Chapter Eleven: Breaking Out of the Cocoon

  For two days in a row, Zheng Wei didn't speak to Ruan Ruan, and she no longer followed her around like before. Ruan Ruan also stopped explaining things to her. The others in the dorm noticed something was off, but Zheng Wei's mood was clearly terrible, so nobody wanted to get involved and ask Ruan Ruan what was wrong. When asked, Ruan Ruan just said, "Nothing, she's just got some things on her mind that she can't figure out."

  On Friday afternoon, Ruan went to class, Zheng Wei didn't go, Zhu Xiaobei skipped class, and Li Weijuan had no classes, so there were three people in the dormitory.

  Zheng Wei was just like the past few days, a far cry from her usual lively self, silently playing "Boom Chicken" on the computer. Zhu Xiao Bei was lying in bed reading a book and heard the sound of gunfire coming from Zheng Wei's direction, so he walked over to take a look. He saw that she was staring intently at the screen, moving the mouse quickly to shoot down chicken after chicken that flew by, making them let out pitiful cries. Zhu Xiao Bei knew that Zheng Wei was in a bad mood, but couldn't help saying, "Doesn't your mouse cost money? Do you have to use it so forcefully? Tsk tsk, look at the way you're venting, it's violent! Who made you so angry, with such deep-seated resentment?"

  Zheng Wei ignored her and continued to focus on shooting those poor little chickens. Zhu Xiaobei didn't care either, and asked again, "Tell me, who bullied you? I'll go all out for you too, won't it be that... oh, Chen Xiao Zheng?"

  Zheng Wei irritably stared at Zhu Xiaobei, "Chen Xiao Zheng, Chen Xiao Zheng, why do you guys always bring up this person?"

  Zhu Xiaobei gave a puzzled look, "Who keeps bringing him up? You're the one who mentions him countless times every day, aren't you?"

  "What? I don't have!" Zheng Wei disavowed.

  Li Wei Juan lazily said on the bed, "No wonder, you mention this name at least 10 times a day, otherwise ask anyone in our dormitory."

  Zheng Wei was taken aback for a moment, then muttered to himself, "No way, this is too exaggerated."

  "We also discussed it behind your back, you won't take a liking to that Chen Xiao Zheng, will you?" Lei Wei Juan added.

  Zheng Wei stopped playing games and stood up, throwing away the mouse. She shouted in a shrill voice, "You're talking nonsense! How could I like that scum?"

  Zhu Xiaobei hastily pressed her back into the chair, "Calm down, calm down, impulsive behavior is the devil."

  Li Wei Juan was also startled and sat up, saying, "Listen to me finish speaking, originally I thought so too, but after thinking about it, you can't possibly like him."

  "Why?" Zhu Xiaobei looked puzzled, "You used to praise him all the time, saying he was like an idol. To be honest, I think Chen Xiao Zheng is pretty good too, he looks quite nice, although not extremely handsome, but very likable. I like this kind of guy with a good personality, and his grades are great, with a bright future ahead of him. Many girls in our department have talked about him."

  Li Weijuan hummed from her nose, "Xiao Bei, you don't understand this, do you? He's not bad, but what's the use? Our school has a rich supply of handsome guys, and he's not particularly outstanding. As for good grades and having prospects, who knows? By the time his prospects arrive, maybe the yellow flowers will have wilted. I heard his family background isn't very good, so it's better to be realistic when finding a boyfriend. Why should Zheng Wei look up to him? It's clear that Xu Gongzi doesn't even look at him, let alone Chen Xiaozheng. What makes Xu Kaiyang worse than Chen Xiaozheng? He's not inferior in looks, but the key is who his father is and what environment he comes from. In this day and age, who's dumber than whom?"

  She analyzed it so thoroughly that even Zhu Xiaobei, who was used to arguing with her, couldn't help but nod in agreement. "That's also true, Xu Kaiyang is indeed not bad, and even if we don't mention his family background, he is at least very accommodating to Zheng Wei."

  Zheng Wei was dazed, not knowing what she was thinking about, as if what they were saying had nothing to do with her. Li Wei Juan continued to show off her all-knowing abilities, "I also heard that Chen Xiao Zheng seems to have a girlfriend."

  Zhu Xiaobei's hand was still on Zheng Wei's shoulder, and she seemed to have felt a shock, then almost in unison with Zheng Wei, asked: "What is an quasi-girlfriend?"

  "It's just that kind of ambiguous relationship between a man and a woman, where they haven't quite made it official yet. The girl is from our student union, she's in the same class as him, her name is Zeng Yu, and among their batch, she's considered to be one of the better-looking ones. When she first started school, many people had a crush on her, but her feelings for Chen Xiao Zheng were obvious to anyone with eyes."

