Half-baked

36
Catch an adulterer.
Fascinated.

I feel these two words are so strange.
She felt so unfamiliar with him that she suspected Duan Huaian had found a girlfriend behind her back. She even felt like she had fallen in love with Duan Huaian, a married man, and even though she knew he had a girlfriend, she still stubbornly pestered him and finally succeeded in becoming the third party who interfered with his relationship.

Otherwise, why would the term "catching an adulterer" be used?

Huai Nian pursed her lips and said, "Did Duan Huai'an tell you that? His girlfriend is obsessed with him, head over heels?"
"No, I guessed." Cheng Songyue analyzed, "But I think this is just an appearance. His girlfriend appears to be fascinated by him, but in fact she is obsessed with Duan Huaian's beauty and his money."

What are you addicted to?
Beauty.
what else?
money.
money????????

The feeling of nostalgia and uneasiness becomes complicated.
She pretended to be calm and said, "Aunt Cheng, Duan Huai'an should have more than just these two advantages. He should have other advantages that are worthy of being loved."
Cheng Songyue took off the sunglasses on the bridge of his nose, looked at Huai Nian with a serious look of listening attentively, and said sincerely and expectantly: "Can you tell me? What other advantages does my son have?"

Huai Nian kept searching for Duan Huai'an's advantages in her mind, and found that he was a stuffy and arrogant person, and his words were so mean that one couldn't help but want to beat him up. He walked around the city all day with a stinky face as if everyone owed him eight million, and he was cold and aloof to everyone.

What other advantages does Duan Huaian have besides being rich and handsome?
That's a really good question.

Huai Nian fell silent, thinking hard for a long time, and finally said: "He has good grades."

Cheng Songyue put on an expression as if she had expected it, and snorted, "What kind of advantage is good grades? If I throw a brick on the road to your school, eight out of ten people I hit will be top scorers in the college entrance examination."
"..." He thought nostalgically and continued to think about Duan Huai'an's strengths.
Cheng Songyue suddenly said, "My son seems to have a good figure, with abdominal muscles. But he is very stingy and doesn't want to show it to me. He said there are differences between men and women and asked me to be more careful."

This is indeed what Duan Huai'an would say.
I miss looking away and can't help laughing.

The moment I looked out, a familiar black SUV came into view.
Then, it stopped next to Cheng Songyue's car.

This huge car quickly attracted Cheng Songyue's attention. She commented: "Why are students nowadays so high-profile? They drive such an expensive car to school. Huai Nian, you must remember that you are still a student. Students should study hard and not compare with others. You should stay away from the owner of this car. He is too high-profile and vain."

"..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the driver's door opened and the vain owner got out.
After seeing that it was Duan Huai'an, Cheng Songyue's expression froze. She thought that Cheng Songyue would change her words and save Duan Huai'an's face. Unexpectedly, Cheng Songyue said: "I knew that he drove this kind of car every day to attract girls' attention, so he was lucky enough to fall in love."

Duan Huai'an came closer, frowning slightly, as if he knew what Cheng Songyue was mumbling, "Can you speak louder when you say bad things about me?"

Cheng Songyue simply raised her voice and said confidently: "Your girlfriend just likes your money."

Duan Huaian glanced at Huai Nian, her face full of helplessness.
Duan Huai'an raised a cold arc in his eyes and asked impatiently: "What are you doing in school?"

"Come and catch the adulterer." Cheng Songyue said.
"I cheated on my wife?" Duan Huai'an asked on behalf of Huai Nian, "Is it necessary to use the term 'catching an adulterer'?"
"..." Cheng Songyue was silent for a moment, then realized that she had used the wrong word, but she was very arrogant, "You have been hiding it, and I know nothing about her except that she is a girl. Duan Huaian, don't be so stingy, at least you can send me her photo."

"No." Duan Huai'an said, opened the car door, and stuffed Cheng Songyue into the car without any gentleness, "You go home."

Cheng Songyue struggled desperately, but it was in vain, and Duan Huaian closed the car door.
Duan Huaian glanced up and saw Cheng Songyue running out from the other door very flexibly.

"..."

Cheng Songyue: "I won't leave if I don't see your girlfriend today!"

