Chapter 33: A Chance Encounter While Matchmaking

  Chu Tian Shu felt that today was particularly strange, usually quite eloquent, but when he met Xiang Wan Qing, he became tongue-tied and his thoughts seemed to have lost power, not knowing how to find a topic of conversation.

  Is it a guilty conscience or lack of experience? Or is it that he has feelings for this girl in front of him?

  Chu Tian Shu was still lost in thought and asked Wang Wan Qing again, "I heard from others that you've had dozens of marriage proposals, is this true?"

  "Oh, looking at me like this, does it seem like I'm someone with a lot of experience in this area?" Chu Tian Shu finally regained some normal language ability.

  "It doesn't look like it either." Toward Wanqing raised her head and glanced at her.

  "But I hope this is the last time." Chu Tian Shu said this sentence casually, his mind still remembering the appointment with Wei Shi Jie.

  "Why?" Wan Qing narrowed her eyes, looking at Chu Tian Shu with great interest.

  "Because," Chu Tian Shu hesitated for a moment and said: "I don't want to have another time like this again."

  This statement is somewhat ambiguous.

  However, Wan Qing didn't feel embarrassed at all, instead she covered her mouth and laughed: "Haha, so you mean to say that you have a crush on me?"

  Misunderstood, Chu Tian Shu had no way to explain, so he could only smile and go along with it, saying: "I agree with your understanding."

  Never mind, anyway I am Wei Shijie now, and being a bit shameless is also in line with his character.

  Xiang Wan Qing smiled happily, without a hint of shyness that one should have when being pursued by boys, and asked: "Do you say this every time you go on a blind date?"

  Chu Tian Shu shook his head: "This is truly the first time I've said this to a girl."

  Xiang Wanqing finally lowered her head, stirring the coffee cup with a small spoon. After a while, she raised her head again and curiously stared at Chu Tian Shu, suddenly asking: "Mr. Wei, can you be sure that we haven't met before?"

  Chu Tian Shu broke out in a cold sweat and said uncertainly: "It can't be, it's too coincidental."

  Grandma's, Wei Shijie has met too many girls through blind dates, and it is unknown whether he has met Xiang Wanqing through other means besides his aunt.

  "Hehe," Xiang Wanqing took a light sip of her coffee and said, "I have this habit, people I've met or voices I've heard get stored in my memory. I keep feeling like I've seen you somewhere before."

  "This isn't a flaw, it's an advantage. With this alone, you're extremely suitable to be a journalist." Chu Tian Shu's mouth was responding, but his heart had already begun to drum up, wondering if this would become Ye Wan Qing's reason for refusal.

  Wan Qing raised her head, thought for a moment, and then smiled to herself, saying: "Take a closer look, haven't you ever seen me before? Not even heard of my name?"

  "No!" Chu Tian Shu made up his mind and said resolutely.

  When Chu Tian Shu answered so resolutely, a hint of loss flashed across Xiang Wan Qing's face.

  A woman's heart is truly as hard to find as a needle at the bottom of the ocean.

  Chu Tian Shu felt a little bewildered and couldn't figure out what answer Xiang Wan Qing's heart was hoping for.

  After a moment of contemplation, he still asked Wan Qing: "Mr. Wei, have you called the Qīng Yuán Wèi Shì exposé hotline recently?"

  Have you had a fight? Or haven't you had one yet?

  Chu Tian Shu was really in a difficult situation, how could he answer to satisfy Xiang Wan Qing?

  Wei Shijie had a fight or not, Chu Tian Shu didn't know, but he remembered clearly that he had made an explosive phone call to Qingyuan Weishi on the midnight of last Friday at the Kaixuan Hotel.

  Chu Tian Shu decided to answer truthfully: "I have, last Friday, at the Arc de Triomphe Hotel..."

  Wan Qing's eyes sparkled and she became inexplicably excited.

  "Is it midnight?" Interrupted Wan Qing, excitedly shouting. "Later said that after drinking too much wine, the wrong person was beaten, is it you?"

  "Heh heh, that's right." Chu Tian Shu scratched his head.

  Leaning back towards Wan Qing with a smile: "Hehe, I said we've met before."

  Her youthful face was radiant and bright, with a slightly upturned small nose that was proud and confident, and tightly pursed small mouth with a hint of a smile, as if she had just dug out a long-unresolved secret.

  Chu Tian Shu finally understood that the person in front of her, Xiang Wan Qing, was the persistent female journalist who had been on duty last Friday night.

  Since it's already been said, Chu Tian Shu frankly told the truth: "To be honest with you, I..."

  "Wait a minute." Wan Qing stretched out her right hand and placed her index finger on her lips, interrupting Chu Tian Shu's words once again. She said in an unquestionable tone, "You are indeed an imposter, aren't you?"

  "No wonder you're a journalist, your eyes are sharp, I admire you, I admire you." Chu Tian Shu had to admit the fact.

  "Hehe," Xiang Wanqing finally revealed a pleased expression unique to girls.

  In Chu Tian Shu's eyes, Yue Wan Qing became even more lovable after shedding her calm and rational side.

  He took off his disguise and relaxed, Chu Tian Shu stretched out his hand: "Let's get reacquainted, I'm Wei Shi Jie's classmate, Chu Tian Shu, Chu of the Chu country, Tian of the weather, Shu of comfort."

