Chapter 16

Jiang Yan'an gave a sigh. "All right."

He focused on his late-night meal.

Lin Yu and Jiang Zao sat close together too, eating and chatting with a small hotpot between them, steam billowing up from it. Jiang Zao fished out a slice of fatty beef, with a limp enoki mushroom caught in it. It looked a little frightening at first glance. She picked it apart with her chopsticks and let out a huge sigh of relief. "I thought it was a bug."

Chewing on a meatball, Lin Yu leaned over for a look. "How could a pale, tender enoki mushroom be a bug?"

Hearing that description, Jiang Zao suppressed a laugh and looked at Lin Yu. "What kind of description is that?"

Lin Yu covered her mouth, smiling. "But isn't it pale and tender?"

Jiang Zao poked her forehead. "Yuyu, you've turned bad."

Lin Yu's eyes curved. Her mouth was stuffed with a meatball, making it hard to chew, and she kept one hand over her mouth. When she smiled, her eyes curved like crescent moons, exceptionally beautiful.

Jiang Zao tapped her forehead, but she only smiled.

Both men sitting opposite them saw the scene through the steam. Jiang Yan'an's lips rose along with Lin Yu's smile, his grin harder to suppress than an AK.

Chen Lüli watched for a few seconds, then lowered his eyes and ladled a spoonful of soup into his bowl, his face expressionless.

The four of them ate hotpot for their late-night meal, staying quite late. Eating and chatting only stretched the time out further. By the time they finished, Lin Yu's cheeks were flushed red from the heat. Jiang Zao linked arms with her and said goodbye to the two men. Toward the end of their conversation, Jiang Yan'an remembered some issues with a program and opened his laptop to discuss them with Chen Lüli. The two of them had developed the program in college.

So when Lin Yu and Jiang Zao left, the men were still in the Star and Moon Card Room.

Outside the heated room, the cold was astonishing. Lin Yu and Jiang Zao hurried downstairs and got into their respective cars. Jiang Zao's car was a newly bought Maserati. She had said that once she made money, she shouldn't shortchange herself; she had to treat herself lavishly. Even if it meant taking on a car loan, she had to buy a car she had coveted for a long time.

Lin Yu started her car and waved to Jiang Zao, and they drove off.

Since they were headed in different directions, Lin Yu went right and Jiang Zao went left.

In the Star and Moon Card Room.

Jiang Yan'an tapped away at the keyboard while Chen Lüli stood behind him, looking down at the screen and offering a pointer now and then.

Two waitresses in qipaos came in to clear the remains from the table. They couldn't help letting their gazes fall on the two guests, one sitting and one standing, especially the one standing, with his handsome features, broad shoulders, and long legs.

After stealing a few glances, they focused on cleaning up. Before long, the table was back to its original state, neat and clean, and the door quietly closed. Fifteen minutes later, Jiang Yan'an stretched. "Done. This program is my lifesaving talisman in Jing City."

Chen Lüli turned to get his car keys, coat, and gloves.

Jiang Yan'an closed his laptop and slipped it into his computer bag. He got up to get his car keys too, then glanced around. "Huh, isn't that Yuyu's scarf?"

Chen Lüli followed his gaze. A soft red scarf hung over the back of a sofa chair. It was the same one Lin Yu had draped over him last time.

Jiang Yan'an picked up the scarf. It felt soft in his hand and carried a faint fragrance. He said, "You and Yuyu live in the same residential complex. Take it to her while you're at it."

Chen Lüli murmured assent and reached out to take it. There happened to be an unused shopping bag in the card room, so he put the scarf inside and carried it.

Then he went out.

Jiang Yan'an gathered his things and put on his coat, and the two men went downstairs together. Jiang Yan'an was driving his parents' car, while Chen Lüli had come on his motorcycle that night.

He swung a long leg over the motorcycle, hung the bag on the handlebar, and put on his leather gloves.

Jiang Yan'an drove past him, lowering his window to say goodbye. Chen Lüli nodded, put on his helmet, and started the engine. Before long, the black Brute shot off like an arrow with a whoosh, its rider a ghostly blur.

After Lin Yu got home, she took a shower. Eating hotpot was like eating barbecue: stay long enough, and the smell would cling to you. After her shower, she felt comfortable all over, and even her hair smelled of lavender.

Li Yin called.

Lin Yu answered. His voice came through with the sound of wind as he asked, "Are you home?"

Leaning against the armrest of the sofa, Lin Yu replied, "I'm home. I just got out of the shower."

"Ah, I was thinking that if you weren't back yet, I'd come pick you up." Though he had been nervous, he had very much hoped to meet her friends. It would have meant their relationship was taking another step forward. It was all the fault of this damn job. His voice was a little dejected. "Yuyu, I'm sorry about tonight. I really am."

Lin Yu smiled. "It's okay, really. There'll be another chance."

"Really?"

"Of course. Are you done with work?"

"I'm done. There's still a little more tomorrow..." Thinking of President Qin standing behind him all night, watching him deal with work, Li Yin felt the pressure redouble. But he wouldn't tell Lin Yu any of that. If he couldn't even handle his own work, what kind of boyfriend was he? So he spoke to her vaguely about it.

Lin Yu listened as she dried her hair.

