Cen Sui and Lu Wenbo ate while chatting, and by now they were already quite at ease with each other.
In addition to telling Cen Sui about matters related to the postgraduate entrance exams, Lu Wenbo also talked to her about many things from their field of study.
The two of them talked and laughed, and at times they truly looked like a pair of young couple who admired each other.
Cen Sui did not pay any attention to what was happening around them, but Lu Wenbo had noticed it not long after they sat down. The few boys who had stared at them for half an afternoon in the café were now following them to the barbecue restaurant.
Sitting not far from them, one of the boys had nothing but knives in his eyes.
After chatting for more than ten minutes, the smile on Lu Wenbo’s face did not fade. He picked up a piece of grilled meat and placed it in Cen Sui’s bowl before finally reminding her, “It must be someone who likes you. He has been staring at you the whole time, his eyes practically shooting out fire.”
Especially at the moment when he picked up the meat for Cen Sui, that person looked as if he could barely stay seated.
Hearing Lu Wenbo’s words, Cen Sui reacted after a moment. She turned her head and swept her gaze across the room, immediately seeing Chen Yu and his group.
They truly had followed them again, and they were indeed staring at her the entire time.
With just a casual glance, her eyes met Chen Yu’s.
And yes, he really looked as if he were about to breathe fire and devour someone.
Cen Sui’s brows drew together ever so slightly, but when she turned back, her expression was already calm and indifferent.
She picked up a piece of grilled meat, dipped it into the sauce, and said in an even tone, “I am not familiar with them. Let them be. We will eat.”
Lu Wenbo looked over at those few people. Every single one of them looked like someone not easy to provoke, especially the one whose eyes were spitting fire. He looked the most troublesome of all.
He felt a little uneasy, so he said to Cen Sui, “I will walk you back after we finish eating, just in case they follow you again.”
Cen Sui thought for a moment, then smiled and nodded. “Then I will thank you in advance, Senior.”
Lu Wenbo responded with loyalty, “It is what I should do. No need to be so polite.”
*
Although Chen Yu had ordered a whole table of dishes, he did not even lift his chopsticks.
By the time the meal was nearly over, he had only filled himself with a stomach full of anger and irritation.
In all the years he had known her, he had never seen Cen Sui act like this with another boy.
Talking and laughing, her eyes filled with tiny sparkling stars.
In the past, her heart and eyes had only ever held him. She would never spare another boy even a glance.
Every day she would rack her brains thinking of ways to please him, catering to all his preferences.
Whether she smiled or acted coy, it had always been for his eyes alone.
But now she had given her brightest and most genuine smile to another man, leaving him only coldness and disregard.
Even when their eyes happened to meet, hers were colder and more impatient than his, without a trace of warmth.
At first, he had only been angry because Cen Sui had embarrassed him. But now, a taut string finally tightened in his heart as he realized that Cen Sui was serious this time. Everything she did was not some kind of act, nor a tactic. She truly intended to break up with him.
He had never thought breaking up was anything significant. Cen Sui had brought it up twice before.
He had agreed to date her only with the mindset of playing around. If things were unpleasant, then they would simply break up and be done with it.
But now that things had truly reached this point, seeing Cen Sui’s resolute attitude, Chen Yu suddenly realized…
Damn it, he absolutely could not accept it.
He did not know whether he could not accept being the one who got dumped, or if he could not accept that the girl who had always devoted herself to pleasing him and loving him had suddenly changed her heart, now smiling at another man in a stunningly different way.
Chen Yu’s breathing tightened then loosened, loosened then tightened again, his fingers clenching and unclenching countless times.
From the moment he walked in, his gaze had never left Cen Sui. More than once he felt the urge to grab that bespectacled guy and fling him into outer space.
But even though he had the impulse, Chen Yu did not actually do anything irrational.
He simply kept his face dark from beginning to end. His expression was so grim that Wang Jie and the others did not even dare crack a single joke, choosing instead to silently bury themselves in their food.
Wang Jie and the others could not figure out what he was thinking. They told him to go out and have some fun, ask a few girls out to play, but he refused.
They told him to go apologize to Cen Sui, lower his pride and coax her back, and that only seemed to hit his sore spot, making him even angrier.
He would not apologize, would not coax her, would not say a word to keep her, yet here he was following her around.
Now everything was perfectly clear. This time, Cen Sui was truly determined to break up. Her words had been absolute, and her actions even more so. Waiting for her to come crying back to reconcile was now completely impossible.
With a piece of meat in his mouth, Wang Jie turned to glance at Cen Sui and Lu Wenbo, then turned back to look at Chen Yu.
Seeing that Chen Yu’s face was even darker than a slab of stone, he wanted to say something but could not bring himself to do it. He lowered his head again and continued eating his meat.
*
Cen Sui could feel a pair of eyes fixed on her from the side and slightly behind her, like two knives scraping against her back and ears.
