Chapter 13: Captive Chen Xiao Zheng's Ultimate Strategy

  Zheng Wei returned to the dormitory and saw Ruan Ruan, who had been gone for half a day, excitedly jumping around like a little frog that had finally found its mother. She exclaimed in surprise, "Ruan Ruan, you've finally come back!"

  Ruan Ruan, who was still in a cold war state before leaving the dormitory, was confused by her sudden enthusiasm and didn't have time to speak before being pulled out of the dormitory by Zheng Wei. "I have so many things I want to tell you."

  She pulled Ruan Ruan to run to the statue of Mao Yisheng near the College of Architectural Engineering, where couples sat on a small platform. Zheng Wei began to recall the events of the day, and Ruan Ruan listened attentively without interrupting. The more she listened, the wider her eyes became, until she couldn't help but say, "Wait, let me digest this... In short, you're saying that today, you liked someone, rejected someone's confession, and then confessed to someone else?"

  Zheng Wei nodded naturally "Yes, what's wrong with that?"

  Ruan Ruan said, "If I'm not mistaken, it's only been half a day since we last saw each other, how did things progress to this stage so rapidly?"

  Zheng Wei was taken aback for a moment "Really fast? I don't know why it's like this, I just feel that today is especially long. Ruan Ruan, when you and Xiao Yongyong were together at first, was it like this too? Did you also say 'I like him' to him?"

  She called him "Little Yongyong", naturally referring to Ruan's boyfriend Zhao Shiying. Zheng Wei had never met the real Zhao Shiying, but they had talked on the phone countless times and were already familiar with each other. Ruan shook her head, "We were so simple back then, I didn't confess to him and he didn't either, we just naturally ended up together. I said you're quite ruthless, Chen Xiaozheng was scared out of his wits, wasn't he?"

  Zheng Wei scratched his head, recalling the terrified expression on his face, and chuckled. He then turned serious and said to Ruan Ruan, "I'm in a hurry for a reason. If I don't tell him, how will he know that I've fallen for him? He doesn't know anything, and I'm suffering alone, feeling so wronged. Maybe if I give him some inner turmoil, he'll start thinking about it and fall for me too. Even if he doesn't like me right away, at least in the future, his attitude towards me will be different. Before, he just saw me as an ordinary person, but now he'll see me as someone with emotional entanglements - how ambiguous! This is definitely a strong psychological blow for a young man like him. Besides, I heard from Li Wei Juan that there's a 'girlfriend' by his side. I think they've been playing hard to get for a while, but in this situation, I really can't wait any longer. The early bird gets the worm, and the latecomer suffers. Isn't that what they say? The purer and more ambiguous the feelings are, the more fragile they are, unable to withstand even a little wind or rain. I want to intervene strongly at the budding stage and strangle this relationship in its cradle, making them go their separate ways forever!"

  Ruan Ruan listened to her with a sigh, analyzing layer by layer with reason and evidence. "It's crazy enough - what's even crazier is that I actually think you make sense."

  "Haha." Zheng Wei smiled triumphantly, "A good man is afraid of a nagging woman. Let Chen Xiao Zheng be as tough as he wants, under my unbeatable nagging skills, I'm not afraid he won't become a softie."

  Ruan Ruan watched as she skillfully made a "finger dance" gesture with her fingers, and couldn't help but secretly sweat for Chen Xiaozheng.

  People with type O blood are mostly action-oriented, and Zheng Wei is no exception. The next day in class, Ruan Ruan was surprised to see her writing furiously and asked, "What's everyone writing?" Zheng Wei proudly showed off her morning's work, a detailed plan of action for capturing Chen Xiao Zheng. Ruan Ruan read it and was speechless. On the brand new notebook, nearly ten pages were filled with tiny characters, each step and detail carefully written out, with key points underlined. Ruan Ruan recalled Zheng Wei's intense focus when learning Japanese during her AV craze days and felt that Zhu Xiao Bei's evaluation of "perverse yet diligent" was spot on.

  The first step in strategy: know yourself and know your enemy, win every battle.

  It's not too difficult for Zheng Wei to infiltrate the enemy's internal network and obtain first-hand intelligence. When Old Zhang and others handed over Chen Xiaozheng's class schedule and rest time table, they didn't forget to advise him with a clear conscience: "Weiwei, I think we should stop beating the fallen dog. Although he pushed you away, which is despicable, but he has also suffered enough. You can let him go."

  Zheng Wei's big eyes widened, "Old Zhang, you're the one who's fallen into the water! From now on, if you scold him, it's like scolding me. I've long since written off my old grudges against him. Now he's someone I like. Who says I collected these things to torture him? I'm actually planning to cater to his tastes and give him what he wants."

