Julina knew Wang Qiqi and the others were coming back today, so she stayed home, tidying up with Dai Lijun and Lu Qiaowei. "We'll go out for a nice dinner tonight; let's keep lunch simple. Sorry to trouble you, Weiwei, today." Julina had originally expected only Dai Lijun to come over, never imagining he would bring his girlfriend along.

Lu Qiaowei wiped the sweat from her brow. "It's fine, Sister Nana. I don't have anything else to do at home anyway."

During the summer break, Lu Qiaowei had visited Dai Lijun’s family home and was quite surprised by what she found. She had always assumed her boyfriend's family was of average means, partly due to what Dai Lijun usually said about earning his own tuition and living expenses. In Lu Qiaowei's mind, this meant a modest background, but the reality was that his family was quite well-off.

Lu Qiaowei couldn't really discuss this with her university roommates. She secretly worried that if they knew about Dai Lijun's true financial situation, she would suddenly acquire many more romantic rivals. After she described the state of Dai Lijun's household to her own family, they were also astonished. Frankly, the Lu family had expected to find a capable son-in-law, not realizing they had found a veritable 'golden turtle'—a wealthy catch. Her mother, in fact, felt that such a low-key, self-reliant son-in-law—one who wasn't relying on family money—was clearly a child with great potential. Her future mother-in-law had even remarked that one could gauge Dai Lijun's good family background just by looking at the friends he associated with. (If Dai Lijun, Wang Qiqi, and the others knew this, they would surely say the old lady was wildly overthinking things. When they first met, none of them truly knew each other's family situations; it was only as they grew closer that they slowly learned about each other’s backgrounds, realizing then that most of their families were actually doing quite well—Han Tao being the exception, of course. But they had all initially bonded because they got along well; was the point to stop being friends just because someone wasn't rich?) Following her mother’s gentle counsel, Lu Qiaowei approached facing Julina and the others again with a newfound, albeit subtle, sense of inadequacy.

Julina found Lu Qiaowei’s behavior that day quite strange, but since she and Lu Qiaowei weren't close, she couldn't press the matter. When Lu Qiaowei wasn't looking, Julina subtly glanced at Dai Lijun, asking him with her eyes if he knew why their acquaintance seemed so altered after just one break, less natural in their interactions than before.

Dai Lijun, too, looked utterly bewildered.

He had originally told Lu Qiaowei that Wang Qiqi and the others were returning from the U.S. today, and since it had been a long time since they all met, and it was just this small group, they absolutely had to have dinner. As for whether Wang Qiqi and the others would be dealing with jet lag, well, everyone knew Wang Qiqi slept the moment she boarded a plane. The mandatory dinner was explicitly planned to prevent them from sleeping through the afternoon in Beijing and then being unable to sleep that night. The bill, incidentally, would be footed by the 'landlord'—the trio rumored to have made a fortune in the U.S.

But to Dai Lijun's surprise, the first thing his girlfriend asked upon hearing Qiqi was returning was whether they needed help cleaning the house. Upon receiving confirmation, she eagerly volunteered to come over and clean. This frankly made Dai Lijun a bit jealous, as she hadn't shown nearly the same enthusiasm when he had visited her place before.

As they exchanged these non-verbal messages, Lu Qiaowei caught a glimpse of the unusual interaction between her boyfriend and Julina out of the corner of her eye. She was about to ask what was wrong, mainly because their expressions looked decidedly off. In truth, Lu Qiaowei’s feelings for Dai Lijun were far more intense now than before. Previously, she might have thought that if Dai Lijun left her, she could simply find another man. Now, however, she felt the chance of finding another man who could measure up to him was slim to none.

"I wonder if Qiqi and the others will bring us back any gifts this time; I'm really looking forward to it," Lu Qiaowei mused. After a moment of thought, she realized this was the only safe topic she could introduce. Previously, whenever Wang Qiqi or Shi Man traveled outside of Jingcheng, they always brought back small tokens for everyone—perhaps inexpensive things, but tokens of affection nonetheless. As soon as she said it, Lu Qiaowei regretted it, feeling like she sounded like she was begging for presents.

While Lu Qiaowei was regretting her words, they ironically clarified things for Julina, explaining why the other woman had been so keen to help out—she was acting just like a child. Julina remembered how excited she used to be when her parents returned from business trips, not out of missing them, but because she looked forward to the gifts they might have brought. "I heard it's a piece of jewelry," Julina remarked. This explanation made sense: trading labor for a gift.

