Chapter 172
Chapter 172
Gray Tail put her down on the couch and went to the kitchen to make a hangover soup.
Zhou Ziyou rubbed her head and sat up from the couch, her gaze blurred, her mind foggy and feverish. When she saw Gray Tail, she thought it was her hallucination.
She said nothing, silently watching the "hallucination" move around the house. The home was still the same, with the furniture arranged exactly as before, as if nothing had happened.
She hadn\'t met Zhou Li at the blind date, and Gray Tail hadn\'t left.
In just a few short days, everything had changed.
Zhou Ziyou blinked after a long while, thinking about what had happened. The anger was gone, leaving only sadness.
She had only wanted to find someone warm to share a simple life with, but why was it so difficult?
Now, she had been deceived by a scoundrel, and Gray Tail had left. This house was once again left with only her.
There was too much heartache to express, and she stared blankly at the tall, slender "hallucination," tears silently streaming down her face.
Gray Tail wasn\'t a good person either. She had been so good to him, but he turned and left, quickly resuming his normal, happy life, buying a house and marrying.
The "hallucination" brought a bowl out from the kitchen.
Zhou Ziyou gazed at him and smiled faintly, "A lone wolf, just like me."
He was, and she was too.
Recalling how she had learned from others a few days ago that the eldest son of the Zhou family was getting married, Zhou Ziyou was grateful they hadn\'t notified her.
She no longer had any relation to that family.
She had achieved the life she had once longed for, free from that suffocating family, with her own little home. She should be happy.
But perhaps it was the effects of the alcohol, as people tended to be more sentimental than usual. She didn\'t want to cry out loud, but the tears wouldn\'t stop flowing freely.
Her vision blurred, and the "hallucination" became increasingly indistinct, disappearing.
There was no Gray Tail, no hallucination. In this unnaturally quiet home, there was only her, a drunk.
Then, she felt someone wipe away her tears, and a familiar, muffled voice spoke, "...Why are you crying? Aren\'t you supposed to be tough?"
Zhou Ziyou blinked, her vision clearing slightly. She saw Gray Tail crouching in front of her. He was tall, and even when crouching, he wasn\'t much shorter than her. His gaze tilted slightly upward as he looked at her, then seemed a little unhappy as he lowered his eyes and muttered, "...It\'s only been a few days, and you\'re crying for him already?"
Zhou Ziyou sniffled, feeling annoyed just looking at this lone wolf. He was usually silent and taciturn, but now even a "hallucination" was saying such things.
She retorted indignantly, "So what? I can\'t cry?"
Stared at by her wet, round eyes, Gray Tail paused for a moment before saying in a softer voice, "You can."
Zhou Ziyou huffed, raising her voice, "Of course I can!"
Gray Tail thought silently, but not for other men...
He held up the hangover soup and offered it to her, "Drink this, it\'ll make you feel better."
But Zhou Ziyou responded, "What is that? Are you trying to poison me?"
Gray Tail: ......
He was silent for two seconds before patiently explaining, "This is the hangover soup that you humans drink."
"When did you, a lone wolf, learn to make hangover soup?" Zhou Ziyou asked.
Gray Tail suppressed his annoyance and corrected her, "I\'m not a lone wolf, I\'m gray and black in color, as you\'ve seen."
"Hangover soup... I learned it last time." Previously, when Zhou Ziyou had come home drunk and caused a ruckus, complaining of a headache, he had learned how to make it then.
However, Zhou Ziyou seemed to barely listen to him, instead letting out a long sigh of appreciation as she reached out to touch his spiky head, "Not bad, you even made me hangover soup."
Gray Tail remained motionless as she stroked his head, his ear tips reddening slightly.
He tilted his gaze upward, staring at this adorable, soft human woman. The scattered light from the chandelier fell into his eyes, which, besides the light, held an unguarded trust and admiration. Even his usually sharp and unapproachable features had softened.
