0145 Outing

On this day, Song Yuchang's birthday, he changed his usual practice and did not hold a big celebration. He only invited Tantai Qing and a few others to his home for a meal.

Fearing they might feel constrained and not enjoy themselves fully, he specifically chose to have dinner at his usual villa.

The sound of an unlocking door came from inside. Since Jiang Jifan hadn't finished get off work yet, the group guessed that Xiang Nannan had arrived.

"I'll go take a look." Song Yuchang took the initiative to get up and go to greet her.

As soon as the door opened, he was rushed up and embraced by Xiang Nannan, who was dressed in a flamboyant manner.

Song Yuchang was knocked back a few steps by her impact. Afraid that she would fall, he quickly raised his hands and hugged her tightly.

"I'm back! Did you miss me?" Xiang Nannan clung to him like a koala, wrapped her arms around his neck, and smiled brightly. Then, she kissed his lips as if no one else was around.

Before he could respond, there was a loud crash.

Xiang Nannan turned her head in confusion, only to see Cheng Jing standing dumbfounded beside the dining table, with Tantai Qing next to her, who also had a surprised expression.

She was instantly terrified, and in a panic, she jumped off him. Looking at the two men standing not far away, she looked embarrassed and stammered, "Brother Taiqing, Brother Chengjing..."

When did you get together?

Xiang Nannan sat timidly next to Song Yuchang, looking guilty and looking away, as if she were a child being interrogated by her parents.

"Not long..."

"What are you doing? Although it was indeed wrong of us to keep it from you," Song Yuchang couldn't bear to see them questioning Nan Nan, so he put his arm around her shoulder, looking protective, "But isn't being with Nan Nan a good thing?"

Cheng Jing glanced at Song Yuchang, her expression turning sour as if she'd seen a pig that had stolen her cabbage.

Tantai Qing was alright; more than surprised, she was relieved that "Song Yuchang has finally come to his senses."

After all these years of twists and turns, they finally chose the people around them.

Xiang Nannan reached out and elbowed him, giving him a warning look that he shouldn't say anything more.

Knowing they weren't really angry, she used her trump card—flattering them with compliments and sweet talk—and quickly calmed them down.

When Jiang Jifan found out, he didn't seem very surprised. As if it was expected, he smiled and said, "No wonder I said Nan Nan has been acting strangely lately."

She used to always ask me to go out, but lately I haven't seen her invite me much. I originally thought she was acting on Tantai Qing's orders, but I never expected that she was in a relationship.

After dinner, while they were washing the dishes, Jiang Jifan asked Xiang Nannan what had made her decide to be with Song Yuchang.

Xiang Nannan clearly didn't want to mention that extremely bad thing in her eyes, but considering that she wasn't an outsider, she told her the truth.

Jiang Jifan also knew about that incident. That night, Song Yuchang called Tantai Qing in a panic in the early hours of the morning. After being woken up, she asked what had happened. He didn't explain in detail, only saying that Xiang Nannan had an accident and he had to go to deal with it. He didn't return until almost dawn.

That night, Song Yuchang beat the other person so badly that he was hospitalized. Tantai Qing was also quite displeased to learn that her younger sister, whom she had watched grow up, had been bullied. If she hadn't been afraid that he might actually kill the person and that it would be difficult to handle, and hadn't persuaded him when the person was on the verge of death, the grass on the other person's grave would probably be half a meter high by now.

Tantai Qing didn't tell Jiang Jifan these details, simply because she was afraid of frightening her.

As for how she found out later, it was because the incident had caused quite a stir at the time. Someone filmed a video of Song Yuchang beating someone and leaked it, which was then accidentally forwarded to her WeChat Moments after several transfers.

She was deeply impressed by Song Yuchang's ruthless beating and Tantai Qing's indifferent attitude as he sat and watched from the sidelines.

In retrospect, this incident may have played a part in bringing them together.

Although she never thought highly of Song Yuchang, he genuinely cared for Xiang Nannan.

Ultimately, this is a private matter between two people, and they are currently deeply in love, so Jiang Jifan has no reason to interfere.

The group sat down and chatted for a while. Xiang Nannan was very excited and planned to take them on a trip abroad.

Jiang Jifan and the others are fine, but I don't know if Cheng Jing, who is very busy, can get time off.

“If it’s a short time, no problem,” Cheng Jing replied.

He still has a few days of unused leave left.

Xiang Nannan seemed to have come prepared, and immediately listed several countries for them to choose from.

After discussing it, the group decided to travel to Japan.

"That's perfect, my certificate will come in handy," Jiang Jifan said with a smile.

She obtained the Japanese Language Proficiency Test N3 certificate during her university years. Although it wasn't particularly impressive, it was sufficient for everyday communication.

Xiang Nan Nan cheered and joked, "That's great, it saves us the money of hiring a translator."

However, she was very curious as to why Jiang Jifan would take a Japanese language certificate exam.

To be honest, Jiang Jifan didn't think that much about it at the time. She just wanted to have more certificates so that she could be more competitive when looking for a job after graduation. She even thought that if she couldn't find a suitable job in the end, she might be able to work as a tour guide in Japan.

"So you've never been to Japan before?"

Jiang Jifan shook his head, seemingly considering how to answer the question, before finally smiling dismissively and saying, "I haven't thought about going."

Finally, they decided to travel next weekend.

The night before departure, Jiang Jifan packed his luggage in his room.

While looking for jewelry, she found an unusually unfamiliar square jewelry box in the corner.

"What is this..." she muttered as she opened the box, but she was stunned when she saw what was inside.

A silver-white diamond necklace hangs quietly in a black jewelry box. Its design is simple and understated, yet elegant and luxurious.

"Jifan, did you find the thing?" Tantai Qing pushed open the bedroom door and asked her from the doorway.

Jiang Jifan snapped back to reality and mumbled, "Found it," before haphazardly stuffing the jewelry box into the drawer.

Before going to sleep, noticing that she seemed a little restless, Tantai Qing sat up in bed, touched her head with concern, and asked, "Jifan, are you feeling unwell?"

Since her follow-up visit, Jiang Jifan has been taking medication. Recently, she felt that her condition was gradually improving, and with Xu Miao's consent, she decided to stop taking the medication and try again.

In order to help her recover as soon as possible, Tantai Qing did a lot of research in private and learned that most of her patients would experience withdrawal symptoms after stopping medication, so she has been paying close attention to her health recently.

Seeing his worried expression, Jiang Jifan felt a warmth in her heart. She then took his hand and whispered, "I'm fine, don't worry."

During this period of actively cooperating with the treatment, Tantai Qing, who was already very caring towards her, became even more considerate. Whenever she was suffering from the disease, he would stay by her side, giving her patient comfort and encouragement.

Even Xing Yeye, who had also taken care of her, couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy, saying, "There can't possibly be a man who loves you more than I do..."

Tantai Qing didn't believe it until she repeated it for the third time, at which point he lay down with some doubt.

"Sleep well, goodnight." Jiang Jifan kissed his cheek before closing his eyes.

He then fell asleep peacefully with her kiss in his ear.