Chapter 2248 - 722: Yan City, Yan City_3

She first sent her mother a WhatsApp message to report she was safe and sound.

After hesitating for a long time, she finally opened the pinned chat box.

She left a message: "I’ve arrived at the airport."

"Buzz buzz buzz—"

[Tang Song: "Have you had breakfast yet?"]

Zhang Yan’s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly replied: "Yes, I made buns and porridge myself."

[Tang Song: "That’s good, be sure to stay safe on the road. If you encounter any problems, call me directly."]

Zhang Yan: "Mhm (cat nodding emoji)"

They chatted a bit more.

Despite Tang Song’s ordinary concern, Zhang Yan’s heart skipped a beat, and her cheeks felt warm.

She couldn’t help but press the back of her hand to her slightly cool cheek, then gently tapped her head.

She felt quite useless.

Clearly, there were so many things she wanted to say, but in front of him, she turned into a mute.

She bit her lip, opened Moments, and took a photo of the airplane outside the boarding hall window.

After pondering for a while, she added a line of text:

["Pedestrians resist the cold, roosting birds startled by chill. Southern branches turn warm, northern branches find peace because of you. Yan City, goodbye."]

This time, she didn’t set a group, nor did she block anyone.

She just quietly looked at the picture, silently saying in her heart: You’ll see it, won’t you?

This was the only way she could muster the courage to confess.

This poem was also something she wrote last night.

Just then, a WhatsApp message popup interrupted her thoughts.

It was from a long-quiet small group named "The Triad of Romance and Poetry."

[Cheng Xiaoyue: "@Zhang Yan, Yanyan, are you returning to Yan City? Today?"]

Zhang Yan was taken aback, quickly clicked on the familiar avatar, and immediately replied: "Yes, Xiaoyue, I’m going on a business trip to Yan City for three days."

[Cheng Xiaoyue: "That’s great! I just resigned from the company in Hang City last month and am back in Yan City for work. Feifei is here too, we can get together."]

Looking at the chat interface of the small group of three, dormant memories were instantly awakened, and a heartfelt nostalgic smile appeared on her face.

Her university life wasn’t lonely after all.

This group of three was from the literary club, her two closest friends—

Cheng Xiaoyue and Lin Feifei.

Drawn together by their obsession with poetry and various essays, they became friends.

They once hung out in secluded old bookstores, and chatted, read poetry, and daydreamed in the school’s small grove.

However, after they graduated, they scattered to different corners of the world.

Cheng Xiaoyue went to work as a content operator at an internet company in Hang City.

She went to the Imperial City for a past romance.

And Lin Feifei, with the wealthiest family, stayed in Yan City, tending to her family’s small florist shop, living a quiet life.

As she later moved to Yang City, contact became even less frequent.

The group’s last chat was at the beginning of the year for New Year blessings.

It felt like just yesterday they waved goodbye under the dormitory building, yet soon, they were separated by mountains and rivers.

Pulling herself out of the memories, she replied in the group: "Alright."

[Cheng Xiaoyue: "I’m currently unemployed, free as a bird. Want me to pick you up at the airport?"]

Zhang Yan quickly replied: "No no, someone is picking me up here."

[Cheng Xiaoyue: "Oh? Who is it? Let’s see if I know them."]

Zhang Yan bit her lip, unsure how to reply, feeling her face getting hot.

Just then.

"Buzz buzz buzz—"

[Lin Feifei: "I know, it must be a guy, and the relationship isn’t simple."]

[Cheng Xiaoyue: "Feifei, how do you know?"]

[Lin Feifei: Moments screenshot.jpg]

[Lin Feifei: "The overall tone of this poem transforms Liu Yuanzai’s ’Early Plum’ from the Tang Dynasty—’Southern branches turn warm, northern branches cold, one spring breeze with two kinds.’ But Yanyan’s poem with ’northern branches find peace because of you’ is clearly a confession. No matter how cold a place, it’s at peace because someone is there. Is that what you meant? @Zhang Yan"]

[Cheng Xiaoyue: "I was so focused on Yanyan returning to Yan City, didn’t look carefully at the poem. So it’s you who had a secret crush since college?"]

Embarrassed by the friends’ playful "public sentencing," Zhang Yan’s face was almost steaming, hesitated for a long time, before sheepishly typing a few words: "I just wrote it casually."

[Cheng Xiaoyue: "Replied so late, guessed right indeed, @Feifei, when we meet, we must conduct a thorough interrogation." ]

[Lin Feifei: "Agreed, I’m really curious." ]

Zhang Yan’s heart pounded like a drum.

Her careful secret crush was actually noticed by quite a few people around her.

Yet she never admitted it, often going alone to Yan City University of Science and Technology to see Tang Song.

This small group of three became lively again due to their coincidental reunion.

With Zhang Yan’s deliberate avoidance, the topic shifted to the current status of the three.

Lin Feifei continued to tend her little florist shop, living a quiet life.

While Cheng Xiaoyue was aggressively submitting resumes, grumbling about the extreme job market competition, and ranting about the oddities encountered during interviews.

Chatting with them.

Zhang Yan had higher expectations for Yan City.

"Ladies and gentlemen, passengers heading to Yan City please note..."

The broadcast alert sounded, interrupting her thoughts.

Zhang Yan quickly said goodbye in the group to her friends, put away her phone, and followed the crowd to the boarding gate.

Queued into the cabin.

The plane accelerated on the runway, ascended, and finally, in a slight sense of weightlessness, broke free from the earth’s constraints, pierced the clouds, and soared into the clear, vast sky.

Below her, the familiar Yang City gradually shrank from sight, finally becoming a blurred patch of gray-green.

Zhang Yan leaned by the small porthole, dazedly watching.