Chapter 3: It is because of love that I feel I am not good enough 1
The next day, when Chen Yiying changed her clothes and walked out of the room, the sky outside was already bright and dazzling. She stood on the handrail and looked down. Qiu Zhuoping was sleeping on the piano. The white curtains behind him were like a woman's wedding dress, floating gently in the water-like sunlight.
The faint light fell on him in patches, his soft hair gently pressed against his face, one of his hands rested on his cheek, the other hand naturally hanging down from his side. Yiying originally wanted to walk up to him to wake him up, but when she stopped in front of him, she had another idea...
On the way back to school, Qiu Zhuoping always felt that people passing by were looking at him and laughing at him from time to time. He originally thought that the target of their ridicule was Chen Yiying who was following him, but when he and Chen Yiying parted ways and returned to the dormitory, he suddenly realized that the target of the passers-by's ridicule was him!
"Qiu, your face..." Xu Shushu, who was downloading a painting tutorial, glanced at Qiu Zhuoping and laughed so hard that his shoulders trembled.
"What are you laughing at?" Qiu Zhuoping frowned, not understanding what he was laughing at. He walked to the mirror, and the confusion on his face was quickly replaced by a blank expression.
A capital "SB" written in black marker was printed on his left cheek like a tattoo, and there was also a Superman logo on his forehead, which was very visually impactful.
"Chen Yiying!" A cold and angry male voice floated in the dormitory. Qiu Zhuoping never thought that he would walk back to the dormitory with such a face. No wonder everyone was laughing at him, it turned out that it was all Chen Yiying's fault!
Qiu Zhuoping angrily washed his face with a towel, but the oil-based marker was difficult to wash off with water, and he spent half a day trying to wash off the "SB" on his face but failed. Finally, Xu Shu bought a bottle of makeup remover from the beauty store in the school and finally washed it off.
On the other side, Yiying was proudly talking about the "SB" incident on the badminton court.
"I originally wanted to draw a bat, which would look cooler, but unfortunately I'm not good at drawing, so I could only draw the Superman logo."
"He must want to kill you, hahaha." Huimei laughed heartlessly, and when she saw Qiu Zhuoping approaching with a dark face, she cleverly ran away, "Yiying, I'm going to the bathroom, you continue practicing."
"Everyone continue practicing." Yiying, still feeling proud, picked up the badminton racket. She originally wanted to ask the team members to practice, but unexpectedly, she turned around and bumped into Qiu Zhuoping's arms.
She instinctively took a step back, and when she looked up, she met those dark, gloomy eyes. The owner of those eyes had four words written on his face: You're dead!
Yiying looked at Qiu Zhuoping who came to settle the score with her, took a deep breath, and thought that it was all over now, and even kneeling down to apologize would not be able to ease the hatred in his heart.
"Yiying."
At this moment, Zhong Jialiang's voice came from not far away. He was holding a box of chocolates in his hand, and after confirming the target person, he walked over in two steps.
"What are you doing here?" Qiu Zhuoping looked at Zhong Jialiang with hostility and quickly put the thought of revenge on Chen Yiying behind his mind.
"Yiying, I heard that you like chocolate with liquor filling, so I asked someone to send a box back from abroad. You can try it and see if you like it." Zhong Jialiang directly ignored Qiu Zhuoping and asked Yiying to have dinner together.
When Qiu Zhuoping was about to refuse on Yiying's behalf, Liu Jiaran trotted over from the other direction.
"Brother Zhuoping, why can't I get through to you on the phone these days? I'm so worried." Liu Jiaran came up and gave him a bear hug.
"Why did you come to our school for no reason?" Qiu Zhuoping pushed her away.
"I heard from my cousin that your school is holding a May Day event in a few days, and there will be a dance in the evening. I want to attend the dance with Brother Zhuo Ping." Liu Jiaran pursed her lips and smiled sweetly, her crescent eyes dotted with stars.