  Old Zhang had been in a state of semi-dementia for a long time. He didn't understand whether he was old or the world was changing too fast. How could Chen Xiao Zheng, who used to be at odds with him, become someone Zheng Wei liked? However, Zheng Wei didn't have much time to listen to his ramblings. She came with her own little notebook and had everything about him recorded down to the smallest detail: his birthdate, zodiac sign, blood type, interests, favorite books, and places he often went to. Before returning home loaded with information, Old Zhang was entrusted by the bewildered crowd to carefully ask the person involved for confirmation, "Comrade Zheng Wei, are you sure you're not joking?"

  "I don't have that kind of free time." Zheng Wei said seriously and solemnly to Old Zhang and the others, "No mistake, I am going to pursue Chen Xiao Zheng!"

  This is her second step in creating a good atmosphere for action with the advantage of public opinion.

  Even among engineering students who are not so enthusiastic about gossip, the news of Zheng Wei from the Department of Civil Engineering pursuing Chen Xiao Zheng from the School of Architecture spread quickly throughout the College of Architectural Engineering and beyond. In this day and age, it's nothing unusual for a girl to pursue a boy, but what's rare is that the parties involved are so high-profile and fearless. The combination of Zheng Wei, a beautiful and lively young woman, and Chen Xiao Zheng, a low-key and introverted top student, has all the conditions to attract public attention. Some people were skeptical, some were eager to watch the excitement, some commented openly or secretly, and some were not pleased in their hearts.

  Zheng Wei was not bothered by anything, although there were many people around her who were eager to ask, inquire, and gossip about her. She would always respond with a straightforward "yes" or "no", which made others hesitant to say anything more. On the other hand, Chen Xiao was being sized up by everyone wherever he went, with some people teasing him with suggestive smiles, saying things like: "You've got quite a bit of luck with women, don't you?" or "I never knew you were interested in girls, but I guess when you are, you really go for it!" Of course, there were also plenty of whispers and murmurs behind his back: "Hey, isn't that the guy who's supposed to be pursued by Zheng Wei from the Civil Engineering department? He's not even that good-looking, but somehow he's got someone interested in him..." "I heard his family is nothing special either, but somehow he managed to push aside even Xu Gongzi... now that's what I call having skills..."

  He went about his daily routine, exercising in the morning, attending classes, studying and living as usual, keeping to himself, never intentionally avoiding or clearing up the rumors, just being indifferent, as if they were talking about someone else's story, only speeding up when he saw Zheng Wei from afar.

  But Zheng Wei was not afraid of his avoidance. A school can be so big, but with a determined effort to find someone, it's always possible, especially for someone who lives such a regular life. The third step in the strategy: strike the snake and wrap around it tightly without letting go.

  So when Chen Xiao Zheng met Zheng Wei for the nth+1 time at the language corner, she was calm on the surface but not internally. She didn't know what kind of trickery she used, but whenever the foreign teacher divided them into groups to chat, she always managed to be in the same group as him. Moreover, her public opinion campaign took effect here, and their classmates who were grouped with them would coincidentally disappear one after another. Then he went wherever she followed.

  He could indeed ignore her, but she was really too noisy. She said: "Chen Xiao Zheng, you won't be so spineless, will you? You're not even daring to talk to me? Are you guilty of something?" He actually thought what she said made sense. What is he afraid of? A gentleman is open and honest, a petty person is always anxious. At most, treat her like a fly.

  Just as he finally managed to persuade himself to calm down, she stood not far away from him with an innocent face and asked, "Classmate, my English is poor, you need to teach me more. I want to ask you, how do you say 'I like you' in English?"

  He could only coldly watch her, once again convincing himself that it was unwise to get angry with her. From a young age, he had received very traditional education and had rarely seen women who were not gentle and kind. Of course, in this vast world, there's nothing strange about having all sorts of people, but why did someone like her have to appear by his side, and even claim that she liked him? What was even more frightening was that he felt she was actually serious.

  He won't like Zheng Wei, she's not at all what he expected his other half to be, and she completely overturned his understanding of women. He's not a person who indulges in emotional games, in his world there are far more important things than the petty love between men and women, but in the past he always thought that with a girl, even if he didn't love her, being cold was enough, only to find out when facing Zheng Wei that just being cold wasn't nearly enough.

