Chapter 221 - 188: The Flight Buddies Meet

Chapter 221: Chapter 188: The Flight Buddies Meet

After Su Tang took her seat, Liu Nanyi, as the birthday girl, introduced Gao Junlin’s three roommates to her.

The tall, skinny boy was named Chen Hui, the dark-skinned one was Li Hanwen, and the boy with a hint of defiance in his expression was Teng Yingyao.

All of them were Gao Junlin’s roommates, and all were student-athletes from Jisheng Sports College, specializing in track and field.

Compared to boys from an average university, they looked more cheerful and rugged—the type many young girls fall for.

After Liu Nanyi finished the introductions, Su Tang offered a polite greeting but didn’t say much else. While she wasn’t being particularly cold or aloof, the sense of distance she projected was something everyone could feel.

"Tangtang, what were you just saying about your place?"

Liu Nanyi, sitting in the center of the booth, pressed the service call button as she asked Su Tang.

"Oh..."

"You know how I’m renting an apartment off-campus with my cousin, right?"

Su Tang explained with a smile, "We originally just grabbed a random place because it was close to school and we were in a hurry. Now we’re looking to switch to a bigger apartment. It’s a bit farther from campus, but it’s closer to the city center, so it’ll be more convenient for shopping and things."

"But I thought the apartment you and your cousin are renting is already pretty big?"

Liu Nanyi asked in surprise, "It’s a standard two-bedroom layout, nearly 100 square meters. How big is the new place?"

"The usable floor space is around 250 square meters."

Su Tang smiled with false modesty. "I wasn’t planning on getting one so large, but the cream-colored interior design just really spoke to me. Plus, it comes with its own small home gym. I was so tempted that I finally just bit the bullet and rented it."

"Oh my god!"

"That’s huge!"

Liu Nanyi couldn’t help but exclaim in amazement, "Tangtang, you only go back on the weekends! Renting such a nice apartment is practically a criminal waste!"

"Why don’t I go stay there for you on weekdays? I’m a decent cook, I promise I’ll feed your cousin until she’s nice and plump!"

A hint of surprise also flashed in Lin Qingge’s bright eyes. "Tangtang, it must cost a fortune to rent that apartment, right?"

"It is pretty expensive."

"If Her Majesty my mother hadn’t ’dropped some gold coins’ for me, it definitely would’ve been a struggle on my own little savings."

As she said this, Su Tang seemed to "casually" glance at Feng Yao, who was sitting directly across from her. Then, her gaze seemed to "casually" land on the new YSL leather envelope bag Feng Yao had recently purchased. "I signed a one-year lease, so it averages out to about twenty thousand a month."

Facing Su Tang’s series of "casual" glances, Feng Yao was practically fuming.

The new YSL leather envelope bag she had just bought happened to cost exactly 19,500 yuan.

Under the circumstances, the meaning behind Su Tang’s glances was self-evident.

"Tangtang, when you have a moment, why don’t you take us to see it?"

Feng Yao was skeptical, suspecting Su Tang was just putting on airs and bragging. She probed, "We could come over for hot pot on a weekend, and we could even throw parties there during holidays!"

"Of course~"

"You’re all welcome anytime~"

Su Tang knew exactly what Feng Yao was thinking. "But my cousin is a bit of a neat freak and isn’t comfortable with unfamiliar men in the house, so only girls can come over."

Su Tang might have been showing off, but she wasn’t an idiot.

After all, the luxury apartment had been rented for her cousin by her cousin’s boyfriend. He surely wouldn’t mind if she occasionally brought her female roommates over for hot pot or board games.

But bringing other guys home was an entirely different matter. She had enough sense to know that. So she laid the groundwork in advance, just in case Feng Yao got a whim and suggested bringing her boyfriend, which would only lead to an awkward refusal.

"Fine."

Seeing Su Tang’s calm and unbothered demeanor, which was clearly born of confidence, Feng Yao’s smile became a little strained.

"Everyone..."

"Are you ready to order?"

As the group was chatting and laughing, a rich, magnetic voice spoke up.

Everyone turned toward the sound and saw a tall, strikingly handsome young man standing beside their booth, though no one had noticed him approach.

He wore a deep blue, casual-style silk shirt that draped perfectly, with a pair of exquisite gemstone cufflinks at his wrists. The Patek Philippe watch he wore glinted brightly under the spotlights.

Behind him stood two women in business suits, keeping a respectful distance, their expressions deferential.

’Who’s this?’

’A waiter?’

’He doesn’t look like one!’

Such were the thoughts that immediately sprang into the minds of Gao Junlin and his friends.

However, Su Tang and Feng Yao, who had met Gu Heng once before, couldn’t help their eyes widening slightly as he appeared before them again.

’It’s him!’

Even though they had only met him once, Gu Heng had left such a deep impression that the memory was still fresh in their minds today.

If that was how Su Tang and Feng Yao reacted, it went without saying for Liu Nanyi, who had maintained a long-term "flight buddy" relationship with Gu Heng.

