novelraw Chapter 21: Zhao Yanxi's Simp
Chapter 21: Zhao Yanxi's Simp
In the following days, Ding Heng's life gradually became more regular.
I played games with Xie Baoyang and the others until the early hours of the morning. I struggled to get up at noon and drove to McDonald's in the afternoon to pick up Wenjing and Zhao Yanxi from get off work so we could have dinner together.
He occasionally dealt with Zhao Yanxi's teasing and flirted with Wen Jing to boost his purification points. Before he knew it, a week had passed.
At ten o'clock that morning, Ding Heng, who had been asleep for less than four hours, was abruptly pulled from his deep sleep by a cell phone ringing.
He frowned, fumbled for his phone, and answered it by muscle memory, letting out a deep, sleepy voice.
"Feed...?"
A wronged tone came from the other end of the phone: "Brother Ding Heng, it's almost ten o'clock! Where are you?"
Ding Heng's mind was still foggy, and he subconsciously asked, "You...aren't you going to work today?"
"I'm on vacation today!"
Zhao Yanxi felt even more aggrieved: "Didn't we say yesterday that Xiaojing and I would take turns having the next two days off?"
"You're on vacation... what does that have to do with me?"
Ding Heng was so sleepy that he spoke without thinking, and only after he finished speaking did he vaguely realize that something was wrong.
There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone, then Zhao Yanxi's voice suddenly rose: "Ding—Heng—! You clearly promised yesterday! You'd come shopping with us during the holiday, didn't you?!"
yesterday?
Ding Heng vaguely recalled the events.
It seems that when I picked them up from get off work yesterday afternoon, Wenjing mentioned that she and Yan Ximing were on holiday the day after tomorrow and asked if I was free to accompany them for a casual stroll around Xingcheng.
I think I just casually agreed back then?
"Oh..." Ding Heng suddenly realized, his mind clearing slightly: "You and Wenjing... took separate leave?"
"What else?!"
Zhao Yanxi said irritably, "The shop is already short-staffed, and you expect us both to take time off? You're not really going to stand me up, are you?"
Ding Heng got up and rubbed his temples. When he agreed yesterday, he implicitly assumed that the two of them would be together, or at least Wen Jing would be there.
Although it was a misunderstanding, I did agree to those words.
He cleared his throat and replied with an apologetic smile, "No, no, how could I? I'll be right there. Just wait a moment, ten minutes... no, twenty minutes!"
After hanging up the phone, Ding Heng resignedly got out of bed, took a quick shower and washed up, and finally felt much more awake.
After driving to the Chujiang Hotel, Ding Heng sent a message to Zhao Yanxi.
A moment later, the passenger door was opened, and Zhao Yanxi got in angrily, slamming the door shut.
The girl had clearly dressed up carefully for today, with light makeup on her face.
She wore a brown tank top over a breathable plaid shirt, the hem of which was neatly and cleverly cut, just enough to reveal a small patch of delicate skin around her waist and abdomen.
She wore a warm orange short skirt that hung loosely at the waist, perfectly showcasing her long, straight legs.
Zhao Yanxi crossed her arms over her chest, radiating an extremely low-pressure aura.
Ding Heng started the car, trying to ease the tension: "Don't be angry, I'm here now. I wasn't fully awake this morning and said some nonsense, I apologize."
Zhao Yanxi glared angrily at Ding Heng, her eyes filled with complex emotions. After a long while, she sighed resignedly.
She is not stupid.
Because Ding Heng wasn't fully awake, his reaction on the phone in the morning was the most genuine and subconscious.
The man never intended to spend his vacation alone with her. When he agreed yesterday, he probably only thought about "spending time with Wenjing," and she was just an extra, dispensable addition.
Being treated so clearly differently, even to the point of being ignored, left Zhao Yanxi feeling empty inside.
Frustration, resentment, and other emotions churned within her chest.
The car drove out of the garage and merged into the traffic.
After a moment of silence, Zhao Yanxi suddenly spoke up: "Brother Ding Heng, I've always been curious, why did you take the initiative to strike up a conversation with Wenjing at the anime convention? Was it because her Phoebe cosplay was particularly to your liking?"
Ding Heng gripped the steering wheel, his eyes fixed ahead: "That's part of the reason..."
Zhao Yanxi immediately chimed in, her tone eager and defiant: "Then I can cosplay too! Phoebe, or any other character, whatever you want to see, I can do it!"
Ding Heng was slightly surprised to hear this.
