Chapter 9: Video Call with Zhou Yancheng

Chen Xinghan had originally planned to take her somewhere first, but delivering the documents had eaten up a good chunk of time, so he drove her straight to the restaurant.

It was an Italian place with a very distinctive decor—retro yet minimalist.

While they waited for the food, Chen Xinghan asked casually, "What do you think of the atmosphere here?"

"Mm... the design has a lot of character."

"Do you like it?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Thank you for appreciating my design." Chen Xinghan smiled gently.

She blinked. "You designed this restaurant's interior?"

"Yeah. I started out studying architectural design, but later realized I was more interested in automotive design."

Song Yushu listened attentively. This man really was quite impressive—but how did an elite like him end up on the singles market?

She picked up her lemon water and took a sip. "I'm curious—how many girlfriends have you had?"

"Two."

Song Yushu nodded, completely unfazed, with no intention of pressing further.

"What about you?"

She answered honestly, "To be honest, I've never been in a relationship."

Surprise flickered plainly across Chen Xinghan's face. "No way."

"In college, there was someone I liked, but he already had a girlfriend. After that, I just never met anyone I liked again."

Song Yushu's tone was calm and indifferent, as if she were telling someone else's story.

Just then the waiter began serving the dishes, so Chen Xinghan said nothing more, and the topic dropped.

An Italian meal takes about two hours to get through—plenty of time to talk and get to know each other better.

After dinner, Chen Xinghan got another call from a colleague—there was an impromptu meeting—so he could only take her home first.

The car slowly pulled over to the side of the road.

Chen Xinghan walked around to the passenger side, opened the door for her, and said somewhat apologetically, "I'm really sorry about this."

"It's fine. Projects are busy in the early stages—I understand. Go on ahead."

But Chen Xinghan didn't get back in the car. She looked at him, puzzled. "Is something else up?"

The next second, Chen Xinghan's tall frame pulled her into an embrace. "Thank you for understanding. Good night."

The hug came completely out of nowhere. Song Yushu truly hadn't expected it—she leaned against his shoulder with a blank look on her face, not knowing how to react.

Then Chen Xinghan got back in the car, gave a honk in farewell, and slowly drove off into the busy street.

The sky was darkening. She stood there watching the white Bentley disappear into the night before turning and walking toward the entrance of her residential compound.

-

The moment she stepped through the door, a WeChat group message popped up on her phone screen.

Song Yushu took off her coat, walked to the living room sofa and sat down, then picked up her phone to check the group chat.

Jiang Wei: @Song Yushu How did the date go!

She found it amusing and tapped out a reply.

Song Yushu: Pretty smooth, I guess.

Jiang Wei: I want to cry. We finally got you a boyfriend, and now I'm the one who's single.

Li Xinyan: Finding a man is easy. The problem is you won't look at anyone except Zhou Yancheng.

Jiang Wei: Nobody mention him again!

She stared at the chat window and suddenly realized that since Jiang Wei's birthday dinner last time, Jiang Wei really hadn't mentioned wanting to get back together.

Li Xinyan and Jiang Wei kept chatting in the group, while a message from Chen Xinghan popped up at the top of her screen.

So she tapped into Chen Xinghan's chat window—but when she saw the three words he'd sent, Song Yushu froze.

Chen Xinghan: Who are you?

Before she could react, the message was suddenly recalled.

Probably... sent to the wrong person.

Song Yushu didn't think much of it. She got up and headed to the bathroom, planning to take a shower and go to sleep—she really was a bit tired.

-

Over the next two weeks, everyone was busy with their own things. She clocked in at work every day—the administrative receptionist job was fairly simple, nothing difficult.

Chen Xinghan was even busier, with almost no time to meet her. They could only chat on WeChat.

Song Yushu arrived at the parking lot, found her car, opened the door and got in.

A WeChat message popped up on her phone. She tapped it open.

Chen Xinghan: I've ordered you a private-kitchen meal. It should arrive in about half an hour.

