Chapter 33

Ming Yu: Okay, then the top floor of Wenxing Tower.

Lin Yu: Okay.

After hanging up, Lin Yu still had soup in her bowl. She drank it in one gulp, and when Zhong Lixin saw she was finished, she handed her a tissue. Lin Yu wiped her mouth.

Lin Zhenghe grabbed his coat and called someone over for the bill.

Lin Yu got up with her mother, went out, and headed home. Once there, she chatted with her mother for a while, then said she was going to see a friend and went out.

Before leaving, she went upstairs to get a gift for Ming Yu: a brooch she had commissioned. Ming Yu liked wearing French-style dresses, and the brooch would suit her.

It was also a return gift for the one Ming Yu had given her last time.

Lin Yu started her car and drove toward Wenxing Tower.

Chapter 33

Wenxing Tower was almost half Chen Lüli and Jiang Yan'an's property. Besides the tea room, they had also invested in two floors of leisure facilities here.

As for the top floor, it had practically been given to them.

They had celebrated Jiang Yan'an's birthday here. He was a restless man who liked a lively crowd, so he had invited a whole bunch of people: his high school and college classmates, as well as his current colleagues. His colleagues in Jing City were squeezing him out, so he had chartered a plane to bring them over and show them how rich he was, hoping they would remember the favor and go a little easier on him at work afterward.

The top floor had been packed shoulder to shoulder that day.

Now, Lin Yu arrived at Wenxing Tower, swiped her card to go upstairs, and pushed open the door to the top floor. The wind was bitterly cold. A few wicker chairs stood casually among the flower beds, and tiny lights glimmered, lending the place a particularly desolate air in the depths of winter. Lin Yu spotted Ming Yu sitting on a raised platform at once. Ming Yu was dressed entirely in white, wearing a cape coat over a long lace skirt and a round-brimmed hat, her curls loose over her shoulders. Her face propped in her hand, she turned and saw Lin Yu.

She smiled. "Yuyu, you're here."

Lin Yu was simply dressed, in a light-colored off-the-shoulder sweater and a gray coat. She smiled and asked, "Is it cold up there?"

"No. You can see lots of towers from here, and your family's shop and Genesis Tower too," Ming Yu said with a delighted smile.

Lin Yu smiled. "You can even see our little shop?"

"Of course."

"Let me see."

Lin Yu had never been up on the raised platform before. Jiang Yan'an had cut his birthday cake here. She climbed up step by step. The higher she went, the colder it got, and the wind was sharper than it was below. Gripping the handrail, she spotted the Genesis Tower sign at once, along with its distinctive skybridge. She swept her gaze downward, trying to pick out Xiao Yu's Shop among the old neighborhoods. Sure enough, she spotted its darkened storefront on one of the streets, with a sparkling tree outside.

"Sit here." Ming Yu patted the spot beside her.

Lin Yu walked over and sat down. Looking down was frightening, so she looked ahead instead. There was a footrest beneath her feet and a railing a little farther forward. Once settled, she gripped the railing with one hand.

Ming Yu turned to look at her, still propping up her face. "Yuyu, did you go to the Spring Flower Festival today?"

Lin Yu looked at Ming Yu and nodded. "I did. I went with my dad."

"Oh, I remember now. Your dad likes plants too, doesn't he?"

Lin Yu smiled and nodded.

Ming Yu turned her gaze back to the towers ahead. "Before we knew it, we've all grown up so much. We first met in our second year of high school. Jiang Zao said she had a close friend and brought you over to meet us. At the time, I thought, She must be a very introverted, quiet girl."

"I just don't talk much," Lin Yu said softly.

Ming Yu nodded. "That's true."

"But I remembered something else too." Ming Yu blinked and looked back at Lin Yu.

Lin Yu met her gaze.

Ming Yu said, "Yuyu, you know Chen Lüli and I were childhood sweethearts, right?"

Lin Yu pressed her lips together and unconsciously squeezed the gift box in her hand. "I know."

Ming Yu sighed. "Time really flies. My parents used to live next door to the Chens, in a row of townhouses. I lived with my grandma and went home on weekends. One Saturday, my dad suddenly rushed into the villa next door. He gave us a fright, and I followed him over. As soon as I went in, I saw Chen Lüli, his face covered in water and his expression cold. His father was standing beside him. Uncle Chen was the one my dad had gone over to pull away."

Lin Yu looked quietly at Ming Yu. "What happened?"

Ming Yu smiled. "Uncle Chen had a terrible temper. When he couldn't reason with Chen Lüli, he'd hold his head underwater. It wasn't the first time. It had happened countless times."

Lin Yu's heart clenched painfully. She remembered the boy on the bus, coldly scrolling through his phone. Pressing her lips together, she asked, "Was it always like that?"

Ming Yu sighed. "Until our second year of high school, I think. It got better then. The first time I met him, he was cold and quiet too, with an air of detachment that made him hard to approach."

"Later, I found out that Uncle Chen did things like that all the time. He'd inherited Chen Lüli's grandfather's nasty habits. He thought that if he couldn't reason with him, he should beat him, or use other methods to humiliate him. My dad often went over to stop him."

She turned to Lin Yu and asked, "Yuyu, do you think liking someone and possessing them are the same thing?"

Lin Yu looked quietly at Ming Yu. "Is there a difference?"

Ming Yu said, "Yes. Even if it isn't liking, just a desire to possess someone, you still have to let time prove whether or not it's love."

