Chapter 49

Chen Lüli poured Tan Hui some more tea. He paused, then said, "Yes."

"What a coincidence." Xiao Xi exchanged a look with Tan You, then smiled at Chen Lüli again. "Your brother Cheng and his wife, Ji Ting, came together the same way."

Chen Lüli was slightly taken aback. He pushed the teacup toward Tan Hui. "Really?"

"Yes." Xiao Xi smiled, taking Tan You's hand. "They were friends before, close friends. Little by little, they grew closer."

Tan You smiled without speaking, her gaze on her son.

Chen Lüli took a sip of tea. Tan Yucheng was his older cousin, but they did not keep in touch much, and their circles were rather different. Still, Star Rise and Brute Technology were competitors, and Xu Xu, the boss of Brute Technology, was a good friend of Brother Yucheng's. The last time they had met was at a wedding-Tan Yucheng and Ji Ting's wedding.

So they had started out as good friends too.

"You didn't take a break over the New Year? The game is scheduled for release during the Spring Festival?" Tan Hui asked with a smile.

Chen Lüli came back to himself and answered Tan Hui, "That's right. I didn't take a break this year."

"Everyone has high hopes for holograms in this game. Do you have plans on that front?" Since his company went public a few years ago, Tan Hui had also spent most of his time in Li City, so he had a more complete understanding of things.

Games and AI had both been extremely popular these past two years.

Chen Lüli smiled. "We're only at the trial stage."

Tan Hui smiled. "Good."

He patted Chen Lüli on the shoulder. He had also heard about what happened when Chen Lüli was young. As a member of his mother's family, Tan Hui had once wanted to come and help.

But the Chen family was large and wealthy, with deep roots, and had stopped him several times. He could only argue with Chen Songlin over the phone. In any case, the two of them had never gotten along.

That remained true even now.

The warm conversation upstairs was still going, while the social gathering downstairs was drawing to a close. Ming Yu had returned to the country early this time, and to keep her from stirring up more trouble, Ming Huai had already set a date for her to return to school, sometime in the next few days. Today, Ming Huai had also brought her over to say goodbye to the Chen family. Ming Yu had visited the Chen family often throughout the New Year holiday.

Unfortunately, members of the Tan family had come today, including Tan Hui, who had a past disagreement with Chen Songlin. The conversations therefore had to be separated, one upstairs and the other downstairs.

Tan You could not spare the time to entertain Li Wenqing either, so once their discussion was over, it was time to go home.

Chen Songlin got up to see them out.

Li Wenqing lowered her head and spoke to Ming Yu, still trying hard to understand what her daughter meant. But Ming Yu simply refused to speak. She glanced at the Brute in the neighboring parking space, pressed her lips together, and bent down to get into the family's Alphard.

It was nearly time to reopen. After returning to her room and showering, Lin Yu sent a red packet to the group chat. A whole crowd of people who only posted on Moments, and occasionally even blocked her from seeing them, came running to grab it.

Seeing that everyone was there, Lin Yu felt reassured. After running the shop for several years, what she feared most was losing employees. Last year, after the New Year holiday, a barista assistant had simply stopped coming without a word. The problem was that Lian Kai had taken leave to visit the Gobi. She had originally thought the assistant could cover for Lian Kai after the holiday, and with the manager's help, there would not be much trouble.

But then he did not come back, and he did not say a word. As soon as the shop reopened, delivery orders poured in, and Lin Yu had to cover the shift herself, working until her head spun and her eyes blurred.

When Lian Kai heard about it, he gave up his vacation and flew back the next day.

An unstable staff was a tremendous challenge for the business, so afterward Lin Yu gradually gave up shares. The manager and Lian Kai, the head chef, were the first to receive them, while the regular employees got raises.

Lin Yu handled many things at the shop herself, but she also wanted to be comfortable. She had opened it out of both interest and sentiment; she did not expect everything to be pleasant and comfortable, but she did not want to be rushed off her feet and run ragged either. So she was willing to give others a greater share of the profits, and Ye Xi felt the same way.

As a second-generation landlord, she needed that money even less.

She confirmed the employees' return travel details.

Lin Yu lay down and pulled a plush toy into her arms. She wore a pink nightdress, her long hair loose, and was drifting toward sleep when her hand brushed her knee. A position from that afternoon flashed through her mind.

Her breathing had been unsteady, her mind hazy. He had lifted her on top, and she had looked down at him from above. He had looked back at her, and at that moment...

A stream of liquid had kept flowing.

Lin Yu's face turned red at once, and she buried it in the plush toy. By the time her breathing evened out, she was sleepy again.

In a haze, she felt her phone vibrate. Lin Yu took it, drowsily opened her eyes halfway, and saw a video call from the black profile picture. She pulled herself together and accepted.

Chen Lüli unbuttoned his shirt as he entered the room and sat down on the sofa. At a glance, he saw how sleepy she was, her eyes half open. The thing was, she was wearing a spaghetti-strap nightdress, making the sight before him rather alluring.

Chen Lüli watched her quietly for a few seconds, then asked softly, "Were you already asleep?"

Lin Yu tried to open her eyes. As she looked at him, his gaze overlapped in her mind with the one he had given her while lying beneath her that afternoon. One ear grew hot as she said gently, "Mm. I checked the information from the shop employees, then went to sleep."

