Chapter 75: It’s Her! (Fourth Update)

Yuhang had no idea that the friend Huang Ying asked him to accompany her to pick up today would turn out to be Chen Li.

He and Huang Ying took the bus to the station. “You have friends from other places? How come I never heard about them?”

Huang Ying shot him a glare. “I have friends all over the world. How many do you think you know?”

Yuhang fell silent. Since they started dating, he had always been the weaker party.

“She’s here!” Huang Ying exclaimed excitedly, rushing toward an arriving bus.

Yuhang felt a pang in his heart. Who could this person be to make Huang Ying so thrilled?

A beautiful and youthful girl stepped off the bus. Her eyes sparkled like gemstones, her skin soft and flawless, dressed in a white down jacket and leggings. Apart from her modest chest, her figure was nearly perfect.

“Chen Li!” Yuhang blurted out in surprise.

Chen Li greeted Yuhang with grace, then hugged Huang Ying tightly.

“Lili, I’ve missed you so much!”

The two girls chattered joyfully...

Yuhang finally understood why Huang Ying wanted him there. Chen Li had returned from America, and her luggage was substantial.

“Lili, did you come back alone?”

“My dad’s colleague brought me back, but she had business in the provincial capital, so I took the bus straight to the county.”

Huang Ying was in high spirits. “Chen Li, tonight we’re feasting.”

Chen Li nodded.

Yuhang asked, “Should we invite Ming Han too?”

At the mention of that name, Chen Li’s eyes flickered, but she said nothing more.

“Sure, otherwise you’d be the only guy and it’d be awkward.”

Yuhang excitedly called Ming Han. “Dinner together tonight.”

On the other end, Ming Han asked suspiciously, “Aren’t you and Huang Ying spending time together as a couple?”

Yuhang replied nonchalantly, “She brought a friend too.”

He was cunning enough not to mention Chen Li’s name.

Chen Li, upon learning Ming Han would come, suddenly felt flustered.

“Getting nervous about seeing your little sweetheart?” Huang Ying teased.

Chen Li pouted silently, looking utterly adorable.

...

Ming Han went home to change, then rode his beloved electric scooter to the restaurant.

Yuhang was waiting for him at the entrance. As soon as Ming Han saw him, he threw a playful punch. “Damn, you must’ve struck it rich, eating at a place like this. If we can’t pay the bill later, we’ll end up washing dishes.”

Yuhang grinned. “We have a benefactor tonight, so eat as much as you want!”

The two of them bantered as they headed inside. Halfway there, Yuhang suddenly said, “Ming Han, my stomach’s acting up. Go wait for me in private room 1160.”

Ming Han grumbled, “You’re so troublesome!”

Once Ming Han left, Yuhang secretly messaged Huang Ying: “Ming Han’s here!”

Seeing the message, Huang Ying pretended her stomach hurt. “Chen Li, I need to use the restroom.”

Chen Li nodded, left alone in the room sipping a drink.

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

Chen Li thought the food was arriving. She stood to open the door—and there stood the boy she’d thought of day and night.

“Ming Han…”

Ming Han froze, his thoughts in turmoil. He had wondered if he might see Chen Li again someday and how it would happen, but he never expected it to be so soon.

“Chen Li, you’re finally back.”

He didn’t know why he said “finally,” but Chen Li could sense the lingering ache in his heart.

She nodded.

The atmosphere grew heavy. Neither knew what to say.

Both searched for a topic.

“Yuhang went to the restroom.”

“Huang Ying went to the restroom.”

Their words came out almost in unison—and suddenly, they both realized the scheme their friends had set up.

They each found a seat, avoiding each other’s eyes.

“Ming Han, are you alright?”

In the past six months, Ming Han had known nothing of Chen Li’s life, but Chen Li was thoroughly familiar with Ming Han’s.

He’d become the ninth-grade champion and was named MVP.

He’d become the heartthrob of many girls and swept awards in various competitions.

He was doing better and better, growing ever more outstanding.

Ming Han tried to steady himself. “Yeah, I’ve been studying and playing basketball seriously, and it’s all going well.”

The dishes began to arrive, but Yuhang and Huang Ying didn’t return.

“Those two idiots, always up to something,” Ming Han muttered under his breath.

They ate quietly, speaking little.

Ming Han finally put down his chopsticks. “Chen Li, when are you going back?”

He meant, of course, going back to America.

Chen Li shook her head. “I’m going back to school. My dad’s arranged everything.”

By “school,” she meant Jinhua High. Ming Han understood, replying lightly.

They ate slowly, barely talking. Ming Han had often imagined that if he met Chen Li again, he’d ask why she’d left so abruptly, without even giving him a chance to ask her to stay.

But when they finally met, they felt like awkward acquaintances. So many words stuck in their throats, unspoken.

Ming Han got up to pay, but Chen Li stopped him. “We agreed I’d treat today.”

He gently shook her off. “It’s fine.”

He thought it would be more dashing that way. Then the server approached with the bill. “Hello, your total is twelve hundred yuan.”

Ming Han stood stunned—six dishes and two drinks cost over a thousand? Was this place daylight robbery?

But he kept his dismay hidden, took out his wallet, and handed over the money.

“This month, it’s back to living on bread and water,” he thought.

It was nearly all of Ming Han’s pocket money for over a month.

Chen Li stood quietly beside him, like an obedient girlfriend.

The server thanked them, then said, “What a handsome couple you make!”

Chen Li’s face turned bright red.

Feeling awkward, Ming Han said, “Shall we go?”

Chen Li stood still, pointing to her luggage.

Ming Han sighed. After all her time soaking up American culture, she was still this lazy? Wasn’t independence supposed to be the norm over there?

He picked up her luggage, and Chen Li quietly followed him out.

Just as they left the hotel, they ran into an old acquaintance—Deng Qingqing.

She saw Ming Han with a girl and immediately felt a pang of irritation, not even bothering to look closely. “Wow, Ming Han, you’re going places with a girl now? Shameless!”

Ming Han shrugged. “Deng Qingqing, what goes on in your head? It’s just dinner with a friend.”

At that moment, Deng Qingqing realized the girl was Chen Li, whom she hadn’t seen in half a year. Though they hadn’t known each other well before, they were familiar by name.

“You’re back?”

Chen Li nodded.

Deng Qingqing pouted in mock annoyance. “So, Ming Han, you two are rekindling old flames, dry tinder and roaring fire?”

The family driver, witnessing his young lady’s misuse of idioms, couldn’t help but shake his head. “Mind your image, Miss!”

With Deng Qingqing’s description, Chen Li couldn’t help but burst out laughing.