Chapter 68: That Person

Jiang Zheng glanced at the time. “It’s still so early—are you sure we should head over now?”

He looked again: it was not even four o’clock. They weren’t supposed to meet until five, so there was more than an hour to spare. In their small county, arriving an hour early seemed excessive.

“It’s not early at all—it’ll take us nearly an hour to get there,” Yuan Yuhua replied.

“To where? An hour?” Jiang Zheng asked.

“To the city,” Yuan Yuhua said.

“What? The city?” Jiang Zheng’s voice rose sharply.

“Yeah, didn’t I tell you?” Yuan Yuhua looked at him.

“Did you?” Jiang Zheng was at a loss for words.

Had he known they were going to the city, he would never have agreed. It felt like such a waste of time.

“Come on, let’s go,” Yuan Yuhua urged.

Jiang Zheng had no choice—he’d already promised Yuan Yuhua, so there was no backing out now.

As they headed downstairs, Jiang Zheng asked, “Are we taking a cab?”

Yuan Yuhua pulled out a set of keys from his pocket. “No need. We’ll take my dad’s car.”

“Does your dad know you’re taking his car?” Jiang Zheng asked.

“He doesn’t, but it’s fine. I’ll just fill up the tank when we get back,” Yuan Yuhua replied.

“I hope it really is fine,” Jiang Zheng muttered.

Soon, the two of them were in the car, with Yuan Yuhua driving toward the city.

The city was quite a distance away. By car, it could be just over half an hour, but with the occasional traffic jam, it often took a full hour.

“This lousy road, I wonder when they’ll finally fix it,” Yuan Yuhua grumbled as he drove.

The road they were on had been built years ago. Though it had been patched up here and there, potholes were everywhere.

And it wasn’t just the terrible surface—the road was narrow. Whenever a car came from a side street, traffic would snarl. Worst of all were the accidents; those could hold things up for ages.

As bad as this road was, it was still the only route to the city.

“I heard the expressway will open soon. Once that’s done, it’ll be much faster,” Jiang Zheng remarked.

“No telling when that’ll be, though. It’s being built quickly, but who knows when it’ll actually open,” Yuan Yuhua replied.

Jiang Zheng nodded in agreement.

Their luck held on the way; they didn’t run into any major jams, and made it to the city in forty minutes.

Following the address they’d been given, Yuan Yuhua pulled up just before five o’clock.

They’d made it just in time.

After exchanging greetings, everyone commented that it had been ages since Jiang Zheng last joined them. He just smiled and offered a casual excuse.

Yuan Yuhua looked around and asked, “Where is she? Isn’t she here yet?”

One of the group replied, “She’s still filming—you know she’s a big internet celebrity now, not like us. She said she’d be late.”

“So do we start eating or wait for her?” Yuan Yuhua asked.

“Let’s wait. We’re all classmates; it wouldn’t feel right to start without her,” said another.

Yuan Yuhua nodded, and the others agreed.

Only Jiang Zheng felt a bit lost—he had no idea who they were talking about. Who was this person? A classmate and an internet celebrity?

He glanced over at Yuan Yuhua, who simply smiled mysteriously, as if to say, “You’ll see soon.”

Jiang Zheng gave up trying to ask; Yuan Yuhua clearly wanted to keep him guessing.

The group chatted as they waited. About an hour passed before six people walked in.

At the head of the group was someone Jiang Zheng recognized instantly—a high school classmate, who’d once sat beside him and, for a time, shared a subtle, ambiguous relationship.

In a flash, Jiang Zheng realized exactly who Yuan Yuhua had been referring to, though he couldn’t help feeling a little exasperated.

Beside him, Yuan Yuhua nudged his shoulder, waggling his eyebrows with a knowing look.

Wang Shiqing entered with a commanding presence, so much so that many of their old classmates instinctively lowered their heads.

Jiang Zheng, however, was unfazed. No matter how powerful her aura, it didn’t affect him.

Wang Shiqing was beautiful—a classic oval face, delicate features, and with her carefully applied makeup, she was striking at first glance.

“Hello, everyone. I’m so sorry I’m late. These are my staff. As an apology, tonight’s meal is on me,” Wang Shiqing announced.

The group was pleased to hear that the meal was covered—after all, who wouldn’t be happy with a free dinner?

Once Wang Shiqing sat down, the conversation naturally revolved around her, with everyone engaging her in lively discussion.

University had changed things; people weren’t as pure as they were in high school. Even though university was still a kind of ivory tower, it was much more complex than high school.

With minds no longer so innocent, it was hardly surprising that everyone wanted to curry favor with Wang Shiqing.

Jiang Zheng stayed on the sidelines with Yuan Yuhua, watching the others flatter her.

“By the way, when did Wang Shiqing become a big internet celebrity?” Jiang Zheng asked, genuinely curious.

“You don’t know?” Yuan Yuhua was surprised.

“Should I?” Jiang Zheng replied, a little helpless. He’d never paid much attention to Wang Shiqing; sure, they’d had a bit of a thing in the past, but that was long gone.

“She got pretty popular recently—I thought you’d heard,” Yuan Yuhua said.

“I really didn’t know. Maybe I’m just behind the times,” Jiang Zheng answered.

Internet celebrities rose and fell so quickly; it was easy to lose track.

Recently, Jiang Zheng had obtained his system and had been busy completing its tasks. Any spare time was spent exercising or writing his novel—he barely kept up with news about online personalities.

“She went viral with a transformation video not long ago. After that, she blew up. Now she has over a million followers—a real internet star,” Yuan Yuhua said.

“A million followers… That’s impressive. Which transformation video was it? Show me,” Jiang Zheng said.

“Give me a second, I’ll find it for you,” Yuan Yuhua replied.

Soon, he found the video on his phone and handed it to Jiang Zheng.

Wang Shiqing was indeed stunning in the video. The beginning was ordinary, but after the transformation, the atmosphere shifted dramatically—it was truly striking. The sharp contrast before and after made the video go viral.

Jiang Zheng watched a few more of her recent posts; they were all in the same vein—transformation videos. The locations and outfits changed, but the style remained consistent.

Looking back further, her earlier videos were more about everyday life.

The turning point was clearly that viral transformation video.

Seeing the difference, Jiang Zheng could understand it. The style really did suit Wang Shiqing.

“Impressive,” Jiang Zheng commented.

Wang Shiqing’s success owed something to luck, but if she hadn’t had what it took, luck alone wouldn’t have been enough.