Chapter 20

"Unconscious? That's just making excuses for him. If it really was unconscious, then that woman sexually harassed him at work, didn't she?" Xiao Li fumed.

Xiao Cao took Lin Yu's hand. "Sister, did Brother Li Yin say anything to you?"

Lin Yu shook her head. "He was drunk last night."

"Then ask him!" Xiao Li said angrily.

Lin Yu rubbed Xiao Li's head to soothe her. Her phone chimed with a message. She opened it and saw it was from Jiang Zao. Jiang Zao sat up with her hair disheveled and her face as white as a ghost. She sent over two photos, then clattered away at her keyboard.

Jiang Zao: Yuyu, what's going on with this Li Yin?

Jiang Zao: What's the situation between him and his boss?

Lin Yu instantly felt a headache coming on.

The shop door opened, and quite a few customers came in. Among them were people from Genesis Tower and some who had attended the business banquet the night before. They all looked her way.

Lin Yu closed her eyes for a moment and said to the manager, "I'm going to the break room. I'll leave things here to you."

"Okay."

Xiao Li and Xiao Cao shielded Lin Yu as they accompanied her into the break room. The door closed, shutting out the gazes outside, and Lin Yu sat down on the sofa in the cramped room.

The break room wasn't large, but it had been decorated

to feel warm

and comfortable, especially with several cute bunny cushions scattered across the rug. Lin Yu sat down, looking a little weary, and rested her hand on the table. She replied to Jiang Zao: I'll ask him first...

Jiang Zao: Then hurry up and ask. If he dares cheat on you, I'll kill him.

Lin Yu: I don't think it's necessarily that serious. He was drunk at the banquet, and his boss just straightened his collar for him...

Jiang Zao: You're actually making excuses for him?

Lin Yu: No, I'm just analyzing it rationally...

Jiang Zao: I'll get someone to look into this boss of his and see what kind of woman she is. Yuyu, you know how messy relationships between men and women in the workplace can be. One-night stands, satisfying a physical need once or twice-they don't take any of it seriously. If they take a fancy to each other, they get tangled up, sleep around in private, and pretend they don't even know each other in public. So you have to be careful. If Li Yin shows any sign of that, it would be terrifying.

Lin Yu: I know.

The shop was in that location and was a good place to chat. The employees had each joined various group chats for the office buildings alone.

All sorts of gossip and private affairs were impossible to keep hidden.

But Li Yin's parents were her mother's friends, so Lin Yu was still willing to believe him.

She was just suddenly at a loss.

The workplace was brutal. Could Li Yin withstand it, and might today be only the beginning?

As Lin Yu was weighing how to ask Li Yin about it,

her mother sent her a message: The weather's dry, so remember to drink plenty of water. Don't leave the humidifier off just because you want to stay warm.

Lin Yu replied: I turn the humidifier on every day.

Mother: That's good.

Mother: How have things been going with Li Yin lately?

Lin Yu paused, then tapped on the keyboard: All right.

Mother: All right means you can keep seeing each other, then?

Lin Yu was silent for a few seconds before replying: Mm...

Mother: Good. I'll go prepare my lessons.

Lin Yu: Okay, Mom.

Lin Yu exited her mother's chat and opened Li Yin's. She glanced at the time and asked: Have you arrived in East City?

Li Yin: Still on the road.

Li Yin: A colleague threw up, so I pulled over to help him clean up.

Lin Yu: Okay, go take care of it.

Li Yin: Honey, I'll message you tonight when I'm done.

Lin Yu: Okay.

Since he had said that, Lin Yu put down her phone. It didn't seem right to keep asking, and he probably hadn't received the two photos. If he had, he probably wouldn't have been so calm.

Lin Yu pulled over a cushion and leaned back, curling up on the sofa.

Besides having someone in her heart, the greater reason she had gone so long without dating was that she had no confidence in other people.

That day, after Li Yin arrived in East City, he got straight to work without a moment's rest. The situation this time was unusual: all the client's data had been jumbled up, causing errors in the algorithm and crashing the program. The whole team didn't even have time to stop for a drink of water. The project director, Qin Jialan, also arrived that afternoon.

In the face of the client's abuse, her temper was better than usual. She was patient with them, especially Li Yin, toward whom she was less overbearing than before.

That night.

Before Lin Yu had a chance to ask Li Yin, she learned that he needed to work through the night. Hearing the exhaustion in his voice, she fell silent for a few seconds, then put the matter aside for the time being.

The next day was the same. He didn't even take a shower, only dozing for half an hour fully dressed in the client's office with the rest of the team. Not until the early hours of the third day did he message Lin Yu to say the matter was finally almost resolved. There was only a little left to wrap up, and he could return to Li City that afternoon and have dinner with her.

Hearing that, Lin Yu breathed a sigh of relief too.

She agreed.

Since they were going to eat together, she could bring it up then.

But perhaps because she had put it off for two days, continually rehearsing the words in her head without ever saying them, the thought of asking him face-to-face over dinner made Lin Yu toss and turn. She actually had some trouble sleeping that night. She got up for a glass of milk and flipped through her photo album, looking at pictures of Xiao Diu.

