Chapter 56: Chi Mo 10

But if Gao Jing felt nothing for Xiang Zhe, then Tan You’s behavior was of a different nature entirely. Ultimately, Tan You didn't like this kind of "playing the middleman" behavior; she always felt it put the person involved in an awkward position.

Tan You wasn't idle either; she, Zhou Wenwen, and Lin Meng were busy packing their luggage. The guesthouse here wasn't like a hotel where everyone had their own room; instead, several girls were squeezed into one large room.

"It feels a bit like a college dormitory," Lin Meng said, a smile spreading across her face as she scanned the room.

Tan You took a look as well. "It's nice. You guys pick first; I don't mind where I sleep."

The kang bed was long enough for everyone to share.

Zhou Wenwen: "Then let's go by the order of appearance, from that side, rows one, two, three, and four."

Tan You and Lin Meng, of course, had no objections. To be honest, Tan You felt that the female guests were all very easy to get along with. There was no scheming or infighting during the process; it was very warm and healing.

Although everyone carried their own various traumas, it was precisely because they had all experienced them that they treated the world with more gentleness.

After settling their belongings, Tan You and the others didn't linger in the bedroom but moved to the living room one after another. Xu Jike and Shi Lei were currently adjusting a program in front of the TV. Seeing the girls approach, Xu Jike smiled.

"Dinner won't be ready for a little while. I see there's a karaoke machine here; does anyone want to try it?"

Tan You was the first to wave her hand. "I'm no good at singing. I'm tone-deaf."

She knew her own limitations. Although her voice was decent, her inability to stay in tune was well-known. She had already lost enough face this afternoon; Tan You didn't want to lose any more.

Lin Meng took a stroll around the living room. "There's a dance machine here too. How about playing this?"

Tan You asked curiously, "How do you play this?"

Zhou Wenwen laughed. "I'm a novice; I've never played these. My daughter loves this. Just watch us first."

Tan You sat down quietly to one side. Soon, Lin Meng and Zhou Wenwen were following the movements on the screen. Tan You quickly figured out the gist of it: it was all about quick reactions and moving in sync with the body.

"I probably can't play this either. My reactions are quite slow," Tan You said, waving her hand. "There are so many things I'm not good at."

Xu Jike was surprised. "Aren't you a dancer? How can your reactions be slow?"

Tan You was puzzled. "Does being a dancer mean you must have fast reactions? Our work requires long-term practice; I'm not a martial artist. My reactions really are slow; my movements just can't keep up."

Lin Meng suggested she try: "It would be a pity not to play. Why not give it a try?"

Tan You thought about it and agreed it would be a shame not to try. "Alright, I'm just afraid I'll 'die' on the first attempt."

To be honest, Tan You initially couldn't keep up with the dance moves on the screen because they were modern dance, which was far from the graceful elegance of classical dance. After dancing for two minutes, Tan You hadn't hit a single beat, and her score was a glaringly low zero.

Zhou Wenwen felt bad for her. "How about we give up? Nothing is impossible, as long as you are willing to give up."

Tan You's stubborn streak kicked in. "I'll dance for a few more minutes. I don't have high expectations; just reaching the passing mark will do."

Lin Meng teased, "Going from zero to passing—that's not a high expectation?"

Despite her words, she didn't walk away; instead, she stayed by her side, guiding Tan You on how to play and how to make the moves. There is nothing in this world you truly cannot do, as long as you are willing to invest time and effort.

Before dinner, Tan You had managed to push her score up to seventy, ten points higher than her expected passing grade. Perhaps because she had found a sense of achievement in this, a smile appeared in Tan You's eyes, and she looked much more extroverted.

With Chi Mo's face, she looked like an "unreachable flower on a high peak" when she wasn't smiling. But once she smiled, it was like ice and snow melting. Especially with her playful bunny teeth and doe-like eyes narrowing slightly, she looked both mischievous and radiant.

Gao Jing truly couldn't help herself. She pinched Tan You's cheek. "I've seen quite a few people in the industry, and I've certainly seen many handsome men and beautiful women, but every time I see you, I lose myself. You are truly too beautiful."

Tan You's eyes curved into crescents. "Jingjing, you're exaggerating. You are very beautiful too. You worked hard today, Jingjing. Let me prepare dinner tomorrow night; Wenwen and Mengmeng will help me."

Zhou Wenwen, of course, would not refuse. "Of course. Mengmeng and I definitely won't let you do all the work alone."

She understood that Tan You was pulling her in to help block the "peach blossoms" (romantic advances). Helping a beauty—was that just helping? It was protecting their beauty from outside covetousness.

Seeing Chi Mo surrounded so tightly that not even a drop of water could get through, Xu Jike couldn't help but sigh. He had feelings for Chi Mo, but no matter how much he felt, he had to be able to approach her first. In the current situation, he couldn't even get close.

Xiang Zhe lowered his head and smiled; he certainly wasn't going to help Xu Jike. Chi Mo had already made her stance very clear; it wouldn't be right for him to join in the commotion.

Because the atmosphere was centered on being warm and healing, during dinner, everyone inevitably mentioned their own reflections, such as the impact of divorce on children.

Lin Meng: "Actually, the ones most affected by divorce are the children. I am particularly glad that I don't have children."

"After I found out my ex-husband was gambling, I knew I wasn't suited to bring a little one into this world right then." She smiled as she spoke. "I felt our family was unstable, and he hadn't changed."

"If I had given birth at that time, I would have been irresponsible to both myself and the child. If bringing them into this world meant letting them suffer, then I felt I would be committing a sin. And at that time, I didn't want to be a single mother."

Gao Jing nodded. "You did the right thing. After my divorce, my daughter once asked me through tears if I had divorced her father. I felt terrible at the time."

"She asked me why I was separating from her father, and if we could not separate. I couldn't hold back my tears; I felt I was being so irresponsible, letting her see the unhappiness in the family."

Xiang Zhe: "So, how did you answer her then?"

Gao Jing: "I just said that her father was always very busy with work and wasn't home much anyway. Our divorce wouldn't change much from how things were before. If you miss your father, you can contact him, and if he has time, he will come back to see you."

Lin Meng: "But in her eyes, the fact that you separated meant things were different."

"Yes," Gao Jing said with a bitter smile. "Her father and I both consciously tried not to tell the child we had separated, but they found out anyway. I later found out it was her kindergarten teacher who told her."

"Children nowadays know too much." Zhou Wenwen also felt a sense of resonance. "My daughter has asked me similar questions. She wasn't strange at all about me and her father divorcing, because her grandparents don't value her much. My daughter was actually very happy that her father and I divorced."

"In her words, several of her classmates' parents have also divorced, and everyone is just the same."