Gu Qingyan suddenly stood up, grabbed his phone from across the desk, and tapped on Shen Zhi Qiu's WeChat profile picture to start typing. But then he stopped, slumped back down, and realized he couldn't send the message anyway.
He glanced at the shards scattered on the ground. The word "separation" on one of the shards was particularly glaring. Gu Qingyan pursed his lips, strode over, picked it up, and tore it into even smaller pieces.
For some reason, even though he hadn't signed the papers yet, he felt that he had lost Shen Zhi Qiu forever.
After a moment, he walked to the drawer, pulled open the second compartment, and took out the yellowed photograph.
The girl in the photo with her hair in a high ponytail has her eyes crinkled. She stands in front of a pink flower wall, holding a plate of cream cake in her hand. She is not looking at the camera, but smiling sweetly to her left.
Gu Qingyan closed her eyes, her heart feeling as heavy as a thousand pounds.
"Brother Mingyu, is it okay for me to stand here?" Shen Zhi Qiu was wearing a beige dress, and her high ponytail swayed with her movements.
“Yes, the white dress matches the pink flower wall behind you very well! Zhi Qiu, smile for the camera!” Si Mingyu held up the camera and directed Shen Zhi Qiu to turn her face towards him a little.
"Click," the camera clicked.
Unbeknownst to anyone, Gu Qingyan had also raised her camera and captured the moment from the nearby bushes.
Seeing Shen Zhi Qiu's sweet smile on the screen, he smiled knowingly, then quickly put the camera into his black backpack before walking out of the bushes.
Suddenly, the vibration of his phone interrupted his thoughts. He glanced at the yellowed photo in his hand and sighed.
"Hey, Qingyan, are you free? Want to grab a drink at Blue Domain?"
Gu Qingyan was somewhat surprised. Usually, Meng Yunche would invite Fu Jingran when organizing drinking parties because he knew that Gu Qingyan was very busy during the day and would not bother him at night.
Seeing that Gu Qingyan didn't speak, Meng Yunche said again, "Qingyan, come here. Don't be rude. I even drank with you last time!"
"Okay, I'm coming now." Gu Qingyan grabbed his coat and strode over the pieces of paper scattered on the ground. He was in a bad mood, so a drink might help.
As he stepped into the private room of Blue Domain, he saw it was filled with smoke. Meng Yunche, one hand in his pocket and the other holding a microphone, was screaming at the top of his lungs: "Breakups should be dignified. No one needs to apologize. What's there to owe? I dared to give, and I dare to have my heart broken..."
Gu Qingyan frowned, casually draped her coat over the sofa, then picked up Meng Yunche's cigarette case from the table, opened it, and held a cigarette between two fingers.
The lighter ignited, he took a puff, and slowly exhaled white smoke.
A few minutes later, Meng Yunche turned around and looked at Gu Qingyan's face, which was faintly visible in the white smoke. He said with a slight sense of relief, "Qingyan, seeing that even someone as handsome as you has lost his wife, I feel better."
Upon hearing this, Gu Qingyan immediately stubbed out her cigarette and crushed it several times in the ashtray, wishing she could strangle Meng Yunche.
He slowly raised his head and said calmly, "What happened? Did An'an kick you out again?"
"What do you mean 'kicked out'? I just came out for some fresh air. An'an, give me some private space." Meng Yunche touched his nose and retorted without much confidence. Then he walked over and sat down next to him, lowering his eyes and lighting a cigarette.
Gu Qingyan sneered, "Then your singing is as pathetic as a stray dog's."
"This is art, Qingyan! You're a businessman who doesn't understand music, so don't talk. No wonder Shen Zhi Qiu doesn't like you if you have no artistic talent." Meng Yunche raised an eyebrow in dissatisfaction, rolled his eyes at him, and stabbed him in the heart.
"Who told you Shen Zhi Qiu doesn't like me? We've been married for three years, how could there be no feelings between us?" Gu Qing Yan said with a displeased expression.
"You think you can run away if you like someone?" Meng Yunche was also in a bad mood, deliberately picking at Gu Qingyan's sore spot. "That's right, who can stand you and Xiao Wanqing?"
Gu Qingyan's face immediately fell, and he lit another cigarette.
Suddenly, the door to the private room opened from the outside, and a pair of long legs strode in. "Sorry we're late."
Si Mingyu and Fu Jingran appeared at the door. Si Mingyu stood behind Fu Jingran, smiling and nodding at Meng Yunche. When he saw Gu Qingyan smoking in the dim light, his brow twitched slightly, but he quickly regained his composure and smiled faintly.
"Come in, come in! I've told the waiter to bring the drinks. Tonight, let's drink until we drop, haha!" Meng Yunche stood up and gestured for everyone to sit down and talk.
Fu Jingran and Si Mingyu sat down opposite them.
"Mingyu, it's been so long since we last saw each other since you went abroad! Come on, let's have a drink." With that, Meng Yunche downed his drink in one gulp and turned the glass upside down to show that he had finished it.
Si Mingyu smiled gently and downed a glass as well.
Meng Yunche picked up his glass again, wanting to drink with Fu Jingran. Fu Jingran glanced at him and said calmly, "Where's your An'an? Doesn't she always dislike you coming home reeking of alcohol?"
"She doesn't have time to care about me. I'm like a piece of trash, she can just throw me away like that." Meng Yunche pouted, and when he saw Fu Jingran, he stopped pretending and said aggrievedly.
He has always had a very low alcohol tolerance; he's the type who gets flushed easily after drinking and is easily knocked out after just one glass. He just finished a glass, and the effects of the alcohol are already showing on his face.
“An’an is out filming, she’s not not coming back!” Fu Jingran was speechless at his attitude.
Meng Yunche is a well-known patient with a severe case of being love-struck, while An An is a photographer who loves to travel around and enjoys the scenery. Moreover, she always prefers to travel alone, and when she has an inspiration, she may immediately leave Meng Yunche behind and buy a ticket to fly to a place thousands of miles away to take pictures.
The two rarely saw each other. Every time An'an went out, Meng Yunche seemed to suffer from separation anxiety, clamoring to go out drinking and singing. However, his singing was terrible and consisted mostly of sad love songs. After a while, his friends were afraid to come to his tone-deaf solo concert, so they all made excuses to avoid it. Therefore, most of the time, he was left to drown his sorrows alone.
Today, An'an and Meng Yunche were supposed to come and meet some friends, but now An'an is nowhere to be seen, and Meng Yunche is acting like this again. Everyone knows what's going on.
"An'an saw a video of a mountain in Rongcheng this morning. She heard the scenery was amazing, and someone even built a high-end sanatorium or something in the mountain. She immediately abandoned me and left. I, a living person, am not as good as a dead mountain..." Meng Yunche muttered aggrievedly, his voice growing softer and softer.
Si Mingyu's heart tightened, but he glanced at Gu Qingyan with a calm expression, noticing that Gu Qingyan was replying to messages on his phone and not listening to Meng Yunche. Reassured, he then comforted Meng Yunche:
“As a well-known landscape photographer, it’s normal for An’an to travel all over the world. What’s rare is that she really loves this job, so just let her go. She’ll come back after she’s done shooting.”
“I’ll be gone for a week!” Meng Yunche saw that Fu Jingran wouldn’t drink with him, so he tugged at Gu Qingyan’s sleeve. “Qingyan, then you drink with me.”
Gu Qingyan was about to refuse when she saw Meng Yunche sway and fall onto the sofa next to her, falling asleep immediately.
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