CM - 29

During PE class, Shen Tingwen and his friends played basketball, while Zhou Shuirong and another girl played tennis.

During halftime, a girl offered Shen Tingwen a bottle of water, but he declined, taking the one Jing He handed him instead.

Jing He laughed and told him something: “Guozi took off the small hair tie his girlfriend gave him while playing, and his girlfriend saw it. She texted him to break up, and he went to appease her. He probably won’t be back.”

Shen Tingwen’s eyes were fixed on the tennis court. Zhou Shuirong looked really good playing.

Jing He continued: “I think these small hair ties are like the Golden Fillet spell; once you wear them, you can’t take them off, or hell breaks loose. How many people have been publicly shamed because of those things?”

Shen Tingwen looked away: “What small hair tie?”

Jing He touched his wrist: “It’s the kind of small elastic band girls use to tie their hair. If a guy has one on his wrist, it means he has a girlfriend. No idea how it became popular.”

Shen Tingwen wasn’t interested; it sounded tacky to him.

“You know, if those girls don’t wash their hair and then give one to a guy, wouldn’t it smell like scalp oil? Just thinking about it makes me full.” Jing He shivered as he spoke, as if shaking off goosebumps.

After PE class, back in the classroom, Shen Tingwen bought Zhou Shuirong a row of yogurt and asked her, “Do you have a small hair tie?”

“No. Get lost.”

Shen Tingwen saw one on her wrist. He asked her for it: “Isn’t that one?”

Zhou Shuirong refused: “Are you sick?”

Shen Tingwen wanted it: “Give it to me, and I won’t talk to you for a week.”

That’s great. Zhou Shuirong could have a comfortable week. She gave him the hair tie: “Take it and get lost. Remember to keep your word.”

Shen Tingwen put it on and immediately went back on his word: “I can’t go a week without talking to you.”

Zhou Shuirong was ready to commit murder.

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Everyone in the school knew that Shen Tingwen had Zhou Shuirong’s hair tie on his wrist.

But they didn’t know that he had just said wearing a small hair tie was tacky, only to immediately contradict himself.

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Zhou Shuirong finished her workout for the day and wanted to go swimming.

Shen Tingwen also finished his workout early and went with her to the gym’s swimming area.

Zhou Shuirong’s swimsuit was a bit revealing. Having received Western education, she was never shy about showing herself. If she had a good figure, she showed it. More importantly, she liked this swimsuit, regardless of how revealing it was.

Shen Tingwen didn’t let her go. He blocked her outside the changing room.

Zhou Shuirong didn’t give him a pleasant look: “Get out of the way.”

Shen Tingwen said, “Don’t you see how many people there are? Are you going to be like dumplings in boiling water?”

“I love being like dumplings in boiling water, I love eating dumplings.”

Fine. Shen Tingwen, relying on his strength as a man, picked her up in one swift motion, carried her into the changing room, and then locked the door, insisting on making her put on a cover-up.

Zhou Shuirong resisted, hitting him repeatedly.

Shen Tingwen simply didn’t let go, letting her hit him. It wasn’t that it didn’t hurt; it was that he could endure it.

Zhou Shuirong pushed him hard, and his spine scraped against a clothes hook, leaving a gash that started bleeding. She was furious: “Can you not be so shameless? Can’t you see I’m annoyed by you?”

Shen Tingwen said nothing, still trying to put the clothes on her.

Zhou Shuirong slapped him on the ear: “Don’t touch me!”

Shen Tingwen told her: “I’ll take you to a private swimming pool.”

“I don’t need to!”

Shen Tingwen had a card and handed it to her: “I’m an annual member of that private club. You can swim whenever you want, however you want.”

Zhou Shuirong smiled: “I just want to be like dumplings in boiling water outside. I just like swimming with many people.”

Actually, she preferred to be alone, but she just wanted to contradict Shen Tingwen. She disliked his stance of making decisions for her. She didn’t need anyone to decide for her; she could do it herself.

Shen Tingwen’s back was bleeding, and he was still holding Zhou Shuirong’s clothes: “Please put on your clothes first.”

Zhou Shuirong was driven crazy by him. Her words were like knives, piercing his heart: “I advise you not to waste your energy. I don’t like you. If I don’t like you for one day, I’ll never like you. I hate men like you the most, so self-righteous.”

It was truly heartbreaking. Shen Tingwen felt a bit of pain. His voice dropped: “Okay, I understand.”

Zhou Shuirong looked at him like that and suddenly lost her interest in swimming. She put on her clothes and left.

Shen Tingwen sat down, leaning against the wall, looking at the lights above. He sucked the blood from his mouth and spat it into a tissue. Zhou Shuirong’s strikes were truly harsh; she never went easy on him. It was also his fault; he knew she wouldn’t hold back, yet he always asked for a beating.

But he still liked her very much.

Even if she beat him to death, he would still like her. Let him be cheap, he was cheap. Anyway, everyone has a cheap life, and there isn’t much time in this life lived for oneself. Living for anyone is living, and if it’s for Zhou Shuirong, that’s just perfect.

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Zhou Shuirong left the gym and was immediately stopped by several men. Their words were polite enough, but the act of blocking her and not letting her leave was not.

Apparently, the leader of the group said to her: “We’re going to Sanlitun to open a club later. Do you want to come with us?”

This was an invitation to hang out. Zhou Shuirong declined: “Please move.”

The man didn’t move: “Then can we add WeChat? We saw you changing into your swimsuit just now and thought you were going to swim, so we waited by the pool for a long time. Given our sincerity, how about adding each other?”

Zhou Shuirong frowned. So Shen Tingwen didn’t let her go swimming because he realized these few guys were targeting her?

She had just beaten him up in the changing room...

She turned back, walked towards the gym, but stopped at the entrance. What was she going back for? What would she say to Shen Tingwen? She clearly didn’t like him. If she went back, would he think she had feelings for him?

Let him misunderstand, then. Things that shouldn’t start, it’s better if there’s a misunderstanding.

Thinking this, she turned around again.

The men at the door hadn’t left yet; they still wanted to invite her to a club, their ultimate goal, of course, being to take her to a room. She couldn’t fight them all, so she didn’t use force: “I have AIDS.”

Just five words scattered them.

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Zhou Shuirong returned home, showered first, then lay on her bed, clearing her mind.

She felt a little strange, but couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was strange about her.