Summer Green Apples

Just as Ji Xiwen was about to go over, her wrist was grabbed. Chi Sui said, "I'll sit down first."

She didn't understand, but she still obediently nodded, "Okay."

After taking his seat, Xu Jiyang looked at Chi Sui beside him, then at Ji Xiwen, who was separated from him by Chi Sui, and asked, "...What do you mean?"

Chi Sui casually picked up a can of cola, hooked the tab with his index finger, tore it open, and handed it to Ji Xiwen. "What...what do you mean?"

Stop pretending to be stupid.

Xu Jiyang said unhappily, "I want to sit with my sister, not with you."

Chi Sui gave him a cold glance. "You're dreaming."

Ji Xiwen had no idea what the two of them were talking about. Zhang Qingyan was pulling her aside and asking her if she was going out for New Year's Eve.

"I can."

Ji Xiwen leaned on her shoulder and said, "But aren't you going with your boyfriend?"

Zhang Qingyan smelled wonderful; she was always a girl who paid attention to her image and would wear different perfumes every day.

Zhang Qingyan chuckled softly, raised her hand to tuck a stray hair behind her ear, and said, "Love is gone, it's gone, and it's not worth commemorating. I'd rather the three of us go together, so that we can remember it for many years to come."

Whenever we think back to when we were sixteen, we are in each other's youth.

"it is good."

Ji Xiwen laughed.

She wasn't very good at playing cards, so she refused the cards Xu Jiyang offered and quietly watched from the sidelines.

The group sat there playing cards for a while, but the birthday celebrant was dissatisfied and called for Chi Sui and the others to go to the courtyard to chat.

This group was all boys.

Before leaving, Chi Sui unlocked his phone and tossed it to Ji Xiwen. His phone had plenty of data. "You can use it for fun. You can play games or watch videos."

This is too private.

Ji Xiwen quickly waved her hand, "No need, no need."

"Take it."

Chi Sui's tone was firm, and he didn't give her a chance to refuse. He got up and left.

Ji Xiwen held his phone, feeling that it was a little hot to the touch.

She pursed her lips, turned off her phone, and put it aside.

Zhang Qingyan propped her cheek on her hand and asked with a smile, "Shy not play?"

"Um."

Ji Xiwen nodded, then offered another excuse, "I don't know what to play."

Zhang Qingyan sighed, "I used to think that Chi Sui was unreliable, with a bunch of shady friends. I guessed he was good-looking and a womanizer. But now I realize I was wrong."

Ji Xiwen's cheeks were getting hot.

Perhaps the air conditioning in the room was too hot, so I couldn't help but take off my coat, revealing a sweater underneath. "Why are you suddenly saying this?"

Zhang Qingyan laughed and said, "It's nothing, just a sentimental thought. After all, Cui Kai usually avoids me when he sends a message. How many men these days would let you play with their phones so openly? He's such a pure-hearted young master."

Ji Xiwen: "..."

"So that's how it is."

She gave a vague reply.

Zhang Qingyan changed the subject and picked up a bottle of lychee-flavored fruit wine from the table next to her. "Xixi, would you like some?"

"Is it good?"

Ji Xi asked.

"It should be alright." Zhang Qingyan tore off the ring on top. "I haven't tried this brand before, but it should be pretty much the same. It has a strong fruity flavor."

Ji Xiwen tilted her head and picked out a bottle of green fruit wine. It was all in English and had half a green apple cut in half on it.

She hooked the ring, tore it open, and tentatively took a sip.

It has a slightly sour taste, a strong green apple flavor, and a hint of wine aroma.

Ji Xiwen had occasionally tasted a few mouthfuls of baijiu (Chinese liquor) when she accompanied her grandmother to wedding banquets or relatives' children's full-moon celebrations.

She was just curious, but after drinking it, she found that it wasn't as delicious as she had imagined.

This one suits her taste better today.

"So that's why I haven't seen you two. Turns out you were hiding here for some peace and quiet."

A familiar voice came from behind me.

Ji Xiwen held the soda can and turned her head away.

Li Zhaozhao, wearing a very thin jacket and sporting a mushroom haircut, sat down next to Ji Xiwen, carrying a box of pizza. "Are you two eating?"

Ji Xiwen shook her head, "No, I just had dinner."

Zhang Qingyan: "I won't eat."

Although Ji Xiwen added Li Zhaozhao on WeChat, they didn't chat much.

It's usually Li Zhaozhao who comes to her, sending her a link every week to ask her to help cut the price, or sharing a short video, which is then followed by laughter.

Ji Xiwen would always cooperate by making a chop, or watch the short video carefully and then laugh out loud.

Actually, she watched those videos from beginning to end without laughing at all; she was just confused, wondering where the jokes were.

"Then I'll eat it myself." Li Zhaozhao put on gloves and started eating.

After Ji Xiwen finished the last sip, she opened another bottle.

Li Zhaozhao had just taken two bites when her phone, which she had tossed aside, rang.

Ji Xiwen initially thought it was Chi Sui's phone ringing, and looked down to find it, until Li Zhaozhao answered the call.

The rough, venomous voice of a middle-aged man rang out from the other end, like a thunderclap in this otherwise quiet little corner.

"Li Zhaozhao, you damn brat! You better never come back. What heinous things did your mother and I do in our past lives to have given birth to such a little beast like you..."

Ji Xiwen looked up in surprise.

Li Zhaozhao hung up the phone calmly and turned it off, tossing it aside.

"...I just went home, and my mom cooked a delicious meal."

She spoke slowly and deliberately, as if telling a story, "My dad also asked me gently if I needed money. Two very ordinary things, which would be normal for other parents, but not for them. I knew something was off..."

But she was also really attached to this love.

She tried to eat naturally and share things about school with her parents.

Halfway through the meal, the parents revealed their true colors.

A matchmaker introduced her to a fairly wealthy small business owner. Her parents thought highly of the relationship and told her to go meet him the next day.

If that man weren't thirty-five this year, he could have gotten a divorce and taken the child.

She might have even convinced herself.

Li Zhaozhao smashed a table full of food and then smashed everything she could in the house before running out.

Ji Xi sighed and handed a bottle of fruit wine to Li Zhaozhao.

In the face of such a situation, words seem inadequate.

It's true that every family has its own problems.

Zhang Qingyan moved to sit on the other side of Li Zhaozhao, clinked her wine glasses with her, and said, "If there's anything I can help you with, just let me know."

"I won't be polite," Li Zhaozhao said.

Zhang Qingyan has a very good relationship with her family, especially her mother. Her mother is a very open-minded parent who respects all of Zhang Qingyan's preferences.

Even her current relationship is known to her mother.

She could comfort Li Zhaozhao very naturally.

Ji Xiwen didn't know what to say, so she silently finished the whole bottle of fruit wine.

My head is spinning, and many fragmented thoughts flash through my mind.

In the end, only one thought remained.

Actually, barbecue is not unusual.

She doesn't need to be envious.