Meanwhile, Su Hao’an had already opened the rear door of the car.
Noticing Wei Yifan and Sang Yan standing motionless, he urged, “What are you two still standing there for? If you have anything to say, get in the car first.”
Wei Yifan withdrew her gaze: “Coming.”
Xiang Lang’s car only had five seats, and now only two seats in the back were left.
Wei Yifan walked to the door on her side and reached out to open it.
Before she could sit down, Sang Yan had already beaten her to it, raising his hand to rest against the car window. He paused his movement, lowered his eyes to glance at her, and said with a raised eyebrow: “Thanks.”
“…”
As if she were just a tool specifically for opening car doors.
Wei Yifan watched him sit in the middle of the back seat, with Su Hao’an on the other side. Zhong Siqiao was sitting in the front passenger seat and was now looking back at her: “Fanfan, hurry up and get in.”
She responded with an “okay” and got into the car.
As soon as she closed the car door, Su Hao’an immediately started gossiping with a mischievous grin: “What were you two talking about over there? Can you let me in on it too?”
Wei Yifan glanced at Sang Yan’s face and honestly said: “He told me not to brag everywhere.”
Zhong Siqiao chimed in: “Not to brag about what?”
Wei Yifan: “About living together with him.”
“…”
The enclosed space of the car made the atmosphere seem to stagnate.
After several seconds, the silence was broken by a curse from Su Hao’an.
“Fuck.”
“Bro, I know you’re shameless, but you can’t be this shameless, can you?” Su Hao’an said, “Wei Yifan, you don’t need to pay attention to him. He’s just got a foul mouth, just like in high school. Normal people mellow out as they get older, but that’s impossible for him. He’ll only get worse—”
Sang Yan turned his head and suddenly said: “You seem to be in a good mood today.”
Hearing this, Su Hao’an immediately fell silent.
Zhong Siqiao chuckled: “Sang Yan is still as humorous as ever.”
Xiang Lang turned the steering wheel and added softly: “Yifan only told the two of us, you don’t need to worry.”
Sang Yan slightly raised his eyelids but didn’t respond.
Wei Yifan glanced in Sang Yan’s direction.
She never felt much when hearing these words from Sang Yan.
At most, she just felt speechless.
The first reaction in her mind was always.
Wow.
So her words could be misinterpreted in this way.
Or.
Impressive.
He could say such things with a straight face.
So when Wei Yifan just repeated it earlier, she didn’t have much emotion and didn’t think too much about it. She was too lazy to make up stories and thought that since he could say it out loud, he probably wouldn’t mind others knowing.
She might as well just tell the truth.
But now, she inexplicably felt a sense of guilt, as if she were tattling.
“By the way, Wei Yifan,” Su Hao’an said, “Speaking of this, I still need to apologize to you. I thought before that the contract for this house was signed separately by each tenant, and I didn’t understand the process of shared renting. I thought once I’d agreed with the original tenant, I could just move in.”
Wei Yifan turned her head to look at him.
Sang Yan sat between them, treating them like air, completely uninvolved in the conversation.
Su Hao’an: “So when Sang Yan asked me to find a place, I just gave him the key. I heard from what’s-her-name that it scared you. I’m sorry about that. I’ll treat everyone to this meal as an apology.”
Wei Yifan instinctively asked: “What’s her name?”
Su Hao’an was silent for a moment: “Wang Linlin.”
His reaction suggested he had a falling out with Wang Linlin. For Wei Yifan, this matter was already water under the bridge. She didn’t hold a grudge and didn’t intend to interfere in others’ affairs: “It’s fine, this matter was resolved quite well. Just be more careful with these things in the future.”
Zhong Siqiao turned her head: “Oh, you mentioned before that your roommate is your colleague, named Wang Linlin, right?”
Wei Yifan: “Yes.”
Xiang Lang: “Then Su Hao’an, how do you know Wang Linlin?”
“…” Su Hao’an said, “My ex-girlfriend.”
Zhong Siqiao was surprised: “What a coincidence?”
Wei Yifan was also a bit shocked, because of the word “ex”.
Xiang Lang laughed: “Then when you gave the key to Sang Yan, did you know the other roommate was Yifan?”
Su Hao’an sighed, pretending to be dramatic: “How could I have known that?”
“I see. But I didn’t expect Sang Yan would be willing to share a place with someone,” Xiang Lang looked back through the rearview mirror, hinting, “I heard you’ve opened a bar now, it’s quite profitable, right?”
As one of the owners, Su Hao’an was about to say a modest yet boastful “It’s alright”.
But before he could speak, this time Sang Yan seemed to have grown ears and a mouth, his tone still sarcastic.
“Not really.”
“…”
–
The group arrived at a recently popular hotpot restaurant.
Xiang Lang had made a reservation in advance, but he didn’t know they would meet Su Hao’an and Sang Yan, so the restaurant had arranged a four-person table for them. There was a long bench on each side of the table, spacious for one person but a bit cramped for two.
