The Golden Egret Hotel was a renowned, long-established establishment in Luzhou. While its prices weren’t the most exorbitant in the city, its flavors were legendary, and it was famous for how difficult it was to secure a reservation.
However, this was no obstacle for Lin Linfeng, as her father was the former owner of the hotel.
As the engagement ceremony concluded, it happened to be near lunchtime. Upon hearing that the banquet was arranged at the Golden Egret, everyone expressed their desire to attend.
Qiao Mengdi wanted to change her clothes. Under the expectant gazes of the crowd, Yao Chiyue stayed behind to wait for her.
Watching the majority of the guests follow Lin Linfeng out of the living room, Qiao Mengdi asked, “Sister, would you like to come up to my room and take a look?”
“To watch you change?”
Qiao Mengdi wasn’t quite used to Yao Chiyue’s deadpan humor. She could have easily retorted; after all, she hadn’t specified what there was to see in the room. It was this person—the one who had once claimed, “I don’t like women”—who was deliberately letting her mind wander.
But Qiao Mengdi didn’t want to argue. Instead, she played along. “If you want to watch, I suppose it’s not impossible.”
“Fine. Let’s go.”
The two of them headed upstairs together. Behind them, a complex gaze followed—it was Qiao Mengyang, who hadn’t left yet.
He was beginning to find his sister baffling. Right now, Qiao Mengdi looked exactly like a woman in the throes of love. Over the past few days, the thought that “her hunger strike to refuse the marriage was just a hallucination” kept jumping into his mind. He felt that women’s changes were simply too fast.
“Forget it. As long as she’s happy, it’s better than her being forced to marry in tears,” he muttered, shaking his head and deciding to stop worrying about his mercurial sister.
Although there were fewer than five tables of guests, Lin Linfeng had booked a VIP medium-sized banquet hall. In Luzhou, anyone capable of reserving a VIP hall at the Golden Egret was certainly a person of distinction. The hall faced the hotel garden, which in turn bordered a public park, offering a flawless, first-class view.
Autumn was the prime season for crab, and when it came to the best crab dishes in Luzhou, if the Golden Egret claimed second place, no one would dare claim first.
By the time Qiao Mengdi and Yao Chiyue arrived at the banquet hall, the meal had already begun, and everyone was eating happily. No one paid any mind to the hundreds of noisy young people gathered in the garden below.
Just as Qiao Mengdi and Yao Chiyue took their reserved seats, a sudden, frantic scream erupted from the crowd below. It sounded as if the youth had been injected with a massive dose of adrenaline; the screams rose and fell, some reaching a point of hoarseness.
“It sounds like a celebrity is checking in. How noisy!”
The speaker was the well-behaved girl who had earlier helped Yao Chiyue with the ring box. Qiao Mengdi noticed her features bore a seventy to eighty percent resemblance to Yao Chiyue.
“Probably. Whenever there’s an entertainment event in Luzhou, the Golden Egret is the first choice for celebrities.”
The person who replied was someone Qiao Mengdi was meeting for the first time.
The screams below continued unabated, but Yao Chiyue’s face remained still, as if her ears could automatically filter out the cacophony. In reality, she was involuntarily remembering the scene in Qiao Mengdi’s room moments ago—
“Sister Yao, can you help me with the zipper in the back?”
“Who usually helps you?”
“Usually Sister Song. I rarely wear dresses with back zippers; I’m terrified of catching my skin in it.”
At that moment, Yao Chiyue had inexplicably imagined Qiao Mengdi’s skin being caught, her scream echoing in her mind. For some reason, she had smiled. Walking behind her, Qiao Mengdi’s snow-white, smooth back came into view. Her wing-like shoulder blades protruded slightly as she reached back to hold her dress—not bony, but forming a silhouette that was fluid and elegant. For a moment, Yao Chiyue had been lost in the sight.
“You know, these back-zipper dresses really crush your chest.”
“There’s no need to be so subtle with your self-praise.”
“I’m not praising myself!”
“What does ‘crushing the chest’ mean?”
Yao Chiyue had to admit, Qiao Mengdi was a natural beauty. Her chest was ample without feeling exaggerated; her small hips were pert without looking large; and though her torso was long, her legs were by no means short. From top to bottom, every curve and hollow was exactly where it should be—her figure was like a perfectly controlled, beautiful melody.
Qiao Mengdi had thought for a moment before emphasizing, “I really wasn’t praising myself. Sister, please don’t wrong me!”
