After Xia Yan visited her grandma, she arranged to meet Jiang Tong at the studio. Xia Yan had been getting a lot of new orders recently, and Jiang Tong started to feel uncertain.
The two chatted until the evening when they realized that their stomachs growled with hunger.
"I'll call Qiu Kao and tell him to send us some food," Jiang Tong said as she picked up her phone and dialed his number.
Xia Yan watched quietly as Jiang Tong dialed the number. There was a mocking expression on her face.
Jiang Tong hung up the phone and saw Xia Yan looking at her. "What are you looking at? Why do you look so weird?"
"You've known Qiu Kai for ages, yet you still haven't asked him out on a date?" Xia Yan couldn't help but ask.
Jiang Tong blushed. "W-What are you talking about?!"
Xia Yan pursed her lips and chuckled. "Okay, okay! I'll keep my mouth shut. I won't interfere with your little romance, all right?"
Xia Yan's mocking tone and expression made Jiang Tong's face even redder. Jiang Tong and Qiu Kai were Xia Yan's old friends. One was her university classmate, and the other was her primary school classmate.
It was fate that brought the trio together. When they first attended university, Jiang Tong and Xia Yan didn't like each other. Xia Yan couldn't help but ridicule Jiang Tong whenever someone mentioned her name.
Qiu Kai's parents had always been hard at work ever since he was just a child, and Xia Yan's grandma cared for him. Since Qiu Kai and Xia Yan were childhood friends, they always saw each other as siblings.
Qiu Kai knew that someone in their class didn't like Xia Yan, so he immediately decided to avenge her. Before Qiu Kai could show his prowess, Jiang Tong had already thrown him to the ground since she was a third kyū Judo student.
Qiu Kai could also bend and stretch, so he took Jiang Tong as his master. With Qiu Kai as her underling, Jiang Tong and Xia Yan, who had been sworn enemies, became good friends.
The trio squandered their youth together back in those days. It was genuinely nostalgic. Xia Yan sat on the ground against a sofa, looking affectionately at Jiang Tong.
Jiang Tong gave Xia Yan a strange look. "Don't look at me like that. You're starting to scare me!"
Xia Yan rubbed her nose and pulled down her mask before saying, "I don't know where I'd be without you two."
A smile appeared on Jiang Tong's face. Then she said, "Qiu Kai and I would be living on borrowed time if it weren't for you."
"We majored in the same subjects, and your results were better than mine. Don't belittle yourself!" Xia Yan looked at Jiang Tong sternly.
Jiang Tong waved her hand, got up, and walked to the fridge. She opened the fridge and took some beer. "School results and talent aren't the same things. You're a talented person that can design unique jewelry."
Jiang Tong was full of admiration as she spoke. She wasn't jealous at all. "I'm just following you. If I keep doing that, I can truly walk down this path."
Xia Yan fixed her gaze on Jiang Tong. She took a can of beer from Jiang Tong and blinked thoughtfully before saying, "Sometimes, your words make me feel your profound love for me."
"Yes! I love you to death!" Jiang Tong chuckled, picked up her can of beer, and opened it with a spurt. Then she took a deep breath and continued, "You assisted me in getting a big house! You also helped me realize my dream of living in that small town. Of course, I love you!"
Then the studio door opened, and Qiu Kao walked in bearing food. He looked at the two women holding their beers and asked, "Did I arrive at a bad time? I thought I heard someone confessing their feelings just now."
Jiang Tong glared at Qiu Kai before approaching him. Then she took the bags of food from him. "What took you so long? We're starving over here!"
Qiu Kai looked at the two innocently. "One of you wanted rice noodles from the city's west side, while the other wanted preserved meat from the east side. You also wanted me to go to Tianbao Restaurant, which is usually packed, for roast chicken! It's a miracle that I didn't arrive later than this!"
Jiang Tong and Xia Yan looked at each other and laughed when they heard Qiu Kai's complaints. The trio then gathered and ate the food before reminiscing about their past jobs.
Qiu Kai never attended university. He worked at a factory after graduating from high school. He then became Xia Yan's driver and errand boy when Xia Yan set up her studio.
But if Qiu Kai weren't a part of this trio, Xia Yan and Jiang Tong would be like a horse with no legs, unable to move.