"Can the employees get back on time this year?" He knew what had happened last year. A little after two in the afternoon, she had gone to Genesis to deliver coffee and walked so fast that she had run into his arms. He had caught her, and coffee had splashed onto his sleeve. She had been run ragged, her eyes vacant, and she had tugged on his sleeve and told him to take the clothes to the dry cleaner, saying she would pay him back later.

Seeing her like that, Chen Lüli had been so exasperated he laughed. After he steadied her, her phone had rung incessantly, calls all urging her to hurry. In the end, he had looked at the floor she was delivering to and handed the order to the assistant who had come down with him, asking him to deliver it so she could go to the other place.

A little after five, he had passed Xiao Yu's Shop and seen her with all her long hair tied up, making fruit drinks beside the coffee machine. In all the time she had run the shop, she had never been so flustered. Whenever he went by, she was always taking it easy. Only later did he learn that the shop was short-staffed and that the extraordinarily skilled barista was still traveling, leaving her no choice but to fill in.

Lin Yu nodded at her phone. "They can. I just confirmed it today. What happened last year won't happen again."

"That's good, then," he said. Looking at her sleepy, dazed expression, he asked, "Can we talk a little longer?"

Lin Yu blinked and asked softly, "About what?"

Chen Lüli looked at her. "Just chat."

Lin Yu pressed her lips together. Though her eyes were not fully open, he could see the smile in them. The sight of her curved brows and eyes made Chen Lüli's throat itch.

Lin Yu's voice was soft. "Okay."

She was unguarded, and she had not pulled the covers very high. The heat was probably on in the room. Along with her snowy white neck, he could make out the faint curves below it.

Chen Lüli watched her for a few seconds, then said, "The woman in the blue dress who was with my mom today is surnamed Xiao. She's my aunt by marriage."

Lin Yu thought for a moment.

She smiled with her lips pressed together. "I heard you call her that."

The corner of Chen Lüli's mouth curved slightly as he looked at her, but he did not mention what his older brother's relationship with his wife had once been. He merely touched on the subject, letting Lin Yu know there was such a family.

"Lin Yu."

"Mm?" Lin Yu asked softly.

"I want to do it," he said.

Lin Yu froze for a second. The next, her face turned scarlet, and more than half her sleepiness vanished. She looked at his face, which always seemed so cold and distant, as he casually said such a thing. She buried her face in the pillow and mumbled, "What are you talking about..."

Chen Lüli chuckled.

"Is wanting to do it something shameful?"

"Weren't you pretty bold before?"

Lin Yu murmured, "Stop saying it."

Chen Lüli looked at her steadily. A few seconds later, he asked, "I asked you whether you liked me or my body more. You never answered me."

With her face buried in the pillow and her phone in her hand, Lin Yu opened her eyes and blinked.

I really like both.

But she did not dare say that aloud. She mumbled, "...I like both quite a lot."

"Quite a lot?"

"Quite a lot," Lin Yu said.

Chen Lüli tugged at his pants and laughed. "All right, that works too."

From the forced kiss to establishing things, then making it official, and now this moment, they had already made considerable progress. Liking his body was a good thing too. Every time they did it, her responses exceeded his expectations: the way she gave herself over completely, her soft cries, her arms around his neck, and the way she looked at him could drown him in her tender embrace.

How could there be such a woman?

So utterly captivating.

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

Chen Lüli looked up. "Who is it?"

Tan You's gentle voice came through. "Lüli, it's me."

Lin Yu woke up a little more too. She raised her head slightly and looked at the camera. "You're at home?" she asked softly.

Chen Lüli glanced at her and said, "Guests came over after I took you home."

"Oh," Lin Yu replied.

Chen Lüli got up and went to open the door.

He did not end the call or try to hide it, but as he opened the door, he thought of how Lin Yu looked at that moment and turned the phone over so Tan You could not see.

Tan You saw that the computer on the table was on and thought he was busy. Holding two gift boxes, she handed them to him and said, "See for yourself whether you want to keep them. Ming Yu and Wenqing bought these New Year gifts for you when they went to Hong Kong. They're two pairs of motorcycle gloves."

On her end of the video call, Lin Yu could only see the sofa and the computer because he had turned the phone around.

She heard the words "Ming Yu" and "gloves."

She blinked, remembering the WeChat messages Ming Yu had sent to ask her about them.

Chen Lüli glanced at the two boxes. "Give them back to her."

"I guessed you wouldn't want them," Tan You said. "Your dad accepted the gifts tonight. If I'd been there, I would have returned them."

Half leaning against the doorframe and turning his phone in his hand, Chen Lüli gave a hum of acknowledgment.

In the camera, Lin Yu was turned one way and then the other as he flipped the phone over to look. Helpless, she closed her eyes; any more looking and she would get dizzy.

"If there's nothing else, go to bed early." Tan You looked at her son as she reminded him.

Chen Lüli nodded. "You too, Mom."

Tan You smiled and pulled the door to behind her.

Chen Lüli straightened up and closed the door the rest of the way.

He returned to the sofa and raised his phone, seeing Lin Yu lying on her stomach with her face covered.

A strand of hair had fallen across her fair shoulder. He raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"