But she did not pay it any real mind. She did not give Chen Yu a single glance, focusing entirely on her conversation with Lu Wenbo.
She was not doing it on purpose to anger Chen Yu, nor did she intend any kind of revenge. She simply did not want to spend even a shred of energy on him now.
However, if this happened to make him unhappy, she certainly did not mind in the least.
It had always been him, Chen Yu, who made her sad and upset, who made her feel wronged and pained.
If he could now taste even a bit of the same feeling, even if it was not exactly the same, even if it was only enough to make him uncomfortable, she would still be pleased to see it.
Perhaps the more radiant and cheerful she was, the more upset he would be?
Then she absolutely had to be happy. Happy eating meat, happy chatting, happy flipping her hair.
After they finished eating, Cen Sui did not go anywhere else with Lu Wenbo.
As they had agreed during dinner, Lu Wenbo would send her back.
He had come on his little black electric scooter. After they exited the restaurant, he went to get the scooter while Cen Sui waited for him by the roadside.
Before he could return, she suddenly heard a familiar voice calling behind her, “Cen Sui.”
She did not turn around. Facing the early spring evening breeze, she looked at the shop signs across the street.
Neon lights flickered, gaudy in red and green, vulgar yet eye catching.
Chen Yu walked up beside her, his expression and tone neither gentle nor soft. “Have you calmed down?”
Cen Sui turned her head to look at him. Under the streetlamp, his features were clearly defined. She gave a small smile and said, “I am not angry.”
After speaking, she turned back toward the opposite side of the street. “Some people are not worthy of my anger.”
A faint green tinge surfaced beneath the darkness of Chen Yu’s expression. As he looked at her, he felt a bit confused. He could not understand how she had suddenly become so sharp tongued, refusing to give him even a pleasant look, let alone speak to him in a normal tone.
Yet when she faced others, she greeted them with a smile.
He held back his displeasure. For the first time, he spoke to her with this much patience. “What is going on with you?”
Cen Sui found it funny. When they were together, he had never considered her feelings and had not shown even the slightest concern for her. Now that she was the one asking to break up, he suddenly managed to show a hint of caring. How amusing.
She smiled, looked at Chen Yu, and asked instead, “You are not thinking of apologizing, are you?”
Chen Yu’s expression stiffened slightly, an unnatural look surfacing on his face.
But before he could speak, Lu Wenbo pulled up in front of Cen Sui on his black electric scooter. Somewhat hesitant, he held out the extra helmet to her and asked, “Sui Sui, shall we go?”
Without a word, Cen Sui took the helmet from him and was about to get on the scooter.
But before her foot could even lift, her wrist was suddenly seized by Chen Yu, his grip tight as he held her in place.
Cen Sui turned back to look at him, meeting his cold and rigid gaze.
For once, Chen Yu did not act purely on temper. He took a breath and, looking at Cen Sui, said something he had never said before. “I am apologizing to you. I should not have forgotten about the movie that day. You… do not be angry anymore.”
Cen Sui froze for a brief moment, caught off guard.
She had never imagined that in this lifetime she would hear such humbled words come out of Chen Yu’s mouth.
When had Chen Yu ever apologized to her? Whenever she had even the slightest mood or grievance, he had always found her unbearably annoying and simply turned off his phone to ignore her.
Surprising as it was, it did not move her much.
With a cold gaze, Cen Sui lifted her hand and grasped Chen Yu’s wrist. She pulled hard, prying his hand off her. Looking straight at him, she said, “Too late.”
Then she immediately turned away, sat down on Lu Wenbo’s scooter, and lifted her hands to put on the helmet.
Once Lu Wenbo saw she was seated, he twisted the throttle and rode off, disappearing down the road into the night faintly lit by streetlamps.
Chen Yu stood where he was, still feeling the lingering sensation on his wrist where she had grabbed him, a faint chill.
His gaze stretched far down the street. Facing the evening wind tinged with coolness, his eyes were darker than the night itself. His lashes trembled lightly, and the hair at his forehead fluttered with each passing breeze.
*
Once Cen Sui was on the scooter, she did not spare Chen Yu another glance.
Only after they had ridden far away and gotten off did she speak to Lu Wenbo. “Thank you, Senior.”
Lu Wenbo smiled. “That was not your boyfriend, was it?”
Cen Sui answered with an easy tone, “My ex.”
Lu Wenbo guessed and continued asking, “You broke up because he did not go to the movies with you?”
Facing the wind, Cen Sui narrowed her eyes. “No. It is because I finally sobered up. I should not waste my efforts on someone who is not worth it.”
Lu Wenbo did not know how many small details between them had chilled her heart, and he was tactful enough not to pry further. After all, it was her personal relationship.
He simply said, “Yes. A girl should treat herself better.”
Because she had class early the next morning, Cen Sui did not go home but returned to campus instead.
Her university was not very far from the University of Geosciences. Riding the electric scooter took only about half an hour.
