Chapter 7

The old bar street area always revealed a scene of decline and desolation late at night. The streetlights were old, glass covers covered in dust, the light dim.
Dim warm yellow light passed through the windshield, falling between Fu Xiling's forehead and nose tip, dyeing his bangs and eyelashes golden, giving an illusion of gentleness and kindness.
Fu Xiling said to bet but didn't say what the stakes were.
More like a casual mention.
Shi Zhi crossed her arms and stared quietly at Fu Xiling, thinking this person was really inexplicable.
The drink bill just now, he'd paid out of his own pocket, didn't use her treat. She didn't know if the "okay" he'd agreed to earlier about keeping the secret still counted.
Fu Xiling said Shen Jia wouldn't contact her so definitively. Shi Zhi even suspected whether Fu Xiling had said something unfavorable about her to Shen Jia.
This person looked like an unreliable playboy.
He wasn't like Shen Jia. Shen Jia liked light-colored outfits, always wore simple shirts or t-shirts, forever that gentle senior image.
As for Fu Xiling, the two times Shi Zhi had seen him this semester were both in bars.
Last time Fu Xiling wore a black short-sleeved shirt, the denim jacket on top had very trendy decorations—sequins and plush toys—could go straight to a fashion runway.
This time, it was simply a floral shirt over a black short-sleeved shirt.
Shi Zhi didn't trust Fu Xiling, but she trusted Shen Jia and believed in her own judgment of people.
Shen Jia was indeed acting unusual, but not for this reason. If Fu Xiling had really said something about her to Shen Jia, she believed Shen Jia would never easily believe it.
Shi Zhi was very cautious and of course didn't plan to easily bet with someone she'd only met twice.
Fu Xiling didn't care either. Before leaving, he asked: "Going back to school? Want a ride?"
She refused.
The sports car's distinctive engine roar faded away behind her. Walking into the shop, she was still pondering Shen Jia's unusual behavior.
Where exactly was the problem?
She was lost in thought, but the others in the shop were very happy, noisy like celebrating New Year.
Wan Ran and the other three were all on the second floor, sitting around the table Fu Xiling had sat at, already dividing up those bottles of wine Fu Xiling hadn't even touched.
Old Qian also enthusiastically called out, asking Shi Zhi if she wanted to come up and drink with them.
Looking at them like this, it was clearly not the first time they'd done this. They'd probably drunk quite a bit of Fu Xiling's wine lately.
Shi Zhi waved her hand: "You guys drink. After finishing, clean up before leaving, lock the door."
Wan Ran held up a wine glass, squinted and blew out a stream of smoke, like a seductive demon: "Let's be clear first, drinks the customer already paid for, don't charge us."
Shi Zhi had no heart to continue joking with them. She'd already walked to the employee passageway by the storeroom, raised her hand, and without turning around, gave them an "okay" gesture.
Lingling's excited voice came from upstairs: "He really is like a god of wealth! Orders so many things but only drinks mineral water. Got commission, and there's fruit to eat. So great!"
Old Qian reminded Lingling: "Don't eat that watermelon, too cheap. Grapes are most expensive and sweet. I tasted them when cutting the fruit plate."
The day they celebrated Shen Jia's birthday, until they left, the drinks at the neighboring table hadn't been touched at all.
That bar was ridiculously expensive, a huge money pit. Ordinary yogurt sold for over two hundred yuan a pitcher. Fu Xiling dared to order Macallan there.
Ordered it and didn't drink it.
With that kind of wasteful spending, he didn't seem like someone who'd be attracted by a recharge promotion.
Besides, aunt's recharge promotion wasn't attractive at all.
Recharge five thousand yuan to get two hundred yuan free. Someone like Fu Xiling who drove a supercar and spent money like water probably wouldn't care about a two-hundred-yuan voucher.
So, what was he doing here?
Shi Zhi stopped walking and looked sensitively out the window—
The street was dim and quiet. A stray cat crouched by a shabby trash can, head buried, looking for food to fill its stomach.
When she moved into the bar, she'd heard uncle and aunt mention that a large convention center was being built nearby, and foot traffic might increase.
Back then, the owners of neighboring shops saw a glimmer of hope and often gathered together, enthusiastically discussing this matter.
As time passed, the rumors gradually became unreliable. Expectations fell through, and no one mentioned it in the past two years.
What was there in this place worth Fu Xiling's attention?
Fu Xiling had too many puzzling behaviors, but there was one thing he was right about.
That night, Shen Jia indeed didn't contact Shi Zhi.
Shen Jia's call came at six o'clock the next morning.
Gentle and considerate as he was, he'd never called Shi Zhi so early on weekends before.
Shi Zhi wasn't fully awake yet and answered groggily.
Shen Jia's side was more urgent than hers, panicked. Before she could ask, he'd already launched into a string of explanations about yesterday—
He said that before the concert ended, he'd received a notification. His childhood friend studying abroad had suddenly returned. He'd rushed to the airport to pick them up, didn't even listen to the final encore.
"We booked a gathering back at my place. Getting back from the airport was already quite late. My phone died. I thought I'd charge it and video call you, but maybe I was too excited from the concert, or maybe it was because I'd been drinking... I fell asleep."
Shi Zhi was silent for a few seconds, organizing her words: "It's fine. I was worried when you didn't reply."
"Sorry, sorry, I was wrong."
Shen Jia explained a lot and asked Shi Zhi: "Still at your uncle's house? Can you come out today? Give me a chance to make it up to you?"
"Not going out today. See you at school tomorrow."
The day she returned to school, Shi Zhi had no morning classes. She'd just returned to the dormitory and put down her backpack when Shen Jia's call came. She answered the phone and pushed open the balcony door to look downstairs.
The sunlight was good. Shen Jia waved at her from downstairs, not smiling, expression very serious, coaxing: "Shi Zhi, don't be angry. Let's have breakfast together?"