Enemy

The memory ended, and Hua Yu looked up at the wall clock.

One page of the calendar had already been turned over; the class reunion was tomorrow.

By then, Wei Yin would be standing before Yu Tiantian.

The person she had always kept hidden, especially from Yu Tiantian, would be under the spotlight, being scrutinized by old acquaintances.

Of course, she would be there with Wei Yin, but by then, the relationship between the two of them in front of Yu Tiantian would no longer be something they could conceal.

Yu Tiantian would quickly find out that Wei Yin had lost her memory, and she would also discover that Hua Yu had kept silent about the past.

Then what would Yu Tiantian say to Wei Yin? What would she do?

Late at night, a sigh rose, so faint it was almost inaudible, yet heavy to the extreme.

She would take things as they came; thinking too much was useless. She was willing to seize the present. As long as Wei Yin still liked her, as long as Wei Yin still wanted to be with her, she could try to accept it and slowly let go of the past.

It would be difficult, but Hua Yu was willing to bear it.

—

“She really said that?”

Yu Tiantian kept confirming the contents of Xu Ya Qing and Li Leran’s conversation.

Li Leran’s memory wasn’t very good. She only remembered the important few lines and couldn’t retell everything from the beginning. “For those three projects, that’s all she said.”

“Why did you forget everything else?” Yu Tiantian looked skeptical. “Maybe there was some hidden information in there.”

Li Leran carefully recalled her conversation with Xu Ya Qing and felt there really hadn’t been any hidden meaning at all; it had been straightforward, open sniping. No, wait—she had been the one on the receiving end of Xu Ya Qing’s one-sided sniping.

Of course, there had also been two lines in which Xu Ya Qing told her to stay away from Yu Tiantian.

A trace of hesitation flashed in Li Leran’s eyes. She didn’t know whether she should repeat it word for word to Yu Tiantian. Xu Ya Qing had said she was hypocritical and selfish and should stay away from her...

Yu Tiantian caught her gaze and, thinking she was feeling guilty, said in a less-than-friendly tone, “Are you hiding something from me? What else haven’t you told me?”

Li Leran swallowed. For some reason, she sometimes felt that Yu Tiantian had become like a different person; instead of her usual gentleness and generosity, she now seemed fierce and terrifying, frightening her without meaning to.

Better not tell her. She would only get angrier.

“Really, nothing else,” Li Leran said.

Yu Tiantian couldn’t get anything more out of her and snapped irritably, “I told you from the start to bring the recorder. You forgot it in the room, so at the very least you should remember everything. If not, what’s the point of sending you to dig for information?”

Li Leran took half a step back and lowered her head.

Yu Tiantian’s anger was completely undisguised; Li Leran didn’t dare say anything and could only keep apologizing. “I’m sorry, Tiantian, but I promise Xu Ya Qing only talked about the third project, the laser massage device; she said it wasn’t recommended for investment. There really wasn’t anything else.”

Li Leran could feel the scrutinizing gaze across from her. Yu Tiantian was furious, staring at her for a long time until cold sweat broke out on her back; only then did she suddenly smile.

“Alright, don’t be nervous. I just wanted to make things clear; I’m not targeting you,” Yu Tiantian said as she rose to take Li Leran’s hand, speaking affectionately. “Of course I trust you.”

Li Leran let out a breath, though it didn’t feel like she had fully exhaled.

“You’ve worked hard. Go get some rest. Next month is your birthday, and I’ve prepared the gift you’ve always wanted.” Yu Tiantian smiled softly.

A flash of surprise lit Li Leran’s eyes. “Really?”

“Of course. After all, we’re the best of friends.”

Li Leran nodded. “Mm, Tiantian, you’re so good to me!”

After she left Yu Tiantian’s room, the buoyant feeling in Li Leran slowly sank, like a leaf that should have been blown far away by the wind but, unable to catch enough of it, spun down into the mud.

Why had Tiantian been so moody lately?