Because she had often gotten together with Chen Lüli and the others in college, she knew a little about computers through exposure, even though she had majored in finance and they had studied computer science.

She could understand some of the technical terms Li Yin used and had some idea of what was going on.

Just then.

The doorbell rang.

Lin Yu got up to answer the door. She looked through the peephole and immediately recognized the sharp-featured man outside as Chen Lüli. A little surprised, she pulled the door open.

"What brings you here?"

Chen Lüli raised his eyes. He had taken off one leather glove and held the bag out to her. "Your scarf."

Lin Yu froze for a moment, then belatedly remembered. She reached out and took it. "I left it at the card room?"

Chen Lüli said, "Yeah."

Lin Yu's eyes curved as she looked at him. "Sorry for making you come all this way."

She had evidently just showered. Her damp hair fell loose over her shoulders, and an impossible-to-ignore faint fragrance lingered around his nose. Chen Lüli looked at her for a few seconds, then glanced down and saw that she still held a phone to her ear with her other hand. He was about to ask, "Who are you talking to?"

Before he could get the words out.

Li Yin had already asked Lin Yu over the phone, "Who is it? It's so late."

Lin Yu quickly replied, "You've met him. Chen Lüli."

The doubt and worry vanished from Li Yin's voice. "It's President Chen."

Lin Yu said yes.

"I'm going." Chen Lüli now knew it was Li Yin on the other end of the phone, her boyfriend from Yousitu. His eyes narrowed slightly as he walked back to the elevator, leisurely pulling his leather glove back on. The light in the hallway was somewhat cold and harsh, casting deeper shadows over his features. Lin Yu stood in the doorway watching him for a few seconds, then said, "Drive slowly."

"Okay."

Chen Lüli answered in a low, husky voice.

Li Yin asked over the phone, "What did President Chen want?"

"I left my scarf at the place where we got together." Lin Yu answered Li Yin softly. Li Yin let out an ah. "Oh, so President Chen brought it over for you. By the way, since I didn't make it to the gathering tonight, were they angry?"

Lin Yu smiled. "No. Why would they be angry with you? They're all very nice."

As she spoke, she nudged the door shut with her foot. Bang! The soft sound echoed through the hallway. Chen Lüli raised his eyes as the elevator stopped. He finished putting on his glove and walked in. The elevator was utterly silent late at night. He lifted his gaze and saw his reflection in the elevator car, his features icy cold. The group photo Lin Yu had posted rolled through his mind again.

The elevator doors opened, and Chen Lüli walked out.

Before long, the black Brute wound through the underground garage and returned to the parking spaces for Building 16. Several luxury cars were parked there, and the motorcycle fit right in, the final touch that brought the dragon to life.

Chen Lüli went upstairs. The moment he opened the door, Xiao Diu meowed at him and pounced on his leg. He bent down and picked Xiao Diu up, leaning against the cabinet as he smoothed the cat's fur.

Xiao Diu was quite sensitive. Sensing a change in his owner's mood, he turned his head to seek affection, but Chen Lüli pressed a large hand against the cat's head, keeping him from moving.

Xiao Diu: "..."

He obediently, quietly, and docilely let his owner hold him down like that.

Dressed in a black coat, Chen Lüli leaned there in the entryway for a while.

A few seconds later, he picked up the phone on the cabinet, tapped Lin Yu's WeChat profile picture, and typed a few words.

Beep, beep.

Lin Yu had just hung up when a message arrived on her phone. She opened it and froze completely.

Chen Lüli: Break up with him.

Only the orange light was on in the room, making it warm but also somewhat dim. Lin Yu stared for several seconds, thinking she had read it wrong, but the profile picture and name were perfectly clear. Because they were often in contact, saw each other quite a bit, and sometimes got together, Lin Yu didn't dare give him any kind of nickname.

She had once come across the word "crush" on Xiaohongshu.

In videos with "crush" in the title, many people's silhouettes and the feeling they gave off were very much like Chen Lüli's-just their silhouettes and the feeling.

At the time, Lin Yu had thought that if she had to have a crush in her life, it could only be Chen Lüli. Her desire to change his contact name had reached its peak.

But she was afraid of being discovered, so she could only change it before going to bed at night and change it back when she woke up. She did this several times, and it took her nearly half a year to give up the habit.

Now his name on her WeChat was simple: Chen Lüli.

Yet those four words had appeared on their chat screen. He was not at all the sort of person to interfere in a friend's private affairs, which made Lin Yu instinctively turn around, open her front door, and look out into the hallway.

No one was there.

He had gone back.

Lin Yu closed and locked the door. After standing there for a few seconds, she decided to pick up her phone and type a question back to him.

Lin Yu: Break up with who?

She gripped her phone tightly as she sent it.

A few seconds later, he replied.

Chen Lüli: Li Yin.

Lin Yu drew in a sharp breath, but her thoughts didn't turn to romance. She wanted to know why.

So she typed another question.

Lin Yu: Why?

She sent the three characters, but they sank into the sea. Chen Lüli didn't reply again, not even with a punctuation mark. Lin Yu went to sit on the sofa, holding her phone and waiting and waiting, until Jiang Yan'an sent her a message in the group chat: You got home and didn't even let us know.