Lu Lin was indeed in need of money, and after Li Qiang found out, he insisted on lending her so. Anyone would hesitate in such a situation, but after thinking it over, Lu Lin realized that Li Qiang genuinely seed kind-hearted. Knowing she was short on money, he offered to lend her so without expecting anything.
Lu Lin thought about it for a long ti before finally replying to Li Qiang: "Brother Qiang, I'm indeed a bit short on money recently, but don't worry, I'll definitely pay you back once I'm done using it."
"No worries at all, just use it. I'm not in any rush to get it back!"
Over the past twenty days of military training, apart from the training itself, the dorm conversations were mostly about random topics. Zhou Yuwen didn't participate in these chats; he was too busy writing his novel and making money to join in.
The situation between Li Qiang and Lu Lin started with his first confession. At that ti, Li Qiang was too eager, and Lu Lin remained silent.
Li Qiang couldn't sleep that night, wearing a deeply troubled expression.
When Chang Hao saw him, he was startled: "Hey, Qiang, what's wrong with you?"
Li Qiang was genuinely upset. It was bearable for one day, but no one would feel down after three days of silence from Lu Lin. So, he started complaining to Chang Hao.
After looking at Li Qiang's chat history, Chang Hao shook his head, saying, "Your intentions were too obvious. I wouldn't respond to you either."
"Then what should I do?"
"Do you really like Lu Lin?"
"Of course!"
Chang Hao said, "If you like Lu Lin, you shouldn't rush your confession. She doesn't like you right now. You should take it step by step. Since you know she's short on money, lend her the money without saying anything else."
They didn't avoid talking about this in front of Zhou Yuwen, which made Zhou feel awkward since he initially intended to keep this to just Li Qiang. Now, it was becoming common knowledge.
Sigh; from their conversation, it seed like Lu Lin needed money. Should he help her out instead?
Zhou Yuwen considered it, but since Chang Hao and Li Qiang seed to be handling it, he decided to stay out.
Li Qiang followed Chang Hao's advice and contacted Lu Lin accordingly.
The result was imdiate.
Lu Lin replied!
Li Qiang excitedly told Chang Hao about it, and Chang Hao, expecting this outco, simply puffed on his cigarette and said, "That's normal. Just keep chatting with her, but avoid confessing for now."
Chang Hao even helped Li Qiang compose a ssage.
It went like this: "Lu Lin, I was too impulsive. I've thought about it a lot recently. You're a great girl, and I know I'm not good enough for you, but I really like you. I hope you'll give
a chance. Even if I can't be your boyfriend, I'd still like to spend ti with you as a friend."
A guy willing to lend money without expecting anything in return was soone any girl would agree to spend ti with. And after reading this sincere ssage, Lu Lin couldn't help but feel guilty.
So, after thinking it over, she replied: "I understand what you're saying, but I really don't have any plans to date anyone right now. Li Qiang, you're a good person, and you'll find a great girl soday."
"Damn it! Brother Hao, does this an I'm out of luck? Why should I even lend her money now!?" Li Qiang panicked after reading this.
"Calm down, calm down. Relationships between n and won are all about balance," Chang Hao said, frowning.
"You an we can't even be friends?"
"Of course, we can."
"See? You can still be friends," Chang Hao sighed in relief.
"What good are friends?" Li Qiang muttered.
Chang Hao responded, "You idiot! How can you have a chance if you're not even friends? Would you rather she ignores you completely, or chat with her occasionally?"
Li Qiang had to agree with that.
During their conversation, Lu Lin sent another ssage: "How about I consider you my brother?"
When Chang Hao saw this, he imdiately laughed: "See? My plan is working! You're even her 'brother' now! I haven't even gotten that far with Yanyan!"
Li Qiang was montarily stunned before breaking into a grin.
"Alright, Qiang, you owe
a al for this! Look how much I've helped you out!" Chang Hao was genuinely jealous of Li Qiang—he had lucked out.
At that mont, Chang Hao looked like a love guru, puffing on his cigarette: "Just keep talking to her. Start as a big brother, then beco a close brother. Avoid talking about money, and stay in the ambiguous stage. I'm telling you, girls hate talking about money. You've got to be generous."
Li Qiang nodded vigorously, fully agreeing with Chang Hao. Being her "big brother" was a good start—there was hope!
Just as Chang Hao said, after becoming her "big brother," Lu Lin stopped ignoring Li Qiang. She even started calling him "Brother Qiang" from ti to ti.
When Li Qiang spoke to her, Lu Lin would respond, albeit with short replies like "Hmm" or "Is that so?"
But even that made Li Qiang very happy.
