656 Rejected
Xu Xi looked as if he had been sentenced to death. However, Chu Ning patted his shoulder with a smile. “The dare’s complete now, isn’t it?”
The dispirited Xu Xi immediately exclaimed in confusion, along with the surrounding people who were still sighing.
Chu Ning sighed. “You haven’t put away the bottle on the table that you were using as a pointer.”
While everyone was lamenting their lack of prudence, Chu Ning whispered in Xu Xi’s ear. “You scared me earlier, looking like you were in military training.”
Xu Xi’s ears were burning red. Chu Ning’s breath when she spoke did not cool them down at all. Instead, they blazed even more.
Chu Ning grabbed Xu Xi’s arm and led him to the sofa to sit down. She handed him a bottle of water and smiled. “You’re timid. These people must have had a sense of accomplishment in teasing you. Haha.”
Xu Xi lowered his head and did not speak. He only thought to himself, “Next time, next time, I will definitely prepare a perfect confession. I will definitely perform better! This rejection was because she had seen through the dare. It doesn’t count! This time doesn’t count!”
Chu Ning was cheerily playing games with the students around her when she suddenly thought of something and nudged Xu Xi with her elbow.
“What’s wrong?” Xu Xi looked up abruptly.
Chu Ning leaned closer and asked loudly, “Where is Yan Shen? Didn’t you guys ask him along?”
Xu Xi did not know how to answer for a moment. It was the boy nearby who helped him out. “He doesn’t like KTV.”
Xu Xi quickly nodded, but he could not help but think, “Does she like Yan Shen? There are so many people, but she singled out Yan Shen not being here.”
Xu Xi thought of the rumors in school before Chu Ning fell into the lake and Chu Ning’s pursuit of Yan Shen at that time. His heart felt even more stifled.
Xu Xi kept asking himself whether Chu Ning really liked Yan Shen? What if she really did? Could he compare to Yan Shen? Where was the advantage?
Even after the gathering came to a close, Xu Xi’s head was still in a mess. He went back in a daze.
Chu Ning looked at Xu Xi’s wandering footsteps and felt a chill down her spine. Could Xu Xi have been possessed by something? She believed in science, but she had already transmigrated into a book. The biggest unscientific thing was herself.
“What’s wrong with Xu Xi?” Chu Ning asked the girl beside her who was about to go shopping with her.
The girl smiled awkwardly. She couldn’t possibly say that he was sad because his confession was rejected, so she could only randomly brush it off.
Chu Ning felt that something was wrong, but she couldn’t put her finger on it, so she could only give up.
After playing for the entire afternoon, she only returned home in the evening. As she did not eat out, Chu Ning specially called Mrs. Chu and asked her family to save a bite of food for her.
When she reached home, her parents, Chu Jing, and Chu Huan were all sitting on the sofa waiting for her.
As soon as he saw her enter, Chu Huan opened his mouth as if he was possessed, speaking in a strange tone, “Oh, isn’t this the extremely busy person? So you have friends too? You went out to have fun and still made us wait for you at home for dinner. You’re really…”
Before he could finish her words, he fell silent under Chu Jing’s stern gaze.
Chu Jing looked at his younger brother in disappointment. He did not know why Chu Huan always targeted Chu Ning. Chu Huan stammered. He wanted to explain something under Second Brother’s disappointed gaze, but in the end, he didn’t say anything.
Mrs. Chu sensed that the atmosphere was not right and quickly tried to smooth things over. “Xiao Ning, go wash your hands. Dinner has just been prepared. Let’s eat after you wash your hands.”
Mr. Chu watched Chu Ning wash her hands, and folded the newspaper, placing it on the coffee table. He said softly to Chu Huan, “Chu Huan, she’s your sister. She didn’t do anything wrong to you. You’d better not go too far.”
Mr. and Mrs. Chu usually couldn’t say too much. There was already a conflict between the siblings. If they kept coming forward to stop it, it would only deepen the estrangement between the two of them.
Mrs. Chu also sighed. “Xiao Huan, when will you grow up and be sensible?”
Chu Huan moved his lips, wanting to say that he was not wrong, but when he saw his parents’ and Second Brother’s disapproving gazes, he swallowed his words.
At the dining table, Chu Ning kept telling her parents about the funny things that happened when she was having fun with her classmates, making her Mrs. Chu laugh from ear to ear. Mr. Chu also looked at Chu Ning with a gentle gaze. Chu Jing had on a silly smile, and only occasionally echoed a few words, while Chu Huan was unexpectedly quiet.