Gu Shiying followed the address Yang Shuheng had sent and found the place.
It was a Northeastern-style barbecue joint set up with tents. The landlady had a pure Northeastern accent. Passing by other tables, the portions of grilled meat were enormous. Just two big skewers could stuff a person full.
Yang Shuheng waved Gu Shiying over. “Ying’er! Over here!”
Their group was pretty easy to spot.
The shop was filled with camping chairs, giving it a very outdoor-camping vibe.
Gu Shiying and Zhang Zhi occasionally went out to eat together, but they usually went to small, old street shops with more rustic charm. This place had trendy elements.
“Hey, everyone.”
“Little Gu! Come on, sit here.” Brother Stone patted the seat next to him.
Gu Shiying really didn’t want to sit next to him. But the guy hadn’t yet taken any concrete harmful action against Yang Shuheng. Maybe he could dig up more information today.
He still obliged and sat down.
“Long time no see, Brother Stone.” Gu Shiying greeted them with an open, guileless demeanor.
These people were all a few years older than Gu Shiying and Yang Shuheng. He’d picked up bits and pieces about their ages from Yang Shuheng over the past few days.
Last time, right after their performance, they’d all been tired and hungry, yet they still weren’t particularly warm towards Gu Shiying, even barely acknowledged Yang Shuheng when he spoke.
Gu Shiying was sensitive enough to notice that the relationships within Yang Shuheng’s band were deeply problematic.
The vocalist was the oldest of them, twenty-eight this year. Compared to the others, he was indeed more composed. Gu Shiying knew that on their short-video channel, fans shipped him and Brother Stone as the “Mom and Dad” CP.
This band really… they weren’t even that famous, yet they showed all the shadows of the entertainment industry’s playbook.
Creating personas, shipping CP, backstabbing teammates. Now he could see the internal discord.
Without his mind-reading ability, Gu Shiying would never have known the world outside the ivory tower was so complicated.
When guys have barbecue, beer is mandatory. Gu Shiying’s alcohol tolerance was just average. Plus, he’d just recovered from a cold, and no one pressured him. He mostly just propped his face on his hand and ate, speaking very little.
However, Brother Stone seemed to be actively smoothing things over, and the atmosphere slowly warmed up.
Gu Shiying chatted with them about trending gossip and fun online stories. During this time, he tried to make contact and read their inner thoughts.
They ate from nine in the evening until eleven. Normally, given their schedule, they’d only be heading out at night, but today was a special case, the performance ended early.
From what Gu Shiying understood, their shows were always at night. Ending at nine was quite early, indeed.
When he arrived, he could tell everyone’s expressions were a bit unnatural. Even Yang Shuheng was somewhat subdued tonight. The bassist had even made a few sarcastic digs at Yang Shuheng.
Seeing that Yang Shuheng wasn’t in a great mood, Gu Shiying recalled Fu Huan’s thought about him smelling good. He smelled his own clothes. Just the scent of laundry detergent. Where was this good smell?
While the other four were talking in pairs, Gu Shiying quietly asked Yang Shuheng, “A-Heng, do I have a scent on me?”
Yang Shuheng leaned in closer. “I can’t smell anything.”
Gu Shiying’s mind was settled. See, I knew I didn’t have any smell. What on earth was going through that dog Fu Huan’s head!
“I thought I smelled weird.”
“What, did someone say something bad about you?”
“Not at all.” Gu Shiying smoothly changed the subject. “By the way, why did you guys end so early today? Did something happen?”
Yang Shuheng forced a faint smile. “It’s nothing. Just ended early, that’s all.”
As soon as Gu Shiying brought this up, Brother Stone, who was nearby, looked over and smiled at him.
The vocalist said, “It’s very late. A-Heng, you should head back to school, right? We should probably get going too.”
Brother Stone’s face was flushed from drinking, but you could see from his eyes that he wasn’t drunk. In fact, his eyes were constantly shifting. He made no move to pay the bill.
And that’s when Gu Shiying noticed: everyone in the group was very quick to say they were leaving, but no one took out their phone to pay.
