Seeing the pained expression on Shi Xinxin’s face as she spoke, Tang Tang felt a pang of sympathy. She held Shi Xinxin’s hand and said, “Alright, alright, let’s not talk about it. It’s just that I finally returned to China and we can be together often, and now you have to go abroad. I’ll miss you.”
Shi Xinxin swallowed back the tears that were about to fall. “It’s only for a year, anyway. After this year, we can still be together. Besides, you’re a nouveau riche now, so when you miss me, you can just hop on a plane for a visit.”
Tang Tang shot Shi Xinxin a glare. “Do you think I have nothing better to do every day?”
“Of course not, you have dates to go on,” Shi Xinxin said, deliberately making the sentence sound a bit ambiguous.
But Tang Tang was nonchalant. “Say whatever you want. Anyway, I’m much better off than someone who runs away to the ends of the earth for love.”
“I’m going abroad for further studies, for further studies, alright!” Shi Xinxin said, agitated, wanting to change Tang Tang’s perception. “It’s for further studies, sister!”
Tang Tang feigned a conciliatory tone. “Yes, yes, yes, you’re not running away, not going to the ends of the earth for love, just for further studies, for work, for personal cultivation.”
Seeing Tang Tang’s deliberately put-on act, Shi Xinxin got angry. “Waiter, bring another one of your most expensive ice creams.”
Since she couldn’t do anything about Tang Tang, all she could do was punish Tang Tang’s wallet. However, Tang Tang was quite unfazed by this, typical of a rich person. Shi Xinxin could only sigh.
“Your friend is really quite interesting, actually running off to America to avoid her ex-boyfriend and other suitors? What backbone!”
Xiao Feng sat opposite Tang Tang, looking utterly uninhibited, his hands resting on the back of his chair, his legs crossed. He looked nothing like a gentleman.
Seeing Xiao Feng’s demeanor, Tang Tang frowned. She did not like his attitude at all.
“Don’t act like that, you have no image at all.”
Xiao Feng saw Tang Tang’s expression and deliberately provoked her. “People should just do whatever is comfortable, why constrain themselves?”
Tang Tang gave Xiao Feng a very impolite glare. “I really don’t know what it is about you that attracts me.”
“It’s simple, I’m handsome and I have depth.” As he said this, Xiao Feng quietly adjusted his clothes.
Tang Tang found this even more speechless. “Stop being so flippant. I really don’t want her to leave. It’s so painful. And she’s alone in America, unfamiliar with the place.” Tang Tang sighed.
Xiao Feng seemed unaffected. He shrugged and said, “Don’t tell me you want to go with her? That won’t do.”
Seeing how fearful Xiao Feng looked, Tang Tang shook her head. “I have my own work, and I can’t just abandon everything and go with her. In the end, I still envy her courage.”
“Didn’t you also study abroad by yourself before?”
“That’s different,” Tang Tang shook her head. “How can that be the same? I was young and frivolous then, fearless, and my parents would sometimes visit me, as would some distant relatives. But Shi Xinxin, she’s leaving her homeland with a broken heart. That feeling is different.”
Even though Tang Tang said this, Xiao Feng still couldn’t quite grasp this so-called sentiment.
“Sorry, I really can’t empathize with your feelings,” Xiao Feng said.
Tang Tang took a sip of water. “If one day, we reach that point, and if you truly love me, you’ll understand.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. I will absolutely not let that moment come.” Xiao Feng’s voice held a hint of restraint. Ultimately, he had also fallen for this relationship, so the thought of separation still made him feel a bit uncomfortable.
As Tang Tang and Xiao Feng continued their playful banter, a familiar figure flashed by.
Tang Tang, who was sitting by the glass door looking outside, immediately recognized him. It was Sheng Chenjin, the man Shi Xinxin wanted to distance herself from and give up on.
Sheng Chenjin still had a pleasant smile on his face, and he was accompanied by a beautiful woman with wavy hair. The two of them looked very harmonious, chatting and laughing.
Seeing Sheng Chenjin doing so well, Tang Tang felt even more that her good friend was not worth it.
Xiao Feng, noticing Tang Tang’s gaze, saw that she was staring at a man.
So, Xiao Feng reached out and turned Tang Tang’s face towards him. “What are you looking at? Dare to look at other men right in front of me.”
Tang Tang was quite displeased with Xiao Feng’s childish behavior. “That’s not just any man, that’s the person Shi Xinxin holds dearest to her heart.”
Tang Tang’s words made Xiao Feng very curious. He turned his head to look at the man Tang Tang had been staring at intently. “You really should take a picture of this moment and show it to your good friend. She’s running away to the ends of the earth over there, while this scumbag over here is out shopping with another woman, chatting and laughing. How ironic is that?”
Tang Tang was about to pull out her phone to take a picture, but then she reconsidered and put it down.
“Not taking a picture?”
Tang Tang put down her phone. “If I take a picture for Shi Xinxin, she won’t be any happier. Let’s not take it, it’ll just poke at her heart and make her even sadder, which I don’t want to see.”
“Your friend should be grateful. Having you treat her so well, she should be overjoyed.”
Tang Tang sighed softly. “Actually, she was even better to me. When we were kids, we were inseparable. Now, seeing her like this, and not being able to do anything for her, I feel a bit upset too.”
“How can this feeling of heartbreak be replaced by someone else? Don’t overthink it,” Xiao Feng comforted Tang Tang.
“But, as a good friend, I can actually share some of it with her, the happiness and the sadness.” Tang Tang still felt a little upset.
Xiao Feng could only gently stroke Tang Tang’s hand, as a form of comfort. “Your friend will surely feel your thoughtfulness, so don’t be upset.”
“I hope so. I hope she can move on soon and be the happy Shi Xinxin she used to be,” Tang Tang wished for her friend to recover from this relationship.
However, in this relationship, besides Shi Xinxin, Sheng Chenjin was also suffering. In fact, within days of the breakup, without Shi Xinxin, Sheng Chenjin had already regretted it, immensely. If he could, he would never have mentioned breaking up that day, nor agreed to it.