“I told you, that was my home… and! Didn’t you say before that you would believe me?”
“Yes, I believe your version of events; I believe the situation at the time was indeed as you described. However, I do not believe your heart.”
“What?”
“Believe it or not, after that incident, a crack ultimately appeared in the trust between us. You are well aware of this. And in reality, our distancing wasn’t just because of that crack. Just admit it—what truly underwent a fundamental change was our feelings.”
The woman stood up abruptly and walked toward the door.
“It seems my appearance today was indeed a mistake…”
But just as her hand was about to touch the doorknob, her movements involuntarily stopped. Without looking back, she suddenly said, “I’m getting married to him next year.”
Sitting on the living room sofa, Mai Suisui listened expressionlessly.
“I know the conflict between us is deep, but you still owe me an answer after all… Suisui, don’t make me wait too long. You can escape for a moment, but you can’t escape for a lifetime. I’ll wait for you to contact me.”
After finishing her sentence, and following the “di-li-li” chime of the electronic lock, the woman’s silhouette vanished.
Mai Tian emerged from the room. Seeing her younger sister’s dejected face, she pulled her into a pained embrace, murmuring:
“It’s Sister’s fault. If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have, out of curiosity…”
“Sis, it has nothing to do with you!”
Mai Suisui buried her head in her sister’s arms and dully interrupted her. “It just wasn’t a good fit. It has nothing to do with whether they are a man or a woman.”
Mai Tian smiled softly, rubbing Mai Suisui’s head. “It’s the New Year; let’s not think about these unhappy things. The store brought in a lot of fireworks and I’ve saved them all for you. Wait until we finish the New Year’s Eve dinner, then go set off fireworks with Sister.”
“Okay!”
Mai Suisui lifted her head from her sister’s embrace, flashing a large smile.
“By the way, are you staying up for the New Year countdown today?”
“I am! I’m even planning to wait until midnight to send text messages for New Year greetings!”
“Sending texts? To whom?”
“One is my boss. She has helped me a lot at work, but I’ve never been able to voice my gratitude. I’ll just use a punctual New Year greeting to represent it!”
“So there’s another one, then?”
“The other… well, is a stranger who also helped me.”
“Helped you, yet is a stranger?”
Standing by the window, Yu Nian held a cup of tea as she watched the car drive away in the distance.
Turning back, she saw her family members observing her silently.
Yu Peilan frowned and asked, “Can you explain to me now what that was all about?”
“Isn’t it just like that?” Yu Nian smoothed the stray hairs on her forehead, her expression unchanged.
Hearing this, Yu Peilan narrowed her eyes and said softly, “I have never opposed you communicating with that person, but I have also reminded you more than once: do not get deeply involved.”
Yu Nian appeared very calm upon hearing these words. “Don’t worry, Mom. I know what I’m doing.”
“I hope so.”
Yu Peilan let out a cold snort and turned away. On the other side, Ms. Zhang Yueqing and the young lady Yu Qiu, who had been sitting properly on the sofa, finally breathed a sigh of relief. The two of them hurried over to Yu Peilan’s side to coax her into a better mood.
“Whew…”
Left where she stood, Yu Nian slowly took a deep breath. She pulled out her phone to check her messages while walking toward her room.
At that moment, her gaze caught several new messages in her SMS inbox.
She clicked them open, froze for a moment, and then her expression grew soft.
[Happy New Year!]
Yu Nian pursed her lips and sent back: [Happy New Year.]
[Eh? I thought you were asleep… Speak up, since you aren’t asleep, why were you 17 minutes late in replying to me?]
Standing at her bedroom door, Yu Nian typed:
[Sorry, I didn’t notice my phone.]
[Ugh, there’s no need to be so serious. I was just joking to avoid an awkward atmosphere.]
So… did her reply make Mai Suisui even more awkward?
Yu Nian looked at her phone thoughtfully.
[Oh, by the way, I just sent a New Year text to my boss too. Do you think she felt my gratitude?]
Yu Nian blanked for a second, then hurried into her room to grab her work phone. Among a long string of New Year messages, she accurately found the girl named Mai Suisui.
[President Yu, Happy New Year!]
Yu Nian pondered for a moment before replying:
[Mm, you too.]
Before she could even put down that phone, the other phone buzzed with another text.
[Wow, my boss replied to me!]
Yu Nian’s expression grew even softer.
[Even though I’m a bit surprised—given my boss’s icy personality, she actually replied to a text. But it should be just as you said: she felt my gratitude, haha.]
An icy personality?
Yu Nian’s eyes narrowed slightly.
[Speaking of which, I still don’t know how to address you.]
Seeing this message, Yu Nian, who had originally been torn over whether to continue hiding her identity, froze.
Following that, before she could even get a headache over it, she received another message.
Seeing this, she finally felt relieved.
[If it’s inconvenient, forget the real name… but for the sake of convenience in the future… let’s give each other a nickname we can use! For me, you can call me—Max.]
