67/Winter Warmth
Deng Momo, who had only eaten a few bites of hot pot and already drunk two glasses of wine, was a little tipsy. Zhang Cheng couldn't stop her. She became like brothers with everyone else. Su Wangqiu and Yu Yu, who were left unattended, were persuaded to drink several glasses by the lively atmosphere.
Chen Mian was the only one in the room who didn't drink any alcohol. Shen Yu replaced the wine glass in front of her with coconut juice and asked the waiter for a straw. This private room was for high-end customers, and the waiter brought half a pack of straws of different colors. Shen Yu picked and chose one and finally put a pink one in Chen Mian's glass. Seeing her looking in the direction of her roommate, he thought she was craving alcohol. He tapped his finger on the glass and said to her rather ruthlessly, "Don't even think about it. Besides coconut juice, you can also choose apple cider vinegar. Don't even think about touching the alcohol."
Chen Mian tried to take the pink straw out of the cup.
Shen Yu glanced at her and asked, "What are you doing?"
Chen Mian frowned. "Change the color."
It was too pink, especially since everyone around her was toasting each other with wine glasses, and she was the only one drinking coconut juice, and using a pink straw, which was a bit strange.
Shen Yu simply put away the half-pack of straws, saying matter-of-factly, "There are no other colors, drink yours."
If Chen Mian simply believed whatever Shen Yu said, the two of them wouldn't still be in that ambiguous stage.
Upon hearing Shen Yu's words, she immediately put the cup aside, picked up her teacup again, and indicated that she would not touch the coconut juice.
In the end, Shen Yu compromised, shoving half a package into her hand and surrendering somewhat helplessly, "Choose, grandma."
The meal took more than two hours to finish.
The group ate, drank, and chatted, and finally, as it was almost time for the dormitory to close, they reluctantly parted ways.
Before leaving, the boys from the Shenyu team repeatedly begged Deng Momo to help them find single girls and introduce them to someone. Deng Momo simply nodded and said she wouldn't leave a single one behind. Then, Zhang Cheng helped her into a taxi, and Su Wangqiu and Yu Yu followed. The back door wasn't closed, and Yu Yu poked her head out and asked Chen Mian, "Mianmian, aren't you getting in—"
Before she could finish speaking, Su Wangqiu covered her mouth, pulled her inside, slammed the door shut, rolled down the window, and said goodbye to Chen Mian, "It's okay if you come back late, Auntie won't be checking the dorms today."
There weren't many pedestrians on the street on this early winter night. With Christmas approaching, many shops had put up Santa Claus stickers on their windows in advance. After paying, Chen Yu came out of the shop but didn't see Chen Mian at the door. He assumed she had left with her roommate. His phone rang in his pocket. It was You Huai calling, who had found out about the news a little later.
As soon as the call connected, he heard You Huai coldly ask him, "Are we still friends? You didn't invite me to eat hot pot? Your teammates told me they were planning to invite me, but you said no. What do you mean, Chen Yu? I'm not worthy to have a meal with you and your girlfriend, is that it?"
Shen Yu was amused by You Huai's tone, "There's not enough room, next time."
"Next time my ass! I'm eating instant noodles at school while you're eating hot pot outside. Have you ever considered how I feel?"
"Don't talk nonsense. Why didn't you mention that Chi Sheng was drinking oatmeal in Suizhong?"
You Huai, who had already forgotten about his good friend who was repeating a year of high school: ...
"Alright, but are you and Chen Mian really talking right now?"
"I guess so."
You Huai, being a clever man, immediately understood the hidden meaning behind the words "I guess so," which implied that they weren't dating yet. He was quite impressed with Shen Yu; he had never seen anyone act like they were already in the honeymoon phase before even dating. How pathetic! He crawled into bed and gave his good friend some advice, "This won't do. You need to do something romantic. You have to cater to her tastes. Like Chen Yin, she likes jewelry and pretty clothes. I gave her all my living expenses. Although I lost money, I got a girlfriend. Isn't that a worthwhile deal?"
