If this is not love

Chapter 7 The fish longing for breath (1)
It's going to snow, and the sky by the river is full of haze and gray.

In the white house by the river, there is a lot of fun.The colorful lights on the roof outside the house are twinkling, which is a warming scenery in the bleak winter.The beautiful piano sound came out of the window, accompanied by the laughter of the two women from time to time.This is Yichen's territory, and it hasn't been so lively and cheerful for a long time.The slender fingertips danced flexibly, playing a moving movement.

Ruxu and Xin Ning are cooking together in the kitchen. Tonight's Three Musketeers gathering, they decided to cook by themselves.For Ruxu, who is lazy in housework and difficult to cook, she can only undertake tasks such as washing vegetables, delivering dishes and chopsticks, and is also responsible for chatting with Xinning.

"How are you and Shen Yitang?"

"It's still the same."

"Oh? Has he proposed to you again recently?"

"Yes." Xin Ning answered with certainty, a touch of sweetness hidden in her soft voice.

"You agreed?" Ruxu stopped washing the vegetables and looked at her in surprise.

"Of course not. I'm going to agree, so how can I stay the same?" Xin Ning's eyes were smiling, she had gained a little weight recently, and her thin and pale cheeks were rounded a bit.Most people will gain weight in winter, but there are actually other reasons for her recent weight gain.

"Oh—" Ruxu elongated her voice.

Xin Ning laid out the dishes one by one, her hands were busy, "You look disappointed? I remember that for a while you firmly opposed me to accept Shen Yitang again. Our 'Love Defense Strategy' is really effective, and I decided to implement it. To the end." That was a set of tactics developed by them to resist and defend men, and Xin Ningzhi used it on her ex-husband very firmly.

Ruxu frowned: "This moment, that moment. Shen Yitang used to be half-hearted and hesitant. You will only be sad if you follow him, but now he is proving to everyone with his unwavering will that he really loves you."

"I know." Thinking of Shen Yitang's concern for her recently, Xinning's entire face exuded a happy luster.

"You don't accept it if you know it? You are torturing him on purpose! To avenge the past. Alas, poor man, I began to sympathize with him."

"Don't worry, I didn't deliberately make things difficult for him, nor did I intentionally put on a show to never accept him. During these days, he moved me with his sincerity and actions. I know that it is impossible to leave him in this life, but the shadow of marriage and The fear has almost been eliminated, and I don't object to going into the siege again."

Ruxu straightened her body and looked at her carefully: "Then I really can't think of any reason for you to continue to refuse."

Xin Ning's eyes were suddenly covered with a hazy color, and he was a little excited and mysterious: "Actually, I want to enjoy the feeling of being pursued and pampered more. Over the years, I have loved him more and secretly loved him." , To please him, I'm so unwilling, I never knew the feeling of being pursued with all my heart is so good. Heh, I feel like a high queen now, I can watch him do anything for me with just a look or a gesture. For a man as proud as he is, it's time to dampen his spirit."

Ruxu suddenly realized, let go of her hand, raised the corners of her lips and said with a sneer, "Amazing! Queen, be careful to be praised too high, and suddenly fall down, it's not a good feeling."

Xin Ning touched her stomach confidently and raised her chin: "I'm not afraid, the final trump card hasn't been released yet! In this life, he will never escape from my grasp."

Ruxu followed her movements to look down, her beautiful eyes slowly opened wide, and she said in surprise: "You mean - you have it?"

Xin Ning nodded half shyly and half proudly, her whole body was bathed in the brilliance of motherhood, and tears welled up in her eye sockets.

Ruxu rushed over and hugged her, lost her composure and shouted: "Great! Great! You finally have another child! This trump card is definitely enough, it is a gift from God to compensate you. I guess Shen Da If the president knew, he would faint with joy. You think it’s fine for him to call you queen every day.”

Xin Ning said: "I've thought about it, and when he proposes for the hundredth time, I will agree." Look at how easy this woman said, a hundred proposals, which man is so boring?However, according to Shen Yitang's current determination and efficiency, formal and informal marriage proposals are on average at least twice a day, and the calculation time is about the same.

The lingering piano sound stopped quietly, and Yichen stared at his own figure reflected on the white piano cover, vaguely seeing a gentle and handsome face.The happiness in the kitchen spread out and filled the room, and he couldn't help smiling.No girlfriend, no complete family, but he has dreams, pursuits, and the most cherished confidante.He suddenly felt that he was very happy, and his mood was exceptionally peaceful.

In the kitchen, Ruxu gritted her teeth hard: "A hundred times? He Xinning, you're ruthless!"

"Ha, are you unconvinced? How about the next time a man chases you, you will wait until the hundred and first time before agreeing."

