Chapter 123: How Could It Be Such a Coincidence!

The eighth day of the second lunar month.

When Ning Qing left the house, Zhang Suannai was still sleeping in; she glanced at Zhang Suannai's tightly shut bedroom door, pursed her lips, said nothing, and took the little girl out to the canteen to eat a bowl of hot and sour rice noodles each, timing it just right as they walked out of the school gate.

Chen Shu arrived at the school gate just in time.

In fact, there were jacaranda trees right outside the school, and they had already bloomed.

However, because the weather had warmed up a bit later this year, the flowers had also bloomed a little later; perhaps in a few more days they would be at their most beautiful. Only the jacaranda trees around the Imperial Palace were managed by specialized Cultivators, and regardless of whether the weather was cold or hot, they would always reach their peak beauty in the first ten days of the second month.

Chen Shu brought a flatbread sandwich for each of the sisters, then hailed a taxi to head toward the Imperial Palace.

They soon arrived at the Chang'an Gate station, and from there on, they could only proceed on foot.

As soon as Chen Shu got out of the car, he let out a "Wow."

This place had long since turned into a world of jacarandas.

The tall trees were covered in blue flowers, hanging in dense clusters; one could only see flowers, no leaves. Under careful tending, the jacarandas here were a purer blue than anywhere else, and only the word "dreamlike" could describe them.

"Don't just stand there like a fool."

Ning Qing gave him a push from behind.

Chen Shu took a few steps forward; there were fully armed guards nearby maintaining order, and a small loudspeaker was constantly urging people not to linger.

However, it was still very early, so there weren't many people.

It would definitely be packed with people in a while.

Whenever the jacarandas were in full bloom, Yujing was the most beautiful city in the world.

Every year at this time, many tourists came to Yujing, not to see anything else, but just to immerse themselves in this dreamlike ocean, walking from one end of the street to the other beneath the jacaranda trees and along the palace walls, and then watching the Imperial Family enjoy the flowers.

Moreover, the weather was always good during the Blue Flower Festival every year.

Like today, with blue skies and white clouds, the tall, flower-laden jacarandas lining the entire street, and tourists moving freely underneath, it was like a scene from an anime.

"Look, you two."

The sisters looked at the Mobile Phone in Chen Shu's hand.

It was a photo taken four years ago.

No, it should be five years ago.

The three of them stood side by side in front of Chang'an Gate, Chen Shu with one arm around Ning Qing's shoulder and his other hand on top of Xiaoxiao's head, while a small, white, milk-fed kitten—which always looked miserable as if it had been bullied—squatted at their feet. Back then, Chen Shu and Ning Qing were only as old as Xiaoxiao was now, both much more callow than they were today, and Xiaoxiao was only eleven or twelve, still a little girl, holding a string of strawberry Sugar-coated Haws, half of which she had already eaten.

At that time, Taozi had only been raised for a year; this creature grew very slowly, and after a year it was still a small milk-fed kitten, and it hadn't grown much even now.

The little girl blinked, finding it very interesting.

Was she really that small back then?

Ning Qing's eyes and brows softened.

She felt a sense of nostalgia.

"Woo~"

Something was tugging at Chen Shu's pant leg.

Chen Shu had no choice but to squat down and show the Mobile Phone to it.

"An~"

Taozi clawed at Chen Shu's knee, its eyes wide as it watched.

Chen Shu grinned, thinking that this little thing must have thought they had found another cat behind its back, so he explained to it again that this was it when it was little, though he didn't know if the silly thing could understand.

Never mind it.

Chen Shu stood up and said:

"How about we take a photo here today too? Standing in the same spot, at the same angle, with the same pose—in short, taking one exactly the same, with only the three of us in the frame having changed. When we're done, we'll make it into a video, comparing the two photos from five years ago and five years later; time has changed, but we are still together. Eh, doesn't that feel very sentimental?"

"..."

"..."

"Hmm?"

"Yes, it is." The little girl was forced to play along.

"It might even start a short video trend!" Chen Shu said, looking at the little girl.

"Right." The little girl was expressionless.

"Then let's walk faster, or it'll be crowded later." Chen Shu took out his Mobile Phone, took two photos while there were few people, and then said to them, "Let's take advantage of these five years of university to revisit all the places we went to in Yujing last time and take photos like this at each one."

"Okay." The little girl nodded mechanically.

"You can arrange it as you like," Ning Qing said.

"My little sister-in-law is still the cutest." Chen Shu ruffled the little tuft of hair on the back of the little girl's head again.

There was someone selling Sugar-coated Haws nearby.

Chen Shu bought four strings of strawberry Sugar-coated Haws, which were two yuan more expensive than those sold outside, and each of the three took one.

Chen Shu didn't forget to instruct the little girl:

"You can only eat half of yours; it has to be used as a prop."

"Okay."

The details had to be done right.

Chen Shu took a bite of the Sugar-coated Haws, his head almost completely covered by the blue flowers; he and Qingqing were very close, their shoulders almost touching, and as he walked along such an unrealistically beautiful street, he felt as if he were in a dream.

"Qingqing."

"?"

"It's nothing..."

About ten minutes later.

The three of them and the cat stood side by side outside Chang'an Gate once again.

Qingqing stood on the far left with an expressionless face, Chen Shu had one arm around her shoulders, and his other hand was placed on the top of the head of the little girl who had already grown much taller. The little girl held a Sugar-coated Haws in her hand and looked earnestly at the camera; her movements and expression were as stiff as they had been several years ago.

Even the posture of Taozi, standing at Qingqing's feet, was the same as it had been five years ago: raising its right paw, head lowered in a licking posture, yet remaining motionless.