She smiled and tapped out a reply. Sure enough, that was the one advantage of dating an older man—he knew how to be considerate.

Song Yushu: Thanks. Make sure you eat on time too.

Chen Xinghan: I'm eating at the company cafeteria. Hengxing's food is pretty good.

Song Yushu: I've heard.

Then she set her phone aside, fastened her seatbelt, started the car and drove out of the parking lot.

By the time Song Yushu got home, the private-kitchen delivery had just arrived. She carried the bag inside.

She took off her coat, went to wash her hands, and brought the bag to the dining table.

She took a bite—the food was quite good. Low oil, low salt, but tasty.

Song Yushu pulled out her phone. She had a habit of scrolling through Moments while eating. Just as she opened WeChat, she noticed a friend request.

She tapped on it. The verification message read: I'm Chen Xinghan's ex-girlfriend. Please accept.

She stared at the phone screen for a long time, but in the end, she didn't accept.

She didn't want to blow this out of proportion. After thinking it over, she tapped open Zhou Yancheng's WeChat chat.

-

It was past ten in the evening when Zhou Yancheng finally finished his business dinner. His driver took him back to the Feifan Villa District.

Coincidentally, Chen Xinghan also lived here—and it was on the way to his own home.

He frowned slightly, his long fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. He'd had a few too many drinks tonight and wasn't feeling well.

He happened to glance out the car window and saw a woman's figure standing at Chen Xinghan's front door.

"Stop the car."

The driver heard the voice from the back seat, hit the brakes and slowly came to a stop.

Zhou Yancheng rolled down the window and watched from a distance as the woman skillfully entered the door code and went inside.

He withdrew his gaze and looked at the driver. "Let's go."

After rounding the garden, the driver parked outside his villa's front gate and got out to open the door for him.

"Young Master Zhou, should I still pick you up at eight tomorrow morning?"

"Mm."

Zhou Yancheng responded faintly, unbuckled his seatbelt, got out and walked to the villa door, unlocking it with his fingerprint.

Once inside, he walked to the living room sofa and sat down. He picked up his phone and glanced at it—a WeChat message from Song Yushu popped up on the screen, sent around seven in the evening.

Jiaojiao: Are you free? I wanted to ask you something.

Zhou Yancheng directly initiated a video call. A few seconds later, it connected.

Song Yushu's face appeared on the screen. She was lying in bed looking sleepy—clearly she'd already fallen asleep and been woken up by his video call.

"Go ahead. What did you want to ask?"

In the video, Song Yushu still seemed a bit dazed. She thought for a moment and said, "Uh... I wanted to ask, are you and Chen Xinghan close?"

She really hadn't expected Zhou Yancheng to video call her directly.

"Not close."

As he spoke, Zhou Yancheng got up and walked toward the kitchen fridge, planning to grab a bottle of water. The alcohol tonight had given him a bit of a headache.

"Oh... then never mind. Sorry to bother you."

Zhou Yancheng opened the fridge, took out a bottle of water, closed the door, and looked down at her on the phone screen. "Wait."

In the video, Song Yushu looked puzzled, waiting for him to continue.

He carried the bottle of water back to the living room sofa and sat down, speaking in an offhand tone, "You two are still in contact?"

"Yeah."

"Your heart's big enough to house a Bodhisattva temple."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

On the other end of the video, Song Yushu felt inexplicably that Zhou Yancheng was mocking her. His tone was far from kind.

Zhou Yancheng twisted open the bottle and took a couple of sips, looking at that gentle, well-behaved little face in the video. "Right now. Video call him."

With that, he hung up directly.

Zhou Yancheng leaned back against the sofa, tilting his head to stare at the ceiling, feeling like he'd stuck his nose where it didn't belong.

Considering she'd never been in a relationship, he'd said just enough. The rest was up to her.

-

Leaning against the bed, Song Yushu stared at the chat window, lost in thought.

Another friend request appeared on WeChat—still from the person claiming to be Chen Xinghan's ex-girlfriend.

This time the verification message read: Do you know his door code? I do. I'm at his place right now.

