Chapter 192: More Than Just Useless

The enormous Junlan Hotel naturally had complete facilities-from bars, restaurants, and cafés to swimming pools, gyms, saunas, and hot springs.

There was plenty of time to spend the entire afternoon.

Zhang Yang found a spot on the terrace of the Junlan Hotel, brewed some tea, and sat with Chen Zhuo enjoying the beautiful view of West Lake while drinking tea and chatting.

“So how are things between you and your goddess, that Gu Yajun?”

Zhang Yang glanced into the distance at Gu Yajun, who was standing beside Xiang Xiaotian and constantly saying flattering and agreeable things. He smiled as he asked.

What proud girl was there, really?

Earlier Chen Zhuo kept saying Gu Yajun had a cold personality, but looking at her now… not really. Wasn’t she doing quite well? She was already actively trying to start conversations.

“Nothing really.” Chen Zhuo scratched his head awkwardly. “One-sided affection, I guess.”

“Alright.” Zhang Yang nodded and didn’t say much.

Playing the role of a teacher to others was boring. Everyone had their own pace in life; he had no intention of interfering.

“I still envy you, old classmate.” Chen Zhuo sighed.

It was one thing that his girlfriend was beautiful, but this rich beauty who came from a hotel-owning family also seemed to have some ambiguous relationship with him.

The gap was so large that Chen Zhuo didn’t even dare envy it-he could only admire from afar.

“There’s nothing to envy.” Zhang Yang sipped his tea. “You don’t have anything tonight, right? Later let’s have a couple of drinks. Last time in Shanghai we didn’t get the chance, but now we do.”

“Alright! I’ll drink with you even if it costs me my life!” Chen Zhuo thumped his chest.

“It’s just a couple of drinks. I’m not going to force alcohol on you.” Zhang Yang laughed.

In the distance, Xiang Xiaotian and Gu Yajun walked over together.

“Zhang Yang, Gu Yajun and I are going to get a spa. You guys enjoy yourselves.” Xiang Xiaotian bent down and wrapped her arms around Zhang Yang’s neck from behind, looking very intimate.

“Go ahead.” Zhang Yang nodded.

Xiang Xiaotian leaned forward with a smile and kissed Zhang Yang lightly on the cheek before leaving with Gu Yajun in light steps.

Chen Zhuo stared blankly from across the table.

“Zhang Yang, you really are…” He was at a loss for words. “You’re just treating Miss Xiang as a friend, and she really doesn’t mind?”

“Mhm, she doesn’t mind. We don’t have anything going on anyway.” Zhang Yang’s eyes were clear as he slowly sipped his tea.

Chen Zhuo looked at him and found himself speechless.

By evening, Xiang Xiaotian returned after the spa, her complexion even more fair and rosy.

Gu Yajun was beside her.

Originally Gu Yajun could be considered a beauty, but standing next to Xiang Xiaotian now, she was simply the green leaves that set off a rich flower.

“Yajun, you’re back.” Chen Zhuo had already rushed over eagerly, asking about her well-being.

Just then, Gu Yajun’s phone rang.

Chen Zhuo immediately fell silent and watched as she answered the call.

“Yes… tonight?”

“Do I really have to go?”

While talking on the phone, Gu Yajun pressed her lips together and nodded.

Chen Zhuo grew nervous. After all, she had said earlier that she had plans with her roommates tonight.

“Forget it, I won’t go. Tonight I…” As she spoke, Gu Yajun suddenly glanced at Chen Zhuo beside her. “Tonight I have plans.”

Chen Zhuo instantly looked excited.

Soon, Gu Yajun hung up the phone and looked at him.

“Yajun, you’re not going tonight?” Chen Zhuo asked with a wide smile.

“Mhm. It’s nothing important. Their gathering can happen anytime.” Gu Yajun said softly.

“That’s great!” Chen Zhuo clenched his fist.

Zhang Yang found the scene amusing. He walked over and patted Chen Zhuo on the shoulder. “Shall we go drink?”

“Alright! Let’s drink!” Chen Zhuo laughed.

In the evening, inside a small private room in the Chinese restaurant of Junlan Hotel, the environment was quiet and the location excellent.

The dishes were naturally authentic Hangzhou cuisine.

Two bottles of alcohol were ordered-one bottle of red wine and one bottle of Wuliangye.

The two girls sipped the red wine lightly, while Zhang Yang and Chen Zhuo each drank Wuliangye, enjoying the night in Hangzhou.

“Zha… Zhang Yang, come… let me toast you again. To our lasting friendship.” Chen Zhuo’s face was red from drinking, and his speech had begun to slur.

Zhang Yang, however, had a strong physique. Drinking alcohol felt like drinking water to him.

