CHAPTER 155: CHAPTER 134: I WANT TO FIND CHU TIAN!

The world is full of oddities, but drunk oddities are the hardest to handle.

Chu Tian looked at Xu Qingqiu with a speechless expression, feeling secretly pleased yet also somewhat uncomfortable.

For some reason, when he heard Xu Qingqiu say she liked Youmeng, his heart inexplicably skipped a beat. It was as if he had lost something important. But then, hearing her say she liked Chu Tian, he felt secretly pleased again. Consequently, seeing Xu Qingqiu torn between Youmeng and Chu Tian, he found himself wavering between discomfort and secret pleasure. The crux of the matter was that Youmeng and Chu Tian were both him. Who the hell could he even ask about this?

After such a commotion, he was in no mood to play along anymore. My mind is a complete mess right now, I just want to go home and calm down, he thought.

"Alright, stop drinking. Let’s go home."

"I’m not going back! I still have important things to do!"

"What important things, Miss? What can you possibly do in this state?"

"No! I can’t... I need to go..."

"You need to do what?"

"I need to find Chu Tian... I like Chu Tian... I need to find him!... RETCH!"

Oh, for crying out loud... Chu Tian thought.

"Alright, alright, let’s go find Chu Tian, okay?"

"Mmm-hmm... Okay... find Chu Tian..."

He looked at the vomit on the ground. There wasn’t a speck of food, only what looked like water—no, that wasn’t right, it was all watered-down alcohol.

If she hadn’t thrown up, I wouldn’t have even noticed. The girl hasn’t eaten a thing all evening, just drinking. No wonder she’s like this.

Although he was somewhat speechless, what he felt more strongly was a pang in his heart for her.

He carefully helped Xu Qingqiu up and put her hat on. He didn’t dare put her mask on, fearing she might vomit again—that would be even more disastrous. So, he simply put the mask, along with her sunglasses and phone, into her bag.

"Sorry about this, my friend threw up. Could you please help clean this up? This money is for the cleaning fee. I’m very sorry."

After getting a waiter to help clean and settling the bill, he took another two hundred yuan from his wallet, placed it on the table, apologized once more, and quickly left with Xu Qingqiu.

They definitely couldn’t stay after she’d made such a mess. If someone recognized them while cleaning up, it would be even more troublesome.

The tavern probably encountered such situations often, so the waitstaff weren’t surprised. However, the way they looked at Xu Qingqiu was a bit odd, prompting Chu Tian to hurriedly lead her out the door.

Just as they stepped outside, she vomited again.

Luckily, they were near a landscaped area under a tree. He was thinking of waiting for her to finish before leaving, but Xu Qingqiu kept pulling at him, desperately trying to stand up.

"What are you doing? Are you done vomiting?"

"No... I need to go... go find Chu Tian."

"Find Chu Tian? What for?"

"What for? I need to find him... I need to tell him I like him!"

Hearing her words, Chu Tian couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation. Can’t you even see who’s right next to you? Is your brain really that addled by alcohol?

"Alright, forget about finding him for now. Let’s go home first. Where do you live?"

"No, I need to go... go to Taoyuan Community, Building 7, Unit 3, Apartment 202."

Impressive, she’s got that address memorized perfectly, Chu Tian thought. He stood there speechlessly, one hand supporting Xu Qingqiu, the other reaching for his phone to call a taxi. But as he took out his phone, he suddenly realized something was very wrong.

Wait a minute, isn’t that my freaking address?

"Hey, where do you live?" he asked again.

"Taoyuan... Taoyuan Community..."

Oh, great. So all you remember is Taoyuan Community, huh?

He stood there, feeling utterly hopeless, suddenly unsure what to do. Go to a hotel? They’d definitely require ID cards for that. Especially now, with him escorting such a drunk person, it was practically inviting an ID check. Registering was mandatory, and if they did, they’d be headline news the next day for sure.

Take her home? Are you kidding me? My tiny single apartment is too small, and besides, how would I even explain bringing her back?

