Chapter 118: Side Story 2 — The Misunderstanding About a Green Hat
When Chen Qianxi arranged to meet Lin Yuejiu again, she immediately noticed Xu Nianshen beside her and realized that the two of them were fine.
Lin Yuejiu pushed the door open and sat opposite her. “Qianxi, what’s wrong? You said on the phone that you had something very important to tell me—what is it?”
Getting straight to the point, Chen Qianxi’s expression immediately changed. “I’m telling you, Du Zhuo has been cheating on me behind my back!”
“Huh?” Lin Yuejiu was momentarily puzzled, then shook her head. “That’s impossible. Du Zhuo isn’t that kind of person.”
“Impossible? I saw it with my own eyes!”
“Are you sure you didn’t see it wrong?”
Chen Qianxi immediately denied it. “How could I? Du Zhuo is my boyfriend. How could I mistake him for someone else?”
Lin Yuejiu touched her chin, thinking for a moment. “I think there must be some kind of misunderstanding.”
“I don’t think so, because he…”
“He what?”
Chen Qianxi hesitated, then finally said it, her voice tinged with grievance: “I saw him with another woman.”
“Being with a woman doesn’t necessarily mean there’s something going on. Maybe she’s an old classmate? Or a female friend he talks to occasionally.”
“Impossible! A female classmate from high school? That’s impossible. I was his deskmate for two years in high school, and I never saw him have any close female friends.”
Lin Yuejiu blinked and pointed at her. “You, huh?”
“Go away! I’m his girlfriend now,” Chen Qianxi said instinctively.
Lin Yuejiu laughed.
She continued, “Besides me and you, I’ve hardly seen him have any other female friends. Even in math, it’s impossible. After we got together, I never saw him with other female friends. He usually hangs out closely with Xu Shen and the other two roommates.”
“How do you know he has no female friends outside?” Lin Yuejiu asked in return.
Chen Qianxi squinted. “You’re saying he’s having an affair?”
“…You said that. I didn’t. I said female friends.”
“Well, that’s basically the same thing.”
“??? How does having female friends mean an affair?”
“How doesn’t it? Both second and fourth tones!”
“Isn’t that a bit far-fetched…” Lin Yuejiu sighed. “Instead of guessing here, why not just ask him directly?”
“I wanted to ask him, but every time I did, he said he didn’t have time. Just the day before yesterday, I asked him again, and he said no. Then I saw him at the mall with another woman. He even carried her things—so many of them.” Chen Qianxi’s tone had a hint of jealousy. “When we went shopping before, he carried four or five bags and still started joking about when we’d be done. But in front of that woman, he carried everything without a single complaint.”
“How do you know he didn’t complain at all? You were watching from afar, weren’t you?”
“No! I followed closely. He and that woman shopped from the first floor to the top, and I’ve never seen him shop like that. She didn’t even let him rest when they finished. He was so tired.” Her tone carried a mix of disdain for the woman and sympathy for Du Zhuo.
Lin Yuejiu: “…” Feeling like she had just been force-fed a mouthful of dog food, she thought.
“So, basically, Du Zhuo shops with another woman, works diligently, and never complains, right?”
Chen Qianxi nodded.
“Alright, let’s go investigate together.”
“Okay.”
The next day, Chen Qianxi and Lin Yuejiu waited on the first floor of the mall, lying in wait. Lin Yuejiu was already half dozing off.
When Chen Qianxi saw a familiar figure, she perked up and nudged Lin Yuejiu: “They’re here.”
Lin Yuejiu looked over and indeed saw Du Zhuo following a woman.
They both followed him for a while, but Lin Yuejiu couldn’t see the woman’s face clearly.
Du Zhuo and the woman entered a clothing store. The woman went into the fitting room while Du Zhuo sat on the sofa, waiting.
Chen Qianxi’s voice turned sour. “Yuejiu, look—Du Zhuo didn’t complain even once!”
Lin Yuejiu looked carefully. Du Zhuo was sitting on the sofa, scrolling through his phone.
