Chapter 63

Who is R planning to sleep with?

When Chen Xi saw the text message, her cheeks instantly burned, glowing as red as a Foxconn apple.

Seeing this, Amy raised an eyebrow in surprise, "No way, are you really this innocent? Action hasn't even been taken yet, and you're already blushing this hard. What's going to happen once you get into bed..."

The man was sitting just a table away, and Amy spoke loud enough for a radius of two meters to hear.

Frightened, Chen Xi stood up, reflexively covering Amy's mouth while shaking her head vigorously to signal her to stop talking.

Amy: ?

Chen Xi let out a breath, slowly removing her hand from Amy's mouth, and managed to squeeze out, "Amy, walls have ears."

Amy glanced back, catching a pair of affectionate yet indifferent peach-blossom eyes.

Unlike Chen Xi, she wasn't flustered. Calmly withdrawing her gaze, Amy rested her chin in her hand, looking at Chen Xi across the table, whose face was flushed crimson as if she wished the ground would open up and swallow her. Amy asked stubbornly, "Such a top-tier catch, you really don't want to sleep with him?"

Of course, this sentence fell entirely into the ears of the two men sitting right behind them.

Because of the warning look from the man opposite him, Jiang Chi hadn't greeted Chen Xi in public, afraid of disrupting her.

Yet right now, Jiang Chi looked as though he had just overheard some incredible piece of gossip. Abandoning his food, he craned his neck to peek at the two women several times, then winked and nudged Zhou Yanzhou, whispering, "Tsk, little Xi really has grown up."

"Just listen to what they're talking about. Her coworker is quite interesting, too."

Mid-sentence, Jiang Chi noticed the terrifyingly gloomy expression on the man opposite him, which looked on the verge of erupting into fury. With a keen sense of self-preservation, Jiang Chi promptly shut his mouth.

Two minutes earlier, Chen Xi had picked up her phone, glanced up at the large screen, and stealthily replied with a very aggressive name: T. Xu Yi.

When Zhou Yanzhou saw the name Xu Yi, it rang a vague bell. Just then, the TV drama halfway through cut to a commercial, and the leading actor was none other than Xu Yi.

Looking at that somewhat attractive face and the physique smoothly outlined by ancient costume robes, Zhou Yanzhou couldn't help but sneer.

So she only had a penchant for pretty boys?

One Xie Nanzhou wasn't enough, and now there had to be an Xu Yi?

Keeping an eye on the man's expression, Jiang Chi looked past him to secretly steal a glimpse of Chen Xi, who had finished eating and was preparing to leave. Seeing her looking radiant with a hint of smug triumph at the corner of her brows, Jiang Chi couldn't help but guess whether the two of them had broken up.

For reasons unknown, Jiang Chi dared to pluck whiskers from a tiger's chin. He hissed and asked pointedly, "Did little Xi fall in love?"

The words had barely left his mouth when a sinister glare swept across him, scaring Jiang Chi so much he didn't dare move.

Licking his lips, he wore a conflicted expression, thinking to himself: It's over, his brother was actually preparing to be the third wheel.

Jiang Chi weighed his words, wanting to persuade Zhou Yanzhou to turn back from the brink and avoid getting mixed up in such underhanded, face-losing affairs.

Before he could figure out what to say, however, the man opposite him suddenly picked up his barely touched food tray, stood up, pushed back his chair, and strode toward the trash collection area.

Amy had gone to the restroom. After clearing her tray, Chen Xi stood by the restaurant entrance waiting for her.

Catching sight of that tall, slender figure out of the corner of her eye, Chen Xi instinctively wanted to flee, but before she could take two steps, she was caught up by the man.

In full view of everyone, Zhou Yanzhou didn't make any excessive gestures. As he brushed past her, he simply dropped an indifferent comment: "Well done. You've grown some backbone."

Chen Xi: ?

Was he angry?

Before Chen Xi could react, he had already walked away.

Blinking, she watched the man's dashing departure, and remembering Amy's words, she suddenly thought his figure really wasn't bad.

He probably wouldn't be bad in bed either, right?

Jiang Chi shoveled down a couple of bites of rice and chased after them, arriving just in time to witness the scene.

