What is meant to be will always come

At that moment, Su Yang suddenly thought of something and turned to Meng Wenzhou and Pan Ning.

"By the way, Lao Meng, isn’t your sister coming back in a few days? If we go out for a few days, will it interfere with things?"

"Oh right! How could I forget something so important?" Meng Wenzhou smacked his forehead and looked at Pan Ning.

"Pan, Qianyu will be back in a couple of days. We need to help with the homecoming dinner. Camping might be too rushed—how about we wait until she’s back and go together then?"

Pan Ning listened quietly, then wordlessly pulled out her phone and opened her chat log with Meng Qianyu, showing it to them.

The screen clearly displayed their conversation, where Meng Qianyu had specified she’d return in six days.

"She won’t be back for another six days. We’re not going far—just a couple of days around Haicheng. If it’s too tight, we can skip camping and go after she’s back."

Hearing this, Meng Wenzhou’s worried expression finally relaxed. "Heh, alright then. We’ll plan another time after Qianyu returns."

Pan Ning nodded. "How about this—we’ll go to Shima Town. It’s only about a hundred kilometers from Haicheng. We can leave soon, stay overnight, and go rafting on Blue River tomorrow."

Meng Wenzhou’s eyes lit up. "Hey?! That sounds great! Perfect!"

"Haven’t been rafting in years, and Blue River’s supposed to be thrilling. Let’s do it!"

Su Yang was familiar with Shima Town—it was the most famous ancient-town tourist spot in the province, similar to Lijiang Old Town but smaller, though with its own charm.

Every summer, visitors from all over flocked there, not just for the laid-back vibe of the old town but also for the exhilarating rafting site about ten kilometers away: Blue River Rafting.

Su Yang hadn’t been to Shima Town yet, though he’d gone rafting two or three times near Haicheng. Those rivers, however, were what he called "senior-friendly"—boring.

"What’s with the daze?" Meng Wenzhou waved a hand in front of Su Yang’s face.

"Oh, nothing. So we’re set on Shima Town?"

"Definitely. It’s less than two hundred kilometers—we’ll be back tomorrow."

"Alright, sounds good. I’ve never been, so it’ll be fun. But hey, Fatty, you handle the hotel bookings, okay? I’ll transfer you the money."

Liu Bo grinned and gave an OK sign. "No problem, leave it to me."

Just then, Tang Ziyun looked up. "All settled?"

"Hey, we’ve been talking for ages—did you not hear any of it?"

"Ah, sorry, I was chatting with some girlfriends. Sister Meng can’t make it, but Keke and Xiaoyu can come."

"We’re heading to Shima Town later and coming back tomorrow. Do they have work?" Meng Wenzhou reminded her.

"Shima Town? Let me check."

Two minutes later, Tang Ziyun smiled. "They’re good—they’ll just take a day off tomorrow."

"Great. What about you? Don’t you have work?"

"My job’s pretty flexible. Since coming back from Lucheng, I haven’t gone back to bar gigs yet. The other company doesn’t require me in the office much."

Su Yang chuckled. "Sounds like the dream."

Tang Ziyun tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled faintly. "You guys are the ones living the dream—no nine-to-five, doing whatever you want. I’m so jealous~"

Su Yang just laughed and let it go.

He turned to Tang Ziyun. "So Xia Keke and Han Xiaoyu are confirmed?"

She nodded. "Confirmed."

"Good." Su Yang glanced at Meng Wenzhou. "What about you two? Bringing anyone else?"

"Nah, the others aren’t close with you guys. I’ll introduce everyone at Qianyu’s welcome dinner when she’s back."

Su Yang grinned. "Fair. What about Zhang Ziming’s two?"

"They’re off in Shanghai—don’t worry about them."

"Alright."

Just as Su Yang finished speaking, his phone buzzed with a WeChat notification.

He picked it up and saw a message from Lu Yun:

"Su Yang~ I’m done with work. Are you still home?"

After a moment’s thought, he typed back: "Nope, I’m out."

"Who is it?" Pan Ning asked, noticing.

Su Yang scratched his head. "A friend. The one I mentioned—I went to see her dad."

"Oh. If she’s your friend, why not invite her along? Let me meet your... female friend."

Su Yang caught Pan Ning’s teasing smirk and thought, No telling what’ll happen when these two meet. Whatever—it’s bound to happen sooner or later. No use overthinking.

"Should I ask her?"

"Go ahead."

Before he could, Lu Yun replied:

"If you’re busy, it’s fine. I was just going to treat you to dinner."

Su Yang: "Not busy. Just planning a trip to Shima Town with some friends. Want to join?"

Lu Yun paused for a few seconds. "I could, but I don’t know your friends. Might be awkward."

"Don’t worry—they’re all easygoing. You’ll see. Where are you now?"

"Near where I used to work."

"Got it. Grab a coffee and wait for me—I’ll pick you up soon."

"Okay~"

"Why the sudden long face?" Meng Wenzhou teased.

"Huh? Do I?"

"Don’t you? Ask Fatty."

Liu Bo laughed. "Kinda, Yang-ge. You were all smiles earlier—something bothering you?"

"Nah... nothing’s wrong. Anyway, headcount’s set. My friend’s joining too, plus Han Xiaoyu and Xia Keke—eight total. Let me send you the hotel money."

Without delay, Su Yang opened WeChat and transferred Liu Bo 50,000 yuan in two transactions—WeChat’s limit was 50,000 per transfer, with a daily cap of 200,000.

Liu Bo checked his phone and gasped. "Whoa, Yang-ge, why so much? Eight people in Shima Town won’t cost this much."

"Just book the best. If there’s leftover, we’ll use it for dinner."

Meng Wenzhou smirked. "Tourist towns like that have plenty of ways to spend money. You really think it’ll go unused?"

"I just wanted to save Yang-ge some cash, heh."

"Yang-ge isn’t sweating small change. Let’s go—it’ll take over two hours to get there."

They stood up, and Han Fuchun and He Qiuyue walked over to see them off to the parking lot.

After a few polite words, the group drove off.