Since Jiang Li picked the food for her, she wasn't too picky. After all, he clearly meant well. He winked at her and said, "That Wen Xingyu is very arrogant and flirtatious. He's only a few years older than me, but he already had a lot of girlfriends. I'm so envious."
"It's not difficult for you to get a girlfriend, is it?" Shuishui looked at him. He clearly wasn't envious. She wasn't very sure. She just felt that Jiang Li's actions did not coincide with what he said.
"I'm picky." He looked at Shuishui and his ears turned red again.
Shuishui didn't notice and continued to eat the plate of fruits. Because of Wen Xingyu, the rich girl stopped talking about Shuishui, but she still wasn't very friendly. Shuishui wasn't interested in what they were talking about. She just sat and ate quietly.
Jiang Li also talked with them. They talked about the newly opened KTV bar, the newly opened gaming city, and the like. They were haughty and proud young people.
Shuishui couldn't help but find it all superficial. She rolled her eyes in annoyance.
She also moved so that Wen Xingyu could see her. He looked straight at Shuishui. Was this woman rolling her eyes at their conversation?
He found her a little cute. "Qian Shuishui, where do you usually hang out?"
Shuishui was distracted and didn't hear him.
"Qian Shuishui?"
"En?" Shuishui seemed to have heard someone calling her name. She looked over and realized it was Wen Xingyu. They weren't very familiar with each other, but in such situations, she knew she had to be polite. "I usually prefer to stay at home and read books. I don't like to go out."
"No way. Are you pretending?" Some of the women felt that Shuishui was being obnoxious. She kept silent the whole time and had a cold expression. The others simply thought that Shuishui was being pretentious.
Shuishui could not help but roll her eyes again. She thought that there was something wrong with the young girl. "Miss, I said that I like reading. That is my hobby. Don't tell me you know what I like? You are really amazing. Then what exactly do I like? You must think I don't know myself."
If she said that she liked to go out, people would think she was indecent. No matter what she said, she knew those around her would have something to say about it.
The rich young girl stood up. "Are you mocking me?"
Shuishui smiled and said, "You think I'm mocking you? Didn't you say that I'm pretending? Then you should know what I like. You must know my interests. That's why you think I'm pretending. This is the first time we've met. I didn't expect you to know me so well." She looked at Wen Xingyu. There was no hint of anger in her voice.
Wen Xingyu nodded. "I'm curious too." It didn't matter what she said. Wen Xingyu thought that Qian Shuishui was an interesting person. Even when she was mocked, she kept her composure. He was a little surprised. He had often seen girls arguing, and they were not calm nor graceful at all.
Qian Shuishui's tone was calm. She didn't even come off as obnoxious.
Shuishui blinked. "This little beauty . . . Tell me. Have you known me for a long time?"
"No. How could I know you? You're not a famous person. Don't think so highly of yourself," the rich young girl said angrily. She didn't know why, but she was angry. This girl called Qian Shuishui was mocking her. She was angry that the others were there to hear it all.
"Then why did you say that I'm pretending if you don't know me?" Shuishui continued to ask her. She was tired of people who caused her trouble for no reason. Was she that easy to bully?
Jiang Li couldn't help but laugh. He said, "Sister Qian, she envies you for being prettier than her."
The rich girl was so angry that she started to spew out arrogant words. "How is that possible? You think I'm jealous of her? That's so funny. I've seen too many girls like her. They pretend to be quiet and composed in front of boys. I don't even need to know you. I know what kind of person you are."
Wen Xingyu and the rest laughed because the rich girl sounded ridiculous.
Shuishui laughed. She said, "Amazing, amazing. You know what kind of person I am just by looking at me. If you continue to stare at me, will you be able to predict my future?" Shuishui averted her gaze and looked somewhere else. The young girl's responses amused her. Her imagination was amazing. Shuishui didn't want to say anything more. She felt like she was bullying a child.
The others laughed loudly. It was clear to them that Shuishui came from a wealthy family.
The conversation between the two girls was so amusing for the others.
"You guys . . . you guys, don't laugh. What's so funny?" The rich girl was even more furious. She suddenly understood that everyone was laughing at her and not at Qian Shuishui.
Jiang Li looked at the rich young girl and said, "Who are you? I don't remember your name. Anyway, Sister Qian loves reading. What has it got to do with you? Why do you care so much? Don't tell me that you're too curious about other people's affairs."
Jiang Li spoke up for Qian Shuishui. When that girl started mocking Qian Shuishui, he immediately felt uncomfortable, but he didn't get a chance to interrupt them. When he found the opportunity to speak up for Shuishui, he took the chance and ridiculed the girl.
The rich girl looked around and realized that no one spoke up for her. Her friends were watching from the side and were even grinning. She was so angry that she waved her hand and left.