Rubbing the tip of his nose, he put on an act as he walked up. When he passed Chen Xi, he deliberately slowed his pace and complained right to her face, "The boss has been so moody lately, I really can't take it as a working stiff. It's so hard to get a lunch break to actually rest, but look at him—he left after barely two bites, and now my meal's ruined too."

"Xi, why don't you come work my shift for a couple of days?"

Chen Xi: "..."

Who exactly was the working stiff here? How could a capitalist like him have the nerve to say that?

Realizing that mentioning the word "worker" in front of Chen Xi might have been a bit much, Jiang Chi gave a light cough, patted her shoulder sympathetically, and encouraged her, "Keep up the good work."

Amy came out of the restroom just in time to bump into the scene. Mistaking Jiang Chi for a creep, she ran over in her high heels, smacked him right across the back, and cursed, "You damn pervert!"

Chen Xi, who hadn't had time to react: "..."

Jiang Chi, whose heart felt nearly broken by Amy's slap: "..."

After giving Jiang Chi a kick, Amy looked at Chen Xi with concern and asked, "Are you alright? Did he take advantage of you?"

Reaching back to rub his back and recognizing Amy, Jiang Chi asked with an embarrassed and aggrieved expression, "Who the hell are you?"

Turning around, Amy gave Jiang Chi the middle finger and replied aggressively, "I'm your grandpa."

Seeing that the two of them were about to start a brawl, Chen Xi immediately stepped between them to stop it. "Amy, calm down, calm down. He didn't take advantage of me..."

Unconvinced, Amy asked, "Then what was with him touching your shoulder just now?"

Chen Xi wore a bewildered expression, and a second later, she offered a哭笑不得 (laughable-yet-tearful) explanation, "I know him. He was just encouraging me, nothing else."

Amy: ?

Realizing it was all a misunderstanding, Amy openly and generously apologized to Jiang Chi.

Her attitude shifted on a dime, leaving Jiang Chi—who had been ready to issue a lawyer's letter—trapped on the high moral ground. Too proud to bicker with a young woman, he could only chalk it up to bad luck.

Having cleared the air, Jiang Chi took a breath, said a calm goodbye to Chen Xi, and turned on his heel to leave.

Once he was out of earshot, Amy clutched her face in agony and said, "It's over!"

Having realized that Amy was actually just a little girl at heart, Chen Xi patted the back of her hand and comforted her in a low voice, "It's fine, it's all in the past, don't worry about it. Brother Jiang Chi isn't a petty person."

Wrong. His pettiness exceeded the eye of a needle.

He had always believed in an eye for an eye against anyone who crossed him; he had only restrained himself this time because the target was Chen Xi.

Sighing with regret, Amy said, "Only after I hit him did I realize he's from the 33rd floor. Damn it, and he's from Genesis Games too! If I'd known, I wouldn't have been so impulsive."

Blinking in confusion, Chen Xi asked, "Do the two have anything to do with each other?"

Nodding firmly, Amy replied, "It ruins your chances of sleeping with the boss on the 33rd floor."

Chen Xi: "..."

That was going too far. Seriously, way too far.

Upon returning to the 33rd floor, Jiang Chi plunged straight into Zhou Yanzhou's office and vividly recounted what had just happened, embellishing the story along the way to make Amy sound utterly detestable. Finally, he concluded with a painful sigh, "If little Xi spends too much time with that woman, she's definitely going to catch something."

While Zhou Yanzhou initially thought Jiang Chi was just being petty, hearing the end made him worry that having such a troublemaker around Chen Xi could easily lead to trouble.

Could any woman who loudly proclaimed in public who she wanted to sleep with possibly have any class?

Frowning slightly, he lifted his eyes to glare at Jiang Chi, who was wincing in pain, and asked casually, "So what do you want to do about it?"

Jiang Chi wouldn't actually pick a fight with a woman, but being hit by one for the very first time was a bit of a blow to his ego.

Having vented his grievances, Jiang Chi slumped onto Zhou Yanzhou's desk, racked his brains, and finally blurted out, "How about after little Xi finishes her internship, we get her to come over to Genesis as a legal counsel?"

Wouldn't having her right by his side give him peace of mind?

That wasn't a bad idea, but he wondered: would she even agree?

Unable to reach a conclusion, Zhou Yanzhou wasn't in a rush, figuring there would be plenty of opportunities.

Because of the incident on the 13th floor, the revolutionary friendship between Chen Xi and Amy deepened by another layer.

