Jiang Chan understood. “I get it. I’ll talk to Bingyue first.”
She already knew a bit about Zhao Bingyue’s situation. She and her mother had depended on each other ever since her father passed away early. Her mother raised her alone and had gone through a lot of hardship.
“Bingyue’s mom hasn’t been feeling well lately. With summer vacation coming up, Bingyue wants to get a part-time job to ease her mother’s burden.” Song Yifei added a few more comments. Compared to Zhao Bingyue, she felt her own family was quite fortunate.
While talking, the two of them arrived at the restaurant. They’d even reserved a private room. Among the group, only Zhao Bingyue came from a less privileged background. The others weren’t lacking in money.
Song Yifei’s desire to work part-time was mostly to help out a friend.
As soon as Jiang Chan opened the private room door, she stepped aside, pushing Song Yifei forward. Sure enough, she was immediately met with a party popper fired by Li Yan, covering Song Yifei’s face in confetti.
Song Yifei wiped her face, brushed the strands off her eyelids, and glared at Li Yan. Li Yan didn’t care and gave her a big hug. “Yifei, happy birthday! Congrats on getting one year older!”
Song Yifei rolled her eyes. “What do you mean one year older? Do you even know how to speak? Are we still friends?”
Shen Yu laughed and shoved Li Yan aside. “Happy birthday! We’ve been waiting for you two. Come on in, we’ve got everything set. After dinner, we’re heading to KTV. It’s been ages, so let’s take the chance to unwind.”
Jiang Chan naturally went along with the plans. She wasn’t a talkative person, so she just sat to the side, quietly watching her friends talk and laugh. When the conversation got lively, she couldn’t help but smile faintly.
Zhao Bingyue was a quiet person, with a somewhat aloof personality. Jiang Chan didn’t find it awkward to sit with her. As the girls chatted and laughed, Jiang Chan took the opportunity to ask about her plans for the summer.
She had been quite busy lately. The plan to open a branch office in a neighboring province after the New Year, which she’d discussed with Sun Chen, wasn’t just talk. She had to inspect the location in person.
After a lot of effort, the branch office was finally up and running. Jiang Chan had specifically assigned her trusted Manager Gao to lead it. With him gone, many of the company’s responsibilities had fallen on her shoulders. She was stretched thin and naturally hadn’t been paying as much attention to her friends.
“Yifei said she’s planning to get a part-time job. Are you thinking the same?”
Zhao Bingyue nodded. “Yeah. My mom hasn’t been well recently. I want to work and take some pressure off her. She’s been through so much over the years.”
Jiang Chan paused. “If you want to work this summer, I might have something. You remember my aunt, right? The one who works in fashion design.”
“Of course. We used to see her all the time. We just haven’t visited your grandfather’s place since starting university.”
Zhao Bingyue was familiar with Liang Chen, because whenever they visited, she’d always make them try on clothes and take pictures.
Jiang Chan tapped the table lightly. “My aunt’s been saying she wants to hire a design assistant. Want to give it a try?”
Zhao Bingyue seemed unsure. “Your aunt is such an accomplished designer. Would she want someone like me, with no background in that field? I’m still a student too.”
“She’ll definitely take you,” Jiang Chan assured her. “You’ll understand once you meet her tomorrow.”
They whispered and finalized the plan. Jiang Chan would take Zhao Bingyue to apply for the design assistant job. In truth, she would just be helping with errands.
Seeing that Zhao Bingyue was still a little anxious, Jiang Chan reassured her, “Okay, if it doesn’t work out with my aunt, you can intern at my company. We’re hiring for the summer too.”
Zhao Bingyue finally felt at ease after Jiang Chan said that. She smiled a little awkwardly. “Sister Chan, I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I know,” Jiang Chan squinted. “Don’t overthink it.”
Jiang Chan had always considered herself a thoughtful person, but she hadn’t realized that Zhao Bingyue was even more sensitive. Being around her meant being mindful of her emotions.
That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, it was just that people like her often suppressed their feelings. As her friends, seeing how sensitive she was sometimes made them feel sorry for her.
When they got to the KTV, Shen Yu, Li Yan, and Mo Xingyu, being the livelier types, immediately grabbed the microphones and started wailing songs. Song Yifei pouted. So this was supposed to be her birthday party? It looked more like they just wanted to have fun themselves.
Jiang Chan sat in a corner, listening to the out-of-tune singing. The songs in this world weren’t bad, and she had learned a few of them too.
They kept going until after eleven. Jiang Chan couldn’t keep up anymore. She yawned. “Alright, that’s enough. We should head back. I’ve got things to deal with at the company tomorrow.”
Watching the group make such a ruckus, it could be described as a scene of complete chaos. Shen Yu and Mo Xingyu were singing and dancing in the private room, occasionally joined by Li Yan and Song Yifei. The atmosphere was extremely lively.
When Jiang Chan spoke up, they realized how late it was. They packed up and went to the front desk to check out. As the wealthiest among them right now, Jiang Chan naturally stepped up to pay.
While swiping her card, she heard voices near the entrance. A few people were walking in. Her ears perked up at a woman’s voice.
She was facing away from the door, but as they passed, she turned her head slightly. Who else could it be but Qin Miao? She was draped against a middle-aged man, speaking in a sickly sweet tone.
Watching the group disappear around the corner, Jiang Chan slowly lifted the corners of her mouth. It had been a long time. So Qin Miao had someone new?
Of course, it had been three or four years since she divorced Jiang Yu. She was still young, so finding a new partner while she could wasn’t a bad idea.
Seeing Jiang Chan staring at the corner, Song Yifei waved a hand in front of her face. “Sister Chan, what are you looking at?”
Jiang Chan snapped out of it and moved Song Yifei’s hand aside. “It’s nothing. I thought I heard someone I knew and wanted to check if I was mistaken.”
Seeing Jiang Chan didn’t want to talk about it, her friends didn’t press. No need to be so curious. You’ll find out what you need to when the time comes!
After dropping everyone off, it was already two in the morning by the time Jiang Chan returned to the Lin house. Tossing and turning in bed, she couldn’t fall asleep.
Now that she had intervened, things had changed drastically from the original path. In the original host’s memory, Qin Miao and Jiang Yu had always gotten along well, and Jiang Lianyu and Jiang Siyu had never drifted apart from Qin Miao.
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