"Well done, that's how it should be. I thought you'd be hesitant to handle it like before," Song Luokui said, satisfied with the result.
Zhang Xiyue: "Haha, I've learned my lesson. I won't act like that anymore. I still need to explain the situation to Zhu Ruan though, it was my fault. I'll go find her first."
"Okay, bye."
"Bye."
On the day winter break started, Chi Yu messaged her, saying he wanted to celebrate her vacation by taking her out for hot pot.
Song Luokui: ...She's on vacation, so she's treating him to hot pot. No problem there.
When the car stopped in the underground parking lot, the two of them got out of the car. On the other side, Wei Qing happened to see them, but Song Luokui's face was hidden under her scarf, so Wei Qing didn't see her face.
However, he was still surprised that Chi Yu was with a girl. As the two walked and chatted, they seemed to have a good relationship. Wei Qing asked the person next to him, "Who is she? Why is she with Chi Yu? Did Chi Yu get a girlfriend?"
The person next to him had never seen her either and was also surprised. "I can't see her face clearly, so I don't know who she is. I haven't heard anything about Chi Yu from that family getting a girlfriend."
Wei Qing squinted his eyes as he watched their receding figures.
On the other side, Song Luokui and Chi Yu entered an elevator and arrived at a hot pot restaurant, booking a private room. The two chatted while eating.
"Do you have any plans for the vacation? Want to go somewhere to play?" Chi Yu asked.
Song Luokui shook her head, "It's too cold, I don't want to go out."
Chi Yu: "A friend of mine just opened a new hot spring resort. Do you want to go soak in the hot springs?"
"Hot springs?" Song Luokui thought it sounded nice when she heard it.
Chi Yu: "You can go with your friends."
Song Luokui: "Let me think about it, I'll ask my friends."
"Mm." Chi Yu picked some seared beef slices for her.
After eating their fill, the two left.
On the other side, Wei Qing was having someone investigate who the girl with Chi Yu was.
Song Luokui was completely unaware of this.
After returning, Song Luokui saw that everyone in the group chat was discussing where to meet up next.
Lou Sasa: "Come to my place? Not outdoors, let's stay indoors."
Weng Jiao: "But what's there to do indoors? It's too cold for me to even want to go out. Why don't we go on vacation in the Southern Hemisphere?"
Zhou Yue: "I don't want to go somewhere too far away. Is there a warm and fun place nearby?"
Song Luokui: "Hot springs? Want to go?"
Zhang Xiyue: "That sounds good, soaking in hot springs is the best when it's cold outside. I heard there's a new hot spring resort that just opened in Du Xian Mountain in the suburbs. Should we go there?"
Du Xian Mountain? Isn't that the one Chi Yu told her about? What a coincidence!
After some discussion in the group, everyone agreed.
Two days later, Song Luokui drove with her sisters to Du Xian Mountain. A line of luxury cars drove up the mountain side by side, and many people were taking photos.
In the room, Zhang Xiyue and the others changed into swimsuits, then wrapped themselves in big towels, ready to soak in the hot springs.
Zhang Xiyue had already changed her clothes, but Song Luokui was still wearing her down jacket and coat. "Luokui, aren't you going to change?"
Song Luokui: "Wait a bit, I'll change soon. You all go ahead."
"Okay, hurry up then."
"Mm-hmm."
Zhang Xiyue and the others went to the hot spring pool they had reserved first. Song Luokui took her swimsuit to change, then also wrapped herself in a big towel before heading to the hot spring pool.
The group soaked in the hot spring pool while chatting, occasionally splashing water at each other and laughing when someone said something funny.
Song Luokui's face was flushed red from the hot water. She put her phone in a waterproof bag and sent a message to Chi Yu: "The hot spring resort you mentioned is really nice."
Chi Yu: "You went there?"
Song Luokui: "Mm-hmm, with my sisters."
Chi Yu: "Have fun."
Song Luokui didn't reply again, just chatting and laughing with everyone.
"The one from the Wei Family is back in the country."
"The Wei Family? That Wei Family?"
"Yeah, the crazy Wei Family. Speaking of which, why does the Wei Family always produce crazy people? I heard that a long time ago, before the country was founded, the Wei Family didn't allow marriages outside the family. It was only after the country was founded that they slowly started changing that. So there must be some...you know, genetic issues."
"You mean Wei Qing, right? I heard he went abroad during high school. He only recently came back."
Lou Sasa raised her hand and looked at Song Luokui. "I know about that. It seems like he was sent abroad by your brother, Luokui."
Song Luokui frowned. "Wei Qing? I don't know him, and I haven't heard my brother mention him either."
Lou Sasa: "That's right. Aside from your brother, it seems Chi Yu from that family also helped make it happen."
Song Luokui was even more confused. Her brother actually did something together with Chi Yu to send this Wei Qing person abroad?
The name Wei Qing sounded a bit familiar, but she was sure she didn't know this person.
"My brother didn't mention it," Song Luokui said.
Lou Sasa: "He probably thought it wasn't important, it was just something between the men. My brother told me about it. We have some...minor business dealings with the Wei Family, but our relationship is just average, nothing particularly good. As for Wei Qing...he's a bit abnormal."
"What do you mean?" everyone asked curiously.
Lou Sasa: "When Wei Qing was in school, he seemed to keep transferring. At first, many people would become friends with him, but it wouldn't be long before they had a falling out. It happened with everyone."
Zhang Xiyue: "Ah? Is he like Tea Sis, two-faced? Or what?"
Weng Jiao: "Then he and Tea Sis would make a good match."
Lou Sasa: "I'm not sure either. Anyway, he went abroad during high school, and there was no more news of him in our circles. But the Wei Family doted on him a lot, I heard they cleaned up many of his messes. Oh, and many girls also liked him."
Everyone was puzzled: "Why?"
Lou Sasa: "He's handsome, and he's from the Wei Family. If they married him, their family's status would rise even higher."
Tu Shanyue, who had been silent the whole time, spoke up: "Speaking of marriage, my family is also planning an arranged marriage for me."
Everyone immediately looked at her. "You?"
Tu Shanyue: "Mm-hmm."
Zhou Yue: "Your family...doesn't need an arranged marriage, right?" Everyone felt it was puzzling since the Tu Family was also a prestigious family, and it seemed unnecessary for them to have an arranged marriage.
Tu Shanyue shrugged. "It's not exactly called an arranged marriage. Anyway, my mom is already helping me look for potential matches, she thinks it's best if it's someone from our circles. She's afraid I'll fall for some poor guy or something. The people I've dated before weren't from our circles, although they weren't exactly poor, but in my mom's eyes, they weren't good enough."
As she finished speaking, everyone looked at Zhang Xiyue, who had previously dated someone they all considered a poor guy.
Zhang Xiyue felt embarrassed. "Why are you all looking at me? I've already broken up with that scumbag, can't this dark history be left in the past?"
Tu Shanyue: "Forget about me, do you all think your families would let you marry a poor guy?"
Everyone shook their heads. They all knew deep down that even if they couldn't find true love within their circles, they would never be able to marry a poor guy. The idea of abandoning their family to elope with a poor person was impossible.
Of course, there were some romantics in their circles, and such things had happened before. But the outcomes...weren't very good. After that incident, all the parents in their circles used it as a cautionary tale to warn their children.
