Chapter 6 – that’s
After being spoken to like that by her, Meng Ou in front of her looked rather dejected.
He slightly hunched his back, rested both elbows on the edge of the table, and looked up at her slightly.
His eyes seemed hidden very, very deep inside, glistening with moisture, like a deep pool.
Xiang You thought that they had clearly broken up peacefully. There was really no need for them to be so at odds with each other.
She was a mature adult. It had been a thousand days already. Why make things so ugly?
So, she tried her best to smile amiably. “I was joking.”
Meng Ou’s eyebrows twitched ever so slightly. “Really? You made me feel sad for a moment.”
Xiang You propped one hand on the table, rested her cheek against it, and tilted her head as she looked at him.
This man’s words were not very trustworthy.
Meng Ou was very good at acting. Joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, he could act out all of them.
He also had a silver tongue, and the two complemented each other. He could always fool Xiang You into going around in circles.
So Xiang You did not believe him.
But she liked watching him act.
Take that joke that had led to their breakup, for example. Meng Ou was always looking at her pitifully, saying that he had been wrong, saying that his heart was utterly shattered. Who knew how much of it was true and how much was fake?
But when he crouched beside her desk, both hands gripping the edge, and looked up at her with an imploring expression as he apologized, Xiang You’s heart seemed like a sponge soaked in water, wet and soft.
A barista wearing a black apron suddenly walked over. Xiang You withdrew her hand and straightened her back a little, looking at her in confusion.
The barista stopped beside the table and handed Meng Ou paper and a pen. “Thank you for choosing our new product. May we ask you to participate in a little survey? There’s a coupon as a gift.”
Meng Ou had always been willing to accept whatever came his way. He nodded and took the paper and pen.
Xiang You’s curiosity was immediately piqued. She raised her head and slightly craned her neck to look over, curious about what questions they would ask.
As she watched, the sheet of paper suddenly turned around, then was pushed in front of her.
Meng Ou opened his palm and tilted it slightly, and the pen rolled toward her with a rumble.
“She’s tried it too. Can she fill one out as well?” Before Xiang You could speak, Meng Ou said to the barista.
The barista froze for a moment, then looked at the two straws in his cup and nodded. “Of course. Please wait a moment. I’ll get another survey form.”
After the barista temporarily left, Xiang You lowered her voice. “Why are you giving it to me?”
“Doesn’t your neck get tired from craning your head over like that?” Meng Ou’s voice held a hint of laughter.
“I was just bored and taking a look…” Xiang You’s voice grew quieter and quieter as she tried to push the survey form back.
“Alright, just fill it out.” Meng Ou pushed it toward her as well, not giving her a choice.
The stiff paper scraped across the glass tabletop, letting out a sharp sound before arching into a bridge.
Calling it a bridge perhaps was not quite appropriate, because its bottom ends were connected. From the side, it looked more like the shape of a water droplet.
The fingertips of the two people pushing in opposite directions suddenly collided.
Although there were two layers of paper between them, they could still clearly feel each other’s warmth.
Xiang You’s fingertips were cool, while Meng Ou’s were hot. He was a walking furnace, warm all year round.
In winter, Xiang You loved slipping her hands into the back of his neck to warm them.
But once they went in, it was not necessarily easy to get them back out.
Meng Ou was wicked. Sometimes, he would deliberately lean backward and settle against the back of the chair, trapping Xiang You’s hand.
Xiang You would be so angry that she wanted to hit him, but unfortunately, both her hands were pinned down tight.
Kick him? Her hands were restricting her freedom, and her legs did not have much room to maneuver either.
Meanwhile, Meng Ou would happily scroll through his phone and tell her, “Go stand there and serve your punishment properly.”
Especially when Xiang You sometimes had something urgent to do and was trapped in place for ages, getting so anxious she would stomp her feet.
Of course, in the end, Meng Ou was the one who paid the price too.
For example, the subway fare might have originally been only two yuan, but because he had delayed her, he had no choice but to spend dozens of yuan on a taxi for Xiang You.
Or when an assignment was due at the deadline, Meng Ou could only burn the midnight oil and help her finish it together, although he had only delayed her for a few minutes, while Xiang You had procrastinated for several days before that.
Meng Ou had complained to her about this, but Xiang You maintained that the deadline was right there. The later the time, the higher the efficiency, and naturally, the more precious that time was.
For once, Meng Ou could not win the argument with her.
Maybe it was because he wanted to let her win for once.
Or, more likely, time really was too tight. Xiang You owed too many assignments, leaving Meng Ou with no time to waste arguing with her.
While Meng Ou was frantically busy with her assignments, it also made it convenient for her to secretly watch him.
As for why the two of them still had to sneak glances at each other despite this kind of relationship, it was because the moment he caught her doing it, he would reveal his true colors.
When Meng Ou was serious, it was as though even his looks went up a notch.
With that ever-running-off-at-the-mouth of his finally shut, the slyness disappeared from his eyes too, and he became a beautiful statue.
It made Xiang You want to kiss him.
But the moment she actually kissed him, Meng Ou would start grinning wickedly and say, “You love me that much?”
The moment he opened his mouth, he annoyed Xiang You so much that she only wanted to get as far away from him as possible.
She could never kiss Meng Ou when he looked his best. Xiang You called this the “kissing paradox.”
The barista brought over the second survey form. Xiang You lowered her head, shook her own sheet a little to smooth it out, and picked up the ballpoint pen.
She had actually only taken one sip, so there were many questions she could not answer accurately.
Troubled, she unconsciously clicked the pen tip in and out again and again.
Suddenly, she heard the sound of a glass sliding across the tabletop beside her.
Meng Ou smiled at her. “If you can’t decide, have another sip.”
Who even wanted to drink this thing?
Hadn’t she been unwillingly turned into a tool for their new-product survey?
Thinking this, Xiang You still pulled the cup in front of her, lowered her head, and closed her lips around the straw nearest to her.
Her hands and her brain were always out of sync, which frustrated her terribly.
Meng Ou’s temple suddenly throbbed.
The cup had unconsciously turned halfway when it was being pushed, and she had gotten the wrong straw.
Obviously, it was already too late to tell her now.
There were ten thousand jokes running through his mind.
He could even imagine the embarrassed expression on Xiang You’s face once she learned the truth.
But in the end, he said nothing.
He simply lowered his head and looked at his own survey form.
“Click,” “click.” His ballpoint pen tip was pressed in and out.
This drink whose name was so long he could not remember it was no longer as cold as it had been at the beginning. As a result, its sweetness had also become heavier, making it somewhat cloying.
Xiang You pushed the glass cup back, lowered her head, and earnestly filled out the survey form.
After both forms had been completed, the barista pulled two coupons from her apron pocket. “Thank you for participating in our survey. These are free second-cup coupons for the two of you. They’re valid for one month, so please use them in time.”
She had been tricked.
That was Xiang You’s first reaction.
This was obviously a marketing ploy by the business, enticing her to come back and spend money again.
There were even restrictions on where the coupon could be used. It was only valid for the new product.
Meng Ou pushed his coupon toward her. “I don’t live around here anyway. You can come have a drink next time.”
He really had no use for it, and Xiang You would have a hard time using it either. “Who am I supposed to come drink it with?”
If it were simply a fifty-percent-off coupon, she might come one day on a whim.
But why did businesses these days all love running promotions for a second cup?
Did everyone in the whole world have someone they could share a second cup with? Why didn’t she?
“Drink?” Meng Ou pursed his lips noncommittally, the look in his eyes deepening as he gazed at her. “No one to come with you?”
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