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The atmosphere in the private room remained lively. Cheng Yingzhi was completely drunk and slumped on the sofa, grinning foolishly, barely able to tell which way was which.

Not long after Zhou Aigang returned and sat down with a gloomy face, Chu Yi also returned from the terrace.

Chu Yi's expression had returned to its usual cool and calm, but her eyes seemed more tired than before.

He quietly sat back in his original seat, his gaze unconsciously sweeping across the room before suddenly stopping.

Chu Yi's gaze fell on Zhou Ai, who was diagonally opposite her.

Zhou Ai held a half-smoked cigarette between her fingers, the scarlet flame standing out starkly in the dim light.

He lowered his head slightly, and the silver-gray hair on his forehead cast a small shadow, obscuring part of his eyes, but his tightly pursed lips and the unapproachable aura emanating from him were clearly discernible.

Chu Yi clearly remembered that the last time at the bar, Zhou Ai refused a cigarette offered to her, saying "I don't smoke." He had also vaguely heard that Zhou Ai had quit smoking early in her career to maintain her voice.

Seeing him smoking, and clearly in a terrible mood trying to drown his sorrows, Chu Yi was momentarily stunned, a slight sense of surprise passing through her mind.

Before he could figure it out, Qi Yuan, reeking of alcohol, leaned over mysteriously, almost burying his head in his shoulder, and asked in a low voice, "Hey, goodness, what did your brother just say to you?" His eyes were blurry with drunkenness, and he had obviously heard Cheng Yanqing's address, and was used to it.

Chu Yi withdrew her gaze from Zhou Ai, slightly helpless at Qi Yuan's approach, but did not push him away, simply replying, "It's nothing, just some old questions."

Qi Yuan chuckled, looking like he understood, and said with a thick tongue, "Hey, Yan Qing is the same... He has this habit of calling you by your nickname when he's drunk, and it hasn't changed at all over the years."

He patted Chu Yi on the shoulder, his tone slightly teasing, "In his eyes, you'll always be that little one who needs his watchful eye!"

Chu Yi sighed softly, a faint smile curving her lips, a smile tinged with both helplessness and warmth: "Yeah, you still treat me like a child."

Their conversation wasn't loud, but during the brief pause in the dice game, the shouts of Cheng Yingzhi who had passed out drunk, and the music changing tracks, it clearly reached Zhou Ai's ears, who was smoking in frustration not far away.

【乖乖】...was that your childhood nickname?

That man... was he his brother?

Do you only yell when you've had too much to drink?

A few keywords acted like a key, suddenly unlocking the box in Zhou Ai's heart that was filled with bitterness and anger.

So...it was my older brother?

The inexplicable anger and suffocation that had almost consumed him deflated like a balloon punctured by a needle. His tense jawline relaxed involuntarily, and his furrowed brows eased slightly.

He subconsciously raised his head, his gaze piercing through the thin smoke to look at Chu Yi.

Chu Yi was listening to Qi Yuan speak with his head slightly turned. His profile was soft, and the helpless yet indulgent expression when he mentioned his brother was a vivid one that Chu Yi had never seen before.

As Zhou Ai watched, he suddenly felt a burning sensation on his fingertips. He looked down and realized the cigarette had burned down to the very end. He quickly stubbed it out in the crystal ashtray.

When he looked up again, most of the irritation in his heart miraculously disappeared, replaced by an indescribable...relaxation, and even a very subtle embarrassment and annoyance that he himself did not notice.

What was he thinking about just now?

Chu Yi's attention was drawn to Zhou Ai's sudden, hasty action of extinguishing the cigarette. He subconsciously looked up and met Zhou Ai's gaze as she looked up again.

Upon seeing this, Chu Yi was slightly taken aback.

The irritation in Zhou Ai's eyes vanished without a trace, replaced by a bright smile that was hard to describe. The smile spread from his eyes, carrying a sense of relief, and he looked directly at him without any hesitation.

The change in emotion was so sudden that Chu Yi was caught off guard. He instinctively tried to avoid the overly direct gaze; his eyelashes trembled slightly, and his gaze was about to shift—

"Dr. Chu."

Zhou Ai's voice rang out, penetrating the not-too-noisy background noise and landing clearly in his ears.