While her eyes were on Qiu Zhuoping, they never left Yiying, but that look was full of provocation and hostility, making Yiying feel uncomfortable. She couldn't stand that look, so she turned around and went to the badminton court to practice.
Qiu Zhuoping stood outside the court and watched Yiying practice. Zhong Jialiang was opposite him, looking at her with admiration. Qiu Zhuoping frowned, and his sword-like gaze seemed to pierce through Zhong Jialiang's body. Feeling the sharp gaze, Zhong Jialiang also turned his eyes to him and gave him a weird smile without showing any weakness.
When Yiying was halfway through her practice, Qiu Zhuoping turned and left the gymnasium, and Liu Jiaran followed closely. Yiying glanced at him distractedly, but was pierced by Liu Jiaran's sharp eyes. The sharpness in her eyes was like thousands of troops, rushing towards her, as if warning her not to look at Qiu Zhuoping for even a second.
After Yiying finished her practice, Zhong Jialiang handed her a dry towel to wipe her sweat and some mineral water at room temperature.
Zhong Jialiang is a guy who pays great attention to details, and always makes Yiying feel that he is very considerate. But because of this, Yiying can't feel her heart beating faster. She feels that Zhong Jialiang is more like a senior who takes care of her, like a friend who can chat, but not like a dating partner.
Thinking of this, Qiu Zhuoping's appearance flashed through her mind. His cold smile and aloof back deeply attracted her. It turned out that the person who walked into her heart unknowingly was Qiu Zhuoping.
"Yiying, what are you thinking about?" Zhong Jialiang interrupted Yiying's thoughts, "I know there is a very good western restaurant near the school. How about I treat you to steak tonight?"
In order to make things clear with Zhong Jialiang, Yiying did not refuse. But she did not expect that when she had prepared all the lines and was ready to make her position clear, Qiu Zhuoping walked into the western restaurant with Liu Jiaran and squeezed into a table with them without warning.
"Brother Zhuoping, there are so many seats, why do we have to squeeze together with them? Let's sit upstairs." Liu Jiaran looked at Yiying, who was sitting in the same row with him, with disdain and a reluctant expression on his face.
Zhong Jialiang, who had been calm at first, also showed a hint of anger: "Qiu Zhuoping, don't go too far."
"Too much?" Qiu Zhuoping sneered, his eyes always on Yiying, "Who is more excessive, inviting someone else's girlfriend to dinner?"
"What a nonsense!" Zhong Jialiang said angrily.
He wanted to take Chen Yiying out of the western restaurant, but Qiu Zhuoping took out a cell phone box from somewhere and handed it to Yiying: "This is for you." After that, he made a "please open" gesture and said, "I'll compensate you."
"You should have compensated me a long time ago!" Ignoring Zhong Jialiang's actions, Yiying recalled her tragic mobile phone and didn't notice that the atmosphere at the scene had become very solemn. She opened the mobile phone box, installed the battery, and began to test the performance of the mobile phone.
"Brother Zhuoping!" Liu Jiaran's eyes were red with anger. She originally thought Qiu Zhuoping bought an extra phone for her, but he gave it to Chen Yiying in front of her. She couldn't swallow this!
"Chen Yiying! You stole my brother Zhuoping, I will never forgive you!" Liu Jiaran grabbed the leather bag on the table and left the western restaurant angrily because she didn't want to be laughed at.
Qiu Zhuoping, who finally "sent away" Liu Jiaran, looked at Zhong Jialiang with a cunning smile, then stood up and wanted to take Chen Yiying away.
"Eating too much steak will make you get irritated. I'll take you to eat Japanese food."
"I haven't picked up the phone box yet!" Yiying was completely focused on the phone. After she stood up, she was still thinking about the packaging box, and completely forgot about Zhong Jialiang who was so angry that he bent the spoon into a deformed shape.
"I don't want the box anymore." Qiu Zhuoping looked back at Zhong Jialiang, smiled victoriously, and walked away.
Chen Yiying didn't feel much when she realized it later. Anyway, she already understood her own thoughts, and it was only a matter of time before she said "no".
