After working for fifteen hours straight, Ji Fanyin decided to take the next day off.
There was nothing much she could do anyway since Song Shiyu was bound to go offline for the time being. However, this wasn't of major concern since he would be back eventually.
Ji Fanyin's bank account was currently loaded with money, such that she could make the down payment for a new house right away. It was just that she was in no rush to move out yet, so she leisurely holed herself up in her rented house and watched TV for the entire day.
Over the course of the day, Ji Xinxin dropped her a call and talked about her daily life in France.
"Oh right!" Just as they were about to hang up, Ji Xinxin suddenly recalled something and asked, "I heard from Cheng Lin and the others that they are intending to hold a gathering soon. I won't be able to make it there, but won't you consider joining them, sis?"
Ji Fanyin racked her mind to recall who Cheng Lin was.
"Sis, have you already forgotten about Cheng Lin?" Ji Xinxin reminded her gently, "She transferred into our high school during our second year. She was quite famous back then, having quite an illustrious background and a beautiful face. She was also in the same university as us, studying in the English Faculty."
Ji Fanyin had no impression of such a person at all, so she figured that the other party was just an unimportant character.
However, this showed that the people heading to the gathering were acquainted with both Ji Xinxin and Ji Fanyin. Since they were in the same circle, it was likely that they were from notable backgrounds too... If so, there were probably some of Ji Xinxin's fish there too.
Perhaps I could expand my client list there.
Ji Fanyin flipped through her calendar as she asked casually, "When is the gathering?"
"The day after tomorrow. Sis, are you interested?" Ji Xinxin was surprised. "I thought that... Never mind. I'll pull you into the group then."
"Alright," replied Ji Fanyin.
After the call was hung up, Ji Xinxin quickly added Ji Fanyin to a new group before bidding them goodnight, saying that it was getting late over on her side.
Ji Fanyin took a look at the pinned messages and saw the date, time, and location of the gathering written neatly up there. She quickly copied the details down onto her calendar before scrolling through the list of members in the chat.
None of the members in the group were in her friend's list.
But again, Ji Fanyin's friend's list had always been limited to a few people. She disliked crowds and socializing, so she didn't have many friends.
After that, she muted the group chat.
[Yukki: @Ji Fanyin You are joining the gathering? No way! Did anyone even invite you? Why are you so thick-skinned?]
[Lively Ducky: I flipped through the chat records. Xinxin invited her to the group. I'm fine with it. Make sure to dress formally for the gathering @Ji Fanyin]
[Dream: Are only those in our batch invited? Can I bring a senior along too?]
[Lively Ducky: That would depend on which senior you're talking about.]
[Dream: Of course I'm talking about Senior Song Shiyu! I'm still meeting him from time to time, so I can invite him to the gathering too.]
[Yukki: *rolls eyes emoji* Ji Xinxin isn't even joining in this time around. Do you think that Senior Song will join us? I bet he'll run at the very sight of Ji Fanyin!]
[Yukki: I shan't name names, but those who aren't invited should have some self-awareness.]
[Sneaky Little Li Bai: Invite him! I have some business-related matters that I wanna ask Senior Song about. It'll be amazing if he could join us @Dream]
[Dream: Alright. He doesn't like to be added to groups though, so I shan't add him in. I'll just relay his answer to you later on.]
[Lively Ducky: Oh yeah! It's been so long since I saw my adonis. Hehehe, I wonder if he's still as handsome as before. Is he seeing anyone yet?]
[Yukki: Gosh, why are you all so behind on the news? Haven't you heard that Senior Song gave Ji Xinxin a bouquet of roses and confessed to her during her farewell party? It was really romantic! It's such a pity that he was rejected.]
[Spectator: Awww...]
[Yukki: Ah, but that doesn't mean that a certain someone will stand a chance.]
[Yukki: ...]
[Yukki: @Ji Fanyin Are you playing dead?]
[Sneaky Little Li Bai: You should cut it out. Xinxin is in this group too. She'll see your message.]
[Yukki: Are you joking with me? Do I look like I'd be afraid of Ji Xinxin? You speak as if Ji Xinxin has really stood up for Ji Fanyin before!]
[Yukki: @Ji Fanyin Come out! Why join this group if you don't even dare show your face?]
[Yukki: You aren't replying, huh? Very well. You'd better not show up tomorrow!]
[Dream: ... I was going to ask if anyone could call Bai Zhou, but I guess there's no point. Who could possibly be able to invite that great young master to join our humble gathering?]
The following day, Ji Fanyin unhurriedly made her way to the gathering location, arriving with impeccable timing as usual.
She wore a simple black romper dress that exposed her shoulders and collar bone.
The gathering was at an al fresco Western restaurant. The organizer had booked the entire place. As soon as the waiter noticed her, he quickly walked over and politely asked her if she was there for the gathering before ushering her in.
In the garden they would be dining in, Ji Fanyin saw a few young women dressed in exquisite clothes, chatting with one another. Some were seated and some were standing, but all of them had their own circle to chat in.
The few women standing near the entrance swiftly noticed Ji Fanyin
"Ji Xinxin?!" exclaimed one of them. "Aren't you supposed to be in France?"
Ji Fanyin shot the person a glance and replied, "I am Ji Fanyin."
