C7

Song Jue reached Bing Xue's apartment at 6.30 p.m. They had decided to meet up at Xue's apartment and then go together to Golden Palace.

Song Jue had a cute doll-like face with long eyelashes and brown eyes. She had black hair. Her skin was very fair. She was one of the four princesses of the Great families.

She had bangs with shoulder-length hair. There were caramel-colored highlights in her hair. She had light makeup on and was wearing a brown pencil dress. Jue was around 167 cm tall but with her 2-inch slim heels, she was almost as tall as Bing Xue. She looked very attractive. After a long time, she had dressed herself up.

Bing Xue was also ready. She looked very chic and classy with her high ponytail hairstyle. She wore no makeup.

She was wearing a black A-line dress with white stripes. She also wore a pair of black ankle boots.

They were ready by 7.15 p.m. They took a cab to the Golden Palace. The Golden Palace was around 10 miles from Xue's apartment.

Golden Palace was one of the poshest restaurants in Cinea. It was owned by the Wang family's heir, Wang Lei. It was famous for its Indo, Saian, and Westphalian cuisines*. However, it was highly exclusive. Even members from the Great families were not able to get reservations here.

They reached the reception of the restaurant at 7.30 p.m. The waiter directed them to their seats. Yang Mei had not yet arrived. She had texted Xue that she will reach in 5 minutes.

Their table was actually in the VIP section. Xue was impressed by sister Mei. On the other Song Jue was stunned.

She asked Xue, "Who is your senior Xue?? We have a table reserved in the VIP section. Do you know how exclusive this place is? Your senior must not only be very rich but also very influential."

Xue looked at her and said, "Well, she is definitely rich and now I think about it she should be very influential as well."

Jue said, "Is she from a Great Family? Which one?"

Xue said, "Nope!! Not as far as I know. Don't worry she will be here in 2 minutes. You can ask her yourself."

They continued to talk. After a few minutes, Song Jue saw a very graceful and elegant lady walk up to Bing Xue. She then hugged Xue who in turn hugged her back. She heard their conversation -

Xue said, "Hi sister Mei, you are finally here!!"

Yang Mei smiled and replied, "There was a lot of traffic today. Otherwise, I would be here before you."

The lady turned towards Song Jue, extended her hand, and said, "Hello, you must be Song Jue. I am Yang Mei. Xue told me about you. It is nice to meet you."

When Jue saw the face of the lady she froze and couldn't respond immediately. Seeing Jue standing like an idiot, Xue nudged her shoulder. It was then that Jue came back to her senses. However, she was still unsure about the person who was standing before her.

She returned her handshake. Then, all of them sat down. Xue and Jue were sitting side by side and Mei sat across the table opposite to them.

Xue whispered to Jue, "Why are you acting like an idiot? Do you not recognize her?"

How could Jue not recognize her? She was a journalist and the reveal of the CEO and owner of MLH was the top news since morning. All top reporters had been trying to find out information on this beautiful and mysterious CEO. Yet now they had been invited by her for dinner and she was sitting right across them. Jue felt excited and nervous at the same time. She had been researching her and MLH since the reveal.

She was very impressed by Yang Mei's achievements. Yang Mei was extremely beautiful and very capable. What she had achieved in a short span of 6 years was almost impossible to replicate. She had become her fan. Meeting her in real life flustered her a bit.

She whispered back to Xue, "Of course!! I know her. The whole city knows her."

Mei then looked at them and said, "So, let's order…. then we can talk."

Xue asked, "What about your brother and his friend? Shouldn't we wait for them??"

Mei smiled and said, "Naah…...those idiots will come later. We should start by ourselves."

They called the waiter and ordered some food and drinks.

Then they started talking.

Xue smiled and said in a childish tone, "Sister Meiiii, you fooled me yesterday?? Why didn't you tell me that you were the real owner of MLH?"

Jue was stunned when she heard Xue talk in such a manner. She had never seen her talk in such a childish way to outsiders.

Mei smiled and said, "It was going to be revealed today, so I wanted to surprise you!! If that was not the case, I would have told you yesterday itself."

"Why?? Were you very surprised??"

Xue said, "Yes I was. However, there were clues in the hospital's name itself but I was not able to catch it."

Mei smiled and then looked at Jue and said, "Xue tells me you are an investigative journalist now. That is so cool."

Jue was still a bit flustered and said, "Miss Yang, actually I've been a journalist for about seven years now.I-"

Mei cut her in between and said, "WHAT Miss Yang. Call me sister Mei like Xue does. You seem to have forgotten me, haven't you?"

Jue was puzzled and looked towards Xue to help her in this situation, but she only shrugged back.

Mei continued, "You are a reporter so you must have researched my educational background."

Jue nodded and said, "Yes I did."

Mei said, "Then you should know I graduated from GVSU. We have actually crossed paths a few times. I can't believe you forgot!!"

Jue was extremely puzzled and confused now.

Mei continued, "The 1st time was when the Tang siblings organized their famous party. The 2nd time was when we were dining at a restaurant near GVSU. We didn't talk to each other during these 2 times."

"However, you should remember the third time. We met in the school canteen after our graduation. Your brother Song Liu was also graduating. We all shared a table. We even talked to each other about the future."

"Have you been hit in the head since then? You seem to be suffering from selective amnesia."

Jue quickly replied, "No! sister Mei I just forgot a little. It has been a long time since I reminisced about the college days."

Jue started pondering when a series of memories flashed in her mind.

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9 years back-

The months went by quickly and the day finally arrived. They all received their degrees from their respective colleges and gathered at the college canteen.

They reminisced about the past years fondly. Zhou Shishi was the last to join the group. But now she was very comfortable with everyone. Same for others, even Yang Li was comfortable around her and viewed her as a friend.

They were talking about the future plans when a group of people walked in. It was the Tang and the Song siblings.

Song Liu had also completed his masters' degree today. They were also here to celebrate. Both the groups greeted each other.

Song Liu invited Yang Li's group to join them. Mei looked towards Yang Li and he nodded. So, they joined the Tang and the Song siblings.

They bought lots of food and drinks and started chatting with each other. Mei was sitting between Yang Li and Song Jue. Both the girls were happily gossiping with each other, they had become comfortable with each other.

Suddenly Jue looked at Li and asked, "Why do you always wear a mask and a cap?"

When she asked this question, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Li. They were waiting for his answer as everyone was curious about Li's real appearance.

Even Shishi had never seen his face completely without a mask and a cap. He was always in disguise.

She knew he was very elegant and attractive and therefore she was confused as to why he would cover his face.

She also didn't know the natural color of his eyes because he wore different contacts every day. Today his eyes were black. Only his sister and Han Kai knew his true appearance.

He replied, "I have allergies so I wear a mask."

She then asked, "And why the cap??"

He replied with a straight face, "Duh!!…. Because I like wearing it."

Everyone was like, "-----------@@@wtf@@@@-----------"

The group carried on with their conversation; all the girls had formed a separate group and were chatting happily. They seemed to have become closer to each other.

The guys were also talking about their future plans. As usual, it was Han Kai who was leading the conversation. Finally, the meal came to an end and all of them bid their goodbyes. They exchanged their contact information and went their separate ways.

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Present-day-

Jue woke up from her memories when she felt someone nudging her. It was Bing Xue.

Mei looked at her and asked, "Do you remember me now or not?"

Jue immediately answered, "Sister Mei, don't be angry I remembered everything now. Sorry, that I forgot our conversation. It will never happen again."

Mei laughed and said, "Never mind!! as long as you remember everything."

As they were talking their order had arrived.