Duan Huai'an opened his eyelids a little, and said coldly: "If you see it, what are you going to do?"
Cheng Songyue: "I won't do anything. I'll just look at her."

As he was speaking, a large group of people rushed out of the girls' dormitory behind Duan Huaian.
It was like a class reunion, everyone was chattering and talking, and many people looked at them with doubt. Before they could gossip, the school bus approached from afar and stopped on the side of the road, and they hurriedly got on the school bus.

Duan Huai'an turned around and glanced back. After retracting his gaze, he said in a leisurely and very suggestive tone: "You have already seen it."

Cheng Songyue was stunned, her mind distracted by his words, and she thought his girlfriend was in the crowd.
Cheng Songyue glared at him: "Why didn't you tell me earlier? I was wondering why those people were looking at you. It turns out they were looking at the man who stole their best friend."

Duan Huaian couldn't stand it anymore and pushed Cheng Songyue back into the car again.
At the same time, he gave Huai Nian a look.
Huai Nian quickly pulled her mother and said, "Mom, let's get in the car too."
Huai Yanjun: "Okay."

This time, Cheng Songyue did not run out of the car. First, there was no extra space, and second, she kept thinking over and over again, wondering who was Duan Huai'an's girlfriend among the crowd of passers-by.
Huai Nian went back in Cheng Songyue's car, and Duan Huaian's car followed behind Cheng Songyue.

I missed sitting in the passenger seat and wanted to send a message to Duan Huaian, but I was afraid of disturbing him while driving, so I didn't send it in the end.

Fortunately, Cheng Songyue didn't say a word along the way and was very quiet.
Get home soon.
Cheng Songyue entered the house first, followed by Huai Nian and Huai Yanjun, and Duan Huaian was the last.

"But I'm really curious, is your girlfriend a money-grubber or a sex maniac?" Cheng Songyue suddenly asked, saying something shocking.

Everyone stopped.
Huai Nian and Huai Yanjun were caught in between the mother and son.
Huai Yanjun suddenly said, "I'm still cooking soup in the pot. I'll go check it out."
Then, he tried to pull Huai Nian away from the battlefield.

Duan Huai'an said indifferently: "Am I so useless in your eyes?"

"It's hard to say, but I really don't understand what your girlfriend likes about you." Cheng Songyue seemed to have thought of something, and grabbed Huai Nian's wrist, making Huai Nian fail to escape from the battlefield. Huai Nian smiled, pursed her lips, and asked, "Aunt Cheng, is there anything else?"

"Huai Nian, let's assume for a moment, and then you answer a question from a girl's perspective."
"Suppose what?"
"Suppose you didn't know Duan Huai'an before, and today is the first time you meet Duan Huai'an." Cheng Songyue asked Huai Nian, "Will you like Duan Huai'an?"

"..."
What a hypothesis.
I missed you and thought, why not kill me?

Cheng Songyue generously gave a premise: "Look, Duan Huai'an is indeed handsome. After all, he inherited my good looks. He is also rich. I think if I were a girl of your age, I would also be attracted to him. What about you?"
"...I can do it too. I like it?" Huai Nian said stiffly.

"But after spending a day with him, you will know that he is useless except for being rich and handsome, and his temper is terrible." Cheng Songyue looked at Huai Nian, looking forward to her next words.
"I don't like it." Huai Nian responded straightforwardly. Suddenly, she met Duan Huai'an's gaze. She added very quietly and forcefully, "——?"

Cheng Songyue sighed: "Actually, no matter if his girlfriend is a sex lover or a money lover, I will accept it, and I think it's good. It's better if she is a money lover, after all, my husband is really rich."

Duan Huai'an pushed away Cheng Songyue's hand that was holding his nostalgia.
Cheng Songyue: "It hurts--!"
Duan Huai'an: "You even scratched people's hands until they turned red."
Only then did Cheng Songyue notice the blush on her wrist.
Cheng Songyue felt very apologetic: "I'm sorry, Huai Nian, I didn't mean it."
Huai Nian smiled: "It's okay, Aunt Cheng, my stomach feels a little uncomfortable, I want to go to the toilet."
Cheng Songyue: "Go ahead, go ahead."

