After finishing their beauty treatments, Fu Siqi and Su Luoyan walked downstairs arm in arm. Fu Siqi chattered away in Su Luoyan’s ear, sharing bits of gossip, both of their faces lit up with happy smiles. Just as they were about to leave, they heard a familiar voice.
“Yan Yan, Xiao Si.” Sun Yuyu called out to them as soon as she saw them.
The two looked in the direction of the voice and found their good friends. Fu Siqi was the first to call out their names, “Min Min, Yu Yu.”
Sun Yuyu was not only their friend but also Chen Yisheng’s cousin, which made their bond even deeper.
“Min Min, Yu Yu, it’s been so long.” Su Luoyan was in high spirits. Since going abroad, she had rarely kept in touch with these friends, only occasionally seeing their photos on social media and casually liking them.
“Yan Yan, welcome back to the country.” Sun Yuyu excitedly stepped forward to hug Su Luoyan.
“Yan Yan, me too.” Zhuo Min stretched out her arms, also asking for a hug.
“Alright,” Su Luoyan let go of Sun Yuyu and stepped forward to hug Zhuo Min.
Su Luoyan held Zhuo Min’s hand, feeling a surge of emotion. After such a long time apart, her old friends had all grown up, shedding their youthful naivety and gradually maturing. Yet, after a hug, there was no sense of unfamiliarity—it felt as if they were back in high school, holding hands on their way to the restroom between classes.
Sun Yuyu complained, “Yan Yan, you’re too heartless. It’s been almost four years since we last saw each other.”
Su Luoyan tried to appease her, “I’ve been keeping up with your updates, on social media and Weibo. I’ve been following along.”
Then she added, “Are you free? Let’s have a meal together later and catch up properly.”
“Of course! How could we refuse an invitation from a beauty like you?” Sun Yuyu immediately agreed.
Sun Yuyu stared at Su Luoyan’s face. After four years apart, she felt Su Luoyan had grown even more beautiful and refined. Her every gesture exuded a growing femininity, and her temperament had become increasingly gentle and graceful, making it hard to look away.
“Yan Yan, how have you gotten even prettier?”
“You too,” Su Luoyan said with a smile.
“Thanks to our beautiful Yan Yan’s kind words,” Sun Yuyu laughed happily.
“Then we’ll go ahead and reserve a table. You can join us later,” Fu Siqi said.
Zhuo Min nodded, “Alright, we’ll bring two friends along later.”
She introduced them, “These are them. This is Meng Qin, and this is Qingzi. They’re both well-known influencers.”
Zhuo Min continued, “This is Su Luoyan, and that’s Fu Siqi. We’re not just high school classmates but also friends who’ve known each other for a long time.”
Qingzi reached out to shake hands with both of them and even showed them her social media account. Qingzi was one of the first bloggers to film transformation videos, so she had a large following.
Su Luoyan had just returned to the country and hadn’t set up a short video account yet, so Fu Siqi opened her own account and followed Qingzi.
Meng Qin simply stood by, smiling, lacking her usual attentiveness, like a puppet on strings, watching the two of them.
“Followed. We’ll head off now and send you the address later.”
“Bye, see you later. Drive safely.”
“Bye, be careful on the road.”
“See you later.”
“…”
Only after the two had left did Qingzi dare to speak up, “Now I finally understand what you meant earlier. Miss Su is really so beautiful. I almost didn’t dare to breathe standing in front of her. And she smells so good—I really want to know what perfume she’s wearing.”Qingzi was currently studying at a film academy and was accustomed to seeing handsome men and beautiful women, but the moment she saw Su Luoyan, she was still stunned. Her temperament was gentle and ethereal, and her voice was soft and tender, like a goddess, making one dare not defile her.
Zhuo Min and Sun Yuyu expressed their agreement.
“Of course, if you get to know her in the future, you’ll be even more amazed,” Zhuo Min said mysteriously.
Qingzi touched her heart, her excitement barely contained. “Just thinking about having dinner with her later makes me so happy.”
Sun Yuyu poked her forehead. “Look at you, so easily impressed.”
Meanwhile, Meng Qin was lost in thought, appearing unusually quiet ever since she saw Su Luoyan.
Su Luoyan? Was she the Su Luoyan she knew? Zhuo Min had just mentioned that Su Luoyan’s ancestral home was also in Jiangnan. Could it really be such a coincidence?
Since Su Luoyan was sent to the Fu family, the two had never met again. Su Luo Qing had returned to the Meng family once during Qingming Festival to pay respects, but Su Luoyan had never come back, seemingly cutting off all ties with the Meng family.
Over the years in Jingbei, since she began moving in these circles, she had never heard Su Luoyan’s name mentioned nor seen her. She held onto a sliver of hope that perhaps the current Su Luoyan was just an ordinary person—average in grades and appearance—and that their lives would forever remain parallel lines. But now, those two parallel lines had intersected.
“Meng Qin, what are you thinking about?” Sun Yuyu poked her arm. She had called her twice, but Meng Qin hadn’t responded.
Meng Qin forced a smile, her face pale and her entire demeanor out of sorts.
“I suddenly don’t feel well,” she said apologetically. “I think I should head back first. I’m really sorry.”
Seeing her complexion truly didn’t look good, Qingzi showed concern. “What’s wrong? Do you need to go to the hospital?”
“I’m fine. It seems like my period is coming. I’ll just go back and rest, but I won’t be able to join you for dinner.”
Sun Yuyu comforted her. “Your health is more important. We can have a meal together another time.”
Zhuo Min added, “If you’re not feeling well, go ahead and leave. We’ll help you call a car.”
“Thank you.”
The car was parked right at the entrance. Fu Siqi was driving, and Su Luoyan took the passenger seat.
As soon as they got in the car, Fu Siqi couldn’t hold back any longer. “That was Meng Qin just now, wasn’t it?”
Su Luoyan was replying to a WeChat message from Fu Cheng Shen and answered absentmindedly, “Probably.”
Fu Siqi was slightly dissatisfied with her dismissive attitude. “Yan Yan, why aren’t you concerned at all? She practically danced right in front of you.”
After sending the message, Su Luoyan replied seriously, “What’s so strange about it? Jingbei is both big and small. There’s always a chance to run into people. I can’t just avoid coming back here because she’s in Jingbei.”
That sounded reasonable at first glance, but Fu Siqi still felt something was off. “Why are you so calm about it?”
“Maybe it’s because I have a lot now.” Perhaps it was because Fu Cheng Shen had made up for many of her regrets. No matter where she and Fu Cheng Shen ended up in the future, she would treasure these beautiful memories. When she reached old age, sitting in a recliner, she would reminisce about this past.
“Alright then. If you don’t care, why should I bother?””Thank you, my dear friend, my sister.” If Fu Cheng Shen had made up for the regrets in love and family, then Fu Siqi had given her a precious friendship.
“Then you’re treating for dinner later.”
“Alright, no problem, I’ll take you to Yuxi Lou.”
If she weren’t driving, Fu Siqi would have rushed over to hug her. Yuxi Lou was a private restaurant, famously difficult to book.
“Yan Yan, you’re too good. My eldest brother treats you so well that even I, his sister, am envious—you can go to Yuxi Lou whenever you want.”
“Keep talking, and you won’t get to eat.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll stop.”