Weren’t they supposed to be best friends? Why did it always feel like Tiantian’s attitude toward her was different from before?

Li Leran sighed. She actually hadn’t forgotten to bring the recorder. It was just that when she saw Xu Ya Qing, for some reason the finger she had pressed against the record button moved away.

Maybe her instincts had told her that wasn’t right; or maybe she had been intimidated by Xu Ya Qing’s fierce presence. In any case, she hadn’t recorded anything.

No matter what, she had completed the task her friend had given her. As for the rest, it wasn’t something she could handle.

After Li Leran left, Yu Tiantian’s expression cooled, and she dialed Madam Yu’s number.

Madam Yu answered quickly.

“Xu Ya Qing said the laser massage device project shouldn’t be pursued,” Yu Tiantian cut straight to the point. “She told Li Leran directly; she answered as soon as she was asked. What do you think?”

After some thought, Madam Yu found it unconvincing. “Nothing anyone says in business should be believed too easily. Besides, we still don’t know what her purpose was in coming along.”

Yu Tiantian frowned hard. Just hearing it made her even more irritable. “This is my project; I’m the one funding the medical support. Who knows why Hua Yu suddenly shoved Xu Ya Qing in here? Does she want a share too?”

Madam Yu’s stern voice came through at once. “I’ve told you long ago to build a good relationship with Hua Yu. She herself is already an expert, not to mention the generations above her. She’s a doctor, but many of her relatives are in business or politics. Otherwise, do you think doctors’ salaries alone could support the whole Hua family? If you hadn’t been so cold toward her in those earlier years, you wouldn’t be struggling to get even a patent out of her now.”

“Mom, is there any point saying this now?” Yu Tiantian interrupted coldly. “You get along with them; why don’t you go say it?”

Madam Yu choked. In recent years, because of certain investments, she had developed grievances with the Hua family, and there was nothing she could say. Lacking confidence, she said, “That’s an issue between the older generation. You youngsters can still build a good relationship.”

“Enough,” Yu Tiantian said impatiently. “Whatever she came for, if you don’t have any other opinion, I’ll go with my own idea.”

Madam Yu’s tone darkened. “What idea?”

“Either this project really has a problem, or it’s suitable for investment and she doesn’t want me to invest, so she deliberately said there was a problem; or else she’s trying to muddy the waters and drag this project out, while the truly worthwhile projects are the other two.”

After listening, Madam Yu stayed silent for a long while before nodding. Those were the possibilities; but what was the difference between saying that and saying nothing? “So which is it?”

“I haven’t figured it out yet,” Yu Tiantian said. “I’ll go back and meet Hua Yu again.”

Madam Yu asked suspiciously, “You have a way to repair your relationship with her?”

At that, Yu Tiantian’s lips curved slightly, and she gave a mocking smile. “She won’t pay attention to me, but there’s one person she definitely cares about.”

—

【Have you looked over the three outfits I picked out for Xiaoyin?】

【You’re going to a reunion as her partner, so don’t wear anything too plain. The dress Aunt Sun brought you last time will do.】

【Do you two need to wear matching outfits?】

Hua Yu’s phone had been ringing nonstop since yesterday. After Hua Mother learned that the reason Hua Yu wasn’t going home on her day off today was that she was accompanying Wei Yin to a university class reunion, she had eagerly volunteered to take Wei Yin shopping for clothes.

Hua Yu knew Wei Yin was uncomfortable around elders, and was just about to decline on her behalf when Hua Mother hung up on her and called Wei Yin instead.

When an elder offers something, one doesn’t dare refuse. Wei Yin had been flustered at first, but in the end she happily went out with Hua Mother to pick clothes.

Maybe because she hadn’t enjoyed the feeling of a female elder taking her shopping in a long time, whatever Hua Mother held up against her, Wei Yin would say, “Okay, okay, okay.”

Hua Yu drove down a side road and said as she turned the wheel, “You can just tell her what kind of clothes you like.”