When the nostalgia disappeared from his sight, Duan Huai'an fixed his eyes on Cheng Songyue's face, his expression did not change at all, and he said word by word: "Mom, I booked a ticket for you to Australia tomorrow."
Cheng Songyue looked horrified: "What?"

Duan Huai'an said: "I told my dad that you are going crazy thinking about him. You can't live without seeing him."
Cheng Songyue: “?”
Duan Huai'an: "Dad has already turned down his work for the day after tomorrow and will pick you up at the airport the day after tomorrow."

Cheng Songyue reacted: "Just because I asked you about your girlfriend, you're going to treat me like this? I just returned home yesterday!"

"If you return to China to cause trouble for me," Duan Huai'an said, "you'd better not return."
"..."
"besides."
"What else?"

Duan Huai'an's mouth twitched slightly, his eyes were full of cynical arrogance, and his tone was extremely arrogant: "Why should I care what my girlfriend likes about me? It's enough that I like her."

Cheng Songyue stood there in a daze.
It took her a long while to come back to her senses, and a thoughtful smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.
I'm afraid his relationship is not as smooth and happy as she expected.

But it's hard for any girl to resist his personality. He's too strong, too overbearing, too possessive, and too cold.

Cheng Songyue sighed sadly.
Forget it.
Let him go.

Cheng Songyue was too lazy to care and was sent to the airport by Duan Huaian the next day without saying anything.
When we arrived at the airport, she said, "Mom still wants to say a few words from the bottom of her heart to you."
Duan Huai'an was checking her in. Hearing this, he glanced at her. Her expression was stained with a rare motherly warmth that had been seen for hundreds of years. He also relaxed with her, which was rare: "Speak."

"You finally found a girlfriend, so you have to be nice to her."
"Oh."

"If she hits you or scolds you, just bear with it."
"..."
"Beating is love, scolding is care."
"..."
"If she breaks up with you, you should kneel down and cry and beg her not to break up with you."
"..."
"Girls are soft-hearted. If you shed a few tears, she will come back."
"..."

Duan Huai'an took the plane ticket and stuffed the passport and plane ticket into Cheng Songyue's hands. He said rudely, "Shut up."

"I'll just say one last thing," Cheng Songyue said, "Those who achieve great things don't care about small details. Even if she cheats on you, you should just turn a blind eye, okay? All the men out there are hotels, only you are her home."

Duan Huaian no longer had the mood to take her through security check, so he turned around and left.

Cheng Songyue looked at his back and sighed, "What can I do with such a bad temper?"
-
After seeing Cheng Songyue off, Duan Huaian drove back to school.
Not long after arriving at the school laboratory, he received a message from Nostalgia.

Miss: [Has Aunt Cheng gone? ]
Duan Huai'an: [Yes.]
Miss: [What did she say to you? ]

This time, Duan Huaian sent a voice message.

I miss seeing this seven-second voice message, and I have a vague bad feeling about it.
She was silent for two seconds, thinking that there could be no words more extreme than "catching an adulterer" and "being bewitched", so she calmed down and clicked on the voice bar. Duan Huai'an said slowly in an ambiguous tone: "She said that you abused me, so she asked me to kneel down and cry and beg you."
"..."
After one voice message is played, the next one will be played automatically.
"Please don't hit the men outside, just hit me."

He chuckled, and his casual tone sounded like he deserved a beating: "She said that cheating women will suffer retribution, so it's best for me to be with you all the time to prevent other men from taking advantage of you. After all, there are too many men in this world, and the world is full of temptations. You are easily tempted by the handsome men outside."

Huai Nian replied to him expressionlessly: [Stop talking nonsense. ]

Duan Huai'an: "You can go and verify it with my mother."
His tone was very calm, and he put on an upright appearance as if he was just investigating Huai Nian, which made Huai Nian doubt that what he said might be true. In addition, in Cheng Songyue's eyes, his son really had no merits.

As if, seems, perhaps, possible.
Did Cheng Songyue really say these words?
I can’t figure out the nostalgia and my thoughts are in a mess.

This problem did not bother her for too long. After all, the midterm exam was just around the corner. She chatted with Duan Huaian for a while, then put her phone aside and concentrated on reading and reviewing.

