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  Su Yue stared at Jiao Chen’s number and hesitated briefly before calling him.

  Jiao Chen’s gentle voice sounded over the phone. “Su Yue?”


  He kept addressing her as Su Yue even when she insisted for him to call her Yueyue. Su Yue also suggested that he should call her by another nickname. But he merely smiled and brushed it off every single time.

  Su Yue felt that Jiao Chen was a very simple and innocent person. Yet he was mysterious and complicated at times, too.

  She asked softly, “Jiaojiao, when are you coming back to school?”


  She had just cried and her nose was blocked. So her voice sounded a little nasal, but it wasn’t that obvious.

  However, Jiao Chen was observant enough to notice it. Sounding concerned, he asked softly, “What happened? Did you cry or are you having a cold?”


  “I’m fine.” Su Yue shook her head and smiled. “I just woke up and wanted to ask when you will be back. If you are coming back early, we can eat together. If not, I’ll just go out and buy food back.”


  Actually, she had no idea why she called Jiao Chen. Usually, he was the one who called to inform her if he was coming back or not.

  But Bai Jing had just left and she felt strangely lonely now that she was alone.

  When she stayed in the orphanage in Country Y, she was always alone. She would often sit alone and listen to others laughing away.

  But humans are greedy by nature.

  She had adapted to a comfortable life and so many people loved her. Her brother, Third Brother, Third sister-in-law, Jiao Chen and her friends……

  But she felt like something was still missing, and she was yearning for more.

  Jiao Chen replied, “I should be back by 6 p.m., I’ll bring you out for dinner tonight.”


  He sounded as if he had made prior arrangements. Su Yue asked, “Where are we going?”


  “Wait for me to pick you up.” Jiao Chen pressed on, “If you are hungry, eat some snacks first. I’ll call you again later.”


  Su Yue nodded. “Okay.”


  She hung up. She then unconsciously clicked on the news article once more—she felt dejected again.

  Su Yue chided herself.

  Uncle Ming’s concern, gentleness, thoughtfulness, and care for her was because she was his best friend’s sister.

  He only treated her as a younger sister……

  Su Yue averted her gaze from her phone.

  Su Yue spent the next hour doing something useful instead of dwelling on unhappy thoughts.

  She was determined to keep herself occupied.

  She brought out all her dirty laundry and even her bedsheets and began to wash them.

  She wanted to wash everything.

  When she was younger, she used to wash clothes almost every day. The people at the orphanage gave her plenty of chores to do, and she would always do it her way.

  She rolled up her sleeves and stepped on the clothes.

  Soap bubbles were all over the floor and it amused her. She started playing with it and momentarily forgot about her troubles.

  Suddenly, someone was knocking on the door.

  It halted her fun and she yelled, “Who’s that?”


  Who would knock on their door?

  Could it be Bai Jing?

  “Su Yue, I’m staying one level below.”


  An unfamiliar voice sounded and it puzzled Su Yue. Why would she look for her?

  She slipped on a pair of slippers and opened the door.

  A girl she didn’t know was standing outside and Su Yue sized up the girl from head to toe.