[Oh my god, putting myself in the English teacher's shoes, she must have been losing her mind.]
[The English teacher was so scared she changed her style of dress the very next day, but who knew Yang Hui still couldn't forget her... is "couldn't forget her" even the right phrase here? He even told the English teacher he had money and power, and she wouldn't lose out by being with him. That way, they could call her teacher by day, and at night, teacher...]
[Aaaaaah, how did the anti-prostitution crackdown miss Yang Hui?
[In the end, the English teacher had no choice but to resign.]
"Fuck," Yang Hui's friend Yan Fei said through gritted teeth. "I was wondering why Teacher Du disappeared without a word. So you were the bastard behind it."
Yan Fei pinned Yang Hui down and gave him a savage beating.
After the beating, Yan Fei realized everyone was looking at him and hurriedly pretended to check his phone. He wasn't stupid. What if Lin Tingyue stopped spilling the tea?
[Huh, does he have an assistant who rivals Holmes too?]
There was no assistant, but there was a Holmes right in front of him.
[But what are you getting so worked up for? Let me take a look.]
A chain of juicy revelations?
Was it really going to be this exciting?
[Oh, so while Yang Hui was confessing to the English teacher, Yan Fei was stuffing anonymous love letters into her drawer... so after all that, Yang Hui got his inspiration from you?]
Yang Hui, who had just recovered from the beating, began fighting back, and he and Yan Fei grappled with each other.
Seeing this, Fan Qing pulled Lin Tingyue and Lin Xiawan aside. Yang Hui stared at Lin Xiawan with bloodshot eyes and asked, "Xiawan, where are you going?"
Lin Shengyan stepped in front of Lin Xiawan, blocking Yang Hui's view. "The air here has already been polluted. Naturally, we're moving somewhere else."
There were plenty of campsites on the mountain. Once they had pitched their tents again, Lin Shengyan plopped down without a shred of decorum. Propping up one leg, he said, "The air here really is much fresher."
[Hahahahaha, Second Brother really does have a sharp tongue.]
Lin Shengyan: "..."
He was just about to battle Lin Tingyue for eight hundred rounds when he caught sight of her pulling Lin Xiawan aside. It looked like the sisters wanted a little private chat.
Lin Shengyan huffed and went to build a fire with Ying An.
Lin Tingyue said, "Sister Xiawan, you absolutely, absolutely mustn't have anything to do with that Yang Hui again."
"Okay."
[Huh? That easy?]
Lin Xiawan linked her arm through Lin Tingyue's. "Whatever Yueyue says goes."
[Aww, being trusted unconditionally feels so nice.]
Fan Qing: "?"
Excuse me, did my best friend's sister just steal my base?
Damn it.
Once the fire was lit, everyone sat around it, the firelight illuminating their faces. Lin Shengyan suggested, "Let's tell ghost stories."
Fan Qing was the first to throw cold water on the idea. "Why would we tell ghost stories while camping?"
Lin Shengyan countered, "What else would we tell while camping? Wouldn't it be a waste of such a great atmosphere?"
"Ha, Lin Shengyan, and you're supposed to be a big star. Is this any way to behave?"
"What's wrong with how I'm behaving?"
"Ghost stories? The kind with ghosts floating around? I know loads."
Lin Tingyue rubbed her hands together, ready to show off her skills.
"Stop, stop, stop!!!"
Fan Qing and Lin Shengyan called a halt in unison. If Lin Tingyue started telling ghost stories, how could they possibly stand it? If anyone else told them, they could cover the storyteller's mouth when they didn't want to hear any more.
But what could they do if they didn't want to hear Lin Tingyue anymore?
Even if they plugged their ears, Lin Tingyue's inner voice would still enter their minds. It was as terrifying as being connected to her brainwaves.
Having experienced dual-channel audio, Lin Shengyan said, "Lin Tingyue, whatever you do, don't tell any!"
Lin Tingyue looked aggrieved. "Why? Weren't you the one who suggested it first, Second Brother?"
Lin Shengyan met Lin Tingyue's eyes, feeling as though Fan Qing's dagger-like glare was still threatening him from the side. He scrambled to salvage things. "What's so interesting about ghost stories? I'm in the entertainment industry. I know plenty of secrets that no one else knows. Want to hear them?"
[Spilling tea? That's my specialty.]
[Hmm... does Second Brother have any dirt besides being a love brain? Let me look.]
Lin Shengyan: "!"
[When Second Brother was little, he firmly believed he was Ultraman and would save the world when he grew up. For that purpose, he embarked on the arduous path of becoming Ultraman at a tender age, doing things like copying out lines from Ultraman.]
[Wow, what hard work.]
Lin Shengyan glanced at Fan Qing, who was holding back laughter so hard she was almost crying, then at his friend, whose lips were curved upward. Grinding his teeth, he thought, Lin Tingyue, could you please stop reading that out!
"Second Brother, why aren't you saying anything? Weren't you going to reveal some secrets?"
"Heh."
If Lin Tingyue kept exposing him, even his underwear would be gone.
Lin Tingyue tilted her head as she looked at Lin Shengyan, but her gaze swept over Ying An beside him. The three girls were sitting together, and the two boys were sitting together.
