Just as Cen Sui finished pretending to wipe the corner of her eye with her finger, the phone in the pocket of her trench coat began to vibrate.
Her attention shifted, and she no longer paid any mind to Chen Yu and the others. She simply took out her phone and answered the call, asking Tao Miner, “Where are you and Erbao?”
Tao Miner was panting as she spoke, sounding extremely annoyed. “For heaven’s sake, where are you now?”
Cen Sui turned around to look in all directions, completely ignoring Chen Yu and the others, and said into the phone, “I’m inside the bar. I don’t see you or Erbao.”
Tao Miner said, “Come out. I’ve brought her to the entrance of the bar.”
Cen Sui responded, turned around with her phone in hand, and walked off without even greeting Chen Yu and the others, as if they did not exist at all.
Wen Ting’s expression shifted from blue to white, feeling nothing but embarrassment.
The others could feel the extremely low pressure radiating from Chen Yu, all afraid that he might explode.
In just a few short days, not only had Cen Sui dumped him, but afterward he had been rejected, embarrassed, and talked back to in every possible way.
In all his more than twenty years of life, he had never suffered this much at the hands of any woman.
Chen Yu turned around and sat down on the sofa, his face cold and expressionless.
He lifted a glass filled with liquor and downed two cups in quick succession, yet there was not the slightest sign of his mood easing.
Everyone else unconsciously held their breath.
Wen Ting knew she had crossed a line. Lowering her voice, she said, “I only wanted to test her a little, that’s why I said Xi Xi is your girlfriend.”
Chen Yu shot her a glare and set the glass in his hand down with a heavy thud.
There was a loud bang that startled everyone, their nerves tightening again as their bodies jerked in shock.
Chen Yu said nothing. After putting down the glass, he closed his eyes and leaned back against the sofa.
For a moment, the atmosphere became strange and suffocating. No one dared to chat, no one dared to clink glasses. The bar had not even warmed up yet and they were already unable to enjoy themselves.
After several minutes of this tension, Chen Yu suddenly opened his eyes. Without a word, he got up, grabbed his jacket, and headed out.
Wang Jie stood up and asked where he was going, but Chen Yu did not answer. He simply put on his jacket and walked straight toward the entrance of the bar.
Down the stairs and out of the bar, he jogged two steps to the roadside. Just in time, he saw Cen Sui and Tao Miner helping the limp and slouched Zhou Erbao into a taxi.
He had not been able to stop himself from chasing after Cen Sui, only to find that he was once again a step too late.
With nowhere to vent the emotions churning inside him, he swung his foot and kicked the streetlamp pole.
*
When Cen Sui came out of the bar, Zhou Erbao was sitting on the curb by the street, clinging to Tao Miner and crying.
She was completely drunk, incoherent and dizzy, sobbing with snot and tears as she poured out her grievances and heartache.
Cen Sui asked Tao Miner what had happened.
Tao Miner grabbed Zhou Erbao by the shoulders and said, “She had a fight with her boyfriend. They’re breaking up.”
Cen Sui did not think much of it. “That’s nothing serious.”
Tao Miner shot her a look. “You used to be much worse than her.”
Cen Sui gave a sheepish smile. “I’ve figured things out now.”
Seeing how carefree and unbothered she appeared, Tao Miner knew she truly had moved on.
She raised her hand and gave Cen Sui’s shoulder a firm slap. “Anyway, leaving Chen Yu was the right choice. He was never sincere with you.”
Cen Sui could not be bothered to mention Chen Yu any further and stood up to hail a cab at the roadside.
Once they managed to get a taxi, she and Tao Miner struggled to lift Zhou Erbao to her feet and helped her into the car.
As soon as they got in, Zhou Erbao slumped sideways and lay on Cen Sui’s lap, while Tao Miner went to sit in the front passenger seat.
Cen Sui lowered her head to smooth the hair sticking to Zhou Erbao’s face, revealing her features. She told her, “Don’t be sad anymore. What’s so good about men? Can they compare to your sisters?”
Zhou Erbao cried for a while longer, then leaned into Cen Sui’s arms. “Sui Sui is the best. Sui Sui said she would take care of me.”
Cen Sui paused for a moment, then laughed. She stroked Zhou Erbao’s hair as if petting a puppy. “Alright, alright. In order to take care of you, I’ll work hard. I’ll make sure to raise you into a chubby little thing.”
Zhou Erbao shook her head in Cen Sui’s arms, sounding pitiful. “Being fair is fine, but don’t make me chubby.”
Cen Sui kept laughing. “Alright, alright. Only fair, not chubby.”
Once Cen Sui soothed Zhou Erbao’s emotions, Tao Miner turned around from the front seat and said to Cen Sui, “It’s already past the school curfew at this hour. If we send her home, her parents will worry, so let’s take her to my place.”
Tao Miner had an apartment of her own. It was not very big, but whenever they had nowhere else to go, they often stayed there for a bit.
Cen Sui had no objections and nodded to her. “Okay.”
