Yu Bai flung herself heavily into the booth seat, draping her arm casually over the backrest. She crossed her legs and leaned back, shaking her wine glass before pointing it lazily at one of them. With a raised eyebrow, she asked, “What are we playing?”
“Sister Yu calls it, we play it!”
A sly smile curved Yu Bai’s lips. She swept her gaze over the group and wagged a finger. “Not enough people—it’s no fun. Here’s the plan: call more friends. The more, the better. If we can’t fit, we’ll open another table. Tonight, we’re going all out. Drinks are on me no matter how many show up. We don’t stop till we’re smashed!”
“Woo!” A cheer erupted, and everyone whipped out their phones to summon their rowdy crews. Yu Bai pulled out hers too and fired off a post to her social circle.
These rich playboys had a sixth sense for partying. Within twenty minutes, the bar flooded with a dizzying influx of people.
Several had rolled straight from the last club, already half-lit, slurring boozy greetings. Amid the rising chatter, a sharp, gleeful whistle cut through, and the vibe exploded to life.
Someone piped up right away. “Dice game?!”
Yu Bai was nursing her drink, swallowing it down in unhurried gulps. She shrugged noncommittally.
Bzzz—bzzz—
Her phone buzzed in her bag. Yu Bai paused, flashing a smile and gesturing for the others to carry on.
She fished it out. The screen read “Zhou Hui.” Yu Bai smirked, hit ignore, and tossed it aside.
Someone was already laying out the rules. “Ten dice in the shaker. Guess a single die’s number. Right guess, you claim a die. Wrong, you drink. Deal?”
“Quit yapping—let’s roll!” The impatience was palpable.
Everyone there was a bar regular, hitting the spots every few nights and raging till the wee hours. They handled the classic games with the ease of pros—second nature, like breathing.
A few rounds in, the buzz hit everyone. Yu Bai had knocked back at least four or five glasses. The pain in her bandaged arm sharpened, a vicious gnawing like ants devouring her marrow, radiating outward from every nerve ending in a relentless scream.
A thin layer of cold sweat sheened her forehead, and her face took on an unnatural flush.
Yellow Hair beside her suddenly clocked it and yelped, “Holy crap! Sister Yu, you good?!”
Heads turned from around the table. One was a young guy, barely a man—early twenties, still with that fresh-faced student vibe. He reached over and tried to snag her glass. “Sister Yu, you’re injured. Skip this one. Little bro’s got it.”
Yu Bai’s knuckles stayed locked on the glass, her eyes glazing with a hazy allure. Her distinctive voice purred through the intimate space. “Since when do you drink for Sister, hmm? Hand it over.”
She dipped her head with a sultry smile, exuding a dangerously magnetic pull. The air stilled for a heartbeat.
The guy let go on instinct, rubbing his nose to cover his awkwardness. He caught the dirty looks shooting his way.
No one at the table dared snatch a drink from Sister Yu’s hand.
It wasn’t just that she clearly wasn’t done. More than that, Yu Bai never let anyone make decisions for her—no matter the circumstances.
Her expression was hard to read as she smiled again, tossed back the contents in one go, and ran her thumb along the rim. She said nothing more.
Someone shot the guy a look, and he muttered some excuse before slinking off to another table.
“Sorry, Sister Yu,” one offered apologetically. “Kid doesn’t know better. Ruined the mood.”
Yellow Hair snapped, a bit pissed. “Why’d you even bring a clown like that?”
The guy defended himself. “Third Brother vouched for him, said to show him the ropes…”
Yu Bai had been tuning out their back-and-forth, irritation furrowing her brow as she tapped her glass idly.
But at that, her hand stilled. She arched a brow. “Third Brother sent him? Alright then. Just keep him away from me from now on.”
“Hey, thanks, Sister Yu.” He flashed a relieved grin.
Casually, she asked, “What’s Third Brother been up to lately? Haven’t seen him in ages.”
“Third Brother was asking about you just a couple days back.”
Yu Bai smiled. “Pass him a message for me. Once this busy stretch is over, I’ll drop by in person.”
The little drama fizzled out in a few words, and the booth roared back to life.
After a few more rounds of games, the group was so drunk they could barely stand at the bar. Sometimes they didn’t even lose a round, but they’d still sway unsteadily and gulp down their drinks haphazardly anyway.
Yu Bai was pretty tipsy by now too. She set her glass down, rested her hand on her forehead, closed her eyes, and leaned back into the sofa.
Buzz—
Her phone rang again.
Emboldened by the booze, someone teased her. “Sister Yu, who’s this? Calls coming in one after another all night.”
Yu Bai didn’t budge from her position, eyes still shut. She grabbed her phone and shoved it into his lap. “Who knows? Why don’t you answer it and find out who it is?”
