Love You Secretly [MTL]

Ch 37

37

After almost a week, Tao Xi finally finished the task at hand.

Finished editing the publication manuscript, also finished writing the web serialization and the side story of the physical book, and other bits and pieces of work.

Those melancholy feelings caused by parting with Shang Huaiqing gradually shattered into the busyness of daily life.

She also slowly began to get used to being alone again.

Shang Huaiqing was still in the training camp, and he didn't even have time to chat with her on WeChat. Taoxi didn't bother him too much, but when he was done with all the work, he gave him a happy message.

——I'm busy with publishing the manuscript.

—The physical book will be available soon.

After sending him two WeChat messages, knowing that he would not be able to reply soon, Tao Xi didn't wait, and turned to other things.

It was after ten o'clock that night when I received Shang Huaiqing's reply. When I clicked on WeChat, I saw the red envelope sent by him.

Five hundred and twenty yuan.

On a very ordinary day, he made a homophonic stalk, 520, I love you.

Taoxi:?

In fact, she couldn't react, the Qixi Festival hadn't arrived yet, so the red envelope was somewhat early.

Moreover, such a high-profile show of love is not quite his style. I don't know if it is because he misses her too much over there, so he sent her such an ambiguous red envelope.

Over there, Shang Huaiqing quickly returned to her.

——It's nothing, I'm happy for you, go out and have a good meal, I invite you.

Taoxi: Even if you invite me to eat, it doesn't need more than five hundred yuan.

What can she eat more than five hundred by herself?

Shang Huaiqing: It's okay, just wish me luck, 520 sounds nice.

Like a shy little boy, he never mentioned those three words.

Don't tell me what you miss.

But soon, Taoxi realized that maybe she was thinking too much, so she didn't bother with the number of the red envelope, but just accepted it.

—Okay, then I'll go eat hot pot tomorrow.

Shang Huaiqing: Go ahead and eat more.

Tao Xi: But I have never tried eating hot pot alone.

Shang Huaiqing: It's okay. In fact, it's not much different from eating ramen. If you want to celebrate, hot pot is more suitable.

Tao Xi: Well, then I will try, as a challenge to myself.

Shang Huaiqing: Well, I will support you from here.

Taoxi: Take good care of yourself there too.

Shang Huaiqing: Okay, listen to you, and take care of yourself.

Shang Huaiqing: I look forward to seeing you soon.

Taoxi: Well, looking forward to it.

Tao Xi: It's very late, you go to bed early, tomorrow when I eat hot pot, I will take a picture of you.

Shang Huaiqing: Alright, I will wait for your photo tomorrow, good night, have a good dream.

Tao Xi: Good night~

After saying good night to each other, the two ended their short chat.

Taoxi opened the search software and looked at the hot pot restaurants near her home. After choosing a restaurant, she took a screenshot of the address of that restaurant and planned to eat at noon tomorrow.

Seeing that it was late, she didn't look at anything else, she threw the phone aside, and she turned off the light directly.

Although she has suffered from insomnia recently, Taoxi slept well that night, and it was almost dawn.

When she woke up, it was only after eight o'clock. After breakfast, she cleaned the room and did the daily cleaning for the four cats.

The morning passed in a blink of an eye.

In order to avoid the peak period of dining in the store, Taoxi deliberately waited until after noon before going out.

The store I chose last night is not too far away, it can be reached within a ten-minute walk, but because the weather is too hot, Taoxi still decides to take the bus.

It's just two stations away.

After waiting at the stop sign at the door for about two or three minutes, Taoxi waited for a bus that could be taken.

She drove directly to the door of the hot pot restaurant.

It was almost two o'clock, and it was long past the time for lunch. There were only a few scattered customers in the store. Tao Xi walked in, picked a corner seat and sat down.

Soon, a clerk brought her the menu: "Hello, one person?"

"Yes, one person."

"Okay, then I recommend you to use a small pot for one person. You can choose the hot pot first. The bottom of the pot, and the dishes, right?"

Tao Xi took the menu, looked at it, and then replied: "I want tomato soup bottom." "

Okay, take your time with the dishes, I'll serve you a small pot first."

