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Chapter 23: No Need

Yu Bai called Lin Qiushui in tears. Her eyes were red as she said, “I just wanted to get Yuebai a birthday gift. I didn’t expect this to happen…”

Standing by the window, Lin Qiushui replied, “Then just pick another gift.”

Yu Bai bit her lip. “But that one suited Yuebai perfectly.”

Still so unwilling to let go.

It felt like she had lost more than just a gift—something far more precious. Lin Qiushui said, “Even if it was perfect, she already bought it. Just choose something else.”

Yu Bai fell silent. She always seemed to be one step too late.

Too late returning to the country—Jiang Liuyi had already rushed into a flash marriage with Song Xian. Too late choosing that necklace—it had already been bought by Song Xian. She bit down hard until her lip bled, the taste of iron flooding her mouth.

“I still want it,” she said.

Lin Qiushui frowned, her tone stern. “Yu Bai!”

Snapped out of it by the sharp call, Yu Bai bit her lip harder, refusing to let go.

Lin Qiushui softened when she realized something was off in Yu Bai’s voice. “Alright, just pick a different gift. There are plenty of things that would suit Yuebai—it doesn’t have to be a necklace.”

Though she was trying to comfort Yu Bai, Lin Qiushui couldn’t help thinking about Jiang Liuyi.

Jiang Liuyi had clearly changed. Lately, she hardly reached out and barely replied to messages—something that had never happened before. Upon closer reflection, the shift began right after Yu Bai returned.

At first, she wondered if Jiang Liuyi was still angry, deliberately ignoring Yu Bai and distancing herself from the rest of them as well.

But today’s phone call, and the reason she gave for blocking Yu Cai—that was something Lin Qiushui hadn’t anticipated.

Jiang Liuyi had said, “She bullied my wife.”

She said it so naturally, as if standing up for her wife was simply the right thing to do. But wasn’t the whole reason she married Song Xian because Song Xian reminded her of Yu Bai?

That once-certain assumption now wavered.

Because it was clear to her: Jiang Liuyi was pulling away from them.

In the past, even if she couldn’t make it to every gathering, Jiang Liuyi would show up whenever she had time. Now, that wasn’t the case. Lin Qiushui had sent her countless messages, and Jiang Liuyi only responded to one or two.

She was deliberately creating distance.

Jiang Liuyi wasn’t the kind of person who would openly fall out with someone. In the past, they had helped her—there was no way she’d lash out at them. If she were truly upset, she would just ignore them.

Lin Qiushui still remembered a time when Qian Shen got drunk at a birthday party and insisted on video-calling Yu Bai. Jiang Liuyi had gotten upset and was ready to leave. It was Zhao Yuebai who smoothed things over and coaxed her to stay. But after that, she never spoke to Qian Shen on her own again.

Though she had a reserved personality, her thoughts were straightforward. Back when she was dating Yu Bai, she didn’t know how to be in a relationship. So she asked their group of friends for advice. They all told her, Just treat Yu Bai well. So she did—caring for her in every possible way, attentive to the smallest details. But her displeasure was just as obvious when it surfaced.

Take Yu Cai, for example—she blocked her outright.

And it was all because of her wife.

Lin Qiushui felt a little lost. All this time, she had believed Jiang Liuyi only married Song Xian because Song Xian was a stand-in for Yu Bai. That belief had driven her to support and create opportunities for the two of them. But what if that wasn’t true? What if all of this was just her own assumption? What if Jiang Liuyi had already let go of Yu Bai?

As her close friend, what was she supposed to do then?

Lin Qiushui let out a quiet sigh. On the other end of the line, Yu Bai was still talking, but she suddenly felt a headache coming on.

“I have a meeting,” she said. “I’m hanging up now.”

Yu Bai opened her mouth but didn’t speak.

She couldn’t understand—she’d only been abroad for three years, so why did it feel like everyone had changed? Zhao Yuebai ignored her, Jiang Liuyi had grown cold, and now even Lin Qiushui no longer defended her.

In the past, Lin Qiushui would never have stood by and watched her be wronged without stepping in.

