Chapter 136: The Promise

"The usual rule then?"
"Obviously!"
The rule the two of them mentioned was a promise they had made back in their sophomore year.

Back then, Jiang Xiaohan had just experienced her first heartbreak in life. The monitor had originally gathered everyone for a celebration party to honor two teams that had won a mathematical modeling competition and several classmates who had obtained their CFA Level 1 certificates.
In the end, Jiang Xiaohan started drinking with increasing ferocity, until she finally consumed more than the guests of honor at the gathering.
"Xiaohan, stop drinking!"
"Have a little less!"
...
Her posture of drinking straight from the bottle genuinely startled everyone present. A group of naive boys and girls just starting their sophomore year—who had ever witnessed such a "suicidal" way of drinking? They took turns stepping forward to persuade her to drink less. Yet, without exception, she drove them all away:
"Let go... I can still drink! Give me my glass back."

This was also Lin Luyou's first time seeing her roommate in a drunken state.
"You guys go ahead... I'll keep an eye on her, we'll leave in a little while."

"Don't you need us to leave a guy behind to keep you company?"
Seeing Lin Luyou refuse so decisively, the monitor gave up the idea of staying and turned around to call out to the rest of the class.
Once everyone had left, the entire KTV private room was left with only the ceaseless music playing from the speakers and the two figures sitting quietly.

Jiang Xiaohan chugged another bottle of beer, shoved Lin Luyou aside, and wobbled her way to the restroom. When she returned, she nimbly popped open a new bottle. Counting this one, she had already downed eight bottles of beer in total.
"Drink a little less..."
Lin Luyou gently tugged at the corner of her shirt.
"This is just beer, it doesn't get you drunk..." Jiang Xiaohan lowered her glass and turned her head to look at Lin Luyou, her eyes completely clear. "Then why can't I get drunk!"
As soon as the last word slipped out, her tears suddenly surged from her eye sockets in large drops, like a broken string of beads.

Amidst Jiang Xiaohan's intermittent murmurs, Lin Luyou finally learned the whole story. Unable to hold back, she reached out to wrap her arm around Jiang Xiaohan's shoulders, letting her lean against her.
"Don't cry... He, he did this because he never put you into his life... It's not worth shedding tears for such a scum!"
Lin Luyou had been pampered by her family since childhood; she was usually the one being comforted when wronged. This was her first time comforting someone, and she was somewhat at a loss, not knowing where to put her hands. Finally, she tentatively put one arm around Jiang Xiaohan's shoulder and gently patted her head, just like soothing a little kitten.
"From now on, I'll vet them for you! No matter how many layers of skin that stinking man wears, I'll strip them all off for you!"
"Pfft."
Jiang Xiaohan was amused by Lin Luyou's remark.

Seeing her finally smile, Lin Luyou couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
"It's a deal then... Next time we find boyfriends, we both have to bring them for each other to meet first!"
And so the two of them linked pinkies and sealed the promise with a thumbprint...

Yet Jiang Xiaohan could never have imagined that she had entered into a "losing deal." With all four years of college almost over, she had taken turns bringing three boyfriends to meet her best friend, but had only ever seen half of one of Lin Luyou's. It was far too unfair.
That half she saw was Zhen Hao. Their very first meeting had been on the day she got drunk.
Lin Luyou was physically weak and couldn't pull Jiang Xiaohan, who was stubbornly refusing to budge, so she had no choice but to call Zhen Hao for help.
As soon as Zhen Hao heard that Lin Luyou was still hanging out in a KTV this late at night with no male classmates around, he didn't say another word and hopped into a cab.
Seeing Zhen Hao, who had run all the way over out of breath, Jiang Xiaohan looked at him with hazy eyes:
"Your... boyfriend?"