Chapter 1267: The No-Hai zone
"Chunhuaaaaa, it’s such a super shiny day! Why don’t we enjoy it with a super romantic date~"
"Chunuaaaaaa, a new noodle shop has just opened up! Why don’t we slurp on some delicious noodles together~?"
"Chunhuaaaaa, did you see that awesome sky tower at the center? We will get a super cool view of Beijing up there!"
"Chunhuaaaaa, I love youuuuuuuu~~!"
Hai was trying hard. Very hard. Actually, he was dying. But the cold wall Chunhua had built around her only grew taller and taller. None of his methods managed to budge even the tiniest of her bitterness towards him.
"Am I doomed?" Hai collapsed on the floor, almost half-dead of dehydration.
Guiren pursed his lips. "Please make a mess somewhere else."
"How rude! Don’t you care about your best friend at all! It’s been over a month now that Chunhua has been avoiding me!" He sniffled.
"You started it. I see she is giving you double the payback. Good for her."
"You bully! But I won’t give up!" He got up from his half-dead state, fully recharged.
"Ready for another rejection?"
He glared. "Not today!"
"That’s what you have been saying for the past month," he plainly said, "How many crepes have you stuffed in the pretext of meeting her? If you keep bothering her during her part-time job, I see the day will come soon enough for you being banned from entering the crepe shop once and for all."
The day turned out to be quite close though - in fact it was today when Hai saw a board hung outside the shop, specifically highlighting his name in bold letters with the message - Do not enter.
"..."
From outside the glass doors, he saw Chunhua step out towards the reception desk and he eagerly waved.
"Chunhua! Chunhua! It’s meeee!!"
She paused, but didn’t look up and continued to work at the cash register. Irrespective of the warning sign, Hai was about to enter anyway when he felt the distinct glare of the shop owner from inside. The warning of deadly consequences was all too clear. Hai didn’t dare to challenge her. So he waited outside the entire day until Chunhua finally stepped out, her work done for the day.
"Chunhua!" He shone, jumping to his feet without a second’s notice.
Chunhua walked past him, not throwing a second glance at his side.
"Chunhua! Chunhua!" He easily picked up pace and stood before her. "I have a surprise for you!"
Chunhua moved left, so he moved left. She moved right and so did he. Her lips pressed further.
"Don’t block my way."
The blast of the cold air was a tough pill to swallow, but he remained undeterred. "It’s okay! I will open the surprise for you. Tadahhh!"
The unwrapped box revealed a modern, certainly expensive phone that lay neatly encased.
"I am so stupid! I should have given you this much sooner! Idiot me. But it’s not a lost cause. Now we can chat and talk as much as we want! I will pick your call within a single ring - no half a ring! Hehe, I won’t make you worry anymore, I promise."
She stared at the phone and then at his sheepish grin. She pulled her handbag’s leather handle closer to her shoulder and lowered her gaze.
"I don’t need it. I don’t think we have anything to talk about."
She walked past him, only for him to cross the distance between them once again. "No, no, we definitely have a lot of things to talk about! I will give you a minute by minute update of where I am~ No more guess work!"
Chunhua said nothing.
"Or we can chat too if you don’t want to talk to me. There are some super cute smiley emotions too! It’s becoming super popular!"
No response.
"O-Or how about you curse me all day long? I can hear your lovely voice even if the curses mean for me to die~"
Her eyes widened and with an abrupt turn, she pressed her palm over his mouth. "Don’t talk about death like that."
Hai blinked. Once, then twice. "Okay! I won’t talk about death! I won’t make my Chunhua sad~"
Her brows knitted and she turned, continuing to walk until she stopped at the bus stop.
"Chunhua, you didn’t take the phone!" Hai chased after her.
"Please leave, Hai."
He shook his head so violently like his head would fall off his shoulders. "I hurt you. A lot. I won’t give up till I beg for forgiveness! I will do anything you want. Should I act like a duck here?"
"Why would you act like a duck in public?"
"Anything to make you laugh," he laughed himself.
Chunhua didn’t turn her head but only ever so lightly darted her gaze towards him. It was exactly that goofy grin and sunshine face that always made her heart skip several beats. Under the weight of stifling and unreasonable expectations that surrounded her, being with Hai made her feel like a free bird taking its flight in the sky. Hai’s one-sided actions had hurt her, but equally putting up a wall before him like this ached her harder.
A honk rang in the air and the bus stopped. The doors opened and Chunhua took a step forward to climb when her wrist was pulled back.
"Ch-Chunhua. Don’t...Don’t go..."
His fingers that desperately squeezed onto her wrist evoked a faint tremor across her chest. Her aching eyes were close to spilling tears.
"Miss, are you coming in?" The bus driver asked, casting a suspicious light at the man behind her. It was an easy conclusion that they were a couple currently going through their rough phase.
Ah, youth...
"Sorry, Miss. Getting late. Hop onto the next bus."
Her lips parted as if she would stop him, but in the end, she remained still. The doors closed and the bus wheeled away, returning the silence.
Chunhua turned sharply, her cold eyes squinting at him. "Why should I listen to you when you never bothered to talk to me?"
"I-I know I goofed up big time! But I didn’t intend to hurt you purposely. Never ever! I just couldn’t...come to stand before you. But now I won’t run away. You can ask me anything you want! S-So please... don’t go."
