Zhou Yuwen took the ergency exit stairs. As he walked out of the hotel, he dialed Lu Lin's phone. It rang for a while, but no one answered.
Just as Zhou Yuwen was beginning to worry and wonder where Lu Lin could have gone...
He stepped outside and imdiately spotted her leaning against the side of the hotel entrance, smoking a cigarette.
The screen of the phone in her hand clearly displayed an incoming call from Zhou Yuwen.
Yet, Lu Lin showed no intention of answering it.
Seeing this, Zhou Yuwen froze for a mont before asking, "Why are you out here?"
Lu Lin had not smoked in a long ti, but hearing Zheng Yanyan spout all those words inside the hotel had left her feeling undeniably stifled and depressed.
It had just finished raining in Suzhou that morning.
Autumn was just like that; every rainstorm brought a new wave of cold.
Especially now, in early December. After this particular downpour, it felt as though winter had truly arrived.
Lu Lin was dressed rather thinly. Inside the hotel, with the heating on, she had not felt the chill.
But now that she was outside, the freezing temperature was piercingly obvious.
In a daze, Lu Lin felt that familiar sensation of being kicked out by others.
It was a feeling she knew all too well.
It seed that ever since she was a child...
She had always been the one getting chased away.
"If I'm not here, where else can I go?" Lu Lin replied.
Her voice carried a distinct trace of helplessness.
It was true. Where could an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old girl possibly go in an unfamiliar city?
It started raining outside again.
Zhou Yuwen walked up beside Lu Lin and helped her stub out her cigarette. "How many tis have I told you? Smoke less."
Lu Lin was leaning against the wall by the hotel doors. When Zhou Yuwen reached out, she handed the cigarette over to him, explaining that she had not smoked in ages and had only lit up because she felt a bit bored.
Zhou Yuwen thought for a mont. "Yanyan just has that kind of personality. You don't need to take it to heart."
"I know."
Zheng Yanyan had indeed been vicious with her cursing just now, but Lu Lin was not the type of little girl who enjoyed engaging in petty, back-and-forth squabbles. Given her personality, if a problem could be solved with action, she would not waste breath arguing.
Zhou Yuwen asked her why she ran away then.
Lu Lin countered, asking what she was supposed to do if she just stood there.
"Actually, she's not wrong. I should have expected this day to co." Lu Lin's face remained expressionless. The things Zheng Yanyan shouted earlier were truly nasty. If Lu Lin had been completely innocent, she might have actually shouted back.
Unfortunately, every single insult Zheng Yanyan threw at her was the absolute truth.
Zheng Yanyan had been genuinely good to Lu Lin.
Lu Lin could feel that.
Out of the four girls in their dormitory, Lu Lin and Zheng Yanyan had the closest relationship.
Moreover, Lu Lin actually quite liked Zheng Yanyan's personality. She was generous, open, and acted naturally. Although she could be loud and impulsive at tis, she genuinely had no bad intentions.
Sotis, spending ti with Zheng Yanyan felt like being with a naive little sister who did not understand anything about the world.
And Lu Lin had always pampered her like an older sister.
This ti, even though the secret relationship between her and Zhou Yuwen had not actually been exposed, Lu Lin truly felt incredibly guilty toward Zheng Yanyan.
"She was right to curse at ," Lu Lin muttered to Zhou Yuwen, feeling deeply disheartened.
Zhou Yuwen saw the profound disappointnt in Lu Lin's eyes.
Under the continuous drizzle of the rain, she appeared even more lonely and desolate.
Zhou Yuwen reached out and pulled Lu Lin into an embrace, gently stroking her hair. "Alright, this whole situation is my fault."
Lu Lin shook her head and smiled faintly. "Hugging
like this? If Yanyan sees us, there'll probably be another bloodbath."
Zhou Yuwen remarked that it was already a bloodbath anyway.
There was a glass canopy extending over the hotel entrance.
Zhou Yuwen and Lu Lin just stood there beneath it, letting the pattering rain fall freely all around them.
