Chapter 17 : Spending a Night Together
Back to the bar, Xu Huanran was still grumbling, but Yao Qian seemed to notice something unusual.

He crossed his legs, lit a cigarette, and glanced at Fu Xingjian, who was sinking into the leather sofa.

“If I’m not mistaken, that girl just now was your ‘girlfriend’ from university?”

Xu Huanran was stunned, nearly spitting out his drink, and blurted out, “Which one?”

No, no, whichever one—it was a typical girl. Such a girl wasn’t worthy of even being called a girlfriend, let alone being compared to someone like Xingjian.

“Yao Qian, don’t talk nonsense! Those two were both ugly, they didn’t deserve to have their names mentioned with Xingjian’s!!!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Fu Xingjian kicked his leg. “Shut up!”

Xu Huanran was again stunned. His best buddy actually… kicked him??? He felt wronged and teary, “Xingjian, we’ve been friends since we were kids, how many years of brotherhood, and you kicked me over two ugly women? Wuwuwu, I’m going to tell Ningning!”

When Yao Qian heard that he was going to tell his sister, he frowned and scolded, “Stop making trouble. Ningning is busy with her work in the U.S. She doesn’t have time to bother with you.”

He lazily exhaled smoke and stared at Fu Xingjian, “Come on, tell me, what’s going on? It looks like you’ve met that girl before?”

Fu Xingjian nodded, “The new project from Yutou was given to her company, and she happened to be the project manager. I’ve greeted her a few times.”

“You deliberately gave the project to her?”

Fu Xingjian had been avoiding this question. He subconsciously convinced himself that he hadn’t, even though if Lin Ran wasn’t in a fragile state, he would have given the project to Zhou Xu instead.

But these past few days, every time he thought about Lin Ran’s stubborn figure in the rain, he felt uncomfortable.

He knew deep down that he had intentionally given the project to Lin Ran, and when he saw her face, he felt guilty.

He drank a large gulp of alcohol and sighed, “Yeah, I didn’t do the right thing back then. This is my way of making up for the mistakes I made.”

Yao Qian flicked the ash off his cigarette and nodded in agreement, “I understand. You were pretty ruthless back then. She was just an inexperienced little girl, and you made her suffer so much. But seeing her today, she seems to be doing well. She’s a girl full of life.”

Xu Huanran, listening to their random conversation, suddenly remembered that Lin Ran was Fu Xingjian’s ex-girlfriend from Xida. Though they called her his ex-girlfriend, it had just been a joke to him. She hadn’t really been someone important to Fu Xingjian.

Red-faced and with a low voice, she defended herself, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

No one at the scene heard her, but Fu Xingjian’s gaze landed somewhere on the dance floor, and then he suddenly grabbed her hand and walked out. “It’s fine. According to the rules, I’m yours tonight.”

Amid the envious and jealous gazes, Lin Ran was confused.

The temperature outside was very low, and as soon as they left the hall, Lin Ran felt goosebumps all over her body. Fu Xingjian saw this and immediately took off his coat and draped it over her. “Put it on, don’t catch a cold.”

“Okay, okay,” Lin Ran said and unceremoniously put on his coat.

The men’s jacket was oversized, warm, and carried a pleasant scent. Lin Ran was curious—do boys wear perfume too? She always thought only girls wore perfume. Unable to resist, she sniffed again. The fragrance was really nice, though she didn’t know what brand it was.

She didn’t dare to ask, because she knew it must be expensive. Not just the perfume, but the jacket must be pricey as well, and… the boy in front of her.

Even under the dim light by the roadside, his facial features, with their highs and lows, were still visible. This was what they called a three-dimensional bone structure, right?

What was even more extraordinary was that his features were exquisite, his aura aloof. The way he looked at her was cold and indifferent, making Lin Ran feel like the female lead of a romance novel.

Only the male lead in novels had this kind of look and temperament.

What she didn’t know was that Fu Xingjian had been waiting for news about someone.

Finally, five minutes after they left the hall, Fu Xingjian received the news he had been waiting for.

“Are you really going to spend the night with that girl? Tsk tsk tsk, the loss seems a bit too great!”