"I don't want it!" Ruxu categorically rejected it.

"What?"

"When I was in high school, I read a story about a girl waiting for a boy silently, thinking that when the boy wrote the one hundred and one love letter, she would accept him. But the boy thought in his heart that when the hundredth love letter was written, the girl If you haven't responded, give up on her. As a result, the two of them missed it. Don't you feel sorry? The feelings of youth are the most pure, and you can express your feelings a hundred times, but now men are different! They Pay attention to efficiency in everything, and don't want to waste time on feelings. Your Shen Yitang has received a profound lesson, so he treats you so patiently without regret. You must cherish it."

Xin Ning couldn't help being surprised: "Miss Wang, I thought you only read textbooks in high school!"

Isn't this too ironic?It seems that Ruxu has never been young and in love.At that time, Ruxu seldom chatted and gossiped with others, and even the Three Musketeers were silent like gold when they were together.She devoted all her attention to her studies, so that her grades were stable and top-notch in her third year of high school, and she later became a top female student in the law department.However, love of learning does not mean that she is completely ignorant of the relationship between men and women. She cannot express her affection for Yichen. When she is free and relaxing, she quietly reads a few love stories. Every time she sees the plot of her crush, she will think of herself...

Ruxu ignored her teasing, grabbed the apron and said, "Why don't I come to be the chef tonight? You mother-to-be is resting beside you."

Xin Ning grabbed the apron and tied it directly on her body, "No need! Everyone knows your cooking skills well, so you don't need to show them off. Hehe, I'm just pregnant, and I'm not a useless person. The dishes are done and the preparations are all over. , you go out!"

"You really don't need my help?"

"I'll just ask you for things that need to be talked about, and don't be too busy to help me with other things." Xinning pushed her out of the kitchen and opened her voice, "Yichen, you can chat with Xiaoxu for a while. The food will be served soon." table!"

Two 10 minutes later.

There are five or six plates on the table, and each dish exudes an attractive aroma.Green vegetables, red carrots, white tofu, delicious fish, tender beef, served on a well-matched plate, it is simply delicious.

Yichen praised repeatedly, and regretted; "You don't need to taste it to know that your craftsmanship is getting better and better. How could Shen Yitang be willing to let you go? You deserve it! Xinning, I agree with you to let him suffer more."

Ruxu sat down, and answered the conversation tepidly: "Yichen, are you too jealous of Shen Yitang? Be careful of any woman in the future who will make you suffer too."

Yichen laughed: "Okay! I also hope that such a woman will appear soon, so that I won't be left alone anymore."

Xin Ning set the dishes and chopsticks for them, took out the red wine, and the transparent goblet was filled with dark red liquid, which looked extraordinarily noble under the light.She poured herself a glass of juice and sat down with a smile: "I finally understand that true love is always sweet and painful. Love without pain is actually incomplete. Unless you don't care about the other party, there will never be pain. I I fell down on the road of love, I was afraid of love, I flinched... Heh, but now I want to tell you, while you are young and still have enough courage, why not find someone and talk about real love!"

For some reason, Tan Shaojie's wickedly smiling face suddenly flashed in Ruxu's mind, and she shook her head violently.My nerves were short-circuited, how could I think of that villain?She quickly pulled back her thoughts and cleared her throat: "Yichen, how are you and Miss Zhou doing?"

"Development?" Yichen couldn't help laughing. Miss Zhou was referring to Zhou Jiajia, the granddaughter of the old chairman of Huanyu Group. "When did you start joking? All the interactions I have with her are just that she has listened to my music." Yes, they are just my fans."

Ruxu suddenly felt relieved, she quietly covered her chest.It turned out that knowing that there was no result with him, she still selfishly didn't want him to fall in love with anyone.He has sincere affection for Xin Ning, anyway, she already knew about it, and she has no grievances, but if he wants to fall in love with other women in the future... She thinks she will feel lost and uncomfortable.People are so contradictory, they want him to have happiness, but they are also afraid that other women will give him happiness. She did not escape this cliché.

"Xiao Xu, what about you?" Xin Ning was very concerned about her feelings.

"What about me?" This soup is really delicious, Ruxu tried to focus on the delicious fish soup, and said with a smile, "When I meet that man in the future, I must beat him hard first, How could you make me wait so long? What did he do in the days before, and he still hasn't come to me after 28 years!"

Xin Ning held back her laughter, her little Xu has a more and more sense of humor, "Have you continued to meet with the prosecutor?"

"Han's name is Han Chen." Ruxu put down the soup bowl and glanced at the two of them, "The conditions in all aspects are indeed good, and they are interested in developing with me. The problem is that we are both too busy to meet once a week. .”

