After the breakup, I was taken in by a group of trendy young women.

After saying that, Lin Ye didn't look at Zhang Qian again.

His turning around was very natural; he didn't even remove his hand from Bai Xiaojing's waist, as if he had just greeted a colleague he wasn't very familiar with and then went about his business.

But Bai Xiaojing didn't move.

She was still leaning against Lin Ye's chest, her face tilted back, her gaze going over Lin Ye's shoulder and fixed directly on Zhang Qian.

"Brother, is this the guy who complained you couldn't pay your rent?"

She spoke softly, each word uttered through clenched teeth.

The woman with the tattooed arm was picking at grilled gluten at a nearby stall. Hearing this, she put the bamboo skewer on the iron plate and turned around. Her tongue piercing flashed between her lips.

"Oh, it's the main character."

Hua Tui loosened her grip on Lin Ye's arm, took a half-step to the side, and stood just in front of Zhang Qian. She didn't speak, but simply looked the woman in front of her up and down, from her high heels to her dress, from the necklace around her neck to the beauty mark at the corner of her eye. After looking her over, she smiled.

Only girls can understand this kind of laughter.

Zhang Qian stood there, her expression changing several times in just a few seconds.

From disbelief to anger, from anger to embarrassment, it finally settled on cynicism.

Her gaze swept over Bai Xiaojing's Lolita dress, over the striped arms covered in koi fish, over the rose tattoos on her calves, over the green and pink hair that had lost most of its color, and finally landed on the girl with bangs who was holding a cat.

"Lin Ye, I thought you would find a proper job and settle down after the breakup."

She crossed her arms and slightly raised her chin.

"I never imagined you'd stoop so low. It's shameful for you to associate with someone like that; I'm ashamed of you too, especially considering we were together for three years."

"That kind of person?"

Bai Xiaojing straightened up from Lin Ye's embrace.

She took a step forward and stood in front of Zhang Qian.

She was a head shorter than Zhang Qian, but her imposing manner when looking up at people was in no way inferior.

"What kind of person? Be specific."

Zhang Qian looked down at her: "Do I need to make this clear? Look at you guys, your hair is dyed like feather dusters, your bodies are covered in messy tattoos, wandering around the night market in the middle of the night, what kind of decent people can you be?"

"Lin Ye, we've been together for three years, and you can't even afford rent. Now you have money to treat so many people to a night market? Looks like it's not that you don't have money, it's that you don't want to spend money on me."

"Are you done talking?"

Bai Xiaojing threw the cigarette butt in her hand on the ground and crushed it out with the sole of her canvas shoe.

Then she turned her head and waved to the sisters behind her.

Six people, with brightly colored hair, lined up in a row under the night market lights.

Bai Xiaojing stood at the very front.

"You think we're not serious? Then be serious, serious enough to break up with your boyfriend if he can't pay the rent, serious enough to take a picture with another man on your shoulder and post it on social media less than a day after the breakup. Serious enough to find a man whose hairline is almost receding, just because he can treat you to Japanese food that costs 580 yuan per person?"

Zhang Qian's face went from sneer to ashen.

"What did you say?"

"Can't you hear me?"

Bai Xiaojing tilted her head. "Then I'll say it again. The guy you found, whose hairline is almost receding, was arguing with the vendor for five minutes over an extra spoonful of chili sauce while we were queuing for grilled squid. You really have good taste. First you dumped my brother, and then you found someone who would argue over even a spoonful of chili sauce."

Bai Xiaojing's eyes lit up, and then she actually smiled.

Zhang Qian's eyes reddened. Her fingers gripped the bag strap tightly, her knuckles turning white. Her lips trembled for a long time before she finally managed to squeeze out a sentence through gritted teeth:

"Lin Ye, you're a scoundrel!"

The voice split in two, one half a sob, the other a roar.

Lin Ye stood there, feeling as if those words had hit him right in the face.

He didn't move or speak. Because he didn't need to say anything.

At that moment, the six energetic young women moved simultaneously.

Like a pack of mother wolves protecting their cubs, the moment someone reaches out to their pups, no one needs to give the order.

Bai Xiaojing was the first to rush forward.

"Thug?! You dare use that word?!"