After the midterm exam, time passed quickly.
The weather is getting hotter day by day.

The temperature kept rising, and by the end of June, the city was completely engulfed in a scorching, sultry summer. The heat was hard to dissipate, and the outdoors felt as hot as an oven. The cicadas were chirping, and the wind was hot.
Even if you go out early in the morning, your skin will still be exposed to the lingering heat.

The end of June is the final exam week, and during exam week, the study room is always full. When four people stay in the dormitory, as long as one of them opens his mouth to talk, the other three will lose interest in studying and chat about gossip.
I study in the dormitory and have to go to the cafeteria to buy lunch. The breakfast and dinner are okay, but at noon the sun is scorching and I come back sweating after lunch.

Xu Fu was the first to pack up and leave: "It's better for me to go to the hotel to review."
"What's the difference between studying in a hotel and in the dormitory?" Jing Yue asked.

"Can it be the same with a handsome man as my companion?" Xu Fu described the scene. "Just think about it, it's boring to look at a diagram of the human skeleton. I might as well just reach out and touch his eight-pack abs."

"..."
Everyone was silent.

Xu Fu raised her eyebrows and invited everyone: "Want to join us?"
"No, four women touching one man, I think we're going to go to jail tonight."
"..." Xu Fu laughed, "You're crazy. If you come with me, I won't call you my boyfriend anymore."

As soon as the words fell, the air conditioner above the dormitory made a "beep" sound.
then.
Stopped working.

Huai Nian kept the air conditioner remote control. She made sure she hadn't touched it and that it was powered. She pressed the air outlet of the air conditioner. The closed blades slowly opened, but at this moment, the air coming out was hot.
After trying several times, I finally concluded that the air conditioner was broken.

Everyone had no choice but to go to the hotel with Xu Fu.

Huai Nian didn't go with them. The four of them could stay together and chat for a long time about everything, so she went to Duan Huaian's place.
After a semester of adaptation, the other three people in the dormitory have become accustomed to missing the fact that they already have boyfriends.
But this semester, Huai Nian went out to sleep over only a few times, so they were a little surprised to hear that Huai Nian went to Duan Huai'an's place. After all, there was a sharp contrast in the dormitory - Xu Fu would spend the night outside with her boyfriend on weekends, and have a spring breeze.

Jing Yue was curious: "Are you and Duan Huai'an really in love?"
Zhu Yutong said: "Today is not pure love, today is pure reading."

Only Xu Fu smiled meaningfully: "Remember to wear the nightgown I gave you to read."

"..." If Xu Fu hadn't mentioned it, she would have almost forgotten about the nightgown. She pretended not to hear Xu Fu's words, picked up the books she needed for review, and ran out.

Duan Huaian was in the laboratory. Huai Nian didn't send him a message, so she opened the taxi app and booked an online taxi.
Vehicles entering the school must be booked at least one day in advance on the school's official account. If you want to take a taxi temporarily, you can only wait at the school gate. I miss holding an umbrella and walking to the school gate under the scorching sun.

When she was almost at the school gate, she unexpectedly saw someone.
Before she had time to dodge, Xu Ruqing spotted her and said, "Miss you!"

Huai Nian smiled at him naturally and walked up to him: "Senior."

Xu Ruqing asked her: "Go out and play?"
Huai Nian organized his words: "Forget it."
"What do you mean forget it? Where are you going?"

He seemed to be going out, and there was a high probability that he was going back to the community where they had met by chance. Huai Nian told him the name of the community without hiding it.

Xu Ruqing: "I'm going there too. Do you want to take the subway? We can go to the subway station together."
"It was too hot," Huai Nian said, "I took a taxi."

Due to their friendship in childhood, Huai Nian didn't like the people on her father's side, but Xu Ruqing was indeed the only one she knew there who was nice to her.
Even if they didn't have this kind of friendship, Xu Ruqing was Huai Nian's teacher, and Huai Nian should have invited Xu Ruqing to take a car back out of courtesy. After all, the fare for online car-hailing was the same no matter how many people took it.

Huai Nian said, "My car is coming soon, senior, please come with me."
Xu Ruqing: "Thank you, junior."

