The next day, when she opened her eyes, the world outside was already brightly lit. The sheets beside her were cold, indicating that he had left a long time ago.
She rubbed her small face against the soft pillow, smelling the lingering scent of pine he had left behind. It was fortunate that the man didn't like to wear perfume; his natural body scent was a faint pine fragrance, very clean.
She smiled softly, got out of bed, first opened the French windows to take a deep breath on the balcony and did some simple yoga. When the sun had fully risen from the sea level, she began tidying up the room, from the second floor to the first, vacuuming and wiping, and then went to the yard to pick a few tulip branches to place in the vase in the hall.
After finishing these tasks, she took out the bread from the oven and poured a glass of milk from the fridge. While eating quietly, she flipped through her graduation photos with a smile in her eyes.
The person who appeared the most in these photos was a petite, joyously laughing woman, present in all of them. Her arched brows lifted, her cute tongue playfully sticking out, lively and spirited.
This woman was her only good friend at A University, Su Lingyu, youthful and playful, sincere in character, without the slightest air of a rich girl. It was also at A University that she, Yin Qianxue, found someone who treated her the best. Today, Su Lingyu had asked her out to go shopping, saying that she would soon be working at her father's company and wanted to have a last hurrah during this final period of relaxations.
And yesterday, Su Lingyu got her own little car, a graduation gift from her father. Lingyu had wanted to pick her up in it, but she had refused because she didn't want Lingyu to know about her current status.
With that in mind, she gently closed the photo album. Then, she quickly cleaned up the food plate and went upstairs to the dressing room to change clothes.
Her first stop was the bank to send medical expenses to grandma, and then she hurried to the agreed meeting spot.
By the time she arrived at the place she and Lingyu were supposed to meet, Su Lingyu was already standing there in a purple chiffon dress.
Glancing at Yin Qianxue, her arched brow furrowed, "It's such a pity for such a beautiful lady. Qianxue, you're tall and fair-skinned; you should wear a white chiffon dress. With this plain white T-shirt and jeans, be careful not to end up with no man wanting you. If I had your figure, I'd wear tank tops every day..."
Yin Qianxue smiled faintly and took her friend's hand, heading towards the city center.
They shopped along the busiest street in City A all day. It was always Lingyu trying on the latest fashions and sampling newly launched cosmetics. If it weren't for her intervention, she thought Lingyu might have bought out the entire store.
In the end, they went to a CD shop because Lingyu said she wanted to buy a newly released CD, so she had no choice but to follow. She sighed with relief that this at least put a stop to Lingyu's unrestrained drooling over the handsome men on the street.
Lingyu was checking out the latest music CDs, and she wandered casually, unintentionally walking into the maternity CD section. The shelves filled with various prenatal education CDs suddenly made her wistful. She remembered what the man last night had said to her; he was preparing her psychologically. Looking back, the man did seem to respect her.
She picked up a prenatal CD from the shelf, looking at it curiously.
Lingyu came over with a mischievous grin, "Qianxue, confess, who's the daddy of the baby?"
Qianxue put the CD back in its place, a bit embarrassed, and gently smacked her with her hand, telling her not to talk nonsense, then walked out of the maternity CD section.
Lingyu came up holding the CDs she had bought, stopping the teasing and suddenly turning serious, "Qianxue, I'm going to the Northern region tomorrow, Dad is having me train at our branch there."
Qianxue stopped walking, her clear eyes filled with reluctance, but she smiled and told Lingyu in sign language, "It's good that your uncle wants you to go there to train; that is how you will grow. Lingyu, I'm so envious that you have such a loving father,"
Lingyu squeezed Qianxue's small hand, providing silent comfort. Having been sisters for four years, she knew some of Qianxue's circumstances. Qianxue's mother had passed away early, her birth father was untraceable, and she lived only with her elderly grandma. This was also the reason why she had been willing to consider Qianxue a sister initially; Qianxue came from hardship, but she was resilient; Qianxue was beautiful but never capitalized on her looks; Qianxue was filial, forever devoted to grandma... If she could, Su Lingyu wished to be sisters with Qianxue for a lifetime...
So she gripped Qianxue's small hand and sprinted forward, "Qianxue, I'm taking you to a place we've never been before; we're going to party hard there tonight..."
Qianxue let her pull, silently following behind her.
The place Lingyu took her to turned out to be the most famous A&H Bar in City A.
They had lingered outside the bar before, but never stepped inside.
The dim lighting, the sexy dance hostess on the stage, brightly dressed men and women, cocktail shakers in the hands of the bartenders dancing in the air, the atmosphere pervaded by a decadent aroma, pale, lonely, tinged with excitement.
Lingyu led her skillfully to the bar, ordering a cocktail and a cappuccino, her bright eyes wandering.
"Qianxue, look, the guy sitting in the corner is so manly. This place really is extraordinary; it's full of classy men and women..."
Qianxue pursed her lips, not joining in with her infatuation.
"I wonder when my other half will appear. He has to be handsome, with the stature and presence of my eldest brother, the attentive care of my second brother..." Someone had already started to pray with her hands clasped and eyes sparkling with hearts.
Qianxue smiled faintly, taking the cappuccino from the bartender and sipping it gently.
She had always known about Lingyu's affection for her doting father and two brothers; the eldest brother was taking over the family company, and the second brother had gone abroad, while Lingyu was the beloved little princess. Faced with Lingyu, she couldn't help feeling a bit inferior and envious. She too wished she had a father and brothers to dote on her, but she knew all this was impossible. As an orphan, she had to fight for everything on her own.
"So disappointing, I didn't expect that cheap woman to come here too," Lingyu's suddenly disenchanted voice reached her ears. Following Lingyu's gaze, she saw a group of men and women drinking in a nearby booth, one woman with curly hair staring coldly at her.
Her heart skipped a beat, and she averted her gaze.
It truly was a case of enemies on a narrow path, not expecting Tang Wanxin, the heiress of the Tang Family, to be here, and once again with that familiar, venomous look scrutinizing her.