Chased by My Heartless Ex - Chapter 42

Outside the police station.

After walking along the sidewalk for a stretch, Xu You stopped at a convenient pickup spot and pulled out her phone to book a ride. Yu Yao, noticing the long hair falling over Xu You’s temples and blocking the light, fished a hair tie from her pocket and loosely gathered it into a low ponytail for her.

The screen showed the driver had accepted the order. After memorizing the car model and license plate number, Xu You put her phone away and met Yu Yao’s gaze.

Yu Yao wasn’t tall, the top of her head just barely reaching Xu You’s eyebrows. Though her personality was brash and straightforward, her appearance fit the stereotypical “moe” type, quiet and still, she gave off an impression far more demure than she actually was.

Who would have thought such a sweet-looking southern girl could punch someone hard enough to draw blood?

Xu You sighed. Yu Yao grinned playfully and linked arms with her friend. Not expecting to be outside for long, Yu Yao hadn’t dressed warmly. Her ice-cold hands wormed their way directly into Xu You’s pockets, mischievously sharing the chill.

“You… you don’t feel sorry for that person, do you?” Yu Yao’s voice grew quieter, the question sounding rather unconfident.

Xu You shot her a glare, then swapped the hand warmer from her other pocket into Yu Yao’s palm, huddling close as they both shivered. “I’d rather save my sympathy for myself.”

Satisfied, Yu Yao nodded and somehow produced a still-warm steamed bun, pressing it into Xu You’s hand.

“You definitely skipped breakfast. I meant to give you this earlier to tide you over, then take you for a proper meal after we were done. Everything got messed up.” She clicked her tongue in displeasure.

“You could’ve at least thought before throwing a punch, picked a less crowded spot or something.” Xu You’s tone held no blame for Yu Yao hitting Zhou Siyu; she simply stated it before stuffing the bun into her mouth.

Four years of irregular meals while grinding through designs at YUYOO, followed abruptly by Grandma Su’s passing… Those three days, she’d barely eaten. Her once-delicate stomach, after repeated torment, had finally given up completely after she left. It took months of careful nurturing before it slowly recovered and stopped hurting unexpectedly.

While those acute pains had healed, they left behind aftereffects. If she didn’t eat on time, her abdomen would churn as if being stirred violently. Part of the reason she’d vomited earlier was due to this stomach condition.

With the bun in her stomach, the discomfort eased. Swallowing against her dry throat, she asked Yu Yao why she hadn’t brought anything to drink. Just then, the ride-hailing driver, approaching the pickup point, called to confirm their exact location.

Xu You cleared her throat and answered the call. While replying, she scanned the area for the car matching the description. With few vehicles on the road, she quickly spotted the target car on the opposite side and directed the driver to make a U-turn.

It was a long straight road with double yellow lines. As they waited for the driver to approach, a Lamborghini SUV slowed down and stopped right in front of them.

“Wow, babe, our ride-hailing standards are starting with Lamborghinis now?” Yu Yao nudged Xu You with her elbow upon seeing the luxury car, but then noticed Xu You had frozen in place, her smile gradually fading.

The windows on the right side of the luxury car slowly rolled down. As the two irritating faces inside came into view, Yu Yao’s lingering smirk instantly dropped.

“Where are you headed? We can give you a lift.” Qin Keyi, in the driver’s seat, called out to them across the empty passenger seat.

Zhou Siyu, in the back seat, had been staring at Xu You since her field of view opened up. Xu You, however, had already averted her gaze the moment she recognized the upper halves of the faces in the car, refusing to acknowledge her.

The little girl in the child safety seat beside Zhou Siyu spotted the “bad sister” and made a small, grumpy face.

Qin Keyi saw her daughter’s impudent expression and reached back from the steering wheel to pinch her cheek. “There might be some misunderstanding. I didn’t have a chance to explain earlier because Youyou was crying and fussing. Staying in the cold wind for too long will make you sick. Get in the car, and I’ll explain on the way.”

Feeling Xu You trembling, Yu Yao launched a verbal attack.

