After nearly ten minutes, Hua Lianxi finally crawled out of the pit of vomiting, breathing slightly. She wiped the smudges at the corner of her mouth with a swift motion, then slowly moved forward, leaning against the wall for support.
Bitterness spread through her throat. Lowering her head, Hua Lianxi scooped up some cold water and splashed it onto her face. She grabbed a towel nearby and wiped vigorously. Although she was wiping tears caused by vomiting from the corners of her eyes, warm tears continued to flow with each stroke.
It was just vomiting—so why did tears fall endlessly like broken strings of pearls, pattering painfully on her heart until she felt nearly overwhelmed and suffocated?
Why did she repeatedly warn herself, forcing herself to forget, yet when faced with the reality, her heart still felt as if cut by knives?
Intensely and quickly scooping up water to splash on her face again and again, trying to wash away the falling tears, she whispered to herself, "Hua Lianxi, you can't cry, you shouldn't cry. Your tears are useless. That person on the television has nothing to do with you. You can live well on your own. You are strong enough alone…" She squinted her eyes and held her breath while washing her face, muttering softly, trying to comfort herself one last time.
After a full twenty minutes, her arms too tired and weak to scoop water anymore, Hua Lianxi finally stopped this foolish and ostrich-like behavior. She lifted her head to look into the mirror; sparkling tears still clung to her eyes.
Taking a deep breath, she forcefully stretched the muscles in her cheeks. Her reflection in the moist mirror was stiff and pale, but Hua Lianxi was satisfied and repeatedly smiled wider.
No matter where or when, Hua Lianxi told herself, she must live her life with a smile. All the past was like dust falling outside the window—everything had to be decisively wiped away, leaving not a trace. It was not her world to linger in; she should have no attachments and need not harbor feelings for those who never truly cared for her.
Tidying herself up again, she changed into a soft, pale yellow dress. Hua Lianxi took small sips of the warm water as she dialed a phone number. The moment the call connected, her voice was clear and gentle: "Yiyi, I want to eat fried chicken. Shall we go have Korean food?"
In less than a minute, the call ended. Hua Lianxi quickly finished the warm water, grabbed her bag, and left the house.
Even after losing someone she thought was important—someone she had longed to be with—life shouldn't lose its color. In fact, she should live happier than ever because all joy and happiness came from herself. She shouldn't lock herself away hoping to get something from others. From now on, her life was still hers alone.
Arriving at the restaurant she and Cheng Yi had agreed to meet, Hua Lianxi confidently ordered a large spread of dishes. In her heart, she silently prayed that when the food arrived, she wouldn't vomit again—otherwise, it would be a self-torment and a waste of money.
After finishing two glasses of lemon water, the waiter began bringing dish after dish. Hua Lianxi still craned her neck toward the door, but no sign of the slender Cheng Yi appeared.
After a moment, she took out her phone and dialed her.
"I'm inside the restaurant. Where are you? Why can't I see you?"
Breathing heavily from the other end, Hua Lianxi looked up and immediately saw Cheng Yi carrying a large shoulder bag, hanging up the phone as she happily waved.
"Hmph, if you didn't come soon, I was going to eat by myself and leave you only the chicken bones..." As Cheng Yi drew nearer, Hua Lianxi couldn't help but complain about her tardiness, but then, seeing her face, she froze in surprise and asked hesitantly, "What's wrong? Haven't slept for days? Those dark circles won't even be covered by foundation!"
Despite wearing makeup, Hua Lianxi immediately noticed Cheng Yi's heavy dark circles and the exhaustion that no cosmetic could hide. Alarmed, she guessed something must have happened.
Holding back her concern, Cheng Yi threw her bag onto a nearby chair with force, then swiftly pulled out the chair and sat down. She grabbed her lemon water and guzzled it shamelessly. "Hmph, it's that bastard Ran Fang again. He's pissed me off to death!"
At the mention of Ran Fang's name, Hua Lianxi froze mid-chopstick, her eyes meeting Cheng Yi's, tightening her heart. She softly asked, "What happened? Is it... about the house design?"
Remembering their last meeting, Hua Lianxi could somewhat guess the relationship between Ran Fang and the Cheng family mansion at this time, treating him like just a client.
Seeing Hua Lianxi hesitate, Cheng Yi lightly bit her tongue, feeling a twinge of regret at her recklessness. Clearly, Hua Lianxi disliked involving herself with Ran Fang. Even though she couldn't quite figure out their relationship, it certainly wasn't one where they could sit down happily and chat. Cheng Yi should stay away from that name, avoiding giving Hua Lianxi trouble.
"Look at your tired face. Are you being messed with?" Hua Lianxi smiled softly and took the initiative to speak. Though she didn't like Ran Fang, she couldn't just watch Cheng Yi get frustrated without letting her vent some of her anger.