After speaking, the waiter turned and left.

Tao Xi sat there, using a pencil to draw out what he wanted to eat, one serving of mutton slices, one serving of duck blood, and three or four dishes.

As soon as she chose this side, the waiter over there brought her a tomato soup pot bottom.

Ignite the fire, heat it up, and when the bottom of the pot is almost boiling, the dishes she just ordered are served on the table one by one.

Her position was a bit off. After the waiter left, she was the only one left on her side, which was quite comfortable. She took out her mobile phone, opened WeChat, and sent a short video to Shang Huaiqing.

There are also two WeChat messages.

——I started eating~

—I ordered tomato soup~

Shang Huaiqing over there did not reply to her in time as usual, and should be still busy, but she knew that when he found time to see it, he would definitely reply to her as soon as possible.

She didn't wait any longer.

Halfway through the hot pot meal, Taoxi raised her head unintentionally and looked around. There were fewer and fewer customers in the shop, but soon the door was pushed open, and two young men came in laughing.

Tao Xi didn't care, and continued to lower her head, eating the rest of the hot pot.

It's just that she had just picked up a piece of mutton, and before she had time to put it into the pot, she saw the two men who had just walked in seated opposite her one after another.

"Why is such a beautiful young lady eating hot pot by herself? How lonely is she?" The inch-cut man sitting opposite her, with a blue tattoo on half of his arm, picked up a piece of raw sweet potato with a playful smile, and took a bite of it. .

The mutton slice that Taoxi had just picked up fell down, just like her mood at this moment, she fell to the bottom all of a sudden, she put down her chopsticks pretending to be calm: "Sorry, please go to another place, there are There are a lot of empty spaces."

She bites every word clearly, but only she knows the trembling hidden in the ending of each word.

Hearing that she gave the order to evict the guest, the crop-headed man didn't get up, and continued to say with a playful smile, "I don't have any other vacant seats without you, a beautiful young lady." "Sister, don't be angry, just have a hot pot meal together, and we have no other malicious intentions.

" The man with dyed yellow hair next to him said, "Meeting is fate, we will leave after eating."

The yellow hair looked up and down Tao Xi maliciously, feeling his eyes paused on her chest In a few seconds, she felt a chill in her heart, and even felt sick.

"What are you talking about, you can't leave." The inch-cut man took out his mobile phone, shook it in front of Taoxi's eyes, and then pestered, "Miss, please add a WeChat." Taoxi didn't answer, she had already expressed her attitude just

now , it is obvious that the two men opposite are like rascals, there is no way to communicate at all.

Even if she expressed her attitude one more time, it would not be worth their deliberate actions.

The air-conditioning in the hot pot restaurant is very strong, and the cold Taoxi can feel the trembling in her bones, but it is more of fear. She persisted and did not show her timidity until she reached for the bag next to the seat. Avoiding their eyes, her hands trembled under the table where her fingertips could no longer hold.

She gritted her teeth and held on.

"Miss, don't ignore people, add a WeChat, and scan my QR code directly." The cropped man asked for WeChat with a playful smile.

Tao Xi got up, prepared to leave without even looking at them.

The yellow hair teased from the side: "You really have personality, Iceberg beauty."

Taoxi pretended not to hear, and walked forward without any hesitation, but just took a step or two, when she was grabbed by the cropped man Wrist: "Miss, it's just adding a WeChat, just move your fingers, why are you so shameless."

"Please let go." Tao Xi felt his palms sweat, but the nausea at that moment had overshadowed all his feelings.

The inch-cut man did not let go: "After adding WeChat, I will let go." "

If you don't let go, I can only call the police." "

Report, what's wrong with the police, chasing girls is not illegal."

Taoxi broke free "Let go, I have a boyfriend, please show some respect."

During the struggle, her fair wrists were already turning red, but the inch-cut man never let go. At this moment, a clerk walked towards her.

"Excuse me, what happened?"

Taoxi suppressed her emotions, and asked the clerk for help: "I don't know them, but they keep pestering me, please call the police for me.

" Mouth: "Don't tell me, we just want to share a table with this sister."

