"I know, but you should also know that he never expected whatever happened to happen," Lin Mei consoled.
Li Xueyi shook his head. Pulling a jacket off his wardrobe, he stated, "I'm leaving."
"Where are you going?"
He acted as if he had not heard the question.
After thirty minutes, Li Xueyi stood in front of an inconspicuous building that housed the infamous Turtle Bar.
He entered and sat down at the farthest corner, ordering two bottles of whisky.
Very soon, his friends arrived. Gu Wei sat beside him. Tang Lang sat opposite. Meng Kaizhong held his twin sister Meng Lang and said something in a low voice. After Meng Lang left, Kaizhong folded his trenchcoat neatly and sat down before placing it on his lap. Wei Xiong sat beside Meng Kaizhong and shook his legs. Su Yu stared at the dance floor with a pensive look. He was probably thinking of another script.
"Little Yi, Auntie was asking me about you. I told her you were with me," Gu Wei said, raising his eyebrows.
"Thanks," Li Xueyi replied, but offered no answer to the underlying question. His heart was clearly unsettled. He downed another glass and looked at the dance floor. The dance floor was on fire. Young people grooved to the beats without a care for the world.
Li Xueyi had half a mind to join them on the dance floor. Beside him, his friends were discussing something along the lines of the stock market. Su Yu was suddenly interested in it. Wei Xiong was explaining with vigor while the others listened with patience. Only Tang Lang sat there in his usual languid posture with his eyes closed. No one knew whether he was listening or not. Li Xueyi never had interest in that stuff. So, he ignored them and got up.
Walking up to the bartender, he ordered another glass and sat down on the stool. He would go back later.
Suddenly, a powdery smell wafted to his nose. It was like a drop of fresh water in this bar. He turned his head to the side. Beside him sat a lady. He did not recognize her.
Under the lights, she blinked her eyes and said coquettishly, "Mister, may I have the honor of drinking with you?"
"No," came Xueyi's flat reply. He turned his attention to the glass, wrinkled his nose, drank the wine in one go and got up to go back to his seat.
The lady was not dispirited. She inched closer to Li Xueyi and tugged at his shirt. Li Xueyi turned his head and stared at her coldly. She looked vaguely familiar, but he could not recall where he had seen her.
Li Xueyi was pretty drunk, but not to the point of having no consciousness. Instead of going back to his seat, he walked towards the washroom.
He reached the washroom and heard a female voice. It was laced with equal parts of nervousness and irritation. Li Xueyi turned back and went to check the sign outside. He came to the correct place, then why… He did not finish his thoughts.
Instead of waiting outside, he went inside. What he saw in front was not uncommon but it certainly shocked him.
The lady who had saved him the day before was pulling her boyfriend off the sink, who was throwing tantrums instead.
Chen Jing helplessly said, "Chen, why did you drink so much?"
Yang Chen's following words were slurry, "Why can't I drink? Just because you don't like to drink, you can't stop me."
"Forget it. Let's go home," she coaxed.
"No. I will not leave this bar till I lose my senses. Only then will you forgive me, right?"
"Chen, please listen to me."
"No means no. Didn't you say so yourself? Why are you turning back on your own words?"
Chen Jing stopped pulling Yang Chen and looked at him coldly. Finally, she compromised, "Fine. Let's go."
"No no. As soon as I go out, you'll take me home. I don't want to go home."
Both Chen Jing and Li Xueyi were speechless. Was he actually drunk or was pretending to be drunk?
Chen Jing rolled her eyes and said, "Suit yourself then. I'm leaving."
Li Xueyi chuckled. He sobered up a little from watching the drama unfold in front of him. At first, he never intended to eavesdrop but as soon as he heard Chen Jing's voice, he became interested.
She had her own temper too. But looking at the helpless Chen Jing, he could only chuckle.
She stood there with her arms crossed in front of her chest and let out an angry laugh before strutting off. Li Xueyi waited for her to leave before entering when he suddenly felt a small palm on his shoulder.
He turned around to see Chen Jing standing behind him with her eyes raised.
"Ahem, M-Miss Chen… I mean, J-Jingjing," Li Xueyi stuttered.
"Mr. Li, what a coincidence! But what are you doing here instead of going in?"
"I-" Li Xueyi did not know how to explain himself. After all, it was not good to eavesdrop.
Chen Jing rubbed her temples and said, "Seems like you heard everything that was going on inside."
Li Xueyi sheepishly nodded.
For a while none of them said anything. They were lost in their own thoughts when Yang Chen let out a loud roar and zoomed out of the washroom intending to punch someone.
Chen Jing saw this and widened her eyes. She hurriedly pulled Li Xueyi and hid behind the door.
Seeing his target suddenly vanish, Yang Chen stood there dumbfounded. Then, he made way towards the counter again. After all, along with his target, Chen Jing had vanished too. No one would be able to stop him from drinking now.
Chen Jing breathed a sigh of relief before scrunching up her brows. When she had pulled him in, she did not realize that her watch would hook itself onto Chen Jing's clothes.
His clothes looked expensive and Chen Jing dared not rush.
She gently pulled her watch as she lowered her head to look at it. When she raised her head again, she bumped into his chin. That's when she noticed that they were too close.
She asked Li Xueyi, "Are you alright, Mr. Li?"
Li Xueyi nodded. Although he said that, Li Xueyi's heartbeats were erratic. He did not know whether it was because of the alcohol or the girl in front of him. But he did not have the heart to pay any mind.
He saw his friends standing at the doorway staring at him wide-eyed which then morphed into an understanding smile. They had clearly seen him staring at Chen Jing.
He knew they were thinking nonsense, but he could not clarify. He watched as Chen Jing calmly walked out from behind the door and walked towards the corridor after giving him a slight nod. She did not act out of the ordinary.
Li Xueyi also thought it was useless to explain to his friends, so he went inside and did his business before coming out and washing his hands.
When he walked out, he heard several whistles and catcalls. He turned around and glared at them. By now, he had sobered up a lot.
"Finally Auntie can be worry-free, eh?" Gu Wei winked at him and held his shoulders.
They made their way to the counter. Li Xueyi did not answer his best friend's question. His eyes fell on the lone figure drinking away, not caring about his own girlfriend. A surge of anger coursed through Li Xueyi.
Which kind of scum doesn't care about their girlfriend and instead have fun here?
He walked up to Yang Chen and pulled him from the counter, intending to punch him. Yang Chen did not recognize the person pulling him. He thought it was Chen Jing. So, he said, "Jingjing, I'm sorry."
The pleading undertone to his apology deflated Li Xueyi. He lowered his hand and left. After all, he was no one to them. He shouldn't interfere.
Li Xueyi looked around but did not see the annoying lady. So, he gladly sat down by the counter and ordered more whisky. His friends were scattered on the dance floor. Only Gu Wei accompanied him.
On the other side of the building, Chen Jing stood by the railing to get some fresh air. Even though the air wasn't fresh, this side of the building blocked the blaring music.
Never before in life had she set foot inside such a place, but when she got a call that Yang Chen was in trouble after drinking so much, she had to come. The outcome… not what she imagined. No matter what, Yang Chen refused to leave.
The least Chen Jing could do now was get some rest. She leaned against the railing and rubbed her temples. But people did not like that either.
A lady with a shrill voice was yelling at a waiter.
Chen Jing's attention was caught by words like—"Li Xueyi", "put the drug in", "Presidential Suite".
Her mind spun. Connecting the words with the incident from yesterday, Chen Jing thought Li Xueyi's life was nothing less than a cliche novel.