Chapter 2

Two minutes later, he opened his eyes again. Feeling a little less tired, he finally got up and walked over to Lin Yu with the scarf. He draped it over her outstretched arms.

His voice was low and hoarse. "Remember to feed my cat for me."

Lin Yu looked back and asked, "Working overtime again tonight?"

He reached the door just as someone was coming in. Turning sideways, he answered, "Yeah, I'll be there pretty late."

Lin Yu said, "Okay."

He went out.

Several female customers near the door watched him leave. The customers at the table where Lin Yu stood worked at a law firm in a nearby building. One of them rested her chin on her hand and asked with a smile, "Chen Lüli from Starstart Technology?"

Lin Yu came back to herself and looked at the customer. She nodded.

The woman's eyes curved as she played with her fork. "A lot of women around here want to sleep with him."

Lin Yu paused.

The woman smiled and asked, "What's your relationship with him?"

Lin Yu drew the scarf closer in her arms. A faint scent of cedar still lingered on it. "Classmates. We both went to Huaqing."

Happy New Year

This is a friends-to-lovers story connected to "Burning Out." I hope you'll like it. Updates will still be at five in the afternoon.

There are 100 red packets for this chapter. See you tomorrow.

Chapter 2

"Oh, what kind of cat does he have?"

"A cow cat."

"Those cats shed."

Lin Yu smiled. "Yes."

"No, I don't like cats." The customer picked up her fork and ate her salad with regret. Seeing that she had started eating, Lin Yu left her alone. She folded the scarf, went into the back and put it in her bag, then came out to get back to work. The shop served light meals, and as night fell, more customers came in. Some people working overtime stopped by to buy whole-wheat toast or take away a sea-salt croissant and coffee for dinner, and the bread cabinet quickly emptied out.

By a little after eight, the kitchen was nearly out of ingredients, and only customers having coffee or other drinks remained.

There were two portions of sea-salt croissants and coconut cake left, and Ye Xi took them all away. Ye Xi was a Li City local studying for her master's degree in Hong Kong, and she rarely came back to Li City.

Lin Yu handled most of the shop's affairs. After settling the accounts, she was the last to leave, switching off the lightbox.

The words "YU Patisserie&Cafe" also sank into darkness. The name had been simple from the start: Yu, words left unspoken.

It was a little cold after dark, so Lin Yu wrapped the scarf around her neck and jogged all the way back to her residential complex. She didn't go home. Instead, she went to the twenty-eighth floor of Building Sixteen, where there were two apartments per elevator. She entered the code, and Xiao Diu heard the noise and came running over, meowing nonstop. Lin Yu crouched down and hugged the cat.

"Is Xiao Diu hungry?"

Xiao Diu rested little paws against her in her arms and rubbed against her arm. Lin Yu buried her face in the cat's fur for a moment, too. She moved the cat bowl over to the entryway, took down the bag of cat food hanging there, and poured some into the bowl. Xiao Diu jumped down to eat, and Lin Yu got the cat some water as well. She did all this in the entryway without going farther into Chen Lüli's home.

His home was mainly black and gray. It was spacious but empty, with an aloof, cold, hard feel to it. The game figurines from his company were displayed in a cabinet. They should have been cute, but instead they seemed almost murderous.

It was a completely different style from her home.

Lin Yu crouched on the floor, stroking Xiao Diu's fur. After every few bites, Xiao Diu would rub against her hand. She picked up her phone, took a few pictures of Xiao Diu eating happily, and sent them to Chen Lüli.

She didn't know who had taken his profile picture. He was sitting in the dark, holding a bottle of mineral water.

At Starstart Technology, the office was brightly lit. Chen Lüli typed at his keyboard, with a project proposal beside him, while his phone vibrated on the desk.

It woke his partner Jiang Yingshan, who had worked overtime until he was about to collapse.

Chen Lüli picked up his phone and opened the message.

There were three pictures of Xiao Diu. In the first, the cat's face was buried in the water bowl, whiskers covered in sparkling droplets.

In the second, Xiao Diu's face was buried in the food bowl, tail wagging happily.

In the third, a fair, beautiful hand was rubbing Xiao Diu's head. The cat gazed up with bright eyes at the woman stroking the fur.

Lin Yu was letting him know she had fed Xiao Diu and showing him how the cat was doing.

"Damn, who's that woman? Your girlfriend?" Jiang Yingshan leaned over, perking up at the sight of a beautiful woman.

"No," Chen Lüli said.

"Hands like that-she must be beautiful, right?" Jiang Yingshan admired the picture. "So fair, and that ring suits her, too. I want to hold her hand... I envy your cat."

Chen Lüli glanced at the picture. A few seconds later, he put down his phone and switched off the screen. He fended him off in a casual tone. "She has a boyfriend."

"Huh? What a pity."

Jiang Yingshan sat back down and rubbed his hair. "By the way, when's Ming Yu coming back?"

Chen Lüli stared at the screen, working on the code. "It's not settled."

After feeding Xiao Diu, Lin Yu tidied the entryway a little and went home. She showered, changed into soft pajamas, and threw herself onto the sofa.

Just then, Li Yin sent her a message.

Li Yin: Are you home?

Lin Yu: Just got in. Are you still working overtime?

Li Yin: Yes. The project lately is a little tricky, so the whole department is working extra hours.