After hanging up, Lin Qiushui stared at her phone, full of questions she wanted to ask Jiang Liuyi. But when she scrolled to her contact photo, she found herself unable to say any of them. Her headache worsened. In the end, she sent a single message:

[Yi Yi, are you there?]

Jiang Liuyi turned her head when she saw the screen light up. She thought it was a message from Song Xian, but when she saw Lin Qiushui’s name flash across the top, she paused before replying:

[What is it?]

Lin Qiushui asked: [What are you doing at home?]

Jiang Liuyi shifted positions on the couch: [Resting.]

Lin Qiushui: [Want to talk?]

Jiang Liuyi lowered her eyes. After a few seconds, she replied: [Talk about what?]

Lin Qiushui: [You and your wife—] She typed the words, deleted them, retyped, deleted again. The typing indicator remained active, but no message came through. After a moment of silence, Jiang Liuyi finally sent:

[If it’s about Yu Bai, unless it’s work-related, there’s no need to bring it up with me.]

Lin Qiushui gripped her phone tightly when she saw the message.

A few seconds later, she sent: [Yi Yi, how do you really feel about Song Xian?]

Jiang Liuyi found the question baffling: [She’s my wife.]

Lin Qiushui replied: [Besides that? Yi Yi, have you ever thought of her as a stand-in for Yu Bai?]

Jiang Liuyi frowned, unable to understand why everyone kept assuming that. Back when she brought Song Xian to meet the group, Qian Shen had said the same thing. After Song Xian and Gu Yuanyuan left early, the others continued the conversation. She’d been furious. 

After drinking, she’d slammed the bottle down and gotten into a heated argument with Qian Shen. Zhao Yuebai hadn’t been there that night, so no one intervened, and the fight had escalated. She thought she had made herself clear—that her friends should’ve understood her stance.

So Lin Qiushui’s continued insinuations these past few weeks had deeply upset her. She had been deliberately keeping her distance.

She didn’t expect Lin Qiushui was still clinging to that same idea.

She sent back a message, short and direct: [No.]

Lin Qiushui saw the two-word reply and furrowed her brows deeply.

Jiang Liuyi had no reason to lie to her, which meant she truly didn’t see Song Xian as a substitute. It also meant she had truly let go of Yu Bai—and genuinely wanted a life with Song Xian.

Sitting in her office chair, Lin Qiushui’s head felt heavy and muddled.

Lin Qiushui didn’t reply to Jiang Liuyi again, and Jiang Liuyi didn’t dwell on it. After a moment’s hesitation, she decided to message Song Xian instead: [Did you get the dress?]

Song Xian had just sat down across from Gu Yuanyuan when the message came in. Gu Yuanyuan scoffed. “What kind of person is she? You even let her have it. What’s next, is she going to ask you to let her have Jiang Liuyi too?”

“Seriously, Song Xian, everything she says is a double-edged remark.”

Song Xian nodded. Her phone buzzed, and when she glanced down, she saw it was a message from Jiang Liuyi asking about the dress. She replied with one hand: [Got it.]

Jiang Liuyi stared at the message on her screen, tapping it lightly with her finger.

Got it. That must mean she’d be back soon.

She sat up from the couch and paused before sending another message: [Where are you now?]

Song Xian looked around and replied: [Eating.]

Jiang Liuyi felt her mood inexplicably shift with the conversation. She asked: [With Gu Yuanyuan?]

Gu Yuanyuan frowned. “Who are you texting?”

Without even looking up, Song Xian replied, “Jiang Liuyi. She asked if I got the dress.”

“Well, that’s something—at least she cares about you,” Gu Yuanyuan said. “But that Yu Bai doesn’t seem easy to deal with. She’s going to be at her friend’s birthday party, right? You’d better be careful.”

Song Xian gave a half-hearted nod. “Got it.”

The waiter brought out their food. Gu Yuanyuan took the plate of beef rolls and slid them into the bubbling hotpot. She glanced at Song Xian and sighed softly.