After the clerk figured out the situation, he turned his head and stabilized the two men and said, "Actually, there are a lot of vacancies in our store now, so we don't need to share a table. Please return to the seats we arranged for you just now, if you don't like it, you can change to another place, but please don't disturb this lady's meal." Tao Xi frowned and struggled, but the cropped

man didn't let go.

The clerk had no choice but to continue persuading: "Sir, please let go, or we will really call the police." The

inch-cut man didn't speak, and he didn't let go, still looking unconvinced.

The yellow hair next to him patted him on the shoulder: "Forget it, forget it, it's troublesome if you make a big mess, it's not worth it, there are no grasses anywhere in the world, this one won't work, let's change another one.

" Xi, intentionally and forcefully shook off her wrist.

Finally got away, Taoxi didn't even have time to thank the clerk, she raised her feet and walked forward, just took a step or two, when she heard a man with a short hair cursing in a low voice behind her: "Stinky bitch, what are you pretending to be like?" That sentence was like a basin of stinky swill, which

splashed all over her body unexpectedly, and she couldn't even hide it. She didn't even do anything wrong, but she suffered such insult innocently.

Taoxi didn't know how she got out of the hotpot restaurant afterwards, she only remembered that after walking outside in a trance, she didn't bother to take the bus, so she just walked back home with her head depressed in the sun.

After closing the door, Tao Xi was still in shock. She turned around and tried to lock the door with the key, only to find that her hands were shaking more and more. After a long delay, she was finally able to lock the door and put on the anti-theft chain.

Finally reached the safe zone, but the moment the anti-theft chain was hung up, her emotions completely surged like sea water, submerging her from beginning to end without warning.

The tears she had endured all the way also burst out, but it was useless. The grievance and fear in her heart were still intertwined, making her at a loss.

The blush on the white wrist is also a reminder of what happened just now.

The malevolent yellow-haired man, the vicious eyes of the crop-headed man, cursing, and trivial silhouettes kept flashing in his mind until they overlapped with the face of his drunken father before.

The scarlet eyes of his father after he was drunk suddenly pounced on her like a wild beast, knocked her down on the ground, strangled her neck tightly, no matter how hard she struggled, he would not let go, and when he was about to lose consciousness, his father finally let go, But he pulled out the belt and beat her up again.

Afterwards, he locked her in the damp and dark storage room without hesitation, no matter how much she cried, he didn't open the door.

Taoxi suddenly couldn't breathe, she was gasping for breath, she unconsciously scratched her neck with her hands, scratching the bleeding marks continuously, but she didn't feel any pain.

It's getting more and more uncomfortable.

She rushed to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and flushed her face with clean water, but she didn't wake up very much. She supported the edge of the sink and couldn't help retching.

The sun was shining outside the window, and the sound of cicadas could be heard endlessly. It was still a scene of prosperity in midsummer, but she seemed to have crashed into the deep sea.

In the constant fall, when she was about to suffocate, she almost exhausted all her strength as before, and finally swam out of the sea by herself.

At around ten o'clock the next night, Shang Huaiqing replied to the WeChat message she sent him yesterday.

——The hot pot of tomato soup looks delicious, do you want to eat more?

Tao Xi was holding the phone, it was obviously the hot pot she shared with him, but after a day, she didn't know how to reply him.

The sweet and sour tomato soup hot pot yesterday was really delicious, but after such an unpleasant episode, she was in no mood to pretend to be happy to share it.

So he simply replied.

--good.

The topic is interrupted by these two words, the simple two words without much emotion, there is a kind of straightforward perfunctory spread on the screen, or there is a sense of emptiness as the topic stops abruptly, without any possibility of extension.

more or.

There is an illusion that the person on the other side of the screen can't stand it.

Half a minute later, I received a WeChat reply from Shang Huaiqing. The text he sent was cautiously tentative, but he didn't ask much.

Between the lines, there is still hidden the unique thoughtfulness and gentleness of this man.

—Are you busy?

——If you are busy, I won't bother you. You can concentrate on being busy.

——Remember to go to bed early, we will talk another day.