Tripping over her own feet, Xu Zhizhi lost her balance and tumbled into an embrace that carried the sharp scent of sea breeze and ocean—cold, yet paradoxically warm.
Having never been this close to a man before, she trembled violently.
Looking up, she met the man’s unfathomably deep eyes.
The lighting and flash equipment, which the boss had likely scavenged from some cheap discount store, were of poor quality, casting a disorienting, hazy glow.
In the dim corner, under the flickering lights, the man’s presence felt particularly intimidating.
Perhaps slightly drunk from the alcohol he’d just consumed, his body moved faster than his mind. He pulled her onto his lap, studied her for a moment, then raised an eyebrow. “Throwing yourself at me?”
She jolted awake, flailing in an attempt to stand up.
Xu Zhizhi had a quirk: she was socially anxious around strangers, and when nervous, she couldn’t speak, resorting instead to frantic hand gestures.
She rarely, if ever, found herself in such close proximity to a strange man, and panic and fear overwhelmed her.
Not only did the man fall silent, but the other men in the booth also quieted down.
Who would have thought such a pretty girl was mute? What a shame.
Fu Chengyan stared at her lips, which moved soundlessly—red as flowers, teeth white as snow.
Her mouth was beautiful.
He tried to decipher her gestures, but they were a chaotic mess. He couldn’t understand what she was trying to say.
Still, her hands were small, tender, and pale, with neatly trimmed nails—quite lovely.
For the first time, Fu Chengyan found himself examining a woman so closely, thinking every part of her was beautiful.
A minute passed, and the girl was still gesturing wildly, her eyes filled with panic.
Ignoring his friends’ meaningful and slightly reproachful looks, Fu Chengyan fixed his intense gaze on her, raising an eyebrow teasingly. “So you’re a little mute.”
Little mute Xu Zhizhi paused, her frantic gestures stopping. Fu Chengyan released his arm from around her waist and helped her up, his tone utterly shameless. “Had enough of sitting? Any longer and I’ll have to charge you.”
Xu Zhizhi: “…”
His friends: “…” How shameless.
As if they hadn’t seen him pull her into his arms themselves.
And, buddy, since when did you change your ways? Who was that peacock-strutting playboy just now?
In short: Who was that shameless jerk just now?
Only the pink-haired guy was confused: Wasn’t she here to hit on me?
Fu Chengyan took out his phone. “Add me?”
Only then did Xu Zhizhi remember her original purpose. She rummaged through her thick padded coat, pulling out two buns, four hawthorn rolls, and a pack of spicy strips before finally retrieving her phone.
Fu Chengyan’s lips curved into a smile. Interesting.
The others: Definitely a foodie and a high school student, confirmed.
After a clumsy struggle to add each other on WeChat, Fu Chengyan was about to ask if she wanted to share some snacks—there were several plates on the table—but the girl clutched her phone and dashed off as if in a hundred-meter sprint, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Fu Chengyan: Even more interesting.
Pink-haired guy asked, puzzled, “Bro Fu, do you like her?”
Who would have thought that the usually cold and detached Fu Er-ye, who saw women as “harmful objects,” would take a liking to a young girl—a particularly small, timid, and mute one at that.
Li Xin swirled his glass but didn’t drink, setting it down to look at Fu Chengyan. “Don’t. I don’t want to bail you out of jail.”
Wen Qian, a lawyer, pretended to scroll through his phone, searching for contacts of his peers, only to realize none were more impressive than him.
“I can’t save you either. Turn yourself in.”
Fu Chengyan: “…”
On the other side, Xu Zhizhi tossed her phone onto the sofa, earning He Conglan’s full admiration—he had been watching the whole time.
This little girl had actually bypassed He Qinrui and gone straight for the most formidable big shot.
Silent until she makes a move, and then she stuns everyone. Impressive.
“Come on, come on, let’s keep playing.” The junior girl hadn’t achieved her goal yet, so she naturally didn’t want the game to end.
Xu Zhizhi turned off the still-warm phone again and stuffed it into her pocket.
She pulled out a bread roll, ignoring the others, and headed toward the door.
As she walked, she tore open the bread and ate it.
She never wanted to come here with Lin Xitang and Zhou Che again.
This bar, with its carelessly chosen name, was now permanently blacklisted by Xu Zhizhi.
Bars aren’t easy to enter casually, and even harder to leave casually, because there are unscrupulous people who like to pick up “drunken shrimp” at bar entrances.
It’s dangerous.
As a VIP gold card holder who had already checked in earlier, the security guard naturally recognized her. He tried asking her something, but she didn’t respond, so he couldn’t figure out what was going on.
Xu Zhizhi didn’t know the way and didn’t dare wander off, afraid Lin Xitang wouldn’t be able to find her later.
She crouched in a corner, finishing her bread roll, then ate a hawthorn roll, and finally polished off a spicy strip. Like a child, the security guard looked at her the same way he looked at his own daughter, who had just started ninth grade.
Thinking she might need some water, he was about to bring her a bottle of mineral water.
—But the little girl pulled out a chicken wrap and a slice of pizza from another pocket.
“……”
What kind of down jacket has pockets this big?
No wonder it looked so… round, so bulky.
There was a reason for it.
By the time Lin Xitang and the others came looking for her, Xu Zhizhi had just finished eating, crouching there like a little mushroom. Lin Xitang’s worry quickly faded. “Sorry, Zhizhi, I ended up chatting with Aunt Zhou for a while. Were you getting restless?”
She and Zhou Che were already engaged and went back for meals every few days. They hadn’t been able to go for a week because they were busy, which was why Zhou’s mother had called.
Xu Zhizhi, still a bit dazed, nodded slowly.
Zhou Che had already called a designated driver. After safely dropping Xu Zhizhi upstairs, he and Lin Xitang returned to the Zhou family home.
Once home, Xu Zhizhi took off her heavy clothes, took a shower, changed into her little rabbit pajamas, burrowed into her dog bed, and pulled the covers over herself.
She wriggled a couple of times, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.
At R. Bar, Fu Chengyan, who had stayed until the end, sat in the car on his way back, checking his phone every few minutes.
She scanned the code but didn’t add him as a friend.
He should have made sure she added him right then and there, only letting her go after he accepted the request.
Now he didn’t even know the little girl’s name.
If he tried to investigate, he definitely wouldn’t be able to keep it from his family.
Nothing had even happened yet, and making a big fuss would affect the little girl.
She was so timid—what if she got scared…
But if he didn’t investigate, how could he possibly find her in this vast sea of people?
There were so many people during the opening these past few days, and countless VIP cardholders—it would be hard to track her down.
Contact information—
“Uncle Song, turn the car around and go back.”
He had invested ten million in this bar—the cameras had to be high-definition.
He Qinrui hadn’t planned on going home. After everything ended, he went to the lounge to shower and was now fast asleep.
Naturally, he didn’t know that Fu Chengyan had left and then returned, directly ordering someone to pull up the surveillance footage.
High-definition surveillance with 360-degree coverage finally revealed one clear frame showing the QR code.
Zoom in.
Fu Chengyan picked up his phone and scanned it.
The profile picture was a side view of the little girl’s face, though it wasn’t very clear—maybe the phone’s camera quality wasn’t great.
The nickname was much simpler—(o)
So silly and cute.
Fu Chengyan chuckled lightly, tapped his fingertip, and added it.