Chapter twenty-two

Without the two main characters, and seeing them in conflict, everyone lost interest in the party. They were all eagerly waiting for the door of the private room to open.

Leo even went to find the bar manager, wanting to take the key to open the door. But the person who booked the entire venue tonight was Nick, and it was also Nick who locked someone in the private room. This made the manager very embarrassed.

Just when Luna and the other two were anxious to the point of tears. The door of the private room finally opened, and everyone rushed forward to block the entrance. It was a dark and dense crowd with various expressions.

As soon as the door opened, Nick emerged, holding Zoe. This result surprised everyone a bit. But the next second, Zoe struggled out of Nick's arms and ran towards Luna. Luna, Ellie, and Stella were already very tense. As soon as they saw Zoe running over, Luna instinctively reached out to hug her. Looking again, Zoe's eyes were filled with tears.

Luna's heart skipped a beat, "Zoe?"

Zoe closed her eyes and said, "I... I'm fine."

Of course she wasn't fine, her body was trembling.

Luna looked at Nick. Zoe let go of Nick's hand, and Nick put his hands back in his pockets, looking over with his thin lips pursed and deep eyes, saying, "Take her upstairs to sit for a while."

Luna furrowed her brows, "What did you do?"

Nick reached out and took the shirt and pants handed by the bar manager, with a slight smile on his lips, "What could I do? Just kissed her and touched her. Really didn't do anything."

Luna brushed away the strands of hair from Zoe's forehead and asked, "Should we go upstairs or...?"

"Go back."

Zoe calmed down, although she was still shaking a bit. But her tone was much calmer.

Luna nodded and exchanged glances with Stella. Stella took the car keys, left Ellie behind, and walked towards the door to drive. Nick saw this and didn't stop them. He just glanced at Noah, and Noah nodded, indicating that he understood.

Everyone present was silent, watching the situation unfold.

Luna led Zoe, and Ellie carrying their things, followed towards the exit. Before leaving, Luna pulled Zoe's hand. Zoe came to her senses, turned to the others, and said, "Sorry, I'm going back first."

"Thank you all for helping me celebrate my birthday tonight. I'm extremely grateful."

Everyone was stunned, but they were all Zoe's friends, so they immediately smiled and waved it off, saying it's okay, you can go ahead if you have something to do.

Zoe smiled, a smile as fleeting as the wind. There was indeed a soft and resilient charm to her, coupled with her leaning on Luna, her eyes shimmering with tears. At this moment, many of the boys present felt their hearts skip a beat. This kind of casual beauty was often the most captivating. Ethan stood beside Nick, cursed, and quickly looked away.

Nick's face immediately darkened, and he coldly scanned the people present, successfully making them all avert their eyes. Even a glance more might have resulted in Nick gouging out their eyes.

He glanced at the bar manager, who immediately took off his jacket and walked forward, ready to drape it over Zoe's shoulders.

On the other side, a black baseball jacket was suddenly thrown over Zoe's head. Leo stood nearby, his voice unsteady: "Zoe, put this on."

Luna thanked Leo and then reached out to pull down the jacket, covering Zoe's shoulders.

Zoe was about to refuse, but then lowered her hand and didn't take it off. Her coat was already open in the front, so it couldn't block much, and Luna probably noticed that she had been covering her chest all the time, so she took Leo's jacket.

After covering Zoe with the jacket, the three of them left hurriedly, disappearing from everyone's sight in an instant.

After they left, the atmosphere in the venue became stagnant for a moment.

Leo tugged at his collar, which was also a shirt, but in a dark gold color. He turned and looked at Nick.

Nick watched as they left, undoing the buttons of his shirt as he walked towards the private room.

Not long after, he emerged with a change of clothes, his hair washed and neatly combed with water droplets dripping down, slightly messy on his forehead. His narrow eyes were hidden among the strands of hair, and those who remained saw this.

Every woman present blushed.

He was incredibly handsome.

Leo leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, watching him.

Nick took out a cigarette and lit it, biting down on it with his eyes lowered.

After a while, Leo said, "Nick, I never knew you would do such a thing."

Nick blew out a puff of smoke and said, "Is that so?"

I didn't know I could do this until now.

Leo, although he hadn't given up on Zoe, was truly not as shameless, as lecherous, or as domineering as Nick in terms of his methods.

He narrowed his eyes and said, "You may be satisfied, now, but later... I think you'll have your share of suffering."

Nick raised his eyebrows but remained silent. The two brothers stood there silently for a moment before leaving.

It was Christmas Eve tonight, and the weather had suddenly become cold. Stella drove Luna's car to the door. As soon as Zoe and the other two got out, they quickly got into the car but were still chilled by the cold wind.

As soon as Stella saw them get in, she immediately drove away.

Ellie sat in the passenger seat and after a while, turned to look at Zoe in the backseat. Zoe took out a tissue to wipe her eyes, while Luna tightened the jacket draped over Zoe's shoulders. Zoe smiled at Luna and shook her head: "I'm fine."

"Mm."

Luna nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

The Tesla sped silently on the road, and the inside of the car was also quiet.

When they returned to the school dormitory, the four of them walked in. The lights were bright, and Zoe's skin at the neckline was exposed. Luna was stunned.

