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Xu Ye stopped replying after sending that message.
He was deliberately teasing Chen Qingqing, and she was indeed furious. She lay on the sofa, kicking her legs repeatedly, eventually taking out all her anger on the Doraemon figure Xu Ye had given her.
After spending half an hour in the bathroom past nine at night, Chen Qingqing finally entered the bedroom dressed in her pajamas. She didn’t lie down to sleep but instead opened her laptop and imported the song she had recorded that afternoon, listening to it several times.
At that moment, she suddenly recalled what Xu Ye had said earlier and began to hesitate about whether to upload the song online.
Nowadays, there were many online singers who neither attended events nor were celebrities; they simply released their songs on the internet.
A few years ago, singers like Xu Song, Wang Sulong, and Xu Liang, who consistently topped the charts, were all online singers like this.
After much consideration, Chen Qingqing finally opened the creator’s backend on NetEase Cloud Music and uploaded the song, but she didn’t use her real name.
In the singer’s name field, she entered the three characters “Chen Zijin.”
Qingqing Zijin, youyou wo xin.
That was how the name Chen Qingqing came about.
Once the song was successfully uploaded, Chen Qingqing shut her laptop and went straight to sleep.
The light was still on.
The soft big bed still had only her in it.
Only tonight was different.
In her arms was the Doraemon that someone had spent a few yuan to win from a claw machine.
…
At the Encounter Music Tavern.
As soon as Xu Ye arrived, Pei Youwei curiously asked about his college entrance exam results. Upon learning that Xu Ye had passed the first-tier university cutoff, she teased, “You did so well! Should I give you a little reward?”
Xu Ye quickly replied, “A red envelope is enough. Not ten thousand or twenty thousand, not even a thousand or two thousand. Three or five hundred would make me very happy.”
Pei Youwei rolled her eyes and said, “Xu Ye, what’s wrong with you? So young and all you think about is making money.”
“I can’t help it. I’m poor.”
Xu Ye complained, “We just ate out, and Chen Qingqing was the one who treated us. It was so embarrassing. When it came time to pay, even the cashier gave me a strange look.”
Pei Youwei hadn’t expected their relationship to have progressed so quickly.
Curious, she asked, “So, how far along are you two now?”
“Just friends.”
“Just friends?”
“What else could it be?”
Pei Youwei smirked, “That girl is so cold and distant; if you can still be friends with her, that’s already a good first step. Not bad, not bad. Keep it up.”
Xu Ye was about to respond.
Pei Youwei glanced toward the door and said to him, “Guests are here. Go greet them.”
Xu Ye turned around, and his expression immediately changed.
The visitors were none other than Gu Mengyao and Liu Qian.
The moment Xu Ye saw them, he realized that that bastard Qin Zhiwei had exposed his whereabouts. His face fell as he reluctantly stepped forward and asked, “What are you two doing here?”
Gu Mengyao was about to speak, but her close friend Liu Qian beat her to it.
“We’re just here for a drink.”
Gu Mengyao nodded in agreement. “Yeah, we’re just here to have some drinks.”
Xu Ye didn’t bother responding to them. He gave Zhou Ying a look, then headed to the restroom. Zhou Ying understood Xu Ye’s meaning and stepped forward to take his place, asking the two women what they wanted to drink.
When Xu Ye came out and walked to the counter, Pei Youwei, noticing some subtle clues, lowered her voice and asked, “Do you know them?”
“Classmates.”
“Classmates, aren’t you going to say a few words to them?”
Xu Ye shook his head. “Don’t feel like talking.”
Pei Youwei smiled. “What, ex-girlfriends?”
“Not quite. I just don’t want to get involved with them right now. It’s not worth the trouble.”
Pei Youwei smiled knowingly. Everything was clear without needing to be said.
When Gu Mengyao appeared at the door earlier, Pei Youwei had already sensed something. They say girls change a lot by the time they’re eighteen, but the biggest changes usually happen during freshman year of university. In high school, they buried themselves in studies; the school had strict rules about hairstyles, and uniforms were mostly worn—makeup was out of the question. Once at university, girls start caring about their appearance: dressing nicely, using cosmetics, paying attention to their hair.
But Gu Mengyao was already putting effort into all three. Pei Youwei, having been through it herself, knew that girls who mature this early often have a deep scheming side.
Two girls showing up at a tavern late at night—obviously, drinking wasn’t their real purpose. Pei Youwei grew curious about what they were really after.
Gu Mengyao and Liu Qian each ordered a cocktail, while Xu Ye stood by the counter, chatting and laughing with Zhang Xiaonuan and Zhou Ying.
Seeing that Xu Ye had no intention of coming over to talk to her, Gu Mengyao felt deeply frustrated. Liu Qian noticed this and bluntly asked, “Xu Ye, which city are you planning to attend university in? The provincial capital or somewhere else?”
Liu Qian was someone Xu Ye knew well.
She was Gu Mengyao’s self-appointed strategist, convinced she understood men, but in reality, she knew nothing.
After three years of university, she seemed to have taken a cashier job at a supermarket in Jiangzhou City. Before twenty-five, she wouldn’t consider any man; if a man liked her, her high standards would scare him away. After twenty-five, she panicked, wearing heavy makeup every day—but by then, no one was interested in her anymore.
From what Xu Ye remembered, she still hadn’t married even close to turning thirty.
Before, to please Gu Mengyao, Xu Ye didn’t dare offend Liu Qian.
Now—
“That’s none of your business.”
Xu Ye’s emotionless reply left Liu Qian stunned.
Only then did she realize Gu Mengyao had been telling the truth all along—this Xu Ye was no longer the same person he had been before.
“How can you talk like that? We’re… after all… classmates.”
Liu Qian’s voice wavered, lacking confidence.
Xu Ye sneered coldly, unwilling to respond.
Gu Mengyao finally couldn’t hold back any longer. She turned and asked, “Xu Ye, you told me before that you wanted to go to university in the same city as me. Did you forget?”
“Forgot.”
“Why are you doing this? Is there some kind of misunderstanding between us?”
Looking at Gu Mengyao’s pitiful expression, Xu Ye felt no sympathy—only annoyance.
He thought this matter needed to be settled once and for all.
So he said bluntly, “There’s no misunderstanding. I already have a girlfriend. Please stay away from me from now on—I’m afraid she’ll misunderstand.”
“A… already have a girlfriend?” Gu Mengyao repeated blankly.
Liu Qian immediately said, “Xu Ye, who are you trying to fool? We just finished the college entrance exam. When would you have had time to find a girlfriend?”
Gu Mengyao said, “I don’t believe it!”
“Then don’t believe it.”
“Xu Ye, you’re such a jerk.”
Liu Qian stood up immediately, defending Gu Mengyao. “Mengyao, let’s go. Don’t bother with him anymore. He’s crazy. So what if he got into a first-tier university? There’s nothing to brag about…”
“Wait!”
Xu Ye called out sharply, stopping them both in their tracks.
He pointed at the two cocktails on the table and said, “You haven’t paid for these yet.”
Hearing this, Gu Mengyao and Liu Qian’s expressions changed—one was disbelief, the other panic.
With reddened eyes, Gu Mengyao stepped forward to pay the bill. After settling it, she turned to Xu Ye and said, “Xu Ye, don’t regret this.”
“Don’t worry. I never will.”