Repressed feelings

Lin Yuyou looked at Firefly with blazing eyes, as though saying that with her around, victory was guaranteed!

But Firefly did not accept her suggestion. Instead, she slowly pulled her hand free and shook her head. "Sorry, this isn't a question of whether you'll help."

"Then what is it? Sister Firefly, if you're having any trouble, you can tell me!"

Firefly did not explain the reason, which left Lin Yuyou so anxious she was practically climbing the walls. Having someone stop halfway through what they were saying was really unbearable!

Of course, it was not that Firefly did not want to tell her, but that she could not. She had certainly considered telling Lin Yu how she felt, but with [Entropy Loss Syndrome] still not truly resolved, she did not dare say it. She was afraid of holding Lin Yu back, and afraid that after receiving that love, she would be unable to face an unpredictable future.

Love could make someone strong, but it could also make them fragile. She was afraid of that happening. If she wanted to confess her feelings, she would have to tell him everything. Although Lin Yu had said she could be a little selfish, she felt she could not hide anything.

Loving someone while still keeping things from them was unfair to them!

Come to think of it, she had only fallen for Lin Yu recently-or rather, she had only noticed it recently.

Her reasons for falling for him were the heartfelt joy she felt upon seeing him, and the fluttering and racing of her heart when they accidentally touched. Yes, her reasons were that simple.

After the time she had taken care of Lin Yu when he was sick, she had begun examining just what her feelings for him were.

After looking through a great deal of information, she had understood one thing: love was an abstract concept without a fixed definition. What it was depended entirely on how you understood it.

That had left her completely baffled. Just as Firefly was puzzling over it to no avail, someone online had cleared up her confusion.

Because she could not figure it out, she had made a post asking people online.

Content: [Does anyone know what love is?]

There had been quite a lot of replies beneath the post, with all sorts of bizarre answers appearing one after another. Some people had even started arguing as they talked, but what they said was still too difficult for her to understand.

Then a concise comment had caught her eye at once.

A comment from the user Xu read: [You don't actually need to make love so complicated. Love can be the joy of seeing someone, a racing heartbeat when you accidentally touch, or always being happy when you're together and always having them on your mind when they're away.]

That had given her inspiration. She really had been overcomplicating things before. Why not think of it more simply?

After thinking it over, she had discovered that her situation matched everything in that comment perfectly.

She was always happy when she was with Lin Yu. Every day at home, she was always wondering when he would return, and when she saw him, her heart filled with joy.

After realizing that she really did like Lin Yu, she had felt both happy and uneasy.

She was happy because the person she liked was Lin Yu, and uneasy because these feelings should never have appeared in the first place.

So she had decided to suppress those feelings without letting any sign of them show, then earn lots of money to repay him. To her, her current life was already happy enough. She did not dare push her luck and ask for more.

"I don't think I'm good enough for her, so I'm sorry, Yuyou." Firefly apologized solemnly to Lin Yuyou, leaving her with no temper left to vent.

She sat back in her original seat and sighed helplessly. "Sigh... Fine, Sister Firefly. Since you've put it that way, there's not much else I can say. But I still have to remind you that love isn't some display of fearlessness. More often, it shows itself as selfishness. Constantly suppressing your feelings isn't a good thing."

"Mm, thank you for the advice. I'll think about it."

Seeing Firefly like that made her frustration flare again. How can Sister Firefly be such a blockhead? She's just like my brother. I'm seriously speechless!

"Ah... achoo! Hmm... who's talking about me behind my back?" Lin Yu wiped his nose. Could it be that idiot Lin Yuyou?

"Huh? I used it up that fast?!" Lin Yu was just about to continue painting when he discovered that he had run out of paint.

He had been so busy these past few days that he had not even noticed the paint running out. I'll message Firefly and ask her to buy some for me.

He was just about to take out his phone and send a message. He had already typed it out, but his finger lingered over the send button without pressing it. After some thought, he finally deleted the entire message.

Forget it. There's still plenty of time before I need to ship it, so I won't bother those two. I'll just go out and buy some myself later.

Meanwhile, the two women were already getting ready to leave the café and go shopping.

