Late at night, the beginning of summer permeated with a tranquil scent. A black curtain painted the sky with stars as it set off nicely with the lights from the surrounding high-rise buildings. A waning moon hung high in the horizon that shone its brightness with a breeze blowing through Ni Jingqiu’s hair.

Ni Jingqiu was leaning against the car and held onto a slim cigarette that was half-lit.

Standing beside her, Su Tao sighed. He never expected that a woman smoking would be so erotic. Without her knowing, the cigarette was already half-burnt, and Ni Jingqiu seemed to have forgotten to take a puff. Her gaze dazed as she looked through the lushing trees and fell towards the pitch-black horizon.

Finally, Ni Jingqiu took a puff, but she wasn’t proficient in smoking and was choked by the smoke and started coughing.

Helplessly taking the cigarette from her hand, Su Tao crushed it and threw it into the garbage bin then sighed, “Why do you want to force yourself to smoke if you don’t know how?”

“They say cigarettes can cure lonesomeness, but I now know that it’s all bullshit. It feels lonely before lighting the cigarette, but it feels even more lonely after lighting it.” Tears flickered on the corner of Ni Jingqiu’s eyes as she explained, “I’m tearing up because the smoke is too fumigating, don’t misunderstand!”

Gently Shaking his head, Su Tao asked, “Is he really that important to you?”

“What nonsense are you speaking? If he’s not important to me, then why would I want to marry him?” A radiance suddenly flashed past Ni Jingqiu’s countenance as she continued, “I have no friends, nor do I have any hobbies. My life is simple, aside from work. Furthermore, I’m a boring person; I don’t like to shop, eat, or visit crowded places. But he has always been with me, which made me feel that there’s someone in this world who sees my merit.”

“That’s where you’re wrong!” Su Tao sternly shook his head.

“What do you mean?” Ni Jingqiu was perplexed.

“You have a boring life, not because of your character, but his existence made your life dull. You don’t like to shop because he never accompanies you to shop. You’re not a foodie because he never brings you around to seek delicacies. You don’t like crowded places because he has always thrown you alone in a corner while he goes fooling around.” Su Tao gently patted Ni Jingqiu’s shoulder and comforted, “Believe me. If you meet the right person, your life will no longer be dull. Your character will change, and pain is always the beginning of sweetness.”

“Is that so?” Hearing Su Tao’s analysis, Ni Jingqiu suddenly covered her mouth and started to tear up.

“You need my shoulder?” Su Tao knew that a heartbroken woman was in her weakest state, and also the most dangerous. However, he still held her in his embrace.

When a woman falls out of love and loses her moral support, anyone would become her life saviour at this moment.

Thus, many people wouldn’t like women in her heartbroken state since they tend to be long-winded, grumbling about their relationship in sorrow. However, Su Tao could take it. He’s a physician, and treating mental trauma was part of his profession.

The first time he met Ni Jingqiu, she gave him a feeling of a cultured, well-mannered, woman that knew how to be grateful. She gave off a pleasant atmosphere, and at the same time, she also gave off a mild and mature aura.

But at this moment, Ni Jingqiu was no different from other girls as she laid on his shoulder and sobbed, showing her weakest side.

Love was the most hurtful thing in the world.

As Su Tao gently patted Ni Jingqiu’s back and occasionally comforted her with his words, he knew that he should let her cry it all out.

After some time later, Ni Jingqiu stopped crying and took the napkin from Su Tao then blew her nose before she asked in a hoarse voice, “I showed you a humiliating side of me. Do I look embarrassing at this moment?”

“Not really. I’ve never fallen out of love, but I reckon that I will be worse than you if I did.” Su Tao smiled.

“You’ve never fallen out of love?” Ni Jingqiu looked at Su Tao in doubt.

“All the women I love are well-protected by me, so they won’t leave me.” Su Tao smiled as he blew his trumpet.

“Carry on boasting as if you have tons of girlfriends.” Ni Jingqiu snapped as she continued, “But you’re pretty charming. I believe many women will like someone like you, someone who looks cultured and young. But behind that tender and youthful face of yours, you’re ferocious, and you can even fight when needed.”

To make Ni Jingqiu feel better, Su Tao teased, “Mhm, that’s about right. Want me to become your boyfriend?”

Shaking her head, Ni Jingqiu rejected, “No! I’ve decided never to put any feelings in my relationship since I’m too afraid of being hurt again. Putting it in a nutshell, I will never believe in love again.”

“Aren’t you a little too weak to reject it when you’ve just failed once?” Su Tao wryly smiled.

Letting out a sigh, Ni Jingqiu replied, “I became weak because I believed in love. If I don’t believe in it, my heart will be as cold as metal.”

“You’re just deceiving yourself.” Su Tao shook his head. “The more you show fear for love, the more it proves your belief in it.”

