I'm A Math Idiot, So What? - Chapter 80

Chapter 80: Extra—Overjoyed (2)

Just as He Xiaoping had said, everyone in the company knew Fang Congxin had a secret crush on a girl.

Fang Yuke and Zhou Linlin celebrated their first wedding anniversary at the office.

Because they were working late, Fang Yuke treated everyone to dinner. Though the meal itself was modest, the “dog food” (public displays of affection) was plentiful, and they even got the youngest member, Fang Congxin, thoroughly drunk.

When drunk, Fang Congxin was adorably docile, answering every question put to him.

With Fang Yuke and Zhou Linlin flanking him, they interrogated him relentlessly, extracting every detail except her name.

Fang Congxin’s sense of self-preservation remained fierce, like a hypnotized revolutionary guarding his most precious secret with his life.

The next day, this became the company’s worst-kept secret.

The poor fellow was truly pitiful: the girl he liked already had a boyfriend, and they seemed quite happy together.

Fang Congxin was stuck in Beijing as a long-distance backup plan, with no telling when his chance might come.

Everyone felt immense sympathy for him.

A company slogan even emerged: “When you’re tired, remember Little Chief Fang’s exhaustion; when you’re struggling, remember Little Chief Fang’s loneliness.”

To cheer up Fang Congxin, the straight men in the company sacrificed their own career prospects by first introducing him to eligible bachelors, while the women sacrificed their beauty, truly putting their money, effort, and even bodies on the line.

Unfortunately, Fang Congxin showed no gratitude. He even kept a Japanese katana in his office, and whenever anyone teased him about it, he’d draw the sword to intimidate them.

Naturally, this only made everyone laugh harder.

Fang Congxin’s life was truly miserable!

After several years of this torturous existence, the Changning Project was finally confirmed.

For once, the entire company collectively volunteered to go on the business trip—a rare sight.

After all, everyone knew his secret crush was at Changning University. Getting a close-up view of Little Chief Fang’s lovelorn expression was practically a company perk.

Before the official project launch, Fang Congxin made five separate business trips to Changning.

According to everyone’s careful observation, he didn’t encounter her even once during the first four trips.

The staff collectively sighed in dismay. “Little Chief Fang doesn’t even have the courage to glance at her from afar,” they lamented. “How pitiful!”

Even the janitor brought over bitter purple dandelion tea brewed at home, saying it would “fortify Little Chief Fang’s courage.” It was clear how deeply everyone cared about Fang Congxin.

His fifth return was markedly different.

He locked himself in his office, staring at his katana for a long time, lost in self-reflection.

The janitor, fearing he might commit seppuku, kept entering to wipe the desk repeatedly.

But by evening, he seemed to have put the incident behind him, burying himself in work as if nothing had happened.

Everyone felt disappointed, thinking the situation was hopeless.

Little did they know, Fang Yuke received a call from Fang Congxin’s father the next day.

He asked Fang Yuke if Congxin had been acting strange lately. Normally so gentle with women, Congxin had been deliberately difficult with a female classmate, pretended not to know her, and lectured her with sanctimonious platitudes that even made his father feel embarrassed.

Clearly, something was wrong.

Fang Yuke promptly upgraded the number of people who knew Fang Congxin’s secret from N to N+1.

A while later, Fang Congxin’s father suddenly called him.

Fang Congxin, in the middle of a meeting, hung up the phone.

After a while, his father texted him, saying he wanted to introduce him to the daughter of an old classmate and asked if he’d be willing to have dinner with them.

Unfortunately, the assistant saw the message, screenshotted it, and shared it in the group chat, commenting that even Little Chief Fang’s dad was getting anxious. Little Chief Fang pretended not to see it and didn’t reply.

The next day, halfway through a meeting, Fang Congxin’s father called again.

He rejected the call as usual.

Just as Little Chief Fang was about to turn off his phone in frustration, he received a text message.

He stared at it, uncharacteristically frozen for about ten seconds, before suddenly shouting at his assistant to book the earliest flight to Changning. He abandoned the team and bolted out of the room like the wind.

Everyone guessed something urgent must have happened at his home and immediately alerted Zhou Linlin, the leader of the gossip group.

Zhou Linlin, who was nearing her due date and bored out of her mind, immediately contacted Grandma upon hearing the news.

Grandma explained that a girl’s parents had asked Fang Congxin’s father for a favor, and she didn’t know why he was calling Fang Congxin back for dinner.

Then Zhou Linlin’s gossip radar pinged, and without a shred of guilt, she nonchalantly upgraded “N+1” to “N+2.”

After hanging up, Grandma called her son. They put their heads together and guessed the girl must be the one Fang Congxin had met at Taixi High School years ago. A little digging revealed a coincidence: the girl’s mother was actually one of Grandma’s former students. Never one to shy away from action, Grandma personally signed up for that grand gathering herself.

Upon returning home, Grandma called Zhou Linlin and said, “We’ve paved the road. Whether it succeeds now depends entirely on him.”

Then Zhou Linlin gave birth, plunging their small family into utter chaos. Fang Yuke was running around like a headless chicken, and Fang Congxin only added to the mayhem. Stubborn as a mule, he insisted on taking leave from work to teach—or else he’d slack off.

Fang Yuke, still changing diapers while taking the call, frantically assumed Fang Congxin had returned to Changning, seen his old flame with someone else, and been heartbroken. He repeatedly said, “Do whatever you want! Have He Xiaoping draft an agreement. The company will cover your expenses, but you still have to do your job later!”