Jiang Liuyi’s circle of friends—every single one of them was arrogant and self-important. That time Jiang Liuyi introduced Song Xian to them, Gu Yuanyuan had tagged along. While accompanying Song Xian to the restroom, two girls had walked in behind them, casually gossiping that Song Xian looked just like Yu Bai and claiming Jiang Liuyi had married a stand-in.

She’d been ready to storm out and curse them on the spot, but Song Xian had pulled her back.

“You’re seriously okay with that? You’re not even angry?” she’d asked in disbelief.

And Song Xian had simply replied, “Why should I be angry?”

One sentence left her completely speechless.

Song Xian had said it so calmly: “They weren’t lying.”

That was the first time Gu Yuanyuan realized that when Song Xian said they were a good match, she hadn’t meant in personality—but in circumstances. Jiang Liuyi had someone she liked, and that someone happened to resemble her just enough. So she’d chosen to marry.

And Song Xian hadn’t entered the marriage with pure intentions, either.

Even if both of them had their own motives going into the marriage, Gu Yuanyuan knew Song Xian’s character—she would never cheat. That was why she’d been so furious when Yu Bai reappeared around Jiang Liuyi.

She was afraid Jiang Liuyi wouldn’t be able to control herself.

Looking at things now, maybe she’d been overthinking.

Gu Yuanyuan fished out a slice of beef and placed it into Song Xian’s bowl. “Wanna walk around a bit after dinner?”

Song Xian usually took weekends off, but she tended to stay home. And since getting married, she was almost impossible to make plans with.

This outing was already a rare opportunity.

Before she could respond, her phone lit up again—another message from Jiang Liuyi:

[Didn’t get my message?]

The last one still visible above it: [With Gu Yuanyuan?]

She’d forgotten to reply.

Song Xian typed with one hand: [Yeah, having dinner with Yuanyuan.]

Jiang Liuyi received the message and walked over to the window. Looking down, she saw lights flickering on across the city, a thousand households glowing against the dusk. The red and blue signage of the food street below blinked like stars. She glanced down at the screenshot of a movie ticket on her phone, hesitated, then decided to post it to her Moments—visible to Song Xian only.

If Song Xian saw it, she’d probably ask if she was going to the movies. Then Jiang Liuyi could play along, say she had an extra ticket, and invite her to join.

Perfect plan.

After posting, Jiang Liuyi clutched her phone, waiting. She waited and waited, but Song Xian never messaged her to ask about the movie ticket. Frowning, Jiang Liuyi ended up deleting the post from her Moments.

In the end, she couldn’t hold back and messaged Song Xian directly: [What time will you be home?]

Gu Yuanyuan saw Song Xian’s screen light up again and teased, “You’re really in demand—even during dinner someone’s constantly messaging you. Who is it? Don’t tell me it’s Jiang Liuyi again?”

Song Xian gave her a sideways glance but said nothing, looking down at her phone instead.

What time will you be home?

What time do you get off work? What time will you arrive?

When grouped like that, those words felt more like a code. Jiang Liuyi would never randomly ask about the time—Song Xian understood what she was getting at. She typed back: [Almost done eating. I’ll head home in a bit.]

Jiang Liuyi let out a breath of relief and immediately sent: [I booked movie tickets this afternoon. Once you’re home, let’s go to the theater together.]

Song Xian was in the middle of eating a piece of frozen tofu when she glanced at her phone—only to choke on the spicy broth. She burst into a coughing fit, eyes welling up with tears. Gu Yuanyuan quickly handed her a glass of warm water, which Song Xian drank down, but it only worsened the burning sensation in her throat. 

The tofu had soaked up the fiery soup, and the warm water felt like pouring oil on a flame. Her cheeks flushed red from the coughing.

Gu Yuanyuan poured her a cold glass of milk. Song Xian took a sip and held it in her mouth. The relief was immediate.

“What happened?” Gu Yuanyuan asked in confusion. “How did you suddenly choke like that? You okay now?”

Song Xian shook her head, her voice still raspy from coughing, but calm. “I’m fine.”

Then she turned slightly and looked at her phone again.

Now home isn’t enough? You want to go to the movies too? Chasing excitement?

Unnecessary. Entirely unnecessary.