Chi Shuo was silent on the way home, listening to slow love songs through her headphones, completely absent-minded. If He Xiuqi hadn’t reminded her, she almost missed her stop.
The reason was simple: work was exhausting, and she really didn’t have the energy to deal with anything else.
On the short walk to her apartment complex, she tried hard to concentrate but remained somewhat dazed. She didn’t even hear the bicycle bell ringing behind her until a passerby pulled her aside. Startled, she quickly apologized and thanked them.
The passerby kindly reminded her, “Next time, turn your phone volume down a bit.”
The person assumed she was listening to music, but only Chi Shuo knew she had turned it off when she got off the bus.
“Thanks,” Chi Shuo repeated, an apologetic smile on her face.
The passerby left. Chi Shuo didn’t linger and headed towards her apartment complex.
At 9 PM, the sky was completely dark. Trees grew within the complex, and even though it was late, the cicadas wouldn’t stop their racket, so noisy that Chi Shuo had no inclination to sleep.
She lay on the sofa for a while, feeling that her recent work stress might be too much. She needed a proper release.
She decided not to wait for the weekend. Right then, tonight, she came up with a way to de-stress and called Xia Zhou and Zeng Guai.
At 10 PM, the three met at an intersection. Chi Shuo wore a black slip dress. The wind caught the hem, making it sway, adding a touch of allure and shedding some of her usual workday seriousness.
Xia Zhou exclaimed, “Shuo Shuo, you didn’t tell us to dress like this!”
Not only was Chi Shuo dressed like that, but she had also put on rather glamorous makeup. Her beauty was striking at first glance. Hearing Xia Zhou’s words, she curved her lips, her smile even more captivating than usual.
Like a seductive fox spirit emerging only at night.
“Damn it!” Zeng Guai couldn’t take it anymore. “We came out for barbecue skewers! Aren’t you afraid that dress will be a pain to wash?”
Chi Shuo snorted, dropping her poised act. She lifted her chin. “I felt like it!”
Before settling on a late-night snack, Chi Shuo had considered going to a bar for drinks but chickened out at the last minute. After all, it wasn’t the weekend yet, and having too much fun might mean being late for work tomorrow and losing pay.
Life was hard enough already; losing pay on top of it would be an unbearable loss.
There was no such thing as buying happiness with a day’s wages; true happiness was seeing the money safely in her account.
The three sat down at a lively barbecue place. The wind still carried warmth, but without direct sunlight, Chi Shuo wasn’t as bothered. She just found the sticky breeze slightly uncomfortable.
The barbecue place wasn’t large, but many tables were set up outside. In the summer, people loved coming out for late-night beers, whether on weekends or weekdays. Consequently, the tables were nearly full now, filled with the sounds of finger-guessing games and chatter. Chi Shuo and her friends joined the fray, raising their glasses and clinking them together.
Xia Zhou habitually touched her ponytail again. All the food they’d ordered had arrived. Chi Shuo, for some reason, had gone a bit wild and ordered a ton of dishes. A single glance confirmed they couldn’t possibly finish it all, but they hadn’t been able to stop her when she was ordering.
Besides, anyone could see Chi Shuo was venting.
Sure enough, Chi Shuo barely ate anything herself before lowering her head slightly and letting out a small burp. Her body signaled it was teetering on the brink of fullness, yet she still clutched a delicious chicken wing skewer, reluctant to put it down.
Xia Zhou forcefully took it from her, frowning with concern. “Stop eating. Any more and your stomach will hurt.”
Zeng Guai nodded in agreement. “Yeah, Shuo Shuo. If you really want barbecue, there’s no rush. You can always take a break and eat more later.”
The glasses on the table were filled with orange juice. Chi Shuo picked one up and downed it with a dramatic expression. Anyone unaware might have thought she was drinking hard liquor.
Their table fell quiet. The surrounding noise seemed amplified, flooding into Chi Shuo’s mind. She propped her head up with both hands, closing her eyes to gather her thoughts.
Xia Zhou and Zeng Guai were still eating. After a moment, they saw Chi Shuo lift her head. A smudge of grease from the barbecue remained on her face, but she ignored it. Looking at her two friends, she asked, “Was I really awful this afternoon?”
Zeng Guai paused. She hadn’t been there and didn’t know what had happened. “What?”
Xia Zhou paused her actions, stunned for a moment, then shook her head. “Not awful.” She began to reflect. “Actually, sometimes I think we’re the awful ones. We know you don’t like He Lindi, yet we haven’t kept our distance and even became friends with her.”
Chi Shuo waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about me regarding that. She’s a good person, and it’s fine for you to be friends with her. That’s not awful at all.”
Zeng Guai tapped the table, asking excitedly, “What happened this afternoon? Don’t change the subject.”
Chi Shuo pressed her lips together without answering. Xia Zhou glanced at her, then explained to Zeng Guai, “It was after work. We ran into He Lindi in the elevator. When Shuo Shuo was about to leave, He Lindi grabbed her wrist and mentioned that Chi Shuo hadn’t driven her home. Shuo Shuo replied that it wasn’t raining now, so she wouldn’t drive He Lindi home.” She checked Chi Shuo’s expression again, and seeing it was normal, continued, “Then she just left.”
Zeng Guai looked bewildered. Her other hand was clean, so she used it to scratch her head, her mind filled with question marks. “Does that mean if it rains, Shuo Shuo, you have to drive her home?”
Chi Shuo nodded. “You could put it that way.” She paused. “Didn’t she drive us back that day it rained? In return, she made the same request of me.”
“…” Zeng Guai waved her hand. “But wasn’t that your agreement? The condition was when it rained. These past few days have been sunny. There’s nothing awful about you refusing, no need to feel guilty.”
Chi Shuo let out a breath. “I don’t feel guilty.”
“Then why did you ask about it?”
“I…” Chi Shuo stammered, offering no answer under their confused yet expectant gazes. Instead, she picked up her orange juice and took another sip.
Xia Zhou squinted from the side. “I think there’s another key point: why did she make that request of you, but never mentioned it to us?” She figured it out as she spoke. “I almost forgot, you two don’t exactly get along.”
Chi Shuo: “…”
It was past 11 PM when she got home. The lingering smell of barbecue wasn’t pleasant. Chi Shuo tossed the dress into the washing machine and headed to the bathroom for a shower.
Venting like that seemed to help. Drifting off to sleep, Chi Shuo thought groggily. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, her eyes snapped open again. She grabbed her phone and opened the weather forecast.
The forecast only showed the next eight days. Chi Shuo squinted, scanning from top to bottom, finally spotting the rain icon.
It was predicted for six days later—just light rain.
But that was better than solid sunshine. Relieved, Chi Shuo closed her eyes again and drifted off to sleep.
Even though she hadn’t done anything strenuous last night, she felt sore all over when she went to work the next day.
But the busyness of work made her forget about it until the lunch break, when Chi Shuo finally noticed she felt a bit unwell.
She rarely caught colds, but sitting in the office for long periods definitely took its toll.
After lunch, Chi Shuo returned to the company and napped under her jacket as usual.
After a while, her head was tapped lightly. Chi Shuo mumbled dazedly, “Mm? What is it?” without turning around.
She assumed it was Zeng Guai or Xia Zhou. But when the person spoke, she jolted.
It was He Lindi, holding a brand-new deck of cards. “Come play Landlord,” she said, looking at Chi Shuo. “If you lose, you drive me home today.”
“…”
Chi Shuo suddenly didn’t know how to respond. Had He Lindi become fixated on making her her chauffeur?
