There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone, and then Han Junyan asked incredulously, "You said... what, Li Yun'er... she passed away?"
Through the phone, Meng Jingwei couldn't see Han Junyan's facial expression, but she could feel his sadness.
While it wasn't a pain that would tear him apart, he had been in a relationship with Li Yun'er, and it was impossible for him to pretend it never happened.
"She's already been buried."
Meng Jingwei's words were asking Han Junyan if he wanted to come back.
The man on the other end sighed and remained silent for a long time.
"Han Junyan, are you okay?"
"I want to be alone."
Han Junyan hung up the phone.
Listening to the dial tone from the phone, Meng Jingwei knew Han Junyan had hung up. She thought that Han Junyan must be feeling desperate and heartbroken to receive such devastating news.
Returning to the living room, she sat for a while. Before long, Han Yu, Tang Si, and Lu Yanming arrived, bringing hot pot ingredients.
The group sat at the dining table and began to eat hot pot, creating a very harmonious atmosphere.
Amidst laughter and cheer, they raised their glasses and drank. They ended up finishing seventeen bottles of red wine.
Lu Yanming and Han Yu, who couldn't hold their liquor, were incapacitated: one lay motionless on the sofa, and the other was slumped motionless over the table.
Tang Si held up his wine glass and laughed heartily, "Shasha, see? Old Han and Big Brother are the worst drinkers, hahaha... If it weren't for Second Brother back then, you probably wouldn't have developed such a tolerance for alcohol."
Qing Muye held his red wine, his arm around Meng Jingwei's shoulders, letting her rest her head on him as he lightly sipped his wine.
Meng Jingwei, who had a good tolerance for alcohol, was only slightly tipsy. She leaned lazily against Qing Muye, listening to them recount past events.
Perhaps it was because she liked someone that she became exceptionally curious about his past.
Yun Shasha held up a wine bottle, took a large gulp, and placed the wine glass on the table with a bang. She looked up at Qing Muye, her eyelids drooping drowsily, and pointed at him, "It's him. We slept together every day in college, and that's when I started liking him..."
"Hahaha, isn't that right? You two were inseparable in college, but you left without a word in the end, and Second Brother was heartbroken for a long time."
The drunk Tang Si's mind was hazy, like a muddled mess.
He was recalling Yun Shasha's college days with Qing Muye, but he overlooked the fact that Yun Shasha had undergone surgery abroad later and had become a woman.
Meng Jingwei, who was about to drink, stiffened. Suddenly, the red wine in her cup no longer tasted good.
She keenly caught onto Yun Shasha's words, "we slept together every day in college," and Tang Si's words, "Yun Shasha left without a word, and Qing Muye was heartbroken for a long time."
So...
Had they truly loved each other before?
Qing Muye glanced down at the woman leaning on his shoulder. Seeing her flutter her long, curled eyelashes, he knew she wasn't actually drunk.
After all, Qing Muye knew her alcohol tolerance very well.
"Tang Si, you're talking nonsense. Mumu wouldn't be heartbroken over me." Yun Shasha raised the wine bottle and poured Tang Si a glass, then refilled her own.
They clinked glasses and drank them in one go.
Yun Shasha then said drowsily, "But whether he was heartbroken or sad, I still liked him. From the first time I saw him back then, I fell for him uncontrollably... *hic*... I like him..."
"You don't know anything, Second Brother... Second Brother loves you very much..."
Tang Si poured himself another drink and gulped it down. He spoke "without restraint," saying, "If Second Brother didn't love you, why wouldn't he have dated anyone for so long after you left Lancheng?"
As he spoke, he subconsciously glanced at Meng Jingwei, only to find her "asleep" on Qing Muye's shoulder. He continued, "Do you know why Second Brother married Li Yun'er? It was because he mistakenly believed Li Yun'er saved him, purely... purely out of gratitude. And then... then he met... Little Pepper... oh, you don't know Little Pepper, she's Meng Jingwei."
Qing Muye's expression darkened. "Tang Si, if you're drunk, get lost!"
He scolded angrily.
Tang Si, his face flushed red, raised an eyebrow and pointed at Meng Jingwei. "Second Brother, why are you angry? Little Pepper, she... she's already asleep. Besides, what I'm saying... what I'm saying is the truth. You don't love Little Pepper at all. You want to marry her because her personality is very similar to Yun Shasha's. And you know very well... *hic*... that Shasha is coming back, so you deliberately got close to her, just to put on a show for Shasha."
After speaking to Qing Muye, he looked at Yun Shasha and mumbled, "Shasha, Second Brother has always liked you, but you left without a word back then, and he resented you. That's why... that's why he found someone to replace you. I'm telling you, Second Brother he... he doesn't like Meng Jing..."
"Shut up!"
Qing Muye roared, placing his glass heavily on the table.
He reached out and patted Meng Jingwei's cheek. "Awei? Don't listen to Tang Si talking nonsense, he..." He gently parted Meng Jingwei's face, only to find her glass placed on the table at some point, and she was drowsy and had long fallen asleep.
"Awei, Awei?" Qing Muye gently patted her cheek, but there was no reaction.
It was then that Qing Muye confirmed she was "asleep."
"Second Brother, I already told you Little Pepper was asleep, but you didn't believe me."
Tang Si slapped the table and pointed at Qing Muye. "I'm telling the truth, Second Brother. You and Meng Jingwei really aren't suitable. She only resembles Shasha in personality, but ultimately, she's not Shasha. Shasha is back now, so please... please don't be a fool and marry Meng Jingwei. If you want to anger Shasha like this, the price you pay will be unbearable."
"Really? Mumu, do you really like me?" Yun Shasha gazed at Qing Muye affectionately, unable to hold back tears.
She choked out, "I knew it, I knew it, you couldn't possibly... couldn't possibly not have me in your heart."
"But, you and I will have no future."
Qing Muye coldly refused.
"Why?" Yun Shasha was somewhat unwilling.
"Back then, you abandoned me. Even if I had never loved Meng Jingwei, I wouldn't get back together with you."
"Why? Mumu, you... you... do you know why I left back then? I... I at that time..."
"I don't want to know why you left. But the reason I'm with Meng Jingwei now is to make you taste pain."
Qing Muye stared coldly at Yun Shasha and said in a deep voice.
Meng Jingwei, who had closed her eyes, had a very high alcohol tolerance. She pretended to be asleep because she was a little tired.
But who knew she would later hear such explosive news.
Afterward, she heard the conversation between Tang Si and Yun Shasha.
Is it true?
Is it really true?
The two's conversations echoed in Meng Jingwei's mind, making it hard to believe, yet her heart ached faintly.
But as long as Qing Muye remained silent, she was willing to believe him.