“A misunderstanding? You people are ridiculous. You can dismiss everything with just two casual words. If it really was a misunderstanding, why didn’t you say so years ago? If you truly cared, why let the conflict drag on until it’s beyond repair before regretting it? We don’t care for your lousy car.” Unwilling to tolerate their condescending manipulation, hurting others casually and then defending themselves as if nothing happened, the little girl stared at her, and Yu Yao met her gaze directly. “Little one, you know, my fists are pretty tough.”

Zhou Siyu, sitting in the back seat like a Xu You detector, seemed oblivious to what others were saying. Her eyes, filled with tenderness and guilt, remained fixed unwaveringly on Xu You.

Yu Yao’s “threat” was utterly childish. Qin Keyi wanted to defend her daughter and was about to speak when she saw Xu You pulling Yu Yao toward the back of the car. In the rearview mirror, Xu You opened the rear door of a car with its hazard lights flashing, shoved herself and Yu Yao inside, and within seconds, the car sped past them.

“Should we chase them?” Qin Keyi asked Zhou Siyu.

This time, Zhou Siyu just shook her head, her eyes fixed on the receding vehicle.

They had originally planned to view a property in the morning, but after the fight and the trip to the police station, Xu You and Yu Yao were already running severely late for their appointment with the real estate agent. As they got out of the car, the agent, Xiao Hu, pacing back and forth on the roadside, rushed over to them from a distance.

“I was wondering, Sister Xu and Sister Yu, why are you so late? Hurry, come upstairs with me. The landlord happens to be nearby today. If you want to negotiate the price, you can talk to him in person after viewing the place.”

“Sorry, something unexpected came up,” Xu You explained as the three of them hurried into the elevator without stopping.

The building they were viewing was newly constructed. The exterior had been painted, but the interior only had whitewashed walls. The wooden panels inside the elevator hadn’t been removed yet, with the brown-yellow composite material smudged in gray and white patches.

The elevator was a standard 13-person lift, and the three of them stood inside without feeling crowded. As the numbers on the display screen climbed, Xiao Hu chattered nonstop, enthusiastically introducing the nearby commercial areas and all sorts of advantages, relevant or not.

The elevator stopped on the fourth floor with a ding, and the metal doors slid open.

“Good properties are hard to come by. If you miss this one, it’ll be tough to find another,” he continued, leading them toward one of the units while still talking.

With experience in leasing studio spaces, Xu You mentally noted several negotiation points as they walked.

She glanced around the floor. The building was smaller than the one housing YUYOO in the tech park, but since it was unfurnished, the emptiness made it feel quite spacious. The floor was divided into five or six sections. Their company didn’t need that many offices, so she’d have to ask during negotiations whether walls could be knocked down and which ones were load-bearing.

“Here we are. Mr. Lu, sorry to keep you waiting,” Xiao Hu said, leading them into the largest unit on the floor.

The property owner stood with his back to them.

The man was dressed in a suit, tall and imposing. He was smoking, with one of the large windows half-open, allowing the cold wind to blow the smoke toward the faces of the people behind him.

Unable to see the landlord’s expression, Xu You was engulfed in a cloud of smoke. The irritation, combined with the chilly air, made her cover her mouth and nose as she coughed several times.

Having witnessed her violent retching earlier that morning, Yu Yao immediately began patting her back and shot a resentful glare at the man who lacked the decency to refrain from smoking indoors.

Xiao Hu, sharp as ever, noticed their displeasure at the landlord’s smoking. Eager to secure the lease, he stepped forward with an ingratiating smile. “Mr. Lu, the two ladies here to view the apartment have arrived. Shall we take a look around first before sitting down to discuss?”

Mr. Lu let out a scoff. The sound struck Xu You as oddly familiar, and her irritated nasal passages suddenly cleared. She studied the man who refused to show his face.

“Lu Ang?” she ventured.

Hearing his name, Mr. Lu froze momentarily before swiftly turning around.

Slicked-back hair, a cigarette dangling from his lips, trying too hard to look cool, it was unmistakably Lu Ang.

The cool-guy persona of Lu Ang never imagined he’d ever be outmaneuvered by Xu You. In the dimly lit private room, laser lights swept erratically across his face, alternating between light and shadow. He sat at one end of the sofa, pressing his fingertips against a glass as he took small sips of whiskey.

“Lu Ang, what’s troubling you?” a short man in trendy clothes slid over to his side.

