After Setting Me Up With My Ex, The Aloof Alpha Regrets It - Chapter 44

Chapter 44: I Think I’m Downstairs at Your Place.

Hai Yao bought some hangover medicine from a nearby pharmacy and poured it down Zhu Yunqi’s throat.

She finally understood her team leader’s alcohol tolerance. One drink, and she was out.

And she was a bad drunk, too. She just sat there like a wooden dummy, not talking or moving. She wouldn’t even take the hangover medicine. Her teeth were like they were welded shut; she couldn’t pry them open. Helplessly, Hai Yao just shook the medicine in front of Zhu Yunqi and then put it in her pants pocket. “I’m leaving this here for you. Remember to take it if you feel unwell.”

Hai Yao used all her strength to get Zhu Yunqi into the car. She deeply regretted her decision to take Zhu Yunqi to the bar. If she had known Zhu Yunqi would end up like this, she definitely wouldn’t have been so flippant next to Zhu Yunqi’s car. She would have pretended not to know her and quietly walked away.

“Team Leader Zhu, where’s your place?”

Zhu Yunqi wasn’t mute now. She gave an address. She was leaning against the seat, her hair in a bun at the back of her head, which was a little uncomfortable. She raised her hand to remove the hairpin, letting her long hair fall down.

Hai Yao entered the address Zhu Yunqi had given into the navigation system and then activated the automatic driving function. Fortunately, Zhu Yunqi’s car had passed the full automatic driving test. Otherwise, with both of them having had a drink, they wouldn’t even be able to drive the car. The Federation’s drunk driving laws for non-fully automatic driving cars were very strict.

As the car drove smoothly, Hai Yao asked curiously, “Why is it just a normal residential area? Team Leader Zhu, shouldn’t you live in a big villa?”

Zhu Yunqi had gone mute again.

Hai Yao was speechless. “Fine, fine. Don’t talk if you don’t want to. Can I have your car? If you don’t say anything, I’ll take it as a yes.”

Zhu Yunqi: “No.”

Hai Yao: …

Her free ride failed.

It seemed that Zhu Yunqi still had some sense left. The alcohol hadn’t swallowed up her basic property protection awareness.

The car drove all the way to the entrance of the residential area. But because of the access control, the car couldn’t go in.

Hai Yao asked, “Team Leader Zhu, is this really your place?”

The sign clearly read “No entry for visitor vehicles.”

Zhu Yunqi got out of the car herself. With a bit of clarity mixed in with her drunkenness, she said, “This is fine. I haven’t registered my car in this residential area yet.”

From Hai Yao’s perspective, this residential area or that residential area, it seemed like Zhu Yunqi had too many homes and couldn’t distinguish which ones had verified their car information and which ones hadn’t. That was the simple and unpretentious life of a rich person.

Hai Yao thought this was one of Zhu Yunqi’s private apartments and didn’t think much of it. She poked her head out of the driver’s seat. “Team Leader Zhu, I’ll take your car for now. Can you get home by yourself?”

Zhu Yunqi gave her an “OK” gesture.

After Hai Yao drove away, Zhu Yunqi found a spot by the flower bed at the entrance of the residential area and sat down.

She didn’t know why she was here. When Hai Yao asked her where to go, the only address in her head was Shi Li’s.

Zhu Yunqi touched her face, and it felt a little hot. Her optical computer’s health assistant reminded her that excessive drinking was harmful to her health.

It felt like she had just run a marathon. Her entire body had no strength, and her bones felt like they were falling apart. Her heart was beating fast and strong, her head was spinning, and her thoughts were flying everywhere. No matter what she thought about, it was slow, but she was surprisingly mentally alert, even a little excited.

It was a very strange feeling.

Zhu Yunqi opened Shi Li’s optical computer again and found that Shi Li had posted an update not long ago.

“Documenting the growth of my little plant—Day 28. The only white crystal chrysanthemum has a flower bud. I wonder what it will look like when it blooms?”

Several photos of the small plants were attached. They were growing wonderfully. The white crystal chrysanthemum seedling had been transplanted into a separate pot. The pot, like a small cloud, was also in the shape of a cute little dog.

Many people liked and commented on Shi Li’s post.

Rain Knows to Go Home: Please share the store link. I want to grow one on my office desk too.

Sapphire: Is comrade Shi starting to grow plants recently?

Loves Cilantro (Law Exam Version): You’re doing so well. I’m so jealous. I kill everything I try to grow.

Sexy Single Mother Mouse: Wow, not only is my senior beautiful and kind, but she’s also so good at growing plants!

Chugs Cockroach Juice: Stupid Li Bao, you’re posting about your plant, but you won’t post about me!

Peace and Quiet: Looks like you’re not busy lately and even have time to grow plants. Want to go out for coffee sometime?

Zhu Yunqi’s heart felt warm. She went back to her chat history with Shi Li and couldn’t help but want to send her a message.

As soon as her finger typed the first character on the screen, Zhu Yunqi froze. After a while, she sadly deleted the content she had typed.

Don’t bother Shi Li. Don’t bother Shi Li. Don’t bother Shi Li.

Zhu Yunqi silently chanted it three times.

Her long hair was blown by the wind, and some of it ran across her face, making it feel itchy. Zhu Yunqi didn’t like this feeling.

But her hair was the only thing that was helping her block the light breeze on this lonely summer night.

A resident walked by and looked at her with a strange, pitying gaze. A moment later, a half-empty bottle of mineral water and a half-eaten loaf of bread appeared in front of Zhu Yunqi.

