Losing One’s Late-Life Reputation
Zhuang Fuyao was dressed lightly. Earlier, while still inside the enclosed escape room, she had not felt much, but not long after coming out, she began to feel cold.
Seeing her sneeze, Liang Huaixu asked, “How about buying a jacket to wear for now?”
Zhuang Fuyao shook her head without a second thought.
She was oddly double-standard when it came to cleanliness.
Although her own room was often a mess, that did not stop her from being particular about other people. She drew a very strict line between “herself” and “others.” She would rather freeze, starve, or feel uncomfortable than use something someone else had used or eat something someone else had eaten.
Liang Huaixu knew this about her and could do nothing about it, so he was about to ask Aunt Yuan to bring a jacket from her room.
“No need.” Zhuang Fuyao was puzzled when she heard this. “Isn’t your jacket in the car? I’ll just wear yours.”
Her eyes were clear and bright, her expression serious. She was not joking at all. Her tone was entirely natural, as if she were treating him as one of her own.
Liang Huaixu was momentarily stunned. Then a faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips, one he himself had not even noticed. “Alright. Then wait for me here.”
“Mhm.”
While waiting for him, Zhuang Fuyao was drawn to a blind box display of a red-lipped lady placed inside and outside a boutique.
She thought it looked very distinctive and asked the sales clerk whether there were more from that series.
The sales clerk replied apologetically, “Sorry, this is just a display item. We don’t have any stock at the moment.”
Zhuang Fuyao shrugged. Her gaze shifted away from the red-lipped lady and moved to other blind box series, but none of them interested her much.
Someone beside her said, “There’s a variety show that’s been really popular lately. The camera caught this set in a celebrity guest’s home. As soon as the show aired, it sold out everywhere.”
Zhuang Fuyao looked over. It was a fashionably dressed man, or rather a young man, wearing a baseball cap pulled low over his brow. Even so, his jawline was clearly defined, and overall he looked somewhat handsome.
She felt a bit regretful. “Then is there anywhere else still selling it?”
“Only scalpers have it now.” The young man smiled and struck up a conversation easily. “But I wouldn’t recommend buying it. The markup is way too high. If you’re not in a hurry, you could wait a couple of months until the hype dies down.”
“Then forget it.” Zhuang Fuyao felt it was unnecessary to wait two months just for a blind box.
As for scalpers, she had heard from Song Qing how harmful that kind of behavior was, and she did not want to encourage it either.
So she decided to let it go.
The young man continued, “Coincidentally, I stocked two sets before. If you like them, I can transfer one to you at market price.”
Zhuang Fuyao caught the undertone in his words. She raised her eyebrows slightly but said nothing.
Under her scrutiny, the young man curled his lips into a smile and took out his phone. “Why don’t we add each other on WeChat? Just make a friend.”
Her hunch was confirmed.
Zhuang Fuyao could not help asking, “How old are you?”
The young man replied, “I’m a junior this year.”
Zhuang Fuyao smiled, her eyes curving gently. “My son should be a year older than you.”
“…”
“Big sister, don’t mess with me.”
The young man tugged at the corner of his mouth. He looked decent and was quite popular with girls at school. This was the first time he had ever been rejected, and with a reason that sounded completely final.
Still, looking at the clearly young and beautiful woman in front of him, he would rather believe she was teasing him than believe she truly had a son older than him.
At least that way, it would not feel so disillusioning.
Dejected, he turned back and almost bumped into someone. When he looked up, he froze completely. “Professor Liang?”
This was the terrifying existence who had once made him fail a course in university.
Liang Huaixu also thought he was seeing things.
He had only gone to fetch a jacket, yet when he came back, he saw his student standing together with Zhuang Fuyao. Judging by the situation, it seemed his student had been trying to strike up a conversation with her.
He felt awkward. Leaving did not feel right, but standing aside and watching did not feel right either. Thinking about the age difference between the two, he lifted a hand to his forehead.
Ever since Zhuang Fuyao had shed that gloomy air recently, she had become radiant, looking especially young.
It felt as if, if he did not start paying more attention to maintenance, there might one day be people who thought she was his daughter.
While talking to the student, he urged him to study hard and absolutely not fail again. If he had ambition, he could also consider internships, graduate school, or future career planning.
The young man felt even more dispirited after the rejection.
