Then the woman looked at Xiao Xiao. This time, there was no dissatisfaction or irritation on her face, nor any perfunctoriness or hint of hostility.
She composed herself, her expression serious.
"Yesterday, I went to a friend's funeral."
"I was with a lot of people most of the time."
"Nothing seemed out of the ordinary."
Even after she set aside her prejudices and carefully considered the young man's questions, she still couldn't think of anything suspicious.
Xiao Xiao didn't look disappointed by her answer. Instead, he seemed deep in thought.
"Your friend's funeral?"
He murmured softly to himself.
But the quiet surroundings meant the woman across from him heard every word.
Her hostility had faded, and now she looked somewhat downcast and sorrowful. "Yes. She was my best friend in high school."
"She was still so young."
"The last time I saw her, she was perfectly fine."
"It's only been a week."
"And yet..."
Realizing her voice had begun to choke up, she fell silent.
"Xiaozhao."
The short-haired woman gently patted her on the back.
They had let her drink so much because they knew how upset she was.
Life was unpredictable, and words of comfort always felt inadequate.
All they could do was hope time would heal the pain in her heart.
Her friend was gone, but the happy memories they'd shared would stay with her forever.
"Forgive me for asking, but..."
Xiao Xiao looked at the woman's reddened eyes. "What did your friend die of?"
"What did she die of?"
The woman murmured reflexively. Surprise wiped away some of the gloom on her face. "Does this have something to do with the danger I'm in?"
Though puzzled, she didn't find the circumstances of her friend's death difficult to talk about.
She looked at the young