The kind person said, “You can check out the city’s homeless shelter.”

They put down the items and ran away.

Zhu Yunqi: …

Her head was spinning. She thought, I’ve been mistaken for a stray dog.

Zhu Yunqi slowly got up, holding the water and bread, and walked to a nearby trash can to throw them away. She found a fence and climbed over it. This way, she felt a little closer to Shi Li.

Following her memory, Zhu Yunqi found the building where Shi Li lived and pretended to be taking a stroll downstairs, looking at the window of her floor. Shi Li was home. The lights were on.

Zhu Yunqi finally felt a little comforted. The light from that small window became the exit for her confused heart.

When she was on her thirty-fifth lap of walking, Zhu Yunqi received a call request from Shi Li.

She looked at it three times in a row, finally confirming that it was indeed Shi Li calling. The cartoon dog profile picture bounced up and down on the communication interface.

Zhu Yunqi took a deep breath, brought the phone to her ear, and answered.

She knew she wasn’t very clear-headed right now, so she forced herself to be fully alert. Her throat involuntarily felt dry.

“Zhu Yunqi, I’m home. Are you home yet?”

Shi Li’s gentle voice came through. Zhu Yunqi guessed that she was probably wearing pajamas and sitting in her comfortable bed, so her voice was also filled with a lazy and soft tone.

Zhu Yunqi tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m home.”

“That’s good. Lan Yang told me you drank a high-proof alcohol and didn’t want to take the hangover medicine.”

Zhu Yunqi’s head slowly drooped.

So Hai Yao was the one who said it. It’s not that Shi Li wanted to care about her on her own.

She suddenly felt like throwing a tantrum.

But she had no standing, and no reason to.

Zhu Yunqi said with difficulty, “I didn’t…”

At that moment, a man who was jogging at night passed by. After he passed Zhu Yunqi, he turned and jogged backward. He slowed down and kept about a meter’s distance from Zhu Yunqi, greeting her.

“Hey, I’ve seen you walking here for a while. Want to go for a run together?”

The man’s voice was loud. It went through the earpiece, and Shi Li heard it clearly.

“Zhu Yunqi, are you really at home?”

Why would a man ask her to go for a run with him if she was at home?

Shi Li remembered what Lan Yang had said, that she dropped Zhu Yunqi off at the entrance of a residential area…

The residential area Zhu Yunqi lived in should be a villa area. So she hadn’t gone home and had been wandering around the villa area?

Zhu Yunqi calmly told the man, “Thank you, but no.” The man shrugged, turned around, and continued his nightly run.

Zhu Yunqi continued her call with Shi Li.

“I… I’m not at home right now.”

Shi Li immediately pressed her. “Where are you?”

Zhu Yunqi just gave up. “I think I’m downstairs at your place.”

As soon as she said it, Zhu Yunqi regretted it. But she was also secretly looking forward to Shi Li’s next reaction.

“Downstairs at my place?” Shi Li almost screamed.

Immediately after, Zhu Yunqi heard a window of a unit above her open. Shi Li leaned out halfway, looked in her direction for a few seconds, and then closed the window again.

The sound of shuffling footsteps and things being rummaged through came from the earpiece. Shi Li instructed her, “You stand there and don’t move. I’m coming down now.”

Only after the call ended did Zhu Yunqi say “Okay” in a hoarse voice.

As Shi Li instructed, she stood still obediently. The elevator at the entrance of the building opened. Shi Li, wearing a nightgown, ran over, holding a large bundle of something.

She ran to Zhu Yunqi out of breath and unfolded what she was holding—a large, thin jacket. She stood on her tiptoes and put it on Zhu Yunqi’s shoulders. Then, she put a bottle of warm mineral water into Zhu Yunqi’s hand.

Shi Li’s delicate brows were furrowed, her eyes half-blaming and half-worried. “Lan Yang said she was driving you home. How did she end up taking you to my residential area?”

Zhu Yunqi held the water bottle, blinking her eyes, and decided to let Hai Yao take “full responsibility.”

“I don’t know. She was driving my car. My car was last navigated to your place, so she probably used my last address.”

“And you didn’t notice that the place was wrong?”

“I was drunk.” Zhu Yunqi lowered her head and wrapped the jacket around her shoulders. She particularly liked the scent of the jacket.

Shi Li scratched her head. “So what do we do now? Give me your home address, and I’ll call you a car.”

Lan Yang really is something, just dropping a person off at the entrance of a residential area and leaving.

Zhu Yunqi shook her head. “I don’t want to go home.”

“Huh?” Shi Li looked back at her rented apartment. Her place only had one bedroom, and it wasn’t convenient for Zhu Yunqi to stay the night there.

Zhu Yunqi said, “I’ll find a hotel nearby.”

Zhu Yunqi was obviously very drunk. Shi Li wasn’t comfortable with her going to a hotel by herself. She said, “I’ll take you there.”

Zhu Yunqi then squatted in front of her, hugging her legs. She mumbled softly, “Really?”

Then she buried her face in her arms.

Shi Li didn’t hear what she said. She also squatted down, tilted her head, and asked, “Can you walk by yourself right now?”

The head resting on her thighs nodded up and down.

Shi Li stood up, bent down, and offered a hand to Zhu Yunqi.

“Get up. I’ll take you to a hotel.”

The Alpha, who was curled up into a ball, turned her head slightly, revealing one eye, and looked at that fair, slender hand.

Zhu Yunqi took her hand.

Support After Setting Me Up With My Ex, The Aloof Alpha Regrets It