36. What if I was the one holding the umbrella for you?

She sucked the raindrop on his chin while he rubbed her damp hair tenderly. Then he gently held her face and kissed the corners of her eyes, the tip of her nose, and the corners of her lips. The kiss was indeed as refreshing as the autumn rain, slowly grinding into a sultry heat. His breath fell on her neck, burning, and she felt her body sweating. The first ray of sunlight in the morning suddenly burst onto Lingling's bed. She opened her eyes suddenly, and the dream she had just had was so clear that it seemed like it was still happening beside her pillow. She looked around awkwardly, making sure that she was no longer in Yu Chuanbei's car. She came back too late last night and forgot to close the curtains tightly, so she fell asleep. The amorous dream just now was too challenging for Lingling's moral bottom line! She buried herself in the quilt again, but her mind was still filled with Yu Chuanbei from various angles. She crawled out dejectedly, hoping that taking a shower could wash away all her memories of him. In reality, nothing happened between them on the way home last night, or afterward. It was even more dull than when a colleague would send her home. After showering, Ling Ling was blow-drying her hair while scrolling through her phone. She discovered that "Gushansibei" had sent her a private message around 5:00 AM: "Did you get home safely? Did you get wet in the rain? Are you okay?" Ling Bu Ling: No. A friend drove me home. Gushansibei: I hope I can help you in times like this, too. How about we meet? Ling Bu Ling: No, we're 2,698 kilometers apart, that's fine. Yu Chuanbei thought of the Weibo account he'd registered in college. The IP address was still Hong Kong, and it hadn't been maintained in years. If it weren't for contacting Ling Ling, the account would have been abandoned long ago. But he still refused to give in, so he pressed on. Gushansibei: Imagine if the person holding an umbrella for you last night was actually me. How would you feel? Ling Bu Ling: I'd hack you to death. *~*~*~*~*~*~* Yu Chuanbei reappeared at the bar Luo Hao frequented. Luckily, the bar was relatively quiet. People came mostly to talk, have a few drinks, and listen to music. There was rarely any harassment from the opposite sex, otherwise he wouldn't have come. When they met, it was simply to exchange information and get what they needed. Unfortunately, the issues they were both focused on hadn't made any progress, and their future looked bleak. "Hey, Yu Chuanbei, before I saw you pursuing Ling Ling, I didn't realize you were such a stubborn person. That girl is certainly nice, but not so good that you'd wait around for her, right? If that innocent little white rabbit hadn't run into you, you'd be waiting for her to die..."

She sucked the raindrop on his chin while he tenderly rubbed her damp hair. Then he gently cupped her face and planted kisses at the corners of her eyes, the tip of her nose, and the corners of her lips. The kisses were as refreshing as autumn rain, slowly grinding into a sultry heat. His breath was hot on her neck, and she felt a wave of sweat dripping from her body.

The first ray of sunlight in the early morning suddenly burst onto Ling Ling's bed. She opened her eyes suddenly, and the dream she had just had was so clear that it seemed as if it was still happening beside her pillow.

She looked around awkwardly and made sure that she was no longer in Chuanbei's car. She came back too late last night and forgot to close the curtains tightly, so she fell asleep.

That arousing dream had challenged Ling Ling's moral bottom line! She burrowed back into bed, but her mind was still filled with Yu Chuanbei from all angles. Dejected, she crawled out, hoping a bath would erase all memories of him.

In fact, nothing happened between them on the way home last night and after Yu Chuanbei sent her home. It was even more dull than when an ordinary colleague sent her home.

After a shower, Ling Ling was blow-drying her hair while scrolling through her phone. She noticed that "Gushansibei" had sent her a private message around 5:00 AM: "Did you get home safely? Did you get wet in the rain? Are you okay?"

Does it work?: No. A friend took me back.

Gushan Temple North: I also hope to be able to help you in times like this. How about we meet?

Does it work?: No, let’s just stay 2698 kilometers apart, that’s fine.

Yu Chuanbei thought about the Weibo account he'd registered in college. Its IP address was still Hong Kong, and it hadn't been maintained in years. If it weren't for contacting Ling Ling, he'd probably have abandoned it long ago. But he still wasn't willing to give up, so he continued to ask.

Gushan Temple North: Imagine, if the person holding an umbrella for you last night was actually me, how would you feel?

Whether it works or not: I will chop you to death.

*~*~*~*~*~*~

Yu Chuanbei appeared again in the bar where Luo Hao often hung out.

Fortunately, this bar is relatively quiet. People come here to talk about things, have a drink, and listen to music. There is rarely any harassment from the opposite sex, otherwise he would not come.

If they met, they would just get what they needed and exchange information. Unfortunately, the things they were concerned about had made no progress and their future was worrying.

"Hey, Yu Chuanbei, before I saw you chasing Ling Ling, I really didn't know you were such a stubborn person. That girl is indeed good, but she is not so good that you would sit back and wait for her to escape, right? If her innocent little white rabbit had not bumped into you, you would have just been waiting there for death?" Luo Hao mocked Yu Chuanbei.

Yu Chuanbei disagreed. "Of course, a guy like you can't understand my choice. I'm a person with emotional cleanliness. I can't fall in love with someone I don't like. In my eyes, Ling Ling is the most special one. No one else can catch my eye."