  "Does Chen Xiao Zheng like her too?" Zhu Xiao Bei asked curiously.

  "I didn't know that, but at least it's not unpleasant, he's quite proud, ordinary people don't really bother with him, but he's okay with Zeng Yu, at least among the girls, she's the only one who gets along well with him, Zeng Yu's grades are also good, and her personality is generous, anyway, the two of them get along pretty well, I guess they just haven't had the courage to say it yet, but it should be a matter of time."

  "Stop it, stop it, why keep talking about that perverted thing?" Zheng Wei pushed the chair away and stood up, "It's even more disgusting than eating a fly."

  She said and walked out of the dormitory, when she closed the door with a bang, the glass was buzzing, Li Wei Juan was inexplicable, "Who provoked her again, did she take the wrong medicine?"

  Zhu Xiaobei burst out laughing with a "heh heh".

  Zheng Wei walked out of the dormitory, wandering around the school alone. It was class time now, and there weren't many people around. She walked quickly, as if this could clear her mind and shake off unnecessary emotions. However, the more she wandered, the more confused and disheartened she became.

  Just now, when Li Wei Juan was speaking, her heart felt a sour and bitter taste, just like the feeling she had experienced for the first time in the cafeteria that day. She extremely disliked this strange feeling, didn't know how to vent it, could only hold back the flames that were rising uncontrollably, but again didn't know what kind of anger she was holding onto. Also, what did Ruan Ruan mean by what she said that day, "Unless he is your..." Unless he is her who?... If he really is hers... She suddenly covered her face, not daring to think further. Just right, not far away there was an IP phone booth, she ran over and dialed her mom's number. After her mom divorced her dad and moved out, she rented a house to live in, the phone rang for half a day without anyone answering, so she called her mom's office again. A familiar voice sounded from the other end of the phone, Zheng Huan Huan shouted "Mom" and almost cried out loud.

  "Mom was frightened and asked her what happened, she sniffled and asked: "Mom, I want to know, if every day I think about a person, during the day and at night in my dreams, I clearly dislike him, but I really want to see him. When I see him, my whole body becomes tense, even opposing him makes me happy, but seeing or hearing him with another girl is unbearable, not even my good friends are okay. I dislike him, yet I don't like it when he dislikes me, when he says I'm annoying, I want to cry. Mom, what's wrong with me?"

  Mom hadn't spoken for a long time, Zheng Wei was anxious, "Mom, are you there? Tell me quickly, what's wrong with me?"

  "Who is he?" Mom's voice was full of suppressed surprise.

  "Don't ask me that first, quickly tell me what's going on, I'm dying of anxiety." She was half frantic and half coquettish, her voice choked with emotion.

  "Silly child, are you in love?"

  "Mom, say it again."

  "I said, have you taken a liking to someone? Tell Mom quickly."

  Her mother's words were like a finger, gently poking through the thin layer of window gauze in Zheng Wei's heart, and many answers she had vaguely felt but didn't dare to think about, unwilling to think about, suddenly emerged. Facing this answer, she was shocked, bewildered, unwilling, and embarrassed, with nowhere to escape.

  "Baby, answer Mommy, is it?"

  She shook her head vigorously on the phone, then nodded repeatedly, and finally cried out in distress, "Okay, mom, I like him, but he just told me not to appear in front of him again, what can I do?"

  She talked to her mother for over an hour, the phone was burning hot before she hung up. After listening to her words, her mother showed more worry than surprise at first. She couldn't stop her daughter from liking a boy at this age, and she knew that no one could do anything about it because she had been young too. She just worried and had a premonition that her spoiled daughter might have to suffer this time.

  It took her a long time to realize that she liked him, and now all the questions she had been puzzled about had answers. Everything was clear and transparent. Young Zheng Wei was a straightforward girl, and once she realized her feelings for Chen Xiao Zheng, she quickly moved on to thinking about what to do next. She wasn't someone who hadn't liked anyone before - her feelings for Lin Jing, whom she had liked since childhood, had crept into her heart unnoticed, and she didn't even know when she started liking him. All she knew was that it was a long-held dream of hers, and the dream was sweet and perfect until Lin Jing left. She would often smile sweetly in her dreams. But her feelings for Chen Xiao Zheng were completely different - they were strong and overwhelming, sweeping her off her feet and leaving her no room to think before she lost her head. When she thought of him, she felt a mix of emotions - bitter, sour, spicy, but mostly slightly sweet.

  As she walked back to her dorm, her frustration gradually dissipated. Before her was a road, and where she needed to go was no longer in question. All that remained to be thought about was how to get there, but no matter the route, she believed that all roads lead to Rome, and one day, Zheng Wei would make it into Chen Xiao Zheng's heart, planting her five-star red flag there.