Chapter 67: Where the Gaze Reaches

When Jiang Chen exited the station, Mo Nono was nowhere to be seen. 

She hurried toward the theater.

Without paying attention, an electric scooter darted out, and Jiang Chen quickly stepped back two paces.

“Didn’t you watch where you’re going?!”

The person on the scooter cursed and rode off immediately.

Jiang Chen took a deep breath, still shaken. 

She patted her chest, and as she turned her head, she saw a golden figure running toward her.

“Are you okay…”

Wang Ziyue, who had been on the other side of the road, stared at Jiang Chen in alarm. 

She wanted to pull the girl into her arms, but remembering something, she ended up clutching her own suit jacket instead.

Jiang Chen noticed the veins bulging on the back of her hand.

“No, Sister… I’m fine. I’m okay, Sister…”

“Cousin!” 

Mo Nono ran over from the other end. 

In her short heels, she started panting after just a few steps. 

By the time she reached Wang Ziyue, she was bent over from exhaustion. 

“I went the wrong way. When I turned back, I saw you right away. This is…”

She looked up at the person who had been blocked by Wang Ziyue.

“Ah! Beauty! How… how is it you—”

“What’s going on?”

Wang Ziyue interrupted Mo Nono’s muttering.

She hadn’t planned to introduce her cousin to Jiang Chen so soon. 

With that big mouth, who knew when she’d spill everything.

But the incident had happened suddenly—from her angle, she had seen the scooter heading straight for Jiang Chen.

“Uh, Cousin, you know her?” 

Mo Nono’s big eyes darted around, and she suddenly realized.

She immediately thought of the underwear and panties her cousin had asked her to buy earlier.

Looking at the figure, it seemed to match…

“What are you looking at?” 

Wang Ziyue stepped in front of Jiang Chen.

“Nothing, President Wang.”

Mo Nono instantly backed down. 

She suddenly remembered how she had tried to strike up a conversation with her on the subway.

Hiss… She wasn’t sure if the girl had told her cousin.

Please don’t say anything random. 

She had just been struck by her looks and wanted to make a friend, that’s all.

She hadn’t even gotten her WeChat.

“Earlier, on the subway…” 

Jiang Chen suddenly spoke weakly, and Wang Ziyue turned to look at her.

Mo Nono’s heart leaped into her throat. Behind Wang Ziyue, she desperately made faces, mouthing “I’m sorry” and keeping her hands clasped in apology.

“This sister happened to sit next to me.”

“Is that so?” 

Wang Ziyue glanced at Mo Nono, seeing her fawning expression, and felt speechless. 

“You can call her Auntie. She’s been working for so long; she’s not a kid anymore.”

“Cousin! Come on, really? I only graduated not long ago. How am I an auntie already?” 

Mo Nono had arrived just in time to hear Jiang Chen call Wang Ziyue “Sister.”

Wang Ziyue shot her a look, knowing exactly what was going through her head, but she didn’t want to explain further. 

This little sister would definitely come bother her more in the future.

If she told her everything, there’d be no peace.

“Beauty, I’m Mo Nono. You can call me Nono. We’re probably not that far apart in age. Are you still in school?”

“Mm… High school.”

“High school, huh? Mm… High school?” 

Mo Nono glanced at Wang Ziyue, who met her gaze without flinching.

“High school’s great, the flower of youth. Sigh, I kind of miss my high school days.”

Mo Nono changed the subject.

At that moment, Jiang Chen’s phone rang. She softly said “Sorry” and stepped aside to take the call.

“Hello, Chen, I’m already at the main entrance? How come I don’t see you?” 

Chen Ting’s voice came through.

“I’ll be there soon. I’m at the subway exit; it’s not far.”

“Okay, then I’m at the left entrance coming into the front square.”

“Mm-hmm, I’ll be right there.”

Jiang Chen hung up and walked back to the two, who suddenly fell silent from whatever they had been saying. 

Jiang Chen didn’t think much of it.

“I have to go; Yingying’s performance is about to start.”

“Then hurry along. Oh, right, Jiang Jiang.”

“Mm?” 

Jiang Chen turned back, and Wang Ziyue pointed at her own phone.

“Me running into you today was a coincidence, right…”

“Yeah, why?”

“Remember to report it to your mom for me. I just messaged her, but she seems to completely ignore me.”

Jiang Chen couldn’t help but laugh. 

The smile fluttered over and landed on Wang Ziyue’s eyelashes, making them tremble slightly.

“I know… It’s because your credit score is too low.”

Jiang Chen muttered softly again. 

Wang Ziyue didn’t catch it and was about to ask when she saw Jiang Chen had already taken a few quick steps, then suddenly turned and waved at her.