"Oh, it's the same whether you take it off or not!" Luo Hao clinked his glass with him in a very arrogant manner, then leaned over to whisper in his ear, "Being overly obsessed with love for one person stems from a lack of sexual experience. Look at you, you only had some dry romances in school, and after you started working, you had an ambiguous relationship with the young lady who just took you in for a while. Now that you're busy, you're only focused on climbing the ladder without even looking around. You've really lost yourself, which is why you're so stubborn. In my opinion, your three sisters have been too protective of you, so—you desperately need a brother-in-law like me."

"Why do I need a brother-in-law like you? Why do you want to teach me how Mu Cui Chao Hong could cheat my sister?" Yu Chuanbei exposed him bluntly.

Luo Hao quickly waved his hands and said, "No, no, no, I am absolutely loyal to Jin Nan."

"Who was it just now who said it would be the same even if I took it off?" Yu Chuanbei didn't believe the promise he made out of thin air at all.

"Hey, you know what, your second sister looks really different after she takes off her clothes..." Luo Hao moved his butt towards him, wanting to share his wonderful experience with golden eyes. Yu Chuanbei immediately jumped away in disgust.

"You want to die? If you dare to say another word, I will start recording and send it to Yu Jinnan!" Yu Chuanbei threatened him.

Of course Luo Hao didn't dare to do anything more and had to keep quiet.

But seeing that Yu Chuanbei was still trapped in love, he came up with another idea: "Is your company holding a digital transformation summit recently?"

"Well, it's organized in cooperation with the government. This topic is a hot topic recently." Yu Chuanbei drank alone and was not in the mood to talk about work.

"Have you invited Taku Wu?"

"You're just an advertising company, and your technology application concepts are so backward, what can you invite?"

Luo Hao slyly clicked his tongue, "Because we have Ling Ling!"

Yu Chuanbei's hand paused for a moment, but he did not comment.

"Oh, don't tell me so seriously that public property can't be used for personal purposes. I just want an invitation. This is a public welfare promotion. Besides, Tuowu Technology's application concepts are backward, so they should have some cutting-edge employees to stay ahead of the market and maintain their market acumen!"

"Will she really come?"

"Between the two of you, you're just lacking a strong push. You two have obviously held hands and are looking at each other in love, but neither of you is too reserved to take that step. So let me do it. I'm the booster, full of fuel. When you two are burning with passion, don't forget me." Luo Hao never forgot to take credit.

"Why would I think of you at a time like that?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~

To avoid suspicion, Yu Chuanbei officially invited Tuo Wu. Unfortunately, Luo Hao happened to be on a business trip and couldn't attend. This left two tickets for Creative Group A, which Bai Yihan was responsible for allocating.

She ran to find Ling Ling excitedly.

"Lingling, there's a cocktail party this Saturday night. Would you like to go with me? I heard there are a lot of single elite men there. Xue Xuan from the administrative department met her husband at such a cocktail party. Since they started dating, Xue Xuan has upgraded all her gear!" Bai Yihan moved closer to Lingling, almost touching her face.

Ling Ling naturally had no interest in such occasions. She hid in the pile of documents in front of her and said tiredly, "Sorry, Huanhuan, I really can't go! The first phase of the smart platform we built will be in trial operation at the end of this month, and I have to keep an eye on it."

"Ouch—" Bai Yihan pulled her out again and said, "The theme of that cocktail party was something like 'New Media Digital Transformation' or some high-end forum. It'll be helpful for your work!"

"Sister Mei, aren't you going to such a high-end event?" Ling Ling wanted to push her away.

"You've been following Sister Mei for so long, don't you know her style? When has she ever used her non-working time to participate in activities that don't have a direct impact on KPI? She gave me these two tickets because she didn't want to go. If you don't accompany me, do you want me to ask Gu Chuqi for help?" Bai Yihan pouted and pretended to be pitiful towards Ling Ling.

Ling Ling was most afraid of this move, but she still wanted to fight back, "But I don't have anything to wear to the party."

"Don't you know the rule? Wear black if you don't know what color to wear. If you can't afford expensive clothes, buy black. Wearing a black dress is always the right thing to do!"

"Okay then." Ling Ling had no choice but to agree reluctantly.

*~*~*~*~*~*~

On Saturday night, when Ling Ling arrived at the hotel where the digital forum was held as agreed with Bai Yihan, she immediately regretted it.

Because she saw Bai Yihuan, dressed to the nines. She was wearing a tight silver gown, a large rhinestone hair ornament in her high bun, and dazzling jewelry all over her body. She felt that Bai Yihuan was so beautiful that she seemed to be glowing, even the tips of her hair seemed to be electrified. If all the lights in the hotel were turned off at that moment, Bai Yihuan herself would probably be able to illuminate the whole place.

Bai Yi walked towards her with a smile on his face. She seemed to be looking at the 3M reflective strip swaying on the back of the car in front.

"Hey Lingling, what are you wearing? You look so gray." Bai Yihan looked at her with disgust, but the smile in his eyes seemed like he was joking.

"This is my most expensive dress." Ling Ling didn't mind. "Let's go in quickly. We are already ten minutes late." She didn't want to dwell on this matter anymore.

After they took out their invitations, they were led to their seats by the concierge.

Ling Ling heard a familiar voice coming from the podium. She couldn't help but look up before she put her bag away.

——It turned out to be Yu Chuanbei.