BANCB 07

Chapter 07

“To advise you to turn back and abandon a lost cause, of course!”

Liang Yuxuan pouted slightly. “I didn’t want to listen to your advice back then.”

“I think you were just utterly bewitched and blinded by Bian Xu!”

“No,” Liang Yuxuan shook her head. “He didn’t coax or bewitch me. I was the one who took the initiative in the beginning.”

This was truly a case of still waters running deep.

Xiao Jie stared with her mouth wide open for a long moment before asking, “Then why are you telling me now?”

“Because now I want to listen to you,” Liang Yuxuan let out a soft laugh. “I don’t know how to scold people. Why don’t you curse at him a bit so I can listen?”

“A fool who turns back is worth their weight in gold; waking up now is not too late!” Xiao Jie glanced at the wall clock. “I have to head to the shop first. I’ll curse at him for you after I get off work.”

Xiao Jie co-owned a coffee shop with a partner in a nearby commercial plaza. Since the weekend foot traffic was heavy, she didn’t get to rest.

After she left, Liang Yuxuan took a shower, swallowed a painkiller, and lay down in bed to catch up on sleep.

She slept until noon. When she woke up, she felt light-headed and heavy-footed, lacking even the strength to clench her fists. Liang Yuxuan knew clearly that she had come down with a fever.

Dancers dealt with all sorts of miscellaneous injuries and ailments, so she had a fair amount of experience with secondary symptoms. She figured the fever was likely triggered by the inflammation in her Achilles tendon.

Groggy and weak, Liang Yuxuan got up to look for the ear thermometer. After rummaging through the drawers and cabinets for a long while without finding it, her remaining energy was completely spent.

She crawled back into bed, groped around in the bedding for her phone, and opened her recent calls list.

The very first row was the call she had made to Xiao Jie that morning, which had gone unanswered.

Liang Yuxuan pressed to dial. When the ringing tone started, she noticed it wasn’t Xiao Jie’s custom ringback tone. Looking closer, she realized that in her dizzy state, she had mistakenly pressed the second row—the call she had made to Bian Xu’s assistant on their last night in Amsterdam.

She hurriedly hung up and redialed the correct number.

Xiao Jie rushed back home fifteen minutes later.

She couldn’t remember where the ear thermometer was placed either, and fearing that Liang Yuxuan would wear herself out searching for it, she simply came back to check if she needed to go to the hospital.

As it turned out, once she measured her temperature, it read 39.2°C (102.6°F).

Xiao Jie sat on the edge of the bed and patted her. “Get up, get up. I’m taking you to the hospital. If you keep burning like this, you really will turn into a fool!”

Liang Yuxuan propped herself up with her elbows.

As Xiao Jie opened the nightstand drawer to retrieve the medical card, she suddenly heard a burst of vibrations. Lifting her eyes to look, the phone screen displayed the incoming caller: Assistant Lu.

Liang Yuxuan massaged her throbbing temples and didn’t answer. Once the call automatically disconnected, the next one immediately rang through without a pause.

He was a very responsible assistant.

This accidental dial would have been better off going to Bian Xu instead.

If it were Bian Xu, if she missed one call, there would never be a second.

The phone continued to buzz relentlessly, leaving Liang Yuxuan with no choice but to pick up.

“Miss Liang, you’ve arrived in Nanhuai! I missed your call just now. Did you need something from me?” Lu Yuan asked, full of energy.

“No,” Liang Yuxuan realized her voice was dry and raspy the moment she spoke. Clearing her throat, she said, “I dialed the wrong number.”

“Oh, what’s wrong with your voice? Are you sick?”

“A bit of a fever, it’s no big deal. Go ahead with your work.”

Just as she was about to hang up, another male voice came from the other end of the line: “What a coincidence to accidentally dial my number?”

How rare. Bian Xu actually happened to be idle.

What was even rarer was that he actually spared a fraction of his precious mind to interpret her actions, assuming she had intentionally dialed the wrong number to reach him.

Liang Yuxuan frowned. “I really dialed the wrong number.”

“Fine, you dialed the wrong number.” Bian Xu let out a sigh. “What’s going on? The moment you leave me, you get sick?”

“…” Liang Yuxuan’s brows knitted even tighter.

Bian Xu didn’t seem to care whether she responded or not, continuing, “Have you taken medicine? Should I have someone come over to take care of you?”

“No need, Xiao Jie is here. I’m hanging up.”

“Xiao Jie?”

A surge of irritation welled up in Liang Yuxuan’s chest. Forcing herself to be patient, she explained, “My roommate. You two have met three times.”

And she had introduced her in the exact same way all three times.

On the other end of the line, Lu Yuan frantically mouthed to Bian Xu: She’s upset, coax her!

Bian Xu glanced at him and added, “Alright then. Lu Yuan will be returning to China in the next couple of days. Is there any gift you want? I’ll have him bring it to you.”

Liang Yuxuan fell silent.

Girls in relationships are supposed to be very happy when receiving gifts, but she never was.

Because every single time Bian Xu gave a gift, his posture always felt like he was using the easiest possible method to dismiss her unhappiness.

If, when she left the island, she had still harbored a tiny sliver of illusion—thinking that once he finished his work, he would at least bring up the scandal to her—then right now, as he loftily attempted to gloss over the matter with a gift, that final crevice letting in the light slammed completely shut.

“If you haven’t thought it through, take your time…”

“I’ve thought of it.” Liang Yuxuan interrupted him.

“Oh?” A hint of a smile crept into Bian Xu’s voice. “What do you want?”

Liang Yuxuan closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I want you to… shut up right now.”

On the other end of the line, Bian Xu’s movement of wiping his glasses froze. His fingertips, separated by the lens cloth, pinched tightly against the thin lens, the skin near his fingernails turning white.

The metallic light reflected by the frames cast into his eyes, bending into a cold, icy arc.

The phone in Lu Yuan’s palm had turned into a hot potato; he couldn’t throw it away, nor could he continue holding it up to Bian Xu’s ear.

It wasn’t until the screen light suddenly dimmed that Lu Yuan looked down—the call had already been disconnected by Liang Yuxuan.

Bian Xu remained completely motionless in his swivel chair for a full minute before tossing his glasses onto the mixing console and storming out of the recording studio with long strides.

Lu Yuan shuddered as he stood frozen in place, that resonant and powerful “shut up” still echoing repeatedly in his ears.

When a gentle person who never threw a tantrum suddenly turned fierce, it was truly terrifying.

Let alone onlookers, even Liang Yuxuan herself hadn’t fully recovered her composure. She held her phone up in the air for a good while before slowly lowering her hand. “I just…”

“That was an incredibly precise curse!” This was the first time in over a year of living together that Xiao Jie had seen Liang Yuxuan lose her temper. She was so busy being shocked that she paused for a moment before clapping her hands loudly. “A man who spouts that kind of nonsense—where four out of five sentences are dancing right in a woman’s minefield—absolutely deserves to shut his dog mouth!”