Lin Yu's heart clenched again and again, and she looked into the distance.

So liking someone isn't the same as a desire to possess them?

And a desire to possess someone isn't necessarily love either?

She tightened her grip on the gift box and asked softly, "Ming Yu, why aren't you dating anyone?"

If you were, perhaps...

Ming Yu leaned back a little and smiled. "Because I still haven't figured out whether it's liking or a desire to possess. Besides, what's so interesting about dating? Isn't it better to be free and easy on your own, without emotional ties holding you down?"

Lin Yu fell silent.

A few seconds later, she handed Ming Yu the gift bag she was holding.

Ming Yu blinked. "What's this?"

"A New Year's gift. Happy New Year, Ming Yu."

Ming Yu took it and looked up with a smile. "Happy New Year, Yuyu."

After coming down from the top floor, Lin Yu was somewhat quiet. Ming Yu was languidly fiddling with her round-brimmed hat. Her outfit tonight wasn't suitable for driving, so she'd called her family's driver. A black van was parked at the entrance to Wenxing Tower. Before getting in, she turned and called, "Yuyu."

Lin Yu was walking toward the open-air parking lot. Hearing her, she looked back.

Ming Yu smiled at her. "I'm really glad I met you."

Lin Yu paused. She remembered how she had felt when Jiang Zao first brought her to meet them: nervous and cautious, but secretly happy too. At the time, she had thought Ming Yu was especially dazzling. No wonder so many people at school liked her. She smiled and replied, "Me too, Ming Yu."

"Bye-bye." Holding her hat, Ming Yu bent down and got into the car.

Lin Yu looked away and headed to the parking lot. When she reached her car, she stood there for a few seconds, then bent down into the driver's seat and started it.

It was late by the time she got home.

Her father had already gone to bed, leaving only her mother. Zhong Lixin was holding a cigarette. When she saw Lin Yu come in, she stubbed it out. "You're back?"

"Mm."

Lin Yu closed the door. "You can smoke if you want to."

Zhong Lixin put down the slim cigarette. "It's fine if I don't. It's not something I need."

Lin Yu walked over to the single-seat rosewood chair and glanced at her mother. "But it's hard to quit, isn't it?"

Zhong Lixin chuckled. "What a joke. If you really want to quit, how could it be hard? It's the human heart that's hard to deal with."

She glanced at Lin Yu. "What is it? Something bothering you?"

Lin Yu shook her head. "Mom, I'm going to bed."

"Go on."

Lin Yu went upstairs and, first thing, took her pajamas to the bathroom for a shower. After a whole day out, she felt sticky all over. When she came out, she picked up the Butterfly Dance Necklace and looked at it for quite a while. Just then, her phone rang, and she picked it up to check.

It was the black profile picture.

Chen Lüli: Asleep?

Lin Yu put down the Butterfly Dance Necklace, her fingertips brushing it. She remembered what Ming Yu had said tonight. He must have felt so helpless back then.

Lin Yu: Not yet. What are you doing?

Chen Lüli: At the office.

Lin Yu: Still working overtime.

Chen Lüli raised an eyebrow: Mm.

Chen Lüli: Going to the Spring Flower Festival again tomorrow? To buy High-Hanging Moon for Jiang Zao?

Lin Yu: Yes. I'll go early and come back early.

Chen Lüli: Oh, is that so.

Lin Yu: Mm.

Chen Lüli: Jiang Yan'an and Jiang Yingshan are arranging a little get-together tomorrow night at Nine Harmony Residence.

Nine Harmony Residence was Chen Lüli's villa. It had a particularly lovely setting, peaceful and good for one's well-being.

Lin Yu blinked and asked with a smile: Another get-together? President Jiang and Jiang Yan'an have started hanging out?

Chen Lüli saw the hint of laughter in her tone, and the corners of his lips lifted too: Jiang Yan'an came to the office last time, and that's how they met.

Lin Yu thought of how both men loved being the center of attention. With the two of them together, who knew how lively it would get.

Chen Lüli: Let Jiang Zao know.

Chen Lüli: Shall I pick you up tomorrow night?

Lin Yu gripped her phone and hurriedly replied: No need, I'll go myself. We have relatives coming over tomorrow afternoon, so I need to work out the timing.

Chen Lüli was quiet for a second, then replied: Okay. The road to Nine Harmony Residence has a lot of bends, so be careful.

Lin Yu: Okay (^o^)/~

Lin Yu then opened Jiang Zao's WeChat, intending to let her know. But Jiang Zao was in Xin City at the moment, nearly two hours away, and Lin Yu didn't know whether she could make it in time. Of course, she privately hoped she could. Just as she was about to type, a message popped up in the chat instead.

Jiang Zao had sent a link and several screenshots, along with an excited message: Damn, Star Rise's new game has shot to the top! It's number one in downloads and still climbing. It's even trending!

There was another sentence she hadn't typed: Your future boyfriend is pretty impressive!

Lin Yu froze.

She opened the link Jiang Zao had sent. It led to a Weibo trending topic-#Can't get into Extreme Survival, it's frozen! Who's playing?#

-#Star Rise is going big this time#

-#Just asking Star Rise, when is holographic gaming coming#

Three trending topics in all.

Lin Yu instantly understood why Jiang Yan'an and Jiang Yingshan were throwing a little get-together. She pressed her lips together, a smile in her eyes, and sent Jiang Zao a message.