The pain of a broken heart

The summer night breeze, with its lingering heat, blows through the bustling barbecue stalls on the street, carrying with it the strong smell of charcoal and spices, drifting everywhere.

The bright incandescent lamp hung on the ceiling of the simple shed, attracting many flying insects to hover.

Zhou Jianxing sat on a red plastic bench. The small square table in front of her was filled with various grilled skewers, shiny with oil and sprinkled with cumin and chili powder. But she just stared blankly, her eyes unfocused, as if the food in front of her was separated from her by an invisible barrier.

"Come, drink some of this." Ajie picked up a bottle of ice-cold beer and filled the transparent plastic cup in front of Zhou Jianxing. The golden liquid instantly surged with rich white foam, and then slowly disappeared.

He heard about Zhou Jianxing's broken heart from his boss Huang Haifu, and was worried, so he specially called Xiao Min and Chu Wei out in the evening, intending to have a meal with her and relax.

Zhou Jianxing didn't say anything. He obediently raised the cup and drank it down with his head tilted back.

The cold wine slid down the throat and rushed into the stomach, bringing a brief cool stimulation. Then the unique astringency of hops spread in the mouth, but that bitterness could not suppress the bitterness in the heart.

She put down the empty cup, and the bottom of the cup made a slight sound when it hit the table.

"Pour me some more." She pushed the empty cup towards Ajie and said in a flat voice.

Ajie glanced at her, didn't ask any questions, and filled her glass again.

The pale yellow beer swayed in the glass, and the foam overflowed the rim again.

Zhou Jianxing picked it up and drank half of the cup in one breath.

"It doesn't taste good." She put down the cup and frowned.

The feeling of the foam exploding in the throat was not pleasant, the bitter taste became more and more obvious, and a faint sense of nausea began to arise in the empty stomach.

Her friends had never seen her in such a distraught state.

"Oh." Ajie sighed.

This star among them, who was always a little silly and lived a simple and happy life, seemed to have lost all her energy overnight.

It was the first time I suffered such a heavy loss in love, and it took me a while to recover. Everyone understood.

"Boss!" Ajie waved his hand and shouted to the shirtless, sweaty boss working behind the oven, "Give us half a pound of white wine and a plate of fried peanuts!"

Chu Wei frowned when he heard this and looked at Ajie with disapproval.

Ajie winked at her and shook his head slightly.

He knew that getting drunk was not a good idea, but seeing Zhou Jianxing's absent-minded look and the way she suppressed all her emotions, perhaps letting her get completely drunk and cry and make a fuss to vent her emotions would make her feel better.

The boss quickly brought out a white ceramic wine jug and a plate of golden peanuts.

Ajie took a white wine glass, poured half a glass of clear white wine into it, and pushed it in front of Zhou Jianxing: "Tell me, what's going on?"

"She doesn't want me anymore." Zhou Jianxing stared at the glass of white wine, his voice so low that it was almost drowned out by the surrounding noise.

After saying this, she picked up the glass of liquor and drank it down in one gulp, just like drinking water. The strong liquor burned her esophagus, and her face quickly turned an abnormal red.

Huh? They haven't even seen what Zhou Jianxing looks like, and it's already over? Chu Wei muttered to himself.

When Zhou Jianxing confessed, she had a vague feeling that the future of this relationship was uncertain, but she didn't expect it to end so quickly and so cleanly.

Just a few days ago, Zhou Jianxing was still pestering her, clumsily learning how to draw eyeliner and apply blush. When she mentioned that person, her eyes seemed to be filled with stars, and the smile at the corner of her mouth could not be hidden.

Is this a cliff-like breakup? That person is such a jerk.

"Oh, there are many beautiful women in the world, why do you have to love only one?" Xiao Min moved to the bench next to Zhou Jianxing and sat down, putting her arms around her waist with heartache.

"I know a few pretty good girls with good personalities and good looks. I'll introduce them to you when the time comes, okay?" Xiao Min hugged him a little tighter.

"Not good." Zhou Jianxing shook his head vigorously with a large amplitude.

She reached out for the wine jug and poured wine into the glass, filling it so full that the wine spilled onto the table because she couldn't control her shaking hands.

Turning back, he looked at Xiao Min with a dazed and confused expression, as if he had encountered a problem that he couldn't figure out no matter how hard he tried.

"Minmin," her voice was nasal, her eyes a little blurry from the alcohol, "Tell me, why can't sincerity... be exchanged for sincerity in return?"

After a pause, his voice even began to tremble: "How could she be so cruel?"

Without waiting for Xiao Min to answer, she turned back and stared at the wine glass in front of her. The fingers holding the glass trembled uncontrollably, and her voice became intermittent and out of tune.

"No, that's not right... She never liked me at all. She was just playing around."

She tilted her head back and drank the spicy liquid in the cup again. She drank it too quickly and choked and started coughing, coughing up tears.

"It's all my fault...I was too stupid and took it too seriously."

After saying this, she seemed to have lost all her strength and fell down on the greasy table, her forehead resting on the cold plastic tablecloth.

"What's her name? Where does she live?" Xiao Min was furious and distressed, clenching her fists. "Tell us, and we'll help you settle the score with her and vent your anger, okay?"

"No!" Hearing this, Zhou Jianxing supported himself and raised his head, looking at a certain point in the air with a dazed look, and shook his head vigorously.

"Don't go to her. Don't take revenge on her... It's all my fault. It's my problem."

"Don't just drink, eat something to fill your stomach." Chu Wei picked up a few peanuts and put them in the bowl in front of Zhou Jianxing.

