On Saturday morning, Chi Shuo went to the company first to hand the documents to her supervisor before truly welcoming the weekend.
Upon returning home, she immediately collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep without even eating. After all, she hadn’t slept well for two consecutive nights. Others might have managed, but she couldn’t.
She slept for a long time, finally waking up gradually to Xia Zhou’s phone call.
It was already 7 PM. The sky outside held only faint remnants of daylight.
Xia Zhou roared into the phone, “Shuo Shuo! Are you a pig! You slept for nine hours!”
Chi Shuo squinted, adjusting to the phone’s light, checked the time, then put the phone face down, replying, “What’s wrong?”
“Weren’t we supposed to go for drinks tonight?” Xia Zhou sighed. “You’re still not awake.”
Chi Shuo closed her eyes again, her head feeling heavy from sleep. She murmured softly, “Got it. Aren’t we meeting at nine? Still two hours left, plenty of time.” She repeated, “Plenty of time.”
“I was afraid it wouldn’t be enough time if I didn’t call.”
Chi Shuo rubbed her eyes and said again, “Got it. I’ll get up soon, eat something, get ready, and come.”
The call ended quickly.
She hadn’t felt it while asleep, but now awake, hunger enveloped her. Chi Shuo curled up, easing the stomach ache.
She had been hungry for too long.
After feeling a bit better, she quickly ordered takeout, then got up to shower, having sweated a lot while sleeping.
Xia Zhou was actually right. Without that call, Chi Shuo might have unconsciously stood them up. After all… her personal sleep record was sixteen hours straight, without waking up once.
The drinking spot was a bar. Chi Shuo got dressed up and left home.
This bar wasn’t in a popular area, somewhat remote. It took Chi Shuo half an hour by car, but due to its good decor or handsome waiters, among various reasons, it was quite popular.
She arrived at 8:50 PM, paid the fare, got out, and looked around, searching for Xia Zhou and Zeng Guai.
She was slightly nearsighted, but not severely enough to usually wear glasses or contacts. But now it was night. Even with the bright lights from surrounding shops, finding her two friends among the passing crowd wasn’t easy.
Luckily, finding her was easy. Because she had just messaged that she was getting out of the car, Zeng Guai had been watching the vehicles by the roadside until she saw a familiar figure emerge.
Company rules were much stricter; short skirts and shorts weren’t allowed because many people from other companies came for business talks, making employee attire important.
But after work, there were no restrictions; anything went.
Chi Shuo today had also changed from her usual work attire, wearing a high-waisted beige pleated skirt that only reached one-third of the way down her thigh, making her legs look long, her waist thin, and radiating youthfulness.
Zeng Guai waved at Chi Shuo. “Shuo Shuo! Over here!”
Her voice was loud, and Chi Shuo’s hearing was sharp. She heard it immediately and turned to look at her.
Zeng Guai lowered her waving hand, watching Chi Shuo walk towards them. She remarked to Xia Zhou, “I’m so jealous. Shuo Shuo is really such a beautiful girl.”
Xia Zhou lifted the corner of her lip, her gaze sweeping over Chi Shuo’s face and figure, her tone questioning, “You only just realized?”
“No, I thought so the first time I saw her.”
Xia Zhou smiled. “I only started talking to her back then because she was pretty.”
Zeng Guai’s eyes lit up. “What about me?”
“Didn’t you just butt into the conversation yourself?” Xia Zhou teased.
“Bah!”
While they chatted, Chi Shuo drew closer, smiling the whole way.
The late summer evening breeze was worth enjoying—not cold, not hot, just the right temperature.
When Chi Shuo reached them, Zeng Guai grinned. “Wait a bit longer, Yue Ke isn’t here yet.”
Chi Shuo nodded and looked questioningly at Xia Zhou. “Didn’t you have dinner together?”
She had assumed Yue Ke would arrive with Xia Zhou.