The voice was tinged with laughter, languid yet possessing an undeniable focus, as if only the two of them were present.

Chu Yi paused, forced to meet his gaze again, her face bearing the usual questioning expression.

Zhou Ai leaned forward slightly, her elbows resting on her knees, a faint scent of tobacco still lingering on her fingertips.

He tilted his head, his gaze sweeping over Chu Yi's face, as if he had discovered something extremely interesting. A playful smile curved his lips as he slowly spoke, his tone clearly feigning ignorance:

"Dr. Chu," he repeated the title, his voice rising slightly at the end, "I remember... shouldn't someone who just had their stitches removed quit smoking and drinking?"

As he spoke, he deliberately shook the hand that had just held the cigarette.

Those smiling eyes stared unblinkingly at Chu Yi, clearly the posture of a patient coming to "consult" a doctor about a problem they already knew they were doing.

Upon hearing this, Chu Yi unconsciously furrowed her brows slightly.

He was indeed somewhat surprised by Zhou Ai's sudden "asking for advice"—or rather, by this "asking a question he already knew the answer to" that carried a clear sense of teasing and mischief.

What struck him as even more perplexing was how Zhou Ai's emotions could shift like the turning of a book, one moment thunder and lightning, the next clear skies, even with a hint of... deliberately provoking him.

This person's behavior is truly unpredictable and erratic.

Chu Yi looked into Zhou Ai's smiling eyes, in which her own image was clearly reflected.

He pursed his lips, suppressing the strange feeling that arose from the other person's rapid change in mood, and returned to his usual calm and professional tone, giving a standard and correct answer from a doctor:

"Yes. Smoking affects local blood circulation, which is not conducive to wound healing. Alcohol also stimulates vasodilation, which may increase the risk of bleeding or oozing, and is also not conducive to recovery."

Chu Yi's voice was steady, revealing no emotion; it was purely in the tone of a doctor's order.

After Chu Yi finished speaking, he paused, his gaze calmly sweeping over Zhou Ai's hand that had just held the cigarette, and then added, pointing out the contradiction in the other party's behavior: "So, since Mr. Zhou knew this, he shouldn't have touched it."

Zhou Ai's smile deepened, as if she had been waiting for his professional reply, which carried a hint of reproach.

Far from feeling embarrassed at being "educated," he seemed to have received a desired response, and with a satisfied, drawn-out "Oh—" he nodded obediently.

"Dr. Chu is right." Zhou Ai's tone remained lazy and smiling. "I'll listen to the doctor and stop smoking."

The way he looked didn't seem like he was seriously following medical advice at all; it was more like he was playing a tacit, private game between them.

Although Cheng Yingzhi was so drunk he was staggering around, his enthusiasm for creating a lively atmosphere remained undiminished.

Waving his arms and shouting with a thick tongue, "Hey! You...you two! Stop...stop having a little chatter! Come...come over and play together! New...new game!"

Upon hearing about the new game, Qi Yuan immediately forgot about the earlier incident and excitedly chimed in, "What game? What game?"

Shen Yu also looked over with a smile.

Cheng Yingzhi chuckled and announced smugly, "The rules...the rules are simple! They're called...called 'Infinite Nonsense'!"

He tried to speak clearly, "The...the first person, said one word, or a...very short sentence! And then!"

Cheng Yingzhi stretched out his finger, awkwardly gesturing clockwise or counterclockwise, "In...in order, each person, based on the previous person's sentence, add only one word! No more, no less! Just one!"

He picked up his wine glass and slammed it heavily on the coffee table with a loud clang: "Anyone who adds the wrong word, forgets the preceding words, or... or gets the order wrong! They'll have to drink a penalty shot!"

After finishing, Cheng Yingzhi added, "Five more seconds! If you can't keep up within five seconds, you'll also have to drink! Simple, right? Hahahaha!"

This game is indeed simple, but it's also very easy to make mistakes, especially under the influence of alcohol. It's perfect for getting people drunk and causing a ruckus.

"Come on! Let me start!" Cheng Yingzhi volunteered. He thought for a moment, feeling a little dizzy, and blurted out a word: "Apple!"

The next person clockwise was Qi Yuan, who immediately replied, "The Big Apple!"

The next one was Shen Yu, who laughed and said, "Eat the big apple!"

