While the three old friends chatted, the barbecue they had ordered arrived.

The most common item was grilled meat skewers, with large quantities of beef and pork skewers grilled until the fat rendered out, sprinkled with seasonings, and emitting an enticing aroma.

Lu Zhe picked up a skewer of tender beef and then a skewer of chives, eating them silently.

Luo Qiu and Shen Leyou, who were sitting at the same table, exchanged glances. Then, Luo Qiu asked, "Old Lu, what's wrong with you today? You seem a bit down. Did something happen?"

Shen Leyou immediately chimed in, "It's clearly Lao Luo who's going to the hospital tomorrow, so why are you the most depressed one?"

Lu Zhe finished eating the chives, then hesitated to speak.

Luo Qiu tentatively asked, "Is something bothering you? Is it related to the young lady?"

“It’s not her… no, it can’t be said that it has nothing to do with her,” Lu Zhe sighed, “It’s just a very troublesome matter.”

Shen Leyou, with his inquisitive spirit, asked, "Just how troublesome is it?"

Lu Zhe remained silent for a while, then suddenly said in a low voice, "Actually, the trouble isn't with them, it's with me. Thinking about it carefully, the fact that things have developed to this point these past two days is mostly my fault. I lack experience in this area. If I had been more decisive from the beginning, things wouldn't be in this awkward situation now."

Shen Leyou: "What the hell are you talking about?"

Lu Zhe glanced at him, then at Luo Qiu beside him, and said in a deep voice, "I'm saying, I am a scumbag."

Shen Leyou: "?"

Luo Qiu: "!"

Lu Zhe continued, "Let me put it this way, I currently have three beautiful girls around me: Tang Qi, Xia Xiaobing, and Xue Xiaodie, and my relationships with all three of them are complicated. Of course, at first, I never imagined it would turn out this way, but now..."

Shen Leyou pointed at him and laughed: "No, we haven't even had a drink yet, how come you're already drunk?"

However, Luo Qiu's expression was much more serious: "Tang Qi is that young lady, right? You said her surname is Tang, so what about the other two?"

Lu Zhe: "Xia Xiaobing is my boss. I remember telling you before that my boss's surname is Xia."

Luo Qiu: "To be honest, I don't remember very well... What about the other one?"

Before Lu Zhe could speak, Shen Leyou interrupted, "No offense, Lao Luo, you don't actually believe this, do you? Aren't you a psychologist? Diagnose him, is this kid's delusions early or late stage? Is there any hope?"

Luo Qiu shook his head: "I've seen the girl in the video, she is indeed very beautiful."

Shen Leyou: "What about the other two! Lao Lu, let me tell you, if you can't produce evidence, I won't believe you have three beautiful women around you!"

Lu Zhe sighed, took out his phone, opened the photo album, and soon found a photo of himself and Xia Xiaobing.

That was before he moved back to Miss Tang's apartment, when he was renting a place in a nearby neighborhood. That night, Xia Xiaobing also moved in next door, and at Xue Xiaodie's request, he obtained the photos.

In the photo, Xia Xiaobing has her arm around Lu Zhe's neck, a slight smile on her beautiful face. She's wearing a loose short-sleeved T-shirt, yet the outline of her collarbone is still visible. As for Lu Zhe, whose arm she's holding, his expression is somewhat dazed…

Luo Qiu: "Holy crap!"

Shen Leyou: "Damn it!"

Both of them were shocked by the photo, after all, the young lady was really beautiful, and there was a lot of information about it.

Lu Zhe sighed, "The lipstick primer you just saw on my face is hers. Xia Xiaobing, President Xia, my current company boss."

Luo Qiu murmured incredulously, "There really are bosses like that..."

Shen Leyou quickly pressed on, "What about the other two girls? You don't have photos of them, do you?"

Lu Zhe: "I don't have the habit of taking photos."

Shen Leyou couldn't help but urge, "Then you should at least have their WeChat, right? Go through their Moments, damn it, I want to see what kind of luck you've had with women!"

"Tang Qi doesn't seem to have the habit of posting on WeChat Moments. She's rather introverted, and Lao Luo saw what she looks like last time. As for Xue Xiaodie..."

Lu Zhe muttered to himself as he opened Xue Xiaodie's WeChat Moments and saw the post she had just made.

It was a picture of the moon. In the photo, the moon was missing half, appearing as a gibbous crescent. On this lonely picture of the moon, Xue Xiaodie captioned it with a short line: "Perfection, it's so hard to achieve."

What does this post on WeChat Moments mean?

Lu Zhe pondered for a moment, then sent her a WeChat message: [What are you doing?]

Xue Xiaodie replied almost instantly: 【I was just drawing a sketch, what about you?】

Lu Zhe: [I'm out having barbecue with friends.]

Xue Xiaodie: [Friend?]

Lu Zhe: [Luo Qiu and Shen Leyou. By the way, they seem a bit curious about you. Can we video chat?]

The next two words were a truly instant reply: 【Okay.】

Below this brief reply, Xue Xiaodie added: 【I haven't showered or gone to bed yet, so video chatting is definitely no problem.】

He had just replied with the words "That's good" when the other party made a video call.

Shen Leyou and Luo Qiu sat down on either side of Lu Zhe, flanking him. They urged in unison, "Hurry up and answer it!" "That's right, hurry up and answer it!"

Lu Zhe answered the video call.

Then, Xue Xiaodie's beautiful and serene face appeared on the screen.

Luo Qiu subconsciously held his breath.

Shen Leyou gasped.

Lu Zhe: "Are you in the bedroom?"

Xue Xiaodie smiled and said, "Yes, Xiao Caitang also went back to her room. She went before me; I stayed in the living room to draw for a little longer."

Lu Zhe cleared his throat: "Let me introduce you. These two are my old buddies, Shen Leyou and Luo Qiu."

The girl waved at the camera: "Hello everyone! My name is Xue Xiaodie, and I'm Lu Zhe's...good friend."

She paused when she said the words "good friend," her peach blossom eyes blinking meaningfully. But then, her sweet smile returned to normal.

Lu Zhe also fell silent.

Xue Xiaodie added, "It's quite nice that you took the initiative to contact me. I thought you were too busy with President Xia to do anything else."

Lu Zhe: "No, not at all..."

He wanted to explain something more, but he didn't know what to say.

Xue Xiaodie was silent for two seconds, then smiled sweetly: "Then I won't bother you anymore. Finish your food early and come back to rest. I'm going to sleep now. Good night."

Lu Zhe nodded slowly: "Okay, goodnight."

The other party hung up the video call.

Lu Zhe looked up and found that the two people on either side of him had his arms clamped around them, looking like they were about to interrogate a criminal.

Shen Leyou demanded, "Something's not right, something's very wrong! Tell me what happened!"

Luo Qiu: "Confess and you'll be treated leniently; resist and you'll be punished severely!"

Lu Zhe sighed, "I only told you guys the truth because I wanted to confide in you guys. I'm really lost right now, and I don't know what to do tomorrow..."

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