The woman came out of the fitting room and called Du Zhuo. He looked up and walked over. The woman whispered something to him, and Du Zhuo nodded, reaching out to adjust the strap behind her neck.
Lin Yuejiu looked closely at the woman’s face, then at Du Zhuo’s, and the more she looked, the more familiar it seemed. “Qianxi, don’t you think these two…”
Before she could finish, she noticed the space beside them was empty. Startled, she saw Chen Qianxi already marching toward them, fists clenched. Chen Qianxi, seeing the situation as intolerable, had rushed forward, and Lin Yuejiu quickly ran to catch up. “Qianxi, there’s a misunderstanding here…”
Unfortunately, Lin Yuejiu couldn’t match Chen Qianxi’s speed. She had already reached the two people in front.
The woman, seeing Chen Qianxi approaching aggressively, looked confused. “Excuse me, who are you?”
Chen Qianxi snorted. “I’m the girlfriend of the person who helped you with your strap just now!”
The woman’s face lit up. “You’re his girlfriend?!”
Chen Qianxi didn’t know why the woman looked so happy—she assumed it was a smug kind of joy.
Du Zhuo, hearing the familiar voice behind the woman, turned and was shocked. “Qianxi, what are you doing here?”
Chen Qianxi sneered. “If you can be here, why can’t I be here?”
“Huh?” Du Zhuo was confused.
Chen Qianxi’s smirk widened. “You’ve been secretly dating another woman behind your girlfriend’s back. Why shouldn’t I be here? If I didn’t show up, there’d be a shiny green hat on my head.”
“What green hat?”
Chen Qianxi looked at the woman next to Du Zhuo. “If this isn’t a green hat, what is it?”
The woman looked on with interest.
Du Zhuo scratched his head, bewildered. “That’s not a hat—she’s a person.”
Chen Qianxi: “……” She felt like spitting blood.
The woman couldn’t help laughing, which irritated Chen Qianxi further. She turned to Du Zhuo. “See? You really are dumb. You’re secretly meeting another woman, isn’t that wearing a green hat?”
Lin Yuejiu quickly pulled her back. Chen Qianxi struggled. “Yuejiu, don’t pull me! Isn’t what I’m saying the truth? He’s gone shopping with this woman so many times already!”
Du Zhuo still didn’t understand. “So what if we went shopping together?”
Chen Qianxi grew angrier. “You even have the face to ask that? I…”
Lin Yuejiu quickly held her close and whispered, “Qianxi, they could be siblings.”
At the same time, she heard Du Zhuo say, “She’s my sister. She asked me to accompany her shopping.”
Chen Qianxi: “……”
Lin Yuejiu couldn’t help but cover her face.
Chen Qianxi’s fury completely evaporated, utterly extinguished.
The atmosphere became awkward and indescribable.
Chen Qianxi felt suffocated. She was Du Zhuo’s sister? Then what had she just done? Accused him of cheating? Called herself a green-hatted girl?
Seeing her face full of helpless disbelief, the woman finally laughed, stepped forward, and held Chen Qianxi’s hand. “Let me officially introduce myself. I’m Du Zhuo’s sister, Du Sheng.”
Chen Qianxi’s voice trembled slightly. “H-Hello…”
“It’s not your fault. I didn’t know he had a girlfriend, and he didn’t tell me either, which caused today’s misunderstanding. I’m really sorry.”
Chen Qianxi quickly shook her head. “It’s fine.”
Du Zhuo, now understanding the situation, hurriedly said, “It’s my fault, Qianxi. I didn’t explain properly. I didn’t know you’d misunderstand. I had shown you a photo of my sister before, and I thought you knew, so I didn’t clarify. I’m sorry, sorry, sorry.”
Du Zhuo kept apologizing.
Chen Qianxi was momentarily speechless. He had shown her a photo of his family before, but she hadn’t paid attention. Now, after such a big misunderstanding, she waved it off. She just wanted to save face in front of his sister.
Du Sheng smiled warmly and held her hand.
Lin Yuejiu saw this, smiled, shook her head, and quietly left.
