Bo Ranying placed the business card on the center console and, on a sudden impulse, opened WeChat.
The message list still showed Tang Lian’s chat window.
In her fragmented memories, after getting off work last night, she had gone to a bar with a few close colleagues from the Dance Troupe. During the games, Tang Lian, who was sitting in the next booth and looking bored, had come over and joined in.
They had all exchanged WeChat contacts afterward.
Bo Ranying hadn’t thought much of it at the time—just a polite friend add. She figured the next message would probably be some mass spam about products for sale.
But she never imagined Tang Lian would slyly leave a business card for Nan Qi.
That was hardly just politeness.
She tapped into the chat window. It contained only the single message confirming the friend request.
Clicking on the profile picture led to Moments, with privacy settings open for the past three months.
With the mindset of vetting potential friend risks for Little Qi, Bo Ranying scrolled through the posts one by one.
The most recent one was a text post with a picture.
The image was none other than the black umbrella that had gone missing from Nan Qi’s car.
The caption read: 【Heavy rain last night—luckily, a soft-hearted beauty lent me her umbrella. Hehe. (Facepalm happy jpg.)】
Soft-hearted?
The description left Bo Ranying somewhat bewildered.
She knew Nan Qi was indeed a girl with a very tender heart beneath the surface, but she kept strangers at arm’s length with her aloof demeanor. Tang Lian had only met Nan Qi once—how had she pierced through Little Qi’s icy exterior to glimpse that softness?
Bo Ranying couldn’t understand it.
Yet through those words, she could sense Tang Lian’s joyful mood. The umbrella was merely a pretext.
She scrolled further, skipping over a few posts with body shots. She guessed Tang Lian was probably a medical student.
Next came photos of Tang Lian soaking in a hot spring.
Amid the hazy white mist, Tang Lian had casually pinned up her hair with a shark clip, lending her an air of gentle allure. Strands of hair, damp from the water, clung haphazardly to her temples and forehead, framing her exquisite, seductive face shrouded in light vapor—like the sun perched atop a distant mountain peak, its radiant allure intensified by the glow.
The woman wore a deep blue tie-side bikini that boldly showcased her stunning figure.
Her waist was slender, her curves perfectly proportioned, her breasts full and rounded with ample allure. The ties crossed under her bust, trailing down to her shoulder blades, tied in a simple, enticing knot that seemed ready to unravel with a single tug, blooming into temptation…
Her fair skin made the deep blue hue evoke the image of a lotus emerging from water, lustrous as a pearl or gleaming jade.
In one shot, she stood by the hot spring pool, gazing into the distance, moonlight illuminating her lovely profile. In another, she sat in the water, cupping a handful and smiling sweetly at the camera, her eyes sparkling like stars. Or she was caught candidly, hair tousled, listlessly raising a glass of red wine to her lips for a sip, her long neck arched back as a drop of the rosy liquid spilled.
It trailed down her chin to her snow-white, quivering cleavage, where the damp blue fabric darkened noticeably.
Bo Ranying: “…”
A flush crept over Bo Ranying’s face. She didn’t dare look any longer—not even brave enough to tap for a larger view.
She had never worn everyday clothes that were so sexy and revealing…
Aside from practice and Dance Troupe performances, she stuck to casual, loose-fitting outfits in a cute style. And—
She glanced down inexplicably at her own chest, sighing in dismay. Her cleavage had only just reached B-cup territory, completely hidden by the baggy hoodie with no hint of curves.
She sneaked another shy peek at the photo, hazarding a guess: Tang Lian was probably an E? At least a D, no less.
QAQ.
No pain until comparison.
Bo Ranying patted her cheeks, suppressing the sudden surge of inferiority.
Regaining her composure, she continued scrolling through Tang Lian’s Moments.
Tang Lian didn’t post often. Over the three-month timeline, there were just shares of books and songs after that, leading to the final post.
It was a silhouette and account of Tang Lian’s participation in a rainbow pride parade in Canada.
The caption was simple: two rainbow emojis followed by an exclamation point.
The nine-grid photo spread featured a white Samoyed in a rainbow mini-skirt, children with rainbow necklaces and colorful face paint, adults draped in rainbow capes—even crowds with dyed hair dancing in the sunlight. Tang Lian herself embodied multiple rainbow elements: high ponytail with orange-and-purple streaks, a green headband across her forehead, revealing a face alight with brilliant smiles. Her long eyes brimmed with mirth, her flawless fair skin glowing with a healthy pink flush that made her laughter utterly captivating.
A rainbow bracelet dangled from her wrist, her chest-hung camera sported rainbow straps, her white T-shirt bore a prominent rainbow graphic at the center, paired with a green skirt and blue crossbody bag…
Bo Ranying: “…” Indeed.
No need for lengthy captions—just the emojis sufficed.
Her mind was now flooded with rainbows.
From the rainbow motifs, her thoughts naturally drifted to the iconic group they represented.
—LGBT, the sexual minority community.
She had first encountered the term back in high school.