Outside the restaurant, Liu Jiaran was about to take a taxi to leave De Rucci University, but saw Liang Geqi at the door.
Liu Jiaran recognized her, she was a member of the badminton team. Liang Geqi was holding her mobile phone and making a call, with an anxious expression on her face, as if she had encountered something difficult. Liu Jiaran raised the corners of her lips and walked over in high heels...
Since Qiu Zhuoping embarrassed Zhong Jialiang twice, Zhong Jialiang has contacted Chen Yiying only a few times. Huimei often teases Qiu Zhuoping that he is killing Chen Yiying's romantic partners, killing them one by one, killing them in groups, and he is very efficient, cutting through them without getting a drop of blood.
"Do you think Qiu Zhuoping likes you?" Huimei was wearing a pink chiffon dress and Japanese-style wedge heels that made her look taller. Today was May Day, and many girls had changed into new outfits, hoping to leave good memories on the night of May Day.
"I think he has nothing to do after eating, so he has to find something to do." Yiying was wearing flat shoes, sweatpants and a bat-sleeve T-shirt, his outfit was even more inconspicuous than that of an ordinary passerby.
They walked along the school's commercial street. If Peter hadn't asked Yiying to come out and inspect the students' stalls, Yiying might have stayed in the dormitory to enjoy the air conditioning.
"It seems like they are catching goldfish over there, I'll go take a look." Halfway through the walk, Huimei, who had no resistance to playing, quickly dived into the crowd. Her height was enough to be drowned in the crowd, so Yiying could no longer find her.
Chen Yiying was not with her, and by chance, the cell phone in her trouser pocket vibrated again.
She opened her phone inbox and saw a text message from an unfamiliar number, asking her to go to Room 704 of the General Building for a meeting. The message was signed by Peter. Yiying didn't have anyone's number saved in her phone address book, so she walked towards the General Building after receiving the text message.
The comprehensive building is located on the right side of the playground. It is an octagonal building with a closed structure like a church on the roof. There is a large stone cross pillar at the highest point. The whole building has a total of 9 floors.
Yiying had heard from an old teacher at the school that this school was originally a cemetery at the foot of a mountain, and it was built into a school because of the reform and opening up. People in the Republic of China still had certain superstitious ideas, so when designing this school, some Feng Shui masters were invited to look at it. The comprehensive building is the most central area of the school. It is a Bagua design, known as the eye of the formation. It is said that it was to suppress the dead spirits that originally roamed here.
As soon as Yiying walked into the complex building, she felt a chill. It was summer, but she couldn't help shivering. Usually, not many people came to the complex building, so it was especially quiet at night. Yiying opened the elevator door alone and took the elevator to the 7th floor. It seemed that , which made her feel creepy. The moment the elevator door opened, she jumped out in a hurry.
There was no light in the corridor, and no one was there, only the sound of her light footsteps. She turned on the flashlight on her phone and searched for a long time before she found the so-called classroom 704. The door of classroom 704 was half-open, and the moment she pushed it open, dust flew up, choking her and making her cough.
"Why would Peter choose this kind of classroom for a meeting?" Yiying reached out to touch the light switch on the wall, but found that it was broken. Giving up turning on the light, she patted the dust off her fingers and walked into the classroom.
With the help of the flashlight, she saw the dark outlines of the desks and chairs in the classroom. This classroom seemed to be used to store miscellaneous items. No one had used it for a long time and it was covered with dust.
Did she go to the wrong classroom?
Yiying pouted and was about to turn back when the classroom door was suddenly closed from the outside. The sound of the door being locked was unusually clear in the silent night. When she opened the door again, the footsteps outside the corridor had already faded away.
"Who's outside? Open the door!"
She knocked on the classroom door, but no one responded.
She opened her phone's address book and found only one contact, Qiu Zhuoping. She thought Qiu Zhuoping would answer the call and come to the rescue, but when she called, the other party kept saying busy. When she called again, she heard that the other party's phone was turned off!
