It fell from his fingertips

With the cat tree, Naitang had a blast playing in the huge living room every day. She even forgot about her favorite thing, like lying next to Tang Luoqing and watching her draw. She was extremely happy, jumping up and down on the cat tree every day.

In the days that followed, Tang Luoqing was bursting with inspiration. She not only drew all the drafts of the illustrations needed for the new issue in one go, but also had a certain feeling for the works to be exhibited in the cultural and creative exhibition. She was just waiting to finish all the illustrations for the new issue before she started drawing them.

As she was drawing a kitten with her paintbrush, Zhou Yanchen called.

This was the first time the two had contacted each other since they missed each other's calls two weeks ago.

Tang Luoqing stared at the name on her phone screen, a name so familiar it was almost unbearable, and was momentarily lost in thought.

So, they haven't been in touch for so long? So long that seeing this name now feels a bit surreal.

The heavy rain pounded against the glass outside the window. Tang Luoqing listened to the noise, went over, closed the window even tighter, and answered the phone.

"Luo Qing, I'm back to celebrate your birthday! Where are you? Come to Nightfall Bar. I've invited a lot of friends to celebrate with you. Come on, I'm waiting for you."

Zhou Yanchen's slightly drunken voice came through the receiver.

Tang Luoqing was slightly taken aback.

She doesn't like crowds. In the past, she always celebrated her birthday alone with her boyfriend. Why did she invite friends to celebrate with her this time?

Just as I was wondering, I faintly heard a woman's laughter coming from the phone, and...

"Young Master Zhou, aren't you being too nice to Miss Tang? You brought us all all this way to celebrate her birthday? Tell me, what exactly do you like about her? Is it her youth? Her beauty? I have those too, so consider me."

"Go away, I don't like someone as opinionated and easily angered as you. As for what I like about my girlfriend? Of course, I like that she's obedient, sensible, and won't get angry at me for no reason. Okay, okay, you guys are so gossipy."

After Zhou Yanchen finished speaking, he continued to say to Tang Luoqing on the other end of the phone, "It's settled then. We're all waiting for you. Come over quickly, come quickly, come quickly."

Upon hearing these words, Tang Luoqing's previously cheerful mood, which had been bursting with inspiration recently, plummeted to rock bottom.

Her mind went blank. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the red string on her left wrist holding the phone. Her heart felt suffocated, as if it were being drowned by the heavy rain outside the window, and she could hardly breathe.

It turns out that her belief that she could let go of Zhou Yanchen was just an illusion that he hadn't caused her any greater harm, allowing her to catch her breath.

It turns out that Zhou Yanchen really does keep hurting her, and this time it's even...

Tang Luoqing's eyes welled up with tears, and her nose stung. She gripped the goldfish pendant on the red string of her left wrist with her right hand, her knuckles turning white. But when she spoke, her voice choked with emotion: "Zhou Yanchen, is this...your birthday present to me? On my birthday, you went to a bar with another woman? And you said it was to celebrate my birthday? Zhou Yanchen, why...why did you do this to me? Why did you hurt me like this? You promised me..."

Tang Luoqing couldn't continue speaking; her heart ached terribly, yet her voice was low, as if speaking had exhausted all her strength.

Tang Luoqing thought Zhou Yanchen would do what he always did, trying to coax her again. She was even prepared to never forgive him no matter what he said. But then, she heard Zhou Yanchen say something on the other end of the phone.

"Tang Luoqing, how have I treated you? I was just playing around with them, is it really that big of a deal?"

Zhou Yan's tone on the other end of the phone was utterly dismissive: "Don't worry, you're still my favorite. Okay, okay, stop with the nonsense. Hurry up and come. If you don't come, I'll break up with you. I'm not kidding."

Tang Luoqing could no longer hold back her tears. Without saying a word, she hung up the phone.

Turning around, I looked out at the torrential rain, the sky a dark, oppressive expanse, and the suffocating feeling of my heart being soaked by the rain grew stronger and stronger.

She couldn't understand why Zhou Yanchen would act this way; all the vows he had made back then had become a joke.

For some unknown reason, Tang Luoqing wiped away her tears, walked out of the study, and, trying to hold back her tears, patted Naitang's head reassuringly, poured her some cat food, then took a deep breath and left the house.

It was raining and difficult to hail a taxi, so Tang Luoqing decided to walk there. But just as she reached the entrance of the residential area, an empty taxi passed by.

Before she could think too much about why it was such a coincidence, Tang Luoqing got into a taxi and told the driver the name of the bar.

After getting out of the car, Tang Luoqing, holding an umbrella, waded through the rain to the bar entrance, where she saw Zhou Yanchen inside, laughing and talking with a girl, and even...

He turned his head to the side and kissed the girl on the cheek.

Tang Luoqing's umbrella fell to the ground.

The heavy rain poured down, quickly soaking her shirt and jeans.

Tang Luoqing seemed oblivious to the cold, staring intently at the glaring scene unfolding in the distant bar.

She could no longer hold back her tears, which fell in a steady stream, quickly blurring her vision. She couldn't tell if it was rain or tears.

The next moment, tears unexpectedly fell into a warm palm.

The rain was pouring down, and a large umbrella appeared over Tang Luoqing's head. Zhou Jinbai, who was holding the umbrella, was standing in front of her at some point.

The umbrellas were tilted and poured over Tang Luoqing's head. Outside the umbrellas, the man's shirt was completely soaked by the rain and clung tightly to his body, outlining the sharp and smooth lines of his shoulders and back.

Tang Luoqing's breath hitched: "Big...Big Brother?"

She came here to witness everything firsthand and finally give up hope. Why is Zhou Jinbai here too?

Zhou Jinbai did not respond to the address. Instead, he reached out and grasped Tang Luoqing's wrist. Then, he leaned down and caught the next tear that Tang Luoqing unconsciously shed with his warm lips.

Tang Luoqing froze, instinctively pulling away from Zhou Jinbai's hand. She took a step back, her eyes widening in surprise. Her long, wet eyelashes blinked in disbelief, and her voice trembled: "Brother?"

Zhou Jinbai did not respond.

He clenched his fist, which Tang Luoqing had just shaken off, and stared straight at the girl in front of him. After a long while, he slowly loosened his clenched fist. On the knuckles of that fist were faint red bruises from a fight he had with someone half an hour earlier.

Zhou Jinbai, tall and slender, stepped forward into the umbrella, leaning slightly forward, enveloping Tang Luoqing in a scorching shadow.

Then, the man bent down to be at eye level with Tang Luoqing, and lowered the umbrella to block all view from outside.

"Tang Luoqing, don't cry for him, he doesn't deserve it."

Zhou Jinbai raised his hand again to wipe away her tears, then leaned closer, his deep voice tinged with the rain, his breath brushing against Tang Luoqing's lips: "I'll take you home, okay?"

Tang Luoqing was stunned.