A young lady was taking the photo for them.

Because she had accepted a skewer of Strawberry Sugar-Coated Haws, she followed the template Chen Shu provided and took the photos very earnestly.

"Click, click, click..."

She took dozens of photos in a row, terrified that she hadn't taken them well for the boss.

"Take a look."

"Emm..."

Chen Shu looked at the photos the young lady had taken; each one was the same, and the positioning, distance, and angle were no different from that one from several years ago. Chen Shu thanked the young lady happily and sincerely, and only then did the young lady feel relieved and reveal a smile.

"Whew..."

Only now could she accept this skewer of Sugar-coated Haws with peace of mind.

"Then I'll be going?"

"Have a good time."

"You too!"

A friendly interaction.

Such interactions often brought a good mood for the day; the young lady held the Sugar-coated Haws, hummed a tune, took a bite, and walked away with light steps.

Zhang Suannai stood at the subway station exit, her head tilted high, her eyes wide open, blinking from time to time; although she had already seen it once last year, the scene that met her eyes at this moment was still beautiful enough to intoxicate her.

Not until the loudspeaker hanging on the fence began to urge:

"Please do not linger at the exit!"

Zhang Suannai was startled by this suddenly appearing voice; after realizing what it was, she muttered a few curses, but still quickened her pace and walked forward.

Qingqing and Xiaoxiao would not come out with her to see the jacaranda, so she had no choice but to invite her former roommate; one of them was a senior who had stayed in Yujing to work after graduation. The time she had agreed upon with the senior was nine o'clock, but she accidentally overslept, and she rushed over without even eating breakfast, only to be late anyway.

It was already nine-twenty now.

Zhang Suannai looked at her Mobile Phone while running forward, and soon saw the senior.

The senior was dressed in a dignified and ladylike fashion, with long straight black hair, carrying a tiny little bag that didn't seem to have any use—perhaps she couldn't afford a Storage Artifact—and in her hand, she held a Strawberry Sugar-Coated Haws that had only half left.

Zhang Suannai stopped, grinned, and said:

"Overslept!"

"Used to it." The senior smiled gently, then asked, "Why didn't you invite your new roommates out? When we first brought you to see the jacaranda last year, didn't we say that this year you would be the one to bring your new roommates to see the jacaranda?"

"Don't mention it! They won't come out with me!"

"Why?" The senior blinked her eyes, "Is it because you aren't good to your new roommates?"

"Nonsense! I'm very good to them. When I go out to eat, I even bring food back for them, and I don't keep annoying them; I've been suppressing myself!"

"Suppressing yourself..." The senior repeated, then took a bite of the Sugar-coated Haws and asked with concern, "Then why won't they come with you? Is your new roommate hard to get along with?"

"Not really." Zhang Suannai subconsciously denied it, scratched her head, and said, "They are actually still very easy to get along with."

"Then is it that they are busy?"

"It's a long story. Let me tell you, you don't know—" Zhang Suannai quickly became interested, "They are two biological sisters, and they are so beautiful, especially the older sister; her looks are perhaps only a tiny bit worse than mine. Our class might be the peak of beauty in our Dormitory's history, and they are both geniuses like me. The younger sister was specially recruited this year at only sixteen, but the only pity is that they both have the Celestial Bloodline and are cold as ice."

"Oh, so that's how it is!"

The senior understood immediately.

"But they are still very easy to get along with, not as emotionless as you think!" Zhang Suannai immediately explained again, "When they go out to eat, they even pack some for me. The older sister even brought me Mutton Soup. Oh right, the Mutton Soup she ate was actually better than the ones you took me to eat."

"That's quite good then."

"Exactly."

At this moment, Zhang Suannai caught sight of the candied haws in the senior's hand again and blinked: "Where did you buy the candied haws? How much is a skewer? I saw some for sale when I came out of the subway station, but I didn't know if they were good or not, and I was afraid of being ripped off, so I didn't buy any... Is yours good?"

"I don't know, someone gave it to me." The senior blinked her eyes again, "But it's actually quite delicious."

"Who gave it to you?"

"A passerby."

"What passerby? Why did they give it to you?"

"Because they asked me to help them take photos." The senior was used to Zhang Suannai's prying behavior; she even felt a bit of warmth after not hearing her buzzing for half a year. She thought for a moment and answered in detail, "Three people. Two of the girls were a pair of sisters, very high-looking, especially the older sister, who was even prettier than you, and she had a good figure and was tall too. But the sisters were both very cold and aloof, expressionless. Hmm, how strange, why do I feel a sense of familiarity when I mention this?"

"The same as the two roommates I just mentioned." Zhang Suannai blinked her eyes, "But my roommate's older sister isn't as pretty as me."

"Oh right—" the senior said, "There was also a very beautiful and spiritual cat that could understand human speech and could even pose for photos."

"I also have a cat in my Dormitory that understands human speech; I feel its IQ is higher than mine." Zhang Suannai paused, then became somewhat suspicious, "Could it be that my roommates came here to enjoy the flowers behind my back..."

"It couldn't be such a coincidence, could it?"

"Eh? And who was the other person?"

"It was a boy, it seemed like the older sister's boyfriend or something. When they were taking photos, the boy had his arm around the older sister, and his hand was even touching the younger sister's head; they seemed very intimate."

"Oh, then it definitely wasn't them!" Zhang Suannai waved her hand and revealed a bright smile, "Those two roommates of mine are cold as ice; it's impossible for them to be that intimate with anyone!"

"I also said it couldn't be such a coincidence."

"Let's go, let's go..."