Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 75 Hugging Exercise
"beep…"

Chen Xuebing smiled slightly. He had only exchanged a few text messages with Xin Mengzhen during this period, and they hadn't spoken on the phone for a long time. He was thinking about how to greet her.

"beep…"

"Dudu."

It rang twice, then the other party hung up.

Chen Xuebing's smile gradually faded.

It's only 1 p.m., so there's definitely no class yet. This is one of the times he and Xin Mengzhen used to talk on the phone frequently.

This was the first time Xin Mengzhen had hung up on him.

The dial tone was still quite noticeable when the phone was hung up, and Ren Ying, who was next to him, turned to look at him.

Chen Xuebing subconsciously tilted his phone to the side, feeling a little awkward about the combination of his earlier smile and being hung up on.

He dialed Yang Qingyue's number again, but after thinking about it, he realized he had been in even less contact with her lately, so he was more cautious this time and sent her a text message instead.

"I'm coming back soon, I brought this for you."

After editing this far, Chen Xuebing put down his phone and thought for a moment. It seemed like all he had bought were things like shredded chili peppers, braised pork belly, pickled vegetables, and sweet potato noodles—things he was just taking home. So he deleted the original message and replaced it with "Are you on holiday yet? Happy New Year in advance!"

send.

I didn't bring anything, but I'll bring my blessings.

The little cow, which was tightly fastened to the side hole, suddenly flashed, and the phone rang.

Chen Xuebing saw the incoming call, answered it, and said "Hello."

"Are you back?!" The voice on the other end sounded excited.

Chen Xuebing smiled, canceling his original plan to find Xin Mengzhen and instead favoring Xiao Yang.

"We just set off. I was planning to buy you some gifts, but there's so little in the county town. We looked around but couldn't find any shopping malls."

Ren Ying found Chen Xuebing's words a bit strange. Didn't they go directly to the farmers' market when they were buying things?
Jiao Gui, who had been dozing off, suddenly had a gleam in his eyes and decided to study frame by frame.

Who doesn't know that soldiers have beautiful girls by their side at school!

two!

Jiao Gui remained expressionless, his gaze casually fixed straight ahead, but his ears were practically perked up.

But we're destined not to learn anything today, because the other side is very proactive.

"No need to buy anything! When are you arriving? I'll treat you to dinner."

Chen Xuebing's lips curled up: "How can you treat me? Are you free later? Come with me to the mall, and I'll treat you to lunch."

When he was shopping earlier, he only thought that his mother liked those agricultural products with strong flavors. Now that he thought about it, he felt it was a bit stingy. He also had to buy some books for Chen Xuejin. The ones he bought before were probably already worn out by that kid.

"Have you made some money lately? I want to eat something really expensive." Yang Qingyue let out a clever laugh.

"Don't ask, just go ahead and slaughter them. What do you want to eat?"

"Let's go to the same place as last time, steak."

"See you in a bit, Moumente."

"bye!"

Chen Xuebing hung up the phone with a faint smile.

A few seconds later, the phone lit up again; it was a text message.

Xin Mengzhen: I'm eating. My dad's here.

Upon seeing this message, Chen Xuebing breathed a slight sigh of relief, feeling that his previous impressions hadn't changed, and replied:
I'm just letting you know I'm back. You can go about your business.

The other side replied quickly.

Xin Mengzhen: Oh, school only lets out in the afternoon.

Chen Xuebing was stunned for a moment.

This is to ask her out this afternoon.

We've already made an appointment with Xiao Yang, so we can't just take advantage of him because he's a bit simple-minded, can we?

Chen Xuebing didn't know when it started, but he began to think that Yang Qingyue, who was considered to be talented and beautiful in her class in her previous life and was the kind of girl who was always fawned over by celebrities, was a bit silly.

After a moment's hesitation, he pretended to be clueless and replied.

Are you free tomorrow?

This time, I waited for quite a while.

Xin Mengzhen: I'm going home tomorrow.

