Is it her? Lin Jinran. Lin Jinran took a small sip of lemonade and looked down at a slice of lemon floating on the rim of the cup. It tasted sour and astringent.
She smiled nonchalantly. "It's not the right time yet. Let's wait until the college entrance examination is over to talk about everything."
"The Zhang Qiaozhi you mentioned. I thought she was strange when I first met her. Maybe she has a crush on Su Qinian too, which is why she's hostile to me, just like you."
"It's different. How can you compare me to her!" Qiao Songyue muttered. "I look down on her underhanded tricks. I, Qiao Songyue, always do things right and act openly."
"Alright, after the college entrance examination then. It's still half a year away. You academic superstars only know how to study all day long. I don't even know what I saw in Su Qinian back then."
Thinking of this, Qiao Songyue pulled the corner of her mouth gloomily. Her gaze fell behind Lin Jinran again, and she let out a soft sigh.
"What on earth are you looking at? You've looked behind me several times."
Lin Jinran turned her head and looked in the direction of her gaze.
Three tables away, she saw a familiar figure.
Lin Jinran was stunned. Surprise flashed in her eyes as she murmured, "Isn't that Su Qinian and Lu Youchuan? Why are they here?"
"Really?" Qiao Songyue hooked her lips into a faint smile. She had noticed the two sitting not far away at the beginning. She grabbed Lin Jinran's arm. "Since we're in the same store, let's go over and say hello."
"Hey?" Without giving her a chance to refuse, Qiao Songyue led her gracefully towards that table.
"Brother Su, brother Su, they, they're coming, coming." Lu Youchuan was sitting facing Lin Jinran's table. As soon as he looked up, he saw the two of them approaching and quickly whispered a reminder.
Su Qinian frowned slightly. "They? What about them? Speak clearly."
"No, they're coming." Lu Youchuan was on the verge of crying. He couldn't speak loudly and tried his best to give meaningful looks.
Su Qinian turned slightly to the side. The figures of two people appeared in his sight. Looking up, it was Qiao Songyue and Lin Jinran.
"Hey, Sister Qiao and Sister Lin, you two are in this store too. What a coincidence. Brother Su and I are here too." Lu Youchuan forced a polite smile awkwardly.
In fact, it wasn't a coincidence. Just after lunch at noon, he still wanted to lie in bed and play games when Su Qinian called and asked him to accompany him to a coffee shop.
When Lu Youchuan first arrived at the store, he didn't understand what Su Qinian was up to. Later, when he saw Qiao Songyue come in, he thought Su Qinian was waiting for her, but it wasn't the case.
Then Lin Jinran came, and he finally guessed Su Qinian's intention.
It turned out that Su Qinian was afraid that Qiao Songyue would do something bad to Lin Jinran, so he specifically came here to keep watch.
"Why are you two here?" Lin Jinran asked in surprise, looking at Su Qinian and then at Lu Youchuan.
These two people didn't seem like they would come here at this time.
"Well, this, Brother Su and I..." Just as Lu Youchuan was struggling to find an excuse, Su Qinian spoke in time, and he let out a sigh of relief.
"Lu Youchuan and I felt stuffy at home, so we came out to sit for a while and take a look at the snow scene by the way. But there wasn't much snow last night. When we woke up early this morning, it was almost gone."
Su Qinian lied without batting an eyelid and said calmly.
Snow? Lin Jinran's attention was drawn to the second half of his words. She turned her head and saw that there really wasn't much snow outside. She shook her head and sighed.
"Indeed. I didn't wake up until almost noon, and there was hardly any snow left. It's far inferior to the snow in the north. If you have the chance, you should go to the north to see the snow. It must be swirling everywhere, not as delicate as the snow in the south."
Mentioning the north, Lin Jinran suddenly remembered that winter vacation would start after New Year's Day, and it would also be the Chinese New Year.
At that time, should she go back for a day or two?
After all, Lin Cheng was her nominal father. The medical expenses for her mother and her own upbringing expenses were all in Lin Cheng's hands.
She really wished she could grow up quickly, earn enough money, and stay away from that family.
Lin Jinran couldn't help but sigh in her heart. Such a free and unrestrained life would still have to wait for four or five years.
"I've almost finished chatting with Lin Jinran and am going back. What about you?" Qiao Songyue said calmly with a blank look on her face.
Lu Youchuan was surprised by her calmness. He looked her up and down several times. Was she really giving up like this? He had watched Qiao Songyue pester Su Qinian all the way.
"We're almost done too, right, Lu Youchuan?" Maybe Lu Youchuan's gaze was too obvious. Su Qinian was hinting at him.
"Ah, yes, that's right." Lu Youchuan laughed awkwardly.
"Then let's go back together later. Coincidentally, you and Qiao Songyue are going in the same direction. You two can go together." Su Qinian raised a faint smile.
Hey, wait.
Lu Youchuan took a deep breath and nodded reluctantly. "Yes, Qiao Songyue and I live in the same direction."
Except for Lin Jinran who was present, the other three of them were clearly going in the same direction.
What a guy who values love over friendship, Lu Youchuan cursed in his heart.
Qiao Songyue replied with a non - committal "Okay", looking extremely calm.
She did feel a bit sad. It was easy to say she gave up, but when it came to truly letting go in her heart, it was another matter.
Seeing this scene, a lot of bitter emotions welled up in her heart. Qiao Songyue suppressed them nonchalantly as if nothing had happened.
The four of them left the coffee shop together and then took two taxis respectively. Lin Jinran and Su Qinian sat in the back seat together.
The car started.
Lin Jinran suddenly asked, "Su Qinian, did you and Lu Youchuan really just happen to be here?"
It was strange, really strange.
The same place, the same time period.
But she hadn't told anyone else about this. She had only briefly mentioned it to Qi last night.
Could it be Qi?
No, that couldn't be right. Qi was just an online friend of hers and couldn't possibly know Su Qinian.
"We really just happened to be here. We arrived earlier than you." Su Qinian looked extremely innocent and chose to tell the truth.
This sentence was true. What he said in the coffee shop just now was half - true and half - false.
Last night, when he heard from Wan Shan Hong Bian (Lin Jinran's online name) that she was going to meet Qiao Songyue, he was worried.
It was obvious that Qiao Songyue didn't like her.
He was afraid that she would do something irreversible, so he woke up early the next morning and asked Qiao Songyue's parents about her whereabouts in the afternoon. He found out that they were going to that store today.
He knew the location but not the time.
A vague afternoon, which was a full four hours.
After lunch, he called Lu Youchuan to accompany him and pretended it was a coincidence.
"Alright." Lin Jinran decided to believe him for now. After all, they had arrived earlier than her. Maybe it really was just a coincidence.
"I heard that there will be a monthly exam on Friday after New Year's Day." Su Qinian hooked his lips, trying to divert her attention.
Sure enough, Lin Jinran's attention was diverted. She covered her ears and slumped back lazily as if she had no bones. She said lightly, "What did you say? I didn't hear you. Say it again."