Chased by My Heartless Ex - Chapter 76

The orange-red evening glow sank early in the west. The two grand halls occupied the entire top floor of the restaurant, and the glass window at the end of the corridor only reflected the heavy darkness of the nearby sky.

This unexpected encounter brought surprise only to Zhou Siyu. Xu You, already irritated from drinking, had no intention of engaging with her. She calmly placed the useless card into her bag, retrieved a new one, and extended it toward the server.

The black bank card was held between her fingers as her slender arm, clad in a form-fitting top, reached forward. Xu You could feel the burning gaze fixed on her cheek but kept her eyes straight ahead. The three of them naturally formed a standoff.

The atmosphere was delicate. On one side was a customer, and on the other was Zhou Siyu, a close friend of the restaurant’s owner. Whether to accept the card or not became the server’s biggest dilemma. His anxious eyes darted nervously between the two, his hands fidgeting helplessly, unable to make a decision for him.

“Treating colleagues to a meal?” Breaking the tension, Zhou Siyu spoke softly.

Though her question was vague and lacked a subject, it was clearly directed at Xu You. Xu You ignored her completely, maintaining her posture.

The heavy wooden door was slightly ajar, allowing laughter and chatter to spill out, creating a stark contrast to the awkwardness outside.

After a moment, Zhou Siyu continued in a low voice.

“The matter with the flowers before, I didn’t think it through properly, and I apologize. You said we should be strangers, but you took me to the hospital and saved me from a dire situation. Setting everything else aside, with that act of kindness between us, it’s impossible for us to owe each other nothing.” She paused. “So, let this meal be my way of repaying you. Is that alright?”

Though Zhou Siyu’s tone wasn’t pleading, she had lowered her stance, subtly offering an olive branch and giving Xu You a way to accept her request.

Hearing this, Xu You froze. If one meal could prevent Zhou Siyu from bothering her again in the future, agreeing now would be more beneficial than not.

Her muddled mind mechanically processed the thought, and she slowly lowered her hand, tilting her chin up without looking at Zhou Siyu. “As Ms. Zhou says.”

The moment the words left her mouth, Zhou Siyu got her wish, and the server breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhou Siyu subtly signaled for the server to leave, but before he could move, Xu You suddenly called out to him.

“Wait, add two bottles of Bin 798 to each table in our hall.” As she spoke, the server instinctively glanced at Zhou Siyu. Xu You turned to her as well, a slight smirk curling her lips. “Ms. Zhou doesn’t mind, does she?”

A case of thousand-yuan-level red wine for each table wouldn’t even compare to the price of a single bottle from their stored collection, let alone the cheapest among them. Such a small amount was nothing to Zhou Siyu, but her gaze couldn’t help but linger on Xu You.

The alcohol was taking effect in Xu You’s body. Her gray form-fitting top clung to her skin, outlining her graceful curves. Her eyes were misty with a thin layer of moisture, exuding an irresistible allure.

Zhou Siyu’s throat moved as she suddenly recalled many heated nights after drinking. She wanted to relive those moments, to press the captivating woman into her very bones.

“Ms. Zhou?” Noticing Zhou Siyu’s unfocused gaze and the unusual pink tinge at the tips of her ears, Xu You immediately guessed the indecent thoughts running through her mind and spoke up with a hint of annoyance to halt her imagination.

The sensual images in Zhou Siyu’s mind grew increasingly vivid, impossible to shake off. She quickly responded with a hum, swallowing hard to suppress her emotions. “I don’t mind. Let’s do it that way.”

“Alright, I’ll go place the order and settle the bill. If you need anything else, just call for me or one of my colleagues.”

The waiter seized the moment to slip away, leaving only Xu You and Zhou Siyu standing in the corridor, enveloped in an awkward silence.

The empty hallway felt suffocatingly narrow under the weight of their quiet. Xu You’s soft breaths stirred the air, brushing faintly against Zhou Siyu’s cheeks, a subtle, maddening itch, just out of reach.

