Especially after Xu Qingzhu paused, choking back tears, she looked into her eyes and said, "Can't you be a little kinder to yourself?"
It was true then, and it is true now.
They always think about how others are doing.
They were terrified, yet they still kept moving forward.
He was clearly feeling down, but he forced himself to tell lame jokes.
"Do you know that your lame jokes aren't funny?" Now that she had started, Xu Qingzhu's words poured out like a flood. "Your forced smile is ugly, just like the way I was just trying to appease you."
"Seeing you laugh like that is like seeing me laugh like that." Xu Qingzhu's voice was clear and cold, but with a hint of melancholy.
She wasn't condemning him when she spoke, but every word she uttered fell into Liang Shi's ears like cool summer spring water flowing through her body, leaving her completely bewildered.
I don't know what to do.
I really want to respond, but I don't know how.
I wanted to say something to her, and I instinctively wanted to deny it, but I couldn't bring myself to say it.
I'm afraid that if I say it, I'll make Xu Qingzhu even angrier.
Making Xu Qingzhu angry isn't the scariest thing; what's scary is that Xu Qingzhu will be sad and heartbroken.
Those beautiful eyes can shed tears.
Liang Shi pursed her lips, raised her hand, and reached out with her slender arm to wipe away the tears that were about to freeze in Xu Qingzhu's eyes, but Xu Qingzhu took a half step back, and her arm hung in the air.
He was only a few centimeters away from Xu Qingzhu's face, but it felt very far away, so far that he couldn't reach it.
Xu Qingzhu let out a soft breath, readjusted her voice, and said coldly, "I didn't ask you to say anything to me, nor did I ask you to do anything for me. Just be yourself, okay? Liang Shi."
When Xu Qingzhu called out Liang Shi's name, her clear, cold voice trailed off with an indescribable tenderness.
It seems like this morning when I was in bed, it was drizzling outside, and there was only dim light inside.
Xu Qingzhu called out in her ear, "Teacher Liang."
Sometimes, when he shouted quickly, it was Liang Shi.
Liang Shi's fingers curled up and then unfolded.
The two of them stood there looking as beautiful as if they were shooting a magazine. A withered yellow leaf fell from a nearby tree onto Liang Shi's shoulder, leaving the tree completely bare.
Xu Qingzhu glanced at her, took her hand out of her coat pocket, and quickly reached out to brush the fallen leaf off her clothes.
Seeing that she still didn't react, he couldn't hold back his emotions any longer, so he turned around and walked forward.
Xu Qingzhu was very angry.
She was angry with herself for not solving the mystery and finding Liang Shi sooner.
She was angry at herself for agreeing to play the escape room game with her, and even angrier at herself for knowing it was a five-star horror game before playing it, yet still maliciously wanting to see Liang Shi embarrassed and scared, so she played the game without Liang Shi's knowledge.
She was also angry that Liang Shi never learned to treat himself well, always putting other people's needs and feelings first, but forgetting that he was the one who needed love the most.
From a young age, Liang Shih said he wanted to have lots and lots of love.
But now, she only knows how to love others.
She is quiet, selfless, gentle, and tolerant, like warm mountain spring water that nourishes all things wherever it flows.
But they forgot to love themselves.
Xu Qingzhu wore a light blue woolen coat, dark blue jeans, and a pair of shiny black knee-high boots with five-centimeter heels, which made her look tall and slender.
In the autumn wind, her soft hair was blown about, and her clothes were also blown about, making her look desolate and lonely.
After letting out a heavy sigh, she turned and walked towards the mall entrance.
In Liang Shi’s view, it was a feeling of disappointment that the iron was not living up to its potential, so he was unwilling to say more.
Liang Shi's hands fell to his sides, and Xu Qingzhu's words kept echoing in his mind.
—I didn't ask you to say anything to me, nor did I ask you to do anything for me. Just be yourself.
"Just be yourself."
These five words are so difficult.
People always told her that she should work hard to move forward, that she should establish a certain persona, that she should become an actress that others like, that she should play roles that the audience likes, and that she should show her best side.
Almost everyone demands that she be perfect and that she be the kind of person others like.
But this is the first time someone has said, "Just be yourself."
The following line would likely be something like, "I love you."
Liang Shi's heart was filled with something, and he was completely soft-hearted.
After Xu Qingzhu had taken a few steps, and as that sentence echoed in her mind for the third time, Liang Shi suddenly smiled.
She lifted her feet and jogged, catching up with Xu Qingzhu in no time.
He grabbed Xu Qingzhu's forearm, and Xu Qingzhu turned her head, her eyes still red.
Liang Shi opened his arms and hugged her tightly.
On the bustling street, the streetlights shone with a dim, dazzling light.
Liang Shi buried his head in Xu Qingzhu's neck, his voice low and hoarse: "Xu Qingzhu."
Xu Qingzhu's hand twitched in her pocket a few times, but in the end she didn't reach in, only letting out a soft "Hmm?"
"Don't be angry," Liang Shi said. "I was very upset just now."
