Julina returned home to find only Wang Qiqi hadn't come back yet, wondering if the two of them had gone out on a date. The thought of Wang Qiqi on a date, while Shi Man had gone with Feng Xuanxiang to his hometown to visit his future in-laws, brought a pang of sourness to her heart.

They were all high school classmates, friends who had gotten into the same university. Now, two of them were settled down, and not just in a casual dating way, but in a serious relationship preparing for marriage. Julina recalled Shi Man the other day, restlessly pacing at home, worrying about how the visit to the future in-laws would go. She had found it amusing then, but more so, she wondered if she would be just as restless if she were to meet a future in-law.

Julina poured herself a cup of coffee and sat on the sofa, weary, wondering where her springtime was, where her destined one was. Though she had many admirers—from university or through parental friends—who certainly noticed her, she constantly worried that they were only interested in what she represented. "So tiring."

Julina only allowed herself this kind of lament when she knew she was alone at home. She felt quite hypocritical now, knowing she wore a mask even when facing Wang Qiqi and the others, unwilling to show them her exhaustion.

Wang Qiqi returned, juggling a bag of things, and pulled out her key to open the main door just as she heard Julina utter those words. She instantly froze. She truly hadn't expected Julina to sigh like that when the house was empty. Truthfully, Wang Qiqi and Shi Man had discussed Julina's changes over the past two years; both felt Julina was too worn out, looking nothing like a university student. "Relax a little."

But why hadn't this girl turned on a light even after getting home? If not for recognizing her voice, Wang Qiqi would have been scared half to death. Wasn't this intentionally trying to scare someone?

"I want to relax too."

Julina knew it was Wang Qiqi who had returned. "Don't turn on the light."

She worried that turning on the light would reveal the exhaustion on her face.

Or her tears. In any case, she didn't want Wang Qiqi to see her lose composure. "Can we talk?" Wang Qiqi, who had been about to flip the switch, retracted her hand. Relying on the faint moonlight and her familiarity with the apartment, Wang Qiqi safely retrieved her own mug, poured a cup of coffee, and settled onto the sofa. Since the lights were off, she stretched her legs out onto the coffee table, making herself as comfortable as possible.

"Let's talk. We haven't really talked in a while."

Wang Qiqi hummed in agreement, then rolled over, intending to go to sleep, only to find herself suddenly tumbling down.

This struck Wang Qiqi as very strange; her bed definitely shouldn't have let her fall off. She struggled to open her eyes and realized she had landed on the living room carpet. "How did I end up sleeping in the living room?"

Wang Qiqi groggily climbed up from the rug.

With a look of confusion, she glanced around and saw Julina asleep on the sofa.

Wang Qiqi racked her brain for a while before finally remembering: yesterday, after finishing dinner with Li Qian, she had come home to find Nana sitting alone on the sofa looking dejected. She ended up chatting with her for a long time. Of course, she couldn't recall what the conversation was ultimately about.

Wang Qiqi suddenly understood why she had felt so uncomfortable all night. She had initially suspected it was because she had drunk wine with Li Qian at dinner, wondering if it was because she hadn't had wine in a long time.

Had her tolerance for alcohol really dropped so much? It turned out she had spent the whole night crammed into the single sofa, unable to fully stretch her legs, and being so soft and yielding—it was a wonder she had slept comfortably at all.

After getting up, Wang Qiqi walked over to Julina, yawned widely, and shook her awake.

"Nana, Nana, wake up."

Thankfully, it was the weekend, Wang Qiqi thought, hoping to catch up on sleep. Otherwise, showing up to class in her current state might make Bai Ge and the others think she'd been up to too much 'indulgence' the night before.

Julina felt a dull ache in her bones and joints. Hearing Wang Qiqi call her, it took her a while to fully wake up. "What time is it?"

She yawned, thinking she might have to rush to class. As Julina propped herself up to get moving, she realized something was wrong. "Why is my bed so soft?"

Good heavens, could anyone sleep with this level of softness? Julina opened her eyes and saw she was curled up on the sofa. She stared blankly at Wang Qiqi, thinking that falling asleep at her desk was normal—she did it often. Wang Qiqi or Shi Man would often find the light on when they went to the bathroom late at night and would habitually push the door open to check. Upon seeing Julina asleep, they would wake her up and tell her to go back to her room. But why on earth would she be asleep on the sofa?

"We probably just talked until we both fell asleep. I was planning to go back to bed."

Wang Qiqi explained briefly, stifling a yawn, while rubbing her lower back as she headed toward her room. "Don't go rushing off to work either. You're young; you need to take care of yourself, or you'll regret it when you're older."

