Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Aren't we friends too? Guan Yizhou didn't speak. He drained his glass in one go, then slumped crookedly deep into the sofa. Xu Yichen let out a dry chuckle and lowered his voice to tell Song Huaiyu, "He and Chi Mo broke up! Tell me, just tell me, it's been a whole damn ten years, and they actually just broke up like that?!" Song Huaiyu was slightly stunned, not expecting that even after two months, the two of them still hadn't made up. Raising his eyes for a quick glance, he saw that Guan Yizhou had no intention of refuting it whatsoever. With his eyes half-closed and his hand loosening, the empty glass rolled onto the floor... Seeing this, Song Huaiyu asked Xu Yichen, "Did they really break up?" Yuan Siyu shrugged. "Look at the state he's in, isn't it for real?!" As he spoke, he reached out to pick up the glass Guan Yizhou had dropped, gave him a nudge, and said, "That's about enough, right? Anyway, the two of you could never get married anyway, so breaking up sooner or later is all the same." Xu Yichen lit a cigarette, twitched the corner of his mouth, and said nothing. Actually, even though he and Yuan Siyu talked like that on the surface, deep down they still felt a vague sense of regret over this ten-year marathon of a relationship. Indeed, they hadn't been optimistic about it from the very beginning, even feeling certain that before long, this girl named Chi Mo would never appear in front of them again. How could Guan Yizhou possibly stay with a girl from a small county town? She couldn't even understand the things they talked about, let alone integrate into the dazzling, bustling nightlife of Jiangzhou. Later on, as the days passed one by one, they suddenly discovered to their surprise that Guan Yizhou seemed to have genuinely settled down. The various girls who liked him—and whom he also looked favorably upon—gradually drifted away from his life, and five years ago, Guan Yizhou even moved out of his family home. His parents must have been equally firm in their belief that the two of them wouldn't last. Rather than trying to block it and provoking a rebellious streak in their son, it was better to let go and wait and see. Although they hadn't expected the wait to be this long, they had ultimately waited for this day after all, hadn't they? Naturally, Guan's father and mother were ecstatic. Shaking his head, Xu Yichen said to Song Huaiyu, "As for him, he's going on a blind date tomorrow." Yuan Siyu handed Song Huaiyu a glass, poured him half a cup of wine, and gave a dry laugh. "That young lady from the Lin family... his parents must have been cooking this up at home for a long time..." Hearing this, Song Huaiyu glanced sideways at Guan Yizhou. He remained silent throughout, just leaning back against the sofa without moving a muscle—looking almost identical to Chi Mo from that night. However, Chi Mo's drinking manners were truly terrible. Mm, and messy, too. Not long after this small gathering, Song Huaiyu unexpectedly ran into Chi Mo once again. It was the first time he had ever seen her dressed up so brightly—at an art museum, standing right beneath a huge oil painting. At the time, driven by some unknown impulse, Song Huaiyu lifted his feet and walked toward her. When he came to a stop beside her, Chi Mo saw him as well. It seemed she didn't remember the time she had gotten completely drunk, because the moment Chi Mo laid eyes on Song Huaiyu, her expression froze. A few seconds later, as if she had done something shameful, she turned around and walked away quickly. Song Huaiyu glanced sideways after her. A magenta long dress, with her long hair cut short to the roots of her ears. Whether it was because she had recently dyed it or not, under the overhead lighting of the art museum, her whole person seemed to glow white. Not bad at all. Breaking up with Guan Yizhou didn't seem to have affected her in the slightest. With a raised brow, Song Huaiyu stepped forward and followed her. "Chi Mo." He called out to her. Chi Mo's back stiffened, and she slowly came to a halt. When she turned her head back, she bit her lip unnaturally: ".....What is it?" Song Huaiyu curved his lips into an ambiguous smile and leisurely pointed toward the cafe outside the art museum. "Care to chat?" Chi Mo cast a wary look at Song Huaiyu, her voice dropping lower: "Is there really any need?" "What? Haven't the two of us known each other for many years too?" Song Huaiyu raised an eyebrow with a mocking smirk. "Can't even have a cup of coffee together?" Chi Mo truly couldn't understand why she kept running into Song Huaiyu, nor could she comprehend why he would ever willingly initiate a conversation with her. Even when she was still Guan Yizhou's girlfriend, the two of them hadn't exchanged more than a few words. A man like Song Huaiyu was someone Chi Mo had felt a deep sense of fear toward ever since the very first time she saw him. Especially those pitch-black eyes; looking at him produced a very strong sense of oppression. Among all of Guan Yizhou's friends, the person Chi Mo feared the most was Song Huaiyu. Open-air cafe. Chi Mo's expression was stiff, and that brand-new dress on her body suddenly she also grew uneasy. Fidgeting nervously with the hem of her skirt, she sat down in the seat opposite Song Huaiyu with lowered eyes. "What... what do you want to say to me?" Seeing that she didn't even dare to look at him, Song Huaiyu asked indifferently, "What? Are you that afraid of me?" Chi Mo furrowed her brows and pursed her lips, thinking to herself that since she had already broken up with Guan Yizhou, why should she still be afraid of him? So, after a few seconds, she forced herself to raise her head and meet Song Huaiyu's eyes directly. Shaking her head, she asked back with a lack of confidence, "Why would I be afraid of you?" "How should I know," Song Huaiyu scoffed. "Could it be that you've done something to feel guilty about?" "You!" Chi Mo gritted her teeth. "What would I feel guilty about? Stop... stop talking nonsense." "Oh, nothing to feel guilty about?" Song Huaiyu glanced sideways at her. "Then how about going out for a drink together tonight?" At this, Chi Mo's expression turned even uglier. "Why on earth would I go drink with you?" "Good question." Song Huaiyu curved the corner of his mouth, tapped his phone a couple of times, and then flipped the screen around, placing a flashy, brightly colored photo right in front of Chi Mo. "Look, haven't you already drank with me?" The Chi Mo in the photo was so unfamiliar to the present-day Chi Mo that she almost hallucinated... Was that her? She... she was wrapping her arms around... Song Huaiyu's neck?! And laughing out loud while holding her glass high in the air?! No, no, no... Chi Mo's face turned pale in an instant. Eagerly pushing Song Huaiyu's phone away, she turned her head aside in a clumsy cover-up: "I don't know where you got this photo... I... I'll say it again, I've already broken up with Guan Yizhou, and we... you and I... are not friends either!" Song Huaiyu raised his chin slightly and tossed his phone back onto the table with an elegant motion. "Oh?" He narrowed the corners of his eyes. "Since you've already broken up, why are you still bringing up his name three times in every sentence?" Chi Mo couldn't understand it. Ten years had passed—why was she still sitting here, suffering humiliation from Guan Yizhou's friend? The very next second, she suddenly stood up. "Song Huaiyu! Don't go too far! Isn't it just because you think I'm not good enough for him? Fine! You guys must be satisfied now, right?! I'm dropping out, I'm stepping aside! I'm fucking done playing!"