Chapter 13

The apartment complex was aglow with the lights of countless homes. Warm amber lamps, bright white lights, and the ever-changing colors from television screens reflected in the windows one after another.

Sitting on the sofa, Song Jianan called her aunt.

“Song Rui’s staying at my place. It’s perfectly normal for kids her age to be emotional. Think about it—she gets up at five-thirty every morning, doesn’t get home until noon, heads back to school before two-thirty, and doesn’t come back until after eleven because of evening study sessions. Just count how many hours that is. Even adults complain when they have to work overtime for a while, let alone a teenager. You have to try to understand her.”

Her aunt sighed on the other end.

“Jianan, I’m just worried. Song Rui’s been a little rascal since she was young. She’s always full of mischievous ideas. She’s nothing like you were—so obedient and sensible. She’s already in her second year of high school. What’ll happen when she’s in her final year?”

Song Jianan quickly reassured her.

“Kids are bound to want to have some fun. I was the same back then. Don’t worry. I’ll have a proper talk with Song Rui this time. I’ve been through it myself, so I understand how she feels.”

“All right. Oh, Jianan, do you know your grandfather’s birthday banquet is tomorrow?”

Song Jianan blinked in confusion.

“No. My parents didn’t tell me.”

“Your parents are hopeless. They’re both important people now, so they’re always forgetting things. The banquet starts at seven tomorrow evening at Jinbi Hall. Don’t forget. Your uncle and I will go straight there, and Song Rui can take the bus.”

Important people really did have terrible memories.

Even Xi Luoyu had been completely forgotten.

Song Jianan quickly grabbed a notebook and wrote it down, afraid she’d inherited the family’s forgetfulness.

“Okay. I’m off tomorrow, so I can pick Song Rui up on the way.”

After hanging up, she pushed open the bedroom door.

Song Rui was lying motionless over her desk, staring blankly into space.

Song Jianan coughed twice.

“Song Rui, come back to earth. Stop mourning your dead romance.”

Song Rui took two deep breaths before speaking in a hoarse voice.

“I really have terrible luck with people.”

Song Jianan nearly laughed.

For the sake of preserving the girl’s dignity, however, she managed to hold it back.

“All right. That boy just had poor taste. Do you know what you’re supposed to do after a breakup?”

She counted them off on her fingers.

“Cry if you need to. Wash your face. Eat a big meal. Go have fun. Then resolve to become stronger. One day, when you’ve surpassed the guy who rejected you, you’ll be the winner.”

“Really?”

Song Rui’s eyes immediately brightened.

“It actually sounds pretty satisfying to crush the guy who turned me down. Oh, Jianan… when I got my heart broken, you were the first person I thought of. So in exchange, you have to answer one question.”

Song Jianan nodded.

“What is it?”

Song Rui sighed deeply.

“Have you ever liked a boy? When you were my age… did you ever have a high school romance?”

The warm light from the desk lamp and the computer blended together, scattering softly through tiny floating particles of dust until a hazy glow filled the room.

Song Jianan smiled.

“Actually… I did like a boy when I was in high school.”

“I was about your age. Second year of high school.”

“And then?”

Song Rui asked impatiently.

“It’s kind of embarrassing.”

She smiled faintly.

“He wasn’t in my class. Through a series of coincidences, I gradually started noticing him. Every day I saw him, I felt happy.”

“Then one day I saw him with another girl.”

“It hurt so much that I decided to slowly distance myself from him.”

“And after that…”

“My feelings gradually faded.”

She paused before continuing softly,

“I understand how you feel. First love is usually the most beautiful because you’ve filled the other person with every perfect ideal you’ve ever imagined.”

“But once you grow up and meet all kinds of different people…”

“You’ll finally understand what that relationship really meant to you.”

Song Rui gently grasped the corner of her sleeve.

“What did it mean?”

Song Jianan smiled quietly.

“Sometimes it ends up feeling like nothing more than a ridiculous dream.”

“When you wake up, there’s nothing left.”

“Or…”

“It becomes something you remember for the rest of your life.”

Song Rui nodded uncertainly.

“I think… it already feels like a ridiculous dream.”

“That’s strange.”

Song Jianan smiled knowingly.

“That’s because you’re still young.”

“So leave romance until later.”

Song Rui washed her face and obediently sat down at her desk to study.

Meanwhile, Song Jianan curled up on the sofa with her laptop.

Both MSN and QQ showed everyone as busy.

She had wanted to ask Fang Yanyan how badly Zhou Yu had tormented him that day, but he wasn’t online either.

With nothing else to do, she quietly started writing her article.

Yet she couldn’t settle down.

Telling Song Rui about those memories hadn’t made her feel relieved.

Instead, the weight in her heart had only grown heavier.

