The word "lodging" really hurt Zuo Mu's feelings.
He didn't know that his words had also made Tang Tang even angrier.
What did he mean by saying "no" and it being final?
Tang Tang was so furious that her anger reached the top of her head. She also defended herself, "I have my own independent personality. I can fall in love with whomever I want. No one has the right to tell me what to do!"
"You!" Zuo Mu was successfully enraged by these words. He pointed his finger at Tang Tang's little face, which was flushed with anger, and was so angry that he couldn't say a word.
After thinking for a while, he felt a bit dejected.
Tang Tang was actually right. The two of them were just people who had met by chance.
He wasn't Tang Gu. What right did he have to be angry?
Maybe after some time when Tang Gu came back, it might be very difficult for him to even meet Tang Tang.
Just thinking about this possibility made Zuo Mu feel that it was hard to breathe.
He couldn't accept Tang Tang leaving him.
However, the straight - laced Zuo Mu could only think this far even after racking his brains.
He couldn't figure out why he was so reluctant to let Tang Tang go.
"Is our relationship just that of a landlord and a tenant in your eyes?" Zuo Mu's voice dropped, and the disappointment in it was clearly audible.
Neither of them said anything more.
Tang Tang regretted what she had said as soon as the words left her mouth. After seeing the look in Zuo Mu's eyes, she felt even more guilty. She knew that what she had said was too harsh.
"What on earth do you want?" Tang Tang asked herself in her heart, feeling conflicted.
The conflict between the two wasn't brought into the open. Tang Tang was annoyed that Zuo Mu had jumped out to blame her without knowing anything.
She was also a victim of Zhang Qi's harassment!
But Zuo Mu didn't ask anything or say anything. He just made a hasty judgment about their relationship based on the fact that they were talking to each other.
It wasn't fair!
Tang Tang felt a sense of melancholy for the first time since she was born.
She thought that if they didn't solve the problem today, there would be a knot in both of their hearts.
"Brother Zuo Mu, let me explain to you. I knew nothing about it tonight. It was that boy who invited me here. We had never met alone before you came. You don't have to speculate about us like that."
After hearing these words, Zuo Mu's heart sank suddenly.
Had he misunderstood?
Then why had he been so angry when he saw Tang Tang with a strange boy just now?
It was as if his precious treasure had been snatched away.
Well, it must be because Uncle Tang had entrusted his daughter to him, but he hadn't fulfilled his responsibility.
It must be like this.
Zuo Mu hypnotized himself.
He didn't dare to think about any other possibilities.
It was getting late outside. The setting sun had completely sunk below the horizon, and night had fallen.
But Tang Tang didn't know why a great sense of sadness welled up in her heart.
She knew that Zuo Mu couldn't possibly have any other feelings for her.
"Brother Zuo Mu, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have spoken to you like that. You're a very important brother in my life." Tang Tang smiled ingratiatingly. Her little hand had already secretly grabbed Zuo Mu's sleeve and she shook it coquettishly, "It's my fault that I spoke too hastily."
Just a brother.
While Zuo Mu heaved a sigh of relief, he also felt a sense of loss that he couldn't quite explain.
He shook his head, trying to sweep this strange feeling out of his mind.
"Forget it. I'm also wrong. I spoke too seriously." Zuo Mu also reflected on himself. He stole a glance at Tang Tang, only to find that the other person was also stealing glances at him. Now the two who had been arguing just now blushed deeply.
"Shall we go then?" Zuo Mu asked tentatively.
Tang Tang saw that the moon was about to come out. She was afraid that they would start arguing again if they stayed here any longer, so she had no choice but to nod and get into Zuo Mu's shiny car.
The car started slowly.
To ease the awkwardness between them, Zuo Mu specially changed the classical music he usually listened to into popular music that young people liked.
"The sparrows outside the window land on the telegraph poles..."
The song of the most influential singer in contemporary Chinese pop music was playing softly from the stereo. Although Tang Tang was young, she also liked this singer very much.
She didn't know if Zuo Mu had played this song on purpose.
She hadn't shown that she liked this singer before.
What Tang Tang didn't know was that Zuo Mu had once seen her music - listening records, which were almost all songs of this singer. So her little secret had been discovered.
There was a small bump on the road. Zuo Mu checked that there was nothing wrong with the front and back of the car and continued to drive fast.
From time to time, there was the sound of the car tires gripping the ground tightly when turning sharply in the car. Coupled with the gentle singing, Tang Tang suddenly felt sleepy.
Maybe it was because she had encountered too many things in the past few days, or maybe it was because she had talked to Tang Gu for too long. Tang Tang was seriously sleep - deprived. Well, the intoxicating incense and the singing in the car, as well as the sense of security brought by Zuo Mu sitting beside her, made Tang Tang fall asleep within a few minutes.
Zuo Mu had been driving the car whole - heartedly, trying to avoid direct contact with Tang Tang.
Just as he was dodging his eyes, there came a small snoring sound.
It was more like a little pig grunting than snoring.
Zuo Mu looked at her with a mixture of amusement and helplessness. Sure enough, the little girl in front of him had already fallen into a dream.
Zuo Mu turned off the music casually and drove patiently.
Actually, how much he hoped that his days with Tang Tang would be like this every day in the future.
But this was just a dream after all.
"Sigh." There came a faint sigh in the air.
But the sound was too low. Soon, the intermittent sound waves dissipated in the silent atmosphere without causing the slightest ripple.
The car was quiet all the way.
Zuo Mu drove the car seriously and didn't continue this topic.
What about Tang Tang? She stared blankly at the pedestrians passing by outside the window.
She just realized that Zuo Mu wasn't as calm as he seemed, because the mother - daughter pair on the electric scooter next to them was about to catch up with his car.
...
Tang Tang felt a bit speechless.
It seemed that Zuo Mu wasn't as calm as he appeared on the surface.
Coincidentally, the weather suddenly turned cloudy.
The strong wind was raging outside. Even decades - old big trees were being shaken. There was flying sand and stones, and the visibility in the air was visibly decreasing.
Somehow, the car drove even more steadily.
Despite the overwhelming sandstorm outside, Tang Tang just felt so safe in Zuo Mu's car.
Grateful in her heart, she started making small talk again, "It looks like it's going to rain."
It was quiet beside her. Zuo Mu didn't respond.
Tang Tang felt embarrassed. She didn't know why this guy was still angry.
Zuo Mu's attention was all on the road conditions. He had no time to care about what Tang Tang had said. But he clearly heard Tang Tang's voice in his ear. He dodged a car that suddenly cut in and changed lanes, and asked, "What's up?"