Chapter 51: The Water in the Pool

The moon was like a hook, and the night was hazy.

The orange streetlights in the neighborhood gave off a gentle light.

Chen Fengshi and Juzi fell into the pool together. Frightened, Juzi just held tightly onto Chen Fengshi’s clothes, lying on him, stunned.

The stimulation of the cold water made Chen Fengshi a little more awake. He propped himself up to sit, and then realized Juzi was on him. Subconsciously, he held her and sat back together with her by the edge of the pool.

Chen Fengshi raised his hand to wipe the water off his face and hair. In his blurry vision, he could not see Juzi’s face clearly, but when his eyes fell on her exposed chest, he subconsciously froze.

Juzi came back to her senses and felt she was not hurt. Drinking a lot always made her body feel hot, so she did not feel cold now; instead, she felt very comfortable.

Seeing where Chen Fengshi’s hazy eyes were fixed, for some reason, she suddenly, as if possessed, took his hand and put it on her body…

“Do you like it?” she bit her lower lip, feeling inexplicably excited. She could not explain what was wrong with her, but she was not drunk, she would not get drunk, she was sober.

Chen Fengshi had practiced the Boy Skill for many years, and he was also drunk, so he did not answer at all. He directly held her and buried his face in…

Juzi felt this was too crazy. This time, this place, such an intimate act? However, Chen Fengshi’s desperate madness made her unable to bear refusing him. Just as she was torn between nervous unease and tender indulgence, she suddenly heard Chen Fengshi mutter to himself: “Shen Ai, I have wanted to do this for a long time…”

Juzi’s expression instantly froze. She could not help but bite her lower lip, and wronged tears swirled in her eyes. She pushed against Chen Fengshi’s head and face, but his strength was very strong, and she could not push him away. She could not take it, so she pushed hard, shouting: “Stop, stop! Don’t do this—please stop!”

It was still no use. Chen Fengshi seemed unable to hear her. In her panic, Juzi used her hands to splash the cold water in the pool, mindlessly throwing it over Chen Fengshi’s head, face, and body.

She only stopped splashing water when Chen Fengshi squinted his eyes, raised a hand to shield them, and lifted his head and face away from her body.

Chen Fengshi wiped the water off his face. Although he was still drunk, he was a bit more awake. Thinking of his actions just now, he felt unspeakably ashamed and embarrassed!

“I’m sorry…” Chen Fengshi wiped the cold water from his face and hair, apologizing with his mouth, but in his heart, he felt he could not forgive himself. How could he be like this? The pure, perfect, persistent belief in love that he had held onto for so many years—was it just shattered like this?

Of course, he believed this was caused by his own mistake, and absolutely not Juzi’s responsibility.

Seeing the sad expression on his face, Juzi could not bear it. She apologized very guiltily: “It’s my fault. It’s too much to suddenly tell you to stop. Actually, I really couldn’t bear to hurt you like this. But, hearing you call another name, knowing that your desperate madness didn’t come from being attracted to me, but from missing someone else… Really, I really couldn’t accept it, I couldn’t endure it…”

“It’s my problem, I’m sorry.” Chen Fengshi really wanted to escape the scene quickly. He felt he had no face to face Juzi, and actually, he also knew he felt no face to face himself. His purity was destroyed by himself. That purity he had always been so proud of was just gone, gone, gone… And, he had also dragged Juzi, whom he had just met, down with him.

Juzi got off him, sat next to him, and sat in the water by the edge of the pool. She did not care whether the pool water was clean, nor did she care if the electrical lines in the pool connected to the lights would leak electricity.

She hugged her chest tightly, thinking, thinking about her own abnormality today. After a long while, she suddenly said softly: “You don’t have to blame yourself so much. You were drunk, but I wasn’t drunk. Thinking about it carefully, maybe you are so amazing that you attracted me. The companions in the Mutual Aid Association all naturally try hard to avoid the Fungal Demon. Suddenly meeting a man like you, who easily took care of the Fungal Demon informant, was a big shock to me. Actually, I blame you for calling someone else’s name. If I speak seriously, I might also have a particularly good impression of you because your eyes are very much like the boy I liked in high school.”

Chen Fengshi still remembered she had mentioned this. In high school, she had a boy she liked very much, and that boy liked her too. They both studied very well, so they tacitly held back, just studying hard, but usually they would often have chances to make plans to go to the library to study together and such, but they never crossed the line.

Because everyone was very sensible, and her personality was also very rational. In her senior year, her father passed away, and the sense of responsibility of taking care of her mother put more pressure on her, so she never went to the library with that boy again, just to force herself to be one hundred percent focused.

This was also the reason she said she liked the slightly floating feeling of drinking. When she didn’t drink, she was always unbelievably calm. Like tonight, being chased by the Fungal Demon informant, she was clearly scared to death, but when she saw Chen Fengshi stop the car, she could still remember to remind him not to get involved and die.

Chen Fengshi felt for a cigarette, however, the cigarette was already wet, so he placed it by the pool. He didn’t know what to say, or rather, he didn’t want to say anything right now.

