Gu Ningzi walked to Chi Nuan's desk. Chi Nuan was half prone and looked up at her.
Gu Ningzi said hesitantly: "... Chi Nuan, can we talk? I have something to tell you."
Chi Nuan said, "Another day, my stomach hurts a bit."
Gu Ningzi: "What's wrong!?"
Chi Nuan said softly, "Auntie."
"Wait a minute." Gu Ningzi walked back to her seat, took out the brown sugar jar from the table, poured a piece of brown sugar into the cup, and went to the water dispenser to get hot water.
After the candy melted, she gave it to Chi Nuan to drink.
Chi Nuan didn't even need to ask, the brown sugar must have been prepared by Gu Ningzi in advance for her aunt's pain.
The sugar water was still too hot, Chi Nuan held it in his hand and didn't drink it immediately. Gu Ningzi pulled out another box of painkillers from her schoolbag: "If you can't hold on, take the medicine, remember?"
Chi Nuan nodded obediently.
Gu Ningzi: "Do you want to go back to the bedroom to rest first? I'll take you back to the bedroom?"
Chi Nuan said, "I haven't finished my homework yet. I'm fine. Don't worry."
…
After class, on the way back to the dormitory, Xu Dan and the others started chatting again to communicate the freshly released today's update. Chi Nuan was at the end, her aching lower abdomen and a dazed mood made her surrounded by a layer of low pressure, her whole body was exhausted, and she felt breathless.
She took out her mobile phone and called Chi Qingchuan: "How are your brother, sister-in-law and Xiao Wutong?"
Chi Qingchuan: "It's all good. Did you just start self-study?"
Chi Nuan: "Well, get out of class is just over, and I haven't reached the dormitory yet."
Chi Qingchuan: "How much homework?"
Chi Qingchuan asked her about her studies, and then asked her if her three meals a day were nutritious enough. At the end, Chi Nuan asked him, "Brother, can you chat with me for a while?"
Chi Qingchuan said, "Okay."
The other end of the phone was quiet for more than ten seconds, and then there was the sound of sliding the door, and Chi Qingchuan's voice sounded again: "Tell me, Nuan Nuan, what do you want to talk about?"
Chi Nuan hesitated and stopped: "...Brother, you and Mr. Ji have known each other for many, many years."
Chi Qingchuan: "When winter starts this year, it will be twelve years."
Chi Nuan: "Then... Then will it be pressure for you to be friends with him?"
Chi Qingchuan paused: "Nuan Nuan, what do you want to ask?"
Chi Nuan stood under the street lamp, her toes rubbed gently on the ground: "Just... I'm a little confused."
Chi Qingchuan: "Well, you say, brother is listening."
Chi Nuan: "...about Gu Ningzi."
Chi Qingchuan knew at one point: "Being friends with Xiao Gu makes you feel pressured?"
Is it more than stress
In that post, everyone was arguing about "worthy or not." When Chi Nuan and Gu Ningzi interacted, they only considered whether they were in love with each other, and never realized that if the two of them wanted to continue for a long time, there were other very real issues that needed to be addressed.
The more she thought about it, the more anxious she became. Gu Ningzi was at the top of the pyramid, and even when she was her brother-in-law, she was told not to give Gu Miaoyan a face, let alone such an ordinary self
- They are still girls.
Chi Nuan did not have confidence in Gu Ningzi, but in herself. Such a gap cannot be bridged by perseverance or hard work to become excellent.
"Sometimes, Mr. Ji can help me solve things that I can't do with all my hard work." Chi Qingchuan said calmly, "The background, resources, his vision and pattern behind him are not the same. I can compare. Most of the time, I can’t give him anything in return except to open my hands to get his help. This kind of inequity often makes me feel pressure.”
Although the situation of Chi Nuan and Gu Ningzi is much more complicated than this, Chi Qingchuan's words can fit them well.
"How do I get rid of such negative emotions? I will stand in Mr. Ji's position and think that what he does is to solve problems for me, not to bring pressure to me. ... In the final analysis, this kind of 'Pressure', my self-esteem is more at work." Chi Qingchuan said slowly.
Chi Nuan remembers that Gu Ningzi made similar remarks after the Cao Pinhui incident.
Chi Qingchuan guided Chi Nuan to think in another direction: "Nuan Nuan, think about it, has Xiao Gu ever despised you in material or emotional terms?"
Chi Nuan replied without hesitation, "No."
Gu Ningzi pampered her carefully. She did a part-time job during the summer. Gu Ningzi didn't say a word, and always tried her best to match her work schedule.
She's already defending her self-esteem.
Chi Qingchuan asked again, "Do you and Xiao Gu become friends because you see what she can bring to you, or is it because you two get along better?"
Chi Nuan said: "I just like to stay with her, I don't like what she can give me."
Chi Qingchuan said: "So, Nuan Nuan, you and Xiao Gu both have a sincere heart. If she accidentally does something that puts you under pressure, you should communicate with her well, and friends also need to run in. ... Over the years, Mr. Ji and I do not know how many times we have argued, and over time, we will know where the balance is."
After the call ended, the low pressure lingering in Chi Nuan's heart did not dissipate much. But at least Chi Qingchuan's suggestion is right, she should really communicate with Gu Ningzi and listen to Gu Ningzi's thoughts, instead of retreating first.
