The next day.
Qu Jiaran called Nan Yu and invited her to a pool party that evening.
Nan Yu had already thought up an excuse in advance. She declined, saying it was inconvenient due to her menstrual period, and apologized, wishing Qu Jiaran a great time.
"Alright," as expected, there came a disappointed sigh from the other end of the phone. "But I really miss seeing you. It's been so long since we last met..."
Before Qu Jiaran could continue rambling, Nan Yu quickly ended the conversation and hung up.
Actually, apart from not wanting to attend the party hosted by Qu Jiaran, she also had somewhere to go and someone important to meet today.
For this meeting, she even put on a light makeup, although she usually preferred to go bare - faced.
Nan Yu stood in front of the mirror, looking at her face. She tried hard to put on a smile to make herself look lively.
She was about to go downstairs to buy a bunch of white flowers when she suddenly received a call from Shen Yanche.
"Yuyu, are you at home? I'm downstairs."
Nan Yu checked the time. She originally wanted to say she was about to go out, but then thinking it might be to go get the marriage certificate, she changed her words and said, "I'll come down right away."
Before going out, she put the certificates in her pocket and went downstairs.
Getting into Shen Yanche's car, Nan Yu asked, "Are we going to get the marriage certificate today?"
Shen Yanche laughed, "Yuyu is so eager to get the certificate with me? Unfortunately, not today."
So it wasn't to get the marriage certificate.
"I've been so busy with company matters recently that I haven't had time to accompany you properly. I'm free today, so I'd like to take you to meet some friends and relax."
Nan Yu was a bit stunned.
Since they got engaged, Shen Yanche had never taken her into his social circle on his own initiative. This was the first time.
It meant that at least Shen Yanche really wanted her to integrate into his life.
Shen Yanche turned to look at her with a smile, "Yuyu, I'd like to introduce you to my friends and let them meet my fiancée."
Nan Yu slowly let out a breath, "Okay."
The car first drove on the road, then headed to the suburbs, gradually getting away from the bustling city and winding up along the mountain road.
It took nearly an hour for the car to reach the destination.
It was a manor on the mountaintop. When parking, Nan Yu noticed that there were already more than a dozen luxury cars parked on the asphalt road. There must be many young masters and ladies like Shen Yanche here.
She curled her fingers. To distract herself, she looked out of the window.
At this moment, the driver couldn't help but sigh, "The Qu family is really amazing. Building a manor on this mountain must cost a fortune."
"Counting the road - paving, the villas, the pool, and the scenery in the manor... it's worth about 90 million. If it's turned into a resort, it should bring in good profits," Shen Yanche replied.
Nan Yu caught the key information from these words - the Qu family.
Suddenly, she remembered something and had a bad feeling, "Who are the friends we're going to meet today? Why are we coming to the Qu family's manor as guests?"
Shen Yanche put his hand on the window sill and smiled, "It's the Qu family's eldest daughter's birthday today. She's hosting a birthday party here."
"Is it Qu Jiaran?"
"You know her, Yuyu?" Shen Yanche was a bit surprised and even smiled, "It's her. She sent an invitation to the Shen family. I thought you, as my fiancée, could come with me."
"No way!" Nan Yu's voice was cold. After taking a deep breath, she said, "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
If she had known earlier that it was to celebrate Qu Jiaran's birthday, she wouldn't have come.
"Yuyu, don't be nervous. There will be a lot of guests here tonight to celebrate Miss Qu's birthday. She won't notice us."
Nan Yu tried to control her emotions and said word by word, "The person who received the invitation is you, not me. And I haven't prepared a birthday gift for Miss Qu in advance."
"It's okay, Yuyu. I've already prepared the gift in advance. Then..."
"Shen Yanche," Nan Yu's voice was emotionless, "I don't like it when you make decisions first and tell me later. And I don't want to celebrate someone's birthday out of the blue without being informed."
Moreover, today was...
She took a deep breath and said in a very calm but self - mocking tone, "Don't you think that a down - and - out person like me showing up in such an occasion will spoil the fun of all the gentlemen and ladies?"
She already felt like a laughingstock.
She had wanted to finish speaking calmly, but somehow, her tears were especially hard to control today. They rolled down her cheeks clearly.
Seeing her crying, Shen Yanche was a bit flustered, "Yuyu, it's my fault today. Don't cry, okay?"
After hesitating for a few seconds, he made a decision, "You don't need to get out of the car. I'll ask the driver to take you back the same way. You have a good rest today."
"Thank you," Nan Yu's voice was a bit muffled with a heavy nasal tone.
She thought she could escape this.
Shen Yanche got out of the car, but the car door wasn't closed.
Just as Nan Yu turned to ask him what else he needed, suddenly Qu Jiaran popped up from somewhere and quickly got into the car.
She was wearing a beautiful red long dress with delicate makeup and a beaming smile, "Nan Yu, it really is you! I knew I'd be able to see you on my birthday!"
This left Nan Yu completely at a loss.
Qu Jiaran directly pulled her out of the car.
Only then did Nan Yu notice that quite a few people had already gathered around, smiling at the young lady beside her.
A real - life princess.
"Everyone, I'd like to introduce my best friend - Nan Yu!"
After she shouted, the crowd cheered in response.
In the lively crowd, Qu Jiaran tightly held Nan Yu's hand, but her hand was always cold.
She was no longer used to being in the spotlight.
Qu Jiaran noticed that Nan Yu was a bit off, so she pulled her to a less crowded place and asked with concern, "Nan Yu, why have you been crying?"
Even though Nan Yu had forced a smile just now, her moist and red eyes were too obvious.
"It's nothing. I was so sleepy on the way that I yawned a few times," she replied casually.
"I see," Qu Jiaran nodded and then offered a suggestion, "If you like it here, next time I'll have a helicopter pick you up."
Nan Yu smiled and changed the topic, "I decided at the last minute that it would be better to come and celebrate your birthday, but I didn't have time to prepare a birthday gift. I'm sorry."
It wasn't just that she didn't have time. An hour ago, she didn't even know it was Qu Jiaran's birthday party.
"It doesn't matter. I'm already very happy that you're here!"
Qu Jiaran affectionately hugged Nan Yu's arm and leaned on her shoulder, saying happily, "Since Nan Yu is here, Lin Yuan will surely come later."