Over the course of so many days, although Zhao Yanxi occasionally flirted with him, she always maintained the appropriate emotional intelligence and sense of propriety. Even when she realized that he was paying more attention to Wenjing, she never showed any signs of getting angry!
My subconscious reaction this morning probably really touched a nerve with her.
Ding Heng softened his tone and reassured her, "What character you cosplay isn't that important, the main thing is..."
But he stopped himself from speaking.
System task? I can't say for sure.
Love at first sight? That's so melodramatic...
Zhao Yanxi took Ding Heng's pause as an embarrassing excuse and subconsciously looked down at her chest.
"What's the main reason? Could it be because..."
While not as exaggeratedly proportioned as Wen Jing's almost sci-fi figure, Zhao Yanxi's 85C bust is definitely not small by the average standard for Asian women, and she has a well-proportioned and tall figure.
But do men... really only believe that bigger is better?
An absurd and frustrating thought popped into the girl's mind.
Seeing that Zhao Yanxi's thoughts were about to veer off in a strange direction, Ding Heng quickly interrupted her and changed the subject.
"Stop, stop! Don't make wild guesses. It's your day off today. Where do you want to go? What do you want to do? As compensation for my rambling this morning, I'll do whatever you say today, okay?"
Zhao Yanxi stared at Ding Heng for a few seconds. Seeing that his eyes were open and honest, not perfunctory, she finally smiled again. Although it wasn't as bright as before, it was at least a sign that things had calmed down.
She raised her chin slightly: "You've got it? You'll listen to me today? No backing out!"
Ding Heng gripped the steering wheel with one hand, raising the other as if swearing an oath, his tone exaggerated: "I will never go back on my word! Miss Zhao, please give me your orders!"
"That's more like it."
Zhao Yanxi gave a soft hum and gently tossed her hair aside: "Then... come with me to dye my hair first!"
The silver-white hair color she had temporarily dyed for COS Jett had faded completely, and Zhao Yanxi had already booked an appointment at a reputable hair salon to officially change her hair color.
"But getting your hair dyed might take a long time, maybe two or three hours. Ding Heng, won't you get bored?"
Don't worry.
Ding Heng glanced at the navigation: "I promised to keep you company, so I won't find it boring. Just focus on what you're doing."
Upon arriving at the hair salon and finding her appointment with Tony, Zhao Yanxi, on Ding Heng's advice, finally chose a misty purple color.
The long hair dyeing process begins.
Ding Heng showed no impatience whatsoever, sitting in the rest area to the side, scrolling through his phone, and occasionally glancing at magazines.
He even took a picture of Zhao Yanxi with tin foil wrapped around her head, which prompted Zhao Yanxi to mouth "threate" him to delete it from a distance.
Finally, Tony skillfully dried her newly dyed long hair and styled it into a pair of playful and fashionable high pigtails.
Her misty purple hair shimmered under the light, making Zhao Yanxi's face appear even more delicate, giving her a sweet yet cool and trendy look.
"How is it?"
Zhao Yanxi excitedly ran up to Ding Heng and spun around.
"nice."
Ding Heng gave a fair assessment.
At only eighteen years old, Zhao Yanxi is youthful and beautiful, with outstanding looks that allow her to pull off almost any hair color.
Receiving the praise, Zhao Yanxi smiled even more brightly, immediately pulled Ding Heng to the huge floor-length mirror, took his arm without saying a word, and raised her phone.
"Group photo! To commemorate my new hair color!"
Ding Heng cooperated and smiled at the camera.
"Click."
The photo freezes in time; the girl in the mirror has a bright smile, her purple hair in pigtails is cute and playful.
The boy was tall and straight, with a slightly indulgent smile on his face.
It was past 1 p.m. when they left the hair salon, and the two found a decent-rated Hunan restaurant nearby for lunch.
During the meal, Zhao Yanxi picked up her phone and started fiddling with it. Suddenly, she looked up and asked, "Brother Ding Heng, I'd like to post the group photo from earlier on my WeChat Moments. Do you mind?"
Ding Heng was picking up some food when he heard this and looked up: "I don't mind, but... your parents don't mind?"
Zhao Yanxi smiled and began to edit rapidly on the screen.
"It's okay, I already told my parents about dyeing my hair. They're not old-fashioned, and besides..."
She smiled slyly: "Don't you block your parents from posting on WeChat Moments?"
Ding Heng thought about his monotonous WeChat Moments and realized that there really wasn't anything he needed to block his parents from seeing.
"send!"
Zhao Yanxi clicked the button, put down her phone with satisfaction, and picked up her chopsticks again.
A few minutes later, her phone started ringing incessantly.
