Seeing her constantly defending Zhan Yiyang, Xiang Yang said no more.
The three ate and chatted, mostly Xiang Yang and Du Yumeng talking.
Zhan Yiyang could hardly get a word in, with Du Yumeng only occasionally speaking to him.
“Ring ring ring…”
Du Yumeng’s phone rang.
She checked the caller ID and said to Xiang Yang, “It’s Sister Yan, probably asking if you’ve arrived.”
Xiang Yang’s smile faded slightly, “I posted on my Moments right after landing, she should know I arrived safely.”
Du Yumeng shot him a look but focused on answering Yan’s call, not responding to him.
“Sister Yan, I just picked up Brother Xiang Yang, he’s arrived safely.”
Right away, Du Yumeng reassured Yan that she’d picked up Xiang Yang.
“Oh, I wasn’t asking about him, just thought you’re free on the weekend and wanted to chat,” Yan replied, denying her concern for Xiang Yang.
She’d seen his Moments post.
She neither commented nor liked it, just scrolled past after seeing he’d arrived safely.
But she couldn’t help calling Du Yumeng to check on things.
Yan mocked herself inwardly: she vowed to forget Xiang Yang, yet the moment he left, she missed him, desperately missed him.
She wanted to hop on a plane and fly back immediately.
Knowing Xiang Yang hadn’t informed her of his return, just posting on Moments and not asking her to see him off, Yan’s heart ached again.
The Xiang family no longer approved of her and Xiang Yang being together.
They worried her family would drag him down.
If Aunt Xiang hadn’t confronted her, accusing her of constantly borrowing money from Xiang Yang, Yan wouldn’t have known her father had borrowed so much from him behind her back.
With the family business struggling and needing funds to keep going, Yan had given all her savings to her father for the business.
Since her father rarely mentioned the cash flow issues afterward, Yan thought the business had pulled through.
But the financial strain persisted, and her father had borrowed heavily from Xiang Yang without turning things around, now facing bankruptcy with a mountain of debt.
She was indeed a burden to Xiang Yang.
The entire Xiang family no longer supported their relationship.
Yan understood and accepted this reality, especially since Xiang Yang had never confessed his love or said he loved her, to outsiders, they were just deeply bonded childhood friends.
They got along like mates, like close friends.
Perhaps she’d been deluding herself all along, maybe Xiang Yang didn’t love her, only saw her as a good friend.
They were just childhood friends who grew up together, nothing more.
Knowing the Xiang family wanted to align with the Du family, Yan’s heart ached, yet she hoped Xiang Yang and Du Yumeng could be happy.
If it was Du Yumeng, she could entrust Xiang Yang to her with peace of mind.
“Brother Xiang Yang and I are eating at an airport diner, it’s dinnertime, and it’ll take one or two hours to get back to the city, so we’re grabbing a bite first.”
“When I get home, I’ll call you, and we can chat.”
“Does Sister Yan have anything to say to Brother Xiang Yang?”
Yan stubbornly said, “I’m calling to talk to you, not Xiang Yang, nothing to say to him.”
Xiang Yang hadn’t said anything to her either.
“Then you guys eat, call me when you’re home, and we’ll have a good chat.”
“Alright.”
Yan quickly hung up.
