Chapter 1 – What a Coincidence, Mr. Xue! 

Jiang Yan squeezed through the packed crowd of people taking a trip for the November holiday. She had traveled far away from the Imperial Capital to S City to see her friends. Or, to be more precise, her online acquaintances.

But she never regarded them as “online acquaintances”. They were her friends, no different from the friends around her in reality.

The one who came to pick her up from the station was a young girl, a local college student named Gu Chu. Her moniker in the virtual world was ‘Chu Fei Yu’ so Jiang Yan liked to call her Xiao Yu’er.¹.

Perhaps she had seen her photos before, and also a beauty like Jiang Yan stood out wherever she went, so as soon as she left the station, she heard a surprise shout: “Ginger! This way!”

Ginger was short for ‘Ginger Slice’, Jiang Yan’s virtual name.²

Jiang Yan smiled and walked over.

The two girls chatted well online so were very familiar with each other. That was why, even though it was their first in-person meeting… They looked at each other and burst into laughter.

“Ginger, you’re fifteen minutes ahead of them.”

Jiang Yan coughed, a slight blush visible on her face. “Xiao Yu’er, what to do, I think I’m very nervous.”

“Me too.” Gu Chu came over and grabbed her arm, the two of them trembling anxiously together.

Fifteen minutes passed quickly, as the girls clasped each other’s hands tightly. They were nervous but still pretended to be calm with smiles on their faces as they readied to greet the others.

A man and a woman walked out from an exit, chatting while they looked around. Their behavior seemed quite intimate.

The smile on Jiang Yan’s face froze slightly. Gu Chu glanced at her before turning around to wave at the newcomers.

The pair quickly walked over. Gu Chu was notably excited and nervous, and even stammered while greeting them.

“He-hello, Male god Ling Guang! Hello, Shi Qiu Dada!”³

Each of them dubbed covers online but Ling Guang and Shi Qiu were considered Great God in the circle. Because of this, they seemed to have a pretty good relationship.

Both Gu Chu and Jiang Yan were very fond of Ling Guang but their type of like differed from each other. For Gu Chu, her like for Ling Guan was that of a little fan for her idol. But for Jiang Yan, he was the light she yearned for and pursued the most.

Ling Guang and Shi Qiu were approachable and friendly. They greeted Gu Chu with a smile, saying, “I will trouble you these few days.”

She smiled and, with a red face, said, “It’s okay.”

Shi Qiu’s gaze then fell on Jiang Yan. When she just walked over, she had seen two tall girls standing together, the one beside Gu Chu made her unable to resist taking extra peeks. She looked at Jiang Yan and asked, “Xiao Yu’er, is this your classmate?”

“Ah? No.” Jiang Yan intertwined her fingers, not daring to look up at Ling Guang who was standing beside Shi Qiu. She was unsure where to look, so after pausing slightly, she coughed and softly said, “I… I am Ginger Slice.”

Anxiety flashed across Shi Qiu’s face while Ling Guang smiled and responded, “So you’re Ginger, hello.”

Jiang Yan smiled and didn’t say anything more. He just looked at her quietly and also stopped talking. Meanwhile, Shi Qiu’s gaze darted between the two a few times before she suddenly smiled and reached out to hug Jiang Yan. “Thank you for loving our Ling Guang.”

Shi Qiu and Ling Guang’s relationship was good enough to the point that outsiders couldn’t really tell where the boundary was. However, it was no secret that Jiang Yan liked Ling Guang. Gu Chu knew it, Shi Qiu knew it too, and not to mention that even Ling Guang himself knew it. The only thing was, Shi Qiu’s feelings for him were similarly known to everyone.

Shi Qiu’s words had a profound meaning, but Jiang Yan just smiled vaguely and didn’t answer. The atmosphere became slightly awkward.

Gu Chu hurriedly came out to rescue the situation. “Okay! Let’s not talk here at the station. Come on, I’ll show you around S City!”

The group of four drove to the city, where Gu Chu had already made a reservation at a tea restaurant. The dishes were served one at a time as they chatted even as each of them was visibly stiff.

Shi Qiu leaned against Ling Guang and handed him the tea in her hand. “Try it, it tastes good.”

He just smiled and pointed to his cup. “You drink it, I’ll have it myself. “

Shi Qiu felt a little unhappy. “You mind that it’s mine?? Or are you pretending  to be aloof in front of your true love fans?”

Ling Guang shook his head and reached out for her cup while sighing helplessly. “I don’t dare….”

Gu Chu sighed twice in her heart and looked at Jiang Yan, only to see her friend tilting her head with a frown as she looked at a car outside through the window. She fished out her cell phone and texted:

【Ginger, what happened? You must, by all means, accept this and move on ah.】

When she heard the message notification, Jiang Yan quickly snapped out of her trance. Rummaging through her bag, she quickly took out her phone, looked at it, and replied:

【What?】

Seeing the reply, the sender was a little dazed. She didn’t know if the other was pretending to be calm or if she really wasn’t paying attention to the pair before them acting like a couple.

Gu Chu:【What are you looking at?】

Jiang Yan:【That car outside looks a bit familiar so I’m trying to remember where I’ve seen it before.】

Gu Chu:【That cool business car? What a nice ride!】

Jiang Yan:【I seem to have seen it somewhere. See the license plate? The number is Beijing X.】

Gu Chu didn’t reply again because she noticed a handsome man near the corner of the stairs staring at them. At the sight of such a good-looking guy, even in the presence of her Male God Ling Guang, she couldn’t keep her previous reserved composure. She reached out and poked the girl who was still looking at the car outside, and whispered, “Look, there’s a hottie over there!”

Jiang Yan turned her head, her eyes immediately widening, seemingly shocked by the good looks of the man.

Shi Qiu noticed her and grinned. She then patted Ling Guang’s shoulder and said, “Look at your little die-hard fan, so cute—”

Jiang Yan suddenly stood up and waved her hand with a stiff smile. “What a coincidence, Mr. Xue.”

The man who walked over smiled slightly, his gaze swept over the few people present at the table, and then, settled on Jiang Yan as he said, “I was just wondering why you didn’t go out with your company. It turned out you had an appointment with someone else.” His voice was clear and pleasant to listen to.

Jiang Yan smiled politely. “Just visiting with some friends.”

Xue Hangyi nodded. He pulled a chair over from the side and placed it next to Jiang Yan. “Mind if I sit together?”

His question was directed towards the others. When Gu Chu saw the handsome guy up close, her eyes were sparkling and she hurriedly shook her head. “No, no, no, we don’t mind! Feel free!”

Xue Hangyi sat down beside Jiang Yan, the silence at their table lingering for quite a while.

Shi Qiu’s eyes remained fixed on Xue Hangyi. She looked up and down twice, then glanced ambiguously at Jiang Yan. “Aren’t you going to introduce us?”

Jiang Yan quickly peeked at Ling Guang, the corners of her mouth moved, but before she could say anything, Xue Hangyi grabbed her hand that was holding the teacup.

“I’m her boyfriend.” Xue Hangyi smiled, the warm sunlight shone on his face. He looked as if he had just walked out of an ancient picture scroll.

Shi Qiu and Ling Guang were both startled by that simple statement.