Raising her head, Shen Nian forced a smile upon seeing everyone's concerned looks. "I'm fine, don't worry about me."
Releasing her legs that had been hugged close, Shen Nian stood up. "We've been wandering for so long, everyone must be tired. You guys order first, I'll go cool off over there for a bit."
"Nian-jie..." Jiang Lingling looked at Shen Nian with concern, but Shen Nian smiled back at her, reassuring her instead. "I'm really fine, I just need to calm down for now. Could you order me a lunch too? You said this place has good Italian meat sauce pasta, right? Order one for me."
After saying that, she left.
Jiang Lingling wanted to say something more, but was held back by Li Nan.
Turning in a hurry, Li Nan shook her head at Jiang Lingling. "Let her calm down. Any consolation from us now would only disturb her."
Jiang Lingling finally relented.
This restaurant's decor was indeed nice, divided into indoor and outdoor dining areas. Their signature was the outdoor sky dining area, surrounded by greenery and climbing vines, with a grassy lawn and pebbled paths, like an aerial garden.
At this moment, Shen Nian had no heart to appreciate the scenery. She walked over to the railing.
To prevent accidents from children running around, the restaurant had purposefully raised the railing to around Shen Nian's chest level, with very narrow gaps between the railings that were filled in with decorations.
She leaned on the railing, the height allowing her to overlook the scenery below, buildings in full view, yet obscured by a hazy mist due to the altitude.
Shen Nian stared blankly, unable to take in the view at all.
The movie in her mind was rewinding, then fast-forwarding through bits and pieces of her closest relationship with Lu Lingrui six years ago.
"Nian-nian, let's buy matching best friend bracelets, okay?" Lu Lingrui had stopped at a small stall, holding her back.
"Nian-nian, don't accompany my brother today, accompany me instead~~~" Lu Lingrui vying for attention with Lu Lingchuan.
"Nian-nian, we'll be the best sisters-in-law!" Lu Lingrui pulled her along, nodding and laughing with eyes squinted into slits.
"Nian-nian~~~I know I was wrong, I won't do it again." Lu Lingrui looked pitiful, blinking her eyes after some mischief.
"Nian-nian!"
"Nian-nian~~"
"Nian-nian..."
"..."
"Nian-nian!"
Suddenly, someone called out to her, snapping Shen Nian out of her daze.
In front of her was Lu Lingrui's big, bright smile, radiant as always, like a sunflower.
She reached out her hand to Shen Nian and said—
"Nian-nian, let's go play together."
Shen Nian stared blankly, murmuring, "Xiao Rui..."
"Okay." She said.
Placing her hands on the railing, she started to hoist herself up.
Wanting to climb over the railing, to take Lu Lingrui's hand...
"Nian-jie!" Another voice interrupted Shen Nian, as Jiang Lingling rushed forward and grabbed her.
"Nian-jie, what are you doing?!"
Jiang Lingling's voice pulled Shen Nian back to reality. She closed her eyes, then opened them again, and Lu Lingrui was gone.
It had only been her imagination, just her imagination...
"Nian-jie! Nian-jie!" Seeing Shen Nian's dazed expression, Jiang Lingling was so anxious she was almost in tears. "Can you hear me? Nian-jie..."
Shen Nian was shaken by her, feeling dizzy. She reached out to hold Jiang Lingling's shoulders, smiling wryly. "Stop shaking me, you're going to make me dizzy."
Seeing the tears welling up in Jiang Lingling's eyes, Shen Nian's gentle gaze flashed with a hint of helplessness.
She reached out, using her fingers to wipe away the tears, like a gentle older sister, softly asking, "Why are you crying?"
Jiang Lingling sniffled pathetically. "Nian-jie, you were trying to climb over the railing just now..."
She had seen that little girl in the elevator unhesitatingly jump down earlier.
Just thinking of that scene made Jiang Lingling's tears flow uncontrollably.
She was scared.
Scared that Shen Nian would go down that same path.
"..." Shen Nian was stunned. "Really?"
Then she smiled again. "I didn't mean to."
Wanting to help Jiang Lingling wipe her tears but unable to find any tissue after patting herself down, she could only use her hand.
"I just wanted to get a better look at the scenery, but it's too high up to see clearly, and the railing is too tall, so I thought I'd try standing on my toes. I didn't expect you to misunderstand." She explained helplessly.
Jiang Lingling still had tears clinging to her lashes, asking skeptically, "Really?"
Shen Nian smiled. "Why would I lie to you? So much time has passed since that incident, I'm not so fragile that I'd have a breakdown and want to jump just from seeing someone else do it."
All these years, the first impression everyone had of Shen Nian was of her being strong.
She was so diligent, so strong.
This girl of only 23 years old, while her peers were still being pampered by their mothers, eating snacks, binge-watching shows, and ordering deliveries, had become the most trusted assistant of a company's CEO.
Her achievements were something even men ten years older than her could rarely surpass.
In everyone's memory, Shen Nian had always been so hardworking. She was like an indestructible giant, following alongside Lu Lingchuan step-by-step, reaching where they are today.
It was because of her and Lu Lingchuan that the Lingrui Group exists today.
Someone with such perseverance was indeed unlikely to feel so dejected over something so trivial.
Shen Nian had always been a good actress, her brows and eyes smiling, with a hint of helpless affection in her gaze.
She gently wiped away Jiang Lingling's tears, appearing so normal that she didn't seem to be lying at all.
Seeing the sincerity in Shen Nian's eyes, that she didn't seem to be deceiving her, Jiang Lingling finally wiped away her own tears.
Shen Nian smiled warmly. "Did you need me for something?"
Jiang Lingling shook her head, only then realizing how embarrassing it was for someone her age to be crying like that, lowering her head to wipe away the tears, her voice still choked with sobs.
"The pasta you ordered is here, I came to call you to eat."
"Mm." Shen Nian turned to glance at the scenery outside the railing, then pulled her gaze back, saying to Jiang Lingling, "Let's go."
Seeing her eyes were still red, Shen Nian looked exasperated. "Alright, you look like I bullied you with that face."
Jiang Lingling immediately adjusted her mood, no longer crying, just with slightly reddened eyes.
Pinching her small chin, Shen Nian smiled. "There, let's go."
"Mm."
...
When they returned, everyone was eating and chatting. To liven up the atmosphere from earlier, someone suggested playing a game where whoever was called out had to share an embarrassing childhood story.
Shen Nian walked over and pulled out a chair to sit down, with Jiang Lingling sitting beside her.
When she saw them returning, Li Nan smiled and said, "We're playing a game, do you want to join?"
Shen Nian smiled, "You all play, I'll watch for now."
"Okay."
With those words, a new round of the game began. They placed their phones in the middle and opened the same game app. The app ran, and whoever's phone lit up red was the lucky one to be chosen.
It was a little game they had devised themselves.
The red light flashed on each person's phone in turn, finally settling on Li Nan's phone.
