The owner, who was tidying up the wine cabinet behind her, heard Xu Chacha's extraordinary tone and even went back to look through the list again.
Wow, these days young people consider 1700 yuan a small amount of money for a meal?
When she refused, Jiang Miao knew he couldn't possibly give her the money, so he simply changed the subject.
She took out a gift box from her bag and handed it to Xu Chacha, saying, "Here, consider it a return gift for the umbrella you lent me last time."
"It's just an umbrella, it's not worth much, there's no need to buy me a special gift." Xu Chacha shook her head.
"Then you'll accept my meal payment?"
"..." Xu Chacha compromised, thinking that she could just send it back next time for Jiang Miao's birthday or something. "Okay, thank you, senior."
"Let me put it on for you." Jiang Miao opened the box, inside was a simple silver bracelet.
When she first saw it, she thought it would look good on someone with fair skin like Xu Chacha, so she couldn't resist buying it.
Since Xu Chacha was already wearing a watch on her right hand, Jiang Miao pulled up her left hand and found that it was also tied with a red bracelet.
Unlike Xu Chacha's other accessories, this bracelet looks a bit faded and the design isn't very refined; it could even be described as cheap.
Seeing that her fingers were about to touch the rope, Xu Chacha quickly pulled her hand away, saying, "Just wear it on your right hand, it's fine."
Jiang Miao guessed that the bracelet had some special meaning to Xu Chacha, but he didn't delve into it and put the bracelet on her right hand.
Xu Chacha raised her arm and shook it, "It's so beautiful, senior, you have such good taste."
"No, whatever you like is fine."
When the two returned, everyone had almost finished eating, and the short-haired girl was organizing people to take a group photo.
"Jiang Miao, Cha Cha, come quick! We've been waiting for you. You took so long to go to the bathroom."
"Yes, it's here."
Xu Chacha walked towards Zhu Zhu and the others. Jiang Miao glanced at her back, but in the end, he walked to his friends' side.
"After I take the picture and send it to the group, remember to edit my face if you post it on your WeChat Moments," the short-haired girl said.
"Okay, hahahaha."
"Come on, one, two, three, cheese!"
...
The effects of that beer didn't hit Xu Chacha until she finished washing up and lay down. She wasn't actually dizzy, just her face felt flushed and a little hot.
Despite her sleepiness, she sent Wen Mubai a copy of the photos she had taken that evening, meaning that she had been very well-behaved and obediently socialized.
Wen Mubai was almost at dinner time and had finished most of his work. He happened to see her message while having a coffee break.
There were many people in the group photo, but Wen Mubai could only recognize her three roommates, however…
Her gaze shifted to Jiang Miao, who was a few people away from Xu Chacha.
Perhaps it was a sixth sense or something else, but she felt that this might be the senior student named Jiang Miao that Xu Chacha had mentioned.
She flipped to the next picture. At this point, Jiang Miao probably thought the photos were all taken and was looking at Xu Chacha with his head turned to the side.
Wen Mubai narrowed his eyes in thought. This girl seemed to have no physical contact with Xu Chacha at all, but there was something wrong with her gaze.
She received countless similar stares during her school years, and she still sees them frequently now.
A cryptic laugh escaped her lips. "Now that you're older, you're even more likely to attract attention."
Wen Mubai had always set the time on this phone to the domestic time. When she looked up and saw that the time in the taskbar was approaching one o'clock, she raised her hand and sent a question mark.
'Playing so late?'
She underestimated the level of staying up late among contemporary college students; two hours a night is no problem for the average person, right?
She figured Xu Chacha was probably asleep, but she didn't expect the message to pop up so quickly, and it was a video.
Wen Mubai stood up, closed the office door, put on his headphones, and answered the call.
"What's wrong?"
Xu Chacha's screen angle was a bit tricky; she probably just casually placed it next to the pillow. Wen Mubai could see her sleepy eyes and her rosy cheeks pressed against the pillow.
"I'm so sleepy, I don't want to type." Xu Chacha's voice sounded a little hoarse.
Wen Mubai frowned. "Have you been drinking?"
"Just a little bit." Xu Chacha held up her hand, showing her half a little finger.
"Don't drink next time you go out this late."
"I know, I don't like drinking." Xu Chacha buried her face in the pillow, her voice muffled. "Drinking is bad for your health, and Auntie shouldn't drink too much either."
I don't know if it's just my imagination, but Xu Chacha seems to have regained some of her childhood appearance, and she's even started to act cute now.
"Hmm, I don't want to drink." Wen Mubai looked at her, who couldn't hide her sleepiness. "If you're sleepy, go to sleep. Have a good rest tomorrow, it's the weekend."
Xu Chacha blinked her eyes, then weakly closed them. Her eyelashes drooped, making her look very obedient, and she appeared to be about to fall asleep.
"good."
"Good night."
"Goodnight, Auntie..." She squinted her eyes, smiled sweetly, and said, "I missed you today too."
The girl's voice was drawn out, soft and gentle, which softened Wen Mubai's heart. For some reason, he also smiled slightly.
Goodnight, Auntie misses you today too.
