See You in the Rivers and Lakes

Soon, Lanlan walked back over. The guy who had been with her didn't come to their area.

Su Yang observed Lanlan's appearance; her face was flushed, and her eyes were darting around, making her look evasive.

The others naturally noticed this too. With a shared understanding, no one asked any questions, merely exchanging glances before continuing to drink.

Seeing this, Chu Qiunan was now only filled with regret, wondering why he had suddenly gotten a stomachache while dancing.

Otherwise, he probably would have been the main character in that scenario...

A little over an hour later, Jiang Yuxin and Mao Xiaorong exchanged a look and poured themselves another drink.

They raised their glasses towards the group. Jiang Yuxin stood up and said, "We might have to head off after this drink with everyone~"

"Huh? You're leaving already?" Ziqing asked, looking up.

Jiang Yuxin gave a cute smile. "Didn't I mention it earlier? We have to get up early tomorrow."

"Oh, right, okay then."

"Let's all cheers together~"

After everyone clinked glasses, Jiang Yuxin looked at Su Yang as if steeling herself.

She bit her lip, walked up to him, and said with a hint of shyness, "Brother Su, could we... exchange contacts?"

Su Yang took out his phone and opened WeChat. "Of course, here, let me scan your code~"

"Okay~"

After adding each other, Jiang Yuxin and Mao Xiaorong were the first to leave.

The remaining people partied for another hour or so. The drinks on the table were nearly finished, and since it was almost 2 a.m., it was time to call it a night.

Everyone gathered their belongings and got up to leave the club.

Once outside, Ziqing and Lanlan tentatively asked Su Yang and the others what car they drove. Upon learning they hadn't driven, the two girls quickly hailed a taxi and left...

After the two girls were gone, Su Yang and his five friends exchanged knowing smiles.

Liu Bo then slung an arm around Chu Qiunan's shoulder with a sly grin. "Old Chu, man, what a shame~"

"What's a shame?"

"Heh, you know what I mean. If you hadn't suddenly had stomach troubles, probably that Lanlan girl..."

Chu Qiunan shrugged it off. "Pfft, good thing my stomach hurt. I'm not interested in that kind of gold-digger anyway~"

"Keep pretending~"

"It's true. Did you see how their faces changed the moment they found out we didn't have a car?"

"Those two girls are nowhere near as good as the two who came later, neither in looks nor personality. If there's any regret, it should be about not getting the contacts of those two beauties who left later."

Hearing this, Ji Bo looked at Su Yang and said, "Didn't Brother Yang get that Jiang Yuxin's WeChat? Just ask him to forward it to you."

"No need. She asked Old Su for it herself, not me. What would it mean if he forwarded it? I'm not that desperate~"

"Heh, you're a real pro at pretending~ Brother Yang, he doesn't want it, but I do. Forward it to me, I don't mind~" Ji Bo walked over to Su Yang and winked.

"Sure, I'll send it to you when we get back."

"Awesome~"

After a bit more casual chat, they reached the street to hail taxis, again splitting into groups of three per car.

Twenty minutes later, the six of them were back on the roadside outside the Kaibin Hotel.

Just as they got out of the car, Su Yang's phone rang.

He took out his phone and looked at it. "Who's calling at this hour?"

Liu Bo immediately leaned over to glance. Seeing it was an unknown number, he chuckled. "Probably a spam call. Just hang up."

"Yeah, likely." Su Yang said, ending the call.

However, barely ten seconds after hanging up, the phone rang again—the same number.

Su Yang frowned slightly and answered. "Hello, who is this?"

A silvery, bell-like female voice came from the other end. "Um... hello, are you the owner of the car with license plate 9988?"

"Yes, I am... Huh? Your voice sounds really familiar."

The girl on the phone seemed not to hear his last remark and continued, "I'm so sorry to bother you so late. I... I bumped into your car door..."

"What?" Hearing this, Su Yang was completely baffled. "My car is parked right outside the hotel. How did you manage that?"

