Chapter 6: Memory
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“Why is she here?” Yuan Shishi turned to her fiancé, only to see him staring blankly at the door, as if he had lost his soul.
Yuan Shishi’s eyes flashed with anger. She walked over and grabbed Liang Hefu’s arm, asking coldly, “Did you send her an invitation?”
Liang Hefu regained his senses, and seeing his fiancée’s displeased expression, he hurriedly said, “No.”
“Then how did she end up here?” Yuan Shishi glared at him.
“How should I know?” Liang Hefu, dissatisfied with her questioning, couldn’t help but glance again in the direction of Xin Yan.
Seeing this, Yuan Shishi’s anger intensified, but she didn’t explode on the spot. Instead, she held onto Liang Hefu’s arm tightly, coldly watching Xin Yan approach.
Ding Yi whispered beside her, “Is that your fiancé’s ex? Didn’t you say she’s just an ordinary person? The outfit she’s wearing doesn’t seem affordable for an ordinary person.”
Yuan Shishi sneered, “Who knows where she borrowed that from.”
D*mn, she was so angry! Just a moment ago, she was mocking her fiancé’s “ex-girlfriend” in their group chat. Now, the woman had spectacularly appeared, stealing the spotlight and making it seem like she was the protagonist of the day!
“Hehe,” Ding Yi chuckled without saying anything.
Xin Yan approached Liang Hefu, her fingers clasped together, slightly painful from the grip, her back straight, using all her strength to maintain composure. She calmly said, “Congratulations, ‘senior.'”
Liang Hefu stared at her with intense focus, never realizing she could be so beautifully enchanting. The previous her was like an outdated accessory, occasionally adorned by him out of habit. The current her resembled a carefully carved jade, flaws removed, displaying the most charming demeanor.
Although Xin Yan wasn’t the most beautiful woman Liang Hefu had ever seen, the drastic contrast before and after instantly overturned his impression of her, delivering quite an impact.
Yuan Shishi, witnessing Liang Hefu’s distracted demeanor, pinched him discreetly, insinuating, “Miss Xin Yan, may I ask who gave you the invitation?”
Xin Yan didn’t spare her a glance, only concentrating on Liang Hefu, her eyes filled with myriad emotions, melancholy yet deep. She firmly remembered An Bu’s advice: focus on Liang Hefu during the encounter; others are just background.
Xin Yan’s indifference made Yuan Shishi feel humiliated. Just as she was about to confront her, Xin Yan continued, “Today, I’m just here as a ‘junior’ to offer my congratulations. True love is hard to come by. When you encounter it, I hope you cherish it and don’t waste two or three years only to end up abandoning it.”
Liang Hefu felt a pang in his heart, ready to speak, but Yuan Shishi stopped him with a raised hand. Stepping forward, she said, “Hefu and I can certainly last a long time. You don’t need to worry. I hope you find a suitable boyfriend, live a ‘steady’ life, and don’t hold onto any unrealistic fantasies. Even if a mountain chicken puts on colorful clothes, it can’t become a phoenix.”
“You’re right.” Xin Yan, at this moment, was unusually clear-headed. She cast a cold, disdainful glance at Yuan Shishi. “Even if a mountain chicken wears colorful clothes, it still can’t become a phoenix.”
With a slight modification and combined with her gaze, this sentence turned into a mockery, suggesting that Yuan Shishi was nothing more than a mountain chicken from a phoenix nest.
A few people nearby chuckled softly. Yuan Shishi was first stunned, then angry, ready to retort. “You…”
However, just as she was about to speak, a female server appeared in her line of sight, inconveniently standing between her and Xin Yan.
Seeing this server, Xin Yan’s eyes showed a hint of surprise. Then, the server discreetly threw her a flirtatious look, making Xin Yan unable to hold back a smile. Her nervous mood completely calmed down.
This server was, of course, An Bu, the impromptu fairy godmother. She raised her tray, and Xin Yan, understanding the unspoken cue, reached for a glass of wine. She raised it to Liang Hefu and said, “Senior, I toast to you.”
Blocked from view, Yuan Shishi grumbled, “Where did this server come from? So annoying!”
Liang Hefu raised his glass, silently admiring Xin Yan’s considerate nature. At the same time, he gracefully clinked glasses with her.
Just then, Xin Yan suddenly raised her hand, splashing all the red wine in her glass on his face. At the same time, she spoke deliberately, “Wishing Master Liang and Miss Yuan a hundred years of happiness and bliss.” As she finished speaking, she let go of the empty glass, which fell slowly and shattered into countless pieces.
Liang Hefu’s hand froze in mid-air.
Yuan Shishi stared in astonishment.
All eyes turned in their direction, witnessing the disheveled Liang Hefu, the enraged Yuan Shishi, and the departing graceful figure.
An Bu silently applauded her stylish exit and swiftly blended into the crowd. No one noticed the departure of a small server, except for Jian Ningxuan, who, after she walked about seven or eight meters, immediately spotted her leaving. With a quick glance, he barely caught sight of her disappearing through a side door.
An Bu no longer cared about the developments in the latter half of the banquet. With the means of the Liang family, handling such situations was more than enough, and the incident lasted only a few minutes. Most people would dismiss it as a momentary joke, and the Liang family wouldn’t trouble a girl just for this. However, Yuan Shishi and Liang Hefu might not be as pleased. Although this wouldn’t come close to compensating for Xin Yan’s hurt, it was still a swift and decisive resolution.