She also came across the one taken right after Xiao Diu's fur had been trimmed. In it, a large hand with prominent knuckles rested on Xiao Diu's back. Lin Yu's gaze swept over the hand. For people with a thing for hands, it held tremendous appeal.

After looking at Xiao Diu's photos, Lin Yu felt a little calmer. She put down her phone and tried to sleep again. In a daze, she seemed to sleep for a long time, but when she opened her eyes and checked her phone, it was only past five, still more than an hour until daybreak. Lin Yu sat up, clutching the covers around her, her hair disheveled, and silently leaned against the headboard.

She hadn't actually slept soundly for even an hour. In that case, she might as well go to the shop.

The baker would be at work by now, preparing the morning bread. Lin Yu got out of bed, went to wash up, and changed into an apricot-colored long dress and a gray coat. She took a scarf, draped it over her hand, and went out.

The winter morning was cold, with the feel of a cool morning breeze. The air she breathed in through her nose was crisp and chilly, but Lin Yu didn't put on her scarf. Walking along the sidewalk in the half-light, neither quite bright nor quite dark, she ran into two familiar sanitation workers, and they exchanged greetings.

The shop saved up its cardboard and bottles and gave them all to the sanitation workers. The crockery it replaced was also handed over to them to dispose of, and sometimes the manager would pack up leftover bread and pastries in the evening and promptly deliver them to their homes.

Lin Yu arrived at the shop.

The lights were on in the bakery. Lin Yu pushed open the door and greeted the baker. He was busy with his two apprentices, all wearing heat-resistant gloves. He turned and greeted her back, then asked in surprise, "Xiao Yu, you're here so early today?"

Lin Yu smiled faintly. "I couldn't sleep, so I came early."

"Young people shouldn't worry so much. There's no hurdle you can't get over." The baker was older than Lin Yu and had also heard about her boyfriend. He offered her some earnest advice.

Lin Yu smiled and nodded. "Okay."

She said, "I'll go put my scarf away."

"Go on."

Lin Yu closed the door. The baker's two apprentices were both young men, and when they saw the beautiful Lin Yu, their gazes instinctively settled on her face until the door closed.

Lin Yu left the bakery and put her scarf in the break room, then came out to arrange the bread display. Outside, cars sped past with their headlights on. In the distance, the clouds gradually parted, and the moon sank dimly toward the horizon.

As golden sunlight began to peek out, Lin Yu's phone rang. She picked it up and looked.

Chen Lüli was calling.

It was 6:53. Lin Yu was slightly startled, but she answered.

A man's voice came through from the other end. "Are you awake?"

Lin Yu pressed her lips together. "Yes."

"Didn't sleep well?"

Lin Yu's heart skipped a beat. "No..."

He said, "Make arrangements at the shop and set aside two hours. We're going to East City. I'll pick you up."

Lin Yu tightened her grip on her phone.

East City?

A few premonitions rose in her heart. She parted her lips. "What are we going to East City for?"

"What do you think?"

"You'll know when we get there." He didn't want to say more, yet he was making it plain to her. Lin Yu pressed her fingertips against her phone case and looked out the floor-to-ceiling window. "Li Yin said he'd be back this afternoon."

"You believe him?" Chen Lüli put on his shirt.

Lin Yu pressed her lips together.

She felt a little lost, and a little embarrassed for reasons she couldn't quite understand. She had clearly wanted to have a proper relationship, to drive herself to give up on him.

Yet he had ended up seeing that she had found a boyfriend like this.

"Lin Yu?" His voice came again.

Lin Yu came back to herself. "I'm here."

"What? Hesitating?" He paused for a few seconds. "Do you like him that much?"

He seemed to toss the question back at her casually.

No.

That was how Lin Yu instinctively wanted to answer, but if she did, and he asked why she was dating Li Yin if she didn't like him, how was she supposed to answer? She pressed her lips together and said softly, "No matter what, I should at least give him my trust."

"Is that so?" He seemed to click his tongue coldly on the other end, so faintly that Lin Yu couldn't hear it clearly. Her thoughts were tangled like hemp. Chen Lüli's voice was cool. "Get ready. I'll pick you up in five minutes."

"I'm at the shop," Lin Yu said.

"All right."

He hung up.

Lin Yu put down her phone just as the baker came out carrying bread. As he set it out, he asked, "Something you need to do?"

Lin Yu came back to herself and said, "Yes."

"Then go take care of it. The young manager will be here soon."

Lin Yu smiled and nodded.

No sooner had the baker finished speaking than the doorbell rang. The door opened, and the manager came in, taking off his mask. He was quite surprised to see Lin Yu. "Sister Yu, you're here so early."

Lin Yu smiled, walked over, and gave him a few instructions. She also told him she needed to go to East City and would be back by noon if things went quickly, or possibly in the afternoon if they didn't.

The manager nodded repeatedly.

But-East City?

He seemed to remember something too and looked at Lin Yu. She smiled faintly without answering him or saying what she was going to do. She had made her decision when she told Chen Lüli where she was. Whether Li Yin was a donkey or a horse, she would go and see for herself. He could have been drunk and unaware at the business banquet, but what was the situation in East City?