Luo Qianqian and Qin Nuan were walking through the school, but their laughter had vanished, and both wore stern expressions.
"How come I have the feeling that they’ve all forgotten my birthday?" Qin Nuan frowned unhappily. Her birthday was in just two days.
Luo Qianqian was taken aback, thinking back to Qin Wen’s reaction, and scratched her head, "My Fourth Brother wouldn’t forget, would he?"
"You better not remind them," Qin Nuan commanded with a composed face, but the desolation in her eyes didn’t escape Luo Qianqian.
She smiled. She had already reminded them, so she was certain she wouldn’t let Qin Nuan be disappointed.
"Alright, I won’t remind them. After all, I’ll be with you," Luo Qianqian said with a smile, which she quickly suppressed the next second, "Han Chen," pointing at a bench ahead.
Qin Nuan was startled and also controlled her emotions, looking forward because it had already gotten dark, and all she could make out was the rough silhouette and a shiny earring.
But it was exactly that earring that revealed his identity. He had never changed his earring; it had always been that one blue diamond stud, seemingly with some special significance.
Qin Nuan promptly pulled Luo Qianqian aside to hide. Han Chen was clearly chatting with a girl on that bench. Though most of her was hidden, they could still see her fluttering hair.
"She obviously doesn’t look like Xu Xiaoxiao," Luo Qianqian said with a slight frown, calmly judging the shadow.
Qin Nuan also furrowed her brow, "She doesn’t look like Xiu Ran either."
The two of them crouched by a tree, feeding mosquitoes, as they watched the two figures talk and laugh, and even kiss each other.
"I feel like we’re paparazzi," Qin Nuan remarked, swatting a mosquito that had landed on her arm. This path was seldom used, especially after dark, and there were no shops, snack bars, restaurants, or supermarkets around, so not many people came by, which is also why Qin Wen drove them back this way.
Luo Qianqian stayed silent.
Quite a while later, the two figures stood up, kissed, and Han Chen’s hands seemed to be exploring the girl’s body. She didn’t refuse, and it was a long time before they separated and Han Chen walked away first.
The girl sat down to play with her phone for a while before standing up to leave. Qin Nuan and Luo Qianqian quickly followed her until they reached a more illuminated area, and Luo Qianqian was shocked.
She recognized the person but didn’t know her name; she was a classmate from her class.
She pulled Qin Nuan away in a different direction.
Qin Nuan was puzzled, "You know her?"
Luo Qianqian nodded, "I don’t know her name, but she’s often hanging out with a few people in our class who I suspect."
Qin Nuan gasped, "You mean to say, the person behind the scenes is really Xu Xiaoxiao?"
"Otherwise, why would the Han Family keep being my enemy? A coincidence two or three times might be plausible, but five or six times, and each time they are involved? Isn’t that strange?" Luo Qianqian narrowed her eyes, "Fortunately, the pawn to deal with Xu Xiaoxiao has already been played."
"Are you talking about Ji Tianao?" Qin Nuan said with a dawn of realization, but frowned immediately, "What’s going on? It’s been so long, why hasn’t he called? Did he back out?"
"No, he wouldn’t bail. Since he owes my uncle a favor, he won’t break his promise. What I’m worried about is something else," Luo Qianqian said, her brow furrowed tightly.
"What?" Qin Nuan’s attention was instantly diverted, her face full of seriousness.
"Is it really okay for you to take three days off in a row?" Luo Qianqian playfully blinked, "Look, Wednesday is your birthday, Thursday is Qixi Festival, and Friday there’s a party."
"Who said I’m taking time off?" Qin Nuan glared, "Am I not allowed to celebrate after my classes?"
"But..." Luo Qianqian curved her lips without saying much, just with a mysterious smile, "Anyway, I’m not taking any leave. I don’t have class on Wednesday afternoon, and only one class on Friday, so Thursday has nothing to do with me."
Qin Nuan rolled her eyes, "You might as well just say you’re a single dog that has no plans for Qixi Festival. We agreed to spend it together, now you’re trying to back out."
She quickly added, "It’s fine, I guess Ah Ran... your Fourth Brother probably forgot about it too. Let’s just celebrate with Cong Rong as well." Luo Yanwu definitely couldn’t make it back, that was certain. So even if they wanted to celebrate together, it was impossible.
"...Speaking of which, should we invite Cong Rong to the banquet?" Luo Qianqian’s eyes spun slyly, "Grandpa said I could invite my own friends."
"...Your aunt would be thrilled for you to do that, but is there enough time to prepare the dress?" Qin Nuan knew instantly that the Luo family would definitely not oppose the idea, as it was necessary to meet Cong Rong on formal occasions.
Qin Nuan’s dress had been prepared, which, to a certain extent, was also an acknowledgment of her relationship with Luo Yanran.
Even if Luo Yanran forgot about Valentine’s Day, he dared not forget about Friday, as it was the Master’s birthday. Forgetting it would mean getting kicked by his dad into a roly-poly.
"We have to prepare it?" Luo Qianqian raised her eyebrows, "No worries, I’ll just report the measurements to my aunt later, hehe, I think she’s been waiting for me to say this, right? I’ll ask Cong Rong and then tell my aunt."
Qin Nuan indeed agreed with her, she felt the same.
"But if we don’t make a phone call soon, it’ll be too late to arrange everything, right?" The moment she finished speaking, Luo Qianqian’s phone vibrated.
Luo Qianqian took out her phone; it was an unfamiliar number: Are you available to talk now?
She raised her eyebrows, "I’ll bet you a pack of spicy strips that it’s Cao Cao coming right as we speak."
Then she dialed back the number, calmly saying, "Hello, who is this?"
"I’m Ji Tianao." Hearing this, Luo Qianqian grinned smugly at Qin Nuan who was leaning next to her, listening to the call.
Qin Nuan helplessly made an OK gesture, acting like such a child, with her spicy strips.
"I’m Luo Qianqian." She blinked, not sure how to respond.
She heard a soft chuckle from the other end of the phone, then he said, "I know."
"Ah, right, I gave you my number." Luo Qianqian rubbed her neck, "What’s up?"
Qin Nuan almost collapsed to the side, are you having a brain fart?
Realizing her gaffe, she quickly added, "Is everything taken care of?"
A hum came from the other end of the phone.
Luo Qianqian paused for a moment, then handed the phone to Qin Nuan, "You talk first, I’ll call Second Uncle."
With that, she took Qin Nuan’s phone and directly dialed Luo Xihan’s number.
Luo Xihan stared at the words "Daughter-in-law Number Two" on the screen, slightly stunned. She laughed softly as she got up, stood by the window, and answered, "Nuannuan? What’s up?"
"Second Uncle, it’s me, your supremely adorable little niece," she chirped.
Upon hearing her self-introduction, Qin Nuan was torn between laughter and tears, Ji Tianao at the other end of the call was speechless, while Luo Xihan grinned from ear to ear, "Ah, it’s Xiao Qianqian. What’s going on? Don’t tell me you miss your Second Uncle. If you missed him, you would’ve come home to see him."
Realizing it was Luo Qianqian, Luo Xihan had some idea why she called. He was curious about why Qin Nuan would call him.