Jiang Li looked at the rich girl's as she walked away and said, "Ignore it. She's always like that. She looks down on others and thinks she's a princess. She behaves like a peasant out of the mountains. She would look down on anyone she meets, and she wants to show everyone how powerful he is. She tries so hard to make herself look good and strives to be like a phoenix. It doesn't suit her at all, and none of her qualities are worth praising."
The others were speechless. Jiang Li was brutally frank.
Jiang Li said to Shuishui proudly, "She is now in her second year of high school. I heard that she even bought her way into high school. The results of her entrance examination were terrible."
"How do you know that?" Shuishui saw that Jiang Li was already starting to gossip about the girl.
"Our school has a high school department. The middle school department is a subsidiary of the high school department. Everyone knew about how she walked into the high school department to beg to be accepted into high school. She looks very ordinary, and she talks like a spoiled little girl. She flaunts her wealth and is too proud. Quite a number of people know her. Other people laugh that she thinks she's the most beautiful girl in campus. When I saw her up close earlier, I didn't think that it was her. I realized it was her when she started talking proudly." Jiang Li disliked the girl because she was overconfident and arrogant. He knew that he wasn't inferior to that girl. Under normal circumstances, he would ignore her, but when she mocked Shuishui, Jiang Li knew he had to speak up.
"That's enough. Stop talking. Whatever she does is her business. I don't mind. After all, I have nothing to lose." Shuishui did not take it to heart. She was just very disgusted by how the girl had behaved. Such girls were troublesome and tiresome to deal with. Qian Shuishui felt helpless that the girl was so enraged even when Shuishui had said very little.
Jiang Li smacked his lips and did not continue. Generally, he was not really the type who would gossip about other people's misfortunes. He originally thought that Shuishui would be interested to hear about that girl's true character.
Wen Xingyu wasn't interested in gossip either. He was not even curious about that girl's character. He simply found her annoying. He turned to Shuishui and said, "You're pretty good, but everyone was just joking around. Why did you take it seriously? Anyway, are you interested in playing pool? We can play at the lounge next door."
The others all said they wanted to go, and Jiang Li nodded. "Let's go. It's been a long time since we played pool," he said to Shuishui.
"Let's go."
They all went to the lounge. Shuishui didn't want to go, but Jiang Li dragged her along. He simply didn't want her to be alone.
Shuishui had no idea how the game was played. They had to split into two groups.
Because there were seven or eight people, they split into two tables. Wen Xingyu walked over to Shuishui and said, "Let's play together."
Shuishui had never played billiards before. She had heard about it, but she had no idea what its rules and mechanics were. "I don't know how to play. You guys can go ahead and play."
"It's okay. Not everyone here knows how to play," Wen Xingyu said. He gave a sly smile and said, "Don't be shy. Let's play together. If you say no, it'll spoil the fun."
Jiang Li originally wanted to team up with Shuishui, but he didn't say anything. He kept quiet when Wen Xingyu approached Shuishui.
When the grouping was finalized, they started playing.
Shuishui didn't want to play, but she wanted to join too. She was having a headache. She had no idea how the game was played and made many mistakes. Wen Xingyu thought that Shuishui would be shy or blushing about it, but she wasn't. In fact, Shuishui was very calm. Whenever she made a mistake, she would simply brush it off and ask how it should be done.
He rarely met such a calm girl. Qian Shuishui was also beautiful. Shuishui felt that Wen Xingyu had been gazing at her. She raised her eyes and smiled politely at Wen Xingyu.
Wen Xingyu's heart was thumping. He turned his face away awkwardly. He found Qian Shuishui very beautiful, especially when she smiled.
Shuishui shrugged her shoulders and proceeded with the game.
"Shuishui."
Shuishui heard a familiar voice behind her. She quickly stood up and walked to the door. "Uncle Jiang, I'm here."
"Come here," Jiang Yuan said as he waved at Shuishui.
Shuishui turned to the others and said, "Sorry. The elders asked me to go join them."
Jiang Li didn't think that it was inappropriate. His father was like that. Sister Qian called his parents Uncle and Auntie, and she was somehow close to them already. His father asked Sister Qian to go join him, presumably to meet some people. After all, her household registration had been moved to their house, so she could be considered family.
Jiang Li guessed wrong. Jiang Yuan had brought Shuishui to meet more young people. Jiang Li simply ignored these young people because he was the same age as they were. Girls wanted to date men older than them. When Shuishui came of age, the men in their circle would be of the right age. It would be good to introduce them early.
Shuishui stood next to Jiang Yuan. Jiang Yuan had been introducing her. When he saw an elegantly dressed woman strolling over towards them, Jiang Yuan pulled Shuishui and walked to the other side. "Shuishui, I will introduce you to some people."
"Huh?" Something didn't feel right.