Wu Xinhai — the same person who had hosted the party for Li Li last time.

He was one of the childhood companions from their residential compound, though he stood out for being especially rebellious. As a child: skipping class, early relationships, repeating grades. As an adult: street racing, sports gambling, playing the field. In short, the textbook troublemaker — shunned by every parent in the complex who feared their children might pick up his habits.

For all his faults, he was genuinely good to his friends, which was why Li Li still kept in occasional contact.

Lu Yuwen rose slightly and extended his right hand. “Hello, Mr. Wu.”

Wu Xinhai shook it warmly. “Hello, hello! And you are…?”

“My surname is Lu — Lu Yuwen.” He smiled and glanced at Su Man. “I’m Manman’s friend.”

Wu Xinhai narrowed his eyes like a man who could read a room, and let his gaze flick briefly to Su Man. Seeing that Su Man’s expression was perfectly natural, with no sign of discomfort, he concluded the two had a fairly good relationship, and promptly smiled: “A pleasure! I didn’t expect to run into you two here. Well — I won’t disturb you. Let’s all get together sometime~”

Lu Yuwen responded graciously, “Of course. We’ll have a meal together sometime.”

Wu Xinhai smiled, said his goodbyes, and led the woman beside him to their own table.

It wasn’t far — two tables away, separated by a decorative crystal wave sculpture.

The moment Wu Xinhai sat down, he pulled out his phone and made a call.

The woman beside him pouted in dissatisfaction. “What are you doing — we haven’t even ordered yet. Who are you calling?”

“A buddy.” Wu Xinhai kept his eyes on the screen, scrolling through his contacts. “Something big is happening. The tomboy is actually out on a date. Chances are my buddy has no idea — I’ve gotta let him know.”

“The tomboy?” The woman twisted around curiously to look at Su Man. “She doesn’t look like one to me.”

Wu Xinhai rolled his eyes at her. “I’m talking about her fists! Not her face!”

“Oh…” The woman pursed her lips. “It’s not like it affects you whether she dates or not. Why are you making such a fuss?”

“She’s my buddy’s little childhood sweetheart — you understand?” Wu Xinhai snorted, then frowned. “Why isn’t Li Li picking up his phone…”

The woman, hearing this, let her eyes dart around quickly, and pulled out her own phone, opened the camera, and carefully angled for a shot.

Wu Xinhai looked baffled. “Hey — what are you taking pictures of?”

The woman said with a gleeful smile, “High-ranking family’s daughter two-timing with a pretty boy — photo evidence, I need to save the receipts~”

Wu Xinhai’s expression shifted at once. He lowered his voice sharply. “Do you know who her family is? If you antagonize her people, that little livestream of yours will get shut down in the blink of an eye — believe that?”

The woman was frightened, and quickly put her phone away. “I didn’t know, obviously. Fine, I’ll delete it…”

She pulled up her photo album with a pout and was about to press delete when Wu Xinhai suddenly grabbed her arm. “…Wait.”

The woman looked at him, puzzled. “What now?”

Wu Xinhai’s expression was conflicted. After two seconds, as if making a decision he couldn’t take back, he said to the woman: “Send me that photo just now.”

“Oh…”

A photo of a man and woman dining together was sent over, landing in Wu Xinhai’s phone with a small chime.

He forwarded it directly to Li Li, with the message:

【Hey buddy, take a look at who this is?】

……

Li Li was lying in bed scrolling through his phone.

When Wu Xinhai had called earlier, he’d actually seen it — he just hadn’t felt like answering.

Every time Wu Xinhai reached out it was about gatherings and parties. Playing along once in a while was fine, but too often and it started to feel draining. And if his mother found out Wu Xinhai had been calling him, she’d start lecturing him again.

Now another message had arrived from the same person. He was about to ignore it entirely, but something about the thumbnail image caught his eye. He tapped it open —

Hm?