"I'll go see my cousin off."
When Li Xue heard Lin Shuang was leaving, she didn't try to stop her. Instead, she turned to Tang Yao and said softly, "Sorry to ask you to wait a little."
Tang Yao nodded.
Li Xue stood and walked out of the café with Lin Shuang.
Jingling—
The door swung open, and the morning sunlight spilled over them, sweeping away the stuffiness.
Lin Shuang took a deep breath of the fresh air outside, then glanced back at the café. "Honestly, the air in there's a little stale, the decor's kind of old-fashioned, and who still puts up a retro doorbell these days? Can a place in this location really make money?"
"I'm not sure. I don't come here often, either."
Li Xue shook her head. "I don't usually like coffee... Anyway, sorry to make you come all this way, Sister Lin Shuang."
"It's fine."
Lin Shuang lingered by the entrance instead of leaving right away, chatting with Li Xue. "I should be the one apologizing. You went out of your way to ask for help, and I couldn't do much for you... But I'm curious. You're not usually the sort to agree to things casually, especially when it means asking someone else for a favor. Why did you want to help her this time?
"You sounded so serious on the phone that you startled me. I thought you wanted me to meet your boyfriend and give him my stamp of approval.
"I mean, I've probably bragged to you about how good I am at reading people, and I even spent a while getting ready this morning.
"When I first saw that young woman, I almost blurted out a question about whether you'd gotten yourself a girlfriend..."
She hadn't been lying about that.
When she