The firelight illuminated Ying An's breathtaking face. No matter how many times Lin Tingyue looked at him, she was always stunned by him.
[Wow, how is Ying An so handsome?]
Everyone else: "???"
Lin Tingyue, you changed the subject way too fast!
Besides, Lin Shengyan refused to accept this. Why was he a love brain while Ying An was handsome? His looks were every bit as good as Ying An's, okay?
The man at the center of the conversation quietly blushed. It just wasn't visible in the firelight.
[Does Ying An really not have any dirt at all? I don't believe it.]
Lin Shengyan, who had been about to go bang his head against a wall, perked up again. Serves Ying An right for laughing at me. Here comes karma!
[When he was little, his mom braided his hair and dressed him in little skirts because he was so pretty...]
Ying An gave a light cough.
[When he was in school, he was so handsome that his drawers couldn't hold all the gifts and love letters?]
[Because too many people crowded around him, he decided to climb over a wall to get out, only to break a bone?]
Lin Shengyan: "?"
Apart from the first one, what even was all this?
[And he's never dated anyone to this day?]
[What a coincidence. I've never dated anyone either.]
Ying An looked at Lin Tingyue and said inwardly, It is quite a coincidence.
Chapter 28
Lin Tingyue's assessment of this camping trip was that it had been rocky at first because there was a pervert, but everything afterward had gone smoothly, and there had been such beautiful stars too.
Those who had gone camping with Lin Tingyue, however, said it had been rocky the whole time. As they watched the stars twinkling brightly overhead, the dirt Lin Tingyue spilled and the embarrassing secrets she exposed were even more numerous than the stars.
Thanks, but never camping with Lin Tingyue again. Even having Lin Tingyue tell ghost stories would have been better.
Startled by Lin Shengyan's resentful gaze, Lin Tingyue patted her chest. "Second Brother, what's wrong with you? Why are you acting like a ghost?"
Lin Shengyan said eerily, "I'm not just a ghost. I can float too."
Lin Tingyue dodged Lin Shengyan as he floated toward her.
[Sigh, maybe this is just what a love brain's mental state is like.]
[No, maybe this is what the mental state of a love brain destined to spend his whole life loving someone he can never have is like.]
Lin Shengyan: "..."
This love-brain label of mine certainly has plenty of layers, Lin Shengyan thought expressionlessly.
Meanwhile, Lin Xiawan was deleting Yang Hui's contact information. She even wanted to take her phone apart and disinfect it, or else she still felt it had been contaminated.
Lin Tingyue stopped her. "Sis, there's really no need."
[Would the phone even work after being taken apart and disinfected?]
It probably wouldn't.
Lin Xiawan had always been frugal and didn't want to replace her phone just like that. In the end, Lin Tingyue took it and wiped it down with a disinfectant wipe for her.
That afternoon, Lin Shengyan had an event to attend, while Lin Xiawan and Lin Tingyue stayed home with nothing to do.
Bai Yaxin, who was heading out for afternoon tea, let her friends know and brought both girls along.
Afternoon tea was at a café where, besides drinking coffee, guests could also arrange flowers to cultivate their sensibilities.
Lin Tingyue stared at the flower arrangement she had piled together in a jumbled mess and felt she was about to explode.
Her composure was exploding.
[Flower arranging doesn't seem to cultivate my sensibilities.]
Everyone in the café glanced toward the flower-arranging room.
Lin Tingyue then looked at Lin Xiawan's arrangement. It was like a lotus emerging from the water, fresh and elegant.
[As expected, the female lead excels in every respect.]
Excels at what?
Something in Lin Tingyue's inner voice had been blocked from her again, but it was probably a compliment. Lin Xiawan patted Lin Tingyue's head and said, "Keep it up, Tingyue."
"Keep eating desserts. Got it, Sister Xiawan."
Lin Xiawan: "..."
[Nothing in life is difficult, as long as you're willing to give up.]
Lin Tingyue rose resolutely and went over to Bai Yaxin to mooch some desserts. Bai Yaxin handed Lin Tingyue a piece of cake on a small plate, then handed another piece to Lin Xiawan when she followed over.
Watching this, Wu Qianyun was almost dying of envy. "You've got it good, with two such well-behaved daughters."
Bai Yaxin smiled. "Don't you have a well-behaved daughter too?"
Zhao Ru added, "Besides, I heard Taotao's due date is next month. You'll soon have a well-behaved granddaughter or grandson as well."
At the mention of her daughter Taotao, Wu Qianyun's face filled with happiness and pride. "Either a granddaughter or a grandson is fine. They'll be the flesh of my heart."
"It's just that Taotao is far too disobedient." Wu Qianyun sighed.
Bai Yaxin and Zhao Ru exchanged a glance. Taotao had chosen a man whose family background didn't match hers, so she had married down. After what had happened to Zhao Ru, Wu Qianyun had become even more worried.
Zhao Ru said, "Don't worry too much. Doesn't Taotao still have you and Old Xiang?"
Wu Qianyun nodded. "Anyway, if anyone dares bully my daughter, I'll fight them to the death!"