I'm Interested In Your Friend - Chapter 48

48

Strangely enough, right after they picked up the household registration booklet from Tan Suran’s place and were on their way to the civil affairs bureau—

They got stuck in traffic.

Tick-tock. Time passed, minute by minute.

“Huh? This road’s usually not congested at this hour.” Yu Lili pouted slightly.

Tan Suran tapped her pale wrist rhythmically against the steering wheel, eyes lifting as she scanned the traffic ahead, a frown forming between her brows.

“Sigh… good things never come easy.” Yu Lili muttered to herself again.

“Good things never come easy.”

She didn’t know how those four simple words instantly smoothed out all the creases in Tan Suran’s heart.

Yu Lili glanced at her watch. “Do you know what time the civil affairs bureau closes?”

After a brief look at each other, the two simultaneously decided—ditch the car and run.

So that day, many people in Lihe City saw two stunning young women sprinting down the street on a winter afternoon.

Studies show that running is a great way to release dopamine.

Tan Suran had run many times in her life.

But only this time did she truly feel the joy of running toward happiness.

Even when they walked out of the civil affairs bureau holding their little red marriage booklets, Yu Lili still couldn’t quite believe it.

Everything had gone so smoothly, it felt even more unreal than a dream—she felt like she was walking on air.

While stepping down the stairs, she zoned out a bit—

And nearly twisted her ankle.

“Careful.” A pale, slender arm reached out just in time to steady her.

The touch was brief.

“Thanks.”

Tan Suran didn’t correct Yu Lili for being overly polite to her legally wedded wife.

She walked lightly down the stairs. “I know marrying me is exciting, but if you get hurt because of it, I’ll feel really guilty.”

“…”

“…”

Yu Lili blushed hard.

How did she manage to say something so flirtatious with such a straight face…

From the place where they’d touched, all the way to her ears and cheeks—she felt like she was on fire.

“Why aren’t you walking?”

Winter sunlight had that pale golden hue, gently pouring down, landing softly on Tan Suran.

Yu Lili looked up.

The woman in front of her had refined features and skin as fair as snow.

A beauty as distant as a frosty mountain, softened now by sunlight, standing right by her side.

Because of their dramatic, romantic car-ditching stunt, they had to call an assistant to bring their car.

But Yu Lili stopped Tan Suran from dialing and looked out toward the street. “Have you ever taken a taxi before?”

Tan Suran raised an eyebrow. “Mm.”

Yu Lili laughed. “Tsk tsk, big CEO, always chauffeured around, huh?”

“Not just that,” Tan Suran smiled faintly, then said seriously, “If I walk, I usually hire two people—one on each side to carry me.”

“HAHAHAHA.” Yu Lili laughed so hard she doubled over.

After calming down, she walked to the curb and hailed a taxi.

Once seated in the back, Yu Lili gave her address, then turned to ask, “What do you want for dinner?”

“You…”

“Of course hotpot!” ♀

Tan Suran had just uttered one word when the driver eagerly cut in.

“If it’s hotpot, you gotta go to Lao Cheng Hotpot on Linxi Street. That flavor? Top-notch!”

And not just cutting in—the driver took full control of the conversation.

Being chatty is a fine trait of taxi drivers everywhere.

Yu Lili glanced at Tan Suran with a helpless shrug, and humored the driver with some small talk.

Tan Suran took out her phone and started replying to work messages.

But this driver didn’t just like to talk—he disliked silence even more. After a couple of exchanges with Yu Lili, he flipped on the radio.

A female broadcaster’s voice buzzed through with a faint static:
“Hello dear listeners, welcome to Xiao Cui Talks Things. Lately, there’s been buzz in Lihe about a marriage fraud case. The suspect used marriage as a pretense to defraud the victim of a large sum of money. What’s caused a stir isn’t just the crime—but the victim’s unusual reaction. The suspect is now in custody, but the victim has been making daily scenes outside the police station. What’s going on? Let’s listen to some interview footage.”

The broadcast paused for a moment, then a distressed voice screamed, “When will she be released?! I didn’t call the cops—why did you arrest her?”

“She committed a crime and violated your rights.”

“What did she do?! You tell me what she did!”

“She committed marriage fraud, deception, and financial crimes.”

