Chapter 14 We Are Not Fellow Travelers

  For several days, Wan Zhaohui couldn't help but think of Han Bin. No man had ever made her feel so deeply moved. His every move was deeply etched in her mind, unforgettable, just like the reflection she saw in the mirror - a slightly raised chin, an unyielding demeanor, and cold eyes. Wan Zhaohui couldn't deceive her own heart; her intuition told her that Han Bin was someone like her. Only now, Wan Zhaohui had disguised herself even more covertly, cleverly hiding her true inner self, making it difficult for others to discover. She never expected this resonance from the depths of their souls would so easily shatter the doubts and mistrust she had about men's sincerity, making her feel an unprecedented sense of security and trust.

  It's another Sunday afternoon, Ye Caiyun called: "Chaohui, Zeng Tao just called and said his family bought a computer, inviting us to go play now, let's go take a look together!"

  The person on the other end of the phone, Wan Chao Hui, furrowed her brow, with an expression of annoyance. She enjoyed being alone at home and cherished the peace and quiet. Moreover, her mother had reminded her multiple times that girls shouldn't casually visit boys' homes. However, when it came to Ye Cai Yun, although she didn't approve of some of Ye's ways of making friends, Ye was Wan Chao Hui's best friend, and she treasured their friendship. So, with some reluctance, she agreed: "Okay!"

  This was the first time Wan Chao Hui had been to Zeng Tao's parents' house, and she saw Ye Cai Yun's familiarity with the path, so she knew it wasn't her first time there. As for Ye Cai Yun's behavior in dealing with emotions, Wan Chao Hui didn't appreciate it. Ye Cai Yun clearly felt Zeng Tao's special feelings for her, but if she didn't like him, she shouldn't have given him a chance. She was indecisive and hesitant, ultimately harming both herself and others. For this reason, Wan Chao Hui had once spoken bluntly to Ye Cai Yun about it. Ye Cai Yun smiled and said that Wan Chao Hui was being too sensitive, and Zeng Tao hadn't even expressed his feelings to her yet. Wan Chao Hui asked back, "Do you have any feelings for him yourself?" Ye Cai Yun shook her head lightly and didn't say a word. Wan Chao Hui pressed her to speak her mind, but after a long time, Ye Cai Yun finally said she had no feelings. Wan Chao Hui looked at her helplessly, not knowing what to say next.

  They arrived at Zeng Tao's home and found that Zhang Yu Heng, Li Jian, Xu Jia Qi, and Li Gang were all there. Wan Chao Hui casually glanced around Zeng Tao's parents' house, which was a two-bedroom, one-living room apartment of about 80 square meters, with ordinary furnishings. As soon as they entered, Ye Cai Yun followed Zeng Tao to his room to see the new computer he had just bought. Before long, the sound of Ye Cai Yun's "heh heh" laughter came from inside, and occasionally the loud cries of the game could be heard. Wan Chao Hui had never liked virtual games, so she preferred to stay in the living room watching a DVD. The TV was playing a Hong Kong martial arts film, "New Dragon Gate Inn". The four boys moved over four chairs and sat around Wan Chao Hui, who wondered why none of them directly sat on either side of her. Obviously, one sofa could seat three people.

  This dull atmosphere made Wan Chao Hui feel particularly bored, she didn't know how these boys could be so weak and uninteresting, how they had a good impression of themselves, yet seemed so constrained, not daring to take liberties, were they afraid of provoking her displeasure? If that was the case, then she would have to bring up a topic herself, break the dullness: "What do you guys think of this movie?"

  "Compared with any previous martial arts film, the martial arts action is shot more quickly and fiercely stimulating, feeling very good!" Xu Jiaqi answered first.

  "This is the most enjoyable film played by Donnie Yen!" Zhang Yuhe added.

  "I also have the same feeling, Donnie Yen's moves are much more ruthless than those of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li, so he played the role of Cao Gonggong very well, making it memorable! Wan Zongwei's affirmation has further enhanced Zhang Yuheng's sense of participation and enthusiasm for expression."