……
After seeing the student off, Liang Huaixu went over to Zhuang Fuyao. He observed her briefly. Her expression had not changed much. She probably had not seen their earlier exchange.
That was for the best.
He handed her the jacket.
Zhuang Fuyao took it but did not put it on immediately. Instead, she inhaled deeply, catching the faint woody incense scent from him. There was no trace of any other woman’s perfume.
Only then did she put the jacket on with satisfaction.
Liang Huaixu, however, felt a touch of unease at her action. In their past intimate memories, there had been far too many similar moments. For an instant, it felt as though what she had inhaled was not his jacket, but—
He steadied himself and raised his hand to check the time. It was almost time for the movie to start. He asked, “Is there anyone else?”
Zhuang Fuyao was baffled by his sudden question. “Anyone else?”
“Is it just the two of us watching the movie?”
Zhuang Fuyao looked at him. “Who else would it be?”
Liang Huaixu cleared his throat lightly and said tactfully, “I thought Qin Zhenglin would also come.”
Zhuang Fuyao was almost speechless. She had thought that asking her ex-husband to watch a movie with her was already obvious enough.
So when Liang Huaixu had tried to back out of the movie and then agreed after she gave him a mild threat, she assumed he had gone through some internal struggle and finally figured things out.
Coupled with how considerate his attitude toward her had been today, and the fact that he had even broken his usual rules to accompany her to the escape room, she had tacitly assumed that the two of them were in an unspoken, mutual state of ambiguity.
In the end, it turned out he had not understood anything at all.
And he even brought up Qin Zhenglin.
What kind of wooden block brain was hidden beneath that high-IQ exterior of his?
Not to mention that Qin Zhenglin was merely a blind date she had met once.
Even if she and Qin Zhenglin really had something going on, would she possibly invite Liang Huaixu along as well?
What kind of worldview-shattering thought was that?
Zhuang Fuyao could not be bothered to deal with him anymore, nor did she want to explain further.
With a wooden block like this, before he figured things out himself, using any big moves would only scare him off prematurely.
Zhuang Fuyao watched the movie without much interest. Because she was so distracted, she did not understand the plot at all, to the point that she did not even dare tell Madam Ji that she had gone to see her movie.
The next evening, she asked Beiguo out to play games. While complaining nonstop, she also played fiercely, “This is what it means to play the lute to a cow. That’s exactly what I’m doing!”
She truly turned anger into strength. Before long, she had claimed the title of “Elimination King.”
At the same time, at the Liang residence—
Liang Chaoluo deliberately returned home to visit Old Liang.
After a night of sorting through his thoughts, he had gradually accepted the possibility that Old Liang might be entering a second spring in love.
From a positive perspective, was this not actually a very good opportunity?
Men who were in love were always especially easy to talk to. Perhaps by riding this favorable momentum and pushing a little harder, he could get Old Liang to relent and agree to his relationship with Shu Run.
Thinking of this, the hostility that had filled his face from working overtime all day softened considerably.
When Aunt Yuan saw him return, she hurried over with concern. “Young Master Chaoluo, have you had dinner? Should I notify the kitchen to make something for you?”
“No need.” Liang Chaoluo glanced around and asked Aunt Yuan, “Has someone been coming to the house recently?”
Aunt Yuan froze and stammered, “Y-Yes… it seems so.”
“What do you mean, ‘it seems’?” Liang Chaoluo frowned.
“…Yes.”
Aunt Yuan felt that if even Young Master Chaoluo did not know and had to ask her, then Master probably had no intention of telling Young Master Chaoluo at all.
If Young Master Chaoluo had not asked in that tone, she would have kept quiet. Although the young master was not very old, when he became serious, his presence already resembled Master’s by seventy or eighty percent. She felt somewhat uneasy.
Liang Chaoluo nodded. “Alright, I’ll go in first.”
Since this was something he had already expected, he felt fairly calm.
But this calmness was like a broken tile house in a rainstorm. It did not last long before it slowly collapsed.
As soon as he entered the main house, he was dumbfounded.
What was going on with this completely refreshed soft furnishing?
These throw pillows with cartoon patterns. And this tablecloth.
And those unbelievably childish refrigerator magnets!
If earlier, when he saw the photos, he had thought it might just be that the person looked young in how they dressed, then now, seeing all the changes in the house’s decor…
Only two words surfaced in his mind.
It’s over.
Old Liang’s late-life reputation was about to be ruined.