She ate while replying with great interest, occasionally letting out a soft laugh, and then proudly turned her phone screen towards Ding Heng.
"Look! Several of my friends are asking me when I secretly started dating such a handsome boyfriend! Some are even thinking of dyeing their hair and asked me for advice."
Ding Heng glanced at Zhao Yanxi's phone screen. She was really popular. She simply posted a message on her WeChat Moments, and more than a dozen people came to inquire about her, teasing her or asking about Ding Heng's identity.
One of the contacts, whose ID was "Promise of the Sea," had messages set to Do Not Disturb, and the number of unread messages had reached a staggering "64."
However, Zhao Yanxi seemed to have no intention of clicking to check.
"The promise of this sea..."
Ding Heng asked curiously, "Who is it? They sent so many messages, and you didn't reply to a single one?"
Zhao Yanxi put her phone away: "Oh, him? He's just an ordinary classmate from high school, nothing special."
Ding Heng raised an eyebrow: "He likes you?"
Zhao Yanxi nodded, picked up a piece of stir-fried pork with chili peppers, and said in a flat tone, "Yeah, they've been pursuing me for quite a while."
"At least reply to them."
Ding Heng half-jokingly said, "More than sixty unread messages, that must mean they care about you a lot... Even if you're going to refuse, just give me a straight answer."
Zhao Yanxi wrinkled her nose, showing a hint of impatience.
"Oh, he's just a little kid who'll never grow up. If I talk back to him, he'll probably get even more excited and think he has a chance."
"How is it childish?"
"How childish can it be?"
Zhao Yanxi started complaining.
"For three years of high school, without fail, I would get up early every day, take a long detour to the breakfast shop at the entrance of my neighborhood, buy soy milk and fried dough sticks or steamed buns, and then 'coincidentally' 'bump into' the school gate. If I didn't want them, they would force them on me or secretly put them in my desk drawer."
They brought me water during PE class, and it was one of those pink drinks with cheesy words written on it.
For my birthday, he saved up to buy me an expensive fountain pen that I'd never use, and even had someone else deliver it so he wouldn't refuse it to my face... Things like that, it's so annoying.
Ding Heng commented succinctly, "Sounds like... quite devoted and persistent."
"What's the use of being devoted? Using your willpower in the wrong place is just harassment!"
Zhao Yanxi rolled her eyes: "For three whole years, didn't he realize at all that I had no interest in him? I've told him more than once that I don't like him doing this and that he should stop sending me gifts, but it's no use. Later, I simply ignored him and pretended not to see him, but he still did the same thing."
"Then why don't you delete his WeChat account? Out of sight, out of mind."
Zhao Yanxi sighed deeply.
"Deleted once."
"and then?"
"Then?"
Zhao Yanxi said helplessly, "Then he had his mother find my mother and asked me why I hadn't added him on WeChat anymore, whether there was some misunderstanding, and hoped that my mother would give my WeChat to him again."
Oh, by the way, his mother works at our city's education bureau... although she's not a high-ranking official, but still... I don't want to make things too ugly and put my mom in a difficult position.
Ding Heng was completely dumbfounded after hearing this.
Goodness, needing parental pressure to woo a girl? That's really something else!
No wonder Zhao Yanxi disliked it so much.
Lick the dog is not good to die.
A stupid, self-conscious simp will only become a laughing stock for the goddess and other men at the dinner table.
After the two finished their meal, Ding Heng accompanied Zhao Yanxi through the classic "date" routine.
Shopping, watching movies, drinking milk tea... In the end, the timing was just right, and I appeared at the McDonald's entrance at 6 p.m. sharp to pick up Wenjing after get off work.
When Ding Heng got home in the evening, he lay on the bed and scrolled through his phone to relax.
Scrolling through my WeChat Moments, I quickly came across Zhao Yanxi's post from noon.
The photo was a picture of the two of them in front of a mirror, and the accompanying text was even more violent.
My brother said he'd pull the purple pigtails harder at night, sob sob... I'm afraid it'll hurt! [shy][tongue out]
Ding Heng: "..."
No wonder the "Promise of the Sea" reaction was so strong; the copywriting paired with the intimate photo was like a nuclear bomb.
Thinking about the possible expression on that guy's face when he saw this post on WeChat Moments, Ding Heng actually felt... a little sorry for him.
Just then, a new friend request popped up.
Applicant: [The Promise of the Sea.]
Verification message: [Your name is Ding Heng, right? Please accept my request. I want to talk to you about Yan Xi.]
Ding Heng's eyes widened.
WC, box!