Xu Qingzhu sat quietly on the ground with her knees drawn up to her chest, her hair half-wet and hanging down her shoulders. Liang Shi's hand rested lightly on the ends of Xu Qingzhu's hair.
When Liang Shi was about to hang up due to impatience, Cheng Ran finally spoke, "If you see her again, please pass on a message to her for me."
"What?"
"I also had some feelings for her."
//
Three out of ten points is the most genuine sincerity Cheng Ran can offer.
At that time, Liang Shi had a thousand things to say, such as: How much is your sincerity worth? Do you think others would go through fire and water for a mere fraction of your sincerity? Do you think that's cool? Do you really think Gu Xingyue would give everything for a mere fraction of your heart and tolerate your dissolute behavior?
...
He had so much to say, but in the end, he didn't say a single word and hung up the phone.
Whether it's worth it or not is for the parties involved to decide.
Just like Bai Weiwei before, she loved Chen Liuying so much that she was willing to give up herself, and no one could persuade her otherwise. Instead, she would put all those who tried to persuade her on the opposite side.
Liang Shi has always maintained a neutral attitude towards this: respect.
After the call ended, an eerie silence fell over the room.
The living room was dimly lit. Liang Shi covered Xu Qingzhu's hair with a white towel again. Xu Qingzhu tilted her head back, and her half-wet hair fell onto her legs.
Suddenly, the wind blew open the window. The bad weather of the evening seemed to be preparing for this moment. In an instant, dark clouds covered the sky, and the wind howled, swirling up withered branches and decaying leaves, blowing down the yellow leaves that stubbornly clung to the treetops, and carrying them away into the distance.
Liang Shi got up to close the window, then locked it, and returned to the living room.
"That's kind of funny," Xu Qingzhu suddenly said in a cold voice.
Liang Shi pursed her lips, knowing she was talking about Cheng Ran, and said in a low voice, "Yes."
"Why would she think others would value even a fraction of her sincerity?" Xu Qingzhu said, "Gu Xingyue loved her whole heart, but she only reciprocated with a third, and she did so with an air of superiority and charity. Why should Gu Xingyue be with her?"
Liang Shi shook his head to himself, "I mentioned to Gu Xingyue back then that we should stay away from Cheng Ran."
"Didn't she listen?" Xu Qingzhu asked.
Liang Shi replied in a low voice, "I don't know, but judging from the current situation, no one seems to have heard it."
Liang Shi had only mentioned it to Gu Xingyue before, but Gu Xingyue disliked her at the time and naturally didn't take her suggestion to heart.
Her main concern was that Gu Xingyue might get hurt.
In retrospect, this was unavoidable.
After all, someone like Cheng Ran is willing to give three parts of her heart.
What makes prodigal sons attractive is their unrestrained and cynical attitude towards the world, yet they dedicate a small part of their heart to you. Most people would find this uniqueness appealing.
Especially obedient girls like Gu Xingyue.
But they forgot that if they dated ordinary people, they would receive seven or eight parts sincerity and ten parts love.
Why be so fixated on a few points?
Xu Qingzhu picked at her nails and suddenly said, "Teacher Liang, could you blow-dry my hair?"
"Okay." Liang Shi got up and went to the bathroom cabinet to get a hairdryer.
She remained seated on the sofa, the warm breeze blowing through her fingers, then through the strands of Xu Qingzhu's hair that were entwined around her fingers, and finally towards the top of Xu Qingzhu's head.
Xu Qingzhu continued to ponder over the paper.
After Liang Shi dried her hair, Xu Qingzhu used the hair tie from her arm to tie it up for her. As she ran her fingers through Liang Shi's soft hair, Xu Qingzhu suddenly said, "Go to kindergarten tomorrow and wait there. See if you can wait for Gu Xingyue. Don't contact her by phone."
"Mmm," Liang responded.
Xu Qingzhu twirled the pen in her hand, then drew a line on the paper. "I guess it's because Yang Jianni found out about her relationship, and she wanted to rebel against Yang Jianni being with Cheng Ran. But when she went to find Cheng Ran, she found that Cheng Ran was already with someone else. She was heartbroken and might want to give up on herself, or she might realize that if Yang Jianni found out about her behavior, it would have serious consequences. So she called you, but she didn't expect that Yang Jianni would find out too. So her current situation is very dangerous."
Liang Shi: "..."
After listening to Xu Qingzhu's series of guesses, Liang Shi felt like he had no brain at all, and could only ask, "Why? How did you figure that out?"
“When I called just now, Cheng Ran said that she and Gu Xingyue had broken up once,” Xu Qingzhu said. “So why did Gu Xingyue break up with her before? Even Cheng Ran can say something like ‘three hearts’ (meaning she has feelings for someone else), which means they must have been in the honeymoon phase before Gu Xingyue broke up with her. Before discovering Cheng Ran’s infidelity, I can’t think of any other reason besides being threatened by Yang Jiani.”
"But why would Yang Jianni object to her dating?" Liang Shi asked subconsciously.
After asking the question, he fell silent.
She suddenly had an idea.
