Chapter 36

Xu Tingbai’s impression of Huang Chengxu was definitely profound.

From their very first meeting, Huang Chengxu spilled wine on him. When his friends demanded an explanation, Huang simply said his girlfriend would come to handle it.

Later, Xu Tingbai never expected that the person who came would be Lin Qingle.

He didn’t know the story between them, but seeing someone like Huang Chengxu standing by Lin Qingle’s side left him feeling unsatisfied.

However, Xu Tingbai knew exactly what kind of person Lin Qingle was. If she chose to be with someone, it must mean that person was truly good to her and that she genuinely liked him. So, after that day, afraid he might lose control and disrupt her peace or make her uncomfortable, Xu Tingbai kept his feelings firmly suppressed.

But never in his wildest imagination did he think that this man—whom he assumed would treat Lin Qingle well—would secretly be cozying up to another woman behind her back, entangled in an ambiguous embrace.

Lin Qingle, that little fool with her pure heart, couldn’t possibly know she was being two-timed!

“What are you doing? Still drinking or what?” Chen Ke glanced back and saw Xu Tingbai staring ahead with a dark expression. He tugged on him.

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Tsolhla, Dw Mkdtcyk eked’v alynv yv yzz.

“Tlu, Mkdtcyk—”

Jlqsal Ubld Il nswze qkdkpb, Dw Mkdtcyk pbssj sqq bkp byde yde pvasel qsaoyae, zlyhkdt Ubld Il zssjkdt cyqqzle.

Rv oyp yzalyeu rypv 11 r.x. Mbl cya oyp bkvvkdt kvp rlyj, okvb elyqldkdt xwpkn yde lhlausdl zspv kd y obkazrssz sq kdewztldnl.

Dw Mkdtcyk yrrasynble vbl nswrzl, bkp nsze lmralppksd vaydpqsaxkdt kdvs czygkdt qwau.

Ylydobkzl, sczkhkswp vs vbl zssxkdt eydtla, Twydt Ubldtmw oyp bszekdt bkp tkazqaklde’p byde, pvlyzkdt y qlo xsal xsxldvp sq yqqlnvksd obkzl vbl pwrlahkpsa oypd’v oyvnbkdt.

“Jycu, R nyd’v pvyu blal vss zsdt. R byhl vs tlv cynj vs osaj.”

“Mbld R’zz oykv blal qsa usw, sjyu? Nlv’p ts cynj vs uswa rzynl vsdktbv.”

“Alright, baby.”

Huang Chengxu reluctantly let go of her hand. But as he turned around—

“Ah!”

A heavy punch landed square on his face!

After knocking Huang Chengxu to the ground, Xu Tingbai grabbed his collar, raising his fist for another blow. Huang Chengxu screamed and instinctively shielded his face with his arms. “What are you doing! Who are you?!”

“Who are you?! Let go of him!” Yu Tingting shrieked, rushing forward to pull Xu Tingbai away.

But Xu Tingbai remained unmoved. His fist hovered in front of Huang Chengxu as he growled, “Do you even know what you’re doing?”

“I—I was just… taking a break! Who are you? Why are you doing this?!” Huang Chengxu peeked out from behind his arm, and when he saw Xu Tingbai’s face, he froze. Recognition dawned on him.

“Damn it… Aren’t you that customer from last time, the one I spilled wine on?!”

“And why are you hitting my boyfriend?!” Yu Tingting tugged at Xu Tingbai’s arm, but her efforts were futile.

By now, Chen Ke and Xia Tan also realized something was wrong and hurried over.

“What’s going on here?! What happened?!”

Ignoring them all, Xu Tingbai turned his icy gaze to Yu Tingting and asked, “Do you know he has a girlfriend?”

The dim lighting in the bar and Xu Tingbai’s sudden arrival meant Yu Tingting hadn’t paid attention to his appearance earlier. Now, with him so close and turning to face her, she froze.

“I—I know. But I’m just…”

“Just what?” Xu Tingbai took a deep breath and turned back to Huang Chengxu. “Two girlfriends? Where does that leave Lin Qingle?”

Huang Chengxu: “…?”

Xu Tingbai: “Do you have a death wish?”

Seeing the ferocity in his eyes, Huang Chengxu quickly covered his face again. “What Lin Qingle?! My girlfriend is right here! Lin Qingle isn’t my girlfriend at all!”

Xu Tingbai was stunned. “What?”

