Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

Yang Xutang, hearing Liu Ting's words, was caught between laughter and tears. "Liu Ting, is it? Thanks for the invitation, but I'll pass. You all go ahead and have a good time."

"What's with the cold shoulder? Back in junior high, of the four of us sisters, Mengyan and I were the closest. Ask your Mengyan—that time in PE class, when she got her first period, I was the one who gave her a pad, otherwise she'd have been mortified. I did your Mengyan such a big favor, and you still won't give me any face? That's just not fair!" Liu Ting bellowed into the phone.

Yang Ce broke out in a cold sweat. This Liu Ting was really something—she'd say anything that came into her head!

Hearing Liu Ting's words, Chen Shutang's face went beet red, like a ball of fire. She glared at Liu Ting. "Liu Ting, is there anything you won't say?"

"I'm talking to your husband, not to strangers," Liu Ting said, unbothered. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone gets their first period."

Yang Cenbin, thick-skinned as he was, couldn't help feeling a bit abashed now. Liu Ting really was a character—you had to hand it to her. Yang Ce held the phone awkwardly, not sure whether to hang up or keep listening. He was truly caught in a dilemma.

"So what do you say, handsome brother-in-law? Are you going to give me face or not? Out of respect for my friendship with your Mengyan, I'll ask you straight: are you coming or not?" Liu Ting pressed.

Yang Lanxu was full of regret. Had he known, he'd never have made this call—he could have used his X-ray vision to check on things at Chen Shutang's place first. Now he was stuck, cornered, with no idea how to answer.

Just as Yang Ce hesitated, Chen Shutang's voice came back on the line: "Yang Ce, my third sister's just blunt—don't take it to heart. How about this—why don't you come too?"

"All right then, I'll head over to your place in a bit. I'm going home now to shower and change," Yang Duo agreed, since Chen Shutang had spoken up.

"Good. No rush—the reunion doesn't start until noon," Chen Shutang said.

After the call ended, Liu Ting burst out laughing. "Hahaha, I never would've guessed—the brother-in-law's a henpecked husband! One word from you and it works better than ten from me."

"It's not like that—don't talk nonsense." Chen Shutang blushed, though her heart was still full of sweetness. What girl wouldn't want others to envy her for having a boyfriend who treated her well and did as she said?

"Heh heh, in a bit I'm going to see for myself what kind of man managed to win over our school's beauty." Liu Ting chuckled slyly.

Chen Shutang was rather helpless about it, but that was just Liu Ting's personality, and she had long since grown used to it.

"By the way, it's the class reunion today—is Big Sister going too?" Chen Shutang hesitated for a moment, but in the end she asked.

"Don't mention her in front of me." Liu Ting's face darkened, and an indignant expression immediately came over her.

"It's been so long since it happened, and Second Sister has already said to let it go—why are you still holding onto it so hard, Third Sister?" Chen Shutang said with a sigh.

"No one does things the way she did," Liu Ting said. "Who knows whether she'll go. I haven't been in touch with her for years."

Chen Shutang shook her head. Seeing that Liu Ting still brooded over the matter of Big Sister, she said no more. Back in middle school, Chen Shutang, Liu Ting, and two other girls had been the closest of friends, like true sisters. The four of them were ranked by age: Big Sister Hou Qianqian, Second Sister Zhang Jiayu, Third Sister Liu Ting, and the youngest, little sister Chen Shutang.

Chen Shutang had been a late bloomer. At the time she hadn't quite understood why Big Sister and Second Sister had fallen out, to the point of becoming irreconcilable enemies. Only after she entered high school did she gradually come to understand—it had been over a man. Big Sister had stolen Second Sister's boyfriend, and that was why the two had come to hate each other so deeply.

Even after she understood, though, Chen Shutang still found it a little hard to grasp: two good sisters turning on each other like that over an outsider—was it really worth it? Only after she and Yan got together, and she lived through the business with Lan Ling firsthand, did she understand that love can drive people to madness.

Later, after entering high school, Big Sister Hou Qianqian lost contact with them, and Second Sister sank into gloom because of what had happened. Though she told Chen Shutang and Liu Ting that she had forgiven Big Sister Hou Qianqian in her heart, in the end she chose to run away, going off to study in another city. In the blink of an eye, many years had passed without their seeing her again.

"By the way, Liu Ting, that phone call interrupted us—you still haven't told me. When did you get a boyfriend? How come you never said a word to me?" Chen Shutang changed the subject.

To be continued

910. The Meaning of Flowers

"You little wretch, you've got the nerve to ask me!" Liu Ting said with formidable bluntness. "You never told me when you got a boyfriend, and you expect me to tell you?"

"I—" Chen Shutang was struck speechless by Liu Ting's words. She really hadn't had the nerve to tell Liu Ting she had a boyfriend. Though the two of them talked on the phone often, what they mostly discussed was how each of them was doing, and the subject of romance had never come up.

"The reason I didn't tell you is that I figured among us sisters you developed the latest and were the latest to mature—how was I supposed to guess you'd have a boyfriend by your first year of college? Maybe you two got together back in high school!" Liu Ting stared at Chen Shutang's face and teased her.

Liu Ting's words made Chen Shutang blush at once. She thought of that time in the movie theater back in high school, when she had helped Yang Ce like that—so the two of them could be counted as having gotten together, after all. Having had her secret guessed by Liu Ting, and being someone not much good at lying, Chen Shutang was now overcome with embarrassment.

"What, did I really guess right?" Seeing Chen Shutang's expression, Liu Ting was taken aback. She had only been joking, but she hadn't expected Chen Shutang's sudden shy look to give her away so completely.

"Not at all! We only made our relationship official after we got to college." Chen Shutang found an excuse for her "puppy love."

"Ha, so that means there was already something ambiguous going on before that!" Liu Ting burst out laughing.

"Nothing of the sort. Our relationship was very pure." Chen Shutang was deeply embarrassed. Ambiguous, indeed—they had simply been close, that was all.

"Very pure and very ambiguous, I understand, I understand." Liu Ting, however, still couldn't keep from laughing.

"Fine, so it was very pure and very ambiguous—so what?" Chen Shutang, flustered by Liu Ting's teasing, decided she no longer cared. So what if she had had a romance early?

"What do you mean, so what?" Liu Ting widened her eyes. "I never said it was a problem."

"All right, Third Sister, you're playing me!" Seeing Liu Ting's expression, Chen Shutang knew she had been made a fool of, and she was so annoyed she made to hit Liu Ting.

"All right, all right, enough fooling around." Seeing that Chen Shutang was getting worked up, Liu Ting hurried to soothe her with a smile. "Third Sister was only joking with you. When my boyfriend gets here in a bit, I'll introduce you."

"Good—then I want to see whether he's worthy of Third Sister!" Chen Shutang nodded and said.