Chapter 55: Love Does Not Seek Recompense

  "Ah! Xiao Yu, you and Xiao Mi are...?" Song Shifu raised an eyebrow, a sly smile spreading across his lips.

  "She is my girlfriend." Yu Tian replied calmly, his eyes gently turned to me, with a warm smile on his lips, "From now on, I'll leave her in your care, Master. Please take good care of her."

  "That's for sure!" Master Song smiled meaningfully at me and I nodded awkwardly in response.

  Master Song walked up to me, leaned in close to my ear and whispered: "Little Yu, I'm leaving him to you now. It wasn't for nothing that I kept you behind. Now you should understand everything, right?"

  Saying "hehe" with a couple of chuckles, she walked back to Yu's side and happily pulled him along as they continued their conversation.

  I stood there blankly, carefully pondering Master Song's instructions, and suddenly I felt like I was being seen through a transparent glass. It turned out that Master Song had deliberately let me in to listen! He had already figured out something from the beginning when I was at the door! What kind of master is this! His eyes are so sharp! Also too awesome! His ability to read people is not ordinary! No wonder Yu also obeyed him, indeed he's not simple!

  I was happily receiving useful information from their conversation, so as to "know yourself and know your enemy, win every battle". After a long chat, time slipped away unnoticed, and before I knew it, it was already evening. Master Song reluctantly reminded Yu that he must come often, and even when the motorcycle drove far away, he could still see the teacher standing at the big iron gate waving goodbye.

  The sunset is setting in front of the bar door, and it's still a while before opening hours.

  The sliding door sprang up like a spring, and the faint yellow light shone from inside, through the glass door, you could still make out those dazzling decorations.

  Oh no! We've all forgotten, there are still people locked up in here!

  "Winter melon! You're awake?" I rushed in the door, looking at the tall figure leaning against the sofa with a dazed expression, and asked an exceptionally silly question.

  "Rice... rice..." He raised his head and looked at me with a complex expression.

  He seemed to have something to say, but hesitated and didn't speak up. I was at a loss for how to continue the conversation, and just stood there stupidly, looking at his dispirited appearance after drinking too much, feeling very sympathetic.

  Yu had walked up to me by now, his hand around my shoulder. I turned my head, frowning at him, and saw a hint of an inevitable smile on the corner of his lips. There was always that air of natural-born royalty about him, making it impossible for anyone to look down on him.

  "Winter, I'm giving you a night off today, go ahead." Yu's eyebrows rose slightly as he said lightly.

  Ji Dong sprang up from the edge of the sofa, his hands in his pockets, and glanced back at Mimi with a slanting gaze: "She's not awake yet, Mimi, take care of her, I'll leave first."

  "Winter melon, don't worry about Ruoxi, go back and rest well, I'm here!" I tried to make myself look relaxed, forcing a smile, not sure if it was to comfort him or comfort myself.

  Ji Dong walked slowly past me with a gloomy expression, glanced at us and brushed shoulders with me before pushing open the door of the bar without looking back.

  "Think carefully about what I told you." Yu gazed at his back, implying something. Ji Dong's figure paused for a moment at the corner, then lowered his head and continued to leave calmly.

  "What else did you threaten Dōngguā with?" I glared at him discontentedly. I had already confessed, what was he still worried about? It only took one night for Jì Dōng to return to normal, and I didn't believe it was just because of his elder brother's prestige.

  "What else can I say? It's just to make him understand that the fact is, you are mine and no one can take you away." He smiled faintly, then suddenly pulled me into his arms, "Is what I said clear enough now?"

  I obediently nestled in his arms, analyzing all the remaining possibilities in my mind, but still couldn't find a reasonable explanation. Suddenly I realized that I didn't trust Yu completely, at least when it came to Ji Dong's matter, and felt that he wasn't that trustworthy.

  As the night deepened, the bar was recklessly devouring one young body after another. Every night was like a carnival, with excited crowds indulging in the intoxicating atmosphere.

