Miaomiao noticed that her friends around her seemed to have become busy lately. Only Cheng Ruan was relatively idle. But for some reason, except for the time when she returned to the dormitory in the research institute at night and when she was doing research in the institute, Cheng Ruan was always by her side.
In the past, the one who always accompanied her like this was only Wei Ziqi. Suddenly, it was someone else. Miaomiao really wasn't quite used to it.
"Ruan Ruan, don't you have anything to do recently?"
Miaomiao was lured by Cheng Ruan to a milk - tea shop. While eating cake and drinking milk tea, Miaomiao finally asked the question that had been bothering her.
"Nope. What could I possibly have to do?" Cheng Ruan replied indifferently.
Since they learned the news that Uncle Lin was in a coma, they had all tried to act as natural as possible.
But starting from the day after he learned the news, Wei Ziqi had rushed back to his biological father's place to inherit the family fortune. Now, he not only had to take care of the research institute's affairs but also had to start learning business. He was extremely busy.
Yao Mingxuan was the worst at acting. After he learned this news, he was so absent - minded that it was easy to see something was wrong. So, he was directly dragged by Wei Ziqi to do business together, under the pretext of learning from each other.
Only Cheng Ruan had been learning dance, and she was excellent at facial expression management. So, after all, she was the most suitable one to accompany Miaomiao without being seen through.
"Recently, Teacher Wei and Yao Mingxuan have been so busy. I can't see them all day long. Sometimes when I go back to the research institute and go to the dormitory to look for Teacher Wei, he's not there. I didn't see him at all yesterday. Is it really that difficult to manage a business?"
Miaomiao was also a bit unhappy. She didn't know why she was so unhappy. It was just that the people who had always been by her side and inseparable from her since childhood had suddenly become busy. She felt empty inside, as if something was missing.
"It is quite difficult to manage. You don't know. When I first started trying to manage a small part of my family's business, I was so busy every day. Apart from going to class, I was learning about manufacturer management, customer maintenance, and negotiating contracts from my dad. In short, there were so many things to learn, so messy. Lao Wei must be very busy just after going back to take over. I guess it will get better after a while." Cheng Ruan had also helped her family with business for several months in order to get into the Imperial City University, so she naturally knew how it felt.
"Ah, Teacher Wei must be so hard - working. I don't know how long he will be this busy." Miaomiao pouted and slowly sipped the milk tea through the straw. Even the tempting cake in front of her didn't seem appetizing.
Miaomiao's abnormal behavior made Cheng Ruan extremely curious. When Miaomiao and Wei Ziqi first transferred to the Imperial City, she had never heard that Miaomiao couldn't eat or sleep because of it. On the contrary, she ate well and was in good health.
When they first met Tao Jing and got to know each other well, Miaomiao didn't seem to care much when they parted. She even said something very philosophical like "We all live in the same world. It's not like we'll never see each other again. There's no need to care about a temporary separation."
Why was it that when it came to Wei Ziqi, Miaomiao's attitude had done a 180 - degree turn?
"Miaomiao, I think you're acting really weird. Be honest. Is there something going on between you and Lao Wei that we don't know about?" Cheng Ruan, a girl who had heard countless gossips and watched countless idol dramas, had a hunch that there must be something going on. She asked furtively.
"What's going on?" Miaomiao looked completely confused. Her clear and innocent eyes, like a fawn's, made Cheng Ruan feel guilty in her heart. She really didn't have the heart to break this innocent girlish feeling.
But the blazing fire of gossip still strongly overpowered her reluctance. Cheng Ruan smiled slightly and began to guide her: "Do you feel especially empty inside when Lao Wei's not around, as if something important is missing?"
"Yeah!"
Cheng Ruan had perfectly described her feelings, so Miaomiao quickly nodded and perked up.
"Do the meals in your mouth not taste good anymore? Do you not want to eat the things you usually like, and just keep thinking about what Lao Wei is doing?"
"Yeah!"
"Do you really want Lao Wei to finish his business soon and go back to the way it was before, being inseparable from you?"
"Yeah!"
"Do you really care about him and want to be with him for the rest of your life and never be separated?"
"Yeah!"
"Do you sometimes feel your heart pounding and your face blushing when you get close to Lao Wei?"
The more Cheng Ruan asked, the more excited she became. The fire of gossip in her eyes could no longer be contained. She looked at Miaomiao expectantly, waiting for her answer.
But this question stumped Miaomiao. She thought for a long time before answering: "I don't think so. Lao Wei and I used to hold hands to go to and from school every day. Sometimes we would hug. Sometimes he would help me comb my hair and tidy my clothes. Do these count as getting close? But I didn't feel what you described."
"Huh? Really?" Cheng Ruan was a bit confused. Had she misunderstood the situation? Wasn't Miaomiao enlightened?
No, her intuition had always been very accurate. There must be some other problem.
Wait! Just now Miaomiao said that she held hands with Wei Ziqi every day?!
Why didn't she know about this?!
Obviously, they were all together every day. When did these two secretly develop to this extent?
"I've analyzed it. Maybe it's because you two have had such relatively intimate contact every day, so you're used to it and don't feel anything. But do you hate his touch?" Cheng Ruan's brain was working frantically, and finally she thought of a possibility.
Wei Ziqi was playing a long - term game!
"No, I don't." Miaomiao shook her head blankly and answered firmly.
"What if I hold your hand every day and do the same things to you as Lao Wei does? Would you hate it?"
"No, I wouldn't."
"Huh?" Cheng Ruan frowned slightly, but then thought of her own gender and immediately understood. She changed the hypothetical target: "What if it's Yao Mingxuan?"
"Yao Mingxuan? I don't think I'd hate it. But it always feels a bit strange." Miaomiao thought carefully before answering.
"What if it's another boy? For example, there's someone who looks exactly like Lao Wei and has the same personality, but he's not Lao Wei. If this person treats you like this, what would you do?" Cheng Ruan continued to throw out the hypothesis. She was determined to analyze Miaomiao's inner feelings.
"I'll beat him! Dad said that a girl's body can't be touched by strangers casually. Even friends who aren't very familiar with you can't do it. If someone touches me and makes me feel disgusted, Dad said I can just fight back, as long as I don't kill him!"