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Chapter 5 — Song Qiao, am I not enough for you?

Song Qiao immediately recognized the voice. She didn’t want Xie Yanli to see her in such a humiliating state. Hastily wiping her tears with the back of her hand and sniffling, she quickly stood up.

Turning to face Xie Yanli, she snapped irritably,
“Xie Yanli, what nonsense are you spouting? Cheating? Chen Yang is not that kind of person. We didn’t argue because of that.”

Xie Yanli slightly lifted his eyelids, a dark and unreadable emotion swirling in his eyes. After a moment of silence, he replied coolly,
“If you want to keep pretending to be clueless, suit yourself.”

He wore an expression that clearly implied she was hopelessly love-blind. Song Qiao’s brows furrowed in displeasure.

“What do you mean by that, Xie Yanli? Why would you say Chen Yang will cheat on me in the future? Do you just not want to see me happy? We broke up years ago — why can’t you let go of the past? Besides, back then it was obviously you who—”

“Well, isn’t this Qiaoqiao? Long time no see. You’ve gotten prettier and prettier. Yanli, no wonder I couldn’t find you; so this is where you were.”

Before Song Qiao could finish, Shen Huaichuan stumbled over with a flushed face, clearly drunk. He instinctively threw an arm over Xie Yanli’s shoulder, grinning broadly at Song Qiao.

Xie Yanli, who had a cleanliness obsession, frowned and brusquely knocked Shen Huaichuan’s hand off.

Shen Huaichuan chuckled indifferently,
“Sorry, Yanli, I forgot you’re a neat freak. I drank too much.”

Shen Huaichuan was Xie Yanli’s good friend and an upperclassman of Song Qiao’s. After her breakup with Xie Yanli, she had never contacted Shen Huaichuan again.

“Senior, long time no see,” Song Qiao greeted politely with a slight smile.

Shen Huaichuan looked her over and smiled even more warmly,
“Qiaoqiao, today’s our class reunion. Back when you and Yanli were together, we helped pass quite a few love letters for you. Why don’t you come upstairs with us and catch up with everyone?”

As Shen Huaichuan brought up the past, Song Qiao blushed, recalling how persistently she had once chased after Xie Yanli. There was no way she wanted to go up there and be teased about it.

Smiling, she declined,
“Senior, I still have something to do, so I won’t go up with you. Please say hello to everyone for me. I’ll be heading off now. Bye.”

Without waiting for a response, she quickly walked away — but before she had gone far, Shen Huaichuan blocked her path.

“Song Qiao, are you disrespecting me? Back when you were chasing Yanli, I helped you plenty. You can’t just dump him and ignore the rest of us. You shouldn’t be ungrateful.”

Ungrateful? Song Qiao frowned. That’s a bit much, isn’t it?

“Besides, Yanli is the most sought-after man in all of Jing City. Most people wouldn’t even dream of getting with him, yet you just don’t know how good you had it. Honestly, you’re heartless. Back then, Yanli—”

“Shen Huaichuan, you’re drunk.”

Before Shen Huaichuan could finish, Xie Yanli cut him off coldly. Realizing he had overstepped, Shen Huaichuan quickly changed the subject and commanded Song Qiao,
“Qiaoqiao, anyway, no matter what, you’re coming up with me today.”

As he spoke, he grabbed her arm tightly. Song Qiao turned to Xie Yanli, silently pleading for help, but he simply averted his gaze, clearly not intending to intervene.

Knowing she couldn’t escape, Song Qiao reluctantly compromised,
“Senior, you’re hurting my arm. Let go, I’ll go up with you, alright?”

Only then did Shen Huaichuan release her, grinning as he patted his chest,
“That’s more like it, Qiaoqiao. You’re giving me face.”

It was then that he noticed the things Song Qiao was carrying. Warmly, he offered,
“Qiaoqiao, that stuff looks heavy. Let me help you carry it.”

Dizzily, he reached for the items in her hands.

Song Qiao panicked, blurting out,
“Senior—no, no need!”

Perhaps her reaction was too intense because it piqued Shen Huaichuan’s curiosity even more. Ignoring her protests, he snatched one of the boxes and glanced at it. Under the dim evening light, he squinted and read aloud the label:
“Kidney tonic… male enhancement…”

Halfway through, he fell silent, eyes widening as he first looked at Xie Yanli, then back at Song Qiao, asking in shock,
“Qiaoqiao, who did you buy these for?”

