Are you out of your mind

After a long silence, Long Aotian lightly tapped his beer bottle against Shen Mengjie's. "I'll drink with you, but just drinking is boring. From now on, for every extra sentence you say, I'll drink another bottle..."

Without waiting for Shen Mengjie's agreement, Long Aotian tipped his head back and downed the beer in his can in one go. He exhaled heavily, then cracked open another can and set it beside him, waiting quietly.

Shen Mengjie looked at him. "You're really something. You clearly look down on me, yet you do these inexplicable things."

Long Aotian didn’t respond. Instead, he picked up the beer in front of him and chugged it again.

"Hah..." He let out a long breath. The cool night breeze and two cans of beer in quick succession left him feeling even more alert.

"What do you even want? Do you think this is fun? Cool? That it’ll eventually move someone like me?"

......

"Are you insane?"

......

"Don’t you think someone like me is trash? Didn’t you say outright that people like me are boring? So what are you doing now?"

......

"I told you I don’t need any pity. Don’t say this isn’t pity—if it weren’t, why would someone like you even sit here drinking with me?"

......

Shen Mengjie stared blankly as Long Aotian kept drinking, one bottle after another.

Her beautiful phoenix eyes, usually so sharp, now glistened with a hazy sheen. The usual defiance in her demeanor was gone.

She cried. The floodgates burst open in an instant.

After finishing the last can, Long Aotian crushed it in his hand.

He knew why Shen Mengjie was crying. For the first time, he saw the vulnerability that should have been natural for a girl her age.

Even when he had confronted her about going to karaoke with other men, or dining out with them, she had always remained unshaken—arms crossed, smiling faintly, insisting she just enjoyed the thrill of being pursued...

Earlier, she had said that if their roles were reversed, she’d learn not to care either.

Long Aotian didn’t know her past, but he understood that what she needed now wasn’t comfort—it was an outlet.

In some ways, she reminded him of his own sidekick.

The difference was, his sidekick had never once given up. She kept climbing, climbing, until she finally spread her wings and soared.

Shen Mengjie, however, seemed to have already surrendered to life. She didn’t care if the men chasing her were rich or ordinary—she just savored the fleeting excitement.

Even if that excitement was short-lived.

Glancing at the last remaining beer, he discreetly slipped it into his jacket pocket.

"If you’re hurting, you should focus on finding the person behind all this. Though ‘clearing your name’ might not be the right phrase..."

The one spreading rumors about Shen Mengjie was likely the girlfriend of one of the guys pursuing her.

If that were the case, Long Aotian could almost understand.

But these things were never one-sided.

Both parties should bear the consequences—that would be fair.

If the guy had a girlfriend but still pursued Shen Mengjie without her knowing, then the backlash against her was too harsh.

On the other hand, if Shen Mengjie had known he had a girlfriend and still chased after what she called "excitement," then she deserved the criticism.

After listening to Long Aotian, Shen Mengjie shook her head. "I don’t even know if any of the guys chasing me have girlfriends."

"If they do, then they’re despicable."

"You’re not much better."

"But I have my limits. At least I wouldn’t accept advances from other guys if I had a boyfriend."

"That girl is just crazy—can’t control her own man, so she takes it out on me."

"I, Shen Mengjie, swear to heaven—if I like someone, I’ll go after them myself. But every single guy chasing me? They’re all just after my body..."

"So you think it’s fine to play around with them?"

"What if one day you meet someone you truly like, and they find out about all this? How can you be sure they won’t care?"

"The fun you’re indulging in now will come back to haunt you later..."

For once, Shen Mengjie didn’t argue back. She fumbled for words but couldn’t find any.

"And to answer your earlier question—you said I pity you. But the truth is the opposite. I don’t pity you at all."

"I came because I heard the rumors and saw your message."

"You asked me: ‘Was it you?’"

"Now I’m telling you clearly: It wasn’t."

Shen Mengjie lowered her gaze and whispered, "I know it wasn’t you. You wouldn’t do something like this."

"What should I do now?"

"If I were you, I’d track down the person who posted it and confront them."

"It takes two to tango. What you did wasn’t great, but if the guy had a girlfriend and still pursued you, leading to all this, then he should face the backlash too—not just you."

"Of course, that’s only if you didn’t know he had a girlfriend. If you knew, then finding them would just be embarrassing for you."

Shen Mengjie nodded, but soon deflated again. She stole a glance at Long Aotian, her eyes flickering with something unreadable, then asked softly, "How do I find them?"

"Did you use up all your brainpower figuring out how to juggle men?"

Shen Mengjie flushed, unable to meet his eyes. "I know I was wrong. Stop scolding me... okay?"

Her meek apology amused Long Aotian. If she’d realized earlier how messed up this was, none of it would’ve happened.

Maybe this was what the old folks meant when they said, "The pitiable have their own faults."

"First, remember that the internet isn’t lawless. If they did it, there’ll be traces. Of course, you can’t track it yourself, but professionals can—like computer experts."

"You’ll need to handle it discreetly. Pay someone to trace it, follow the clues, and you’ll find something."

Shen Mengjie stared at him for a long moment before finally saying, "Thank you."

"Don’t mention it. Clearing the air between us is what matters."