Xu Qingzhu rested her chin on her shoulder, and could feel her hair. In this bustling world, she could also smell the fresh scent of oranges, the same scent as her own shampoo.
Liang Shi said, "If you ask me to coax you at this time, I will be unhappy and will think you are being unreasonable."
Xu Qingzhu couldn't help but reach out and pinch her waist, letting out a low hum: "I've always been quite unreasonable."
“How could that be?” Liang Shi chuckled, the first genuine laugh he’d had since leaving that shop, his body trembling with laughter, which Xu Qingzhu followed along with. “Our Teacher Xu is the most understanding person in the world.”
"Go away." Xu Qingzhu pushed her away, but Liang Shi hugged her and said, "I'm very sad today, so can I not comfort you?"
Liang Shi said, "If you're very angry, can I coax you tomorrow?"
Xu Qingzhu's hand, which had been pinching her waist, stopped and moved to her waist instead. "Then I'll coax you."
//
Xu Qingzhu said she wanted to appease Liang Shi, so she took her upstairs to eat at a famously spicy hot pot restaurant.
Liang Shi can't handle spicy food very well. When she entered this restaurant, she teased, "Is this to coax me or to coax you?"
"You're just kidding," Xu Qingzhu said shamelessly.
They followed the waiter inside. The broth on every table was bright red. No one came here to eat anything else, and many people had their lips stained bright red from the spiciness.
When they arrived at their table and faced with the menu handed to them by the waiter, Xu Qingzhu said, "I want a double-flavor hot pot base."
Before the waiter could even say that they didn't have any double-broth hot pot, Xu Qingzhu said, "One mushroom broth and one tomato broth."
waiter:"?"
"Excuse me, miss, we only offer three flavors: spicy, extra spicy, and super spicy. If you want a combination, you can only order a clear broth hot pot." The waiter explained patiently.
Xu Qingzhu looked at her with clear eyes and said in a very polite tone, "But my wife can't eat spicy food. I want her to eat these two flavors. Can you bring me two bowls of plain water and I'll cook them myself? I'll still pay for it."
The waiter was in a dilemma; it was probably the first time he had ever heard such a request.
However, it wasn't too difficult to satisfy her; the waiter ordered two clear broth hot pots for her without charging her.
Xu Qingzhu ordered some more dishes. After the waiter left, Liang Shicai asked her in confusion, "Why did you come to a place that specializes in spicy food but not eat spicy food, and instead make other requests?"
Xu Qingzhu didn't explain, she just said, "Wait for me for five minutes."
He then got up and left, walking past the tables of bright red hot pot.
Five minutes later, Xu Qingzhu returned with a packet of instant mushroom soup base and tomato hot pot base. She tore open the packaging and poured the two packets of seasonings in.
Their table suddenly seemed out of place.
“Teacher Liang.” Xu Qingzhu lowered her eyes and stirred the bottom of the pot with serving chopsticks. While waiting for the water to boil, she said to her, “You don’t have to do certain things in certain situations. You can learn to break the rules sometimes.”
Xu Qingzhu's voice was very soft.
Liang Shi looked at her through the misty steam. The hot pot restaurant was filled with the smell of spiciness, but their table was the only one that smelled of mushroom soup and tomato. One was milky white, and the other was scarlet. Everything about them was different from the rest of the restaurant.
Xu Qingzhu's voice rang out again: "Humans should be selfish. No matter how great you are, you should not overstep human nature. Also, breaking the rules and removing the constraints is really exhilarating. This is a lesson I learned after dying once."
Liang Shi: "..."
Suddenly, I felt that this meal wasn't hot pot, but a pot of philosophy.
These two bags of hot pot base were transformed on the spot.
Liang Shi put the plate of meat into the mushroom soup pot, saying, "Others eat the red meat, we eat the white meat; it's really not bad."
Xu Qingzhu smiled, then took the plate of meat from her hand and put it in with serving chopsticks. "Don't touch it, I'll do it."
Liang Shi: "..."
For some reason, the scene from that morning suddenly appeared in her mind.
It was the same sentence, but it wasn't said by Xu Qingzhu.
At that time, Liang Shi said, "Don't move, I'll take care of it."
Xu Qingzhu only realized something was off after she finished speaking, but she didn't try to make amends and let Liang Shi let his mind wander.
Liang Shi was so engrossed in thinking that his ears turned red, and the sensation in his hands seemed to still linger.
She pinched her earlobe, and Xu Qingzhu reached across the table and pinched her earlobe as well.
Liang Shi looked at her, "What?"
Xu Qingzhu's cool fingertips were still slightly damp. Hearing her question, she chuckled and asked, "Teacher Liang, your ears are so red, what are you thinking about?"
Liang Shi: "..."
Her teasing tone made Liang Shi's ears turn even redder, and the redness continued to deepen between her fingertips.
The way she caressed him reminded him of what had happened that morning, so Liang Shi pressed her hand down and said, "Eat meat."
"Whose meat?" Xu Qingzhu asked instinctively.