CH 16

In the end, we ordered pizza for lunch.

At that time, I was completely zoned out while scrolling through the screen, not even sure what I was looking at anymore. That guy chatted with my female senior for a long time before deciding to come over to ask me, “Have you decided on what you want to eat?”

I didn’t care about this matter at all anymore so I ordered something out of a whim. He leaned in and said, “You like pizza? What flavour do you want?”

When he leaned in closer, I panicked for some reason and somehow got angry as well. I puffed out my cheeks in a pout and said, “I want them all!”

To think he actually nodded and immediately said, “Sure, get them all then.”

…How rich.

I didn’t get why, but although his attitude was obviously much better than before, but I still felt like I was punched by a sense of powerlessness. It made me feel even more miserable.

Is it possible that I’m a M?

…that can’t be, right?

The steaming hot pizzas were delivered in no time. A group of people swarmed over and began to share the food. My stomach started growling the second I smelled the tantalizing aroma of cheese, but my body was so tired that I didn’t feel like moving at all.

All the wild thoughts consumed too much of my energy and I couldn’t muster up any interest to eat anymore. Ah, I’m really torturing myself here.

After lying on the table for a while, a piece of pizza on a plate was suddenly brought to me. I jerked my head up and met my female senior’s smiling face.

“Xiao Xia, are you not feeling well? If you don’t eat, it’ll all be gone soon.”

I blinked a few times, then ignored the hint of disappointment I felt and forced a smile, “Thanks senior, but I’m alright.”

“Really?  You seem to not be in a good mood. I thought something happened to you.”

After thinking about it over and over again, I hesitantly looked up and tried testing the waters, “Senior…that…I wanted to ask. If…If you didn’t have a boyfriend now and there is a good-looking, rich and highly educated man pursuing you, would you agree?”

She laughed, “What do you mean ‘if’? I don’t have a boyfriend to begin with.”

“Ah? You…I thought you…”

“I broke up with my ex-boyfriend a month ago. Didn’t you know?”

She broke up with her boyfriend a long time ago.

She’s single now.

I slowly came to that conclusion life a fool, my mind now full of a million thoughts. I ended up forgetting what I originally wanted to ask.

“A good-looking, rich and highly educated man…you’re not referring to Shen Die, are you?”

I froze, looking up at her again as she smiled at me with crescent eyes. I couldn’t help but stammer, “H-how did you know…”

""

“You’re being so obvious, how hard is it to guess?”

H-How obvious was I?

Before I fully comprehended what my senior meant, she suddenly leaned in closer and stared right into my eyes. “How can you possibly find a second man that is as great as him? If he wants to pursue after me, of course I would seize the opportunity and not hesitate to say yes!”

She laughed after saying that, then patted my shoulder, “Xiao Xia, you get what I mean now, right?”

I stared at the two sweet dimples on her cheeks. A weird, unexplainable feeling bubbled in my heart. I slowly nodded, “Mhmm…I do.”

“I’m relieved if you do.”

She walked away with a satisfied look. I looked down and took a bite of the cold pizza in my hand.

The cheese didn’t even do a pull. Fuck, it doesn’t taste good at all.

To the point where I even felt like crying a little.

In the evening, I asked a friend to help me cover my shift and went back to my dorm to rest early.

After playing a few boring rounds of games, I received some spam messages that would pop up from time to time. So I decided to tap into it and clean them up a little.

I usually use WeChat and never look at the text messages sent to me. While deleting them one by one, I saw the train ticket that was sent over yesterday by 12306. It was then that I recalled I bought two tickets to be safe. One tomorrow afternoon and another the morning after.

The exchange programme will be ending tomorrow.

After thinking about it for a bit, I refunded the ticket for the day after tomorrow.

After all, the fee for refunding the former one was more expensive. I’m just trying to save some money. Mhmm, that’s it.

I continued to scroll down further, seeing a whole lot more of spam messages. Just as I was about to delete them all, I suddenly noticed an unfamiliar number.

When I tapped into it, there were only a few short text messages. It was sent the night before yesterday, when I was still in the dorm…

“Are you here? Or asleep in your dorm?”

“It’s raining outside, remember to bring an umbrella.”