"Tsk." Chen Xuebing looked at the message, smacked his lips, as if he were dealing with some kind of exercise.

……

In the magnificent hotel, in the corridor of the private rooms, a burst of laughter came from the "Tong Le Yuan" private room.

"Old Yang, you're going to Hong Kong next year. I've been here for a year, and thanks to your help, the branch's performance has been commended this year. We're the best comrades-in-arms, and our daughters are also good friends. This toast is to bid you farewell in advance!"

"Mr. Xin, it's only right that I respect you!"

Xin Mengzhen stood at the door of the private room, holding her phone, biting half of her lip, somewhat lost in thought.

Today is a pre-Lunar New Year dinner for several senior executives of her father's company.

Her phone vibrated while she was eating, and when she saw her father next to her, she quickly hung up.

A short while later, Yang Qingyue hurriedly left with her phone.

"Mengzhen! Why are you out here too!" Yang Qingyue woke her up as she returned from the bathroom.

"Uh," Xin Mengzhen smiled, "It's too hot inside."

Yang Qingyue saw the phone in Xin Mengzhen's hand, realized something, hesitated slightly, and then put on a surprised smile: "Chen Xuebing is back! He said he wants us to have lunch together this afternoon, are you coming?"

Xin Mengzhen was stunned.

Chen Xuebing did not invite her to have lunch together in the afternoon.

Just then, her phone vibrated again. She quickly put her hands behind her back, gripped the phone tightly, and forced a smile.

"No, I have something to do. You guys go ahead... I'm going downstairs for some fresh air, it's too stuffy."

After Xin Mengzhen finished speaking, she turned around and walked quickly downstairs. Only after she exited the corridor did she pick up her phone and press a couple of buttons to check her phone.

[Chen Xuebing: Be careful on the road, and Happy New Year.]

The little person in her heart gradually lost their luster.

... "Smack!"

"Snapped!"

At the entrance of a small alley, haphazardly strung electrical wires reached almost to Chen Xuebing's head at their lowest point, while two children were laughing and throwing firecrackers at the doorways of the houses on both sides.

Chen Xuebing really wanted to curse, but he held back when he remembered that he used to throw firecrackers into crowded public toilets when he was a child.

"Shall I carry it in for you?" Chen Xuebing picked up a rather heavy bag of braised pork with preserved mustard greens, shook it, and gestured for her to take it all.

Ren Ying shook her head repeatedly: "No, no, don't make so many promises! You have an appointment with someone, go quickly."

"It's still early, I'm not in a hurry." Chen Xuebing didn't move while carrying the bag.

There were few cars on the way back today, so the shuttle bus drove very fast. We arrived early, before school had even let out, and I was thinking of taking this time to visit and comfort the employees' families.

Ren Ying's father passed away, leaving only her mother and sister at home. He even prepared two 200-yuan red envelopes in the car.

As it turned out, Ren Ying was also standing at the entrance of the alley, showing no intention of inviting him in.

The two sides remained deadlocked for a few seconds.

Ren Ying said with a troubled expression, "You should come in and sit down..."

Two more seconds.

"?"

The invitation in those words was so little that it could only be described as barely there.

Chen Xuebing: ...

"I think if you're going to be my assistant, you'd better work on your facial expressions and not wear your resistance on your face."

"laugh."

Ren Ying forced a smile, her silver teeth gleaming, full of emotional value.

"hiss…"

With a look of disgust, Chen Xuebing took out the two thousand two hundred yuan and two small red envelopes he had prepared from his pocket, put them into the bag of braised pork with preserved vegetables, and handed it to her.

"Don't don't!"

"Here's your salary! And some for your family too! Keep your salary up!"

As the two were shoving each other, a girl hurriedly ran out of the alley. Although she was dressed just as simply, she didn't have thick-rimmed glasses or braces and was noticeably prettier than Ren Ying.

"Sis! What's wrong?"

Chen Xuebing knew this was Ren Ying's younger sister, so he simply handed the bag to her and said in an unquestionable tone, "Help your sister take this."

