Wen Nan briefly explained "street culture" to Guan Ailin.
Guan Ailin listened intently, nodding slowly, lost in thought.
The two of them walked along the street outside the school gate. Without realizing, they reached the end of the road and saw a conspicuous sign at the T-junction ahead that read "Cashbox KTV."
Wen Nan took the tallic "little brick" from his pocket to check the ti. It was nearly fifteen minutes past the ti Li Fang had set for the birthday gathering.
Just as he was thinking, the classic retro Nokia ringtone rang, followed by a striking incoming call alert on the screen—[My Wanwan Baby].
The note was clearly written by Zhao Wanting herself.
Wen Nan answered the phone, and the sound of noisy car horns ca from the other side, suggesting that Zhao Wanting was also by the roadside.
"Senior Ye, where are you? I’ve been waiting for you for so long; why haven’t I seen you yet?"
Wen Nan was taken aback, "...Waiting for ?"
"Yeah, didn’t we agree at lunch in the cafeteria that I, as your family mber, would join your junior’s birthday gathering with you?"
The other side spoke nonsense solemnly, and before Wen Nan could refute, there was a sudden scream on the phone, forcing Wen Nan to hold the phone farther from his ear.
"Senior Ye! I see you! I’m right across from you! Look at ! Don’t move, I’m coming to you!"
The other side hung up the phone.
Putting down the phone, Wen Nan looked around the intersection and saw across the street a girl in a spaghetti strap camisole and ripped shorts, her hair tied high in twin ponytails. She waved her slender arms vigorously towards Wen Nan, wearing high, clunky sandals that looked like wooden clogs. With her long legs, she sprinted across the street towards Wen Nan.
She stopped several fast-moving vehicles, drawing curses from the drivers on the whole street. Zhao Wanting, like a proud blue peacock, held her head high and reached Wen Nan, "Senior, you—"
Just as she started to speak, she noticed the other woman beside Wen Nan, and her smile imdiately disappeared, "Who is she?"
Even before Zhao Wanting approached, Guan Ailin had quietly withdrawn her hand from Wen Nan’s and deliberately moved a step aside, creating a normal social distance between them.
At Zhao Wanting’s question, before Wen Nan could answer, Guan Ailin volunteered, "I’m his cousin."
Wen Nan was stunned and turned to look at Guan Ailin.
Upon hearing the word "cousin," Zhao Wanting’s smile imdiately returned.
This was a true family mber; she, as the pretender, had no reason to confront the other.
The wary questioning tone was gone, and Zhao Wanting switched to a sweet voice, "Oh, it’s sister! Hello, sister!"
Zhao Wanting naturally stood on Wen Nan’s other side, linking his arm and half-pushing him forward, chatting with Guan Ailin across Wen Nan along the way, "Sister, you look pretty, and your dress is beautiful. You look like an ice and snow princess, almost out of this world."
Not used to girls like Zhao Wanting, Guan Ailin didn’t know how to respond, so she returned a faint smile.
Wen Nan lifted his hand, pinched Zhao Wanting’s shoulder, and adjusted her posture, "Stop chatting and watch the road. With cars coming and going, do you think the street is our living room?"
Zhao Wanting huffed but obediently stood straight.
Although displeased with the man’s nagging, he said "our ho," didn’t he? Zhao Wanting decided to ignore the reprimanding tone and took it as flirting.
As they reached the entrance of Cashbox, about to step inside, Wen Nan glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw a shadowy figure in black clothes and a baseball cap in the corner ford by two buildings.
Hesitating for a mont, Wen Nan turned his head towards the shadow, only to find it was empty.
"What’s wrong?" Guan Ailin, constantly observing Wen Nan’s every move, stepped forward, looking into the corner following his gaze.
Originally watching the entrance, Zhao Wanting also turned to look over, "What? What’s wrong over there?"
Wen Nan withdrew his gaze, "Nothing, just seeing things."
At the sa ti, a slender figure at the entrance quickly ca out, "Senior! You ca!"
Wen Nan was taken aback, looking at the suddenly appearing girl, unable to recognize her at first glance.
Li Fang was no longer carrying a bulky schoolbag or wearing old-fashioned mid-sleeve and mid-pants. Instead, she wore an A-line mini skirt that only reached her thighs, paired with a loose off-shoulder white shirt. Her long black hair flowed down, wearing light makeup with deep-colored enlarging contacts, creating innocent puppy eyes.
She appeared lively and a bit mischievous.
She was a completely different person from the timid girl with glasses seen in the cafeteria at noon.
As Zhao Wanting sized up Li Fang from head to toe, her gaze was filled with hostility.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t understand how the previously plain and unattractive girl could transform in just a few hours. Did she go for a special makeover?
But Zhao Wanting knew well enough about the standards of the barber shops and styling salons in front of the university. Going there, guys would end up with shiny yellow hair, and girls with frizzy perms, uglier than ever.
Such a trendy style on the other side didn’t seem possible for stylists from their era to achieve.
Did she get hooked up with a wealthy classmate?
The worst part was, it seed Li Fang’s foundation wasn’t bad. She wasn’t tall, but her legs were slim and straight, her face was small, and her features were delicate. Her chest wasn’t big, but the off-shoulder top showcased her lovely collarbones, playing up her strengths and minimizing weaknesses, bringing about a slight admiration from Zhao Wanting.
She turned to look at the man beside her, and sure enough, he was gazing at Li Fang with an appreciative smile, genuinely praising her, "You look stunning tonight, hard to take my eyes off you."
Upon hearing this, Li Fang’s cheeks imdiately blushed. She lowered her eyes, her gaze returning to her toes, nervously tugging at her skirt, as if unused to wearing such a short skirt, trying to pull it down, and murmured softly, "Tha-Thank you, senior."
"Humph." Zhao Wanting snorted disdainfully, muttering under her breath, "A pheasant remains a pheasant. Even if it flies to the branches, it can’t beco a phoenix."
Li Fang looked up at Zhao Wanting, then back at Wen Nan, "Senior... did you really bring soone?"
"Yeah," Wen Nan nodded but then pushed Guan Ailin forward, following the earlier story, introducing, "This is my sister."
Zhao Wanting interjected bluntly, "I’m his younger sister."
Wen Nan didn’t refute this, only apologetically smiling, admitting he brought quite a few people along.
Li Fang quickly waved her hand, "Not too many, the more people at a birthday party, the rrier. I’m happy you ca along with your family."
Saying this, Li Fang turned around, leading Wen Nan and the others through the lobby into a dimly lit corridor. At the end of it, she pushed open a heavy door, and they entered a private room.
Li Fang booked a dium room, not very spacious, with dim lighting. The table in the center was filled with snacks, fruit platters, various cooked foods, and a twelve-inch tiramisu cake.
On the large screen at the front, a relatively soothing love song was playing as people sat on the sofas along the walls, snacking on nuts, drinking beverages, laughing, and chatting.
Seeing Li Fang leading the group in, soone imdiately started teasing, "Oh wow! Isn’t this the senior that Xiao Fang always has on her mind?"
Upon hearing this, the others also turned to look at the entrance.
Li Fang imdiately blushed, waving her hands in a panic, whispering, "Don’t say things like that..."
Wen Nan stood at the door, scanning the room, quickly locking eyes on a figure sitting alone in the corner.
Wearing a plain white T-shirt and ordinary blue jeans, the person was easy to overlook in the crowd.
However, Wen Nan recognized him at a glance—
He was first seen at the police station entrance, then on Lover’s Hill, and now in this KTV private room...
This man’s movents oddly matched Wen Nan’s.
Was it just a coincidence, or was soone deliberately orchestrating this?
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