Chapter 23 - "Look at me, please."

The atmosphere in the box was still lively. Cheng Yingzhi had been drunk to the point of being completely dizzy. He collapsed on the sofa and smiled foolishly, barely able to tell east from west.

Not long after Zhou Ai came back and sat down with a gloomy face, Chu Yi also came back from the terrace.

Chu Yi's expression had returned to its usual calm and cool self, but his eyes seemed a little more tired than before.

He sat back in his original seat silently, his eyes subconsciously swept across the audience, and then suddenly stopped.

Chu Yi's gaze fell on Zhou Ai who was sitting diagonally opposite him.

Zhou Ai held a half-burned cigarette between his fingers, the scarlet flame standing out particularly in the dim light.

He lowered his head slightly, and the silver-gray hair on his forehead cast a small shadow, partially obscuring his eyes, but the tightly pursed lips and the irritable feeling that emanated from his body were clearly visible.

Chu Yi clearly remembered Zhou Ai saying "I don't smoke" when she refused a cigarette at the bar. He also vaguely heard that Zhou Ai had quit smoking long before her debut to preserve her voice.

Seeing him smoking at this moment, and with an obvious look of being in a very bad mood and using cigarettes to relieve his sorrow, Chu Yi couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and a trace of slight surprise flashed through his mind.

Before he could figure it out, Qi Yuan came over mysteriously and drunk, almost resting his head on his shoulder, and asked in a low voice: "Hey, dear, what did your brother say to you just now?" His eyes were blurry with drunkenness, and he obviously heard Cheng Yanqing's call and was used to it.

Chu Yi withdrew his gaze from Zhou Ai, feeling somewhat helpless at Qi Yuan's approach, but he did not push him away. He simply replied calmly, "Nothing, just some commonplace questions."

Qi Yuan chuckled foolishly, with an "I understand" look on his face, and said with a thick tongue, "Well, Brother Yan Qing is the same... He likes to call you by your nickname when he drinks too much. After all these years, he really hasn't changed at all."

He patted Chu Yi's shoulder, his tone teasing, "In his eyes, you will always be that little one who needs his attention!"

Chu Yi sighed softly, his lips curved into a faint arc that was mixed with a hint of helplessness and warmth: "Well, you still treat me like a child."

Their conversation was not loud, but in the brief interval between the pause in the dice game, Cheng Yingzhi's drunken shouting, and the change of music track, it was clearly heard by Zhou Ai, who was smoking in boredom not far away.

[Guaiguai]...was that your childhood nickname?

That man...is his brother?

Do you scream when you're drunk?

A few key words were like a key that suddenly opened the box in Zhou Ai's heart that was filled with bitterness and anger.

So... it's my brother?

The inexplicable anger and suffocating feeling that threatened to consume him suddenly deflated like a balloon punctured by a needle. His tense jawline unconsciously relaxed, and his furrowed brows relaxed a little.

He subconsciously raised his head and looked at Chu Yi through the thin smoke.

Chu Yi was listening to Qi Yuan speak with his head slightly tilted. The lines on his profile were soft, and the helpless yet slightly indulgent look on his face when he mentioned his brother was the most vivid look he had ever seen.

As Zhou Ai watched, he suddenly felt a burning sensation on his fingertips. He looked down and realized the cigarette had burned to the very end. He raised his hand and slammed the butt into the crystal ashtray, his movements somewhat hastily.

When he raised his head again, the irritability in his heart had miraculously dissipated for the most part, replaced by an indescribable...relaxation, and even a very subtle trace of embarrassment and annoyance that he himself had not even noticed.

What was he thinking about just now?

Chu Yi's attention was drawn to Zhou Ai's sudden and hasty action of extinguishing the cigarette. He subconsciously looked up and happened to meet Zhou Ai's gaze as he raised it again.

Upon seeing this, Chu Yi was even slightly stunned.

The irritation in Zhou Ai's eyes just now disappeared without a trace, replaced by a kind of... indescribable bright smile. That smile spread from the bottom of his eyes, with a bit of relief, looking straight at him without hesitation.

This change in emotion was so swift that Chu Yi was momentarily slow to react. He subconsciously tried to avoid this overly direct gaze, his eyelashes trembling slightly, and just as he was about to look away—

"Doctor Chu."