The girl was stunned when she saw the dozen or so sealed bowls and a pile of hundred-yuan bills in the transparent bag.

The moment he handed over the bag, Chen Xuebing turned and left.

……

It wasn't until 5:30 that Chen Xuebing arrived at the mall and started strolling around, and Xin Mengzhen still hadn't replied to his text message.

"Little brat, throwing a tantrum."

Chen Xuebing chuckled inwardly.

Since realizing that youth doesn't need to be overly cautious, I've decided that I must take the opportunity to get closer to Xin Mengzhen again.

The kind of secret boyfriend-girlfriend relationship.

Before Xin Mengzhen graduated, they had at most a secret, ambiguous relationship, a fact he was well aware of.

It's partly due to his high school student status, and partly due to his relationship with Yang Qingyue.

The time spent starting a business really felt like it flew by. Once he graduates and they haven't established a clear relationship, Yang Qingyue will probably still keep in touch with him. But with Xin Mengzhen's qualifications and ambition, once she enters university, she will definitely have a much broader perspective than she does now. He really wasn't sure if they would drift apart.

The sweetest words you hear are those spoken when you're at your most innocent and naive.

So of course he wasn't planning to send Xin Mengzhen a "best wishes for the journey" blessing during the Lunar New Year. Dealing with this stubborn girl required a back-and-forth struggle, a bit of a heart-pounding game.

He planned to surprise Xin Mengzhen at her apartment building that night, confess his feelings to her, and recreate their past embrace in the elevator.

This time, with Xin Mengzhen's dad upstairs, it's sure to be even more exciting.

After browsing around for a while, he passed by a beautifully decorated mobile phone and computer store. He remembered that Xin Mengzhen liked electronic products, so he went into the store and spent a long time choosing before picking out a new Philips in-ear headphone.

I originally wanted to buy Sennheiser, but the salesperson said that the brand only has two over-ear models.

It's neither convenient nor safe.

This one is also good. It has high-fidelity sound quality, is bright blue, and costs a little over 500 yuan. The price is reasonable, and it's something Xin Mengzhen often uses.

When buying gifts, choose something practical and useful, not something flashy or impractical.
These days, headphones break easily, so Chen Xuebing specially bought a protective ring for the connector and a small black gift box, the kind that can fit in a pocket, about the size of a ring box.

Not long after he finished shopping, his phone rang. Chen Xuebing put the gift box in his pocket and walked towards the mall entrance. A tall, beautiful woman stood not far away and waved to him.

"Chen Xuebing!"

Today, Yang Qingyue is dressed in a gentle and elegant style, wearing a light-colored woolen coat, a white knitted hat, and a scarf. She has the air of a Korean drama heroine. She runs over with a big smile in her eyes. This scene is too much for someone with diabetes to handle.

Chen Xuebing then opened his arms.

It was instinct, and also a rehearsal for confessing my love that night.

"Isn't it normal to hug friends you haven't seen in a long time?"

"If I were with Xin Mengzhen, I wouldn't have such an open opportunity in the future."

Chen Xuebing hesitated for a moment before finding a reason for himself.

Yang Qingyue did not hesitate, her big eyes revealing a hint of joy, and she rushed into Chen Xuebing's arms.

"Chen Xuebing, have you grown taller again?"

When Yang Qingyue measured Chen Xuebing's shoulders with her head, she inexplicably said this.

Yang Qingyue is very tall, and she was dressed warmly today, so it felt quite substantial to hug her.

Chen Xuebing placed his hand on her back, but dared not move, because the hug that came rushing over attracted the attention of almost everyone passing by in the mall.

He only enjoyed the pressure from her chest for two seconds before patting her and letting go.

Yang Qingyue snuggled against him again before reluctantly leaving his broad shoulders.

Then he slightly raised his head and said something that made Chen Xuebing's throat tighten.

"By the way, my family and Mengzhen's family had lunch together today. I told Mengzhen that you were back and asked her to have lunch with us, but she said she had something to do in the afternoon and couldn't come."

(End of this chapter)