OVTTGTBE Chapter 39

Broken Mirror, Hard to Mend

“The cold dishes are already served, and my mom has used her chopsticks, so we can eat whatever we want.”

Bai Yao picked up the peach juice and raised his chin, “Help yourself to any dish you want to fill your stomach; the serving chopsticks are right there. I’ll finish this first, and you can do whatever you want.”

With that, Bai Yao gulped down the peach juice.

Zhang Yifang, Li Jinyang, and Tao Lin: “……”

That goblet wasn’t small, and although they knew Bai Yao couldn’t drink alcohol and could only drink juice, making Liu Yucheng down such a large glass was a bit too…

“No need to fill my stomach.”

Liu Yucheng walked over, picked up the wine glass, and drank it all in one go.

The dark purple liquid slowly trickled down the corner of his mouth, slid across his neck, and onto his collar.

Ever since he met Bai Yao, he had been so stupid. One glass of wine was not enough. Even ten glasses of self-punishment wouldn’t be enough.

“Oh dear, drinking like that is bad for your stomach!”

Bai Junyi frowned, “Dudu, why did you pour him so much?”

Liu Yucheng wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and with the other hand, he turned the goblet upside down—not a single drop remained.

“66666!”

One should always leave some leeway for others, and it wouldn’t do to not give him any face at all. Li Jinyang and Zhang Yifang quickly applauded him.

“Alright, alright, Xiaoliu, quickly sit down and eat something; don’t hurt your stomach… And you guys, don’t just stand there blankly, eat!” Bai Junyi urged.

When Liu Yucheng sat down, he swayed slightly. Seeing this, Bai Yao didn’t continue to force him to drink but instead poured him a glass of his own juice.

After a few rounds of drinks, Li Jinyang and the others started chatting with Bai Junyi. Bai Junyi knew quite a bit about young people’s topics. They chatted and laughed, and even talked about some particularly embarrassing things Bai Yao did when he was little.

“Are you okay?”

Seeing the person sitting next to him remain silent, Bai Yao asked him quietly.

Then, Bai Yao actually heard Liu Yucheng chuckle softly.

“Back then, when you begged me and hoped I wouldn’t be okay, I was always okay. What do you think now?”

“Shh!!”

Bai Yao was so scared that he quickly reached out and pinched him under the table, whispering, “Are you crazy? My mom is sitting right there! Luckily, she didn’t hear you!”

However, although the voice wasn’t loud, Bai Yao thought he must really be drunk to dare say such extremely private things in this kind of setting.

“There’s a sofa over there; why don’t you go lie down and rest for a while?”

“No need to worry about me.”

Liu Yucheng smiled faintly, picked up a piece of roast goose for Bai Yao, and moved the small dish of dipping sauce closer to him.

“Guess what gift I prepared for you.” He took the opportunity to lean close to Bai Yao and whispered in his ear.

Bai Yao pointed to the box placed on a nearby table, “Isn’t it that cake?”

“You definitely didn’t read the letter I wrote to you.” A hint of dejection flashed in Liu Yucheng’s eyes.

“Just because you wrote a letter, does that mean I have to read it? Who says so?”

Bai Yao said stubbornly.

Although he wasn’t wrong in thinking that way in principle, Bai Yao still felt a bit embarrassed being told that to his face, even if the person sitting next to him wasn’t Liu Yucheng.

Liu Yucheng chuckled softly, “No one says so. If you don’t want to read it, then don’t.”

Bai Yao didn’t respond.

Why did it seem like Liu Yucheng became a bit more fond of smiling after drinking alcohol?

“So, what did you prepare for me?”

Ten minutes later, Bai Yao asked him this.

Not because he wanted to know, but because the others were chatting enthusiastically. Zhang Yifang and Li Jinyang were taking turns praising how good-looking his two bodyguard sisters were. The only ones in the room not joining the discussion were him and Liu Yucheng.

Under the table, Liu Yucheng quietly took Bai Yao’s hand and placed a plastic bag in it.

Bai Yao looked down and saw a ticket to a video game concert.

The game was old, and Bai Yao didn’t play it much anymore; but he had mentioned it to Liu Yucheng last semester—he really liked this game when he was in high school.

Because the game’s music was… it could be described as soul-stirring. Bai Yao had even created a separate playlist just for this game’s music, and this playlist had accompanied him through the three most stressful years of high school.

Bai Yao had no idea that this game was going to have a nostalgic concert like this in the mainland. If he missed it, he would definitely feel very, very regretful.

“Um, there are many well-known musicians on the ticket… A foreign soprano that I used to like will also be performing.”

Bai Yao’s eyes were filled with anticipation, but after seeing the price written on the ticket, that excitement vanished without a trace, “How did you get this? How many meals did you skip?”

If he accidentally bought a second-hand ticket, the price would be doubled again.

“It’s nothing to skip a few meals.”

Liu Yucheng breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, “I was still worried you wouldn’t like it.”

Seeing Bai Yao subconsciously pick up his phone, Liu Yucheng quickly grabbed his wrist, then immediately let go, “This is a birthday gift; don’t give me money. Otherwise, I’ll tell your mom that you’re unappreciative.”

“I appreciate it; don’t go telling on me to her.”

Bai Yao glared at him deliberately, “But… I appreciate the thought; really, thank you.”

“I’m sorry, there’s only one ticket.” Liu Yucheng bit his lip, “You might have to go see it alone.”

“It’s okay, enjoying music, one person isn’t lonely, a hundred people aren’t too many.” Bai Yao carefully tucked the ticket into his pocket.

“What are you two chatting about?”

The table had quieted down at some point. Li Jinyang had also drunk a lot of wine and teased with a smile, “Look how happy our Brother Yao is!”

“It’s my birthday, and you’re all here; how could I not be happy?”