She hadn’t told Song Rui the whole story.

What she’d shared was merely the beginning.

Only a tiny, insignificant part of it.

Just then, the familiar beep-beep of QQ interrupted her thoughts.

An unfamiliar profile picture was flashing.

She clicked it open.

It was Seven Li Fields, the contact she hadn’t deleted.

A message appeared.

“Weren’t you supposed to be on duty at the newspaper? You’ve actually got time to come online?”

She chuckled.

The other person had obviously mistaken her for Fang Yanyan.

She quickly replied,

“Sorry. Fang Yanyan isn’t using this account anymore. He let me use his QQ account.”

The other person replied almost immediately.

“Haha, sorry for bothering you. May I ask who you are?”

After thinking for a moment, Song Jianan chose a rather cautious answer.

“I’m one of his colleagues at the newspaper. He lent me the account temporarily so it’d be easier for us to stay in touch.”

The other side remained silent for quite a while.

Finally, a smiling emoji appeared.

“I see. Sorry for disturbing you.”

Song Jianan smiled.

Unable to think of anything else to say, she closed the chat window and continued writing.

Then, on a whim, she changed the account’s status message to:

“A new ruler has taken the throne. QQ account under new management. If you need me, locate me via GPRS.”

For her personal signature, she wrote just four characters:

“A quiet fondness, a profound love.”

She didn’t know why.

The words had simply come to her in that instant.

The next morning, after seeing Song Rui off to school, she collapsed back into bed.

Before nine o’clock, however, her phone rang and woke her.

Still half asleep, she struggled out from under the blankets.

“Hello… this is Song Jianan. Who’s calling?”

A calm middle-aged man’s voice answered.

“I’m looking for Song Jianan.”

“Oh… just a moment…”

She mumbled drowsily before absentmindedly glancing at the caller ID.

Three large characters immediately caught her eye:

Director Zhang

She instantly woke up.

Her voice became bright and energetic.

“Director, it’s me.”

The entertainment section’s director was a cultured man in his forties.

Normally he didn’t talk much, but whenever the conversation turned to publishing policies or cultural affairs, he could speak endlessly.

He was a typical senior editor at a major newspaper group—the Party’s voice and a guide for public opinion.

As a result, the entertainment section had much higher standards than ordinary gossip magazines.

It also happened to be considerably less exciting.

The director spoke leisurely.

“Jianan, you’ve just transferred to our department. Are you settling in?”

Calling on her day off just to ask how she felt about the new department?

She didn’t believe that for a second.

Still, she answered politely.

“Thank you for your concern, Director. The entertainment section has a lively atmosphere. I’m adapting very well.”

“Good, good.”

He chuckled.

“Then let me talk to you about work.”

“The day after tomorrow there’s an international book exhibition in Guangzhou. Many famous domestic and international authors will be attending.”

“Last time we couldn’t arrange an interview with Teacher Liu Xinwu, so it’s been rescheduled for this event.”

“I’ve discussed it this morning.”

“I’d like Editor Zhang to take you along.”

Song Jianan blinked in disbelief.

She couldn’t imagine such a wonderful opportunity falling into her lap.

She immediately agreed.

“No problem, Director. I’ll stop by the office this afternoon and prepare everything I need.”

After hanging up, her first instinct was to call her college friend Xu Yan.

Then she remembered the time.

Xu Yan was probably recording a program.

Instead, she sent a text message informing her that she’d be traveling to Guangzhou for interviews—and that Xu Yan would be responsible for all her food, accommodation, and transportation.

Around noon, Xu Yan finally called back.

The two friends teased each other for quite a while, chatting until the afternoon.

Later, Song Jianan went to the newspaper office to collect her materials, reviewed the travel itinerary with Editor Zhang, then wandered over to the social news department to gossip with her former colleagues.

Finally, she stopped by Song Rui’s school to pick her up before heading to the restaurant for her grandfather’s birthday banquet.

Only then did she realize how wonderfully busy and fulfilling life had become.

The Song family had always been a scholarly family.

Although they weren’t particularly powerful, they enjoyed tremendous prestige.

Her grandfather was a university professor, director of the Economic Law Research Office, and head of the Competition Law and Intellectual Property Research Center.

Many of his former students had become top lawyers specializing in economic and corporate law.

Xi Luoyu was one of them.

So this…

was what an elite looked like.

No matter the situation, he remained calm and smiling.

While everyone else at the mahjong table groaned in frustration, Xi Luoyu simply smiled lightly, completely unfazed.

“Nine Gates.”

“I won by self-draw.”

“Song Rui… another paper strip on your forehead.”

Song Rui puffed out her cheeks.

She dipped another little strip of white paper into tea and slapped it onto her forehead without hesitation.

