Chapter 41: Haha, you two truly are a talented man and a beautiful woman, a match made in heaven... And what about me?

Jiang Qianqian ran back home and quickly gathered the items Li Xingming had requested, packing them into a travel bag. Slinging the bag over her shoulder and reminding herself of Li Xingming's instruction to get used to carrying the Gravity Maiden Sword with her at all times, she arrived at the main road by the entrance of the residential complex.

Ride-hailing app, launch!

Not many people were out driving the night shift at this hour; Maple Sugar City's nightlife could hardly be described as bustling.

Glancing at the estimated time for an order pickup, Jiang Qianqian made a decisive choice and added a twenty-yuan tip. The platform immediately assigned a driver to her.

Sigh.

Actually, when it came to many of life's little practical skills, Jiang Qianqian was quite competent. She had been confident in her ability to keep their childhood-sweetheart cohabitating life in perfect order. The problem was that the appearance of Ye Sheng had disrupted everything she took so much pride in.

Running away from home, eloping, making an emergency landing... these things transcended the scope of the ordinary daily life that Jiang Qianqian was capable of controlling. Li Xingming and Ye Sheng were experiencing a kind of extraordinary romance; even from the perspective of an onlooker, one would have to acknowledge the destiny between them.

Dammit, it was precisely the type that countered the childhood friend trope the most—the romantic-style otherworldly arrival!

Jiang Qianqian wrinkled her button nose and instantly felt deeply aggrieved. Not only did she have to endure Li Xingming and Ye Sheng stealing the spotlight together, but she also had to help Li Xingming take care of Ye Sheng.

She somehow felt like a live-in maid or a mistreated, put-upon concubine...

The ride-hailing car arrived, and Jiang Qianqian dragged her travel bag and squeezed into the back seat.

"Hello, customer. Do you need me to drive a bit faster?" The driver glanced through the rearview mirror. The young girl was lugging around big bags in the middle of the night and heading to the hospital—she was definitely an accompanying family member. If it was an emergency, speeding just a little bit in areas without traffic cameras was fine.

Jiang Qianqian shook her head. "No need, normal speed is fine."

"Alright."

Maple Sugar City's municipal road construction was quite good. Driving on the wide main thoroughfares in the deep of night was relaxed and easy. With nothing to do while waiting for a red light, the driver scrolled through Douyin short videos on his phone.

On the local recommendation channel, he stumbled upon a newly released, viral breaking news clip.

"Mambo~ Mambo~"

Li Xingming's favorite private hagimi music played inside the quiet sedan.

"Oh wow, oh wow, this young lady is something else... Running away from home and making it look this cool, what kind of magic spirit effect is this? Doesn't look cheap at all." The ride-hailing driver repeatedly replayed the short video.

The driver didn't understand all those profound academic concepts; he simply estimated with intuition that in this era, it seemed the value of any magic spirit could be measured in money.

Jiang Qianqian pursed her lips and stayed cool, saying nothing.

Assuming the young girl was relatively introverted, the driver didn't force a conversation with his passenger and continued scrolling through his short videos.

The green light turned on, and the car started moving again. The driver was actually quite steady behind the wheel, unlike many drivers of new-energy ride-hailing cars nowadays who accelerated and decelerated abruptly, easily making the passengers in the back seat carsick.

The driver's phone was mounted on an air vent holder identical to Li Xingming's, automatically playing new short videos. Because he had just watched the one edited by Li Xingming, the algorithm naturally recommended more videos regarding tonight's unidentified flying object incident.

They were mostly face-to-camera bloggers talking nonsense to themselves, making all sorts of outrageous guesses accompanied by Douyin's classic family-dwindling BGM—which, to Jiang Qianqian, was nothing short of psychological torture.

The driver listened with rapt attention and couldn't help initiating a chat: "Hey, do you think this Ye Sheng getting married to the young master of the Li family counts as a match of equal social status?"

"Ah, y-yes, I suppose..." Jiang Qianqian replied with a hollow-eyed, awkward smile.

