Volume 5: Protracted War Chapter 16 Favorability
My face was burning, but I couldn't show weakness at this moment, lest I be considered guilty and thus be charged with a false charge. I still defended myself by saying, "What we did was just a normal interaction between happy friends. It doesn't have any other meaning. Don't get the wrong idea and judge others by your own standards !"
"Oh, so it's just ordinary contact. Then what does extraordinary contact look like?" A Feng deliberately dragged out his voice and emphasized a few key words, full of joking. "Besides, there are several men around. Why didn't Xiaoyue, me or the Guardian of the Heart have an 'ordinary contact'? We are all very familiar with each other. Why did they choose you alone for 'intimate contact'?"
"When we suddenly saw that the 'Phoenix Feather Cloak' was successfully made, everyone was quite excited, or maybe Xiaoyue was so excited that she didn't notice it for a moment, so she hugged me carelessly. When she realized something was wrong, she hurriedly let go. In order to avoid embarrassment to each other, she pretended nothing had happened. This action was not her original intention. After she has come to her senses, she will naturally not let you 'perverts' get away with it again." This is not entirely an excuse. In fact, after the "hug incident", I also unconsciously wondered why Yue Linglong made this somewhat "inappropriate" move and what the intention behind it was. Among several speculations, I feel that this is the only one that is closest to the truth. No matter how you look at it, it should not be intentional.
A Feng looked at me with pity, as if I was hopeless, shook his head and sighed, "Oh my God, didn't I always tell you to find a few popular romance novels to read when you have nothing to do? There is no chance in practice for the time being, so it's better to accumulate some theoretical experience first, so as to be prepared for any eventuality. How come you haven't made any progress so far, and you still don't know how to grasp the mind of girls. If you continue like this, I think you will be single for the rest of your life. You have no money, no talent, and no looks, and you can't figure out the mind of girls and think of ways to tease them. They are happy. You don't have any of the prerequisites for men to attract women in the "Love Guide" that I solemnly recommended to you. How can you date a girlfriend? You are conservative and pedantic, and your behavior is passive and negative. Who would like you? Are you going to wait for others to chase you? Then you must have considerable "capital", my stupid uncle! If you continue to "abandon yourself" like this, how can you explain to your parents who have been looking forward to you getting married and starting a family? How can I face them and talk to them?"
I was speechless after what Afeng said. No matter what, he was doing it for my own good. To be honest, because of my family background and personality defects, and my plain appearance, I was an extremely ordinary "mass commodity". The chances of finding a "dignified" girlfriend were originally very small. This was completely different from Afeng's situation - although we were both single, his "sweet talk" could make girls happy. If it weren't for the "old love" that I still couldn't forget, as long as I was willing to work hard, it wouldn't be a problem to date a girlfriend with similar conditions. Therefore, the emotional issues of me, a "pure boy" who had never been involved in "love", were put on the agenda. In his words, whether I could get married in the end was a matter for the future. I had to date and feel the feeling first. There were fish in the river, but I had to cast a net first to catch them! If I just stood on the shore and watched, even Jiang Taigong would not be able to catch a mermaid easily.
And the key is that Afeng holds a "special sword" in his hand, and has the "right" to interfere in this private matter that originally belongs to me. Because I have been "living together" with him, in order to prevent my parents from noticing my embarrassment in life, sometimes I need him to cover up for me. He is a sweet-mouthed person, and he can brag about everything to anyone he meets. Every time he "coaxes" my parents very happy, and we become familiar with each other. The two elders have been thinking about my marriage. Conservative thinking believes that only "getting married" can be regarded as "establishing a career", and they can really put their minds at ease. I don't know what nonsense Afeng talked to them, and finally issued an "order" to me - in view of my lack of relevant experience in personal feelings, so that I have not made any progress, so I specially let Afeng, my closest friend with rich theoretical knowledge and practical experience, help me get married as soon as possible, and also fulfill their wishes. It was a painstaking effort by my parents, and such an idea was understandable in our small county. As a son, I had no way to change the old ideas of my parents, so I could only agree to it. Since then, I have been wearing a "tight ring" on my head, and I have often been tortured and destroyed by Afeng, the "love consultant". He can also contact my parents directly to report the situation. In order to avoid him "snitching" on me and causing my parents to scold me, I have to follow his wishes in many things. It's just that it may be that I am not qualified and have no talent for falling in love. Two years have passed, and I still have "no harvest". There is still no progress in the relationship. As a result, he has lost face as a "love consultant". I feel a little ashamed in front of my parents, and his attitude has become a little "worse". He often feels emotional when seeing the scene, and he will say some "hate iron but not steel" words to "motivate" me.
After being poked at my soft spot by Afeng and bringing up the "banner" of my parents, I could only smile bitterly. After a long while, I stammered and whispered, "This kind of thing is not as casual as buying something in the market. It requires mutual affection and it cannot be achieved by mutual consent. The reality is there. It's useless for me to be anxious!" Who doesn't want to find a girlfriend to enjoy the sweet and romantic moments under the moonlight and live happily in the "land of tenderness"? But in reality, many things cannot be "achieved" just by "thinking", especially for ordinary people like me.
Ah Feng tilted his head back and poured a glass of wine into his mouth, then threw it on the table. He seemed to still be angry, and glanced at me with his eyes slanted, "So, you know you are wrong?"