  A few days ago, Zeng Yu faced him with a hint of sadness and evasion in his eyes. He must have also heard about Zheng Wei's affair. As for Zeng Yu, he didn't particularly like her during college, but he did appreciate her down-to-earth and progressive nature. He somewhat understood her feelings, but intentionally avoided talking about it because he didn't want to waste his time on romance. However, she continued to stay by his side, and who knows if he would eventually fall in love with her? When he sensed Zeng Yu's unusual behavior, he felt more annoyed than sad - annoyed at Zheng Wei's cunning plan that had become public knowledge. Didn't she just want to achieve this effect? Chen Xiao Zheng rarely liked or disliked someone, but now he really disliked Zheng Wei more and more.

  "How many times do I have to tell you that I don't like it?" He somewhat venomously hoped the smile on her face would dissipate.

  She put her hands behind her back and smiled, "I knew you'd say that. From now on, when you say 'I don't like you', it means 'I like you so much'; if you say 'are you annoying', it means 'you're very pretty'; if you say 'what do you want to do', it means 'I miss you'; if you say 'boring', it means 'it's great to see you'."

  Chen Xiao Zheng sneered and smiled "boring."

  She's like winning the jackpot "I knew you'd say 'it's great to see you' me too."

  He wisely chose to leave in silence, the only correct decision, pretending not to hear her say behind him, "Right, I forgot to mention that if you don't speak up, it means you've had a crush on me for a long time."

  ……

  How much tenacity and energy should a person have to be so resilient in the face of adversity? Chen Xiao Zheng had no choice but to get used to Zheng Wei suddenly appearing before him, whether it was on the road, in the cafeteria, in the library, in class, or in his dorm. The entire campus seemed to offer no safe haven for him, and he couldn't find a single place where he could be alone. He felt helpless and passively ignored her, finding it easier than resisting her. Many times during evening self-study sessions in the large classroom, he would rather tolerate someone sneaking glances at him than bear this person constantly looking out the window, spotting an acquaintance, and asking: "Have you seen Chen Xiao Zheng in which classroom?"

  He thought to himself that it was pathetic how any wise person in the world would become pathetic when encountering a brave warrior. Of course, he could accept a more realistic version: anyone normal in the world would usually become pathetic when encountering an abnormal person. Based on his long-term experience of resisting her, Zheng Wei absolutely belonged to the type of person who became braver with each setback. The more he disliked her, the more she would follow him around like a shadow, and she was like a copper pea that couldn't be steamed, boiled, smashed or chewed - always making a clattering noise. Only when she was by his side, ignoring her while she talked incessantly, being cold towards her when she momentarily lost her composure, did he feel a brief sense of revenge.

  During that time, he often had a dream in which he dreamed of walking towards his destination and crossing a tranquil pool of water when Zheng Wei, with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a snake, suddenly jumped out of the water and tightly entwined him, making it impossible for him to breathe. He could only follow her as she sank into the deep water, where the dark blue bottom was visible, and her long, flowing face was beautiful. He struggled desperately but was powerless, and finally felt only quietness, very quietness. However, when he woke up, he usually had a head full of cold sweat. He attributed the reason for his dream to bringing his disgust towards her into his sleep state. It seemed that he needed to gradually avoid thinking about this terrifying person before going to sleep.

  Everyone will unconsciously exaggerate the enemy's ability in their heart. Chen Xiao is making Zheng Wei look like a formidable beast, but he usually forgets that no matter how strong she is, she is just an 18 or 19-year-old girl. If he could pay more attention to her when she lowers her head, he would get even greater joy from the dimness in her eyes. However, he never does; his gaze always lingers on her for a moment before leaving.

  Zheng Wei has never truly experienced love, so she doesn't know what other people's love is like. She can only rely on her intuition to get close to the boy she loves as much as possible, even though her methods seem laughable and pitiful. However, his coldness is like a southern wall that she keeps crashing into, getting hurt and wearing armor, but it doesn't shake her foundation, and she forgets the pain.

  Everyone who knows her thinks that what happened between her and Chen Xiao Zheng is a classic. Li Wei Juan said she's simply losing face for all the girls, why not love someone good instead of finding someone who can't be dealt with and asking for trouble? He Lu Yu and Zhuo Mei were surprised but didn't have time to react before Zhu Xiao Bei straightforwardly idolized her, only Ruan Ruan asked if she was tired. She smiled and nodded then shook her head. Isn't the fourth step of Zheng Wei's strategy to let him annoy me, anger me, evade me, bother me, entangle myself with him, chase him, stick to him, and not let go? What suffering is there in seeking benevolence and getting it? Moreover, perhaps the way young people love is wrong, but the intuition of love is always right.