Lin Yongnian had been courting the woman for a few days, and seeing that she hadn't refused him, he put on his newly bought white shirt, combed his slightly longer hair into a parted style, and wore leather shoes to the park.

When Lin Yongnian arrived at the park, he saw her sitting on a park bench, wearing a beautiful white dress and fanning herself with a folding fan.

Lin Yongnian spat some water into his palm, rubbed his hands together, touched his hair, straightened his collar, and walked over.

“心柔땢志”.

Han Xinrou looked up and smiled politely at Lin Yongnian, "Old Lin, you've arrived."

Lin Yongnian smiled and nodded, then sat down next to Han Xinrou. He nervously rubbed his thighs with his hands, looked at the sky, and started making small talk.

"The sun is really strong today."

Han Xinrou nodded. "Yes."

In the sweltering summer, when is the sun not strong?

"That guy, Shin-joo-ji..."

"that……"

Lin Yongnian hesitated, sounding somewhat nervous.

Han Xinrou looked at him and said, "Old Lin, just say what you have to say."

Lin Yongnian licked his lips, took a deep breath, and said, "Xinrou, after spending this time together, I feel that we get along quite well..."

"Xinrou." A man wearing glasses, who looked to be almost six years old, walked over with an ice cream, interrupting Lin Yongnian.

Lin Yongnian also knew this man; he played the accordion in the park's senior citizens' band and was also the band's leader.

Before retiring, I think he worked at the power bureau, and his name was something like Wang Xin.

"Xinrou, come and have some ice cream." Wang Xin handed the ice cream to Han Xinrou.

Han Xinrou got up and took the ice cream, then took out a handkerchief from her skirt pocket and wiped the sweat from Wang Xin's forehead.

"Look at you, you're sweating buckets just from running around to buy an ice cream."

Wang Xin laughed and said, "Isn't this because I'm afraid the ice cream will melt?"

Lin Yongnian was struck dumb, and looked at the two of them, asking, "You..."

Han Xinrou turned to Lin Yongnian and said with a smile, "Old Lin, I haven't told you yet, but you and Lao Wang have decided to get together. We're planning to have a few tables for our wedding, and we'd like to invite you and your friends who we often hang out with in the park. You must come!"

A feeling of betrayal welled up in Lin Yongnian's heart, and he broke free.

"How...how are you two together?!"

Han Xinrou's expression froze, Wang Xin frowned, and the acquaintances around them also looked over.

"What do you mean by that?" Wang Xin asked, looking at Lin Yongnian.

Han Xinrou frowned and looked at Lin Yongnian with a strange expression, saying, "Why don't you stay with Lao Wang?"

Lin Yongnian looked at Han Xinrou and said, "You...you weren't with her..."

"What did I say to you?" Han Xinrou asked loudly.

Lin Yongnian was also quite angry, "You eat the popsicles I buy every day, what have you been up to? Now you're with Wang Xin, aren't you just playing with me?"

Han Xinrou was so angry that she raised her hand to her forehead. Lin Yongnian made it sound like she was a woman who deliberately strung men along.

"You insisted on buying it for me, and when I said I didn't want it, you still said I wouldn't eat it. You only ate it because you thought the popsicles were too cheap!"

"Good heavens, does eating an ice pop from you mean we have something going on? You're being way too presumptuous."

"My retirement pension is over a hundred, do you think I need your one-cent popsicle?"

As she spoke, Han Xinrou had Wang Xin take the popsicle, took out a dollar from her purse, and slapped it directly on Lin Yongnian.

"I'll give you back the money you spent on the popsicle. It's one yuan, enough for the popsicle you forced on me to eat, right?" Han Xinrou said with a gloomy expression.

Lin Yongnian looked at the one yuan on his leg and felt insulted.

Wang Xin looked at Lin Yongnian with disdain and said, "Old Lin Yongnian, you have a gentle heart and are kind and friendly to everyone. You insisted on buying the popsicle for Xinrou, and she only ate it because she didn't want to offend you."

"She never liked popsicles, she only liked milk ice cream that cost one cent a stick."

"She ate an ice cream she didn't like just to save face for you, and now it's like she has something going on with you and is deliberately stringing you along and playing with you? That's absolutely ridiculous."

"That's a typical example of a filthy mind; you think of others as filthy."

Lin Yongnian's face turned bright red from the words.

"You don't need to talk to him so much, let's hurry up and leave. It's bad luck to run into someone like him," Han Xinrou said, tugging at Wang Xin's sleeve.

Wang Xin nodded, and the two left together, leaving Lin Yongnian sitting on the bench, being pointed at and talked about.

"If you insist on treating someone to an ice cream, and they eat it, it's like they've agreed to your advances. Are you treating them like children playing house?"

"Exactly, these popsicles only cost a few cents each. These days, who expresses affection or pursues someone by sending them popsicles that cost a few cents every day?"

"You bet he is! This guy is really stingy."

"Yeah, they're both funny and stingy."

“The person named Xinrou is retired from a cadre position. He receives a monthly pension of over one hundred yuan. He doesn’t mention it because he doesn’t like to show off.”

“That’s right. Xinrou is just low-key, unlike some people who brag every day that they are a level eight welder in retirement and that their pension is over ninety dollars a month.”

“Xinrou is not old at all. She was a cadre in the factory before she retired. Lin Yongnian doesn’t even realize that Xinrou is not old. How could she possibly look at this old geezer?”

"That's right, that's right..."

These sarcastic words all reached Lin Yongnian's ears, making him so embarrassed that he wanted to disappear. He lowered his head and quickly fled the park.

He dropped a dollar on the ground and didn't even bend down to pick it up.

Lin Yongnian was heartbroken again. He lay on the bed, not wanting to move at all. Thinking about what Han Xinrou, Wang Xin, and the others had said in the park, he felt so ashamed that he wanted to die. He never wanted to go to the park again!

At this moment, Lin Yongnian felt like he was the male protagonist in those TV dramas, experiencing particularly difficult love lives.

"Dad, dinner's ready." Lin Guodong opened the bedroom door and said to Lin Yongnian, who was lying on the bed.

"I won't eat." Lin Yongnian's muffled voice came from the bedside.

Lin Guodong frowned and asked, "Dad, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Lin Yongnian: It's not that I'm physically uncomfortable, it's that I'm mentally uncomfortable.

"No, I just feel uncomfortable and need some peace and quiet."

Upon hearing this, Lin Guodong turned his head and glanced at Zhang Jiao.

He asked with his eyes, "Who made Dad feel uncomfortable?"

Zhang Jiao shook her head. "When I got home from get off work, he was lying in the house."

So it's none of her business.

The next day, Lin Guodong knew why Lin Yongnian was feeling unwell.

Yesterday, someone from Pear Blossom Lane told us about what happened to Lin Yongnian in the park yesterday. The story then spread to No. 18 Courtyard.

Everyone thought Lin Yongnian was ridiculous and shameful, saying he was like a toad trying to eat swan meat.