Chapter 6

Jiang Yingshan: "Wait for her to break up."

Chen Lüli: "What makes you so sure she'll break up?"

Jiang Yingshan: "Intuition."

Chen Lüli clicked his tongue softly.

"Ah, so that pretty hand in the photo last time was hers..." Jiang Yingshan spotted more details, but Chen Lüli didn't respond. He just told him to close the door and change his shoes.

When Lin Yu got home, she turned on the heat. It was really too cold outside. She took off her scarf, which still had Xiao Diu's cat hair on it. Xiao Diu had tried hard to burrow into her scarf, but fortunately, she hadn't snagged any threads. Lin Yu had always been sensitive to the cold, and scarves were indispensable in winter.

She took her pajamas and went to shower. By the time she came out, the apartment was warm.

Just as she was about to sit down, her phone rang. She answered, and it was a delivery driver saying her food had arrived. She hadn't ordered anything, so who had?

She asked him to leave it at the door.

Only after the driver left did she go and bring it inside. It was soy milk and rice noodle rolls. Just then, a message came in from Li Yin.

Li Yin: The late-night snack I ordered for you is there! Did you get it?

Lin Yu smiled as she replied: I was wondering who it was from.

Li Yin: Sorry our date fell through tonight.

He had planned to go shopping with her after dinner so they could get to know each other better, but he'd had to go back to the office.

Lin Yu sat down on the carpet, put the food on the table, and replied: It's normal to be busy with work. There'll be plenty of chances later.

Li Yin: You're so understanding.

Lin Yu: What else? Should I make a fuss?

Li Yin: You could...

Lin Yu smiled and opened the delivery bag. It wasn't in her nature to do things like that. She had been sensible and quiet since she was little, and her parents had hardly ever had to worry about her.

Because they trusted her so much, her parents hadn't asked many questions after her blind date with Li Yin went well. They both believed she could handle things just fine.

She took a sip of soy milk and picked up a rice noodle roll, but pushed aside the egg wrapped around it. She didn't like the egg in rice noodle rolls.

Her phone beeped.

There were messages in the five-person group chat. Ming Yu had tagged Chen Lüli and asked: Jiang Yingshan's back in the country?

A few seconds later, Chen Lüli replied: Yeah, he arrived three days ago.

Ming Yu: No wonder. He's been posting like crazy on Moments, terrified people won't know he's back.

Ming Yu: Remember the spinning music disc you gave me for my birthday? He was the one who broke it.

Chen Lüli: Did he stomp on it or smash it with his hand?

Ming Yu: Hahahahaha, neither. He sat on it and broke it.

Chen Lüli: ...

Ming Yu must have found it funny, because she was still laughing.

Jiang Zao asked curiously: Who's Jiang Yingshan?

Ming Yu: A partner at Star Rise.

Jiang Zao: Ming Yu, you know him?

Ming Yu: Last Christmas, Chen Lüli came to France. Jiang Yingshan was in Italy, so he came along with Chen Lüli.

Jiang Zao: Oh~~~

Her tone was suggestive. Everyone knew that when Chen Lüli went abroad from time to time, whether for work or simply to travel, he would sometimes make a detour to France to see Ming Yu.

Sometimes, at Ming Yu's parents' request, he would take gifts to her.

Jiang Yan'an appeared in the chat too, copying Jiang Zao's suggestive "Oh~~~~"

Lin Yu didn't say anything. She just watched quietly as Ming Yu finished chatting with Jiang Zao and Jiang Yan'an, then remembered something else and brought it up with Chen Lüli.

Chen Lüli replied every few minutes.

The group was lively. Lin Yu choked on her soy milk and put down her phone, no longer looking at it. She pulled out a few tissues and wiped the corners of her mouth. Two drops had run down the table leg.

Afraid they would drip onto the carpet, Lin Yu hurriedly wiped all the way up the table leg from bottom to top.

Just then, her phone vibrated. It was a private message.

Lin Yu glanced at it casually.

Chen Lüli: Want a late-night snack?

Lin Yu's heart skipped a beat. She typed back: No, I just finished eating.

Chen Lüli: All right.

Lin Yu calmed her racing heart and opened the group chat. Sure enough, they were talking about late-night snacks in the group, which was why he had asked her.

She exited the chat and messaged Li Yin.

She took a photo after finishing the food and sent it to Li Yin: All done.

Li Yin: Good, you've eaten your fill. Don't go straight to bed now, though. Give it some time.

Lin Yu: Okay.

The two chatted casually.

At that moment, only one department at Yousitu still had its lights on. A figure emerged from an office, holding a cup of coffee, and walked over to stand behind Li Yin in high heels. The woman said lightly, "Having such a good chat with your girlfriend?"

Hearing that, Li Yin immediately put his phone away. He turned around and said respectfully, "President Qin."

Qin Jialan looked down at him. "Don't think you can rest easy just because the project is wrapping up. This is the third time you've been in charge of a project. You should know that the follow-up work is even more crucial."

Li Yin lowered his head. "I know, President Qin."

Qin Jialan's red lips were vivid. "Good. Stop playing on your phone all the time. When you're working, focus on your work."

"Yes."

After sitting down, Li Yin gritted his teeth but didn't dare show it. A few team members beside him glanced at him sympathetically.

In his previous message, Li Yin had asked her:

What do you want to do on our next date?