Wei Yin, seated in the passenger seat, was wearing a pink-and-blue new-style Chinese jacket dress. She was clutching an embroidered little bag, and her hair had been carefully arranged by Hua Yu; from head to toe, every strand looked neat and proper.

“I won’t say it,” Wei Yin said, clearly enjoying herself. “Whatever Auntie picks for me, I’ll wear it.”

Hua Yu laughed helplessly. “Then you’re just going to let her dress you in qipaos, Tang-style outfits, horse-face skirts, and whatever else? You’re going to a class reunion, not filming a period drama.”

“Auntie said I have a good figure and look elegant in a qipao,” Wei Yin argued seriously. “Besides, didn’t you end up choosing the clothes in the end?”

“Right. I turned down more than a dozen of Mom’s suggestions three times in a row and almost made her lose her temper,” Hua Yu said earnestly. “Thanks for rejecting the matching-outfit idea; I don’t like new-style Chinese clothes.”

Wei Yin turned toward her and studied Hua Yu carefully, letting her gaze move from her forehead down the bridge of her nose to her chin, taking in her whole figure several times before arriving at a final conclusion. “Mm, you suit Western styles better.”

Chinese styles tended toward grace and restraint; Hua Yu had long limbs, sharp features, and exquisite bone structure. She suited simple, elegant designs, or even brighter, richer colors; she could carry them all. Only understated, subdued Chinese styles didn’t suit her.

Today Hua Yu was wearing a silver-embossed long dress, a body-hugging design that followed her curves. Aside from the pearl watch on her wrist, there were no other accessories; it was simplicity taken to the extreme, just enough to bring out all her strengths.

“Q University is an open and free university,” Wei Yin murmured, almost to herself. “Freedom in dress, freedom to protest, freedom to love.”

Hua Yu answered absently, “Mm?”

Wei Yin looked at her softly. “Freedom to love... when Dr. Hua was in university, there must have been a lot of people chasing after you.”

“That’s a narrow way of putting it,” Hua Yu said without changing expression. “There are a lot now too.”

Wei Yin froze, then turned her head away. “Oh.”

The joy she’d felt at bringing Hua Yu along as family hadn’t fully bloomed yet when a faint unease swept over her.

Dr. Hua was so beautiful. Someone was definitely going to stare at her later.

There would definitely be people asking for her WeChat too.

What should she do? She really wanted to hide Dr. Hua away.

She wasn’t the only one with that thought, but Hua Yu was better at pretending. She drove with calm ease to the reunion venue, got out of the car to pick Wei Yin up as if nothing were wrong, took off her high heels and changed into them without the slightest change in expression, then walked into the hotel side by side with Wei Yin as though nothing had happened. The whole process was as steady as an old dog; there wasn’t the slightest hint of nervousness.

Wei Yin’s phone rang, and she answered the voice call. “Class monitor?”

“Are you here yet?” the class monitor urged from the other end. “Do you need us to come get you?”

“No need; we’re already at the hotel.”

Wei Yin glanced at the time at the top of her screen. “There’s still half an hour before it starts.”

The class monitor hurriedly said, “Most people are already here. Come up quickly.”

“Okay.”

After hanging up, Wei Yin opened the group chat. She remembered that before getting out of the car, a bunch of people had been saying they were stuck in traffic, so how had it become “most people are already here” now?

But Wei Yin was already at the hotel and didn’t deliberately linger; she followed Hua Yu at an unhurried pace toward the elevator.

The elevator came down from the fifteenth floor; with a ding, the doors opened.

“Xiaoyin?”

Wei Yin hadn’t yet seen who was inside when she heard an unexpectedly delighted greeting.

The next moment, a shadow fell in front of her, and her hand was grabbed by someone who greeted her warmly. “You just got here? Was the road congested? It’s been so many years since we last saw each other; I really missed you.”