Julina had initially planned to take a bath and then head to the company. She had no choice; there was so much work, so many things she needed to review. So many eyes were watching her at home. Although her mother often told Julina not to care what others thought—the company would go to her regardless, so let them talk—the proud Julina didn't want her relatives to say she only relied on her family. But Julina genuinely felt exhausted, not from handling business affairs poorly, but from the sheer volume of tasks. Julina couldn't understand why handling the affairs of just one division involved so much, while her old man managed multiple industries and wasn't as busy as she was. Was it really, as Qiqi suggested, that her direction and method of handling things were flawed? It seemed necessary to talk to her father about it. Thinking this, Julina called her assistant and told him she wouldn't be coming into the office today.

After hanging up, Julina leaned back on the sofa blankly. She hadn't expected the barely suppressed excitement in the assistant's voice when he heard she wasn't coming in. Had her constant overtime even made the assistant unhappy? Julina first thought about calling her father to discuss the issues, but checking the time, it seemed he would be doing his morning exercises. She decided to go back to her room to rest and regain her energy first.

Although Wang Qiqi was back in her room, she kept listening to the sounds outside the door. She genuinely didn't know if Julina had taken in what they discussed yesterday. At least Julina had been thinking about going back to the office for overtime just now—what a workaholic. But thankfully, the girl had somewhat listened to what she had said yesterday and actually called her assistant. However, Wang Qiqi truly felt sorry for Julina's assistant. Despite the high salary, he had to work until nine or ten at night most days, and sometimes Julina would call him in the middle of the night if a thought struck her. Weekends were absolutely non-existent; he worked from morning until nine at night. The salary was high, yes, but Wang Qiqi genuinely thought there was nowhere to spend that money. At that hour, how many shops were even open? She’d have to take half a day off just to buy clothes. She wondered if the assistant found the call from his superior strange and secretly prayed that the workaholic boss would rest more so that someone else could rest too.

Shi Man returned home laden with shopping bags, her face beaming, only to find Julina, the least likely person, opening the door. Her jaw remained dropped for a long moment. "Aren't you coming in? Why are you standing at the door?"

Julina understood why Shi Man looked that way, which prompted her to self-reflect: had she been acting abnormally during the day while they were out? Shi Man shot Julina a sharp look and quickly snapped back to reality, nodding rapidly. "Mm-hmm."

She tiptoed into the house, and as soon as she set her bags down, she was startled again.

In fact, it wasn't just Shi Man who was startled; Feng Xuanxiang was too. They exchanged a look. My God, not only was the workaholic future high-achiever not at the office working overtime—which was strange enough—but she was lounging on the sofa watching Japanese dramas instead of dealing with paperwork in the study? What kind of signal was that? "Did the sun really rise in the west today?"

Shi Man whispered, finding it utterly bizarre. If it were Wang Qiqi, while strange, it would still be within a certain range of normalcy. But the issue was Julina watching J-dramas. She hadn't watched such childish serials in over a year! In Shi Man's estimation, the only things that could keep Julina glued to the TV were the national evening news or reports on economics.

Wang Qiqi knew Shi Man and Feng Xuanxiang were due back today, so she had been quietly preparing dinner in the kitchen, turning the heat down low, intending to ask Shi Man how the visit to her in-laws went. When she noticed the pair sneaking glances at the sofa and whispering, "What are you two doing?" Seeing their furtive behavior, Wang Qiqi immediately suspected they were discussing whether Nana had cracked under some pressure and become abnormal.

Shi Man jumped when someone slapped her back, almost crying out in shock. She shot Wang Qiqi an angry glare, then pointed toward Julina. "Don't you think this is incredibly strange?" Not working overtime and instead watching Japanese dramas! Yet, Qiqi didn't seem to find it odd. Had something happened in the few days she was gone? "Relax a bit. Too much accumulated stress can cause problems."

Wang Qiqi offered a brief explanation. "But I don't know why she's watching Japanese dramas either."

This was truly beyond Wang Qiqi's expectations; this level of change was a massive leap.

Shi Man grunted, assuming Julina must have been overly stressed and was trying to clear her mind. "I suspect she’ll revert back to normal soon enough. By the way, Qiqi, can we eat dinner yet?" "It’s still simmering. Have some snacks to tide you over."

Wang Qiqi wondered if Feng Xuanxiang's mother’s cooking hadn't suited Shi Man’s taste, making her hungry so early.

"Our train ticket was for ten o'clock. We ate lunch, so we got hungry as soon as we got off."

Though Wang Qiqi didn't ask, Shi Man knew Wang Qiqi was worried about her trip to the in-laws. "Don't worry, it was lovely."

She whispered softly into Wang Qiqi's ear.

Today is the big finale for Bu Bu, with three chapters tomorrow, the day after, and the day after that, all at 10 PM. [The Space in the Necklace] Go build wealth by wearing a necklace [Happiness is Simple Enough] Rebirth can also be simply happy.

[Rebirth of 1976] Carrying a baby to find a husband