After the breakup, I was taken in by a group of trendy young women.

Wang Xiaoying stood there, the heels of her high heels looking as if they had been nailed into the marble floor tiles.

Her lips parted slightly, then closed, then parted again.

The strap of her designer handbag slipped off her shoulder and dangled in the crook of her arm, dangling precariously, without her noticing.

Every word Lin Ye just said was like a red-hot iron nail, driving into the softest part of her heart.

"You fucking retired flight attendant"

"I'm treated like a decorative vase at work."

"What gives you the right to swagger around here?"

She was a manager for three years, scolded countless people, and no one ever dared to talk back.

But this young man, wearing an Oxford shirt and with neatly cut hair, just pointed his finger at her nose in front of so many people, shattering her most prized shell inch by inch.

That feeling wasn't anger.

It's a sense of contrast from top to bottom.

Her eyes reddened.

Not because of feeling wronged,

because

Water

"No...no, that's not it..."

Wang Xiaoying's voice slid out of her throat, as soft as a cotton candy melted by the sun.

Her knees buckled, and she stumbled back two steps, the stiletto heels of her high heels making two jumbled, crisp sounds on the tiled floor. Then she collapsed onto a public bench in the mall's corridor.

The designer handbag finally slipped from her arms and fell to the ground, but she didn't even glance at it.

She looked up at Lin Ye, the coldness and majesty in her eyes completely evaporated, leaving only a dizzy, hazy look, like the watery light that comes with being half-drunk on red wine.

Her lips moved twice, and then she said something that almost made Zhang Xue drop her bag.

"Lin Ye, I..."

This kind of...

That's brilliant...

Zhang Xue stood beside her, her expression shifting from shared hatred to confusion, then to disbelief, and finally to a distorted sense of "Am I dreaming?"

She bent down to pick up Wang Xiaoying's designer handbag that had fallen to the ground. After picking it up, she stood there stunned for a while before reaching out to pull Wang Xiaoying's arm.

"Yingying? Are you alright? What did you just say—"

Wang Xiaoying didn't look at her.

Her eyes were still glued to Lin Ye, and two blushes, like those of a young girl, floated on her face that had never appeared before.

The cigarette held by the tattooed arm barely touched his lips before falling to the ground.

She looked down at the cigarette lying at her feet, then looked up at Wang Xiaoying, who was slumped in her chair, her face as red as a boiled crab. Then, in an extremely complex tone, a mixture of amusement and disbelief, she voiced the thoughts of everyone present.

"Brother—you... you... she... how could she... have done that?"

The sandal shopping bag in Hua Tui's hand slipped to the ground. She didn't bother to pick it up, her mouth agape in an "O" shape.

Green Hair and Pink Hair both gasped at the same time and then covered each other's mouths with their hands.

Qi Liuhai held up the space capsule cat carrier to block his view, while Wangcai stood up with one ear perked up in the hemispherical window.

Shen Qing took Lin Ye's arm, blinked, and a tiny smile curved her lips.

Shen Na stood at the back, watching this scene. Her brows furrowed and then relaxed. She lowered her head, her shoulders trembling slightly—she was secretly laughing.

Only the blond-haired guy peeked out from Lin Ye's arm, tilted his head and looked at Wang Xiaoying for a while, then looked up at Lin Ye with a mischievous glint in his deep brown eyes.

"Brother, this older sister is a bit strange..."

Lin Ye leaned against the stainless steel railing of the corridor, took out the cigarette that had never been lit from his shirt pocket and put it in his mouth. He looked down at Wang Xiaoying, who was slumped in the chair and still hadn't come to her senses, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

This guy, with just a few words, and...

Wang Xiaoying finally began to come to her senses.

She blinked and found herself slumped on a public bench, her handbag on the ground. Zhang Xue was bending down and pulling her arm, while a row of brightly colored girls stood in front of her, staring at her with the same look they had on rare animals.

Her face went from pink to bright red, then to deep crimson, and then she spoke in a completely different, pretentious tone of authority—but that authority, after what had just happened, was as fragile as a paper lantern, easily punctured.

"Lin Ye—don't think—don't think that just because you insulted me, this is all over—"

Her voice trembled slightly.

"What happened today—if you're willing to go back and work overtime—I can overlook it—"

"Wang Xiaoying".

Lin Ye took the unlit cigarette out of his mouth and called out to her.

Wang Xiaoying shrugged, like a kitten whose name had been called.

