When a "Sea King" is Bound to a System [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 33. 1.1

“Yan Yan, Senior Qing Han is going to this party, so you can’t run away again! Can’t you just resolve any misunderstandings? Do you know what Senior Qing Han went through during the year you just disappeared? I watched her, and I thought you were heartless! I don’t care; you absolutely have to go to this gathering. I’ll come to your place to pick you up later.”

On the phone, Meng Fan Yi prattled on. Jiang Yan glanced at the half-finished bottle of IV fluid and sighed. “Don’t bother picking me up; I’ll go.”

“Really?!” Meng Fan Yi’s voice rose sharply with excitement, making Jiang Yan’s ears buzz. “Alright then, I’ll head over early and wait for you at the hotel entrance!”

After hanging up, Jiang Yan pulled the needle out of her arm. She walked to the window, looked at the bleak autumn scenery, and felt a wave of loneliness.

If only I wasn’t sick, how great that would be.

Outside the Huangting Hotel, Jiang Yan wrapped her coat tightly around herself, unable to summon the resolve to go in.

That cursed Meng Fan Yi! Didn’t she say she’d wait at the entrance? Where did she go? If she were here, she’d drag me in without hesitation.

But now, the thought of seeing that person made her heart pound with panic, and she wanted to turn around and leave.

“Jiang Yan?” A male voice rang out. Jiang Yan turned her head and saw a young man who looked vaguely familiar.

The young man seemed surprised. He strode forward a few steps and said, “It really is you! I thought I might have been mistaken. Are you here for our department’s reunion? I am too. Let’s go in together.”

Jiang Yan buried her face in her coat collar, avoiding speaking to the man who had been her classmate for two years.

When the two pushed open the door and entered, the private room was already full. Seeing them arrive, everyone stood up to greet them.

The young man, Guo Feng, clearly had good social skills, and everyone was teasing him.

“Guo Feng, I didn’t realize you even got a wife a year after graduation.”

“Holy cow, Brother Feng is still the best! I was blind back then and said you’d die alone—my mistake! I’ll drink three cups as a self-punishment.”

“Why do I feel like Old Guo’s ‘date’ looks a little familiar?”

Guo Feng gentlemanly pulled out a chair for Jiang Yan and hung up his coat. He then said mysteriously, “Take a good look at who this is.”

Jiang Yan couldn’t sit comfortably in her cumbersome coat. The moment she took it off, someone gasped.

“Is that Jiang Yan?!”

“How did you two end up together? Was it a coincidence or—”

Seeing the classmates’ wild speculation, Guo Feng quickly explained, “Don’t let your imaginations run wild! Jiang Yan and I just bumped into each other at the hotel entrance, so we came in together. She was a big deal on campus back then! I wouldn’t be so lucky as to be with her.”

Only then did everyone recover from their shock. They deliberately avoided the topic of Jiang Yan’s three-year disappearance and focused on asking about her current life.

This atmosphere allowed Jiang Yan to relax slightly. She smiled, greeted everyone, and then quietly listened as they discussed their work, lives, and families.

Thank goodness Chu Qing Han isn’t here, Jiang Yan thought.

About ten minutes later, the private room door opened again. A gust of cold wind blew in, making Jiang Yan shiver. She turned around and saw the person who seemed to glow with light.

She was the same as she was back then, possessing a natural ability to attract everyone’s gaze, becoming the center of attention wherever she went.

Meng Fan Yi entered with Chu Qing Han and immediately spotted Jiang Yan in the crowd.

“Yan Yan, I’m so glad you could make it! I was going to wait for you, but Senior Qing Han asked me to go to her place to get the wine, and that caused the delay.”

Her loud announcement successfully brought Chu Qing Han’s attention to Jiang Yan.

Jiang Yan felt a scorching gaze on her, making her scalp prickle.

“Let’s all sit down and chat. I specifically brought a few bottles of my private collection of red wine from home. I hope everyone enjoys themselves tonight.”

Chu Qing Han’s words were like an imperial decree. As soon as she spoke, everyone took their seats, tacitly leaving the most prominent spot for her.

Even when she wasn’t there, that seat had remained empty.

Meng Fan Yi sat next to Jiang Yan and leaned over to whisper to her.