However, this phase didn't last long.
During the military training, Zhou Yuwen and Su Qing often went for walks after dinner, sotis joined by Chang Hao and Zheng Yanyan.
Seeing this, Li Qiang grew envious and ssaged Lu Lin.
"Sis, what are you up to?"
"In the dorm."
"Hmm, I just finished dinner. Want to go for a walk?"
After sending the ssage, Li Qiang's heart raced with excitent as he tossed his phone aside, waiting for a reply.
So he waited.
Ten minutes.
Twenty minutes.
Li Qiang eagerly picked up his phone...
No reply!?
He was stunned.
He had sent the ssage at six o'clock.
The reply ca at nine.
"Ah, sorry, Brother Qiang, I didn't see my phone earlier. Maybe next ti?"
"Okay, no rush. How about tomorrow?"
"Let's see about tomorrow."
At six o'clock sharp the next day, Li Qiang sent another ssage.
This ti, he didn't even suggest going out.
But Lu Lin didn't reply until later that night, saying she had been in the shower and hadn't seen the ssage.
As this continued, Li Qiang's expression grew heavier.
"Sis, you can't keep doing this. I'm not even trying to pursue you anymore; I just want to be friends. I've already lent you two thousand yuan—can't you at least co out and sit with
for a while?!"
Chang Hao had once clearly warned Li Qiang not to ntion money, saying girls were sensitive about that.
But Li Qiang couldn't help it.
That was two thousand yuan—his financial aid!
He had acted poor and pitiful to secure that aid, only to give it to her.
Couldn't she show a little appreciation?
Just as Li Qiang was stewing in frustration, ready to confront Lu Lin, he waited several minutes before Lu Lin suddenly sent a ssage:
"If you lent
money with an ulterior motive, you didn't have to."
?
Lu Lin's firm response left Li Qiang a bit panicked. He wanted to clarify that he didn't an it that way.
But it was too late. After that, Lu Lin distanced herself from Li Qiang, eventually making it clear: "Brother Qiang, I've thought about it, and I think it's better if we don't go through with this. You've worked hard for that money. I'm facing difficulties, but I'll find another way to solve them."
"No, Linlin, that's not what I ant!"
Li Qiang panicked, but it was useless.
Seeing Lu Lin's resolute attitude, Li Qiang turned to Chang Hao for help.
Chang Hao looked at the ssages and said, "Didn't I tell you not to bring up money? Don't bring up money!"
"But she clearly has no interest in . I've asked her out several tis, and she never cos."
"Well, congratulations. Is this what you wanted?"
Li Qiang fell silent.
At that ti, Li Qiang and Chang Hao were going through a rough patch in their friendship, so seeing Li Qiang's distressed expression, Chang Hao couldn't help but feel a bit smug and didn't offer much help.
Those were the hardest days for Li Qiang.
Every day, he clung to his phone, waiting for a reply from Lu Lin.
He would wait all day, even waking up in the middle of the night, to check his phone, hoping for a notification. Unfortunately, there was none.
This went on until today, after the incident with the burgers.
Li Qiang asked, "Did Zheng Yanyan return to the dorm?"
Lu Lin replied with a simple "Hmm."
Finally unable to contain his feelings, Li Qiang confessed: "Linlin, please, stop torturing . I really like you. I never intended to use that two thousand yuan to pressure you—I don't care about the money. I could even give you all three thousand yuan from my financial aid! It's a gift—I don't want it back. I just don't want you to ignore
anymore. Even if you just pity , please respond to my ssages sotis. I won't ask you to go for walks with
anymore. Just chat with ."
"I really."
"I really like you."
"Do you know, I haven't been able to sleep well these past few days because you haven't replied to ? This is the first ti I've liked a girl so much."
Li Qiang's heartfelt confession spilled out, one ssage after another, as his pent-up emotions finally overflowed.
However, these ssages only made Lu Lin feel uncomfortable.
She couldn't understand why Li Qiang had developed such strong feelings for her or what she had done to cause this.
But this kind of confession only made Lu Lin uneasy.
She even found it a little scary.
Lu Lin extinguished the half-burned cigarette in her hand.
"Linlin, I know you're reading this, right?"
Li Qiang kept sending ssages.
As she read his stream of ssages, Lu Lin felt lancholy. After a mont of thought, she finally replied.
"I have soone I like."
Those seven simple words made Li Qiang freeze, and he quickly returned a ssage: "That's impossible. You're lying to , right? You said before that there were hardly any guys around you. How could you have soone you like? You're lying, right?"
"Who is it? I don't believe you."
"Zhou Yuwen."
"?"
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