"Jewelry, huh." Dai Lijun hummed in acknowledgment. He recalled Shi Man discussing with him previously what kind of gift would suit Lu Qiaowei. Gifts were best if they were things the recipient actually liked; otherwise, it was just wasted effort. Though he hadn't seen the item, Dai Lijun was sure it wouldn't be substandard.

"I thought it would be something like a handbag or clothes."

"Clothes require knowing the recipient’s exact preferences," Julina thought. Qiqi and the others knew her style and size, so any clothing they bought for her was usually well-received. But how long had Lu Qiaowei known them? How could they possibly pick out clothes that would fit her taste? As for bags—buy a designer bag? Even if they were cheaper abroad, it felt inappropriate to purchase one as a gift for someone they barely knew. A distinctive piece of jewelry was a much better choice.

"Jewelry is nice," Lu Qiaowei said. She was careful not to be critical of any gift Wang Qiqi and the others might bring; she needed to leave a good impression. Lately, she'd been bothered by the fact that another woman, a friend of Wang Qiqi’s circle, frequently called Dai Lijun. He had explained that this woman was an old flame, and Wang Qiqi and the others seemed to tacitly approve of Dai Lijun getting back together with someone they already knew—believing it was a more suitable arrangement. However, that woman hadn't been interested in Dai Lijun at the time, finding him unromantic, and had instead ended up with someone else. That incident had cooled the relationship between Wang Qiqi’s group and the other girl. Then Dai Lijun met Lu Qiaowei, and they started dating. Rumor had it the ex-girlfriend had recently broken up with her current partner and might be trying to return to the fold. Lu Qiaowei didn't know how Dai Lijun would choose if she and the other woman truly competed for him, or which side Wang Qiqi and the others would take. Ugh, what a mess.

Julina stood at the arrival gate and spotted Wang Qiqi and the other two emerging, waving enthusiastically. "Qiqi, Manman!"

She started to run toward them but stopped short, stunned by the cart in front of the trio. Good heavens, how could they have so much luggage? Qiqi had mentioned in an email that some things were mailed ahead for Song Yao to sign for, and Julina herself had brought back some things when she visited the U.S. last time. Where did all this new stuff come from? Three large suitcases were manageable, but they also had five red and white plastic shopping bags. How much were they going to pay for checked baggage fees?

"What is all this...?"

They looked like instant millionaires. But Qiqi and the others looked strangely pale. Even though the plane had landed and they were safe, all three of them still had shaky legs. Shi Man, especially, had endured significant turbulence on the flight. She rushed over to Julina, clutching her arm, whispering about the ordeal. "Nana, do you think we’re cursed?"

Julina was momentarily stunned. Turbulence was normal, of course, but this sounded like an extremely rough ride. "God, we need to light incense and pray when we get home today." Even though they were safe, Shi Man’s description suggested the situation had been genuinely perilous, explaining why their faces were still so ashen. "I had planned for all six of us to go out for a big meal, but now... maybe we should just skip it." Wang Qiqi and the others clearly needed rest.

"We still need to eat—to celebrate surviving disaster. How about you treat us, Nana?" Despite the fear they'd just faced, Shi Man felt that having weathered such a major risk meant smoother sailing ahead, perhaps even a huge opportunity awaiting them. However, she absolutely wasn't going to miss a chance to have the wealthy one foot the bill.

Julina had originally planned for Han Tao to pay, but now the bill had fallen on her. "Shouldn't you guys be treating? I heard one of you struck it rich in the U.S.!" Hmph. They hadn't even thought to include her in such a great opportunity, yet they claimed to be best friends. Clearly, there were tiers of friendship. "And you made quite a bit of money..." Julina emphasized her point with a few pointed snorts.

Wang Qiqi and Shi Man knew this question was coming. To be honest, initially, they hadn't thought to include Julina because they weren't sure if her family would be interested in stock speculation in the U.S. Part of that hesitation was also a subtle form of avoidance. Now that Julina was angrily bringing it up, Wang Qiqi and Shi Man exchanged a glance, then sweetly linked arms with Julina. "We’ll treat, we’ll treat. It wasn't a massive fortune, but converted to RMB, it’s a decent sum," Wang Qiqi said coaxingly.

"Exactly! We were just practicing, really," Shi Man added, still slightly dazed. She truly hadn't expected her man to be so sharp. "Once his skills improve, he'll be our personal financial manager." Shi Man unashamedly threw her man under the bus, hoping that as her partner, Feng Xuanxiang would understand and be sympathetic to her situation. "Of course, this applies assuming my relationship with Feng Xuanxiang is boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife," she added, even though the phrasing was a bit unlucky—some things happen whether you want them to or not.

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