Over the course of the next few days, Qin Yue settled in quite nicely and was recovering quite well.
With nothing to do and free time on his hands, some things he had previously dismissed became glaring.
The first thing was that Xu Wei hadn't changed his room decor but some things were missing and Bai Jinhai hadn't shown up once since he was here.
Qin Yue couldn't help but overthink. Especially since he had asked casually a few days ago and Xu Wei claimed he was away on a business trip.
He wasn't being narcissist but no matter how important business was, there's no way Bai Jinhai wouldn't call to ask of his health. Unless something else happened.
When Xu Wei came back later that evening, Qin Yue once again approached the topic.
"Where is Jinhai?"
Xu Wei paused slightly
"Well hello to you too? How was your day?"
Hearing this, Qin was was more than a hundred percent sure something happened. He pulled Xu Wei down beside him.
"Spill. He's not just on a business trip is he?"
Xu Wei plopped down with a heavy sigh.
"We're not living together anymore.
"I figured. What happened?"
Xu Wei let out another sigh.
"He changed. I don't think you'd recognize him anymore. He's not the same person I fell in love with, but I'm hoping this time away from each other gives him some room to think."
For a moment, Qin Yue was at a loss for words. He had joked that their relationship would ruin their friendship but never thought it would actually happen like this.
And to think he never noticed anything.
Xu Wei seemed to sense his thoughts and patted him on the shoulder.
"With how distraught you look, one would think it's your relationship on the line. Besides, it's not like we broke up, we're just on a break."
Qin Yue knew that was supposed to reassure him but he only felt even more strongly that thing's weren't that simple, however he smiled on the surface. Xu Wei had enough on his plate.
"If you say so, then I'll take your word for it."
Xu Wei stood up with a stretch.'
"I'm guessing that's all. Am I free to go now?"
Qin Yue gestured with his hand
"Please"
The moment Xu Wei's figure disappeared, Qin Yue's smile fell.
He picked up his phone and scrolled through his chat records with Bai Jinhai, eye's narrowing slightly.
He had not been paying attention before but now it was glaringly obvious that Bai Jinhai's replies had gotten more and more perfunctory until he finally decided to stop answering altogether.
In need of an answer, Qin Yue sent yet another.
'Can we meet? I need to talk to you.'
He didn't have high expectations and was only taking this move as a precaution.
Soon enough, Qin Yue didn't have enough time to think about anything as he had been commissioned for a painting.
Between the deadline and his drawing speed, there really wasn't much time to think about other things.
Fortunately, he completed the painting on time, the message sent to Bai Jinhai had gone without a reply. This was within Qin Yue's expectations.
Thinking of Xu Wei's increasingly weary figure, QIn Yue felt a burst of anger in his heart. He took a deep breath to keep steady and approached Xu Wei at the desk.
Xu Wei was so focused that he didn't notice Qin Yue's approach until Qin Yue was standing over him.
His head jerked up and he raised an eyebrow at Qin Yue's outfit.
"Going somewhere?"
"I need to step out for a while, I'll be back in a few hours."
Xu Wei took a look at the covered canvas in his hand and didn't say much.
"Stay safe. Well, try.."
Qin Yue rolled his eyes speechlessly and headed out.
The ride he booked was waiting at the door and he hopped in
.
He was to meet this customer at a bar to deliver the painting. It was a forty minute drive and the whole journey, Qin Yue kept hoping nothing went wrong.
Luck seemed to be on his side and the drive was uneventful.
He alighted and walked in, instantly attracting attention. A staff approached him politely.
"Hello sir, would you like a private room?"
"No thank you, I'm here for someone."
Qin Yue too out his phone to text the customer when the staff spoke again.
"Are you Mr. Qin?"
Qin Yue tilted his head slightly.
"Qin Yue."
The lady smiled.
"We've been expecting you. You can go upstairs directly."
She called someone to lead Qin Yue upstairs and he was taken to a private room.
He walked in and the door shut behind him. He then came face to face with about five middle aged men.
The sight caused Qin Yue to pause for a second.
One of them stood up with a wide smile on his lips.
"You must be Qin Yue. I'm Lao Gong, thank you for coming."
Qin Yue walked in and placed down the painting carefully.
"Thanks for having me."
Before Lao Gong could respond, one of the other men cut in.
"Don't tell me this is who you're recommending. Do you take us as fools?"
Lao Gong looked at the speaker
"Erlan, we already decided before asking him to come over, what do you mean?"
The one named Erlan scoffed.
"Who knew you would pull such a stunt and try to fool us with this random person? You should have some integrity"
Lao Gong turned to look back at Qin Yue, still not understanding why things had become like this.
They had clearly reached an unanimous decision concerning this long ago so why did they act like he was acting unilaterally?
Qin Yue cleared his throat softly.
"I'll be taking my leave now. Thank you for your patronage."
They all turned to stare at him and he bowed slightly before walking out of the room. From the look of things, this was yet another lost opportunity.