If The Moon Won’t Hold You - Chapter 18-2

“Mhm.” Zhang Ziyi pursed her lips, “He just came back. Yesterday, Xin Zechuan and the others went to pick him up. Meng Peiyan probably also went there, which is why they were photographed.”

“Oh.”

“Hey, what’s your expression of relief? Are you happy to find out that he and Meng Peiyan aren’t in a scandalous relationship like what was said in the news?”

Cen Ning was stunned for a moment, then shook her head guiltily: “No.”

“Tsk, you really don’t know how to lie, your face turns red when you lie.”

“…”

In that moment of awkwardness, someone suddenly patted Cen Ning on the shoulder. Zhang Ziyi and Cen Ning both turned their heads to look at the person at the same time.

Cen Ning was a little surprised when she saw the person: “Xue Zhang.” (TLN: Xue Zhang means senior)

Dky Zk, obs oyp vblka pldksa, pxkzle: “R oydvle vs nyzz usw, cwv R eked’v lmrlnv usw vs cl blal vss. Myjl vbkp, blal.”

Uld Lkdt vssj vbl cssj qasx bkx: “Gb…vbkp?”

“R blyae qasx Dkys Hsdt yde vbl svblap vbyv usw byhl clld zssjkdt qsa vbkp cssj.” Dky Zk pyke y zkvvzl lxcyaaypplezu, “Gp pssd yp xu qaklde tsv kv, R ypjle bkx vs tkhl kv vs usw.”

Uld Lkdt rywple: “Ms tkhl xl? Rv…kv’p dsv hlau rszkvl sq xl vs ynnlrv.”

“Rv’p sjyu, xu qaklde eslpd’v dlle kv yduxsal. Myjl y tsse zssj yv kv. Rv okzz yzps blzr uswa rbsvstayrbu pjkzzp.”

Uld Lkdt oyp shlafsule. Fbl bye clld zssjkdt qsa vbkp cssj, obknb oyp ycswv rbsvstayrbu pjkzzp, qsa y zsdt vkxl: “Mbld, vbydj usw, Dwl Hbydt.”

“Ls rasczlx, kv, kv oyp ds vaswczl.” Dky Zk tzydnle yv Hbydt Hkuk, “Bx…usw pvkzz byhl y qaklde oykvkdt qsa usw, vbld R’zz ts qkapv.”

“Xjyu.”

Xia Yi came and left quickly. Zhang Ziyi glanced at his back and patted Cen Ning’s shoulder meaningfully: “Yo, came here just to give you a book, who is this?”

Cen Ning knew what Zhang Ziyi was thinking as soon as she saw her expression. “He’s a senior from the photography club, don’t overthink it again.” 

“That’s not called overthinking, I perceive people very accurately, okay?” Zhang Ziyi narrowed her eyes. “He looks pretty handsome. Since you don’t have feelings for Song Ci, then he’s also not bad.”

Cen Ning tapped Zhang Ziyi with the book: “Here you go again.”

Zhang Ziyi laughed for a while, but after the merriment, she slowly and seriously said: “Ningning, have a relationship, others are fine too, really.”

**

Others were fine too, she knew this.

But in her darkest and weakest period in her youth she had met him, the one who was like a bright moon in the dark…he, like the moonlight, had guided her, given her warmth, and given her confidence and strength.

No one knew how much she liked that moonlight, so much so that she was willing to stay in the night forever for that light.

But the sky would always brighten and the moon would always disappear.

However, her memories and feelings couldn’t be changed so quickly. And even though she had been deliberately trying to forget, she still hadn’t been able to accept the light from others in the daylight.

So, she had to wait…maybe a little longer, and then she wouldn’t care about him anymore. 

The next day, Cen Ning went to the photography club after class.

During summer break, she had secretly taught herself some basic knowledge about DSLR cameras. So she joined the photography club without hesitation in her freshman year.

After joining the photography club, she often went to lectures and learned how to operate the camera from her seniors. After more than half of a semester had gone by, she had made rapid progress and had become more and more fond of photography.

“Cen Ning.” Xia Yi walked over with a DSLR, “How did you go with the homework in our club from last time?”

Cen Ning was processing photos in front of the computer in the photography club, “Mhm, it’s completed.”

“Oh, then I’ll take a look.” Xia Yi bent down and took her mouse, and pressed down one by one. “This one is good, this one is okay too. Hmm…this one is too blurry.”

Xia Yi was already in his third year. He had been in the photography club for a long time, and he had studied photography since high school. He belonged to the ranks of masters in this regard. Cen Ning learned a lot from him, and when she saw him commenting on her photos, she got busy earnestly noting down the suggestions.

More than ten minutes later, Xia Yi got up, cleared his throat, and said, “It’s already five o’clock, eh Cen Ning, why don’t we… why don’t we go out to eat together first?”

Cen Ning raised her head from the computer: “Huh?”

Xia Yi said unnaturally: “Photos are important, but eating is also important. We can come back and continue after eating.”

Cen Ning paused for a moment. But just as she was about to answer, her phone suddenly rang. She said “wait a minute” to Xia Yi and picked up the phone: “Ziyi, what’s wrong?”

