Xia Wei"s laughter broke the tense atmosphere between them. Looking at Jiang Zhi Zhou, she asked, "What"s your sign?"
"Cancer." Jiang Zhi Zhou rubbed his forehead gently with a frown. "Can it be that we"ve been together so long, yet you don"t even know my astrological sign?"
"I don"t know your blood type, either."
Jiang Zhi Zhou: "..."
"Cancer... is your birthday next month?"
"Indeed it is. You"d better start preparing your gift right now."
"...I"ve never seen a guy so confidently expect to be given a gift." Xia Wei pulled a face. "Do you know what my sign is?"
"November 21st. You"re a Scorpio."
Xia Wei looked at him in surprise. "How on earth did you know? I didn"t tell you." She usually filled out her birthdays on social networking sites with random dates.
"I asked Tian Tian the last time we had dinner." Jiang Zhi Zhou paused after finis.h.i.+ng his sentence, suddenly realizing that they had gone off topic. "Wait, it"s not signs we should be talking about."
After his mother confronted him about having a good match, he had consulted several online forums. Indeed, women who had married up confirmed that they were under high pressure after marriage, and that due to having been born into a lower cla.s.s, they felt less confident in standing up for themselves. Jiang Zhi Zhou wanted to spare Xia Wei from these concerns. He hoped for their marriage to bring her happiness, not stress.
"I think that in a marriage, there are many things more important than one"s circ.u.mstances. As long as those in the relations.h.i.+p respect each other and communicate well, many problems won"t even become problems. So don"t put put pressure on yourself. The fit of two souls is the most important thing."
Xia Wei blinked, wondering when Mr. Jiang got so good at philosophy. "Is this what your psychiatrists usually tell you?"
"...I"m being serious here."
"I"m serious too," she said. "You"re not quite a psychiatrist, but after hearing what you said, I do feel much better."
Jiang Zhi Zhou smiled. "Good." Looking back at Xia Wei"s calligraphy on the table, he asked, "Will you still learn calligraphy?"
"Yes." Xia Wei answered, very positively. "It"s good to engage in self-cultivation and to always improve yourself. This time, I don"t want to give up halfway."
Anyway, she"d already paid for the lessons.
Xia Wei felt a great weight lift off her shoulders after talking with Jiang Zhi Zhou. A few days later, Eight Treasures proclaimed to the group that she was returning to A city.
Eight Treasures Congee Female Hero: I"ll be on the plane tomorrow morning! Mr. Jiang, please prepare dinner! @Asking For Suicide At Eighteen This Year
Asking For Suicide At Eighteen This Year: ... I"ll let him know. Twiggy, Tian Tian, when are you two free?
Invincible Little Sweetie: I could do 2pm on Sat.u.r.day. Twiggy?
Asking For Suicide At Eighteen This Year: She"s been so busy with blind dates for two days, I haven"t seen very much of her [digs nose]
Not Losing 5kg Not Changing Name: I"ve been busy with my parents, and putting all my work stuff in order. Ugh, so annoying
Not Losing 5kg Not Changing Name: My parents will have left by tomorrow, though. You figure out the place and I"ll meet you there after seeing them off.
Eight Treasures Congee Female Hero: Then we should have dessert in the afternoon! To the dessert shrine!
Invincible Little Sweetie: Are you afraid you won"t have room for dinner?
Eight Treasures Congee Female Hero: Not with the portion sizes at Tian Xia Restaurant.
Asking For Suicide At Eighteen This Year: Everyone hold on a little, I"ll check with Jiang Zhi Zhou to make sure the place isn"t full. There may be more people on Sat.u.r.day.
After sending that, she clicked on Jiang Zhi Zhou"s message window. "Are you there? Twiggy will be around tomorrow, would you be free for dinner tomorrow night?"
Jiang Zhi Zhou: Yup. I"ll have the private room reserved.
Xia Wei: [Great]
Jiang Zhi Zhou: What time will you be coming over?
Xia Wei: We might go out shopping and to the movies that afternoon, so around 6:30.
Jiang Zhi Zhou: OK. Should I pick you up?
Xia Wei: No, just wait for us in Tian Xia Restaurant, and prepare all the tasty things [doge]
Jiang Zhi Zhou: OK
Xia Wei smirked and proceeded to inform her girlfriends of the good news. They made an appointment to meet at 3pm in front of the dessert shrine.
Ever since graduating high school, it was vanis.h.i.+ngly rare for all four of them to be able to get together. This meeting would be an epic one. Xia Wei didn"t open the nail salon that day, and began dressing up after walking the dog. Twiggy had left early in the morning, and she didn"t know when she would arrive.
The great dessert shrine at Starlight Department Store had always been popular, so much so that one worried about not finding a place to sit in the evening. Xia Wei left early and was the first to arrive. After checking with everyone in the group, she bought desserts for all and found a place to sit.
Tian Tian and Eight Treasures came together. Xia Wei saw Eight Treasures and blinked in surprise, "Eight Treasures, did you tan again?"
Eight Treasures was quite hurt by her remark. "You stay at construction sites every day and see if you tan! I paint on three layers of sunscreen!"
Tian Tian comforted, "It"s okay, you"ll be fair again after staying home for two months."
Xia Wei nodded. "Then you can go to the next construction project and tan."
Eight Treasures:"......"
She has no such friends.
Sitting down and taking a long draught of her cold drink, Eight Treasures calmed down and finally asked, "When will Twiggy be here?"
Xia Wei shrugged her shoulders. "She goes home early and comes back late every night, even busier than I am. She might have said that she would have to meet a blind date today."
Eight Treasures sighed. "Twiggy"s slim, fair, rich and beautiful, why work so hard!?"
Tian Tian said, "It"s her family that"s in a hurry. It"s probably because she"s nearly 30 now."
Xia Wei immediately retorted: "No way! I"m just eighteen this year."
Tian Tian & Eight Treasures: "..."
As long as you"re happy.
The three chatted for a while until Twiggy rushed in. Seeing her, Eight Treasures let out a shout, "Ah, ah, Twiggy! It"s you! How"ve you gotten so beautiful? Is it because you went abroad?!"