Wang Ziyue waved back.

“Bye-bye~” 

Mo Nono added sound effects from the side, earning another glare from Wang Ziyue.

“Remember what happened today.”

“Don’t say a word to anyone. Keep it rotting in your stomach and be a proper secret-keeper.” 

Mo Nono repeated what had been said earlier.

“Cousin, can I discuss it with my brother and sister-in-law then?”

Wang Ziyue patted her shoulder. 

“Nono, the company has been thinking about expanding to Africa lately.”

“I’m a proper secret-keeper! I’m only loyal to my boss, Wang Ziyue!” Mo Nono straightened up in fright.

After Jiang Chen crossed the road, she spotted Chen Ting standing on the steps. 

Upon seeing Jiang Chen, she waved her arms vigorously, her puff-sleeve dress bouncing along.

“Chen, this outfit is gorgeous! French floral dresses look so tacky on me.” 

Chen Ting gave her a bear hug.

“Tsk tsk, are you trying to outshine our leading lady today?”

“You’d better watch out saying that, or Yingying will hit you.”

“Hmph~” Chen Ting shrugged, mimicking a mean girl expression. 

“I don’t care~”

“What have you been watching lately?” 

Jiang Chen linked arms with her, and the two walked inside.

“An American TV show. Chen, why don’t you watch it too!”

“Mm-hmm.”

“You’re brushing me off again.”

There were quite a few people in the theater; you could see many students and parents, some of whom had gotten tickets from the school.

“Sigh, Principal Zhou is here too.”

Chen Ting pointed at the middle-aged man in the distance, who happened to notice them as well.

“Ah, Student Jiang, Student Chen, so glad you came to see Yingying’s performance.” 

Principal Zhou had the same kind, benevolent expression outside of school.

“Hello, Principal Zhou. Hello, Madam. Hello, Uncle Zhou.” 

The two greeted them in turn.

Zhou Ming stood behind his older brother and sister-in-law. 

He adjusted his glasses and smiled at the two. “Hello.”

His scholarly elegance diluted the melancholy about him, but that sense of detachment seemed etched into his bones.

“Let’s go in.” 

He said to his brother and sister-in-law.

Principal Zhou nodded and beckoned the two girls to follow.

Their seats were specially reserved, quite far forward.

Jiang Chen noticed the outermost seat was empty. After a moment’s thought, she realized who it was for.

The play was about to start. 

Jiang Chen glanced back; no one else came in.

Zhou Ming looked at the empty seat, then suddenly got up and sat there.

Principal Zhou and his wife exchanged a glance and sighed silently.

Jiang Chen cleared her mind and watched as the curtain slowly rose. 

Zhou Qingying walked out from backstage.

Today, she was undoubtedly dazzling. 

Every frown and smile seemed to gather the world’s spring colors into her eyes, and the audience’s gazes followed her.

And in a turn, she looked toward a certain seat.

It was Dad sitting there.

She withdrew her gaze, reciting lines she knew by heart.

“I’ll forget you, just like that, just like that.”

Jiang Chen was still immersed in Zhou Qingying’s performance even after it ended.

Not long after, Zhou Ming brought her and Chen Ting backstage, then left through the emergency exit himself.

As soon as they entered the dressing room, the girlfriends hugged tightly.

“Don’t hug so tight; I still have to change out of this costume.”

There were other girls in the dressing room, who smiled kindly at them. 

Jiang Chen and Chen Ting smiled back, as a greeting.

“Alright, all that hard work these days wasn’t in vain.” 

Zhou Qingying said with some emotion. 

She looked at her best friends’ expressions and smiled. 

“What, did you think I’d be sad?”

“Just like that, just like that.” 

She repeated the line from earlier.

Jiang Chen and Chen Ting exchanged a look and said, “Then we’ll wait outside for you.”

“Mm-hmm, you have to come to the celebration party later, my family group~”

After sending her two best friends off, Zhou Qingying patted her cheeks and looked at herself in the mirror.

In her bright eyes, there was only herself.

As soon as Zhou Ming stepped out, he saw Ma Lijun hiding in the stairwell, pinching a cigarette.

“No smoking here.”

Zhou Ming’s voice was a bit tight. He walked over to his ex-wife as if casually.

She just glanced at him sidelong, without speaking.

“Since you came, why not go in and see.”

“I did see, just from the back.” 

Ma Lijun tossed the cigarette back into the pack. 

Zhou Ming noticed there were only two or three left inside.

Zhou Ming wanted to say more, but Ma Lijun started down the stairs.

“She performed pretty well.”

Her faint voice floated up from below, very light, as if an illusion.