Drunk

By the time the gathering wound down, most people were drunk out of their minds, and only the few who were trying to conceive were still vaguely upright.

Hua Yu didn’t give Yu Tiantian any face. When she toasted, she only barely touched the rim of her glass to her lips, but thinking of Wei Yin still made her heart ache, so she ended up drinking a few extra glasses and got tipsy.

Xu Ya Qing was allergic to alcohol and had switched to sparkling water instead.

“Drive your car. I’m not riding back with Yu Tiantian,” Xu Ya Qing said, reaching into Hua Yu’s bag for the keys.

Seeing that Hua Yu was about to leave, a few people drunkenly reached out. “Sister Yu, let’s talk again next time. I’ll make your appointment for you, hehe...”

Hua Yu picked up her coat. A faint flush colored her face as she curved her lips slightly. “Using medical resources without being sick? I’ll blacklist you.”

The person who saw Hua Yu smile instantly went stupid.

Hua Yu left with a flourish, only showing discomfort once she got into the car.

Xu Ya Qing shifted into gear and released the brake. As she turned the wheel, she asked, “What did you and Yu Tiantian even talk about? She was so attentive for the second half of the night. Anyone who didn’t know better would’ve thought you were her client, or that she’d been bewitched by you.”

Xu Ya Qing was currently working as a concept artist at a small game company. Her family had cut off her card, and she was supporting herself in a pretty miserable way, being tormented by clients all day long.

Hua Yu pressed her fingers to her brow, turned her face away, and let out a hot breath. “Pretty much.”

Xu Ya Qing said, “What? What did you say?”

Hua Yu’s voice had been very low; Xu Ya Qing hadn’t caught it clearly, and Hua Yu didn’t repeat herself.

Finding out that Yu Tiantian had started a business wasn’t an accident. After picking Wei Yin up from the hospital, Hua Yu had gone home and asked the elders in her family to look into Yu Tiantian’s recent situation.

Hua Yu knew Yu Tiantian would definitely return to the country. She was an only daughter; her family could never agree to her settling abroad.

Everyone in their circle had one thing in common: similar family backgrounds. They couldn’t exactly be called ultra-rich, but they were all wealthy and influential enough to count. Raised on family support from childhood, they lived far beyond the standard of their peers. Good resources could produce excellent people; they could also ruin them.

Yu Tiantian had lived off her family’s support, so she couldn’t go against their decisions. Hua Yu remembered that Yu Tiantian’s dream had been to settle in the Netherlands; for someone who was practically steeped in the scent of jewelry, she had strangely romantic ideas about windmills, meadows, and stargazing.

Unfortunately, she had to come back, because she couldn’t stay there on her own. The moment her family cut off her card, she could end up at the very bottom of European society within a month.

After returning to the country, Yu Tiantian would either inherit the family business or get married and have children.

Her family ran a chain of private hospitals. If she wanted to take over, she would have to become familiar with the business and expand it, which explained the scene earlier of Yu Tiantian starting a business.

Hua Yu said, “Nothing.”

“Oh.” Xu Ya Qing wasn’t all that curious about Yu Tiantian. She changed the subject, sneaking a glance at Hua Yu before clearing her throat. “Ahem, well, I have something to ask.”

Hua Yu could guess what she wanted to ask with her knees.

Xu Ya Qing said, “What happened back then?”

Hua Yu frowned slightly and pressed a hand over her stomach. “Must you ask now?”

“Now,” Xu Ya Qing said loudly. “If you don’t tell me, I’ll drive you to Auntie’s house.”

With that, she pretended to turn the car around.

The car swayed. Hua Yu was already dizzy, and now she felt even worse.

She lifted her eyes to Xu Ya Qing. “Drive properly.”

“Then hurry up and tell me!”

Hua Yu glanced at the night outside. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the tightness in her chest. The feelings she’d buried for so many years were like a bar of soap left too long in the damp; the scent had faded, and the shape had melted into a vague, ugly mass.

By now, there was nothing left that couldn’t be shown.

Hua Yu said, “The person I like is her ex-girlfriend.”

Xu Ya Qing: !!

Her pupils practically trembled with shock.

Hua Yu had someone she liked!?

And the person she liked was Yu Tiantian’s ex-girlfriend!

One wave after another, Xu Ya Qing was first stunned that Hua Yu, that old iron tree, had quietly blossomed, then completely blown away by the words “Yu Tiantian” and “ex-girlfriend.”

No wonder Li Leran had kept pressing Hua Yu at the party, even saying things about poaching her man... wait, poaching?

Xu Ya Qing jerked her head around again in shock. “Y-you two, you guys three...”

“What nonsense are you thinking about?” Hua Yu raised an eyebrow. “Wei Yin and I are perfectly proper.”