"Aren't you on vacation? Why are you still with Tan Shaojie today?" Yichen said casually.

What's the point of a woman who always claims to be busy but has time to spend with another man?Like Yichen, Xinning is very concerned about the relationship between Ruxu and Tan Shaojie.It's a pity that Tan Shaojie's name is outside, and he is cynical, making people unable to distinguish between sincerity and hypocrisy. It must be a difficult road to associate with this kind of man.Fortunately, they could see that it was too late for Ruxu to dislike Tan Shaojie, let alone fall in love with her, and Tan Shaojie seemed to have no intention of treating her...

Sure enough, Ruxu's brows and eyes sank: "It's not that I want to be with him, but that I'm unlucky in eight lifetimes, and I can run into him in everything. I met him unexpectedly last time at Starbucks, and today is an appointment with the client of my new case. Unexpectedly, Tan Shaojie was also entrusted to be an agent, so he ran into him again. But I have already explained to him that I am solely responsible for this case, and he just wants to sit back and enjoy his achievements."

Yichen thought of the chance encounter at Starbucks, and said in a deep voice, "Looking at Tan Shaojie's attitude towards Maria that day, he was quite principled, and I think he should be quite capable."

Ruxu objected: "He is capable? I admit that he is very smart, but his ability needs to be verified." The prejudice cannot be reversed in a few days, not to mention that her contempt for Tan Shaojie has almost become paranoid.

"He once said he wanted to chase you."

"Just kidding, if he really chases me, I'm going to burn incense and worship Buddha, and beg the patriarch to let him not get close to me."

"Oh." The corners of Yichen's mouth curled up slightly, "It's that exaggerated."

There was no trace of a smile on Ruxu's face, and he said solemnly: "Yes, if you continue to say his name, I won't be able to eat anymore."

Xin Ning quickly filled another bowl of soup for her, and changed the topic: "Okay! We are so busy on weekdays, so it will be beneficial to drink more crucian carp soup that I carefully boiled in winter."

Ruxu pressed back her seat nervously: "Don't be too busy, we will do it ourselves. You are the one who needs nourishment the most. Yichen and I should take care of you."

"That's right, this time I will be the godfather!"

"And my godmother."

On a cold winter night, the lights in the white room are warm and bright, and the laughter is cheerful and happy.

For the next two days, Ruxu didn't see Tan Shaojie again, and the two had no contact at all.But when she was investigating the information, she suddenly made an unexpected discovery.

Zhou Wei'an turned out to be the nephew of the old chairman of Huanyu Group, and Tan Shaojie happened to call the old chairman "grandpa". In other words, he and Tan Shaojie were cousins.The two must have known each other before, but this relationship has never been mentioned by Tan Shaojie.No wonder he is Qiao Weiwei's agent, but he has been speaking for Zhou Wei'an, so it's like this...

Ruxu couldn't hold back, regardless that it was past ten o'clock in the evening, she immediately looked for someone.Tan Shaojie answered the phone, but there was a bit of noise on his side, and there was loud music and noise from other people beside him.She frowned, needless to say he was in the bar again, does this guy have to spend his life like this?
"Tan Shaojie, where are you now? I have something to ask you."

"What's the matter, talk about it another day!"

He had a very bad tone and was a little drunk. He didn't know what happened, but he managed to arouse her temper all of a sudden.

"No, I'm going to tell you tonight!"

Hearing that he seemed to curse in a low voice, he said coldly: "Then hurry up!"

"I want to talk about Zhou Wei'an. You and him have known each other for a long time and have a close relationship. Why didn't you tell me earlier? Qiao Weiwei's lawsuit, we..." Ruxu didn't finish her sentence, and suddenly there was a loud "pop" in her ear. The phone rang, as if the phone had been dropped to the ground, and then buzzed.She raised her voice and shouted, "Hello? Tan Shaojie, Tan Shaojie? Talk!"

After at least half a minute, she didn't hang up the phone, and finally Tan Shaojie asked lazily: "What are you doing? Do you want to give your last words?"

His attitude suddenly changed from irritable to very problematic, Ruxu frowned, what happened to him? "Tan Shaojie, where are you?"

"Whispering woman, tell me what's the matter! I don't have time to talk nonsense to you!"

"Okay!" Ruxu clenched her fingers, thanks to her kindness for a second just now, she still wanted to greet him!She calmly and clearly said loudly, "You can keep your relationship with Zhou Wei'an from me, but you can't lie to Ms. Qiao Weiwei. I will ask Ms. Qiao to decide for herself whether to continue to hire you as an agent." Finished, she cut off the call without waiting for his answer.