Mai, Max? (Mai-ke-si)
What did that mean?
Yu Nian was confused for a moment.
However, Mai Suisui offered an explanation herself.
[My surname is Mai. MAX, Max! How about it? Is this name clever or what?]
Yu Nian blinked at her phone. After a moment, the corners of her mouth curved upward, revealing a faint, graceful smile.
She intentionally tried to make her tone sound as normal as possible, replying:
[Okay, Miss Max. Then, please just call me Twenty-Three from now on.]
After sending this sentence, she waited quietly.
It wasn’t until a while later, when she thought Mai Suisui wouldn’t respond anymore, that a new reply popped up on her phone.
[Mhm, though I can’t guess the meaning behind it, please look after me from now on, Ms. Twenty-Three.]
[Mhm, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Max.]
Just as she finished typing, Yu Nian received an impatient text from Mai Suisui.
[There are fireworks going off over here. Should I take a few photos and send them to you?]
[Okay.]
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Yu Nian, Mai Suisui struggled with a small dilemma.
Because she only had one WeChat account.
Normally, for someone in Mai Suisui’s profession, work and personal accounts are separate. But since she didn’t have many relatives or friends in her life and didn’t like posting on her Moments, she hadn’t thought about separating them clearly when she first started the job.
But today, the situation had changed a bit.
She didn’t know why, but she suddenly wanted to leave a “clean space” for this “stranger friend” on the other side.
So, Mai Suisui simply registered another account.
Yes, a brand-new account.
On that account, there was only one person in the friend list, a contact with the remark “Twenty-Three.”
After adding the contact, Mai Suisui couldn’t wait to browse the other person’s Moments.
The result was obvious: there was nothing in the Moments. It seemed the other person was just like her—someone who didn’t like posting.
However, when she saw the address on the other person’s digital business card, her expression became a bit strange.
[Max: Um, are you from Su City?]
Mai Suisui didn’t know that upon receiving her message, the Ms. Twenty-Three on the other side of the screen panicked slightly.
Yu Nian had a habit: every time she went to a place, she would change the address in her profile to the local one, whether it was her work account or personal account.
She couldn’t say why she had this habit, but she had been doing it for many years.
Ms. Twenty-Three tapped her head in annoyance; she had actually forgotten about this detail.
Left with no choice, she could only reply honestly.
[Twenty-Three: I’m not from Su City; I just work here.]
[Max: Wow, that’s such a coincidence! I work in Su City too!]
Yu Nian gave two forced laughs.
[Twenty-Three: Yes, quite a coincidence.]
“Sis, I’m sleeping with you tonight!”
“Sis, what are you doing?”
Yu Qiu looked at her sister suspiciously. The moment she suddenly burst into the room, she had clearly seen a fleeting smile on her sister’s face.
Logically, smiling at a phone is normal, but that sort of thing was absolutely impossible for her sister.
Buzz buzz.
Yu Nian’s phone vibrated twice. Both Yu Nian, who was half-sitting on the bed, and Yu Qiu, who was standing by the bedside, looked over at the sound.
Except Yu Qiu couldn’t see the content.
“Mhm, then go grab your pillow.”
Yu Nian turned off the screen with an unchanged expression, showing no intention of checking the message.
Yu Qiu’s big eyes peeked at her. She let out a small “Okay” and turned to go back to her room to grab her pillow.
She took two steps but suddenly turned back.
She saw that Yu Nian was still looking at her expressionlessly.
Yu Qiu smacked her lips, returned to her room, slammed the door loudly, then quietly snuck back. Just as she was sticking half a head out from the corner to observe secretly, she was given a huge fright.
“Xiao Qiu, what are you doing!”
Yu Qiu clutched her thumping heart, looking speechless. “I say, Ms. Yu Peilan, don’t you make any sound when you walk?”
“I think you’re trying to do something bad; otherwise, why would you be scared like this?”
“No way, I’m sleeping with Sister tonight.”
“Then go get your pillow. And bring another blanket—don’t you know you kick the covers in your sleep?”
“Got it, got it, so naggy…”
The noisy sounds outside the door temporarily faded. Yu Nian reopened her phone and saw the firework photos sent by Miss Max on the screen.
[Max: Is it pretty?]
Actually, when she first added her as a friend, Yu Nian had wanted to directly set the remark as Mai Suisui’s name. But after hesitating for a moment, she still labeled her as “Max.”
After all, in Mai Suisui’s eyes, Ms. Twenty-Three was just a stranger she met by chance.
So, she should cooperate with Mai Suisui and treat Miss Max as someone she met by chance as well.
[Twenty-Three: It’s pretty. But I’m going to rest now.]
[Max: What a coincidence, me too. Goodnight then?]
[Twenty-Three: Mhm, goodnight.]
And so, our Ms. Twenty-Three and Miss Max met in such a way.