It’s actually not surprising that Miao Yi asked if Qiu Yang had contacted Yue Chu, because back then, everyone in their group could see how close Qiu Yang and Yue Chu were.
Yue Chu was in the broadcasting and hosting department. She was very confident and charming, and always gentle. Throughout her four years of university, she received many confessions of admiration, but she rejected them all.
Qiu Yang and Yue Chu’s acquaintance was a bit unexpected. At the time, the school clubs were recruiting new members. Qiu Yang stopped in front of the photography club’s sign, hesitating and not daring to step forward. She didn’t have a camera then and had almost no photography skills, but she was interested in it. She just felt a bit inferior at first, so she stood there, conflicted and hesitant.
Yue Chu was already a senior at the time and very busy, but she was the former president of the photography club and was invited to oversee the recruitment day.
She saw Qiu Yang, proactively asked about her situation, and then led Qiu Yang to sign up. She was very patient throughout, constantly encouraging Qiu Yang.
So, for Qiu Yang, the first good person she met after entering university was Yue Chu.
She got Yue Chu’s phone number, added her on WeChat, and occasionally Yue Chu would take her out to eat. Yue Chu always told others that Qiu Yang was her younger sister.
Qiu Yang was always very grateful for Yue Chu’s care at that time, because Yue Chu was one of the few bright lights in Qiu Yang’s world back then, shining into her narrow, dark world and making her feel warm.
The reason their relationship became strained wasn’t complicated either.
Yue Chu had many gatherings before graduation. One day, after drinking a lot, she called Qiu Yang and asked her to pick her up.
When Qiu Yang arrived at the destination, she saw Yue Chu squatting on the street corner, no longer looking as confident as usual.
She looked a bit disheveled. When she looked up at Qiu Yang, she was like a lost animal.
Qiu Yang helped her up. As soon as she stood steady, she heard Yue Chu ask her in a pleading tone, “Yangyang, can I hug you for a while?”
“Okay.” Qiu Yang was startled for a moment, but she wouldn’t refuse, because Yue Chu was like a real older sister to her and treated her very well.
Yue Chu hugged her by the roadside. There were no impure thoughts in this hug.
And Yue Chu had lost her usual composure. Soon, Qiu Yang heard the sound of sobbing by her ear. Only then did her hands, which had been hanging by her sides, lift to pat Yue Chu’s back.
It was also that night that Qiu Yang learned the reason why Yue Chu was so good to her.
Yue Chu confessed to Qiu Yang that it was because Qiu Yang’s eyes looked very much like someone else’s, but that person never looked at her the way Qiu Yang did.
To put it more bluntly in today’s terms, Yue Chu was treating Qiu Yang as a substitute.
When Qiu Yang learned about this, it was certainly not true to say she wasn’t shocked. She actually had a good ability to process things, but she felt she still needed some time.
She thought Yue Chu was good to her because of who she was, but in reality, Yue Chu saw someone else’s reflection in her. This made it difficult for her to accept for a while.
After that night, they never saw each other again.
Yue Chu felt she had let Qiu Yang down and didn’t send her many messages. Only on the day they took graduation photos did she write a message for Qiu Yang, filled with Yue Chu’s apologies and best wishes for Qiu Yang.
Counting it up, almost six years had passed. Qiu Yang had long since come to terms with the matter. Regardless of Yue Chu’s true reason for being good to her back then, what mattered most was what she herself felt.
She was truly grateful to Yue Chu. It was Yue Chu who helped her gradually become more confident, who told her that she could also have a temper, and who told her to be financially independent so she could break free from the constraints of her family.
But Yue Chu couldn’t move past her guilt. The replies Qiu Yang received to messages over the past few years were very flat, and occasionally she would receive a “Sorry.”
So Qiu Yang knew that not contacting Yue Chu was actually the best thing.
Who the person Yue Chu mentioned was didn’t matter to Qiu Yang, and she didn’t know if Yue Chu had contact with that person later. She just hoped Yue Chu could live well, even if going to Beijing for graduate school and work was actually a way for Yue Chu to escape it all.
But Qiu Yang still sincerely wished Yue Chu happiness.
Qiu Yang recalled the past, then compared it to this phone call. While feeling a sense of daze, she also felt a sense of ease. “Senior Yue.”
“I’m very happy you’re back. Don’t misunderstand me.”
“Yangyang, I was…”
Qiu Yang rarely interrupted someone, but her tone was firm: “You were very good to me before. Don’t blame yourself.”
Yue Chu was silent for a few seconds before saying “Okay.” “Do you have time tomorrow, Yangyang?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s have a meal together, okay?”
“Okay.”
After the call ended, Qiu Yang stared at her phone, lost in thought for a while.
She had actually occasionally searched online for Yue Chu’s radio show before, especially when Tao Sixian was “busy.” She would put on headphones and listen to Yue Chu’s late-night show.
She wasn’t a very loyal listener, maybe only listening two or three times a year.
She thought Yue Chu would stay in Beijing forever and never expected her to come back.
But now Yue Chu had resigned from her job in Beijing and returned, planning to develop her career in Yuncheng. And she and Yue Chu definitely couldn’t return to the close state they were in before.
Too many past memories flooded Qiu Yang’s mind. She raised her hand to rub her temples.
Just then, Yue Chu sent the address and time for their meal tomorrow. It was at 2 PM, and it was at Xinhao Hotel again.
Qiu Yang replied with a “Okay” and sent it.