“Tingbai? Oh my god… You’re Xu Tingbai!” Before Xu Tingbai could process this, the woman beside him suddenly exclaimed his name.

He turned, frowning at her.

Yu Tingting, overwhelmed with excitement, said, “No way. Your eyes… Ah, I’m Yu Tingting! Remember? We met back in high school. I’m Qingle’s good friend.”

Lin Qingle’s good friend.

Xu Tingbai paused for a second before recalling who she was.

But something felt off. He slowly turned back to glance at Huang Chengxu. “Then he—”

“He’s my boyfriend. Did you misunderstand something? How could Qingle possibly be his girlfriend?”

—

Lin Qingle was at home watching a movie with Dong Xiaoni when she got a call from Yu Tingting.

“Hello? What’s up?”

Yu Tingting sounded anxious. “Qingle! Come to Max Bar right now!”

“I’m watching a movie. It’s almost over.”

“This is big! Really! Xu Tingbai is here!”

The chip in Lin Qingle’s hand fell back into the bag. She sat up straight. “You ran into him? What happened?”

“I’m telling you, this is insane! Xu Tingbai just hit my boyfriend!”

“What?”

“For real! Do you know why? He thought you were Huang Chengxu’s girlfriend. And since I was at the bar today, he saw us together and assumed Huang was two-timing you!”

Lin Qingle: “…?”

This really was insane…

And she couldn’t understand why he thought she was Huang Chengxu’s girlfriend. Was it because of that last encounter at the bar?

With her head full of questions, Lin Qingle quickly got ready and headed to Max Bar. Once there, the staff guided her to a private room tucked away on the second floor.

When she pushed open the door, she saw Yu Tingting, Huang Chengxu, as well as Xu Tingbai and Xia Tan.

The moment Xu Tingbai saw Lin Qingle enter, his eyes lit up with unconcealed delight. Yet, amidst his happiness, there was also a trace of awkwardness—understandably so, given the misunderstanding that had unfolded.

“How are you? Are you okay?” Lin Qingle walked up to Huang Chengxu, noting the swollen right side of his face—it looked pretty serious.

Huang Chengxu was brimming with anger but was immediately silenced by Yu Tingting pressing him back into his seat. “It’s fine! It’s all just a misunderstanding!”

Huang Chengxu protested, “Babe, I’m not fine at all—”

“Quiet. You’re fine.”

Huang Chengxu: “…”

Yu Tingting turned to Lin Qingle and explained, “Xu Tingbai already apologized to us, but since this was all a misunderstanding, I thought it would be better if you came to clear things up.”

Lin Qingle hesitated, then turned her gaze to Xu Tingbai.

He was sitting on the sofa, his expression obscured by the dim light in the private room.

“Well, I think everything’s settled now, so I’ll head out and find Chen Ke and the others. You all talk.” Xia Tan patted Xu Tingbai’s shoulder and left.

Yu Tingting quickly pulled Huang Chengxu along. “We’re going too! I’ll take him to get his face treated!”

“…”

In an instant, the room that had housed five people was down to just the two of them. Lin Qingle cleared her throat. “Um, are you okay?”

Xu Tingbai got up and walked toward her. As he stepped out of the shadows, his features became distinct under the dim light, his pale eyes deep and serene.

His eyes were the same as before, irresistibly captivating in certain lighting. But unlike in the past, his gaze now held more vitality.

Lin Qingle instinctively took a step back, suddenly feeling uncomfortable under his intense stare.

“I’m fine. I hit him; he didn’t hit me.” He stopped in front of her.

Lin Qingle replied, “Oh… Then, thank you.”

The gratitude sounded a bit odd, but she figured his actions had been well-intentioned and for her sake. It was only polite to thank him.

Xu Tingbai turned his head slightly, appearing a bit embarrassed. “It’s nothing. Just… apologize to him for me later.”

Lin Qingle nodded. “I will.”

After a moment of silence, Xu Tingbai asked, “So, that day, you were just helping Yu Tingting?”

“Yes.”

A faint, almost imperceptible curve appeared on the corner of Xu Tingbai’s lips. “Good.”

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll head out now, okay?” Unsure of what else to say, Lin Qingle turned to leave.

“Wait,” Xu Tingbai said, tugging on her sleeve.

“Is there something else…”

Xu Tingbai looked down at her, silent for a long moment, then suddenly asked, “Lin Qingle, do you hate me?”

