Chapter Fourteen: Life is Not as Beautiful as Poetry

  Many times, Kim Tae-yeon thought that the true face of Xiao Fei Po was not as harmless as it seemed on the surface. Just like now, although most were paper tigers that could be easily torn apart, but somehow this person who couldn't even speak their native language fluently had also learned to use intimidation and temptation.

  Although it looks shabby, it is also a kind of strategy after all.

  Looking at Tiffany's smiling face, Kim Tae-yeon said with a lollipop in her mouth, "Pani, has anyone ever told you that when you make this expression that looks sly but is actually really stupid, it makes people want to...?"

  "Tiffany was slightly dazed and asked: 'What impulse?'"

  "Men will pounce on you directly."

  "Tiffany asked next: 'What about the woman?'"

  Kim Tae-yeon looked at the little fatty with an unexpected gaze and said, "You're a woman managing women, what's your impulse to do this? Do you have that kind of tendency?"

  "Tendency?" Tiffany felt that her brain cells were somewhat insufficient.

  Kim Tae-yeon smiled and said, "Who knows, maybe that friend of yours actually has a crush on you, Pani. People's hearts are treacherous and unpredictable, and those who seem calm and collected might just be hiding their true feelings. Men like that are actually the easiest to fall in love with, but once they do, they can get stuck in a long-term unrequited love."

  Kim Tae-yeon looked at Tiffany's expression and knew that her previous words were just pearls cast before a swine.

  "Tiffany asked: 'What do you think of him?'"

  Kim Tae-yeon casually flipped through the magazine and asked absent-mindedly: "Which one?"

  "There's another one." Tiffany said, dissatisfied with Kim Tae-yeon's reaction. "The one who taught you how to be a leader."

  Taeyeon put down the magazine, her face flushed from the warm air, and after a moment of contemplation, she said: "He has a unique way of speaking. The first time you listen, you don't understand at all. When you listen for the second time, you start to get a little understanding. And when you think about it again on the third time, you gain a lot from it. So Tiffany, I originally didn't believe you, but you actually have this kind of feeling too."

  "What kind is this?"

  Kim Tae-yeon said: "Looks like this kind of high IQ."

  "Is he very intelligent?"

  Taeyeon thought for a moment and said, "I'm not sure if my IQ is high or low, but those words benefited me greatly. I've looked for teachers and chatted with them for a long time. The things they said, I intentionally or unintentionally expressed from my standpoint. The teacher was very surprised and delighted. Tiffany, you have to know that the pressure on me now is not ordinary."

  "Is it because I'm going to be the captain?"

  "This is just one of the reasons, on the eve of our debut, whoever will be nervous and confused. To be honest, debuting is only our first step, who knows how hard it will be in the following days. Also because we have been living and learning together as a group, but the leader is the leader because he has to set an example and manage, although you may not care, I really do."

  "Tiffany asked: "What did all the teachers say to you?""

  "Teacher said, you have such thoughts, I am relieved."

  "This should be considered a very high evaluation."

  Kim Tae-yeon smiled happily and said: "Right, that's why I said his IQ is very high."

  Tiffany understood and got very angry, picking up the pillow to hit Kim Tae-yeon, shouting: "What do you mean? Must my friends have low IQ? Don't forget, you're also my friend. No, no, I don't have a low IQ, I'm just not fluent in Korean. You can't change the subject."

  Kim Tae-yeon rubbed her nose and said, "Rather than talking about this, you'd better tell me some stories about him from the past. I can see that you're eager to share them with me."

  "Tiffany looked at Kim Tae-yeon with a puzzled expression and asked, 'Why do I feel like there's something weird about the way you're talking?'"

  Kim Tae-yeon smiled slyly and said, "You found out? Your friend taught me."

  "When did he teach you this?"

  "It can be understood but cannot be explained."

  "Let's get back to the original topic."

  "Good."

  Tiffany lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, and said slowly after careful thought: "It was probably a few years ago, it should have been the year before I came to Korea, I remember it very clearly, that day The sun was really good, although the weather in Los Angeles is always good, but the weather that day was really good."

  Taeyeon glanced at Tiffany and said, "Get to the point."

  "Tiffany glared at Kim Tae-yeon and said, 'Don't you understand that everything needs to be laid out?' "

  "What a load of nonsense."

  "Do you want to listen or not?"

  "You go on."

  Tiffany lay down again and said, "The weather is nice, so the mood will naturally be good. When the mood is good, people will naturally want to eat something, so I went to that donut shop I often go to and bought a lot of my favorite flavors of donuts. Oh, and also a cup of hot cocoa."

  "Then I walked out of the store, eating a doughnut as I went, and then I ran into him, and he snatched my doughnut and hot cocoa away from me."

  Taeyeon almost choked on her food and looked at Tiffany with a twisted expression, forcing back laughter to ask: "Did you get robbed?"

  "We were robbed, and it was a thorough robbery."

  "What's next?"

  Then he ate it all up in front of me.

