What made Qi Qi feel most helpless and almost laughable was that
the phone and WeChat all belonged to Gu Cheng, yet Jiang Yu could casually take his phone and snap photos, and even post updates on his Moments.
Qi Qi pressed her tongue against her teeth, bitterness spreading through her mouth.
She hastily picked up her water glass and took a sip, trying to suppress the tears welling up.
“Qi,” Lin An put away her phone and patted her shoulder. “That scumbag—we don’t want him anymore.”
Qi Qi’s eyes burned. She raised her hand helplessly, trying to hide her disheveled appearance, and shook her head, her voice low and hoarse.
“An An, he’s not a scumbag. He just… doesn’t like me.”
The moment she finished speaking, her tears came down like a floodgate opening.
Seeing her shoulders trembling silently, Lin An’s eyes stung, and her voice choked up.
“If he doesn’t like you, then we won’t like him either. The world keeps spinning without anyone. Why do you have to make yourself so miserable over this?”
Seeing that even while crying, she didn’t dare to sob out loud, Lin An’s heart ached. She didn’t dare bring up Gu Cheng again, just quietly stayed by her side.
Once her emotions had settled, Lin An paid the bill directly and pulled her up.
“Where are we going?”
“Taking you to unwind, helping you forget Gu Cheng.”
Watching the two leave the restaurant, the girl who had also just been dumped while eating sniffled.
“Someone this good-looking can still get dumped. So… it wasn’t because of my looks that he didn’t like me. He just simply had no feelings for me, right?”
Directed to their destination by Lin An,
Qi Qi looked at the flashing lights inside and the intense, vibrating atmosphere, and the corner of her eye twitched.
“This is what you meant by ‘enjoy life while you can’? You’re not about to order me a few male models next, are you?”
Lin An mysteriously wagged her finger at her.
Qi Qi instinctively wanted to leave,
but then she saw—
a woman with a mullet haircut, wearing a black shirt, dressed in a handsome androgynous style, walking toward them.
Lin An seemed to know her. The two chatted familiarly for a while.
Who knows what that girl quietly whispered to her,
but the woman suddenly looked at Qi Qi. Her gaze was like she’d found a kindred spirit, and her eyes lit up.
“Can you play music?”
“Of course—she’s a pro at electric guitar and drums,” Lin An said, beaming with pride.
“Want to go up and have some fun?” The woman tilted her chin in a gesture, her smoky voice carrying a hint of huskiness.
Qi Qi scanned the surroundings.
Below the stage was packed with girls dancing to the pounding music, and the few girls on stage, dressed the same way as the woman, seemed to be the ones hyping up the crowd, each holding an instrument.
Sensing her hesitation, the woman chuckled lowly. “Don’t worry, this is a legitimate all-female nightclub. Only women can enter. Here, don’t think about anything—just let loose. You… fit this place well.” She sized up Qi Qi’s face and outfit.
Honestly, the sound of those instruments around her really did stir something in Qi Qi’s emotions.
…
The music came to an abrupt stop.
Then came a pounding DJ track, titled: (DADDY).
As the lights came back up, the entire venue turned to look at Qi Qi, who was playing the electric guitar in the center.
Her white shirt was half unbuttoned, and with each movement, the metal chain around her neck swayed gently.
The music hit its climax, and everyone was swept up by her.
Screams, dancing, pure explosive energy across the venue.
“Ah!!! My best friend—she’s my best friend, Qi Qi!” Lin An screamed wildly below the stage.
The music grew more intense. Qi Qi gestured with her fingers, whipping up the atmosphere.
The whole venue screamed again. Champagne and beer collided mid-air, like sweat being flung into the night.
Every face was filled with excitement and indulgence, the exhaustion from a long day at the office instantly dissipating into thin air.
This was the nightlife that belonged only to women.
As the people around her got into the groove, Qi Qi gradually loosened up—
An introvert transforming straight into an extrovert.
She began interacting up close with the women below the stage, her waist swaying rhythmically to the music, her dance moves clearly practiced and polished.
Her collarbone teased at being exposed without fully showing, her entire body radiating sexual tension, those amber eyes taking on a hint of allure under the lights.
Any woman who accidentally locked eyes with her immediately flushed red and couldn’t help but scream.
Song after song changed, one after another.
They seemed to know no fatigue, indulging and enjoying themselves to the fullest.
In an instant, Qi Qi became the most sought-after presence there.
