Chapter 24.2

Zhou Chiyu was whispering to the classmate on the other side, plotting to sneak out the back door ten minutes before the end of class to head to the cafeteria. They were discussing whether to move their seats further back during the break to make their escape easier. But when they turned around, the three rows near the back door were already occupied by other students. All three let out a synchronized sigh of disappointment.

The girl sitting to Zhou Chiyu’s right poked the boy next to her: “I told you we should have moved our seats when class started!”

The boy snorted and tried to persuade her: “Forget it, it’s only ten minutes. We can just walk faster. If everyone runs out of the classroom, it’ll be embarrassing for the teacher. Look at him; he’s already pitiful enough.”

He pointed to his head with a look of sympathy. The teacher on the podium was middle-aged, and his hair was not cooperating—there was a bald patch in the middle, yet he had a wild, unrestrained hairstyle. When the wind blew outside, it turned into a bird’s nest on his head.

The girl was chilled by this dark joke and couldn’t help but poke him again. The two were playing around, and Zhou Chiyu quickly steadied her cup: “Hey, can you two go outside if you want to fight? You’re about to knock my cup over.”

Hua Luoyue watched the lively scene for a bit and then silently turned her gaze away. Truly full of vitality. But this kind of vitality did indeed make one feel better just by watching it.

The group ended up sitting properly until the end of class. When the bell rang, only about half the class remained. The teacher closed his book, said “Class dismissed,” and the remaining students rushed out like arrows from a bow.

Hua Luoyue was the last to leave. Cai Xinyue was already waiting ​unauthorized copy​for her at the door. She had run into Zhou Chiyu’s group first and had stopped to chat for a bit. By the time Hua Luoyue walked out, they had already made peace.

“Luoyue, over here!” Cai Xinyue saw Hua Luoyue and immediately waved.

Cai Xinyue had clearly gone back for a nap; a tuft of hair was sticking up at the back of her head, but she seemed to be in a better mood.

“I found a newly opened barbecue place with good reviews. Let’s try it tonight,” Cai Xinyue said, showing Hua Luoyue her phone. “It’s quite close to your place, in the mall diagonally opposite. If we go now, we shouldn’t have to wait in line, and we can walk around the mall afterward.”

As they spoke, the two headed toward the school exit. Zhou Chiyu was going the same way, so she walked with them for a bit.

Cai Xinyue remembered her after a moment and asked, “Do you want to come eat with us?”

Zhou Chiyu shook her head. “No, I promised Jiajia we’d see a movie tonight. The tickets are already bought. Maybe next time.”

Before they parted, Zhou Chiyu sensed something and whispered to Hua Luoyue: “Cai Xinyue still seems like she’s in a bad mood. Is there something else? Stay with her tonight and keep an eye on her…”

Hua Luoyue glanced at Cai Xinyue and nodded. On the surface, she didn’t look distressed, unauthorized copy but compared to her usual self, she was obviously not in high spirits. Even Zhou Chiyu could see the anomaly; her bad mood was quite evident.

As it turned out, Zhou Chiyu’s concern was necessary.

The two entered the barbecue place. It wasn’t very crowded yet, so the servers were even more enthusiastic, pointing to the menu and recommending signature dishes one by one. Finally, for the drinks, they emphasized the restaurant’s supposedly homemade osmanthus wine.

Cai Xinyue made the decision: “We’ll have that, then. Two bottles!”

Hua Luoyue asked, “You know how to drink?”

Cai Xinyue nodded first, then paused and said uncertainly, “I’ve only had beer. Three or four bottles isn’t a problem.”

Hua Luoyue let out a sigh. Before she could say anything, the enthusiastic server had already brought the glasses and wine. With a quick movement, the bottle caps were popped, and a rich fragrance immediately filled the air. Seeing the wine already poured into the glasses, Hua Luoyue couldn’t very well say no anymore, so she only reminded Cai Xinyue: “Drink a bit less.”

Cai Xinyue clearly didn’t take it to heart. She took a small sip from her glass and looked surprised: “It’s sweet…” She then took another sip and smacked her lips. “I thought it would have that sharp, spicy taste like baijiu.”

