Heartthrob, Your Image is Crumbling!

Chapter 415: Can You Two Do It Together?

Actually, ever since the new semester started, Qu Jing, Tao Tian, and Minmin had barely kept in touch. After all, everyone had their own lives to lead. Minmin always felt that her luck wasn't very good, as she hadn't found a tall, rich, and handsome man like Zhou Yuwen to provide for her. However, it was just a case of sour grapes.Originally, Minmin had hoped to reap some benefits from Qu Jing and Tao Tian. After failing to do so, she convinced herself that the two of them were nothing special, merely selling their dignity to be the other woman.

Although she earned a meager salary working at the front desk, her money was made clean and fair.

Even so, her meager salary still made life difficult. Before graduation, she had always thought that renting an apartment wouldn't be expensive, assuming five or six hundred yuan would be enough to rent a decent place.

However, she discovered that reality was quite different after graduation. First of all, the fact that Minmin could find a front desk job paying three thousand yuan a month meant she worked in the downtown area. This meant that if she rented a place far away, she would have a long commute every morning. If she rented closer, five or six hundred yuan would only get her a single room far from the subway.

For a girl like Minmin, renting an apartment near the subway with good ventilation was a must. Ideally, it would also have a small balcony. In the downtown area of Jinling, such a room would cost at least twelve hundred yuan a month, not to mention the standard requirement of paying one month's rent as a deposit along with the first month's rent.

It was truly exhausting for a little girl like Minmin who had just entered society. Most importantly, she wasn't the type of girl who could endure hardship. Even though her salary was low, she still wanted to have what others had. Having worked for less than three months, she had not only taken a considerable amount of money from her parents but had also applied for two credit cards. Even under these circumstances, she still couldn't make ends meet.

On this day, Minmin was slacking off at her workstation, pondering how she was going to pay off her credit cards for the month.

Suddenly, she scrolled past a post on Moments from Tao Tian and Qu Jing. Seeing the two of them out shopping together was already baffling enough for Minmin, let alone seeing the designer makeup and handbags they were holding.

This made Minmin feel extremely terrible. Why was it that she had to scrimp and save just to buy one bag, and even then, pay for it in twelve installments, while these two could effortlessly buy several?

Besides, hadn't those two always been at odds with each other?

Why was their relationship so good now?

When she was chatting with Tao Tian a few days ago, Tao Tian had even mentioned that nothing had changed.

And now she was already hanging out with Qu Jing?

Then what did her friendship with Tao Tian even amount to?

At this thought, Minmin felt an inexplicable sense of sorrow. After a moment of hesitation, she sent a message to Tao Tian.

"Why are you with Qu Jing?"

At this time, Tao Tian and Qu Jing were looking at cars.

Zhou Yuwen had told Qu Jing to buy a car for the two of them to use for commuting. Following Zhou Yuwen's instructions, they mainly looked at the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. Qu Jing quite liked this sedan model. After looking at several options, she finally decided to buy a white C-Class.

She asked Tao Tian for her opinion.

"I am fine with anything. You can decide,"

Tao Tian said while sending a message to Minmin.

The gist of her message was that since the two of them used to be roommates and now worked at the same company, it was only natural for them to hang out.

"Besides, this is also Zhou Yuwen's intention."

For some reason, Minmin immediately grew anxious upon hearing this. She replied, asking if Tao Tian had forgotten how Qu Jing had backstabbed her before.

Tao Tian replied that it was all in the past.

"Things feel pretty good right now. I have to go, Minmin. I have some things to take care of here."

Just as she finished typing this, Qu Jing came over to ask for Tao Tian's opinion.

Tao Tian smiled and shared her thoughts.

Their relationship was steadily improving through their interactions, leaving Minmin standing there holding her phone, consumed by useless anxiety.

Finally, unable to hold back, she sent another message. "Sweetie, can I come stay at your place tonight?"

At that moment, Tao Tian was discussing configuration options with the salesperson, so she did not reply to Minmin. It wasn't until past five o'clock that Tao Tian and Qu Jing finally finished selecting the car model. They bought a high-trim Mercedes-Benz C-Class. The "on the ground" price was around three hundred and twenty thousand yuan. There were no in-stock vehicles available, so they would have to wait about a day for delivery.

Qu Jing called Zhou Yuwen to inform him.

Zhou Yuwen's response was that as long as they thought it was suitable, it was fine.

This brought up an issue that Zhou Yuwen had previously overlooked. At the time, he had only considered buying them a car for commuting, completely forgetting whose name the car should be registered under.

Qu Jing hadn't thought that far ahead either, only realizing the issue when it came time to actually buy the car. However, neither of them were the type of girls who followed Zhou Yuwen for his money, so during the phone call, she suggested registering it under his name.

Zhou Yuwen felt that was unnecessary and suggested just registering it under the company's name, as it could conveniently be used for tax deductions.

