Lin Jinran stopped in her tracks, turned her head, and widened her eyes again. She murmured in a low voice, "No wonder the criteria for the selection back then were taken out of context, and the photo shoots were directly based on the CP combinations that netizens were shipping."
This was because there was a large room for manipulation by trolls.
Then she thought of the photo shoot for the jewelry spokesperson in the afternoon. Her eyes widened in surprise. "The person who invited me to shoot the jewelry for Aurora this afternoon was also yours, right?"
"Yes. To be more precise, I founded the entire Xenon Group, and Aurora is just a small branch under it." Su Qinian admitted frankly with a smile in his eyes.
"On the first night of the 'Crazy Crush' show, during the Crush Message session, you said, 'It's not that the butterfly is unwilling to fly, but that its wings have been broken, and it no longer has the ability to soar into the sky.'"
Su Qinian placed his hands on her shoulders. His eyes sparkled with a kind of trust that seemed as heavy as a thousand jun. "Since its wings have been broken, then we should try our best to mend them. I believe that one day it will break through all difficulties and fly again."
After a pause, he added, "On this journey, I will help you."
The confident and brave girl from back then shouldn't be in such a frustrated state now.
"Thank you." Lin Jinran lowered her eyes, and there was a faint glimmer of tears in them.
"Do you still remember Jiang Xiubin and Xie Wanyu? Their wedding is set for the day after tomorrow. Do you want to go with me?"
When it came to this topic, Lin Jinran felt a bit at a loss. She replied woodenly, "So many years have passed, and I don't have their contact information. It might not be appropriate for me to attend suddenly."
A faint smile appeared on Su Qinian's lips. He accurately read the meaning behind her words. "Judging from what you said, you still want to go. I'll push Xie Wanyu's WeChat to you. You can chat with her."
"Actually, when you suddenly disappeared back then, Xie Wanyu, Lu Youchuan, Tao Wan, and Jiang Xiubin helped look for you for a while. But then school started, and everyone gradually left Wannan City, so they had to give up the search."
"Their wedding is going to be held in Wannan City."
It was the place where the story began.
The two gradually walked to the lake. Lin Jinran leaned on the railing and looked out at the sparkling water in the distance, which seemed to be inlaid with thousands of broken diamonds.
So many years had passed, but she still didn't have the courage to step into Wannan City. It seemed like a taboo to her. Even when passing by, she would deliberately take a detour.
She was afraid that the sight of the place would stir up her emotions and make her cry.
Now that she had found half of herself again, she didn't seem to be so afraid anymore.
The gentle evening breeze carried a faint fragrance and blew across her light skirt. The man beside her seemed to be in his prime. Through the long river of time, she saw the afterglow of the setting sun. She and he were standing on the school corridor, admiring the magnificent sunset.
...
In the evening, under the arrangement of the program crew, each guest packed their luggage and returned to their residence. Lin Jinran was dropped off by Su Qinian at the apartment building.
The two waved goodbye.
When she walked into the apartment, Lin Jinran turned on the light. She threw her suitcase beside the shoe cabinet and sank into the soft sofa. She leaned back lazily and stared blankly at her phone.
The phone screen showed Xie Wanyu's WeChat profile.
She hadn't clicked to add her as a friend yet.
She was a bit scared and hesitant.
Her finger gently tapped on the hard and cold screen and then slowly moved down, stopping on the words "Click to add friend".
Lin Jinran lowered her eyes and clicked to add.
The other side quickly accepted.
[Xie Wanyu]: "May I ask who you are?"
[Lin Jinran]: "Wanyu, long time no see. I'm Lin Jinran."
[Xie Wanyu]: "You're really Lin Jinran, the Lin Jinran from Class 1, Senior 3 of Wannan No. 1 Middle School???"
[Lin Jinran]: "Yes.jpg"
It was a cute emoji.
[Xie Wanyu]: "Ahhhhh!"
Lin Jinran stared at this line of "ah" and a question mark slowly appeared in her mind.
Then, a voice call from Xie Wanyu popped up on WeChat.
Lin Jinran was slightly stunned. It took her a few seconds to gather her thoughts before hesitantly clicking to accept.
"Jinran, it's really you! I'm so happy. I didn't expect to hear your voice after so many years! I'm so glad!"
Xie Wanyu was so excited that she repeated "happy" and "glad" several times. Her voice was full of excitement, and she was almost jumping up in her living room.
"I... I'm also glad, Wanyu." After a ten - year gap, Lin Jinran opened her mouth but didn't know what to say for a moment. She knew nothing about Xie Wanyu's current life.
"Do you think I'm the first high - school classmate to add you on WeChat?" Xie Wanyu was overjoyed. Her eyes and eyebrows were filled with smiles.
"Actually, you're not. The first one to add me was Su Qinian. And even earlier than Su Qinian was Qiao Songyue. We got in touch a year ago." Lin Jinran told her mercilessly.
Xie Wanyu immediately looked aggrieved. "Well, okay. Then I'm the first high - school classmate to add you after Qiao Songyue and Su Qinian."
"Wanyu, who are you talking to on the phone? You seem so happy." A smiling male voice came from the other end of the phone.
Xie Wanyu exclaimed excitedly, "It's Lin Jinran! Our high - school classmate Lin Jinran. This girl didn't contact us until so many years later."
Lin Jinran guessed that the person talking to Xie Wanyu was Jiang Xiubin, her current lover.
Sure enough, a gentle voice came through. "Hey, is that Lin Jinran? I'm Jiang Xiubin. Long time no see. No wonder Wanyu is so happy."
"You two are together?" Lin Jinran asked with a smile.
Jiang Xiubin continued, "Yes. We're going to have our wedding the day after tomorrow. Lin Jinran, will you come?"
"Come, come! You must come! You witnessed the beautiful love between Jiang Xiubin and me back then." Xie Wanyu invited her enthusiastically. Then she suddenly remembered something and said in a muffled voice, "It's just that there are no extra bridesmaid dresses."
"It's okay. I'll just sit in the audience. It doesn't matter whether I'm a bridesmaid or not." Lin Jinran thought for a while and then asked curiously, "Have you guys watched any dating shows recently?"
Xie Wanyu complained, "I don't have time. I don't even have enough time to sleep. I've been busy with the wedding every day. Oh, wait a minute. I'll add you to the group. It's still the same small group as back then."
No wonder she didn't ask about her and Su Qinian. Lin Jinran shook her head with a smile.
After the voice call with Xie Wanyu ended, she was immediately added to a group. Xie Wanyu introduced her in the group.
[Xie Wanyu]: "Our dear Lin Jinran is back. Let's give her a warm welcome!"
[Xie Wanyu]: "Those who want to have a group voice call, do it quickly."
Right away, a group voice call came in. With a heart full of anticipation and nervousness, Lin Jinran clicked to join. Three other friends had already joined.
"Sister Lin, is it really you? You're finally back. You finally remembered us, your friends. I'm so touched!" It was still the noisy Lu Youchuan.
The excitement seemed a bit out of the blue.
Tao Wan said fiercely, "Well, Lin Jinran, you little rascal. You left without saying a word back then. You really scared us. Tell me how you're going to compensate us for our mental suffering. We were so worried about you."
Lin Jinran's eyes filled with tears. "Hello, everyone. I'm Lin Jinran. I'm finally back."