Zhou Yuwen did not know how else to comfort her, so he simply noted that it was cold outside.
"Shall we head upstairs?"
Lu Lin shook her head, saying she did not want to go up.
She admitted that she did not know how to face Yanyan right now.
Zhou Yuwen stated, "This has nothing to do with you."
Lu Lin only smiled upon hearing that.
They stood in that stalemate for a little while longer.
Zhou Yuwen considered their options. "Want to go out and get sothing to eat?"
Only then did Lu Lin look up at him.
Given the incredibly awkward situation between Lu Lin and Zheng Yanyan, it was true that they could not see each other right now. More importantly, they wouldn't even know what to say if they did. As long as he did not force her to go back upstairs, he could take her anywhere.
When Zhou Yuwen suggested getting food, Lu Lin agreed.
So the two of them headed down to the underground parking garage and drove off in Zhou Yuwen's BMW X7.
It was nine o'clock at night, still raining outside, and there truly were not many places left open to eat nearby.
At a ti like this, only the food street stalls with their large tarps set up were still brightly lit.
He drove for nearly twenty minutes, but they still had not decided what to eat.
anwhile, Zhou Yuwen's phone kept ringing non-stop.
First, it was a call from Su Qing.
Su Qing's tone was cheerful as she asked him where he was.
Zhou Yuwen told her that he was with Lu Lin.
Su Qing smugly recounted everything that had happened after he left.
"Zhou Yuwen, your taste is terrible. The girlfriend you found actually tried to hit ," Su Qing teased.
Zhou Yuwen sighed, "Stop making sarcastic remarks."
"If you hadn't insisted on booking a room, none of this would have happened."
"We didn't even do anything. Is it illegal to book a room just to chat?" With Shen Yu right beside her, Su Qing spoke with absolute righteous confidence.
Zhou Yuwen said, "Enough."
"I'm taking Linlin out to grab a bite. I'm hanging up."
"Zhou Yuwen."
Just as Zhou Yuwen was about to end the call, Su Qing stopped him.
He asked her what else she wanted.
Su Qing paused to think before saying, "It's nothing major. I just wanted to let you know that when we went upstairs earlier, Zheng Yanyan pulled Chang Hao aside and they talked for a long ti. I suspect they're rekindling their old fla."
"If you spout any more of that nonsense, I'm going to get angry." Zhou Yuwen felt that it was fine for the girls to bicker amongst themselves, but crossing the line with baseless accusations like that was unacceptable.
Su Qing's pretty face flushed slightly, feeling sowhat guilty. "Alright, fine. Anyway, I heard that she demanded Chang Hao point the finger at , claiming he and I conspired to fra Lu Lin. Don't you actually believe that. Also, tell Lu Lin about this too. I'm really not that evil."
Lu Lin could clearly hear everything Su Qing was saying.
Zhou Yuwen found Su Qing's words sowhat laughable.
"How old are you? Do you honestly think she would do sothing like that?"
"You never know. I was just worried you might actually believe it."
"Alright, I'm hanging up now."
With that, Zhou Yuwen ended the call.
Almost the mont he hung up, Zheng Yanyan's call ca in.
"How about we eat Malatang?" The car had been cruising for over twenty minutes, and they genuinely did not know what else to have.
Lu Lin suddenly had a craving for the spicy hotpot dish.
On this slightly chilly, rainy night, a steaming bowl of Malatang filled with sausages and fish balls sounded absolutely wonderful.
"Alright."
Spotting a Malatang shop by the side of the road, Zhou Yuwen steered the car over.
Zheng Yanyan had been continuously trying to reach Zhou Yuwen.
But he had not been picking up.
By this ti, the girls had already returned to their suite.
It was only now that Zheng Yanyan realized how overly impulsive she had been. Thinking about it carefully, it was impossible. Lu Lin was right under her nose every single day. There was no way anything could have happened between the two of them.
She had actually believed Chang Hao's nonsense. Looking back on it now, Zheng Yanyan desperately wanted to kick him to the ground and give him a brutal beating.