...
By the end of November, Wen Mubai had finally finished handing over her responsibilities and packed her things to prepare for her return to China. She planned to open her own studio back home, but she didn't intend to rely on her father's connections. The connections and savings she had accumulated over the years were enough for her to make a living for a while.
She didn't tell anyone when she booked the plane tickets, planning to give Xu Chacha a surprise after returning to China.
When the plane landed in City A, it was nearly 7 p.m. Wen Mubai had no desire to adjust to the time difference and immediately hailed a taxi to head towards Q University.
She was just thinking about how to arrange a natural chance encounter with Xu Chacha when the other person involuntarily gave her directions.
Tea: Auntie, we're having a club dinner tonight, so we won't be video chatting with you.
A crying emoji was also added below.
Wen Mubai remembered that Xu Chacha had told her about joining a club.
It seems that the president of the etiquette club found Xu Chacha through Jiang Miao and persuaded her for a long time before she agreed. He also offered her conditions: no club fees would be charged, and she would not be disturbed except for important competitions and events.
Wen Mubai's fingers twitched slightly as he sent the message.
Where should we eat?
Although Xu Chacha was puzzled as to why Wen Mubai suddenly asked this question, she still sent her her location.
Tea: Jiang Shu is also here. The shop is very close to the school, and I promise I won't drink alcohol, so don't worry.
Wen Mubai opened Xu Chacha's location, then pasted the store name into an app to search, and it turned out to be a small hot pot buffet.
It is indeed not far from the school.
After estimating how long it would take Xu Chacha and the others to finish eating, Wen Mubai leisurely pulled his luggage to his old noodle shop and ordered a bowl of pork liver noodles.
"You're a teacher, right? Just got back from a business trip?" The landlady has changed; the previous one was an elderly lady, otherwise she probably wouldn't have failed to recognize Wen Mubai's face.
Wen Mubai nodded in agreement, "Yes, I just got back from a business trip."
"Going back to school so late, you must be exhausted." The proprietress grabbed a small handful of noodles and put them in the bowl. "I'll cook you a little extra, so you can have the energy to work if you eat and drink well."
"Thanks."
Wen Mubai finished his bowl of noodles slowly and carefully, and then his phone received a new message.
Tea: We've finished eating, time to go back, wasn't that super fast!
It was indeed very quick; she had originally thought she would have to sit on the sidelines for another hour or so before she could see anyone.
Wen: Okay, let's go back to the dorm early.
Tea: Okay, I'll go with Jiang Shu to buy some milk tea and then we'll be back.
"Boss, I've paid you."
"Okay, the money has arrived."
Wen Mubai stood up, dragged his luggage, and walked towards the back street. Even at night, there were still quite a few shops open. The milk tea shop that was closer to Xu Chacha's dinner was located in a more secluded spot, requiring a walk uphill to reach.
But when she got there, she didn't see the person she thought she would see. She glanced around and then decided to wait quietly in place.
Xu Chacha should have come out earlier, but when they got to the door, they were stopped by a boy from the club whom they had only met a few times.
"Cha Cha, can I talk to you for a bit?" the boy said softly, his head down.
Xu Chacha happened to be wearing heels today, and when she stood up straight, she was half a head taller than the boy, and you could see the two cowlicks on the top of his head.
Jiang Shu smiled and glanced at her, "You two chat, I'll wait outside."
Xu Chacha was at her wit's end. She kept giving him pleading looks, but he wouldn't listen. So she turned to face the boy.
"Okay, go ahead, but could you hurry up? I need to get back to my dorm to sleep."
"It won't be long!" The boy looked up, his words trailing off, "I just wanted to ask if you have a boyfriend."
"No." Before the boy could breathe a sigh of relief, Xu Chacha quickly added, "I wasn't planning on looking either. What's wrong?"
"Ah...ah?" The boy was about to back out, but his friends who were watching the commotion kept gesturing to him, so he had to muster his courage and say, "So you mean you don't have anyone you like, right? If that's the case, should we...should we..."
"I do have someone I like." Xu Chacha smiled at him, seemingly carefree, but in reality, it was the sharpest dagger piercing the boy's heart. "Any other questions?"
"No, that's all." The boy shook his head blankly.
From just a few words, he could tell that Xu Chacha wasn't interested in him. If he were to shamelessly tell her, it would probably make things very awkward for both of them in the club.
"That's good. Go back and rest early, it's too late." Xu Chacha waved to him without waiting for his reply, "Jiang Shu is still waiting for me, I'm leaving now, bye-bye."
As soon as she turned around, Xu Chacha's smile vanished. She sighed deeply and walked to Jiang Shu's side. "You're so heartless. Couldn't you have saved me?"
Jiang Shu shook her head. "I don't want to stir up trouble."
"A cold-blooded woman." Xu Chacha pretended to choke her.
"Hahahaha, no, no, no, it tickles, grandma."
The two of them playfully walked towards the direction of the milk tea shop. Jiang Shu still had to buy some for Zhu Zhu and Su Qing, but Xu Chacha didn't buy any. She squatted at the door, waiting bored.