It tasted like a sweet fruit wine; the alcohol taste was hidden under the osmanthus fragrance and [bailiantales.com]sweetness. Cai Xinyue sounded a bit disappointed as she drank. “This doesn’t give me the feeling of ‘drowning my sorrows in alcohol’ at all…”

Hua Luoyue’s lip twitched. So that was her plan.

Cai Xinyue wasn’t the type to get depressed easily. Having said that, once they started eating, her spirits improved a lot. While grilling the meat, she told Hua Luoyue about a dream she had this afternoon. You could also call it a memory.

Back in high school, there was a period where she had an argument with her family and ran away from home, not contacting anyone. At that time, it happened to be windy and rainy outside. She had come out wearing only a thin shirt and had to stand under an eave to avoid the rain. It wasn’t long before she felt regret. But she couldn’t bring herself to face them, fearing she’d look pitiful and lose face in front of her family. So, taking advantage of the rain easing up, she walked and stopped repeatedly, heading toward the outskirts of town.

While seeking shelter in the emergency staircase of a mall near the city outskirts, she was tired and sleepy, and ended up falling asleep until it was dark. She was finally woken up by the light of a flashlight and familiar crying. Opening her eyes, she first saw her mother with eyes red from crying, and her father and brother standing nearby, visibly relieved. It wasn’t surprising that her family had come looking for her, but Ye Zi was there too, wearing only a thin jacket and without an umbrella, soaked to the bone. As she stood under the eaves, water was still dripping from her.

Later, Cai Xinyue learned that Ye Zi was the one who found her. Upon hearing she was missing, Ye Zi had dropped her part-time job without a second thought and came out in the heavy rain to find her. Finally, remembering her old habit of wanting to go to her grandparents’ house in the rural outskirts whenever she felt wronged, Ye Zi had searched along that route. Seeing a familiar backpack by the roadside, she had found her.

It was an embarrassing piece of “dark history.” Cai Xinyue could no longer clearly remember exactly why she had decided to run away; it was likely just the clash of views with her parents during adolescence, and she had acted on impulse.

But she still remembered Ye Zi kneeling on the ground in the heavy rain, grabbing her collar and screaming that she was out of her mind. She cried and cursed at the same time, finally just repeating, “You scared me to death.” Her crying made Cai Xinyue’s heart tremble, and all her stubbornness and awkwardness shattered.

That kind of worry and concern was something Cai Xinyue had truly felt. So from then on, she never doubted the feelings between her and Ye Zi. At a unauthorized copy single word from Ye Zi, she would always do her best to help. For a long time, she thought they would be best friends for life.

“How did it end up like this?” Cai Xinyue muttered to herself while holding her glass, then turned her head away. “I don’t understand why.”

If there were still feelings, how could she turn and leave without a single word? Real life isn’t some melodramatic fantasy novel; there certainly wasn’t some lunatic around Ye Zi forcing her to break ties with everyone. Furthermore, she had only broken off all contact with Cai Xinyue; her life otherwise hadn’t changed much.

But if Ye Zi truly hated her, Cai Xinyue always thought of those past events.

Cai Xinyue took another sip of wine, looked up, and asked Hua Luoyue: “Do you think I did something that disappointed her?”

Hua Luoyue shook her head and said slowly, “She might not actually hate you.”

“Really?”

Hua Luoyue asked her, “Do you remember her ever doing anything to hurt you?”

Cai Xinyue shook her head, thought about it, and then said, “Except bailiantales.comfor leaving without a word at the end. We had an argument during the summer break before that; I thought she started hating me from then on.”

She didn’t specify what the argument was about, but… although the two had drifted apart, they hadn’t done anything to hurt each other. They hadn’t argued again; they just no longer spent every spare moment together like they used to.

Looking back later, Cai Xinyue realized that it always seemed to be her one-sided closeness, and Ye Zi might not have truly been willing to give her all her precious rest time. Thinking this way, Cai Xinyue suddenly felt that it was understandable for Ye Zi to dislike her.

Hua Luoyue said, “I don’t know what your friend was thinking, but aside from her leaving without a word at the end, she never seemed to want to make you unhappy.” At least that was how it seemed from Cai Xinyue’s account.