“You’re quite the flirt.”
“But this is just how I usually talk!”
“Then you are flirting every second of the day.”
“…” Qiao Mengdi was exasperated. Yao Chiyue hadn’t even blinked, speaking as if it were an absolute fact.
“Sister!”
Hearing her sister call her, Yao Chiyue snapped back to the present and realized Qiao Mengdi was looking at her.
“What is it?” she asked.
Qiao Mengdi didn’t answer but looked toward the two young women opposite them.
“This is—” Yao Chiyue looked at her sister, “Yao Chixue, my younger sister.” Then she looked at the other, “My cousin, Ji Honghan.”
“Hello, Sister-in-law.”
“Hello, Cousin-in-law.”
Qiao Mengdi kept her smile calm, but her heart skipped a beat. Ji Honghan—this character hadn’t appeared in the novel. However, her name was only one character different from that “scum cousin.” It seemed that even if they weren’t siblings, they were likely first cousins.
“Calling me ‘sister-in-law’ sounds so strange! Why don’t you just call me ‘Sister’?” she said naturally.
The two girls nodded and said in unison, “Okay.”
The group continued their lunch. After a while, the screams downstairs finally grew quieter and faded into the distance.
Suddenly, Yao Chiyue’s phone rang. She glanced at the screen; it was an unknown number. She didn’t answer, pressing the end-call button immediately.
When she looked up, Qiao Mengdi noticed a thin veil of irritation surfacing on her usually stoic face. Her cold eyes seemed to lose focus for a moment. Then, the phone chimed again—a notification for a new message.
She hesitated for a second before finally picking it up. As she stared at the screen, her brow furrowed deeply.
“Sister, is something wrong?” Yao Chixue asked with worry.
“I need to step out for a moment.” Yao Chiyue stood up. Without confirming or denying anything, her hurried departure served as an answer.
Yao Chixue stood up to follow. Without even turning her head, Yao Chiyue commanded sharply: “Don’t follow me.”
“What on earth happened?” Ji Honghan also stood up.
Yao Chixue stopped in her tracks, staring blankly at her sister’s retreating back, unsure of what to do.
“Don’t worry, I’ll go check on her.” Qiao Mengdi lightly wiped her mouth with a wet wipe and left her seat.
Many people noticed the two of them leaving the banquet hall one after another and began to gossip curiously.
“What could be more urgent than lunch?”
“Exactly, eating is the most important thing! But wow, they really seem close—like they can’t bear to be apart for a second!”
“Axue, how did Sister Yue and Qiao Mengdi meet? We’ve never seen Sister Yue date anyone, and then she goes straight to marriage. That’s some boldness.”
Yao Chiyue ignored the question. Although she returned to the table, her eyes remained fixed on the exit, hoping her sister and Qiao Mengdi would return soon.
“Sister Yue has always been like that—silent until she does something that shocks everyone!”
“Can you all talk a little less? Would it kill you not to gossip?” Ji Honghan snapped at them.
Qiao Mengdi stepped out of the banquet hall but didn’t see Yao Chiyue. She walked toward the exit, looking around, but after a full lap, she still couldn’t find her.
Passing the elevators, she saw someone stepping out. Without much hope, she asked, “Hello, did you happen to see a tall woman in a black suit and a white floral skirt?”
“Oh, what a coincidence!” the woman exclaimed. “I just saw her at the elevator on the top floor.”
Qiao Mengdi didn’t even have time to say thank you before pressing the up button. Fortunately, Yao Chiyue was striking enough to leave a deep impression on anyone who saw her.
When she reached the top floor and stepped out, she was hit by a warm breeze. Qiao Mengdi was momentarily stunned. She had heard that the view from the Golden Egret’s rooftop was breathtaking, but she hadn’t expected to visit under these circumstances.
Looking to the left, she saw a vast blue sky, blocked by a wall slightly taller than a person. She immediately turned right, walking several meters through an elegant artificial landscape. Water trickled down a rockery covered in green moss, artificial mist swirled, and red carp swam lazily in a pool.
She didn’t stop to admire any of it. She hurried past the floor-to-ceiling windows of a luxury tea room, through a large hall, and up a flight of steps. Turning a corner, she saw the typical beach-style umbrellas and lounge chairs. A narrow swimming pool stretched out before her; despite it being November, there were still people swimming.
She pressed forward without hesitation. Her intuition told her Yao Chiyue was nearby.
As she rounded the path behind the pool, she finally saw that familiar back in the distance.