A pang of bitterness surged through Zhou Siyu. By the time she managed to pull herself together, Xu You had already taken a step back, widening the distance between them.

“On behalf of my colleagues, I’d like to thank President Zhou for your generosity. If there are any work-related matters in the future, you can reach out to me.”

Xu You spoke with a smile, but it was shallow, carrying a clear message of keeping her at arm’s length. Each mention of “President Zhou” and “work” stripped away any possibility of a relationship beyond that of superior and subordinate.

Zhou Siyu’s grip on her phone tightened, the edges digging into her skin. Yet the dull ache was nothing compared to the suffocating pain in her chest, as if her heart were being squeezed. Breathless and helpless, she knew she had no one to blame but herself. Across from her, Xu You’s smile remained unchanged. A bitter heat rose in Zhou Siyu’s throat, and unable to force a polite response, she turned and fled in defeat.

In the ruthless world of business, Zhou Siyu had carved out her place not only through strategy and foresight but also with remarkable resilience and tenacity. No matter how fiercely her rivals pressed, she never bowed her head, even if it meant gritting her teeth through the pain.

But now, her steps faltered on the plush hotel carpet, her fragile composure crumbling visibly behind her. Xu You watched, unmoved, neither pained by her distress nor secretly pleased by her vulnerability. She remained calm, her expression unreadable.

They had long drifted apart in the passage of time. There was no need for reunion, no reason to torment each other again.

“Team Leader Xu, you…”

Just then, the wooden door to the main hall swung open abruptly, flooding the corridor with noise and pulling Xu You into its midst. She turned at the sound, her eyes meeting those of the speaker, who froze mid-sentence.

It was one of the junior members of Xu You’s team, someone she worked closely with in the design department. The young woman’s impression of Xu You had always been summed up in words like confident, efficient, and sunny. Seeing her team leader standing there, expressionless and dim-eyed, was such a shock that she momentarily forgot the task her colleagues had sent her to do.

“What’s wrong?” Xu You blinked, inhaling the mixed scents lingering in the air.

The young woman snapped back to attention, her expression stiff. “Nothing, really. The team noticed you’d been out here for a while and asked me to check if you needed anything.”

As she spoke, her round eyes darted around, searching for whoever might have upset her team leader.

But the corridor was empty.

Zhou Siyu had already made her embarrassed exit.

Realizing she had indeed been standing there for some time, Xu You gently patted the young woman’s arm. “It’s fine. I drank a little too quickly and needed some fresh air. How was the food? Should I order more if anyone wants something else?”

“No, no, we’ve had more than enough,” the young woman replied, easily distracted. Grinning, she patted her stomach. “If I get on the subway like this, people will offer me a seat, I look at least five months pregnant!”

She burst into laughter at her own joke, and finally, a genuine smile spread across Xu You’s face.

The two returned to their seats one after the other. Li Rui had long been keeping an eye on Xu You’s movements. Just as the words were about to spill from her lips, the heavy, tall wooden door suddenly swung open from the outside. Six slender, elegant waiters stepped in, approaching each table to place two bottles of red wine before departing in an orderly manner.

“Team Leader Xu, what’s this?” the leader of another team at the same table asked, tilting their head.

Xu You, meeting the curious gazes from all directions, tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and glanced at the department head. “Just making sure everyone has enough to drink. It’s nothing fancy, so I hope no one minds.”

Bin798 was indeed far from a high-end red wine, at best falling into the mid-range category. With the department head present, footing the bill had already made quite an impression. If she went overboard, her image in the department head’s eyes would surely take a hit. So, she refrained from taking advantage of Zhou Siyu and making an extravagant request.

“Not bad at all. Team Leader Xu is generous to treat us all. Let’s eat and drink without holding back,” the department head said, swirling the wine glass held delicately between his fingers. The crimson liquid clung to the sides, leaving an almost transparent film. “Eat well today, so we can work hard tomorrow.”

At the mention of work, the atmosphere noticeably cooled by several degrees. Soon, however, frustration transformed into appetite, and the lively chatter resumed.