Cai Xinyue wasn’t a fool; she knew right from wrong. After so many years of friendship, she wouldn’t have been completely fooled from the start. Sincerity must have existed; the final decisiveness was also a fact.

“Human feelings aren’t static,” Hua Luoyue said. “If it were me, and I realized I had the thought of hurting someone I once liked very much, I would definitely stay far away from her.”

Cai Xinyue dazed for a long while, then asked out of the blue: “Did you have someone you liked before?”

Hua Luoyue used her hand to draw quotation marks in the air. “Not necessarily romantic. I’ve never been in a relationship.”

Normally, Cai Xinyue would have teased her bailiantales.com and asked for more, but today she wasn’t in the mood.

By the time Hua Luoyue noticed, Cai Xinyue had finished more than half the bottle of osmanthus wine and was reaching for the one on her side. Hua Luoyue didn’t like to drink, so her bottle hadn’t been touched since she poured half a glass.

Hua Luoyue looked up and saw Cai Xinyue nearly knocking the bottle to the floor. She was startled and quickly reached out to steady her, while using her other hand to wave in front of her eyes. “Do you still know who I am?”

Cai Xinyue took a moment before nodding. “Hua Luoyue…” Her voice was trembling slightly, and her hand didn’t find anything to grab, eventually patting her own forehead.

“I think I’m a bit dizzy.” Cai Xinyue tried to stand up, holding the edge of the table to lift herself slightly, then immediately sat back down. She flopped her head onto the edge of the table and didn’t move. After a while, a muffled voice came out: “I’ll rest for a bit.”

Her ears were already burning red. She had clearly had too much to drink.

A moment later, when Hua Luoyue called her again, Cai Xinyue didn’t respond. Fortunately, her breathing was steady. But it wasn’t a strong wine, and she hadn’t drunk that much—how could she have such a strong reaction?

Hua Luoyue was a bit concerned and called a server to ask. The server was also startled, looked at the wine bottle, confirmed it was the wine they sold, and explained: “The alcohol content of this wine is very low, just a few degrees higher than the alcoholic drinks in the supermarket. And the quantity isn’t much. It might be a matter of personal constitution…”

She then paused, quickly glanced left and right, and seeing no one noticed, whispered a bit awkwardly, “Actually, Read on BaiLianTales this isn’t brewed in our shop. It’s bought in the mall. Wait a second—”

Not long after, she brought the manager over, who brought a bottle of wine in different packaging. It was indeed the kind of osmanthus wine often seen in supermarkets, only the shop had put it in different packaging.

Hua Luoyue took a sip from her glass, nodded, and her furrowed brow relaxed slightly. She didn’t like to drink, but she had had many expensive wines. This osmanthus wine definitely wasn’t brewed by this shop, but there wouldn’t be much of a problem with wine produced in a regular factory.

Most likely, Cai Xinyue was just a lightweight.

The server brought a glass of honey lemon water and fed a bit to the half-asleep Cai Xinyue. After waiting a bit longer, Cai Xinyue slowly woke up.

“Where is this?” Cai Xinyue looked at the ceiling blankly.

“The place where we’re eating.” Hua Luoyue saw she was drunk and regretted not stopping her from ordering the wine earlier. The shopping trip was obviously cancelled, and staying in the shop would affect business. It was peak mealtime, and quite a few people were already looking their way; some even held up their phones to sneak a video.

Hua Luoyue frowned, spoke to the manager, and called a server over to pay the bill. The manager didn’t want a scene either, so he quickly said the meal was on the house, while personally escorting the two to the door and helping them into a taxi by the roadside.

Hua Luoyue offered an apology and prioritized looking after Cai Xinyue.

Once in the car, Hua Luoyue had originally wanted to give the school’s address, but looking at Cai Xinyue sitting crookedly and thinking of the bunk beds in the dorm, she changed her mind at the last second and gave her apartment’s address.

I must never let Cai Xinyue drink again in the future.

By the time she had struggled to drag Cai Xinyue to her front door, that was the only thought left in Hua Luoyue’s mind.