"Yeah, that bastard keeps finding fault!" With Hua Lianxi opening up the conversation, Cheng Yi's mood burst like a valve being turned, and she vented nonstop. "Obviously, I've thought things through carefully, I've revised the design repeatedly according to his demands, but every time it gets rejected and sent back. You know what? I've changed it five times already! I've pulled so many all-nighters. Just now, I got to his office, and that jerk glanced at the plans and shot another rejection at me, telling me to revise again!"
She aggressively picked at a chicken wing, chewing forcefully, as if wishing Ran Fang were the piece of chicken so she could tear him to pieces.
"Does he have some weird fetish or something? Otherwise, why would he make you revise it so many times and still be unsatisfied?" Given Cheng Yi's current ability, she shouldn't be rejected repeatedly, so Hua Lianxi immediately inferred that Ran Fang was intentionally provoking her.
"No, he's just looking to cause trouble. That bastard just threatened me: if he's not satisfied, he'll accuse us of breach of contract and demand a huge penalty!" After swallowing her bite, Cheng Yi waved the waiter over angrily. "Two bottles of beer!"
"Breach of contract? You've been modifying the design according to his requests. That can't count as a breach on our part. How could he demand compensation?" Widening her eyes, Hua Lianxi felt Ran Fang was going too far. It seemed like he wasn't casually hiring the Cheng family mansion to design a house, but rather acting as an unreasonable, spoilt customer demanding compensation.
"Hmph, that bastard's just being annoying. He's definitely doing it on purpose!" Getting angrier and angrier, Cheng Yi just wanted to punch him in the face. She didn't even think about breach of contract—she was sure she would satisfy him no matter what.
"Well, why not have another designer take over? That might be a way out."
Sometimes design is just personal preference—if Ran Fang's demands can't be met, it might be better to let someone else handle it than exhaust yourself.
Cheng Yi reached for her next piece of chicken but suddenly stopped. Her earlier anger and frustration faded quickly. She lowered her head, glancing sideways at Hua Lianxi.
"Hm?"
Chewing her bite, Hua Lianxi noticed Cheng Yi's sudden change and asked, puzzled.
"That bastard made me sign a fixed contract at the start. I'm the only designer who can work on this…"
Grabbing a beer the waiter had just brought, Cheng Yi took a big gulp. The rest of what she wanted to say remained unsaid in her heart: "Unless you, Hua Lianxi, take over, the Cheng family mansion will have to pay ten times the designer's salary as a penalty!"
That bastard had prepared a poisonous trap for her to unknowingly swallow. He didn't care about his own picky demands or deliberately making things difficult. He completely underestimated how determined he was to win over Hua Lianxi!
"Fixed contract? Cheng Yi, when did you have your head butted by a pig? How could you sign a fixed contract? Then breach of contract penalties are going to be a sure thing!"
Hua Lianxi was so angry she almost scolded Cheng Yi outright.
"It's because my head was butted by a pig that I got taken in!"
She cursed inwardly, but dared not say another word, afraid that her next sentence would reveal her hopeless infatuation with Ran Fang.
If it weren't for meeting him, she never would have thought there was a person in this world who could make her lose all dignity, repeatedly act like a fool, and approach him relentlessly. Even after being rejected so many times and repeatedly telling herself to give up, the next morning she would still pick up her phone to call him first, frantically trying to find out everything about him. Even if he stood beside some strange woman, she would still be jealous of that woman—jealous that she was standing close to him.
Feeling exhausted, Hua Lianxi glared at the silent woman guzzling beer across from her, sighing softly. The already uneasy mood was weighed down further as she imagined all the possible troubles Cheng Yi might face in the future.
After finishing her beer smoothly, Cheng Yi's resentment and anger gradually faded. Looking up and seeing Hua Lianxi puffing her cheeks, she felt deeply apologetic, realizing she had worried her friend.
"Don't worry, I believe I can make him satisfied in the end. That bastard isn't short of money and wouldn't easily ask for compensation! Come on, have a drink with me!"
She smiled, placing a bottle of beer in front of Hua Lianxi. "How about we don't go home tonight until we're drunk? When we're drunk, there's no trouble!"
Grasping the bottle, Hua Lianxi hesitated, but finally pushed it back. "You drink, and I'll carry you home if you get too drunk!"
Even though she wanted to drown out all troubles with alcohol, she still didn't want to drink.
"Just a few bottles of beer with fried chicken? That won't be enough to get me to fall down, let alone making you carry me home! Let's go to 'Fantasy' bar and drink some more! We can dance and drink to our heart's content."
Thinking of her recent exhaustion, Cheng Yi wanted one wild night to let loose and release her emotions before continuing the fight with Ran Fang tomorrow.