  "I think Director Tsui Hark has made a new breakthrough in grasping the emotions between people. Lin Ching-hsia's portrayal of Mo Yan still retains the traditional reserved and subtle feelings towards Chow Yun-fat, while the innkeeper Madame Jin (played by Carina Lau) exudes a wild and daring pursuit of true love, breaking away from traditional femininity. It's very realistic. Zhang Man-yu has broken free from her previous constraints on female characters in terms of acting skills, making it well worth watching and leaving a lasting impression." To everyone's surprise, the one speaking was Li Gang, whose words made Wan Chao-hui look at him with newfound respect.

  "This might be the inevitable trend of universal progress in women's thoughts in the near future! The movie just hinted at it. Wan Chao Hui's thinking mode always has a forward consciousness. Li Gang also looked at Wan Chao Hui with an appreciative gaze, but when Wan Chao Hui looked back at him, he awkwardly avoided eye contact."

  At this time, the doorbell rang. Li Jian got up to open the door. It was Han Bin and two other unfamiliar boys. Seeing Han Bin, Wan Zhaohui tried hard to cover up the joy in his heart, still with a calm expression on the surface.

  "You're here too!" Seeing Wan Chao Hui's expressionless face, Han Bin couldn't help but feel disappointed. His good mood was ruined by her. Why did she have to be like this when facing him? They were classmates after all, shouldn't she at least have a smiling face to greet him? Still, as a man, he took the initiative to greet her.

  "En!" Wan Chao Hui responded faintly.

  Then Han Bin walked towards Zeng Tao's room, and the two boys who followed him were deeply attracted by the beauty, also moved two stools to join the exchange circle of Wan Chao Hui.

  Wan Chao Hui deliberately avoided looking at Han Bin, pretending to be even more focused on listening to the boys' conversation. She took advantage of brushing away her hair to glance naturally at Zeng Tao's door and saw Han Bin standing there, facing their direction, holding a magazine and flipping through it. With just one glance, Wan Chao Hui felt a thrill in her heart, and she became even more enthusiastic in the conversation, even making fun of herself, causing everyone to laugh nonstop.

  Han Bin stood at the door, he didn't care about the magazine at all, perked up his ears to listen to the conversation of the crowd in the living room, feeling itchy in his heart, wanting to join them, but couldn't save face, afraid that others would see that he cared about Wan Chao Hui's every move. Seeing a group of boys being teased by Wan Chao Hui's words and laughing, Han Bin finally couldn't bear it, put down the magazine in his hand, and walked towards the living room.

  Wan Zhaohui's tempting strategy worked, and she saw Han Bin slowly walking towards them, sitting down beside her with a calm and collected demeanor, the corners of his mouth involuntarily curling up into a faint smile of triumph. You finally couldn't resist anymore!

  "What are you talking about?" Han Bin asked gently.

  Wan Zhao Hui calmly looked at him with a faint smile still floating at the corner of his mouth, which was hard to be detected by others.

  "We were talking about the last Christmas school art performance, our computer class and their finance class competed for first place, but on that day, neither of us did well, we all made fools of ourselves. First, our class's big chorus was out of tune, the high notes didn't go up, and the lead singer's voice suddenly became hoarse, and they were ridiculed by the people in the finance class below the stage, clapping their hands and tables, shouting with their faces up to the sky. But when it was their turn to perform, they started off well, but later the male and female voices sang separately, half a beat apart, and didn't coordinate well with each other, rushing and rushing, until they merged into one. The most interesting thing is that after the song was finished, their conductor was still enthusiastically conducting! You say it's not funny?! In the end, neither of our two classes got first place." Xu Jiaqi's words were endless, talking non-stop without stopping.

  "Wan Zhaohui, I've always been curious, since you and Zeng Tao were high school classmates, shouldn't you have studied science? How did you end up studying finance?" Li Gang asked warmly. Han Bin, who was standing beside him, saw the concern in his eyes and felt a sour taste in his mind.

  "It's probably because I was born not liking mechanical things, so I'm not interested in computer science," Wan Zhaohui hid her true intentions and asked Er Shu: If she followed him to learn business after graduation, how would it be? Er Shu said: Okay! When the time comes, I'll introduce you to my friend's store to learn camera sales. Once you master all the business knowledge and sales skills, I'll invest in you to rent a counter in S City to start your own business. The friend Er Shu mentioned was also known to Wan Zhaohui, who was the third brother of Qin Ayi, his mistress. Wan Zhaohui had an aversion to complicated relationships between older men and women from the bottom of her heart, but she knew that she had to rely on these connections to achieve her goals. So, she often flattered Er Shu's mistresses with a sweet mouth, even if she looked down on them in her heart, she wouldn't show it on her face, always being gentle and lovely. As a result, the older generation at home all liked Wan Zhaohui, let alone Er Shu's mistresses, who even tried to win her over. Wan Zhaohui scanned the young men in front of her from left to right, talking about her grand ambitions with them would make them think it was a fantasy, a crazy person's nonsense.