Next up was Chu Yi. He hadn't expected it to be his turn so soon. Seeing three pairs of eyes staring at him, he paused for a moment before calmly continuing before the countdown ended: "I want to eat a big apple."

Finally, there's Zhou Ai.

He leaned back lazily on the sofa, his fingers unconsciously tapping his knees. His gaze fell on Chu Yi, and almost as soon as Chu Yi finished speaking, he slowly continued, his tone casual and playful: "I want to eat a big apple."

It connected perfectly, without any pressure.

A new cycle begins, and it's time for Zhou Ai to take the lead.

He raised an eyebrow, his gaze sweeping over the crowd, and finally uttered a simple word with a half-smile: "Look."

The next person clockwise was Cheng Yingzhi. His mind was clouded by alcohol; he didn't think carefully and instinctively replied, "Watch me!"

Next up was Qi Yuan. He was all smiles and, without thinking much, called out, "Look at me!"

Next was Shen Yu. He smiled and subtly added a word, "Look at me."

The pressure is once again on Chu Yi.

He felt Zhou Ai's gaze become clearer, and her words, "Look at me," seemed to carry a hook in the ambiguous lighting and the alcohol-scented air.

He must add only one word to the previous word.

Add what?

"Look at me!" That's so strange.

"Look at me, okay?" That's not true.

At the very last second, Chu Yi forced herself to say, in the calmest possible tone, "Look at me."

After Chu Yi finished speaking, there was a moment of silence in the private room.

Look at me.

The sentence itself was nothing special, but when Chu Yi said it in his cool voice, it took on a strange and indescribable flavor because of the game rules and the subtle atmosphere at the moment.

It doesn't sound like a request, nor does it sound like a pout; it's just a... straightforward statement distorted by rules.

Qi Yuan chuckled, clapping his hands drunkenly, "Hahaha, Ayi, the way you added that... it sounds kind of aggrieved!"

Shen Yu also shook his head with a smile.

The pressure was put on Zhou Ai.

He was the last one, and he needed to add only one word after "Look at me".

Zhou Ai's gaze never left Chu Yi. He saw that after Chu Yi finished speaking, her eyelashes trembled very slightly, then she lowered them, staring at the wine glass in front of her, as if there was something extremely attractive on the rim of the glass. She had a calm demeanor of "I'm just following the rules of the game," but it revealed a hint of restraint that was not easily detected.

Zhou Ai's lips curled up, and she deliberately dragged out her tone, as if she was seriously considering which word to add.

"Five, four, three..." Cheng Yingzhi had already begun a dizzy countdown.

Just as he counted to "two," Zhou Ai slowly spoke, leaning slightly forward. His voice, though not loud, was exceptionally clear and carried an almost coaxing tone. He added one word to the end of the sentence:

"it is good."

—"Look at me, okay?"

The complete sentence became somewhat abrupt, even grammatically incorrect, but the word "okay" coming from Zhou Ai's mouth didn't sound like a response to a game, but rather like a reply to some unspoken request, carrying a hint of indulgence and... a strange sense of pampering.

"puff--!"

Qi Yuan nearly spat out his drink, choking and coughing. "Cough cough cough... Zhou Ai, what... what the hell did you add! This is utter nonsense!"

Shen Yu was also taken aback for a moment, then chuckled, "Zhou Ai, isn't this against the rules? The meaning isn't even coherent."

Although Cheng Yingzhi was drunk, he waved his arms and shouted, "Punishment drink! Punishment drink! Zhou Ai, punishment drink!"

Zhou Ai, however, didn't seem to care. He shrugged, calmly picked up his wine glass, and swiftly downed the remaining liquid. His movements were nonchalant, but his eyes remained smiling.

When Chu Yi heard the word "good", her fingertips twitched almost imperceptibly.

He looked up and met Zhou Ai's gaze as she finished her drink. The candid smile and lingering mockery in that gaze made him inexplicably pause, and he subconsciously looked away.

Zhou Ai placed the empty cup back on the coffee table with a crisp sound and laughed, "Okay, I accept the punishment."

He paused, then slowly added, as if explaining, "I think adding this word... is quite appropriate."

"Suitable what?!" Qi Yuan shouted, "No, no, keep going! This time it starts with you! Even if you're punished with a drink, you have to keep going!"