CHAPTER 91: CHAPTER 90: HERE TO PICK YOU UP

Late at night, all was silent.

Zhou Huaiyi sat up in bed, answering the phone that kept ringing incessantly: "Hello?"

"Hello, Zhou Huaiyi." The voice on the other end was somewhat hoarse, carrying a hint of loneliness, "It’s me."

Zhou Huaiyi was taken aback.

Cheng Yi?

The room, less than twenty square meters, was so quiet that the crackling sound of the phone’s electric current could be heard.

"How... have you been?" he asked.

Zhou Huaiyi was reluctant to talk on the phone with him at such an ambiguous hour, especially since he had a girlfriend. She frowned, her tone unfriendly: "What do you want?"

He didn’t answer directly, instead he asked again: "Did you receive my text message?"

Zhou Huaiyi thought back and remembered that peculiar message from the afternoon: "Oh, you sent that?"

"Yes." He clung to a sliver of hope, "Can you come out and meet me now?"

Zhou Huaiyi didn’t even pause to think: "No."

Cheng Yi pressed on: "Why not?"

Zhou Huaiyi was a bit annoyed: "Is there a need for a reason? You at least have a girlfriend, can’t you have some decency?"

"We broke up." He corrected her, "I broke up with her."

Zhou Huaiyi found it amusing: "So, are you looking for me for comfort?"

"No, Huaiyi, I like you." Cheng Yi was unapologetic and blunt, "I like you, it’s always been you that I liked. I thought being with her could help me forget you, but ever since I saw you at the cinema last time, I’ve realized that I can’t."

Last time?

Zhou Huaiyi spaced out for a moment.

Ah...that time her soul was still entangled with Xiang Qichen’s.

"Can you give me another chance? I don’t mind about that man answering your calls, let’s get back together?"

That man?

Zhou Huaiyi’s gaze slowly drifted to the photo wall behind her: ah...that time her soul was also intertwined with Qi Chen’s body.

"Huaiyi, I really like you, give me a chance, I promise I’ll change..."

Ah...Qi Chen is really handsome...Hmm, there seems to be something extra on the poster...

Zhou Huaiyi completely ignored the voice over the phone, staring at the unfamiliar text that appeared on the poster. Holding the phone, she stood up, walked closer and squinted at it, suddenly exclaiming, "Ah!"

Qi Chen’s signature!

Then she heard from the phone: "I’ll wait for you downstairs at your place."

Wait for me?

"Huh? What?" Zhou Huaiyi snapped out of her daze, but before she could ask, the phone call ended.

Zhou Huaiyi: "..."

So, what did he just say?

She scrolled down the screen, preparing to call him back to tell him to head home early, when Xiang Qichen’s WeChat message just happened to come through: [Are you asleep?]

Zhou Huaiyi opened his WeChat message first and replied: [Not yet.]

[Xiang: Why aren’t you asleep yet?]

Zhou Huaiyi was quite frustrated: [Something came up abruptly.]

[Xiang: What happened?]

[Zhou Luobu: Ex-boyfriend, too annoying.]

On the other end, Xiang Qichen received this WeChat message, and his heart suddenly went "thump," sensing a crisis. His fingers were still typing a line when he saw Zhou Huaiyi send another message: [I’m heading down to deal with it, you rest early, good night]

Good night?

Like hell it’s good night!

How can he rest easy in this situation?

...

Meanwhile, Zhou Huaiyi was changing into a coat to go downstairs.

After all, having dated before, Zhou Huaiyi knew Cheng Yi’s character very well; he was stubborn and knew exactly how to soften her heart. If she simply texted him to go back, he would definitely do the opposite, waiting downstairs at her place the whole night.

Being naturally sensitive and prone to overthinking, Zhou Huaiyi knew she’d blame herself for a year if, on such a cold night, something happened to him while waiting.

So, in the end, she reluctantly got out of bed, wrapped herself in a coat, and went downstairs.

It was better this way, meeting up to clear things up, rather than being constantly tangled in unresolved ties; it was quite unsettling.

The night air was even colder than the day’s. As Zhou Huaiyi opened her door, a gust of cold wind rushed in.

She felt a pang of regret.

Cold...to death...

After closing the door tightly, she reached up to pull the hood of her coat over her head, she bundled herself up and stepped out of the alley from her home.

The alleyway entrance was nearing, and her view gradually broadened and brightened. Zhou Huaiyi stopped at the alley entrance, the orangey yellow streetlight scattered over a figure standing just two meters away from her, a cigarette lit at his fingertips, his back to her, appearing somewhat desolate.

Zhou Huaiyi leaned against the advertisement board at the alley entrance, deliberately scuffing her shoe against the concrete ground to make a sound.

The person in front turned around at the sound, flicked away the cigarette butt, and started toward her.

Zhou Huaiyi quickly stepped back and reached out to stop him: "Let’s talk while standing there."

Cheng Yi paused, smiled bitterly: "Okay."

"You... have a boyfriend now?" His voice was hoarse, sounding dispirited.