Chapter 17

Jiang Zao said it outright.

Her face was bright red.

He was stunned for a moment, then said he would take her back to her dorm.

After that, she no longer avoided mentioning her period. If she felt unwell when there was a gathering, she would say so and tell them she might not be able to make it.

Once, she slept like the dead in her dorm. He and Jiang Yan'an were on their way back to the men's dormitory when they passed hers, and he asked a girl from the room next door to bring her a packet of brown sugar and a heat pack for her stomach.

She had kept that heat pack ever since, and it was still in a locked journal box.

She and he had always stayed within the bounds of friendship between a man and a woman, never crossing the line by even a fraction. It was nothing like the way he was with Ming Yu. When Ming Yu felt miserable, she would video call him, call him, howl in the group chat and tag him.

So now she did not dare continue the conversation they had left unfinished last time.

She could only guess that he felt the same way Jiang Yan'an did and was upset that Li Yin had stood her up.

Lin Yu: Aren't you working overtime tonight?

Chen Lüli: I just got back from a business banquet.

Lin Yu: Oh.

Chen Lüli: Your boyfriend was there too.

Lin Yu: Oh, he told me.

Chen Lüli: What do you like about him?

Lin Yu froze.

Like his suggestion that she break up with Li Yin, the question touched on something more private. She hugged the cushion tighter and, after a few seconds, typed a reply.

Lin Yu: He's a good man. He's gentle, refined and considerate.

She sent it.

He did not reply. Just like when he had told her to break up with Li Yin and she had asked why, the conversation came to an abrupt halt.

Building sixteen.

Jiang Yingshan came out carrying a laptop, with "Tray" following beside him, its steps going tap-tap-tap. Xiao Diu was in Chen Lüli's arms, snug in a sweater and warm enough to feel sleepy. Although its owner's hands put it under a little pressure, and his mood seemed somewhat cold as he looked at his phone, it heard the tapping, stood up with a meow and meowed at the short, squat Tray.

Tray looked up with its two big, round eyes, but its view was blocked. It could not see the cat in its owner's arms and could only hear the familiar meowing, so it strained to lift its head and find the source, only for its gaze to catch on its owner's long, straight legs.

Jiang Yingshan walked over to Chen Lüli. "Aren't you going to add anything else to Tray? I think it has a great foundation. Its source code is gorgeous. It could become a fully intelligent butler."

Chen Lüli glanced at the screen and said mildly, "There's no need. I don't plan to make it fully intelligent."

Jiang Yingshan rolled his eyes. "You just like seeing it look this stupid."

Chen Lüli said nothing. He bent down and loosened his hold to let Xiao Diu down.

Jiang Yingshan looked down at Xiao Diu, but his gaze swept over Chen Lüli's phone screen, and by coincidence he saw Chen Lüli asking Lin Yu a question.

-What do you like about him?

Lin Yu answered: He's a good man. He's gentle, refined and considerate.

Jiang Yingshan cursed inwardly.

Chen Lüli straightened up, took the laptop from Jiang Yingshan and walked inside. Both men smelled faintly of alcohol, and Jiang Yingshan followed him.

Looking at Chen Lüli's back, he curled his lip and said, "Do you know what's sourest in this world?"

Chen Lüli closed the laptop and set it on the table. He looked back and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Jealousy without a name or a place is the sourest."

"Brother Lü, wouldn't you say?"

Chen Lüli narrowed his eyes.

He did not reply.

Lin Yu breathed a sigh of relief. She and he really were not suited to discussing matters of the heart in depth. She was afraid he would ask more questions and she would not be able to find anything else to prove what she liked about Li Yin.

But Li Yin really was a good man. Being with him was not tiring at all, and she did not have to hide who she was. After playing a few games on the sofa, Lin Yu went to shower.

She came out of the shower warm and comfortable. Lin Yu turned on the robot vacuum and tidied the mess on the table. Near midnight, Li Yin sent her a voice message.

Lin Yu played it.

He sounded very drunk as he mumbled, "Honey~ I got drunk tonight."

Lin Yu sat down on the sofa and replied, "Did you drink that much? Did you take any hangover medicine?"

"No. It's fine. I'll be all right after some sleep."

"I have to thank President Chen for tonight. He had a car from the venue take me home, or I would have made a fool of myself there."

Lin Yu froze.

No wonder he had said Li Yin was at the business banquet too. He had helped him out as well.

She said, "Then hurry up and go to bed. Get a good night's sleep first, and be more careful about how much you drink in the future."

Li Yin: Okay.

"Good night, honey."

"Good night."

The chat fell quiet. Lin Yu thought for a moment, then ordered a box of hangover medicine to be delivered to Li Yin. Afterward, she messaged Chen Lüli.

Lin Yu: Thank you for tonight.

Chen Lüli: What for?

Lin Yu: Li Yin woke up and told me. You called a car for him.

Chen Lüli: Why do you think I helped him?

Lin Yu: Because he's my boyfriend.

