Chapter 28

Her loose hair screened them from their surroundings, as though there were only enough space between them to breathe. His voice was low and lazy. "No."

Lin Yu pressed her lips together, hearing only her quickening heartbeat. His eyes, brows, thin lips, and high nose filled her vision, looking especially deep-set in the dimmed light. The sensation from that night seemed about to return: his hand around her waist, fitting perfectly, holding her just right.

Chen Lüli watched her looking down at him like this, her eyes even prettier than usual. He asked, "What about you?"

"Including Li Yin."

Lin Yu kept her eyes on his face, resisting the urge to look away. "No," she said.

He gazed steadily at her.

A few seconds later, the corners of his lips lifted. "Then isn't that perfect?"

"Neither of us has. That's a good start." When he thought of Li Yin's face, jealousy rose again, but at the thought that Li Yin was already hanging on the wall, he pushed it back down. He twirled a strand of her hair, then brushed his fingertips back and forth over her face, tickling Lin Yu and making her turn her head slightly to dodge him.

Chen Lüli watched her, his eyes darkening a little.

The room seemed to fall quiet all at once. Xiao Diu stopped meowing, and the pfft-pfft sounds from the tray stopped too. When Lin Yu met his gaze, she reflexively tried to get away. "I should go back," she said.

His palm tightened around her waist for a moment.

Lin Yu pushed against his shoulder and lowered her other leg off the sofa.

Chen Lüli loosened his hand. "I'll walk you back."

Lin Yu steadied herself, her cheeks burning, but she didn't want him to notice. She pulled down her sleeves, smoothed her hair, and said, "No need. I can get back on my own. It's in the same residential complex."

Chen Lüli ignored her refusal, scooped up his suit jacket, and put it on. His shirt collar was slightly open, revealing the lean muscle beneath. He bent down to put a leash on Xiao Diu, then slipped a hand into his trouser pocket and followed Lin Yu. Folding her arms, Lin Yu looked back at him. "You're bringing Xiao Diu too?"

He closed the door behind him and glanced at her. "Xiao Diu didn't get enough of a walk today, so we might as well go a little farther."

Lin Yu fiddled with the bangs by her ear and said, "Oh."

The two walked to the elevator, Lin Yu's cheeks and ears red. He, on the other hand, was calm; with his suit on, the aloofness returned to his face. They entered the quiet elevator, where one wall was polished to a shine. Lin Yu's eyes met his in the reflection, and she shifted aside a little. Chen Lüli looked at her profile, his brows lifting slightly.

Lin Yu lived in building nine.

To get there, they had to cross a badminton court and pass three lawns. After a few steps, Xiao Diu wanted to run again, but Chen Lüli wasn't as good-tempered as Lin Yu and wouldn't run along. With his strength impossible to overcome, Xiao Diu could only sniff here and there and walk obediently. Lin Yu watched Xiao Diu in the sweater and hat, looking like a little ball.

So cute.

She took out her phone and snapped a picture.

Then she noticed how nice the light and shadows looked, so she raised a hand in a V sign. Chen Lüli was two steps behind her, and when he saw the gesture, he knew she was taking photos. His gaze fell on her loose hair and profile. He watched her for a while without looking away, and for some reason, the image of her lying across a library table during her period in college surfaced in his mind.

Her face had been pale, her lips rosy, and the sunlight falling across her eyes and brows had made her face look even paler.

Jiang Yan'an had gotten up and said he was going to buy her some water.

He happened to have a jacket in his hand and casually draped it over her shoulders. He didn't know whether Jiang Yan'an had bought the water and returned to the library afterward, but when he ran into her in the classroom the next morning, she handed him the jacket in a bag. She hadn't been wearing lip gloss that day, yet her lips had been a lovely deep red.

"I'm here," Lin Yu said, turning back from the entrance to building nine.

Chen Lüli stopped and looked at her standing on the steps. He nodded. "Mm, good night."

"Good night."

Lin Yu looked at him for a second, then turned toward the lobby. After a few steps, she ran back, crouched down, and gave Xiao Diu a rub.

Seeing this, Chen Lüli tugged on the leash.

Xiao Diu instinctively backed away with the pull. A little displeased, Lin Yu glanced up at him with a hint of reproach. Chen Lüli looked down at her.

At that moment, his urge to kiss her

reached its peak.

That completes the 3,000 words.

Another 100 red envelopes for this chapter. See you tomorrow.

Chapter 28

"Lin Yu."

He called her name.

"Mm?" Lin Yu held Xiao Diu in her arms and answered softly. Chen Lüli bent down, his eyes looking into hers. Light spread in a soft glow over the ground all around them.

Lin Yu instinctively held Xiao Diu tighter.

Chen Lüli watched her for a few seconds, rubbed her earlobe with his fingertips, and said, "Get to bed early."

At that moment, Lin Yu's ear burned as though someone had set it on fire. The wind blew, and strands of hair slid past her earlobe, swaying gently. Xiao Diu meowed in her arms, bringing Lin Yu slightly back to herself. "You too. Get to bed early," she said.

Then she stroked Xiao Diu a few more times and kissed the fur. "Good night to you too, Xiao Diu."

She stood up.

"Bye-bye."

She turned and walked toward the steps.

Chen Lüli slipped the hand that had rubbed her earlobe back into his trouser pocket and watched her climb the steps and enter the lobby. Xiao Diu wanted to follow, but Chen Lüli pulled on the leash.

