“After eating ice cream, now we’re having hot pot.
Chen Ting, are you trying to make me gain weight?”
“You’re so slender; there shouldn’t be a more beautiful consort than you in the palace.”
“I dare not say that—everything depends on the emperor’s will.”
“Huh?”
Jiang Chen, who was just picking up a piece of beef throat, looked completely bewildered.
“Chenchen doesn’t watch much TV usually.”
Chen Ting smiled as she added another half plate to the spicy pot.
“Yeah, Chenchen, it feels like besides doing homework, you’re always studying.”
“Is that so? I also like reading novels.”
Jiang Chen recalled her usual rest time: sitting in her room, brewing a cup of tea, and reading books borrowed from the library.
“Uh, good kid.”
Although Chen Ting studied seriously too, she didn’t hold back when it came to fun.
“Of course Chenchen is a good kid; I feel like she never refuses anyone.”
“Yeah, yeah, when we first met, we asked you to act in the stage play, and you agreed right away.”
Chen Ting remembered that time.
“Mm…”
Jiang Chen also recalled the scene back then; she remembered not wanting to seem too aloof.
“So! Chenchen, Yingying and I sometimes worry about you a lot.”
“Worry about me? Why?”
Jiang Chen didn’t think there was anything about her that needed worrying.
“Look, look, your mom is pretty busy with work too, right? A lot of times, you have to take care of yourself.”
“Uh, Mom’s work hasn’t been that busy lately.”
“But she still has to juggle both sides.”
“Mm.”
Jiang Chen nodded; although her mom didn’t need to work as desperately as before, she still had to handle both housework and work.
There were too few places where she could help her mom.
Plus, with exam prep starting in the second half of the year, her mom probably wouldn’t even let her help with chores.
“You’re so sensible; you should be nicer to yourself too, right?”
“You guys…”
Jiang Chen had picked up her iced lemon cola but put it back down on the table, the rising bubbles dissolving into the tea-brown liquid.
“I’m not as miserable as you make it sound.
Besides, you also said Mom works hard usually, so it’s only right for me to help her with housework and other trivial things.”
“That makes sense, but it’s just… Chenchen, you have your own fun that belongs to your age, right?”
Chen Ting grew up under her parents’ care; she rarely felt wronged.
Plus, with her being the only junior in the family studying now, she was watched over closely.
Not just materially, but psychologically too—they protected her.
The innocent and carefree nature of a girl her age often showed in Chen Ting.
And while Zhou Qingying’s parents were divorced, Zhou Ming rarely let his daughter worry about daily trifles, not to mention Principal Zhou and his wife often checking in on her.
In their eyes, Jiang Chen was like the perfect child from another family.
Not only independent but also without much temper; she studied diligently and knew how to share her mother’s burdens.
Too sensible.
“Am I… too lifeless in your eyes?”
“No way!”
Chen Ting denied it immediately, but under Jiang Chen’s staring gaze, she changed her tune.
“How is it lifeless… it’s just a bit too mature, you know? Chenchen, you need to be a little willful sometimes.”
“My mom has always tolerated my willfulness.” Jiang Chen took a sip of cola, the icy, stimulating bubbles exploding in her throat.
Besides, there’s someone else who accepts all my willfulness too.
Jiang Chen thought.
“If that’s what you call willfulness, then Tingting could be considered spoiled.”
Zhou Qingying fished out the cooked meat and divided it onto their plates.
Chen Ting dipped it in sauce and swallowed it in one bite, mumbling with her mouth full, “We just hope you can have more of your own ideas; it feels like you’re always so indifferent.”
“I see.” Jiang Chen understood; she did tend to go along with their ideas most of the time, but that didn’t mean she was just following the crowd.
“I really… think it’s all fine, but now that you say it, maybe I should stick to my ideas more.”
Jiang Chen smiled slyly.
“What do you mean?” Chen Ting looked wary.
“After the movie, let’s head back; shopping would be too tiring.”
Jiang Chen stretched lazily; she was indeed a bit sleepy today.
“How can you…”
Chen Ting then realized she had shot herself in the foot, but thinking it was Jiang Chen’s suggestion, she couldn’t refuse.
Chen Ting genuinely hoped Jiang Chen could be more willful and express her own ideas.
Like that time she got jealous—it made Chen Ting realize Jiang Chen was the type to digest her thoughts on her own.
“Sorry; how about next time?”
