TGSS - Chapter 5
Chapter 5: Stalking
"Liang Zhouyi?" The man handed the menu to Liang Zhouyi like a gentleman, smiling as he said her name with a somewhat affected elegance.
"Mm. Hello." Liang Zhouyi took the menu, a polite smile on her lips.
Gao Mingchen ran his blatantly appraising gaze over her face, sizing her up inch by inch. He looked with some satisfaction at the delicate woman before him, just like in the photos. Though her background and education were a bit beneath him, that hardly mattered if she was just going to be a housewife.
"The atmosphere here is pretty nice. I come here often with friends to eat," Gao Mingchen said, a barely perceptible air of superiority on his face.
Liang Zhouyi took in his expression completely, her own face unchanged, and followed his lead. "It is. It looks like a good place to talk."
"Zhouyi, can I call you that?" Gao Mingchen picked up Liang Zhouyi's cup and attentively refilled her tea, an obvious intimacy on his face.
Liang Zhouyi smiled as she looked at the clear tea in her cup, giving an almost imperceptible nod.
Behind them, Chu He's face twisted as she listened. She gripped her chopsticks so tightly she nearly snapped them. The way the man smiled at Liang Zhouyi like she was merchandise made her intensely uncomfortable. While Liang Zhouyi spoke, she had brushed the hair behind her right ear several times. Chu He knew that was a sign Liang Zhouyi was irritated, because she had the same habit. In some ways, they really did have things in common.
The conversation across from her was a little muffled. Liang Zhouyi was naturally quiet and soft spoken, so Chu He could not make out her words clearly, but everything the man said came through loud and clear.
"Zhouyi, I showed my mother your photo yesterday. She likes you quite a lot. I am sure you two will not have any of that mother-in-law conflict you see online," Gao Mingchen said to Liang Zhouyi in a tone that was almost smugly condescending.
Chu He's teeth ached with anger at those words. She could barely restrain herself from rushing over and dragging Liang Zhouyi away. The man was still animatedly painting a picture of their future life together, throwing in compliments about her looks from time to time, which made Chu He's stomach churn violently.
Liang Zhouyi, however, remained calm as still water. When she heard Gao Mingchen's compliments, she only smiled softly and lowered her head, looking very shy. Yet there was almost no light in her eyes beneath her long lashes.
Chu He, who could only see the back of Liang Zhouyi's head, managed to eat a few bites of food with difficulty. She decided to blacklist this restaurant. It was the worst Cantonese food she had eaten in two lifetimes.
Because Liang Zhouyi was so excessively silent, Gao Mingchen, who had been talking nonstop, finally seemed to notice something and paused. He joked, half teasing, "Zhouyi, are you not in a good mood today?"
"Huh? No, I am just usually quiet. I have a bit of social anxiety," Liang Zhouyi quickly looked up at him, her slight frown making it hard to blame her.
"It is fine, it is fine. I am actually pretty socially anxious too." The man in front of her suddenly became coy, saying somewhat shyly, "I have never been in a relationship before. If I had a girlfriend, I would definitely treat her really well."
The empty promise hit hard. The smile on Liang Zhouyi's face almost failed. She forced a look of admiration and smiled at Gao Mingchen.
Probably only Gao Mingchen enjoyed the meal. He scanned the QR code to pay and said loudly, "Then I will pay first."
First? Chu He almost laughed out of anger, her expression ugly as she waited for Liang Zhouyi's reply.
"Mm, then I will transfer it to you later," Liang Zhouyi said, her tone still even and her voice soft and gentle.
"No need, no need." Gao Mingchen hurriedly waved his hand. "I think of you as one of my own. If it were anyone else, I would just split the bill with them."
"It is fine," Liang Zhouyi took a deep breath and did not dwell on the topic further.
Seeing the two were about to pay and leave, Chu He quickly grabbed the bag beside her and quietly followed.
Liang Zhouyi not far ahead seemed to turn her head, which frightened Chu He into immediately turning her back.
She had just heard the man invite Liang Zhouyi to see a movie, a recent tearjerker. Chu He silently looked up the film and bought a ticket for the next showing. Although she had already sentenced the man to death in her heart, and would never acknowledge someone like him as Liang Zhouyi's final love even if she could never return to her own world, Liang Zhouyi's actions showed she had not rejected him outright. So Chu He really wanted to know what merits this man could possibly have.
The two in front kept a neither close nor distant gap as they moved from the third floor of the mall to the fifth. Chu He's black windbreaker collar was turned up, covering almost half her face. She kept her head down, her long eyes incredibly focused, so much so that passersby gave the sneaky looking woman a few extra glances.
Completely absorbed in her tailing, Chu He did not notice at all, nor did she realize how obvious she was being.
She watched the two pick up their tickets and enter the theater. Chu He sneered silently and followed. Fortunately, there were very few people for this film. She fumbled in the dark rear row to find them, and successfully settled in the seat right behind Liang Zhouyi, even buying a bucket of popcorn to block her view.
That popcorn then became her stress relief tool for what followed. Chu He stared fixedly at the man beside Liang Zhouyi. In the darkness, only a blurry outline of his face was visible. He kept turning to look at Liang Zhouyi, until finally she looked puzzled.
"What is it?" Liang Zhouyi asked in a small voice, covering her mouth.
"Nothing, I just think you are better looking than the movie," the man said affectionately.