Exiting the hotel, An Bu quickly found Xin Yan in a corner on the roadside. She was crouched, crying softly, as if mourning the end of this relationship.
“Alright, let’s go home.” An Bu took off her coat and covered Xin Yan’s head with it.
Clutching the hem of the coat, Xin Yan stood up with a dejected look, resembling a young bride standing beside An Bu.
An Bu held her hand and made a call on her phone. In a moment, the same red sports car that brought Xin Yan earlier screeched to a halt in front of them.
An Bu opened the car door, assisted Xin Yan inside, and followed suit.
After a moment of silence, Xin Yan suddenly spoke, her voice low and mournful, “Bu Bu, if you were a man, you’d surely be the perfect boyfriend in a woman’s heart.”
“Even if I’m not a man, I can still be the perfect ‘boyfriend.'” An Bu had some confidence in this aspect.
Xin Yan paused for a moment, hesitated, and said, “I’m not interested in women, no lesbian stuff.” So even if Bu Bu was excellent, it wouldn’t change her sexual orientation.
“…You’re overthinking.” This woman’s thought process was sometimes hard to fathom.
Xin Yan sighed in relief, then continued, “Do you think, Bu Bu, if I made Liang Hefu lose face this time, will he send people to retaliate against me?” After doing something bad, she was beginning to worry again.
“Don’t worry.” An Bu assured her, “Although Liang Hefu is despicable, he doesn’t have the habit of bullying women.” But as for his fiancée, it’s hard to say.
Xin Yan lowered her head, her eyes distant, seemingly lost in memories of the past.
An Bu didn’t disturb her; letting go of a relationship was not that easy. When Xin Yan would be able to move on, it depended on her.
An Bu took Xin Yan back to her own home and helped her arrange a guest room.
After Xin Yan finished her shower and neatly organized her dress, shoes, and accessories, she carefully returned them to An Bu.
“Bu Bu, thank you.”
“These are all bought for you; keep them.”
Xin Yan shook her head, “Cinderella’s magic allowed her to win the prince’s love. But I used this magic to end a ridiculous relationship. What doesn’t belong to me will never be mine. Only things that truly exist are worth cherishing. Like Bu Bu’s friendship, I wouldn’t trade it for ten Liang Hefus.”
An Bu cast a disdainful glance at her, “You finding one scumbag is not enough? You want ten of these?”
“Grasp the spirit.” Xin Yan laughed, linking arms with her. “I just want you to know that you’re the best!”
After this incident, Xin Yan, even though a bit slow, understood that An Bu was no ordinary person. However, regarding her identity, Xin Yan didn’t ask too much and didn’t intend to. She didn’t want her friendship with An Bu to be tainted by money and certainly didn’t want to treat her help as an entitlement.
An Bu patted Xin Yan’s head, feeling proud of herself.
“By the way,” Xin Yan suddenly said, “I plan to go back to college.”
“Oh? That’s great,” An Bu expressed her support.
Xin Yan took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling. “I had to drop out of school before because of family changes, and later, to match Liang Hefu, I urgently wanted to have a decent job and achieve something in my career. But now, I just want to make an effort for myself, pass the ideal college entrance exam, and step by step pursue my own goals.”
“Do you need help?”
“No.” Xin Yan smiled, “I haven’t stopped studying these past few years, saved some money, and I can also work part-time. Completing my studies shouldn’t be a problem.”
Satisfied with her confidence, Xin Yan’s face displayed a hint of self-assurance.
An Bu laid on the bed, smiling, watching her. Holding onto this purity and self-improvement, An Bu believed she would become an outstanding woman.
Late at night, two people sat in front of the computer, enthusiastically comparing the pros and cons of various universities, discussing until dawn.
A few days later, Xin Yan chose a university in the neighboring province. She resigned from the restaurant job, planning to move there soon and prepare for the adult exam in two months.
Originally, Xin Yan chose a local university because she couldn’t bear to leave An Bu. Still, An Bu thought it would be better for her to go to another province, avoiding potential troubles with Yuan Shishi. That’s why she ultimately changed her mind.
Before leaving, the two spent an entire day exploring the city, taking lots of photos, then bid each other farewell reluctantly.
After seeing Xin Yan off, An Bu developed all the photos and carefully pasted them into her album diary, connecting them along a timeline. Beneath Xin Yan’s first photo, An Bu wrote: Xin Yan, 24 years old, February 2174 AD, became friends at the VM CNC training class…
In An Bu’s closet, there were still sixty or seventy thick photo albums and a backup chip, recording her experiences of the past decade. Because her memory needed constant review, otherwise, she would quickly forget, she recorded every place she visited, everyone she met, and everything she saw.
Additionally, she stored the photo diary and backup chip of the past seventy years in the bank’s safe deposit box. Apart from carrying a family portrait with her, memories from ten years ago had mostly faded. However, as long as that safe deposit box existed, the treasures she considered valuable wouldn’t be lost.
After safely storing Xin Yan memories, An Bu quickly received a new part-time job—a mascot at the Cool Joy Amusement Park: Poker-faced Bear Baby.
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