“So what if she tricked me? I was willing to be tricked—what’s it to you?”

The driver clicked his tongue. “That girl’s totally lost her mind.”

Yu Lili went silent.

Marriage fraud—is it really a crime?

…

The radio host continued:
“Many are asking, what exactly is marriage fraud? Simply put, it means using lies or false identities to get someone to marry you. Usually…”

Yu Lili started feeling uneasy, secretly glancing at Tan Suran, who was still buried in her phone.

She let out a quiet sigh of relief and said, “Driver, could you turn off the radio? It’s a bit loud.”

The driver looked at her in the rearview mirror. “Sure, no problem. Sorry about that.”

But to Yu Lili’s surprise—once the radio stopped, the driver’s mouth started.

“Miss, did you catch what they were saying earlier?”

Yu Lili glanced at Tan Suran and replied vaguely, “Not really.”

“Then let me summarize for you—”

“No no, it’s fine, I got the gist.”

“Ah, so you did hear it! Good, good. Marriage these days—hey, what the hell?! That guy just cut me off! Didn’t even use a signal!”

The driver’s rant was interrupted by a reckless driver, prompting him to lay on the horn and engage in a heated “friendly exchange” via honking.

Even though Yu Lili hated inconsiderate driving, she silently thanked that guy for the much-needed distraction from the awkward topic.

She barely had time to relax when—

“What did you hear?” Tan Suran suddenly spoke, eyes lifting.

Yu Lili gently pushed her head back down. “Nothing. Keep working.”

Thinking Yu Lili was annoyed by her working too much, Tan Suran put her phone away and turned to her, attentive and patient. “Okay, I’m done. So… what were you talking about earlier?”

Yu Lili: …

She rubbed her eyelids and looked out the window. “Nothing, just the radio. I rarely listen, so I thought it was kind of interesting.”

“Oh, well next time in the car…”

Tan Suran’s sentence was cut off—

By the driver: “Oh, you do want to hear it? Just say so! I’ll turn it back on.”

“No—” Yu Lili reached out to stop him.

But the driver was faster.

Bzzt The radio came back on.

Yu Lili closed her eyes. Fine. Enough time has passed. The topic must have changed by now.

Surely they can’t drag on one topic for this long.

“…Seems like our listeners are really interested in marriage scams, so let’s keep going. According to expert analysis, there are several common methods of fraud, tailored to different personality types.”

Haha… Yu Lili forced a bitter smile.

You really can talk, huh…

“They include, but are not limited to: pretending to be a rich second-gen, renting luxury cars and watches, claiming they’re madly in love—‘you’re my soulmate, I can’t live without you’—using these sweet nothings to brainwash someone into handing over their bank PIN, ID number, everything. Or they’ll invent a tragic backstory to stir sympathy and a savior complex, so the victim marries them…”

At the last part, Yu Lili felt a very distinct, calm gaze land on her.

From the person sitting next to her.

From the one she had tricked into marriage with a sob story and emotional manipulation.

Yu Lili turned slowly and let out an awkward laugh. “People nowadays just love making up nonsense, hahaha…”

Tan Suran raised an eyebrow, eyes locked on her with an unreadable expression.

Under that gaze…

Yu Lili grew more and more guilty.

And guilty.

And guilty.

She blinked rapidly, trying to break the tension.

Suddenly, Tan Suran leaned in, her eyes glinting. “I’ve discovered something about you…”

Yu Lili flinched. “W-what is it?”

“Your sense of humor is… really low.”

“….”

“….”

Yu Lili was speechless, forcing a laugh. “Haha, yeah…”

The driver laughed too. “You’re a funny one. One moment you don’t want the radio, next minute you’re listening closely—I thought maybe you didn’t want to hear about scams!”

Yu Lili was nearly in tears. “Ha… ha, no, not really.”

This driver. Sure loves to talk.

The radio continued:
“Of course, these behaviors are unacceptable. Everyone should be more cautious—don’t rush into marriage impulsively.”

Yu Lili wanted to explode the radio.

SCREECH—

The car finally stopped at her community gate.

The driver

pulled out a receipt: “Forty-two yuan.”

Yu Lili didn’t even blink. “Keep the change.”

Grabbing Tan Suran’s hand, she bolted out of the car.