Juzi stood up, smoothed her half-wet chestnut-red long hair, and looked at Chen Fengshi. With sadness showing in her eyes, she said: “In college, I had no mind to get a boyfriend, because I was always thinking of him. After graduation, I returned to Xuancheng and asked around for news about him. Only then did I find out that he had been arrested for drug trafficking and executed a month ago.”

Chen Fengshi was stunned. Juzi hadn’t told this story while drinking; clearly, it was a wound in her heart.

“I went to his house. His parents still remembered me and even showed me his diary. Only then did I know that I had harmed him. In my senior year, my sudden refusal to go out to study together and other actions messed up his mind. But we always kept our distance, so he had no way to ask me anything, no way to question me like a boyfriend or girlfriend would about why I was being cold. He could only guess on his own. He thought I hated him, and he fell into this distress, so his college entrance exam was a total mess. But he was proud and determined to stand out before I graduated from college. His impatience and lack of a way out eventually led him down a path of no return.”

Juzi finished speaking and fell silent. The usual cheerfulness was gone from her eyes. No matter what kind of person, they might all hide wounds in their hearts.

Chen Fengshi was silent for a while. He opened his mouth, originally wanting to say that her responsibility wasn’t as big as she thought, that they had just encountered misfortune, and so the misfortune continued in a chain reaction caused by the misfortune.

But Juzi spoke first and said: “Don’t worry, I’m not that fragile, and I don’t stubbornly think it’s all my fault or anything. When people encounter unfortunate fate, there is nothing to blame; they can only hold on and live, strive to live well, and live happily. I just feel that maybe I’ve been alone for too long.”

She found her bag from the water, but, finding that her phone had already gotten wet, she smiled helplessly and said: “I’ll pay you back for the meal money you covered via WeChat tomorrow.”

These words came out of nowhere. Chen Fengshi only remembered that she seemed to have said something about it, but he had no impression of exactly how much he covered or how he covered it.

However, before he could figure it out, Juzi was already on the shore. She turned around and reached out to pull him, saying: “Don’t catch a cold.”

Chen Fengshi certainly didn’t need help, but he didn’t reject Juzi’s kind offer of a pull. Back on shore, seeing that her clothes were all wet, and her white dress was especially see-through when wet, he took off his top and let her wrap it around herself.

Juzi happily accepted this kind help, pointed to a building in front, and said: “I live right there.”

When Chen Fengshi walked her back, the security guard on duty on the first floor saw them wet and asked Juzi with concern: “What happened?”

“Fell into the pool, but we’re fine.” Juzi smiled. The guard saw she was still cheerful, looking both crying and laughing. In the end, he said feeling lucky: “Good thing it’s you. If we ran into difficult owners, they’d be arguing for our management office to give an explanation.”

As the guard spoke, he had already helped press the elevator button. When the elevator door opened, he hurriedly urged: “Hurry back and take a hot shower, make sure you don’t catch a cold.”

“Yeah, thank you.” Juzi smiled and waved. After the elevator door closed, she told Chen Fengshi that this security guard uncle had worked here for over ten years and could be said to have watched her grow up. She and her mother had never made up their minds to move, largely because they were familiar with many people inside and outside the neighborhood and felt it was very warm. In the end, she blamed herself again, saying she forgot to pack a portion of the late-night snack for the security guard uncle just now.

Juzi lived on the sixteenth floor. At her door, she untied the top wrapped around her and returned it to Chen Fengshi, then waved goodbye and said: “I won’t invite you in. If you ever walk out of your last relationship and want to come hang out, you’re welcome anytime.”

Chen Fengshi put on his wet clothes. To be honest, Juzi was very infectious, so he felt she was a very warm person, and a smile had already appeared on his face. Because he felt that knowing someone like this was a kind of luck. As for the mistake, that was his own.

“Is this what you look like when you’re sober?”

“Is it very unlovable?” Juzi asked in return, caring a lot.

Chen Fengshi thought for a moment and said honestly: “I easily have a good impression of the opposite sex who are sober and principled. If they also have an enthusiastic and positive personality, the impact is even stronger.”

“Hey, this isn’t a roundabout confession, is it?” Juzi asked half-guessing.

Chen Fengshi replied very straightforwardly: “I’m just telling the truth. Shen Ai, who attracts me, is also this kind of person.”

Juzi then closed the security door, but she smiled from inside, letting her eyes show through the gap in the door, looking at him and saying: “I won’t be a backup, and I won’t be a substitute. I sincerely hope you and her have a good result. If by chance you don’t, when you can let it go, just wish that I’m still single! Bye—”

“Bye…” Chen Fengshi originally thought he should be the one to say goodbye first, but unexpectedly Juzi was very decisive. He didn’t know if all twenty-five-year-old beauties were this mature, or if Juzi was especially mature?

Anyway, he felt it was lucky to know her, even though the mistake just now still made him blame himself and feel sad.

This was a bit too sentimental, so Chen Fengshi was not going to tell anyone about this self-blame and sadness.

Chen Fengshi turned and pressed the elevator. No one was getting on or off, and the door opened directly.

Juzi suddenly called out: “Wait—”