MTB - Chapter 29
Chapter 29: Ended Up at the Police Station?
In the restroom, Yun Yang pressed her water-dampened hands to her earlobes, finally clearing her head a little.
She hadn’t been drinking, but after four hours in a smoky, chaotic private room where everyone was going wild, the quiet hallway felt jarringly unfamiliar. She leaned on the edge of the sink, let out a long sigh, and unlocked her phone.
Tang Yuelou had called her six times at various intervals. The last call had been ten minutes ago. Yun Yang hadn’t picked up, and Tang Yuelou hadn’t tried again, simply sending a message on WeChat instead.
Even after being left behind at the restaurant, she could still maintain such gentleness and restraint, first apologizing for her own forwardness, then telling Yun Yang to get some sleep and that they could talk things over when she was in a better mood.
“Why is she apologizing? I’m the one who was letting my imagination run wild,” Yun Yang muttered to herself, her heart aching with a tender warmth.
The tangled feelings that had plagued her all afternoon seemed to ease slightly. She patted her chest, trying to soothe her racing heart, and called Tang Yuelou.
She counted the rings. The call was picked up on the third one.
Yun Yang felt inexplicably nervous. The other end was silent, but she could faintly hear the clamor of voices, punctuated by a woman's sharp tone. Yun Yang vaguely caught keywords like “shares” and “investment,” guessing Tang Yuelou was in the middle of something important, so she didn’t make a sound.
Then came the sound of high heels clicking across the floor. Tang Yuelou seemed to have moved to a quieter spot. “Hello, Yangyang?”
“A-are you busy right now?” Yun Yang’s heart was pounding so fast her fingertips felt numb. She swallowed lightly. “If it’s not a good time, we can talk tomorrow…”
A chuckle came from the other end. “It’s nothing, just a small family matter. We don’t have to wait. What is it?”
“Er…” Yun Yang didn’t know where to begin, choosing her words carefully. “It’s not really anything important, it’s just…”
“Mm, I see. Hold on a moment.”
“I’ll call you back later, then.”
“Don’t hang up.”
She heard the murmur of a brief conversation, ending with Tang Yuelou saying, “Excuse me.” Then the phone was brought back to her ear, and Tang Yuelou asked, “Where are you?”
Yun Yang froze for a second before giving her location.
“That’s not far,” she said with a light laugh. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. Don’t drink.”
“Oh… okay.”
The call ended.
Yun Yang stared blankly at her phone for a long moment, then nearly jumped out of her skin. Tang Yuelou was coming to find her?!
She quickly scanned her outfit from head to toe, making sure nothing was out of place and that her makeup hadn't smudged or grown oily. Then she started reapplying her lipstick, but halfway through, she paused, thought for a moment, and wiped it all off.
Wouldn't it be more effective to look distressed and pitiful right now?
Her mind buzzing with anxiety, she left the restroom. She checked the time, planning to pop back into the private room to let her friends know, but this KTV was new, and she’d never been before. Faced with several identical-looking hallways, she suddenly felt lost.
“What kind of crappy KTV doesn’t have signs?” Yun Yang grumbled, scanning the room numbers along the hallway. “627… 627…”
She couldn’t find her room. As she passed a private room with its door ajar, she inadvertently caught sight of a man and a woman inside. Yun Yang tsked, looking away, unable to watch. But the man looked vaguely familiar.
Shen Mengmeng’s boyfriend… Chen Hao, was it?
She recalled seeing a post on Shen Mengmeng’s Moments just a little while ago. She was having dinner with Zhang Jia, and the location tag was a mall two subway stops away. The post was five minutes old.
Shen Mengmeng was the type to constantly post about her relationship. She had just posted a photo with Chen Hao yesterday, so they clearly hadn’t broken up. Something felt wrong. Yun Yang stopped and, fighting a wave of nausea, took a second look. After confirming the girl was definitely not Shen Mengmeng, she pulled out her phone and took a picture.
Only after she’d taken it did she realize the flash was on. The people in the room seemed to have noticed. Chen Hao pulled away from the girl he was wrapped around and came out to shut the door.
“What are you looking at?” he demanded with a frown. When he got a clear look at her, he froze. “It’s you?”
“It is. So sorry to interrupt you cheating,” Yun Yang said with a polite smile, taking half a step back to put some distance between them.
“Oh, so you saw?” Chen Hao sized her up, his gaze lingering on the juice stain on the front of her top. He gave her a malicious grin. “Looks like you’ve been having some fun of your own.”
Even though Yun Yang was almost immune to being looked at like that, she was so disgusted she nearly threw up on the spot.
“Since you’ve said that, I assume you won’t mind if I show this to Shen Mengmeng.” She brandished her phone. “I just hope the next time I see you, it won’t be outside our dorm building, begging her to take you back.”
“Yun Yang, right? Where are you going?” Seeing that she had the photo, Chen Hao was clearly getting anxious. He stepped forward and grabbed her wrist. “Let’s talk about this. Come on inside, we can talk it over…”
Yun Yang was already in a foul mood, and his touch made her even more agitated. She lifted her leg and kicked him squarely in a certain vital area.
Chen Hao’s pained shriek echoed down the hallway.
When Tang Yuelou arrived at the police station, the counselors for several classes were already there. Yun Yang was squatting in a line against the wall with her posse. Two meters away, another group was squatting in a similar line. Both groups had people with bruised and battered faces, clearly indicating they were opposing sides and likely the main culprits of the brawl.
From five meters down the hall, she watched Yun Yang whispering with a friend next to her—a friend who had a bright red handprint on her left cheek—and almost laughed out of sheer exasperation.
The crisp clicking of high heels on the floor stopped right in front of her. Yun Yang froze. She slowly lifted her head, her gaze traveling up from the tips of the shoes, past the trouser legs, to the unreadable expression on the face above. Peeking at Tang Yuelou’s face, she managed a sheepish smile. “Teacher, you’re here?”
The smile pulled at a cut on the left corner of her mouth, and she immediately winced in pain.
“What are you doing! Squat down!” a police officer yelled.
So Yun Yang gave another awkward smile and squatted back down.
Tang Yuelou: “…”
She was actually at a loss for words.
Yun Yang’s counselor, Teacher Liu, had been dragged out of bed in the middle of the night. After speaking with the police, she came out to round up the unlucky students from her class. Looking completely stressed out, she asked in surprise, “Teacher Tang, what are you doing here?”
“One of the kids from my family got into a little trouble. I’m here to sort it out,” Tang Yuelou replied with an air of nonchalance.
The two words for “sort it out” were delivered with a slightly heavier emphasis. Yun Yang couldn’t help but shiver, a chill creeping up her spine.
“Oh, I see! Ended up at the police station, huh? That’s no small matter. Kids these days, they just get more and more troublesome.”
Teacher Liu grew more incensed as she spoke, tapping Guan Yan and Yun Yang on the head twice with a folder. Seeing this, someone nearby couldn’t help but snort with laughter.
“You still have the nerve to laugh? You’re adults! Getting into a brawl at a KTV late at night and having your counselor called in—is that something to be proud of? Just wait until your teacher gets here. We’ll see if you’re still laughing then!”
“Please don’t be angry yet, Teacher Liu. We should find out what happened first. What if there was a reason?” Tang Yuelou said with a smile. “But if there wasn’t a good reason, then a proper punishment is in order.”
Yun Yang: “…”
She desperately wanted to turn and run, wondering if it was too late.
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