Dazzling

Ever since meeting Xing Wu's father that evening, Qing Ye had been pondering a profound question: What exactly did Li Lanfang see in such an extraordinary man?

He had neither looks nor height, his emotional intelligence was practically negative, and most crucially—he had no money. Even charity organizations wouldn't glance at someone like him. What had clouded Li Lanfang's judgment?

It was at this moment that Qing Ye suddenly had an epiphany—oh, he was exceptional, possessing remarkable prowess in a certain aspect.

Originally, Qing Ye thought since they were both at this age, wouldn't they finish in over ten minutes? Yet they went on for more than twenty minutes. Probably because Qing Ye had turned off the lights, they assumed everyone was asleep and grew bold and unrestrained. This shabby second floor wasn't particularly sturdy, and they were making such a racket—it was simply impossible to sleep.

The situation was already embarrassing enough, but the key point was that she was sharing the same space with Xing Wu, both forced to listen to these indescribable sounds. The whole scenario couldn't be more bizarre.

Qing Ye had never encountered anything so awkward in her life. But her cheap aunt and uncle-in-law, reunited after long separation, were like newlyweds—stopping their affectionate behavior would be quite immoral, and she couldn't bring herself to do it.

So she very slowly, very stealthily, turned over and secretly glanced at Xing Wu. Xing Wu hadn't made a sound since the commotion started either. He was now leaning against the headboard with his eyes closed. Though he hadn't moved at all, Qing Ye knew perfectly well he must be awake. With this much noise, anyone who could sleep through it—she'd salute them as a true warrior.

After a while, seeing no signs of the noise stopping, Qing Ye finally spoke up: "Have you... done it before?"

Just as Qing Ye expected, Xing Wu wasn't asleep. He slowly opened his eyes and turned to look at her: "Done what?"

"Sex."

Stagnation. Both their gazes and the surrounding air stagnated completely in that instant.

After a long pause, Xing Wu withdrew his gaze and replied: "No."

"With Shu Jie?"

"No."

Xing Wu's answers remained crisp and decisive. Suddenly he raised an eyebrow and glanced at her: "Do I look like that kind of casual person?"

Qing Ye actually laughed at this: "What's the big deal? Some people in my previous class had done it too. There were many foreigners in our international school—it's... quite liberal there. Lots of people started dating in middle school. Teachers weren't very strict about puppy love either. Sometimes when couples formed in class, teachers would even joke about them privately."

"You big international metropolis folks certainly have open-minded thinking."

"That's not what I meant. Of course teachers don't encourage it, but they properly educate about sexual knowledge. My former homeroom teacher even said this is an inevitable stage in life—rather than suppressing many things, it's better to guide them correctly."

Xing Wu didn't respond. He just found it somewhat miraculous—this was the first time he'd heard of teachers discussing this with students. In their school, this would cause an uproar.

Qing Ye continued making conversation: "I heard from American classmates that this can become addictive. Is it men who get addicted, or women, or both?"

Suddenly Xing Wu felt why was the room so hot?

He raised an eyebrow: "How come you top students talk about this stuff?""Academic discussion. A mature academic achiever should have comprehensive knowledge across all fields, thoroughly implementing the spirit of asking questions when in doubt. If someone only knows what's in textbooks and nothing else, wouldn't they become a bookworm? They'd get cheated in society without even knowing how it happened."

Xing Wu remained silent. After a long pause, he unexpectedly called out: "Qing Ye."

Qing Ye responded with a confused "Hmm?"

"Are you sure you want to discuss this with me under these circumstances?"

After saying this, he turned to stare at her. His eyes were like a gray wolf's in the night, carrying such intense aggression that Qing Ye was startled. Flustered, she turned away and said hurriedly: "I'm tired, going to sleep."

