Coveted for a Long Time 23p2

Chapter 23 p2

Zhao Shihuan invited friends and acquaintances to dinner, gathering two tables at Jiang Ting Restaurant.

Qiao Xi went over with a gift. She arrived early, and as soon as she entered, she met the young boy who had come to the shop wanting a skull tattoo when she first opened. Jiang City was really small; turn around twice and you meet again. The boy turned out to be Zhao Shihuan’s distant relative, named Zhu Xubai.

Zhu Xubai had a deep impression of Qiao Xi and had heard Zhao Shihuan mention her, not expecting such a coincidence.

Probably feeling embarrassed about losing face, he felt awkward facing Qiao Xi.

“He’s also studying at the University of Science and Technology, same major as you,” Zhao Shihuan introduced.

The Zhu family’s background was average; his parents were both senior engineers. Zhu Xubai didn’t count as a rich kid.

Considering he was a junior from the same department, Qiao Xi gave face and chatted for a while. Zhao Shihuan had to receive others, so she walked away first. Fu Bei arrived relatively late, probably rushing over. Her face was a bit pale; she must have had a hard time these past few days.

This person went straight to sit next to Qiao Xi. Qiao Xi turned her head and glanced at her.

Zhu Xubai sat on the other side. That kid had no tact, truly treating Qiao Xi as a respectable senior, foolishly pouring water for her, which earned him a sidelong glance from Fu Bei.

Qiao Xi had to say, “This is Zhu Xubai, Sister Huan’s distant cousin.”

Zhu Xubai was simple-minded. Hearing his name, he looked over enthusiastically, extending his hand. “Hello, I’m Zhu Xubai.”

Fu Bei accepted calmly, “Hello.”

Qiao Xi felt inexplicably awkward and said, “She is Fu Bei, your cousin’s childhood friend.”

“Heard my cousin mention her. First time meeting.” Zhu Xubai was strangely shy, touching his nose.

Compared to the two banquets at the Fu family, Zhao Shihuan’s was a real gathering. A bunch of people didn’t need to put on airs or show off, laughing and making noise. Friends who hadn’t seen each other for too long caught up, chatting about everything.

Qiao Xi knew most of the people present and joined in by the end.

Later, they booked the place to drink and play billiards. Just drinking and playing, it was quite proper; no one messed around. Zhu Xubai shouted for everyone to play games together, playing Werewolf. Fu Bei still sat next to Qiao Xi.

With so many people present, it was hard to speak freely, and she couldn’t leave. Qiao Xi felt this person was weird—why keep following her? But she held back and didn’t flare up.

Someone said, “Xiao Bai, pass me a bottle of wine.”

The wine was all piled in front of Fu Bei’s table, inconvenient for Zhu Xubai to reach. Qiao Xi subconsciously helped, but instead of touching the bottle, she touched the back of Fu Bei’s hand, instantly curling her fingers back.

Fu Bei asked in a low voice, “What do you want to drink?”

Qiao Xi felt awkward and grabbed a can of drink herself.

Midway, Fu Bei went out for a bit. Looking around, Zhao Shihuan was missing too, presumably the two had business.

Zhu Xubai was quite lively, energetic and vigorous, simple and unaware of depths, with a likeable personality.

Those playing billiards didn’t participate in the Werewolf game. They were two tables away, and their conversation could be vaguely heard. Qiao Xi didn’t intend to eavesdrop, but was forced to hear the man in black say, “Liang Jincheng really poked a hornet’s nest this time. Didn’t even look at who the other party was, making Sister Bei act humble. Really…”

The friend next to him advised, “Alright, it’s all resolved. Why bring it up?”

Qiao Xi looked down at the cards in her hand, her thoughts drifting.

Zhu Xubai nudged her arm. “Your turn.”

She gave a puzzled “Ah,” not paying attention to the game’s progress at all, and ended up being voted out directly.

**

Outside the billiards room, one side of the corridor was lined with dense holly, and a high-quality dwarf pine was planted at the entrance. The night was sultry, the moon bright and stars sparse in the sky.

Fu Bei and Zhao Shihuan talked at the end of the corridor. Each had their own work, and they hadn’t chatted alone yet.

Zhao Shihuan handed over a can of drink. “How’s your uncle’s matter?”

“No big problem,” Fu Bei replied lightly. “What about you? Still dealing with the western suburbs?”

Childhood friends for many years, that layer of feeling remained no matter what. Even if they had grown distant from lack of contact, it didn’t affect their relationship. Human interactions are complex and can’t be simply classified like objects; completely fading away isn’t realistic.

Talking about the western suburbs, a wave of irritability surged in Zhao Shihuan’s heart. After pondering for a long time, she replied heavily, “Hard to handle.”

Fu Bei lowered her eyes. “Procedures haven’t come through?”

“No.” Zhao Shihuan didn’t know how to explain. Whenever things involved the government and the people, even simple matters became troublesome. Bluntly put, it was a matter of time; it was dragging on. She was somewhat helpless, only saying, “Going through the process takes time. A few people are holding on and won’t let go.”

Anyway, no matter what one did, big or small, one would encounter people putting on airs, causing trouble and finding loopholes to hinder progress.

Fu Bei said, “Go to the higher-ups.”

Layer pressing upon layer, actually, those below act according to instructions from above. It’s just that meaning. But since it’s a project with public intervention, they dare not act recklessly, so they find loopholes and create difficulties in various ways. To deal with this kind, the most direct and neat way is to do it openly, throwing the difficulty back.

“Hard to find,” Zhao Shihuan said helplessly.

“If hard to find, then build a bridge.”

Zhao Shihuan scoffed, then after a long time, patted Fu Bei’s shoulder in agreement. Fu Bei gave her a phone number, not saying it explicitly, but the other party understood naturally.

Chatting between good friends eased the relationship a lot.

The two didn’t mention anything else, a tacit understanding.

Returning to the billiards room, Qiao Xi was still playing Werewolf with Zhu Xubai and the others. Friends saw them enter and waved them over to play a couple of games of pool.

Qiao Xi raised her eyes, her gaze sweeping past quickly.

She wasn’t very good at Werewolf. Zhu Xubai asked if she wanted to play billiards, saying they could form a separate table. She nodded in agreement, but after one game, someone suddenly swapped with the next table, bringing Fu Bei over.

Qiao Xi lost focus, nearly hitting the cue ball into the pocket.

Zhu Xubai was noisy, loving to chat while playing. If others ignored him, he would talk to Qiao Xi, even suggesting forming teams, coincidentally pairing Qiao Xi and Fu Bei together.

“Senior is pretty good. I even took lessons specifically, but I don’t play as well as you,” the kid chattered nonstop.

When the gathering ended, Zhu Xubai scrambled to take Zhao Shihuan’s car. Qiao Xi had drunk alcohol and planned to call a designated driver, but couldn’t find one for a long time, so she ended up in Fu Bei’s car.

The night was deep, the road ahead unseen. There were few people and cars on the gray-white road, only streetlights one after another remaining unchanged, emitting light and heat.

The atmosphere in the car was stagnant. They barely spoke for the first part of the journey. Fu Bei spoke first, saying, “I didn’t know you were there last Sunday. Had something to do after the meeting, couldn’t find you later.”