Although Lu Peiying comes from the Lu Family, which is considered a large family, the Lu Family's greatness is more reflected in its reputation and status. They do not place excessive importance on money. Their lifestyle is Westernized, and they value comfort in life rather than blindly pursuing material enjoyment. Such extravagant entertainment projects, such as converting their own basement into a luxury screening room and film collection room, have never occurred in the Lu Family.
Tiffany carried a plate of cut fruit over and placed it on the coffee table next to the sofa. She picked up a red grape with a toothpick and handed it to Lu Peiying sitting down next to her. She picked up a women's cigarette from the coffee table, lit it, and then turned her eyes to the movie on the screen, remaining silent.
After watching the movie for a while, the woman beside her didn't respond, only the soft hum of the film reel turning. Lu Peiying turned her gaze from the screen to her best friend. "Hey, are you upset that I'm staying over tonight, so you're using this engagement and marriage excuse to tell me to be more considerate and not bother you unless it's absolutely necessary? I already told you, Ah Sin is having dinner and drinks with a good friend tonight, and we're going to drink until we drop, so I won't be home and end up throwing up everywhere. I'm so bored at home alone, that's why I asked you to come over and kill some time."
"Why would I lie to you? You come to my house to freeload, when have I ever kicked you out?" Tiffany pouted. "It's true."
"Really?" Lu Peiying immediately perked up, sat up straight, picked up the fruit platter, and sat next to Tiffany, feeding her fruit while asking, "Which handsome guy have you taken a fancy to? Everyone says you have incredibly high standards. It's not some handsome young Foreign Devil professor who just joined the University of Hong Kong, is it?"
Tiffany glanced at the other person's posture and frowned. "Does your husband know that you're no different from a monkey in private? Be careful, or you'll get rejected."
"Mind your own business!" Lu Peiying glared at the other person, then picked up a slice of watermelon and held it to Tiffany's lips. "Here, have a bite, and tell me quickly, how did I pursue you?"
"I've never even met him." Tiffany exhaled a puff of smoke, then leaned over and took a bite of the watermelon, looking up somewhat blankly at the ceiling, which kept shifting between light and shadow under the reflection of the screen's light but remained perpetually dark.
Lu Peiying stared blankly at Tiffany without saying a word. Even after Tiffany looked away, Lu Peiying remained in a daze. Tiffany smiled and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Even if he was terrible before my engagement, I still met him, talked to him, and found out about his background. Who gets engaged without ever seeing him? This isn't the Qing Dynasty anymore!" Lu Peiying said. "Didn't you say your father was very open-minded and wouldn't interfere in your marriage?"
"There are always unexpected events, just like in movies." Tiffany looked at the movie playing on the screen, the United States film "Out of the Past": "How can someone in a family possibly escape the Out of the Past?"
"Who are you going to marry?" Lu Peiying asked sadly, gently patting Tiffany's back. "Take it easy. Just like me, marrying Ah Sin isn't so bad. It's terrible if your family doesn't help you find a husband. Feelings... can be cultivated after marriage."
Tiffany moved the crystal ashtray on the coffee table aside, revealing a photograph underneath, and handed it to Lu Peiying: "Here, this is the same person you introduced before. You said his name was Song Tianyao, but when I met him, he said his name was Scribe Hui."
Lu Peiying nearly dropped the fruit plate. She hurriedly put it down, took Tiffany's photo, and, ignoring the movie playing, immediately turned on the table lamp to see the person in the photo clearly.
This is not a portrait of a single person, but a group portrait. The central position of the photo is occupied by three people: Chu Xiaoxin, Mrs. Bess, and the Governor's wife. However, in the corner, Song Tianyao stands near the edge of the photo, not looking at the camera attentively, but looking into the distance absentmindedly, with a slight frown. Song Tianyao is circled in red in the photo.
"This is... this is a photo from Oxfam. A-Yao was the treasurer of Oxfam." Lu Peiying looked away from the photo and turned to Tiffany: "A-Yao? Wow, that's great! A-Yao's villa is next to mine. If I want to see you again, I won't need to have the servants drive me; it'll just be a two-minute walk. His villa was even chosen for him by Brother Sin and me; it's very nice."
"When I met him, he said he was an intern lawyer, and that his family owned a Yingde Western Pharmacy. He came with a female secretary surnamed Jiang, who claimed to be the one who helped him manage the pharmacy. He did seem to have been forced to go to the six-person dinner, and he was very perfunctory in his speech, but he seemed to be having a lot of fun. Maybe at that time he felt that he didn't need to be too wary of a group of people he didn't know well. He drank some wine and sang a song. If you hadn't introduced him beforehand, I might have really believed that his name was Scribe Hui, and that he was an intern lawyer," Tiffany said to Lu Peiying after taking a look at the photo.
"How come, after all this time, even your father chose A-Yao? But speaking of A-Yao, he's a good person. He's loyal and righteous, and most importantly, very smart—smart enough that Uncle Zong, my father, and my eldest uncle all praise him. You know my father; it's very difficult for him to praise someone. His disciple, Lawyer Ji, even if he wanted to say something to boost his business and make more money, he'd get a scolding, saying he was too rigid and wouldn't amount to anything. It almost made Lawyer Ji depressed. But when it comes to A-Yao, my father is full of praise. He's advising the family to stay away from A-Yao while praising A-Yao for being bold, meticulous, and steady-handed. Before, he praised his ruthlessness, but now he's praised his steady hands." Hearing that her best friend's fiancé was Song Tianyao, Lu Peiying immediately became interested and started talking about what people around her thought of Song Tianyao, hoping to provide Tiffany with some detailed information so she could understand Song Tianyao better.
"When Brother Sin talks about A-Yao, he gets all excited. Every time he gets drunk, he A-Yao, saying that without A-Yao, he wouldn't be where he is today. He says A-Yao is his lucky star, and he'll be brothers and friends with A-Yao for life. He believes A-Yao is the right person. Wow, sometimes you won't believe it, but when I hear him talk about A-Yao, he can say things that make me jealous."
"Do you even know what Song Tianyao did to earn all these praises?" Tiffany tossed the photo back onto the coffee table, turned off the lamp to plunge the room into darkness, and continued watching the movie, saying in a somewhat gloomy tone, "I guess you don't, but I already do."