Lin Yuan's Choice

Lin Yuan's Choice

Gu Lianyin had only recently turned eighteen.

She was at the best age of youth, brimming with youthful vitality.

The moment she entered the restaurant, many people noticed her.

How could there be such a beautiful girl? Any man would be unable to resist taking a few extra looks.

Some were even having candlelit dinners with their girlfriends and could not help glancing at her a few times. Their girlfriends immediately pulled a face and stormed off angrily.

The restaurant lighting was soft and dim, like the twilight sky at dusk.

Three couples were sitting across from one another, talking intimately.

Gu Lianyin looked around the restaurant, searching for Lin Yuan.

Then, at a table farther away, she spotted that familiar figure but did not go over immediately.

"I'm so nervous. I'm about to see him." Gu Lianyin took a deep breath and encouraged herself.

She tried hard to calm down, her smile sweet as a flower, breathtakingly beautiful.

She would show him the very best side of herself.

Then, she walked toward him.

Just as Gu Lianyin left, Ling Wanqing entered the restaurant right after her.

She did not want to miss the wonderful moment when her best friend was confessed to.

"I'm with the girl up ahead," Ling Wanqing explained to the restaurant staff, then quietly followed her and sat down several tables away.

Ready to watch the show.

Gu Lianyin stopped beside a table in the corner of the restaurant and looked at him with a smile.

In fact, Lin Yuan had noticed Gu Lianyin the moment she entered the restaurant.

He had only glanced at her once before withdrawing his gaze.

She looked so beautiful today.

But right now, he was supposed to not know that she had been disguising herself as ugly, or he would give himself away.

So pretending not to recognize her was the most reasonable reaction.

"Aren't you going to invite me to sit down?"

Gu Lianyin asked with a smile.

Lin Yuan made himself look expressionless as he raised his head, pretending to be confused. "Sorry, you may have mistaken me for someone else."

To be honest, the difference between Gu Lianyin's disguised appearance and her real one was enormous. She practically looked like a different person.

So Lin Yuan could not dare recognize her at a glance. If he was going to act, he had to make it flawless.

"Hahaha, Lin Yuan, surprised? Wasn't that unexpected?"

Gu Lianyin laughed happily. Lin Yuan's reaction amused her.

He had actually failed to recognize her.

Lin Yuan now put on a surprised expression. "You know me?"

Gu Lianyin tried hard not to laugh. She could not ruin the makeup she had carefully put on for tonight; she had to remain poised and elegant.

"Don't you find my voice familiar?"

Lin Yuan furrowed his brows as though thinking. Then the doubt in his eyes gradually turned into shock, his expression one of utter disbelief.

"Y-you are...!"

Acting was exhausting for him. He worked hard to give the reaction he was supposed to have.

She thought he did not know.

But he had known all along.

"This is the huge surprise I told you I'd give you. So, how is it? Isn't it a huge surprise? Hehe!"

Gu Lianyin sat down across from Lin Yuan, the smile on her face never fading.

She was very satisfied with Lin Yuan's reaction.

I came to see you at my most beautiful. Are you happy? Excited?

The girl you like isn't ugly at all. She's actually beautiful!

Do you feel like you've found a treasure?

Not far away, Ling Wanqing recorded the entire scene.

"Lianyin's deskmate's reaction when he saw what she really looked like is too funny. I'm going to record it. If the two of them ever make it to the altar, I'll show him this clip."

She was eagerly anticipating what would happen next.

Ling Wanqing suddenly thought of something. When the time came, if she also stopped pretending to be ugly and appeared before her classmates in her most beautiful form, what kind of reactions would they have?

That would definitely be fun, right?

Lin Yuan's current state was supposed to be that he had just learned Lianyin had been disguising herself as ugly all along, and that this was what she truly looked like.

So his reaction was shock, disbelief, and utter astonishment.

"Did I scare you? Hahaha, you look so funny right now!"

Gu Lianyin waved her hand before Lin Yuan's eyes, making him look at her.

Lin Yuan could barely speak smoothly. "Lianyin, what's going on? How did you..."

"You're dumbfounded, aren't you?" Gu Lianyin rested her chin on both hands and chuckled at him. "Actually, I've been pretending to be ugly since the first day of school. This is what I really look like. Pretty, right?"

On the other hand, Lin Yuan did not show any thrilled or excited expression at learning that Lianyin was actually beautiful.

In fact, Lin Yuan had long since thought about how he would face Gu Lianyin now.

An ordinary person might have already been delighted and excited beyond measure.

It turned out his girlfriend was not ugly at all, but exceptionally beautiful. It was like finding a treasure.

But the downside was obvious.

It might spoil her too easily, making her think that since she had such a beautiful girlfriend, he ought to pamper her, coax her when she was angry, and hand-feed her when she was hungry.

Lin Yuan did not want Gu Lianyin to become like that.

Only by making her realize where she had gone wrong and learn to admit her mistakes would he truly be doing what was best for her.

"So from beginning to end, you were lying to me. Why did you do this? Did you think it was fun?"

Lin Yuan said expressionlessly.

Gu Lianyin did not realize the seriousness of the matter at all. "I'm sorry. I didn't do it on purpose."

"It was because my best friend and I made a bet to disguise ourselves as ugly. But because of that, I learned that you really like me. Besides, it was kind of fun."

[Your current situation has been detected. Please make your choice!]

A voice appeared in Lin Yuan's mind.

After many days, the system had appeared again.

Choice 1: Accept Gu Lianyin's true appearance and confess to her. Reward: one pair of sapphire earrings and 10 million in dating funds.

Choice 2: Do not accept Gu Lianyin's current appearance. Do not forgive her apology for five days. Reward: Future News Events ×10, 10% of Soaring Holdings!

This time, there were only two choices.

Either accept Gu Lianyin as she was now, or refuse to accept her.

The reward for the first choice was a pair of sapphire earrings worth perhaps several hundred thousand, along with ten million in dating funds.

The reward for the second choice was even more tempting.

Ten Future News Events and 10% of Soaring Holdings.

Future News Events had once brought Lin Yuan three hundred thousand yuan and introduced him to the superstar Lin Qingyue.

And 10% of Soaring Holdings was even more extraordinary.

This was a well-known domestic conglomerate that monopolized most of the commercial market.

It was an industry leader.

Even just 1% of its shares would have to be measured in hundreds of millions.

The rewards were good, but there was also a drawback: a great risk that his relationship with Gu Lianyin would fall apart.

But long before the system presented him with this choice, Lin Yuan had already decided to do this and had prepared himself for the worst.

(End of chapter)