(1)
Sun Wei had absolutely never washed himself so thoroughly in his entire life.
The moment he got home, he dove into the bathroom and began meticulously washing his hair and taking a shower.
He was always criticized for having dandruff that kept falling from his head, so today he washed his hair thoroughly three times and even applied a round of conditioner.
You have to understand, he never used this kind of stuff before. Usually, only his mother used it, so it had been sitting here for over half a year, and not even half the bottle had been used up.
As for the shower, he even brought out the old loofah scrubber and washed himself back and forth five times. His skin was already red as if it had been boiled before he was finally satisfied and rinsed off with a final splash of cold water.
He didn’t use hot water because—if the water was even slightly warm, it would hurt so much he’d grimace, as if his skin was about to split open.
‘I bet I haven’t been this clean since the day I was born.’ Sun Wei looked at himself in the mirror, examining his face from left to right—a face that no matter how you looked at it, wouldn’t make anyone feel it was handsome. ‘Is my face not clean enough? Where did mom put the facial cleanser?
Forget it, I’ll just scrub with soap!’
When Sun Wei finally emerged from the bathroom, the breeze that greeted him immediately made him shiver a few times. “Whoa, it’s a bit cold….”
But cold as it was, this feeling of being refreshed and clear-headed also made him somewhat addicted. The most refreshed moment of his life seemed to be right now.
He combed his hair, which wasn’t very long to begin with, and walked down the stairs with a look of contentment. When he saw the petite figure of the girl, he subconsciously slowed his pace.
It was Ninth Love, who had come back with him. Because her uncle wasn’t home yet, she had moved a bamboo chair into the small courtyard and was sitting there waiting for him.
“Ahem! Ninth Love, your uncle still not back?” Sun Wei straightened his collar, cleared his throat slightly, and squeezed out what he thought was a perfect smile—then asked the obvious question.
“No, he’s not home yet.” Ninth Love glanced back at Sun Wei, noticing he was wearing a white T-shirt that looked a bit ill-fitting and black trousers, with a strong scent of shower gel wafting from him. “Did you just take a shower?”
“Yeah, felt all sweaty, so I rushed to take one as soon as I got back, haha—” Sun Wei gave a dry laugh. Although he tried hard to stand up straight, the expression on his face was still somewhat awkward.
Truth be told, he really wasn’t good at talking to girls.
Usually, even when he spoke with girls, it was mostly to tease or mock them a few times. There were hardly any normal, friendly conversations.
This habit probably stemmed from the fact that no girl had ever been interested in him since he was a child, so he simply gave up and attacked all girls equally.
—Sometimes he would even feel smug about boldly attacking pretty girls, as if he was exceptionally nonconformist, exceptionally independent-minded, and completely immune to beauty.
But in reality.
Sun Wei had zero resistance to pretty girls.
But the prerequisite was that the girl had to be interested in him.
If she was interested, then even if she wasn’t pretty, it was fine… Ninth Love wasn’t an exceptionally beautiful girl, but she was quite good-looking. At the very least, to Sun Wei, every part of her was enticing.
But on the bus ride back, for such a long journey, he didn’t know what to say, acting so wooden that he felt like punching himself in the face twice.
“It’s rare to see you wash your hair so clean.”
“My hair just naturally has a lot of dandruff…”
“It would be quite charming if you washed it clean every day, right?” Ninth Love said with a faint smile, very proactively reaching out to tug at the hem of Sun Wei’s shirt. “Sun Wei, I’ve never really wandered around this area. You’re a local, take me around for a bit?”
“Ah, ah? Actually, there’s not much to see around here….”
“Looking at the scenery, or going to some fun places is fine.”
“If I had to say, the only thing that barely counts as a scenic spot is a local earth god temple.” Sun Wei scratched his head. “Ahem!”
“Just wandering around is fine.” She was still smiling, even extending her hand to gently grab Sun Wei’s palm.
He felt a jolt all over, as if an electric current had shot through his body.
And at the moment their fingers interlocked, Sun Wei had even thought of what his future child’s name should be.
Just call it ‘Sun Qing,’ the ‘Qing’ for love.
And it seemed like it could work for either a boy or a girl…
(2)
Ninth Love knew that Lu Ye wouldn’t be back so early today.
But she needed a pretext to get closer to Sun Wei.
To be honest, in this aspect, she was actually quite inexperienced.
After all, whether it was her ex or her current boyfriend who she hadn’t broken up with, it was always her being passive and them being active.
But to fulfill Lu Ye’s request, she could only somewhat deliberately approach Sun Wei.
However, Sun Wei seemed completely unaware of this ‘deliberateness.’ He only felt that his spring had arrived, that his charm had finally managed to attract a girl’s attention.
The moment Ninth Love grabbed Sun Wei’s palm, she actually felt a bit of disdain, but the clean, non-greasy touch and the fresh scent made that disdain fade quite a bit.
