Song Zhi had made a reservation at one of the most high-end restaurants in City A for today.
She figured that since she finally had a rare opportunity to treat Xu You to dinner, everything absolutely had to be the best.
After ordering, Song Zhi began to talk smoothly and enthusiastically, sharing funny and interesting stories with Xu You. Xu You, however, only responded occasionally with monosyllabic murmurs.
Song Zhi was usually thick-skinned and oblivious, but at this moment, she keenly perceived that Xu You’s spirits were not high.
She started to worry whether she had carelessly said something wrong.
“Xu You, are you unhappy today?”
Song Zhi decided to ask after all. She had always been the type of person who spoke her mind directly, not wanting to keep things pent up inside.
Xu You wanted to say no, but the scene of Song Zhi being confessed to by someone else refused to leave her mind.
She knew very well that Song Zhi was beautiful, capable, and had a great personality. It was perfectly normal for people to confess to her, but because she hadn’t been able to see Song Zhi’s expression clearly, she didn’t know what her attitude had been. This made her incredibly irritable.
The restaurant’s music gradually slowed to a soothing melody. Song Zhi took a deep breath in secret, took hold of Xu You’s hand, and said earnestly, “Xu You… I want to tell you something.”
Xu You looked at her calmly, signaling for her to continue.
Cheering herself on in her heart, Song Zhi gathered her courage and spoke again, “I… I like you. I want to…”
Before she could finish her sentence, she saw Xu You’s face suddenly turn deathly pale. Xu You abruptly yanked her hand away and quickly walked out.
“Xu You…”
Song Zhi stared blankly at her retreating figure, her face turning whiter than snow.
She had envisioned many reactions Xu You might have upon hearing the confession. She wasn’t entirely surprised by this kind of outcome.
It was just that she hadn’t expected her worst-case scenario to actually happen.
At that moment, the dishes they had ordered were all served.
It was all her fault. She had only looked forward to having dinner with Xu You, forgetting that confessions usually happened after dinner. Could it be that she got the sequence wrong, and that’s why Xu You rejected her?
Song Zhi stuffed a mouthful of food into her mouth.
It didn’t taste good at all.
Didn’t everyone say this was the most delicious restaurant? Why didn’t it taste good at all?
Her tears began to fall, sour and salty. She hadn’t even cried just now when she was rejected, so why was she crying now just because the food tasted bad?
“…Song Zhi?”
A soft, gentle voice echoed beside her ear.
Song Zhi looked up and discovered it was the girl who had invited her out to eat this afternoon. If she remembered correctly, her name seemed to be Ye Guiqi.
She quickly wiped the tears from her face and forced a smile. “What a coincidence, you’re here too.”
Ye Guiqi handed her a tissue, her face flushing slightly. “If you can’t force a smile, then don’t smile. Wipe away your tears.”
Song Zhi, who was barely holding it together, let the corners of her mouth slowly drop. She took the tissue. “…Thank you.”
Ye Guiqi smiled and pointed to Xu You’s seat. “Can I sit here?”
Song Zhi didn’t think Xu You would come back. Perhaps Xu You had already blocked her on WeChat and every other contact method by now.
Even so, she shook her head. Even if Xu You had left, that seat could not be taken by anyone else.
In the end, Song Zhi had the staff add an extra seat next to her for Ye Guiqi to sit down.
Retch!
Xu You stumbled and collapsed against the restroom sink, unable to hold back the nausea any longer as she threw up.
It took a long while before she finally recovered.
The sink was stained a bright, vivid red. Xu You wiped the blood from the corner of her lips. She had been off her medication for over half a year now, after leaving the Fu Corporation’s special targeted medicine, her bodily functions had rapidly declined over these past six months.
Fu Nian was indeed right. Only the Fu Corporation’s medicine was effective for her.
She recalled the expectant and nervous look in Song Zhi’s eyes when she had just held her hand.
“I… I like you…” Song Zhi’s hesitant, anxious voice still lingered in her ears.
Xu You couldn’t help but cough, feeling a metallic sweetness surge in her throat.
She closed her eyes.
I’m sorry, Song Zhi. I can’t accept your feelings.
She really hadn’t wanted Song Zhi to see her in such an ugly state just now, which was why she had left so quickly. Song Zhi must be incredibly heartbroken. She needed to apologize to her.
Xu You washed the sink clean with water and rinsed away the trace of blood from the corner of her mouth, though her white dress still bore the stains of blood droplets.
She couldn’t care about that much anymore. When she left the restroom and wanted to return to the table, she saw another girl sitting in the seat that originally belonged to her.
That girl looked very familiar. Xu You remembered her, she was the person in the photograph.
The girl was currently holding her phone, talking to Song Zhi with high spirits and immense joy. Song Zhi’s back was turned to her, so Xu You couldn’t see her expression.
She was probably happy, right? Otherwise, that girl wouldn’t be smiling so radiantly.
It was so radiant that it felt somewhat piercing to her eyes.
Xu You left.
