Chapter 30: No Friends

Lin Hexi didn’t return to the dining hall. Instead, he hailed a taxi from the entrance and went straight back to school.

By the time he got back to his rental house, it was already afternoon. Lin Hexi drew the bedroom curtains tightly and took a nap. When he opened his eyes, it was already dark outside. He ordered takeout using his phone. After finishing his meal, he decided to lounge on the living room sofa, passing the time by playing games.

Two hours later, the phone’s battery finally dropped to a red warning level. Only then did Lin Hexi get up from the sofa, heading to the bedroom to find his phone’s charging cable, and then he opened the wardrobe to grab some clothes for a shower.

He had no intention of going out again, so after showering, he changed directly into his pajamas. As he passed through the living room, he noticed a faint light flickering on the sofa.

Lin Hexi instinctively paused, and for a moment, an image of the sea of fireflies he had seen in the woods that night flashed through his mind. Then he realized it was probably just the breathing light on his phone blinking.

He walked over to the sofa, bent down to pick up his phone, and unlocked it. He opened WeChat, where he saw several missed voice calls from Fang Qingning, all from the time when he was in the shower.

His brows furrowed slightly, and Lin Hexi returned the voice call.

After three seconds of the ringtone, the call was picked up. Before Lin Hexi could say anything, he heard a man’s voice on the other end.

Lin Hexi asked, “Who are you?”

The person on the other end sounded relieved. “This is a bar in University Town. The owner of this phone and her friends got drunk here. Can you come and pick them up?”

Lin Hexi paused for a moment before asking, “Which bar?”

The person on the other end gave the name of a specific bar, which wasn’t the popular Week Eight on the bar street but a smaller bar in the surrounding area.

After hanging up the phone, Lin Hexi went back to his room, changed out of his pajamas, grabbed the keys from the shoe cabinet, and headed out.

He took a taxi from the entrance of his community to the bar street. When he got out of the car, he originally planned to ask the driver to wait for a couple of minutes, but the driver quickly picked up some customers coming out of a bar and drove off with them.

Two minutes later, Lin Hexi found Fang Qingning in a booth in the corner of the bar.

She was clearly drunk, slumped over the table, completely out of it. Her friend, also intoxicated, was leaning her head against Fang Qingning’s back, her face hidden by her long hair under the dim lighting. Perhaps because neither of them showed their faces, they had avoided being harassed by any strangers.

Looking at the two drunkards in front of him, Lin Hexi couldn’t help but feel at a loss as to how to handle the situation.

He had told Fang Qingning not to go to a bar alone, but it seemed he forgot to add that, regardless of how many people she brought along, someone needed to stay sober from start to finish.

With the help of the bar staff, Lin Hexi managed to get the two of them outside under a streetlamp. He took out his phone to check the time, only to realize that it was already past the school’s curfew.

In the past couple of years, security around University Town had tightened, and nearby hotels required an ID card to check in. He doubted that either of them had brought their IDs to the bar, so Lin Hexi had no choice but to try to take them back to his place.

However, luck wasn’t on his side that night. The taxis he tried to flag down either thought the distance was too short or didn’t want to risk having two drunk girls who might vomit in their car. Squatting by the roadside, Lin Hexi scrolled through his contact list to the very bottom but couldn’t find a friend who could be called on at such a late hour.

His gaze lingered for a long time on You Chong’s avatar in his WeChat friend list.

Strictly speaking, Lin Hexi and You Chong weren’t exactly friends, but they had indeed been in frequent contact recently. Lin Hexi opened the chat with You Chong’s silly Alaskan Malamute profile picture, and the empty conversation window popped up. Then, he pressed the button to initiate a voice call.

At the time, You Chong wasn’t at his place either; he was at a birthday party for a wealthy young man within their circle.

After stepping out of the noisy living room filled with music, You Chong paused in the villa’s courtyard and answered the call. “What’s up?”

Lin Hexi, sounding a bit heavy, asked, “Do you have time right now?”

You Chong glanced back at the brightly lit villa behind him, and replied indifferently, “Whether I have time or not depends on how important your request is.”

Lin Hexi couldn’t help but sigh. “I have two friends who got drunk at a bar. Could you come and drive them back for me?”

You Chong remained skeptical about Lin Hexi’s sudden request. “Which bar?”

Lin Hexi gave the name of the bar.

Apart from the well-known Week Eight, You Chong rarely frequented other bars on that street. His suspicion grew, and he responded calmly, “Is there even a bar by that name in University Town?”

Knowing that his credibility with You Chong was incredibly low, Lin Hexi chose to remain silent.

The atmosphere on both ends of the call grew tense. A fleeting image of Lin Hexi’s slightly drooping face when he was unhappy flashed through You Chong’s mind, causing him to waver slightly. “Which friends of yours got drunk?” As other unpleasant faces crossed his mind, his voice deepened, “Is it Ning Nan and his crew?”

Lin Hexi replied, “It’s not them.”

As if trying to convince himself, You Chong spoke again, this time with a hint of detachment, “I don’t recall when we became friends.”

On the other end, Lin Hexi responded with a low “Mm.”

You Chong continued, “If that’s the case, why don’t you call one of your friends?”

Lin Hexi thought for a moment and decided to be honest. “I don’t have any friends.”

Hearing this, the slight wavering in You Chong’s heart instantly vanished. Certain that Lin Hexi was just trying to stir up trouble, he let out a bitter laugh, “You say you don’t have friends, then what are Ning Nan and those people?”

Lin Hexi found himself at a loss for words in response to the question.

The silence from Lin Hexi on the other end of the phone was interpreted by You Chong as guilt after being confronted with the truth. In the distance, Zhou Xuan called out to him, but You Chong had already lost patience with the conversation. Just before hanging up, he said, “Instead of calling me for help, you should just call your good friends.”

Lin Hexi was left helpless.

Just before the sound of the disconnection hit his ear, he finally asked softly, “Do you really think Ning Nan and those people are my friends?”

The next second, the call was abruptly ended.

You Chong’s expression faltered momentarily. His gaze dropped as he stared absentmindedly at the now-ended call screen on his phone, slowly slipping into thought.

Zhou Xuan approached from behind and asked, “Who was that?”

You Chong didn’t answer the question and instead asked, “What are you doing out here?”

“They asked me to come get you since you hadn’t returned,” Zhou Xuan replied.

You Chong nodded, “It’s nothing. Let’s go.”

The two of them headed back to the living room on the first floor of the villa, where someone stood up and pulled them over to sit down and drink. You Chong held the glass in his hand but didn’t bring it to his lips.

Zhou Xuan turned to the person and asked, “What have you been up to lately? We haven’t seen you around.”

“Not much,” Xia Chengfeng replied as he sat down on the sofa. “Just helping organize a free art exhibition our department is putting on at school.” After saying this, he suddenly looked at You Chong. “How long is your aunt’s exhibition running? If I have time, I’d like to check it out.”