117: Chapter 117 Aftermath

Hearing Liu Yanran speak, Qiao Yichen started the car.

Half an hour later, the two arrived at Lin Wei's home.

As soon as the door opened, Lin Wei poked her head out and glanced at them before turning back to her work, leaving behind a sentence: "Change your shoes yourself."

Qiao Yichen and Liu Yanran changed their shoes and entered the house. A computer was on in the living room, its screen displaying the Taobao backend, with order notifications pinging and chiming.

Zhou Zhou came out of the small warehouse carrying a pile of clothes. Seeing the two people sitting on the sofa, she froze for a moment before greeting them with a smile: "Sister Yanran, hello Brother-in-law!"

The two nodded to her.

Qiao Yichen looked at Lin Wei and asked casually, "Where's Xiao Chen?"

Lin Wei didn't even look up, her fingers still flying across the keyboard. "She's on leave today. I'm busy to death all by myself."

Qiao Yichen leaned over curiously and found that she was processing return orders.

The screen showed customer feedback saying "size not suitable." Lin Wei was typing a reply: "Dear, this is a standard size. Please confirm if it's the size you usually wear~ If it doesn't fit, you can return or exchange it~"

Sensing someone leaning in beside her, she turned her head to see it was Qiao Yichen and pushed him away. "Aiyaya, don't look. Trade secrets!"

Then she turned and shouted to Liu Yanran, "Yanran, didn't you want to get some clothes? They're in my bedroom closet. Go get them yourself; the hanging ones are all yours."

Liu Yanran didn't rush to get up. Instead, she changed the subject: "Weiwei, guess who I just saw?"

Lin Wei's hands paused, and she looked at her suspiciously. "Who? It couldn't be some celebrity, could it?"

Liu Yanran shook her head.

Lin Wei guessed again, "Su Qing?"

Liu Yanran still shook her head.

Lin Wei lost her patience and stopped typing, turning around. "Who on earth is it? Hurry up and say it; I'm still busy here."

Liu Yanran calmly uttered three words: "Zhou Shiyu."

Lin Wei "whooshed" up from her chair, her eyes wide, her voice rising an octave: "Zhou Shiyu? What's he doing in Hangzhou?"

Zhou Zhou, standing nearby still holding the clothes, stopped what she was doing upon hearing this and looked over curiously.

Liu Yanran said in a flat tone, as if she were talking about what she ate today, "He wants to get back together, I guess."

Lin Wei's eyes darted around, her gaze landing on Qiao Yichen with a bit of schadenfreude. "Does Boss Qiao know about this?"

Qiao Yichen leaned back on the sofa helplessly, his tone a bit speechless. "I went over later and watched the whole thing."

Lin Wei's eyes lit up. She leaned forward and asked in a low voice, "Did you give him a couple of 'bam-bam' punches? Did a fight break out?"

Qiao Yichen pressed his forehead, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "There was no need for that... Just making him back off is enough. I'm not that kind of person."

Liu Yanran added from the side, "He's overthinking things. Who does he think he is?" She paused, then looked at Lin Wei, her tone suddenly shifting, "You haven't deleted him on WeChat, have you?"

Lin Wei blanked for a second, then nodded sheepishly, feeling a bit guilty. "I kept him just to watch the drama..."

She picked up her phone and opened Lin Wanwan's moments, muttering as she scrolled down, "I haven't even deleted that bitch Lin Wanwan yet. But honestly, it seems like those two haven't interacted in a long while. Lin Wanwan's recent posts are all about her going out to have fun."

As she flipped through Lin Wanwan's moments, Qiao Yichen curiously leaned over her shoulder to look.

Lin Wei said while swiping the screen, "Looks like the two of them broke up, and he wants to return to his old flame. Look at this, they were still showing off their love in March, but there's been nothing since April."

Qiao Yichen stared at Lin Wanwan's photo on the screen—she was indeed quite pretty, with looks comparable to Lin Wei and the other two. No wonder they used to hang out together.

Liu Yanran chuckled from the side, her tone tinged with mockery. "I don't know what's going on in his head, thinking I can't live without him. It's truly hilarious."

