Chapter 50

◎A Distance That Is Clearly Defined◎

"Yeah, why are you all standing? Sit down. Everyone, make yourselves at home and pick your own songs," Xie Wanzhi said, gesturing to everyone. "I'll go order some drinks and snacks for everyone first. Anyone want to come with me?"

Several girls followed Xie Wanzhi out, while the rest found seats.

Zhan Xinyue found a spot on the side and had just placed the gift bag she brought on the table. Before she could even sit down, Xin Wenhua teased, "Xinyue, why are you hiding so far away? Why don't you sit next to Brother Shen?"

Zhan Xinyue didn't answer and sat down directly. After sitting down, she saw Shi Ziqian still standing at the door, his gaze lingering on Xu Shen for a long time before he followed her in and sat down not far from her.

Xin Wenhua continued to tease her with a laugh: "Xinyue, that's not good of you. Look, Brother Shen has chased you all the way here, how come you don't appreciate it at all?"

Xu Shen quickly stepped forward, hooked his arm around his neck, and pulled him to sit down beside him, saying, "To be honest, I actually came here after you today. Can you sit with me?"

Xin Wenhua shuddered and broke free: "I'll decline, I don't have that kind of hobby."

"Then you really hurt my feelings." Xu Shen let go of him, put down the microphone and stood up. "Everyone who hasn't requested a song, please do so. I'll make room for you." Then he naturally walked over to Zhan Xinyue and sat down next to her.

"Tsk, and you still say you didn't come chasing the new moon?" Xin Wenhua chuckled.

Xu Shen smiled and turned to Zhan Xinyue: "What song would you like to request? Do you need me to request one for you?"

Zhan Xinyue shook her head.

Xu Shen raised an eyebrow: "What does shaking your head mean? Don't you want to sing, or don't you want me to choose for you?"

Zhan Xinyue said, "I don't want any of them."

“Alright,” Xu Shen said, “Let them sing.” He smiled and gestured to the other side, “Don’t be shy, everyone pick a song.”

Zhan Xinyue couldn't help but mock him sarcastically: "You have quite the host's demeanor. If I didn't know it was Xie Wanzhi's birthday today, I would have thought it was your birthday."

Xu Shen, completely oblivious to the mockery, still smiled and said, "What's the rush? My birthday is in December, and I'll invite you all then."

His nonsensical replies turned their conversation into a childish bickering, so Zhan Xinyue shut up and refused to talk to him anymore.

Seeing that she remained silent, Xu Shen leaned closer to examine her expression: "Really not going to sing?"

Zhan Xinyue still shook her head.

Xu Shen then crossed his arms and leaned back, saying, "Then I won't sing either."

Zhan Xinyue said, "If you don't want to sing, then don't sing. It's not like I asked you to."

Xu Shen drawled, "That's not right. Although you didn't call me that, it's still related to you in some way."

"What?"

“I ran into Xie Wanzhi yesterday after my evening class. She asked me if I wanted to come over, and I said yes.”

Zhan Xinyue frowned: "So what is our relationship?"

Xu Shen glanced at Shi Ziqian through her, then leaned close to her ear and lowered his voice, saying in a tone only she could hear, "Xie Wanzhi said she would create an opportunity for me, so of course I'm coming."

He finished speaking quickly, then leaned back and swung his leg as if nothing had happened.

Zhan Xinyue remained silent for a moment, looking ahead as if she hadn't heard. She suddenly noticed that Shi Ziqian on the other side was also silent, so she turned to him and asked, "Do you want to request a song?"

Shi Ziqian looked over, his gaze strange, seemingly lost in thought, before finally shaking his head after a long pause.

She said "Oh" and turned back.

Xu Shen followed her question and looked over, his gaze sweeping across Shi Ziqian's face before quickly looking away, a smile playing on his lips: "Aren't you going to request any songs? Are you planning to sit here as mascots?"

Xie Wanzhi booked a very large private room today, and even with about ten people sitting inside, it still looked sparse.

The classmates in the class are neither particularly close nor distant; they rarely hang out together. Right now, everyone is chatting in small groups, but no one is too shy to sing first.

They fell silent as well. Xu Shen seemed indifferent, swinging his legs leisurely, but Zhan Xinyue felt uneasy. She had Xu Shen sitting to her right and Shi Ziqian to her left, and it felt a little strange.

Fortunately, the door to the private room was pushed open at that moment, and Xie Wanzhi and the others returned, followed by a waiter pushing a cart.

The waiter laid out milk tea, juice, and various snacks on the table, then pointed to the menu on the table: "We have barbecue and drinks. Just call me if you need anything."

