Chapter 10: The Foolish Monkey

  The mood is very bad.

  …………

  At 5:05 pm. I stood on the stone bridge in the middle of the pool in Rui Xue Hall, Hai Tian Building, feeling like a complete idiot monkey.

  Haitian Building is a well-known building in this area. As soon as you ask about it, people will tell you that it's the Rui Xue Hall, which is a restaurant inside the building. In the middle of the hall, there is a pool surrounded by a elegant environment. The water is flowing from several bamboo tubes on the side, making a gentle gurgling sound. There are fish in the water, including golden, red, black and colorful carp, swimming around beautifully. Above the pool, there is a stone bridge arched like a crescent moon. All of these are perfect. One word to describe it: Beautiful!

  The only fly in the ointment is that the stone bridge is really too small, it can only hold one person at a time - and being able to hold only one person means: its design purpose was not meant for people to stand on.

  And now I'm standing on the stone bridge where people can't stand, and I can clearly feel the strange gaze around me. What's even more unlucky is that there's a damn intermittent fountain in this pool that automatically comes out every minute with a loud "whoosh" sound, like a heavenly maiden scattering flowers all over my head! It's gotten to the point where I'm frantically waving my arms and scratching my ears - no need to look in the mirror to know that my current behavior is already very close to that of some kind of animal.

  Originally, there were only two or three people watching the fish by the pond. Later, more and more people gathered around in a circle - they seemed not to be here to watch the fish because their curious gaze made me think of the crowd on the monkey mountain at the zoo.

  Why not persist for 10 minutes? I can do it! I made myself calm down, with my hands on the bridge railing, completely ignoring the splashing water from the fountain above, and put on a complacent and leisurely appearance to enjoy the fish together with the people.

  How can one who is not a fish know the joy of being a fish?

  Isn't it I who am at peace when I know that I don't know the joy of fish?

  But soon I couldn't laugh anymore. Because I saw a familiar face in the crowd of onlookers.

  Irene!

  She and two other girls stood together staring at me in surprise with strange eyes and awkward expressions.

  I was shocked. Forget it, I'll just stand for a bit. It's really embarrassing! 10 minutes should be enough, right? Subconsciously, I pulled out my phone from my clothes to check the time. At this moment, I once again fully felt the power of this black stick-like object in my hand -

  Because someone burst out laughing! The crowd surrounding the pool erupted into collective hysterics.

  Another stream of water poured down and flowed into my collar.

  …………

  I jumped off the bridge and fled in a burst of loud laughter. At this moment, someone grabbed me. Turning back, it was Irina. She was laughing so hard that she couldn't catch her breath, while two other girls were even more outrageous, laughing with their eyes rolled back and their chests heaving, as if they would die at any moment.

  I pulled **'s head back to calm my nerves. I asked her very seriously, "What are you doing here?" But in my heart, I was secretly drumming a little drum, thinking "Heavens, what's going on? Is it really... is it really her?!"

  But things often go in a direction you don't want them to, even if it's a very strange and unpredictable situation.

  Yilin gradually held back her smile and seriously answered me "I'm waiting for someone." Then she looked at me with a very suspicious and surprised gaze, asking "What are you doing going up that bridge? Are you also waiting for someone? Are you waiting for me? How did you know I'd come here? Are you...?" I reckon her brain is currently in a state of short circuit, this damned internet!

  "It's not, it's not - there isn't, there isn't anyone waiting for you!" I said flusteredly. "I just wanted to stand up and look at the fish, that place is high and visible, but I didn't think there was a fountain." - This damn inexplicable intermittent fountain almost drove me into intermittent mental illness, I thought resentfully.

  I'm not someone who can't show his face, as long as familiar people don't see me, it's fine. Just slap my butt and walk away. Lose face? Nobody recognizes this face, what's there to lose?

  But today I made a fool of myself and lost face. My only thought now is not to let Irene know that I'm such an idle, heartless, brainless person all day long; or rather, I don't want her to know that the online husband who has been so deeply affectionate and considerate towards her - is actually me.

  It's so complicated because in fact, these situations have appeared too suddenly, unexpectedly and abstractly, already beyond the normal range that my intelligence can understand. All I know now is that all signs indicate: Irin is Akira! Heaven! How could this be?

  "Oh? Then what are you doing here? Eating?" Irina looked at me very seriously without smiling.

  "Eating? Ah, eating..." Her gaze made me dare not look straight. At this time, a man came in from the door and I casually pointed to him and said "I'm leaving, my friend is here, I'll go eat with him. You guys continue waiting for someone." After finishing speaking, I wanted to slip away.

  If you want to tell a good lie, you must first prepare another lie to cover it up. If the second one can't cover it up, then quickly come up with a third one to save the situation. All three fail? Hurry and find an escape route! No place to escape? Are you even human? Then what else is there to do but wait for death like I am now.

  That man walked straight towards us with a big smile on his face, it was clear he was coming for us. I thought to myself, this is not good, what kind of person is this, pointing at me and doing what? But at this time, we couldn't just turn around and run away, could we?

  As expected, Irene leaned over and whispered to me: "Is this Su Jingwei I told you about - do you know her?"

  It suddenly dawned on me that it was this guy who had made the appointment with Irina. God bless Irina (or Akira) - she was just waiting for him to see me, I was just an unexpected surprise - of course, I hope Irina thought so too.

  That man walked up to us and politely bowed slightly to Irina with a gentle smile. "Hello, Miss Irina." To be honest, this guy is quite good-looking, he can be called a handsome man with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, his face as smooth as jade. I felt a little sour in my heart. I'm not tall or short, I don't look particularly good or bad, I don't have any outstanding features, and when I meet beautiful women, I get nervous, and when I see handsome men, I feel inferior, I was born with an inferiority complex. But now that things are like this, it's not okay for him to be so handsome, I need to save myself.

  But this handsome guy looks too white and smooth. Heh, it really looks like he's wearing powder on his face. "White Prince..." I whispered to Irin with a bit of malice, but what I actually wanted to say were three other words.

  While the prince was chatting with the two female classmates, I leaned in close to Irina's ear and whispered: "I'm not very familiar with him either, it's been a long time since we last contacted each other, I don't know why he invited me today, probably wants to get close to you through me."

  Yilin looked at me with a puzzled expression, probably still reeling from the huge difference between the online and real worlds. I didn't want to wait for her to clear her head because that prince had already turned his attention to me. Seize the initiative! I grasped his hand and greeted him in an exaggerated tone: "Ah──General Su! Long time no see! Don't you recognize me?"

  The prince was stunned, and even if he lent him two more brains, he would not be able to think of when and where he had seen the person who greeted him. If you have the ability, just say that you don't recognize me. In that case, I will blame him for having no memory, forgetting old friends - one of the most hated qualities in women is being unfeeling and ungrateful, and I estimate that he wouldn't be so clueless.

  I don't know why I had a certain inexplicable hostility towards this white knight from the moment I met him.

  As expected, this guy is not an ordinary person. He glanced around and seemed to understand immediately. He grasped my hand and shook it vigorously several times. "Remember, remember, you're that, that... Haha!" Then he turned to Irina and asked, "Do you two know each other?"

  Just as I was about to speak, Irene hastily said: "He is my cousin." As if she was afraid that I would reveal some secret of hers.

  I've become a laughing stock as Tabeh (older brother). But it's better than introducing him as a lodger in my house, anyway.

  The white horse prince nodded and didn't consider the relationship between us anymore. He politely said to us, "Sorry everyone, please wait for a moment, I'll be right back." He paused for a moment and then said, "My sister is here, I'll go talk to her for a bit."