Wang Qiqi stood by the conveyor belt, waiting for her luggage to appear. When she spotted Shi Man’s bag, she called out, “Manman, your luggage is here.”

Shi Man seemed not to have heard, watching her bag glide past. Helpless, Wang Qiqi had to reach out and pull the bag down. Only after they had gathered all their luggage did Shi Man snap back to reality.

Wang Qiqi nudged her with mock annoyance, “What were you looking at? Some gorgeous lady or a handsome guy?” Qiqi was only joking, but to her surprise, Shi Man’s face had completely fallen. Qiqi wondered whom Manman could have possibly seen—could it be Feng Xuanxiang, perhaps with some stunning woman on his arm?

Zhu Lina also noticed Shi Man’s foul expression and looked at her anxiously.

Shi Man exhaled sharply, grabbed her suitcase, and stormed toward the exit, leaving Wang Qiqi and Zhu Lina frozen in their tracks. They exchanged confused glances, wondering what had gotten into her; she seemed perfectly fine just moments after deplaning.

“What is wrong with you?” Wang Qiqi grabbed Shi Man’s arm. Why the rush to leave? Was she planning to tail someone? Luckily, she hadn't charged after her immediately; while instant confrontation might feel satisfying, it would certainly cause a man to lose face—unless one intended to sever ties completely.

Shi Man snapped back, “Do you know who I just saw? It was Shi Hongrui.”

Seeing her? Wang Qiqi still didn’t follow. “What happened between you two?” They weren’t even sharing a roof anymore. Although her moving out hadn't been entirely amicable, all debts between them had been settled. As for how Zhao Rongrong settled things with her and whether it ended badly, it had nothing to do with Shi Man; why was she so agitated?

“Remember that beauty salon product I told you about that got snatched up by someone else first? They were behind it,” Shi Man fumed. She was genuinely furious that Shi Hongrui, whom she barely paid attention to, would actively sabotage her. It had left her feeling thoroughly humiliated; if Qiqi hadn't managed to dig up some information afterward, their trip to France wouldn't have gone smoothly at all.

They sabotaged you? Could Shi Hongrui have found new partners? Wang Qiqi suddenly recalled something. “Does she have the money for a beauty salon?” You could start a salon with a little or a lot of money. And since she specifically traveled to France to source products, they couldn't be cheap, meaning the storefront renovation couldn't be shabby either. If the products were excellent but promotion was difficult, the investment wouldn't be small. Even if Shi Hongrui did well with her purchasing side-gigs, how much could she really earn after more than half a year? “Did she reconcile with her family?”

“I don’t know about that, but I do know she’s partnered with Gong Yiying.” If Shi Hongrui hadn't teamed up with Gong Yiying, Shi Man might not have been this angry. But the fact that she was collaborating with Gong Yiying made Shi Man feel like she had swallowed a fly—it just made her sick all over.

“Partnered with Gong Yiying?” Zhu Lina was bewildered as to how those two ended up entangled. “Didn’t we hear she went to Canada?” Something this significant couldn't be just meeting online and starting a business together; the world was huge, so what were the odds they’d connect online? It seemed too coincidental.

“Shi Hongrui met Gong Yiying?” Wang Qiqi remembered that time Shi Man went sourcing supplies and ran into Gong Yiying. Although they had said they would meet up if time allowed, given how badly things had ended in college, a meeting seemed unlikely, and everyone got busy afterward, so the matter faded. She hadn't expected any follow-up. Wang Qiqi exclaimed she truly hadn't seen that coming.

“Could it have been that time you ran into Gong Yiying?” Wang Qiqi recalled that Shi Man and Gong Yiying’s relationship was still decent back then; they often went shopping together.

Shi Man stopped her hurried pace and dragging her suitcase. A hint of self-reproach colored her voice. “It probably was that time. I really didn't realize Shi Hongrui was so scheming.” Regardless of how they connected later, in Shi Man’s eyes, she had stabbed them both in the back. Gong Yiying was one thing, but Shi Hongrui going this far was too much.

Zhu Lina looked at the two equally incensed friends. Though she hated to interrupt, a question occurred to her. “How did Shi Hongrui know you were opening a salon, and how did she know which supplier you were going to?” Zhu Lina remembered their relationship had soured long ago. Given that, Shi Man couldn't have told Shi Hongrui about their plans, and even if she had let something slip, Qiqi and the others wouldn't have disclosed the sourcing details, surely?

Zhu Lina considered it. It wasn't impossible. Just because they lived under the same roof and shared the same business idea didn't mean anything. “Regardless of whether she has money or who she partners with, that’s her business. Maybe it was just a coincidence; she had the same idea as us and targeted the same brand. Manman, didn’t you say that brand was good, quite well-known?”

