【09】The most important thing to comfort someone who has been heartbroken is to vent your emotions. Never try to teach them how to do things.
Aside from the time she went to the bar alone with Ye Xin, this was probably the first social invitation Liang Zhiyao had received this semester. She was generally popular, but she didn't have many close friends. Her closest friend, Ye Xin, was in a different major, so she was used to going it alone most of the time. While she was alone, she was incredibly efficient, saving time on meals and classes. She hadn't realized before that socializing actually belonged to the third level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. When her family suddenly faced a crisis, she was stuck in the second level. With limited time to split between studying and working, socializing became a luxury. Ye Xin was actually different from herself. Besides Liang Zhiyao, a close friend with whom she could drink and confide, she also had a complex network of connections at school. She could be divided into several different groups, categorized by drinking buddies, class buddies, and playmates with similar interests. She was the kind of girl who had never eaten alone in the cafeteria since her student days. She always had someone to accompany her, even going to the bathroom. On weekends, she'd either go out on dates or join Liang Zhiyao for study or grocery shopping. She'd go crazy if she were alone for more than half a day. Liang Zhiyao, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. While she wasn't exactly a loner, she'd always enjoyed solitude, as long as she had one or two close friends, and she didn't crave the bustle of large groups. Perhaps she'd grown addicted to this secure, solitary existence, her first reaction to Liu Siyan's invitation was to decline. Potluck is an American tradition that dates back to the Great Depression. Everyone brings their own specialties and joins the host for a feast. For some reason, this old-fashioned dining experience, first introduced ninety years ago, has experienced a resurgence among international students in recent years. Perhaps Chinese cuisine is inherently more suited to shared dining, resulting in an ever-increasing variety of dishes. Liang Zhiyao had only attended a few Potlucks hosted by enthusiastic professors during her freshman year. Those were meant to be a relatively spontaneous opportunity to practice speaking with American students, with less than pure motivations. After that course ended, she stopped experiencing this unconventional dining experience. After all, everyone's tastes and cooking skills varied, and arrival times varied. Putting aside the social aspect, the lukewarm dishes didn't really taste very good. Rather than being interested in the party's content, the more direct reason was that they had just met. She was slow to warm up to friends, and her first reaction was usually to decline invitations from people she didn't know well. However, Liu Si...
Apart from the time when he went to the bar alone with Ye Xin, this should be the first social invitation Liang Zhiyao received this semester.
She is quite popular, but she doesn't have many close friends. Her best friend, Ye Xin, is in a different major from her, so she is used to acting alone most of the time. Although she is alone, she is very efficient and can save a lot of time on eating and attending classes.
She hadn't realized before that socializing actually fell into the third level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. When her family was suddenly in trouble, she was stuck in the second level. With limited time to split between studying and working, socializing became a luxury for her.
Ye Xin is actually different from herself. In addition to Liang Zhiyao, a good friend with whom she can drink and confide her thoughts, she also has a complex network of relationships in school. She can be classified into several different groups according to drinking buddies, class partners, and playmates with similar interests.
She was the kind of girl who had never eaten alone in the cafeteria since her school days. No matter what she did, even going to the bathroom, she always had someone with her. On weekends, she'd either go out on a date, study with Liang Zhiyao, or go shopping. In her own words, she'd go crazy if she was alone for more than half a day.
But Liang Zhiyao is the complete opposite. Although her personality is definitely not introverted, she has always enjoyed being alone. As long as she has one or two close friends, she does not crave for those lively social activities with many people.
Perhaps she had become dependent on this safe single-player mode, so her first reaction to Liu Siyan's invitation was to refuse.
Potluck is an American tradition dating back to the Great Depression. Everyone brings their specialties to the host's home and shares a feast. For some reason, this old-fashioned dining tradition, which originated ninety years ago, has experienced a resurgence among international students in recent years. Perhaps Chinese cuisine is inherently more suited to sharing, resulting in an ever-increasing variety of dishes.
Liang Zhiyao only participated in a few Potluck dinners organized by enthusiastic professors during his freshman year. That was to find a relatively natural opportunity to practice speaking with American classmates. His motivation was not pure. After the course ended, he never experienced this alternative dining model again.
After all, everyone's taste and cooking skills vary, and arrival times are also different. Putting aside the social attributes, the half-cold dishes don't taste very good when you eat them.
Rather than being interested in the content of the party, the more direct reason was that they had just met. She was very slow in making friends, and her first reaction was usually to refuse invitations from people she didn't know well.
However, Liu Siyan obviously didn't care whether they had known each other for a day or a year. After only half a minute, she sent several more messages:
"Come on, senior, come on~ It starts at five, so it won't end so late that it affects your work at the coffee shop on Sunday morning!"
"No gifts allowed. I won't accept any from anyone. I just want to have some fun ^-^"
Before Liang Zhiyao finished typing in the input box, she sent another thoughtful message: "I know you and Evelyn are roommates, and you have also invited her. You can come together~"
The implication is that if she happens to be socially anxious, she doesn't have to worry about being at a party with only strangers, as she would feel uneasy.
Before she could knock on Ye Xin's bedroom door, she had received a message from Liu Siyan at the same time and ran to the living room to find her.
"Let's go together," she said to Liang Zhiyao. "Otherwise, you'll be studying and working every week, which is too miserable for me. After all, Potluck is not a skiing or disco, so it doesn't cost much."
"It's just... I don't feel that familiar with Liu Siyan," she said. "I'll think about it."
She said she would "think about it", but she couldn't resist Ye Xin's soft and hard persuasion and finally agreed. Just as the other party said, this was a rare and inexpensive social event that Liang Zhiyao could participate in.
