Chapter 2: Gu Xixin's Best Friend

  The climate in late October is not typical for A City, which is located in the northern part of China. Although it's not scorching hot at this time of year, the weather is usually mild. However, this year feels like an unexpected invasion of cold air. Like today, Gu Xixin put on a leather jacket before going out, but she still couldn't withstand the chill that seeped into her body from all sides.

  She simply settled her lunch at a fast food restaurant under the newspaper office building and then returned to the office, sitting in her seat preparing to take a nap.

  Sleeping soundly, was suddenly lifted up, opened his eyes, and Shen Zihans enlarged face was right in front of him.

  "I'm really impressed! My high heels made such a big noise but couldn't wake you up, and I even called out to you several times!"

  "I'm so tired, I've been squeezed all morning, I'm dead." Gu Zixin yawned and mumbled out a sentence.

  "How was the interview?" Shen Zihang asked lazily.

  "Ah, it's like that... Ah, right, something really did happen." Gu Xixin recalled the "chance encounter" from this morning and briefly described it to Shen Zihuan.

  Shen Zihuan, who was carefully trimming her nails, suddenly leaned in close to Gu Xixin, as if she had just come back to life, and asked, "Hey, is that guy handsome?"

  Gu Xixin helplessly rolled her eyes at the ceiling, "In that situation this morning, who had the time to notice what he looked like? He seemed... okay, I guess."

  Shen Zihan was not deterred by her perfunctory tone and enthusiastically offered her treasure: "Do you know? I heard that this Yin Shuo is a genuine diamond bachelor. He has a PhD in business from the US, returned to China not long ago, and currently holds a high position at Shengyu. He's very low-key, rarely appears in public, but those who have seen him say he's exceptionally handsome." Shen Zihan became more and more excited as she spoke, and finally added in a mysterious tone, whispering into Gu Xi's ear: "Most importantly, I heard he's still single."

  Gu Xixin shifted uncomfortably and kept a distance from her, looking at her sideways: "How come I didn't know you started running the entertainment gossip section?"

  Shen Zihan widened her eyes in disbelief, "Aren't you curious about these things? Aren't you excited? Diamond King Wang Lao Wu, whoever can take him down will be more important than winning the lottery."

  Gu Zhixin didn't intend to cooperate with her and ruthlessly threw at her a sentence: "Excuse me, do you have a show or do I have a show? Don't dream on."

  "It's okay to think about it, right? Aiyo, Xixin, you can't always be so calm and collected, it's hard for you to get married like this."

  "Thanks, I'm comfortable sleeping in a big bed by myself and don't have any plans to share with anyone for the time being."

  Shen Zihan glared at her disapprovingly. Gu Xixin didn't react much, muttering to herself in a low voice: "Rarely appears in public? So that's how it is..."

  In the afternoon, just before getting off work, Gu Zixin received a call from Gao Muyang. On the phone, Gao Muyang blasted her eardrums with a high-decibel voice. Gu Zixin admired her, it seemed that since they met, she had never seen Gao Muyang in low spirits. No matter when this not-so-tall but loud girl could always make the people around her feel high with her cheerful laughter.

  "Yangyang, are you off work? Let's go eat and walk around later, it's been a few days since I've seen you." Yangyang is Gao Muyang's nickname for Gu Zixin. The two were high school classmates and became very close friends due to their similar personalities and adjacent seating arrangements. Even after college and entering the workforce, while many friends lost touch, they remained close because they continued to live in the same city.

  Thinking back, it was indeed a sweet and innocent time. The two of them liked to pass notes during self-study class, and the term of endearment that Gao Muyang used on his notes for Gu Xixin was: My Sunshine. At first, Gu Xixin would scold Gao Muyang for being cheesy, but he persisted in calling her that, until it eventually got shortened to "Yangyang", leaving Gu Xixin laughing and crying at the same time, saying they were a pair of namesake twins. This nickname has been kept till now.

  "I'll be done once I hand in the manuscript, let's meet at our usual place later." Gu Xi Xin saved the document she had just finished that afternoon while confirming the time and location with Gao Mu Yang.

  After hanging up the phone, Gu Xixin sent the draft of Sheng Yu's property dispute to the editor and shut down the computer before walking out of the newspaper office.

  They took a taxi to the hot pot restaurant where they often had dinner together and went straight up to the second floor. Both of them loved eating hot pot, after trying all the hot pot restaurants near their workplace, they both thought that this place tasted the best and was also the most reasonably priced, so they decided to set their meeting spot here, coming every now and then to satisfy their cravings.

