Chapter 2, Zhang Jingzhi

However, it seems that the music around is indeed too loud, as a young lady is shouting a rock song. Zhang Jing looks at Wang Yuhan with a bewildered expression, as if she hasn't heard anything he is saying.

Of course, these are all Zhang Jingzhi's thoughts, and Zhang Jingzhi's thoughts are usually just thoughts. Therefore, Zhang Jingzhi can only sit there helplessly and quietly, occasionally expressing her admiration for that handsome guy with her eyes.

The handsome man seemed completely unaware of Zhang Jingzhi's attention; he simply gazed quietly at the screen, listening to music in silence. His expression was calm, seemingly unaffected by the surrounding environment. Even amidst the exhilarating sounds of music, a hint of loneliness and sorrow faintly appeared on his face.

Wang Yuhan turned her head and caught a glimpse of a sly glimmer in Zhang Jing's eyes, suddenly realizing that she seemed to have been genuinely played by this seemingly demure girl

Did you recognize it? I am Jiang Xiaoruo

Zhang Jingzhi raised her head and looked at the owner of the hand, stunned, yet no sound of "thank you" escaped her open mouth. She saw a face that appeared somewhat strange under the changing colorful lights, with a hint of a smile, and those eyes filled with mockery. At that moment, Zhang Jingzhi truly understood what it meant to say, "This world is really too small!"

Zhang Jingzhi had never felt so embarrassed, not even during that time in middle school when she wet the bed. It felt as if a mouse, coveting a cake, suddenly discovered a cat behind it, looking at it with a disdainful gaze. She was that mouse, feeling the awkwardness of being caught, along with a sense of inferiority for desiring something beautiful that she should not. She believed it must be because she had stolen a dumpling meant for the elderly lady of their household, and this was heaven's punishment for her. It felt as if a mouse, coveting a cake, suddenly discovered a cat behind it, looking at it with a disdainful gaze. She was that mouse, feeling the awkwardness of being caught, along with a sense of inferiority for desiring something beautiful that she should not. She believed it must be because she had stolen a dumpling meant for the elderly lady of their household, and this was heaven's punishment for her.

"Mother!" Zhang Jingzhi replied, and as she spoke, she opened the door and went out

Zhang Jingzhi took a tissue from her bag to wipe away the impending runny nose, patted Jiang Xiaoruo, and asked: "Are all of these your friends?"

"A classmate invited me," said Zhang Jingzhi

After finishing work in the evening, Zhang Jingzhi tidied herself up at home after dinner. Although she was not sneezing much anymore, she still had a runny nose. After putting on her dress and finishing her makeup, just as she was about to go out, her elderly relative came out of the kitchen after tidying up. Seeing Zhang Jingzhi dressed so lightly, she asked, "Where are you going dressed so scantily in such cold weather?"

Jiang Xiaoruo and Zhang Jingzhi were searching for this name in their minds, and it took them quite a while to realize that Jiang Xiaoruo was the elementary school classmate they had encountered four times on the street that day

Zhang Jingzhi still had a look of confusion on her face

Zhang Jingzhi gazed quietly, in her eyes, the handsome man had ceased to be a handsome man and had transformed into a delicious chicken leg. Zhang Jingzhi stared silently, the surrounding noise seemed to have vanished; she forgot about Jiang Xiaoruo beside her, forgot about the noisy men and women, and even forgot about her own slowly flowing clear nasal mucus.

What happened, sister? Jiang Xiaoruo asked

My friend—Zhang Jingzhi!" Jiang Xiaoruo shouted, and the men and women nearby nodded and smiled at Zhang Jingzhi. Zhang Jingzhi sat down next to Jiang Xiaoruo and began to quietly observe the men and women around. On the other side of Jiang Xiaoruo sat a man in his twenties, who was quite handsome and appeared to be relatively close to Jiang Xiaoruo. Zhang Jingzhi suddenly recalled Jiang Xiaoruo's childhood deskmate, who was very close to her. Their classmates often teased the two of them. What was that boy's name? On the other side of Jiang Xiaoruo sat a man in his twenties, who was quite handsome and appeared to be relatively close to Jiang Xiaoruo. Zhang Jingzhi suddenly recalled Jiang Xiaoruo's childhood deskmate, who was very close to her. Their classmates often teased the two of them. What was that boy's name? I forgot, I only remember that he seemed to have a perpetual cold, always sniffling, which made Zhang Jingzhi want to ask him several times what his snot actually smelled like

This behavior of Jiang Xiaoruo greatly infuriated Zhang Jingzhi, who felt that her friend had not fulfilled her obligations as a friend. She should have introduced each of her friends to Zhang Jingzhi, while also introducing Zhang Jingzhi to them, so that at the very least, Zhang Jingzhi would know the names of those handsome men.