Seeing them agree, Liu Siyan cheered and sent several more cat emojis, some expressing excitement and some expressing happiness. It was unknown where she had found so many adorable kittens with different expressions, and with the accompanying colorful characters, her chats were almost as cute as Liang Zhiyao's junior high school cousin, a stark contrast to her impression of her as a mature and aloof cousin.
Time flew by as she studied and worked day after day, and in the blink of an eye it was Friday again. However, this time, Tan Xu seemed to have disappeared from the world. She never saw him again, either in the afternoon's human-computer interaction class or in the billiard hall at night.
People in business schools generally like to play, probably because they skipped classes.
On Saturday afternoons, she and Ye Xin worked together on the recipe at home. Potluck: Whether you want to cook home-cooked meals or gourmet cuisine is a matter of personal preference, but most people have a certain social baggage and don't want to settle for simple dishes like scrambled eggs with tomatoes.
After Liang Zhiyao went bankrupt, he made every meal himself in an effort to reduce his living costs. As a result, his cooking skills improved greatly. It didn't take long for him to finish making his own salt and pepper spareribs. Then he found that his roommate was worrying about several whole chicken wings on the chopping board, not knowing how to chop a whole chicken wing into the middle, base and tip of the wing smoothly.
"What a mistake... I should have bought the ones that have been cut and processed," the beautiful woman sighed heavily and looked at her with eyes like a little animal, which meant: help is needed.
She couldn't resist Ye Xin's coquettishness, guiding and demonstrating, and in the end, she contributed almost half of the effort, and even helped her roommate cook a dish of braised chicken wings. The two of them packed up the dishes and went downstairs together to take a taxi.
Liu Siyan does not live in an apartment near the school. Her home is a traditional American single-family villa, which is a bit far from their downtown and is not convenient either by walking or public transportation.
As we were leaving, she asked, "Are you sure you don't want to consider getting a driver's license?"
They used to go to supermarkets and restaurants farther away together. Ever since Liang Zhiyao sold his car, Ye Xin's quality of life had plummeted. She mostly used Uber to get around, or got into her classmates' cars.
The other party waved his hands repeatedly: "No, I get a headache just thinking about driving."
The elevator dinged and stopped on the 3rd floor, but it was not empty. Standing inside was Tan Xu, who had taken the elevator down from the 6th floor.
He was wearing a black hooded jacket, similar to his usual class attire, but he was holding a pink food cooler bag in his hand, which made the combination look quite funny.
The insulated bag is obviously a style that girls like. It is a Japanese brand, decorated with a few cherry blossom petals, and it also contains a lunch box.
Ye Xin reacted quickly, pulling Liang Zhiyao into the elevator and immediately canceling the Uber order on her phone. She asked Tan Xu, "Why are you going out with a lunch box? Are you going to 1925 Ridge?"
That was Liu Siyan's home address. Tan Xu smiled when he heard it and glanced at the things in their hands: "I didn't know you were going too. Do you want to take my car?"
"Yes!" Ye Xin agreed decisively.
They recalled that they had parted ways unpleasantly at the bar last Saturday, and were both surprised that Tan Xu would be able to attend Liu Siyan's birthday party a few days later. Their eyes frequently met, all filled with burning gossip spirits.
Ye Xin couldn't hold back and immediately asked, "Uh... can I gossip for a minute? I thought you and Thea just broke up last week?"
"ha?"
The person involved looked confused, but when he remembered what happened in the bar last weekend, he finally understood and was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
"That day, she came to me to confide in me about her heartbreak. I followed suit, condemning the scumbag and offering some words of comfort. But that only pissed her off, and she ended up leaving me alone to go clubbing."
"Huh? So you're not dating?"
"Not at all. To be honest, she is actually a distant cousin of mine."
The whole story turned out to be a completely different story. It seems that making up stories with your imagination is really not a good idea. Thinking of the stupid operation of the man and woman who were analyzing the battle between the male and female sea kings across the table that day, they burst into laughter and felt a little embarrassed.
Liang Zhiyao couldn't help but ask again: "Then how did you comfort her? It can make people angry and leave."
"Let me guess," Ye Xin said gloatingly without waiting for the other party to answer, "I guess it's to advise people to learn from their mistakes and open their eyes to avoid meeting the wrong person again."
Tan Xu shrugged, basically agreeing, and humbly asked, "Is there something wrong?"
"You don't really think people want to hear this, do you?" Liang Zhiyao shook his head repeatedly, a look of hopelessness on his face. "When comforting someone who's been heartbroken, the most important thing is to let them vent their emotions. Don't ever try to teach them how to do things. Everyone knows the truth. You should always let the negative emotions fade before you can reason with them, okay?"
Perhaps because her best friend was right next to her, Liang Zhiyao suddenly became much more talkative and arrogant than when she was in the billiard hall last Friday.
She had long discovered her magical switch in social situations. As long as there were friends around her, she could talk very naturally. However, once she was alone with people she didn't know well, she seemed to be restrained and had to carefully consider every word before speaking. It was very strange.
There were three people present at the moment, which was exactly her comfort zone. After she finished her eloquent speech, she realized that Tan Xu was staring at her intently. She was speechless for a moment and could not continue.
"That makes sense," he smiled, narrowing his eyes. "But... you're so experienced, have you comforted those who've been heartbroken too many times, or have you been heartbroken too many times yourself?"
She was stunned by the question and wanted to refute it immediately, but then she suddenly felt clumsy in trying to prove herself. She couldn't help but curl her lips and evade the question, "Pfft—that sounds like 'If you can do it, then do it'? You don't need to know how to cool a refrigerator yourself to evaluate its quality."
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