Song Jiawen ate so much for dinner that she was round-bellied, and on her way back, she didn’t even ride her bicycle, opting to walk home to digest the meal. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

When she arrived at Xinyu in the afternoon, Lao Er had indeed already stewed the mutton, the cabbage had just been added not long before, and the glass noodles were still soaking in a bowl. As she stepped into Uncle Liu’s living room, the entire house was filled with the rich aroma of mutton, making Song Jiawen’s mouth water almost to the point of drooling.

In terms of culinary skills, Lao Er had truly inherited Jiang Yan’s expertise.

However, she had forgotten that before she came, Jiang Yan had mentioned that Lao Er was uncertain about whether to add glass noodles or not, but they were already soaking in the bowl, which clearly indicated they were intended to be used.

But with the stew smelling so delicious now, who would still remember that?

"If you ever stop dealing with second-hand computers, Lao Er, you could definitely become a chef."

Upon hearing Song Jiawen’s words, Lao Er’s eyes brightened, "Right? I think so too. Look, isn’t there any dish I can’t master after watching once? This mutton soup is even brewed to perfection, cooking is definitely more rewarding than reading... Hey, big brother, put the fish down, I’ll cook it."

Jiang Yan turned his head and gave him a cold glance. Lao Er quickly withdrew his hand and immediately corrected himself, "You, you make it tastier, you should do it."

After speaking, he proudly presented the marinated chicken wings, "Big brother, should these be fried or made into cola chicken wings? I bought all the vegetables you asked for this morning, do we cook them all?"

"You go downstairs and watch the store with Uncle Liu, I’ll take care of this."

Jiang Yan sent Lao Er away, and quickly whipped up a table full of dishes. He himself didn’t eat much and soon went down to assemble computers, but he managed to stuff Song Jiawen, Lao Er, and Uncle Liu.

Around nine o’clock, Song Jiawen returned to her dormitory, and as soon as she entered, Ding Yuanyuan teased her, "Your class president has been calling our dormitory countless times looking for you. Did you forget something?"

Song Jiawen was taken aback and blinked, "Our class had a gathering tonight..."

Ding Yuanyuan cut her off, "So you forgot about that, and then you went to eat with Jiang Yan?"

Song Jiawen felt that wouldn’t count as forgetting, at most, she just didn’t give prior notice. But she had her reasons, "Mainly because I was hungry after school and wanted to drink some mutton soup."

Sha Yali’s eyes lit up immediately, "Mutton soup? Where? Where did you have it? How was it?"

"The taste was unparalleled, not a hint of that gamey taste, and the glass noodles were pure sweet potato noodles brought from our hometown. It was really delicious."

"So was the mutton from a mountain goat or a sheep?"

"...It was mutton."

Alright, Sha Yali didn’t dwell on that detail and asked again, "You guys even brought sweet potato noodles from home when you came over? And the mutton soup, was it made by Jiang Yan?"

"Lao Er made it, the one called Xiaotie, the guy you met before..."

Ding Yuanyuan’s head swiveled back and forth, watching the two of them divert the conversation with talk of mutton soup, completely sidestepping the issue of the gathering.

Sigh...

Was that mutton soup really that delicious?

Just then, the dormitory phone rang again, and all three of them looked at Song Jiawen, "You answer, it’s definitely for you."

As expected, it was Xue Weisong. He had made so many calls and finally got a hold of her, but now he didn’t know what to say.

Song Jiawen promptly apologized, "I didn’t mean to miss it on purpose. It’s just that I was hungry at the time, thinking of having a bowl of mutton soup before heading over, but before I could finish, the dishes were ready, and then as I was eating, I just forgot..."

"Pfft!"

Ding Yuanyuan and the others couldn’t help but laugh out loud, and even Xue Weisong on the other line chuckled. What else could he say?

"Next time there’s a class activity, you can’t just skip it without any notice like you did today."

Regarding the misunderstanding among her classmates that she was absent due to Xia Shi’s last-minute absence, there was simply no need to tell her.

Song Jiawen nodded repeatedly, "Got it, got it, won’t happen." The perfunctory attitude couldn’t have been more obvious.

Time flew by, and within two weeks, the heavy coursework at Beijing University had finally tamed the eager first-year students, who settled into a routine of classroom, library, and dormitory.

Still, there were those particularly active students who applied to join the student union outside of class, and upperclassmen from the student union meticulously screened applicants in the hopes of discovering a next generation that was both talented and interesting.

Like Yang Boran.

But after combing through all the application forms, he did not find Song Jiawen’s name. The Faculty of Physics and Arts Department had been planning to use this rising star to make a statement.

Wasn’t it said that no pretty girls chose to major in physics?

Look, just look, everyone look!

At the Physics Faculty talent show, they wouldn’t even need Song Jiawen to do anything—simply standing on stage would suffice.

The problem was that this new junior’s personality seemed a bit introverted; he had visited their class to persuade her several times, but even now, she was indifferent to joining the student union.

One couldn’t force it, and in the end, Yang Boran could only give up in defeat.

....

Yu Zexiao’s divorce proceedings were drawing to a close, and Mu Chenyan, after getting Song Jiawen’s consent, took Yu Ci to Jianghai Town in Yunzhou City.

That day, Xie Jingying and Song’s third brother had just returned from the apple orchard and hadn’t reached home when a neighbor approached them, "Third Uncle Song, there’s a high-end looking car parked at your door, and a woman got out from it—dressed so imposingly....Is she a relative of yours? From Yunzhou?"

Xie Jingying’s mother, Shi Peirong, was from Yunzhou; the villagers knew this and knew her uncle was an important figure there, so they naturally assumed that the car outside her house belonged to one of those relatives.

Xie Jingying and Song’s third brother looked bewildered. They hadn’t heard of anyone coming to their house. Who could it be?

The two quickly returned home on their tricycle and saw from a distance a woman in a beige trench coat standing upright at their doorstep, scanning the surroundings.

A silver car was parked not far away, and as their tricycle neared the house, Song’s third brother spotted the logo on the car and the license plate with "Beijing*****," and his heart suddenly clenched.

He glanced back at Xie Jingying, and both of them had a foreboding feeling.

Hearing the tricycle, Mu Chenyan turned to look.

Since detectives had investigated and photographed Xie Jingying and Song’s third brother before, she immediately recognized the two.

Just then, Yu Ci finished a phone call and came out of the car.

Seeing Mu Chenyan, they were a bit panicked, but when they clearly saw Yu Ci’s face, with her striking features that were easily recognizable, and how the Yu siblings shared a certain resemblance to each other...

At least to outsiders, it was obvious there was a relation.

Third Brother Song’s legs were shaking so badly he almost couldn’t press the brake, while Xie Jingying almost stumbled out of the tricycle, both of them in extreme disarray from head to toe.

Xie Jingying dared not look at Mu Chenyan after one glance and started fumbling for the keys with trembling hands, struggling to insert them into the lock.

"It’s also fine if we don’t go inside; we don’t mind discussing this wherever, my daughter...."

"Let’s go inside, let’s talk inside."

Song’s third brother hastily interrupted Mu Chenyan, then snatched the keys from Xie Jingying’s hand and quickly unlocked the door to usher everyone inside.