  Upstairs on the second floor, Gao Muyang hadn't arrived yet. Gu Xixin found a seat by the window, ordered a pot of tea and sipped it while waiting for her.

  Less than ten minutes later, Gao Muyang rushed in.

  "Oh no, Yangyang, I'm starving! Have you ordered?" Without waiting for Gu Xixin's response, he sat down and started scribbling randomly on the order sheet on the table.

  "Hey, slow down a bit, I'm not that hungry yet." Gu Zixin pulled her hand.

  "I'm hungry." Gao Muyang didn't even lift his head.

  "Is this just after you've finished matchmaking?" Gu Xi Xin held her teacup and looked at her.

  "Really, can't I just devour it like a starving wolf?" Gu Zixin couldn't help but laugh at this, who would call themselves a starving wolf?

  "You don't know, the matchmaker exaggerated about that person, saying he's a returnee from overseas, young and promising. As soon as I met him, I wanted to pretend I was in the wrong place, his figure, huh, short and stout, with a greasy head of hair, and a mouthful of foreign accent. He said 'you people don't understand us returnees from overseas', anyway, I didn't understand either, you'd better find someone who understands you." After saying all this in one breath, Mu Yang picked up her tea cup and took a big sip, as if trying to wash away the disgust.

  Gao Muyang is 28 years old, with a lovely and charming appearance. Although she is not tall, she has a very attractive personality. Many people have pursued her, but she enjoys attending various blind dates as a form of entertainment, repeatedly toying with others while also tormenting herself.

  After the dishes were served, the two of them chatted idly while eating, and before they knew it, this meal had lasted for more than three hours.

  After leaving the hot pot restaurant, Gu Xixin saw that it was getting late, so they parted ways and each returned home.

  Back in her rented one-bedroom apartment, Gu Xixin was so exhausted that she lay down on the bed and wanted to play dead.

  After lying down for a while, the phone in her bag suddenly rang. Gu Xixin was already drowsy and about to fall asleep. Hearing the ringtone, she turned over and ignored it, continuing to sleep. However, the person on the other end of the line was quite persistent, and the ringing continued nonstop.

  Gu Xixin was appointed to get out of bed, flipped out her mobile phone and answered without even looking at it. Who else would call her at 10pm in the middle of the night except for her mother?

  "Mom..."

  "This kid, why did it take so long to answer the phone? Come home this weekend, you haven't been back for several weeks."

  "Mom, I've been busy with newspaper work lately."

  "Don't always use work as an excuse to fool me, you can't spend your whole life working. You're already 28, and you don't even take a break to go home or find a partner. Even the son of Aunt Qiu in our neighborhood has gotten married... How much worry do I need to have for you?"

  "Mom, mom, I'm back, isn't that enough? Stop nagging. Okay, mom, I'm sleepy and want to sleep, hang up first, I'll call you before I go back the day after tomorrow." After finishing speaking, she didn't wait for a response from the other end and directly hung up.

  She shook her head, got up and washed, preparing for bed.

  Over the weekend, Gu Zixin carried a simple bag into the house with some small pastries that her mother loved to eat and medicine for treating knee pain.

  Entering the house, changing out of high heels, Su Jinping, Gu Zhixin's mother, was busy in the kitchen. Several dishes that Zhixin usually loved to eat were already on the table.

  "How late you are! Hurry up and wash your hands, dinner is almost ready." Su Jinping looked at her with a glance, reminding her.

  After washing her hands, Gu Xixin rushed to the table and started eating her favorite ribs. "Mom's cooking is still the best," she said with a mouthful of food.

  "It's delicious, you don't even say come back often. You said such a big house, usually just me alone, it's quite boring." Gu Zixin listened and felt uncomfortable in her heart, but she also knew that saying anything now would be useless, so she didn't open her mouth and quietly listened.

  "By the way, Zhixin, Aunt Wang told me that her old classmate's son is quite good and works in the same city as you. Do you have time to meet him?" Su Jinping carefully probed, originally thinking that Gu Zhixin would make an excuse to decline, but unexpectedly she agreed without hesitation.

  "Let's make an appointment for next week, mom, and we'll see each other then."

  Su Jinping was overjoyed and thought that her daughter had finally come to her senses. "Come, eat some more, how did you get so thin again?"

  Digression

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