Part on Good Terms

"Yes, we broke up," Shen Yixue said lightly, leaning back in the rear seat.

"Uh... weren't you two spending some alone time together yesterday?"

"Who told you we spent alone time together yesterday?"

"I was with Old Meng yesterday and was going to ask Ziming out to eat, but he said you were back and he wanted to spend time with you, so he didn't join us."

Shen Yixue rolled her eyes. "Don't listen to his nonsense. We've been broken up for over ten days now."

"Huh?"

Shen Yixue continued, "But it doesn't matter. A breakup is a breakup, I don't really feel anything about it."

Hearing this, Su Yang didn't know how to respond.

He turned to look at Pan Ning beside him. Pan Ning had no expression; it seemed the two girls had already talked about this.

Shen Yixue added, "Don't you want to ask why?"

"Uh... it's probably not my place to ask."

"What's the big deal? He's your friend, and I'm your friend too."

"True. So why did you guys break up?"

Shen Yixue said flatly, "Actually, it's mainly because our values don't align, and our personalities aren't a good match. He is..."

"How should I put it? He's too immature in some ways. It might sound a bit harsh, but that's just how he makes me feel. Plus, as a guy, he lacks a sense of responsibility, and he doesn't care about me at all."

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't you guys go on a road trip before? I was tied up in Shanghai and couldn't go. For over half a month, he didn't initiate a single call or text to me. It was always me reaching out to him."

"And every time I did reach out, he was very dismissive, just saying a few words before hastily finding an excuse to end the conversation."

"I thought about it, and since that's how it is, there's no point in continuing. So I brought up breaking up, and he agreed."

Listening to Shen Yixue, Su Yang thought to himself, 'Huh? Wasn't this guy worried we'd snitch on him before? And he didn't even tell us they broke up.'

Shen Yixue rolled down the car window, and a gust of wind fluttered her long hair.

She looked out at the rapidly retreating buildings and smiled gently. "It's for the best. To tell you the truth, the breakup wasn't entirely his fault."

"I had my reasons too. When he gave me half-hearted replies to my messages, I wasn't upset or angry."

"That's when I realized I probably didn't like him that much anymore, and he didn't like me that much either. Since there was no point in staying together, you could say it was an amicable split."

Holding the steering wheel, Su Yang glanced at the rearview mirror and asked, "Are you guys still in touch?"

"No. But if we meet again, I won't feel awkward. We parted on good terms. If we can still be friends in the future, we'll be friends. At least, that's what I think. I don't know what he thinks."

Su Yang nodded. "You have a pretty good mindset about it. But do you really have no plans to get back together?"

"No. Since we broke up, it's best we both move on. We don't like each other anymore anyway, so there's no need to force it."

Pan Ning chimed in, "Well said. I agree."

Shen Yixue rolled her eyes playfully, grabbed the front seat, leaned forward, and blinked with a smile. "But speaking of which, I'm really curious—are you two together or not?"

Pan Ning tilted her head, looked at Shen Yixue, and smiled faintly. "What do you think?"

"I think you guys have definitely been together for a while."

"Then why ask."

"Hehe, mainly because you never officially announced it, so I just wanted to confirm."

"Things between two people don't need to be announced."

Su Yang laughed, "Actually, our friends can all tell. You just needed to confirm because you haven't been hanging out with us lately. Everyone else already knows."

"Haha, you two are quite a match, a talented guy and a beautiful girl. Plus, the way you handle your relationship is so comfortable; it makes me really jealous," Shen Yixue laughed.

"What's there to be jealous of?" Pan Ning said lightly.

"I like the way you guys interact. It's so relaxed and free. And you probably don't interfere too much in each other's private matters, right?"

The two of them shook their heads in unison.

Seeing this, Shen Yixue continued, "I knew it. I think when two people are together, they should still have their own space. Zhang Ziming was so annoying before; he wanted to know everything about my business and control everything."

"But when I asked him about his things, he would just brush me off and say nothing."

"Between two people, you should care for each other when appropriate, but you have to find the right balance. Anyway, we just didn't get along that comfortably."

Pan Ning spoke up, "It's fine, you'll meet someone more suitable in the future."

"Whether I meet someone or not is for the future. I probably won't date again anytime soon anyway. I want to focus on enriching myself for a while first."

Chatting away, the three of them soon arrived at the parking lot under the furniture mall.

After parking the car, the three got out and took the elevator to the first floor of the furniture mall.

This furniture mall was huge, covering thousands of square meters, with almost all kinds of domestic and international furniture brands available.