Lin Yu thought for a moment and replied: An aquarium opened in Donghua. Let's go there next time.

After she replied, Li Yin didn't get back to her promptly as he had before. Lin Yu didn't mind, knowing he might have gotten busy. She was sleepy herself, so she sent him a good-night message, got up, and went to her room to rest.

The next morning, when she got up,

she saw Li Yin's reply from two thirty in the morning: Okay, I'll plan it out when the time comes.

Lin Yu smiled.

She opened the curtains and looked outside. There wasn't much sun today; it was overcast. She changed and went out to the shop. The whole morning was busy, and because the weather was bad, many people couldn't be bothered to make the trip and ordered delivery instead. Ye Xi had gone back to Hong Kong and messaged Lin Yu to say she missed the shop's sea salt cake.

Lin Yu replied: Come back on the weekend.

Ye Xi replied tearfully: I have to prepare for finals.

Lin Yu: Then there's nothing to be done.

That afternoon, Jiang Zao came to the shop for afternoon tea. The dark circles under her eyes were terrible. As soon as she sat down, she hugged Lin Yu's arm and said, "I'm about to drop dead."

Lin Yu brushed her hair aside and saw that it really was serious. She said, "Do you want to take some time off and rest for a couple of days?"

Jiang Zao's face fell. "I can't. These two days are exactly when traffic is best. I've only just started getting somewhere. If I take a break, the company will make trouble for me."

"The livestreaming industry is cutthroat now. If you don't stream, there are plenty of people who will."

Lin Yu knew Jiang Zao had to stream for at least ten hours a day, sometimes all at once, sometimes in separate sessions. Her heart ached for her. She wrapped a scarf around her neck and said, "Since you're so busy, you should be sleeping at home. Coming all the way to the shop cuts into your sleep."

Jiang Zao said, "It's even more oppressive at home. I'd rather come chat with you."

"You smell so good, all soft and squishy." Jiang Zao leaned into the scarf and hugged Lin Yu. Seeing that there weren't many people in the shop, Lin Yu raised a hand and patted her shoulder, giving her her full attention as they sat together for a while.

The shop manager knew what Jiang Zao liked and prepared coffee and afternoon tea for her, placing them on the table.

Jiang Zao thanked her with a smile.

She said, "The coffee in your shop smells good too. By the way, how did your date with Li Yin go yesterday?"

Lin Yu said they'd had dinner, but he'd had to go back and work overtime, so that was the end of it.

Jiang Zao said, "Those wicked capitalists..."

Lin Yu smiled.

She really did think it was fine. Her first relationship did take some getting used to. Jiang Zao leaned against her and dozed for a while. There was a little sunshine that afternoon, though not much, falling into the garden like a thin mist. It was as if butterflies were dancing in the sunlight. The garden at Lin Yu's shop had cost a great deal to create, and she had hired an auntie to look after it, coming by from time to time to weed and get rid of insects. The landscaping was beautiful, so when the shop first opened,

there had been hardly any need to invite bloggers to visit. Many people promoted it of their own accord because the surroundings were simply so lovely.

Jiang Zao felt comfortable looking at it now too. The flowers were pleasing to the eye, and the sunshine made her feel full of energy.

Before long, Jiang Zao felt energized and less tired. She picked up her coffee and took a sip. Lin Yu was talking to a shop assistant, asking her to sweep up a few scraps of paper in the corner. Some customers couldn't keep their hands still. When talking and chatting with others, they didn't know what to do with their hands, so they would pick up a receipt and tear it to pieces for fun.

As they tore, the scraps would fall to the floor and drift into the corners, where they weren't easy to clean up.

Jiang Zao scrolled through Moments and saw Ming Yu wearing a black wool coat over a white lace dress, walking down the street in high heels with a bag in her hand. Her long, wavy hair fell loose over her shoulders as she looked back and smiled, with the buildings around a French square behind her. After all these years, Ming Yu was still incomparably beautiful.

(#^.^#)

Another 100 red packets for this chapter. See you tomorrow.

Chapter 6

She liked Ming Yu's post.

Quite a few people had already liked it, all former classmates. Jiang Zao clicked her tongue twice. "As expected of a goddess."

Lin Yu finished speaking to the shop assistant and turned around to see Ming Yu's photo. She really was beautiful. She said, "She really is beautiful."

Jiang Zao looked at the background photo on Ming Yu's Moments page.

Ming Yu's background photo was a little like Chen Lüli's. Both showed a wineglass amid light and shadow. She said, "Yuyu, do you think Chen Lüli and Ming Yu will end up together?"

Lin Yu saw the background photo too. She paused, then said, "I suppose they will."

Jiang Zao crossed her long legs and leaned back in her chair. "Back in high school, everyone said they were a match made in heaven, and they were childhood sweethearts too. If Ming Yu hadn't gone abroad, they probably would have gotten together in college."

Lin Yu's gaze remained on the picture. She said softly, "Yes."

Jiang Zao smiled and rubbed Lin Yu's cheek. "But of all of us, you ended up being the first to get into a relationship."

Lin Yu smiled gently.

She looked away.

The five of them did share quite a few memories from high school: going to the beach for a barbecue, watching fireflies, and getting drunk together around graduation.

Back then, everyone had said the two were a match made in heaven and had waited for them to get together. But since graduation, each had been busy with their own affairs. Time flew like an arrow, and before they knew it, they had reached the present day.