  "If you were in our class, you would definitely be the class beauty. I don't dare say that all the boys in the class would like you, but I'm sure at least half of them would! Xu Jiaqi, oh Xu Jiaqi, what are you talking about?! This isn't the right occasion to say such things. Wan Chao Hui secretly scolded him, and she cared about how Han Bin beside her would think of her, because Han Bin had been silently listening to everyone's conversation."

  "I read the railway news that a female attendant who was running to Beijing committed suicide in Beijing two days ago, because her boyfriend abandoned her." Wan Chao Hui thanked Zhang Yu Heng for turning the topic around.

  "What's this, there's such a thing? Men and women falling in love is a matter of mutual consent. This woman is really stupid! Does she think she can take revenge on the man with this kind of method?" Xu Jiaqi said disdainfully.

  "It's true, my mom has already rushed to Beijing to deal with this matter!" This time, Han Bin finally spoke up, and his voice sounded very heavy. Wan Chao Hui was surprised not by the girl's suicide incident, but by the fact that she understood that Han Bin's mother was a railway official. Wan Chao Hui was too familiar with the railways to know that children from such families usually had their life paths arranged for them, directly entering the railway system and owning a decent "iron rice bowl" position. It seemed that Han Bin and she were not on the same path in life! Wan Chao Hui's heart suddenly cooled down by half, and she took advantage of the topic to say a sentence of double meaning that no one could understand: "I will never be stupid enough to commit suicide for a man in this lifetime!" In fact, she was saying this more to herself, giving herself an explanation, cutting off the silly feelings towards Han Bin that had just sprouted in her heart. As the saying goes, it's better to suffer a short pain than a long one, and taking advantage of the fact that she wasn't deeply trapped yet, she decided to cut off her thoughts early on.

  All the boys were looking at her, each with their own opinions, admiring, respecting, liking, fearing, and feeling inferior. Han Bin's heart was filled with admiration, seemingly a girl with an independent and strong personality.

  Wan Zhaohui suddenly stood up and walked straight into Zeng Tao's room, "Caiyun, I'll leave first, you stay and play!"

  "Chao Hui, play a bit more, and we'll have dinner at my place tonight!" Zeng Tao was in the middle of teaching Ye Caiyun how to use the computer and was having a great time. He had finally caught the opportunity, so he wasn't willing to let Ye Caiyun leave.

  "Yes, Chao Hui, just play for a while longer? Anyway, you don't have anything else to do today!" Ye Caiyun said straightforwardly. Sometimes, Ye Caiyun really had no way with Chao Hui, who always failed to understand her intentions at critical moments.

  "Who says nothing's going on? My cousin is coming over tonight!" Wan Zhaohui had no choice but to tell a lie.

  "Alright then, you go first, I want to stay and play a bit longer!" Ye Caiyun said with embarrassment.

  "That's it! Goodbye!" Wan Chao Hui didn't expect Ye Cai Yun to accompany her to leave together.

  "You all continue playing, I have something to attend to, I'll leave first!" Wan Zhaohui returned to the living room and said with a smile to everyone.

  "What's the hurry to leave? Let's play for a while, we're having dinner together tonight!" Xu Jiaqi said anxiously. When Wan Chao Hui and Han Bin exchanged glances, she saw a different kind of affection in Han Bin's dark eyes for the first time, as if he was reluctant to part with her, lingering. Wan Chao Hui hesitated for a moment, but ultimately reaffirmed his decision to leave.

  At the moment of leaving, Wan Chao Hui looked at Han Bin with great attachment, then closed the door and left resolutely.

  As the door slammed shut with a "bang", Han Bin gazed calmly at the TV screen, but in his heart he felt infinitely disappointed: She doesn't have any feelings for me, I was just overthinking!