Just now in the elevator, Cai Xinyue couldn’t hold back her emotions anymore and had started crying loudly on her shoulder. Fortunately, there weren’t many people in the elevator at the time, so things didn’t escalate further. By the time they reached the door, Cai Xinyue was only sobbing softly.

Hua Luoyue gave her room to her. After dragging her through a quick wash, she tossed her onto the bed. She herself took a blanket to the living room sofa to make do for the night. The sofa could be pulled out, so an adult could fit just fine. The living room was spacious, but with the floor heating on, it wasn’t that cold.

Hua Luoyue showered, dried her hair, and flopped onto the sofa. She thought she had come out early, but by the time she was done, it was quite late. She squinted at her phone, then tossed it aside, hugged a pillow, and tucked herself into the blanket.

Not long after she closed her eyes, the phone screen on the coffee table lit up with a new message. But Hua Luoyue had already fallen asleep.

When Cai Xinyue woke up again, she spent a full five minutes thinking ​bailiantales.com​about where she was. After running through criminal plots like human trafficking and organ harvesting in her mind, her memory of the previous night—starting from lunch—gradually returned.

Including how she had suddenly hit the table like a dead person, her contorted posture in the taxi, and the uninhibited way she had cried with snot and tears on Hua Luoyue’s shoulder…

Thank goodness Hua Luoyue didn’t throw me out on the spot.

Cai Xinyue covered her face in agony, feeling like a cooked crawfish.

It wasn’t until Hua Luoyue knocked on the door and called her from outside: “Get up for breakfast. Aren’t you going back to school soon?”

Cai Xinyue only then remembered she still had to go to school for makeup classes today, and immediately felt even more pain. But since she was in someone else’s home, she was too embarrassed to stay in bed. After running a hand through her hair, she steeled herself and got up.

Hua Luoyue was in the kitchen making breakfast. Hearing her come out, she reminded her: “There are disposable toiletries in the cabinet next to the sink. Help yourself.”

Cai Xinyue didn’t ask why there were so many disposable items. While squeezing toothpaste, she took a look at the layout of the apartment. She had only been here once before and had only taken a quick look; only now did she understand what that closed bedroom door meant. It seemed Hua Luoyue’s mysterious marriage partner wasn’t home. Cai Xinyue breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Looking further to the side, she noticed the sofa in the living room had been pulled out, and the blanket on it hadn’t been folded.

Cai Xinyue was stunned and asked, “You slept in the living room last night?”

Hua Luoyue was at the stove and said yes. She glanced back and added, “I got up late this morning and haven’t had time to tidy up.”

“It’s not a matter of tidying up,” Cai Xinyue muttered. “If there’s a next time, you can just throw me on the floor—as long as it’s not winter.”

“That won’t do,” Hua Luoyue said. “If you catch a cold and get sick, I’ll have one more patient to look after.”

Cai Xinyue brushed her teeth and said indistinctly, “I’m not that fragile.”

As they were speaking, the doorbell suddenly rang. Hua Luoyue couldn’t leave the fried eggs in the pan, so she told Cai Xinyue to get the door. Cai Xinyue didn’t think twice. Holding her toothbrush and with a mouth full of white foam, she rushed to the door.

Opening the door, a somewhat familiar-looking woman stood there. She was looking at the documents in her hand and said as soon as she opened her mouth: “Hua Luoyue, the hospital needs your signature on some paperwork. Will you have—”

The lack of response and the shadow of the person’s height seemed wrong. Assistant Li realized something was off while speaking. She looked up and met Cai Xinyue’s surprised gaze.

But Assistant Li was even more surprised. She even took a half-step back, looked up at the door number, and confirmed she hadn’t gone to the wrong place.

Hua Luoyue then walked out with a frying pan and called out, “Sister Li…”

Cai Xinyue finally remembered who she was—she had met her at the hospital not long ago, one of Hua Luoyue’s “sisters.” She instinctively stood up straight and followed suit: “Hello, Sister Li…”

Assistant Li’s brow furrowed. Her gaze moved past the person at the door, saw the pajamas Hua Luoyue was wearing, and then saw the messy sofa in the living room. Her frown deepened, and finally, she looked at Cai Xinyue with an almost accusing gaze.

“Why are you here?”