Bai Tiantian and Jiang Ran went back and forth, bickering so loudly that Lin Xi’s head began to throb.

Lin Xi finally stood up, stepping between them to physically force them apart. “Alright, so what exactly did you two backstab each other over?”

Knowing their true characters as well as she did, Lin Xi knew neither of them was the type to secretly spread malicious gossip behind someone’s back.

Hit with Lin Xi’s direct question, both Bai Tiantian and Jiang Ran instantly fell silent.

“Fine, I get it,” Lin Xi let out a long sigh, adjusting her expression into one of profound, exaggerated heartbreak. “You two keep chatting. I’m going to cook.”

“Xi’xi,” Jiang Ran blurted out, frantically grabbing Lin Xi’s hand. “I’ll speak.”

She shot a cold, defensive glare at Bai Tiantian. “Back in elementary school, the fact that she still wet the bed somehow got leaked to the entire class. She insisted on pinning the blame on me.”

Lin Xi blinked, turning her gaze toward Bai Tiantian as she fought a desperate battle to suppress her laughter. “Tiantian, how exactly did you deduce that it was Ranran who leaked that information?”

“Aside from my own mother and her, absolutely no one else in the world knew about it,” Bai Tiantian argued, her face turning an incredibly dark shade of crimson. “If she wasn’t the culprit, are you suggesting my own biological mother broadcasted it?”

“Why on earth wouldn’t she?” Jiang Ran countered smoothly. “Your mother used to gossip with my mother all the time. My entire household knew about it. I was simply trying to shield you from embarrassment, so I never brought it up to your face.”

“What did you just say?” Bai Tiantian’s voice spiked an octave. “How could my mom possibly share something like that?”

“Women of their generation love nothing more than trading juicy gossip,” Jiang Ran sneered. “They gossip about other families, and they gossip about their own. It’s not like you’re oblivious to how she is.”

A sudden chill washed over Bai Tiantian’s heart. She actually found herself believing it. Her mother truly did possess a loose tongue; back then, she could easily have gotten overly comfortable with some other parent and let the secret slip without a second thought.

“Then why didn’t you explain that to me back then?” Bai Tiantian demanded.

“By that point, you had already declared we were officially over,” Jiang Ran replied, offering a dismissive shrug. “Why would I waste my breath? I figured you could go right ahead and believe whatever delusional theory you wanted.”

“Then what caused the official fallout in the first place?” Lin Xi asked, her curiosity fully piqued.

Bai Tiantian crossed her arms, shooting an aggressive eye-roll across the coffee table. “She wrote a love letter to a boy in our class. Before she even had the chance to deliver it, someone took it and pinned it squarely to the blackboard for the entire classroom to recite aloud.”

“I only shared the existence of that love letter with you and you alone,” Jiang Ran stated, though it was impossible to tell whether her deeply tanned face was blushing beneath the dark complexion. “You explicitly warned me not to hand it over at the time, claiming I would only end up regretting it.”

“And what happened next? I chose not to deliver it, yet it magically wound up pinned to the blackboard anyway, turning me into the laughingstock of the entire grade for a solid month.”

“I explained it to you a million times—I wasn’t the one who pinned it there!” Bai Tiantian grumbled, pressing her fingers against her throbbing temples in sheer exasperation. “The only reason I told you not to deliver it was because I strongly suspected that boy’s sexual orientation was oriented toward men. I was strictly terrified you’d get your heart broken from a brutal rejection.”

“As for who actually stole it and pinned it to the board, I eventually uncovered the truth later on,” Bai Tiantian continued, leveling a hard glare at Jiang Ran. “It was that boy’s secret boyfriend! He happened to overhear the two of us talking, waited until we left the room, and then sneaked over to steal the letter out of your desk to humiliate you.”

“The whole thing only came to light during our graduation year after the two of them broke up and your crush exposed the truth himself. Unfortunately for you, you had already transferred away by then.”

“Who exactly was his boyfriend?” Jiang Ran asked, her teeth grinding together tightly.

“The academic representative of our class,” Bai Tiantian revealed. “I always thought the physical interaction between those two men looked way too intimate back then. Turns out they really were entirely compatible.”

“Wow. Your middle school years were certainly colorful,” Lin Xi marveled with a whistle. Compared to their dramatic history, her own middle and high school days had consisted entirely of standard textbooks and exams.

“You two were honestly way too childish,” Lin Xi laughed softly, her tone incredibly soothing. “Cutting ties over a series of silly misunderstandings like that is simply not worth it. Fortunately, you’ve crossed paths again, and the friction has finally been cleared away. It was all just a massive comedy of errors.”

Jiang Ran and Bai Tiantian obviously recognized that their past actions had been driven by reckless, youthful pride. A decades-long bond of friendship had capsized in an instant; both had secretly longed to reconcile over the years, yet neither could swallow their pride enough to make the first move, dragging the silent treatment out for four long years.

In reality, part of the reason Bai Tiantian had chosen to attend university in Jiangbei was the faint hope of running into Jiang Ran. She had never expected that instead of finding her former best friend, she would first establish a deep bond with Jiang Ran’s closest confidante, Lin Xi.

