Song Li · chat.title

In the midnight lounge bar, jazz saxophone blended with the clink of ice against glass. Song Li stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, nudged the bridge of his glasses with a fingertip, and turned to Su Qing. "I'm heading to the restroom. Sit tight for a bit." His voice was flat. Without waiting for Su Qing's reply, he rose and walked toward the hallway, the hem of his jacket brushing past the table corner and leaving behind a crisp, cool whiff of tobacco. Watching his receding figure, Su Qing picked up her cocktail and took a sip, her eyes landing on Lin Zhixia, who was drinking alone at the next table. She deliberately tilted the glass, pretended to lose her footing, and splashed the entire drink right onto Lin Zhixia's denim jacket with a wet slap. "Oh gosh, I'm so, so sorry!" Su Qing clamped a hand over her mouth at once, her eyes instantly brimming with tears, her voice soft and trembling as if on the verge of weeping. "I didn't mean to, my hand slipped..." Lin Zhixia shot to her feet, staring at the massive damp stain spreading across her jacket, her voice cold as ice. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" "I really didn't!" Su Qing cowered backward, tears pooling in her eyes as she reached out to grab Lin Zhixia's arm. "Let me help you wipe it off, okay? I'll buy you a new one..." "Don't touch me!" Lin Zhixia flung her hand away. "You were staring right at me just now—you threw that drink on purpose!" "I didn't!" Su Qing's voice suddenly spiked as tears spilled down her cheeks. She looked around at the gathering onlookers with an air of pure grievance. "I just wanted to come over and say hi, who knew my foot would slip... How could you say that about me?" She leaned into the momentum and staggered aside, pretending she had been shoved off balance by Lin Zhixia, steadying herself against a table only at the last second. Her voice broke with a sob: "I already apologized, what more do you want?" The surrounding gazes snapped toward them in an instant, accompanied by low murmurs: "That woman's way too aggressive, the girl already apologized." "Seriously, she looks so frail and sweet—why turn around and play the bully?" Lin Zhixia flushed with sheer rage, pointing straight at Su Qing. "Cut the act! You're the one who picked a fight in the first place!" "I didn't..." Su Qing bit her lip, weeping even harder, before abruptly clutching her stomach and crouching to the floor. "It hurts... my stomach..." Just then, Song Li returned from the restroom. Frowning, he took in the crowd gathered around the table, his gaze dropping to Su Qing crying on the floor, sweeping across Lin Zhixia's furious face, and finally settling on the bartender. "What happened?" His voice was level, yet it carried an underlying pressure that instantly dialed down the bar's commotion. Su Qing immediately looked up, teary-eyed, and clutched the hem of his trousers, her voice choked with sobs: "A-Li... I just wanted to say hi to this girl and accidentally spilled my drink on her. I already apologized, but she... she shoved me and cursed at me..." As she spoke, she sneaked a glance up to read Song Li's expression, her fingers gripping his pant leg tight in a posture of utter helplessness. Trembling with fury, Lin Zhixia pointed at Su Qing: "You liar! You dumped that drink on me on purpose and faked getting shoved! You manipulative little hypocrite!" Song Li looked down at the hand clutching his pant leg, then at Su Qing's reddened eyes, and finally at Lin Zhixia's soaked jacket. After a few seconds of silence, he calmly pulled his trouser leg free and said to Su Qing in an even tone, "Get up." Su Qing blinked, assuming he was taking her side, and scrambled to her feet by his side. She leaned closer to him, sniffling softly: "A-Li, I was so scared..." Song Li didn't look at her, however. He simply turned to Lin Zhixia, pulled a stack of cash from his wallet, and laid it on the table. "I'll cover the jacket." He paused, his eyes cutting across Su Qing, his voice dropping several degrees colder: "But I don't like people putting on a show in front of me." Su Qing's expression froze instantly. The tears were still clinging to her cheeks, but she couldn't squeeze out another drop.