Chased by My Heartless Ex - Chapter 6

Xu You was stunned by the words “lousy painting” and remained silent for a long time.

Amidst the laughter, the wrapping paper she had carefully glued together was torn inch by inch, quickly revealing the magnificent oil painting inside.

Zhou Siyu had said that Zhang Qin liked flowers and wanted a painting from her, so she had gifted her an entire sea of blossoms. But she never imagined that when the painting was unveiled, it would be looked down upon so disdainfully becoming a tool for them to attack her.

Snapping back to reality, she glanced at Zhang Qin, whose face was etched with apology and awkwardness, and understood.

It wasn’t about liking flowers or valuing her painting, it was just an excuse to drag her into their circle and humiliate her, to make her feel ashamed.

“Does she think she’s some master artist? How could she even show this?”

“Students from the Central Academy of Fine Arts are nothing special. I bet I could paint something just as good.”

“How embarrassing. I wouldn’t even want this thing in my house, it’s not presentable.”

Zhang Qin stole a glance at Zhou Siyu. Xu You was being mocked like this, yet Zhou Siyu didn’t interrupt. She even fiddled with her lighter calmly, which made Zhang Qin feel completely at ease.

Powerless. On any other day, if someone had criticized her work like this, she would have jumped up and smashed the painting over their heads. But these were Zhou Siyu’s friends.

“Hey, who gave this? A preserved flower bear? So tacky.” Before Xu You’s trembling voice could form a reply, Lu Ang pointed at the pink preserved flower bear on the corner of the table and laughed.

Zhao Ziru blushed, stepped closer, and punched Lu Ang’s shoulder. “Can’t you talk properly? Isn’t it pretty?”

“Tsk, it’s not just not pretty, it’s kind of ugly.” Lu Ang remained cheeky and grinning.

“What amazing gift did you give? Let me see how impressive it is.”

The topic was diverted by Lu Ang, and Xu You smoothly escaped the center of criticism. She breathed a quiet sigh of relief and sat back down beside Zhou Siyu. The leather sofa creaked as it sank under her weight, and Zhou Siyu’s hand, which had been spinning the lighter, paused.

Xu You felt as if a huge crack had formed inside her. It wouldn’t take wind or rain, just one word from Zhou Siyu, and she would shatter.

She didn’t want to break. She didn’t want to show weakness in front of these people. Finding an excuse, she slipped out of the private room unnoticed.

The drunkards in the hallway had been replaced by others. Avoiding their sticky, leering gazes, she hurried into the restroom and stood before the sink. In the mirror, her eyes were redder than a rabbit’s.

The sensor-activated faucet turned on, and water poured heavily into her palms.

The cold sensation quickly spread to the edges of her hands. Cupping a handful of water, she felt as if her heart had been plunged into ice water, sour and swollen. In the end, she let go, allowing the water to rush down the drain.

She couldn’t let her makeup run.

Xu You swallowed hard and forced a smile at her reflection.

So ugly. Even more pitiful than the pug Yu Yang kept.

Thinking of Yu Yang made Xu You’s heart ache even more. She pulled out her phone and typed a few lines of complaint, but before sending, she held down the delete key and erased everything. With winter time, France was eight hours behind. Yu Yang was probably enjoying afternoon tea right now.

Her phone lay quietly in her hand.

She had disappeared, and Zhou Siyu hadn’t come looking for her. Had she not noticed, or did she just not care?

Exhaling a heavy breath, Xu You adjusted her emotions and stepped out of the restroom.

Restrooms were the birthplace of many stories. At the entrance to the men’s room, a young couple was locked in a passionate embrace. Xu You accidentally met the man’s lust-filled gaze and quickly lowered her head, hurrying toward the private room at the end of the hall.

Her field of vision was limited to the floor right in front of her, so she couldn’t see the path ahead clearly. Picking up her pace, she didn’t notice the shadowy figure she was walking into until her head collided straight into something hard.

“Sorry.” She winced in pain before bending over to apologize.

Lu Ang crossed his arms over his chest, his expression hovering between a smile and a smirk.

“Really, I’m sorry.” Xu You repeated without looking up, her waist bent at a perfect ninety-degree angle.

Lu Ang unfolded his arms, contemplating how to make her stand up straight and talk to him properly.