Amy was also a law graduate from Renmin University and a high-flyer gilt with an Ivy League pedigree. She had practiced law for two years earlier in her career, but finding it too exhausting, she switched to administrative work, which was more relaxed yet retained authoritative sway.

Although Chen Xi had learned how to organize documents in school, she had never systematically handled such complex files and basically had to learn everything from scratch.

Amy had plenty of leisure time. From time to time, she would wander over to Chen Xi's workstation, rest her hands on the desk, and gaze at Chen Xi's computer screen to eagle-eyed point out mistakes while teaching her step-by-step how to fix them.

"For litigation case folder naming conventions: Client & Opposing Party - XXX Dispute. For organizing litigation case folders: combine timelines and trial procedures, store them in separate subfolders, and mark the dates. File naming convention: Date + File Name + Company Name/Case Name."

"Watch out for typos. Remember to read through everything twice after organizing, and you must read it out loud and fix every single error."

"When sending emails, the subject line must clearly state the relevant project and case number. Foreigners pay close attention to this."

At this, Amy paused, her expression turning solemn as she reminded her, "Whenever you send emails from now on, you must keep delivery receipts to preserve evidence."

Chen Xi nodded repeatedly, her eyes filled with gratitude toward Amy.

While the law firm had many lawyers, very few of them would patiently remind an intern like this. Most adopted a "not my business" attitude and completely looked down upon Chen Xi.

Noticing Chen Xi's look, Amy patted her head sympathetically and said with a smile, "Everyone goes through this stage, don't be afraid."

It took Chen Xi an entire afternoon to organize just two documents, and she would probably have to take a third one back to school to finish.

They were all cross-border corporate M&A cases containing massive amounts of data that needed cross-referencing, along with a mountain of legal provisions to consult. Chen Xi found her head spinning just helping to sort the materials, let alone being the lawyer handling them directly.

At six o'clock sharp, Amy shouldered her bag and left on the dot.

Passing Chen Xi's workstation, Amy tapped the corner of her desk and called out, "Not leaving yet?"

Chen Xi blinked at the pile of materials on her desk, wanting to say she'd stay a bit longer. Before she could speak, Amy said, "Leave it for tomorrow. Your supervising attorney hasn't come back yet anyway, and all this work was scheduled under my watch."

"I drove today. I'll give you a ride home."

Unable to refuse Amy, Chen Xi had no choice but to pack her materials and laptop into her bag, intending to finish them later at home.

The moment the two reached the first-floor lobby, Chen Xi received a call from Xie Nanzhou.

Over the phone, Xie Nanzhou said excitedly, "Xi, I'm waiting for you downstairs at your company. Are you getting off work soon?"

"Can you give your boyfriend a chance to make it up to you? Stop ignoring me."

Amy was standing close enough to overhear Xie Nanzhou's words.

Casting a surprised look at Chen Xi's complicated expression, she whispered, "Well, well, you have a boyfriend?"

Hanging up the phone, Chen Xi nodded hesitantly.

Seeing this, Amy offered a compromise, "Look, since your boyfriend is here to pick you up, I won't drive you after all. You don't mind me going back on my word, do you?"

Chen Xi shook her head apologetically. "...Amy, I'm sorry to bail on you."

Tossing her hair back, Amy cheerfully replied, "Don't be so formal between us. Hurry up and go, don't keep people waiting. You can't park long around here, watch out for the traffic police towing the car."

This finally coaxed a smile out of Chen Xi.

With her backpack on, she walked quickly out of the lobby and soon spotted the Maybach parked by the roadside.

Xie Nanzhou was standing outside the car wearing a T-shirt, shorts, and sunglasses, holding a bouquet of red roses and staring with great excitement as Chen Xi slowly walked out.

Seeing how high-profile Xie Nanzhou was being, Chen Xi suddenly stopped in her tracks, reluctant to walk any closer.

Having already spotted her, Xie Nanzhou waved frantically, ignoring the passersby as he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Xi, I'm over here~"

Not only Amy witnessed this scene, but also Zhou Yanzhou and Jiang Chi, who were on their way to see a client.

Zhou Yanzhou watched as that slender, frail figure stiffly approached the Maybach, while its owner proudly and obtrusively shoved the bouquet of roses into Chen Xi's arms, kissed her forehead in broad daylight, opened the car door for her, and waited for her to get in.

