The first thing Jiang Bai did after returning to City S from the imperial capital was to look for Ren Qingzhou. This time he came back mainly for Fang Ting.
After much thought, he still wanted to poach Fang Ting. Only by coming in person could he show his sincerity.
Apart from this main matter, there was another thing. He wanted to drop by to check on Ren Qingzhou's progress.
After learning that Ren Qingzhou had been chatting with the girl under a pseudonym for a month, Jiang Bai was shocked.
He seriously criticized Ren Qingzhou for his inefficiency and showed his disdain for him.
Being hesitant and insecure was really not Ren Qingzhou's style. He gritted his teeth and decided that it was better to do it today than to wait for another day.
It was Friday today. Su Tang's roommate had made an appointment to meet Jiang Bai, so Su Tang should have nothing to do.
Ren Qingzhou tentatively sent a message to Su Tang: "Are you free tonight?"
Su Tang was immediately a bit flustered and quickly asked Fang Ting for help.
Fang Ting took her phone and replied: "Yes, what's up?"
After replying, she educated Su Tang: "You two are unmarried. It's not like you're having an affair. What are you afraid of?"
"I'm back in City S. Let's meet tonight." Ren Qingzhou really was asking her out.
"I always feel like it's a netizen meeting."
"He has already seen you. It's just that you haven't seen him. But meeting is always beneficial. If he really isn't your type after you meet him today, you can just reject him when you get back. It'll also save you from wasting time with him. You've been chatting for over a month. You won't make any progress if you don't meet." As Su Tang's love coach, Fang Ting analyzed the current situation.
"Moreover, judging from how you feel about him, as long as he isn't too ugly, you should be able to accept him." Fang Ting added.
Su Tang continued to ask for help: "Then come with me. I'm really scared by myself, ahhh."
"My college classmate Jiang Bai is back. He's the matchmaker between you two. He asked to talk to me today, so..."
"Oh no, oh no. He doesn't want to get you out of the way, does he?"
"It's unlikely. He probably really has something to talk to me about. I could tell from his tone on the phone that it was quite formal."
After Su Tang and Fang Ting exchanged their opinions, she replied: "Okay, then let's pick a place."
"At eight o'clock tonight. Let's go to Duchen. Is that okay?"
Duchen was a private club with a membership system. Ren Qingzhou chose this place naturally because of his special identity. He couldn't just find a restaurant to eat and chat. Su Tang had been in City S for a few years and had no idea such a place even existed.
She asked Fang Ting: "Do you know where Duchen is?"
Fang Ting shook her head.
The two whispered to each other for a few words and then returned to their work stations.
Su Tang had no choice but to send a message: "Send me a location."
"No need. I'll pick you up."
Of course Ren Qingzhou couldn't pick her up directly, but Jiang Bai had an appointment with Fang Ting. He could take Su Tang there on the way. It was perfect.
He just needed to tell her that he was tied up with something when she was about to get off work and ask Jiang Bai to take her there.
There was usually no overtime on Friday. Su Tang originally wanted to go straight to the appointment after work, but Fang Ting dragged her back home.
"At least tidy yourself up a bit. You're going on a blind date after all."
Fang Ting looked at Su Tang's sweater and jeans, with her hair tied up. She looked as simple and plain as a middle - school student.
Su Tang resigned herself to putting on makeup and picked out a more presentable outfit. When she was done, she saw that Fang Ting was actually wearing the red dress she had just bought a few days ago.
Su Tang walked around her and sighed at her for sacrificing warmth for style: "Aren't you cold? It's winter after all."
Fang Ting replied vaguely while putting on lipstick: "I haven't seen Jiang Bai for a few years. I don't know what he's like now, but at least I have to let him know that I've become good - looking."
When she turned around, she saw that Su Tang had changed into a short shirt and paired it with a pair of high - waisted flared pants. It made her look tall and sassy, but it didn't match her head at all.
"What are you going to wear on the outside?"
Su Tang pointed to the windbreaker hanging by the door.
"No way. You're already so cool. Wearing such a long windbreaker on the outside. Are you going to shoot The Matrix?" Fang Ting firmly rejected her idea.
"Then what should I wear?" Su Tang didn't want to spend any more time on clothes.
"Why do you always want to develop in the direction of a cool girl when you're so cute?" Fang Ting was disappointed. She casually found a short puffer jacket from the closet and stuffed it into Su Tang's hands: "Wear this. It suits your appearance and matches the outfit you're wearing inside."
"Let's go. Jiang Bai is waiting." Fang Ting had finished packing her things, and the two of them went out. Jiang Bai had already arrived. When he saw Fang Ting, he was stunned for a moment, and then introduced himself to Su Tang: "Hello, I'm Jiang Bai, Fang Ting's college classmate."
"I'm Su Tang, her roommate."
The two shook hands politely. Jiang Bai opened the car door for the two ladies: "Please."
Maybe because Duchen was located in a remote area, although it was rush hour, the traffic wasn't too congested on the way. They even arrived a little earlier than the appointed time. Su Tang and Jiang Bai thanked him and got out of the car.
Jiang Bai watched Su Tang's figure walking away and said to Fang Ting: "What do you want to eat? Brother will treat you."
"Is your buddy reliable? I'm a bit worried about leaving Tangtang alone here." Fang Ting looked out of the car window worriedly.
