Chapter Eighteen: The Infatuated Bachelor

  But it turned out that I overestimated Ah Xiu, I thought that under her beautiful and elegant appearance, she must have a heart as faithful and loyal as a good wife, but unexpectedly, she actually has a romantic and flirtatious heart wrapped in the skin of a good wife, and her principle is not just to blush for Cheng Qiao alone, but to blush whenever she sees a handsome guy.

  After I struggled to distinguish that the man in front of me, his eye pupils weren't so clear and bright blue because he wore colored contact lenses, and his eye sockets weren't so sunken because of poor sleep quality - I finally confirmed that this handsome guy was indeed not a Chinese handsome guy.

  I couldn't help but add a little more in my heart for Ah Xiu, and the degree of blushing would also change with the latitude and longitude of the country.

  This foreign handsome guy was staring at me with his deep blue eyes while I was gazing at him, and finally seemed to have confirmed something, stood up suddenly, and enthusiastically stretched out his enormous hand: "Hello!"

  I was startled by his sudden and drastic increase in altitude, taking a few steps back to look up at him: "......hello?" It wasn't until after I spoke that I realized he had just greeted me in Chinese. But as far as I could remember, my interactions with foreign friends were limited to asking for directions. If there was such a handsome foreigner who could say "" (hello) so fluently, I would have definitely... probably wouldn't have remembered him either, cough cough, my ability to recognize people really isn't that great.

  But this height... how come it looks so familiar?

  The foreign handsome guy also took a step forward, his hand persistently stretched out in front of me. I stared at that big hand for a while, and finally reached out my hand to shake with him. He let go quickly and immediately gestured behind him: "Please sit down."

  I sat down across from him with a bit of hesitation, and suddenly I had the feeling that I was the guest instead of the host. Just as I was thinking about how to concisely and forcefully express my doubts, he had already begun his self-introduction.

  "Hello Yayou, I'm Tony, Qin Qian's ex-boyfriend."

  If I had a mouthful of water right now, I'm sure I'd unceremoniously spit the whole thing onto this foreign pretty boy who calls himself "Tony", without leaving a single drop.

  I didn't want to be bewildered by his calm demeanor, so I immediately brought over the little feather that was resting at the counter. Seeing her stunned for a few seconds before excitedly chatting with the handsome guy, a feeling of powerlessness seeped into my heart from the top of my head, and I painfully covered my face.

  The young man in front of me with a high nose, deep eyes and fair skin is quite different from the bearded old man who looked like Marx that I saw last time! Has he been injected with botulinum toxin or hyaluronic acid?! Is it because he has watched too many martial arts movies and can even play disguise techniques?! This technique is a bit too magical! But why are the disguises in ancient costume dramas so brainless?! Who evolved from whom, my great China and his France?!

  When I was furious, Xiaoyu had already finished chatting with Tony. She forcibly pried open my hands: "When did you see Tony? I thought you didn't know him."

  Is he any different from a stranger now?! I stiffly replied to her: "A Qian, you're overreacting!"

  "Yao Yao," Tony's bright blue eyes suddenly turned to me: "May I call you that?"

  I stiffened and continued: "Okay."

  He smiled brightly: "Last time when I came here with Qianqian, I wanted to come in and get to know the owner, but she directly refused. No choice, today I had to sneak in by myself, hope you don't mind."

  I was shocked by his articulate words: "Of course not, guests are always welcome. I just don't quite understand, you yourself said you're Ah Qian's ex-boyfriend, so why do you still want to get to know your ex-girlfriend's friends? Is it some kind of breakup culture in your country?" I nodded while dryly chuckling, "Well, that really is...just like your desserts, special."

  He immediately stopped smiling and said seriously: "But I don't want to be Shallow's ex-boyfriend, I came back to get back together with her. My permanent residence permit in China has already been successfully applied for."

  Xiao Yu said without thinking: "I advise you not to have too much hope, Ah Qian has never eaten leftover grass."

  He waved his two hands violently in refutation: "But I'm not a weed, I'm human!"

  "Bang!" Xiao Yu and I simultaneously bumped our foreheads on the table.

