Chapter 8

The dinner was held at a Western restaurant.

That day, I wore a white dress and put on light makeup before heading to the appointment.

When I arrived, Zhou Yanming was already there.

He was dressed differently from his usual work attire-more casual, relatively speaking-but whether it was his problem or the clothes’ fault, he still looked very trendy.

Zhou Yanming saw me and waved with a smile.

At first, the meal was just a normal dinner. Halfway through, the conversation inevitably drifted back to our hopeless friends.

How could the brief time spent at the wedding banquet possibly summarize all the legendary feats of persuading breakups over the years?

“So, that time when Xu Shaoting was on a business trip and a female colleague answered his phone while he was showering-how did you talk him through that?” I was genuinely curious. “I really thought they were done for after that.”

It happened last year. Xu Shaoting was working at his own company-not exactly parachuted in, but still a manager of sorts.

He shared a hotel room with a male colleague during a business trip. A female colleague who liked him dropped by, and happened to answer a call from Li Qingyi, ambiguously saying, ‘He’s in the shower.’

Li Qingyi immediately blocked him on the spot.

But somehow, they made up afterward. Whether that story is true or not, I still don’t know.

Zhou Yanming was silent, then said, “I told him, if he can’t even keep an eye on his own phone, he might as well get himself castrated-he won’t be able to keep watch anyway.”

…

Such a sharp and vicious line.

“Then, for some reason, Xu Shaoting misunderstood me. He went and custom-ordered a male chastity belt and gave the key to your best friend.”

?

He spoke so quickly that by the time I realized what I’d heard, it was already too late.

No wonder when I asked Li Qingyi in anguish why she got back together with him, she just hemmed and hawed and couldn’t answer.

“By the way, when your best friend’s high school first love returned to China, how did Xu Shaoting get coaxed back?”

Li Qingyi had a first love in high school. It was pure-at most, they held hands, not even as ambiguous as I was with Li Qingyi.

But young love doesn’t always need those things.

Li Qingyi really liked her first love, but he went abroad after graduation. When he came back, he said he still loved her, and Xu Shaoting found out. Unfortunately, the two men were somewhat alike-both science whizzes, both wore silver-rimmed glasses for their nearsightedness.

Xu Shaoting made a fuss, saying Li Qingyi was using him as a substitute.

Li Qingyi was innocent in this; she was just a straightforward sapiosexual.

This little issue dragged on endlessly between them-twisted, yet loving.

I thought back to that time and replied, “Li Qingyi didn’t coax him.”

Zhou Yanming: “?”

“Because your buddy didn’t believe her sincerity or explanation, she got discouraged and wanted to break up instead. Then your buddy begged to get back together.”

…

Zhou Yanming pressed his fingers lightly to his temple, as if those two had exasperated him again.

“It’s all in the past,” I offered some token comfort. “Don’t dwell on it. Getting angry isn’t worth it.”

That’s what I said, but whenever the two of us got together, we always ended up talking about that newlywed couple. There was no end to the infuriating stories, even if we talked for three days and nights.