“Do you want me to come over to your dorm to pick you up? Which one is it?”

“Forget it. I guess a little fool like you won’t read my messages. I’ll go ahead first.”

And after another minute, he sent another text.

“I’ll wait for you here.”

I jumped out of bed immediately, knocking into the top bunk bed. But disregarding the pain, I immediately ran for the door.

""

It turned out he already had my phone number since that time.

Why didn’t he call me then?

My mind was already in a mess earlier, but now it’s a complete blank. Not knowing what I even want to do, my subconscious drove me to run wildly towards the university entrance, as if…as if I was really going there to find someone.

I didn’t know why I was looking for him, what I even want to say when I do. But all I know was that I suddenly really, really wanted to see him.

Ten minutes later, I was by the university entrance, panting hard with sweat all over my forehead. Even my eyes were wet.

It was empty there, with no one there.

The meeting usually ended at five o’clock. I looked at my watch, it was half past five.

He wasn’t waiting for me here.

That’s right. It wasn’t raining today. Plus I got someone to take over my shift, so there would be someone else sending him back. Not to mention he knew the way back himself anyways.

There was no need for him to stay back. He’s not a fool.

I stood still on the same spot for some time before walking out of there.

In the evening, the streets near university were still really lively, filled with couples holding hands as they strolled leisurely. A few nearby bars were lit as I wandered aimlessly on the street for a while, until I unconsciously walked to the entrance of a gay bar.

I was usually too busy with my part-time jobs to even have any time to visit a gay bar in my non-working hours. This is my first time.

Whatever, I’m already here, might as well go in and have a look.

I felt strangely empty right now and I was desperate to find something to distract myself. So I walked right in and went straight through the crowd to the bar counter I was familiar with.

I initially wanted to go greet my boss, the bar owner, but he was engaged in a heated conversation with a muscular man in a tank top so I couldn’t go and disturb them. With that, I decided to sit down across the bar counter.

I couldn’t recognize the bartender today. I don’t think I have seen him in the store before, probably a new hire.

He obviously didn’t know me either, so he leaned in closer and asked with a meaningful smile, “Hey handsome, are you alone?”

I subconsciously wanted to tell him that I’m straight, yet a sad reminder suddenly popped up in my mind that I had been bent, so I mumbled, “…Mhmm.”

His eyes turned into crescents as he pushed over a glass of colourful wine, “It’s a new mix. Want to try?”

New mix? Who is he trying to fool here? I have made this several hundreds of years ago, okay? I know it’s a really strong mix. I won’t fall for it.

I shook my head, “I don’t drink foreign wine. I get drunk easily.”

He suddenly laughed, “Coming to the bar but not drinking? Then are you a kid who’s here to drink milk?”

This bartender wasn’t that good-looking, but he still had decent looks. When he narrowed his eyes, he did share some resemblance with that vixen Shen Die. Coupled with this provocative tone, I immediately thought of that annoying guy. Anger rushed through me, so without thinking much, I gritted my teeth and downed that glass of wine in one shot.

He was right, I guess. What was I thinking not drinking after coming to the bar? I was feeling upset anyways and this is a rare chance to indulge in some fun. So I’m just going to get drunk and drown my sorrows away.

My physique of getting drunk after a glass of wine came into effect almost immediately. Within a few minutes of drinking, I felt my body heat up and my world began to turn upside down in front of my eyes. Then I fell on the table in a dizziness.

The man in front of me let out a laugh, “You got drunk so soon? What a baby.”

He reached out to hold my head upright, tipping my chin up and waving a hand in front of me. “Little cutie, who am I?”

I squinted my eyes and vaguely see a pair of crescent eyes through my blurred vision. I tilted my head and thought about it for a bit, then slowly smiled, “V-Vixen…”

He poked the dimple on my face and said, “What vixen?”

I slurred, “S…Shen…”

Before I could finish my words, a hand appeared out of thin air and grabbed that man’s wrist to forcefully pull it away. A deep voice then rang beside my ear. “Xia Zhi, what are you doing here?”

I slowly turned my head towards him and picked up a familiar scent.

A light men’s perfume, the one that I really like.