Xu Ya Qing narrowed her eyes. “Who’s Wei Yin?”

Hua Yu also narrowed her eyes. “You didn’t drink, so why are you getting stupid too?”

Xu Ya Qing froze for three seconds. “Oh, oh, oh—the ex-girlfriend.”

Hua Yu seemed to especially enjoy hearing Xu Ya Qing stress the first word. Her mood lifted a little, and she emphasized, “Wei Yin has nothing to do with Yu Tiantian now.”

“Ah.” Xu Ya Qing opened her mouth, feeling like she’d received a completely baffling answer. What she was curious about was Hua Yu, Yu Tiantian, and Wei Yin’s love-hate entanglement back then, but Hua Yu kept emphasizing the matter between herself and Wei Yin. Xu Ya Qing’s womanly intuition flickered.

“How do you know that?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Xu Ya Qing secretly watched Hua Yu’s expression and added fuel to the fire. “They did date after all. What if the ashes rekindle and they get back together?”

A trace of faint disgust flashed across Hua Yu’s brow. “Impossible.”

Xu Ya Qing felt a little sorry for Hua Yu. Falling in love with the wrong person wasn’t the worst thing; the worst thing was that Hua Yu clearly still loved her.

Her cousin, who had never cared for romance and had grown up excellent in every way, had fallen into the pit of love and been buried there for so many years.

Look at her now, still stubbornly refusing to admit defeat, clinging to denial and dragging out her white moonlight to deceive herself. Was that self-numbing and self-entertaining...?

Meeting Xu Ya Qing’s pitying gaze, Hua Yu said speechlessly, “What exactly are you thinking in that head of yours? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Xu Ya Qing sighed. “Nothing. As long as you like her, that’s fine.”

Hua Yu was already drunk; for the second half of the drive, she kept her eyes half-closed and dozed lightly, though it was obvious she wasn’t sleeping comfortably.

Xu Ya Qing drove on in a daze after all the shock and dutifully got Hua Yu to the underground garage of her residential complex.

However, Hua Yu couldn’t stand steadily.

“You only drank two glasses!” Xu Ya Qing struggled to haul her up and brace her against her shoulder. Hua Yu was over 170 centimeters tall, and carrying her was exhausting. Xu Ya Qing didn’t dare dump her halfway, so she could only howl helplessly in frustration and complain at Hua Yu.

Who would have thought Hua Yu, while still a little conscious, would say clearly in that elegant, cool voice, “One glass of Pétrus, one glass of Cheval Blanc. Mixing wines makes you drunk.”

“Those are both fucking red wine!”

At last the elevator doors opened, and Xu Ya Qing promptly flung her against the wall, then unlocked the password lock. “Say the code.”

Hua Yu opened her mouth, frowned, and said, “I’m not telling you.”

Xu Ya Qing: ...

Right as Xu Ya Qing was about to explode in exasperation, the door slowly opened a crack.

Xu Ya Qing widened her eyes, wondering if she was drunk. Was this a voice-activated door? Had it actually opened by itself?

Then the gap widened, and a tuft of fluffy short curls peeked out, glancing toward Xu Ya Qing’s side.

A soft voice said, “Give her to me.”

Wei Yin had seen Hua Yu through the peephole and run over to open the door. After unlocking it, she remembered she didn’t know the other person, and her social-anxiety mode kicked in, so she only opened the door a crack.

In short, the whole operation was called sneaking around.

Xu Ya Qing was just about to blurt out, “There’s a thief,” when Hua Yu moved.

Leaning against the wall, she stood up and looked through the crack in the door, saying in dissatisfaction, “Put on your shoes.”

From inside came an obedient “Mm,” followed by the sound of someone running off to put on shoes. Hua Yu rested a hand on the doorknob and pulled it open.

Xu Ya Qing watched all of this with her eyes growing wider and wider. In a flash of insight, she finally understood.

The person inside put on slippers and came running back.

Xu Ya Qing took a step forward, stretched out her hand, and introduced herself with a grin. “I’m Xu Ya Qing, Hua Yu’s cousin.”

Wei Yin hesitated before extending her hand. “My name is Wei Yin.”

Xu Ya Qing: !!

Hua Yu slapped Xu Ya Qing’s hand away. She didn’t flush when she drank; the drunker she got, the paler she became. Right now her face was white as paper as she quietly stared at Xu Ya Qing. “Why are you still not leaving?”

Xu Ya Qing: ?

Then Hua Yu looped one arm around Wei Yin’s, pressed her hand to her own stomach, and, in a half-embrace, pushed Wei Yin inside before turning to shut the door.

Xu Ya Qing, left flattened outside the door: ...