“I just tested the waters with the senior, and it seems like she’s still waiting for you. Since fate brought you back together, don’t hesitate.”

Jiang Yan just smiled without saying anything, nervously gripping her cup.

If she were a vibrant, healthy person right now, she would definitely rekindle things with Chu Qing Han, but…

A prized prodigy like her deserves a better girl, not an invalid like herself who doesn’t have much time left.

“Senior Qing Han, I heard you’re working at your family’s company and have already taken charge of several major projects. That’s amazing!”

“You must be kidding. This is Senior Qing Han! A few international accounts are nothing for her to handle.”

“That’s true. The senior seems to have changed a lot since we last saw her two years ago.”

Chu Qing Han raised her glass, smiling beautifully. “Thank you all for honoring me by coming to the Business Management department’s graduation reunion today. I’d like to toast everyone.”

Jiang Yan raised her tea in place of wine, joining the toast.

Some people teased her for not drinking, but no one pressed her, and with Meng Fan Yi helping to smooth things over, the matter was quickly dropped.

Over the past three years, Jiang Yan had many dietary restrictions—this she couldn’t eat, that she couldn’t eat. Now, seeing all the delicious food, she wanted to taste everything, completely forgetting the doctor’s warnings.

“Can you eat all of this?” Meng Fan Yi asked.

Jiang Yan put a piece of Mapo tofu into her mouth, sweating from the spiciness but feeling happy inside.

“I’ll make an exception today. Eating that hospital food every day makes everything else taste bland.”

Meng Fan Yi hesitated but ultimately didn’t stop her.

She wasn’t entirely clear on everything that had happened to Jiang Yan over the years. She only knew that Jiang Yan was sick and had been undergoing treatment for three years, so her diet needed special attention. But surely one time wouldn’t hurt.

“Jiang Yan, where did you go these past three years? None of the classmates heard anything about you,” a girl who used to be quite close to Jiang Yan asked.

Jiang Yan could see the girl’s genuine concern, but she didn’t know how to answer, so she simply deflected. “I just suddenly didn’t want to study anymore. I thought it was meaningless.”

There was some credibility to her statement. Given her old personality, doing something so impulsive wasn’t impossible.

Guo Feng, acting like a social butterfly, toasted everyone, and finally raised his glass to Jiang Yan.

“Jiang Yan, you just left without a word back then, and we didn’t say anything, but since we’ve met today, you can’t refuse this drink from an old classmate.”

Meng Fan Yi knew Jiang Yan couldn’t drink. She reached out and took the glass from Guo Feng’s hand. “Yan Yan isn’t feeling well. I’ll drink this for her.”

She downed the drink, wiped her mouth, and sat down.

Jiang Yan turned and mouthed “Thank you” to her. Because of her illness, she truly couldn’t drink alcohol.

Guo Feng grumbled a few words unhappily and walked back to his seat, having lost his fun.

“Senior, I feel like you’ve become much gentler. You used to have such a cold expression; I never dared to speak to you.”

Whether at school or in society, Chu Qing Han never lacked admirers, attracting both men and women.

The girl who kept talking, Li Man, was one of the many who had admired her.

Chu Qing Han’s smile didn’t fade. She said, “Your name is Li Man, right?”

Li Man nodded frantically, excitedly saying, “Senior, you actually remember my name!”

Chu Qing Han took a delicate sip of red wine, her voice tinged with amusement. “I remember every one of your names.”

Whether it was her imagination or not, Jiang Yan felt that when Chu Qing Han said this, she glanced at her, intentionally or unintentionally.

She became even more silent, trying to make herself seem invisible.

Having eaten too many things she shouldn’t have, her stomach began to churn.

After a few rounds of drinks, everyone let loose. People were confessing feelings and reconciling old grudges. Even Meng Fan Yi hugged a girl she used to dislike. They laughed and cried, talking about their youthful foolishness.

The only two sober people were Jiang Yan and Chu Qing Han.

Jiang Yan couldn’t stand the heavy atmosphere anymore and turned to walk out.

She leaned against a corner, pulled out a cigarette, and searched for a lighter for a long time.

She took the cigarette out of her mouth, held it between her fingers, and slowly closed her eyes.

