Chapter 137

Actually, you can't bear to leave her.

Loneliness begins to echo the moment night falls, like bacteria that frantically erode calm, splitting into all sorts of wild thoughts.

Cheng Sangluo sat alone in the chair, motionless, letting the cold mountain wind brush her face and the sour tea stain her tongue.

She kept rubbing the rim of the cup, tilting her head to gaze at the outline of the cliff under the night sky, her heart hanging on that mountain peak, teetering on the brink of despair.

This person, who is usually emotionally stable, rarely loses control. Even if he appears calm on the surface, the tangled mess in his heart is already a complete mess, and the feeling of unease and restlessness is extremely unpleasant.

Cheng Sangluo held her deep breath in her chest to prevent her reason from collapsing further, and only slowly let it out when she could no longer breathe.

Her expression grew increasingly helpless, as if she were caught in a dilemma.

These days, she has been keeping her stance of leaving in her cold interactions, but Lin Jin is an inescapable presence. That woman can always effortlessly expose her true colors.

This time, she fell into Lin Jin's emotional trap again, unable to sink to the bottom or float to the shore, unable to drown or save herself.

Cheng Sangluo raised her hand to cover her forehead, trying to use a short nap to drive away her chaotic thoughts, but as soon as she closed her eyes, all she could think of was the face of the strange woman.

The woman smiled gently, and her words and actions exuded elegance and grace, yet every word she uttered carried an unspeakable barb. Her intentional or unintentional irritation was hard to fathom and made people uncomfortable.

"Annoying!" Cheng Sangluo muttered as she got up. She glanced at the roses on the table and paused for a moment. The flowers seemed to be mocking her awkwardness, or perhaps laughing at her ignorance and helplessness. So, her annoyance was mixed with a sour feeling that choked her throat.

She snorted and strode away without intending to go back inside, quickly walking into the parking garage and getting back into the Bentley.

......

The night wasn't very late, but the bar was already bustling with activity. The DJ on stage was playing the most exciting tunes of the night, the powerful rhythms making hearts pound.

The bartender stood in front of the display case showcasing various spirits, skillfully swirling the glasses and occasionally performing a few clever tricks to please the customers, perfectly embellishing the decadent and noisy atmosphere.

Shu Wan's leather boots tapped to the rhythm as she walked through the crowd of people indulging in alcohol, and she gracefully sat down on a high stool.

She changed her usual professional attire and chose a high-waisted lambskin coat to suit the occasion. Her long hair, which she usually wore in a bun, was also naturally loose over her shoulders.

She snapped her fingers at the bartender and, with a smirk of her bright red lips, ordered: "A special cocktail, low-alcohol, sweet and sour."

Since he was serving the bar owner, the bartender didn't dare to be negligent. He was busy taking out the base spirits for the special cocktail and preparing snacks to accompany the drinks.

Shu Wan spun around in her chair, her arm casually resting on the bar, as she leisurely surveyed the brightly lit dance floor.

"Boss, here's your special blend."

The bartender called from behind. Shu Wan turned to the side, picked up her glass, and naturally, she had to appreciate the beautiful drink first. The spherical ice cubes shone in the amber liquid and made a soft, tinkling sound as she gently swirled them.

Shu Wan leaned back lazily, sipping her drink. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at the corner of the bar and was suddenly drawn to a listless figure.

She paused in her drinking, thinking she was seeing things because her vision was blurry. But when she looked again, the smile on her lips deepened, and her eyes sparkled with surprise and secret joy.

Instead of immediately going over to exchange pleasantries, she summoned the bartender and asked, "How much did that customer drink?"

The bartender followed her gaze, and, as if he had seen many customers drowning their sorrows alone, he smirked and joked, "You've ordered at least four or five glasses of vodka. You're obviously heartbroken and here to drown your sorrows."

“Since she’s drowning her sorrows in alcohol, the intensity of vodka is too obvious and boring.” Shu Wan smiled, her eyes filled with tenderness, and then made arrangements: “Make her a ‘Preference’ drink and send it over. I’ll put her bill on tonight.”

"Understood." The bartender, who loved watching the diverse lives of people at the bar, quickly agreed and began mixing drinks.

A short while later, he carried the wine glass to the corner of the bar, presented it to the customer, and explained, "Hello, the lady over there has ordered a cocktail for you. Please enjoy."

Cheng Sangluo, feeling sluggish from the alcohol, hunched over, her fingertips resting on the empty glass, was about to continue drowning her sorrows when the bartender arrived uninvited.

She stared dazedly at the reddish liquid in her glass, her brow furrowing unconsciously. Her tongue stammered as she asked, "Um...who...who ordered this for me?"

"My boss." The bartender, with a gentlemanly air, raised his arm and pointed to Shu Wan not far away.

Cheng Sangluo looked in the direction he pointed. The lights in the bar flickered with the rhythm of the music, with flashes of red and green interspersed with a few flashes of white. The familiar and long-lost figure gradually became clear as her vision blurred.

The moment their eyes met, Shu Wan raised her wine glass in a toast from afar, then leisurely sipped it.

She appeared so composed, every smile and gesture exuding a leisurely elegance.

In fact, she was silently counting in her heart, wondering how many counts she would have to reach before the person in the corner would come to her.

Cheng Sangluo was enjoying the relaxation brought on by the alcohol. She picked up the glass of wine and walked towards Shu Wan. Her steps were a little unsteady, but her smile was lazy.

She finally reached Shu Wan, but before she could even exchange pleasantries like "long time no see," her unsteady steps caused her to lose her composure.

Shu Wan promptly raised her hand to support her arm, and also took the strong cocktail named 'Preference' from her, teasingly saying, "Why are you learning to drink when you're clearly a good girl? If you can't drink, then don't drink."

