Chapter 42

Lin Yu couldn't help laughing too.

Chen Lüli glanced at her. Her eyes and brows were full of laughter, her nose was small and pretty, and her lips, which he had bitten several times last night, were rosy now.

Lin Yu covered her mouth, not quite daring to meet his eyes. She looked at him for only a moment before looking away. Chen Lüli pushed the tissue box in front of him toward her. She took one, dabbed the porridge from the corners of her mouth, then lowered her eyes and continued eating.

After breakfast, it was time for everyone to go their separate ways, each back to their own home and mother. Lin Yu and Jiang Zao each picked up their coats. With everyone visiting, the auntie had been the busiest and worked the hardest, so they both thanked her for her efforts. She waved at them with a smile and said, "With you all here, it's lively. I like it better that way."

Her gaze lingered on Lin Yu a moment longer, her eyes kind and gentle.

Lin Yu gave the auntie a small smile, then linked arms with Jiang Zao and headed outside. Jiang Yan'an wasn't nearly so polite. After breakfast, he sprawled on the sofa for a while. Only when he saw Lin Yu and Jiang Zao leaving did he slowly get up and yawn. "I'm exhausted. Going home to catch up on sleep."

Jiang Yingshan put on his coat and walked ahead with Jiang Yan'an. For once, the two had hit it off at first sight and had no end of things to talk about.

Lin Yu glanced at Chen Lüli, who was watching them leave with his hands in his pockets.

He raised an eyebrow at her and lightly waved the phone in his hand.

Lin Yu's cheeks reddened. She nodded and followed Jiang Zao down the steps. The weather was quite nice today, bright and clear outside. Jiang Zao murmured that she still had to tidy up the house when she got back. She and her parents were becoming better suited to the saying that distance makes things fragrant, while closeness makes them stink. Now that she had reached marriageable age in particular, the pressure to marry had taken center stage. Sure enough, no parents were an exception, none were open-minded. As she spoke, her eyes shifted.

Jiang Zao stopped and looked at the bit of skin exposed at Lin Yu's sweater neckline. There was a red mark there, so deep it was almost purple, and it stood out against Lin Yu's skin because she was so fair. Jiang Zao swallowed. Images began piecing themselves together, faintly taking shape, ready to spring to life.

But Yuyu was gentle and quiet by nature. If something had really happened, or even might have happened, she surely wouldn't have been able to hide it.

So what was that mark? It looked like what she was thinking of, but then again, it didn't.

Could Chen Lüli have gone mad and kissed her?

But Yuyu looked perfectly calm.

"Yuyu, wait." Jiang Zao pulled some concealer from her little bag and stepped closer. "There's a mark on your neck. Do you know how you got it?"

She squeezed out a little concealer and gently applied it to the exposed skin at Lin Yu's neckline, covering the mark.

Lin Yu couldn't see her neck. She was wondering what it was and wanted to take a look when an image shifted into view in her mind: beneath the shower, she braced herself against the sink and glanced back to see two hickeys on her neck, one darker than the other. A blush instantly spread across her cheeks. She lowered her eyes and said softly, "Maybe a mosquito bit me. There are quite a few mosquitoes in the villa complex."

Chen Lüli stood on the steps with his hands in his pockets. In a low, lazy voice, he said, "Is that so? We do have quite a few mosquitoes at our place."

Hearing his voice, Lin Yu didn't dare look back.

Jiang Zao breathed a sigh of relief. Sure enough, it wasn't what she'd thought.

Jiang Zao said, "Next time I come over, I'll have to bring mosquito repellent."

Chen Lüli clicked his tongue softly.

Up ahead, Jiang Yan'an heard something about mosquitoes. He looked back and saw Jiang Zao applying something to Lin Yu's neck. He walked back and asked in surprise, "What are you saying about mosquitoes? One bit Yuyu? That nasty? Let me see the bite..."

He was about to lean closer.

Jiang Yingshan slung an arm around his shoulders from behind and pulled him away. "Why are you sticking your nose in? Men and women shouldn't touch when giving or receiving things. She's just putting on some ointment and you want to watch. What about her reputation as a young woman..."

As Jiang Yingshan led him away, Jiang Yan'an sneered and boasted, "How many years have Yuyu and I known each other? I even bought her hot milk when she was on her period."

Jiang Yingshan glanced at him. "Something to be proud of? It's not like you can be her boyfriend."

Jiang Yan'an froze on the spot, as if he'd been shot.

Jiang Yingshan patted him. "Pull yourself together and hurry back to your Jing City."

Jiang Yan'an swayed, looking especially pitiful, a man driven along by fate with no choice in the matter.

Meanwhile, Jiang Zao finished applying the concealer. Lin Yu tugged at her neckline and linked arms with her. They went out through the gate and immediately saw Jiang Yan'an standing there like an icicle. His back looked rather pitiful, as though snowflakes were drifting and wind and rain were sweeping past him. Jiang Zao said, "Who knows what madness he's up to again."

Lin Yu glanced at him. "Maybe they're talking about work."

One of the great hardships in Jiang Yan'an's life was his job. If he quit without permission, his parents would cut off all his funds, so he could only grit his teeth and keep working there until they were satisfied. So having money was no use when your parents kept such a tight rein on you.

Lin Yu's car had been driven out last night.