Jiang Chen felt a bit guilty seeing Chen Ting’s pitiful face.
“Then let’s hang out again before school starts.
Ah… but Yingying will be busy later.”
Coming out to watch the play today was after getting permission in advance.
“Sigh, yeah, I have to go back for rehearsal tomorrow.”
“Even if we can’t meet outside, we’ll all go to your performance.”
“Yeah, you all have to come.”
Zhou Qingying smiled, and Jiang Chen noticed a flash of confusion in her eyes.
The tickets were bought in advance; after leaving the hot pot restaurant, they went straight to the cinema on the third floor for a comedy movie.
No overly complex plot, the laughs were straightforward, watching it made one feel relaxed.
Zhou Qingying stared at the big screen, occasionally laughing along with the two beside her.
But she always felt an emptiness at the bottom of her heart.
“Ah, I drank too much soda; I need to go to the bathroom.”
Chen Ting hurried toward the restroom anxiously.
“Then we’ll wait for you on the sofas over there~” Zhou Qingying pointed to the nearby rest area.
Chen Ting turned back and gave an “OK” sign, then quickened her steps to the restroom.
“Let’s sit inside.” Jiang Chen pointed to the innermost three-seater.
“Okay.”
Zhou Qingying carried her own shoulder bag, her free hand holding Chen Ting’s, the metal chain swinging up and coiled in her palm.
“It was pretty interesting.”
After sitting down, Zhou Qingying seemed to be savoring the movie’s content.
The empty spot in her heart felt like it could never be filled; she didn’t know what was wrong with her.
Ever since hearing Chen Ting say “we’ll all go to your performance” at the hot pot place, she had been particularly tangled.
She desperately wanted to drive the thoughts out of her mind, but they kept echoing.
Her mom’s casual act of placing the ticket on the table left a sour taste.
“Did… Auntie say something to you after all?”
Jiang Chen and Chen Ting had deliberately avoided the topic, but seeing Zhou Qingying growing more off now, Jiang Chen thought about it and asked directly.
How could she keep it bottled up inside?
“She didn’t say much; actually, it was pretty much what I guessed beforehand, not much different from what Dad said.”
Zhou Qingying gripped the bag chain tightly, ignoring the discomfort pressing into her palm.
“Yingying, but you’re unhappy, right?”
“Yeah, I thought it was nothing, but it’s not because of what she said that I’m unhappy, you know? It’s just… before I left…”
Zhou Qingying took a deep breath, her eyes widening, rims turning red in an instant.
“I invited her to my performance, but she didn’t seem willing.”
“Yingying!” Jiang Chen stood up and hugged the girl.
“Tingting and I will go; everyone will go.”
“But why doesn’t she want to? I really can’t understand; it’s just one performance, and I checked the time—she shouldn’t be in a rush to leave then.”
Zhou Qingying cried very softly; their movements didn’t attract anyone’s attention.
Soon, she stopped her tears.
Taking the tissue Jiang Chen handed her, she looked up to see Chen Ting standing nearby, unnoticed until now.
She patted Zhou Qingying’s head somewhat angrily.
“As soon as I leave, you cry; do you dislike sharing your feelings with me that much?”
“No… you know all my secrets.”
“And now?”
“Don’t you know now too…”
Looking at her best friend of so many years, Chen Ting felt both angry and amused.
“Alright, if she doesn’t come, she doesn’t come.
Worst case, Chenchen and I dress up old-fashioned and act as your moms.”
“Don’t take advantage of me.”
“I don’t know who was shouting so enthusiastically before.”
“Don’t drag me into this.” Jiang Chen, seeing the fire about to spread to her, quickly countered.
“Yingying clearly trusts me.”
“Ah, so I’m the unreliable one~ Boo hoo.” Chen Ting fake-cried twice, without even a dry sob.
“Anyone who doesn’t know would think something happened to you.”
Zhou Qingying pouted; Chen Ting always knew how to interrupt just right, sweeping away her gloomy mood.
“Tingting, thank you.”
“Tch, now you know how great I am.”
“Yes, yes, you’re the best bestie~ Ah, Chenchen is my good bestie too.”
“You don’t have to balance the scales so evenly.” Jiang Chen shook her head with a laugh.
The dull pain from family ties would sting you from time to time; just when your wound healed, you’d see blood seeping out again.
Gradually, you get used to it.
One day, you realize it’s become a scar.
Clearly, it doesn’t hurt anymore, but the mark remains.