Chapter 1: Breakup
The phone on the coffee table kept vibrating nonstop.
Li Xinyan picked up the phone and, walking toward the door of the private room, said to Song Yushu, "Don't let her drink anymore. The wailing is driving me crazy."
"Zhou Yancheng is a total scumbag! Ptui!" Jiang Wei cursed as she poured herself another glass of wine.
Song Yushu sighed helplessly and quietly took the glass away.
Suddenly, Jiang Wei grabbed her wrist like a drunk maniac. "Tell me Zhou Yancheng is a scumbag! Say it!"
"Yes, yes, yes…"
Her head was already pounding from the noise. Jiang Wei had been cursing all night without repeating a single insult.
Song Yushu was wearing a lazy-style cream knit cardigan. Jiang Wei's tugging pulled it down, exposing her fair shoulder, which only made her look more pure and delicate—the kind that stirred pity at a glance.
"No! I'm so pissed. You video call Zhou Yancheng. He blocked me on WeChat."
Her voice was soft and calm. "I don't have him on WeChat."
"Then add him right now. I can't swallow this. I want to curse him out!"
Song Yushu fell silent and didn't move.
Jiang Wei, in the middle of her drunken tantrum, got impatient and snatched her phone. Song Yushu didn't stop her. Even if she added him, she figured Zhou Yancheng probably wouldn't accept anyway.
Song Yushu covered her mouth and yawned. She was already getting sleepy and wanted to go home.
Suddenly, the sound of a WeChat video call connecting came through.
She snapped awake instantly and rushed over. "Don't use my phone to make random video calls!"
Song Yushu didn't even care that her clothes were disheveled. She snatched the phone back—and at that exact second, the video connected. The first thing that entered the other person's view was her fair, alluring shoulder.
She lowered her head, about to hang up, but froze at the sight of the man's handsome features on the screen.
Song Yushu's heart pounded.
Zhou Yancheng actually accepted the friend request?
Jiang Wei suddenly snatched the phone again and screamed into the video. "Zhou Yancheng, you bastard…"
Before she could finish, the video cut off with a beep. The call lasted less than seven seconds—six of which had been spent looking at Song Yushu's shoulder.
Jiang Wei cursed at the phone even harder. "What kind of man are you? You can't even take my video call! You coward!"
"The video's already hung up. No matter how nasty you curse, he can't hear you."
Song Yushu took her phone back and only then realized her palms were sweating.
At that moment, Li Xinyan called back, sounding anxious. "Come on, come on, let's get this little miss home. I have an emergency meeting."
"Okay."
Song Yushu went over and picked up all three of their bags, then she and Li Xinyan helped Jiang Wei out of the club.
…
After dropping Jiang Wei off at home, she gave Li Xinyan a ride to the company, then drove back to her own place alone.
While passing through a quiet street, her WeChat chimed.
Song Yushu stepped on the brake and slowly pulled over to the side of the road. She unlocked her phone and saw a message from Zhou Yancheng.
Z: Stay out of my business with Jiang Wei.
Her heart lurched.
After hesitating for a few seconds, her fingertips pressed the keyboard to reply.
Jiaojiao: I'm sorry.
Her WeChat name was also her childhood nickname.
Zhou Yancheng didn't reply again. He probably didn't want to deal with her anymore, and soon he would probably delete her from WeChat.
Looking at the chat window, Song Yushu only then noticed that when Jiang Wei had added him, the greeting message had actually been "Song Yushu."
Just by giving her name, Zhou Yancheng had accepted the friend request?
Then Song Yushu smiled.
She was probably overthinking it. Zhou Yancheng had likely guessed that Jiang Wei was the one operating the phone.
This WeChat she had tried and failed to add for five years had finally been added tonight, though it was only a flash in the pan.
Song Yushu tapped on Zhou Yancheng's WeChat avatar. It was a quiet, atmospheric photo of the moon, probably taken by him.
Then she opened his Moments. There was only a single horizontal line.
She smiled, a little helplessly.
He had probably already deleted her WeChat.
In truth, whether or not Jiang Wei and Zhou Yancheng ended up together, this man had nothing to do with her anymore. That was fate.
Song Yushu tossed her phone onto the passenger seat and kept driving.
-
Hengxing Group, conference room.
At the head of the long conference table, Zhou Yancheng sat in a white shirt with the sleeves casually rolled up, revealing a silver Patek Philippe watch. His tie had been pulled loose and hung slack.
It looked like he had been working overtime long enough to grow irritable.
His WeChat chimed.
His slender fingers picked up the phone. He stared at the "I'm sorry" from Song Yushu for a few seconds, then tapped open her avatar. It was a photo of her taken at the beach, her long hair blown messy by the wind, her smile pure and shy.
Zhou Yancheng tossed the phone aside without any expression.
Xie Yi'an, sitting across from him, teased, "That ex-girlfriend of yours video-called to curse you out again?"
Xie Yi'an was his senior. Zhou Yancheng had just joined the board of directors and had specifically headhunted Xie Yi'an back from abroad with a high salary to help him out.
He answered flatly and, without looking up, continued reading the project materials.
"Tell me, it's been four years. Haven't you felt even a little tempted? You really are cold-blooded."
Zhou Yancheng closed the file and rested his eyes. His right arm was propped on the table, and his slender fingers pinched the bridge of his nose. "Even if we didn't break up now, I would have cheated on her eventually."
"Tch… So when you agreed to the arranged marriage back then, it really was just to get onto the board."
He said nothing, which counted as silent agreement.
Xie Yi'an asked again, "Jiang Wei is plenty pretty. In terms of family background, no one is a better match for you than her. So what kind of woman do you actually like?"
What kind of woman do I like…
Zhou Yancheng slowly opened his pitch-black eyes. "I don't know."