After finishing the butterfly cookies, he sent Lu Muchi a message: "Don't come to my place lately, Fengzhi might misunderstand if she sees you."
Lu Muchi was pleased for a few seconds after receiving the message, but his mood soured the moment he opened it.
He couldn't help but feel disgusted with Lin Fengzhi.
Fortunately, Yan Heqing used the word "recently," leaving room for negotiation. Lu Muchi reluctantly agreed, "Understood."
He couldn't wait any longer and asked, "What time will you arrive this weekend?"
Yan Heqing replied briefly, "10 a. m.
She then ignored Lu Muchi and opened her computer to search for flights to the south on Friday. That day at the villa, Xu Qiaoyin wrote her ID number in his palm.
Yan Heqing filled out Xu Qiaoyin's ID card and bought a plane ticket for 2:30 pm.
He had calculated the route from Lu Muchi's villa to the airport; the fastest way by highway was two hours.
*
Friday arrived in the blink of an eye, and Yan Heqing received her driver's license.
He first went to the driving range to pick up his car. For his first time driving on the road, Yan Heqing went to the vegetable market, a place he usually didn't have time to visit.
The wet market is not only cheap, but more importantly, the ingredients are fresh.
Yan Heqing carefully selected thirty free-range eggs, a piece of yellow beef, a fragrant piece of ham, fresh leafy greens, and four packs of braised beef noodles.
He ate one pack, and gave the remaining three packs to Lu Lin.
Yan Heqing arrived home at seven o'clock, and Lu Lin came over around eight o'clock. Yan Heqing first cleaned the meat and vegetables, then read a book while waiting for Lu Lin.
The second hand ticked round and round, and at exactly eight o'clock, a rhythmic knocking sounded on the door.
Yan Heqing put away the book, went to open the door, and saw Lu Lin outside carrying two bags.
Yan Heqing stepped aside, opened the shoe cabinet, and took out the new slippers.
The largest size men's slippers were clearly not Yan Heqing's size. Lu Lin's eyes flickered slightly as he was about to take them.
Suddenly the light flickered a few times.
Then it went completely out, plunging the room into darkness.
The power is out.
Chapter 70
How could such a coincidence happen in the world?
The power went out as soon as Lu Lin arrived.
The motion-sensor lights in the hallway were still on.
A faint light shone in, mostly obscured by Lu Lin, Yan Heqing's eyes were hidden in the darkness, with only a small part of his snow-white cheek visible.
"The power might have tripped."
The meter box is at the door.
The meter box, bearing the marks of time, creaked and groaned as it was opened.
The electricity meter stopped working. Below it was a small, chipped metal box. When the screws on the box were unscrewed, one screw and a piece of metal were found to be inconspicuously broken off.
Yan Heqing calmly closed the metal box. "It seems there's a problem with the wiring. I'll contact the landlord."
This old residential area has no property management except for security guards and sanitation workers; any problems are handled by contacting the landlord.
Yan Heqing's landlord was a stingy middle-aged man. Upon hearing about the wiring problem, he said he would come over after dinner to take a look and that he could fix it.
He lives in No. 1 Primary School, and it takes him about No. 1 Primary School to get here.
There were a lot of problems when he rented the house to Yan Heqing. He said he would come and fix it, but after a few days Yan Heqing fixed it himself, and he was still on his way.
Today was no different. He would make up an excuse not to come on time, such as something suddenly happening at home or his electric scooter running out of power, leaving it to Yan Heqing to fix himself. He knew that this college student was very capable with his hands.
The broken water heater in the bathroom should have been replaced a long time ago. The repair cost wouldn't be much less than buying a new one. He tried to use this as an excuse to raise the rent, but Yan Heqing cut the price by two hundred yuan instead. Yan Heqing would fix the water heater himself, so there was no need to replace it.
Yan Heqing meticulously planned every step.
The only problem was the timing; the screw loosened too quickly, and the instant noodles weren't cooked yet.
His plans always seemed to deviate slightly from Lu Lin's plans.
He couldn't figure out Lu Lin's attitude towards him either.
Is it curiosity, infatuation, a fleeting hormonal surge, or is it simply that he's the only one for her?
Yan Heqing could not confirm.
Lu Muchi was once Lin Fengzhi to the death, but now, only a few months later, his white moonlight has turned into a grain of rice.
The Lin couple treated Lin Fengzhi than their own son, but in Lin Fengzhi's heart, he couldn't compare to the stranger Lu Lin.
Human emotions can sometimes be unimaginably heavy, and at other times unbelievably cheap.
Yan Heqing thought of that embrace at sea.
With his back turned, he couldn't see Lu Lin's expression.
He wanted to do it again.
She wanted to see every expression on Lu Lin's face clearly, and to understand why his heart was pounding that night, at that moment.
After silently closing the meter box, Yan Heqing came inside and suggested, "It won't be fixed anytime soon, how about we go out to eat?"
Lu Lin put down the bag, took off his coat, and said, "You're using gas."
He went into the kitchen; the old neighborhood didn't have natural gas or an induction cooker, and they were still using gas cylinders.
Yan Heqing understood what Lu Lin meant. He closed the door and fumbled in the dark to take out a scented candle from the drawer.
He added this item to his order when buying daily necessities, saying it was osmanthus scented candles. He had never smelled the fragrance before, so he went into the kitchen and lit a candle.
The flickering flames resembled the bonfire from that night's fishing trip; small, yet enough to illuminate a corner of the world.
Just as Yan Heqing was about to leave, Lu Lin followed her into the kitchen. He had taken off his coat, revealing a simple, solid-colored shirt underneath. He rolled up his sleeves and took off his watch, placing it on the shelf where miscellaneous items were stored. "How can I help?"
Yan Heqing placed the candles on the kitchen counter. "No need, the side dishes were washed beforehand."
He filled the soup pot with water, placed it on the gas stove, lit it, and a blue flame shot out. Yan Heqing rinsed his hands, took out a cutting board, and started cutting the beef.
The countertop was small, so the candles had to be moved after the cutting board was placed on it. Just as Yan Heqing was about to move the candles, a warm breath brushed against his ear. Lu Lin took the candles first, so he stopped moving and started cutting meat.
The only sound in the cramped space was the crackling of the stove fire. Lu Lin looked at Yan Heqing.
The candlelight fell on Yan Heqing's eyelashes. His eyelashes were long, thick, and naturally curved, with the corners of his eyes slightly upturned. As the candlelight moved down, it revealed his natural lower eyeliner and slightly protruding eye bags.
Moving further down, the bridge of the nose, like Greece sculpture, is a straight line.
Lu Lin slowly moved the candle in his hand, and this time the candlelight fell on Yan Heqing's lips.
His lips were neither too thin nor too thick, just right. In the candlelight, they appeared rosy and glossy. Lu Lin thought of the unnamed wild berries he had seen in the wild, which had been soaked in mountain spring water and had the same color.