Chapter 4: Blacklisted

After getting home, Song Yushu didn't set foot outside for the rest of the day.

By nine that evening, she still hadn't heard from Zhou Yancheng. Looked like he wouldn't have time to pick up the car keys today after all.

She went into the bathroom and took a shower. Just as she stepped out, she heard a WeChat notification. She picked up her phone and glanced at it.

Z: Here.

Song Yushu blanked for a second, then typed out a reply.

Jiaojiao: Just have the driver wait for me outside the complex.

Then she gave her hair a quick rub with a towel, changed clothes, grabbed the car keys, and headed out.

Song Yushu lived in Building One, which was pretty close to the main gate—she made it there in under three minutes.

But when she saw Zhou Yancheng's tall figure standing under the streetlight, she gradually slowed her pace, and something deep in her heart seemed to soften all of a sudden.

Zhou Yancheng glanced back, and once he saw her, he turned and walked toward her.

"I thought it'd be the driver coming to get the keys." Song Yushu handed him the car keys as she spoke.

"I had a dinner nearby. Figured I'd swing by."

Zhou Yancheng took the car keys from her hand. Suddenly, his phone buzzed with a vibration.

He looked up at Song Yushu. "I need to take this."

She smiled and nodded.

Zhou Yancheng put the phone to his ear. The moment the call connected, his expression turned much more serious—it seemed to be work-related.

Just then, a little kid came barreling over on a scooter, about to crash right into Song Yushu. The mom was chasing after him, frantic.

"Sweetie, slow down! Slow down!"

Before she could even react, Zhou Yancheng—still on the phone—wrapped his other arm around her waist and pulled her into his arms, dodging the kid.

He let go after maybe half a second and went right back to his call.

Song Yushu looked up and happened to meet his dark eyes. Her heart couldn't help but race.

"We'll talk about it at the office tomorrow."

Zhou Yancheng hung up and turned his gaze back to her face. "I'm heading out. You should go back inside."

"Okay."

Song Yushu turned to head into the complex when Jiang Wei's voice suddenly rang out.

"Zhou Yancheng?"

She turned to look—sure enough, it was Jiang Wei. What a coincidence.

When Zhou Yancheng saw Jiang Wei, a flicker of irritation crossed his brow. He didn't intend to say anything and turned to leave.

But Jiang Wei stepped forward and grabbed his sleeve. "Are you here to settle scores with my best friend? I'm the one who told her to talk to you—don't take it out on her!"

"Um... I drove his car back the day before yesterday. He's just here to get the keys."

Song Yushu figured she should probably explain.

Jiang Wei turned to look at her. "He really didn't come to settle scores with you?"

"No. You two talk. I'm heading back."

With that, Song Yushu tactfully gave them some space and turned toward the complex gate.

Jiang Wei had been wanting to have a proper talk with Zhou Yancheng for a while now. She just couldn't bring herself to swallow her pride and make the first move—but now she'd finally caught her chance.

As Song Yushu reached the corner, she glanced back. A handsome man and a beautiful woman arguing under the streetlight—it looked like a scene straight out of an idol drama. They'd probably be hugging and kissing in no time.

She couldn't help but smile. Those two would get back together sooner or later. She'd never doubted it.

-

Under the streetlight, Zhou Yancheng's and Jiang Wei's shadows stretched long across the ground.

"Let go."

Zhou Yancheng shook off Jiang Wei's hand and headed toward the parking lot.

"Zhou Yancheng, what kind of man are you?!" Jiang Wei chased after him, cursing.

His handsome face was full of disdain. He let out a scoff. "Not one."

"You—! You just break up with me like this? Where does that leave my dignity?!"

Zhou Yancheng suddenly stopped, turned to look at Jiang Wei, and said in a low, deliberate voice, word by word: "We've already broken up."

"Just because I said your female secretary looks like a spider demon from the Web Silk Cave? Are you two actually involved?"

Jiang Wei had been racking her brain these past few days, and that was the only harsh thing she could remember saying. Had she hit the nail on the head?

But Zhou Yancheng couldn't even be bothered to argue. He just tossed out one word, clean and crisp: "Yes."

With that, he walked into the parking lot without looking back.

Jiang Wei stood frozen for several seconds. She really hadn't expected Zhou Yancheng to admit it so readily. Furious, she started yelling at the top of her lungs right there on the street: "You bastard! You absolute asshole! I'm telling your parents!"

-

Song Yushu had just finished her face mask and was about to get into bed when the doorbell rang in the living room.

She threw off the covers, got up, and walked out of the bedroom. At the entryway, she looked through the peephole and saw Jiang Wei's face.

She opened the door, and Jiang Wei walked in looking thoroughly displeased.

"I thought you'd left with Zhou Yancheng."

Song Yushu closed the door and followed Jiang Wei to the couch in the living room, sitting down.

"That bastard. I think he's gotten together with his female secretary." Jiang Wei spoke through gritted teeth.

She blinked. "No way."

Suddenly, a WeChat notification sounded. Song Yushu picked up her phone and glanced at it—a message from Zhou Yancheng.

Z: Tell her to stop bothering me.

Song Yushu stared at the chat window for several seconds. So those two hadn't made up?

She thought for a moment, then tapped out four words on her phone keyboard.

Jiaojiao: She likes you.

After that, Zhou Yancheng never responded again.

Jiang Wei suddenly threw her arms around her and started wailing again. "I know he definitely doesn't think much of that female secretary—he's just doing it to piss me off. But what am I supposed to do..."

She helplessly set down her phone and patted Jiang Wei on the back.

"Then just win him back."

"Win him back?"

Jiang Wei sat up straight, suddenly having an epiphany. She looked at Song Yushu's phone. "Zhou Yancheng hasn't deleted your WeChat, right?"

"No..."

"Video call him. I have something to say to him."

Song Yushu opened the WeChat chat, tapped video call, and handed the phone to Jiang Wei.

Jiang Wei took the phone. It rang for a few seconds, then the video connected—revealing Zhou Yancheng fresh out of the shower, damp strands of hair falling over his forehead, looking somewhat sexy.

But the moment he saw it was Jiang Wei, his face darkened. "You've done enough."

With that, he hung up the video call.

Jiang Wei hadn't even gotten a single word out before the call ended. She was furious.

Jiang Wei pressed the voice message button: This Friday's my birthday. Let's have a breakup dinner together, tell everyone we've broken up, and just be friends from now on—we do run in the same circles, after all.

Song Yushu hadn't really been listening to what Jiang Wei was saying. She was just relieved she'd deleted her chat history with Zhou Yancheng earlier.

After Jiang Wei sent the voice message and got no reply from Zhou Yancheng, she tried to send another message—only to get a red exclamation mark.

"That bastard blocked your WeChat!"

She leaned over to take a look. The red exclamation mark in the chat window was glaringly obvious.

Zhou Yancheng was probably angry.

"But what was that about a breakup dinner just now? Weren't you trying to win him back?"

Song Yushu took her phone back and set it on the coffee table.

"Obviously that's part of the plan."

"Oh..."

...

It was too late, so Jiang Wei crashed in the guest bedroom. Song Yushu went back to her own room to get ready for sleep.

She stared at the red exclamation mark in the WeChat chat window for a long time, thinking back to their college days...