The next day came and the three of them met in the usual break space before going to the course together and then doing their best to make the most out of the last day of it. Time seemed to fly by, and soon, it was already the end of the day, and Linghu Jiahao bid farewell to the students of his course.

While everyone packed up, Li Ming glanced at Yao Ai. "Brother Duan and I will leave first. Good luck with your talk!"

Yao Ai nodded before doing a double-take. "Wait. Do you mean to say that the two of you will still go out together and just leave me here?"

Li Ming raised his brows and then glanced at Duan Zhi Hao. To be honest, he hadn’t been thinking of that. "I … I just meant that we would leave since the course is over. I don’t think we have anything planned, have we?"

Duan Zhi Hao looked up and shrugged his shoulders. "I didn’t." But honestly, he didn’t have anything to do so he really wouldn’t have minded if Li Ming had an idea of what to do. But that probably wasn’t the type of thing he should talk about in front of Yao Ai right now. Clearly, she felt troubled at the thought of missing out on this.

Yao Ai sighed and then just waved. "Well, even if you want to, it’s also alright. Well, if this doesn’t take long, I can still join you later! I’ll text you when I’m done and then you can tell me if there’s something I should come over for."

Li Ming nodded, feeling that this was a good idea. "We’ll do that. Anyway, otherwise, we’ll see each other tomorrow."

The three of them bid farewell and Duan Zhi Hao and Li Ming headed out of the room and the building, stopping on the sidewalk together.

"So, I didn’t plan anything fun for this evening. What about you? Anything special you’re going to do?"

Li Ming gave a hum, and narrowed his eyes at the sky, wondering if it was too late to go and have some talks of his own. "Well, what you and sister Yao said these last few days had me thinking a bit. I guess there are some people I’d like to go and have a talk with so I can really close the chapter of my last relationship."

Duan Zhi Hao raised his brows, a little surprised at that. "Just like that?"

Li Ming shook his head and sighed. "No, not just like that. It’s just … I don’t know how to explain this but seeing you and sister Ai interact yesterday, I realized that my perspective on things is wrong. I’m trying to go forward and change to do better in the future but I feel like I’m not really getting anywhere. I’m just running away from the issue right now."

Duan Zhi Hao reached out and put an arm around his shoulders, pulling him down the street. "So that is why you finally opened up yesterday and told us about your ex. I knew something was up. I was wondering but I didn’t dare to ask. It seemed like that was really hard for you."

Li Ming nodded. "Yes, it was. And that is precisely the point. I am desperately trying to move on but I don’t think that I can if I don’t actually finish everything that was left open.

"That guy we met at the pet cafe the other day, Si Tao, he is a good friend of my ex. And while I’m not close with him myself, he is still acquaintance. I think I treated him badly the other day which is entirely because I still struggle so much with this issue. So I want to go over and apologize and just be done with this. And then, there is one other person that I had to do with who I think I should have a talk with as well."

Duan Zhi Hao raised his brows and gave him a careful look. "Want some support when you go there?"

Li Ming smiled brightly. "I probably look like I need that, don’t I?"

"You don’t look like it’s an easy thing to do at least. I’m pretty sure you could get through that on your own though. But if it would help, I wouldn’t mind just hanging around close by. I don’t even need to be present for whatever conversation you have but if there is someone around, maybe that would make you feel a bit better. You know, just somebody you can come back to who will tell you that you did really well or … I don’t know, maybe buy you a beer. That might work better than some words."

Li Ming chuckled but finally nodded. "Well, if you wouldn’t mind, then yeah, I’d appreciate it. I’m not even quite sure if Si Tao will be in but we could go to the other person first and then head over to his restaurant. If he’s not in, we could just have some drinks there."

"Sister Yao will get jealous when she finds out."

"By the time we get there, she should be done with her own talk so we could invite her over."

"Sure that." Duan Zhi Hao patted his shoulder and then pulled his arm back, motioning around in a circle. "Well, lead the way! I’ll just follow."

Li Ming nodded and then went ahead, turning at the next crossroad, and making his way through the city until they stood in front of a huge bureau complex.

Duan Zhi Hao faintly raised his brows, not quite sure what to expect. "Do you want me to wait outside?"

Li Ming shook his head. "No, I don’t think waiting here wouldn’t be that comfortable. I’m sure there’s a better place inside where you can wait. Dragging you around for my personal matters is bad enough but I can’t very well let you stand on the sidewalk the entire time. Anyway, I’m not even sure if he’ll be in so let’s see about that first."

Duan Zhi Hao nodded and then followed Li Ming up to the fifth floor, where they found themselves in front of a tinted glass door. He had no idea what to expect but when Li Ming knocked and then opened the door and he saw the absolute chaos inside, he was floored. It seemed … that they had walked into the world of some kind of crazy genius or something like that. Honestly, he wasn’t too sure.