When Su Yang had gone to receive the house earlier, he had taken photos and measured the dimensions of the living room, dining room, kitchen, bathrooms, and several bedrooms.

So buying furniture now was much more convenient, as he could shop according to the dimensions of each area.

The three arrived on the first floor of the furniture mall. The entire first-floor area was incredibly massive, stretching out as far as the eye could see.

Su Yang took out his phone, opened the gallery, and took a look. Shen Yixue stood beside him, tilted her head to peek, and said, "I heard from Pan Pan that you got a house over by Lianwu Lake, right?"

"Yeah, right now we're just buying some furniture for it."

Shen Yixue nodded. "Oh, okay. So what are we buying first?"

"Hmm, let's go look at sofas first. We'll take it one step at a time."

"Alright, let's go."

Talking, the three walked towards the right. After checking out several stores in a row, Su Yang finally set his sights on a sofa set worth forty-five thousand in a high-end brand store.

He was quick at picking things out. Once decided, he swiftly confirmed the dimensions and address with the boss, and then paid the bill.

"Boss, how soon can you get the sofa delivered to me?"

"We can deliver it this afternoon."

"Really? That fast?"

"Yeah, our store prides itself on efficiency," the boss said with a smile.

"Great. I happen to be heading back later, so I'll have to trouble your workers to help move the sofa into the house then."

"Absolutely, that's a given."

"Okay, that's settled then. We're leaving."

"Alright, take care, handsome."

Buying the sofa took twenty minutes. It was only two in the afternoon, still early, so the three continued browsing.

Next, Su Yang went to various stores and bought a coffee table, a dining table, an 80-inch LCD TV, five beds, five bean bag chairs, and some other miscellaneous items.

After buying the missing furniture, Su Yang drove the two beauties towards SOP.

After purchasing some non-perishable food, drinks, and alcohol in the supermarket downstairs at SOP, the three returned to the car.

Su Yang looked at Shen Yixue and asked, "Yixue, I'm heading over to the Lianwu Lake courtyard now. Do you want to come with us, or do you have other plans?"

"I'll go! I don't have anything else going on anyway. We haven't had a proper get-together lately, and I want to see your new place."

"Alright, let's hit the road. The three of us can make dinner at the courtyard tonight. I'll grill some fish for you two."

"Sounds great!" Shen Yixue looked very interested, but Pan Ning remained her usual self, completely unfazed.

Su Yang started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. On the way, he added, "By the way, Yixue, since the courtyard is finally finished, I might invite everyone over to hang out in the next couple of days—do some fishing, have a barbecue, that sort of thing. Ziming... might be there too."

Before Su Yang could even finish, Shen Yixue understood what he was getting at.

She smiled nonchalantly. "It's fine, invite him. I've said before that it really doesn't matter to me. If we can still be friends, then we'll be friends. If not, we just won't talk to each other. It's no big deal."

"Haha, you really have a great mindset about this. Let's not worry about it then, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

Su Yang dropped the subject and focused on driving.

Forty minutes later, the three of them arrived at the picturesque village by Lianwu Lake, which looked like a hidden utopia.

Looking out at the sparkling surface of the lake, Shen Yixue leaned against the car window, reaching her hand out with a smile. "It's so beautiful here."

"Right? I fell in love with the environment here, which is why I got the courtyard. I'm always in a great mood whenever I come here."

"It really is amazing. Can you swim in this lake?"

"Probably not, but you can fish in it."

"Even if you could, would you actually dare to swim in it?" Pan Ning asked, tilting her head.

"Of course not! I was just asking."

Two minutes later, the trio arrived at the gate of Su Yang's courtyard.

Every courtyard in this small village had an empty patch of land out front that could be used for parking.

Su Yang's place was no exception, and he parked the car on the left side of the main gate.

The three of them got out and grabbed the pile of things they had bought earlier from the trunk.

Su Yang opened the courtyard gate, carrying a bag in each hand, while Pan Ning and Shen Yixue helped carry two of the lighter ones.

They walked into the courtyard, and as soon as they were inside, Shen Yixue started looking all around.

"Wow, you've done a really nice job with this place. Look at all the flowers and plants."

"It's alright, I guess."

"It's more than alright," Shen Yixue praised.

But Su Yang was more interested in Pan Ning's opinion. He looked at her and asked, "What do you think? How is it?"

"Hmm, it'll do. It's fine, but it feels like it's lacking a bit of life."

"Well, of course. It's newly renovated, so a lot of things aren't quite in place yet. I'll slowly improve it. Come on, let's head inside first."

......