“Don’t go back tonight. I’ll leave a room for you at the hotel.” Zhang Yang clinked glasses with Chen Zhuo and said casually.

“O… open one…” Chen Zhuo stammered.

“What are you saying!” Gu Yajun’s face flushed red.

“O… opening one wouldn’t be good. We should open two.” Chen Zhuo finally finished his sentence.

“Fine, two rooms. One for you, one for Miss Gu.” Zhang Yang said with amusement.

“I… I still need to go back tonight.” Gu Yajun explained softly. “It’s not good for me to stay out.”

“By the time we finish eating it’ll be late anyway. Besides, this place doesn’t lack hotel rooms.” Zhang Yang said. “With Chen Zhuo this drunk, no one will send you back.”

Gu Yajun gave a quiet “oh” and accepted the arrangement.

“Zhang Yang, come here.” Chen Zhuo suddenly grabbed Zhang Yang again, his eyes hazy. “Remember in high school when you once told me about your goddess…”

Beside them, Xiang Xiaotian’s eyes widened as she listened closely.

Gu Yajun suddenly slapped Chen Zhuo hard. “What nonsense are you talking about!”

Chen Zhuo startled and seemed to sober up a bit.

“Zhang Yang, you had a goddess you couldn’t get?” Xiang Xiaotian leaned closer, full of curiosity. “What kind of girl was she? Now I’m curious.”

“Come on. The me in high school and the me now aren’t the same person.” Zhang Yang casually pinched Xiang Xiaotian’s cheek. “At that age, how could our standards compare to now?”

“Did you get her?” Xiang Xiaotian insisted.

“It doesn’t matter whether I got her or not. I wasn’t obsessed with it.” Zhang Yang smiled.

After eating a while longer, Xiang Xiaotian stood up. “I’ll arrange the rooms.”

As soon as she stood, Gu Yajun also stood up like a little follower. “I’ll go rest in the room first.”

Chen Zhuo nodded blankly, watching Gu Yajun leave.

“Alright, stop staring. Later I’ll ask for her room number. Tonight take some longan and lotus seed dessert up and check on her.” Zhang Yang patted Chen Zhuo.

“Ah? It’s already so late.” Chen Zhuo’s face turned red, and his drunkenness seemed to fade halfway.

“Late? Stop pretending.” Zhang Yang sighed.

“But I feel like our relationship hasn’t reached that stage yet.” Chen Zhuo stammered nervously.

“Go as far as you can go.” Zhang Yang shook his head. He had no interest in acting as a love mentor.

Helping Chen Zhuo this much tonight was already generous enough.

Soon Zhang Yang received a message on his phone. He glanced at it and showed it to Chen Zhuo.

“This is the room number. Remember it.”

“Alright, alright.” Chen Zhuo had acted timid earlier, but now he hurried to memorize it.

After that, only the two of them remained in the private room.

“Zhang Yang, earlier I mentioned… right, that goddess…” Chen Zhuo tried to bring the topic back.

“What’s there to say? You mean Meng Bohan. Back then at least eight or ten boys in our class liked her. Not just me-you were one of them too.” Zhang Yang said. “At that age, liking a pretty girl was practically the correct thing to do.”

“Actually, recently Meng Bohan has been asking me about you quite often. I think she might be interested in you.” Chen Zhuo said confidently.

“Maybe just curious. I haven’t really talked to her much lately.” Zhang Yang said.

“Then why not… if you wanted to, it would be easy.” Chen Zhuo tried to explain despite slurring his words.

“You’re thinking differently from me. Why should I deliberately go after a former classmate? Is there some reason I absolutely must?” Zhang Yang laughed.

It wasn’t that he was pretending to be noble. There was simply no need to force such things. Forcing it would make it meaningless. It wasn’t like he lacked options.

“I was just asking.” Chen Zhuo muttered.

It grew later. Zhang Yang pulled Chen Zhuo up.

“Let’s go. The dessert is ahead-take it yourself.”

Chen Zhuo’s steps were heavy as he picked up the dessert.

“I’m heading back. What you do next is up to you.” Zhang Yang wasn’t going to drag him all the way.

“Hey, Zhang Yang, wait for me.” Chen Zhuo hurried after him.

Late at night, Zhang Yang didn’t bother going home. He simply booked a regular room to spend the night.

As soon as he entered the room, a message arrived.

“Brother Zhang, come to my place. My room is big enough.” Xiang Xiaotian sent.

“I’m not coming. If I go, something will happen.” Zhang Yang refused immediately.

He never claimed to have great self-control. Especially after drinking tonight-if they were alone in the same room, something would definitely happen. The best thing he could do was not take the first step at all.

