novelTele Chapter 116 The Self-Cultivation of a Scumbag
Chapter 116 The Self-Cultivation of a Scumbag
Chapter 116 The Self-Cultivation of a Scumbag
"Turning Back" is a home-style restaurant located at the west gate of Jiangcheng University.
It's still that booth by the window, still that angle where the sunset can be sliced into pieces of gold and scattered on the table.
But this time, it wasn't Lin Wanqing sitting opposite her.
Su Xiaoran held her teacup, her gaze sharp as knives, each one aimed at Hu Biao's face.
Hu Biao slowly poured himself a cup of tea, took a sip, picked up the menu and flipped through it, finally beckoning the waiter: "Boiled fish, sweet and sour pork, stir-fried green beans, and two bottles of ice-cold beer."
"What do you want to order?" Su Xiaoran finally spoke, her voice filled with anger that had been building up for three days. "I'm here to negotiate with you, not to eat."
"Negotiation? Negotiate what? I thought you wanted to invite me to dinner." Hu Biao handed the menu back to the waiter, leaned back in his chair, and looked puzzled. "It's lunchtime now, and I have classes this afternoon."
Su Xiaoran took a deep breath and told herself to calm down.
But when he thought about Lin Wanqing's condition in the past two days since the start of the semester, his anger flared up again.
"Hu Biao," she slammed her teacup on the table, spilling a few drops of tea, "what exactly did you do to Wanqing?"
Hu Biao looked up at her, his eyes innocent like a cat that had just woken up: "I didn't do anything."
"Didn't she do anything? If she didn't do anything, why is she acting like she's lost her soul after only two days of school? If she didn't do anything, why—" Su Xiaoran lowered her voice, but couldn't suppress the anger in her tone, "Don't think I don't know, she told me that you broke up with her."
"Break up? What break up? What breakup? I never even had anything going on with her, okay?!"
Su Xiaozai's teacup stopped in mid-air. She stared at Hu Biao's calm yet shameless face, which seemed to truly embody the words "refined scoundrel." For a moment, she didn't know how to respond.
"What—what do you mean?"
"The literal meaning." Hu Biao put down his teacup, placed his hands on the table, and said calmly, "Su Xiaoran, I'm asking you, what is my relationship with Lin Wanqing?"
"What kind of relationship?" Su Xiaoran sneered. "High school classmates, our families are old friends, and you had her pay for your phone as soon as school started, you competed with the senior who was pursuing her in front of so many people in the library, and you even had her design games for you—and you call this a normal classmate relationship?"
"Yeah, right." Hu Biao nodded, looking completely innocent. "Aren't they just good friends?"
Su Xiaoran was stunned.
"Look—" Hu Biao counted on his fingers, "I borrowed money to buy a phone because I had just arrived at school and didn't know anyone well. I was closest to her, and I knew she would definitely lend it to me. I didn't care, so I asked her to help. As for confronting Fang Wenyuan, I thought that guy was an idiot and didn't deserve her. I couldn't let my good friend fall into a fire pit, so I took care of him. As for designing games, that's her major. I trusted her and asked her for help."
He spread his hands: "Which one proves I'm pursuing her?"
Su Xiaoran opened her mouth, only to find herself speechless for a moment.
"But—but—" she struggled to find the right words, "You're so good to her, and you see her all the time, isn't that pursuing her?"
"Am I really that good to her? Please, I've always believed in equality for all. As long as you don't mess with me, I'm good to everyone." Hu Biao picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said, "Besides, she's my high school classmate, and our families know each other. I treat her like family, like a little sister who needs my care. What's wrong with that?"
Su Xiaoran stared at him as if he were an alien creature.
"You—you're just making excuses."
"This isn't sophistry, it's the truth," Hu Biao said. "Su Xiaoran, think about it carefully. In my first semester of freshman year, besides attending classes, spending time in the library, and working in my research group, what did I do to pursue girls?"
Su Xiaoran subconsciously recalled.
No.
No, there really isn't.
Aside from that incident at the library, this guy almost never appeared in public places on campus. His life revolved around his dorm, cafeteria, library, and lab building. His research group members said he often stayed out until midnight, and his roommate said he sometimes didn't even come back on weekends.
Oh, right, he also published a paper!
Then stir up trouble online —
"Did I send her flowers? Did I ask her to go to the movies alone? Did I say anything suggestive?" Hu Biao asked in rapid succession.
Su Xiaoran fell silent.
"No," Hu Biao answered for her, "because I really only see her as a younger sister."
"Then why are you only clarifying things now?" Su Xiao finally found a breakthrough, her tone hardening again. "If you didn't mean it that way, why didn't you do it sooner? Why did you let her misunderstand for so long before clarifying things now? What else can you call a scumbag?"
Hu Biao looked at her, his expression even more innocent. "I don't know!"
Su Xiaoran was taken aback.
"I really don't know." Hu Biao blinked, his tone becoming serious. "Throughout my first semester of freshman year, my mind was filled with major courses, experimental data, and paper algorithms—how could I possibly have the mind to think about this?"
"It was during the winter break—" Hu Biao continued, "that is, during the winter break, she started sending me messages more and more frequently, and her tone became more and more—how should I put it, something was off. I thought about it for a while and realized that she might have fallen into one of the three great illusions of life, so I quickly talked to her to clarify things and correct her."
He looked directly into Su Xiaoran's eyes: "This is called being responsible, not being a scumbag."
Life — Three — Illusions —
Su Xiaoran fell silent.
She picked up the teacup, found it was cold, and put it down.
Outside the window, students rode by on bicycles, their bicycle bells ringing crisply.
Su Xiaoran pictured Lin Wanqing's beautiful face in her mind, then looked at Hu Biao, and suddenly slammed her hand on the table, startling Hu Biao and the people around her.
"What misconception? Bah! What's wrong with Wanqing? She's so beautiful, so cute! You're a man, how could you not like her?!"
"Tch, that's not fair. I'm so handsome, so talented, so rich, so powerful—do you think every woman in the world likes me?"
"you----"
For a moment, Su Xiaoran was speechless.
"So, don't be so hasty about some things. Also, this is Jiangcheng University, a national institution of higher learning. As a freshman, your most important task is to study hard, acquire skills, and contribute to the country's development in the future. What's with all this talk about dating? It's ridiculous and puts the cart before the horse!"
"you----"
"What do you mean, 'what do you mean, 'what do you mean'? Let me tell you, if I become a high-ranking official in the future, I'll immediately introduce new regulations: college students are not allowed to date. You all need to study hard. If you all go to college and all you think about is dating, you have no interest in studying, how can the country develop, how can it progress, how can it —"
"Okay, okay, stop talking, stop talking!!"
Seeing that the boy was showing signs of going crazy, Su Xiao waved her hand repeatedly to stop him from saying anything more incoherent.
At this moment, the waiter brought the boiled fish to the table, and the aroma of its spicy and savory flavor wafted over.
Hu Biao didn't say much and started working right away. Su Xiaoran looked at him speechlessly, feeling that something was wrong, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
After a meal, the guests were annoyed but the host was happy, and everyone went their separate ways.
As Hu Biao walked out of the restaurant, watching Su Xiaoran's departing figure, he curled his lip in disapproval.
You little punk, trying to mess with me?
Just then, the phone rang.
Upon seeing the phone number, Hu Biao immediately answered, a fawning smile on his face, "Father-in-law—"
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