"If you accept my explanation, this matter will be over. If you don't, do you believe I'll really send someone to take him down? Anyway, I'm all about money. Shall we take a gamble?"
Wang Runqiu bit her lip and looked behind Xiang Lan.
Someone was standing next to Xiang Lan, and she knew it was Li Xingda. Seeing this as a perfect opportunity to confess her feelings, she shouted, "Wang Runqiu, I'll say it again: I could never have any feelings for Li Xingda. Even if he were the only man left in the world, I'd rather be with my own painted man than have any interest in him. Just because you like him doesn't mean you think he's the only man in the world!"
Wang Runqiu, with her keen and perceptive mind, mustered up her courage to approach Xiang Lan, only to be met with a sharp rebuke after a few words. Not only did she have to face the gazes of so many strangers, but she also encountered Li Xingda's surprised look. Unable to bear it, her eyes reddened.
Xiang Lan glared. It's always like this; the one who cries first seems to be in the right.
Why are you crying? I didn't bully you—
"Xiang Lan, say less," Li Xingda said.
Originally, the two girls were arguing, and a few people were watching. But when Li Xingda appeared, things changed. He was somewhat of a celebrity, and immediately a crowd gathered around him.
"I didn't do anything, I just came to have a meal. Why can't I speak out about this undeserved disaster?" Xiang Lan felt aggrieved, with all her old and new grudges surging up. Because of him, her online ID had been burdened with a lot of insults, and this time, she was probably going to become famous again.
"I apologize to you on her behalf, please don't take it to heart," Li Xingda comforted Xiang Lan. "We were also wrong this time; we shouldn't have stood outside listening to you talk."
Xiang Lan glanced at Li Xingda. This man was truly patient; she wondered if it was magnanimity or genuine refinement, but his words had calmed her down. She decided not to make a scene any longer, and looking at the sobbing Wang Runqiu, she said, "Well, forget it. My brother was also at fault; I shouldn't have taken my anger out on him—"
She said sincerely, "Li Xingda, you're the person involved. I apologize to you; I'm sorry. As for the others, let's just forget about them—"
After saying that, she didn't even look at Wang Runqiu, slung her schoolbag over her shoulder, and walked away.
Watching Xiang Lan walk away, Li Xingda shook his head and said, "President Xiang didn't mean anything by it—"
"It wasn't unintentional," Wang Runqiu whispered. She had specifically brought the person out for dinner and introduced her to Xiang Lan; her purpose was clear. Li Xingda himself was completely unaware, treating President Xiang with the expected hospitality, and to maintain the relationship, he had her pay the bill at company expense.
"Okay!" Li Xingda responded, and seeing that she was crying, he handed her a pack of tissues. "Wipe your tears! Don't cry, Xiang Lan is straightforward and doesn't have any bad intentions."
She doesn't have bad intentions?
Wang Runqiu took the tissue and watched as Xiang Lan's eyes followed his retreating figure. He couldn't help but crumple the tissue into a pulp.
Xiang Lan was halfway there when her phone rang. It was Xiang Yuan, and she answered it.
"Lanlan, look—"
"What are you looking at? Now I'm going to be famous among my classmates. People will definitely say that I can't find a boyfriend and am trying to use the school heartthrob as practice. Do you know how many crazy female fans he has? If your sister goes missing one day, she'll definitely be torn to pieces."
"It's not that serious, is it?"
"Yes, yes!" Xiang Lan stamped her foot. "From now on, you have nothing to do with my affairs, and you are not allowed to come to the school to find me."
"Alright, alright." Xiang Yuan said good-naturedly, "I have sincerely apologized to Li Xingda, and he has accepted it and promised that it will not have any negative impact on you."
"You have no credibility with me anymore."
Xiang Lan hung up the phone, still seething with anger. She pulled out Liu Nanyang's number and, as soon as he answered, unleashed a torrent of abuse: "Uncle, you're so despicable! Hanging up on me and ruining my graduation project is one thing, but tattling to my brother? Do you know what he did at school today? He completely humiliated me—"
Liu Nanyang chuckled on the phone, "Oh, really? How come I didn't know?"
"Where are you?" Xiang Lan persisted.
"Oh dear, my uncle has a seminar to attend, he's busy right now, I have to hang up—"
"You dare!" Xiang Lan threatened, "You have a lot of good stuff in your studio for the art exhibition, right? If you hang up, don't expect them to get a proper burial!"