After what Firefly had said, Lin Yuyou did not intend to say anything more about it. However, they disagreed over who should pay. Firefly had intended to pay herself, but Lin Yuyou had jumped in and said she should pay, because Lin Yu had already covered all of today's expenses.

Even so, Firefly still insisted on paying herself. How could she let his little sister pay?

But while they were arguing over who would pay, voices drifted over from the next table.

"Oh? You're saying you'll agree to any conditions I set?"

"That's right, Miss Bai. As long as you're willing to join us, any conditions are open to discussion." A cool female voice and the ingratiating voice of a middle-aged man drifted over.

At that moment, Lin Yuyou's gossip radar went off. She smelled some juicy gossip!

There was no helping it. Eating melons was already a habit etched into her DNA. Of course, she would only listen; she would never record them and post it online for people to gossip about. Eat melons civilly, and everyone could get along! It would also help change her mood. She was practically dying of frustration!

Since they were right next to them, she only needed to lean against the back of her chair to hear. Firefly, however, had no idea what eating melons meant. Seeing her fall silent, she thought she had convinced her. She was just about to get up and pay when Lin Yuyou pulled her over to her side.

"Ow! Yuyou, what's wrong?"

Firefly rubbed her aching bottom in pain. Lin Yuyou said nothing, merely pressing a finger to her lips to shush her and pointing at the next table.

Firefly was a little confused, but obediently stayed quiet and listened along with Lin Yuyou.

"I don't have many conditions. First, you can't restrict my freedom, because I don't like being constrained by all kinds of rules. Second, you must let me know about any events or performances in advance and let me choose personally, because I don't want to damage my image. Third, I'd like you not to interfere excessively in my private life. That's all."

"Well... Miss Bai, that might be a little difficult..." Since the young woman had her back to Firefly and Lin Yuyou, they could only see her from behind, while the middle-aged man in a suit wore an awkward, troubled expression. Clearly, he could not meet the conditions she had proposed.

"All right, you don't need to say any more. The answer is already quite clear. Thank you for the invitation. Server." With that, the young woman called over a server, paid, then stood and left.

As she left, the young woman glanced at Lin Yuyou and Firefly, who were eavesdropping at the next table. She wore a white long-sleeved top and high-waisted wide-leg trousers with mid-heeled ankle boots, making her figure look very tall and slender. Her long black hair was tied in a low ponytail, and with that beautiful, unapproachable face, anyone who did not know better might have thought she was a celebrity.

She's so beautiful! Lin Yuyou screamed inwardly. Her looks could be said to be on par with Sister Firefly beside her!

The young woman withdrew her gaze after that glance and left, while the man sighed before leaving the café as well.

Lin Yuyou, who had been eating melons the entire time, had already figured out what had happened. Firefly, on the other hand, had been bewildered throughout. She had absolutely no idea what had happened.

"Yuyou, did something happen? Why are we just sitting here doing nothing?"

Having finished eating melons, Lin Yuyou explained it to her.

"A talent scout was trying to recruit that woman at the next table into their company to become a celebrity. I've only seen things like this in novels and on TV. I never thought I'd get to see it in person today. Talk about incredible luck!"

It was clear that Lin Yuyou was genuinely excited, but Firefly still did not understand. She knew a little about celebrities, but what was a talent scout?

Seeing that Firefly did not know what a talent scout was, Lin Yuyou patiently explained.

"To put it simply, talent scouts are responsible for finding people in the real world who would make suitable celebrities, then finding a way to get them to become celebrities!"

"Oh, so that's how it works." Lin Yuyou's explanation was so concise that even Firefly understood.

"But I don't think that woman had any interest in it."

"The other party basically couldn't confidently promise to meet any of those conditions. That pretty much means she never wanted to become a celebrity in the first place, so she made a bunch of unreasonable demands to show she wasn't interested!"

Lin Yuyou's analysis was so logical and orderly that it left Firefly stunned.

After finishing, Lin Yuyou said, "Sister Firefly, if you ever run into one of those talent scouts, remember to stay as far away as possible. Whatever you do, don't go with them!"

"O-okay."

Seeing Firefly agree, Lin Yuyou felt reassured. It was not that becoming a celebrity was bad, but with someone as sweet and naïve as Sister Firefly, she was genuinely afraid that others would bully her!

"All right, let's go, Sister Firefly. Let's go shopping!"