Her reaction scared Yin Ruge and she immediately handed An Xiaxia her phone from out of her bag.
An Xiaxia dialed An Yibei’s number, then in a trembling voice, she told him about the portrait.
An Yibei didn’t speak for a moment. He than snapped, “You’re coming back this moment! I’ll book you a ticket!”
“Brother, you’re being unreasonable! Do you know something?” An Xiaxia felt her heart sink lower and lower.
An Yibei cut her off impatiently. “International phone calls are expensive. That’s it.”
He hung up after that. An Xiaxia was desperate with anxiety, but there was nothing she could do.
Yin Ruge patted her on the back. “Fought with your brother again?”
“It’s not that… He told me to go back,” An Xiaxia grumbled.
“Uh huh. He told me that you broke up with your boyfriend…” Yin Ruge grinned. “Don’t let it get to you. I’ll take you shopping in the duty free shops! You’ll then go back home happier than ever! Let that scumbag rot!”
An Xiaxia bit her lip and said earnestly, “He’s not a scumbag, but a bright, excellent young man.”
“Huh?” That wiped the grin off Yin Ruge’s face. She then forced a smile and said, “Alright… Oh, you know what, I just took a photo of you and my young cousin. I sent it to you on Wechat!”
An Xiaxia’s mind was elsewhere and didn’t hear the last part of Yin Ruge’s words at all.
Yu City, a karaoke house.
Chi Yuanfeng darted an anxious look at Sheng Yize. The latter looked perfectly normal and was playing cards with some friends. It was an award-winning performance and he had been winning the whole night.
“Brother Jiayu… Don’t you think Brother Yize looks too normal? Didn’t he say that… he and Xiaxia broke up?” Chi Yuanfeng nudged He Jiayu.
He Jiayu gave Sheng Yize a brooding look. “The more normal he looks, the more abnormal he is.”
Even he couldn’t see through a Sheng Yize who was like this.
Did he care too much or was he pretending he didn’t care at all?
A boy with a cigarette dangling at the corner of his mouth asked in a cocky tone, “Hey, Brother Ze, I heard from someone in your school that you have a lovely girlfriend. Why didn’t you bring her with you today?”
Sheng Yize ran his slender fingers across the cards in his hand and tossed two on the table when it was his turn. He said indifferently, “We broke up.”
Whoosh —
A hush fell over the room.
The cigarette fell out of the boy’s mouth as he stared at Sheng Yize, bemused.
Had he said the wrong thing? Could Sheng Yize be this nice if he had just broken up with his girlfriend?
“Brother… My bad. I’ll drink three.” Before anyone could say anything, the boy had downed three shots. This way, even if he got punched later, it wouldn’t feel as painful with the numbing effect of alcohol. Awww!
Sheng Yize only said casually, “It’s just a woman.”
Although he said it himself, no one dared chime in. Everyone tried their best to put on a smile, in case something they did set him off.
“Three twos and a pair of jokers! You’re all done for!” Sheng Yize smacked his cards on the table and the others sulked. “Sigh. Brother Ze, you’re on fire tonight. You won again!”
Sheng Yize grinned and leaned back against the sofa. The room was lit by a hundred different colorful lights, but sitting there, he looked almost otherworldly. There was something ethereal about him that made him seem unreal.
After another few rounds, one of the ignorant boys teased, “I’m telling you, just do nothing when girls want to break up! Ignore them for a few days and I guarantee they’ll come back on their own! You don’t want to treat those little tarts too nicely! Or they’ll begin to think that they own you. You’ll be the one dumped instead of the other way round!”
After that, he smiled ingratiatingly at Sheng Yize. “Of course, aloof idols like Brother Ze here will always be the one dumping others, hahaha…”
Chi Yuanfeng smacked his forehead with his hand. That idiot! Did he have to bring that up now?