Zhou Ai's voice rang out, penetrating the not-so-noisy background noise and falling clearly into his ears.

There was also a smile in the voice, lazy, but with a concentration that could not be ignored, as if there were only the two of them at the scene.

Chu Yi paused and had to meet his gaze again, with his usual questioning look on his face.

Zhou Ai leaned forward slightly, his elbows resting on his knees, with a hint of tobacco still lingering on his fingertips.

He tilted his head, his eyes wandering over Chu Yi's face, as if he had discovered something extremely interesting. With a playful smile on his lips, he spoke slowly, his tone clearly carrying the tone of someone asking knowingly:

"Doctor Chu," he repeated the address, his voice rising slightly. "I remember... people who just had their stitches removed should quit smoking and drinking, right?"

As he spoke, he deliberately shook the hand that had just held the cigarette.

Those smiling eyes looked at Chu Yi without blinking, clearly like a patient asking a question that he knew he had asked deliberately, to "consult" the doctor.

Upon hearing this, Chu Yi's brows unconsciously furrowed slightly.

He was indeed a little surprised by Zhou Ai's sudden "question" - or rather, the "asking knowingly" with obvious teasing and mischievous meaning.

What made him feel even more puzzled was that how could Zhou Ai's emotions be like turning the pages of a book, with thunder and lightning one moment and clear skies the next, and even a bit of... intentional provocation of his interest?

This person's behavior pattern is really unpredictable.

Chu Yi looked at Zhou Ai's smiling eyes, in which his own figure was clearly reflected.

He pursed his lips, suppressing the strange feeling in his heart caused by the other person's rapid change of mood. His tone returned to his usual calm and professional, and he gave a standard and correct answer of a doctor:

"Yes. Smoking affects local blood circulation and is not conducive to wound healing. Alcohol also stimulates vasodilation, which may increase the risk of bleeding or exudation, and is also not conducive to recovery."

Chu Yi's voice was steady, without any emotion, and was purely a tone of medical advice.

Chu Yi paused after he finished speaking, his eyes calmly sweeping over Zhou Ai's hand that had just held the cigarette, and added, pointing out the contradiction in the other party's behavior: "So, since Mr. Zhou knows it, he shouldn't have touched it."

The smile on Zhou Ai's face deepened, as if he was waiting for his professional answer with a slight reproach.

Far from feeling embarrassed by being "educated", he seemed to have gotten the reaction he wanted. He drew out his tone of voice with satisfaction, said "Oh" meaningfully, and nodded obediently.

"Doctor Chu is right." Zhou Ai's tone was still lazy and smiling. "I'll listen to the doctor and stop smoking."

He didn't look like he was taking the doctor's advice seriously at all. It was more like he was completing an unspoken interactive game between them.

Although Cheng Yingzhi was drunk and staggering, his enthusiasm for creating atmosphere was not diminished at all.

Waving his arms and yelling with a loud tongue, "Hey! You...you two! Don't...don't have a little meeting! Come...come and play with us! New...new game!"

When Qi Yuan heard there was a new game, he immediately put the previous incident behind him and excitedly agreed: "What are you going to play?"

Shen Yu also looked over with a smile.

Cheng Yingzhi chuckled and proudly announced, "The rules... the rules are simple! It's called... it's called 'Infinite Bullshit'!"

He tried to speak more clearly. "First person, say a word, or a short sentence! Then!"

Cheng Yingzhi stretched out his finger, clumsily gesturing clockwise and counterclockwise. "In... in order, each person, based on the previous person's sentence, only add one word! No more, no less! Just add one!"

He picked up his wine glass and slammed it down on the coffee table with a clang. "Whoever adds the wrong number, forgets the previous word, or... or messes up the order! Drink a penalty!"

After saying that, Cheng Yingzhi added, "And five more seconds! If you can't catch up within five seconds, you'll also be fined! Easy, right? Hahahaha!"

This game is indeed simple, but it is also very easy to make mistakes, especially under the influence of alcohol, it is very suitable for getting people drunk and causing trouble.

"Come on! Start with me!" Cheng Yingzhi volunteered. He thought about it dazedly and came up with a word: "Apple!"

The next one clockwise was Qi Yuan, who immediately followed up with, "Big Apple!"

The next one was Shen Yu, who smiled and replied, "Eat a big apple!"