Bai Yao replied with a smile, “Let’s just cut the cake; we won’t blow out the candles; it’ll give me goosebumps.”

Although Bai Yao was particularly resistant, no one in the private room listened to him. They still stuck candles in the shape of the number 19 on the cake, turned off the lights, and everyone surrounded him, singing the birthday song madly.

Bai Yao was so embarrassed that he curled his toes into the ground, and he also took this opportunity to observe the 12-inch birthday cake.

There were many fruits on top, no cream, and the outside of the cake was covered in a layer of pink, something that looked like transparent pudding.

How thoughtful.

Maybe Liu Yucheng really did like him, and was really willing to put his heart into it for him.

For Bai Yao, the friendship between two boys was actually very simple, and could be based on his relationship with Duan Junran, and the way he got along with Li Jinyang and the others.

If you made a mistake, as long as you sincerely apologized, then everyone could continue to be brothers and continue to be friends.

Maybe in the future, he could become good friends with Liu Yucheng. After all, they had shared their hearts, undressed in front of each other, and seen each other at their most wretched.

But in terms of love, a broken mirror is hard to mend, and he couldn’t bring himself to eat the grass he had already spat out.

Even if the other person wasn’t Liu Yucheng, but Zhang Yucheng, Wang Yucheng, even if Bai Yao was the one who had been dumped, he would still think the same way.

After eating the cake, everyone sang karaoke in the private room until after twelve o’clock in the morning. Bai Junyi bought a few more cases of beer, which were drunk dry by Li Jinyang and the others. Everyone except Bai Yao basically had a great time.

Although it was Saturday, and the school dormitory didn’t lock its doors, Bai Junyi still invited everyone to go to Bai Yao’s new home together.

Including Liu Yucheng.

“Mom, there aren’t enough rooms! There are nine of us. Even if I and Li Jinyang and the others all sleep in the master bedroom, and Manman and Qianqian share a room, and you and Aunt Zhou usually each have a room, the remaining two rooms aren’t enough to split.”

Bai Yao suddenly had a bad feeling. He said, “Why don’t we send them back to school!”

Zhang Yifang wasn’t drunk. Realizing that Liu Yucheng would also be going to Bai Yao’s house if things continued this way, he nodded and said, “Yeah, why don’t we go back to school? The main thing is that the midterm exams are coming up soon, and we need to review after we get up tomorrow.”

After speaking, he secretly pinched Li Jinyang and Tao Lin.

These two were much slower to react, but they still received the message he had conveyed and echoed, “Hey, the midterm exams are next week… We have to start reviewing as soon as we get up tomorrow.”

Bai Junyi knew that there weren’t enough rooms, and had originally planned to go to a hotel with Xiaozhou.

But since they said that, she had no choice but to say, “Alright then, let’s go to the school first and send them back.”

Only then did Bai Yao breathe a sigh of relief.

The car ride was long, and Li Jinyang and the others fell asleep along the way; Liu Yucheng also sat in the last row with his eyes closed, not saying a word.

When they arrived at the school gate, Zhang Yifang and the others got out of the car, agreed to meet Bai Yao at the library next week to review, and then walked towards the dormitory with carefree steps.

Just as Liu Yucheng got out of the car with his bag, Bai Junyi called him to stop.

“Xiaoliu, get back in the car. Xiaozhou and I are taking a flight back tomorrow. There are some things I need to explain to you tonight. Come with us.”

Bai Yao: “……”

Liu Yucheng’s head was very dizzy, and it took him half a minute to react.

Seeing Bai Yao secretly waving his hand, signaling him to refuse, he had no choice but to say, “Auntie, how about tomorrow…”

“No need for tomorrow. Bai Zong and I have a morning flight tomorrow.” Assistant Zhou smiled and said, “This isn’t a place to talk. It’s windy outside; be careful not to catch a cold after drinking. Get in the car quickly.”

Bai Yao: “…………”

They were already at school, Li Jinyang and the others had already gotten out of the car and walked away, and now they were saying to let Liu Yucheng go with them?!

That was too much!

Liu Yucheng couldn’t say anything else, and didn’t dare to meet Bai Yao’s eyes again, lowering his head as he got into the car.

Assistant Zhou drove the car to a new residential area near the university.

“So you live here.”

While waiting for the elevator, Liu Yucheng leaned close to Bai Yao’s ear and whispered, “Very luxurious, and indeed not far from the school.”

“If you dare to have any strange ideas, I’ll have the security guards of the residential area blacklist you! So you can never come in!”

Liu Yucheng smiled and raised his hands, “I won’t.”

After entering the elevator, Bai Yao realized another problem.

The new home was a duplex. If the two female bodyguards slept in one room tonight, and his mom and Aunt Zhou each had a room, his mom might even sleep in the master bedroom…

Then there would only be one room left.

“You’re sleeping on the sofa tonight.” Bai Yao looked at Liu Yucheng and said directly.

The voice of this sentence was a bit loud and was heard by Bai Junyi, who turned her head and said to him, “Your master bedroom, since it can fit you and those boys, how can it not fit Xiaoliu for one night? You have to be fair and just to friends. I taught you that when you were little.”

Bai Yao suddenly became anxious, “Mom, aren’t you sleeping in the master bedroom? If you sleep in the master bedroom, I’ll sleep in the guest room, and Liu Yucheng will sleep on the sofa.”

“No need, you guys sleep in the master bedroom. Xiaozhou and I are leaving tomorrow morning; the guest room will do for one night.”

“……”

Liu Yucheng lowered his head awkwardly. While secretly delighted, he was also a little worried.

It wasn’t that he was afraid of Bai Yao’s murderous gaze; but if, by any chance, Bai Junyi found out about his previous relationship with Bai Yao, he wondered how angry she would become…?