For a second or two, Zhou Yanzhou felt the impulse to step forward and stop them, but his feet felt glued to the floor, unable to budge an inch.

Witnessing it all from the side, Jiang Chi instinctively glanced at the man beside him.

Seeing the dark, gloomy look on the man's face, with a coldness in his eyes that seemed on the point of freezing into ice, Jiang Chi shuddered instinctively.

Now he understood completely.

His boss was truly walking down the path of a home-wrecker.

With the official partner already standing right there, his eyes were still glued to little Xi—which was slightly immoral.

Yet as his subordinate and best friend, Jiang Chi mentally resolved that even if his boss became a homewrecker, he would support him.

Had Zhou Yanzhou known what was running through Jiang Chi's mind, he would have cursed out loud: *Idiot! Who the hell says I'm the third wheel?*

The unloved one is the third wheel.

Chen Xi never expected Xie Nanzhou to suddenly show up at her company to pick her up.

Hugging the bright, dripping-red bouquet of roses, she lowered her head to sniff them, but they had no scent at all.

Xie Nanzhou didn't think his actions were flashy at all; on the contrary, he felt he hadn't done enough and even reviewed his performance on the road, vowing to do better next time.

Chen Xi felt her head ache listening to him. Pressing her slender brows together and staring at the taillights of the car ahead, she said powerlessly, "Xie Nanzhou, can you not pull stunts like this next time?"

"I'm already exhausted from work. I don't have the energy to deal with you."

Stunned, Xie Nanzhou gripped the steering wheel and turned to look at the person beside him, only then noticing how awful her complexion looked. Licking his lips, he said helplessly, "Xi, I just wanted to make you happy."

Taking a deep breath, Chen Xi tossed the roses onto the dashboard and said with a pale, weary expression, "Can you not be so high-profile? I just want to live a quiet, ordinary life."

Realizing Chen Xi was genuinely angry, Xie Nanzhou offered a cautious apology.

Chen Xi had no defense against Xie Nanzhou. He could bend and stretch, always leaving people unable to fault him on technicalities, making it impossible for her to even find a reason to break up.

For a time, the interior of the car fell into a stalemate.

Seeing that Chen Xi was unhappy, Xie Nanzhou quietly reached into the back seat, retrieved a gift bag, and placed it on her lap.

"I happened to pass by the mall the other day and fell in love with this at first sight. I thought the color would suit you."

"Xi, won't you stop being mad at me? I was wrong, I'll definitely keep a low profile next time."

Looking down at the gift bag in her lap—half-open to reveal the dress inside—Chen Xi was left speechless.

Whether she had simply grown used to Xie Nanzhou's ways or was just too exhausted, she couldn't utter a single syllable.

Returning to the campus, Xie Nanzhou had barely dropped Chen Xi off at the East Gate when a phone call summoned him away.

Chen Xi had no desire to pry into other people's privacy, but Xie Nanzhou's phone was placed too prominently; a downward glance let her catch the caller's name: Li Jiajia.

That was the junior who had added her on WeChat but rarely spoke to her, right?

As if deliberately guarding against Chen Xi, Xie Nanzhou only answered the call after she had stepped out of the car.

Before leaving, Xie Nanzhou cast a gaze filled with deep apology toward Chen Xi.

Exhaling, Chen Xi turned her head away, unwilling to look at him.

She didn't even know what she was holding onto.

Perhaps she stubbornly felt that as long as she didn't break up, she was one step closer to the normal life she desired.

Once broken up, throwing morality to the winds, she might throw herself recklessly toward certain people.

After a week of interning at the law firm, Chen Xi had gradually grown accustomed to leaving early and returning late every day.

It wasn't until Friday evening, when Li Qing asked Chen Xi about her weekend plans and whether she wanted to go shopping, that Chen Xi remembered Xie Nanzhou's birthday was this Saturday.

She had been so swamped with work that she had completely forgotten about it.

Realizing she hadn't bought a gift yet, Chen Xi sighed in vexation.

Hearing that Chen Xi had completely forgotten Xie Nanzhou's birthday, Li Qing gasped in disbelief, "You could forget something like that?"

Regret weighed heavily on Chen Xi. "..."

Noticing Chen Xi's blank expression, Li Qing quickly comforted her, "It's fine, there's still time. The gathering is in the afternoon, right? I'll go shopping with you tomorrow morning to get a gift."

