Hardly anyone comes to eat hot pot at nine in the morning.
Thus, in the vast hot pot restaurant at this moment, only one table is steaming with heat.
That table belongs to Wen Xuxue and Jiang Jing, who had just said they wanted to eat hot pot.
Jiang Jing picked up a piece of fatty beef from the pot, dipped it in sesame sauce, and said, “You broke up with Zhao Sui, right?”
Zhao Sui was Wen Xuxue’s boyfriend.
He was also the male protagonist in that photo from earlier.
After Wen Xuxue took that photo, she only sent it to Jiang Jing.
So Jiang Jing was well aware that her best friend had just been cheated on by a scumbag and then crashed into a Maybach—a series of unfortunate events.
“Can’t break up,” Wen Xuxue said softly, sipping tomato soup. “You know what my family’s situation is like right now.”
“Only through our families’ marriage alliance can the Wen and Zhao families secure their footing in the wealthy circle. He doesn’t dare break up with me, I don’t dare break up with him, and our parents would never agree to us breaking up.”
She spoke slowly, her tone filled with helplessness.
Jiang Jing fell silent for a moment before saying, “It’s not like the Zhao family is the only wealthy family in the world, and Zhao Sui isn’t the only man out there. Can’t you just find someone else? Someone you actually like.”
Hearing this, Wen Xuxue blinked and fished out a thick slice of knife-cut noodles from the pot.
The steam from the hot pot briefly blurred her vision, and suddenly, a cold yet handsome face surfaced in her mind.
Wealthy family.
A man.
Zhou Shijing.
But he and she weren’t suited for each other.
Even though they had a past together.
Back then, she was very young and knew nothing. She only thought he was handsome and wanted to be with him, even forgetting what her mother had told her.
During her years studying abroad, Wen Xuxue had come to understand many things.
Just as her mother had once warned her: “Even if you think that Older Brother is very handsome, you must not have any thoughts about him.”
“The gap between our family and theirs is too wide, and he’s so much older than you.”
“That Older Brother is naturally meant to be with your cousin Bai Wei. They’re close in age, well-matched in status—they’re the true fairy-tale couple.”
Thinking of this, Wen Xuxue’s eyes dimmed slightly, though her expression remained unchanged. She casually said, “Zhao Sui is pretty good.”
Jiang Jing’s mouth formed an “O” shape in disbelief. “Are you crazy?”
Wen Xuxue’s thoughts were still lingering in the past, and she spoke without thinking: “He really is pretty good.”
Jiang Jing suddenly fell silent.
She stopped moving her chopsticks.
She stared intently at her best friend.
She felt that Wen Xuxue was done for.
She actually said a scumbag was pretty good.
Wen Xuxue snapped back to reality slightly and, seeing Jiang Jing hadn’t touched her chopsticks for a while, smiled and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Although they were best friends, Jiang Jing knew it wasn’t her place to interfere too much in Wen Xuxue’s love life. For a moment, she didn’t know what to say. With a complicated look in her eyes, she picked up her chopsticks and said, “Nothing.”
Wen Xuxue: “Mm-hmm.”
After a while, with an inscrutable expression, Jiang Jing suddenly said, “How about I introduce my Older Brother to you?”
“Aside from being a bit older, a bit fierce, and having a bit of a bad temper, he’s actually pretty good in other ways.”
Hearing the words “a bit older,” Wen Xuxue immediately thought of Zhou Shijing.
And thinking of Zhou Shijing made her want to refuse.
Her lips parted slightly, and she spoke rapidly: “No, thanks.”
Seeing her respond so decisively, Jiang Jing’s heart sank to the depths.
Could it be that Wen Xuxue was truly, hopelessly in love with that scumbag?
To be honest, if this weren’t a society governed by law, she really wished she could ask her brother to plant that scumbag like ginseng in the ground.
Just to keep him from ruining her best friend.
Between her boyfriend cheating, the car accident, and thinking about Zhou Shijing, Wen Xuxue’s mind was currently in a state of short-circuit. It took her a moment to realize something was off, and she asked, “You have a brother?”
Jiang Jing said, “Yeah.”
Wen Xuxue said, “I’ve never heard you mention him.”
Jiang Jing’s eyes darkened slightly. “He’s much older than me, quiet and aloof. I’ve been studying abroad since I was young, and he’s always stayed in the country. We’re not very close.”
Wen Xuxue: “Oh, I see.”
After finishing the hotpot, Jiang Jing drove Wen Xuxue to a small bar.
After a few drinks, Wen Xuxue’s head began to spin. Just then, her phone screen suddenly lit up.
It was a WeChat friend request.
The profile picture was simple—a landscape photo.
The background was Iceland, with heavy snow falling.
The name was equally simple, just the letter “Z.”
The verification message was concise: “Your creditor.”
Jiang Jing leaned over to look. Her tolerance for alcohol wasn’t great, and after just a few drinks, she was already feeling dizzy. “What creditor? Who do you owe money to?”
Wen Xuxue rubbed her temples. “I have no idea.”
“Then it must be a scammer,” Jiang Jing said, snatching her phone and deleting the verification message directly. She then raised her glass and clinked it with Wen Xuxue’s from across the table. “We’re not leaving until we’re drunk, Xiao Xue~”