At the campus gate, Cen Sui removed the helmet and returned it to Lu Wenbo, thanking him and saying goodbye.
Lu Wenbo repeated the same thing as before, telling her that if she ran into any problems while reviewing, she could come to him. After saying goodbye, he rode off.
Carrying a bag full of review materials, Cen Sui walked back to her dormitory, feeling utterly exhausted.
But this kind of exhaustion made her heart feel steady and grounded, unlike the exhaustion from emotional turmoil, where there was no hope in sight and only time and life were wasted in vain.
Too tired to think about anything else, she chatted for a while with her three dormmates, who were now being especially friendly toward her. After taking a shower, she went to bed.
She slept exceptionally well that night, and when she woke up in the morning to go to class, she felt refreshed and full of energy.
When she arrived at the classroom, Cen Sui still chose a seat in the back row.
Because she had little interest in her current major and had already decided to take the postgraduate entrance exam for a different field, she did not plan to put her full effort into her present coursework. As long as she could graduate smoothly, that was enough.
After the class bell rang, she did not deliberately look around, but she still noticed that Chen Yu and his group had not come to class.
Most third year courses were specialized classes, so they were almost always surrounded by classmates from their major.
It was good that Chen Yu did not show up. At least to Cen Sui, the air in the classroom felt several times fresher.
As for why Chen Yu was skipping class, she could not be bothered to care or ask.
He had nothing to do with her anymore.
*
Since she had no classes in the afternoon, Cen Sui took her review materials to the library.
But perhaps because she had not studied with real focus for a long time, even in the quiet atmosphere of the library she still could not concentrate. Her thoughts drifted again and again.
As they drifted, she suddenly thought of the serene atmosphere inside Treasure Pavilion.
And naturally, she then thought about the shard of Chai ware. Several days had already passed. She did not know whether the expert team had finished the appraisal or why the owner of Treasure Pavilion had not contacted her yet.
Once that thought surfaced, she could no longer read at all.
Cen Sui simply gathered her review materials, slung her bag over her shoulder, left the campus, and took a taxi straight to Chenggu Road.
A few days earlier, she had already looked through all the stalls on Chenggu Road. In such a short time, it was impossible for many new goods to appear, so she had no interest in browsing again.
She entered the antique market and went straight to Treasure Pavilion, Rong Mo’s shop.
When she reached the street where the shop was located, she noticed even before getting close that among all the storefronts, Treasure Pavilion was the only one with its door closed.
Cen Sui adjusted her bag on her shoulder and hurried over, discovering that the shop was indeed locked.
She frowned slightly at the antique shop’s closed door. Instead of contacting Rong Mo immediately, she went to the neighboring store that specialized in jade and asked the owner.
The jade shop owner told her, “Rong Mo? He has not come for several days. The shop has been closed the whole time.”
Cen Sui’s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly asked, “Has he been gone since Tuesday?”
The jade shop owner thought for a moment and nodded. “Yes, Tuesday.”
A look of frustration flashed across Cen Sui’s face. Her first instinctive thought was that the swindler might have really run off with her valuable shard of Chai ware.
Just like the stall owner who sold her the fake eight-sided vase with looped handles, none of them were good people.
Although she thought that in her heart, Cen Sui did not say anything aloud.
She turned and left the jade shop, immediately taking out her phone to call Rong Mo.
Since the call was able to go through, she felt slightly relieved.
But the phone rang and rang for a long time without being answered. It continued all the way until the call ended on its own.
Cen Sui could not help growing anxious again. That shard was worth tens of millions!
Clutching her phone, she called a second time. As she waited for him to pick up, she muttered under her breath, “Scammer, if you still do not answer, I am calling the police…”
Just as she finished saying that, the other side picked up.
Rong Mo’s voice came through the receiver, steady as usual and especially pleasant to the ear. “I was in the middle of something just now. What is wrong?”
Cen Sui held her breath slightly, her voice low but both fierce and anxious, carrying a hint of softness. “What is wrong? I am standing in front of your shop. The uncle next door said you have not opened for days. Tell me, did you run off with my thing?”
Rong Mo could not hold back a small laugh. “Wait for me. I am coming now.”
After hanging up, Cen Sui continued to wait there. When she got tired of standing, she found a place to sit.
The antique shops lined up along this street were all built in an imitation ancient style, set on high foundations, with several stone steps leading up to each door.
Cen Sui sat on the stone steps in front of Treasure Pavilion, her eyelashes catching the sunlight as she quietly waited for Rong Mo.
Bored of playing on her phone, she reached into her bag and pulled out a lollipop.
She tore open the wrapper, put the candy in her mouth, and let it melt as she sat in front of the shop, spacing out.
Only when a pair of shoes entered her lowered field of view did her eyelashes tremble slightly and she lift her head.
Seeing Rong Mo’s face backlit by the sun, her gaze shifted from dazed and empty boredom to a faint displeasure, and finally settled into a sulky stare, the lollipop still between her teeth.