Chapter 147 — The Long-Awaited...

"Let's not talk about this. Let's go shopping, and then make Yang Ce foot the bill." To this day Sun Jie still did not know Yang Juehuan's true identity, but she knew he had set up a jewelry company and must be quite wealthy. Though she herself was not short of money, having Yang Ce spend his felt different.

"Are you still short of money?" Sure enough, Xiao Qing asked.

The two women walked together in intimate closeness, which naturally would not make anyone think twice. Back when they used to go shopping, they had held hands and leaned close together just like this.

This time, there had been some estrangement between them at first, but once they talked more, it faded away. Even though their relationship had changed, it had changed into a sisterly bond, so a little closeness did no harm.

Yet although the two were as close as before, their states of mind had changed considerably. That feeling of shared affliction toward Xiao Qing and that heart-fluttering feeling toward Yang Ce were two entirely different things.

"By the way, I heard your ex-boyfriend came back to Songjiang. How's that going?" Sun Jie knew Xiao Qing's history well and had incidentally learned that Song Hang had returned to Songjiang.

"At first he pestered me, but then Yang Yongjin went to talk to him about something, and he stopped showing up." Xiao Qing said, "Though knowing Yang Juehuan's temper, he probably gave him a beating."

Hearing this, Sun Jie couldn't help but smile, recalling how Yang Ce had once thrashed that second young master of the Ouyang family at her own home. So what Xiao Qing said was quite possibly true.

But Sun Jie had grown a little curious about Yang Juehuan's identity. Some things couldn't be solved just by being able to fight, and the power behind Yang Ce was very much worth questioning.

She had asked her father, but he always smiled mysteriously and said she would find out in time. So this time Sun Jie wanted to see if she could get anything out of Xiao Qing.

"Besides running the jewelry company, what does Yang Ce usually do?" Sun Jie asked casually.

"He goes to school, of course. What else would he do?" Xiao Qing was rather baffled as to why Sun Jie would ask such a thing.

"Just asking." Sun Jie studied Xiao Qing's expression. From all her time with Xiao Qing, she knew she wasn't lying.

Even Xiao Qing doesn't know, Sun Jie thought with a shake of her head. This man really was interesting. But she was certain her father knew something—otherwise his attitude toward Yang Ce could never have shifted so quickly.

At first he had neither approved nor opposed the relationship between Yang Ce and her, and then suddenly he was all for it. If there was no hidden reason behind all this, how could Sun Jie possibly believe it?

Xiao Qing, however, paid it no mind and simply took it as Sun Jie making casual conversation about Yang Juehuan. "Xiao Jie, does your family know you're with Yan?"

"They do. My dad's met him." Sun Jie nodded.

"Then what will you two do from now on? Yang Yongjin might break up with his girlfriend, and I've simply never thought about being properly together with him." Xiao Qing sighed. "But you're different. If your family found out about Yang Juehuan, wouldn't that harm him? I'm afraid in the end..."

Xiao Qing's worry was not unfounded. What sort of background did the Sun family have? How could Sun Jie's father possibly allow his prospective son-in-law to have other women on the side? If in a fit of rage he did something irrational, then what?

Sun Jie's previous boyfriend had vanished from the face of the earth for no apparent reason. Where he had gone, Xiao Qing did not dare ask, but she was certain the outcome had not been good.

To be continued.

795. Putting Oneself in Another's Shoes

795 Putting Oneself in Another's Shoes "My dad—ha—I don't know what he said to my dad, but my dad's attitude toward him has turned wonderful." Sun Jie said somewhat helplessly, "I wanted to ask you what other virtues Yang Ce has, but it seems you don't know either."

"Really?" Xiao Qing was astonished. Yang Ce had even won over Sun Jie's father? That was a bit too bizarre.

The topic they discussed most was Yang Ce, and neither was willing to bring up their own pasts again. After all, talking about it would only add to the awkwardness.

Although Sun Jie had said the two of them would go on a spending spree and then call Yang Ce over to pay, in the end it was she who paid. Sun Jie was only indulging in talk; she would not do anything irrational.

Besides, Sun Jie still had not decided whether to be with Yan. All in all, she felt rather good about Yang Juehuan, but on one hand there was the age gap between them, and on the other—and this was the main thing—Yang Ce already had a girlfriend, and not just one.

There was no point in Sun Jie brooding over such a headache. Let nature take its course—perhaps in the end everything would resolve itself.

"Hey, isn't that car Yang Juehuan's?" Sun Jie had seen Yang Cenbin's BMW X5 and recognized the license plate. She pointed at the BMW driving ahead and asked.

"Is it?" Xiao Qing could not remember so many details.

"Let me pull up and take a look." With that, Sun Jie pressed hard on the accelerator, and the car shot forward. Though there was a fair amount of traffic on the road, Sun Jie's driving skills were quite good, and she soon pulled up alongside the BMW ahead.

"It really is Yang Ce." Sun Jie glanced at Xiao Qing with a smile and asked, "Is that girl beside him his girlfriend?"

"I don't think so." Xiao Qing knew Chen Shutang and Lan Ling, but she did not know Lin Yanhe. So seeing a girl in the car she did not recognize, she too was puzzled.

"Don't tell me that brat Yang Cenbin has gone and found himself another girlfriend," Sun Jie said, her expression odd as she studied Xiao Qing's face.

"Maybe not," Xiao Qing said, though she clearly did not care much either way.

Sun Jie was rather put out. She thought to herself: fine, on Valentine's Day you keep your girlfriend company, that much I can accept—but you are keeping someone else company while still sending me flowers every day, and on Valentine's Day you cannot even manage a phone call.

Sun Jie trailed along slowly behind Yang Juehuan's car. Xiao Qing was helpless about it; she had tried to talk her out of it several times, but Sun Jie would not listen, and so the two of them ended up playing paparazzi.

Yang Ce was alert by nature and could hardly fail to notice a car following him. Since Sun Jie was not driving her usual car today, Yang Ce, at first glance at the model behind him, did not connect it with her. He assumed some enemy was lying in wait for revenge—small wonder, since Bi Haigang had just told him that Wu Xinkai's uncle meant to settle scores with him.

But when Yang Ce used his ability to look at the people inside the car, he could only smile bitterly. It was Xiao Qing and Sun Jie. He had no idea how the two of them had ended up together on Valentine's Day, but he was certain of one thing: they had spotted him, or they would not have kept following.

He glanced at Lin Yanhe beside him and hesitated over whether to tell her about Xiao Qing and Sun Jie. Knowing Lin Yanhe's temperament, even if she learned of it, she would not entertain any strange notions, still less do anything rash.

The key question was whether Lin Yanhe could keep it to herself. Once she knew, would she go and tell Chen Shutang? The two were on good terms now, and if she let something slip, Yang Ce could not guarantee that Chen Shutang would take it calmly.

As things stood, this was already about the limit of what Chen Shutang could bear. If two more people were added to the mix, would Chen Shutang go mad? Yang Ce did not dare put that to the test.

"There are two friends behind us. I'll get out for a moment—wait for me in the car." To avoid a war at home, Yang Ce had no choice but to say this to Lin Yanhe.