It's no wonder that he was so "angry". Originally, I could find excuses to shirk the matter of "introducing a date" because I had just arrived in the city and had not yet established myself. However, in recent times, I have sent several sums of money home one after another, and my financial situation has obviously improved a lot. Without this excuse as a "shield", my parents began to regard my marriage issue as a top priority. They kept telling me that the children of certain relatives and friends were the same age as me or even two years younger than me, and they had already married and had children. Not only did they strongly urge me to solve my personal problems as soon as possible, they even "threatened" to return the money I sent home so that I could use it to "dating", leaving me with no excuse to prevaricate. Even Afeng received several calls in a row, asking him to do his best to help me. I took a lot of pressure for my previous "bragging". But I was like a hopeless person. I repeatedly "ignored" his kindness and always took his words lightly. I couldn't help but feel anxious.
Come to think of it, I was in the wrong and failed my parents and brothers. They were all thinking about me, so I should honestly admit my mistake. I quickly poured him a glass of wine and toasted him with both hands, "Alright, Afeng, I know I was wrong and embarrassed you in front of my parents. I have no way to explain. If you have any opinions, just give them up. As long as I can do it, I will do my best."
Afeng glared at me again, "What do you mean by losing my face? It's all for your own good." Then he leaned back on the sofa in a deflated manner, took the wine glass and drank it all, muttering weakly, "You can't be an idiot if you can get into college, but you are so naive when it comes to relationship issues. What era is it now? Many boys and girls in high school have started holding hands and kissing each other, and have even broken through the forbidden zone. But you, it's been three or four years since you graduated from college, and you haven't even had a relationship. If I hadn't been with you all these years, I would never believe that there would be someone like you. No wonder your uncle and aunt are always worried about you, and they always ask me to worry about you." Then he sighed again, "Oh, if I had known you were such a hopeless case, I would never have stepped forward to take on your job. "Originally, he was concerned about my emotional problems out of "enthusiasm". Now that he has made a promise to my parents, it has become a disguised "responsibility". The nature of this is different, especially in terms of his attitude towards the elderly. He is not the kind of person who likes to "break his promises". He had to find ways to "transfer" the pressure to me. After a while of self-pity, Afeng looked up at me, the culprit who caused him trouble. "I won't bother with you about the past, but from now on you must follow my advice. Now that there are only the two of us, you must tell me frankly, facing a beauty like Xiaoyue, are you really not moved at all? Why have I encouraged you again and again, but you have always shrank back and hardly took any initiative to express anything. You really don't behave like a man."
I tried to guess what he meant, and wasn't sure for a moment, "Do you mean that Xiaoyue actually fell in love with me and encouraged me to be with her?" It was something I wished for, but I didn't dare to think about it. I could hardly imagine that such a good thing would happen.
"Stop dreaming. Look in the mirror. You can find a lot of people with that ordinary image on the street. You have nothing to do with the elegant prince charming. Xiaoyue is not a 'flower maniac'. Her conditions are many times better than yours. How could she like a guy like you who doesn't have many advantages?" I don't know what happened, but it seemed that Afeng was particularly angry today and his words were particularly sarcastic. It seemed that he was determined to "hurt me to the end".
I was confused by his words. If this was the truth, then what did he say before? Wasn't it contradictory? "So Xiaoyue doesn't like me anymore? Then why are you so angry? As if I had missed a great opportunity." The slight joy that had just risen in my heart disappeared immediately, and I felt a little lost.
A Feng rolled his eyes at me in annoyance, "Watch your words, Xiaoyue doesn't like you, how much do you know? It's far from the level of 'liking', at best you can only say that she likes you a little more than others, but that's all at this stage, if you don't take the initiative to rush forward and seize the opportunity, the opportunity will be gone, and you will never have it again. There are many people eyeing a girl as outstanding as Xiaoyue, and there are many who are better than you. In terms of comprehensive conditions, you can't even rank, you are definitely at the bottom."
"How could Xiaoyue be interested in me, a 'useless' ordinary person like me?" It was exciting news for me that Xiaoyue, a beautiful girl with excellent conditions in all aspects, was interested in me. It was not easy! However, new doubts arose immediately. According to Afeng's "objective evaluation" of me, I believe that it is not easy to "attract" even ordinary girls, let alone Xiaoyue.
"The feeling between men and women is sometimes very wonderful. It doesn't necessarily require 'equal status'. There have been many rumors and anecdotes about 'a fresh flower stuck in cow dung' since ancient times. As long as the two parties are 'like a turtle and a mung bean - they fall in love', there is not much logic to this matter. Take the matter between you and Xiaoyue for example. The reason why we made such a conclusion is also based on facts. We are not making fun of you out of thin air." Afeng cleared his throat, drank two sips of tea, put on a serious expression on his face and explained to me: "Xiaoyue's family background must be quite superior. Although there is no specific explanation, it can be roughly inferred from some of her social relationships. She is in an excellent environment in the upper class of society and must have been in contact with people of the same kind since childhood. It is natural to get bored of something if you see it too much. You, a 'common commodity', seem quite different among a group of excellent men. In addition, you met in a virtual game. Without knowing each other, and without the many scruples in reality, you may be bolder in thinking and acting, and have or make some ideas or moves that you dare not try in normal days. After all, the desire and pleasure of breaking taboos exists in almost everyone's subconscious mind. The more law-abiding a person is, the deeper he is suppressed, and the more violent he will release it once he has the opportunity. More importantly, although you are not outstanding in reality, you show yourself to be a real strong man in the game. In addition, you met by chance, and you have always behaved neither humble nor overbearing. You have not been too active and proactive in the several opportunities to contact you. You even didn't quickly offer the white dragon horse pet that the beautiful woman liked, but even had difficulty in accepting it and asked for money. You usually don't go to chat with her, and you don't go to her for tea and chat in your spare time. It seems that you have no intention of such a familiar beauty..."