  "Words are like love, made of sugar; if they're not sweet to the point of sorrow, then they're suffocating to the point of internal injury." Xiao Yu said in a low voice.

  "What does internal injury have to do with diabetes?" I wondered.

  "It's just diabetes." She curled her lip.

  I suddenly realized that diabetes is related to the kidneys, and what's related to the kidneys is still internal injury. I gave her a thumbs up, and we both laughed wickedly together.

  "At that time, I thought Shallow and I were just a fleeting romance, so I returned to France after the trip. But when I opened my backpack at home, I saw our photos together." In our extremely shocked gaze, Tony said with a pained expression, "At that moment, I realized how much I missed Shallow, I couldn't wait to see her, hold her in my arms and deeply kiss her! I finally understood... I had already fallen in love with Shallow to the bone!"

  I and Xiao Yu have petrified.

  "So I hope you can help me, you are Qianqian's best friends, please let her change her mind and accept me again! I really can't live without her!" His bright eyes revealed genuine sadness and helplessness, "You... answer me, okay?"

  "Y-you...you guys...actually...Lulu's tears...a love token?" Xiaoyu exclaimed in disbelief.

  I hesitantly chimed in: "But from our understanding of A Sha over the years, she shouldn't be... such a casual person."

  "But she's not even human now!" Xiaoyu exclaimed, pointing at Tony with her hand. "Are you sure you two have really become a fleeting romance?"

  "Definitely." Tony touched the back of his head, "Shallow and I were originally strangers, then we met by chance, interacted, fell in love, and parted ways after a short time. If this isn't a fleeting romance, what is?"

  Xiaoyu and I fell silent.

  "On the other end of the phone, he said in a straightforward tone: 'I've already passed the sixth level of the HSK Chinese proficiency test. Idioms are still no match for me, so there's no need to flatter me.'"

  The little bird on the table tightened and loosened its grip, loosened and then gripped again, repeating several times. Finally, it couldn't help but open its mouth with a blank expression: "Lù shuǐ qíng yuán (露水情缘), used for temporary male-female wild combination, refers to improper male-female relationships. You can directly understand it as **wild mandarin ducks**."

  Seeing his bewildered expression, I highlighted the key points: "A man and a woman had sex despite the risk of being caught."

  "I'm soaking in a pig cage, I know, but... what?!" He immediately stood up and even bowed 90 degrees: "Sorry! I really didn't think that the love of dew would mean this, and I made such a mistake, it's simply an insult to Shallow, please don't tell her!"

  The overwhelming altitude on my head is really too stressful, I forced a smile and gestured for him to sit down. Recalling his previous heartfelt words, I can basically confirm that this brother from the romantic country of France, apart from his appearance, has nothing else that reveals his true nature, not only is he emotionally rich, intelligent and studious, but also a die-hard fan of Qiong Yao's novels, and in some ways, he's also a bit... silly. However, it can't be denied that he truly loves Ah Shu deeply.

  "By the way," I stared straight at his smooth, slightly greenish chin, "how did you suddenly change your style? Ah-Qian must have liked you before because of your beard, right?"

  He rubbed his chin, and a gentle warmth floated in his beautiful eyes: "Because it's too thick, too hard, and too long, all of which hurt Shallow."

  "Bang!" This time, Xiaoyu and I bumped heavily against the table.

  I'm so angry I could flip the table! How can you say something so misleading with that expression? Is it because you're too outspoken or are our minds just too evil?!

  "I remember when we first met," he said, still immersed in his own world, a sweet smile spreading across his face. "Qian Qian once told me that my beard was very mature and sexy, and she was fascinated by it. But last time we kissed, Qian Qian said it was a bit too nourished, it scratched her and made her want to pull it all out. So on the way back, I passed by a barber shop and went in to get rid of it."

  I closed my eyes and calmed down my emotions, unable to speak. This foreign man, for A-Qian's sake, not only betrayed his country but also, because of her one sentence, handled the things they had accumulated over the years as if they were nothing. Such a deep infatuation... I let out a sigh, it has already reached this point of sacrifice. So, if I don't properly repay him with actual actions, how can I be at peace with my own conscience?

  "Well, since you've gone this far," I said seriously, looking at him, "what would you like to drink?"