  Under the flashing lights and rock music, Ruoxi was curled up in a ball on the sofa, her brow furrowed and sweat dripping from her forehead. She might have been having a nightmare. I squatted beside her, gently patting her, when she suddenly opened her eyes, staring at me with an expression of sudden weightlessness, before letting out a sigh and relaxing.

  "Sister, you've finally woken up, staying out all night! You're really something! Your phones were smashed and how are we supposed to contact you? Not even a ghost could get in touch with you!" I stretched out my index finger and gently tapped her shiny cheek, showing a resentful expression as if I wanted to poke a hole through it.

  She pushed away my hand and sat up, hanging her head low, with an unusual expression on her face. I found that making jokes at this moment didn't seem to work, so I sat down beside her with a serious face, patting her shoulder in comfort: "Sorry, Ruoxi, I didn't know things would turn out like this." Another voice inside me was saying: What do you mean you didn't know? You knew it all along! Suddenly I wanted to bang my head against the sofa.

  "Rice, rice......" fell silent for several minutes, and in this originally boiling air that was about to solidify, Yu Xi finally spoke up with a cold tone, "You always appear at the times when I least want to see you..."

  I was stunned, my mind buzzing, my heart felt like it had been stabbed, bleeding profusely. Does Ruoxi dislike me? Am I going to lose my last and only close friend?

  "But every time you appear, I always can't help but want to hug you..." She suddenly tightly hugged my neck, and her tears dripped into my collar.

  I patted her back, and my heart ached with a pang of sorrow.

  She choked back a sob, her voice indistinct: "Just stay still like that, let me rest for a little while longer, just a bit more."

  As she said, in just five minutes, she had completely calmed down, stopped her tears and become a strong girl.

  "Winter melon likes you, this thing, I actually saw it a long time ago, and I also understood. Staying by his side is my own will...". At this moment, she has a calm face and a peaceful expression, the sad emotions she had been hiding were just a fleeting process, unknowingly, her expression of emotions had become so strong, "I see what he does for you, see him having joys and sorrows because of you... I like Winter melon, although I'm a bit jealous of you, but I also like you, both of you are people I don't want to lose, so you don't need to apologize to me, this isn't your fault."

  "Ru Xi!" I was moved to grab her hand, and she forced a faint smile. Even with dark circles under her eyes, a swollen face, and tears still hanging from the corners of her eyes, that one smile looked particularly awkward, but to me it was more beautiful than an immortal, a deep beauty etched in my heart.

  "Rice, I also know your feelings for Zhang Jiu Yu, I know you didn't mean to intervene between me and Dong Gua... although it's a bit late, congratulations to you both!" At this moment, she was like someone with the ability to read minds or see through things, exposing everything I was thinking. It's as if only Ruo Xi truly understands me! But I'm so stupid that I couldn't see her sadness, and the more she thinks of me, the more I feel guilty, I should immediately commit seppuku to atone for my sins!

  Xiao Xi hugged me gently again, patted me twice on the back, and then let go, as if at this moment she was comforting me, rather than being comforted by me.

  "As for me, you don't have to worry about me. I love him, and it has nothing to do with whether he loves me or not. Even if it's just a one-sided feeling, I want to be by his side, be true to him. Although I may not be able to help him, at least I can accompany him, so he won't be lonely. That's all that matters to me!" She had a calm and peaceful smile on her face.

  Suddenly, I remembered a sentence that I don't know where I heard it from: Love is selfless giving without expecting anything in return. At this moment, Ruo Xi is a living example of this: silently standing behind the one she loves, silently supporting, silently giving, even if she knows that the other person has someone else in their heart, she still gives her all without hesitation, completely surrendering her true feelings... With such deep emotions and intentions, I really don't believe that Ji Dong won't have any feelings of sympathy or affection for her!

  "Ruo Xi! Donggua will one day understand you, I believe!" I said firmly. Water droplets can still pierce through stone! Ji Dong may be as stubborn as an iron pestle, but he'll eventually turn into a needle!

  "Rice Rice, honestly, with your support, I'm set!"