Xiao Diu behaved after that.

Chen Lüli suppressed those impulsive feelings and didn't leave until he saw her enter the elevator.

Lin Yu paused for a second as she stepped into the elevator. She looked to the side and saw him walking beneath the streetlights, gradually disappearing behind the trees. Holding the leash in one hand, he strolled along at an easy, somewhat lazy pace. His figure overlapped with the one from high school, when he had walked beneath the streetlights in just the same way, holding his schoolbag strap in one hand.

The way he walked hadn't changed.

Lin Yu instinctively touched her burning earlobe. Was the person she had liked for so long really beginning to like her? Or was it just a passing impulse?

Lin Yu lowered her eyes and stepped into the elevator.

After going upstairs and returning home, Lin Yu washed her hands. When she was done, she swept her hair aside and looked at her thoroughly red earlobe in the mirror. The color had spread to her cheeks too.

She looked for a while, then left the bathroom and went back to sit on the sofa.

It was still early, so she picked up her phone to work on the photos she had just taken. As she browsed through them, she found one in which she was making a V sign, with him right beside her. His tall figure was close to hers, and Xiao Diu was stepping on it. In a sense, it looked like a photo of them together. Lin Yu's eyes brightened.

She hurriedly switched to an editing app to touch it up.

Just then, her phone beeped twice.

The black profile picture sent a message: Let me see the photos you took tonight.

Lin Yu froze.

He knew she had been taking photos. Of course he did. He was taller than her and standing behind her; how could he not know?

Lin Yu picked out three photos and touched them up. They all showed Xiao Diu running happily. One included her making a V sign, though it wasn't as lively as the one with both of them in it. Still, it was good enough, and she sent them to him.

He looked at them for a few seconds and replied: That's all?

Lin Yu: Mm.

Chen Lüli raised a brow on his end: Okay.

Lin Yu saved the photo of the two of them and put it in cloud storage.

The New Year was drawing close. The nearby companies that hadn't yet gone on holiday were all holding annual parties, while the shop had arranged a big cleanup. Ye Xi returned from Hong Kong, dropped off a gift for Lin Yu, and left. Her family had arranged a trip to Europe for the New Year. Lin Yu was putting together red envelopes for the shop assistants in the break room when her phone rang.

She picked it up and looked.

It was a message from Ming Yu, who had sent two photos, both of motorcycle gloves.

Lin Yu: ? What's up?

Ming Yu: My mom dragged me to Hong Kong to shop. I want to buy Chen Lüli a pair of gloves. Which one do you think is better?

Lin Yu paused and opened the two photos. One pair was black and gray, the other dark brown, and both were from big brands. After looking them over, she replied to Ming Yu: I think both are good, and the styles are nice too. It just depends on which color he likes better.

Ming Yu said coquettishly: Oh, it's so hard to choose. I might as well buy both.

Lin Yu: That works too.

Ming Yu: What are you doing, Yuyu?

Lin Yu replied: Putting together red envelopes for the shop assistants.

Ming Yu: Oh, right, we're planning to change the place we discussed for New Year's Eve last time.

Lin Yu asked: Where to?

Ming Yu: Let's talk in the group.

Lin Yu: Okay.

She hadn't opened the group chat for a day or two. It was the end of the year, and everyone had been busy. Jiang Yan'an hadn't been as talkative either, and without him and Jiang Zao taking the lead,

the group really had been quiet.

Ming Yu went into the group and said: Jiang Yan'an and I talked it over and thought it wouldn't be right to trouble Yuyu. She decorated so beautifully for the New Year, and it wouldn't look nice after we went over and made a mess of it. So we've decided to do what we did last year and hold it at Chen Lüli's villa in the suburbs. We can set off fireworks there too.

Ming Yu: @Chen Lüli.

Jiang Zao: Shocked? We're changing the location?

Jiang Zao: But we go to his place every year. Won't it get a little boring?

Ming Yu: What else? You old lady, didn't you say you were afraid of the cold?

Jiang Zao: I am, but anywhere indoors is fine. If nothing else works, how about a tea room?

Ming Yu: Last time you kept saying yes, yes, yes. Why have you changed your mind now?

Jiang Zao: Hehe, hearts are fickle.

Ming Yu: I don't care. We're going to Chen Lüli's.

Seeing that, Jiang Zao said no more.

She glanced at Lin Yu's WeChat.

Seeing that Ming Yu had made the decision, Lin Yu didn't speak up either. She rarely talked in the group anyway. She continued putting together the red envelopes, and just then the group chat sounded again.

She opened it and looked.

Chen Lüli had sent a message: My family is using the villa this year. Since you haven't settled on a place, let's forget about New Year's Eve.

Ming Yu was taken aback: Your family is using it? Who did you give it to? Why forget about it?

Chen Lüli: Forget it means forget it. Do I have to explain myself to you?

Ming Yu: ...

Jiang Zao was stunned too.

Lin Yu read the messages without speaking. Forgetting about it was fine too; then she wouldn't have to tell her father a few days in advance that she was going out on New Year's Eve. The first year she said she wanted to go out, her father hadn't understood at all. Every family was at home with their loved ones, yet she wanted to run out-he simply couldn't understand it. Although being with her father was uncomfortable too, it was the New Year. She could endure it until it passed, and there was no need to waste her breath.