Shen Qingqiu had the thinnest face! If you tore down his pretenses right in front of him, he would remember you for a lifetime. Shang Qinghua was already regretting the quip. But if a person like Shen Qingqiu—who had perfected the art of poserhood—was holding his book upside down, he really had to be incensed. That sounded about right. He had gone to all that trouble to do a good thing, but the result hadn’t met his expectations. But if that was the problem, then he should just go and explain himself to Liu Qingge—just admit he was trying to help him out! But Shen Qingqiu wouldn’t do it. If you won’t do it, just let me help you explain, thought Shang Qinghua. But Shen Qingqiu wouldn’t compromise his own pride. Maybe he was too embarrassed. People really shouldn’t twist themselves into knots—that’s just self-torture.
i love it when authors are 100% correct about their characters. look at him laying out the core of sj's tragedy for everyone to read