*
The taxi drove for about half an hour and arrived outside the entrance of the residential compound.
Tao Miner pleaded along the way and then negotiated with the security guard at the gate for quite some time before the taxi was finally allowed to drive directly to the building.
When they reached the building and got out of the car, Tao Miner supported Zhou Erbao and pulled her out, and Cen Sui followed behind.
After that, the two girls struggled to support Zhou Erbao, helping her through the entrance and into the elevator. They finally managed to get her into the apartment and tossed her onto the sofa.
Tao Miner then went to the bathroom to run some water. Once it was ready, she and Cen Sui undressed Zhou Erbao and threw her into the bathtub.
Tao Miner squeezed toothpaste and brushed her teeth for her, grumbling as she worked. “Such a handful. Drinks a little and turns into an ancestor. All these years, who have I ever served like this? If she ever drinks herself half dead again, I’ll leave her in the bar next time!”
Cen Sui laughed, knowing Tao Miner was sharp-tongued but soft-hearted.
She lowered her head to sniff and realized that thanks to Zhou Erbao leaning all over her, she herself also smelled like alcohol. She told Tao Miner, “I’m going to find something else to wear.”
There was no need for courtesy in Tao Miner’s place. Cen Sui stepped out, took off her trench coat, and went straight to the walk-in closet to find another jacket to put on.
She then picked out two clean bathrobes and handed them to Tao Miner, who was busy taking care of Zhou Erbao in the bathroom, for them to wear later.
When Cen Sui returned to the living room and sat down on the sofa to catch her breath, her phone on the coffee table was vibrating and ringing.
She lowered her head and saw an unfamiliar number. Cen Sui drew in a quiet breath, yet still reached for the phone, answered it, and held it to her ear. She simply said, “Hello.”
There was a moment of silence on the other end, followed by a man’s voice tinged with drunkenness. “Sui Sui.”
The voice was far too familiar. The moment Cen Sui heard it, she knew it was Chen Yu. She did not give him a chance to say anything further and immediately hung up the call.
Not even two seconds after she ended it, the phone rang again.
*
The dance floor at the bar was loud and dazzling.
In a slightly quieter, more secluded booth, Lin Yuxi sat calmly on the sofa, her cheeks tinted faintly red from the alcohol. She idly scrolled through her phone, chatting with her classmates in a half-hearted, casual way about her new experience today.
On the sofa beside her lay Chen Yu, who had drunk a lot.
His jacket had already been taken off and was now covering half of his body, even his head was covered.
Chen Yu’s mood had been off the entire night. After Cen Sui left, he had gone out for a while and, when he returned, drank along with the lively atmosphere.
He looked as though he was having fun, yet there was always something that felt wrong, as if he were using alcohol to drown out some stifling emotion.
Lin Yuxi was not familiar with him, and the whole evening she had barely exchanged a few real words with him.
She held her phone and typed slowly. Just as she finished composing a message and was about to send it, Chen Yu suddenly lifted the jacket and sat up from the sofa.
Her nerves tightened instinctively. She paused her fingers and glanced over at him.
Chen Yu picked up the glass of water on the table and took a sip, then asked in a casual tone, “Why aren’t you dancing?”
After the place had warmed up, everyone else had slipped into the dance floor, leaving only her still sitting there.
The music was too loud. Lin Yuxi was afraid he would not hear her if she spoke softly, so she typed on her phone and showed it to him: 【This is my first time at a bar. I can’t dance and I feel embarrassed.】
Chen Yu glanced over it in a second. Looking uninterested, he grabbed his jacket and stood up.
Seeing him walk unsteadily toward the exit, Lin Yuxi picked up her bag and followed him.
She walked with him out of the bar, took a breath of quiet air, and continued following him for several dozen meters along the dim street.
Chen Yu’s mind was foggy. Only after a moment did he turn back to look at her and ask, “Why are you following me?”
Lin Yuxi stopped where she was and spoke seriously. “You seem to have had quite a bit to drink. It’s so late. Isn’t it unsafe?”
Chen Yu let out a dismissive snort, ungrateful for the concern, and ignored her as he turned and continued walking forward.
He walked until he reached a slightly more open small square before stopping and casually sitting down on a stone bench.
Lin Yuxi hesitated for a moment a short distance away but eventually followed and sat beside him.
She sat at the opposite end of the bench, looked at him, and softly asked, “Are you feeling upset?”
Chen Yu lifted his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, unwilling to answer a question she already knew the answer to.
Even if a fool were sitting beside him today, they would still be able to tell he was in a terrible mood. Completely unnecessary to ask.
When he did not respond, Lin Yuxi spoke again in a gentle, slow voice. “That girl, Cen Sui, she must have loved you deeply before. But she gave without receiving proper response, and after building up enough disappointment, she chose to break up and leave. She used to be so devoted to you and treated you so well, but now she is so cold and indifferent toward you. You must feel very disappointed and hurt inside, right?”
“……”