023

Seeing two tears falling from his handsome face, Bai Jing immediately became interested in learning and decided to try it with her boyfriend when she got home. She was sure the effect would be very good.

Xu Yu drank a whole glass of ice water: "I have to go back."

Bai Jing grabbed him and asked, "Your enemy?"

"no."

Wang Li also became interested: "Did you offend him?"

"No."

Wang Li: "Then why are you leaving? We're not interfering with each other. Are we going to hit you?"

Xu Yu's mind was in a mess. He didn't want others to know that he and Zhu Wenxu had an intimate relationship.

But Wang Li is not an outsider.

"No."

Bai Jing: "Then you..."

"He's my boyfriend."

"It's okay, it's just a male...what?"

As Wang Li was speaking, his eyes widened and he suddenly looked up, as if he had heard something extraordinary.

Boyfriend?

Xu Yu stubbornly stood up and turned around to see Zhu Wenxu at the stairs. He must have come over right after their eye contact, otherwise how could he have said so quickly in just two sentences?

"With friends?" Zhu Wenxu glanced at Wang Li and then looked at Xu Yu. "Are you leaving?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the waiter brought the dish, a plate of eel meat arranged in a flower-like pattern. Bai Jing raised an eyebrow: "No, but your boyfriend is afraid of you? He bullies you behind your back, right?"

There was a hint of mockery in his words, but no malice could be heard.

Assistant Zhou quickly walked up the stairs and whispered, "Mr. Zhu, everything is ready. We're waiting for you over there."

"I'll be right there."

Xu Yu stood still and said, "You go ahead and do your work."

"I'll be done in about an hour. If possible, could you wait for me?"

Even if the other party urged him, he asked slowly and calmly, and waited patiently for a reply.

Seeing Xu Yu stunned, Zhu Wenxu changed his tone: "I'll ask Zhou Ming to take you there."

"No need." Xu Yu shook his head. "You go ahead and do your work. I'll wait for you."

Zhu Wenxu then turned around to look at Xu Yu, and turned back again when he went down the stairs, and finally entered the box with a large butterfly door on the first floor.

Back at his seat, Xu Yu had lost his appetite. He felt strange. He had been so happy when they confirmed their relationship, but he didn't want anyone to know about it.

While they were talking, Bai Jing answered the phone and went to the bathroom. Wang Li moved over and took a sip of the blue rum that had just been delivered. It was mixed and sweet.

"What's going on?"

Xu Yu closed his eyes slightly: "I don't want to talk about this now."

"That's fine. You have to be more vigilant. I'll tell you if I find out where Xi Jiang is going next." Wang Li said, "If you need anything, come to me."

This sentence comes from the heart.

Xu Yu nodded.

At eight o'clock in the evening, the music in the restaurant will be replaced by a retro film gramophone, with a slower pitch, and the environment seems to be infinitely stretched.

The dishes that followed were served even slower. Bai Jing didn't come back for a long time. He held his head and said, "Something happened at my flower shop. I have to go out. I've already told the manager here. Please put it on my bill. You can all you want to eat."

Wang Li propped up his head and said, "I won't see you off."

"No need." Bai Jing took out his phone, "Xu Yu, add me on WeChat."

Xu Yu scanned WeChat, and the three of them said goodbye. Wang Li ordered two more glasses of rum. After drinking them, he took a big mouthful of foie gras and chewed it slowly. "Are you coming back to Tingfeng?"

"I want it back."

He has not yet completely gotten rid of Xi Jiang and has not yet gained complete freedom.

"If you reply later, send me a message. I'll go back and have a drink with you when I'm done." Wang Li frowned. "I wanted to have a drink with you yesterday."

Xu Yu didn't refuse: "Okay, let's go back and drink together."

After three cups of wine, an hour passed before Zhu Wenxu appeared in the hall again, followed by an old man and a middle-aged man. He was talking to the girl next to him. They were all dressed very luxuriously, not to mention their manners.

Wang Li's frown deepened. Xu Yu next to him was cutting steak and didn't pay any attention to Zhu Wenxu and his expression.

