“I’m going home to get married.”
Those six simple words left everyone—including Huo Jingshu—stunned.
Xia Qingqing’s eyes widened so much it looked like the words “No way” were practically written across her face. After a long pause, she finally managed to stammer, “You’re joking, right?”
Luo Xiu’s expression remained serious as he repeated, helplessly, “It’s true. The girl I was betrothed to as a child came back to the country just for this.”
“I thought you were lying… but it’s actually real?” Xia Qingqing looked utterly devastated. Clinging to Su Mo’s arm for comfort, she pouted pitifully.
Su Mo instinctively glanced in Ye Qingyi’s direction before discreetly pulling his hand back.
The moment he did, though, he felt strange about it, so he quickly redirected everyone’s attention back to Luo Xiu. “Well… that’s a shame.”
As his former “classmate,” Ye Qingyi didn’t say a word, quietly observing from the sidelines.
Huo Jingshu, who had also been silently enjoying the drama, suddenly blurted out, “Main character energy…”
Xia Qingqing immediately burst into giggles. “Pffft—Jingshu, are you secretly here to lighten the mood? Who knew our usually icy, ten-people-at-once-fighting queen had such a sense of humor?”
Who could’ve guessed that the typically aloof girl—who could take on ten opponents without breaking a sweat—would drop such a hilarious one-liner? It instantly snapped Xia Qingqing out of her melodramatic sorrow.
“No, I was just thinking about a novel trope,” Huo Jingshu defended weakly.
“Liar! You totally meant it!” Xia Qingqing lunged at her like a hungry tiger. Huo Jingshu nearly kicked her out of reflex, but thankfully, rationality won over muscle memory…
The gloomy atmosphere vanished, replaced by something far more chaotic.
Finally, Su Mo spoke up. “Since it’s a major life event, I won’t push you. But our team is officially formed now—if there are similar missions in the future, I’ll take you all along to rack up achievements.”
“Deal!” everyone chorused.
“Then cheers!” Su Mo raised his glass and downed it in one go.
He usually didn’t drink, but today was special—or so he thought. Unfortunately, his current body had terrible alcohol tolerance. Half a glass in, and he was already swaying. “Qingqing… why do you have two heads?”
Huo Jingshu sighed. “I’m not Qingqing.”
“Oh, Jingshu! Then why do you have two heads?”
Huo Jingshu: “…”
Ye Qingyi facepalmed. “I told you not to drink. But no, you had to show off. Now look at you—making a complete fool of yourself.”
She yanked Su Mo back to his seat with a warning glare.
The other three exchanged amused glances. From their perspective, Ye Qingyi’s words and actions seemed almost… fond.
Realizing she’d slipped up, Ye Qingyi immediately defaulted to her usual response: ignore it.
Yep. She just… ignored it.
For a brief moment, she even convinced herself this was totally normal.
“Qingyi, stop messing around!”
Maybe it was the shock of his own words, but Su Mo suddenly seemed a lot more sober.
“Why are you all looking at me like that?” He feigned calm, but internally, he was panicking.
Afraid he’d blurt out something even worse, Ye Qingyi grabbed his arm and hauled him up. “You guys keep eating. He’s drunk—I’ll take him back.”
Xia Qingqing looked worried and opened her mouth to protest, but Huo Jingshu cut in: “In these situations, the girl’s usually faking it, and the guy’s pretending not to notice.”
Luo Xiu, mid-sip, nearly spat out his drink. He never expected the usually reserved girl to drop such a bombshell tonight.
Guess her parents dumped all her talent points into humor—cold humor, at that.
“Fine, I was just worried about her safety,” Xia Qingqing grumbled. “But if they’re actually together, then I guess there’s nothing to worry about. Ugh… poor me, left all alone.”
Just then, Luo Xiu’s phone rang.
“Hey, Dad.”
“Uh… right now?”
“Okay, I’ll head over.”
“Wait—she’s here?!” Luo Xiu’s voice shot up. “At the school gate? I’m nearby, I’ll go now. Don’t worry about it.”
Hanging up, he awkwardly rubbed his neck. “I should probably go too. You guys get back early, okay?”
With that, he bolted like the wind.
Xia Qingqing’s chest felt oddly hollow—until someone squeezed her hand.
“Ugh, we were supposed to be a team, but now it’s just the two of us left.”
“Two single pringles,” Huo Jingshu added, delivering the fatal blow.
“Jingshu.”
“Yeah?”
“Sometimes… silence is golden.”
“But you were talking. If I stayed quiet, it’d be rude.”
(Narrator: A single crow flies over Xia Qingqing’s head, leaving behind a trail of mysterious ellipses…)
They say experience is the best teacher, and tonight, Xia Qingqing finally understood the meaning of “Silent waters run deep.”
In the end, neither of them had much appetite left. Instead, they decided to sneak out and stalk the drama.
It took forever for Xia Qingqing to convince Huo Jingshu to join her.
“Qingqing, aren’t you sad? Why are you so invested in gossip?”
“Sadness is sadness, but missing out on drama? That’s the real tragedy.”
“Fair point.”
Slowly but surely, Huo Jingshu’s locked-up chatterbox seemed to open—with Xia Qingqing as the key.
…..
At the school gate:
Su Mo, still bleary-eyed, trailed behind Ye Qingyi like a scolded puppy, head bowed in silent guilt.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a girl standing nearby.
What caught his attention was her scent—something strangely alluring, so unique that it instantly cut through his drunken haze.
He stopped and turned to look at her.
She was beautiful. Dangerously beautiful. Her eyes alone felt like they had hooks, pulling him in with just one glance.
“Ow—OW!” Su Mo yelped, twisting away from the sudden pain in his side. “You’re really going all out, huh?”
“Why not? It’s not me who’s hurting.”
As Ye Qingyi withdrew her pinching fingers, the girl across the way glanced over—locking eyes with her.
Ye Qingyi stared back coldly for a second before looking away.
The girl seemed puzzled but didn’t react, turning her head as if the exchange had never happened.
“You’re getting way too bold,” Su Mo muttered under his breath. “Grabbing me like that in front of everyone at school? If this is what you do in public, what’s gonna happen back at the apartment—”
Despite the pain, his heart was weirdly… happy.
Oh no. Do I have a masochistic streak or something?!