Also

Late at night on the streets, the neon lights still shone brightly and alluringly.

Chen Hai staggered along. With every breath, the air was filled with the smell of alcohol. His eyes were hazy, and he mumbled incoherently.

"Hey, handsome guy, wanna have some fun?" a voice came from beside him. Chen Hai glanced over and saw a gaudily - dressed woman propping him up. The stench of her cheap perfume made him frown, but he still said,

"Come home with me?"

"Sure, honey, but it'll cost you extra," she replied with a coquettish laugh.

"Get the hell out of here! You're disgusting," Chen Hai suddenly reached out and pushed her away forcefully. "Damn it, all of you just get lost."

"Damn you! Who are you calling disgusting?" The woman immediately turned hostile upon hearing what Chen Hai said. "I look down on you, you fat slob!"

"Pfft!"

After cursing a few more times, the woman stomped on Chen Hai's foot and then turned away. Watching her retreating back, Chen Hai suddenly let out a laugh.

"Phony, all of you are such phony people. Heheh."

"Get out of here, hahahaha!"

After venting his inner frustration, Chen Hai seemed to calm down a bit.

The night wind was a bit chilly, and it seemed to have dispelled quite a bit of the alcohol from his system.

"Click." The flame flared up as Chen Hai lit the cigarette in his mouth. Squinting his eyes, he continued walking towards his apartment. His swaggering gait as he walked into the alley deterred anyone from provoking him. After all, who would want to mess with a drunk guy in the middle of the night? You never knew what he might do.

"Wh - whimper. I'm just a... Please."

"Shut up, you little bitch. Who the hell wears a school uniform and wanders around in the middle of the night?"

"I... I'm buying medicine."

"Heh, birth - control pills, right? Why don't you have a try with big brother?"

As Chen Hai walked, the sounds of a conversation and a struggle reached his ears. He suddenly sneered, and his irritable mood made him crush the cigarette in his mouth with his fingers.

Chen Hai quickened his pace. Soon, he saw a young girl cornered by two men in the alley. Under the dim light, her face was streaked with tears, and her clothes were in disarray.

"Brother, someone's coming," one of the men said upon seeing Chen Hai.

"Get lost! What are you looking at?" The other, more stocky man said to Chen Hai. "If you keep staring, I'll stab you!"

As he spoke, he took out a shiny knife from his pocket.

"Damn it to hell," Chen Hai spat on the ground, picked up a brick, and smashed it right on the man's forehead.

His no - nonsense and violent move stunned the skinny guy beside him. The stocky man was also dazed from the sudden blow to the head. The next second, Chen Hai smashed the brick down hard on the man's hand that was holding the knife.

"Ah - " A heart - wrenching scream echoed. Chen Hai picked up the knife on the ground and then kicked the man hard in the face. "Who the hell do you think you're pretending to be? You useless piece of trash."

"Let's go! Let's go!"

"You'll pay for this!"

The two men were instantly scared. The skinny one supported the stocky one and limped away, seemingly too afraid to mess with Chen Hai.

"Phew." Chen Hai seemed to feel a bit more relieved. He glanced at the girl kneeling on the ground. Just as he was about to say something, he noticed the fear in her eyes, as if she was afraid of him.

"Right, I'm not that handsome guy Ye Shuang," Chen Hai said to himself, touching the fleshy folds on his face. He suddenly let out a chuckle, took off his coat, threw it over the girl, and then shook his head and left.

The girl kneeling on the ground felt the smell of tobacco and alcohol on the coat and the reassuring warmth. She gradually came back to her senses and stared blankly at Chen Hai's back as he walked away.

...

"What? You're quitting your job?"

The next day, when Ye Shuang learned the news that Chen Hai was quitting his job, he was stunned for a moment looking at the message on his phone. The message had just come in.

Chen Hai: The world is so big, I want to go out and have a look. I'm quitting.

Ye Shuang frowned slightly but still took out his phone and called Chen Hai.

The phone was quickly answered, and Chen Hai's somewhat listless voice came through, as if he hadn't slept well after staying up all night.

"Hello, what's up?"

"What do you mean by sending such a message all of a sudden?" Ye Shuang said irritably. He thought it was just a temporary tantrum after an argument with his parents, but now he's actually planning to quit his job. What's going on?

Is he planning to give up on himself?

"Dude, I just want to quit. Sigh..." Chen Hai's voice came faintly.

"I don't know how to put it. I'm just really miserable. I don't have the energy to focus on work now, and the company doesn't really need someone like me... I'm just a dispensable existence."

"I'm planning to do some small business on my own. Fortunately, I have some money you gave me on hand," Chen Hai continued. "Don't worry about me."

With that, Chen Hai hung up the phone directly.

Ye Shuang quickly called him back, but this time the phone showed that the other party had turned it off.

Ye Shuang also sent several consecutive messages to him, but there seemed to be no reply.

"He's almost thirty years old, and yet he's still so headstrong," Ye Shuang rubbed his temples. However, he could actually understand that everyone would go through a low period. At that time, many things would seem confusing, and one would feel so negative that they couldn't do anything.

When Ye Shuang was extremely negative before, he also drank alone to numb himself. It was really hard for him to get out of that state alone at that time. Fortunately, he met Bai Yuyou and slowly walked out of the shadow.

"..." Ye Shuang dialed Chen Hai's phone two more times and also sent a voice message. After confirming that he wouldn't answer, Ye Shuang could only let him calm down on his own for a while.

Ye Shuang didn't plan to tell Chen's parents about this because he was afraid it would stir up more conflicts.

After all, Chen Hai couldn't even stand it when he was only slightly scolded last night. If Chen's parents said something more, Ye Shuang didn't dare to imagine what would happen.

"Sigh." Ye Shuang could only transfer some money to Chen Hai's account, hoping it could help him a little. He didn't know what kind of small business Chen Hai was talking about. In many cases, for a business to succeed, it relied on connections and resources.

It's really, really difficult to start from scratch.

Ye Shuang also knew that Chen Hai was just acting out of anger. Maybe he'd come back after hitting some bumps.

After putting Chen Hai's matter aside for the time being, Ye Shuang began to focus on his work. However, at this moment, his phone rang again. Ye Shuang thought it was Chen Hai, but it turned out to be a message from Bai Yuyou.

Bai Yuyou: |•ω•`) Are you coming back today?

Bai Yuyou: I'll make delicious food for dinner today~

Bai Yuyou: (。•ω•。)ノ♡ Yu You, our daughter, Yi Wan, Liuqianwu, and Kekeduoduo all miss you very much.

Ye Shuang glanced at the time. It was only ten o'clock in the morning. He didn't expect her to ask about dinner so early.

Moreover, as if afraid that her plea wasn't persuasive enough, Yu You even added everyone's names.

This made Ye Shuang a bit amused, but he still replied.

Ye Shuang: I'll be back tonight. Let me cook.

Bai Yuyou: Okay~