Chongqing Chilli's Luoyang Laoban

5

Xiao Zhan was a crying mess. Sitting under the huge tamarind tree on the hill, he reminisced about what he had seen a few moments ago. 

The red marks on Yibo's shoulder are so evident. He had never thought Wang Laoban would be spending time with a girl when he was waiting the whole night for nothing. He felt so hurt. Pulling his knees close to his chest, Xiao Zhan leaned more onto the tamarind tree. 

Far away, on the courtyard of the home, he saw Wang Yibo calling his name in all directions. He seemed agitated and confused. Wang Yibo's voice echoing and shattering, only to get mixed up, creating a pool of sound waves. Mr. Shen's cows replied to Yibo's calling by mooing their protests loudly and Yibo was forced to stop it. 

But Xiao Zhan didn't reply. He didn't think it was necessary to answer and simply cried leaning onto the tree as if his boyfriend had cheated on him. Apparently the pain was the same. He didn't cry this much even when Xu Chen broke up with him. 

A few more minutes later, he saw Wang Yibo going away from the home. He walked weakly, aiming for the bus station. Xiao Zhan sniffled and waited until Wang Yibo disappeared from his sight to get up. 

Dusting off his butt, he came down the hill to the home. He was still sniffling, eyes red and cheek soaked with tears making them rounder than it is supposed to be.

On the door, he found a note that was quickly written by Yibo on the back of a paper bill of a local shop and pasted on the door by the smashed rice grains from the breakfast. Even if it was written hastily, it is still in good calligraphy. 

 'Hi Xiao Zhan,

If you see this, please eat breakfast. I ate my share. Yesterday I forgot my phone, not you. That's why I couldn't message you. Have a nice day :)’

Xiao Zhan cried more seeing it but this time, it was the tears of relief. He is still angry with Yibo for no reason but the note really soothed him to an extent that his stomach growled out of hunger. 

It is true that Xiao Zhan tends to feel hungry whenever he is coping with a situation after the initial distress. It was his eating habit. More like a coping habit.

On the table, he found out Yibo only ate a little. It somewhat made him sad again. He cried more while sitting by the table. The pig plush was still there, abandoned. Xiao Zhan picked it up and squeezed it in his palms. An unknown anger boiling inside him and he raised hand to throw it away but retreated and placed it on his lap, wiping on his tears harshly.

A few minutes later, he ate all the remaining food without leaving a single grain. As usual he cleaned everything and placed the pig plush neatly on the table before going out of the house. 

       Meanwhile in the studio of Méiguī entertainment, Cheng Xiao was sitting on a chair, watching his fellow group members practising. They were practising for the new programme. 

She was all exhausted after two hours of continuous practice, now resting a bit to regain energy. Her whole body aches to an extent that she could no longer put a single step. Team members even teased her after watching her limping as she walked. They don't know what practice she was doing last night but they praised her dedication for the work making her smirk internally. Only if they knew…

Taking a mouthful of water from her sipper bottle, she grinned dreamingly unaware of the surroundings. The memory of Yibo's hot breath still tickled her to an extent that it created goosebumps all over her. 

A sudden intrusion into the studio made all the girls jump in their place. It was their manager barging into the studio. By how her nose is flaring, everyone guessed she is about to burst at any moment.