Lin Wei nodded with a look of disgust. "Really gross. Good thing you broke up back then, otherwise it would be so nauseating now."

She suddenly realized something and turned to look at Qiao Yichen behind her. "What are you doing? Why are you looking so intently?"

Qiao Yichen withdrew his gaze and sat back on the sofa, his expression unchanging. "Just curious about what she looks like."

The group fell silent for a few seconds. Qiao Yichen's gaze swept over Liu Yanran and Lin Wei, then he looked at Zhou Zhou standing nearby and asked:

"What are we having for dinner? Cooking ourselves or ordering takeout? I'm a bit hungry."

Lin Wei shrugged, looking indifferent. "I don't know. Ask them."

Liu Yanran didn't answer but asked instead, "Is Su Qing here yet? Didn't we agree to meet up?"

Lin Wei shook her head. "She said she'll be a while longer; there's a traffic jam."

Seeing no one making a decision, Qiao Yichen took out his phone and opened a food delivery app. After scrolling for a while, he finally chose KFC and held it up for them to see.

"Is KFC okay for dinner?" he looked up and asked. "They have fried chicken, burgers, and stuff. It's convenient."

Lin Wei nodded. "Sure, I haven't had it in a long time."

Liu Yanran had no objections either.

Zhou Zhou whispered from the side, "I'm about to get off work..."

Qiao Yichen glanced at her. "If you have nothing to do tonight, just eat before you go. It's dinner time anyway."

Zhou Zhou was taken aback for a moment but didn't refuse, nodding with a smile. "Okay, thank you, Brother-in-law."

Qiao Yichen lowered his head to place the order, selecting a five-person set meal, then asked, "What do you want to drink? Coke or something else?"

The group chimed in with their drink choices, and he added them one by one.

Lin Wei stood up and pulled Liu Yanran toward the bedroom, saying as she looked back, "Yanran, try it on and see. My taste is never wrong. That blue set, I think it suits you perfectly."

The two entered the bedroom, the door left slightly ajar. Rustling sounds of changing clothes came from inside.

Qiao Yichen leaned on the sofa and opened WeChat. The chat history was still at the gym photos he had sent to Zhou Qian and Yu Peishan in the afternoon.

Zhou Qian replied: "Still going to the gym on the weekend, so disciplined."

Yu Peishan's reply was: "This environment looks pretty good~"

He opened the chat boxes and continued the conversation.

After a while, the bedroom door opened.

Liu Yanran walked out, wearing the outfit Lin Wei had posted in the group yesterday—a blue off-the-shoulder top paired with matching jeans.

She stood at the door and called his name: "Yichen?"

Qiao Yichen looked up, his gaze falling on her.

The off-the-shoulder design exposed her collarbones and shoulders, her fair skin glowing softly under the light. The jeans on her lower half were quite tight, clearly outlining the curves of her figure.

Lin Wei came out behind her. Her gaze swept over the faint red marks on Liu Yanran's body before looking at Qiao Yichen, who was staring at her from the sofa. Her eyes held something meaningful.

Qiao Yichen scanned her up and down, his throat bobbing as he nodded. "It looks great, really."

Just as he finished speaking, the doorbell rang. Lin Wei went to open it, and Su Qing walked in carrying a bag, immediately spotting Liu Yanran standing in the middle of the living room.

"Oh, this outfit works." Su Qing nodded repeatedly, her eyes full of appreciation. "It's really nice; it makes you look tall and slim."

Lin Wei leaned in proudly, singing her own praises: "Of course. My styling is top-notch. You guys can count on me for buying clothes from now on."

She turned and called out to Zhou Zhou, "Stop working. Come sit; we're eating soon."

Zhou Zhou put down her things and came over to sit on the sofa. The four girls gathered together, chatting away about Liu Yanran's new outfit.

"This blue really brightens your skin tone, seriously."

"The off-the-shoulder design is nice too. You have beautiful shoulders; you should wear this kind of thing more often."

"What shoes to pair it with? I think white sneakers would do."

Surrounded by them, Liu Yanran felt a bit embarrassed, but the corners of her mouth remained turned up.