"This fur feels so real..." Zhou Ziyou stroked more, feeling it was increasingly lifelike. She frowned, a line flashing through her mind, and her eyes widened as she leaned back, exclaiming, "It is real!"
She stopped stroking, and Gray Tail pursed his lips slightly, unsure what she meant by "it\'s real."
Zhou Ziyou had sobered up considerably, her face full of surprise, "Gray Tail, why are you here?"
"......" Gray Tail now understood what she meant by "it\'s real."
Zhou Ziyou\'s brain raced, recalling some memories. She had been drinking, and someone had carried her on their back - it must have been Gray Tail who brought her home.
She scratched her head, "Ah—you saw it too, didn\'t you? My blind date and I failed, it would have been better if it hadn\'t worked out from the start, instead of wasting my time and making you... leave."
The last two words remained unspoken.
"Am I the most unsuccessful and unattractive human woman you\'ve ever met?" She mocked herself with a wry smile. "I failed so many blind dates, and just when one finally succeeded, I met a bad person."
Gray Tail\'s hand clenched at his side, his handsome face somber.
Was she the most unsuccessful human woman he\'d ever met? Gray Tail didn\'t know how she could say such a thing about herself, and he felt uncomfortable, his tone becoming heavier, "Of course... not!"
He didn\'t want to see her talk about herself like that. Even if it was herself saying it, he couldn\'t accept it.
"Not?" Zhou Ziyou looked at him.
Gray Tail gave a low hum of affirmation, "You\'re great... very great."
"Really?" Zhou Ziyou was a little surprised. Though the wolf pup didn\'t talk much, he was quite honest.
"Tell me, I want to hear it," she said, her eyes curved as she made a show of listening intently.
Gray Tail felt his palms sweating as he nervously swallowed. The woman he liked was staring at him, asking him what was so great about her...
He opened his mouth, but no sound came out, his face reddening first.
"Go on, tell me," Zhou Ziyou urged, probably only so bold after the alcohol.
Gray Tail felt like he had lost the ability to speak. He was both flustered and embarrassed, unable to utter a single word.
Zhou Ziyou slowly deflated, "What\'s this, are you tricking me? Never mind, don\'t force yourself."
"You don\'t need to say anymore." She sighed.
"No..." Gray Tail took a deep breath, his eyes shining brightly as he stared at her: "You\'re really great, very cute... very warm... talkative as well which is nice, your voice is nice too... you\'re even cute when eating..." He rambled incoherently.
"What are you saying?" But Zhou Ziyou laughed, the simple and straightforward words sounded like a primary school student talking.
Under the soft lighting, the atmosphere seemed to improve a little.
Gray Tail suddenly spoke up: "That person is a bad guy?"
"Yeah, he\'s a scumbag."
"So you weren\'t crying for him..." Gray Tail muttered to himself, she was crying because of her own misfortune? Gray Tail breathed a sigh of relief.
Zhou Ziyou drank some sobering soup and said, "Thank you for tonight, it\'s so late now, you..."
"I\'ll come back tomorrow," Gray Tail stood up.
Zhou Ziyou was taken aback, wondering why he would come back tomorrow.
Gray Tail stared at her for a few moments: "Remember to eat breakfast."
"Okay."
"And don\'t cry anymore."
Zhou Ziyou nodded blankly: "Oh..."
"Don\'t overthink it if nothing\'s wrong."
"Okay." Zhou Ziyou ruffled her hair.
By the way, what\'s up with this guy? Who\'s older between us? Just as she was feeling a bit confused, Gray Tail took a few steps, turned back and looked at her: "Ziyou."
?
"I\'ll call you Ziyou from now on."
???
"Also, you\'re the best and most charming woman I\'ve ever met among all pure humans."
With that, Gray Tail left without looking back, almost as if he was fleeing.
Who knows, I get a low-grade fever at night, making it much harder to write...