Amid the interplay of light and shadow, glasses clinked and toasts were made. Xu You had already endured two rounds of toasts, and her glass was never empty for more than two seconds. The moment she set it down, someone would refill it, and she’d raise it again, downing the contents in one go.

Sitting to her left, Qian Doudou watched as Xu You polished off an entire bottle of red wine in under twenty minutes. Her face gradually turned pale, and a bad feeling tugged at her brow.

“Team Leader Xu,” Li Rui called out from across the table, raising her glass and tilting her chin in Xu You’s direction.

It wouldn’t do to reject someone’s goodwill, but Li Rui was rotten to the core. Xu You relaxed the fingers resting on her glass and tapped them lightly on the tablecloth-covered surface, waiting for Li Rui’s next move.

“Xu can’t drink anymore,” Qian Doudou interjected, cutting off Li Rui’s follow-up. She was the second person, after Xu You, to sense Li Rui’s ill intentions, hidden beneath a veneer of politeness. Taking matters into her own hands, she outright refused on Xu You’s behalf.

“Xu is already drunk,” Qian Doudou added, glancing at Xu You and subtly shaking her head, signaling her to play along.

Xu You understood immediately. She closed and reopened her eyes, a hazy mist clouding her gaze.

Swaying slightly, she leaned into the act, her dazed expression convincingly mimicking the confusion of a drunkard.

Li Rui, however, wasn’t having it. She lifted her arm from the table and extended it forward, as if determined to force Xu You to drink. “Team Leader Xu?”

“Hmm?” Xu You swayed even more, the motion growing increasingly exaggerated. After a couple of unsteady shifts, she lost her balance entirely and slumped against Qian Doudou, who caught her firmly and laid her head down on the table.

Qian Doudou raised an eyebrow at Li Rui, who had no outlet for her frustration. Clenching her fingers, Li Rui lifted her head and swallowed hard, downing the entire glass of red wine in one go. Her lips were stained a vivid crimson.

A cold laugh escaped her nostrils, though she maintained her composure, not a trace of impatience or anger on her face. “Then I’ll have to trouble Deputy Head Qian to take good care of our Team Leader Xu. After all, she treated everyone to a meal, it wouldn’t look good if word got out that we drank her under the table.”

Lying face down on the table, Xu You felt a twitch at her temple. She couldn’t see the expressions of the others, but she doubted anyone would agree with or support Li Rui’s remark.

She had drunk so much, yet not a single glass had been initiated by her. Aside from the department head, nearly everyone present had come to toast her individually. Li Rui’s comment was nothing short of a loud accusation that everyone else had overstepped.

Who would be happy about being called out like that?

Xu You pouted, trying hard to find the right moment to lift her head. She waited and waited until her eyelids grew too heavy to lift, her consciousness gradually fading away as she sank into darkness, forgetting everything that came after.

Everyone has their own habits. Knowing she’d likely drink a lot, Xu You had deliberately not driven, entrusting herself entirely to Qian Doudou. She had prepared for all sorts of scenarios, but never expected to end up so utterly drunk, limp as mud, with the train completely derailed and the outcome utterly unconventional.

The next morning, she was jolted awake by a splitting headache. Her scalp felt as if countless hands were tugging at it, her brain as though it had been tossed into a blender, shattered, and poured back in. The pain was so intense she couldn’t even open her eyes.

A working professional to the core, she groped blindly for her phone by the bed, bringing it close to her face. As the screen lit up, her tightly shut eyelids gradually relaxed, cracking open just a slit. The dim light and the unfamiliar room decor startled her so much she shot upright, leaning against the headboard.

This wasn’t her room!

Xu You looked down, her clothes had been stripped off and replaced with a silk nightgown, beneath which she wore nothing at all.

A thousand terrible scenarios flashed through her mind as she clutched her phone, scanning the room. Then her eyes met those of Zhou Siyu, who was drowsily waking up on the sofa nearby. All her fears condensed into one sentence:

“Zhou Siyu, you bastard, why am I at your place?”