Song Jianan didn’t know how to play mahjong.

Feeling bored, she rummaged through Song Rui’s schoolbag and found a black marker.

She had originally intended to practice her signature.

At the book exhibition, all the reporters would have to sign in, and she wanted her signature to look as stylish as a celebrity’s.

Just then, Xi Luoyu adjusted his glasses and pointed toward the pile of white paper strips scattered across the table.

“Song Jianan.”

“Here’s somewhere you can put your talents to good use.”

Song Rui was the first to understand.

She snorted so hard that the paper strips on her forehead fluttered.

Grinding her teeth, she shouted,

“Damn it, Little Xi! Your mind is way too dirty! You’re always coming up with twisted ways to bully us.”

“Jianan, don’t side with him!”

Only then did Song Jianan realize what he meant.

“Oh…”

“I get it.”

She grinned mischievously.

Picking up the stack of paper strips, she weighed them in her hand before asking Xi Luoyu,

“Are these enough?”

“I’m worried they won’t be.”

Xi Luoyu smiled.

“Who knows?”

“The question isn’t whether there are enough.”

“It’s whether you’ll be able to use them.”

Another college-aged boy at the table immediately looked depressed.

He threw down his mahjong tiles in frustration.

“Don’t be zhuangbility. Zhuangbility leads to leibility.”

Song Jianan and Song Rui stared blankly.

Xi Luoyu simply smiled.

While leisurely drawing another tile, he replied in impeccable British-accented English,

“Many people think they are full of niubility and like to play zhuangbility, which only reflects their shability.”

This time, Song Jianan actually understood.

She sat there completely stunned, as though she’d just been struck by lightning.

Everyone else gradually caught on as well and burst into laughter.

Song Rui looked utterly confused.

“Jianan… what are you two talking about?”

Song Jianan laughed.

“I’m saying Xi Luoyu shouldn’t teach bad things to children.”

“Am I?”

Xi Luoyu smiled innocently.

“Song Rui, did you understand anything I just said?”

Song Rui shook her head.

“Not at all. My English is terrible. Stop bullying people like me and just tell me what it means.”

Xi Luoyu spread his hands and smiled at Song Jianan.

“She didn’t understand.”

“So legally speaking…”

“It doesn’t constitute civil liability.”

Just as the banquet was about to begin, Grandpa Song finally arrived.

The moment he entered the room, he asked,

“Where’s Jianan?”

Song Jianan immediately ran over with a flattering smile.

Her grandfather was delighted to see her.

After asking about her work, he suddenly called out loudly,

“Where’s Little Xi? Why haven’t I seen him today?”

Someone quickly brought Xi Luoyu over.

Grandpa Song laughed.

“So you got another Thirteen Orphans today?”

“You seem to be having a great time playing with little Song Rui.”

“Oh, right.”

He turned toward Song Jianan.

“This is my granddaughter, Song Jianan.”

Song Jianan hurriedly interrupted.

“Grandpa, we already know each other. You don’t need to introduce us.”

“Even better!”

Grandpa Song laughed heartily.

“The sooner you know each other, the better.”

“The other day I was telling your father—”

Before he could continue, Song Rui suddenly squeezed between them.

“Grandpa, someone from the Jiusan Society is looking for you.”

Watching the group walk away, Song Jianan finally let out a huge sigh of relief.

“Song Rui, your timing couldn’t have been better.”

Song Rui looked completely puzzled.

“What were you all standing around saying?”

“Are we still playing mahjong or not?”

“The adults can talk forever.”

“Who knows when dinner will finally start?”

“We’ve still got time for another couple of rounds.”

Song Jianan couldn’t help laughing.

“All you think about is playing.”

“Are those paper strips on your forehead still not enough?”

“They’re not nearly as exciting as gambling with money.”

Song Rui’s eyes sparkled.

“I’ve finally realized life has so much fun to offer.”

“Forget heartbreak.”

“I’m going to find Third Brother and the others and see who’s sitting as dealer.”

With that, she ran off.

Only Song Jianan and Xi Luoyu remained.

For a moment, an awkward silence settled between them.

Then Xi Luoyu smiled.

“That little troublemaker Song Rui…”

“She always manages to ruin things.”

“Actually…”

“It would’ve been nice to let your grandfather formally introduce the two of us.”

Song Jianan blinked.

“Hm?”

“But we already know each other.”

“I think you’re actually closer to Song Rui than you are to me.”

As though he hadn’t heard her at all, Xi Luoyu simply smiled to himself.

His eyes were bright and clear.

At some point, his glasses had slipped slightly down the bridge of his nose, leaving them resting at an almost helpless angle.

Then he said calmly,

“An official introduction.”

“An authoritative introduction.”

“One with legal effect.”