The man chuckled and hit the accept button.
“Yu Bai, where are you right now?”
Zhou Hui’s voice came through from the other end, sounding a bit urgent, like she was afraid Yu Bai might hang up.
“Hey!” It was only then that the realization dawned on this side, and he uttered the single word.
A man’s voice.
Zhou Hui froze for a moment on her end, then furrowed her brow. She could hear the deafening roar of voices and music blaring from the phone.
The man pointed at the phone screen and whispered to Yu Bai, “Sister Yu, she’s asking where you are. It’s a woman.”
Yu Bai waved her hand dismissively. “Tell her.”
The man picked up the phone and said to Zhou Hui in a flirtatious drawl, “Miller Bar, Little Sister. Your big brother’s waiting right here for you. Hurry on over!”
“Urgh—”
The people around them burst into laughter, pulling exaggerated faces.
“You’ve got some guts flirting with Sister Yu’s friend?” That was what he said, but his tone was full of barely contained amusement.
Yu Bai wouldn’t get mad over something like this. When you came to a nightclub, the whole point was to have fun—no holds barred, the wilder the better.
Besides, these guys had partied with her plenty of times before. They knew her temperament inside and out. As long as they didn’t cross her bottom line, she played harder than any of them.
Sure enough, Yu Bai laughed from her spot on the sofa. She turned to the group around her. “When she gets here, treat her right. You’ve got the skills to keep her around for a couple rounds of games, right?”
“No problem.” They all guaranteed it with booming laughs.
Less than twenty minutes later, Zhou Hui arrived at the bar’s entrance.
She pushed through the dizzying crowd and quickly spotted Yu Bai in the booth, raising her glass to clink with someone.
Zhou Hui snatched the glass from her hand and fixed her with a dark glare.
Yu Bai looked up. Once she saw who it was, she feigned surprise. “Well, if it isn’t Officer Zhou?”
Someone nearby whooped. “Whoa! She’s a cop. Never partied with a cop before!”
The others joined in, winking and making eyes at Zhou Hui with playful leers.
Zhou Hui tamped down her anger and said to Yu Bai, “Come back to the hospital with me.”
Yu Bai ignored her fury completely. She tilted her head up to look at her, putting on a troubled expression. “But I just lost the game. I haven’t had my drink yet.”
Zhou Hui’s brow creased. She fell silent for two seconds, then said gravely, “I’ll drink it for you.”
Yu Bai leaned back, propping her right hand on her forehead. “Ugh, another one shows up.”
Zhou Hui had just lifted the glass when someone grabbed her hand.
“Officer, if you wanna drink, play a couple rounds and you’ll get plenty. But this one’s Sister Yu’s—you can’t have it.” He was reasonably polite about it, smiling as he took the glass from Zhou Hui’s hand and set it on the table in front of Yu Bai.
“What game?” Zhou Hui asked as she sat down.
Yu Bai hadn’t expected Zhou Hui to agree so readily. She’d been planning to watch her handle this crowd. She sat up from the sofa, downed the drink in her own glass first, then suddenly leaned in close to Zhou Hui. She draped an arm over her shoulder, her fingers lightly hooking under Zhou Hui’s chin. Her lips brushed Zhou Hui’s ear as she murmured softly, “I’ll teach you. It’s simple.”
It was full of seductive intent.
For whatever reason, Zhou Hui didn’t push her away. But Yu Bai could clearly feel Zhou Hui’s body go rigid in an instant. She chuckled softly against her, her warm breath spilling over Zhou Hui’s ear and neck.
Yu Bai was so drunk by now that she could barely tell who she was talking to or what she was even saying.
She mumbled through the game rules in a hazy slur. Zhou Hui frowned slightly, then gently straightened Yu Bai’s head and settled her back against the sofa.
Then she said to the others, “One round. If I guess right, I’m taking her and leaving.”
“Fine. And if you guess wrong?”
“You decide.”
“Alright! Little Sister’s got game. A bar regular?”
Zhou Hui just smiled, saying nothing.
Zhou Hui was the last to guess—lowest odds, highest difficulty.
But…
She got it right.
The group stared in disbelief. That lucky?!
They shot Yu Bai a awkward glance. They’d promised to keep her around, and now they’d been slapped in the face!
Yu Bai cracked her eyes open a sliver. “You won already? Lame!”
“Come back with me.” Zhou Hui’s tone brooked no argument.
Yu Bai lowered her gaze, grabbed her phone and bag, and drawled, “Fiiine—”
A bet was a bet. Yu Bai didn’t linger.
Yu Bai stood up and said to the group of people she had called over, “Sister’s heading out first. You all have a good time, and put today’s bill on my tab. Let me apologize to you right here.”