Shi Man bristled, nearly pointing a finger at Zhu Lina’s forehead. “Are you defending her? There were so many businesses they could have chosen, why specifically the same one we picked, and why team up with Gong Yiying?” Shi Man crossed her arms tightly, bristling with indignation.

Wang Qiqi and Zhu Lina finally understood the core issue: Manman wasn’t actually bothered by the type of business Shi Hongrui opened, but rather by who she partnered with. “Manman, forget it. If she wants to team up with Gong Yiying, let her. They’re both bad news anyway,” Wang Qiqi consoled. In her view, regardless of how they connected earlier, both women were motivated purely by money. If the business thrived, fine. But if it flopped or they lost money, Wang Qiqi knew they would inevitably fall out, and then they could laugh at them. “It’s not worth getting angry over people like that.”

“Exactly. Let’s go out; I’ll treat you both to something good,” Zhu Lina said, feeling helpless about how to persuade her. “If you make your beauty salon a huge success, that will really get to them.” For Zhu Lina, even though the salon wasn't open yet, she was confident it would thrive. “Just crush their salon when the time comes.”

Shi Man understood the logic, but she couldn't shake the feeling that Shi Hongrui had decided to open a salon because of her. “I mentioned wanting to open a beauty salon once before, and Shi Hongrui was present.”

Wang Qiqi and Zhu Lina were momentarily speechless. “Never mind,” Wang Qiqi patted Shi Man’s shoulder. “Let her open it. Will we have fewer competitors in the future anyway?”

“True,” Zhu Lina said, urging Shi Man to move along. “I’m starving! Let’s find a place to settle in and then grab some real food.” She’d only managed to eat one bread roll since waking up, and the airplane meal was so awful she barely tasted anything. Zhu Lina’s stomach was staging a full-scale protest.

After eating their fill, the three settled into a café to discuss where they might go sightseeing the next day to pass the time. This discussion was mainly between Zhu Lina and Shi Man; Wang Qiqi rested her head on her hand, watching the crowds flow past the glass window, occasionally taking a sip of her drink. Even though it was late August, the heat was oppressive, something Wang Qiqi, having lived in England for a year, found hard to bear—Shi Man felt it too.

“Air conditioning is the best. Where can we go sightseeing in this heat?” Shi Man knew Qiqi enjoyed visiting old, traditional architecture, but many buildings in this city now were modern, which Qiqi disliked. Plus, the traffic was constant, and the air always smelled of gasoline, making Shi Man feel very uncomfortable.

“I don’t know. How about the newly opened Ocean Park?” Zhu Lina also lacked enthusiasm. “I was hoping we could go to the seaside, but alas…” A beach trip wasn't impossible, but Zhu Lina only had a few days of free time before she had to rush back to Beijing to handle other matters.

Shi Man steered the conversation back to a more personal topic. “We keep saying we need a proper trip, but we never find the time. If we don't go soon, we’ll be married and mothers.” Shi Man didn't know her own timeline for marriage, but she was certain Qiqi and Han Tao were close—once Han Tao finished his Master’s degree, they would definitely marry. As for Nana, if nothing unexpected happened, she would marry Zhu Hanlin after graduation. Don't let her constantly say she wasn't sure and needed to thoroughly test the man; the tone of her calls revealed she was completely smitten.

“Then let’s do a family trip,” Zhu Lina mused. That way, their children could get to know each other from a young age, and even if they weren't as close as their mothers, they wouldn't be complete strangers. “By then, I won’t have to be this busy.”

Zhu Lina’s comment revealed quite a bit. Wang Qiqi and Shi Man exchanged a look but said nothing. Since Zhu Lina was so certain, it seemed she was definitely going to purge a faction of those relatives.

Wang Qiqi looked up, staring out the window, and suddenly froze. She then lowered her head to sip her drink, glanced over at Shi Man who was flipping through a magazine, chatting intermittently with Zhu Lina, and her tension eased. Good, she thought, Manman wouldn't see them.

When Wang Qiqi looked up again, the figures were gone. She let out a long sigh. Because her movement was slightly too dramatic, Shi Man noticed. “Qiqi, what’s wrong? Why the sudden heavy breathing?”

“Nothing, nothing. I just saw someone incredibly ugly and got startled,” Wang Qiqi quickly fabricated an excuse. They were ugly people, after all; she wasn't lying.

Shi Man rolled her eyes at Wang Qiqi. “You are getting more timid. By the way, Nana, didn't you say you had an appointment to look at houses? Can we go?”

“In a little while,” Zhu Lina replied after checking the time on her phone. “He’s a friend of my dad’s, someone with some pull in the city. His friend happens to be a developer with some commercial properties. We’re going to take a look, and if they work, we’ll negotiate the price.” Knowing someone meant they might get a favorable rate.