“Look, isn’t this little cat adorable?”
Ye Guiqi smiled as she showed Song Zhi the cat she raised.
It was a pure white domestic short hair, looking proud and aloof as it licked its fur in the photo.
Song Zhi was in no mood to respond to her at all. Her voice carried no emotion as she said, “Yeah, it’s very cute.”
She picked up her bag and maintained her politeness as she spoke to Ye Guiqi, “I’m sorry, I’m really not in the mood to socialize right now. I have things to attend to, so I’ll be leaving first.”
Song Zhi didn’t return to the hospital that day.
She didn’t dare go back, fearing she would see a look of disgust on Xu You’s face.
Liar. Didn’t you say love has nothing to do with gender?
Song Zhi felt incredibly aggrieved.
She opened the trunk of her car and looked at the 99 roses she had ordered for Xu You inside, lowering her eyes dejectedly.
She hadn’t been confident about this confession in the first place, which was why she had hidden these 99 roses here, which symbolized her feelings.
She just hadn’t expected that they truly wouldn’t be put to use.
A long time had already passed. Had Xu You cooled down yet?
Thinking of this, Song Zhi opened her phone. Looking at the message log that didn’t have a single notification, her originally hopeful heart instantly plunged back to rock bottom.
Xu You hadn’t sent her a single message.
Xu You must be furious.
It’s over, it’s over, it’s completely over, Song Zhi thought.
It was all because she was too impatient!
Forget it, she couldn’t care about anything else right now. She had to slide down to her knees and apologize first!
“I’m sorry, Xu You.”
“I was too presumptuous today and didn’t take your feelings into consideration. I was wrong.”
“Please don’t ignore me, okay? I really know I was wrong.”
She sent many more messages after that.
But Xu You didn’t reply to a single one.
Only one thought remained in Song Zhi’s mind, it was over, completely over.
Jiejie really didn’t like her anymore. They couldn’t even be friends now.
Song Zhi didn’t even know how she managed to drive back home.
She opened the door, softly greeted her parents, and then trudged up to her room, utterly crestfallen and spiritless.
Tan Yingying and Song Tao exchanged bewildered glances.
Tan Yingying patted Song Tao’s arm. “What’s wrong with Xiao Zhi?”
Song Tao shook his head, then seemed to remember something. “Did she run into some trouble at work? That shouldn’t be right, I remember Old Li telling me today that Xiao Zhi even got promoted.”
Tan Yingying: “Then why is Xiao Zhi unhappy? No, I have to go ask her.”
Song Xian, who was originally sprawled out on the sofa, looked at Song Zhi’s soul shattered appearance and became lost in thought.
After a moment, he stood up and said to Tan Yingying, “I’ll go.”
Before heading up, he grabbed a few cans of beer from the fridge and leisurely went upstairs.
As the twilight deepened, Song Zhi closed her bedroom door, drew the curtains, and curled up alone on the bed.
The dark room gave her a full sense of security. Song Zhi buried her face in the pillow, her shoulders trembling slightly along with her sobs.
Knock, knock.
The door was knocked, and Song Xian’s lazy voice drifted in from outside. “Hey, hurry up and open the door for your dear brother.”
Song Zhi closed her eyes, drowning in her own grief, and didn’t answer him.
Song Xian spoke again, “Do you think I wanted to come up? Mom and Dad are worried about you, so they made me come check. Open the door.”
At the mention of her parents, Song Zhi finally opened her eyes.
She sluggishly dragged herself out of bed and reluctantly opened the door for Song Xian.
Seeing her disheveled hair and swollen, red eyes, Song Xian wasn’t surprised at all. He let out a light snort. “Oh, look at you. Let me guess, heartbroken over a failed romance?”
“…Mm.”
Song Zhi let out a single syllable from her throat. Her face looked incredibly haggard, and her voice carried no inflection. “Are you here to mock me?”
“Am I really that bored?”
Song Xian was completely exasperated. He walked straight into the room without any awareness that this was someone else’s space, sat down casually on the floor, and patted the spot next to him. “Come over and sit. Your brother will have a few drinks with you.”
Song Zhi’s mental state had been crumbling all evening, she also needed an outlet to vent right now.
She took the beer from Song Xian’s hand and quietly took several large gulps, letting her tears fall freely as if they cost nothing.
Song Xian sighed. For the first time, he didn’t speak in his usual casual tone. “Cry if you want to. What happened? Can you tell your brother?”
The moment he said this, Song Zhi’s tears fell even harder. She downed a few more large gulps of beer, the bitter and sour taste spreading through her mouth.
“She… seems to really hate homosexuality.” Song Zhi’s eyes were vacant as she mocked herself. “I wanted to use the opportunity of my promotion to confess to her today. The moment I revealed my feelings, she yanked her hand away from me and never came back.”
“Brother.” Her nose prickled with sorrow, and she only felt an immense bitterness in her throat. “Do you think it’s because I did too many wrong things in the past that she hates me this much?”