Drinking so much liquor on an empty stomach is really bad for your stomach.

Zhou Jianxing seemed to have not heard at all, and reached for the wine jug again. The half-pound of liquor quickly went into her stomach.

Perhaps the alcohol finally completely paralyzed his nerves and broke through the dam of rationality. The pain, grievances and confusion that had been accumulated in his heart for too long finally found an outlet for venting and rushed out.

Zhou Jianxing buried her face in her palms, her shoulders began to shake uncontrollably, tears kept sliding down her fingers and wrists, soon soaking her arms.

Chu Wei sighed, stood up and walked to the other side of Zhou Jianxing to sit down. He and Xiao Min gently hugged her trembling body on both sides.

The trembling was suppressed at the beginning, but gradually became violent and out of control.

"I really... really like her," Zhou Jianxing's voice came out muffled from his palm, with a thick sob that he could not hide, crying so hard that he could hardly breathe, "I really want... I really want to be with her forever..."

She suddenly turned around, hugged Chu Wei tightly, buried her tearful face in Chu Wei's shoulder, and burst into tears.

"Why does liking someone... hurt so much..." She sobbed, her heart felt like it was being beaten repeatedly by something, each contraction brought a sharp pain, and even her breath had a fishy smell like rust.

"From now on...I will never like anyone again..."

After experiencing this kind of pain once, it had already drained all her courage.

"Be good, don't cry, don't cry." Chu Wei gently patted Zhou Jianxing's back and whispered comfortingly in her ear, "It's her fault. She has no vision. Our Xingxing is the best. She doesn't know how to cherish you."

"No..." Zhou Jianxing suddenly raised his head and looked at Chu Wei with a drunken stubborn look. His eyes were distracted but extremely serious. "You are not allowed to...you are not allowed to say anything bad about her. She..."

Before she finished speaking, she started to sob again: "But she is a bad person..."

Zhou Jianxing stared at the empty wine glass in front of him with tearful eyes. He picked it up again and mechanically poured it into his mouth. When he found that there was no wine, he felt even more aggrieved. Tears fell like beads with broken strings.

"Bad woman!" She suddenly slammed the table without warning, making a bang that scared Ajie next to her. Even the boss who was not far away couldn't help but lean over to take a few glances at their table.

"But... don't blame her," after slapping the table, she lowered her head like a deflated ball, letting her tears fall drop by drop on her gray sports shorts. The fabric was soaked by her tears, and the color became darker and lighter.

"It's all my fault... I did it on my own will... I'm also a bad person..." She muttered to herself, her voice getting lower and lower.

She had interfered with someone else's family and become a dishonorable third party. She had destroyed someone else's marriage, and the husband might still be in the dark about it.

She has long ceased to be a good person, so what qualifications does she have to blame others?

"I want to drink more..." Zhou Jianxing muttered, looking up at Chu Wei with tearful eyes, a childish pleading look in his eyes, "Can you let me drink a little more? I'm so sad... I don't feel sad when I'm drunk..."

Chu Wei felt very uncomfortable when he saw her like this, but he was helpless. He could only signal Ajie and order another half catty of white wine.

…

After drinking for an unknown amount of time, Zhou Jianxing finally calmed down completely. He lay on the table motionless, with only his two thin shoulder blades rising and falling slightly with his breathing. It was obvious that he was asleep.

There were still traces of tears on his face, his brows were tightly knitted together, and he was not at peace even in his sleep.

"It's so late, take Xingxing back to my place first, so that her parents won't worry about her like this." Chu Wei said as she tried to help Zhou Jianxing up, but she was as soft as a puddle of mud and couldn't be helped up at all.

"Let me do it." Ajie handed Xiaomin her handbag, then bent down and carried Zhou Jianxing on his back with difficulty.

He couldn't help but mutter in his heart, Zhou Jianxing looked thin, but he didn't expect him to be so heavy when drunk.

After settling Zhou Jianxing down on Chu Wei's bed, Ajie and Xiaomin helped to tidy up a bit before quietly leaving.

Zhou Jianxing was very well behaved even when he was drunk. He didn't make any noise or trouble, but just fell asleep.

Chu Wei placed a trash can next to the bed and gently tilted her head towards the trash can, just in case.

The night was dark and cars occasionally passed by outside the window.

Chu Wei sat on a chair beside the bed, looking at Zhou Jianxing who was sleeping.

I don’t know what she was dreaming about, but her eyebrows were getting tighter and tighter, her eyeballs were moving rapidly under her eyelids, and her arms were unconsciously raised slightly, waving randomly in the air a few times.

"Lingyi..." Her lips moved and she unconsciously uttered the name, her voice so soft that it was almost inaudible.

Then, a tear silently slid down from the corner of her eye and disappeared into her hair at the temple.

Chu Wei frowned, picked up the tissue on the bedside table, and gently wiped away her tears.

She felt a little regretful. Maybe she shouldn't have listened to Ajie and let Zhou Jianxing drink so much.

The night seemed unusually long. Zhou Jianxing got up and vomited twice, and the room was filled with the unpleasant smell of alcohol.

Around three in the morning, Zhou Jianxing woke up briefly. He said nothing, but just hugged Chu Wei's arm, crying and shaking all over, muttering "I'm so sad" and "My heart hurts" over and over again.

Chu Wei hardly slept the entire night, sitting by the bed watching over her, and occasionally wiping her hair and cheeks with a wrung-out wet towel.

Sigh. If I had known earlier, I should have stopped her.