Volume One, Chapter Fifteen Last night, he searched for her the entire night.
Xu Zhi’s eyes held a clear, almost guileless stupidity. “I got drunk, fell asleep, and you brought me here, right?”
Liang Jinmo said nothing. He sat beside her, holding a glass of water, sipping it slowly.
His attitude made Xu Zhi’s heart race with anxiety. When she’d first opened her eyes in bed and realized she wasn’t in her dorm, she’d felt a brief pang of alarm. But she quickly recognized this as the guest room at Liang Jinmo’s place—a place she’d visited before—and so, unconsciously, she felt safe. Her only concern then had been to contact Yang Xue.
But his enigmatic words made her suspect that something had happened last night that she didn’t remember.
As soon as her phone powered on, notifications chimed in rapid succession—both messages and texts. Xu Zhi’s attention shifted; she opened WeChat first. As expected, Yang Xue had sent a barrage of messages.
Yang Xue: “Zhi, where are you? Liang Muzhi is looking for you, he even called me! Why’s your phone off?”
Yang Xue: “Turn your phone on! Liang Muzhi came to campus looking for you!”
Yang Xue: “What’s going on? Reply when you see this.”
Yang Xue: “Liang Muzhi is really worried. He said you went to a bar with some guy. What happened?”
Before Xu Zhi could finish reading, her phone vibrated in her palm and began to ring. The name on the screen was unmistakably “Liang Muzhi.”
With a pained sigh, Xu Zhi rubbed her forehead before answering.
She’d barely uttered a “Hello” when he spoke, “Where are you?”
“Hotel,” she replied without thinking.
There was a strange silence on the other end. After a moment, Liang Muzhi’s voice came again, as if through gritted teeth: “You… You went to a hotel with that man?”
Xu Zhi was a little slow to react, about to ask what man he meant, when Liang Jinmo suddenly asked her, “I’m ordering breakfast. What do you want to eat?”
Liang Muzhi clearly heard a man’s voice through the phone. The words were indistinct, blurred by distance and static, but it was unquestionably a man.
He gripped his phone tightly, still standing at the entrance to the bar street. He’d spent the whole night searching for her.
All she’d said was “at a bar,” not even a name. He’d had to search one by one.
He had no idea what she’d been doing while he was looking for her all over the city, but now, his mind was plagued with answers.
Liang Jinmo’s sudden question startled Xu Zhi. She turned to him and mouthed, “Anything’s fine.”
As soon as she finished, she heard the busy tone in her ear.
Liang Muzhi had hung up.
She supposed she should call back to explain, but she simply didn’t have the energy. Her head was still pounding as she massaged her temples, and instead, she called Yang Xue to let her know she was safe.
Yang Xue’s voice was shrill and agitated, “You didn’t see how Liang Muzhi was last night. He was like a lunatic, yelling at me asking where you were. Is he crazy or something?”
Xu Zhi thought to herself, He is crazy—a spoiled young master kind of crazy.
She said, “Sorry for causing you trouble.”
Xu Zhi paused for a moment.
After all, this was a northern winter night—standing outside for two hours was hardship for someone like Liang Muzhi, the little lord. It was hard to imagine him suffering like that.
Even so, she still couldn’t understand why Liang Muzhi cared so much about an ordinary female friend. It was beyond her comprehension.
The next exam was tomorrow, so she and Yang Xue chatted a bit about the test predictions, but as soon as they talked about studying, her headache worsened.
After hanging up, she ran her fingers through her hair in frustration.
She didn’t exactly regret going to the bar, but it was exam week, and she hadn’t been in great shape lately. One night drunk had thrown her whole review schedule off.
She liked to do things methodically, arranging everything clearly. Now, her life felt utterly unmoored.
She didn’t know when Liang Jinmo had gone back to the master bedroom. She got up and went to freshen up in the bathroom, only to see herself in the mirror with messy hair, rumpled clothes, a water stain obvious on her shirt, and the sharp reek of alcohol.
A moment’s indulgence brought a world of trouble—she couldn’t stand herself like this for another second. Feeling wretched, she went out to find Liang Jinmo, delicately asking if she could take a shower.
Liang Jinmo had just finished ordering breakfast. He set his phone down and looked at her. “Do as you like.”
Xu Zhi fidgeted with her fingers. “Um… Could I borrow a shirt or something? Mine’s covered in booze…”
Liang Jinmo opened the wardrobe off the bedroom. His hand first brushed against a brand-new shirt, but after a moment’s pause, he reached up and took down a white shirt he often wore.
Xu Zhi accepted it and headed to the bathroom, calling back, “Thanks. I’ll buy you a new one when I’m done.”
“No need,” he replied coolly. “Just wash it and give it back.”
Xu Zhi was in too much of a hurry to shower to argue. Only when she stood under the warm spray did she think back over their exchange.
A shirt, from him to her and back again…
However she thought about it, it didn’t seem quite right.
She’d been in such a rush that she hadn’t considered if it was proper to wear his clothes. Only now did she realize how bold she’d been.
After showering, she hesitated, unsure whether to put on her own filthy, reeking shirt, but she truly couldn’t stand it.
The bathroom was thick with steam as she picked up Liang Jinmo’s white shirt.
It looked fairly new, but she knew it wasn’t. She could clearly smell that unique woody scent—a little cool and aloof, much like the man himself.
But for some reason…
She brought the shirt closer to her nose and inhaled deeply. She rather liked the smell.
It was infinitely better than her own shirt, which reeked only of spilled liquor.
In the end, she steeled herself—whatever, comfort comes first.
By the time she’d dried her hair and emerged from the bathroom, breakfast had already been delivered.
Just like last time, they sat across from each other in the dining room. This time, breakfast was sandwiches and milk.
In front of Xu Zhi, besides the milk, there was a glass of honey water for her hangover. She opted for the honey water.
Now, at last, Xu Zhi had the presence of mind to ask Liang Jinmo, “Did something happen last night? I never turn my phone off, and there’s booze all over me… Did someone throw it on me?”
“You answered a call from Liang Muzhi last night, told him not to bother you, then hung up and turned off your phone. You were quite pleased with yourself—said it was the first time you’d ever hung up on him.”
Liang Jinmo recounted her exploits in a calm, matter-of-fact tone.
Xu Zhi was stunned.
So it’s true—getting blackout drunk really makes you forget things. She had no memory of taking a call from Liang Muzhi.
Then, she felt a surge of satisfaction. She was always so restrained when sober, never saying that sort of thing to Liang Muzhi outright.
But as he finished, her expression grew sheepish.
Hanging up on Liang Muzhi wasn’t really something to brag about—it was a bit embarrassing. She quietly took a bite of her sandwich.
Liang Jinmo continued, “I tried to get you to stop drinking. When I took the glass from you, you wouldn’t let go, so the drink spilled all over your shirt.”
Xu Zhi was silent for a moment. “That’s… all, right?”
If her disgrace was limited to just that, she could live with it.
Liang Jinmo looked at her deeply. “If I kept going, I’m afraid you’d have to jump out the window.”