Chapter 600 : A Pure Transaction Between Friends
“Good morning, Xiao Meng Meng~”
When Ling Ning opened the door, she was greeted by none other than Li Meng.
Seeing her younger sister at Ling Ning’s doorstep felt downright surreal to Li Qian. They had left the house together earlier, but she had deliberately lost her along the way. How had she ended up here?
Li Meng glanced past Ling Ning to spot her sister inside. A faint, knowing smile played on her lips as she greeted, “Good morning, Ling Ning~”
“Wait a minute, Xiao Meng Meng, you’ve never been to my place before. How did you find it?” Ling Ning asked curiously.
“Hmm… intuition?”
“Intuition!?” Ling Ning shook her head, clearly skeptical. “Well, come in and sit down, you two. I’m going to wash up. Don’t cause any trouble, okay?”
Ling Ning gave the sisters a pointed look. Only after they both nodded solemnly did she head to the bathroom to freshen up.
As soon as Ling Ning was out of sight, Li Qian turned to her sister with a deadpan expression. “Alright, spill it. How did you find this place?”
“Want to know? Too bad, I’m not telling you~”
Li Meng smirked provocatively. She wasn’t about to admit that she had simply followed her sister here. The fact that Li Qian’s vigilance was so poor that she hadn’t noticed was just icing on the cake.
Li Qian scoffed, her suspicions confirmed. It seemed her plan to lose her sister had failed spectacularly.
The atmosphere turned frosty as both sisters silently stared at their phones, perfectly accustomed to the tension between them. Given Ling Ning’s earlier warning, a cold war was preferable to an outright clash.
A short while later, a fully dressed and refreshed Ling Ning returned to the living room. She was surprised to see the sisters not fighting but quietly playing on their phones.
Noticing her arrival, the sisters glanced up simultaneously. Li Qian broke the silence first. “Your breakfast is over there. By the way, where’s Ye Ye?”
“She’s awake and washing up now,” Ling Ning replied.
Picking up her breakfast, Ling Ning noted that it was no longer warm. Shrugging, she finished her portion quickly, then took Ye Ye’s share to the kitchen to reheat it.
“So, what’s your plan for today? Don’t tell me you’re actually going shopping,” Ling Ning teased as she climbed into the heated kotatsu.
“What’s wrong with shopping? We’ve got time to kill,” Li Meng said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“But it’s freezing outside.”
The sisters fell silent, unable to argue with her logic.
Just then, Ye Ye emerged from her room, greeted the sisters politely, and headed straight to the kitchen for her breakfast.
Li Qian suddenly spoke up. “The sun’s out now. Once Ye Ye finishes eating, why don’t we all go for a walk? A little sunshine will do us good.”
“Exactly! And after some shopping, we can grab lunch. My sister and I will treat you,” Li Meng chimed in.
Ling Ning raised an eyebrow, sensing an unusual determination in the sisters’ plan. What were they scheming?
Still, the promise of a free lunch and some sunshine made the idea more appealing.
“Alright. Once Ye Ye’s done eating, we’ll head out.”
Li Qian and Li Meng exchanged a brief, triumphant smile before quickly turning away from each other, pretending not to notice.
Once Ye Ye finished her breakfast, the group left the apartment. Just outside their complex, Ling Ning spotted a familiar figure—a classmate from high school, Wei Suozhai, who happened to live in the same neighborhood.
At the moment, he was crouched in a corner with a bald man in a supermarket uniform, seemingly deep in conversation. They were so absorbed that they didn’t notice Ling Ning approaching.
“Good morning, Wei Suozhai~”
The two men jumped to their feet as though startled, staring at Ling Ning in shock. They had been so engrossed in their discussion that they hadn’t realized she was there.
The bald man, Fei Zhouren, glared at Ling Ning with obvious irritation. The European aura she exuded was enough to make him uncomfortable. After a quick exchange of glances with Wei Suozhai, he hastily left the scene.
As Fei Zhouren disappeared, Wei Suozhai looked utterly betrayed. Moments ago, they had been partners; now, he had been abandoned.
“So, Wei Suozhai, what were you two up to?” Ling Ning asked curiously.
“We… uh… we were discussing study materials. Yeah, that’s it!” Wei Suozhai replied earnestly.
Study materials weren’t exactly a lie, right?
“Wow, studying together? That sounds impressive~”
“It’s nothing special. Anyway, are you going shopping?” Wei Suozhai asked, eyeing Li Qian and Li Meng. He didn’t recognize Li Meng and was puzzled by her uncanny resemblance to Li Qian.
“Yep. I won’t keep you from your studies. See you later!”
“See you.”
After Ling Ning and the others left, Wei Suozhai sighed in relief. He reached into his pocket and touched the two USB drives inside—one his own, the other given to him by Fei Zhouren, who had claimed it would open the door to a new world.
Curiosity flickered in his eyes, but for now, he decided to focus on attending Bai Yiyue’s concert later with his sister.