And she spoiled them right back, playing every instrument she could get her hands on, her mood more carefree than it had ever been.
The woman beside her who had been hyping up the crowd noticed this and handed her a pair of sunglasses.
Qi Qi looked at her.
The woman tapped her own eye with her index finger.
Because she had cried too long during the day, Qi Qi’s eyes were a bit uncomfortable—the sunglasses would at least shield her from the harsh, glaring lights.
Just because of that one thoughtful gesture, the sorrow buried deep in Qi Qi’s heart completely melted away.
Sunglasses on, she couldn’t care less about anyone.
The party grew hotter and hotter.
…
Meanwhile, at some upscale private club elsewhere.
The person who had been so confident that stealing the car keys would go unnoticed had miscalculated.
No matter how hard she racked her brain, she never would have guessed that a video of her street racing had been filmed and posted to Douyin.
The guy she had raced against was even a big influencer with over a million followers.
Within moments, the video’s likes shot straight past ten thousand, and the comment section was flooded with people calling out Qi Qi’s name.
“What are you looking at, so absorbed?”
Inside the private booth,
Qiu Sheng held up his glass and glanced sideways at the phone in the man beside him.
“Oh, it’s a motorcycle blogger I follow regularly. But damn, this woman’s riding skills are legit. What do you think? That modified bike of hers—when it really gets going, it’s no worse than your Lamborghini.”
“It’s just a motorcycle.” Qiu Sheng took his phone and gave it a dismissive look.
But as it turned out, that one look was all it took—his gaze was immediately drawn to one of the motorcycles tearing down the road.
His eyes went wide, and he couldn’t help but pause the video and zoom in.
“Holy shit,” Qiu Sheng exclaimed, scrambling over to Gu Cheng and Jian Yubai.
“Cheng-ge, doesn’t that woman racing look just like Xiao Qi?”
“Don’t talk nonsense, how would she know how to race—” Gu Cheng gave it a casual glance, but the moment he caught sight of that infuriatingly familiar back, his words got stuck in his throat.
Jian Yubai raised an eyebrow and, with a mischievous hand, tapped the video to play.
As the music kicked in,
In the footage,
The bike at the very front tore down the road like a wild horse unleashed.
The person sitting behind her was cursing up a storm the whole way.
Even with the background music, they could all still tell just how smug and cocky she was being.
“……”
Gu Cheng’s eyelid twitched at the sight.
“Is this Qi Qi?”
The woman sitting beside him suddenly leaned in close from the side.
Jian Yubai glanced at Gu Cheng, who showed no reaction, then reached over and pulled the phone from his hand, looking even more curious than him.
“Her riding skills aren’t bad,”
Gu Cheng’s thoughts were disrupted by him, and he leaned forward to take the phone back.
Because of his movement, he happened to put some distance between himself and Jiang Yu.
Jiang Yu pressed her lips together, about to speak to Gu Cheng, when Qiu Sheng suddenly changed the subject.
Qiu Sheng started teasing: “Don’t you recognize this girl anymore? Back in school, she wouldn’t give anyone the time of day—she only ever smiled for Cheng-ge.”
Jiang Yu smiled: “I remember she used to be quite introverted. How has she changed so much? She’s not seeing someone, is she?”
This sounded like a casual joke.
Jian Yubai tapped his wine glass lightly and glanced at her.
Qiu Sheng: “Impossible. If Xiao Qi were seeing someone, the first one who couldn’t sit still would be Brother Cheng. You know how much he dotes on that girl.”
Jiang Yu’s smile stiffened at the corners.
Shao Nian rolled his eyes and pinched his arm.
Qiu Sheng immediately caught on and added awkwardly: “After all, she’s a little sister he raised since childhood. How could a brother not care for her?”
“Even if he cares for her, he should still give her freedom. What if she has someone she likes? A brother naturally can’t accompany his sister for her whole life,” Jiang Yu said, looking at Gu Cheng.
Taken on its own, this statement did seem to be considering Qi Qi’s best interests.
Gu Cheng didn’t respond, his expression quite indifferent.
Jian Yubai: “Miss Jiang is truly considerate.”
Jiang Yu took it as a compliment.
Just as she was about to speak to Gu Cheng again—
“What the hell!”
Jiang Yu: …
Qiu Sheng slapped the rich kid beside him: “What did you see this time? What, did your family invest in Douyin or something? You’re always scrolling through it with nothing better to do.”