Lin Yu: How about I order you some coffee?

Li Yin: No need.

Lin Yu: Help me try this shop's coffee. See how it compares to the coffee at my shop.

Li Yin: Haha, okay.

Twenty minutes later, a delivery person arrived at Genesis Tower carrying more than a dozen cups of coffee. Genesis Tower consisted of two buildings, joined by a skybridge on the twenty-fifth floor. This year, Star Rise had opened a new research and development department for robotics, and it happened to rent space directly opposite Yousitu.

Yousitu was Li Yin's company.

The delivery person was out of breath. Li Yin came out to collect the order and found that Lin Yu had ordered too much for him to carry alone, so he had to call a coworker out to help.

The coworker came out.

Jiang Yingshan happened to be dragging Chen Lüli downstairs for a cup of coffee to wake them up. As soon as they came out, they smelled the rich aroma. Jiang Yingshan rubbed his nose and said, "That coffee smells so good."

Li Yin's coworker smiled. "Doesn't it? Our team leader Li's girlfriend ordered it for us."

Jiang Yingshan raised his brows. "That's so nice."

A rare flush appeared on Li Yin's refined, handsome face. Chen Lüli saw his face and remembered the picture on Lin Yu's phone that afternoon. He recognized him.

Lin Yu's new boyfriend.

So Lin Yu had ordered the coffee.

Jiang Yingshan rubbed the back of his head as he and Chen Lüli entered the elevator. "I'm so envious. If only my girlfriend were that nice."

Chen Lüli had his hands in his trouser pockets. He said mildly, "Wait until you have a girlfriend."

Jiang Yingshan: ...

After seeing that the coffee had been delivered, Lin Yu picked up her tablet and played a casual game. A little after one in the morning, Jiang Zao finished her livestream. Knowing there was a time difference and that Ming Yu would definitely be around, she immediately tagged her.

Jiang Zao: @Ming Yu, Lin Yu has a boyfriend! Ah! She's abandoned us and joined the coupled-up crowd.

Lin Yu was halfway through her game when the group chat notification popped up. Helpless, she tapped it and saw that Ming Yu had already replied and tagged her.

Ming Yu: @Lin Yu, Yuyu, we agreed to be single for life, didn't we? How could you betray us?

Lin Yu coughed and replied to Ming Yu: I didn't say I'd be single for life, did I?...

Ming Yu: Didn't you? On my birthday last year, when I was making a wish, I wished to be a happy single aristocrat, and you said to count you in?

Lin Yu immediately sent a sticker: I was wrong, I was wrong. I forgot our vow. What do I do now?

Ming Yu: Break up.

Jiang Zao: Hahahaha, how can you say that? Hahaha, when we talked about her boyfriend today, Yuyu smiled so sweetly. Ming Yu, you're so cruel.

Lin Yu sent a sticker of someone clutching their head.

Ming Yu: Hmph.

At that moment, Jiang Yan'an saw the messages too and sent one to the group: Yuyu, who said you could get a boyfriend?! Break up, break up!

Lin Yu: ...

Jiang Zao: Jiang Yan'an, you're all the way over in Jing City, and you're still sticking your nose into our business in Li City.

Jiang Yan'an: I'll try to get transferred back. Yuyu, find an excuse to break up with him.

Lin Yu: No.

Jiang Yan'an: Hey.

The group chat was lively.

Ming Yu took the opportunity to tag Chen Lüli: Working overtime?

Chen Lüli replied: Yes.

Ming Yu: Find some time to play that new game with me.

Chen Lüli: Okay.

Seeing the two of them chatting, Lin Yu didn't interrupt again. It had been the same in high school. While the group was talking, they would see the two of them with their heads together, speaking to each other. Jiang Yan'an would often gesture to the others as if cutting his own throat, roughly meaning that watching the two of them flaunt their closeness was painful.

Lin Yu watched him reply to Ming Yu message after message. She exited the chat and went back to her game.

Jiang Zao sent Lin Yu a private message, laughing: There they go again, acting as if no one else is around.

Lin Yu chuckled: Yes.

Meanwhile, Li Yin sent her a message.

Li Yin: Thank you, wifey.

Lin Yu: ...That's too mushy. Call me by my name.

Li Yin: Haha, okay.

The two had met on a blind date a week ago. Li Yin had been introduced by her mother's coworker. Lin Yu's parents were both university professors, and Li Yin's parents were teachers too.

During the blind date, Lin Yu had happened to be on her period, and her face was a little pale. She had ordered hot coffee, and when Li Yin took it to pass it to her, he touched the cup to test its temperature.

Lin Yu had been touched by that considerate gesture.

Only afterward did she become interested in continuing to see him.

But since they had made their relationship official, Li Yin had been working overtime the whole time and hadn't even had time to visit the shop. Lin Yu didn't mind. After being single for so many years, she needed some time to adjust to ending it, too. Over all these

years,

she had actually been slowly drawing her feelings away from Chen Lüli.

She hoped she could succeed in one stroke this time.

After finishing two levels of her casual game, Lin Yu opened Dream Fiend. It was a game Chen Lüli's company had recently launched. Lin Yu didn't really understand how to play, but she liked the skins in it, which she could claim by checking in and clearing levels. As soon as she entered the game, she saw that "Beauty Ming Yu" and "CLL" were online. Her first reaction was to log off so she wouldn't disturb them.