Chapter 37

The first time Chen Pu clearly knew that someone was pursuing him was when he was in the second year of junior high school.

The girl was sweet, a pretty girl, gentle and pretty, and many boys in the class liked to mess with her. She sat in front of Chen Pu and always brought him delicious food. Every time Chen Pu played basketball, she would watch from the sidelines with her friends. When Chen Pu couldn't answer the questions in the exam, she would throw notes to him. But Chen Pu didn't want to copy. Later, he was proved to be very wise, because the little beauty scored lower than him.

There was a rumor in the class that she liked him. Chen Pu ignored it at first. It was not until Valentine's Day in the second year of junior high school, when no one was around after school, that she blushed and handed him a box of chocolates.

Even though Chen Pu, the senior at the time, was a straight man, he understood what it meant instantly. He reacted without even thinking.

Three hard words: "I don't want it."

Go ahead and go.

Of course, thinking back on it, Chen Pu still felt a little nervous, but not much. After school, he played basketball with his friends and quickly forgot about it.

The little girl was left lying in the classroom crying, with two friends comforting her. The next day, the little girl found an excuse to change seats and get away from this cold-hearted person.

In the following years, Chen Pu experienced girls from other schools whistling on his way home from school, and he glared back at them. He experienced several girls giggling and blushing as they ran away on the way to the men's restroom, which made him even more upset. He also found several love letters in the drawer, but he didn't even dare to open them, fearing that the girls would chase him and cry. He obviously didn't do anything, but they made it seem like he was a playboy. He simply tore them into pieces and threw them into several trash cans to prevent someone from putting them together and embarrassing the girls. But he tore them too loudly, which gave everyone a common impression that Chen Pu was a cold beauty who was very difficult to pursue.

In his second year of high school, Chen Pu met the second girl who was clearly pursuing him. The girl was very cute and outgoing. She got along well with many people in the class and was also very familiar with Chen Pu. She always liked to talk to Chen Pu, always asked him out to play, and wanted to get into Chen Pu's gangster circle. Chen Pu sensed it, but he didn't like girls with this kind of personality, so he deliberately distanced himself from her.

The girl was smart and noticed it quickly. Another time, she insisted on following him and a few other boys to play billiards, and pestered him to teach her. The boys all smiled and hid away. But Chen Pu couldn't really teach her, so he blurted out, "No. I only teach my girlfriend."

The girl held the club and stared at the round white ball: "Then do you think I can do it?"

"I'm afraid not." Chen Pu leaned over and hit the ball with one stroke. The white ball hit the black ball accurately into the hole. "You're not my type."

"What's your style?"

Chen Pu thought about the fact that the girl's grades were similar to his, and made a decisive move: "I like good grades."

The girl was angry: "How good?"

Chen Pu said casually, "Top 20 in the grade."

Of course, after this word got out, the girls ranked in the top 20 in the grade would take a detour when they saw Chen Pu, but that’s another story.

But what Chen Pu said was not entirely an excuse. The only girl he had a crush on during high school was a top student. That was in the first year of high school, and he performed exceptionally well in his only selection test, and got the opportunity to participate in the city-wide mathematics competition - he was also good at mathematics, physics and chemistry. The first place in the city in that competition was a girl from another school. The girl was very pretty, and she was very good at test questions and took the test, and she was very calm when she went on stage to receive the award. Chen Pu was immediately struck by it at that time. There is a saying that goes like this: "A man is most charming when he is focused on his career." But Chen Pu thinks it is also suitable for women. Later, he secretly ran to the gate of other people's schools a few times. Later, he found out that the girl would participate in the National Olympiad in the second year of high school, and if nothing unexpected happens, she will be admitted to Peking University or Tsinghua University. After feeling lost, he was relieved.

They are destined not to be on the same path. Chen Qingsheng believes that if you like her, just watch her fly away silently.

However, aside from this shy and secret history of secret love, Chen Pu still has some experience in girls' advances and pursuits. Regardless of whether a girl is extrovert or introvert, whether she speaks out or hints, when she is truly in love, her face must be red and her eyes must be bright. Those eyes hide expectation and sadness. That is the softest thought of a girl. Even if she is so aggressive that she blocks you in the billiards court and almost touches you, her eyes will still show the fear of gain and loss.