Chen Lüli: As long as you understand.

Lin Yu sent him a cute Xiao Diu sticker that carried a hint of apology, as though she were apologizing on Li Yin's behalf for standing her up last time. Chen Lüli could naturally tell what she meant.

He did not reply.

The next day.

Li Yin got up and messaged Lin Yu, saying he had received short-notice instructions to go on a business trip to East City with the entire team.

Lin Yu sent him voice messages as she washed up.

She asked whether his head hurt after drinking so much the night before and whether he felt all right.

Li Yin was also washing up and drinking water. Amid a few coughs and the post-drinking fatigue he was trying hard to conceal, he laughed and said, "It doesn't hurt. Good thing I took the hangover medicine you bought me last night. I was about to throw up."

Lin Yu wiped her face and tied up her hair. "Did you throw up?"

"I felt better after taking the medicine, so I didn't."

Lin Yu said, "Eat something light today and drink plenty of water. Keep the medicine with you, just in case."

"Okay."

There was a smile in Li Yin's voice as he stuffed a crumpled white shirt into the washing machine and poured in liquid detergent. It soaked into the shirt, masking the faint trace of another strong perfume around the collar, a scent left where Qin Jialan had pinched it.

Li Yin did not remember everything that had happened the night before.

He remembered only the burning sensation of liquor scouring his throat and the business cards the industry bigwigs had given him. As for his superior, Director Qin, Li Yin frowned at the thought of her.

Lin Yu asked, "About how many days will the trip be?"

"About three. East City is close enough that we could come back in the evening, but the whole team is going this time, so we're staying there. It'll be easier to discuss things too."

Lin Yu said "oh" and walked out of the bathroom, then poured herself a glass of water and drank it.

Li Yin wanted to keep talking, but the work group chat chimed and his phone rang. They were all urging him along, so he had no choice but to tell Lin Yu he had to hang up.

Lin Yu said softly, "Okay. Stay safe."

"Okay!"

After they ended the voice chat, the mixed-grain porridge Lin Yu had been cooking was ready. She ladled out a bowl for breakfast. Her mother had ordered all the grains for her.

Apart from teaching and educating people, her mother's greatest hobby was researching ways to stay healthy. Lin Yu had more than one kind of health porridge in her cupboard.

After breakfast.

The morning sun had just risen, bathing everything outside in gold. It was a fine day, or at least a little warmer. Lin Yu put on a long coat and scarf, then walked to the shop.

Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows into the shop, a comforting sight. Lin Yu pushed the door open just as a few customers carrying bags of bread were leaving. They glanced at her and smiled, and one even patted her shoulder, the gesture gentle, almost soothing. Lin Yu raised her slender eyebrows.

Xiao Li and Xiao Cao were by the counter. They called out somewhat cautiously, "Sister Yuyu."

Their expressions were shifty.

"Sister Yuyu, did you sleep well last night?"

The way they were acting was strange. Lin Yu took off her scarf and coat and smiled at them. "I slept quite well. What's wrong? What's with you two?"

Xiao Li and Xiao Cao exchanged a look. Grinding his teeth, the store manager darted out from behind the register and said, "Those two customers just now showed us two photos and asked if you knew about this."

The store manager looked rather angry. After coming out, he thrust his phone in front of Lin Yu.

Lin Yu lowered her eyes to look.

The image that met her eyes showed Li Yin standing at the banquet with a wineglass in his hand. In front of him was an extremely glamorous woman in a long dress, her breasts rising in voluptuous waves. Her fingertips were pinching Li Yin's collar, as though smoothing out its wrinkles...

I finally got to write this line.

-Jealousy without a name or a place is the sourest!

And that brings out the theme~

The next chapter will be updated at midnight tomorrow night. Thanks for your support. There are 200 red packets for this chapter. See you tomorrow.

Chapter 17

Lin Yu's vision blurred, and her head roared. Xiao Cao and Xiao Li ran over and took her arms. Xiao Cao pointed at the phone. "Sister Yuyu, confront him and ask him what's going on."

"I never thought someone who looks so refined could be this shameless."

"His ears turn so red every time he sees Sister Yuyu. He must have been putting it on, pretending to be innocent."

"This is too much. That woman too-she's shameless beyond belief, seducing a man with a partner in broad daylight."

The store manager was more levelheaded. He looked at Lin Yu and said, "I heard this woman is his superior, a project director at Yousitu. She has two children..."

"Could this woman be interested in Brother Li Yin?"

Lin Yu swiped to the other photo. In it, Li Yin was sitting on a sofa with the woman beside him. He was leaning against the backrest and looked drunk, and the woman had a hand on his shoulder.

Lin Yu pressed her lips together and asked, "Do a lot of people know?"

The store manager said, "A lot of people might have the photos. But I heard that at last night's business banquet, this woman kept Brother Li Yin by her side and introduced him to a lot of industry bigwigs. He drank quite a bit too, so perhaps he wasn't aware of it himself."