Xu You stared at the sneakers directly in front of her, feeling a sense of familiarity creeping in. Suspicious, she slowly raised her head and saw Lu Ang’s punchable face spring back into view, instinctively taking a step backward.

Her back pressed against the hard wall, she gritted her teeth to summon courage.

“I haven’t accepted your apology yet.” Lu Ang’s peach blossom eyes curved into a smile, looking utterly harmless. “Besides, you haven’t thanked me for helping you out earlier.”

Xu You’s mouth twitched. “Thank you.”

Her tone was stiff, convinced in her heart that he and Zhang Qin were birds of a feather. Her defenses were set high, maintaining a battle-ready stance.

“Little rabbit, you’re not sincere.” Lu Ang’s slender fingers lifted her chin, forcing Xu You to meet his gaze and exposing all the wariness in her moist eyes.

Xu You slapped away the frivolous fingers from her chin, glaring fiercely at Lu Ang while grinding her teeth audibly.

“Please watch your boundaries.”

Lu Ang noticed her “rabbit ears” trembling, with her two front teeth seemingly ready to strike, silently marveling at how the ancients weren’t wrong, even rabbits bite when cornered.

He chuckled delightedly twice, flexing his fingers. Xu You had used full force in that slap, leaving large red marks on his fair hand, though he didn’t mind.

In fact, he wanted to continue teasing this ruffled rabbit.

“What if I don’t?” he said, moving closer to Xu You.

The security alarm blared in her mind. With nowhere to retreat, Xu You attempted to reason with this shameless creep.

“We might see each other again after this. Don’t make things so awkward between us.”

“You’re Zhou Siyu’s friend. You should consider her feelings, right?”

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell Zhou Siyu?”

When gentle tactics failed, Xu You reluctantly brought up Zhou Siyu to pressure him, hoping those three syllables might awaken whatever remained of his conscience.

Lu Ang’s smile didn’t fade as he bent down to meet her eye level. “How much does Zhou Siyu pay you monthly? I’ll double it.”

Xu You took out her phone right in front of Lu Ang and opened the traditional almanac.

Damn. There it was, in bold characters: “Unfavorable for all matters.”

Curious why the little rabbit looked so regretful, Lu Ang followed her gaze to her glowing red phone screen. Seeing those large characters, three black lines formed on his forehead as he reached out to turn off her phone.

“Quite the superstitious one. Why aren’t you answering my question?”

“Answer your ass!”

Xu You jumped up and stomped on Lu Ang’s foot, immediately leaving a conspicuous black mark on the white sneaker. Lu Ang instantly performed a Sichuan opera-style face change.

Still furious, she lifted her leg to add another stamp on his other clean shoe, but Lu Ang abruptly pulled back, barely preserving that shoe’s purity.

“Are you insane? The last few times we met you looked at me like I killed your father, and now I’ve directly become your father?”

“Do you guys have some group chat where you get KPI points for messing with me?”

“Disgusting. You win. Not only can I not eat flies, watching others eat them makes me want to vomit.”

All the grievances she’d suffered throughout the day peaked at this moment. After her outburst, Xu You gasped for fresh air.

Her wandering eyes swept over Lu Ang, who was laughing instead of getting angry, sending chills down her spine.

Damn, she’d encountered a real-life pervert!

Xu You glared at him.

“What are you laughing at?”

“You’re adorable when you laugh.”

“You’re insane.”

“Seriously, no group chats, no KPIs. Just think about my proposal.”

“Not interested. Get lost.”

This time Xu You didn’t give Lu Ang any chance to react. After stepping on his other shoe, she hunched over and slipped past him, glancing back repeatedly as she hurried toward the private room.

Faster, faster… she needed to reach Zhou Siyu’s side immediately for comfort.

Just one step away from the room, Xu You quickly glanced back to confirm Lu Ang hadn’t followed. Her hand reached for the metal handle, but before she could touch it, the door swung open from inside.

Zhou Siyu stepped out with an expressionless face. Her eyebrows remained neutral, but a flicker of light stirred in her eyes at the sight of Xu You.

Seeing her emotional anchor right before her, Xu You urgently sought solace, completely overlooking the dark intensity radiating from Zhou Siyu.

She didn’t know, inside that room, a confession had just taken place, and Zhou Siyu had been the one confessed to.