Especially since, whenever she tried to call Lu Lin now, the girl would instantly hang up on her.
And when she called Zhou Yuwen...
It rang for three minutes straight without him picking up.
At that mont, Zheng Yanyan felt an overwhelming sense of despair, wanting to cry but having no tears left to shed.
She felt like she had been played.
She genuinely felt that Chang Hao and Su Qing had colluded against her.
In her mind, Zheng Yanyan had even branded them as a treacherous couple of scumbags!
Those two bastards simply could not stand seeing her and Zhou Yuwen happy together. Chang Hao had never given up his obsessive crush on her.
And Su Qing clearly still had designs on Zhou Yuwen.
Who was to say this wasn't a deliberate sche concocted by the two of them to sow discord?
Zheng Yanyan was furious.
How on earth did she get tangled up with a man like Chang Hao?
The more she thought about it, the angrier she beca.
Zheng Yanyan sat on the bed in her room, utterly distraught, constantly dialing Zhou Yuwen's number.
It was only after Zhou Yuwen and Lu Lin stepped into the small Malatang shop that he finally had a mont.
At this hour, the shop was empty. While Lu Lin was at the counter picking out ingredients...
Zhou Yuwen stepped outside to answer Zheng Yanyan's call.
"Hello! Hubby!" Zheng Yanyan was back to calling him 'Hubby' again.
Zhou Yuwen gave a brief hum of acknowledgnt.
Anxiously, Zheng Yanyan asked if he had found Lu Lin.
"Linlin won't answer my calls," Zheng Yanyan said pitifully.
Zhou Yuwen assured her that Lu Lin was with him.
"We're grabbing sothing to eat," he added.
"Oh, good, I'm so glad you found her. It's so late and it's still raining. Hubby, you have to protect Linlin well," Zheng Yanyan urged, her voice full of concern.
Zhou Yuwen murmured, "Yeah, I know."
Zheng Yanyan spoke up again. "Hu... Hubby."
"Hmm?"
"Could you tell her that I didn't an it? I... I was tricked by Chang Hao earlier," Zheng Yanyan requested cautiously.
Zhou Yuwen inford her that he had already put in a good word for her.
Zheng Yanyan finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Hubby, you know my brain doesn't work that well, and I have a blunt temper. Please, you and Linlin can't be mad at ."
Zhou Yuwen replied, "What's there to be mad about?"
"Hubby, also... about this whole situation, I don't think it's that simple," Zheng Yanyan pressed on urgently.
She then went on to declare her theory that the entire incident was a deliberate plot by Chang Hao and Su Qing to drive a wedge between them.
"They tead up to bully
because I'm dumb. Hubby, you absolutely cannot fall for it. They just want to break us up," Zheng Yanyan insisted in a conspiratorial tone.
Zhou Yuwen could not help but chuckle. "I can't believe you actually managed to co up with that."
Hearing his laughter, Zheng Yanyan relaxed considerably. She reasoned that if Zhou Yuwen was still laughing, it ant he was not angry with her.
Zheng Yanyan giggled in response. "Thank goodness you're my hubby. Hubby, I'm so lucky to have a boyfriend like you. Otherwise, with how dumb I am, I'd probably help soone count the money after they sold
out without even realizing it."
Zhou Yuwen gave an affirmative hum. "I need to go eat with Linlin now. Let's talk later."
"Okay," Zheng Yanyan eagerly agreed. "Take your ti eating, there's no rush. Oh, by the way, bring a portion back for
when you return."
Zhou Yuwen agreed.
Only then did he hang up the phone.
By the ti he finished, Lu Lin had already completed her order.
While ordering, she had asked Zhou Yuwen what he wanted.
Zhou Yuwen had simply replied, "Just pick a few random things for ."
Naturally, the two of them were going to share a single large bowl.
Once Zhou Yuwen ended the call and walked back inside...
Lu Lin asked if it was Yanyan calling.
"Yeah."
"What did she say?"
"She said she was used, and told
to tell you not to be angry."