However, there were no other seats available in the restaurant, so they had to make do and squeeze in.
The two girls were small in stature, so they sat on one side. The other three men each sat on one side.
Wei Yifan had Xiang Lang on her other side, with Sang Yan sitting across from her.
Xiang Lang rolled up his sleeves, chatting with Su Hao’an while thoughtfully pouring tea for everyone.
Wei Yifan picked up her cup and took a small sip. Seeing this, Zhong Siqiao patted her arm and said amusingly: “Leave it, it’s not for drinking. Wait, I’ll rinse your bowl and chopsticks for you.”
Coincidentally, Xiang Lang had already rinsed his bowl and chopsticks with tea. He habitually pushed them in front of Wei Yifan, exchanging them for her set of utensils, casually saying: “We’re the same. I’ve been abroad for so long, I’m not used to this custom anymore.”
A very natural gesture.
Sang Yan stared for two seconds, then quickly averted his gaze.
Noticing Xiang Lang’s actions, Su Hao’an said bluntly: “You’re acting like you’re taking care of your girlfriend.”
“It’s pretty much like that, we both have this habit,” Zhong Siqiao said naturally. “Wei Yifan used to burn herself often, so we both get nervous whenever we see her handling hot water. After that, either I help her or Xiang Lang helps her.”
Su Hao’an had a sudden realization: “Oh, I almost forgot. The three of you grew up together, right?”
Wei Yifan: “We’ve been in the same class since kindergarten.”
“Oh, I suddenly remembered something,” Zhong Siqiao started laughing before she even began speaking, “Wei Yifan had a nickname in elementary school called Wei Diandian.”
“Huh?” Su Hao’an asked, “Why?”
“Because on the first day of first grade, the teacher asked us to write our names in our notebooks,” Xiang Lang also laughed. “But Yifan learned things slowly, she could only write her surname at the time, and could only think of the two dots in her given name.”
“So for the first part of the school year, every time she wrote her name,” Zhong Siqiao made a gesture, “she wrote Wei · ·.”
“…” Wei Yifan felt a bit embarrassed and lowered her head to drink some water.
Su Hao’an was stunned for a moment, then laughed for a long time. When he laughed, he always had a habit of slapping people, and this time the victim was once again Sang Yan sitting next to him: “Damn, that’s hilarious.”
Sang Yan looked very displeased and said coldly: “Are you sick?”
“Why are you in such a bad mood,” Su Hao’an withdrew his hand sheepishly and sighed, “I’m quite envious of you guys. The person I’ve known the longest is this dog, Sang Yan. But with his personality, you know, it’s quite painful for me.”
Hearing the word “painful”, Wei Yifan found it amusing, and the corners of her lips curled up slightly.
This situation oddly reminded her of their first meeting.
Wei Yifan raised her eyes.
They happened to meet Sang Yan’s cool gaze.
“…”
Wei Yifan blinked, calmly lowered her head, and restrained herself a bit.
…
The rest of the meal proceeded exceptionally harmoniously.
With Su Hao’an present, there was never a dull moment. He did most of the talking throughout and also consumed most of the food. He managed to do both simultaneously without any hindrance.
Wei Yifan only ate symbolically.
She rarely ate dinner.
Initially, it was because she had a small appetite and basically couldn’t feel hunger, so when she got busy, she simply forgot to eat. On rest days at home, she was too lazy to cook, so she eventually just stopped eating dinner altogether.
But when she was out for interviews, she would keep her bag stocked with energy bars to replenish her strength.
After the meal, the group drove to Decadence Street, heading to that bar that looked like a hair salon. The familiar black signboard stood out with a unique aura amidst the colorful surroundings.
Entering the bar.
Heavy metal music was playing inside, hitting them like a wave of heat as soon as they entered.
Sang Yan walked towards the bar counter, seemingly intending to part ways with them from here, only tossing out a sentence.
“You take them upstairs.”
But he hadn’t walked a few steps before Su Hao’an grabbed him: “Hey, where are you going? Old classmates meeting up, let’s chat for a while. Besides, with that sour face of yours at the bar counter, how are we supposed to get any business?”
“…”
Su Hao’an led them to a booth in the middle of the second floor.
The sofa was arranged in a “U” shape. The seating arrangement was similar to when they were eating, with the two girls sitting in the middle, Sang Yan and Su Hao’an sitting on the left side, and Xiang Lang on the other side.
But now Sang Yan was sitting next to her, with Zhong Siqiao next to Xiang Lang.
As soon as he sat down, Sang Yan leaned back in his chair. He looked boneless, with poor posture. He was wearing a high-necked windbreaker jacket that slightly covered his jaw, looking extremely bored and tired.
Wei Yifan took out her phone, mentally calculating the time to go home.
At this moment, Zhong Siqiao leaned to her ear and whispered: “Sister, living with Sang Yan, won’t you have a miserable time?”
She paused: “Why do you ask that?”
