EAY Chapter 36

by Volare

Friend’s Betrayal

Qi Ye was just saying that, he was definitely going to pick up Shi Ran, as it was the most important thing to him.

But a few days later, Qi Ye really encountered something he couldn’t avoid.

That afternoon, Qi Xue came to school to find him, asking Qi Ye to go out for a drink with her.

Qi Ye could tell that Qi Xue wasn’t in a good mood. When he asked her, she just said it was something at work. If it were a normal meal, he could refuse, but not now.

Sure enough, Qi Xue was drowning her sorrows in alcohol. She drank until she was tipsy and definitely couldn’t drive. Qi Ye wasn’t comfortable with a ride-hailing service, so he took out his phone and started looking for a hotel near the school.

This meant that picking up Shi Ran was definitely out of the question. Qi Ye sent a message to Shi Ran to tell him. After a while, Shi Ran replied: Understood, take care of your sister. Don’t worry about me.

Qi Ye pursed his lips. It was impossible not to worry, but looking at Qi Xue, who was already drunk and slumped on the table, the problem here was clearly bigger.

Qi Ye paid the bill, picked up Qi Xue’s bag, and supported her arm as they walked out.

When they arrived at the hotel, Qi Ye tossed Qi Xue onto the bed and pulled the quilt over her. Based on past experience, Qi Xue usually didn’t stay drunk for too long.

Sure enough, after about ten minutes, Qi Xue got out of bed and staggered to the bathroom. After a thunderous bout of vomiting, the sound of flushing water echoed.

Qi Xue came out to find a tissue to wipe her face, and saw her brother looking at her with a disgusted expression. Qi Xue waved her hand: “My drunken behavior is already considered refined.”

“Terribly refined.” Qi Ye handed her a tissue. “Why did you suddenly drink so much? Your stomach will hurt again tomorrow.”

“The adult world is really scary.” Qi Xue wiped her face and lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. “Do you remember Xu Ling?”

“Oh, your college roommate.” Qi Ye had met her a few times. She was there once when he had hotpot with them.

“Yeah, the four of us in the dorm were the best. We even agreed to get together regularly in the future. That Xu Ling, the youngest, and her home was the furthest away. I took the most care of her. When she lost her job, I recommended her to our company. When she had no place to live, I let her live in my house. I originally thought we could be even better.” Qi Xue’s eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and her voice grew softer and softer. “She actually misappropriated my proposal and designed against me with others…”

Qi Ye couldn’t hear the rest of her words, but he had a rough idea of what had happened.

Qi Xue had always had good relationships with people. She was sincere and generous, and no one ever said anything bad about her. She had always valued her friends, but he never thought that one day she would be betrayed by a friend.

“You’re so stupid, who told you to be so trusting?” Qi Ye said helplessly, but still got up to take off her shoes and pulled the quilt up to cover her.

Qi Ye went to the bathroom to wash his face and, with his coat on, curled up on the sofa and slept there all night.

The next morning, when Qi Xue woke up with a dizzy head, Qi Ye had already gone out and bought breakfast. “Here’s some stomach medicine. Take it if it hurts too much, but if it doesn’t hurt too much, just bear with it and drink some porridge.”

“I’m okay, just a little headache.” Qi Xue pressed her temples and grabbed her phone from beside the pillow to take a look. “Oh crap!” Her eyes widened and she was about to get out of bed, but then she remembered something and relaxed, smiling: “Oh right, I have the day off today, I don’t have to go to work.”

Qi Xue went to wash up and came out to eat breakfast. Seeing that Qi Ye had bought all her favorite foods, she couldn’t help but pat him on the shoulder: “I didn’t raise you for nothing!”

Slurping the porridge, she was completely different from the dispirited person from last night. Qi Ye couldn’t help but say: “You recovered pretty quickly?”

“Recover what? Hey, do you have classes today? Let’s go out and have fun.” Qi Xue said cheerfully.

Qi Ye said: “I have a full schedule. Go play by yourself.”

“Boring. Then I’ll just go home. I want my dad’s cooking.” Qi Xue thought for a moment, “But I only have one day off today. If I go back today, I’ll have to leave in the afternoon. Ah, I’ll just go back after work on Friday.”

Qi Ye peeled a tea egg for her and wiped his hands with a tissue: “It’s not a holiday today, why do you have the day off?”

Qi Xue showed a lonely smile: “My boss is a great person, he gave me a leave to clear my mind.”

“Is it to clear your mind because of what you said yesterday?” Qi Ye asked.

Qi Xue was stunned: “What did I say yesterday? Did I say everything?”

Qi Ye said: “Pretty much, just that you were betrayed by a good friend.”

“My mouth is really dangerous after drinking.” Qi Xue lowered her head in frustration, then forced a smile. “I guess so, but it’s all been resolved.”

Qi Ye was curious: “What was the result?” He had never worked, so he didn’t understand the power struggles in the company, but it sounded like the mistake was serious and there should be a punishment.

“I won. I got back what was mine. She couldn’t stay any longer and resigned.” Although she said that, there was no smile of victory on Qi Xue’s face.

Qi Ye awkwardly comforted her: “At least your boss is not bad, he even thought about your feelings and gave you a leave.”

“Silly, my boss is good to me not because of this, but because I do a good job and create value.” Qi Xue sighed as she said that. “I still have a lot to learn. Even if I’m sad, I can’t stop.”

Qi Ye said: “Then you and your friend–”

“She chose to betray me, so she’s not my friend anymore.” Qi Xue’s face showed a firm expression. “I won’t punish myself for her mistake.”

Sure enough, Qi Ye always felt childish in front of Qi Xue, unable to comfort her properly. Her weakness was only revealed a little, and then immediately retracted.

Qi Ye remembered that when Qi Xue did poorly on a high school exam, she went home with a depressed look and hid in her room all day. When she came out the next day, she had returned to normal and still went to school as usual.

Although Qi Xue liked to act spoiled with her parents in life, when it came to her own studies and work, she became very opinionated, and no one could express any opinion on her choices.

In general, Qi Xue was very strong.

Qi Ye said: “As long as you’re happy. When you’re unhappy, you can still come to me for a drink.”

“Aiyo, my brother is an adult, it’s good to have him to drink with me.” Qi Xue teased him with a grin, then showed a rare tenderness. “I hope you don’t encounter something like a friend’s betrayal, it’s too painful. You definitely won’t, your luck has always been better than mine.”

In the past, Qi Ye would have disagreed with this statement, but since he met Shi Ran, and then became college classmates and roommates with Shi Ran, he really felt that he was a lucky person. The other two roommates were also very good and kind.

Qi Ye returned to the dormitory after finishing his morning classes. He had an elective class with Shi Ran in the afternoon. He pushed open the door of the dormitory, preparing to call Shi Ran to eat. Just as he entered, Shi Ran, who was looking in the mirror at his desk, turned around when he heard the sound.

Their eyes met, and Shi Ran turned his face away extremely quickly. Qi Ye was quite shocked. What happened to Shi Ran’s face? Why were there so many wounds?

He had only missed picking him up for one day, how could he get hurt like this?