  Tiffany recalled the past and said with some emotion, "I've never seen anyone eat like that before. He could finish a palm-sized doughnut in one bite, and a large cup of hot cocoa would be gone after just two sips. After he finished eating, he looked at me with a puzzled expression. Now that I think about it, I guess it's because I scolded him too harshly while he was eating."

  Kim Tae-yeon was shocked again: "You can still scold people?"

  Ignoring Taeyeon's teasing, Tiffany continued to recall: "At first I thought he would hit me. Think about it, a dirty person who snatched your snacks and ate them in front of you, this is the greatest insult to my personality and dignity. At first, I thought if he was going to hit me, I would immediately run away, but unexpectedly he just looked at me like that."

  "Actually, he should also be curious why you didn't run."

  "There might be a reason for that." Tiffany thought for a moment before saying, "Then I don't know why, but looking at him with chocolate chips all over his mouth, I subconsciously asked, 'Are you still hungry?'"

  Then he nodded and I said I could treat him to a hot dog. He said he wanted a hamburger, so I treated him to a meal at McDonald's.

  Tiffany scratched her hair and said, "Even now, I'm still wondering why I invited a thief to dinner. Maybe it was because he looked so pitiful at the time, or maybe my brain was just playing tricks on me."

  Kim Tae-yeon nodded and said, "The latter is more likely."

  "Who taught you to speak like this?"

  "Your friend."

  "Did he teach you these?"

  "It can be understood but cannot be explained."

  "Stop making a fuss, just eat together and I can count the number of times you talk."

  "So I say, it can be understood intuitively, but cannot be expressed in words."

  Tiffany pushed Taeyeon and said, "Don't randomly pin all sorts of crap on him."

  Kim Tae-yeon smiled and said: "We're off topic again."

  "It seems so."

  Tiffany continued, "What happened next seemed like a matter of course. He ate his fill and then wanted to leave. Coincidentally, we ran into my classmate at that store. At the time, I was even fatter and darker than when I first came to Korea. To be honest, I was often bullied in class and got hurt. Those people just happened to be the ones who liked to bully me the most, so naturally, they started teasing me again as soon as they saw me."

  "What's next?"

  "Then?" Tiffany burst out laughing: "Then they got beaten up, Chu Jingyan single-handedly beat them so badly that they didn't even have a chance to run away. I've never seen anyone fight like that before. They just said a few words and Chu Jingyan started flipping chairs at them one by one."

  Speaking of this, Tiffany got a little excited: "To be honest, I've been very well-behaved since I was young, and I haven't seen fights many times. That time, even the police came after hearing the news, then Chu Jingyan pulled me and ran away. Now that I think about it, that should have been the fastest run of my life."

  "Isn't it very violent? But at that time I really thought Chu Jingyan was handsome to a certain realm."

  "Is he handsome?"

  "As handsome as my dad."

  "That's really cool." Kim Tae-yeon asked, "And then?"

  Tiffany said, "Then I naturally thanked him and let bygones be bygones about the previous incident of snatching my donut and hot cocoa. As he was about to leave, I asked him where he was going. He really thought for a long time before answering that he didn't know. So I asked him, 'Don't you have a home?'"

  "Perhaps what I said was really hurtful, he waved his hand and was about to leave."

  "Did you go to stop her?"

  "Tiffany shook her head and said: 'No, I just took him shopping for clothes and then brought him home.'"

  "Isn't that enough to make you stay?"

  "It doesn't count anyway, since it was an invitation."

  "Why is it an invitation?"

  "You should have also noticed that he has a strong sense of self-respect."

  "Are you still proud of yourself after snatching my donut?"

  "So this matter fully illustrates that when people are hungry, they can do anything."

  Kim Tae-yeon: “I don’t know what to say.”

  Every girl thinks that the most handsome man in this world is her own father, and Tiffany is no exception. She lost her mother at a very young age, when she needed her mother's love and care the most, so being able to be on par with her father, even if only for that one moment, is a kind of recognition.

  "After taking a sip of water, Tiffany continued: 'There's a small warehouse behind my house that has been abandoned for a long time. It had some old furniture and trash in it. He stayed there for two nights, and then he was gone.'"

  "Where did you go?"

  "Tiffany said: 'He said he would go home and meet again, it was a year ago.'"

  Fate.

  "Whatever." Tiffany furrowed her brow and said, "But I really don't believe that the person I met on the street was actually Chu Jingyan. Tai Yan, even if he had fallen on hard times in Los Angeles back then, I could still see the kindness in his eyes, although it wasn't much, not strong, but he's truly a good person."

  "I don't know what he went through after he left, nor do I know why he suddenly appeared in Seoul and has already found his footing. I asked him, but he won't say. What was it that made him change like this? I'm really curious."

  Kim Tae-yeon said, "You also said that if a jobless vagabond can afford to drive that kind of car, it's not because he's the son of a rich family, but because he has some unknown secret. He obviously isn't the son of a rich family, so if he relies on himself and has everything he has now, he must have gone through a lot."

  "Tiffany looked at Kim Tae-yeon and said: 'So I think you can get familiar with him and help him out.'"

  "Why me?"

  "Because I think you two look alike."