Liu Nanyang relented, "Okay, go ahead!"
"What did you tell my brother?"
"Oh, I knew I saw Lanlan delivering breakfast to people downstairs in the faculty dormitory!"
"Anything else?"
"Lanlan is all grown up now, it's time to let her go. She's a young woman in her twenties and has never had a proper relationship. People would laugh at her if they heard about it. Is raising a girl like this just preparing her for scumbags to practice on? Lanlan, am I helping you by doing this? I don't need your thanks, but please be gentle with me. The treasures in the studio are all things I worked hard to get, we can't let them go to waste."
"Why did you have to be so nosy? You're definitely up to no good." Xiang Lan knew her uncle all too well; he was full of bad intentions and had liked to make her cry since she was a child. When she grew up and stopped talking to him, he was quite disappointed.
Liu Nanyang laughed on the phone, "What did your brother do to make you so angry?"
"He inexplicably came to the school to invite me and our student council president to dinner, saying he wanted to introduce us. We already knew each other, why did we need him to introduce us? But after we left, he told me that he was using me to practice dating, and that someone overheard us!" Xiang Lan felt like dying. "There was also one of his admirers with him, and they were bombarding me with questions. I don't think I'll have a good life after this."
"Oh, I see!" Liu Nanyang said nonchalantly, it wasn't a big deal. "Love is interesting because of its ups and downs. By the way, what about your Fang something?"
Xiang Lan's eyes were practically spitting fire. "He's going to America, he's not staying in China."
Liu Nanyang clicked his tongue. "I thought you'd fight for him and your family, but it looks like you're going to give up again?"
Xiang Lan was furious. "Who said I was giving up? The Pacific Ocean isn't covered up—"
"That's good." Liu Nanyang was quite satisfied. "Go ahead and pursue it. I'll be waiting for your graduation project."
"You despicable scoundrel, you deliberately told my brother to stop me so you could test whether I would back down halfway? You scoundrel—"
Xiang Lan angrily hung up the phone, only to realize that she had unknowingly arrived at Qionglin Garden. She looked up at the rows of old dormitory buildings and chuckled. What's the big deal about America or long-distance relationships? It's just the cost of a plane ticket!
Chapter 10
Xiang Lan walked around Qionglin Garden twice and sat by Mirror Lake for an hour. She still hadn't figured out what to do when Deng Yifan called.
"Hey girl, I started making the display boards this afternoon, but I haven't seen you. Are you coming or not?"
“I won’t go today. I’ve already cut the paper, you can use it directly.” Xiang Lan’s tone was heavy. “I have a serious problem that needs to be dealt with immediately.”
"What's wrong? Do you need my help?"
"No need, it's between me and Fang Zidu."
"What's wrong? Weren't you on a date this morning? What's gotten into you again?"
“He clearly liked me, but he insisted on rejecting me because he wasn’t going to stay here to work and was going to America.”
"Oh, this is a serious problem. Long-distance relationships are insecure."
Xiang Lan said firmly, "How could I be defeated by such a trivial problem? He thinks he can just throw out some excuse to fool me? I have to tell him, no way—"
"Girl, count on your fingers, you two haven't even been together for three days yet, and you're already saying you'll never leave me?"
She said fiercely, "It was love at first sight."
"Then all I can do is offer you my moral support."
"Thanks, wait for my victory celebration."
Xiang Lan hung up the phone, stood up, and stretched her shoulders. Her phone rang again; it was Xiang Yuan calling. She snorted coldly and didn't answer until the ringing stopped. Immediately, it switched to her sister-in-law Hu Li's call. She felt that when her brother used his brain on her, it was as if it had been gnawed by a pig. She slammed her phone off, determined not to let anyone disturb her again.
Fang Zi has almost finished his trip to City B, his return flight to the US has been booked, and his luggage is packed. He's just waiting to depart tomorrow. During this time, he's been suffering from a cough and tonsillitis, unable to sleep day and night, and his condition hasn't improved despite several days of IV drips at the school hospital.
He held his water glass, drinking hot water, his eyes scanning the small apartment to check if he had forgotten anything. His gaze fell on the computer on the desk, so he put down his glass, turned it on, and typed in a website address. A series of beautiful pictures popped up.
