Under the dim light, no expression could be seen on Xu Jialu’s face. His charming eyes looked blank as he watched the lively scene downstairs. Suddenly, a suffocating sense of loneliness welled up in his heart. He had never felt this way before.

In the past, during Christmas or other festivities, Su Lanxu would be around. Xu Jialu would bicker with her from the moment they met until the end. They bickered so much until he had no time to feel lonely at all.

Xu Jialu lowered his head and drained the wine in his glass. Then, he picked his phone up and opened WeChat. After a long time, he finally found Su Lanxu’s message box.

Xu Jialu: It’s not enough for you to have fun in the country that you have to go abroad to have fun. How frivolous.

After a moment of hesitation, Xu Jialu deleted the message he had typed out. Then, he began to type again.

Xu Jialu: What happened last time was a misunderstanding. I shouldn’t have lost my temper. You…

‘No, no, no! I’ve never apologized to anyone in my entire life! Why should I apologize to a crazy girl like her? Outrageous!’

Xu Jialu deleted the message again. He held his phone, looking frustrated. After a moment, he tossed his phone to the side and slumped on the couch. He raised his hands and massaged his temples.

After a moment, an idea appeared in his mind. He picked up his phone again and quickly typed out a short message.

Xu Jialu: Merry Christmas!

‘If she asks, I’ll just say it’s a message I forwarded to everyone in my contact list. I’m really awesome. I can even come up with such an idea.’

Xu Jialu felt rather proud of his cleverness as he tapped on the ‘send’ button. In the next moment, the smug smile on his face froze.

A notification appeared on the screen of his phone, notifying him that his message could not be sent because the other party had blocked him.

‘Su! Lan! Xu!’

…

Xu Youyou did not expect to see Qin Siyu again so soon.

Unlike the sexy woman from last night, Qin Siyu wore light makeup today, and she was dressed in a knee-length woolen coat. Her long and dark hair fluttered in the wind, attracting the attention of many boys.

Xu Youyou walked over to Qin Siyu and asked, “Beauty, why are you here at the university? What’s the matter?”

Qin Siyu was pleased when Xu Youyou called her a beauty. She smiled and said, “It’s nothing. I came to look for you.”

“Huh?”

“It’s cold outside. Let’s talk in the car,” Qin Siyu said as she turned and gestured for Xu Youyou to get into the car.

Xu Youyou’s heart moved slightly when she saw the Hummer parked at the side of the road.

‘As expected of her to drive a Hummer, she’s so cool!’

Qin Siyu opened the car door for Xu Youyou and waited for Xu Youyou to get in before she got into the driver’s seat. After that, she said without beating around the bush, “I heard you’re good at painting and drawing so I’d like you to help me paint a picture. As for the fee, you can charge me according to the market price. It doesn’t matter.”

“Huh? You want me to paint?” Xu Youyou was stunned.

Qin Siyu nodded. “Don’t try to be modest. I looked you up on the Internet. You won the Golden Brush Competition.”

Xu Youyou blushed slightly. ‘This cool person just praised me!’

“Well, since you said so, I naturally won’t refuse.”

“Alright. Shall we go?”

“Huh?”

Before Xu Youyou could react, Qin Siyu started the engine and sped away. As she turned into the main road, she said, “You don’t have anything to do in the afternoon, right?”

Xu Youyou nodded. “I don’t have anything to do in the afternoon, but…”

Qin Siyu interjected, “Ok. Let’s make a deal first. You have to accept the payment from me. If I let you paint for nothing, Chairman Mo will definitely look for me to settle the score later.”

“He won’t,” Xu Youyou said, embarrassed by Qin Siyu’s bluntness.

Qin Siyu was not only valiant, but she was very straightforward as well. She was even more straightforward than Su Lanxu. Xu Youyou thought that if Su Lanxu was here, Su Lanxu would get along very well with Qin Siyu. The duo would likely become sworn brothers or something like that.

Qin Siyu’s driving skills were not bad. She drove steadily and found various topics to speak about with Xu Youyou. She made sure the atmosphere did not turn cold or awkward.

The car finally pulled to a stop in an underground parking lot.

When Xu Youyou got out of the car and followed Qin Siyu into the elevator, she found her surroundings vaguely familiar. Shortly after the elevator started moving, she finally realized this was the mall where Fu Jianchen’s escape room and art gallery were located. Not only that, but it seemed like they were heading to the floor where they were located as well.

Ding!

When the elevator door slid open, Xu Youyou followed Qin Siyu out.

Fu Jianchen, who was leaning against the railing in the corridor and smoking, suddenly saw Xu Youyou walking out of the elevator, and he instinctively cursed under his breath, “F*ck!”

‘Am I hallucinating?’

Xu Youyou was also stunned when she saw Fu Jianchen.

‘This is too coincidental, right?’

Fu Jianchen recovered his senses quickly. When he thought that she came to look for him, he quickly threw the cigarette butt on the floor and stubbed it out with his toes.

Before Fu Jianchen’s uncontrollable joy spread, Xu Youyou and Qin Siyu had already walked past him without looking at him.

Fu Jianchen: “???”

Fu Jianchen’s expression darkened immediately.

At the same time, Xu Youyou prayed inwardly, ‘Don’t call out to me, don’t call out to me, don’t…’

“Xu Youyou!”

A man’s sinister voice rang from behind Xu Youyou.

Xu Youyou paused in her footsteps, lowered her head, and bit her lip in annoyance.

‘Can’t you pretend not to know me?’

After a moment, Xu Youyou turned around and smiled sheepishly. “What a coincidence!”

Qin Siyu’s darted between the duo, and a thoughtful expression appeared on her face.

Fu Jianchen strode over and said through gritted teeth, “You pretended not to see me earlier. You’re still going to pretend now?”

Xu Youyou quickly came up with an excuse. “I didn’t think you’d want to talk to me.”

Fu Jianchen scoffed. Clearly, he did not believe her.

“Young Master Chen, if you want to catch up with her, do it another day. I invited her to my shop for something today,” Qin Siyu said in a timely manner before she held Xu Youyou’s hand and pulled Xu Youyou away.

Qin Siyu’s shop was located not far from Fu Jianchen’s art gallery.

As soon as Xu Youyou entered the shop, she smelled a faint fragrance lingering in the air.

A young girl with a ponytail, who was arranging the goods in the shop, looked up and smiled. “Sister Siyu, you’re back!”

Qin Siyu nodded as she removed her coat and hung it on the coat rack. “Yes. I’ll be in the shop this afternoon. If there’s nothing else, you can leave early.”

The shop had just opened so business was not very good. It was enough for one person to look after the shop. With this, Qin Siyu thought she could also save a little labor cost.

“Alright,” the young girl replied. She finished up what she was doing and removed her apron before she took her bag and coat and left.

Xu Youyou looked around the shop. The decoration was simple but exquisite, and there were all kinds of bottles on the shelves. She asked, looking uncertain, “Are these perfumes?”

Qin Siyu poured a glass of water for Xu Youyou and placed it on the table. She nodded. “I made them myself so not many people buy them.”

Nowadays, most people preferred famous brands. Homemade perfumes were not very popular.

“I’m sure they smell great. It’s just that no one has discovered these treasures yet,” Xu Youyou said. She was not being perfunctory, and her words were sincere.

Qin Siyu threw a piece of plum candy into her mouth before she said, “I want you to draw me. What do you think if I hang it over there?”

Xu Youyou looked at the place that Qin Siyu pointed at and nodded. “I think it’s good. You’re so beautiful. Why don’t you frame a photo of yourself instead?”