Zhou Siyu hadn’t arrived yet, so everyone was still relatively relaxed. Lu Ang continued drinking gloomily, staring silently at the silver balloons on the opposite wall, which were arranged in the shape of Xu You’s initials.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to speak, he simply couldn’t.

On her way to discuss the rent, Xu You had tattled to the old man at home. Not only was he forced to rent the place to her at a low price, but under the old man’s pressure, he also had to keep their rental arrangements confidential and, when necessary, even run errands for the two of them.

As Zhou Siyu’s close friend, being a double agent was utterly humiliating!

The proud Lu Ang had vehemently protested, but the moment he voiced his objections, he was thrust back into a memory from four years ago, suffering two consecutive heel strikes from Xu You. Even now, hours later, as he shifted his feet inside his shoes, the swelling on the top of his foot remained.

“Come on, we’re such good brothers. I promise I’ll…” The short man didn’t get to finish his sentence before the overhead lights abruptly illuminated the room.

Zhou Siyu arrived with the brightness, as if casting a spell that paused everyone in place. Each person froze in their original posture, expressions varied, and all eyes turned to her.

The suffering had begun.

In seconds, everyone returned to their seats, sitting upright on the long sofa.

For four consecutive years, on the eve of Xu You’s birthday, Zhou Siyu would gather all the “friends” who had ever encountered Xu You to hold a birthday party in her absence.

There weren’t many ways to torment a group of wealthy young heirs. One method was forcing them to watch Xu You’s portfolio of works in a KTV room without allowing them to sing, followed by delivering evaluations lasting over three minutes. Another was projecting a world map in a bar and making them deduce Xu You’s whereabouts without letting them drink.

Cheng Cheng recalled last year’s ordeal, where a group of privileged young masters and misses who had never lifted a finger in their lives were made to knead dough from scratch to prepare longevity noodles in a mahjong parlor. The uncertainty of this year’s agenda filled her with both dread and resistance.

Being close to Zhou Siyu, she dared to break the silence. “How many more years are we going to do this? Even if we genuinely want to apologize, she can’t see or hear us.”

Zhou Siyu and Lu Ang both shot her sidelong glances. Lu Ang wanted to advise her to say less, but under the dual intimidation of Zhou Siyu and the old man, he kept his mouth shut and prayed.

Cheng Cheng fell silent, then muttered under her breath, “Old Zhou, Qinqin said she has an emergency and can’t make it today.”

Zhou Siyu touched her fingertips, recalling that she had just seen the friend’s post showing she was in the city. She let out a soft “oh” and walked over to the group. “Xu You is back.”

Fearful of being shattered by this sudden bombshell, everyone except the informed Lu Ang broke into murmurs. Cheng Cheng took advantage of the chaos to relay the news of Xu You’s return to Zhang Qin, who immediately pressed her half-done nails against the driver’s seat, urging him to rush over.

“Maybe we should invite her here and apologize to her face.”

“I didn’t do anything, I’m innocent.”

“Who came up with this blind-box-style birthday celebration every year? I can’t stand it one bit.”

By the time Zhang Qin arrived, the friends were deep in discussion. Zhou Siyu leaned against the wall, eyes closed, a faint smile curling at the corners of her lips. Through the palm-sized glass on the door, Zhang Qin could already sense that Zhou Siyu’s mood was different from any other day, a mix of worry and anxiety, yet tinged with excitement.

Xu You had returned, her sharp edges softened, her entire demeanor now gentle like flowing water or smooth silk.

A corner of Zhang Qin’s heart surged with bitterness. She couldn’t bear to watch what she could never have fall back into Xu You’s hands. Pushing the door open, she stepped inside under everyone’s gaze.

Zhou Siyu’s eyelashes fluttered slightly as she opened her eyes, her expression unchanged.

“Ah! Old Zhou, I heard Xu You is back. Congratulations.” Zhang Qin pressed her newly extended nails into her palm, one snapping unevenly under the pressure. Still, she maintained a gracious smile. “Sorry I’m late. I just went to prepare a new birthday gift for Xu You.”

She hid the fierceness in her eyes.

“I plan to use my father’s connections to organize a graduation exhibition for Central Academy of Fine Arts alumni. We can invite them all together and take the chance to apologize, to resolve the issues between Old Zhou and her.”