Lu Lin shrugged indifferently. "Why would I be angry?"
Zhou Yuwen chuckled softly. "It seems the ancients weren't always right."
"What do you an?" Lu Lin was confused, wondering what this had to do with ancient sayings.
Zhou Yuwen explained, "The ancients said that those who are forgiving are heavily endowed."
"And my Linlin is very capable of forgiveness."
Lu Lin caught his drift. Rolling her eyes at him, she retorted, "So you're saying mine are small?"
Zhou Yuwen smiled. He rely wanted to crack a joke to lighten her mood.
But clearly, he had underestimated Lu Lin's ability to process things on her own.
The Malatang was ready very quickly.
It was a massive bowl that must have cost at least thirty yuan, packed with a little bit of everything.
Zhou Yuwen scoffed playfully, asking if she could actually finish it all.
"Why wouldn't I be able to finish it?"
Lu Lin gathered her long hair and tied it up with a hairband.
It was rare to see Lu Lin wear her hair in a ponytail. Once she did, Zhou Yuwen noticed that she was actually quite elegant. She was tall and slender, dressed in a simple black t-shirt and black jeans. As for feminine charm, there honestly wasn't much to speak of.
Yet, she truly possessed a distinctly unique kind of allure.
Lu Lin ate her food quietly. Looking up, she caught Zhou Yuwen staring at her and wondered why he was looking at her like that.
Zhou Yuwen told her, "I just realized you look really pretty with a ponytail."
"Oh."
Lu Lin simply replied, "If you're not going to eat, I'm going to finish it all."
"Go ahead and eat,"
Zhou Yuwen said.
He had already eaten earlier anyway, so he just had a few casual bites with her.
Outside, the rain continued its endless pattering. Not only did it show no signs of stopping, but it was actually coming down harder and harder.
Their al took about forty minutes. By the ti they finished, the rain outside had turned into a torrential downpour.
The Malatang shop was run by a plump woman in her forties. Wearing a red apron, she was bustling about busily inside.
She seed very kind-hearted. Since Zhou Yuwen and Lu Lin were the only two custors in the shop...
Assuming they were a young couple, the owner even gave them two complintary glass bottles of cola.
She ntioned that they were the last two bottles left.
"On the house," she had said.
Zhou Yuwen thanked her.
After finishing their al, they sat in the shop a little longer. Seated near the door, they listened to the heavy cascade of rain outside.
Lu Lin rested her head on Zhou Yuwen's shoulder.
She whispered that it would be wonderful if this rain never stopped.
Zhou Yuwen gave her a strange look and asked why.
She said that once it stopped, they would have to go back.
Zhou Yuwen did not know how to respond to that.
During this ti, Zheng Yanyan continued to send him ssages.
For instance, she asked how Linlin was doing.
"Is she still mad at ?"
"Hubby, you have to explain it clearly to Linlin. I didn't an the things I said. I was just too angry earlier."
"I've always treated her as my best sister."
"Hubby, where are you guys? How about I co find you?"
Lu Lin truly did not want to go back. Although Zheng Yanyan's manic outburst earlier had not been entirely directed at her, an explosive confrontation was inevitable sooner or later. If she went back now, Zheng Yanyan might apologize, but what could Lu Lin even say in return?
Zheng Yanyan had not actually been wrong.
She was just a cheap slut.
Lu Lin voiced her thoughts as she leaned against Zhou Yuwen's shoulder.
Zhou Yuwen reached up, gently caressing her cheek. "You're not."
Lu Lin giggled. "Don't try to humor ."
"I got cursed out like that, and yet here I am, leaning into your arms. Does that not make
a cheap slut?"
"No."
Zhou Yuwen lightly pinched her cheek, then lowered his head and gently kissed her soft lips.
Lu Lin closed her eyes, lting into the kiss for a mont.
Seeing that Lu Lin genuinely did not want to return to the others, Zhou Yuwen suggested, "We'll just book another room at the hotel later."
"I'll stay out here with you tonight, and we'll head back to Jinling tomorrow."
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