Liang Zhouyi: "..."
Crack, what was that sound of something being crushed? Chu He's face twisted as she listened to the man's cheesy line, unable to help grinding the popcorn to pieces. She quickly leaned back, lowering her head to look at the deformed popcorn bucket in her hands.
Seeing Liang Zhouyi had no real reaction, the man suddenly shifted and leaned toward her. Liang Zhouyi's eyes caught Gao Mingchen's movement, and she gritted her teeth, ready to stand up the next second.
"Bang," Gao Mingchen's seat back was kicked hard. He looked back with a vicious expression. "What are you doing, are you sick!"
"Sorry, my foot slipped," Chu He's voice was muffled and a little hoarse. She pulled her long leg back, her eyes still carrying a barely perceptible provocation.
"Watch it," Gao Mingchen swallowed the burning anger in his heart when he saw the worried expression on Liang Zhouyi beside him, and lost any further desire to make a move on her.
Chu He curled her leg dismissively, hiding the ruthlessness in her eyes. She fiddled with her phone and still sent Liang Zhouyi a WeChat message.
"Liang Zhouyi, come back to the office and work overtime today. The client is very dissatisfied with several scripts."
Liang Zhouyi swiped open WeChat and stared at the screen for a long time. In the end she replied, "Okay."
Chu He breathed a sigh of relief. After the movie ended, Liang Zhouyi took the initiative to say goodbye to Gao Mingchen, showing him the WeChat message. Gao Mingchen's face looked extremely ugly, wearing the expression of someone watching a big fish get away. He parted from Liang Zhouyi with his fists almost clenched.
The moment he disappeared, the polite expression on Liang Zhouyi's face vanished instantly. She let out a breath, picked up her bag, and walked wearily toward the restroom. Her eyes were very dry. She mechanically washed her hands, bracing both hands on the marble countertop, staring at the woman in the mirror.
The wisps of hair on her forehead were a little messy, her makeup light and delicate, pearl studs at her ears, her high ponytail making her look very young. But on closer inspection, you could see the world weariness and exhaustion between her brows and eyes.
Liang Zhouyi's expression was indifferent, her eyes very hollow. The sound of water from the sink beside her seemed to wake her.
"Is this kind of man, this kind of life really what you want?" The woman beside her voiced exactly what Liang Zhouyi was thinking. "Do you have to live your life like this?"
Liang Zhouyi sniffed, her throat bobbing. She said lightly, "Then what kind of life should I be living, one like President Chu's, where you are so free on the weekend that you follow other people around?"
Chu He was so choked by the retort that she laughed. "Come on, you are pretty sharp when you snap at me. How come you act like a quail in front of that guy?"
"What I am facing is not just him, but his family and... my mother, who is connected to his family," Liang Zhouyi gave a bitter smile, her expression ethereal. Under the overhead light, her skin had a translucent, pale glow.
Chu He looked at her steadily. "If you want to, you can resist."
"But I do not want to, and I do not need to resist," Liang Zhouyi returned to her usual impervious look. She changed the subject. "I will go back and work overtime now. If there are any problems, President Chu, just send them to me."
"You know that was just an excuse," Chu He quickly grabbed her arm as she saw her turn to leave. "When we are off the clock, just call me Chu He. Do not keep calling me President this and that. I am not at that level yet."
"Fine, then let me ask you, what exactly do you want?" Liang Zhouyi looked at Chu He, who stood before her barefaced and wearing black-rimmed glasses, her eyes very cold.
Seeing she had finally asked the question, Chu He looked rather pleased. She curled her lips. "I want to be friends with you. Can you not tell?"
As if stunned by the words, Liang Zhouyi's face went blank with bewilderment. She frowned in confusion, and in an instant she seemed to turn into a sculpture, her body stiff and motionless.
"I said I like you quite a lot and want to be friends," Chu He burst out laughing, a warm smile bunching on her cool, pale face, making her whole face dazzling.
"Friends?" Liang Zhouyi finally came back to herself, her face showing an exaggerated expression, as if mocking, surprised, and a little amused, her manner very distant. "President Chu, someone like me, utterly ordinary, is not worth you going to the trouble of befriending. I am not worthy, haha."
Chu He's heart clenched at those words. She suddenly felt she could not quite understand Liang Zhouyi. Yes, she did indeed think Liang Zhouyi was ordinary, even a bit of a pushover in personality, which she disliked from the bottom of her heart. But the woman before her now, with her face tight and full of restrained forbearance, made her feel lost for a moment.
Why on earth had Liang Zhouyi made herself live like this?
At this moment, Chu He felt a genuine curiosity about this person from the bottom of her heart, and not because of the mission. Liang Zhouyi was like a hedgehog, bristling with sharp spines, rejecting everyone's approach, with no friends and no lover, like a lonely wolf desperately disguising itself as a docile dog.
"When I make friends, I only care whether I like them. I do not care about anything else," Chu He lied. In fact, she made friends entirely based on profit. She never spared a glance for useless people.
Liang Zhouyi pulled out a paper towel and wiped her hands, tossing it into the trash can, and left a parting shot. "You should look up and see your own hypocritical expression."
What was that about? A glimmer of a smile in Chu He's eyes slowly spread. She shook her head and laughed. She had said it so sincerely, how could Liang Zhouyi wrong her like that?
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