Her voice drowned out the loudspeakers around the night market. Stall owners at nearby stalls stopped flipping their skewers and looked up, while passersby stopped to watch.

"My brother treated us to barbecue, paid our rent, and didn't even touch us once! You're fucking calling him a scoundrel?!"

The tattooed man pulled Bai Xiaojing aside and stepped in to help.

Her tongue stud flashed in her mouth, then she stuck out a finger and pointed at Zhang Qian's face.

"Say it again, who's the hooligan?"

Her voice was colder than Bai Xiaojing's, and Zhang Qian took half a step back.

The tattooed arm gave her no chance to back down, taking a step forward.

"He couldn't pay the rent and you dumped him, that's called reality. You dumped him and immediately found someone else, that's called freedom. You found someone else and then brag about it on social media, what's that called? That's called being despicable."

Zhang Qian's tears finally fell.

The tattoo on my arm wasn't finished yet.

"You don't need to cry. When you dumped him, he was squatting on the curb smoking. When you were bragging on social media, he was sharing a can of beer with six strangers. You call that kind of person a scoundrel? Then what do you call the guy next to you who posts on social media pretending to be single but eats Japanese food with you? A gentleman?"

Hua Tui had somehow gotten to Zhang Qian's side, speaking softly.

"Auntie, the dress is pretty, and the bag is quite expensive. But what's the point of dressing up so nicely?"

Zhang Qian burst into tears.

Her shoulders were twitching, her makeup was starting to smudge, her eyeliner was spreading, leaving a black mark at the corner of her eye.

The green-haired and pink-haired people didn't swear.

They just stood in front of Zhang Qian, looking at her, and then Green Hair said something.

"Auntie, thank you for dumping our brother."

She paused.

"Because if you ignore him, we won't run into him."

This sentence contains no profanity, no aggression, and even the tone is calm.

But after hearing this, Zhang Qian cried even louder.

Because this statement is harsher than all the previous insults.

It's saying that your departure isn't harmful, it's a blessing.

Your existence is not a regret, but a stumbling block.

What you got rid of wasn't trash, it was your own lack of appreciation for value.

Zhang Qian was crying so hard that she was trembling all over.

People began to gather around her.

The man in the shirt finally squeezed through the grilled squid area, still clutching the string of squid tentacles in his hand, staring blankly at his girlfriend crying her eyes out.

Passersby stopped in their tracks; some took out their phones to record videos, some whispered among themselves, and some stared at them with amusement.

The tattooed man turned his head and grinned at the crowd.

"Come on, come on, haven't you ever seen a woman cry before?"

Then she looked at Zhang Qian, who was squatting on the ground sobbing.

"Crying counts as time too! Use it sparingly."

Zhang Qian couldn't cry anymore.

She squatted on the ground, her face covered in tears, her makeup ruined, her mouth open but unable to make a sound.

Bai Xiaojing reached out and brushed the hair that had fallen in front of her face back.

"That's right. Save your tears. Go back and cry slowly. After you're done crying, think carefully about who really lost out by dumping our brother."

Then she turned around and walked towards the woods.

"elder brother."

"We just insulted your ex-girlfriend, are you upset?"

"no."

"Then treat us to grilled squid, we're hungry."

"it is good."

"I'll buy six more large milk teas, with pearls."

"it is good."

"And there's that ring toss game, I want to try the biggest plush toy."

"set."

He put his arm around Bai Xiaojing's shoulder and waved to the five girls behind him.

A man with tattooed arms walked over, a cigarette dangling from his lips. A woman with tattooed legs hooked her other arm around his. Green Hair and Pink Hair skipped and hopped along behind. A man with bangs was holding a cat, which poked its head out of his backpack and meowed.

Six brightly colored heads surrounded a young man in an old T-shirt as they walked into the heart of the night market's lights.

Behind her, the man in the shirt was bending down to help Zhang Qian, who was squatting on the ground, still clutching the skewer of cold grilled squid in his hand.

Are you alright?

Zhang Qian shook off his hand, stood up, and walked alone towards the exit of the night market.

Her high heels swayed on the uneven cement ground, and she almost fell.

She steadied herself, took off her high heels and carried them in her hand, then continued walking barefoot.

The lively atmosphere of the night market followed behind her.

Nobody was pursuing her.