Qing Ye had thought that since things were already this awkward, they might as well address the topic directly - fighting poison with poison might make it less awkward. But clearly for Xing Wu, hearing his parents doing that late at night was bad enough, and having the girl sleeping beside him discussing it made it even worse. What made it most complicated was that this girl held a fatal attraction for him.

Qing Ye actually fell asleep quickly, since she needed to wake up early the next day. But what surprised her was that the next morning, she wasn't awakened by her alarm clock, but by arguing downstairs that startled her so much she bolted upright in bed. Then she heard Xing Wu shouting - honestly, having known him for so long, although he wasn't particularly good-tempered, she had never heard him lose his temper like this before. It frightened Qing Ye, and she was just about to rush downstairs to see what was happening when she heard the sound of a motorcycle outside. Xing Wu had stormed out of the house, gotten on his motorcycle, and left.

Qing Ye had initially thought Xing Wu was arguing with his father, but when she went downstairs and saw Li Lanfang crying hysterically, she realized Xing Wu had been shouting at Li Lanfang.

Qing Ye quickly went over to ask Li Lanfang what had happened. Li Lanfang began cursing, saying that last night Old Xing had told her he was working on a big business deal out of town and needed money, so she gave him her bank card. Only this morning did she discover he had also taken all the money from the cash register. What made it even worse was that Du Qiyan had returned the money she owed Xing Wu to Li Lanfang yesterday afternoon, and before Li Lanfang could give it to Xing Wu, his father had taken that too.

Qing Ye couldn't process this immediately and asked: "Then where is Xing Wu's father now?"

Between sobs, Li Lanfang cried out: "He's gone."

On her way to school, Qing Ye remained in a dazed state. She just couldn't understand - last night Comrade Li Lanfang and Xing Guodong had been passionate until late night, and this morning he took the money and ran away? What kind of magical bullshit operation was this?

No wonder Xing Wu had emotionlessly said his father was "dead." This behavior was indeed worse than being dead. The key question was, didn't he care about his wife, mother, and child at all? Just left like that? This was clearly a case of swindling both money and affection!

Xing Wu didn't come to school all day. Qing Ye kept looking back occasionally, somewhat worried about him.

After school, Qing Ye saw Huang Mao at the school gate and specifically asked him: "Where's Xing Wu?"

Huang Mao said: "When I talked to Brother Wu at noon, he said he had business in Shunyi."

Qing Ye had originally started heading back, but decided to go to Shunyi instead.

Shunyi wasn't closed, and there were quite a few people standing at the entrance. Qing Ye didn't recognize some of them, but she did recognize Hua Bi. As she approached, Hua Bi had already spotted her and asked: "Looking for Brother Wu?"Qing Ye nodded and called inside, "Quan Ya."

Quan Ya emerged from Shunyi shop. Seeing Quan Ya this time inevitably made Qing Ye somewhat awkward, since he was Shu Han's younger brother. Although she didn't know what they had discussed when they returned to Shunyi that night, Qing Ye understood it must have been related to her.

After coming out, Quan Ya said to Qing Ye, "Wu Zi is working. He doesn't allow anyone inside when he's focused on a task."

"Hmm..." Qing Ye craned her neck to look inside and indeed saw the wooden door behind the curtain tightly shut.

Quan Ya glanced at her and asked, "Have you eaten?"

"No, I just came from school."

Quan Ya simply walked toward her: "Let's grab some noodles nearby. He'll be a while."

So Qing Ye followed Quan Ya to a nearby noodle shop. When Quan Ya asked what she wanted, Qing Ye ordered a bowl of three-delicacy noodles. The shop was small, filled mostly with men working in the nearby electronics street. While waiting for her noodles, a young guy tried to move his stool next to Qing Ye. Quan Ya coldly said, "Move aside." The man looked at Quan Ya, didn't talk back, and moved his stool to another table.