After Qiu Yang left, Shen Ningruo ate a meal and then started her afternoon nap. She slept quite well last night, but she hadn’t slept well the past two days due to being busy with work. Weekend rest time was precious, and she wanted to recover her energy.
Yao Yao arrived not long after she woke up, bringing her makeup bag and a set of exquisite red clothes to change into.
Shen Ningruo lazily peeled an orange. Before putting a segment into her mouth, she said, somewhat unable to understand, “You dislike so many people, why do you care so much about Yue Chu?”
“Of course,” Yao Yao took out a mirror. She had already changed into the red dress and sat on the carpet, doing her makeup in front of Shen Ningruo.
She carefully drew her eyebrows. “That Yue person ran away for so long, she must have not done well in Beijing and had to come back. I’m going to show off in front of her today.”
“I’ve been doing great these past few years, unlike her. I’ve left her further and further behind, making her realize the gap between us is getting bigger and bigger.”
Shen Ningruo raised an eyebrow and didn’t say anything else, just ate her orange.
“Do you think they’re symmetrical?” Yao Yao turned her face towards Shen Ningruo, looking a bit worried. “I remember that Yue person’s eyebrows were very nice, she didn’t even need to draw them. I absolutely cannot lose on eyebrows.”
Shen Ningruo: “…”
Shen Ningruo: “They’re symmetrical, don’t worry.”
Shen Ningruo was actually quite familiar with the grievances between Yue Chu and Yao Yao. It was nothing more than Yao Yao discovering some different feelings for Yue Chu during her adolescence. She was used to being domineering, so one Friday afternoon, she blocked Yue Chu at the classroom door and confessed.
Yue Chu refused.
From then on, Yao Yao found everything about Yue Chu irritating.
However, Shen Ningruo didn’t have much spare energy to think about Yao Yao and Yue Chu’s matters right now. She picked up the rattle drum on the coffee table, shook it twice, and the muffled sound clearly entered her ears, echoing in the living room.
Shen Ningruo thought of Qiu Yang’s pitiful look last night, and a certain part of her heart inexplicably softened.
“You say…” Shen Ningruo tried to speak again, “How long can I keep her by my side?”
Yao Yao paused her action of applying eyeshadow, her tone a bit surprised and strange. “What’s wrong? Ruoruo, you haven’t developed other feelings for this younger sister, have you?”
“No,” Shen Ningruo denied. “I just feel very comfortable being with her, and she needs me right now. I want her to get over it as soon as possible.”
“Get over it quickly and embrace a new life?”
“Then have you thought about whether you can give her this new life?”
Shen Ningruo held the handle of the rattle drum. Hearing Yao Yao ask this, her eyelids lowered, and her pursed lips parted. “I can’t.”
Yao Yao looked up and saw Shen Ningruo’s dejected expression. She slowly withdrew her gaze, thought for a few seconds, and then softly said, “Then see when she can fly away, and let her go.”
Shen Ningruo put down the rattle drum and rubbed her temples. “That’s what I thought too.”
Initially, it was because she saw the photo of Qiu Yang and Tao Sixian hugging that she became curious about how Qiu Yang would be after her breakup. That’s why Shen Ningruo followed Qiu Yang to Xicheng.
She didn’t have any other thoughts at the time. The current development was unpredictable.
However, after spending time with Qiu Yang, Shen Ningruo realized a truth: Qiu Yang was very good, someone worth getting close to.
Qiu Yang’s heart was clean and clear. Even though she was hurt, she still yearned for life. Although there were times when she felt down, her eyes were mostly more determined.
Shen Ningruo admired Qiu Yang very much, and she sincerely hoped Qiu Yang would have a better future.
But now she was very selfish, wanting Qiu Yang to continue being entangled with her until this thread of connection was cut.
Shen Ningruo’s lips were pursed. She frowned and thought about Qiu Yang for a while, then took out her phone and found the photo she had secretly taken of Qiu Yang in Xicheng.
She hesitated for a long time before saving the photo to her hidden album.
Zhao Mingfen called Shen Ningruo at 6 PM. “Xiao Shen, are you leaving now?”
Shen Ningruo had promised Zhao Mingfen and Wu Xiaoqiong that she would come over for dinner. She hadn’t forgotten and was just about to leave when she answered the phone.
“Leaving right away, Auntie Fen,” Shen Ningruo smiled.
“Okay!” Zhao Mingfen’s voice was full of energy. “I also called Xiao Qiu, and she said she’s coming. That’s great.”
Shen Ningruo was startled. “Really?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll go pick her up. We’re on the way.”
“Why don’t you ask her?”
“Okay.”
Before unlocking her door, Shen Ningruo called Qiu Yang. “I’ll come pick you up.”
“Director Shen.”
“You’re not a driver.”
Qiu Yang refused in a calm tone.
“Why didn’t you say that to me yesterday?” Shen Ningruo started picking holes in Qiu Yang’s words again.
Qiu Yang sighed helplessly. “Okay.”
Shen Ningruo drove over and skillfully parked her car at the entrance of Qiu Yang’s residential complex. Qiu Yang had already been waiting for a few minutes.
“Did you miss me?” After getting in the car, Qiu Yang heard Shen Ningruo ask with a smile.
If it were before, Qiu Yang would definitely have said no.
But this time, she had.
“Mm,” Qiu Yang replied, not daring to look into Shen Ningruo’s eyes.
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