In the bar, Tan Shaojie was staring at his phone in a daze, and an arm grabbed him from behind. "What important call made you look like this?"

Tan Shaojie punched the other side back gloomily: "It's all for your business. It's not good for you to play with your heartbeat and cheat. It's really shameful to get into a lawsuit with such a difficult woman. Just now She is Qiao Weiwei's attorney and she already knows about my relationship with you."

It turned out that this person was Zhou Wei'an, and when he mentioned this, he showed annoyed expression: "Who knew that Qiao Weiwei was so troublesome, I was really deceived by her appearance."

"So I reminded you a long time ago, be careful when sailing for ten thousand years."

"You're right. In love, there are not many men like you, young master Tan, who have been covered with thousands of flowers without a single leaf touching your body. I admire you, brother."

"I won't play tricks on you. In short, you are already married, so don't mess with women outside. Also, you can't just look at a woman's appearance. Sometimes the more well-behaved a woman looks, the more cunning and snobbish she is. On the contrary, some Women look indifferent and fierce, but they may actually be fragile and soft inside." When Tan Shaojie said the last sentence, his voice was slightly gentle.His bad mood miraculously improved a lot, and he never returned to the bar.

Seeing that he was going to leave, Zhou Wei'an held him back; "I went back? Wasn't it because Aunt Nian was in a bad mood? I'm giving up my life to be with Junzi in this critical time, but you just went home at 10:30?"

"Don't mention that woman." Tan Shaojie's black eyes were dark, but he quickly raised the corners of his lips casually, "Who said I want to go home? I'm going to the next date with a beautiful woman. As for you, you should go back to accompany your sister-in-law in this extraordinary time." !"

"Well, if you're drunk, it's best to take a taxi where you want to go."

Ruxu took a shower, put the computer table on the bed, sat under the quilt and opened the work notebook.She didn't call Qiao Weiwei immediately, but first searched for information about Zhou Wei'an on the Internet, thinking that she could also ask Tan Shaojie for some clues.

Just thinking about it, the doorbell rang.Who will come this late?

Seeing the man standing outside, Ruxu was incredulous: "Tan Shaojie? How could you... come to me suddenly?"

"It was you who asked me to come!" Tan Shaojie pushed her away as a matter of course, and walked into the room.A faint smell of alcohol floated by, and when Ruxu came back to his senses, he was already lying on the sofa spontaneously, with one foot resting casually on the coffee table beside him, his posture was like returning to his own home, and he would be happy if he said how relaxed he was. How relaxing.

"When did I call you?" Ruxu went to the sofa and looked down at him condescendingly.His obtrusive leg was too long, and she was really worried that she would crush her fragile glass coffee table.

"Well, there is a phone number to prove it." Tan Shaojie closed his eyes slightly, groped in his pocket with his right hand, moved his waist, and finally took out the phone.

He looked through the call records, grabbed his mobile phone like a ghost, and threw it in the corner of the sofa.She squinted her beautiful eyes, secretly trying to figure out how to drag this scoundrel out, and her words were like the cold wind of the twelfth lunar month: "Don't tell me, I don't entertain men here in the middle of the night, please be conscious and leave immediately. "

Tan Shaojie's eyes widened slightly, and there was a strange light in the bottom of his pupils. He suddenly took her hand: "Xu, can you... Once in a while, don't be so fierce to me?"

Ruxu's lesson that just rolled to the tip of his tongue was stuck in a daze, his tone actually had a hint of pleading, and he called her "Xu" disgustingly?This kind of intimate address makes people's skin crawl, he, he is going to play tricks on her again, isn't he?She subconsciously straightened her back, and firmly broke free from his grasp, "Please don't call me such a disgusting Bara, my attitude varies from person to person, and you know why I want to be fierce to you."

Tan Shaojie twitched the corners of his lips in grievance, like an innocent child, and held her hand again: "Just once... Occasionally be gentle, can't you?"

Ruxu took a deep breath and told herself not to be soft-hearted.No matter what kind of stimulation he received tonight, or whether he was pretending to be stupid by drinking, as long as he messed with him, nothing good would happen.Are the lessons learned over the years not enough?What she should do is to drive people away immediately.However, he clenched his hand so tightly, as if he was determined not to let go, so she could only squat down angrily, and asked with great reluctance, "What's the matter with you?"

His eyes sparkled again in an instant, "I drank too much."

She said angrily, "I can see it."

"I am in a bad mood."

"I heard it when I called you before."

"Oh, Xu...you are so smart, you have always been so smart."

"Thank you for the compliment, but can you please stop calling me that, it's really disgusting!"

(End of this chapter)