Then it was Chu Yi's turn. He hadn't expected it to be his turn so soon. Seeing three pairs of eyes looking at him, he paused for a moment before calmly continuing before the countdown: "I want to eat a big apple."

Finally, there is Zhou Ai.

He leaned lazily on the sofa, his fingers unconsciously tapping his knees. His eyes fell on Chu Yi. Almost as soon as Chu Yi finished speaking, he slowly continued with a hint of nonchalant playfulness in his tone: "I want to eat a big apple."

Perfect connection, no pressure.

A new circle begins, and it's time for Zhou Ai to start.

He raised his eyebrows, glanced at everyone, and finally said a simple word with a half-smile: "Look."

The next person to come clockwise was Cheng Yingzhi. His mind was clouded by alcohol, and he didn't think much about it. He just instinctively said, "Look at me!"

The next one was Qi Yuan. He was in high spirits and without thinking much, he just shouted, "Look at me!"

Next came Shen Yu. He smiled and cleverly added, "Look at me."

The pressure was put on Chu Yi again.

He felt that Zhou Ai's sight had become clearer, and the words "Look at me" seemed to have a hook in the ambiguous light and the alcohol-filled air.

He must add only one word to the previous one.

What to add?

"Look at me?" That's weird.

"Look at me, please"? Not true.

At the last second, Chu Yi almost forced himself to add one word in the calmest possible tone: "Look at me."

When Chu Yi's voice fell, there was a moment of silence in the box.

"Look at me."

This sentence itself is nothing, but when it comes out in Chu Yi's cold voice, and because of the rules of the game and the subtle atmosphere at the moment, it inexplicably carries a bit of an indescribable flavor.

It doesn't sound like a request, nor does it sound like a pampering. It's just a straightforward statement... distorted by the rules.

Qi Yuan chuckled and clapped his hands drunkenly: "Hahaha, Yi, you sound... aggrieved?"

Shen Yu also smiled and shook his head.

The pressure was put on Zhou Ai.

He is the last one and only needs to add one word after "Look at me".

Zhou Ai's eyes never left Chu Yi. He saw that after Chu Yi finished speaking, his eyelashes trembled very slightly, then drooped down, staring at the wine glass in front of him, as if there was something extremely attractive on the rim of the glass. He had a calm look, as if saying, "I'm just following the rules of the game," but there was a hint of imperceptible restraint in his expression.

Zhou Ai curled the corners of his mouth and deliberately dragged out the tone, as if he was seriously thinking about which word to add.

"Five, four, three..." Cheng Yingzhi had already started counting down dizzily.

Just as he counted to "two", Zhou Ai slowly spoke. He leaned forward slightly, and in a low but unusually clear voice with an almost coaxing tone, he added a word after the sentence:

"good."

——"Look at me, please."

The complete sentence became a little abrupt, even ungrammatical, but the word "good" coming out of Zhou Ai's mouth didn't sound like he was responding to a game, but rather like he was responding to some unspoken request, with a bit of indulgence and... an inexplicable sense of doting.

"puff--!"

Qi Yuan nearly spit out a mouthful of wine and choked, coughing, "Cough cough cough... Zhou Ai, you... what the hell did you add that to the bottle? This is bullshit!"

Chen Yu was also stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing, "Zhou Ai, is this considered a violation? Your meaning is incoherent."

Although drunk, Cheng Yingzhi also waved his arms and started to make a noise: "Drink! Drink! Zhou Ai, drink!"

Zhou Ai, however, didn't care at all. He shrugged, calmly picked up his wine glass, and drank the remaining liquid in one gulp. His movements were carefree, but his eyes were always smiling.

When Chu Yi heard the word "good", his fingertips curled up almost imperceptibly.

He raised his eyes and happened to meet Zhou Ai's gaze as she finished her glass of wine. The frank smile and a hint of teasing in her eyes made his heart stagnate inexplicably, and he subconsciously avoided her gaze again.

Zhou Ai placed the empty cup back on the coffee table with a crisp sound and said with a smile, "Okay, I accept the punishment."

He paused, then added slowly, as if explaining, "I think adding this word... is quite appropriate."

"What's appropriate about that!" Qi Yuan yelled, "No, no, keep going! This time it starts with you! You have to keep going even if you have to drink!"