Chen Xi cast a grateful look at Li Qing, who stepped forward to give her a gentle hug, sympathizing, "It's okay, our little Xi has been driven crazy by work lately, it's normal to forget."

Mid-conversation, Lin Fan—who hadn't returned to the dorm for days—suddenly pushed the door open and walked in.

Chen Xi and Li Qing exchanged glances, both looking somewhat surprised.

Reacting first, Li Qing released Chen Xi, raised an eyebrow, returned to her desk, and continued watching her show.

The moment Lin Fan returned, the dormitory atmosphere instantly turned awkward. Not knowing what to say, Chen Xi rubbed the tip of her nose, politely greeted Lin Fan, and prepared to finish her unfinished work from the firm.

The moment she opened her computer, she heard Lin Fan ask meaningfully, "Chen Xi, you haven't been spending much time at school lately, have you?"

Griping her mouse, Chen Xi looked back in confusion.

Tossing her designer handbag mercilessly onto her desk, Lin Fan propped one hand on the edge, raised a leg, and bent over to slip off her high heels.

Coming from somewhere unknown, she wore heavy makeup; thick eyeliner and blusher obscured her natural facial features, making her look several years older than her actual age.

Chen Xi didn't care much for prying into privacy, but the heavy smell of cigarette smoke and blended perfume on Lin Fan was too strong, leading Chen Xi to instinctively guess she had just come from places like bars.

Before Chen Xi could reply, Li Qing answered on her behalf, "What the hell business is it of yours whether she's at school or not?"

"She's interning at a major law firm, whereas you—which dive were you out whoring around in?"

Somewhat intimidated by Li Qing, Lin Fan chose not to pick a fight with her. Instead, she shrugged, glanced calmly at the silent Chen Xi, and recalling something from the bar earlier, said with a cynical smirk, "I just saw your boyfriend hugging another girl at a club."

With that, Lin Fan shrugged and offered an indifferent warning, "You'd better watch your back."

The moment Lin Fan spoke, the dorm fell dead silent.

Realizing the implications, Li Qing threw a worried look at Chen Xi, but Chen Xi—the one who should have reacted most strongly—exhibited a chillingly calm demeanor.

Tightening her grip on the mouse, she digested the emotion, smiled placidly at Lin Fan, and said, "Thank you."

Lin Fan had actually intended to disgust Chen Xi, never expecting to receive a "thank you" in return. Choking back a retort, Lin Fan deliberately avoided Chen Xi's clean gaze, slipped into her slippers, and stomped into the bathroom without looking back.

The moment Lin Fan went inside, Li Qing stood up on the spot and declared angrily, "If Xie Nanzhou dares to do anything to let you down, I'll be the first one not to spare him."

Quickly grabbing Li Qing's arm, Chen Xi comforted her, "There might be a misunderstanding, I'll ask him."

Pouting, Li Qing kept quiet.

Having placated Li Qing, Chen Xi picked up her phone from where it was charging. Unlocking it with her fingerprint, she navigated to Xie Nanzhou's WeChat and sent him a message: *Xie Nanzhou, are you at school?*

When Xie Nanzhou received this text, he was busy managing the drunken wreck that was Li Jiajia.

Li Jiajia's parents had suddenly announced their divorce, a truth she couldn't accept, so she had gone to a bar to drink herself into oblivion.

By the time she was so drunk she couldn't recognize anyone, she kept screaming about wanting to jump off a building.

Fearing she might actually do something drastic, the bar manager, terrified of an accident, had secretly unlocked her phone using facial recognition and called the very first contact in her directory.

Afraid something terrible might happen to her, Xie Nanzhou had dropped Chen Xi off at the school gate and hurried to the bar under a hasty pretext.

Little did he know that by the time he arrived, Li Jiajia was already dead drunk, paralyzed and fast asleep on a sofa.

Since Li Jiajia had saved his life once in the past, Xie Nanzhou couldn't just abandon her.

He simply hadn't expected a drunk Li Jiajia to be so difficult to handle; like a stubborn pig, she refused to stay put no matter how he tried to restrain her.

With no other choice, Xie Nanzhou had to scoop Li Jiajia into his arms, wrap an arm around her waist, and soothe her in a low voice, "Li Jiajia, stop making a fuss."