Among Xing Wu's circle of friends, Quan Ya gave Qing Ye the most steady impression. Though her first impression was that he looked quite refined - quite different in temperament from people like Da Hei and Hua Bi - ever since she saw him kick a stool at Da Cao that day, she knew he wasn't what he appeared on the surface. Some people have highly deceptive appearances but aren't to be trifled with, and Quan Ya likely belonged to that category.

When the noodles arrived, the portion was huge. Qing Ye could only finish half.

Quan Ya had also nearly finished eating but showed no intention of leaving. So Qing Ye asked, "Why won't Xing Wu let anyone watch him repair things? Afraid they'll steal his techniques?"

Quan Ya first raised an eyebrow, then suddenly laughed: "Repair things? He's not repairing anything."

"Then what work is he doing?"

"Playing matches for others."

"For others? You mean he's a ringer?"

Quan Ya glanced at her but didn't respond.

Qing Ye frowned and asked, "If he has such skills, why doesn't he compete himself instead of playing for others?"

Quan Ya said calmly, "Fast money, less hassle, more freedom."

"But he'll always remain underground. No matter how well he plays, nobody will know him. Success requires paying certain prices."

"Success?" Quan Ya suddenly acted like he'd heard something amusing, spinning his Zippo lighter before saying mockingly, "If he'd chosen success, he would have reached the peak of professional competitions two years ago. Not everyone can choose success as carefreely as you. You don't know what costs others would have to pay to choose success. Nobody wants to parade their hardships before others."

Qing Ye stared blankly at Quan Ya, her heart suddenly in turmoil. It was as if a fog had descended, making many things unclear.

She asked bluntly, "If I hadn't appeared here, would Xing Wu have accepted Ma Bin's proposal that night?"

"Yes." Quan Ya answered decisively.

Qing Ye's eyelashes trembled involuntarily. Quan Ya flicked his lighter and lit a cigarette: "If he hadn't met you, he wouldn't have any regrets or expectations. With Wu Zi's abilities, even stuck in Zhazha Pavilion, he could make enough money on his own to avoid living too poorly."He wasn't a greedy person. He would be content with the status quo. After graduating high school, perhaps in a few more years, he would give Shu Han an explanation. After all, we grew up together, and our feelings are there. His life would be as stable as most people's.

But because of your appearance, he began to develop greed, craving more. Once a person becomes greedy, they fall into endless suffering. Maybe my words sound harsh, but I'm not optimistic about you two. You're people on two different paths."

Qing Ye lowered her head and added another large spoonful of chili oil to her bowl. After taking a sip of the soup, her mouth immediately felt burning hot, and even her heart felt scorched. She raised her head and stared at Quan Ya: "I'll pull him onto another path."

Quan Ya casually put out his cigarette and said meaningfully: "We can bet—you won't be able to pull him away." His confident gaze suddenly made Qing Ye's heart inexplicably flustered.

She straightened her back, firmly staring at Quan Ya, her lips quirking to one side: "We'll see." With that, she stood up and strode out of the noodle shop.

Before she reached the entrance of Shunyi, Xing Wu called. As soon as he dialed, Xing Wu spotted Qing Ye, hung up, and asked her: "What did you eat? Your lips are all red."

"Drank chili oil."

"...Can't handle spice yet you still eat it."

Xing Wu glanced at Quan Ya behind Qing Ye. Quan Ya, however, wore an expression as if nothing had happened and asked: "How did it go?"

Hua Bi beside him laughed: "With Brother Wu handling it, five thousand easily in hand."

Xing Wu said to them: "I'm heading off first."

He swung onto his motorcycle. Qing Ye walked over and sat behind him, placing both hands in his jacket pockets. At that moment, she only felt cold, as if the harsh winter chill was descending, a coldness that seeped into her bones.

Hua Bi and the others exchanged suggestive smiles. Xing Wu glanced down but said nothing. Qing Ye turned her head and stared expressionlessly at Quan Ya. Quan Ya merely stood by the roadside with his arms crossed, smiling faintly, as if nothing had ever happened between them.