Ellie and Stella exchanged glances, both incredulous.

Luna pulled Zoe over and carefully asked, "What's this...?"

Yes, Zoe's dress originally had a slightly low neckline, revealing a small cleavage. It wasn't big, but it was dainty. That's why she had used a thin scarf to cover it, letting it hang down to cover it perfectly. It was fashionable and looked good, but now, there was a slight red mark on her skin. It was negligible, but only because Zoe's skin was too white. The red mark was very obvious; it was caused by suction.

Stella and Luna, who had experience, recognized it immediately. Ellie was younger but had seen enough to understand as well.

Zoe was the calmest of all. She pulled the scarf up to cover it, sat down on the bed, and leaned tiredly against the headboard, saying, "We didn't have sex."

Luna clenched her fists, "But he touched you and kissed you?"

Zoe rubbed her cold ears and nodded.

"Mm."

"Did he force you?"

Zoe nodded again.

Luna, "...I knew this day would come eventually."

Stella, "Damn, he's definitely the scariest guy I've ever seen."

Ellie walked up and hugged Zoe, "How could you have ever liked him...?"

Zoe looked at Ellie's frightened face and pinched her cheek, saying, "When we were young and reckless, we offended the wrong people."

Sometimes, things reach their extreme and then reverse, just like the moon wanes when it's full, and water overflows when it's too full. Zoe's resilience had grown stronger through these repeated challenges.

Luna said, "Just consider it like being bitten by a dog."

After a moment of silence among the four, Luna's phone rang. It was Ethan calling. Luna frowned and was about to hang up, but Ethan quickly said, "Hey, hey, don't hang up. I'm at your dormitory building right now. You forgot to take the gifts that the classmates gave Zoe."

After listening, Luna told Zoe, who had already changed her clothes. Zoe turned and said, "Go get them."

It was impolite to personally accept someone's gift and then leave it aside.

Luna smiled and said to Zoe, "You're becoming more and more elegant."

Then she called back Ethan, who was relieved on the other end.

Soon, the four of them went downstairs together to get the gifts. Ethan drove a black Hummer and as soon as he saw them coming down, he quickly got out of the car and opened the door for them.

The backseat was full of gifts.

The four of them just took enough, and Ethan handed Zoe a beautiful insulated flask, hooking it on her finger.

Zoe thought it was just a gift because the lighting downstairs wasn't very good. After they took everything, Ethan kept smiling ingratiatingly and asked, "Do you need help carrying them up?"

No.

Luna glared at Ethan.

The management of this dormitory for self-study students wasn't very strict with male visitors. Boys from other colleges occasionally came to visit, and the dormitory aunt often pretended not to see, so they could go upstairs directly.

But the four of them obviously didn't want to have much involvement with Ethan.

"Take your time."

Ethan smiled and raised his hand, treating them like princesses.

Zoe thanked Ethan, but he couldn't bear to look at her properly. He would glance at her and then quickly look away, as if afraid of being drawn into her charm.

With Leo and Nick already in the picture, he had to hold on, hold on.

The four of them carried the gifts upstairs.

Ethan maintained his posture of escorting someone as he watched them ascend the stairs. Once they disappeared inside, he glanced to the side.

Nick, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, leaned against a shady tree and raised his eyebrows, staring at the dormitory door where Zoe was.

Ethan smirked and said, "After doing something bad, one usually has to hide. It's a given."

Back in the dormitory, they arranged the gifts neatly.

All four of them were a bit tired from carrying the heavy pile of gifts up the stairs. Zoe felt a slight pain in her two fingers that were hooked onto the insulated flask. She lowered her head to take a look and realized it was an insulated flask.

Luna, her hand resting on the table, also glanced at it and asked, "Did someone give you an insulated flask?"

Zoe shook her head and reached out to touch it. The flask was still warm.

Luna guessed, "Is there food inside?"

Zoe casually lifted the lid, and a familiar aroma of noodles filled the air. Inside lay a delicious soup with noodles for longevity...

Luna peeked inside and was stunned.

"This is the astronomically priced longevity noodle dish launched by Yuloutai four years ago. Only one bowl is made every year. The inventor of this noodle dish is..."

Luna turned to Zoe and their eyes met. It was your grandmother, Evelyn.

Zoe nodded and looked at the noodles, silent for a moment.

The color and texture of the noodles were exactly the same as those made by her grandmother. The soup and ingredients were also prepared by her grandmother's hands. Instantly, many memories came flooding back. Her grandmother's rough hands touching her head, saying, "In the future, I'll make such a bowl of longevity noodles for Yiyi every year, okay?"

"Okay." Zoe replied softly, gazing at the noodles without saying anything for a while.

"But Grandmother, why did you have to leave me first?" Zoe whispered, her eyes reddening under the steam rising from the flask.

Her phone on the table began to ring loudly, sounding particularly jarring in the otherwise quiet dormitory. With tear-filled eyes, she glanced down at the screen.

Nick's message appeared: "Happy birthday, enjoy the longevity noodles while they're hot."

Luna's gaze was complicated as she commented, "Wow, when he's gentle, it's really quite something..."

Zoe remained silent, not knowing what to say.