Chapter 71: Damn, Liang Ye, you're this handsome

On the way home, He Huanhuan suggested, "Liang Ye isn't home, so we can't order takeout. Let's find a place to eat out before heading back."

Qi Meili was puzzled. "Why can't you order takeout?"

He Huanhuan sighed. "My phone doesn't work."

"Why?"

He Huanhuan then gave her a brief rundown of what had happened over the past few days, which made Qi Meili frown deeply. "He Huanhuan, are you stupid? Why would you give up a good life to go wandering around with some random guy?"

He Huanhuan felt a twinge of guilt. "I'm not wandering. We do have a place to stay."

"Could it be as nice as a big villa?"

Qi Meili was this close to pulling over and flicking her on the forehead. "Back when I told you to date, you acted like it would kill you! You never listened!"

"And now you've gone and gotten all tangled up with some old guy! What a mess!"

The "old guy" in question, Han Mo, tried to explain. "It'll all be fine in a couple of days. It won't take too long."

Qi Meili shot him a glare. "You say it's fine and it's fine? Who made you God? You think everything goes your way? If you're so great, why are you two still stuck here?"

Good question.

He Huanhuan subtly poked Qi Meili. "Meili, he's actually been through a lot."

And then, right in front of Han Mo, she started telling Qi Meili about all the terrible things that had happened in his family.

"...Think about it—his mother was literally infuriated to death. Can you imagine how devastated he was back then? Let's not give him a hard time, okay?"

These were things Han Mo hadn't heard mentioned in years.

Of course, no ordinary person would ever walk up to him and say, "Hey, your dad drove your mom to an early grave, right? And your brother's a bastard your dad had during the marriage? Man, your life is tragic..."

Who in their right mind would say something like that?

Oh, right. The two women in front of him would.

Qi Meili was stunned. "His dad is that much of a monster?"

He Huanhuan nodded. "A real villain! And his brother is disgusting too—he even tried to get fresh with me!"

"No way! You didn't beat him to a pulp?"

"I did hit him, but now he's hooking up with that fake heiress from the Gu family."

"What the hell! She's got some messed-up taste!"

The car stopped in front of a beef noodle shop. Qi Meili got out, glanced at Han Mo, and said, "Dude, you've had it rough."

Han Mo nodded. "It's okay."

Qi Meili agreed. "Yeah, it could be worse. At least you've got money. Me and Huanhuan are pretty unlucky too, but we're broke on top of that."

Han Mo tentatively offered, "Once this is all over, I could send you some money?"

Qi Meili's eyes lit up. "Send a lot! Otherwise, I won't approve of you two!"

Han Mo smiled and nodded. "Deal."

Watching the two of them walking hand in hand into the noodle shop, a smile tugged at Han Mo's lips.

They were pretty similar in personality. That was good—they'd get along well.

He Huanhuan wouldn't be bored from now on.

Inside, they ordered three bowls of beef noodles. Suddenly, He Huanhuan thought of something. "Meili, do you think your phone can pay for this here?"

That was a phone from their world. Would it even work here?

Qi Meili immediately perked up, eager to try. "Let me test it."

Thirty-six yuan transferred instantly. He Huanhuan was ecstatic. "It works! Quick, let me see how much money you have!"

She opened the balance: five thousand seven hundred and eighty-something.

He Huanhuan was shocked. "Whoa! Meili, you're loaded!"

At this rate, who needed to run around for takeout? They could just lie back and wait for time to pass!

But Qi Meili seriously put her phone away. "No, I can't spend this money recklessly. What if I suddenly get sent back in a couple of days? And you're still lying in the hospital. This money needs to go toward your hospital bills."

Five thousand sounded like a lot, but He Huanhuan's hospital fees were nearly four thousand a month.

That four thousand was absolutely off-limits.

He Huanhuan looked at Qi Meili with teary eyes. "Meili... why are you so good to me? From now on, I'll do whatever you say~"

Qi Meili smiled. "Then stop hanging out with Han Mo."

Han Mo, who'd been silent but was now getting stabbed out of nowhere: ...He'd figured it out. The heavens had sent Qi Meili here on purpose.

Just to mess with him.

He turned to Qi Meili. "Actually, I—"

Qi Meili glared at him. "Shut up."

Han Mo: "...Fine."

He Huanhuan hesitated. "Meili, actually I—"

Qi Meili glared at her too. "You be quiet too."

He Huanhuan: "...Okay."

The bowl of noodles was eaten in near-perfect silence, the three of them each lost in their own thoughts.

Han Mo was calculating. Han Xuan should already be past the point of no return by now. Maybe it was time to go see Chen Yu.

He Huanhuan, meanwhile, was racking her brain: Why did Meili's phone work here?

Could she get her own body back?

Actually, she didn't really want to be the Gu family's daughter. Sure, they had money, but it never felt comfortable.

Qi Meili was wolfing down her food, screaming internally: Oh my god! This is amazing! Eating with your bestie is the best feeling ever!

The three of them were each lost in their own world, not one of them sparing a thought for Liang Ye.

Out on the village road, Liang Ye was using his phone's flashlight to stumble home in the dark.

After walking for over ten minutes, he was exhausted.

He gritted his teeth and decided to hail a cab. But when he opened his phone, the late-night surcharge brought the fare up to over seventy yuan.

He couldn't bear to part with that money!

But he really couldn't walk any further. It was pitch black all around, and fear was creeping in.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and called his brother. "Bro, can you send a car to pick me up? I'm scared, wahhh..."

Liang Zheng was already asleep when he suddenly got a call from his little brother. The moment he picked up, sobbing came through the line: "...My e-bike is gone, I can't find it anywhere, and I tried to walk home, but it's so dark and there's no one around..."

His brother quickly sat up. "Call a cab right now and come home."

Liang Ye sniffled. "The late-night surcharge, it's over seventy bucks. I can't bear it, wahhh..."

His brother frowned. "Where are you right now?"

Liang Ye sobbed. "I'm in the village..."

"Why the hell are you there?"

His brother had no idea Liang Ye had been temporarily reassigned. He thought his brother was still working at the neighborhood committee near his apartment.

"I got sent here for a temporary assignment..."

His brother pulled out his phone and searched for Liang Ye's location. Sure enough—it was as remote as remote gets.

No wonder he couldn't bring himself to pay for a cab.

"I'll book one for you... Actually, forget it, I'll just drive over and get you myself."

That way his brother wouldn't have to fret about the money.

He quickly got up, headed downstairs, and got in the car. When he finally found Liang Ye, the guy had dozed off squatting on the ground...

He patted him. "Xiao Ye, I'm here. Let's go home."

"Zzz..."

His only response was a long, drawn-out snore.

Liang Zheng let out a helpless chuckle. How could anyone fall asleep squatting by the roadside?

He heaved Liang Ye into the car, originally planning to take him back to the family home.

But then he thought about the morning—when Liang Ye would wake up and start picking everything apart: Why do we have to live this far out in the sticks? It burns so much gas just getting anywhere!

And bro, you never eat anything—can you tell the kitchen not to make so much food?

Wasteful! Wasteful! You guys are so wasteful!

So he pointed the car straight back toward the city instead. Better to drop him off at his little apartment.

The car pulled up to the building, and his brother carried Liang Ye upstairs.

He'd just slid the key into the lock when the door swung open on its own, revealing a shock of flashy red hair. "Holy crap! Half a day without seeing you, and you got this handsome all of a sudden, Liang Ye?"