"No need for drinks, let's have milk tea, but barbecue is fine." Xie Wanzhi looked at everyone, "Let's all have some barbecue, none of us have had dinner yet, so please don't be shy."

Many people were hungry at this time and gathered around to look at the menu.

Xie Wanzhi watched everyone order food with a smile. Suddenly, she noticed that Zhan Xinyue and the other two were sitting side by side without moving, so she asked, "Why are you all just sitting here? Order what you want to eat. Why are you all being so polite?"

Xu Shen looked ahead and said, "Don't worry, I won't be polite. I just think everyone's ordering is enough, so I won't join in the fun."

Right now, over there, a group of people led by Xin Wenhua and Lu Meng are gesturing wildly at the menu like tigers descending a mountain, clearly intending to order everything on it.

Xie Wanzhi looked in that direction and hissed, wanting to say something but holding back.

After everyone had ordered their food, Xie Wanzhi invited everyone to sing. This time, everyone looked at each other and laughed non-stop, but still hesitated and no one got up first.

Xin Wenhua was busy looking through snacks on the table when Xie Wanzhi noticed her and said, "All you do is eat. Hurry up and go order a song."

Xin Wenhua quickly said, "I'm afraid my singing will scare you. You guys sing first. I'm starving and need to eat something."

Xie Wanzhi rolled her eyes at him, then handed the microphone around to everyone, but no one took it. Finally, her gaze fell on Xu Shen: "Brother Shen, I know, is it because you're here today that everyone's too embarrassed to sing? You're such a good singer, why don't you set an example?"

While tearing open a bag of potato chips and stuffing them into his mouth, Xin Wenhua chimed in, "Yeah, Brother Shen, you have a solo performance at the arts festival, right? Let us hear a sneak peek!"

“You know that?” Xu Shen didn’t hesitate and stood up. “Okay, then I’ll pick one first, but the one we’re going to sing at the arts festival isn’t very interesting. It was assigned by the teacher, so I’ll sing something else.” Everyone nodded.

Xu Shen then selected a song. He had a very good voice, a clear and gentle young voice. As soon as he opened his mouth, someone gasped softly.

When the song ended, everyone applauded, their eyes filled with enthusiasm as they looked at him. Xu Shen scratched his head, put the microphone back on the table, turned his head to Zhan Xinyue, and whispered, "Your class is so enthusiastic, I'm almost embarrassed."

"Who's next?" Xie Wanzhi looked around, but because Xu Shen sang so well, no one else dared to speak up. So she said, half helplessly, "I'll go next."

She went to the front to select a song, and glared at Xu Shen as she passed by. "It's all your fault! You started the song so high that no one dared to sing anymore. I knew I shouldn't have called you. I'm not a very good singer, so please don't laugh at me."

Xie Wanzhi was being modest; she was actually quite good at singing, having often dragged Zhan Xinyue to karaoke in her past life. She chose a sweet little song, her voice incredibly sweet as she sang. After she finished, everyone applauded enthusiastically: "Wow, this is the first time I've heard Wanwan sing! I didn't expect you to sing so well. Why didn't you sign up for the arts festival?"

Xin Wenhua said, "Xue, I never knew you could sing so well. You two sing so well, how could we possibly ask to sing?"

Xie Wanzhi smiled, pursing her lips, "My singing is just so-so, you guys are too good at talking. Come on, everyone, please request a song."

With the two of them warming up the atmosphere, everyone stopped being shy and stood up to request songs. They then shared microphones with each other, and the atmosphere became much more relaxed.

Xie Wanzhi handed out milk tea to everyone, then sat down and asked them, "Would you like to play something?"

Xu Shen said, "Sure, shall we play dice?"

Xie Wanzhi was very interested: "Sure, but I only know how to play a little bit."

Xu Shen: "It's okay, just play around. I can teach you."

Zhan Xinyue didn't object. She did learn to play dice from Xu Shen the first time, but she quickly surpassed him. Xu Shen could never beat her after that. It's still uncertain who will teach whom today.

Xie Wanzhi glanced at Shi Ziqian, then looked at Zhan Xinyue and Xu Shen, and said with a smile, "Okay, shall we play as a group of four? But just playing like this isn't good, right? There should be a punishment for the loser, right? The loser has to sing?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Shi Ziqian suddenly stood up, said "I'm going to the restroom," and went straight out.

Xie Wanzhi's smile froze on her face, her expression somewhat awkward.

Zhan Xinyue also sensed that the atmosphere was a bit off. Shi Ziqian seemed to be in a bad mood, even though he was fine at school. She didn't know what was wrong.