The intricate webs of fate were truly marvelous.

Now that the air was clear, Bai Tiantian and Jiang Ran found themselves trapped in a torrent of endless conversation, rapidly catching up on four years of accumulated gossip.

Unable to seamlessly interject herself into their shared history, Lin Xi quietly retreated to the kitchen to focus on cooking, offering them warm, affectionate glances every now and then.

She didn’t feel excluded in the slightest. She understood completely that after years of separation, they had a mountain of catching up to do. Her role was simply to provide a comforting presence and fuel their reunion with incredible food.

—

Lin Xi whipped up a total of six gourmet dishes. After arranging them meticulously across the dining table, she called out toward the living room, “Tiantian, Ranran! Come over and eat while it’s hot.”

“Coming!” Bai Tiantian cheered, practically dragging Jiang Ran toward the dining suite. “Xi’xi’s cooking is absolutely elite. I’ve literally gained two pounds over the last two days alone.”

As the pair arrived at the table, Lin Xi handed them their bowls and chopsticks. “What do you two feel like drinking?”

“How about a little alcohol to celebrate?” Bai Tiantian suggested, turning an expectant gaze toward Jiang Ran. “How’s your alcohol tolerance these days?”

“Ranran drove here,” Lin Xi reminded her gently.

“Who cares about the car?” Bai Tiantian argued, wrapping her arms around Jiang Ran’s shoulders and refusing to let go. “Don’t bother heading home tonight. The two of us can share a bedroom.”

“Ranran, can you stay over for the night?” Lin Xi chimed in. She, too, thoroughly hoped Jiang Ran wouldn’t have to rush away.

“I can skip heading home, and I can certainly drink,” Jiang Ran noted, rubbing her chin thoughtfully before casting a sweeping gaze across the luxurious interior. “But before we pop any corks, I need to know exactly whose apartment this is.”

Jiang Ran was well aware of Bai Tiantian’s financial background. They had recently established a mutual pact to strictly shield their wealthy family statuses from the outside world, pretending to come from standard, working-class households.

“Bai Tiantian, listening to you issue orders just now, you sound practically like the owner of this place,” Jiang Ran noted, narrowing her eyes. “Don’t tell me you purchased this massive luxury estate.”

“Of course not!” Bai Tiantian immediately shook her head in frantic denial. “How could I ever afford a premium property in a high-end complex like this?”

“Xi’xi is the true lady of this household,” Bai Tiantian beamed, playfully nudging Lin Xi forward.

“The lady of the household?” Jiang Ran’s brow furrowed instantly. “Xi’xi, you got married? It couldn’t possibly be that fast. We’ve only been separated for a single month, not a whole year!”

“Don’t listen to Tiantian’s nonsense,” Lin Xi clarified, her cheeks flushing a light pink. “Technically, I’m still just the live-in housekeeper here.”

“How is it nonsense?” Bai Tiantian countered, popping a perfectly seasoned piece of shrimp into her mouth. “The two of you literally locked lips right in front of an entire crowd of onlookers. If that doesn’t count as defining a relationship, I don’t know what does.”

“Locked lips in public?” The expression on Jiang Ran’s face darkened instantly, turning several shades blacker than her tan. “Which absolute animal forced himself onto you?”

Jiang Ran slammed her chopsticks down against the polished table with a sharp crack, startling Bai Tiantian completely.

“Jiang Ran, are you insane?” Bai Tiantian gasped, pressing a hand over her racing heart. “Xi’xi is simply exploring a romantic relationship. Is it really necessary for you to have such an explosive, unhinged reaction?”

The faint traces of humor completely vanished from Jiang Ran’s face. “I am strictly terrified that someone is taking advantage of her. Xi’xi is entirely too pure and innocent for her own good.”

“Actually, Song Xu’s character is quite decent,” Bai Tiantian noted, swallowing her food before offering her assessment. “I’ve monitored him quite thoroughly over the past few days. Aside from his possessiveness being slightly intense, he doesn’t seem to have any major character flaws.”

“What could a delusional romantic like you possibly evaluate accurately?” Jiang Ran scoffed, shooting her a dismissive glance. “I intend to meet this man named Song Xu personally to see what he’s truly made of.”

“Who are you calling a delusional romantic?” Bai Tiantian huffed, thoroughly offended. “At the very least, I’ve never gone ahead and penned a dramatic love letter to a boy.”

“完整！Bai Tiantian, if you bring that incident up one more time, I will officially cut ties with you permanently,” Jiang Ran warned, her eyes narrowing into dangerous, sharp slits.

“As if I’m terrified of you…” Bai Tiantian shot back, her eyes widening defiantly. “Cut ties then, see if I—”

“Will you two please stop bickering?” Lin Xi interjected smoothly. She extended both arms, using her hands to firmly clamp over both of their mouths simultaneously. “When it comes to my emotional life, I am entirely rational and grounded. You can rest easy.”

Lin Xi retracted her hands with a light chuckle. “Now, I’m going to grab the alcohol!”