Lin Qingle froze. For a fleeting second, she felt like they were back at sixteen years old.

Only now, the roles were reversed.

Lin Qingle replied, “I—I don’t hate you.”

Xu Tingbai stared at her. “But you’re avoiding spending time with me, aren’t you?”

“No…”

“I can feel it.”

“I said I’m not.”

“But you are.”

“…”

“Lin Qingle, you—”

“So what if I am?” Lin Qingle cut him off.

Xu Tingbai’s words faltered. He stared at her furrowed brows, his hand on her sleeve stiffening.

Lin Qingle gently pulled his hand away, lowering her eyes. Her voice was soft. “What I mean is, it’s normal for friends who haven’t seen each other in so long to feel a little distant. I don’t hate you; I just don’t know what to say…”

Xu Tingbai: “Is that all?”

Lin Qingle looked up and gave him a small smile. “Mm-hmm, that’s all.”

“But I don’t want there to be distance between us. We—”

“How could we possibly be the same as we were back then after all these years?” Lin Qingle said. “Our lives are completely different now. We’ve had no contact. You never tried to reach out to me, and I had no way to reach you. It’s only natural that we’ve grown apart.”

Her tone was calm, but only she knew how much effort it took to keep it that way.

Xu Tingbai’s throat tightened. “I did look for you… before I came back.”

When he had finally resolved everything in his life and felt ready to stand before her again, he had searched for her.

But her number had changed. The contacts he sought at their old high school told him she had transferred in her senior year. While they couldn’t provide her family’s information, they did know where she had gone to college.

So, after returning to China, he had asked around at her university. He learned where she had worked after graduation but lost track of her when she resigned three months ago.

In fact, when he asked about her at her university, someone had sent him her graduation photo.

But he hadn’t looked at it.

He had always hoped they would meet again naturally when he could finally find her through her work.

But he hadn’t expected that first encounter to be at the bar.

“You looked for me before returning? Then why didn’t you call me sooner? Back in high school, I waited for you for a long time.” Lin Qingle’s gaze lifted to him, her tone teasing. But deep down, she couldn’t suppress her frustration.

Even as she spoke, she reminded herself that they were both grown-ups now. Xu Tingbai was doing well, and there was no need to dredge up old grievances.

She had no reason or right to be mad at him. All his choices were justified.

“I couldn’t call… You changed your number…”

“I didn’t change it until college. What about before that?”

“I…”

Xu Tingbai’s face turned pale.

Lin Qingle frowned again as she looked at him. Didn’t she just say it wasn’t necessary to get mad? So why was she pushing him like this?

Thinking about this, Lin Qingle took a deep breath. “Alright, I actually understand that your choice was the right one. I was just young and naive, imagining things to be too perfect. Back then, what could I have really done to help you? Going with your family was the right decision. I… I was just a little sad at the time because even if you went far away, you could still have kept in touch with me… You could have told me you were doing well. That’s all I wanted to know.”

“I’m sorry,” Xu Tingbai said, his body tense. He had faced countless challenges over the years with an unflinching composure, yet in front of her, he found himself unable to maintain his calm. “I didn’t want to burden you anymore at the time… You already went through so much because of me—things you never should have had to face. Your studies, and then my father’s situation… I promised your mother I wouldn’t let the person I was back then drag you down or affect you any further.”

Lin Qingle’s eyes grew warm, but she quickly concealed her emotions.

Why didn’t he ever understand?

The Lin Qingle of that year had never seen the blind Xu Tingbai as a burden.

He had been her guiding light, her source of motivation. Because of him, she kept striving harder. She never fell behind in her studies—in fact, she excelled.

But everyone else, even Xu Tingbai himself, believed that he would weigh her down, that he would become an obstacle in her life.

But it wasn’t like that.

Lowering her gaze, Lin Qingle sighed inwardly.

Still, there was no point in saying any of this now. They couldn’t go back to the past.

After a moment of silence, Lin Qingle steadied her emotions and said, “Honestly, there’s no use dwelling on the past anymore. What’s important is that you’re doing well now. And we’ve reconnected—we’re still friends, and that’s great. What I said earlier was just offhand; don’t take it too seriously.”

She thought for a moment and added, “So, I think I’ll leave now?”

No use?

But to him, all of it held meaning.

And whether or not she truly wasn’t upset, whether or not she genuinely didn’t care, one thing Xu Tingbai knew with absolute clarity—

He didn’t want to just be her friend.