But Li Qingyao is completely different.

She said the most frivolous words and stepped into his territory - whether it was work or life. She always acted cheerful and excited, as if she was going to throw herself into his arms in the next second. But there was no sincerity in her eyes, and she acted carelessly. Chen Pu knew with his eyes closed that she never meant what she said.

Chen Pu was not stupid enough to think that she really had that kind of feelings towards him. At first, he was also confused for a few days, wondering why Li Qingyao liked to go crazy with him. Later, he gradually became too lazy to care.

Zuo is just being naughty.

But a young and excellent girl like her didn't have much sincerity, and she took pleasure in teasing him badly. For Li Jincheng's sake, he didn't bother with her.

To be honest, after living with him day and night for more than a month, he still felt a little uncomfortable if Li Qingyao didn't go crazy one day!
-

On the afternoon that Li Qingyao had made an appointment with his high school classmates to meet up, he received a message from Chen Pu just after getting off work: [Old place.]

Li Qingyao slowly moved downstairs. Chen Pu's car was still parked under the tree in the corner of the yard. She walked over with her crutches and knocked on the door. The car window slowly lowered, revealing Chen Pu's dull face: "Wait for me to carry you? Get in the car."

He had already started the car. With people coming and going around, Li Qingyao had no choice but to get into the back seat.

As the car drove out of the compound, Chen Pu's expression relaxed a little and asked, "Shall we eat outside, or should we take you home and order takeout?"

"I have a reunion with my high school classmates today. Please drop me off in front and I'll take a taxi."

Chen Pu was a little surprised. After all, this was the first time he saw this workaholic homebody who was as good as himself, socializing. However, he was always a very sensible person. He didn't ask any more questions and just said, "I'll just take you there."

Li Qingyao instinctively wanted to save another fifteen, but he said, "How can I do that?"

Chen Pu was too lazy to pay attention to her hypocritical politeness and said simply: "Address." Speaking of which, Ma Junhong ordered a place that Chen Pu was very familiar with, Zhou Ji Seafood. Chen Pu often ordered takeout from this restaurant and even invited his colleagues to eat there several times. He still had a lot of money left in his membership card.

Chen Pu parked the car in a familiar way. He was too embarrassed to turn his back on her in public, so he helped her into the revolving door. Li Qingyao said, "I can go in by myself, you go back."

Before Chen Pu could answer, one of the account managers in suits and skirts standing in the lobby came up to him with a smile and said, "Mr. Chen, you are here. How many people are there today? I don't think you have booked a private room."

Chen Pu waved his hand and said, "I'm not eating today. I'm giving it away." He then asked Li Qingyao, "Which box?"

Li Qingyao glanced at Chen Pu with a half-smile. This man looked a bit like a rich and idle person after taking off the skin of a policeman. She said, "2015."

At this time, the account manager also saw the crutches in Li Qingyao's hand and the bandages on his feet, and said awkwardly: "Sorry, we don't have an elevator."

This restaurant has a large single-story area, with only two floors, and next to it is a large spiral staircase. It is magnificent and very grand, but there is no elevator.

Chen Pu said to the account manager, "It's okay, go and get busy." He took the crutches from Li Qingyao's hand, held her arm with his other hand, and said, "Let's go, the food will get cold soon."

Li Qingyao could sense a hint of sourness in these words. She wanted to say that she didn't need him to send her off, but swallowed the words. She held the handrail of the stairs with one hand and let him support her with the other hand, like an old lady. She criticized him three or four times for walking too fast and holding his hand too tightly, even though there were less than 40 steps on the corner staircase. Little Chen Zi was so angry that he laughed, but when he turned around and saw the smugness in her eyes, he cursed in his heart, but he held it in and continued to work as a human crutch without complaint.

There was a small open space above the stairs, with a few sofas and coffee tables for guests to rest and smoke. Next to it was a row of private rooms. There were two men standing there, and when they heard the noise, they looked up.

