Chapter Seventeen: I Want to Drink Porridge

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Under Su Mian’s gaze, Huo Beihan turned around and reached out to gently stroke her head.

Su Mian froze, her body stiffening even further.

She could not help thinking of that kiss—and of that night that kept surging relentlessly into her memories.

Whenever she had private contact with him, those memories grew clearer in her mind.

She had wanted so badly to forget what had happened, yet the truth was that the more desperately one tried to forget something, the more impossible it became to banish.

Her body remained rigid for several seconds before she instinctively retreated, moving beyond the reach of his hand.

“Big Brother, is there anything else?”

Although her smile was still innocent and guileless, Huo Beihan could sense how much forced composure lay beneath it.

He was not going to eat her. Why was she so afraid of him?

When Lin Mu and the others had been there, she had not acted this way at all.

Huo Beihan rubbed his brow with a headache. It seemed he still had a very long road ahead of him.

“Nothing else. I’ll take you home first.”

He reached for the steering wheel. After staring blankly for a moment, Su Mian hurriedly opened the door and got out.

“No need. I can go back myself. And if you’ve been drinking, you really shouldn’t drive.”

Watching Su Mian walk away, Huo Beihan wore a complicated expression.

His headache only worsened.

He leaned back against the seat, closed his eyes, and rubbed his brow, hoping to ease the pain. But the moment he shut his eyes, he saw Su Mian as she had just been, happily playing games with him.

The people in the private room lost interest in continuing when Huo Beihan and Su Mian failed to return for such a long time.

“Send them a message and ask whether they’re coming back,” Lin Mu said, signaling to Wen Jinbo beside him.

Wen Jinbo hurriedly nodded and sent Huo Beihan a message, only to receive the reply that both of them had already left.

Upon hearing that, Wen Jinyu stamped her foot anxiously.

“What happened? Why did Brother Beihan leave with that Su Mian?”

“Brother, didn’t you say you were going to create an opportunity for me?”

Wen Jinbo felt a headache coming on because of her. “Create what opportunity? That’s Huo Beihan. If he doesn’t want something, who can force him? Be grateful that he didn’t pursue what happened just now. If he really did, where would that leave your brother’s dignity?”

Hearing Wen Jinyu’s voice, everyone was reminded of what she had said before Huo Beihan and Su Mian left the private room.

“What I said was the truth.”

Seeing the puzzled looks on their faces, Wen Jinyu stubbornly defended herself. “How could I have known Su Mian was that capable? You must have deliberately gone easy on her.”

Wen Jinbo was rendered completely speechless. He grabbed Wen Jinyu by the arm and dragged her outside.

“I don’t want to discuss what happened this time. But if you act like this again, do you think I’ll still dare bring you out to join our gatherings?”

At that, Wen Jinyu visibly panicked. If she could not attend their gatherings, she would have no chance to see Huo Beihan.

“Brother, I know I was wrong. I’ll be more careful next time.”

Wen Jinbo sighed, and the others also walked out of the private room.

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“Well, let’s call it a night.”

Everyone went their separate ways.

Meanwhile, Qin Yunzheng was drinking and carousing in a bar.

“Come on, let’s keep drinking.”

Qin Yunzheng raised his glass and clinked it against Zhang Tao’s and the others’.

But the expressions of the others were hesitant, as though they wanted to say something but did not know how.

“Why hasn’t Su Mian come yet? Normally, she would have called you home by now.”

Zhang Tao looked at Qin Yunzheng, who was drinking as though he had abandoned himself to oblivion, and felt puzzled.

“She’s not coming. We’ve already broken up.”

Qin Yunzheng lifted his glass and gazed at it with unfocused eyes.

“Besides, do you really think I can’t live without Su Mian?”

Zhang Tao and Xu Yao nodded along with the others.

Their reaction infuriated Qin Yunzheng.

“What do you mean by that? Are you still my brothers or not? So what if Su Mian and I broke up? Isn’t that perfectly normal?”

Everyone looked at him in disbelief.

“Su Mian treated you so well. Even at a time like that, she never abandoned you. And now you’re telling us you’ve broken up? How is that possible?”

With a bang, Qin Yunzheng slammed his glass onto the table.

“Can’t I live without Su Mian? I said we’ve broken up. We’re never getting back together.”

It sounded as though he were informing the others—and reminding himself—that Su Mian and he could never be together again.

Seeing how serious he was, his friends stopped joking.

Instead, they looked at him with complicated expressions.

After all, they had witnessed how well Su Mian treated him. It was difficult to believe that they had truly broken up.

“All right, enough of this. Come on, let’s drink.”

They continued drinking for nearly half an hour. By then, Qin Yunzheng was thoroughly drunk, his entire body sprawled across the sofa.

“All right, that’s enough for today. Let’s call it a night and meet again another day.”

Xu Yao and the others left, while Zhang Tao helped Qin Yunzheng outside.

“I’ll take you home.”

After confirming that Qin Yunzheng still possessed a trace of awareness, Zhang Tao told him so.

But Qin Yunzheng suddenly reacted as though his fur had been rubbed the wrong way.

“No, no, I can’t go home.”

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“What’s wrong? Are there ghosts in your house?”

Seeing his reaction, Zhang Tao could not understand it. While using his phone to call a car, he helped Qin Yunzheng sit down by the roadside.

“Whatever the reason, I’m not going home. We’re brothers—let me stay at your place for one night.”

Qin Yunzheng’s words made Zhang Tao laugh.

“Are you kidding me? Whenever we came out to have fun, you were always the first one making a fuss about going home.”

But as soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Tao realized something was wrong.

Before, Qin Yunzheng had clamored to go home because Su Mian had been waiting for him there.

But now, Qin Yunzheng and Su Mian had already broken up, and he had heard that Su Mian had even moved out.

Wouldn’t going home now only make him dwell on the memories?

Thinking of this, Zhang Tao sighed helplessly and agreed to take Qin Yunzheng back to his place.

“Wait here for a moment. I’ll go see whether the car has arrived.”

Holding his phone, Zhang Tao walked forward to check the license plate.

Qin Yunzheng watched his retreating figure, his dark eyes growing even more somber.

He did not want to go home—not because no one was there.

He did not want to go home because Lin Qingqing was there.

If this had been before, he would have been more than willing to be with Lin Qingqing.

But ever since that unexpected incident between them, he no longer knew how to face her.

Otherwise, he would never have gone out drinking himself senseless with the others.

“All right, the car’s here. Let’s go.”

Zhang Tao helped the drunken Qin Yunzheng into the car and took him home.

“All right, go to sleep.”

He helped Qin Yunzheng into the guest room, tidied himself up quickly, and went to rest as well.

Early the next morning, Zhang Tao was startled by Qin Yunzheng’s appearance.

“What happened to you?”

Seeing Qin Yunzheng’s deathly pale face as he suddenly clutched his stomach, Zhang Tao was already preparing to call emergency services.

Qin Yunzheng raised his head and glanced at him before speaking weakly.

“I want some porridge. Could you make me some?”

Zhang Tao was so shocked by his request that his jaw nearly dropped.

Then he pointed at himself, looking at Qin Yunzheng with amusement and a hint of mockery.

“Brother, you’re not joking, are you? Take a good look at me. Do I look like someone who knows how to cook porridge?”

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