Xu Shen casually picked up the dice from the side and placed them on the table: "Then let's play as a trio."

The three of them played for a while. Xie Wanzhi only knew a little bit and was not focused on the game, so she kept losing. If they really followed the rule of singing a song for every loss, she would already owe seven or eight songs. Finally, she begged for mercy: "I'm not playing with you two anymore. I can't beat you. You guys can play by yourselves."

Just then, the barbecue that everyone had ordered arrived, and everyone crowded around to eat it. For a moment, no one sang anymore, and Xie Wanzhi took the opportunity to leave the two of them behind and squeeze into the middle of everyone.

Xu Shen mocked her, "Looks like she's planning to renege on the song she owes. Oh well, let's ignore her and continue? I'm still more looking forward to hearing you sing."

Zhan Xinyue said, "Then you probably won't hear me. You can't beat me."

Xu Shen: "Oh? So confident? Then I'll have to give it a try."

Seeing his eager expression, Zhan Xinyue glanced at the time and stood up first: "Wait a minute, I need to go to the restroom too."

After leaving the private room, Zhan Xinyue didn't rush to the restroom. Instead, she found a quiet spot in the corridor and made a phone call.

She hadn't forgotten the important matter. Last night, Zhan Wei had specifically instructed her that the store should set up a tea break table for the opening tomorrow, and that she should order some small cakes according to her own taste.

Because she was worried about this, she secretly brought her phone with her to school today.

She had already contacted the cake shop during her lunch break, and now she needed to call again to confirm.

After answering the phone, she confirmed all the details with the other party to make sure there were no problems before she felt relieved.

Zhan Wei has been even busier than before this week, all to ensure that nothing goes wrong on opening day. She's only been entrusted with such a small task, so there can't be any problems.

After hanging up the phone, she continued walking towards the restroom. A tall figure walked towards her in the narrow corridor, one hand in his pocket. Before she could see his face clearly, she recognized him from his figure as Shi Ziqian, who had been out for a while.

As they passed each other, Zhan Xinyue casually asked, "Is the restroom up ahead?"

Shi Ziqian gave a faint "hmm".

She didn't notice anything amiss and nodded, "Then you should go back quickly, they're having barbecue."

Shi Ziqian suddenly called out to her: "Zhan Xinyue."

"Hmm?" Zhan Xinyue turned her head.

He looked at her for a moment, then asked cryptically, "Why did you ask me to come along yesterday?"

Unaware of the situation, Zhan Xinyue truthfully replied, "Xie Wanzhi asked me to ask you, what's wrong?"

He was silent for a moment, then reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose, saying nothing more, looking somewhat tired. Before Zhan Xinyue could even finish wondering what he meant, he abruptly asked another question.

"Did you lie to me when you said you hated Xu Shen?"

Zhan Xinyue was stunned.

She looked at him; he stood two steps away from her, his posture straight, a clear distance between them.

The overhead light from the corridor shone on the top of his head, making his expression appear cold and unfamiliar. His gaze, too, was tinged with aloofness by the cool lighting, giving him an air of superiority.

Zhan Xinyue suddenly realized that Shi Ziqian was indeed very tall. Before, when he spoke to her, he always seemed to lower his head, so she hadn't quite grasped the feeling. But now, when he stood straight in front of her without leaning down or lowering his head, the oppressive feeling brought by his height suddenly became obvious.

Zhan Xinyue remained silent.

She didn't know why Shi Ziqian suddenly asked that question, nor did she know how to answer it.

She has no past to tell anyone, no matter what she has to do.

So how should she explain this to him?

However, it didn't seem necessary to explain it to him.

After a few seconds of silence, Shi Ziqian's expression grew colder and colder with each passing moment.

“I’m very afraid of being lied to.” He stared straight at her. “So, don’t lie to me.”

Perhaps because she had grown closer to Shi Ziqian recently, she had begun to forget that he was originally a very cold person. He looked at her like this, his dark eyes devoid of warmth, his exceptionally handsome features coated with a cold halo under the light, as exquisite yet distant as a work of art in an art gallery, and the long-lost sense of alienation emanating from him suddenly became clear.

She suddenly realized that what she thought was familiarity was just an illusion, and the distance between the two of them was clearly distinct.

She instinctively raised her arms and hugged them to her chest.

This was just an unconscious movement of hers, but Shi Ziqian suddenly looked away, a look of embarrassment flashing in his eyes.

He whispered "sorry," turned and left, his departing figure solitary and upright, revealing a section of his taut neck.