Take one step forward and control would turn into losing control. He preferred staying in the safe position.

“You still won’t come even like this?”

A photo suddenly appeared.

It was a photo with very little clothing.

“Tsk, tsk… good girl.” Zhang Yang glanced at it and was greatly impressed.

Although he had touched her many times before, seeing it like this made him realize just how impressive Xiang Xiaotian’s figure really was.

“How is it?” Xiang Xiaotian sent the message smugly, clearly very confident in her figure.

Zhang Yang replied with a simple “Mm,” put down his phone, and walked straight toward the bathroom not far away.

He set the temperature to the coldest and rinsed himself thoroughly.

After the shower, his whole body naturally felt refreshed, and any lingering desire disappeared.

“No, I should counterattack.” Zhang Yang stood in front of the mirror, looked at his unbeatable physique, and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

A moment later, he discreetly took a photo of himself and sent it over.

After sending it, he was done for the night and went to sleep.

Inside the lake-view suite at Junlan Hotel, Xiang Xiaotian looked at the photo she had just received, her cheeks burning hot.

She looked at it once, then wanted to zoom in and look again.

“Wait… Brother Zhang’s figure…”

“No, no, I can’t look anymore. If I keep looking, I definitely won’t be able to sleep…”

“Forget it, since I can’t sleep anyway, I’ll just look one last time.”

Early the next morning, when Zhang Yang called Xiang Xiaotian, he had to dial several times before she answered on the third attempt.

Her voice on the phone was sleepy and weak.

“Alright, alright, just rest well.” Zhang Yang said a few words of concern, ended the call, and went to find Chen Zhuo.

In the buffet breakfast restaurant, Chen Zhuo was there, but his goddess Gu Yajun was not.

“Did it go smoothly?” Zhang Yang ordered a bowl of noodles and sat down beside Chen Zhuo.

Chen Zhuo stammered, looking embarrassed.

“She didn’t let you in?” Zhang Yang asked casually, not sounding particularly disappointed.

Chen Zhuo kept chewing his bread and shaking his head.

“You got in but didn’t perform well?” Zhang Yang asked again.

“No, I… I didn’t go at all…” Chen Zhuo said quietly, feeling guilty.

This time Zhang Yang’s expression finally changed.

“Wait, you got everything ready to that point, and you didn’t even go?” Zhang Yang was speechless. “What about the dessert?”

“I… I ate it myself.” Chen Zhuo stammered, not daring to meet his eyes.

Zhang Yang looked at Chen Zhuo for several seconds, then nodded and said nothing, lowering his head to continue eating his noodles.

“Zhang Yang, do you think I’m really cowardly?”

Chen Zhuo had expected Zhang Yang to scold him for not living up to expectations. Instead, Zhang Yang said nothing, which made him feel uneasy.

“It’s fine. If you didn’t go, then you didn’t go.” Zhang Yang finished his noodles, put down his chopsticks, and said, “When are you heading back? I’ll see you off.”

“Around ten in the morning… um… you’re really not going to laugh at me at all?” Chen Zhuo asked.

“What’s there to laugh at? I’m not your parents-why should I worry like they do?” Zhang Yang said with a smile. “Anyway, we’ll head out together later. By the way, where is she? Did she leave on her own?”

“Yeah. Early this morning she left me a message and went back by herself.” Chen Zhuo scratched his head. “Do you think she’s angry?”

“Angry about what? Angry that you didn’t go see her last night?” Zhang Yang blinked and gave a dry laugh. “Not bad. If you can think like that, it means you still have some confidence in yourself.”

He felt that although Gu Yajun acted proud in front of Chen Zhuo, she had still given him opportunities. Otherwise she wouldn’t have agreed to go boating on West Lake together.

His suggestion for Chen Zhuo to bring dessert last night was meant to encourage him to move forward a bit and test the waters. It didn’t necessarily mean anything had to happen, but at least he could gauge Gu Yajun’s attitude. If things went well, it might even have advanced their relationship.

But now, Chen Zhuo hadn’t even taken a single step, even with the help of alcohol. There was nothing more to say.

It was over. Zhang Yang didn’t even feel like saying another word about it.

Sure enough, now that Chen Zhuo had sobered up and thought it through, he was filled with regret, slapping his own head several times.

“I’m really stupid, truly.”

Zhang Yang looked at Chen Zhuo and wanted to say that it wasn’t stupidity-it was cowardice.

But they had been classmates for many years. As long as it didn’t involve interests or benefits, why say something others wouldn’t like to hear?

So…

“It’s fine. Just keep trying. Maybe the timing between you two wasn’t right.” Zhang Yang patted Chen Zhuo on the shoulder and offered a casual word of comfort.