This simple self-introduction created a buzz through the garden. There were even some who gasped aloud and exclaimed, "How could Ji Fanyin possibly look like that?!"
"What do you think that Ji Xinxin's identical twin sister ought to look like?" asked Ji Fanyin.
"..."
"..."
The crowd widened their eyes in realization.
Ji Fanyin was just about to walk past them and take a seat when she heard a waiter behind her saying 'This way please'. She turned around to take a look, curious to see who was the one who timed his arrival even more precisely than her.
It was Song Shiyu.
He was currently walking with another man who looked to be around his age, patiently listening to the latter with a gentle look on his face. He appeared to be a person of excellent upbringing no matter how one looked at him.
Ah, Song Shiyu does have an excellent upbringing. It's just that his character got twisted along the way.
Ji Fanyin was about to move her gaze away after taking a quick nonchalant glance when Song Shiyu coincidentally raised his head at the same time, resulting in the meeting of their eyes.
There was a brief pause before Song Shiyu turned his head away. His action looked a little flustered, as if he was avoiding something.
Ji Fanyin couldn't be bothered to pay him any heed. She settled down in her seat and ordered a cup of lemonade.
Song Shiyu's entrance immediately placed him at the center of attention. The crowd warmly walked over to greet him.
While playing a mobile game, Ji Fanyin could hear bits and pieces of their conversation that gave her a deeper understanding of the social standing of the attendees.
If one were to view upper class society as a hierarchical pyramid, the ones who stood at the very top were Song Shiyu and his group whereas the other attendees were one level beneath him. That would explain their more-than-cordial attitudes.
Ji Fanyin didn't join any of the conversations, but humans were slaves to their sense of vision. Good-looking people had an inherent advantage when it came to socializing.
She sat lazily under a parasol and fiddled with her phone, not bothering to look at anyone. Yet, despite her perfunctory attitude, the crowd couldn't help but turn their eyes in her direction.
The brilliant sun cast a small patch of light on her shoulder, looking almost like a gentle kiss of affection from the world.
There was one person who couldn't resist the urge to start a conversation with her.
"Ji Fanyin? It has been such a long time! You look so different now. How do I put it... You seem much more confident than before."
Ji Fanyin was in the midst of watching a video of a cute cat flopping over on its belly to demand a massage from its owner. Due to that, her expression was much gentler than usual when she raised her head.
"It's just a change in hairstyle."
The male classmate: "..."
A change in hairstyle? More like a complete change in soul!
"Do you still remember me? We were in the same class in high school. I was the gym class representative back then."
Ji Fanyin smiled at him and replied, "Sorry, I don't remember it."
"Ah, don't worry about it! We didn't speak much back then," the male classmate replied understandingly. He cleared his throat before introducing himself with a reddened face, "I am Zhao Qi."
"Pleased to meet you." Ji Fanyin offered him her hand with a casual attitude. "Shall we consider this our first meeting?"
Zhao Qi looked almost flattered by her response. He quickly shook her outstretched hand with a smile.
After this smooth greeting, Zhao Qi seemed to have gotten into the groove as his attitude became much more natural. He started talking about work-related matters.
Ji Fanyin put her phone aside and rested her chin on her hand as she listened to his stories. Her posture was laid-back but not perfunctory, giving off an atmosphere where anyone could tell that she was listening attentively to her conversation partner.
It was the kind of atmosphere that made it impossible for a third party to join the conversation.
...
"... Senior?"
Song Shiyu finally snapped out of his daze and retracted his gaze from the parasol. He put on an apologetic smile and said, "Pardon me. I was distracted for a moment."
"I understand." One of the classmates scratched his hair and remarked, "I was also surprised when I first saw her. Ji Fanyin's hair had always been scattered untidily, covering her face. I feel like this is the first time I'm properly seeing her face; she really does look identical to Ji Xinxin."
"That's only limited to her face. Ji Fanyin isn't fond of smiling. Anyone can tell the difference between the two sisters with just a few looks. The one senior likes is Ji Xinxin, so there's no way he would mistake the two of them!"
Song Shiyu: "..."
"Is Ji Fanyin seeing anyone?" someone asked. "Zhao Qi sure made a move quickly there. If only I knew, I would have also..."
"It's not too late to join them now," one of the classmates egged him on.
"But I made fun of her during our school days. It feels wrong to head over now as if nothing has happened at all..."
The young men nudged one another, urging each other to make a move.
Song Shiyu interrupted them and asked, "You mentioned that there was a chat group for such gatherings?"
"There is." The classmate who was being egged on by his companions nodded. "But I remembered that you aren't fond of being added into chat groups, so I didn't add you."
Song Shiyu: "..."
His silence left the other party confused about his intentions.
"What's wrong, senior? Did I recall wrongly?"
Song Shiyu lowered his eyes and took a sip of his drink before replying, "... No, you're right. I don't like being added into chat groups."
The group quickly moved on to other topics. They continued chatting for a while longer before someone suddenly exclaimed with a suppressed voice, "Quick, look over there!"
Song Shiyu subconsciously glanced in the direction where Ji Fanyin was seated.
Zhao Qi and Ji Fanyin had taken out their phones to scan each other's WeChat QR codes. It seemed like they had decided to exchange contacts after hitting it off well.