At the makeup section of a certain brand, four strange customers arrived today, three girls decked out in high-end fashion. First, they said they wanted to look at lipsticks, then they wondered if they could see the lipstick samples.
Strangely enough, for girls dressed like that, one of their handbags could buy their entire special counter, but they asked to see lipstick samples. Such a peculiar request.
As a quality service personnel, as long as the customers' demands are not illegal, they try their utmost to fulfill them.
Lipstick samples, usually given as freebies, are not generally on display. The salesperson found few samples from the sample storage and brought them out.
While the salesperson was selling makeup to Shi Li, she vaguely heard her best friends inspecting some samples. The specifics of which she didn't notice.
Wei Yi and Shi Qiuyu, as bystanders, differ from Gao Yun's experience. They are able to enjoy the spectacle undistracted.
Gao Yun initially had complex feelings. Her best friend had blown up about her ex-boyfriend, from physical issues to emotional ones, not a single redeemable quality about him.
As it concerned her, she had no mood to get involved.
Two people on one side had already got their lipstick samples. Heads huddled together, whispering, Gao Yun was too curious not to join their huddle, not caring if the gossip was about her.
These two had already gently twisted the lipstick body, revolving it not even twice, the lipstick reached its max height.
Everyone reflected shock in each other's eyes.
Wei Yi muttered to herself, "This can't be some disease, right?"
Qiao Shan stood patiently next to Gao Yun. The conversation among the three girls seemed encrypted, and he didn't understand, so he assumed the demeanour of a gentle boyfriend, waiting.
But as he waited, against his will, chilling discomfort crept up his body, as if he was not wearing trousers, a cold rush up his legs.
Elsewhere, Shi Li had bought a full set of cosmetics under the guidance of sales.
The salesperson knew these girls were companions and saw Shi Qiuyu's group interested in lipstick samples. So, they proposed to gift the samples to them.
The three girls reminded of a part of the body that Li used to describe using the sample, unanimously shook their heads, "No, thank you."
They would be wary of this brand's lipstick sample for the rest of their lives. They wouldn't even want to use this brand's lipstick for a while.
Perhaps only time can heal such psychological traumas.
Gao Yun ended up with Qiao Shan anyway, a significant blow to Shi Li.
Just like when a best friend you've advised against dating someone countless times, sends you a wedding invite.
Even for her dear friend, she wants to escape as far as possible.
Even though she's angry, knowing this man is bad news, she can't give up on her friend.
On her way back, Shi Li contemplated over how she’d express it to Gao Yun, or how to expose the true nature of this lousy man through some means.
Not an easy task. From the incessant persuasions Shi Li gave in her previous life, ultimately, Gao Yun ends up marrying Qiao Shan, revealing Shi Li's lack of persuasion skills.
Upon returning home, Shi Li worked on some math problems to calm herself, and clarify her thoughts on how she would talk to Gao Yun through problem-solving.
Having written half of the paper, Shi Li received a phone call from Gao Yun who inquired, "Shi Li, you seemed a bit upset this afternoon. Could it be that you dislike Qiao Shan?"
Gao Yun was trying her very best to bridge the gap for Shi Li. Once Shi Li revealed the issue she expressed discontent with today, Gao Yun was ready to use that as an excuse to part ways with Qiao Shan.
“Did he offend you in some way?” I had already laid out the context perfectly.
Upon hearing this, Shi Li felt her heart miss a beat. With Qiao Shan still present, how did Gao Yun manage to notice her mood? Unless Qiao Shan had reported to her first!
Maintaining caution, Shi Li asked, “Why the sudden inquiry?”
“I am just confused. Recently, my interactions with him have made me feel that his actions aren’t aligning with his words. They give me a sense of incongruity.”
It's unbelievable to Shi Li that Gao Yun woke up so soon in this life. She tried too many times in her past life to discourage Gao Yun; none of her words were ever taken to heart. But now, it looks like this life is taking a different turn.
Heaven is indeed watching over us.
