Xie Youci lifted his eyes with little interest.
He rose leisurely, then stretched forward to grab the wine bottle and pour himself another glass. “Felt like drinking, so I did.”
“Not buying it.” Ji Fengting eyed him.
Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, he mused, “You’re not usually like this. Drinking alone like this definitely means something’s up.”
Xue Rang was somewhat baffled.
Xie Youci glanced at Ji Fengting indifferently, only to see him suddenly lean in for a closer look. “Ci-ge.”
“Spit it out.”
“You haven’t taken a liking to some girl recently, have you?”
Ji Fengting prided himself on his sharp eyes. “And it seems like the unrequited kind, too.”
Xie Youci’s hand holding the wineglass paused for a second.
But soon, he crossed his legs with an air of nonchalance, leisurely savoring his drink, and let out a disdainful scoff. “How could that be? How could she make me pine for her?”
It was clearly her who had a crush on him first.
But Ji Fengting and Xue Rang caught the keyword. They exchanged a glance, then with perfect synchronization, asked in unison, “Who is it?”
Xie Youci: “…”
His wineglass, which he had just been about to raise, halted mid-air. His seemingly calm demeanor seemed to betray everything.
Ji Fengting’s interest was instantly piqued. He sat down on the sofa and leaned closer. “Tell us, come on, tell us. The one who bit your collarbone? We’ll help you strategize together!”
“No.”
Xie Youci lifted his chin with an air of cool arrogance, his eyes brimming with pride. “She’s the one with a crush on me.”
“Wow—”
Ji Fengting let out an exaggerated, ghostly noise but quickly dropped the act. “Don’t believe it.”
Xie Youci stared at him with deep, dark eyes.
Ji Fengting stated firmly, “Based on my extensive experience in romance, it’s obvious you’re the one who’s fallen. Has nothing to do with whether the girl has a crush on you or not.”
Xie Youci: “…”
He let out a disdainful snort, his expression brimming with arrogant confidence. “Impossible.”
“She had a crush on me first, that’s why I looked at her a few more times.”
“After all, I have to acknowledge the girl’s feelings. Can’t just trample on them casually.”
Ji Fengting: “…”
His words sounded quite matter-of-fact, almost flawless. The key point was, when beauties had tried to hit on him before, he hadn’t exactly held back from trampling on their feelings.
But Ji Fengting didn’t dare say that out loud.
He only grumbled inwardly.
“So who is it, really?” Xue Rang cracked sunflower seeds. “Do we know her? It’s not Jiang Li, is it?”
“Can you make an even more unreliable guess? Why don’t you just say Ci-ge is so narcissistic he thinks Chi Xiaoyang has a crush on him.”
Xie Youci: “…”
Xue Rang leaned back with a “whoa.” “That’s impossible. Ci-ge isn’t shameless enough for that.”
Xie Youci: “…”
He threw back another full glass of wine, feeling as if something was stuck in his chest.
Just then, Ji Fengting noticed his action and suddenly leaned in, staring at him. “Don’t tell me we actually guessed right?”
Xie Youci’s eyes were pitch black.
He narrowed his sharp, cold eyes at him, then casually turned his head away, seemingly too lazy to bother, but in reality, as if afraid that prolonged eye contact would reveal his flaws.
“So you think—”
Xie Youci swirled his wineglass leisurely, taking a casual sip. “She wouldn’t really have a crush on me, would she?”
Xue Rang and Ji Fengting looked at him.
After a moment of silence, they once again spoke in perfect, audacious unison, delivering their verdict: “Idiot.”Xie Youci let out a disdainful scoff.
He thought they really had no taste—they couldn’t even tell that Chi Yang had a crush on him.
After that, Xie Youci lost interest in drinking with them.
After all, the only reason he had come here tonight was to see if he might run into Chi Yang. This lousy bar had clearly put up several big signs telling him—
She would be here tonight.
But who would’ve thought it was a damn scam.
Xie Youci stood up, ready to leave. Ji Fengting, emboldened by too much alcohol, teased, “Where are you going, Ci? Could it be to find Chi Erer, who’s secretly in love with you?”
“That’s terrifying. It’s practically a horror story.”
Xue Rang couldn’t even imagine what it would look like if those two were together and affectionate. “I must have gone crazy from drinking too much to even dare imagine the two of them exchanging wedding rings.”
Xie Youci shoved his hands into his pockets, looking utterly unbothered.
He didn’t bother responding to these comments and was about to leave the private room when his phone suddenly rang.
As he walked out, Xie Youci lazily picked up the phone and held it to his ear. “Who is it?”
“Xie Youci!”
Su Jinyue’s voice came through the phone, furious and on the verge of tears. “You’ve let me down so much!”
Xie Youci was stunned for a moment.
He pulled the phone away from his ear, glanced at the caller ID, and then put it back. “Mom.”
From the other end, Xie Xiangming’s voice could faintly be heard comforting his wife.
Su Jinyue sounded as if she was about to cry from frustration. “How dare you lie to me! I thought you and Erer were happily married, but you haven’t even brought her to the marital home.”
“What did Erer do to wrong you? How can you marry someone and then be so irresponsible? I don’t care—the Ci-Mu-Erer ship I’ve been rooting for absolutely cannot sink, wuwuwu…”
“Go and bring her back right now! I’ll be checking the marital home tomorrow. If I find out you’re still treating Erer this way, I’ll tear you into pieces!”
With that, Su Jinyue hung up with a sharp click.
Xie Youci: “…”
Feeling complicated, he lowered the phone and stared at the call log, still processing what had just happened.
Two minutes later.
Xie Youci called Jiang Xu, his special assistant at Huayou Capital. “What’s going on with my mom?”
Jiang Xu quickly understood the purpose of the call.
He reported honestly, “Mr. Xie, Mrs. Xie bought something at an auction today and had it delivered to Hua Banli. I suppose that’s how Mrs. Su found out.”
Because the item wasn’t sent to Xizi Bay.
Which meant Chi Yang didn’t live there at all.
Xie Youci acknowledged with an “I see,” hung up, and lowered his head to rub the bridge of his nose.
Feeling restless, he loosened his collar and walked out, then dialed Chi Yang’s number. “Where are you?”