After finally getting Li Jiajia to quiet down, Xie Nanzhou prepared to drive her home, but she stubbornly refused and insisted on opening the car door to get out.

Fortunately, Xie Nanzhou had locked the doors; otherwise, tonight would have ended with a hospital visit.

Unwilling to go home or return to school, Xie Nanzhou had no choice but to take her to his apartment.

It took all of Xie Nanzhou's effort to toss Li Jiajia onto the bed, intending to deal with her once she sobered up, when Chen Xi's WeChat message popped up.

Reading the message, Xie Nanzhou looked from the foot of the bed at Li Jiajia, who was mumbling about a headache, and sent a deceitful reply to Chen Xi: *Xi, I'm home. I'm having dinner with my parents.*

Receiving that reply, Chen Xi felt her heart grow mostly cold.

Early Saturday morning, Chen Xi got up and washed her hair.

Thinking about accompanying Chen Xi to buy a gift, Li Qing also got up. Along the way, she secretly observed Chen Xi's reaction; seeing her so calm, Li Qing assumed last night had been a false alarm. Guided by the principle that "destroying ten temples is better than breaking up one marriage," Li Qing decided to help Chen Xi properly pick out a gift.

After blowing out her hair, Chen Xi stood before her wardrobe, troubled.

Without missing a beat upon seeing her hesitation, Li Qing recommended, "Didn't Xie Nanzhou buy you a dress the other day? Just wear that one."

After a moment's hesitation, Chen Xi finally picked up the dress and changed into it.

To match the outfit, Chen Xi put on a light layer of makeup.

Emerging from the bathroom to see Chen Xi fully dressed, Li Qing's eyes flashed with amazement as she praised, "Gorgeous! You look just like Liu Yifei!"

Chen Xi: "..."

After browsing for nearly three hours, Chen Xi finally found a suitable gift for Xie Nanzhou at a select shop: a vintage-style denim jacket with patchwork details—trendy, fashionable, and full of personality.

Seeing the denim jacket, Li Qing exclaimed in admiration, "This really suits Xie Nanzhou."

"Though I think it suits someone else even better."

Deciding to buy the jacket, Chen Xi asked Li Qing, "Who?"

Slowly spitting out two names, Li Qing replied, "Xu Yi."

An image of Xu Yi's fiercely arrogant face flashed through Chen Xi's mind—it really did suit him.

Clothes at designer select stores were quite expensive, and the jacket cost Chen Xi nearly two months of her internship salary—an auspicious number: 8,888.

Stepping out of the shop, Li Qing couldn't help feeling pained on Chen Xi's behalf. "This is way too expensive. Can your wallet even take the hit?"

Knowing Chen Xi's family background, Li Qing was well aware that she had relied on herself for tuition and living expenses throughout university while collecting school grants, making her wince at the price tag.

Lowering her gaze to the dress she wore, Chen Xi curved her lips into a smile and said indifferently, "The gift Xie Nanzhou gave me was pretty expensive too, so consider it returning the favor."

After buying the gift, Li Qing returned to school to study, while Chen Xi took a taxi to the address Xie Nanzhou had sent to celebrate his birthday with him.

The gathering was held at a KTV near Sanlitun. By the time Chen Xi arrived, the private room was already mostly decorated.

All of Xie Nanzhou's friends had arrived, including Tang Yuan, who had drenched Chen Xi in alcohol upon their very first meeting.

Yet the birthday boy himself had not yet arrived.

Not close with Xie Nanzhou's friends, Chen Xi clutched the newly bought denim jacket and sat alone in the corner of the room, quietly watching Xie Nanzhou bossing the staff around to prepare fruit platters.

Tang Yuan, who smoked and drank privately, sat wearing a red dress, crossed her legs, and held a cigarette between slender fingers, slowly drawing in smoke with painted red lips.

Unaccustomed to cigarette smoke, Chen Xi instinctively coughed.

Giving her a sidelong glance, Tang Yuan ignored her and slowly exhaled the smoke.

A rich second-generation kid nearby sidled up to Tang Yuan and asked with a smile, "Yuan, want some fruit?"

Lifting her eyes, Tang Yuan refused, "No."

Sitting stiffly on the sofa, Chen Xi was completely ignored.

With no other choice, she pulled out her phone and started playing *Candy Crush*.

By her third round, the private room door swung open from the outside, and the guest of honor finally made his appearance.