Xia Zhou habitually touched her ponytail again and replied, “We did eat together, but he had to go home for something urgent, and I needed to go home to do my makeup, so we agreed to meet here.”
Just as Xia Zhou finished speaking, her phone rang from her bag. It was Yue Ke.
“We haven’t gone in yet.”
“What? Your cousin wants to come too?”
“Wait, let me ask them.”
She finished speaking, turned to look at Chi Shuo and Zeng Guai, and asked, “Yue Ke says his cousin wants to come.”
Chi Shuo: “…”
Zeng Guai: “Let Didi come!”
Xia Zhou didn’t reply immediately but asked Chi Shuo with her eyes. Only after Chi Shuo nodded did she say to Yue Ke, “Okay, you guys be careful.”
Chi Shuo’s feelings were complicated. She felt like she might suffer from insomnia again tonight.
It was based on experience—the past two days had been like this.
“Ai.” Chi Shuo let out a faint sigh. Right now, whether her eyes were open or closed, all she saw was He Lindi acting cute towards her in the car last night. She hadn’t fully recovered, and now she had to face He Lindi again.
Couldn’t she at least get some mental preparation? If she had known earlier, perhaps she wouldn’t be so flustered.
Truly flustered, because Chi Shuo realized she had absolutely no resistance to any of He Lindi’s requests.
Like during the business trip to Beijing, He Lindi made her pull her up and held onto her arm saying she was scared.
Like when He Lindi drove her home in the rain but then demanded “compensation,” Chi Shuo agreed without much hesitation.
Or like last night, when she had been quite determined about deleting each other on WeChat, but He Lindi’s four words, “Please,” made her completely crumble upon parting.
What was going on? Chi Shuo fell silent. Xia Zhou and Zeng Guai didn’t disturb her. After an unknown amount of time, maybe about ten minutes, Xia Zhou received a message: Yue Ke said they had arrived.
Zeng Guai touched Chi Shuo’s arm, reminding her, “They’re here, over there.”
Chi Shuo finally snapped back to reality. Following the direction Zeng Guai pointed, she saw the tall, thin Yue Ke and He Lindi standing beside him.
He Lindi had her hair in a bun. With her round head and small face, this style made her look like a high school student. She was also wearing a pleated skirt, about the same length as Chi Shuo’s.
Apart from their hairstyles, the rest of their outfits were basically identical. Zeng Guai glanced suspiciously at Chi Shuo but couldn’t bring herself to ask, “Did you coordinate this?”
Since Yue Ke and Xia Zhou were already boyfriend and girlfriend, they naturally stood together, drifting further from the main group as they walked inside. Yue Ke even occasionally lowered his head to whisper in Xia Zhou’s ear.
The remaining three: “…”
Zeng Guai was the most awkward one, standing between Chi Shuo and He Lindi, feeling the hardships and difficulties of life.
If she had another chance, she definitely wouldn’t have come here for drinks tonight.
Only after entering the bar did Zeng Guai awkwardly speak, breaking the silence, “What are you guys drinking later?”
Chi Shuo: “Whiskey.”
He Lindi: “Watermelon juice.”
Hearing this, Zeng Guai inwardly lamented, “Being human is so hard,” but outwardly, she still tried to liven up the atmosphere. “I’ll have peach wine. Their homemade stuff is quite good.”
Chi Shuo pressed her lips together and said, “Whatever you guys want.” She pointed to a spot. “I’ll go sit at my usual place.”
Zeng Guai said, “Okay.” She turned, wanting to ask He Lindi if she wanted to go with her.
But before she could even open her mouth, she heard He Lindi say, “I’ll go with her.”
Zeng Guai was dumbfounded. “Huh?”
She felt puzzled. When did these two former love rivals become so…
Zeng Guai couldn’t find the word again.
He Lindi’s eyes curved as she gave a reason, “She’s too beautiful tonight. I’m worried.”