Only Yang Shuheng habitually scanned the QR code on the table to settle the bill.
Gu Shiying: “…” No way. Was it really always Yang Shuheng treating them?
Seeing Brother Stone sway a bit as he stood up, Gu Shiying pretended to steady him.
Gu Shiying: “Bro, you’re not drunk, are you?”
Brother Stone: “Don’t underestimate me. How could I possibly be drunk? I could down another case, no problem!”
Gu Shiying: “Really, truly?”
Brother Stone: “Little Gu, next time, once your cold’s all better, you and me, we’ll go bottle for bottle!”
Gu Shiying played along with the bravado. “Alright, I’ll definitely beat you.”
He’d managed to catch Brother Stone’s inner thoughts.
【Tomorrow, Yang Shuheng will be kicked out of the band. Then we won’t have to humor this young master anymore!】
“We”? Could it be that all the band members had a problem with Yang Shuheng?
What was going on?
He could sense that something must have happened tonight.
What to do? They were about to leave, and he still didn’t know the situation.
Gu Shiying tried to get close to the bassist who had been sarcastic to Yang Shuheng. He deliberately picked up his bag for him, pretending to accidentally brush his finger.
【After today’s stunt, Yang Shuheng probably won’t come back. Too bad. Nobody to buy me cigarettes anymore, won’t be able to leech off this rich kid’s money.】
Gu Shiying: What the hell?
And the vocalist bandleader Yang Shuheng praised as so talented?
Gu Shiying pretended to slip on some water, grabbing the vocalist’s arm to steady himself. “Sorry, my foot slipped.”
The vocalist: “Oh, no worries. Be careful.”
【I do feel sorry for Yang Shuheng, but we have no choice. Let’s just consider today a farewell dinner.】
Just as Gu Shiying was fretting, a tall, burly drunk man up ahead staggered and bumped into Yang Shuheng.
The man muttered, “Watch where you’re going!”
Yang Shuheng didn’t say anything either, but Brother Stone suddenly stepped forward and shoved Yang Shuheng from behind. Completely set up, Yang Shuheng was pushed right into the man who had bumped him.
The burly man: “What the hell?!”
Saying this, the man turned around, ready to retaliate. Gu Shiying, with sharp eyes and quick hands, pulled Yang Shuheng away, dodging the guy’s fist.
At that moment, Brother Stone directly threw a punch back. “My buddy hit you and you dare hit him back!”
Gu Shiying: “?” Was this Brother Stone just a shit-stirrer?
The more he talked, the angrier the burly man got at Yang Shuheng, and the two sides started brawling.
The burly man was also with friends. Seeing their friend getting hit, they joined the fray.
Gu Shiying had absolutely no desire to participate in the conflict Brother Stone had deliberately instigated.
“Whoa, stop fighting!”
But his words were useless. Even Yang Shuheng, caught up in the heat, joined the brawl. Gu Shiying couldn’t even pull him away.
Someone grabbed a portable chair and swung it towards Gu Shiying’s head!
Just as he raised his arms to block it, a long leg kicked that person hard in the waist. The man crashed into Brother Stone next to him, and both tumbled to the ground.
The boss and servers, seeing this, immediately pulled the combatants apart.
Only then did Gu Shiying raise his head to see who it was. “Fu Huan?”
Fu Huan: “Quite impressive, coming out here to fight.”
Gu Shiying explained, “I wasn’t fighting! They were the ones fighting.” He raised both hands to show his innocence, only to realize how weird that pose looked afterwards. Why was he explaining himself to Fu Huan?
With people controlling the situation, the two sides stopped. The other party was somewhat reasonable and brushed it off as drinking and not controlling their emotions, and both groups dispersed.
As for the owner, they were clearly used to such scenes and didn’t say anything more.
Liang Qi helped steady Yang Shuheng, who had taken a few punches.
Brother Stone, the vocalist, and the others, still on edge, hailed a taxi and left.
Gu Shiying looked at Yang Shuheng’s handsome face, now a bit swollen. “A-Heng, you okay?”