Chen Xi instinctively stood up, but before she could speak, she caught sight of Li Jiajia trailing right behind Xie Nanzhou.

They were wearing dresses of the exact same style and color; apart from the size, they were practically identical, though they produced entirely different effects on the two wearers.

On Chen Xi, it looked pure and elegant; on Li Jiajia, it looked playful and cute.

The visual impact was so severe that the noisy private room instantly quieted down, and everyone tacitly looked toward the trio.

Chen Xi's gaze landed on the hand resting on Xie Nanzhou's right wrist, suddenly realizing that Lin Fan's words from last night had come true.

Reacting first, Xie Nanzhou instinctively shook off Li Jiajia's hand, hurried forward with an anxious expression, and said, "Xi, listen to my explanation, Li Jiajia and I..."

Before he could finish, Li Jiajia interrupted him with an injured look, "Senior, have you forgotten what we did last night?"

With that, Li Jiajia deliberately tugged at her neckline to reveal the hickey on her neck.

Chen Xi felt the air in the private room grow so oppressive she could barely breathe. Drawing a deep breath, she maintained her last shred of composure, forced a stiff smile, and said:

"Xie Nanzhou, happy birthday."

With those words, Chen Xi held out the denim jacket to Xie Nanzhou, but he instinctively grabbed her wrist and refused to let go.

Subconsciously, he felt that if he let go this time, the two of them would never have a chance again.

Unable to absorb any more of Xie Nanzhou's explanations, Chen Xi found the truth she witnessed far more brutal than hearsay.

Unwilling to entangle herself with him any longer, she smiled powerlessly and stated with finality, "Xie Nanzhou, let's break up."

Without thinking, Xie Nanzhou denied it, "I don't agree."

Closing her eyes, Chen Xi's voice trembled slightly, "Let go."

Grasping her wrist tightly, Xie Nanzhou said stubbornly, "I won't."

"Xi, Li Jiajia and I really are completely innocent, you have to believe me."

"It was an accident, it wasn't..."

*Slap!*

A sudden, sharp blow cut off Xie Nanzhou's explanation.

Tang Yuan, who had been smoking on the sofa, suddenly stood up, slapped Xie Nanzhou across the face, and forcefully ripped his hand away from Chen Xi's wrist.

Stunned by the turn of events, everyone froze, throwing the scene into chaos.

With a cold face, Tang Yuan glared at Xie Nanzhou—who was on the verge of losing his temper—and cursed harshly, "Xie Nanzhou, that's enough of your bullshit."

"Let her go."

The most surprised of all was Chen Xi, never expecting that the person to finally step in and clear a path in a room full of people would be Tang Yuan, who usually couldn't stand her.

Sniffling back her stinging nose, Chen Xi turned, grabbed her bag from the sofa, and bolted out of the private room without looking back.

Xie Nanzhou tried to chase after her, but Tang Yuan stopped him with a single sentence: "Do you still have the fucking face to go?"

Running all the way out of the KTV, Chen Xi walked through the streets in a daze.

Though she had long anticipated it, the moment it actually arrived still felt agonizing.

Hugging her arms and recalling the ups and downs of the past six months, she squatted down at a bustling intersection and finally broke down in tears.

At that exact moment, the things she had stubbornly guarded in her heart crumbled into dust.

Zhou Yanzhou had deliberately carved out time today to accompany Teacher Meng shopping. Never had he expected that during the brief moment he stepped away to smoke a cigarette, he would see Chen Xi stumbling out of a building looking completely hollow.

At first she had kept it together, but ultimately she ended up squatting on the ground, burying her head and weeping bitterly.

Sensing something was wrong, Zhou Yanzhou abandoned Teacher Meng—who was still inside the fitting room changing—flung away his half-smoked cigarette, and sprinted downstairs.

The elevator was too slow; he couldn't wait.

Loosening his tie, Zhou Yanzhou charged straight into the fire exit in his leather shoes.

Finally reaching the scene, Zhou Yanzhou saw that tiny, frail back trembling with every sob. When he was still a few paces away, he deliberately slowed his steps and walked over as if by chance.

Looking down condescendingly at the silently crying figure, Zhou Yanzhou rolled his Adam's apple, squatted down, and gently rested his hand on the back of her head, speaking with unmatched gentleness:

"What happened?"