Song Qiao’s gaze flickered nervously. She didn’t know how to explain.

While she was at a loss, she inadvertently glanced at Xie Yanli, only to see him raising an eyebrow, staring at her thoughtfully, his gaze ice-cold.

Song Qiao: “…”

At that moment, she wished she could die on the spot from embarrassment.

Still drunk, Shen Huaichuan pressed on,
“Qiaoqiao, say something.”

Just as Song Qiao was about to explain, Xie Yanli interjected coldly,
“Chen Yang can’t perform?”

His tone was full of mockery and disdain. Seeing how cutting he was, Song Qiao cleared her throat and raised her voice slightly to tell Shen Huaichuan,
“Actually… these are for Xie Yanli.”

She then shoved all the items into Xie Yanli’s hands.

Shen Huaichuan’s gaze flicked between the two of them a few times before he suddenly smiled meaningfully,
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”

He waved Song Qiao over,
“Qiaoqiao, come on.”

He staggered ahead to lead the way.

Song Qiao knew Shen Huaichuan had misunderstood and thought the stuff was for Xie Yanli. But considering how much Xie Yanli had just annoyed her, he deserved it.

Xie Yanli glanced at the nutritional supplements in his hands, then fixed his eyes coldly on Song Qiao,
“Song Qiao, are you saying I’m not capable in that area?”

She hadn’t expected him to be so blunt. Her face turned bright red.

Looking away, she stammered,
“I… I don’t know whether you’re capable or not — nothing ever happened between us. Take it if you want it, toss it if you don’t, up to you.”

With that, she quickly trotted after Shen Huaichuan.

Xie Yanli glanced at the items again, his gaze darkening even more.

By the time they reached the private room, Song Qiao wasn’t mentally prepared before Shen Huaichuan dragged her inside.

“Everyone, look who’s here!”

Song Qiao stepped in, looking around nervously, barely daring to breathe.

All eyes instantly turned to her, and within a minute, everyone had surrounded her.

The people in the room were all seniors and classmates who had witnessed her chasing Xie Yanli back in the day. Song Qiao forced a smile as she greeted them awkwardly.

“Well, Qiaoqiao, long time no see — you’ve blossomed into such a beauty.”

“I heard you were the one who broke up with Yanli? After all that effort chasing him, why break up after just six months?”

“Yeah, Qiaoqiao, I remember helping you deliver tons of love letters to the crown prince back then. Why did you call it quits so quickly?”

Song Qiao smiled stiffly, not saying a word.

These people weren’t easy to brush off. Dissatisfied with her silence, they kept pressing her for answers.

Just as she was about to explain the reason for their breakup, Shen Huaichuan blurted out drunkenly,
“Everyone, stop giving Qiaoqiao a hard time. It was Yanli’s problem. It’s embarrassing for a girl to talk about it.”

The room instantly fell silent.

Yanli’s problem? Embarrassing?

By all measures — family background, education, looks, physique — Xie Yanli was exceptional. What problem could he possibly have?

Everyone here was an adult, sensitive to such implications. They quickly exchanged glances and began gossiping in hushed tones,
“Qiaoqiao, are you saying the crown prince is… not capable in that way?”

Though Song Qiao was already 26, she had no experience with such matters. Being asked this kind of question in public made her want to vanish into a hole.

Seeing her stay silent, the crowd assumed she was tacitly admitting it. They sighed in succession:
“Unbelievable… such a perfect man has that kind of flaw?”

“No matter how perfect he is, if he’s useless in that department, he’s all show and no substance.”

“What a pity. With a physique like his, I used to envy Qiaoqiao’s good fortune.”

Song Qiao hadn’t expected things to snowball like this. Although she and Xie Yanli didn’t get along, she didn’t want everyone to wrongly accuse him — after all, that kind of thing is a big deal for a man.

Just as she was about to explain, she felt a scorching gaze on her. She abruptly looked up to see Xie Yanli standing tall not far away, staring at her as if no one else were around.

The moment the crowd saw him, the entire room fell instantly silent. Song Qiao met his eyes and saw that rage was practically pouring off him. Clearly, he had heard everything they just said.

He heard it? He heard it!
Song Qiao bit her lip. Although she hadn’t been the one to say it, she still guiltily lowered her head.

Xie Yanli walked up to her and asked in a voice only the two of them could hear:
“Song Qiao, am I not enough for you?”

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