Wang Li grabbed his coat and said, "Zhu Wenxu will come to pick you up. I have something to do, so I'll leave first."

"So suddenly?"

"Leave."

Wang Li didn't explain. He just took his things and went downstairs. Not long after, Zhu Wenxu came up with a bunch of roses in his hand and placed them directly in Xu Yu's hand: "Happy Valentine's Day."

Xu Yu slowly came back to his senses: "Is today Valentine's Day?"

Zhu Wenxu smiled and said, "Yes, let's go home."

"I haven't given you a gift yet."

"Why not?" Zhu Wenxu said, "I have already received it."

What's the meaning?

Xu Yu took two steps and stopped. He realized what Zhu Wenxu meant belatedly and almost lost his balance.

"I don't want to have sex yet." Things were moving too fast.

This time, it was Zhu Wenxu's turn to lose his balance. His voice became softer: "It's not about that... Let's go back first."

He's not that dirty.

"good."

They left the hotel one after another. Zhu Wenxu went to drive the car. The rain had become much lighter, but the water on the ground was enough to wet his trouser legs just by standing there for a while.

While waiting for the bus, Xu Yu checked his phone, which he usually kept on silent mode, so he just relied on vibration.

Wei Pei'er posted a selfie and someone slapped her in the face.

One of his exes came over and hit me when Xi Jiang was no longer around. I hit him back, and I just found out it was the youngest daughter of the Sun family. What should I do now? I'm so scared.

[The last time I saw her, she took a fancy to the pearl necklace I wanted to buy. Xi Jiang asked me to give it to her, but I didn't dare say anything and gave it to her.]

The youngest daughter of the Sun family?

Sun Xuefan?

Xu Yu remembered her. She had been abroad for many years, and would follow Xi Jiang whenever she came back. Wherever Xi Jiang was, she would be there. She had handled several of Xi Jiang's partners before. It was also when she was mocking Xu Yu that she told herself that the person Xi Jiang loved liked diamonds.

This girl was even more difficult to deal with and had a bad temper. Assistant Zhao followed her for a few days and came back in tears wanting to quit.

Fortunately, Sun Xuefan returned to the UK not long after, and Assistant Zhao changed his mind about resigning.

[After you come back, pretend nothing happened. If she asks you about it, just say you fell. Make your hair a little messier and your eyes a little more determined. Don't avoid her gaze.]

Ever since they reconciled, Wei Pei'er has listened carefully to Xu Yu's suggestions, and even practiced her facial expression management in the bathroom, so that she can always control Xi Jiang steadily.

Wei Pei'er knew to be cautious. She cleared her chat history as usual and began to clean up as if nothing had happened. Xi Jiang didn't come back until after ten o'clock. He hadn't drunk anything. He took off his coat and watch and threw them aside, then sat on the sofa and stroked his hair.

"Pour me a glass of water."

Wei Pei'er went.

Xi Jiang drank some water and immediately noticed the lingering red mark on Wei Pei'er's face from the slap. He put down the water cup and sank into the soft sofa, his eyes indifferent: "How did it happen?"

Wei Pei'er was clearing the table, and her voice didn't contain a trace of grievance: "It fell."

Xi Jiang narrowed his eyes and waved at her: "Come here."

Seeing his lazy expression, Wei Pei'er slowly walked over and gave him her hand, and then he was pressed into her arms.

Xi Jiang played with Wei Pei'er's hair, and Wei Pei'er lay quietly in his arms, just like many times when Wei Pei'er was wronged.

"Are you angry?"

Wei Pei'er shook her head: "I'm just afraid that you will be embarrassed."

The moment his brows were slightly furrowed, his eyes drooped, losing their previous inattention and replaced by a kind of indifference.

If she had just arrived, Wei Pei'er might have been scared, but she had been with Xi Jiang for so long, so she naturally had a suitable way to deal with it. Besides, Xu Yu had reminded her to be more resolute.

After staring at each other for a few minutes, Xi Jiang suddenly kissed her forehead and spoke as intimately as when they were first falling in love: "Do you want to get married?"