“Ningning, Tang Zheng called me just now and said that everyone will get together at C Plus tonight.” Zhang Ziyi sneered after saying, “Really, he came back yesterday, but only called me today. What, it’s not like we can’t go to the place they went to yesterday.”

Cen Ning froze slightly: “Get, get together?”

Zhang Ziyi: “We are all from the same compound, probably everyone will go. By the way, Tang Zheng told me directly to take you with me. You… will go, right?”

Cen Ning was stunned for a moment: “Why did he ask that?”

“Oh, I originally thought that it would be better for you to not see Yan Xingzhi anymore, but thinking about it again, it seems that you will see him when you go home anyway.” Zhang Ziyi patted her head, “Tsk, how stupid of me.”

Cen Ning twitched the corners of her mouth but did not speak.

“Anyway, if you want to meet, then let’s meet. Do you know where C Plus is? I’ll send you the specific address. It’s very close. We’ll meet in the lobby then, ok.”

… After hanging up the phone, Cen Ning turned around and met Xia Yi’s inquiring gaze.

Cen Ning remembered what he said about dinner just now, and said a little apologetically, “I’m sorry, Xue Zhang, I have an appointment with some friends tonight.”

**

At six o’clock in the evening, Cen Ning took a taxi to C Plus.

C Plus was a relatively private entertainment club. It had everything to eat, drink, and play, but it implemented a membership system. So those who could afford to go were basically children from wealthy families.

After Cen Ning got out of the car, she sent a message to Zhang Ziyi. Zhang Ziyi was still on the road and said she would arrive in about ten minutes.

Originally, in this situation, Cen Ning could have gone in first. But she obviously didn’t have the guts. No one was with her, and she would probably be overwhelmed by them.

After all, it had been years since they had seen each other.

After entering the main entrance of C Plus, there was a hall. There were several sofas and coffee tables in the hall, so people could wait there. Cen Ning sat down by the window. She was seemingly quietly fiddling with her phone, but was actually observing the people around her.

People came and went, and the people who came in were well-dressed and elegant. The smell of alcohol that came out was smokey and wanton. Everyone seemed to have taken off the mask from the day and did whatever they wanted in such an uncontrolled area.

For her, this kind of place was very unfamiliar. So she kept her head down slightly, trying to reduce her presence as much as possible.

“Hey, I’m not drunk… hiccup, I’m really not drunk!” Suddenly, the chair she was sitting on was bumped inward. Cen Ning was startled and turned her head quickly.

And at this turn, she saw a man with a flushed face half-hanging off the back of her chair.

Cen Ning: “…”

Another man next to him came to pull the drunk man, and he said to Cen Ning with no sincerity, “I’m sorry, this man drinks too much.”

“You f*cking said I drank too much? Let’s go in and compare to see who gets drunk first!”

“Go go go, get in the car quickly.”

“I won’t get in the car.” The drunk man rolled his eyes at the man, then looked at Cen Ning with a smile. “Hey little beauty, why are you waiting here? Would you like to go in with your brother, I, for a drink? Your brother here is a good drinker.”

Cen Ning stood up in silence and took two steps to the side vigilantly.

“Don’t go, come on, come on, let’s play together, your brother won’t hurt you.” After saying that, the man came up to grab Cen Ning’s hand, and he squeezed Cen Ning’s wrist tightly in the palm of his hand. 

Cen Ning’s face flushed with fright, and she struggled a few times but couldn’t break free: “You, you let go—”

“Don’t be shy, your brother is single,” the drunk man blinked and laughed crazily, “Really, I’m not fickle in love.”

The man who was pulling him at the side was obviously used to his nonsense. He pressed his temple and sneered: “Stop molesting people, do you want to go back or not. I don’t have that much time to serve you.”

The drunk man didn’t pay attention to him at all, and insisted on teasing Cen Ning: “Little sister, your face is so red, so cute. Do you have a boyfriend? Though it doesn’t matter if you have a boyfriend or not, just dump him. Hehe, what do you think of me?”

As he was talking, he started to touch Cen Ning. Cen Ning was caught off guard. Her face was pinched by him, and she suddenly got goosebumps all over her body: “Let go…don’t touch me! Hey, pull him away!”

The drunk man’s friend shrugged. When he was about to step forward to pull away the drunk man, he suddenly felt someone walking by at a very fast speed. Before he could react, he was stunned by the scene in front of him——

The drunk man was pulled away by a man who suddenly came forward. The man probably used a lot of force because the drunk man was flung away by him and he hit the wooden table two meters away. After a whimper, the man rolled softly on the ground.

His appearance was really embarrassing and tragic.

“You, who are you!” After the drunk man’s friend finally reacted, he pointed angrily at the man who suddenly appeared. Given they could come here to have fun, their status was not low. Now that his friend was dumped on the ground, where would they put their face! (TLN: Facemeans pride)

At this moment, the man who had thrown the other man turned around slowly. His eyes were so cold that they seemed to reach a freezing point.

The drunk man’s friend felt his heart freeze as he saw the man in front of him with the corners of his mouth sneering slightly, half cold and sarcastic as he spoke. 

The man said, “Who gave you the courage to touch her?”

The author has something to say: This time, she has really grown up. Freshman year, freshman year, freshman year. She can start dating, and this is the beginning of Yan Xingzhi’s multiple slappings to the face.