Xu Qingzhu also fell silent, scribbling randomly on the paper with her pen. After a few seconds, she scoffed, "How could Yang Jianni let her date? She's Qi Jiao now. If she's in a relationship, where will Yang Jianni find a puppet to emotionally rely on?"
Liang Shi lowered his eyes and sighed heavily, "Gu Xingyue..."
It's impossible to describe something just by mentioning its name.
That's terrible.
A tragedy beyond words.
“The weak can only seek self-protection,” Xu Qingzhu said coldly. “Only the strong can avoid such a miserable fate.”
After she finished speaking, she put the paper and pen on the table, stood up and said, "Okay, Teacher Liang, let's go to sleep."
When she stood up suddenly, she was taller than Liang Shi. Liang Shi looked up at her, and because she was backlit, the light made her look gentle and beautiful.
Even though she didn't smile much.
"Xu Qingzhu," Liang Shi suddenly called her name gently.
Xu Qingzhu's voice rose at the end: "Hmm?"
Liang Shi gazed intently at her with his light brown eyes. "Goodnight."
//
The "goodnight" was said so tenderly that it still echoed in Xu Qingzhu's ears after she returned to her room.
Liang Shi remained seated in the living room, holding the paper Xu Qingzhu had analyzed, stroking the surface with his fingertips, his eyes lowered in deep thought.
She guessed that if Gu Xingyue was imprisoned, it was probably in the basement where they were children.
It was dark and gloomy, with some objects used for beating people hanging on the walls.
But Liang Shi didn't remember the location of the basement; he only knew that it was a basement.
Tomorrow I can only go to the kindergarten under the pretense of having a child.
While Liang Shi was lost in thought, her phone vibrated slightly. She picked it up and found that it was a message from Gu Yixue.
Gu Yixue sent a ten-second voice message.
Liang Shi was a little nervous after seeing it, as if he was going to a job interview. He held the phone to his ear before playing it.
The volume was so loud that it made her shiver.
He didn't hear what Gu Yixue said at all, and instead hurriedly turned down the volume.
Just as she finished adjusting and was about to play it again, the door to the master bedroom suddenly opened, and Xu Qingzhu stood in the doorway, her voice languid, "Teacher Liang, are there any guests at home?"
Liang Shi: "?"
She was confused. "No."
Xu Qingzhu leaned against the door, "Then why is there a woman's voice?"
Liang Shi: "..."
Xu Qingzhu said, "It sounds quite nice."
Liang Shi: "..."
After going through three rounds of questioning, she finally understood what Xu Qingzhu meant, and held up her phone to show her the screen, "It's the director I added yesterday who contacted me. He probably wants to discuss the script. Do you want to listen in?"
Xu Qingzhu shook her head: "You're busy with your work."
Liang Shi sensed danger in her indifferent voice, and the image of Xu Qingzhu asking her in a particularly seductive voice last night suddenly flashed through her mind: "Am I prettier or...Quella prettier?"
Xu Qingzhu sounds lovely when she reads English, with a touch of coquettishness.
The fragrance of her hair captivated Liang Shi.
At that moment, Liang Shi suddenly asked, "Is her voice pleasant?"
Xu Qingzhu nodded: "It sounds nice, I like it."
Liang Shi: "...?"
“I don’t like it,” Liang Shi said seriously. “I think Teacher Xu’s voice is better.”
Xu Qingzhu: "..."
After the initial surprise, Xu Qingzhu leaned her head against the door, smiled slightly, and raised her beautiful eyes, which were filled with a glint of light. "Teacher Liang, when did you learn to be so glib?"
Liang Shi solemnly defended himself, saying, "These are all the truth."
Xu Qingzhu looked at her flippantly, her face conveying only five words—Do you think I believe you?
Regardless of whether Xu Qingzhu sent a letter or not, Liang Shi had rediscovered his long-lost will to survive.
She longed to hear the voice message Gu Yixue sent, her heart itching to know what Gu Yixue had said, whether she had directly given her an excellent script. When she searched online, she learned that Gu Yixue was about to film "Heart's Journey," a story about the love of idealists.
It is currently in the preparation stage.
Liang Shi set his sights on this, even if he didn't pay her, he'd be happy to let her play a small role.
After all, being able to make a cameo appearance in a famous director's film can directly boost one's status after the film.
Moreover, a good script is something you can only come across by chance.
But Xu Qingzhu was standing there, and Liang Shi wanted her to hear it, yet he didn't want her to hear it either.
After all, Gu Yixue's voice is quite...sexy.
Xu Qingzhu also said she liked her voice.
After hesitating for a moment, Liang Shi called Xu Qingzhu over.
Xu Qingzhu leaned against the door with her arms crossed, and asked lightly, "What?"
Liang Shi said, "Sit with me for a while."
Then, I transcribed the voice message from Gu Yixue into text. Just then, Xu Qingzhu was sitting on the sofa as if she had no bones, looking a bit sleepy, her eyes half-closed. The hair I had just tied up for her was now messy, with a few strands standing upright in the air due to static electricity, a messy yet neat appearance.