She needs Gu Ningzi to give her a little courage and confidence.
Gu Ningzi's two missed calls were displayed on the screen. Chi Nuan rubbed the screen and dialed back.
Gu Ningzi answered and asked her, "Is your stomach better?"
Chi Nuan said, "It doesn't hurt so much anymore."
Both of them paused for a few seconds, and Gu Ningzi asked, "You were with..."
"I called my brother." Chi Nuan said.
Gu Ningzi: "Well."
Another few seconds of pause. The two knew well what lay between them, and they were both looking for a suitable opportunity to cut in.
Finally, Chi Nuan took the first step: "Gu Ningzi, can I eat steamed fish tomorrow?"
Gu Ningzi immediately said, "Okay!"
Chi Nuan emphasized: "Noon."
Gu Ningzi: "Well."
Chi Nuan: "When the time comes, tell me what you want to say today."
Gu Ningzi's voice passed through the current, and it was slightly hoarse and distorted: "I didn't intend to hide anything from you..."
Chi Nuan: "I know."
Chi Nuan returned to the dormitory, and the roommates' discussion about President Ba has not stopped. Chi Nuan remembered what they were talking about yesterday, and asked on a whim: "...Isn't it saying that the heroine is despised by the hero's mother? Has this problem been solved in today's update?"
Du Min said: "How can it be solved? The full text has to achieve five million achievements, and the author has to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars."
Chi Nuan put down her schoolbag: "...Then do you think the male lead's mother will accept the female lead in the end?"
Zhao Jingjing took Chi Nuan's shoulders: "Did you become interested in this novel just by listening to our discussion? Let me tell you, I listened to the two of them discussing getting into the pit at first, and it was so exciting. It's addicting!"
Chi Nuan: "..." This, no.
Xu Dan said: "The final outcome is sure to be a happy ending! There will be no second ending. This is a idiot that can solve all difficulties and obstacles with 'love'!"
Chi Nuan: "…"
Xu Dan: "Don't talk about the author, I can think of a bunch of solutions - the male protagonist is suffering from love and becomes haggard and self-abuse, his mother relents; the female protagonist was seriously injured to save the male protagonist, the male protagonist The mother was moved with compassion; or even more violent, the heroine directly donated a kidney to save the life of the hero's mother hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! ?"
Du Min patted the bed and laughed: "It's very possible!!"
Chi Nuan was stunned when she heard it, a little regretful that she asked such a silly question in order to find comfort.
Before going to bed, she didn't know whether Gu Ningzi was unsure or what was the reason. Instead of asking Chi Nuan for a good night kiss, she took the initiative to send a "[love]" emoji.
Chi Nuan's heart was sour, she replied: "[Momada]"
The next day's class, whether it was Gu Ningzi or Chi Nuan, was absent-minded. After school was finally dismissed at noon, Chi Nuan was about to go home with Gu Ningzi when He Liwen waved to her outside the classroom: "Chi Nuan, come with me."
Chi Nuan looked at Gu Ningzi and asked He Liwen, "Mr. He, ... will it take a long time?"
He Liwen said vaguely: "Well...it may take a while, and the teacher is not very clear."
Chi Nuan looked at Gu Ningzi again, Gu Ningzi nodded and said, "I'll wait for you to go together."
Chi Nuan followed He Liwen out of the classroom, but He Liwen did not lead her to the office, but left the teaching building and went all the way to the school gate.
Chi Nuan wondered, "Mr. He, where are we going?"
He Liwen said: "Someone wants to see you, you will find out later."
Who is it? Chi Nuan had no clue, and walked outside the school gate with He Liwen. When He Liwen looked around, she also looked around at a loss.
A car came in from the auxiliary road and slowly stopped in front of the two of them.
The rear window slowly fell, and the person inside said to He Liwen, "Mr. He, please trouble you."
He Liwen said unnaturally: "Where, where, but she hasn't had lunch yet, so I don't know where you are..."
"Mr. He, don't worry, Chi Nuan knows me. We just had dinner together last night, Chi Nuan, right?"
Chi Nuan looked at Gu Miaoyan who was laughing at Yan Yan in the car, and it took a while to swallow her surprise: "...Yes."
Gu Miaoyan opened the car door from inside: "Chi Nuan, come up."
Chi Nuan knew that she could not refuse, and the reason for Gu Miaoyan to find her was only related to Gu Ningzi - Gu Ningzi was the only point of intersection between them.
After saying goodbye to He Liwen, after Chi Nuan got into the car, Gu Miaoyan said, "Sister, will you take you to lunch?"
Chi Nuan hurriedly waved his hand: "No, no need."
Gu Miaoyan smiled and said: "I have no other intentions, I just want to chat with you. Because I have to rush back in the afternoon, I can only get stuck on the meal. Do you have anything to eat? I really don't care about Yuncheng. cooked."
Chi Nuan: "Really, sister, I'll chat with you, but stop eating..."
Gu Miaoyan said: "That's not good, I'm hungry too. So... let's go to the place last night, it's not far from here anyway."
When she finished speaking, the driver turned the car around and drove to the place where he ate last night.
Chi Nuan was flustered and didn't know what Gu Miaoyan wanted to talk to herself. She sent a message to Gu Ningzi: "Go back first, don't wait for me, I'm afraid it won't end soon."