Yang Shuheng rubbed his arm where he’d been clipped by a fist. “Hurts like hell, man!”
Liang Qi: “You were really going at it just now.”
Gu Shiying then looked at them. “What are you guys doing here?”
Liang Qi glanced at Fu Huan, then smiled meaningfully. “We were out getting a late-night snack and just happened to see you guys fighting.”
Gu Shiying had been on guard and hadn’t actually fought, but his shoulder had been bumped and he was rubbing it now. Still, thinking about Brother Stone deliberately starting the fight, he felt it was truly necessary to lay things out openly.
Gu Shiying: “A-Heng, you didn’t throw the first punch just now.”
Yang Shuheng, catching on a bit late, said, “What?”
Gu Shiying: “I saw it. You were going to let it go, but Brother Stone deliberately provoked the other guy. That’s why the fight started. Have you ever considered why he would do that?”
Yang Shuheng replayed the events leading up to the fight. He genuinely hadn’t planned to argue with the person who bumped into him. “I really didn’t mean to make a big deal of it, but…” He began to think whether it was just as Gu Shiying said.
Gu Shiying didn’t give him a chance to deflect. He hit him with a triple combo: “Did something happen in your band tonight? Is it always you paying when you guys go out to eat? No splitting the bill?”
Yang Shuheng had never thought about it deeply, but when Gu Shiying laid it out, he was momentarily stunned.
“How did you know?”
As a roommate for over a year, Gu Shiying knew Yang Shuheng wasn’t short on money. But he also knew it was from his family. After investigating these past few days, it seemed Yang Shuheng wasn’t making much money from the band. In fact, it felt like he was subsidizing them.
Gu Shiying: “I observed it.”
Liang Qi: “Sounds like a classic easy mark.”
Fu Huan: “Mm.”
Yang Shuheng said weakly, “But they don’t have much money either, right? Me paying, isn’t that okay?”
Gu Shiying wanted him to wake up. “But you’re just a student. And doesn’t your band have income? Why can’t you use their income to pay? Why is it always you paying? And also, what exactly happened tonight?”
Seeing that Gu Shiying was genuinely worried about him, Yang Shuheng finally caved and told the story. “During the performance tonight, my guitar somehow broke. It had no sound on stage. We had a stage mishap.”
Liang Qi’s mind worked fast too. “How many times has this happened for you?”
Yang Shuheng counted carefully. “Third time recently.”
“No one makes the exact same mistake over and over,” Gu Shiying gave him the conclusion. “Are they planning to kick you out of the band?”
Yang Shuheng scratched his hair, arguing, “No way, impossible. Why would they kick me out?”
That was an answer only Yang Shuheng himself could find.
Fu Huan: “Let’s head back to school first.”
Yang Shuheng returned to the dorm with a question he had never even considered before. Once back in the dorm, he sat dumbly in his chair, saying nothing.
Guan Yu looked at Gu Shiying, then at Yang Shuheng, not understanding how the three of them could leave and come back like this.
Gu Shiying wanted to offer Yang Shuheng a few words of comfort, but Fu Huan called him over.
Fu Huan: “Gu Shiying, come to the balcony.”
Gu Shiying followed him out. “What is it?”
Fu Huan was holding an iodine swab stick in his hand. “Apply medicine.”
Gu Shiying: “But I’m not hurt.”
Fu Huan pointed at the back of his left hand. “Here.”
Gu Shiying looked down. It seemed a fingernail had scratched it and broken the skin. He hadn’t even noticed it himself.
Fu Huan grabbed his wrist, blew a puff of air on it, and said, “Needs disinfection.”
Hold on. You’re applying medicine, that’s fine, but why are you blowing air on it?
【Can you stop making people worry? If I hadn’t arrived in time tonight, this stupid head would’ve definitely gotten cracked open.】
【Now he owes me another meal.】
Gu Shiying: “…”
For a moment, he felt a mix of complicated emotions. So frustrating. Once again, Fu Huan caught an opportunity, and I now owe him another meal.