No one present dared to let Yu Bai apologize like that. They all stood up with smiles, saying, “Sister Yu, what are you talking about? Go take care of your business.”
The corners of Yu Bai’s lips curved into an arc as she waved a hand and walked away.
Once outside the bar, the cool night breeze brought Yu Bai a moment of clarity—or perhaps she hadn’t been drunk at all. A flash of sharpness passed through her eyes, and the smile at the corners of her brows quickly faded.
But Zhou Hui didn’t see it. She had followed behind Yu Bai and couldn’t make out the expression on her face. Besides, she had no attention to spare for looking at Yu Bai right now.
A breath was stifled in Zhou Hui’s chest, like a massive boulder weighing her down.
She had spent the entire afternoon searching for Yu Bai. It had started with the first call, when the phone was switched off, and a flicker of panic had instinctively gripped Zhou Hui’s heart. She was afraid something had happened to Yu Bai.
She had even pulled footage from the police bureau’s surveillance cameras and confirmed that Yu Bai had left on her own before she could breathe a little easier.
That sliver of panic and worry in her heart had gradually grown claws and teeth, twisting into an uncontrollable blaze of anger like thorny vines that wrapped tighter and tighter with nowhere to vent.
She had called more than a dozen times before it finally connected just moments ago.
Zhou Hui suppressed her anger over and over, then directly shoved Yu Bai into the car.
Yu Bai sat in the passenger seat, glaring at her furiously.
Bang—
Zhou Hui slammed the car door shut hard. She got in herself, gripped the steering wheel, and said nothing.
Yu Bai shot Zhou Hui a look of clear dissatisfaction. “What are you doing?”
She didn’t quite understand Zhou Hui’s behavior. It was just one missed day of work—was it really that big a deal?
Or maybe Zhou Hui’s sense of justice was overflowing, and she was worried that a model citizen like Yu Bai had run into some kind of trouble.
At that thought, the corners of Yu Bai’s mouth twitched toward a mocking smile. But before it could form, Zhou Hui leaned over toward her, expressionless, and fastened her seatbelt for her.
Yu Bai: “…”
Zhou Hui turned the wheel and pulled the car onto the highway, flooring the accelerator.
Yu Bai’s body jolted backward sharply. She grabbed the door handle. “Officer Zhou, you… you’re speeding.”
“What kind of eyes do you have? We’re not even at eighty yet.”
Yu Bai: “…”
She didn’t argue with Zhou Hui. She let go of the door handle and sat back in the passenger seat with her eyes closed, trying to rest.
She really did feel unwell. Her head was buzzing, her stomach was churning, and every cell in her body was screaming in protest.
She slowly clenched her fists, and finally couldn’t hold back. “Zhou Hui, slow down.”
Zhou Hui glanced at her but said nothing.
Even so, she eased off the gas.
Half an hour later, the car pulled up in front of City Hospital. Yu Bai seemed to have reached her limit. She irritably unbuckled her seatbelt, shoved open the door, and stumbled out.
Zhou Hui hurried after her. “Yu Bai…”
“Don’t follow me.” Yu Bai frowned and cut her off roughly.
Zhou Hui’s steps faltered for a moment, but she kept following.
Yu Bai didn’t make it far. She braced herself against a tree and bent over, dry-heaving violently. She retched until she was gasping for breath, her swaying body on the verge of toppling forward.
“Yu Bai!” Zhou Hui darted forward and caught her just in time. “Go inside and get checked out.”
“Get away—” Yu Bai swatted away Zhou Hui’s supporting hand, a layer of frost creeping into her eyes.
Since when could anyone presume to make decisions for her so brazenly?
“Yu Bai—”
Yu Bai pressed a hand to her forehead and turned to meet Zhou Hui’s gaze. She actually laughed out of sheer anger. “Officer Zhou, please stop meddling in my life, alright? My business is none of your concern.”
“Go in.” Zhou Hui frowned and grabbed Yu Bai’s wrist.
“Let go.” Yu Bai struggled but couldn’t break free. “You’re hurting me.”
Zhou Hui noticed the flicker of pain between Yu Bai’s brows and instinctively released her grip.
Yu Bai took two steps back, shaking out her hand in fury. She lifted her eyes. “Officer Zhou, if all you wanted was to make sure I was safe, well, I’ve come back to the hospital with you. Mission accomplished. You don’t need to worry about anything else for me.”
Zhou Hui’s expression froze, as if she hadn’t expected Yu Bai to say that.
Yu Bai didn’t notice Zhou Hui’s reaction. The world spun before her eyes. She clutched her forehead, frowned, and shook her head.
Then everything went black, and she collapsed into Zhou Hui’s arms.