She looked up at him, a few tear stains still clinging to her eyes, and a small patch of her cool-toned mauve lipstick had been smudged on her lips.

Going back to work is impossible.

If you want to continue listening to me, you...

"You can treat me to a meal."

After he finished speaking, he put the cigarette back in his mouth, put his hands in the pockets of his newly bought casual pants, straightened up from the railing, and turned to walk towards the other end of the corridor.

Huang Mao was the first to follow and took his left arm.

Shen Qing didn't say anything, but quietly took his right arm.

The tattooed man picked up the cigarette that had fallen from the ground, put it back in his mouth, stopped and glanced down at Wang Xiaoying as he passed by, his tongue flashing briefly between his lips.

"Sis, add me on WeChat. I'll tell you how I usually swear. What I just did was just the beginner level."

Wang Xiaoying's face turned red again.

But her hand had already instinctively reached into her handbag and pulled out her phone.

Zhang Xue stood next to her, glanced at the designer bag in her hand, then at the QR code that had already been opened on Wang Xiaoying's phone screen, took a deep breath, and said something in a "I don't care anymore" tone.

"Yingying, you're finished."

Wang Xiaoying did not refute.

After scanning Wang Xiaoying's QR code, the tattooed man put his phone back in his overalls pocket and jogged to catch up with Lin Ye and his group, who had already reached the elevator entrance.

Hua Tui glanced back at Wang Xiaoying, who was still sitting on the bench staring blankly at her phone screen, and nudged Hua Bi with his elbow: "Why did you add her on WeChat? She's my boss, not one of us."

"You don't understand, this is called united front work. It might come in handy later."

The tattooed man glanced down at the first message Wang Xiaoying had sent him—it wasn't "Hello," nor "I'm Manager Wang," but rather a...

"Does Lin Ye usually swear?"

When the tattooed arm saw the message, he laughed so hard he slapped the railing and handed the phone to the tattooed leg. After reading it, the tattooed leg was silent for a while, and then sighed sincerely.

"There are all kinds of people in this world."

Green Hair and Pink Hair followed at the back of the line, their newly bought fluorescent hoodies standing out starkly under the mall's harsh spotlights.

Green Hair tilted his head and thought for a moment, then asked, "So, will she move in too?" Pink Hair shook his head vigorously and said, "No, no, the quota is already exceeded."

Qi Liuhai walked at the very back, carrying a space capsule cat carrier. Wangcai yawned through the hemispherical window, its tail wagging inside the carrier.

As I came out of the mall, the midday sun had just moved out from behind the clouds, making the paving stones on the sidewalk appear white.

The shadow of the sycamore tree shrank into a small ball and clung to the base of the trunk, while the cicadas chirped deafeningly.

Laden with shopping bags of various sizes, the eight girls formed a circle around the fountain at the mall entrance. They placed the bags on the edge of the fountain, and the girl with the tattooed arm pulled out a small fan and blew it into her face: "Thirty-two degrees! Thirty-two degrees in May! This fan is my lifesaver!"

The blond-haired girl lifted the hem of her Lolita dress to fan herself, revealing faint marks on her knees from the fishnet stockings. Her honey-brown twin ponytails clung to her neck in the hot air. "I want ice cream—I want that Häagen-Dazs—I saw someone eating it in front of the bubble tea shop last time—"

Hua Tui took her newly bought sandals out of the box and put them on. While tying the laces, she replied without turning her head, "Häagen-Dazs is so expensive. Do you think I haven't spent enough money today?"

"My brother said we're going to spend money today, you can ask him if you don't believe me!"

Lin Ye walked at the front, carrying his shopping bag. He watched the group of girls chattering and rummaging through their shopping bags around the fountain. He took the cigarette out of his mouth, flicked off the non-existent ash, and was about to speak when his phone vibrated in his pocket.

He took it out and saw that the tattooed man had pulled him into a new group chat called "Queue Group".

Group members: Tattooed arm, blond hair, Shen Qing, tattooed legs, green hair, pink hair, and bangs.

The latest news is a post from someone with a full-sleeve tattoo: "Welcome new member @Wang Xiaoying".

Wang Xiaoying didn't reply to the message in the group chat, but she sent a private message to the tattooed man: "Was he really 'insulting' me, or was he just pretending?"

The tattooed man looked up at Lin Ye, then typed a reply: "Absolutely true, I never lie when I'm cursing."

"What happened to you at the mall today...?"

Wang Xiaoying gritted her teeth,

"Um"