Wei Yin tilted her head. She didn’t remember this person, but she vaguely felt she had seen her somewhere.

Seeing that Wei Yin didn’t speak, the person’s tone grew even warmer. “You don’t remember me? I’m Tiantian, Yu Tiantian.”

In a tone full of faux reproach, she said to Wei Yin, “I’ve been thinking about you a lot these years while I was abroad.”

Only then did Wei Yin react; she had seen Yu Tiantian’s selfies on her Weibo account, “Tiantian So Cute, Aren’t I?”

But those photos looked heavily edited, so Wei Yin hadn’t recognized her at first glance.

She gave Yu Tiantian a polite smile and tried to pull her hand back, but Yu Tiantian only tightened her grip.

Wei Yin’s smile stiffened. Before she could do anything else, a hand reached out from the side and caught Yu Tiantian’s wrist.

It only touched for half a second, light as a dragonfly skimming water, but Yu Tiantian yanked her hand back as if burned. “Ow, that hurts. What are you doing...?”

The elevator was built at a corner, and Hua Yu stood behind Wei Yin, blocking her entire figure, so Yu Tiantian hadn’t noticed her.

When she suddenly met Hua Yu’s face, the shock in Yu Tiantian’s expression was almost tangible.

“What are you doing here?!” Yu Tiantian was stunned.

Wei Yin was finally free to withdraw her hand. Smiling sweetly at Yu Tiantian and the class monitor behind her, she said, “This is my family. Class monitor, I told you before that guests can bring family, right?”

The class monitor had been silently watching from the side; now that he’d been addressed, he hurriedly said, “Ah, yes, of course. Hello, you can bring them.”

“Didn’t you say everyone was here?” Wei Yin glanced at the time. “Then should we go up?”

The class monitor looked at the stunned Yu Tiantian, cleared his throat, and said, “Alright, let’s all go up together.”

Only after they entered the elevator did Yu Tiantian react belatedly and repeat, “Family?”

Hua Yu stood beside Wei Yin, putting herself between her and the others.

Yu Tiantian looked at Hua Yu, then at Wei Yin, and seemed to think of something. Suddenly, she laughed out loud. “I see.”

Wei Yin frowned in confusion. “What do you mean, ‘I see’? What is ‘this’?”

Hua Yu turned her head and shot Yu Tiantian a warning look.

The smile at the corner of Yu Tiantian’s mouth froze. She slowly let it fade and looked Wei Yin up and down.

Just now, she had been eager to get close to Wei Yin and hadn’t had time to observe her. Now that she looked again, Wei Yin’s outfit was low-key yet elegant; where was that little yellow-haired girl from university who counted every penny and spent all day doing odd jobs?

Back in university, Yu Tiantian had once said that Hua Yu was a person who had missed one tiny detail despite all her careful planning; she had thought Hua Yu would find some fairy-like beauty to be her partner, and had never expected her to take a liking to someone as poor and shabby as Wei Yin.

Yu Tiantian knew Hua Yu was nostalgic, that once she liked someone she would never forget them; not to mention that back then, under her manipulation, those two had never even really gotten together. So Yu Tiantian had been certain that if Wei Yin reappeared in front of Hua Yu, Hua Yu would definitely treat her differently.

But she never expected those two to have met ahead of time.

That meant she had lost the initiative.

A feeling of unwillingness, like having a winning hand snatched away by someone else, crossed Yu Tiantian’s mind.

Still, that was fine. Looking at the two of them, Hua Yu really hadn’t let Wei Yin go.

As long as Hua Yu cared, then there would be a weakness.

No one paid attention to Wei Yin, so she asked again, “What exactly are you talking about?”

Yu Tiantian shrugged at Wei Yin and pursed her lips, signaling that she had nothing to say.

Hua Yu quietly withdrew her warning gaze, but the lips she had pressed together still hadn’t relaxed.

Wei Yin moved half a step closer to Hua Yu and thought that this person was really inexplicable; better stay away from her.