"Even though this young master seems a bit like a random guy off the street, since she's able to win over Beijing's talented woman, I imagine the upper echelons of the Li family will correspondingly value this marriage. A powerful alliance, if you ask me. Maple Sugar Heavy Industries is, after all, a pillar industry of our Dongjiang Province."

"..."

"Hiss, young girl, you don't look too good. Should I drive even slower so you don't get carsick?"

"It's fine, just drive normally. I wasn't feeling well to begin with."

"Oh, alright."

Jiang Qianqian maintained her politeness and didn't throw a temper tantrum or take out her frustration on the driver.

She was no longer a little girl; she was already eighteen.

Acting like a little girl was just for the sake of cuddling and clinging to A-Ming. When dealing with the world and human affairs, it was better to be a bit more worldly and tactful.

That being said, Jiang Qianqian actually understood why Li Xingming shot that short video.

Entertainment could dissolve seriousness, allowing onlookers to focus more on Ye Sheng's talent, thereby shifting their attention away from her willful behavior and violation of airspace security.

The simple-minded masses always respected and loved those with genuine technical prowess.

Genius had the capital to be willful.

Furthermore, Ye Sheng was going to be staying in the team for a long time. By cultivating an atmosphere of a perfect match between Li Xingming and Ye Sheng, the people back in Beijing... especially Ye Sheng's mother, who possessed a pathological desire for control, would be constrained by public opinion and wouldn't be able to forcefully tear them apart.

When all was said and done, everything was for the sake of team building. Jiang Qianqian understood Li Xingming's train of thought very well.

Even from Jiang Qianqian's standpoint, having such a powerful teammate as Ye Sheng meant their future was bright.jpg

But, but, but she really felt so miserable.

Wuwu.

Forget what was said before and in the middle;总之 (in short), she was still heartbroken!

"Regarding the matter of Great God Ye Sheng, there's one thing I think most people basically overlooked..." The driver's phone was still playing a video thick with a local Maple Sugar accent. "And what did they overlook? This move—if they really get married, Li Xingming also gets a coveted Beijing residency permit for free!"

"That's so true!" The driver was amused by the silly netizen's mysterious line of thought. "Ah, wait... We are about to reach our destination. Passengers, please take your belongings with you. Have a pleasant life."

Ugh!

Jiang Qianqian swiftly fled from the ride-hailing car.

It felt like escaping a demon's lair.

In this world, how could there be such a torturous ride-hailing trip!

Before heading to the ward, Jiang Qianqian first found a women's restroom and had a good cry. Wiping away her tears and watching herself return to normal in the mirror, she finally picked up her travel bag and entered the inpatient ward.

Ye Sheng's ward was very conspicuous. Police officers were standing guard in the corridor, and it was only after Jiang Qianqian presented her No. 1 High School student ID that the police officer let her pass.

Take a deep breath, push open the door.

The scene that met her eyes was Li Xingming holding a bowl and using a spoon to feed Ye Sheng.

Ye Sheng was wearing a hospital gown, leaning against the head of the bed with a quilt draped over her. The hem of the quilt revealed her feet, wrapped in goose-yellow cotton socks. Her feet were also slender and delicate, displaying extraordinary elegance.

Even though she had mentally prepared herself, Jiang Qianqian almost couldn't keep her composure.

You two are being so intimate; it makes me look so entirely redundant...

"Oh, Qianqian is here. Quickly plug in the hand warmer. Sheng-sheng, let me tell you, the hand warmer from my house is extraordinary; the runes have been modified, and it's exceptionally comfortable for warming the belly without burning the skin..." Li Xingming smoothly arranged chores for Jiang Qianqian.

"Hello." Upon seeing Jiang Qianqian, Ye Sheng seemed very happy, casting a grateful look in her direction. "Sorry to trouble you."

"__It's nothing, just fulfilling the duty of a host, it's only right." Jiang Qianqian had already been on the verge of breaking down, but under the gaze of Ye Sheng's innocent eyes, she suddenly felt quite embarrassed.

Eh, you, me, this...