderstand his meaning. She muttered, “If you’re not that generous, then why are you pretending to be now just to put on a show and deceive me into giving you my love?” After saying this, she pulled out a hundred yuan and handed it to the staff member. “Recharge one hundred. Thanks.”

……

The end of the semester was fast approaching, and many people had a budget deficit. Shen Xi was amongst them. Dou Dou was in an even more pitiful state than her, so Shen Xi dug into her funds and helped Dou Dou out with five hundred yuan, making herself even more broke.

Being broke was a small matter; dignity was a huge matter. In the end, though, Shen Xi gave up on the whole dignity thing and made a phone call to Shen Jian Guo. When the call could not go through, she dialed the number of Shen Jian Guo’s secretary. His secretary told her that Shen Jian Guo was out of country on business.

Shen Xi remarked, “He doesn’t even know English. Wouldn’t he be worried that when he’s out of country, someone will sell him?”

The secretary gave a cough and reminded her, “President Shen brought a translator and lawyer with him.”

Shen Xi spouted off another bunch of words. Anyhow, she just did not want to hang up. She was quite well acquainted with the secretary, so coming up with a plan, she said, “Big Brother Li, do you have a surplus of cash lately?”

Recalling President Shen’s instructions before he left, Secretary Li found an excuse to turn her down. “My wife and I just bought a house.”

Shen Xi: “……”

“I can tell you how you can contact President Shen while he’s out of country.”

Finding this too troublesome, Shen Xi said thank you and goodbye and then hung up the phone.

Since things had not panned out with Shen Jian Guo, Shen Xi made a phone call to the empress dowager of their family, Wu Ling. Since she was a child, Wu Ling had never been one who was easily duped, so when the call was picked up, even Shen Xi’s tone was careful and her word choice was cautious. “… Mom, would you be able to give me some spending money? If you’re not willing, I can wash dishes when I come home to pay off the debt, how about that?”

“I can lend money to you.” Wu Ling was an accountant. Now, the direction of her words changed, and on the phone, she began to “educate” her child. “Xi Xi, Mom can lend you money, but you must give me a clear and detailed itemized list of all your spending this last month. I need to know where all your money is going…”

Shen Xi sprawled herself on her desk, answering in a small voice, “I bought books, a lot of books.”

Wu Ling: “Then send photos of them for me to see.”

Hemming and hawing out a couple of sentences, Shen Xi hung up the phone. “Love you, Mom. See you, Mom.”

In the dormitory, Shen Xi moaned and groaned. Every month, there were always a few days where she lacked money. Before, she could openly and unabashedly ask Tang Tang to help her out. Now, though, she could find anyone but Tang Tang to help.

As for He Zhi Zhou, he had already told her, “I’m not that generous!”

Sigh. Why did she get herself such a stingy boyfriend?! Not only did He Zhi Zhou use up the money on her meal card and give her just a measly five yuan as spending money, he even told her, in that very sensitive place that the meal card recharging center was, that he was not a generous man!

So tired. She didn’t want to love anymore. She was just dating someone, but dating was making her poor!

Additional Side Stories from the Author:

(1)

Shen Xi had no money, so in the school dining hall, she only got herself fifty grams of rice. Carrying these fifty grams, she came up in front of He Zhi Zhou. “Big Brother He, could you give me some food from your dishes?”

He Zhi Zhou: “Get some from my plate yourself.”

Shen Xi sat down, filled with deep gratitude. “Thank you.”

He Zhi Zhou: “It’s what I should do.”

Shen Xi wanted to cry. This man before her was already continually showing off in front of her that he could eat for several months and still not use up the balance on his meal card…

(2)

Brawny did know some things, but really, he only just knew them, and sometimes he really was so slow. He had known that Monkey was rich, but it was only during their graduation, when Monkey took him out for a drive in his Lamborghini, that Brawny realized what he had missed out on.

He asked Monkey: “Monk Monk, do you need a boyfriend?”

Monkey gave Brawny a beating. “I’d rather have Leader than you!”

Brawny accused Monkey, “So it’s true! You once had a thing for Leader, too…”

Monkey gave Brawny another beating.