"I heard it," Zhang Jingzhi hurriedly said, trying to protect her ears from the harm of her high-decibel voice. "Is there something wrong, Xiao Ruo?"

Zhang Jingzhi picked up the phone and said in standard Mandarin: "Hello, how are you!"

Zhang Jing's face burned with embarrassment; that foolish expression from earlier must have been seen by someone. She could not keep her head down now; she had to appear indifferent. Otherwise, it would only make her more awkward. She had to bravely lift her head and politely say thank you to the owner of that hand.

Amidst prayers and curses, time slowly passed. Zhang Jingzhi was somewhat on the verge of giving up. It seemed that she would have to wait until later to gradually extract the handsome man's name from Jiang Xiaoruo's lips. Just as she was feeling dejected, she heard someone stirring up the crowd, "Yang Lei, sing one"

This is a particularly handsome young man, very much resembling a Hong Kong celebrity—Daniel Wu. Zhang Jingzhi could tell from just seeing more than half of his profile that she had completely fallen for him tonight, under his jeans.

"Is it a man?" the old lady asked

I, Zhang Jingzhi, was just about to find an excuse to push it away when Jiang Xiaoruo interrupted me

Hold on, beautiful, you cannot give up so easily, you must persist and go on another blind date! The next one is sure to be a big chicken leg!" Xiao Wang teased

On Monday at work, Zhang Jingzhi's sneezing did not stop. When she finished her twenty-eighth sneeze, the young man opposite her, Xiao Wang, could no longer bear to watch and asked, "Beautiful lady, what happened to you? Who has made you like this? They won't even let you be!"

Yang Lei looked at everyone teasing him, knowing he could not escape it. He asked the girl who sang rock to help him choose a song, "Fairy Tale." To be honest, he did not sing particularly well, but to Zhang Jingzhi, it was like the voice of heaven. His slightly hoarse voice made Zhang Jingzhi feel as if she were intoxicated. She thought to herself, this is the "big chicken leg" she had been searching for a long time.

"It's still the same, I have not yet decided which one to choose," said Zhang Jingzhi

Unexpectedly, Wang Yuhan merely smiled and then waved his hand, signaling everyone to continue

The old lady muttered from behind, "This child, how can she speak like that? A woman is not called a woman, but referred to as 'mother' instead."

Yang Lei, stop just listening, sing a song for the brothers

Watching Jiang Xiaoruo's swaying head, Zhang Jingzhi felt an impulse to rush over, grab her by the neck, and ask her, "Quickly tell me, who is that handsome guy? What is his name? Is he married or not?"

Seeing Wang Yuhan's ambiguous smile, Zhang Jingzhi truly wanted to kick that face to the ground and then stomp on it a couple of times. However, as we have mentioned before, Zhang Jingzhi's thoughts were merely thoughts. Thus, Zhang Jingzhi composed herself, adjusted her mood and expression, and then, with utmost dignity, smiled gently and said "thank you"

Jiang Xiaoruo grinned at Zhang Jingzhi and said proudly: "These are all my brothers and sisters"

However, Wang Yuhan vaguely felt that this was not the real her, as he had heard this "lady" curse twice in one day. With this curiosity, Wang Yuhan sat down beside the girl, only to find her gazing infatuatedly at Yang Lei, nearly drooling. What amused Wang Yuhan even more was that although Zhang Jingzhi's saliva did not flow down, her clear nasal mucus was unmistakably about to drip.

Jiang Xiaoruo could not understand Zhang Jingzhi's feelings at all. She sat there swaying her head, which resembled a "instant noodle" container, to the music, occasionally shouting a couple of lyrics along with others, and then swaying with great enjoyment.

Zhang Jingzhi thought to herself, regardless of who he is to them, the most important thing now is to strike up a conversation with that handsome guy. Before doing so, she could only learn about him through Jiang Xiaoruo. Given Zhang Jingzhi's temperament, she would never show any interest in that handsome guy; she possessed a strong sense of feminine pride. She believed that openly flirting with him would be extremely embarrassing, even though she desperately wished to connect with him immediately. To Zhang Jingzhi, that handsome guy was like a cake covered in cream, and she longed to take a bite. However, her feminine reserve made her hesitate, like a mouse lingering beside the cake, only able to express her yearning for the cream cake through her eyes.

Zhang Jingzhi felt somewhat disappointed, then turned her head away to continue admiring her handsome man. That handsome man had briefly cast his gaze here earlier, but unfortunately, she had missed the opportunity. Zhang Jingzhi repeatedly regretted in her heart, while not forgetting to curse that annoying Wang Yuhan. If it weren't for his interruption, she might have already known the handsome man's name.