Wei Pei'er's heart was almost in turmoil. She buried her face in Xi Jiang's arms and closed her eyes: "You have been so busy recently. I don't want you to be too tired."

"Be obedient." Xi Jiang hugged her for a while, "I'll go take a shower first."

…

On the way home, Xu Yu and Zhu Wenxu started to rain again. When they got home, they each went back to their room to take a shower.

Because he had eaten a lot in the Greek hotel, Xu Yu was not hungry, so he found two foreign books on war and love.

Zhu Wenxu came out to drink some water after finishing his work and saw Xu Yu reading a book on the sofa. "Are you still going to the movies today?"

Last night was really embarrassing, so today I'll just take it as a way to avenge myself.

Xu Yu tried his best to control his expression: "Look, be more normal."

Zhu Wenxu understood what was going on and took out a box of movies. Fearing that it might be something improper, he searched online in advance and found out that it was an inspirational story, so he immediately inserted the DVD.

The dragon logo pops up. Because it is a dubbed film, the previous content is very slow. It tells the story of a genius who appeared in an unremarkable school, but this genius was regarded as a monster by everyone. He had only one friend, Max, who was in a wheelchair.

The two became friends, planning their future, their college majors, and their jobs at the best companies in the U.S. Unfortunately, Max died that winter.

The genius almost collapsed, but finally relied on the memory of Max to study hard and was admitted to Harvard.

Xu Yu could predict any development. He watched the genius in the movie, both devastated and relieved, and couldn't help but wonder at the end: what happens next? In the dead of night, will the genius have to rely on Max to survive because of the loss of Max?

Wasn't the one who died a genius?

"How can he forget it in the future..." Xu Yu turned around and saw Zhu Wenxu with tears on his face.

His eyes were red when he cried, and he looked especially softer than his usual cold appearance. Then he turned sideways and hugged Xu Yu.

Xu Yu guessed that Zhu Wenxu didn't want him to see his expression, so he took the initiative to hug him back. The long ending song was very depressing. It was already half past one when the screen went black.

Zhu Wenxu felt much better. After drinking a glass of water, he came out of his previous mood.

It turns out he has such strong empathy.

Xu Yu reminded: "Don't think about it, go to sleep first."

Zhu Wenxu hummed a nod and followed him back to his room. Before leaving, Xu Yu wanted to say a few words of comfort, but the words kept turning over and over in her mouth, but she couldn't find the right one. So she simply went back to her room, grabbed her phone, and sent him the playlist she'd been listening to.

[Listen to some songs, go to bed early, good night.]

The app responded when the playlist was received, and a pop-up window would appear showing the other party's access history. Xu Yu clicked on his profile picture and entered the music homepage, where she saw a handful of playlists and dozens of favorite songs.

When Xu Yu is in a bad mood, he listens to music. He likes slow songs very much and uses them to adjust his mood.

A 98% figure suddenly popped up in the upper right corner of the fatigue indicator. Initially uninterested, Xu Yu clicked on the favorites list.

The songs in it are all checked in rows, and a swipe to the left will show the comparison of the number of times the songs have been listened to.

He is actually on par with him.

“…”

Such a fate?

Xu Yu opened the mind map and wrote down Zhu Wenxu's listening style at the back.

It was the same as every morning. In the morning, only Xu Yu and Wang Li posted pictures, and he had already gone to the countryside to join the crew to shoot a documentary.

Xu Yu returned to his residence and dug out his computer which had been squeezed out for a long time. This time it started up so slowly that it seemed like it would soon be completely scrapped.

He logged into Weibo for a long time. This time, there were a lot of messages. Many girls were looking for good matches, and some were advertisements for Guangshang Investment. Scrolling down, he saw Wei Pei'er's account.

She is still updating her Weibo, but not as frequently as before. The most recent one was last week, where she was in a jeweled banquet hall, holding up a glass of champagne, and occasionally moving an arm.

The comments were all praising her and her boyfriend for being so sweet, but she didn't reply to any of them this time.

Xu Yu flipped through the messages again and saw a profile picture of a girl with short hair. When he zoomed in, he saw her eyes. He scrolled around the web twice and found the picture was clearer.

Sun Xuefan?