Chapter Fifty-two: Drowning Sorrows in Wine

  The next day after school, Yao Wen-hao walked to Ji Xin-an's desk and patiently waited for her to pack up the things on her table. When she picked up her backpack and was about to leave, he took it from her and affectionately held her hand.

  "What are you doing with so many people watching?" Ji Xin'an was startled and quickly shook off his hand, pulling away.

  "What's wrong with others looking? What's wrong with me pulling my own girlfriend?" Yao Wenhao pouted and was about to pull her over again.

  Ji Xin'an hadn't even had time to speak, when Zou Ze came over to look for her and saw this scene, he couldn't help but widen his eyes, and stood between the two of them, "Yao Wenhuo, what do you think you're doing?"

  "This is the question I should be asking you, not the other way around. You're meddling in my relationship with my own girlfriend, what qualifications do you have to interfere?"

  "'Girlfriend?' The word was like a thunderclap on a clear day to Zou Ze, leaving him stunned and foolishly standing there."

  Ji Xin'an didn't expect that Yao Wenhuo would publicly reveal their relationship in front of so many people. Although there are also some students dating in school, no one has ever dared to openly challenge the school rules like him. Ji Xin'an wasn't afraid either, but this unnecessary trouble could have been completely avoided. Although she disapproved of his actions, she didn't want to argue with Yao Wenhuo in front of so many people.

  So he just walked over and pulled him, "Yao Wenhao, what are you doing, with so many people around."

  Ji Xin'an's words brought Zou Ze back to his senses, and he looked at Ji Xin'an with a glimmer of hope. "Is what he said true? Are you two really together?"

  Ji Xin'an looked at Zou Ze, who was in pain, and suddenly understood that he also liked himself, but had always treated him as a buddy before, and because of the later generations knowing his wedding day, he never thought that he would have feelings for himself.

  Facing such a strange Zou Ze and Yao Wenhuo's expectant gaze, as well as the onlookers around her, Ji Xin'an felt like she was in a difficult situation, so she could only nod stiffly.

  The surrounding voices of surprise merged into one, the two best students in high school were actually dating early, and they did it so openly, this topic was enough for them to gossip about for a while.

  "Why?" Zou Ze suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of despair. He had always thought that he and Ji Xin'an had a sufficient understanding, recording songs and releasing albums together, her encouragement when he was down, their warm lunches every day... He thought all these had long surpassed the boundaries of friendship, but unexpectedly, she was with Yao Wenhuang instead.

  "An An, since you chose to be with me, of course it's because you like me. Does asking these boring questions make sense?" Yao Wen Hua saw Ji Xin An nod in agreement, and his mood suddenly improved.

  "Yao Wenhao, don't say anything more." Ji Xin'an looked at Zou Ze's unpleasant face and felt a bit unbearable.

  "Let's go." Seeing Xin An's expression, he felt somewhat displeased and dragged her away.

  Ji Xin'an turned around and looked at Zou Ze, whose face had turned pale, wanting to say something else, but seeing the onlookers, she swallowed her words and let Yan Wenhuo pull her away.

  He dragged her all the way out of the school gate, Ji Xin'an forcefully shook off Yao Wenhu's hand. "Yao Wenhu, what do you mean? Am I a tool for you to show off?"

  Jian Xin'an was really angry, and Yao Wen-hao also realized that he had gone too far. "Sorry, I didn't mean to, but as soon as I saw the way he looked at you, I felt uncomfortable."

  Ji Xin'an looked at him with a pitiful expression, and the anger in her heart dissipated immediately. After all, they were now in a romantic relationship, and Zou Ze's appearance would have misled anyone. "But you can't say our relationship out loud like that in front of so many people. I guarantee that by tomorrow, the whole school, including teachers, will know about this."

  "What's the big deal? I just want everyone to know that you're my girlfriend. Whoever opposes it, too bad." Yao Wenhuo said with a careless expression.

  "How come I didn't discover your rascal side earlier?" Ji Xin'an was amused by him.

  Seeing she was no longer angry, Yao Wenhao chuckled and said, "Let's go, we're going to Uncle Li's laser tag arena."

  She rolled her eyes and reluctantly followed him.

  On the other side, watching the two leave, Zou Ze had an impulse to pull her back, but when he thought of Ji Xin'an's nodding action, he knew he didn't have the right to do so.

  He sat down stupidly, wondering what he was thinking about. His classmates in the class saw that everyone had left and dispersed, leaving only Yu Yao looking at him with concern.

  He let out a deep breath and stood up, didn't even grab his backpack before walking out of the classroom.

  "Zou Ze..." Yu Yao called out and didn't say anything else, just following behind him and staring at him.

  "I'm fine, you don't have to follow me, I just want to take a walk." Zou Ze saw her following him and waved his hand, telling Yu Yao to leave.

  "Zou Ze, don't be like this, it's hard for me to watch." Yu Yao looked at the direction he was walking in, which wasn't even towards home, and she didn't dare let him go off on his own like that.

  Seeing her not leaving, Zou Ze also lost the mood to talk to her, so they just wandered aimlessly on this somewhat chilly night, in the empty streets of the city.

  When Zou Ze wanted to walk into a bar, he was pulled back by Yu Yao, "Zou Ze, don't go in, this kind of place is not where we should be."

  "It's not us, it's me who is going, you go back home quickly." She shook off his hand and walked in.

  Yu Yao saw that she couldn't stop him after all, biting her lip as she watched his back, and then followed him in with a stomp of her foot.

  Yu Yao, who had never been to such a place before, felt as if she had entered another world. The dance floor was filled with people dancing to the music, and everywhere were laughing men and women, making it impossible for Yu Yao to find Zou Ze anywhere.

  Yu Yao struggled through the crowd and finally found Zou Ze, who had already started drinking at the bar. Looking at him, he was not drinking, but rather pouring it into his mouth. She hurried forward to grab the wine glass from his hand. "Don't drink anymore, let's go back."

  "Go away and don't bother me." Zou Ze pushed her away, if there weren't people blocking beside her, she might have already fallen to the ground.

  Yu Yao, who had steadied herself, was busy apologizing to others. When she turned around to look at Zou Ze, he was already drinking again.

  Yu Yao was really helpless, and at this time she thought of Ji Xin'an. Only she could persuade Zou Ze. She rushed to the bar and asked the bartender, "Excuse me, can I use your phone?"

  The bartender didn't even lift his head and pointed in another direction, Yu Yao flipped through the phone book and dialed it, but no one answered on the other end of the line.

  Yu Yao had no choice but to watch as Zou Ze poured cup after cup into his mouth, and every now and then, he would call Ji Xin'an, but even when Zou Ze was already quite drunk, the phone on the other end still didn't pick up.

  Couldn't help but get anxious, but there was no way out, could only anxiously wait while taking care of Zou Ze who had almost drunk too much with stiff movements.