On the day Zhang Ruoshui flew back to China, the school was still abuzz with discussions about the plane accident.
"Why were you absent for so long?" Hang Meng joked, "I thought you'd gone home to inherit the family business and quit this lousy school!"
"Where did you actually go?" Hang Meng asked.
"Flew abroad."
"Where to?"
"Peru."
"Oh, that news was..." Hang Meng's voice suddenly halted as she pinched her palm, "Wait, you were absent for almost a month, and the plane was missing for 19 days. Don't tell me you were on that plane?"
Zhang Ruoshui nodded.
It took Hang Meng a moment to process this: "Holy crap? You survived a disaster, my friend! We must treat you to dinner tonight!"
Zhang Ruoshui thought for a moment: "Sure, but I'm bringing my boyfriend."
Hang Meng was stunned again: "...When did this happen? What? How is this so sudden? And how did you get one before me!"
Hang Meng's language system was nearly malfunctioning, and she finally managed to ask: "Is he... taller than you?"
Zhang Ruoshui was puzzled by this question.
"Of course," she answered.
"Oh, good, otherwise Zhou Xiaoshu would be the first to object."
"She'll approve," Zhang Ruoshui said, then added after a thought, "If it's convenient, why don't we invite Zhou Xiaoshu and the others too? My treat."
How could Hang Meng refuse? And so it was settled.
That day, after finishing their group assignment, Zhang Ruoshui received a phone call and came back saying, "We need to add one more person, is that okay?"
Hang Meng couldn't help but laugh: "Of course it's okay, you're the one treating, aren't you?"
"But you're the initiator."
Hang Meng was speechless for a moment, then sighed: "It's really great being friends with you!"
As they left the professor's office, Hang Meng started telling her about the relationship posts on the forum.
"I don't need to hear them anymore," Zhang Ruoshui said.
"Why?... Oh, because you have a boyfriend now, so you don't need to listen? You're so practical!"
Zhang Ruoshui thought for a moment: "Well, that's not wrong. But the more important reason is..."
"What is it?"
"Learning from others' successes or failures doesn't mean you can replicate their success," she paused, then said: "Love should develop naturally. You can't fall in love just by observing others' relationships."
Hang Meng opened her mouth: "...That's philosophical!"
She wondered if Zhang Ruoshui's relationship had indeed developed naturally.
Hang Meng was dying of curiosity.
Surely it wasn't that handsome Mr. Mu from last time?
Barely containing her curiosity, Hang Meng said: "By the way, there's something I really, really want to know, actually something all the world's journalists want to know..."
"What?"
"Who was that ghost lady on the plane?"
"That was me."
"Oh, you said... WHAT?!"
In just one day, Hang Meng had lost count of how many shocks she'd experienced.
*
Stepping into the restaurant, Hang Meng's first words were: "Wow, how luxurious!"
Zhou Xiaoshu's first words upon entering were: "Wow! They haven't gone bankrupt yet!"
Hang Meng asked puzzled: "Has this place been open for long?"
Zhou Xiaoshu nodded deeply: "Very long. Many years ago, my father closed a deal with Zhang Ruoshui here."
Hang Meng fell silent for a moment: "Many years ago... how old was Zhang Ruoshui?"
"Seven or eight?"
"?"
"Though Young Master Sheng was there to guide her," Zhou Xiaoshu added after some thought.
Hang Meng thought to herself that this was truly starting business training from childhood.
They had barely taken two steps forward when a Bentley stopped at the entrance, and Qin Sui stepped out.
Zhou Xiaoshu turned at the sound and widened her eyes: "Qin Yue's brother! Why are you here too?"
Before she could finish speaking, Sheng Yuxiao arrived as well.
He arrived together with Zhang Ruoshui.
Zhou Xiaoshu's head started to ache, and she whispered to An Ying: "Another war is coming!"
Hang Meng looked back and forth between them.
She had seen Sheng Yuxiao before, but this handsome Mr. Qin was new... could he be...
"Let's go in first," Zhang Ruoshui urged.
Once inside.
Sheng Yuxiao spoke up in a low voice: "Let me introduce myself..."
Zhou Xiaoshu thought to herself, do you really need an introduction? Your name alone could scare children to sleep in Jin City when you were fourteen!
"...I'm Sheng Yuxiao, Zhang Ruoshui's boyfriend," he finished.
"...Huh?" Zhou Xiaoshu froze.
An Ying wasn't surprised, but her first reaction was to look at Qin Sui's expression.
Qin Sui asked: "When does Young Master Sheng plan to change his form of address?"
Change what address?
What did that mean?
Zhou Xiaoshu and the others were all confused.
Sheng Yuxiao raised his eyebrows, adjusting his cuffs.
Zhou Xiaoshu tensed up, worried they might come to blows.
Then they heard Sheng Yuxiao press his lips together and force out a cold word: "Brother."
Before Zhou Xiaoshu and the others could process this huge shock.
They heard Sheng Yuxiao continue with a cold smile: "Where's my welcome gift as your brother?"
Qin Sui: "..."
Qin Sui said darkly: "When are you going to return my spoils of war?"
An Ying couldn't help but turn to see Zhang Ruoshui's expression.
She was... ordering food!
"I'm done ordering," Zhang Ruoshui handed the menu to the waiter and asked Hang Meng: "What would you like?"
Hang Meng was sweating profusely.
Thank goodness she hadn't assumed Mr. Qin was Zhang Ruoshui's boyfriend.
These two didn't seem to get along... this relationship... she couldn't make sense of it! Would it really be okay to eat together?
"I'll, I'll have anything," Hang Meng was saying.
The waiter suddenly lowered his head and said: "Miss Zhang, this... bitter melon salad, we don't have it."
"You can make it," Zhang Ruoshui said.
"Al-alright..."
Only then did Zhang Ruoshui look in Qin Sui and Sheng Yuxiao's direction and say: "It's good for cooling down tempers, very suitable."
Hang Meng: "..."
Okay, confirmed, sitting together would be fine.
Because there was someone even more formidable here.
The meal passed relatively peacefully.
When leaving, Hang Meng carefully looked in Sheng Yuxiao's direction and said: "He really is tall..."
No more worrying about Zhang Ruoshui's suitors being shorter than her.
The next day, Ning Heng, Wei Zesheng, and their group were called back to the country by Sheng Yuxiao's phone call.
"I want to introduce my girlfriend to you all."
The same shock occurred to Ning Heng: "Holy crap! The iron tree has bloomed!"
When Zhang Ruoshui walked in and sat next to Sheng Yuxiao.
"No one else?" Ning Heng asked in a daze.
Zhang Ruoshui tilted her head: "Who else were you expecting?"
Ning Heng shuddered, his eyes nearly popping out: "Although I always thought nothing could separate you two - either you'd both stay single forever or end up together - but now the question is..."
"Boss Sheng! Doesn't this mean Qin Sui isn't your brother anymore?"
"The world's turned upside down, it's like having a mouse be a cat's bridesmaid."
Sheng Yuxiao was peeling walnuts for Zhang Ruoshui, not looking up as he said: "Mm, not a bad suggestion."
"What suggestion? What did I suggest? Wait—" Ning Heng swallowed, "You're really going to have Qin Sui as a bridesmaid, no, groomsman?"
He imagined the scene.
Holy crap, the rich kids' circle in Jin City would be like it had been hit by a nuclear bomb, completely blown up.