Staring at Gu Heng’s handsome face, Liu Nanyi froze for a second before her pretty cheeks flushed a visible shade of red.

She thought about all the times she’d asked him for flight schedules late at night, the photos she had sent him, the dozens of times she had used his pictures to... console herself...

As these memories flooded her mind, Liu Nanyi felt an impending sense of complete social annihilation.

Facing Gu Heng’s slightly teasing gaze, Liu Nanyi stood up, flustered. "Gu Heng, you... What are you doing here?"

"Just a coincidence."

Gu Heng smiled. "Is it your birthday today?"

"Yeah."

"I was planning to celebrate with my roommates."

Liu Nanyi stared at the Gu Heng before her, unable to tear her beautiful eyes away.

Compared to four months ago, Gu Heng had changed so much.

His looks were one thing, but the main difference was his entire aura.

That blend of confidence, composure, maturity, dignified grace, and nonchalance gave his every gesture an extraordinary charm.

If cheerful, rugged guys like Gao Junlin were appealing to younger girls, then a man like Gu Heng—with his looks, physique, and aura all maxed out—was lethal to women of any age.

"Happy birthday."

Gu Heng handed the ordering tablet to Liu Nanyi. "What would you like to eat?"

"Um..."

"Do you have any recommendations?"

As Liu Nanyi took the tablet from Gu Heng, her gaze inevitably fell upon his right hand—a hand with smooth, well-defined knuckles.

With just one glance, Liu Nanyi found she couldn’t look away.

What kind of hand was this?

For Liu Nanyi, who had a serious weakness for hands and necks, this hand was utter perfection.

’How can his hands be so beautiful too!’

Liu Nanyi felt like she was going crazy. She couldn’t believe Gu Heng possessed both such perfect hands and such a perfect neck.

"The items in the recommendations tab are all specialties of Cloud Vase."

"Order based on your tastes; you can’t go wrong with any of them."

Gu Heng noticed the shift in Liu Nanyi’s gaze, and the corners of his mouth turned up in a slight smile.

He knew she had this particular weakness, which was why he had never sent her a picture of his hands. He had been waiting for this very moment.

"Oh, right..."

Liu Nanyi was in a daze. It took all her effort to tear her eyes away from Gu Heng’s hand and start looking at the menu.

Gu Heng stood beside the table, his gaze sweeping over each person’s face.

After more than four months of flitting from one woman to the next and indulging in all kinds of romantic dalliances, seeing Su Tang’s face again still made Gu Heng feel a flash of stunned admiration.

Compared to Jiang Ruan’s cool aloofness, Luo Xiwen’s poised elegance, or Xu Mo’s pure innocence, Su Tang was simply radiant. To use a popular internet slang term, she had the kind of face that screamed "peace and prosperity"—grand and radiant.

Bright and magnanimous, she naturally possessed the aura of a powerful female lead.

But as beautiful as Su Tang was, Gu Heng’s tolerance for beautiful women had grown quite high. After that initial flash of admiration, his expression quickly returned to its usual calm indifference.

Only when he saw the pure white, limited-edition Dior handbag in front of Su Tang did a flicker of suspicion cross his eyes.

’Didn’t the manager at the Dior boutique say...’

’...that the bag I gave Xu Mo was the first of its kind in all of Ji Province?’

Gu Heng felt a flicker of suspicion but didn’t dwell on it.

After all, he had given that limited-edition Dior bag to Xu Mo before his trip to Zhonghai. More than half a month had passed since then, so it wasn’t surprising that someone else had managed to buy one.

Gu Heng’s gaze shifted, landing next on Feng Yao.

She still had the same wine-red hair, and her classic Korean-style features looked even more refined. She was wearing a black slip dress today, and the combination of her hair color and the bar’s lighting made her already fair complexion seem almost porcelain-pale.

Gu Heng had only looked at Feng Yao for a moment when he felt a gaze filled with intense hostility fall upon him.

Clearly, the look was coming from Feng Yao’s boyfriend.

Gu Heng shot a glance at Gao Junlin, let his eyes sweep over the three other boys beside him, and then looked away, his expression unchanged. He completely ignored their hostility.

Finally, Gu Heng’s gaze fell upon Lin Qingge.

Based on what Liu Nanyi had told him before, this must be the roommate he hadn’t met the other day—Lin Qingge, who had tied with Su Tang for first place in the 2023 admissions for the Jilin University School of Art’s Department of Vocal Performance and Opera.

He had to admit, Liu Nanyi’s dorm room truly lived up to those three words: "den of beauties."

Every single one of them was a stunning beauty who would appeal to a different type of person.

Just as Gu Heng was studying Lin Qingge, he realized she was also staring intently at him.

Their eyes met, and Gu Heng’s eyebrows rose almost imperceptibly.

’Something feels...’

’...strange about the way Lin Qingge is looking at me.’