Oh right, there’s Yiyi too.

He quickly sent a message to Yiyi and waited for about five minutes, but there was no reply.

Why isn’t she replying? Is she asleep? He glanced at the time; it was already past one AM. Asleep this early? Doesn’t she realize her own boss is missing?

For a moment, he didn’t know whether to consider Yiyi careless or something else. He then sent a message to Sister Hua.

No reply from her either.

The two of them had been standing foolishly by the roadside for half an hour. Whether it was the wind or something else, Xu Qingqiu’s eyes were now closed. Is she about to fall asleep?

People nearby kept glancing their way; some had already taken out their phones and started taking pictures.

After all, Xu Qingqiu is such a great beauty. Even without seeing her face, her figure alone is an object of envy for countless people. Taking pictures would at least provide some gossip fodder, and maybe some would even post them online to attract attention. It would be real trouble if someone recognized her.

Resignedly, he took out the detector device from his system that he had used before, tapped it twice to temporarily block all nearby cameras, and then hurriedly hailed a cab to leave.

About three minutes later, the cab arrived, and he helped Xu Qingqiu quickly get inside.

"Ride ending in 2288, to Taoyuan Community, correct?" the driver asked.

"Yes, thank you, driver."

"No problem. Has she been drinking? She won’t vomit in the car, will she?"

"She won’t, driver. If she does, we’ll cover the full cost of cleaning."

"Alright then."

Just as they had settled things and the driver stepped on the gas, Xu Qingqiu, who had seemed asleep, suddenly woke up.

"Are we... in the car? Yiyi... going to Taoyuan Community."

Seeing her reach out her hand, still not forgetting the address, Chu Tian was so exasperated he had to laugh. Even now, she still remembers?

Noticing the driver frequently glancing at the rear-view mirror, he offered an apologetic smile, gently guided her hand down, helped her settle into a comfortable position, and held her steady. The smile on his face slowly faded.

To say he wasn’t moved would be a lie. Even in this state, Xu Qingqiu was still thinking about him. Wouldn’t even a heart of stone be moved by now? Even when she was so drunk she remembered almost nothing else, she could still recite his home address. Based on that alone, what more did Chu Tian need to understand?

Previously, he had just been playing dumb. Frankly, those were the feelings of his predecessor; he felt no connection to them, even some resistance. After all, no one likes being a replacement, right? But after interacting with her over this period, faced with such a wonderful girl like Xu Qingqiu, who wouldn’t develop feelings? Pretty, capable, beautiful and kind-hearted, innocent, endearingly straightforward, principled, persistent... In short, she had a host of virtues. Her greatest, naturally, was her consistency in matters of affection, having kept Chu Tian, that block of stone, warm in her embrace for four or five years. Just for that, honestly, how many people could resist?

「Unknowingly, the car had reached Taoyuan Community.」

Throughout the ride, Xu Qingqiu had slept soundly and hadn’t vomited in the car. After paying the fare, Chu Tian helped her out.

Seeing that she was starting to snore and clearly couldn’t walk, he simply picked her up and carried her towards his apartment.

He placed her on the bed. Looking at his own 1.2-meter wide single bed, then at the person sprawled across it, Chu Tian could only sit on the chair with a helpless expression.

What am I going to do? This bed is far too small for both of us. What was my predecessor thinking when he rented this apartment, not getting one with a bigger bed? Who is a bed this small even for?

He had gotten used to it over this period and hadn’t really thought about moving. Suddenly, this realization struck him, and Chu Tian was immediately tempted by an idea.

After all, he was a rich man now, wasn’t he? Even in the Capital, someone with a net worth of tens of millions shouldn’t be living in a dump like this, right? What’s the point of having money if you don’t spend it? It looks like it’s time to find a new place. Money isn’t an issue. He hadn’t thought about it before, so it didn’t matter, but now that the idea had struck him... at the very least, it should be a villa, right? No, wait. A villa in the Capital? I probably can’t afford that, can I? Never mind, I’ll deal with that later. First, I need to figure out how to sleep tonight.