His words left Ni Jingqiu briefly stunned before she looked at Su Tao. All of a sudden, she raised her leg and stomped on Su Tao’s foot with her heel and she sourly replied, “Why are you so serious in everything? Can’t you just play along with me?”

Because of the pain, Su Tao cried out and he distanced himself while wearing a bitter smile. “Why did you become bitchy all of a sudden?”

Ni Jingqiu seemed to have realised that she had used too much strength behind that stomp, but she still remained unyielding and rebuked, “When a woman is hurt, you have to pamper her. You’ve been going against my words, and you got it easy with just a stomp!”

Helplessly shrugging his shoulders, Su Tao replied, “My words are all the truth of life. You’re still young, and you will know how wise my words are when you comprehend them.”

“Stop being so pesky, get in!” Ni Jingqiu felt a little cold standing outside. She felt silly standing by the street grumbling to a man.

“Get in? Where are we going?” Su Tao asked with a cheap expression.

With Ni Jingqiu’s character, there’s no way that she would get the chauffeur to leave and drive under the influence of alcohol, but she had acted out of the norm due to her terrible mood today.

After all, even the most rational person in the world would have episodes of breaking down.

“You go back to your home, and I go back to mine. Where else do you want to go? Hotel? Wilderness? Riverbank?” Ni Jingqiu rolled her eyes.

“Well, there are a few other places you can consider aside from going home!” Su Tao weakly said.

Rolling her eyes, Ni Jingqiu sourly barked, “Can you have some humanity in you? I just fell out of love, and you’re thinking of filthy things?”

Following Ni Jingqiu into the car, Su Tao leaned on the cushioned seat and explained, “Hotel is for sleeping, and we can get two rooms. We can chat in your room till you’re tired. The wilderness is a place to relax, and it’s even better if we have a tent for us to enjoy mother nature. As for the riverbank, we can catch fish under the night. With flashlights, the fish will swim over, and we can roast them over the fire to eat. How about that?”

Even if Ni Jingqiu was in a terrible mood, she was teased by Su Tao’s joke and she broke out into laughter.

“You’re really humorous, but thank you. My mood has gotten much better. The alcohol, seeing through that person, and even teased by you, my mood feels so much better now, and I feel that I can sleep peacefully tonight.”

“Don’t you think that you should thank me for doing so much for you?” Su Tao smiled as he looked at Ni Jingqiu.

“How do you want me to thank you?” Suddenly, Ni Jingqiu blushed as she declared, “I’m not going to those three places no matter what!”

“Forget it!” Su Tao sighed in disappointment and continued, “If you want to enjoy such a lifestyle one day, remember to come and look for me.”

Rolling her eyes, Ni Jingqiu half-heartedly replied, “Sure, that’s a promise, then. I’ve treated you as my bestie, and no conversation cannot be touched between besties, nor are there no places that we cannot visit, right?”

“No way! I hate the term ‘besties’!” Su Tao firmly shook his head.

“Why is that? It’s not embarrassing to be my bestie!” Ni Jingqiu felt that her idea was pretty interesting, which she laughed to the point of tears welling up in her eyes.

“Didn’t you see those so-called ‘besties’ in dramas? They’re either sissies, or they have an issue with their sexual orientation!” Su Tao firmly rejected.

“You were never a normal person in my eyes, to begin with.” Ni Jingqiu waved her hand as she patted on the steering wheel. “We’ll settle with that. In the future, Divine Physician Su will be my bestie, and we’re sisters. In the future, I will share everything with you, so don’t find me a hassle!”

Su Tao put on a bitter smile and sighed, “Forget it, as long as you’re happy, since you’re the heartbroken one here.”

However, Su Tao cursed in his heart. What bestie? Those are just impure relationships between a man and a woman adding on a seemingly legitimate title.

But Su Tao’s first reaction was that Ni Jingqiu was finding a reason so that they could have an appropriate reason to interact and meet up more in the future.

Seeing that Su Tao had ultimately agreed, Ni Jingqiu turned the volume up with a smug.

However, the radio was playing the music, ‘If not for you’ by Mo Wenyou.

“Hey, I really miss you. It’s raining outside again, and my eyes are so dry that I feel like crying. I wonder where you are at this moment…”

Sitting in the front passenger seat, Su Tao sneaked a peek at Ni Jingqiu. The gown she wore enveloped her ample chest and her graceful figure seemed voluptuous and healthy.

In the eyes of a lecher, she’s definitely a top-grade woman.

If he’s her bestie, wouldn’t she become her brother?

Although Su Tao tried his best to remain calm, he still couldn’t help feeling impatient in his seat, which revealed joy in his heart.

Su Tao never believed in a pure friendship between a man and a woman, and even if there was, it would never occur to him.