"Now that Lu Hui has left, there is no one handling the company's finance on your end. You two can try studying how to do it."

"Okay."

And so, in order to buy the car, they specifically called a partnered accounting professional services firm to consult on a few issues before finally signing the contract and paying the deposit.

By the time Tao Tian walked out of the 4S dealership, it was already past seven in the evening.

Minmin had already gotten off work by this time.

Truth be told, Minmin was quite pitiful. She hadn't suffered the hardships of love during her four years at university, but she was already suffering the hardships of friendship.

Previously, all three girls in the dormitory had revolved around Tao Tian. Later, after Qu Jing distanced herself, Tao Tian and Minmin's relationship had grown much closer, and Minmin frequently gossiped with Tao Tian about Qu Jing's various flaws.

But now, knowing that Tao Tian and Qu Jing had grown close again, Minmin couldn't help but feel a lingering sense of worrying about gains and losses for some unknown reason. She constantly felt isolated, especially since she had sent Tao Tian a message at four in the afternoon, and Tao Tian hadn't replied until seven.

This left Minmin, who was working alone in the outside world and whose daily routine consisted solely of rushing to catch the subway home, feeling deeply saddened. From four o'clock to seven o'clock, she found herself unable to control herself from constantly checking her phone to see if Tao Tian had replied.

Yet her phone screen had remained completely empty.

'It is over,' Minmin thought to herself. 'I have definitely been pushed out by them. They have probably already cast aside their prejudices and are inseparable with Zhou Yuwen by now.'

'We might just belong to two different worlds from now on.'

'They are noble ladies who ride in luxury cars and live in mansions.'

'While I am destined to be nothing more than a miserable worker.'

The more she thought about it, the more distraught she became.

Just when she had reached the absolute limits of her sad feelings, Tao Tian suddenly replied.

"I really was a bit busy just now."

"It is too late today."

"Plus, Zhou Yuwen might be coming over."

"It is fine!" Minmin sent an eager reply the moment Tao Tian's messages came through. Truthfully, just a moment ago, Minmin had even suspected that Qu Jing had been badmouthing her to Tao Tian and that Tao Tian was no longer planning to acknowledge her.

But the fact that Tao Tian remembered to reply proved she had not forgotten who had stayed by her side during her times of difficulties.

'That must be it.'

So, abandoning her solitary self-pity, Minmin hurriedly typed out a message. "It is a bit late today. Then, Sweetie, let me know when you have time. We have not seen each other in so long."

Seeing this message while waiting for the car outside the 4S dealership, Tao Tian hesitated for a moment. All things considered, humans really were strange creatures. Back when Tao Tian had been dumped by Zhou Yuwen, she had been thoroughly devastated all day long, not wanting to speak to anyone at any given moment.

And during that time, it had indeed been Minmin who stayed by her side.

Back then, Tao Tian had stated more than once that the two of them were best friends and that she could not bear to be apart from her.

Yet in the blink of an eye, they hadn't seen each other for two months, and Tao Tian felt absolutely nothing towards her. Waiting together for Zhou Yuwen to come pick them up, Qu Jing noticed Tao Tian constantly looking down and fiddling with her messages. Assuming she was texting Zhou Yuwen, Qu Jing leaned in curiously and asked, "What is it? Are you chatting with Zhou Yuwen?"

Tao Tian said no.

"It is Minmin," Tao Tian said with a smile.

"Oh, her." Hearing that it was Minmin, Qu Jing showed no excess emotion whatsoever, though she still asked, "What is she talking about?"

Tao Tian explained that Minmin wanted to come hang out, and she did not know how to respond.

Qu Jing said nonchalantly that if she did not know how to respond, she just shouldn't reply.

"From now on, we are completely different types of people from her. There is honestly no need to keep in touch. I deleted her contact information a long time ago," Qu Jing said rather coldly.

Qu Jing had firmly chosen Zhou Yuwen back then. She had essentially cut off all her past connections, wholeheartedly dedicating herself to being Zhou Yuwen's little pet. However, Tao Tian was different.

"That may be true..."

Having been through a major ordeal once, Tao Tian now preferred to leave some leeway when handling matters.

Furthermore, Minmin had genuinely kept her company for a period of time.

Thus, after a brief hesitation, Tao Tian messaged Minmin back, "How does tomorrow sound?"

"Tomorrow works." Minmin replied instantly, clearly having been waiting for a response all along.

Tao Tian had not hidden her messaging from Qu Jing, so when Qu Jing saw what Tao Tian had sent, she gave a slight pout of disdain.

Although she had accepted Tao Tian, Qu Jing still looked down on Minmin. In fact, after accepting Tao Tian, she desired even less for Tao Tian to maintain any ties with Minmin.

She could not help but warn Tao Tian, "You had better be careful with this Minmin."

"Huh?"