"Don't worry. I guarantee he's a good guy. I just don't know if Su Tang will take a fancy to him." Jiang Bai looked at Fang Ting in the rear - view mirror. He always felt that there was something different about her compared to when they were in college, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"What kind of a decent person would make an appointment in such a remote place? No, I have to go down and check. Let's talk about our business another day." Fang Ting said and was about to get out of the car. Jiang Bai was so scared that he quickly locked the car door.
"Don't go and cause trouble. I guarantee your friend will be fine. How about I take you to eat hot pot? I saw your WeChat Moments the other day. You seemed to enjoy it a lot."
"You've been stalking my WeChat Moments! And you didn't even like my posts!" Fang Ting's attention was diverted for a moment, and Jiang Bai's car had already driven away from Duchen.
As soon as Su Tang got out of the car, she felt that the atmosphere here was strange. She always felt that something strange was about to happen.
The waiter at the door of Duchen saw her and bowed enthusiastically: "This way, ma'am."
Su Tang walked in and saw a beautiful young lady walking towards her. She politely asked: "Are you Miss Su Tang?"
Su Tang nodded, and the young lady said again: "Please follow me."
The interior of Duchen was very elegant. There were delicate partitions between each set of seats to protect the privacy of each table of guests.
The young lady leading the way walked around with her for a long time and finally stopped. She made a gesture of invitation again and then left.
Su Tang was very confused by the atmosphere and the grand occasion here. For a moment, she couldn't help but doubt that she had gone to the wrong place.
There was indeed a man sitting behind the screen. Through the screen, she could vaguely see his figure. He looked a bit familiar, as if she had seen him somewhere.
Just as she was thinking, the man turned his head. Su Tang saw a familiar face. It was Ren Qingzhou without a mask and a hat.
She was really startled, so much so that her speech function was a bit affected. It wasn't until Ren Qingzhou stood up that Su Tang found her voice again: "What a coincidence. We meet again."
Then she heard Ren Qingzhou say: "Sit down. Let's talk."
"No, no. I have an appointment today." Su Tang declined politely.
"I'm the one who made the appointment with you, Su Tang. Please sit down first and listen to me explain."
"Okay, explain." Su Tang readily agreed. She casually put down her bag and sat across from him.
According to Ren Qingzhou's own words, he and Su Tang had known each other for quite a while, but this was the first time Su Tang had observed him so closely.
It had to be said that he was really good - looking from every angle. Even though she was very angry at the moment, she still couldn't help but be attracted to his good looks.
Su Tang scolded herself in her heart. At the same time, she remembered the words she had said countless times when she was infatuated with this face in the photos. With such a face, even if he had made a huge mistake, as long as he apologized to her, what couldn't be forgiven?
"I'm sorry." The owner of this face sincerely apologized to Su Tang.
So women were really very fickle. When it really came to making mistakes, even if he looked like an angel, it wouldn't work.
Su Tang was still very angry in her heart. This liar! He had deceived her feelings!
"I actually wanted to tell you a long time ago that I'm Ren Qingzhou, but..." But he was afraid that you would think he was a playboy who came to deceive your feelings.
Ren Qingzhou didn't dare to say the second half of the sentence, which made Su Tang even angrier.
"But if you use someone else's name, it will be exposed one day."
"So come clean and you'll be lenient. Resist and you'll be punished severely. Please forgive me." Ren Qingzhou looked pitiful.
"Okay. For the sake of you being my idol, I'll forgive you." Su Tang wasn't the kind of person who would take advantage of others. Although Ren Qingzhou had deceived her, he really didn't have any bad intentions. "So did you come today specifically to apologize to me?"
"That's just one of the reasons. There's another reason." Ren Qingzhou paused and said seriously: "Through such a long - time contact, you also have a certain understanding of me. Since I met you at the airport last time, I've fallen in love with you at first sight. So..."
"Would you like to be my girlfriend?"
Su Tang suddenly understood a truth. This wasn't just a matter of a pie falling from the sky. This was God trying to crush her with a pie.
Su Tang carefully examined the man in front of her again. She really couldn't figure out what he saw in her.
"Are you sure you're not joking?"
"I'm very, very serious." Ren Qingzhou stared into Su Tang's face and said again: "Maybe in your eyes, I'm a very distant and perfect person, but in fact, I'm just an ordinary man. It's very normal for any man to fall in love with a beautiful woman at first sight."
It was really normal for a man to fall in love with a beautiful woman at first sight, but the problem was that Su Tang didn't think she was a beautiful woman. Didn't this kind of love - at - first - sight drama only happen to great beauties?
Su Tang had a very accurate self - positioning. She was cute enough and could be considered a little beauty, but she definitely didn't belong to the category of great beauties. Coupled with her personality, this little beauty attribute was so balanced that it was almost negligible.
"Did you see what I looked like clearly at the airport?" Su Tang still remembered his figure running away at that time.
"I have very good eyesight. Even in the crowded concert, I could still see your figure at a glance." Ren Qingzhou was also a bit nervous. He felt his throat was very dry. He casually picked up the water on the table and took a sip before continuing: "I wonder what your impression of me is? I mean as a friend."
"As an idol, you're very dedicated and hard - working. You're a very qualified idol. As a friend, you're considerate and thoughtful. You're also a qualified friend." Su Tang objectively evaluated.
"But from what you just said, you don't want to be my friend. You want to be my boyfriend." Su Tang changed the subject: "Thank you for your love. To be honest, I'm very flattered. You may be the dream of millions of girls, but I don't think we're suitable. So I'm very sorry."