Gao Yun’s words acted as a switch. Shi Li shared, “I haven’t spent enough time with him to know the kind of man he is. There’s just this one incident that I’m unsure about whether I should share or not.”
This was the information she’d been waiting for, Gao Yun eagerly pressed her to share. "Tell me please, whatever it is. We can handle it together."
“We’ve been friends for so many years, Is there anything you can’t share with me?”
“Well then, I encountered a group of hoodlums in the food street a few days ago. They warned me to not bully Liang Rongrong. Fu Huixing found out today that Qiao Shan was the one who hired these hoodlums.”
Finally, Gao Yun received what she was looking for. She responded with a slight surprise and a touch of exaggeration, “My goodness! How could he do such a thing?”
It was a good thing that Gao Yun was on the phone with Shi Li. If they had been face-to-face, Gao Yun’s terrible acting skills might’ve given away their secret.
“You’re my best friend, Gao Yun. I can’t let anyone hurt you. It doesn’t matter if he’s my boyfriend.”
Gao Yun ended the call with a determined note, “I am going to break up with him right away!”
“Plus, when I went to the Feng family to locate Liang Rongrong, I felt like I spotted Qiao Shan lurking around.”
Shi Li was silently preparing to rub salt in Qiao Shan's wound, but then she herself was taken aback when she heard Gao Yun assert that she would break up with Qiao Shan.
Shi Li mused, “Am I hearing things right? Is happiness really descending on me all of a sudden?”
But she had been waiting for this day for too long now. No matter how sudden, she felt capable of embracing it. So she said, "It’s best to strike while the iron is hot, why not just break up today?”
“Or, why not use your home phone to tell him you want a break up right now?”
Gao Yun playfully sensed Shi Li’s urgency.
Parting ways isn’t necessarily an occasion that calls for formality. Pressed by Shi Li, Gao Yun called Qiao Shan using her home landline, “This is Gao Yun, Qiao Shan. Let’s part ways.”
With just those words, she hung up the call.
Shi Li sighed in relief.
Having been a witness to their breakup, Shi Li felt like there was nothing more to discuss with Gao Yun. For now, she just wanted to get back to her studies.
Although initially she was doing problems to clarify her thoughts, now there is no need to sort out her mind, there is no need to do assignments.
But today, she feels good, she could do a couple of question sets to celebrate.
Gao Yun was full of questions inside, how could she let Shi Li go?
She asked, "How are things with you and Fu Huixing?"
Shi Li: "How could it be? We are just ordinary classmates."
Gao Yun: "Then why would he help you, and even find out who was messing with you?"
"Of course, because he's a very helpful and good person."
Gao Yun snorted disdainfully, "You say that the school's top student is helpful and a good person, don't you have a misunderstanding about him?"
Like Shi Qiuyu, Gao Yun did not like Feng Yunhe who was being pursued by her best friend.
"Ah, I understand, this is called 'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.' You can see his unknown side, so you two are a perfect match made by Heaven."
Listening to her tone, Shi Li felt uncomfortable, "Don't pair people up randomly."
This was when the male protagonist inevitably needed to come out for a walk, she said with a tone of hurt, "You know that the person I like is Feng Yunhe, no matter how good are others, they can't enter my eye."
Shi Li: Finally, I found a valid method to deal with my parents urging me to get married in the future.
Gao Yun said in a heart-wrenching way, "Feng Yunhe does not like you, I see Fu Huixing is a really good person..."
And then Gao Yun gave a five-minute presentation on Fu Huixing's merits, her attitude was even more serious than writing an essay during exams.
As a high school student, Gao Yun was full of love and romance, how could she afford it?
Therefore, Shi Li cleared her throat and said in a serious tone, "Learn New Thought, strive to be new youth, when our country is not rich and powerful yet, how can we talk about love?"
Gao Yun was speechless, anyone else saying this she would believe, but hearing such words from Shi Li, it honestly had no persuasive power.
She exposed, "Just two minutes ago, you still said that in your heart there was only Feng Yunhe."