About two minutes later, the online car-hailing service stopped near the school gate and the two got in.
Coincidentally, after they got on the bus, Huai Nian received a message from Duan Huaian.

Duan Huai'an: [Is the air conditioner in your dormitory broken? ]
Huai Nian lowered her head and replied to his message: [How did you know? ]
Duan Huai'an: [I just ran into your roommate.]
Duan Huai'an: [They said you went to find me.]

Nostalgia: [Well, I just got on the bus and will be there in ten minutes.]

Duan Huai'an: [I want to go home too. ]
Duan Huai'an: [Take the things.]
Duan Huai'an: [Don't think too much.]
Duan Huai'an: [It's not just to see you. ]

"..."
I didn't even think about it!

During this break, Xu Ruqing beside him suddenly spoke up and started a conversation: "Actually, we met before, not this semester, but last year. Do you still remember?"
"The convenience store at the entrance of the community?" Huai Nian really didn't want to bring up this matter. She tried to confuse the point, "Brother Ruqing, did you recognize me at that time?"

"Well, you look a lot like you did when you were a child. In short, I can recognize you at a glance." Xu Ruqing smiled and consciously skipped the bag full of things.
I missed you without saying much and just smiled perfunctorily.

Before I knew it, I arrived at the entrance of the community.

Huai Nian and Xu Ruqing got out of the car from both sides.
She closed the car door with her hand and inevitably went into the community with Xu Ruqing. When she was thinking about how to start the conversation, Xu Ruqing suddenly said, "Your boyfriend."

Hearing Xu Ruqing's words, Huai Nian suddenly looked up.
Without any guidance, she saw Duan Huaian not far away.
Duan Huaian wore a rare clear white shirt today, with a white short-sleeved shirt underneath, which gave people the impression of a particularly clean, gentle, and easy-to-talk to male college student.

Seeing that she finally noticed him, Duan Huai'an said, "Come here."

"Senior, my boyfriend is here to pick me up, I'll leave first." After Huai Nian and Xu Ruqing said this, they immediately walked towards Duan Huaian.

I have to say, Duan Huai'an felt really good when he heard the phrase "my boyfriend".

Duan Huaian was not as polite as Huainian, and always said goodbye before leaving.
When Huaian came to him, he lazily withdrew his gaze, with a distracted look, as if he ignored Xu Ruqing.

After entering the elevator, Duan Huai'an asked her, "Why are you with him?"
Huai Nian lied to him calmly, "I just happened to meet you."

Duan Huaian curled the corners of his mouth slightly and smiled indifferently, but didn't say anything else.

The topic ended here incredibly.

When Huai Nian opened the door, Duan Huai'an behind him suddenly asked, "What's his name?"
Huai Nian thought that the topic had passed and was unable to react for a moment, "Who? Brother Ruqing?"

"Brother Ruqing?" Duan Huai'an glanced at her, his eyes devoid of any emotion, looking particularly cold. "It's easy to call you 'Brother Ruqing', but why haven't I heard you call me brother?"
Nostalgia remembers: “You are a few months younger than me.”

Duan Huai'an looked her up and down, and raised his eyebrows slightly: "It's not like I can't change."
Missing inexplicably: "What?"

"I really couldn't accept sister-brother relationships before," Duan Huai'an said slowly, dragging out the last line of his voice, "but now I do talk about sister-brother relationships, and it's pretty cool, baby, don't you think so?"

Huai Nian tried to hold back, but still couldn't help saying, "If you change the word 'baby' to 'sister', I'll think you're really cool."
She said in a dry tone, not confidently: "How about you call me 'sister' so I can hear it?"

In the silence, Duan Huaian's aura of an approachable male college student disappeared in an instant, replaced by a cold and distant feeling.

He sneered twice and said two words: "No way."

The answer was expected. Huai Nian was a little depressed and muttered, "Whatever you said, it's not like it can't be changed."
The voice was so soft that Duan Huaian didn't hear it clearly, but he knew what she would say without even thinking about it.
Huai Nian looked at Duan Huai'an and changed the subject: "Are you really going home to get something?"

Duan Huai'an casually picked up a pack of tissues from the entrance cabinet and said in a sly tone, "I got it."

"..."

(End of this chapter)