Nonsense. You Huai is the epitome of a simp in Shen Yu's eyes. Is what he had with Chen Yin a relationship? It was more like a princess and her servant.
He was getting a little impatient listening to this. He reached into his hoodie pocket for his car keys, then remembered that he had been drinking and couldn't drive. He had no choice but to give up on going back to his apartment and decided to go back to his school dormitory instead. But after walking only a few steps, he saw Chen Mian coming out of a convenience store.
He was a little surprised and asked her, "Why didn't you go back to your dorm?"
You Huai thought she was talking to him, and the voice that was imparting her dating experience stopped. She said, somewhat annoyed, "I'm right here—"
Before he could finish saying the word "dormitory," he heard a dial tone and, upon checking his phone, immediately hung up.
You Huai: ...Where did he learn this dog-like temper from?
Chen Mian held the plastic bag given to her by 7-Eleven. The small bag was heavy in her hand. She took out a bottle of yogurt, inserted a straw, and handed it to Chen Yu, saying in a light tone, "There aren't enough seats in the car, so they went back first."
Shen Yu subconsciously took the yogurt. He had been persuaded to drink seven or eight cups tonight, and his mind wasn't as sharp as usual. He even chuckled, "What kind of car? There aren't enough seats for four people. A motorcycle?"
Chen Mian: "..."
She stared at Shen Yu and realized that he was indeed a little drunk. Just now in the hot pot restaurant, the hot air was blowing in his direction. The food in Suibei is relatively light, and Shen Yu can't eat too much spice. He kept rubbing his eyes because of the spiciness, and now the corners of his eyes are still a little red, making his beauty mark under his eye less noticeable.
They stood in front of the convenience store. To their right was a barbershop. The three-colored pillars at the entrance spun and flashed red, white, and blue lights. The streetlights were just a few steps away, and there was light everywhere. The person in front of them didn't get a reply and thought he hadn't heard her. He bent down and got closer to her, and the drawstring of his gray hoodie drooped down with it.
Chen Mian stared at the two drawstrings, and the smell of alcohol emanating from Shen Yu clung to her. As a result, some memories that she shouldn't have remembered slowly returned to her mind. It seemed to be a night like this, only in a darker alley, when she had indeed been holding onto these drawstrings and kissing the person in front of her.
Shen Yu was still moving closer to her, and the closer they got, the shorter the distance between them became. The yogurt he was holding was squeezed out of the hole next to the straw because of his uncontrollable movements, and some of the white liquid flowed onto the back of Shen Yu's hand. He ignored it.
Chen Mian had no idea just how drunk Shen Yu was.
Even though he should have a pretty good alcohol tolerance, the hand holding the bag tightened as the distance between them gradually disappeared.
She could clearly see her own face reflected in Shen Yu's dark pupils, slightly flushed, with her lips tightly pressed together. No matter how you looked at it, it was as if she was somewhat flustered after meeting someone she liked.
This version of herself felt somewhat unfamiliar to Chen Mian, so she called out his name at the last moment.
"Sink—"
As soon as the word was uttered, the person in front of her suddenly changed his posture. He lowered his head and turned away from her, but even at this moment he still remembered not to get her clothes dirty. He removed the hand holding the yogurt and moved it behind her waist.
He leaned on her shoulder.
Then, with a muffled "hmm" that seemed to come from his throat, he said to her, "Chen Mian, I'm drunk. Let me hug you."
"..."
That one word, "Chen Mian," made her back stiffen, and the warm breath he exhaled on her shoulder made her heart pound like a drum.
The person who claimed to be drunk was clearly Shen Yu; she had only drunk one cup of coconut juice tonight.
But Chen Mian felt that she was also drunk.
She lowered her eyes and saw the long shadows cast by the two people under the streetlights.
After a few seconds, he reached out his hand and slowly did as he had instructed.
She hugged him.
/
You Huai leaned closer: Are you really drunk? Are you really drunk?
(Sorry for the wait!)
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