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"Xiaoyu—" Lin Tingxuan stretched out a hand like lightning, his face showing anxiety and pleading, and tightly grasped Ye Wenyu's slender wrist.

Ye Wenyu froze. He held her hand so tightly, so forcefully, so hot. She looked at her wrist; his hand was still gripping her wrist like an iron clamp. She looked at him again; Lin Tingxuan was staring at her with a complex expression, a mixture of joy at meeting, deep-seated hatred, and suppressed pain—in short, indescribable.

Ye Wenyu felt confused and bewildered, as if she were completely lost in a fog.

What kind of person is Lin Tingxuan? What is he thinking? She has no idea. She only feels that she is trapped in a maze, and that the maze is becoming more and more complicated. It seems that she will never be able to get out, no matter how hard she tries.

Ye Wenyu hurriedly said to Lin Tingxuan, "Let go!" Although there were few people in this cafeteria, it didn't mean there was no one there. If someone saw her and Lin Tingxuan pulling and tugging at each other, and it got back to Lin Tingfeng, he would definitely be upset. And what she least wanted to see was him being sad.

Lin Tingxuan pleaded in a low voice, "Then don't leave." His hands were burning hot.

Ye Wenyu exerted force, trying to break free from his control.

Lin Tingxuan took another step back, and said with a mixture of compromise and pleading, "Okay, I promise you, I won't say anything bad about him in front of you anymore."

Ye Wenyu nodded, indicating that she was willing to sit down face to face with him and listen to his purpose in coming to see her again. Lin Tingxuan knew that she would not leave, so he slowly let go.

At this moment, the waiter brought over the Crossing-the-Bridge Rice Noodles and noodles. Neither of them had an appetite. The steam from the bowls slowly rose, like a thin white veil between them.

Like fog, like rain, like wind—that's probably what human emotions are like.

Lin Tingxuan remained silent.

Ye Wenyu thought for a moment and said seriously to Lin Tingxuan, "I have my own judgment on things and I am not easily swayed by others. I prefer to understand a person myself rather than based on hearsay. In addition, I have always hated people who talk badly about others behind their backs!" She was stating her position.

Lin Tingxuan gave a wry smile and slowly said, "You seem to really love him." He thought to himself, so young, yet so opinionated, she is indeed a smart and beautiful girl. His admiration for her and the pain caused by her love for Lin Tingfeng were two equally intense emotions clashing within Lin Tingxuan's heart.

Ye Wenyu felt flustered and immediately turned her face away, not daring to meet Lin Tingxuan's eyes. Not only was his gaze strange, but even his tone of voice was strange, sour and full of envy and uncontrollable jealousy. What was going on? Why was he speaking in such a tone?

Does he like her?

The thought flashed through her mind like a summer lightning bolt, and roared like a spring thunder. Ye Wenyu immediately shook her head violently in her heart. How could it be? She and Lin Tingxuan had only met three times, including today. They didn't know each other at all. How could he like her? Besides, when she met him, she was already his elder brother's woman.

Therefore, she must be mistaken.

She's so narcissistic!

Ye Wenyu composed herself, cleared her throat, and tried to remain calm as she said, "You don't need to concern yourself with my affairs. I don't want to repeat myself. So, tell me, what brings you here today?"

Lin Tingxuan withdrew his sorrowful gaze and smiled. He seemed to suddenly remember something pleasant, sat up straight, and began to enjoy his Crossing-the-Bridge Rice Noodles. After a few bites, he even looked up and gave Ye Wenyu a smile, slowly savoring the taste as he said, "These Crossing-the-Bridge Rice Noodles taste really good. I didn't expect the school cafeteria to have such delicious food."

Ye Wenyu found it amusing. Looking at Lin Tingxuan's otherworldly attire, she had always thought he was an immortal who lived by drinking dew and absorbing celestial energy. It turned out that he also had the stomach of an ordinary human.

Ye Wenyu could only say, "If you like it, eat more. You look very thin."

Lin Tingfeng looked at her curiously, tilted his head, and suddenly asked her, "How old are you?"

18.

Lin Tingxuan laughed and said to her, "I'm twenty-eight, and my brother is probably thirty-eight, haha, but you act like a caring older sister in front of me, speaking in such an old-fashioned way, it's really funny."

Ye Wenyu was a little angry again. She said slowly and slightly angrily, "You have no idea what I've been through. Worldliness ages you. Haven't you heard that? Unlike you, I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth!" Her tone was full of sarcasm.

Children from poor families mature early; poverty makes people grow up quickly.

Lin Tingxuan immediately stopped smiling and looked embarrassed. He said to her seriously, "Getting back to the point, the reason I came to see you today is that I think what you said last time was right. Since I am so miserable in the Lin family, why don't I leave? So, I plan to leave the Lin family and become independent."

"What?!" Ye Wenyu suddenly looked up, her eyes wide as she stared at Lin Tingxuan, utterly astonished. She never imagined that a single sentence from her could change his thoughts and actions of so many years.

As Ye Wenyu looked at Lin Tingxuan in surprise, he seemed to be excited by his own thoughts. He immediately changed from his sickly appearance to a lively one, his pale face regaining its color, and he even became quite talkative. He said, "I also graduated from a top university, and I'm still young, only in my twenties. I can also paint. Although I'm telling you that my paintings are so good they make people want to die, that's because I always think that if I'm going to paint, I should become a famous artist who will be remembered for generations. So I have high standards for myself. I don't have a natural talent for painting, but I've been painting for several years and have some basic skills. I can teach elementary and middle school students without any problem. Let me show you."

Lin Tingxuan smiled, took out his phone, sprang up from his chair like a spring, walked briskly to Ye Wenyu, and said to her warmly, "Take a look."

He deftly opened his phone's photo album and showed Ye Wenyu his paintings one by one.

They were standing so close together, their bodies only about 3 centimeters apart. He smelled faintly of shaving lotion and even a faint herbal scent, perhaps mint. For a man to smell as sweet as a woman was a testament to his purity; he seemed to want to isolate himself from the filthy world around him with his cleanliness.

Ye Wenyu's face flushed. She thought the two of them were standing too close, but because he was Lin Tingfeng's younger brother, Ye Wenyu forced herself not to overthink it. She lowered her head and focused on looking at Lin Tingxuan's phone, looking at the paintings.

She began to appreciate it seriously, mentally assessing the quality of Lin Tingxuan's paintings.