As he spoke, he motioned for the others to follow and quickly headed towards the hotel entrance.

"I wasn't paying attention when I opened my door and chipped a bit of paint off your door."

By the time she finished saying this, the group had already reached the hotel entrance. Su Yang looked over and saw a somewhat familiar figure standing next to his car.

Su Yang looked more closely and then laughed. "It's you, Jiang Yuxin."

"It's me... You... Oh right, your voice?!"

"I can see you." Su Yang said, hanging up the phone and walking over quickly.

Jiang Yuxin also saw Su Yang approaching her.

She stood frozen in place, her eyes wide. "Brother... Brother Su! How is it you?"

Su Yang walked up with a smile. "I was wondering the same thing about you!"

He then went to the car door and looked down. Sure enough, there was a small chip in the paint.

He shook his head dismissively. "You called me just for this little thing? It's fine, don't worry about it."

"I saw your car... it's a Cullinan, so..."

"Ah, it's really nothing. Just a tiny chip, no big deal~"

By then, Meng Wenzhou and the others had caught up. They all looked at Jiang Yuxin with puzzled expressions.

Meng Wenzhou stepped forward. "Jiang... uh, Jiang what was it? Sorry, I suddenly can't remember."

"Jiang Yuxin. You can call me Xiao Jiang, or just Yuxin."

"Right, right. So, how come you're here?"

"Xiaorong and I are staying at this hotel~"

"Aren't you locals from Lincheng?"

"No, we're from Hangzhou."

Liu Bo thought for a moment and then asked, "From Hangzhou? So, you're on a road trip too?"

Jiang Yuxin nodded. "Yes, Rongrong and I drove all the way from Hangzhou. We arrived in Lincheng the day before yesterday. We have a couple of friends here, so we decided to stay a few extra days. We're planning to head to the next stop tomorrow."

"So you're on a road trip too! What a coincidence!"

"You guys are as well?" Jiang Yuxin looked at the group surrounding her.

"Yeah, didn't you notice my license plate is from out of town too?" Su Yang pointed at his license plate.

"Oh, right! I didn't even notice. I was just focused on finding the owner's phone number... I never imagined the owner would be you. It really is quite a coincidence." Jiang Yuxin stuck out her tongue playfully and smiled.

"It sure is. But it's really not a big deal, just a tiny chip." Su Yang said, still unconcerned.

"Even if it's just a chip, your car is so expensive. I had to call after bumping into it~"

"If it were me, I'd pretend I didn't see it~" Ji Bo grinned.

"You rascal~"

Then, Zhang Ziming looked at Jiang Yuxin and asked, "By the way, Yuxin, weren't you just drinking with us? How come you're driving?"

"I wasn't driving. I came to get something from my car. I wasn't careful when opening the door and used a bit too much force, that's how I bumped into Brother Su's car."

She pointed to a white four-door Jeep Wrangler Rubicon parked to the left of the Cullinan.

"That's a nice ride of yours, pretty much the pinnacle of off-road performance," Liu Bo stepped forward, looked at it, and praised.

Jiang Yuxin giggled: "But my driving skills aren't very good~"

Hearing this, Meng Wenzhou thought for a moment and asked, "By the way, Yuxin, where are you all heading next?"

"Mountain City~"

"Mountain City, oh, that's a shame. I was going to say if it was on the way, you could travel with us~"

"Are you leaving tomorrow too?"

"Mmhmm, yes, but we're going to Ercheng tomorrow."

Jiang Yuxin pursed her lips and nodded: "That really is a bit of a pity~"

Su Yang then said, "Alright then, since it's not on the way, I guess we'll just have to meet again somewhere down the road~"

Jiang Yuxin looked up at Su Yang and gave him a sweet smile: "Mmhmm, I think we'll definitely all meet again in the future~"

"We will. Let's go, at least for now we're headed the same way."

Su Yang said, pointing towards the hotel entrance.

The group exchanged glances with a smile and walked in together.

......