132: Chapter 132 My name is Xu Xiaowen

My name is Xu Xiaowen.

When I first saw him, I didn't even know his name.

Who would know? It was my first time at a bar, too.

Honestly, I'm still a bit dazed even now.

Who am I? Where am I?

Why am I here in this deafening music and blinding neon lights, enduring air thick with the mix of perfume, alcohol, and sweat?

"Xiao Wen, stop looking at that stupid casebook of yours! A new guy is coming today, I heard he's a bookworm too, a perfect match for you! Come hang out with us!"

As she spoke, she tried to snatch my copy of "Analysis of Difficult Criminal Law Cases" from my arms.

Feifei, my dear roommate.

Dressed up... well, to describe it in professional terms.

It was probably a visual impact significantly higher than the upper limit of what campus daily norms could tolerate.

Sisi chimed in from the side, pinning my other arm.

Resistance was futile.

My legal weapon had been disarmed.

Is this what university calls socializing?

It was completely different from the quiet library and intense classroom debates I had imagined.

I felt like a prisoner being escorted, my only sustenance left being the phone in my pocket.

Pushing open the door, waves of sound and heat hit me, instantly drowning me out.

My eyes needed to adjust to the dim light and the constantly flashing colored spots, and my ears were filled with drumbeats, screams, and muffled conversations.

The dance floor was like a pot of boiling dumplings, and the booth area was also packed with people.

I was pressed into a semi-circular sofa seat, feeling like an exhibit placed in the wrong spot.

I huddled in the corner, clutching my phone tightly like a drowning person grabbing a piece of driftwood.

Looking down, I scrolled through short videos.

I just hoped time could be set to double speed, or fast-forwarded directly to when I could return to the dorm and hug my casebook to repent for tonight's depravity.

The guys Feifei invited finally arrived.

I looked up, my gaze sweeping over a group of boys dressed in a way that fit the bar perfectly, and finally landed on... the figure in the corner.

Out of place, just like me.

He was sitting quietly at the other end of the sofa, while I sat on this side.

I lowered my head and continued scrolling through my phone.

My peripheral vision told me that he had also barely moved.

Feifei and the others quickly hit it off with the guys; laughter, clinking glasses, and jeers rose one after another.

In the entire booth, it felt like only he and I were the silent zones.

I couldn't help but glance at him again.

Strange.

Even though he was clearly just as out of place in this environment, his face didn't show the same awkwardness and embarrassment that made me want to crawl into a hole.

His expression... was a kind of near-bored relaxation?

It was as if all the noise around him had nothing to do with him; he was just forced to sit there, but his heart was calm and undisturbed.

Was it the habituation of a bar regular?

Or... was he dragged here like me, but on a higher level, able to completely block out the outside world?

I shook my head.

Xu Xiaowen, what are you thinking about?

None of your business!

Have you finished reading the case analysis? Have you memorized the key points of Criminal Procedure Law?

I just want to go back!

Back to my cases piled with legal articles and judgment documents.

Bang!

A loud noise scared me so much I almost threw my phone away!

Looking towards the sound.

Good grief, a live, melodramatic bar scene was unfolding before my eyes!

Wine bottles, screaming, shoving... the movements were so fast I didn't even see who started it.

My brain crashed instantly, subconsciously starting to frantically search my memory bank.

"Fighting in a public place causing minor injury... picking quarrels and provoking trouble... division of responsibility... the boundaries of self-defense..."

What a mess!

It's over, it's over, my knowledge base is still too lacking!

Facing real-life conflict, the theoretical knowledge I've accumulated doesn't seem to be enough.

The farce ended.

The atmosphere at the wine table dropped to freezing point.

The liveliness from just a moment ago seemed to have been hit with a pause button, leaving only awkward silence and the clamor of background music.

I felt uncomfortable all over, as if being pricked by countless little needles.

This low pressure made me suffocate.

I even thought absurdly.

Should I say something? Liven up the atmosphere? Get them rowdy again?

That way they could continue to ignore me, a little nobody who wishes she could vanish on the spot...

Just at this moment.

In the opposite corner, that silent figure moved.

He reached out, picked up the wine glass on the table in front of him, and without a hint of hesitation, tilted his head back and downed it in one gulp.

The movement was crisp and decisive.

So strange! What is he doing?

Drinking alone at a time like this? Wouldn't that be even more awkward?

I widened my eyes, looking at him through my lenses.

Even stranger... the frozen air at the wine table seemed to have actually been broken by his abrupt yet calm action!

I don't know who laughed first, or said something.

The taut string loosened, and the topic was awkwardly diverted.

The conflict from just a moment ago seemed to have been washed away by that glass of wine, and the atmosphere slowly became lively again.

Hmm...?

My gaze landed on him, for the first time filled with real curiosity.

He put down the empty glass, still with that detached, calm appearance.

Did Feifei just introduce his name?

The voice was drowned out by the noise, but I caught those three characters.

Chen Youhua.

His name is Chen Youhua?

Just like me... is he the same kind?

Heh.

Seems a bit interesting.

...

In the days that followed, I didn't even know what I was doing myself.

I actually... took the initiative to ask Feifei for his WeChat.

Xu Xiaowen, has your brain been flooded?

I held my phone, staring at the blank chat box, my fingers hovering above the screen for a long time, my heart engaged in a battle between heaven and man.

Fine, I admit it, it's just curiosity, plus a little... dark humor.

I know myself too well.

From childhood to now, this is the first time I've met someone who is as out of place as I am, someone who seems to live on a completely different channel.

I felt a bit restless inside.

Not malice, more like a... experiment?

An impulse to see the other person's reaction, to pierce through that layer of calm exterior.

Amidst the dry and heavy legal articles and piles of cases, this has almost become my only, slightly childish pleasure.

So, when I get tired of reading and my eyes feel sore, I pick up my phone and tap on the chat box with only one name.

"The cafeteria opened a new window, selling wontons, the taste is alright."

I typed this line and sent it.

The source of the news was, of course, from Feifei and the others when they were gossiping.

Whether it's true or not doesn't matter; what matters is, I want to see what he will reply.

Waiting and waiting, the phone was like a silent brick.

So long that I almost forgot about it, or started to suspect if he had blocked me, before finally, with a "ding."

A lonely character popped up on the screen: "Oh."

Pfft... I couldn't help but laugh out loud at the phone screen.

As expected!

Indifferent, concise, with a sense of perfunctory rejection that keeps people at a distance.

Exactly as I expected!

But for some reason, every time I receive this kind of "Oh," not only am I not angry, but I have a feeling of "See, I knew it."

This feeling of predictability makes me exceptionally happy.

It's like playing a boring yet slightly addictive little game where I'm the only one who knows the rules.