Love Affairs in Melbourne-Chapter 210 - 207: Just the Right Amount of Concern

When Yan Yan was in elementary school, people often used to ask her if her parents were planning to have a little brother for her.

By the time Yan Yan was in middle school, nobody asked that question anymore.

Yan Yan had never held any position at Yanlu Machinery, but as the only child of the Yan Dabang couple, she had been designated the successor of the company since the beginning of her middle school.

Right after Yan Yan started college, a "connected individual" came to the company and, through Yan Yan’s recommendation, went to Italy. In just a year and a half, he became the head of the subsidiary. Many connected these events to draw their own desired conclusions.

People at Yanlu Machinery all thought Ye Mo had a deep relationship with Yan Yan, but only Yan Yan and Ye Mo themselves knew that they barely even nodded to each other.

The staff below might not be aware of the upper management changes, but as the head of the Italian subsidiary, it was impossible for Ye Mo to be unaware that Yan Yan’s family had sold the company.

During the company handover, Yan Dabang even gave Ye Mo a raise in his base salary.

Even though, for Ye Mo, the base salary was a small part of his sales commission, this act represented Yan Dabang’s attitude.

In reality, Ye Mo didn’t usually speak in the way he just had.

When Ye Mo got a call from Yan Yan, he was indeed a bit excited, but more importantly, he had a very special feeling for Yan Yan.

To speak seriously, it was because Ye Mo felt that Yan Yan had shown him "life-changing kindness."

Ye Mo’s rapid growth at the company was naturally inseparable from his own talent and abilities.

But whether Yan Yan played a role in that, even Ye Mo himself had trouble clarifying.

One thing Ye Mo was sure about was that Yan Yan, in his presence and speaking with Lu Bingran, said he was particularly suited for sales, which was something Ye Mo had witnessed and heard with his own eyes and ears.

When a person’s confidence is completely crushed, it’s not unimaginable for a casual word from someone else to unlock their potential.

Yan Yan was best at using her unique way to ignite someone’s potential. Pili, who had been "struck" by Yan Yan into the foreign affairs department, was the most qualified to speak on this.

.........

After hanging up the phone, having eaten, strolled the streets, bought shoes, and applied for a card, Yan Yan suddenly felt like she had nothing to do.

This feeling, when placed upon a person who had just arrived in a foreign land, could easily evoke loneliness.

In an unfamiliar country, and with classes and internships starting in a few days...

Yan Yan didn’t know what she should do in the next few days.

In the past, when others targeted Yan Yan to the point of her not having friends, such loneliness could be measured in years.

Now, Yan Yan was somewhat surprised to find herself feeling unfamiliar with this loneliness.

Perhaps it had been too long since she’d lived on her own.

Loneliness, if you are accustomed to it, is manageable; if it hits suddenly, it can make one feel disoriented and unexpectedly sad.

Yan Yan was now in this unaccustomed state. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

.........

The ring of the telephone interrupted Yan Yan’s melancholy reflection.

"Xiao Yan, how can you be in Florence for so long and not think to call me?" Bao Bao’s voice came from the other end of the line.

"Ah~ Ah~ Ah~ Bao Bao, I miss you, without you here, I don’t even know which café can take me in—

Even if there is one, it wouldn’t likely solve my food and warmth problems~

I’m here all miserable and lonely, come give me a hug." Yan Yan, excited to receive Bao Bao’s call, responded.

"Okay, I’ll come over next Monday to give you a big hug," Bao Bao said, just like when Yan Yan used to invite her over for dinner in Melbourne.

"Ah? You know I’ve moved to Italy, right? I’m not in my house in Melbourne anymore," Yan Yan asked somewhat incoherently, knowing full well what the answer was.

"Nonsense, I was the one who took you to the airport. How could I not know?" Bao Bao expressed speechlessly at Yan Yan’s naive question.

"Hahaha, right, right, you took me to the airport, and you almost cried," Yan Yan tried hard to retrieve what was actually a still vivid memory.

"Are you sure it wasn’t you who was crying?" Bao Bao asked skeptically.

"How could that be? I don’t even know how to spell ’tears’," Yan Yan firmly denied.

"You can’t write many words, but even someone illiterate like you can cry," Bao Bao concluded.

"Hahaha, okay, I’m illiterate and I’m not afraid of anyone. Are you really coming next Monday? If it’s next Monday, it’s the 6th, right? The Lantern Festival, isn’t it? Are you leaving on the 6th or arriving on the 6th?" Yan Yan started to care about the details.

"I’m departing the day after tomorrow on the same flight as you chose, and by the morning of the 6th, I’ll be in Florence," Bao Bao answered Yan Yan.

"Is that so? Have you bought the plane ticket? Are you sure you want to come? Do you have your visa?" Yan Yan’s questions became rapid-fire.

"Yan Xiaoyan, what on earth is wrong with your neurons? It’s only been a few days, do you have to be so dramatic? It’s like you haven’t seen me in a lifetime," Bao Bao felt Yan Yan’s surprise was a bit much.

This time, Bao Bao directly informed Yan Yan ahead, without planning surprises like a sudden visit.

"Ah, you don’t understand, that feeling of being all alone in a foreign land," Yan Yan sighed.

"You talk as if I’ve never been abroad," Bao Bao countered.

"How can it be the same? In Melbourne, you had me, and even now that I’ve come to Italy, you still have my parents, the store, employees, and classmates. You never had the chance to live as pitifully as I do," Yan Yan also refused to accept it.

"Is that so? Then where were you when I first arrived in Melbourne?" Bao Bao asked Yan Yan.

When Bao Bao first came to Melbourne in her freshman year, she sorted everything out by herself and didn’t stay in a home-stay.

Talking about being lonely, Bao Bao’s experiences were definitely far more plentiful than Yan Yan’s.

"Haha, okay, you win, you have a more tragic life story, desperately pitiful," Yan Yan conceded in her unique way.

"I thank you for that," Bao Bao emphasized the initial thanks.

"If you could come two days earlier, I have to go to the school on Monday to register for some stuff, but if you arrive early, I might consider picking you up first," Yan Yan

"Two days earlier? That means I’d have to hop on the plane right now? I’m already coming early enough~

You can’t bear to be without me, yet when I offered to accompany you to Italy, why did you confidently claim you had plenty of people to pick you up?" Bao Bao chided Yan Yan.

"I did have people lined up to pick me up, and there were big, big, big beauties too," Yan Yan confidently stated.

"That’s so sad, only big beauties and no handsome men, that doesn’t match your taste.

What do you mean by considering picking me up first? If you can’t make it, no need for big, big, big beauties, just find someone as good-looking as you to pick me up would be fine," Bao Bao said accommodatingly.

"Where in the world is there someone as good-looking as me?" Yan Yan felt Bao Bao was thinking too much.

"So you want me to switch teams?" Bao Bao was used to Yan Xiaoyan’s self-praise.

"You might try, but at your level, it might fall a little short." Yan Yan, now sure that Bao Bao was coming to see her, reverted to her "normal" style of speaking.

Having a friend like Bao Bao to tease was indeed a great fortune in Yan Yan’s life.

At just the right time, in just the right way, she expressed just the right amount of care.