Everyone's attention was drawn to that handsome guy, and Zhang Jingzhi was so excited that her hands were trembling. It turns out his name is Yang Lei, Yang Lei, what a cool name! Zhang Jingzhi thought to herself

My name is Wang Yuhan! This time, Wang Yuhan can be described as loud, his voice startling everyone, even causing the girl who was singing to stop. More than a dozen pairs of eyes suddenly focused on Wang Yuhan, looking at him as if he were a monster

Zhang Jingzhi has not yet awakened from the sound of gunfire, and over there, with a "pop," the phone has hung up

Although Zhang Jingzhi wanted to maintain her image as a lady, she also understood that in such a noisy environment, speaking softly would not resolve the issue. Therefore, she raised her voice and asked, "Where did you get so many friends?"

A slender hand reached out in front of Zhang Jing, holding a tissue.

Zhang Jing took a tissue and blew her nose vigorously, and what about the chicken legs! The two chicken ribs were exhausting her. Just as she was feeling troubled, the phone rang

"Hello, please find Zhang Jingzhi," a female voice said

"It's nothing major, do you have time tonight? Let's get together, I have a few friends who want to go out and have some fun together," Jiang Xiaoruo said cheerfully, her words coming out quickly, reminiscent of the sound of a machine gun.

Zhang Jing suddenly realized that her mucus was about to touch her lips, and this discovery, along with the tissue in front of her, immediately plunged her into an overwhelming sense of embarrassment. In a flurry, she quickly took the tissue and lowered her head to cover her nose.

Am I going to karaoke looking like this? "Ah -- Ah-choo!" Another loud sneeze escapes.

Jiang Xiaoruo was stretching her neck, arguing with a younger sister by the door about a certain issue, when she felt Zhang Jingzhi patting her and turned around.

"Zhang Jingzhi! It's me!" The female voice on the other end suddenly rose by an octave, startling Zhang Jingzhi, who quickly pulled the phone away from her ear. Tears streamed down her face again, and in the midst of the chaos, she hurriedly grabbed a tissue.

Pushing open the door to the private room of "Night Pearl," a deafening chorus of singing rushed towards Zhang Jingzhi, nearly causing her to stumble. Zhang Jingzhi widened her eyes, straining to find Jiang Xiaoruo's figure amidst the dim yet dazzling lights. Inside, there were about ten men and women gathered, with a handsome guy and a beautiful girl singing face to face. Just as she was watching, Jiang Xiaoruo's sharp voice rang out. Following the sound, Zhang Jingzhi looked over to see Jiang Xiaoruo, sporting a noodle-like short hairstyle, standing up from within and waving vigorously at her.

If this person becomes more beautiful, even the friends they make will become more beautiful, Zhang Jing thought

Wang Yuhan raised her voice by an octave and said loudly, "Have we met before, do you remember?"

Wang Yuhan smiled as he looked at the girl in front of him, finding her quite interesting. Ever since she had just entered, he had recognized this girl. The girl before him puzzled Wang Yuhan; observing her attire, she was the epitome of a lady—her smooth long hair cascading over her shoulders, wearing a simple sweater and an elegant long skirt, which accentuated her tall figure even more. After entering, she hardly spoke, only gently smiling at everyone, and then quietly sat there, seemingly indifferent to the surrounding noise.

Zhang Jingzhi sat there quietly, silently observing the handsome man, noticing the loneliness and sorrow on his face. Her own heart began to ache slowly, as if his loneliness was her own, and his sorrow was her sorrow. This feeling was something she had never experienced before. She thought to herself that this time, she truly was destined to "fall"; she had already fallen in love with this handsome man whose name she did not know

How are the two chicken ribs?" asked Xiao Wang

"Stop looking, your nose is about to run, wipe it first." One person gently patted Zhang Jingzhi's shoulder, pulling her thoughts back to this noisy room

I am.

What about me? It is what it is, 8 o'clock, at the "Night Pearl" on Xiquan Road, let's go karaoke, we can't miss it, don't be so inconsiderate. Alright, I have things to do, see you tonight, bye

"I have a cold," Zhang Jing sniffed and said in a muffled voice. Ever since she returned home on Friday night, she had been suffering from a cold, and she figured it must have been from the cold wind at the entrance of her workplace.

Zhang Jingzhi then turned her gaze to the side, and when she saw the fifth person, she felt her heart suddenly skip two beats, and then it began to pound violently like a drum, "bang bang." In that instant, Zhang Jingzhi finally saw the "chicken drumstick" she had been searching for so long.

Zhang Jingzhi suppressed her laughter and looked at Wang Yuhan with an innocent and puzzled expression, as if she had no idea what was happening, wanting to see how he would handle the situation, especially since he had just made her feel so embarrassed

"The world is small, isn't it?" Wang Yuhan said with a smile