Then she subconsciously made the move of interlocking their fingers.
When she made this move, her heart panicked, thinking she might have been too proactive, that it might reveal a flaw.
But she didn’t expect Sun Wei to wear an expression as if he was about to ascend to heaven, his already small eyes now squinting happily.
Frankly, in front of Ninth Love, this guy Sun Wei, who always seemed to make dirty jokes and talk big, was as pure as a blank sheet of paper.
Ninth Love suddenly felt he seemed a bit interesting, at least not as annoying.
Compared to her current boyfriend, who was so skilled at everything it felt a bit oily, this clumsy boy didn’t seem so bad—of course, it would be better if he looked a bit nicer.
Sun Wei was thin and short. Saying he looked average was already a compliment—to tell the truth, he should just be considered an ugly duckling.
Of course, among ugly ducklings, his facial features were at least regular, even if his eyes were small, ears small, nose flat, lips…
Just as Ninth Love was spacing out, she suddenly saw Sun Wei raise his other arm and wipe his face.
“What’s wrong?” she asked curiously, the words slipping out.
“It’s nothing… it’s just that no girl has ever been willing to be this close to me… I’m a bit, a bit…” Sun Wei’s voice sounded like he was both crying and laughing, “a bit overwhelmed…”
This made Ninth Love unable to resist teasing him a little: “Then what if I said I like you?”
“Ah?! You, you? Too, too…”
Most men, when faced with the affection of the opposite sex, have to guess. Unless they’re very handsome, they rarely see the opposite sex express themselves directly.
And Sun Wei, at this moment, was so shocked his eyes widened.
“Ah—?!”
“It’s true. After all, you’re interesting, different from others.” Ninth Love felt she had already grasped Sun Wei’s psychology, so she boldly continued.
She was actually starting to enjoy this a bit now.
It wasn’t that dating Sun Wei was interesting, but this feeling of performing was interesting.
She knew full well those weren’t her true feelings, but she had set up a character in her mind and was trying hard to play her. Playing another person… an inexplicable pleasure.
…
And it seemed like even the last bit of psychological burden was gone.
“Damn… I… I don’t know what to say, you, you really like me?”
“Really!”
“I, I, I might not know you that well yet, but I’ve decided now, I’ll marry no one but you in this lifetime! Will you be my girlfriend? I promise I’ll treat you well forever!”
“Okay.”
“Holy shit, damn!” Sun Wei jumped up excitedly. “I’ve finally got this day! I, your boy, finally have a girlfriend!”
“Are you surprised?”
“Extremely surprised… so I will absolutely not let down this sincerity of yours!” Sun Wei nodded vigorously. “Believe me, I might seem, not that great, but I’m definitely a loyal person! I can stop talking to other girls in the class for you!”
“Really?”
“Of course!”
“But that’s not necessary. I don’t have that many demands.”
Of course there weren’t that many demands, since it wasn’t sincere anyway.
A joyful smile also appeared on Ninth Love’s face.
Her happiness lay in finally completing Lu Ye’s request. Next was to act like boyfriend and girlfriend, and then she could get thirty thousand yuan every month. Even if she only did it until summer break, she could earn nearly one hundred thousand yuan…
Not to mention for a student, even for an adult, this was a huge sum of money!
In comparison, fake-dating someone like Sun Wei wasn’t such a hard thing to accept.
As for the boyfriend she was still dating…
If she didn’t have to break up, she’d keep him.
When she stopped working here, she could continue dating her current boyfriend.
—From her current boyfriend, she could get emotional pleasure. From Lu Ye, she could get a lot of money. And from Sun Wei, she could enjoy the pleasure of performing.
When others couldn’t tell she was acting, that was the greatest praise for her acting skills.
‘Maybe I can become an actress or something in the future! I really have this talent, right!’ Ninth Love thought gleefully in her heart, and even the look she gave Sun Wei softened considerably.
“Uh, by the way, I heard about you and Zhou Chao, but, I won’t mind.” Sun Wei suddenly said again. “Don’t worry, people can correct their mistakes, and a breakup isn’t just one person’s fault anyway. Maybe both of you were wrong at the time…”
Ninth Love was stunned for a moment, then turned sideways. “I was already tired of him by then. He was too boring, not romantic at all. I lost feelings for him before we broke up. And my new boyfriend got close to me after I had a fight with him.”
“Then that later boyfriend… why did you break up again?”
“Because I found out his thoughtfulness was fake. He just took advantage of the situation back then.”
“I see. Then you were the real victim, the poor one. It wasn’t your fault at all.”
“That’s what I say.”
“Don’t worry, I’m definitely not that kind of person! I’m very loyal, and I’m devoted to you! Since you’re giving your true feelings, I’ll definitely give mine too, absolutely!”
“Thank you, Sun Wei. You really are a very gentle person.”
“Heh, hehehe…”