  Xiang Wanqing grasped Chu Tian Shu's hand and smiled with pursed lips.

  "Good name, is it borrowed from Chairman Mao's poem of crossing the Yangtze River?" Toward Wanqing really had a professional habit, and could raise questions at any time.

  This point, also said by Wang Wanqing, is correct.

  His father, a teacher at Chengguan Town Middle School, had already chosen the name for the child after his mother became pregnant, borrowing Chairman Mao's poem "Extending my gaze to the vastness of Chu" regardless of whether it was a boy or girl.

  "No," Chu Tian Shu smiled and shook his head, joking: "My surname is Chu, the character 'Tian' is in my generation name, my grandfather said this kid won't amount to much, so just hope he's comfortable every day."

  "So you're comfortable every day now?"

  "There isn't."

  "Why?"

  Chu Tian Shu narrowed his eyes and deliberately swept a glance over Wang Qing's face: "Because one girlfriend is still missing."

  "Nonsense." Xiang Wanqing was amused, her face slightly flushed. She felt a flutter in her chest, a strange feeling she hadn't experienced in years rising from the bottom of her heart.

  Chu Tian Shu gazed at Xiang Wan Qing, a smile on his face.

  Wan Qing's heart skipped a beat, as if Chu Tian Shu had seen through the changes in her heart. She hurriedly suppressed the unusual feeling that rose to her head, deliberately coughing and putting on an unpleasant expression, saying seriously: "Mr. Chu, please pay attention to your image."

  "Oh, to the reporter, you misunderstood me. I also have a habit, every time I see a beautiful woman, I unconsciously want to remember her appearance and smile. However, I guarantee with my integrity that I am a decent gentleman."

  Reborn as himself, Chu Tian Shu felt his thinking became sharp again, and the inherent humor in him quickly returned. His speech also became more vivid and interesting. He didn't become servile just because of Wan Qing's serious expression; on the contrary, he spoke with clarity and integrity.

  Xiang Wanqing calmly and quietly asked in return: "According to Mr. Chu's words, should I thank you for your praise of me?"

  "That's not necessary, because my heartfelt praise doesn't contain even a hint of exaggeration. I just hope that the reporter won't misunderstand me." Chu Tian Shu put on a very serious face, seemingly to clear himself, but in reality, he was once again praising Xiang Wan Qing's beauty.

  The hands clasped together in the late evening were slightly trembling under the table.

  As a journalist, she has met all sorts of men and seen various kinds of gazes, always being confident, but today for the first time, she felt a kind of powerlessness, the Chu Tian Shu in front of her was really hard to see through.

  Say he's got ulterior motives, but compared to those men who can't help but devour her with their eyes, his are crystal clear and devoid of any lecherous glint; say he's a gentleman, but the words that come out of his mouth always carry a hint of teasing playfulness.

  The more it was like this, the thicker Wei Wanqing's interest in Chu Tian Shu became.

  "By the way, why didn't your classmate come?" As an experienced journalist, Xiang Wanqing skillfully changed the subject.

  Chu Tian Shu didn't want to hide it anymore and said: "Oh, he was too busy, so he temporarily grabbed me as a substitute."

  "Alas, actually I'm more interested in him." Wan Qing intentionally made a disappointed expression, and she caught the fleeting desolation on Chu Tian Shu's face.

  "I believe he will regret it for the rest of his life." Chu Tian Shu said this with a hint of sourness.

  "Oh, you misunderstood." Xiang Wanqing was delighted to see Chu Tian Shu's expression and felt balanced in her heart. "I'm not interested in him as a person, but as a reporter, I'm interested in his numerous blind dating experiences. I'm working on a matchmaking program topic and I really hope he can be my interviewee."

  Observing words and expressions is the basic skill of an excellent journalist.

  Xiang Wanqing observed once again, Chu Tian Shu had a feeling of relief wash over him.

  "This, I really can't substitute for. Because in this aspect, I am almost a complete novice."

  "No big deal, impersonation is also a good topic." Xiang Wanqing removed something like a button from her clothes.

  "What's that?" Chu Tian Shu raised his guard.

  "A button-sized micro camera, my interview tool." Wanxiang put it away in her small bag and prepared to leave. "I recorded the scene of our meeting, the story of impersonating someone for a blind date, the audience should be interested."

  Chu Tian Shu hastily blocked her way: "No, Wei Ji, I don't want to go on your show." The first thing he thought of was that the leaders and colleagues of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission saw him as an impersonator in a blind date show, how embarrassing would that be.

  "Why? Our show's ratings are high, and many people cry and shout wanting to be on our show."

  "I'm not the kind of person who likes to show off."

  As a government official, Chu Tian Shu dreams of becoming a public figure on TV, but he hopes to be a public figure sitting on the podium, never thinking of becoming a star of gossip shows.

  Chu Tian Shu really got anxious, and smiled at Wan Qing: "I can mosaic your face, and also technically process your voice, guaranteeing that even your classmates won't recognize you."

  "No way," Chu Tian Shu still disagreed firmly. "As long as he sees our meeting place and the secret signal, Wei Shi Jie will definitely guess it."