“Throughout the entire meal, I didn’t see him smile once. It’s like someone owes him eight million yuan.” As they entered the bar, Zhong Siqiao continued, “What’s wrong with him? Did something bad happen?”
Wei Yifan quickly glanced at Sang Yan’s expression: “Isn’t this pretty normal?”
Zhong Siqiao: “…”
Su Hao’an had the waiter bring up drinks, along with five dice cups and a deck of Truth or Dare cards. He opened a can of beer, took a sip, and said: “Let’s play Liar’s Dice. Whoever loses drinks or gets punished with Truth or Dare, how about that?”
“Sounds good.” Saying this, Xiang Lang looked at the two girls, “But do you know how to play?”
“Of course we do.” Zhong Siqiao laughed mockingly, “Who do you think you’re looking down on?”
Wei Yifan honestly said: “I don’t know how to play.”
Su Hao’an: “Then let’s try a few rounds first, and we’ll start with punishments once everyone gets the hang of it, okay?”
After saying this, he noticed the seating arrangement and immediately said sympathetically: “Wei Yifan, you’d better be careful. This dog Sang Yan is very good at this game. He always calls numbers so precisely that no one dares to challenge him. So the person after him always gets called out badly.”
The rules of this game were that after each person shook their dice, they would look at the dice in their cup. Following a clockwise order, they would call out numbers, choosing either the number of dice or the face value, always increasing from the previous call. The next player must call a higher number than the previous one.
The next player could challenge the previous player, and if others felt that someone’s call was too outrageous, they could also choose to skip and challenge. But if they lost after skipping, they would face double punishment.
Five people were playing, so Su Hao’an set the rule to start calling from seven dice.
Wei Yifan played several rounds before gradually understanding the game. But she played poorly, and when the official rounds started, because of Su Hao’an’s words, she was extra cautious, always just adding one to the number Sang Yan, who was before her, had called.
First round.
Su Hao’an called 14 sixes.
Sang Yan opened his dice cup in front of him, raised his chin at Su Hao’an, and said lazily: “Challenge.”
“…”
Su Hao’an drank.
Second round.
Third round.
Fourth round.
Seven or eight rounds passed like this.
Wei Yifan was amazed to find that by following Sang Yan’s calls, she hadn’t lost a single round. On the contrary, Su Hao’an, sitting before Sang Yan, had been challenged by him several times and had to drink several glasses of alcohol.
In the ninth round, Wei Yifan was challenged by Zhong Siqiao. She hesitated for a moment and chose a dare.
Zhong Siqiao drew a dare card for her.
— Say one good quality about each person of the opposite sex present.
“…”
Wei Yifan raised her eyes and first spoke about Xiang Lang: “Attentive.”
Then about Su Hao’an: “Enthusiastic.”
Finally, about Sang Yan.
She stared at his face, needing to say a compliment that wouldn’t make him self-absorbed. After struggling for quite a while, she finally managed: “…Wealthy.”
“…”
Sang Yan stared at her, the corner of his lips twitching slightly as if he had sneered.
Tenth round.
Xiang Lang lost and chose the truth.
— Mention something you regret.
“That should be—” Xiang Lang pondered for a moment, then sighed softly, “Going abroad for university, I guess. Otherwise, I was originally supposed to apply to Yihe University with Yifan. We had planned to study Clinical Medicine there.”
“…”
Wei Yifan was about to say something.
At this moment.
Sang Yan had already shaken his dice cup and said flatly: “Let’s continue.”
The words got stuck in Wei Yifan’s throat, and she turned to look at him.
His profile looked somewhat cold in the dim light, his head slightly bowed, his body somewhat hunched. His face was half in light and half in shadow, with black messy hair falling over his forehead, making his expression unclear.
Wei Yifan lowered her eyes and took a sip of her drink.
Fifteenth round.
The numbers kept going up, and by the time it was Su Hao’an’s turn, it had reached 15 fives.
Sang Yan didn’t challenge.
Wei Yifan felt a bit nervous.
After all, it would be her turn after he called.
Sang Yan stared at the dice cup, sitting in silence for a moment before lifting his gaze to Wen Yifan. His eyelids were thin, and his eyes were as dark as ink, making it hard to discern what he was thinking.
“Eighteen fives.”
Su Haoan was so excited that he jumped to his feet and slammed his hand on the table. “Open!”
“…”
“You’ve got to be kidding! Have you lost your mind from drinking? Eighteen? Only an idiot would roll that!”
With the wild card included, there were seventeen fives on the table, just one less than Sang Yan had called.
Double punishment.
Sang Yan chose the truth and agreed to take a drink.
Su Haoan eagerly drew a card for him.
—The city he had flown to recently.
“…”
Su Haoan frowned, frustrated enough to want to tear the card in half. “Damn it! You hardly ever lose; what kind of ridiculous question is this?”
Sang Yan poured himself a glass of wine and downed it in one go. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he paused for several seconds, seemingly lost in thought. Then, in a flat tone, he spoke two words.
“Yi He.”