Misunderstanding

Jiang Wanxin gave Jiang Dabao a loving hug and comforted him. "Don't be sad. Even if you don't get in, you've still got me. How about the two of us open a late-night snack stall as a married couple?"

The two of them actually had the same vision for the future!

Lin Qiye suddenly understood. No wonder Jiang Dabao had chosen to start a barbecue stall after graduation. Unfortunately, Lin Qiye had left the city after graduating back then and had no idea how this pair of lovebirds had ended up breaking up.

As he was thinking, Tian Nina spoke up. "My dad wants me to study abroad, but I don't want to go. I hope I can find a job in the media industry, preferably something like a copy editor."

Finally, it was Lin Qiye's turn, and everyone looked at him.

After graduation?

If he followed the path from his previous life, he would go south, then work an administrative job at a tech company. In the end, he would be laid off when the company fell on hard times. Then, with eighteen months of severance pay, he would switch to another company and start over from scratch.

That kind of life had no passion and no future. Naturally, Lin Qiye did not want to repeat it.

Now, he had countless possibilities, but he could not tell anyone about them.

He could only keep a low profile.

"I haven't thought about graduation yet. Maybe I won't work for someone else, and I won't start a business either."

Tian Nina, who was sitting beside him, asked curiously, "Then what will you do?"

"Invest. Right now, I'm at the most basic level, commonly known as a retail investor."

Everyone burst into laughter. In many contexts, retail investor was practically a derogatory term, representing losses and being harvested like chives.

They laughed, and Lin Qiye laughed too. Between young people, there was none of the wariness and guardedness adults had.

After resting up, the second stage of the buffet began. The six of them scattered toward the desserts, fruit, and drinks.

Another half hour passed, and they were completely stuffed.

Li Nanguang suggested, "Let's go sing karaoke."

Singing was the girls' favorite, and the suggestion immediately passed with more than half the votes.

They got up and left Furun Commercial Building, finding a reasonably priced KTV.

Before entering the private room, Li Nanguang deliberately stayed behind to discuss something with his two best buddies.

"Brothers, I'll need your help this time. I'm getting ready to confess to Wang Meijia, so you need to distract Tian Nina."

"No problem. Leave it to us," Jiang Dabao promised, thumping his chest.

Lin Qiye nodded as well.

Then, the three boys entered the private room.

Jiang Dabao gave his girlfriend a meaningful look. The two sat in the middle, separating Wang Meijia from Tian Nina.

Lin Qiye quickly walked over and sat beside Tian Nina, asking with a smile, "What songs do you like to sing?"

Tian Nina, who had been quite outgoing before, became a little reserved and instinctively shifted back.

"You sing. I'm not very good at singing."

Lin Qiye lowered his voice. "Li Nanguang is planning to confess. He's been chasing Wang Meijia for two years. It hasn't been easy."

So that was it. Tian Nina sighed in relief and patted her chest. "You scared me to death. I thought you were trying to, you know..."

Lin Qiye smiled and teased, "If I was trying to, you know, and you weren't willing to, you know, then wouldn't it end up as nothing, you know?"

It was Tian Nina's first time hearing such a bold joke, but instead of being offended, she relaxed.

"Fine, I'll help your buddy out this once. Let's sing."

With their worries put aside, the two boys and two girls freely picked songs and sang their hearts out in the KTV room.

Meanwhile, in the corner, Li Nanguang somehow produced a bouquet of flowers and confessed amid the singing.

The result did not seem good. Wang Meijia tried several times to get up and leave, only to sit back down again.

Li Nanguang threw the flowers to the floor and let out an unprecedented furious roar. "What exactly do you mean? I've chased you for two years. Agreeing or refusing is only two words. Is it really that hard?"

The singing stopped.

Wang Meijia's eyes instantly reddened. She replied through tears, "It is hard. Do you think men and women are the same?"

With that, she stormed out.

That was that. It had fallen through.

Yet even until then, and even before his rebirth, no one knew what Wang Meijia had truly been thinking.

Lin Qiye walked over and placed a hand on the stunned Li Nanguang, but he did not know how to comfort that wounded young heart.

In the end, Jiang Dabao was the one who suggested it. "Let's go drink. One drunk night cures a thousand sorrows."

That was a good idea.

Lin Qiye looked at Tian Nina. "Want to come?"

Tian Nina hesitated, but ultimately agreed.

Afterward, they moved to a late-night food stall in a nearby alley.

Heartbroken, Li Nanguang displayed his astonishing alcohol tolerance. With one drink after another burning down his throat, he took off his glasses, his face flushed red, rubbed his face hard, and then stared at Tian Nina. "What exactly does Wang Meijia mean? Is she treating me like a joke?"

With those bloodshot eyes fixed on her, Tian Nina instinctively leaned closer to Lin Qiye.

"She promised her mother she wouldn't date in college. Besides, her family lives downtown, and she has to go home for two days every week. Even so, she still agreed to go out with you. She definitely has feelings for you."

Li Nanguang definitely had not heard those words in his previous life. He shot to his feet, grabbed the glasses from the table and put them on, then ran outside.

He even called out, "Big Lin, cover the bill for me. I'll pay you back when I return."

There was no need to guess. He had definitely gone to find Wang Meijia.

Lin Qiye sighed inwardly.

One law of rebirth was that the fates of those around you were bound to change. He had no idea whether that was good or bad.

He glanced at the mixed-race girl beside him. She was the variable, someone he had never crossed paths with before who had now become his friend.

Unlike his complicated thoughts, the other three genuine youngsters quickly put Li Nanguang's situation behind them.

They kept drinking and eating skewers. Once they had drunk enough, Jiang Dabao draped an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders and said mysteriously in a low voice, "Big Lin, I'm heading out. Don't leave the dorm door open tonight. Oh, right, I forgot you're going to the Internet Cafe tonight. I'll call back and let them know."

Once the two of them left, only Lin Qiye and Tian Nina remained. The atmosphere became slightly awkward.

Lin Qiye waved over a server to pay the bill, then asked, "I'll take you home. Do you live at school or downtown?"

Tian Nina stood up, her face flushed bright red from drinking, and stretched lazily. "I'm so sleepy, and my head is spinning. Take me back to school, Chinese Department Girls' Dormitory, Building A, Room 501."

After saying that, she leaned her whole body against Lin Qiye, swaying as though she might collapse at any moment.

How could she go back like this? Lin Qiye supported her. "Sober up before going back. You won't even be able to get through the dorm entrance like this."

"Oh... Don't get any crooked ideas, okay? My dad is really scary."

"Who's getting ideas about you? You got this drunk off two bottles of beer. If you can't drink, then don't drink."

Supporting Tian Nina, Lin Qiye hailed a taxi and stopped at the Phoenix Dance Nine Heavens Internet Cafe on Fallen Street.

He helped Tian Nina into the Internet Cafe and let her lie down on the sofa bed where he rested. He even took out the blanket he had bought and covered her with it.

After finishing all that, it was almost time for the shift change.

Time passed bit by bit, yet Tian Nina never woke up.

Not until the next morning, when a scream rang out through the Internet Cafe.

"Ah!"

Lin Qiye hurriedly turned around to see what had happened.

Tian Nina had woken with a start, curled up on the sofa bed with a terrified expression.

"Why am I here? What did you do to me last night?"

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