Chapter 2
Guan Yizhou didn’t say a word. He downed his glass and slumped crookedly deep into the sofa.
Xu Yicheng let out a dry laugh, lowered his voice, and told Song Huaiyu, “He broke up with Chi Mo! I mean, come on, ten fucking years, and just like that it’s over?!”
Song Huaiyu paused slightly. He hadn’t expected that after two whole months, the two of them still hadn’t made up. When he glanced over, Guan Yizhou showed no intention of denying it. His eyes were half-closed, his hand went slack, and the empty glass rolled onto the floor...
Seeing this, Song Huaiyu asked Xu Yicheng, “Really over?”
Yuan Siyu shrugged. “Look at him. You think he’s faking it?!” As he spoke, he reached down to pick up the glass Guan Yizhou had dropped, then nudged him. “That’s enough. You two couldn’t have gotten married anyway. Sooner or later, it’s all the same.”
Xu Yicheng lit a cigarette, twitched the corner of his mouth, and said nothing.
Actually, even though he and Yuan Siyu talked like that, deep down they both felt a vague sense of pity over a relationship that had lasted ten years.
True, they hadn’t been optimistic back then. They’d even been certain it wouldn’t take long before this girl named Chi Mo vanished from their lives for good.
How could Guan Yizhou possibly end up with a girl from some small county town? She couldn’t even understand what they were saying, let alone fit into the glitzy life of Jiangzhou.
Then the days passed one after another. Suddenly, one day, they were shocked to realize Guan Yizhou seemed to have actually settled down. The girls who liked him—the ones he actually found decent—gradually drifted out of his life. Five years ago, Guan Yizhou even moved out of his family home.
His parents must have been just as convinced the two wouldn’t last. Rather than push back and trigger their son’s rebellious streak, better to let go and wait. They probably didn’t expect to wait this long, but hey, the day finally came, didn’t it?
Now Father Guan and Mother Guan were thrilled. Xu Yicheng shook his head and said to Song Huaiyu, “Him? He’s going on a blind date tomorrow.”
Yuan Siyu handed Song Huaiyu a glass, poured him half a cup, and laughed dryly, “That younger sister from the Lin family. His parents have probably been plotting it at home for ages...”
Hearing that, Song Huaiyu glanced at Guan Yizhou.
He never spoke. He just leaned against the sofa without moving. He looked exactly like Chi Mo had that night.
Though Chi Mo was a terrible drunk.
Mm, and messy.
*
*
*
Not long after that little gathering, Song Huaiyu actually ran into Chi Mo again.
It was the first time he’d seen her dressed so brightly. At an art gallery, standing beneath a massive oil painting.
Song Huaiyu didn’t know what possessed him at the time, but he walked straight toward her. Once he stopped beside her, Chi Mo noticed him too.
Seemed she didn’t remember getting drunk that night. Because the moment Chi Mo saw Song Huaiyu, her expression froze. A few seconds later, she turned and hurried off like she’d done something guilty.
Song Huaiyu turned his head for a look.
A rose-red dress. Her long hair cut right to her ears. Maybe freshly dyed—the overhead lights of the gallery made her whole body glow white.
Not bad. Breaking up with Guan Yizhou didn’t seem to have affected her much.
So Song Huaiyu raised an eyebrow and followed.
“Chi Mo.”
He called out to her.
Chi Mo’s back stiffened. She slowly stopped.
When she turned, she pressed her lips together awkwardly. “...What is it?”
Song Huaiyu gave an ambiguous smile and lazily pointed toward the café outside the gallery. “Have a chat?”
Chi Mo shot him a wary look, her voice dropping considerably. “Is that necessary?”
“What? Haven’t we known each other for years too?” Song Huaiyu raised an eyebrow in mockery. “Can’t even have a cup of coffee together?”
Chi Mo really didn’t understand why she’d run into Song Huaiyu, let alone why he’d bother talking to her first.
Even when she was still Guan Yizhou’s girlfriend, they’d barely exchanged a few words.
Men like Song Huaiyu scared Chi Mo from the very first time she saw him.
Especially those pitch-black eyes. When they looked at you, the pressure was suffocating.
Out of all of Guan Yizhou’s friends, Song Huaiyu was the one Chi Mo feared most.
*
An open-air café.
Chi Mo’s expression was stiff. Even her new dress suddenly felt uncomfortable. She nervously clutched the hem, kept her eyes down, and sat across from Song Huaiyu.
“What... what do you want to tell me?”
Seeing that she didn’t even dare look at him, Song Huaiyu asked softly, “What? Are you afraid of me?”
Chi Mo frowned and pressed her lips together again. She figured she’d already broken up with Guan Yizhou, so why should she be afraid of him?
So a few seconds later, she forced herself to lift her head and meet Song Huaiyu’s eyes. She shook her head and countered weakly, “Why would I be afraid of you?”
“How would I know.” Song Huaiyu sneered, “Did you do something guilty?”
“You!” Chi Mo gritted her teeth. “What guilty thing did I do? You... stop talking nonsense.”
“Oh, nothing guilty?” Song Huaiyu turned his head, eyeing her sideways. “Then how about grabbing a drink tonight?”
Now Chi Mo’s face looked even worse. “Why would I drink with you?”
“Good question.” Song Huaiyu hooked the corner of his mouth, picked up his phone, tapped twice, then flipped the screen around. A red-and-green photo was shoved right in front of Chi Mo’s eyes. “Look. You’ve already had drinks with me.”
The Chi Mo in the photo was so unfamiliar that the current Chi Mo nearly hallucinated...
That was her?
She... she had her arms around... Song Huaiyu’s neck?! Holding a glass high and laughing out loud?!
No, no, no...
Chi Mo’s face went pale instantly.
She frantically pushed his phone away and jerked her head aside, only making herself look guiltier. “I don’t know where you got that photo... I... I’ll say it again. Guan Yizhou and I are broken up. We... you and I... aren’t friends either!”
Song Huaiyu tilted his chin up slightly and tossed his phone onto the table with elegant ease.
“Oh?” He narrowed the corners of his eyes. “If you’re already broken up, why can’t you go three sentences without mentioning his name?”
Chi Mo didn’t get it. Ten years. Why was she still sitting here taking humiliation from Guan Yizhou’s friend? So the next second, she shot to her feet. “Song Huaiyu! Don’t go too far! You just think I’m not good enough for him, right? Fine! You should all be happy now, shouldn’t you?! I’m out! I’m stepping aside! I’m fucking done playing!”