My ex-girlfriend's best friends are getting restless right after the breakup.

Chapter 14 The Little Lamb and the Old Hunter

"The floor is cold." Chen Bo carried her towards the stairs. "Didn't you want to talk? Let's go upstairs and talk."

Xu Yueqing struggled for a moment: "Put me down, I can walk by myself..."

Before she could finish speaking, Chen Bo's arm tightened, and she immediately gasped – her back ached, her legs felt weak, and a certain indescribable place was still throbbing.

"You can walk?" Chen Bo raised an eyebrow. "Then show me how you walk!"

Xu Yueqing stopped talking, buried her face in his shoulder, and resignedly let him carry her upstairs.

Upon entering the bedroom, Chen Bo didn't turn on the main light, but instead used his foot to turn on a warm yellow bedside lamp.

He placed Xu Yueqing on the bed, then sat on the edge of the bed, watching her.

Under the warm light, Xu Yueqing looked unrealistically beautiful. Her tear stains were still wet, her eyelashes were glistening, and her nightgown had spread even more open during her struggle, revealing large expanses of snow-white skin and deep cleavage.

Chen Bo was deeply moved.

"Speak," he forced himself to look away, "What do you want to talk about?"

Xu Yueqing curled up, hugging her knees, and remained silent for a long while before speaking: "Chen Bo, is there... still a chance for us?"

After asking that question, she was stunned.

She hadn't originally intended to ask that. What she wanted to say was, "Could you move out?" or "Let's part amicably and stop torturing each other." Or, "Even though you were eliminated in the first round, that challenge opportunity is still important to you, so don't act impulsively."

But when the words reached my lips, they came out as this.

Chen Bo was also taken aback for a moment, then laughed, a hint of amusement in his smile: "Teacher Xu, that's an interesting question. You were the one who broke up with him, you were the one who went to see Poet Lu, and now you're asking me if there's still a chance?"

He leaned closer to her, his fingers playing with a strand of her long hair: "What, have you developed feelings for each other while sleeping together?"

Xu Yueqing's face flushed instantly, both ashamed and angry: "Can't you...can you be serious for once?!"

"I'm being very serious," Chen Bo said innocently. "I'm carefully analyzing your psychological state. You see, for the first three years after the breakup, you wouldn't let me touch you. After the breakup, things blossomed year after year, and then you started to regret it and felt that I was better. Am I right?"

Xu Yueqing wanted to refute, but found that she had no way to refute.

Because what he said seemed to make some sense.

"It's not because of that..." she weakly defended herself.

"Then why?" Chen Bo pressed, leaning forward again until they could feel each other's breath. "Because you discovered I'm not actually that bad? Because you discovered your noble poet Lu might not be as good as me? Or is it because..."

His gaze suddenly deepened: "You don't actually like Lu Ze that much; you just enjoy the feeling of being fawned over by a talented man?"

Xu Yueqing was startled, as if her secret had been exposed, and stared at him with wide eyes.

Chen Bo knew he had guessed correctly.

He could tell from the original owner's memories.

Xu Yueqing's affection for Lu Ze is more of a way to make up for the regrets of her youth and to yearn for an artistic persona, rather than a truly deep-seated feeling.

Otherwise, if she had agreed to end the relationship by sleeping with him, she wouldn't have reacted so strongly when she saw him staying at Zhou Lingyan's place, and she certainly wouldn't have called him over late at night to ask if there was still a chance.

"Did I hit the nail on the head?" Chen Bo chuckled, his fingers sliding from her hair to her cheek, then to her chin. "Yueqing, you don't actually like Lu Ze that much. You're just unwilling to accept it. Unwilling to accept missing out back then, unwilling to accept that he became a famous poet while you're still a celebrity without the artist label, right?"

Xu Yueqing's tears fell again.

This time, it wasn't resentment or anger, but a feeling of utter shame after being completely seen through.

Chen Bo sighed and reached out to wipe away her tears: "Don't cry, if you cry, I won't be able to control myself again."

Xu Yueqing sniffed and looked up at him: "Chen Bo, do you hate me?"

"Hate?" Chen Bo thought for a moment. "I wouldn't say hate. I'm a little angry and a little annoyed, but mostly I think you're stupid."

"Am I stupid?"

"Hmm." Chen Bo nodded. "Why chase after some 'white moonlight' when you have something right under your nose? Do you know why it's called 'white moonlight'? Because it's unattainable, so it's beautiful. If you actually get it, it'll probably just be an ordinary rice stick."

He added, "Of course, I'm not saying I'm a rice sticky eater. I'm more like... well, braised pork? Fatty but not greasy, the more you eat, the more delicious it becomes."

Xu Yueqing burst into laughter through her tears at his analogy: "How can you be so shameless..."

"How could I win you over if I wasn't thick-skinned?" Chen Bo seized the opportunity, stretching out his arm to pull her into his embrace. "Alright, stop crying. If you cry again and your eyes are swollen tomorrow, don't blame me if you can't look good on camera."

Xu Yueqing leaned against him, smelling the familiar scent of his shower gel, and the entanglement and struggle in her heart slowly dissipated.

She reached out and wrapped her arms around his waist, whispering, "Chen Bo, let's start over, okay? I won't look for Lu Ze anymore, and you shouldn't stay at Zhou Lingyan's place anymore, we..."

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Bo's kiss landed on his lips.

This kiss wasn't as vengeful and fierce as last night's, nor as frantic as this morning's farewell. Instead, it was gentle, lingering, and filled with comfort and allure.

Xu Yueqing was quickly overwhelmed by the kisses, and all the important matters in her mind vanished.

When Chen Bo released her, the two had already fallen onto the bed, their robes open, their breaths mingling.

"We can start over," Chen Bo said, his voice hoarse, pressing his forehead against hers, "but we have to do it at my pace."

What's the rhythm?

Xu Yueqing's eyes were unfocused, filled with doubt.

Chen Bo laughed, a laugh like a cat that had just stolen some fish: "For example, right now, let's finish what we didn't finish before."

"Didn't we finish last night...?" Xu Yueqing protested, but her voice was weak and had no intimidating power at all.

"No, that was the night before last. Tonight is tonight," Chen Bo said matter-of-factly.

Xu Yueqing wanted to say something more, but Chen Bo had already silenced her with his actions.

That night, Xu Yueqing, this innocent little lamb, once again fell completely into the gentle trap of the old hunter Chen Bo.

Her so-called important matters had long been forgotten due to Chen Bo's shamelessness and cunning.

When Xu Yueqing regained consciousness, it was already broad daylight.

She opened her eyes groggily. There was no one beside her, only the disheveled sheets and the lingering scent of a man in the air, reminding her of what had happened last night.

"Chen Bo?" she called out in a hoarse voice.

No one responded.

Xu Yueqing propped herself up and sat up, looking around.

Chen Bo's coat was gone, his shoes were gone, and even the water glass he used last night had been washed clean and put back in its place.

It was as if he had never been there at all.

Her heart sank. She picked up her phone and saw it was 9:30 in the morning.

No missed calls, no new messages.

Xu Yueqing gritted her teeth and texted Chen Bo: "Where did you go?"