Chapter 10 Crooked (Revised)

After eating dinner at the apartment, Tang Man lazily lay on the living room sofa, munching on the fruit cut by Si Jiahe.

The sound of water trickling emerged from the kitchen and it took a good while before it quieted down.

Si Jiahe poked his head out from the kitchen and tentatively asked, “Manman, I’ll come over to cook the soup tomorrow, otherwise the flavor won’t be good if it’s left in the fridge overnight.”

Tang Man nodded indifferently. She picked up a piece of cut fruit from the plate on her lap and put it into her mouth. After thinking for a bit, worried that Si Jiahe hadn’t seen, she said carelessly in the direction of the kitchen once more.

“If you have time tomorrow, just leave it. If not, cook it directly today and put it in the fridge.”

Anyway, as long as she sent it over, even if the flavor was poor, Old Tang wouldn’t openly express dislike. After all, the old man was clear about her cooking skills.

Seeing Tang Man respond, Si Jiahe put all the unused ingredients into the fridge. The pig trotters had been processed and could be directly stewed in a clay pot tomorrow. He wiped his hands dry before walking out of the kitchen.

The TV in the living room was still on. Under the warm yellow glow, a person was sleeping on the sofa, with the fruit plate casually scattered on the sofa beside her.

He quietly walked over, took the plate from the sofa and placed it on the coffee table in front. After tidying up, he squatted beside the sofa and stared at the woman before him.

Since their encounter this afternoon, he hadn’t had a chance to take a good look at her.

Compared to before, the naivety between her brows had completely disappeared, revealing a unique sense of aloofness, making people feel unapproachable when she wasn’t smiling.

But she was as beautiful as ever.

When the freshmen entered the school that year, even he in the Academy of Fine Arts knew that there was an extremely good-looking girl in their class. Not just ordinarily pretty, but the kind of beauty that ordinary people couldn’t match. Quite a few secretly taken photos appeared on the school forum.

Si Jiahe had also happened to see her once during military training.

University military training was no joke. It just so happened that the sun was exceptionally strong that summer, shining from morning to night. The incoming freshmen, regardless of gender, had all tanned several shades darker, as if they had returned from mining coal in Africa.

Si Jiahe had also tanned a bit, but among a group of coal-black faces, he instead became the fairest one, while also standing out like a crane among chickens due to his outstanding appearance.

And in the crowd at the cafeteria, the other person standing out like a crane among chickens was Tang Man. Wearing a set of poor quality camouflage uniform, her exposed arms looked white as jade, her fair face especially eye-catching in the crowd.

At least when Si Jiahe and his group entered the cafeteria, they spotted Tang Man lining up not far away at a glance.

Compared to the other freshmen in groups of three or five, Tang Man appeared especially aloof, standing alone in the queue, focused on studying the colorful menu board ahead.

At that time, the few boys beside Si Jiahe couldn’t help but let out a collective gasp of admiration, then began winking and nudging, urging one of the roommates to go up and ask for her contact information.

Their Academy of Fine Arts also had many beauties, but those with such good looks and unique temperament were truly few and far between, not inferior to female celebrities.

The roommate they were shoving was called Zhou Yang, handsome and good at socializing. In just a few days after school started, he had already mingled with the seniors, and it was said that quite a few girls had added his WeChat. Most of his contacts list were girls, probably several hundred people.

A true-blue casanova, he was often teased by the boys in the dorm.

Unable to withstand his roommates’ urging, Zhou Yang quickly cleared his throat, put on a smiling face, and walked over.

The few of them stood not far away, not following along, quietly waiting for the result. After hearing his roommates’ conversation, Si Jiahe slightly frowned but didn’t say anything in the end, silently watching Zhou Yang approach the girl over there.

As soon as Zhou Yang approached, he attracted attention, especially the gazes of the girls, all falling upon the handsome face of the boy, occasionally whispering a few words to their girlfriends around.

Si Jiahe only saw Zhou Yang exchange a few words with that girl. The girl didn’t say a word, but quickly glanced over at their side. Si Jiahe wasn’t sure if it was his misconception, but he felt that her gaze lingered on his face for a few seconds before shifting away and saying something to Zhou Yang.

Zhou Yang seemed a bit surprised and turned his head to glance at their side.

Si Jiahe was certain that the glance from Zhou Yang was directed at him.

His heart instinctively raced for a moment.

The two people over there spoke a few more words. Soon, Zhou Yang walked over with a somewhat strange expression, unable to resist glancing at Si Jiahe, his look complex, seeming to contain some jealousy or other hidden emotions that Si Jiahe couldn’t decipher.

The roommates asked what she had said, but Zhou Yang remained silent for a while. He secretly peeked at Si Jiahe, but in the end, he didn’t say anything.

Later on, Si Jiahe learned from Tang Man’s mouth that when Zhou Yang had asked for her contact information at that time, she actually hadn’t refused. She had just raised her brows and said a sentence, “You give me your roommate’s WeChat, and I’ll give you my contact information.”

Obviously, Zhou Yang did not provide his WeChat that time, and in the end, due to some thoughts, didn’t even mention this matter.

And at that time, none of them had imagined that the campus belle of the School of Finance would really end up dating a freshman from the Academy of Fine Arts, and for quite a long time at that.

They dated for three whole years as soon as they got together.

The sudden vibration of a cell phone interrupted his recollection.

The person on the sofa furrowed her brows, seeming about to wake up at any moment.

Si Jiahe glanced at the lit-up phone screen, displaying a string of numbers without any name saved.

If it were Tang Man, she might still be stunned for a moment. This was Du Henian’s other number that she had always been too lazy to save and thus couldn’t remember.

But Si Jiahe recognized at a glance that the incoming call was from Du Henian.

After all, back then, he had contacted this number quite frequently.

He curled his lips, a mocking smile outlining the corner of his mouth. His pair of bright eyes shone even more brilliantly under the lamplight, making his exquisite features appear even more gorgeous.

Although somewhat puzzled in his heart as to why the other party was calling from this number, he still couldn’t help inwardly ridiculing how diligently this person checked up on her.

Thinking of this, Si Jiahe wished he could sneer a few more times.

At the same time, he recalled that year, when he and Tang Man were still together, that man was the same, calling three or four times a day, and even in front of him, using the superficial excuse that there were still some issues with the project team’s work that required Tang Man to resolve. In reality, perhaps at that time, that scoundrel harbored evil intentions, using unscrupulous means to seduce Manman…