It had been parked in the courtyard, where it wasn't easy to back out, because several cars outside were parked along the slope, leaving little room to reverse. Lin Yu had gotten stuck there once before, and Chen Lüli had driven it out for her. Last night, Chen Lüli had gone out in her car and found her a spot where it was easy to park and back out.

So after saying goodbye to Jiang Zao, Lin Yu got into her car and was the first to drive away. While Jiang Yan'an was still standing there in his sorrow, Jiang Zao backed out, boxed his car in, and zipped off after Lin Yu. Her diamond-studded car was truly dazzling, and Jiang Yingshan's black SUV followed close behind.

Jiang Yan'an came to his senses, got into his car, and caught up with Jiang Yingshan. "Brother, let's find a time to play your company's game together again. And while we're at it, give me some ideas about how I can get transferred from Jing City back to Li City."

Jiang Yingshan glanced at him through the car window.

He thought,

If you come back,

Chen Lüli will have another stumbling block.

He smiled. "Sure, I'll definitely come up with a good idea for you."

"I knew you'd have a way," Jiang Yan'an said, reassured.

The white sedan drove down to the foot of the mountain. The weather was lovely. There was a stretch of sea and a harbor below, and thin sunlight spread across the clouds, a beautiful sight. Jiang Zao stopped and leaned against her car to take a photo. She waved Lin Yu down, and Lin Yu stopped too. They got back in their cars after taking pictures. Luckily, there was hardly anyone on the road at this hour. The two cars drove on, and Jiang Zao overtook Lin Yu.

Lin Yu drove along at an easy pace.

She was in a very good mood, feeling a little sweetness.

Her phone rang just then. She tapped it open and glanced at it.

Chen Lüli: Let me know when you get home.

She replied: Okay.

She added a cute sticker.

At the other end, Chen Lüli's lips curved slightly, a smile in his eyes.

His villa wasn't all that far from Lin Yu's home. Although Li University was in the central district, the transport links there were well developed. There was a road leading straight to the coast, and it was close to the Nine Harmony Residence too.

When she got home, she immediately saw a car parked outside, which meant they had guests.

Lin Yu got out of the car and went inside. Sure enough, they were her father's colleagues, several professors who had brought their families along. As soon as they saw Lin Yu, they smiled and said, "Yuyu, you're all grown up?"

Zhong Lixin came out carrying mandarins and replied with a smile, "She's almost thirty. Don't you think time flies?"

"It does. When she was little, she was just a tiny thing, standing there beside that television. She wasn't even as tall as it was." One professor smiled and gestured to show her height.

"Everyone grows up, and we've gotten old too," Lin Zhenghe said. He glanced at Lin Yu. "Come say hello to your uncles."

Lin Yu obediently went over and greeted them one by one. Some of her father's colleagues were quite similar to him in temperament. She hadn't seen them last year, and the year before that, she'd hidden upstairs and hadn't come down, but she saw them this year.

"Where did you go, Yuyu? Coming home from outside so early in the morning," one professor asked.

Zhong Lixin put an arm around her daughter's shoulders and said with a smile, "She went to a friend's place and stayed the night."

"Young people are all like that these days," the professor said with a smile.

Lin Yu wanted to go upstairs.

Zhong Lixin pressed her shoulder, signaling for her to sit for a while. It would have been rude to go upstairs as soon as she came in. Lin Yu sat down, and the professor's wife took her hand and smiled at her.

She sighed inwardly and said to Zhong Lixin, "Yuyu really is beautiful."

Zhong Lixin smiled. "Everyone says so. If only she were a little more outgoing."

"Being gentle and quiet is good too. It makes people dote on her."

Beep, beep.

The phone in her hand vibrated.

Lin Yu turned it over and tapped it open.

The person with the black profile picture had sent a question mark: ?

Lin Yu remembered and hurriedly replied: I'm home.

Zhong Lixin was chatting with the others. She turned and saw her daughter staring at her phone. A quick glance showed her the contact was saved as Chen Lüli.

She asked, "A message from the Chen family's young man?"

Lin Yu casually covered her phone and turned to look at her mother. She nodded calmly. "Mm, he asked if I was home."

Zhong Lixin looked at her daughter, at her fair skin and smiling eyes. "Did you and Zaozao both stay at his place last night?"

Lin Yu said softly, "Some other classmates were there too."

Hearing that, Zhong Lixin murmured in acknowledgment and nodded.

She had met these friends of her daughter's, so she didn't ask any more questions.

After entertaining her father's colleagues, Lin Yu could finally return to her room. She had been up all night and so tense again early this morning. Back in her room, she locked the door, went to her bed, and flopped down on it, a smile in her eyes. She rolled back and forth, unable to hide the joy in her eyes.

Happiness really was simple, but true happiness was hard to come by.

She grabbed a pillow and hugged it, burying her face in it. Those images came unbidden to her mind again. When she had first begun to feel the stirrings of love as a girl, she'd had an erotic dream.

Of course, it had been about him. She hadn't understood at the time. The scene in the dream had been taken from a classic scene in a TV drama, only with him and her as the leads.

That was in her first year of university.

After that dream, Lin Yu had been so embarrassed that she'd avoided him for nearly three days.

On the fourth day, she ran into him at a public lecture. Flipping through a book, he glanced at her. "What have you been busy with these past couple of days? Dating?"

Lin Yu's ears burned as she sat down beside him, since it was the only seat left. She opened her book and said softly, "No."