"Please..." Cheng Sangluo muttered, slumping against the bar, and picked up her glass and drank it all in one gulp, somewhat unconvinced.

The cocktail looks beautiful; the translucent red liquid might be mistaken for an easy-to-drink sweet drink, but it's actually made with a high concentration of eaux-de-vie as a base. Even a small sip can make your throat burn, let alone downing it in one gulp.

In an instant, the alcohol rushed straight to my brain, making my brain buzz.

Cheng Sangluo's face scrunched up from drinking, and she squinted, baring her teeth. After a long pause, she started counting on her fingers and stubbornly said, "In another seven or eight years, I can celebrate my second eighteenth birthday. What kind of kid am I?"

"Who cares which number it is? Since she hasn't turned eighteen yet, I'll treat you as a minor~" Shu Wan found that Cheng Sangluo was a chatterbox when she was drunk, so she couldn't help but want to banter with her and tease her.

Cheng Sangluo usually wears her hair in a high ponytail, but tonight she let it down, her long bangs covering her eyes. Surprisingly, her messy and disheveled appearance was somewhat attractive.

She let her hair fall over her high nose bridge, squinted at Shu Wan and grinned foolishly: "What's wrong? Why do you have to control me? I can drink as much as I want, and even if I drink myself to death, the police won't bother you. That's called adult autonomy."

As Shu Wan listened to Cheng Sangluo's grumbling and complaining, the smile on her lips faded slightly, as if she had found some subtle detail in the conversation.

She reached out and covered the rim of the cup, her smiling eyes gradually turning serious as her lips tightened. "Did you and Lin Jin have a fight?"

"Do I have 'arguing' written on my face?" Cheng Sangluo pointed blankly at herself, her eyes dimming, then suddenly laughed helplessly, "What arguing? I'm getting a divorce from her, a divorce!!!"

That final "divorce" was almost a hysterical scream from Cheng Sangluo.

She seemed to want to vent all the anger, helplessness, and despair that had been suppressed in her heart, but the noise of the world drowned out her plea.

Therefore, the roar seemed ineffective.

Shu Wan was about to reach for some snacks to go with her drinks when she heard the word "divorce" and withdrew her arm.

"What did you say?" She stared incredulously at the person spouting nonsense. "You want to divorce her?"

"Yes..." Cheng Sangluo tried to sound confident, but after being repeatedly confirmed with this certainty, her tone became hesitant, and she could only repeat, "Yes...yes..."

"I'll take it as you talking nonsense when you're drunk, but it's best to avoid saying things like that, lest you hurt someone's feelings." Shu Wan didn't take this opportunity to ridicule the other person in the conversation, but instead reached out to tidy Cheng Sangluo's disheveled hair and coaxed, "You've had too much to drink, let me take you home."

Perhaps it was because I drank too many different kinds of alcohol too quickly, or maybe I just didn't have a good tolerance for alcohol, so the aftereffects of the alcohol came on very quickly and strongly.

Cheng Sangluo felt as if her head was a ripe watermelon, ready to explode at any moment with the loud music.

She rubbed her temples and looked at Shu Wan pitifully before finally giving in to her stubbornness and saying, "The wine doesn't taste good at all."

But just as Shu Wan took Cheng Sangluo's arm, the drunkard started acting stubbornly again.

She dodged the outstretched hand, turned, and beckoned to the bartender: "You...you come here...you might as well just give me that whole bottle of vodka...so you don't have to drink it every now and then...don't you find it troublesome..."

The bartender looked at Shu Wan with a troubled expression, and only after Shu Wan nodded in agreement did he turn around and bring the whole bottle of wine over.

"That's right." Cheng Sangluo's wheat-colored face had turned as red as a liver color, clearly indicating that she couldn't hold her liquor.

She poured herself a glass, then leaned to the side and looked at Shu Wan, "Would you like a glass?"

Shu Wan gently pushed away her hand holding the wine bottle and said in a kind voice, "Can you be good? Drinking too much will only make you feel worse."

"What do you mean by 'well-behaved'? You're just like Lin Jin!" Cheng Sangluo muttered as she downed a glass of wine, her face contorted in a grimacing expression. "Am I not well-behaved enough? I used to be the most obedient soldier in the army, and now I'm the most compliant lover. I'm not fickle and I don't spend money. At most, I'm just a little stubborn. Is it true that the worse a person is, the easier it is to be loved? Am I too well-behaved, which is why I get bullied?"

This person clearly had a lot of grievances to vent, but in the end, they couldn't say a single bad word about Lin Jin. Instead, it turned into a self-reflection and venting session.

Seeing Cheng Sangluo's heartbroken yet unable to get to the point, Shu Wan smiled leisurely again and teased, "With someone as wonderful as you, how could anyone not love you?"

Seeing that the person in front of her was too lazy to pour her a drink and was instead chugging from the bottle, she said, half-jokingly and half-seriously, "Since you're so eager for a divorce, then divorce Lin Jin. Don't worry about finding someone else..."

As she spoke, she leaned close to Cheng Sangluo's ear, intentionally or unintentionally exhaling warm breath that brushed against his ear, "I want you~"

"Cough cough—cough cough cough—" Cheng Sangluo was startled by Shu Wan's sudden provocation, choked on a mouthful of wine, and couldn't stop coughing.

Shu Wan didn't feel embarrassed, nor did she reach out to pat Cheng Sangluo's back. Instead, she stepped back, blinked her eyes, and laughed, "Although I don't know what happened between you two, you see, all your complaints about her are nothing compared to your joking fear. Actually, you can't bear to leave her at all, you just can't bear to."

[Author's Note]

1. My pre-order novel, "The Sinful Lover," is available for collection.