And so Fang Congxin went on vacation, paid for by the company.

After that, everyone’s work motivation came entirely from the live reports He Xiaoping and other colleagues sent back from the front lines. The main theme? Come see just how utterly clueless our Little Chief Fang is!

Hearing this, Lin Meng grew a little unhappy.

“What do you mean Fang Congxin is stupid?” she retorted. “He graduated from university in just three years, you know!”

“Besides,” she added, “he’s always teasing me so relentlessly.”

Zhou Linlin consoled her, “The Fang family has a bit of a… unique tradition. They tend to be sharp-tongued with those they care about.”

“Fang Yuke is like that, Fang Congxin is like that, and even Uncle Fang—Professor Fang, that is—is the same way.”

“I heard Aunt Fang used to chase after Uncle Fang relentlessly. Even after they got married, she had to coax and spoil him constantly. But after Aunt Fang passed away, we realized just how much Uncle Fang truly loved her.”

“Maybe because Fang Congxin grew up in such a loving environment, his personality is a bit gentler than Fang Yuke’s. He just seems easier to push around.”

At this, Zhou Linlin’s eyes twinkled. “Have you ever seen Fang Congxin drunk?”

“Once you do, you’ll understand exactly what I mean by ‘easy to push around.'”

Lin Meng immediately caught on. “If I get the chance, I’ll definitely try it,” she replied.

A few days earlier, Fang Congxin had complained about the inconvenient parking at Lin Meng’s rented place. He had then urged her to cancel the lease and instead buy a ground-floor apartment with a small courtyard, eight hundred miles away from Yuan Chongfeng’s place, to serve as their future love nest.

After they returned home, Lin Meng went to the convenience store and bought a bottle of red wine, declaring it their 113th day together and thus deserving of celebration.

Fang Congxin retorted, “What’s worth celebrating about 113 days?”

Lin Meng shot back, “You actually think 113 days with me isn’t worth celebrating?! You must be losing interest in me!”

Fang Congxin wore a bewildered expression, as if to say, What did I even say?

And so they began drinking.

Having drunk with her family before, Lin Meng knew Fang Congxin could hold his liquor better than she could. So she secretly poured half her wine into the sink. By the end of the bottle, Fang Congxin’s face was flushed, his eyes glazed with affection as he gazed at her, looking irresistibly charming.

Lin Meng had drunk quite a bit herself. Swallowing hard, she held up two fingers and asked, “How many fingers am I holding up?”

“Two,” Fang Congxin replied honestly.

He’s definitely drunk, Lin Meng thought.

Otherwise, Fang Congxin would have already started cursing.

Slurring her words, Lin Meng asked, “Congxin, do you miss your mom?”

Fang Congxin nodded vigorously. “Terribly.”

Leaning her head against her hand, Lin Meng said, “Fang Congxin, have you ever seen The Little Dragon Boy? My mom used to download it for me.”

It tells the story of a little dragon boy with horns searching for his mother.

In the end, he finds her, but she can’t stay with him. The moon has fallen, and his mother, for the sake of all mothers and children in the world, must transform into a mountain to hold it up.

Maybe your mother went to hold up the moon too.

Your mother is a great mother.

You should be proud of her.

Fang Congxin’s eyes held a galaxy of stars as he looked warmly at her. “Mm,” he said, “I’m completely drunk, and you’re still comforting me?”

Lin Meng giggled foolishly for a moment before saying, “Well, I just realized I don’t need you to be drunk to ask you my question.”

Fang Congxin tugged her hand. “You could ask if I like you.”

Lin Meng waved her hands enthusiastically. “I do like you!” she said. “You’ve said it before—like, as much as the universe.”

Fang Congxin slowly asked, “And you?”

Lin Meng lowered her head to think, her eyes a little dazed. After a long, dazed silence, she blurted out, “Ah, I can’t think of anything bigger than the universe… Heaven, maybe?”

Fang Congxin burst into laughter, scooping Lin Meng, who was slumped over the table, into his arms and carrying her to bed.

That afternoon, while Fang Yuke and Fang Congxin were cooling their heels and sipping water, Fang Yuke had said, “If you’re not considering striking out on your own, I’ll let you in on a secret.”

Fang Congxin retorted, “Yeah, right. Like I’d believe a word you say.”

“Seriously,” Fang Yuke persisted, “knowing my wife, there’s a high chance she’ll try to get you drunk tonight.”

“Yeah, right,” Fang Congxin retorted again.

But when Lin Meng announced they were celebrating their 113-day anniversary, Fang Congxin had no choice but to believe in ghosts.

So they ended up splitting the drinks, pouring half for her and half for him, until they were both in their current state.

The one who’d been trying to get the other drunk was the first to pass out, but even the sober one seemed a bit tipsy.

Cuddled together, Fang Congxin noticed Lin Meng’s head felt warm. He couldn’t tell if it was from the alcohol or a fever. Just as he was about to look for a thermometer, his gaze drifted to the window. Outside, snowflakes were falling heavily under the streetlights.

The day he left Taixi, he’d stopped by her class to see her one last time.

When he walked out of the school gate, it was snowing then too.

Looking back, the entire campus was blanketed in white.

On a balcony on one of the school’s upper floors, a girl in a red coat leaned over the railing.

The girl reached out a hand, her gaze fixed intently on the snowflakes drifting down from the sky.

Whenever it snowed, he would always remember that moment—the desolation, the loneliness, the lingering resentment.

But now, as the snowflakes danced and his beloved lay breathing softly beside him, he felt a profound sense of fulfillment.