She was slightly stunned, and suddenly something came back to her.

She remembered that during their last meal, Chen Xinghan had mentioned he also lived in the Feifan Villa District.

Song Yushu sent Zhou Yancheng another message.

Jiaojiao: So, you saw a woman going in and out of Chen Xinghan's place?

Z: Yeah.

She tapped on Chen Xinghan's WeChat avatar, hesitated for a few seconds, and still initiated a video call.

In less than two seconds it was hung up, and at the same time a WeChat message came through.

Chen Xinghan: Working overtime. I'll get back to you when I'm done.

Song Yushu stared at her phone and felt like laughing. Then she locked the screen and went back to sleep.

The moment Chen Xinghan chose to lie, her relationship with him was over.

Turns out dating isn't something you can just do whenever you want.

-

The next day, as Song Yushu stood at the company's front desk, Chen Xinghan sent a WeChat message explaining what he'd been busy with last night.

She didn't block him, didn't reply—just ignored it.

That's how adults end a relationship—by silently disappearing from each other's lives.

Time flew by. Chinese New Year was almost here, and Song Yushu's father had transferred her from the front desk to the secretary's office.

A WeChat group message popped up on her phone.

Li Xinyan: Let's grab dinner tonight. I want hotpot!

Song Yushu: Let's go!

Jiang Wei: Sure.

Around seven in the evening, the three of them arrived at a Sichuan-Chongqing hotpot restaurant and chose a quiet private room.

As soon as they sat down, Li Xinyan couldn't wait to ask, "I heard from Xiao Anzi that you and Chen Xinghan haven't been in touch lately? What happened?"

"Yeah, we're not seeing each other anymore."

"What happened?" Jiang Wei was curious too.

Song Yushu picked up her teacup and took a sip. "Just felt like our personalities didn't match, so there was no need to keep developing things."

"Ah, I really thought you'd finally get a boyfriend. Oh well—can't rush these things anyway." Li Xinyan gently patted her cheek.

Halfway through the hotpot, Li Xinyan suddenly asked, "Chinese New Year's almost here. Any plans for New Year's Eve?"

Song Yushu shook her head and kept eating.

In previous years, the Zhou family estate would put on a grand fireworks display on New Year's Eve. They'd all ride on Jiang Wei's coattails and get invited to the Zhou estate to watch the fireworks and play mahjong until midnight.

Now that Jiang Wei had broken up, it probably wouldn't be appropriate to go anymore.

Jiang Wei: "Let's go to the Zhou estate to watch the fireworks."

"You're going too?" Li Xinyan looked astonished.

"How can I go after breaking up? You guys go—you're friends with Zhou Yancheng too." Jiang Wei looked at Li Xinyan. "Xie Yi'an will definitely drag you along. Bring Jiaojiao too. I heard the Zhou family's fireworks are even prettier this year—all new varieties."

Song Yushu picked up her teacup and took a sip. "Then I won't go either. I'm not close with Zhou Yancheng."

"Jiaojiao, you have to go!"

"Why?"

Jiang Wei said earnestly, "Zhou Yancheng's circle is full of outstanding young men. You haven't even had a proper relationship yet—it's a waste of your prime years!"

Li Xinyan agreed wholeheartedly. "Sleeping with men is pretty great, you know."

"It's absolutely amazing. You'll get addicted." Jiang Wei smiled meaningfully.

Li Xinyan looked at Jiang Wei doubtfully. "Didn't you never sleep with Zhou Yancheng?"

Jiang Wei couldn't help rolling her eyes. "Zhou Yancheng wasn't my first love. I'd already been in relationships before I met him—I experienced all that long ago."

So both of them had such colorful romantic histories, and she was the only one still single.

"Jiaojiao, why so quiet?"

Song Yushu let out a soft sigh. "It's just too hard to meet someone you like who's also a good fit."

"That's exactly why you have to go to the Zhou estate on New Year's Eve. Zhou Yancheng's friends are top quality." Jiang Wei coaxed her earnestly.