6:30 a.m. the next morning.
As usual, Meng Yue’s phone alarm went off. The ringtone, “Falling in Love with You Was My Mistake,” sang away beside her pillow for more than two minutes, and Meng Yue only shut it off when the song was almost over.
Then…
Meng Yue groggily opened her eyes, sat up in bed, and stared blankly for more than ten seconds. Her head felt hazy and heavy, and she could not remember a single thing about last night.
She only remembered meeting Chen Luo, and then drinking a great deal of alcohol.
She had never drunk that much before…
“Did he help me back home?”
A doubt rose in Meng Yue’s mind. She got up, put on her shoes, left the room, and headed for the bathroom, where she asked Duoduo, who was washing up.
“Duoduo, when I was drunk last night, did I come back by myself?”
“No.”
Duoduo shook his head. “An older brother helped you back. He was really nice, and he even told Duoduo a bedtime story.”
When Chen Luo was mentioned, a warm, affectionate smile appeared on Duoduo’s face.
“Really…”
At his words, Meng Yue looked a little dazed. Something indescribable welled up in her heart. Chen Luo brought her back after she got drunk… did that mean he still could not let her go either?
Back when they broke up, they had agreed.
They would part peacefully and continue to be friends. Meng Yue did not think her request was too much. Chen Luo said he wanted to pursue a better future, and Meng Yue was willing to let go and bless him. So why had he deleted her?
She only wanted to quietly stay on Chen Luo’s WeChat list.
Watching the various bits of daily life Chen Luo posted.
But even that small request he could not fulfill…
Scumbag!
Forget it!
Thinking about him would only add to her sadness!
After dazing for more than ten seconds, Meng Yue came back to her senses, went into the bathroom to wash up, then returned to the bedroom. She put on light makeup and changed into a professional office-lady outfit before taking Duoduo out with her.
They went to a breakfast shop in the shopping mall across the street downstairs and had breakfast.
After they finished eating, she scanned the code to pay.
Then Meng Yue suddenly noticed that her WeChat chat list had a new friend request from 『I Want to Be a Good Person』.
“Chen Luo.”
Just two simple words.
They instantly tugged at Meng Yue’s heart again. When had this guy added me? Could it have been last night, when I was drunk…
Did I add him myself?
No way!
Meng Yue decisively opened Chen Luo’s profile and was about to delete him as a friend. But when she pressed the final confirmation button, her finger stopped in midair.
She could not press it.
Three years.
Meng Yue had thrown herself into endless work, staying busy every day with no spare time at all, so she would not have time to think about Chen Luo.
She thought she had already let go of that guy Chen Luo.
But now…
Meng Yue realized she might not be able to do it!
“Auntie Meng, I’m going to be late for school.” Duoduo said helplessly at the entrance of the breakfast shop, while reaching out to tug at Meng Yue’s arm and shake it.
Duoduo’s voice finally pulled the distracted Meng Yue back. She hurriedly checked the time on her phone. Without realizing it, it was already 7:16.
“Let’s go!”
Meng Yue replied.
Then she took Duoduo to the roadside, hailed a taxi, and sent him to Lantian Elementary School.
…
A little after 9:00 a.m.
Chen Luo, who had slept in to his heart’s content, woke up. He then spent more than half an hour scrolling through Douyin in bed, before lazily getting up to wash up.
Then he changed into sportswear.
He was ready to go downstairs for breakfast.
However, just as he reached the first floor, he heard a voice calling from the second-floor balcony: “Are you going to get breakfast?”
“Yeah.”
Chen Luo turned and answered.
Then he saw Gu Qing, her face full of resentment, especially those dark panda eyes of hers, which made it look like she probably had not slept well last night.
“Bring me a basket of xiaolongbao, plus one youtiao, an egg, and a cup of soy milk.”
“Is there a delivery fee?” Chen Luo asked.
“You’re charging me a delivery fee?” Gu Qing said speechlessly. “At the very least, I’m your first love.”
“There is no free lunch.” Chen Luo said indifferently. “By the same logic, there is no free breakfast.”
Why did that sound so familiar?
Gu Qing remembered.
That was what Chen Luo had said on the day he arrived, when she treated him to lunch and asked him to split the bill afterward. But back then, she had only wanted to use that as an excuse to get his WeChat.
She was not actually short of those few dozen yuan.
“I’ll give you 10 yuan for the delivery fee.”
Gu Qing thought for a moment and said, sounding very helpless.
She really did not want to go buy breakfast, because she had not slept well all night, thinking about Chen Luo carrying Meng Yue home. Later, she even went to the window to peek.
She had even timed it.
She waited there for a full 19 minutes and 32 seconds before Chen Luo finally walked out of Meng Yue’s home. Nearly 20 minutes was enough time to do a lot of things.
All night long, Gu Qing had been wondering what Chen Luo had done in Meng Yue’s home during those 20 minutes. Especially with Meng Yue drunk.
The more she thought about it… the more unable to sleep Gu Qing became, without even noticing it.
“Deal!”
Chen Luo agreed readily, then walked toward the opposite side of the street. He had noticed yesterday that there was a breakfast shop across the road.
A few minutes later, Chen Luo bought the breakfast Gu Qing wanted. As for himself, he bought two youtiao, an egg, and a cup of soy milk, spending 8 yuan and leaving himself with 2 yuan.
“Not bad…”
Chen Luo thought the deal was pretty worthwhile.
After returning to the small courtyard, Chen Luo handed Gu Qing her breakfast, and she went back inside to eat. Chen Luo also returned home to eat breakfast.
He finished quickly.
Then Chen Luo took his resume and went out to look for work. He walked to the shopping mall square across the street and then began a carpet search in the surrounding area.
The best option would be somewhere nearby.
That way he would not need to drive, and getting to and from class every day would be very convenient.
But after searching around for a while, he found nothing.
With no other choice, Chen Luo had to open Boss and look for work there. To his surprise, he actually found a training institution nearby.
“Chenguang Basketball Training Class, children’s basketball coach, only two hours a day, monthly salary 4k… very nice!”
Chen Luo carefully read the hiring requirements for this training class.
It was practically made for him.
Without hesitation, Chen Luo opened navigation and headed straight to Chenguang Basketball Training Class, No. 32, Annex to No. 24, Huayang Avenue, near Jinhua Residential Community. More than ten minutes later, Chen Luo arrived at the destination according to the address.
When he reached the second floor, Chen Luo saw the sign for Chenguang Basketball Training Class, but the venue inside still seemed to be under renovation, so he had no choice but to call the boss listed on Boss.
After the call went through, Chen Luo explained why he was there. Then a man in his thirties came out from an office nearby and led Chen Luo into his office for an interview.
Chen Luo said he had once been on the university team, and that he had also spent two and a half years teaching in a mountain village.
After looking through the resume, the other party happily agreed to hire Chen Luo as the basketball coach for their training class.
Salary: 4k.
Monday through Friday, 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. every day; weekends, 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. every day; public holidays followed the country’s normal schedule.
Leave was not allowed without special circumstances.
Chen Luo thought these requirements were all fairly normal, so he signed the contract very readily.
After leaving the training institution, Chen Luo walked leisurely toward Linjiang Courtyard, feeling relaxed and cheerful the whole way. Even though he now had two ex-girlfriends as neighbors, he could still handle it.
Starting next Monday, he would begin classes.
Life would definitely develop in a good direction.
The future… would flourish more and more!