The curtains by the window rustled in the wind, like a ghost's cloak. Yiying tried to overcome her fear and went forward to roll up the dusty curtains. She opened all the windows to let in fresh air...
"Brother Zhuoping, I'll give you my phone back. Shu said he'll be here soon." Liu Jiaran turned off Qiu Zhuoping's phone and gave it back to him. Qiu Zhuoping didn't notice anything unusual and put the phone back in his trouser pocket. Liu Jiaran smiled sweetly and insisted on holding Qiu Zhuoping's arm.
Tonight, she wore a gray satin tube dress with irregular silver gauze on the hem. She had her curly hair tied up and decorated with beautiful crystal hairpins. Under the lights, she looked like a princess from a fairy tale, and many boys couldn't help but look back.
"Brother Zhuoping, the dance party will start in a few minutes. Can you invite me to dance then?" Liu Jiaran shook Qiu Zhuoping's arm coquettishly.
But Qiu Zhuoping was looking around in the crowd, as if looking for something.
Chen Yiying cleaned the windowsill, turned on the flashlight on her phone, and sat on the windowsill with her knees bent. The lights of the dance venue not far away had been turned on, and romantic music filled the entire campus. She sat on the windowsill and looked into the distance, but she didn't know what she was looking at.
Qiu Zhuoping didn't answer the phone at this time. Could he be dancing with another girl?
As expected, people tend to have wild thoughts in a dark environment. Yiying wanted to open WeChat and send a message to her friends for help, but found that there was no signal here.
Hurried footsteps and familiar voices came from outside the corridor. When Yiying turned around, the door of the classroom had been kicked open by Zhong Jialiang from outside. The moonlight fell, outlining his obscure figure.
On this night, Zhong Jialiang appeared like a savior.
Ten minutes ago, Zhong Jialiang received a text message from an unknown number, which stated Chen Yiying's exact location. He didn't know who sent the text message because when he called the number, he got a reply that it was an invalid number.
Zhong Jialiang originally thought that Chen Yiying would throw herself into his arms because of her fear of the dark, so he kept his arms open when he kicked the door open. But in fact, Chen Yiying jumped down from the windowsill, patted her butt, walked around him, and walked out of the classroom.
If the night had not been so dark that it concealed his embarrassment, he would have stood there for a long time with his arms open.
"Brother Zhuoping, if you invite me to dance with you, I will not target Chen Yiying anymore." Liu Jiaran said this because she saw Chen Yiying and Zhong Jialiang approaching from not far away, and she proposed a condition that Qiu Zhuoping could hardly refuse.
Qiu Zhuoping stretched out his hand without hesitation.
Liu Jiaran proudly placed her slender hand on it.
When they walked onto the dance floor, Chen Yiying happened to meet Liu Jiaran's gaze. The smug look and smile were clearly a provocation.
"Yiying, I finally found you." Huimei and Xu Shu came over one after the other, and it seemed that they had been searching for a long time in the crowd. Huimei hurriedly took the big bag from Xu Shu's hand and said, "I found a very nice dress for you, go and change into it."
"What are you changing it for?" Yiying didn't understand and didn't mention the obvious prank from before.
Hui Mei looked at Liu Jiaran meaningfully: "We can't lose our aura!"
Yiying nodded in agreement, grabbed the bag and went to the bathroom to change into her dress.
Huimei chose a sleeveless black dress that showed off her figure without revealing her. There was a circle of beautiful florals on the hem. Huimei found some black roses from somewhere and put her long hair up. Although her makeup was a little bad, her aura was like that of a queen. The moment she and Zhong Jialiang walked into the dance floor hand in hand, the surrounding scenery dimmed.
The style of the music at the dance party suddenly changed. Yiying raised her head slightly towards Liu Jiaran, turned around and faced Zhong Jialiang, and danced cha-cha to the exciting music.
The romantic and peaceful style of the dance floor changed dramatically with the arrival of her and Zhong Jialiang. The couples who were originally holding hands and dancing the waltz gave up the venue and formed a circle, watching Yiying twist her body flexibly in a cool black dress.
