Chapter 673: Half a year

"Just take a step back."

Before Su Zheyuan could start whining, Shen Ci decided to stop teasing him and nodded with a smile: "We'll acquire it together."

In an instant, the expression on Su Zheyuan's face turned from cloudy to sunny, the gloom swept away: "Really?"

Jin Que and Shen Yuzhen, standing to the side, finally couldn't help but laugh. Jin Que said: "A-Ci intended to bring you along from the very beginning. She was just teasing you earlier; look at how angry you got."

"If I told people, who would believe you're the chairman of the Su Group?"

Su Zheyuan couldn't hear a word they were saying; he just kept shaking Shen Ci's arm and asking: "Really, A-Ci? Are you serious? You're really taking me with you?"

Shen Ci felt dizzy from his shaking and nodded repeatedly: "Really, really. But you have to act within your means. Go back and see what percentage of shares you can afford with your liquid capital, and I'll cover the rest."

"No problem!" Su Zheyuan excitedly hugged Shen Ci: "Oh, I knew you definitely considered me a true friend and wouldn't scam me!"

"Then what were you doing earlier, huffing and puffing in anger?"

Su Zheyuan looked serious: "I was having an asthma attack!"

The group burst into laughter, and the atmosphere instantly became joyful.

But at this moment, Gu Lianxing was absent.

On the beginner track, Gu Lianxing had completed three laps in a row, and after getting out of the car, her head was covered in sweat.

A fair-skinned boy walked over and handed her a clean towel: "You're within the passing time, and your number of collisions didn't exceed the limit. Keep this state up, and you'll definitely have no problem getting your beginner's license next time."

Yes, Shen Ci and the others had already successfully obtained their "Advanced Go-Kart Licenses," while Gu Lianxing was still struggling on the "beginner track."

And her young, handsome coach happened to be a beginner-level instructor, which left Shen Ci and the others unable to figure out for a time whether Gu Lianxing really hadn't passed her beginner's license in half a year because she was slow, or because she was intentionally failing to stay with this handsome young coach.

In the rest area, the boy handed her a bottle of water again. Gu Lianxing unscrewed it, took two sips, looked at the boy, and asked: "Jiang Yan, if I pass, will you continue to teach me?"

"I'm afraid not. I don't have the intermediate coaching certification. The club's management is quite strict; I can't provide private coaching beyond my level."

Gu Lianxing pursed her lips and nodded, indicating she understood.

Her hand felt warm as Jiang Yan took hold of it. Jiang Yan looked at her and said: "It's okay. Anyway, as long as you come here, we can see each other."

Gu Lianxing looked at him and smiled. Their eyes met, and for a moment, affection surged between them.

Jiang Yan leaned his face forward. Gu Lianxing sensed what might happen next, and her heart began to thump wildly.

But at the very last moment, just as they were about to kiss, Gu Lianxing still couldn't break through that psychological barrier. She tilted her head slightly, and Jiang Yan's kiss landed gently on her cheek.

Yet even just that light touch was enough to make Gu Lianxing's face turn bright red.

She quickly stood up, her eyes darting away as she said: "I, I'm going over to find my friends."

Without waiting for Jiang Yan to respond, Gu Lianxing ran off without looking back.

Jiang Yan watched her run off and disappear, then raised a hand to touch his own lips, unable to help but sigh.

Half a year, and all they'd done was kiss on the cheek.

Anyone who didn't know better would think he was pursuing an ancient person...

"Why is your face so red?"

As soon as Gu Lianxing returned, Shen Yuzhen noticed her unnatural blush.

Gu Lianxing cupped her cheeks and shook her head: "Is it? Maybe it was just stuffy inside the helmet earlier."

"I think you kissed, didn't you?" Jin Que blurted out.

Gu Lianxing excitedly blurted out an explanation: "No, we just kissed on the cheek."

The sentence made everyone laugh. Shen Ci looked at her and said: "That shouldn't be, Miss. I've taken you to pick out male models before, and I didn't see you feeling shy when you were touching their pectoral muscles!"

"That's different! I paid money for that!"

That actually made sense.

Shen Ci couldn't help but sigh: "You're really something. People only kiss on the cheek after half a year, while I've phased out one and replaced them with another in half a year."

"Dear, if it's not working, just forget it." Shen Yuzhen instantly switched into her relationship expert persona: "The fact that you've been guarding yourself and unwilling to take the next step with him all this time shows that you don't trust him or aren't sure about him in your heart, which means this person is the wrong one."

In this day and age, it's not that there are no relationships that haven't progressed in half a year, but there are almost none.

In today's society, everything emphasizes efficiency. People finish a movie in five minutes on short video apps and a sixty-episode drama in twenty minutes.

If you make someone wait half a year just to kiss you on the cheek...

Really, let the other person go and let yourself go.

"But I think I quite like him," Gu Lianxing said hesitantly.

The group looked at each other. The matter of "liking" was too subjective; none of them could force Gu Lianxing to deny her own feelings.

Finally, Shen Ci said softly: "Forget it. Everyone has different values. It's Gu Lianxing's first kiss, after all; it's understandable that she cherishes it."

Hearing the words "first kiss," Su Zheyuan looked as if he had seen a prehistoric human: "My god, I gave my first kiss to the class beauty in kindergarten when I was six."

Gu Lianxing pursed her lips, a sense of inferiority suddenly welling up in her heart.

Perhaps it really was her own problem. It seemed like this was indeed a torment for Jiang Yan; it was a credit to him that he had been so patient in pursuing her for so long.

It was just that she didn't know why she was like this. Clearly, her friends were all very carefree, and she should have been influenced by being around them every day, but when it came to the critical moment, she just couldn't do it.

She was also very disappointed in herself.

At "Wanjia Denghuo," two cars arrived simultaneously from the north and south roads at the residential complex gate, and then stopped outside the gate by coincidence.

The security guard in the booth came out to ask: "Which household are you looking for?"

In a red BMW, Ni Man poked her head out: "Street 5, House 8, the Shen family!"

As she poked her head out, Jiang Yuanliang, in the back seat of a black Bentley, happened to see her.

The car window rolled down, and Jiang Yuanliang called out to her: "Ni Man!"

"Brother Yuanliang?"

Both of them opened their car doors and got out: "Are you here to pay a New Year's visit to Sister Jingjing too?"

Jiang Yuanliang nodded with a smile: "There are many family gatherings after the New Year. It's almost the fifteenth, and I only just found the time. Are you here to see Jingjing too?"

Jingjing?

Ni Man caught the natural change in Jiang Yuanliang's address. He used to call Shen Jingjing "Ms. Shen," maintaining a very clear sense of boundaries.

But she didn't say anything more, only nodded with a smile: "Yes, I went to my grandfather's house with my parents for the New Year. I just got back yesterday and hurried over."

Since both were looking for the same household, the security guard made a phone call to confirm, then registered them and opened the gate to let the cars pass.

Shen Jingjing had come to the gate in advance to welcome them. Seeing the two of them get out of their cars one after the other, she couldn't help but smile and say: "Did you two plan this?"

"Happy New Year, Sister Jingjing."

Shen Jingjing first reached out to take the items from Ni Man's hands, saying happily: "I've long asked Yuanliang to bring you to the house for a meal, but every time you weren't around. Today, you finally came together."

"Sister Jingjing, Yuanliang and I already broke up before the New Year. Today was just a coincidence," Ni Man said with a natural tone. ===== CHAPTER 674 =====