One of them was Ma Junhong. Although it had been seven years since they met, he was wearing a shirt and trousers, and his appearance and temperament had matured a lot, but Li Qingyao still recognized him at a glance.

The other man was wearing a black round-neck T-shirt and black sports pants, revealing his strong and slender arms. He had a short crew cut, his skin was darker than before, and he was taller. Like Ma Junhong, he had a cigarette in his hand. But the moment he saw Li Qingyao, he put the cigarette down.

Li Qingyao didn't expect that she would meet Luo Huaizheng like this.

She thought she would wait until Chen Pu left, then go into the private room, where she would meet a table of old classmates, and exchange polite greetings. Seeing him again would be natural, calm and distant. But when this moment really came, after seven years, she saw him standing in front of her again, and her heart felt like it was being grasped by an invisible hand, squeezing out a few drops of bitter juice.

Facing the complicated gazes of the two, Li Qingyao subconsciously pulled his arm out of Chen Pu's hand: "Thank you for sending me here, let's go back first."

It was the first time that Chen Pu saw such a forced, absent-minded smile on her face. He also noticed the slight cold sweat on her palms. He let go of her hand calmly and said in a normal tone, "Can you walk to the box by yourself?"

"That's no problem."

Chen Pu nodded and handed her the cane: "Then I'll go. If it's inconvenient to go downstairs later, ask a waiter to help you."

Li Qingyao still didn't want to look at him: "Yeah."

Chen Pu looked up at the two people again, and his eyes finally stopped at Luo Huaizheng's face. But Luo Huaizheng didn't notice it, his eyes were only fixed on Li Qingyao, a grown man, but his eyes were slightly red.

Chen Pu turned around and went downstairs.

When Li Qingyao walked over, his face had regained its composure and he smiled faintly: "Ma Junhong, Luo Huaizheng, long time no see."

Ma Junhong said with a half-smile, "It's mainly because you are a very busy person, Sister Yao, a police officer, and you can't invite us normally even if we want to. Today we are hosting a welcome party for Brother Zheng, thank you for giving me face."

This was said in a proper and polite manner. Li Qingyao just smiled faintly: "Not at all. Have the other students arrived?"

Ma Junhong: “There are four or five.”

"Then I'll go in first." After saying that, Li Qingyao walked towards the box without waiting for the two to respond. Unfortunately, she wanted to walk in a cool way, but the reality was very skinny. The crutches "tapped" on the ground, and her right leg wrapped in gauze and wearing slippers could only move one step at a time.

Ma Junhong and Luo Huaizheng looked at her. Ma Junhong pushed Luo Huaizheng and lowered his voice: "Why are you standing there like an idiot? Go and help someone. The man just now should not be her boyfriend. The two of them were quite polite."

Luo Huaizheng said in a low voice: "Stop messing around."

Ma Junhong said: "It seems that she was seriously injured. She needs help to go up the stairs. She must have been injured on duty. But she still came today. Whose face do you think it was for? Alas, Sister Yao was such a delicate girl. It was not easy for her. I remember that there is a step ahead and I don't know if she is familiar with it. If she falls, it will be all over. I don't care about you. I have to pee urgently." After saying that, he really went to the toilet.

Luo Huaizheng stood there alone.

In front of him was a brightly lit corridor, quiet and deep. Li Qingyao turned her back to him and walked hesitantly less than ten meters away. She seemed to have grown taller than in high school, but was still half a head shorter than him. Her posture and movements also seemed different. In the past, she would never sit if she could lie down, and would never stand if she could sit, and she would always play the game of playing badly. Now, even though she was leaning on crutches, her thin back exuded the unique coldness of a police officer.

He knew it at a glance.

Luo Huaizheng didn't go forward in the end, but just watched her walk to the end, down the stairs, and into the private room in silence. It wasn't until the cigarette burned out and burned his hand that he lowered his head, threw the cigarette butt into the ashtray, and slowly walked towards the private room.

I won’t tell you who has a strong veneration for the strong.