Tao Tian was confused. Qu Jing told her that Minmin clearly had ulterior motives.

"Even the way she looks at Zhou Yuwen isn't right. It is best to keep your distance. I am worried she is trying to use you to seduce Zhou Yuwen."

"No way," Tao Tian said, blinking her eyes.

"Well, just be mindful when interacting with her."

Just as they were chatting, Zhou Yuwen's BMW X7 pulled up. From quite a distance away, he had spotted the two girls sitting there.

To be honest, when Qu Jing called earlier today to say she was out shopping with Tao Tian, Zhou Yuwen had been somewhat surprised, though he also felt it was a good start.

Therefore, he had taken the initiative to ask them where they were.

Without a car, how were they going to get back?

"Tell you what, just wait for me at the entrance. I just finished up with work, so I will come pick you up."

And so, Zhou Yuwen parked his car by the entrance of the 4S dealership. The two girls quickly spotted his vehicle. Unlike Su Qing and Zheng Yanyan, who would inevitably argue or even fight over the passenger seat, Tao Tian and Qu Jing were quite accommodating. The main reason was that Tao Tian had already yielded an entire night's opportunity to Qu Jing, so Qu Jing naturally reciprocated the favor by offering the front seat to Tao Tian.

On the contrary, this made Tao Tian feel a little embarrassed.

She dawdled around for quite a while before finally getting in.

Tao Tian and Qu Jing had spent some time wandering the shopping mall that afternoon and had bought quite a few clothes.

Tao Tian's current outfit was relatively plain—a white T-shirt paired with jeans. Given Tao Tian's figure, even a simple white T-shirt was stretched taut, creating a very appealing visual effect. Furthermore, she wore light blue jeans. She lacked that slender feeling that Lu Lin possessed, but the way the denim wrapped tightly around her curves looked spectacular.

As for Qu Jing, she was dressed much more maturely, wearing a hip-hugging skirt.

Tao Tian took the passenger seat, while Qu Jing voluntarily sat in the back.

From the driver's seat, Zhou Yuwen made a sarcastic remark. "The sun rose from the west. To think the two of you actually went shopping together."

Upon hearing his words, both girls burst into laughter.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Tao Tian still felt slightly uncomfortable. Holding her phone, she turned to Qu Jing. "Maybe you should sit up front instead. I still need to chat with Minmin."

"It doesn't stop you from chatting," Qu Jing replied.

"Exactly," Zhou Yuwen echoed. While making a U-turn, he asked in amusement, "You are still in touch with Minmin?"

"Yeah... she is going to stay with me tomorrow night..." Tao Tian felt a bit embarrassed mentioning this, afraid that Zhou Yuwen might want to see her tomorrow.

Qu Jing also felt that Tao Tian was failing to grasp who was truly important. Taking the initiative to claim credit in front of Zhou Yuwen, she said, "I told her just now that some people should just be cut off."

"Sweetie is just too kind-hearted."

Qu Jing added from the backseat.

Tao Tian lowered her head and stayed silent. Zhou Yuwen merely smiled upon hearing this and did not comment. Coming from Qu Jing's mouth, such words sounded a bit too surreal.

However, it would be far too awkward if no one spoke up at this point, so Zhou Yuwen broke the silence. "Where should we go to eat? I will take you girls out for dinner."

Neither of the girls knew what they wanted to eat, so Zhou Yuwen suggested they go for hot pot.

With that decided, he casually found a shopping mall and took them to a hot pot restaurant. During the meal, Zhou Yuwen proactively spoke up, "Let Minmin stay at your place tomorrow night. It just so happens that I am busy recently and will not be staying over at your place."

"After we finish eating, I will be leaving right after I drop you two off," Zhou Yuwen added.

Hearing that Zhou Yuwen wouldn't be staying with them, both Tao Tian and Qu Jing felt a twinge of disappointment. Qu Jing's disappointment was perhaps slightly greater, as she felt that if Tao Tian was going to keep Minmin company, then logically, Zhou Yuwen should have come to keep her company instead.

But with Zhou Yuwen's statement, it was obvious he wasn't going to keep either of them company.

Qu Jing said, "The two of them are gathering. I am not going. I am not even close with Minmin."

Zhou Yuwen suggested they all hang out together.

"You are technically former roommates, after all. It is only right to socialize a little."

Qu Jing said nothing.

After finishing their meal, Zhou Yuwen drove them back.

Upon arriving at the residential area, Qu Jing cast a reluctant glance at Zhou Yuwen and asked, "Are you really not staying here tonight?"

Meeting her reluctant gaze, Zhou Yuwen smiled and teased, "Well, if you two do it together, I might reconsider."

The moment those words were spoken, both girls blushed profusely.

Then, Mustering her courage, Qu Jing declared, "I do not mind."

After saying this, she turned her gaze toward Tao Tian.