The Tender Flower {Meteor Garden 2018}

Chapter 27

Meiza rushed to the entrance of the university, searching for a particular person with long black hair.

"NJ!" Meiza called out to the young girl sitting by the steps. She turned around and smiled brightly at her.

"Hey cuz!" NJ said, standing up and brushing the hair out of her face. "So where are we going?"

"My house... unless you're hungry?" Meiza asked and NJ bit her lip, thinking.

"I am a little peckish..." NJ confessed making Meiza smile. She looped her arm through NJ's, dragging her away to her car.

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The cousins stepped into a small restaurant close by to Meiza's house. The owner knew Meiza very well and was surprised to see her after such a long time.

"FENG MEIZA! MY DEAR GIRL!" A lady yelled from inside the kitchen. A short, chubby woman stumbled out of the door, a pink apron around her waist.

"Mrs Xiu! How have you been?" Meiza grinned, hugging the old woman tightly. Mrs Xiu pinched her cheeks and shrieked.

"MEIZA! YOU'VE GOTTEN SO THIN! COME COME COME!" Mrs Xiu pushed her towards the table where she always sat. "YOU TOO!"

NJ cautiously moved towards the table, her eyes wide but a smile on her face. Meiza and NJ sat down while Mrs Xiu started arranging the table.

"Don't worry, she's a little eccentric," Meiza whispered which made NJ relax a little. Mrs Xiu patted Meiza's head.

"Good thing I already have something cooking!" Mrs Xiu exclaimed. "How does hot pot sound for you girls?"

Meiza's eyes widened and shimmered with delight. NJ just shrugged and smiled.

"I'll be back," Mrs Xiu said and scurried away. Meiza giggled slightly before calming down and focusing on NJ.

"So NJ, when did you come to Shanghai?" She questioned a bit more confidently this time.

"Well I arrived a few months ago... I was planning on meeting you at MingDe but I didn't see you around," NJ explained and Meiza nodded.

"Yeah... I've been dealing with a lot of issues lately..." Meiza admitted, tearing her eyes away from NJ. She felt a hand on hers and her eyes went back to NJ.

"Boy trouble?" NJ guessed with a smile and Meiza nodded. She felt relieved that NJ could understand so easily. "You were dating a dude but he dumped you?"

"Uh... I sorta fell in love with my best friend..." she said sheepishly.

"Understandable. Okay... best friend rejected you?" NJ tried again but Meiza shook her head. "Best friend confessed to you so you're stuck between him and your boyfriend?"

"Do you want me to just tell you?" Meiza laughed lightly at NJ's guesses. NJ nodded and leaned forward eagerly.

"I kissed my best friend while I was still in a relationship. It didn't go down well because my ex boyfriend's best friend did some... bad things to me... and so I leaned on my best friend. But then he chose his former love over me. Then my ex boyfriend proposed to me and then my best friend chose me. We ran away to England but I was kidnapped by my father. Back in Shanghai, I found out who I was and so I told him I needed space...."

NJ's eyebrows were raised as she absorbed all the information. Her heart softened when she heard what the sixteen year old had already been through.