4 – Relaxing Outside
Her parents’ obvious favoritism gave Shu Yang the courage she needed. In that moment, Shu Yang became the little girl from her childhood who needed her parents’ protection—all she wanted was to tell them about her grievances.
“Dad, Su Zixuan cheated on me!”
The moment the words left her mouth, Father Shu’s furious voice came through the phone:
“What? That little punk dared to cheat on you? Just you wait—Daddy’s coming over right now to stand up for you.”
Father Shu was so worked up that Shu Yang could hear him getting out of bed and searching for his shoes.
“Old Shu, calm down! It’s so late—where do you think you’re going? Give me the phone. Let me talk to our daughter.” Through the receiver, Shu Yang could faintly hear her mother stopping her father, along with the worry in her voice.
“Dad, don’t get worked up. Give the phone to Mom—I’ll chat with her for a bit.” Shu Yang knew her father’s temper well and quickly tried to soothe him.
Father Shu was genuinely furious. If it weren’t for Mother Shu stopping him and Shu Yang’s persuasion, he really would have rushed to City A overnight to beat that scumbag Su Zixuan to death.
Father Shu and Mother Shu had only one child, Shu Yang, and had doted on her since she was little. Their precious daughter, whom they had cherished for over twenty years, had been wronged like this—Father Shu couldn’t swallow this insult, and neither could Mother Shu.
Fortunately, Mother Shu still had her wits about her. She thought the same way Shu Yang did: with a man of such poor character, cutting losses in time was the right choice.
Shu Yang chatted with her mother for a while, and thanks to her mother’s comforting words, she felt much better. Mom was right—losing her was Su Zixuan’s loss. She should pull herself together, live even better, and then meet the right person.
Shu Yang did not give up on her beautiful vision of love because of Su Zixuan’s betrayal.
After hanging up, one big weight was lifted off Shu Yang’s chest. The next thing she had to do was notify everyone else that the wedding was off.
Since the wedding was still a month away, apart from her direct supervisor and her best friend, no one else knew she was getting married.
Shu Yang was glad she hadn’t told anyone else about the wedding too early—otherwise, she had no idea how she would have handled it.
It was already late—eleven thirty. Her boss was probably already asleep, so she’d tell her tomorrow instead.
Shu Yang found her best friend Yu Tian on WeChat, took a deep breath, and sent a message.
“Tian Tian, my wedding is off.”
Yu Tian’s reply came quickly.
“???”
“What happened? Did that rotten man Su Zixuan do something to wrong you?”
Shu Yang pressed a hand to her forehead. Tian Tian really did cut straight to the point. She slowly replied with an “Mm.”
Su Zixuan’s cheating would come out sooner or later anyway, so she might as well come clean herself rather than let Tian Tian’s imagination run wild.
“What?! That deadbeat really did something to wrong you?”
“That’s it, I’m going to chop up that rotten man! Damn it—daring to mess with my bestie? He must be tired of living!”
“If I’d known he was like this, I should have taught him a lesson last time I saw him.”
“……”
Reading her best friend’s messages, one after another, Shu Yang finally smiled. Tian Tian was as protective of her as ever.
Especially looking at the content of her messages—every single line was on her side, caring about her. Without even asking why, she had instinctively taken her side. This was what a best friend was!
Suddenly, Shu Yang felt that life without a man wasn’t so bad. What man could ever compare to her best friend?
Perhaps because she hadn’t received a message from Shu Yang, Yu Tian got anxious and called her directly with a video call.
Shu Yang knew her best friend well and understood she was worried about her. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly as she pressed the answer button.
The moment the call connected, Yu Tian’s worried words came through the phone screen.
“Yang Yang, are you okay?”
Shu Yang smiled at the camera and replied nonchalantly:
“What could possibly be wrong with me? I should count myself lucky for discovering that scumbag’s true colors early.”
Yu Tian finally saw Shu Yang’s face. Seeing that she seemed to be in decent spirits and still had the energy to joke around, the worry in her heart finally settled.
She had truly been afraid that Yang Yang would be so hurt by Su Zixuan that she’d never recover. Yu Tian had seen with her own eyes how Yang Yang felt about Su Zixuan—she had once told her that she believed Su Zixuan was her destined one.
When she’d said that back then, her eyes had been filled with the happiness and tenderness of a woman in love.
“If you’re fine, then come out and have some fun! There are plenty of good-looking guys out there. It’s not worth giving up a whole forest for a scumbag like Su Zixuan.”
Yu Tian believed that a woman going through a breakup needed a night of heavy drinking. That was exactly what she’d done during her own breakup—one wild night, and when she woke up, everything became the past, and the lousy man became history.
Even through the screen, Shu Yang could hear the noisy music, and she guessed Tian Tian was out unwinding again.
Yu Tian’s work was rather special—she was an illustrator whose main job was creating illustrations for all kinds of books, magazines, novels, and other publications. It was common for her not to leave the house for a month or two at a time.
So every time she finished a project, she would make time to relax, and bars were her favorite place to go.
According to Tian Tian, bars gave her inspiration.
In the past, Shu Yang would never have accepted Yu Tian’s invitation. She would have found a way to politely decline. But this time, she suddenly wanted to go out and relax, to experience a different kind of life.
After getting together with Su Zixuan, her social life had dwindled more and more.
In Yu Tian’s words, she was becoming more and more of a domesticated housewife.
“Okay, send me the location. I’ll come find you in a bit!”
On the other end of the video, Yu Tian’s mouth fell open in disbelief. She had actually just been trying her luck—she never expected Yang Yang to agree.
She had invited Yang Yang out many times before, and every time she’d been turned down with excuses about being busy with work or having things to do at home.
Shu Yang naturally knew the reason for Yu Tian’s shock. She gave a self-mocking smile. How foolish she used to be—for Su Zixuan, she had given up so many things, including her friendship with Tian Tian.
Fortunately, Tian Tian had been generous and never truly held it against her, treating her just as kindly as ever.
Receiving Shu Yang’s definite answer, Yu Tian’s eyes crinkled with a smile as she said gently:
“I’ll send you the address on WeChat in a bit. Message me when you get to the entrance, and I’ll come out to meet you.”
Shu Yang agreed with a smile.
After hanging up, Shu Yang headed straight into the bathroom to fix herself up.
First, she curled her hair with a curling iron into big waves, then applied exquisite makeup.
Looking at the unfamiliar woman in the mirror, Shu Yang froze for a moment. So this was how beautiful she could be when she actually dressed up.
An oval face, big eyes, a petite nose, and fiery red lips—by any measure, a stunning beauty.
And yet even a beauty like this had been cheated on by her own fiancé.
Shu Yang pushed the thought away and went back to her room to pick out an outfit suitable for going out tonight.
Among a row of formal business attire, a black tight-fitting slip dress stood out. It was a birthday gift Tian Tian had bought for herself on her birthday last year.
With no suitable occasion to wear it, it had been sitting idle all this time—but now it was finally going to come in handy.