Once outside the nightclub, the intoxicating atmosphere was gone, and Shi Ling's aloofness returned.
Although she intended to vent her emotions, she was very aware of her alcohol tolerance.
Chi Cheng frowned and took a step forward, placing his hand on the window she had rolled down.
Shi Ling raised her hand, her fair fingertips reaching up to Chi Cheng's collar, slowly pulling him closer, as if whispering in a lover's ear, "I saw it."
Chi Cheng could smell the alcohol in her breath, and their breathing was so close that the air she exhaled made him feel a little itchy. Realizing what was happening, he gritted his teeth and asked in a low voice, "So you're not going to tell me?"
Shi Ling then released her grip on his collar and smoothed it down for him.
His reflection was in her eyes, her gaze calm and undisturbed. "You didn't ask either."
The two looked at each other for a few seconds, and Shi Ling said to the driver, "Sir, let's go."
After the taxi sped away, Lin Shan glanced at the time and said, "Old Chi, do you really clock in according to the closed-off work schedule every day?"
Chi Cheng frowned. "Where's your coat?"
Lin Shan was wearing an off-the-shoulder dress, and when she came out, many people glanced at her.
Chi Cheng knew her habit. He watched her take it out and put it on before answering her, "That's right, I have to be back by 11 o'clock every day, otherwise I'll call my mom."
Lin Shan clicked her tongue twice.
It was only a little past nine o'clock, and she was still a bit reluctant to leave, so she asked Chi Cheng if they could find a place to play a little longer.
Chi Cheng glanced at the time. "Fine, I'll play Werewolf with you this weekend. I can walk you home and we can go to that decadent street near your house on the way."
Lin Shan teased him, "Look, even Brother Jianming said he'd take me out to party."
Chi Cheng grabbed her wrist and pulled her back, laughing unrestrainedly, "Fine, since you've asked, your brother Chi will take you to a club, full service."
Lin Shan knew about the boys' shady dealings and slapped his hand away. "Don't even try. I heard that the place you went to last time was raided. Be careful."
Chi Cheng: "Who told you that?"
Lin Shan: "That's what Da Diao said. He even asked me if I had any pretty girls to introduce to him. I told him to stop ruining women."
Chi Cheng: "That's a complete idiot. There's someone in my IELTS class who's really shady; he took us to a shop in the city center."
Lin Shan: "Are you going to study for IELTS or to visit a brothel?"
Lin Shan's home wasn't far from here. The two of them walked and joked around, and arrived in about twenty minutes.
They went to Ah Qiang's BBQ, a place they often frequented, and ordered clay pot porridge.
Chi Cheng tossed the bowl and chopsticks to Lin Shan to scald, then opened WeChat and checked his location.
Lin Shan saw it all clearly. "Who is she?"
Chi Cheng tossed her phone onto the table and didn't look at it again. She didn't receive a message even after arriving at her destination, which was very much in line with her usual personality.
"What else could it be? We met while studying IELTS."
Lin Shan knew that Chi Cheng hadn't dated in a long time; his last relationship was over two years ago. Because he could play around freely when he was single, he didn't miss out on any of the ways a man should release his pent-up emotions. He would never easily start a relationship unless he was truly in love.
She didn't feel that the relationship between the two was anything more than ordinary, so she didn't ask any further questions.
However, she's a frequent outing person, so she understands what happened tonight.
"I never imagined Jianming would turn out like this. Did he drug him today?"
Chi Cheng frowned. "Yeah, be careful when those guys from high school invite you out to play."
Lin Shan chuckled, "What about you?"
Chi Cheng seems to have gotten carried away with saying this today: "Your brother Chi's face is like an aphrodisiac; there's no need to use any drugs."
**
The week-long intensive course is drawing to a close, and this week the intensity has clearly increased.
Aside from playing for the first two days, Chi Cheng had to dedicate the rest of the nights to homework. At most, he would sneak into Fang Ze's room after the room check to play a few rounds of online gaming.
After the last class on Saturday, Elsa tagged them in the group chat, telling them to wait a moment because she had something to say.
Chi Cheng stretched and squinted at the figure sitting in front of him.
Since returning from that day, their relationship has become increasingly unpredictable.
To this day, their WeChat interface is still stuck on the system message that location sharing has ended.
There was no further private contact.
When practicing spoken English, Shi Ling acted like any other ordinary partner, always cold and aloof. After they finished practicing, they each went back to their seats, with Chi Cheng resting his forehead on his hand. Lately, Dylan seemed to have noticed that She Jiaxin would spend a lot of time with him, so he patiently told her each time that she was welcome to ask him questions after class. Usually, after practicing a topic, there wasn't much time left.
Shi Ling discovered that, in fact, as long as he didn't want to, there would be no accidents such as accidentally getting her hair caught or dropping his pen on the ground.
Interactions between men and women, regardless of size, always involve exchanging glances and gestures of affection.
Chi Cheng could see clearly that Shi Ling's pure and innocent appearance was just a facade; deep down, she was both alluring and wild. Previously, the two had both extended olive branches to each other. These past two days, Chi Cheng had deliberately given her the cold shoulder. Shi Ling remained unmoved, and he had lost interest as well. It was as if they were both abiding by the rules of the game between adult men and women. If that feeling was gone, they would simply pretend that the previous undercurrents had never happened and not mention it at all.