In her mind was Chu Qing Han’s face, beautiful enough to eclipse the sun and moon, and her phrase, “I remember every one of your names.”

It was annoying; she didn’t want to see her smiling at others.

“Why are you out here?”

Hearing the familiar voice, Jiang Yan snapped her eyes open. The face she had missed day and night was right in front of her.

She suddenly froze, not daring to breathe too loudly.

“You didn’t want to see me, so you came out?”

Jiang Yan clenched her fist, then forced a smile.

“Senior, do you have a light?”

A flicker of something crossed Chu Qing Han’s eyes. She casually took the cigarette out of Jiang Yan’s hand.

“Don’t smoke.”

This exchange immediately transported Jiang Yan back five years, shortly after she first entered A University.

It was September that year. The weather was hot. Because her brother hadn’t come to pick her up, she was extremely annoyed and everything seemed irritating. But seeing the other person’s cool, distant gaze, her heart instantly calmed down.

The surrounding noise disappeared, replaced only by Chu Qing Han’s words: “Are you Jiang Yao’s sister? Come with me.”

So, she happily trotted after her, not asking where she was being led.

At that moment, she had only one thought: as long as it was her, she’d follow her to the ends of the earth.

“Jiang Yan.”

Chu Qing Han’s voice interrupted Jiang Yan’s thoughts. She snapped back to reality and replied in her old, reckless tone, “What is it, Senior?”

Chu Qing Han frowned, touching Jiang Yan’s cropped hair. “Why did you cut your hair?”

When Jiang Yan entered the school, she had beautiful long hair, tied up in a high ponytail, giving her an inexplicable sense of heroism.

Although her face was inherently bright and alluring, that defiant temperament and her wind-blown hair always gave people a feeling of boldness and energy.

Chu Qing Han had once asked her why she kept her hair so long. Jiang Yan had said it was for her father, because her mother was a long-haired beauty.

She cherished her hair so much; how could she bear to cut it?

Jiang Yan was momentarily stunned by the question, then smiled. “Don’t you dislike long hair too, Senior, yet you still kept yours this long? People change. Three years ago, I didn’t like short hair, but three years later, I do.”

Chu Qing Han was also momentarily taken aback, then laughed mockingly. “That’s true. People change.”

She used to dislike smiling, but because that person liked it, she learned to smile. She used to dislike socializing, but because that person always had tons of friends, she slowly became hypocritical.

She just wanted to keep her.

“Jiang Yan, where did you go all these years?”

Chu Qing Han’s voice was no longer calm, as this question had haunted her for three years.

They were together, weren’t they? Why did she leave without saying goodbye?

Of course she was angry, but seeing Jiang Yan’s vastly different appearance compared to before, she could only suppress the anger.

Getting angry at Jiang Yan—Chu Qing Han couldn’t do it.

It had always been this way; she was weak when it came to her.

For some reason, the hotel’s central air conditioning seemed to have stopped. Jiang Yan wasn’t wearing her coat and shivered from the cold.

“Senior, lend me a hug. I’m so cold.”

Chu Qing Han looked at Jiang Yan’s frail body, and her heart softened. Her anger completely dissipated.

She had always been unable to deal with this disobedient child, resorting only to indulgence and compromise.

She opened her arms and pulled Jiang Yan into her embrace, feeling a slight surprise. She looked thin, but she didn’t expect her to feel even thinner when held. Calling her skin and bones wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

What had she been doing these three years? Why had she lost so much weight?

“Did Jiang Yao not feed you? Why are you so thin?”

Jiang Yan buried her face in Chu Qing Han’s chest, intensely inhaling her scent, completely lost in the moment.

“My brother didn’t abuse me. I just didn’t want to eat.” Hospital food was hard to swallow, and her nutritional meals were even worse.

Chu Qing Han tightened her arms, holding her closer.

“Yan Yan, will you come with me? I’ll take care of you.”

That brat Jiang Yao wasn’t reliable. Chu Qing Han needed to watch her herself to feel at ease.

Jiang Yan simply couldn’t refuse Chu Qing Han’s invitation. She knew she couldn’t, so she didn’t hesitate.

“Alright. I want to eat so many good things that I’ll eat the senior into poverty.”