"How can Chen Yiying dance such a difficult dance?" Xu Shushu, who was watching from the sidelines, asked Huimei in shock. He originally thought that Chen Yiying had no special skills other than playing badminton, but he didn't expect that she could do a little bit of everything.
"You have me to thank for that."
"You taught me?"
"Of course not." Huimei shook her head, recalling a dark history during her freshman year, "I chose the wrong courses for her, and that's what happened."
"What was the original choice?"
"Japanese..."
The two courses are so different, one must be very confused to choose the wrong one. Xu Xishu thought about it and smiled slightly, but did not say it out loud.
Qiu Zhuoping frowned and used dance steps to lead Liu Jiaran to move towards Chen Yiying. At the moment when the music was switched to waltz, Qiu Zhuoping spun around and threw Liu Jiaran to Zhong Jialiang. Chen Yiying suddenly felt someone grabbing her wrist, and she fell into Qiu Zhuoping's arms with a force.
Qiu Zhuoping's cold eyes reflected the light, and he raised his strong arms to straighten her up. His hand slid down her back and landed on her waist. He held up her right hand with his other hand and continued to move with her in a standard waltz posture.
"Why are you dancing with Zhong Jialiang!" Qiu Zhuoping's tone was not one of question but of rebuke.
"You also dance with Liu Jiaran, why can't I dance with other boys!" Chen Yiying retorted.
But Qiu Zhuoping held her tighter in his arms, and his questioning eyes suddenly revealed a hint of smile: "Are you jealous?"
"No way!" Chen Yiying pushed Qiu Zhuoping away forcefully.
Seeing the opportunity, Zhong Jialiang pulled Chen Yiying over and pushed Liu Jiaran to Qiu Zhuoping again.
The music continued to play, and the four people on the dance floor became the biggest highlight.
Xu Shushu and Hui Mei looked at each other, nodded in tacit understanding, and joined hands to dance the waltz into the dance floor. While spinning, Xu Shushu and Hui Mei turned away at the same time, breaking up the two dancing pairs. However, things did not develop as they expected.
Qiu Zhuoping, who was knocked away, pulled the wrong hand and pulled Zhong Jialiang in front of him. Liu Jiaran almost fell, and Xu Shushu hurriedly supported her. Chen Yiying and Huimei stood face to face, and the strange combination attracted the attention of countless people.
"That's enough!" Liu Jiaran pushed Xu Shu away unable to bear it any longer and walked towards Chen Yiying aggressively.
At this time, Qiu Zhuoping and Zhong Jialiang reached out to pull Chen Yiying at the same time. Huimei rolled her eyes and spun around to Liu Jiaran's side, stepping on the hem of Liu Jiaran's skirt.
Liu Jiaran, whose center of balance was off, rushed straight towards Zhong Jialiang. Seeing this, Qiu Zhuoping quickly grabbed Chen Yiying's hand and avoided the two people falling together.
Under the spotlight, Qiu Zhuoping and Chen Yiying fought against each other. In the attention of the crowd, he lifted Chen Yiying's chin and kissed her when she was in a trance.
"Be my girlfriend, I like you." After letting go of Chen Yiying, Qiu Zhuoping expressed his love affectionately.
Chen Yiying was stunned when she heard this, and seemed to be unable to react. But the people around the dance floor were the first to exclaim, applauding and blessing. What was even more exciting than the confession was that Liu Jiaran's tube top dress was stepped on and fell off.
She didn't know how things had developed to this point, but now she had no choice but to hold on to Zhong Jialiang tightly and use his body to shield herself to prevent anyone from taking indecent photos of her.
Zhong Jialiang was very gentlemanly and did not push her away. He was held by Liu Jiaran and left the dance floor in a strange posture, but his eyes were looking unwillingly in the direction of Chen Yiying.
The person who disturbed her left. Facing Qiu Zhuoping's confession, Chen Yiying thought for a moment and then replied: "If you agree to participate in the badminton friendly match, I will be your girlfriend."