Elsa came in and asked if anyone wanted to sign up for IELTS, as there were test-taking support groups going to Thailand and Vietnam, just one week after the intensive course ended.
Without hesitation, Lin Ziqi and her friends decided to go to Thailand for the exam and take a trip while they were there.
Fang Ze had taken the exam in Thailand before and knew that it was easy to pass the exam there, so he planned to go again.
They all readily signed up with Elsa. She Jiaxin and Li Qiuling were already discussing what to eat in Thailand, and Elsa, probably expecting a commission, beamed with joy. Being quite young herself, she jokingly told them to spend the remaining two weeks studying, and that she'd treat everyone to milk tea next week.
Shi Ling naturally didn't want to waste time in Thailand. She had been studying quite well recently, and Hong Kong was much easier to take the exam than the mainland. She still wanted to try it out in Hong Kong first.
Elsa agreed and asked her to send her passport later so she could register.
Elsa checked everyone's names and found that Chi Cheng was still huddled in his seat, looking down at his phone that had just been sent back.
"Chi Cheng, where are you taking the exam?"
Chi Cheng unplugged one of his earphones. "Me?" He glanced at Shi Ling. "Let's go to Thailand together."
He whistled at Lin Ziqi and the others, "Let's go, Masaji!"
Chi Cheng promised Lin Shan this week that he would play Werewolf with her on Sunday.
I didn't go out with them on Saturday night; I went home to rest and recuperate.
Last night, I saw in their private group chats that She Jiaxin was having a blast, like she was crazy.
Chi Cheng glanced at the photo. It was blurry from a distance, but he could still see that She Jiaxin had two hands on her body, surrounded by two foreigners.
They all say that She Jiaxin is hanging out with the foreigners today and won't play with them; they can't stop her.
After thinking for a moment, Chi Cheng sent her a WeChat message.
CC: Take it easy.
She Jiaxin sent a smiling emoji.
The two had only slept together once and had no further contact afterward, so Chi Cheng didn't pursue the matter further.
When Chi Cheng came back on Sunday night, he didn't have much homework, so he went to an internet cafe with Lin Ziqi and Fang Ze.
They fought so hard they lost track of time. Luckily, Li Qiuling wasn't feeling well that day and asked Lin Ziqi to bring her medicine back. Only then did they snap out of their daze and rush back to their rooms.
I finally arrived before the ward rounds.
Fang Ze was still complaining in the group chat, "Damn, this ward round is completely useless."
He was puzzled when he didn't receive a reply from them for a while.
Chi Cheng has already messaged him privately. You idiot, you sent it to Elsa's group.
Fang Ze had no hope of backing down, so he could only send a few random emojis in an attempt to get past the initial reaction.
Elsa quickly called them to gather in front of the elevator on the girls' floor.
As Fang Ze left, he complained to Chi Cheng, "Is it really necessary? Even if I made a mistake, why make such a fuss?"
Elsa's expression turned grave as she went down to find out that wasn't the case.
She Jiaxin has disappeared and has been out of contact for a whole day.
Author's Note: I've roughly summarized the opinions in the comments section, although reading them has only made me more conflicted. Those who mentioned the realistic storyline want to torture Xiaochi and the wolf dog (a character from a popular Chinese TV series), while those who mentioned the flashback storyline want to know how they got together.
Yesterday, a fairy told me that Chi Cheng's personality is characterized by neither taking the initiative nor refusing.
I said yes, and also, don't fall in love easily.
I've received so many comments in the comment section. I'll organize them and post them on Weibo to give back to the community, haha.
Thanks to the lovely fairy who threw the thunder, TracyLee. Yunhubuxi, the machine isn't that fast! We need to make some changes.
Chapter 12
Elsa asked them if they had seen She Jiaxin today. She Jiaxin wasn't in her room at this time, and her phone was off; they couldn't reach her. They had called her parents, but she hadn't returned home since yesterday and hadn't contacted them either.
Some people chuckled, saying it would be a miracle if She Jiaxin went home.
Elsa walked up to him in a few steps. "Do you know where she went?"
She Jiaxin is an adult and can be free to go wherever she wants, but if she really disappears, it happens to be around the time of the IELTS class. As the class teacher, she will definitely be in trouble, and it won't sound good if word gets out.
To this day, everyone still believes that Charmaine Sheh had a great time somewhere and forgot to come back.
They were skeptical and privately sent WeChat messages to She Jiaxin, asking, "Jiaxin, did the party go wrong?"
When is Jiaxin coming back?
Elsa looked anxious. "Please, please help me contact her. Anyone who can find her, just make sure she's safe."
Elsa was young and usually spoke to them kindly, even joking around in the WeChat group. Seeing her expression like that, the boys hesitated.
Elsa walked up to Li Qiuling again and asked her.
Everyone knows that Li Qiuling and She Jiaxin are practically inseparable.
Li Qiuling's voice was still a bit nasal. She had drunk too much when they went out yesterday, and had been sleeping all day in a daze. She hadn't contacted She Jiaxin at all.
She made several phone calls and sent WeChat messages, but She Jiaxin did not reply.
She thought about how wildly She Jiaxin had played last night and felt a little worried.
Li Qiuling told Elsa, "We went out together last night, but Jiaxin went out by herself later." She paused, as if trying to comfort herself, "Jiaxin's phone probably ran out of battery."