novelraw Chapter 24 revealed that he had lost the watermelon.
Chapter 24 revealed that he had lost the watermelon.
The phone rang for a long time before it was answered.
"Hello, Manman?" Xu Yueqing's voice was terribly hoarse, with a heavy nasal tone, clearly indicating that she had been crying.
Li Man's heart sank: "Yueqing, are you alright?"
"I'm fine." Xu Yueqing sniffed, trying to appear calm. "What's wrong? Why are you looking for me so late?"
Li Man carefully chose her words: "Yesterday at Lingyan's house... you didn't seem quite right. Yueqing, have you really thought things through before breaking up with Chen Bo?"
Xu Yueqing remained silent on the other end of the phone.
A few seconds later, she said in a hoarse voice, "Manman, even you're asking me this... Does everyone think I shouldn't have broken up with him? That I shouldn't have gone to see Lu Ze?"
"That's not what I meant," Li Man said softly. "I just felt that you didn't seem happy. You were with Chen Bo for three years, and you broke up with him so easily. Can you really let go so quickly?"
"So what if I can't let go?" Xu Yueqing's voice suddenly became agitated. "I was the one who broke up with him, I was the one who didn't want him! He's living with Zhou Lingyan now, all lovey-dovey with her, what right do I have to be unable to let go?"
Li Man was shocked: "Chen Bo lives across the street, at Ling Yan's house?"
Xu Yueqing's silence was tantamount to giving an affirmative answer.
After a long silence, Li Man asked with a headache, "Yueqing, if... I mean if, Chen Bo has other suitors now, what would you think?"
Xu Yueqing's breath hitched: "Who? Zhou Lingyan? Isn't she just trying to annoy me?"
"It's not Spirit Flame," Li Man said slowly. "It's... Weiwei."
"Weiwei?" Xu Yueqing was taken aback. "Manman, are you kidding me? How could Weiwei possibly like Chen Bo? Her standards are so high..."
"She's liked Chen Bo for three years," Li Man interrupted her, her voice calm yet firm. "She's liked him since not long after you got together with Chen Bo. But because you're her best friend, she's kept it to herself and never said anything."
There was a deathly silence on the other end of the phone.
Li Man could even hear Xu Yueqing's breathing gradually becoming heavier.
"What...what did you say?" Xu Yueqing's voice trembled. "Weiwei likes Chen Bo? For three years? How is that possible...I didn't notice anything at all..."
"She hid it very well, or rather, you never noticed it at all," Li Man said frankly. "Yueqing, in these three years, have you really paid attention to Chen Bo? Have you paid attention to the attitudes of those around you towards him?"
Xu Yueqing was speechless.
She recalled that over the past three years, Bei Weiwei had indeed been exceptionally kind to Chen Bo.
When Chen Bo caught a cold, she brought him medicine; on his birthday, the gifts she gave him were always the most thoughtful; and once, when Chen Bo was mocked by a rich second-generation at a party, Bei Weiwei was the first to stand up for him...
It turns out that it wasn't just a polite gesture from a best friend to her boyfriend, but rather a sign of affection.
"So..." Xu Yueqing's voice was hollow, "Weiwei only comes to my house so often because of Chen Bo? She comes to see Chen Bo?"
Li Man sighed: "Yueqing, Weiwei called me today and asked if you still have feelings for Chen Bo. She said if you've completely let go, she wants to pursue Chen Bo."
"How dare she..." Xu Yueqing's voice rose, "She's my best friend, how could she..."
She paused halfway through her sentence.
Yes, why can't Bei Weiwei?
Didn't she herself easily abandon her boyfriend of three years for the sake of her so-called "white moonlight"?
What right does she have to criticize Bei Weiwei?
"Yueqing," Li Man heard her breakdown and her tone softened, "What are you thinking right now? About Chen Bo, about Weiwei, about you and Lu Ze... You need to think this through."
"I don't know..." Xu Yueqing's voice trembled with tears, "Manman, I feel like I've messed everything up. I hurt Chen Bo, and now I might lose Weiwei as a friend... Am I such a failure?"
"Don't think like that," Li Man comforted her. "There's no right or wrong in matters of the heart, it's just... Yueqing, you need to ask your own heart what you really want."
"I want Chen Bo back..." Xu Yueqing finally broke down in tears, "I want him to love me and pamper me like before, to have only me in his eyes... But he doesn't want me anymore, he's moved in with Zhou Lingyan..."
Li Man's head hurt even more.
What is all this about? In just one day and one night, how much has happened?
"Yueqing, calm down," Li Man said. "I'm coming to find you now, let's talk in person."
"No... I don't want to see anyone..."
"I have to come," Li Man said firmly. "You can't keep going like this. Wait for me, I'll be there in about thirty minutes."
After hanging up the phone, Li Man grabbed her coat and car keys and left.
The assistant looked at her in surprise: "The report isn't out yet..."
"We'll talk about it tomorrow morning," Li Man said without turning her head. "I have more important things to do right now."
On the drive to Yunding Mountain Villa, Li Man felt a mix of emotions.
These were five best friends who grew up together, played around together, and laughed together. They were so close they could even share a dress.
When did it start to change?
Is it because Xu Yueqing is becoming more and more popular, and her competition with Zhou Lingyan is becoming more and more intense?
Is it because Zhao Lulu is busy managing her own business that she's getting together with people less and less?
Or did Bei Weiwei secretly fall in love with her best friend's boyfriend and keep the secret in her heart for three years?
Or perhaps she was so busy with work that she gradually neglected the bond between her sisters?
Now, because of Chen Bo, is this already fragile, plastic sisterhood finally going to fall apart?
Li Man gripped the steering wheel tightly. She didn't know how to mediate, but she couldn't just stand by and watch Xu Yueqing break down alone.
On the other side, after hanging up the phone, Xu Yueqing sat on the cold floor, hugging her knees, tears streaming down her face.
Bei Weiwei has liked Chen Bo for three years.
This realization was like a knife, repeatedly cutting into her heart.
How much of a failure was she that she didn't realize her best friend liked her boyfriend for three years?
How indifferent must she be to Chen Bo to ignore all the gazes around him?
Xu Yueqing recalled that over the past three years, Chen Bo's gaze towards her was always focused and gentle, while she was always looking at her phone, reading scripts, and thinking about the next announcement or the next endorsement.
She took his kindness for granted, but never truly cared about him.
So when Lu Ze reappeared, with the aura of a poet and an artistic flair, she was easily attracted.
Because she was tired of Chen Bo's "ordinariness" and longed for a more "high-level" spiritual resonance.
But now she understands that all that so-called "high-class" stuff is worthless in the face of true feelings.
Will Lu Ze make ginger tea for her during her period? Will he stay up all night with her when she has insomnia? Will he listen silently to her complaints when she's stressed and then clumsily tell jokes to make her laugh?
will not.
Lu Ze would only send her profound poems, invite her to niche concerts, and discuss art theories that she only half understood.
And that real warmth came from Chen Bo.
She pushed it away herself, and now she deeply regrets it.
But he had already moved to Zhou Lingyan's place, accepted Bei Weiwei's kiss, and completely severed their past.
Thirty minutes later, Li Man's car stopped outside Xu Yueqing's villa.