CH 3

At noon, my old classmate Mo Jiazhen called me. She was one of my rare friends with whom I had kept in touch.

“I have been struggling, wondering if I should tell you or not, but I’ve finally decided to just come and plead guilty. I really tried to hold up against him. I really didn’t want to give him your phone number, but you know how sinister and vicious Ye Lin can be. He even smiled very ‘sweetly’ and told me that if I didn’t give him your number, he would crash my wedding and cause trouble…that’s why Anjie. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. When I return to France, I won’t be using this number anymore.”

“I knew you would be so understanding! And did you see the text message I sent you before? Let’s have dinner together this evening, at seven o’clock. It’s Lin Xiaodi’s treat.”

Lin Xiaodi was my deskmate in high school. She later married someone from Taiwan. I had not attended her wedding due to being overseas, and I had always felt a little guilty about it. After all, Lin Xiaodi had always sincerely regarded me as her best friend, and such people were currently few and far between in my life.

The last time I’d met with Lin Xiaodi was two years ago, when Lin Xiaodi and Mo Jiazhen traveled to Europe. At that time I’d acted as their tour guide and showed them around for several days.

“Why did she come here?”

“As soon as I told Xiaodi that you were back, she immediately decided to buy a ticket and fly over. She will probably arrive at about five o’clock in the afternoon.”

Jiazhen laughed

“If I didn’t know that woman was married, I would have thought she was gay and had fallen for you.”

“What nonsense.”

I thought for a moment, before finally answering.

“I will bring Piao Zheng with me tonight, okay. I seem to have a cold, so it’s better if he accompanies me.”

“Piao Zheng? I know him. Wasn’t Senior Piao the one who at the time would occasionally come looking for you and also asked you out? Don’t tell me you guys now…”

“He is the son of my aunt’s second husband,” I answered reluctantly. “Although he is not related to me by blood, he is like my elder brother who I respect, so don’t assume this again.”

“Your aunt? Is she the one who received us when we went to Finland that time?”

“Yeah.”

After the death of Piao Zheng’s father, my aunt had been very sad and moved abroad. A year later, I arrived in France. It was very fortunate timing because I had been able to go see her every once in a while. Otherwise, I would not have been able to endure the sudden isolation.

That evening, Piao Zheng and I walked into the VIP room of the restaurant we were meeting the girls at. Both Mo Jiazhen and Lin Xiaodi were already there and Jiazhen was shouting at the waiter to start serving the water.

When Lin Xiaodi saw me, she ran over and hugged me emotionally. She had expressed a ferocious longing coupled with resentment towards me for a long time. This so-called resentment was the reason I had only informed Jiazhen of my return.

“I thought you were in Taiwan, so I considered it useless to tell you.”

“Why is it useless?” Lin Xiaodi asked, staring me down as I stood before her. Then she smiled.

“Okay, let’s stop making trouble. Anjie, allow me to introduce my husband to you.”

She turned around and beckoned to a man who had been sitting on the sofa.

“This is Qu Wei, my husband. Qu Wei, this is Jian Anjie, my best friend.”

I introduced to them Piao Zheng, “This is my brother, Piao Zheng.”

Lin Xiaodi smiled.

“I’ve heard about you from Jiazhen. Hello Senior Piao.”

She looked back at Mo Jiazhen ordering food.

“You guys stay here and talk, I will help Mo Jiazhen order. That woman definitely ordered a lot of seafood again and I hate seafood the most!”

She then aggressively walked away towards Mo Jiazhen.

Qu Wei shook his head helplessly.

“Xiaodi is always so energetic,” I said sincerely.

“Ah, yes,” Qu Wei said, and then smiled. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Miss Jian. Xiaodi certainly mentions you often. I heard that you were recently studying in France?”

I smiled and nodded.

“It must be heard to study abroad alone, am I right?”

“It’s not that bad.”

I in fact didn’t study much at all. The simple fact was that I was just doing it to survive.

It was at this moment that an unexpected person came in. The door to the VIP room opened, and in walked Ye Lin, followed by Yang Yali close behind.

The man was handsome and hearty, and the woman was beautiful, with a generously, feminine figure.

Ye Lin looked surprised when he saw us.

“I’m sorry, we seem to have gone to the wrong room. But what a coincidence, Lin Xiaodi, long time no see.”

“Ye Lin..” said Xiao Di, her surprise real.

Ye Lin raised his eyebrows as he surveyed the people in the room.

“Is this a classmate reunion today? Why didn’t you count me and Yali in?”

Xiaodi said bluntly, “You are all big people now, and I can only afford a cheap meal. If I were to invite you to this, I’m afraid that I would lower your status.”

Ye Lin’s mouth curved into a little smile.

“I don’t mind lowering my status once in a while.”

“You!” Xiao Di said, her temper flaring.

Ye Lin opened his mouth to retort back but was stopped by Yang Yali still standing behind him.

“Okay, stop quarreling with Xiaodi now.”

She then turned to Lin Xiaodi.

“And you, stop mocking us. We all haven’t met for years. Now that we’re all here, let’s take the opportunity to eat together. I’ll be the host.”

Xiaodi thought quietly for a bit, before finally answering.

“Okay. Waiter, add more dishes, and fill me up with the most expensive items on the menu.”

Then she looked at Yang Yali.

“Miss Yang, you are a rich, second generation, so you don’t mind if I order some expensive dishes right?”

“Do as you wish.” Yang Yali responded generously. Her eyes cut a quick glance towards me after that, and I wasn’t sure if it was intentional or not.

She really didn’t really have to keep her guard up around me. The people she really cared about were only staying with her.

I nodded calmly at Yang Yali as a greeting, but when I turned away, I noticed her cold and frivolous eyes upon me, mocking me.

I admit this look caused my heart to ache slightly for a moment. I let it go this one time and walked towards a seat at the table. I wouldn’t be letting it go next time.

As soon as I sat down, my phone beeped. It was a text message.

[You didn’t expect to see me. Do you still not want to see me now?”]

I looked up at Ye Lin who was fiddling with his phone. I typed back.

[Jiang Anjie: Did you follow me and then call your girlfriend to join in? Ye Lin, you really are very bored.]

After clicking send, I dropped my phone into my pocket, refusing to look at it.

“Hi!” Qu Wei came over, handing me a glass of warm water. “After hearing your voice, I noticed it seems a little hoarse. Did you catch a cold? Some warm water might help.”

“Thank you.”

I took the glass. This man was a considerate person, and Xiaodi had married him. Although she was away from home, this was a good sign that she should be doing well.

“If it’s severe you’d better go to the hospital and get some medicine. It’s always better to treat it sooner rather than later.”

“Okay, thank you.”

I still felt a little uncomfortable with other people’s concerns over me.

“Although it’s the first time I’m meeting you, I feel like we’re already friends. You don’t have to be so polite,” he said with a smile.

I sighed helplessly, thinking, It’s not me being polite, but you are standing too close for comfort.

However, I couldn’t deceive myself into thinking that his physical closeness was the thing making me feel most uncomfortable. Everyone had taken their seats, with Jiazhen and Piao Zheng on either side of me. Past Jiazhen were Xiaodi and Qu Wei, and past Piao Zheng were Yang Yali and Ye Lin. An unintentional arrangement that made me sit face to face with Ye Lin. Now he would be in my line of sight all night.

I tried my best to bow my head down and focus on eating. I wasn’t afraid and trying to escape. Rather I was not in the mood to be blamed again for what happened, and I was also feeling extra weak and drowsy from the effects of the oncoming cold.