Chapter 90: How could anyone like this kind of thing
Wang Zijun was embarrassed.
Xu Qing turned his head away expressionlessly, pretending not to know him, leaving Wang's pleading gaze unanswered.
"Uh... What a coincidence," Wang Zijun greeted awkwardly. "I knew you looked familiar..."
The girl fud. "Just familiar?!"
"Uh..." Wang Zijun's eyes darted around. "I'm a bit face-blind, you know... But I do rember you’re great at drawing."
He noticed a corner of the drawing board peeking out from the bag she was carrying.
"Oh?" The girl's anger eased a bit. "You still rember that?"
"Of course. Anyway, enough about that. How have you been?"
"Pretty good. Eating well, staying fit... You don’t look so great," she said with a smirk.
"Yeah, not so great."
Wang Zijun lowered his head. Taking the subway now, even bragging wouldn't work.
"Where are you off to?" The girl changed the topic, pursing her lips.
"Going to a etup. You?"
"I'm heading to Dadu Hui for so shopping. I ordered so watercolor supplies from a store there."
"Wow, you need a reservation for that? Pretty fancy." Wang Zijun nodded. "Going alone?"
Xu Qing, who was standing nearby waiting for the drama, was stunned.
These two were actually chatting? Weren't exes supposed to snipe at each other with sarcastic remarks?
Wang Zijun, the rich kid, was riding the subway, and the girl just dismissed him with a casual "you don't look so great"? And what was with that look in her eyes?
Xu Qing quietly shuffled away to give them space.
They say "a day of marriage leads to a hundred days of grace." Who knows how many days of grace these two shared? Assuming an 80-year lifespan, that’s over 20,000 days. They probably had half a lifeti’s worth of feelings.
Even if they broke up, the sour scent of a past romance lingered.
Feeling bored, Xu Qing pulled out his phone and clicked on Jiang He’s Penguin account, Graceful Dancer. Her profile space was filled with random photos—birthday cakes, and silly shots of Winter lon the cat. But those were old, with no updates for a while.
She had only uploaded those pictures when Xu Qing taught her how to save and post them, finding it novel at the ti.
"So things are impossible to refuse: loneliness, mories, falling for you."
This cheesy line was clearly sothing she copied from Baidu and pasted as the top comnt on the ssage board.
After a while...
"You go ahead. I'll co by at noon. Got sothing to do," Wang Zijun whispered sneakily to Xu Qing.
"What?" Xu Qing was confused.
"Heh heh heh..."
"S***!"
Jiahe Complex.
Jiang He, busy grinding levels in a ga, noticed a ssage pop up in the corner of her screen.
"So things are impossible to refuse: loneliness, mories, falling for you."
???
She frowned and clicked on it, seeing Xu Qing’s annoying Doraemon avatar staring back at her, just as irritating as he was in person.
Hmph.
She sat cross-legged in her chair, dazing off for a mont. Stretching lazily, she got up, tossed so clothes into the washing machine, and glanced at Xu Qing’s room. She pulled out her phone and sent him a WeChat ssage.
"Want to wash your clothes?"
"Yes."
After seeing his reply, she went to grab his laundry and found a familiar pair of straw shoes on his nightstand.
Didn’t she throw these away?
She froze for a mont, picked them up for a closer look, and confird they were the pair she had once worn.
She returned to her computer, staring at the ssage board and the straw shoes in her hand, her expression shifting.
This guy...
This guy...
Even liked her shoes?
The subway reached its stop. Xu Qing got off alone, his silhouette radiating loneliness and bleakness.
Two people got on, and one got off.
His phone buzzed with a ssage from Wang Zijun: "I'll be there by noon!"
"I don’t think you’ll last that long," Xu Qing replied with a smirk. Just as he was about to put his phone away, a ssage from Jiang He popped up, asking if he wanted his clothes washed. His mood brightened imdiately.
Life wasn’t all about taking hits—there was also a girl willing to wash his clothes.
Whoever said class reunions were for drinking, boasting, and either flaunting success or suffering humiliation was right. And sotis, there was even a bit of rekindling old flas to fulfill youthful dreams.
But that was for later. For young people who had just entered society, etups were still simple and clean.
Just a chance to eat, drink, and have fun together. After graduation, everyone felt a bit reluctant to let go of those friendships. They t up to escape the grind of life and relive the purest, most beautiful monts of their school days.
So satisfied their egos; others vented their frustrations. They exchanged feelings and advice, ending with a "let’s keep in touch" before going their separate ways into society.
Xu Qing used to enjoy that—drinking and chatting with friends, killing ti, then hitting a karaoke bar or pool hall for a second round. At the end of the day, he’d stumble ho, fall into bed, and sleep it off.
Staying ho all day got boring. Humans were social creatures, after all. Having soone to talk to—or even a brawl with soone like Liang Zi—was better than sitting alone.
But things felt different now.
Unlike before, he wasn’t excited to drink and toast. As soon as he sat down, he wanted to leave.
"Co sit over here," a friend called. "You’re late—almost noon now. A few more people are still on the way."
"That's early enough."
Xu Qing glanced around the table. He had thought about finding Liang Zi and giving him a beating. Last ti, he held back because Jiang He was there. But now, the urge faded. It felt pointless.
Besides, Liang Zi wasn’t here.
"Wang Zijun ran into his ex halfway and went off to get a room. He’ll probably be late."
"No way, seriously?"
"Rich people, man. We poor folks wouldn’t get it."
"What about you? What have you been up to? You vanished for a while. Soone even asked about that handso guy with the great singing voice."
"I was off the grid." Xu Qing clinked his glass nonchalantly.
"I’ve been swamped, doing this and that every day. Not like you guys, always free."
"I’m not free! I’ve been working like a dog. It’s the end of the year, and I can’t even relax. Worked until midnight yesterday and still had to crawl over here to drink with you losers today."
"Crawl over here? Show us how!" soone shouted.
"Screw you! Drink up. Anyway..."
As more people arrived, the atmosphere heated up. A few drinks in, and the place was buzzing.
Amid the clinking glasses, laughter, and chatter, Xu Qing quietly swirled his drink, watching it all with a detached air.
A feeling of being out of place.
This had never happened before.
It was like Jiang He was a teor that had smashed his monotonous life to pieces.
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