Xiang Lan's paintings, like the person herself, are exquisite, delicate, and lively. She is clearly a pampered young girl from a well-off family. You can see right through her at a glance, without needing to ponder her, but seeing her smile is simply delightful. He stared at the finely drawn lines of the man's face on the screen. The black, white, and gray tones created a good sense of space, making the features lifelike. After looking at it for a while, he quickly copied and saved the entire image.
There were so many large pictures that he created a separate folder on his hard drive, renamed it "Paintings," and then, feeling uneasy, changed it to "Xiang Lan's Paintings." Mentioning her name made him slightly uncomfortable, so he took out his phone, found the photo she had sent him, and saved it to the same folder.
After packing up, I went downstairs for dinner.
Qionglin Garden is a faculty dormitory, housing many students, young teachers, and their families. Since their salaries are low, they often take on side jobs to supplement their income. Therefore, in the buildings near the entrance, many first-floor residents have converted their homes into grocery stores or small eateries. A few of these are run by people from southern China, which suit their tastes, so they often eat nearby when they don't want to go to the cafeteria.
He entered the store and immediately saw Xiang Lan sitting against the wall, several empty beer cans on the table, her face flushed from drinking, her expression dazed. He paused for a moment, then walked over and sat down opposite her.
"Xiang Lan?"
Xiang Lan opened her eyes, and mumbled, "Drunk? How come I saw a beautiful woman?"
Fangzi was both amused and exasperated. "What are you doing here?"
She wrinkled her nose and said in a coquettish voice, "I originally wanted to come and find you, but when I came in, I didn't know which building you lived in."
"You can make a phone call."
"You'll laugh at me, won't you?"
Fang Zidu watched as a look of guilt and insecurity appeared on her face for the first time. This feeling was unfamiliar and strange.
"I won't."
"I've circled Qionglin Garden six times, really wanting to call you. But I'm afraid you'll hate me if I do. I've been sitting here thinking for so long, but I still can't come up with a good idea." Xiang Lan's breath smelled faintly of alcohol as she spoke, and she stammered, clearly reaching her limit. "Tell me, what should I do?"
"Stop drinking, I'll take you back to your dorm."
"I'm not going back. If I go back, you'll leave. I'll wait here; I'll see you eventually."
"You know her?" The curly-haired female shop owner came out from the back room. "That makes things easier. Hurry up and take her away. She's been drinking all afternoon; if she drinks any more, she'll really get drunk."
"know."
"I'm not leaving." Xiang Lan said somewhat stubbornly, leaning on the table. "I want to see Fang Zidu."
Fang Zidu quickly stood up and said, "I'll take her away right away."
The female shop owner glanced at him, turned around, took out a small bottle of hangover medicine from the counter, and handed it to him. "Alcohol, snacks, and this hangover medicine, that's 150 yuan in total, cash only."
He took out his wallet to pay and said, "Thank you."
"You're welcome. Be nice to your girlfriend, take this opportunity to have a good talk. There's nothing that can't be resolved—"
Fang Zi blushed and couldn't explain anymore. He took out some money and put it on the table, then grabbed Xiang Lan's arm under the shopkeeper's watchful eye.
Xiang Lan was quite well-behaved when she was drunk; she walked quietly by his side and didn't say anything out of line.
"Xiang Lan, where is your dormitory? I'll take you back." Fang Zidu tried to communicate with her.
Xiang Lan smiled at him and reached out to grab his mask. "Fang Zidu, why are you still wearing a mask? Let me see!"
Fang Zidu is tall, and when he tilted his head, she missed her grip, lost her balance, and stumbled. He shook his head, pulled her back, and held her close to him. "Don't grab around, you'll fall."
"You're so sweet." She leaned on his shoulder, which was a little hard, and patted it, saying, "Why is it so hard? It's uncomfortable!"
They've become picky.
"Where's your phone? Give it to me, and I'll have your classmate come pick you up, okay?"
"Oh no!" Xiang Lan said with a grin, "I'm going to your place. I want to negotiate with you."
"Shall I take you to your hotel?"
"No, I'm not going. If I go, you'll leave. I want to go to your house."
Qionglin Garden is a faculty residential area, with many elderly people walking their cats and dogs, and many children running around. The two of them pulling and tugging at each other attracted a lot of attention. Fangzi was used to being the center of attention, but he wasn't used to being watched like this, so he had no choice but to take her upstairs.