Chu Qing Han stroked her hair and chuckled. “My pleasure.”

Let me be selfish this one time, just once. Jiang Yan gripped Chu Qing Han’s clothes, her eyes filled with fixation.

The two returned to the private room, hand-in-hand. The latecomer, Lin Yue, saw them. Her smile froze on her face, and the red wine glass in her hand dropped to the floor.

“Senior, I’m late. I’m sorry,” she said, quickly adjusting her expression and smiling at Chu Qing Han as everyone looked over.

Chu Qing Han raised her cup and gestured to her. “You’re not too late. You can still have fun with everyone. We have to leave first. Let’s arrange another time to meet.”

Everyone booed softly. Guo Feng, somewhat drunk, squeezed in front of the two, looking at their clasped hands. “Senior, I knew you couldn’t escape Yan Yan’s charms! I said you two would end up together back then, and I was right!”

He grabbed a bottle of wine, poured it into a clean glass, and said to Jiang Yan: “Yan, winning over the senior has brought honor to our class! You absolutely must drink this wedding cup of wine.”

Chu Qing Han took one of the glasses, smiled, and asked Jiang Yan, “Can you drink this?”

Jiang Yan nodded.

She was happy to be accepted by everyone. If drinking this wine meant they could truly be together forever, that would be the best possible outcome.

Hearing someone ask Jiang Yan to drink, Meng Fan Yi, who had been seemingly passed out, instantly jumped up from the sofa next to them. She grabbed Guo Feng’s collar and roared, “I told you Yan Yan isn’t well! Any drinking, you direct it all at me!”

Guo Feng was choked by his collar and nearly passed out. He quickly pulled Meng Fan Yi into his arms to stop her from shouting.

Jiang Yan looked at the wine. It was bright red, like blood, a deadly knife.

But she didn’t want to make the senior unhappy. It took so much for her to overlook the past. It was just one cup of wine; it would be fine.

Amid the cheers, she drank the wedding wine with Chu Qing Han. Her whole body felt like it was floating on clouds, giving her a sense of unreality.

Was this truly happening, or was it just a dream born from missing Chu Qing Han too much?

Lin Yue glared at the pair, clenching her fists. Her freshly done nails broke, the pain checking her impulse to pull Jiang Yan away from Chu Qing Han’s side.

Why should she—a person who disappeared for three years—so easily recapture the senior’s heart? Lin Yue had stayed by the senior’s side for so long, yet apart from work contact, the senior wouldn’t even spare her a glance.

What made Jiang Yan better than her?!

After drinking the celebratory wine, the two prepared to leave. Lin Yue stepped out and blocked Jiang Yan, saying, “Jiang Yan, we haven’t seen each other in a long time. Won’t you have a drink with me?”

Jiang Yan didn’t understand why everyone insisted on her drinking, nor could she understand why Lin Yue would block her way.

Logically, they both liked the same person, making them rivals. They had competed fiercely at school. What kind of relationship did they have that warranted a drink?

But Lin Yue stood there, holding the glass, blocking the door, and wearing a smile. On the surface, nothing seemed out of line.

“She can’t drink. I’ll drink it for her.”

Chu Qing Han reached for the glass, but Lin Yue deftly avoided her. Lin Yue’s smile became even sweeter. “Senior, I’m toasting Jiang Yan. What would it mean if you drank it? If you want to drink, we can meet up at your place another day and drink till we drop. After all, I have your house key.”

Everyone present was shocked: “!!!”

What’s going on? Did Lin Yue win over the senior too?!

Jiang Yan’s heart clenched. Just as she was about to take the glass, Meng Fan Yi violently broke free from Guo Feng’s embrace and shot forward like an arrow.

“Drink, drink, drink! Who do you think you have that kind of relationship with?!”

Meng Fan Yi didn’t even bother offering to take the drink for Jiang Yan. She knocked the glass right out of Lin Yue’s hand, stood in front of her, and told Jiang Yan: “Yan Yan, you and the senior go enjoy your private time. I’ve got this handled.”

She had plenty of ways to deal with a little schemer.

Jiang Yan silently gave her a thumbs-up and left with Chu Qing Han. Lin Yue, trembling with rage, roared, “Meng Fan Yi, are you crazy?!”