Hu Yifan followed Jiang Sui, watching the young man sitting at the barbecue stall, guzzling bottle after bottle of his own wine.
His eyes were icy; he'd simply found a place to drink without eating a single bite.
"Brother Sui, drink less..."
Hu Yifan tried to take the bottle from him, but the young man gave him a cold, icy look. Hu Yifan had no choice but to open one for himself.
He slammed the bottle against Jiang Sui's.
"Okay, Brother Sui, if you want a drink, I'll keep you company!"
He knew he was feeling torn. Words were on the tip of his tongue, even wanting to say that the woman she'd already been involved with Li Xu wasn't worth it. But looking at the young man's cold face, he couldn't bring himself to say it.
Su Qing's birthday was in the twelfth lunar month, and even though it was still early, Jiang Sui was already planning a surprise for the girl.
How could he bring himself to say it? The person he cherished like the apple of his eye had fallen out with his family. Hu Yifan, choked by a sullen resentment, remained silent as the two of them drank.
The liquid he swallowed, carried by the whistling wind at the door, went down his throat, leaving a chill and discomfort.
Hu Yifan couldn't hold his liquor as well as Jiang Sui, so he was already tipsy before halfway through. His eyes drooped as he pointed at the young man's lit phone screen on the table. He staggered up and spoke to Jiang Sui, who was drinking alone.
"Brother Sui, look! It's my brother wife-in-law texting you."
Hu Yifan's eyes flickered with surprise as he spoke, his tone urgent.
Jiang Sui lowered his head and saw his own lit screen, with the note: [My Qing].
"Brother Sui, that's what I'm saying. Girls just like to have tempers. It'll be fine after a while. There's no need to be so upset."
Hu Yifan was a little tipsy, but that didn't stop him from noticing a moment of relief from Jiang Sui's suppressed expression. Even the corners of his lips curled up, and his eyes, no longer as cold as before, warmed up as he picked up the phone.
It was only for a moment.
Jiang Sui's expression suddenly changed, his dark pupils darkening into a deep, dark glow.
"What's up, Brother Sui? Does brother wife-in-law want to reconcile with you?"
Hu Yifan's eyes were wandering, and his words were a little unclear. The bottle he had picked up blocked his view, preventing him from seeing Jiang Sui's expression.
He felt a bit chilly and couldn't help but wrap himself up, figuring that since they'd reconciled, he could go home. Hu Yifan put down the bottle, but when he looked up, he hadn't mentioned going home yet.
Only the boy's dry, cold voice could be heard.
"Boss, another case."
Hu Yifan was a bit shocked. He looked at Jiang Sui with a dull, puzzled look. The boy's face was dark enough to drip with water, his lips pressed into a sharp line.
The phone in his hand was bent, the body of it.
As if venting his anger.
Hu Yifan had a thousand questions in his mind, all of which were now resolved. It seemed they hadn't reconciled, and he was visibly even angrier, even the veins on his forehead bulging.
He did as she wished.
She thanked him back.
It was so ironic. Jiang Sui's eyes shone bloodshot as he sipped his wine with self-abuse.
The end result was that neither of them showed up for Monday's midterm exam.
Hu Yifan and Jiang Sui were completely absent from campus on their first day. Everyone seemed accustomed to this, and no one paid any attention.
Absenteeism was commonplace for them.
Even skipping exams was no different.
This exam was different from others. The exam rooms were assigned based on the previous semester's final exam scores. Since Su Qing had no scores from the previous semester, she was assigned to the last exam room.
She was clearly unaware of Hu Yifan and Jiang Sui's absences, as they had transferred to the same school half a semester before her and were also assigned exam rooms based on their grades.
She immersed herself in her own exam. It wasn't until she finished her first exam and ran into Liu Ranran in the cafeteria, where she was having lunch with her, that she met her.
Liu Ranran frowned, and upon seeing Su Qing, she told her, "Qing Qing, Jiang Sui and Hu Yifan didn't take the exam again!"
Su Qing listened absentmindedly, her fingers twirling in her school uniform pockets, her lips pursed, but she said nothing.
It was just that for three consecutive days of exams, those two hadn't shown up.
After the exams, everyone returned to their eager studies. Liu Ranran had gone to her off-campus cram school. Su Qing's deskmate, Zhang Yihan, was also away, having already reported to Peking University.
So, in campus, Su Qing became alone.
She occasionally found herself dazed during class, glancing at her water cup, which was no longer full. She no longer had to worry about her phone vibrating during class.
For a week, Su Qing hadn't seen Hu Yifan or Jiang Sui; they weren't even in the school basketball team.
However, during this week, Su Qing had vaguely sensed who had been following her.
Despite her caution, Su Qing still noticed.
That person was none other than Tian Shasha. After much deliberation that day, she continued to research the locations of several subsequent public phone booths, all of which were particularly close to Tian Shasha's home.
Su Qing hadn't initially suspected anything, but she'd said so many inexplicable things to her.
Ever since the English competition, she'd been intentionally or unintentionally trying to distance herself from Jiang Sui.
She'd even called her the night before the exam, praising her for her excellent performance, clearly aware of her distance from Jiang Sui. But then Tian Shasha made an even more outrageous request: that she skip two reading comprehension questions in the English exam, or get them wrong.
Su Qing feigned agreement.
The other party was delighted and said, as long as she listened to her, she promised not to send the photos.
But Su Qing couldn't hold it anymore.
She had gathered all the evidence and information, including the recording of Tian Shasha's phone call, the photos, and the timeline, and sorted them out one by one.
It was time to strike back.
On Saturday, Su Qing grabbed her phone and left early.
Liu Ranran had given her Tian Shasha's address, and she caught the bus early to her home.
It turned out to be a dilapidated construction site. Su Qing double-checked the address Liu Ranran had texted her from. It was indeed this residential complex, but it turned out to be an abandoned, unfinished construction site.
Outside the construction site's gatehouse, hiding behind a tree, Su Qing saw Tian Shasha, her head bent over her homework, looking incredibly serious.
Su Qing frowned, her face expressionless for a moment. She lowered her head, leaning against a tree branch, and called Tian Shasha.
The girl at her desk visibly picked up a battered cell phone.