Chapter 69

Perhaps his confusion was too obvious. Lin Mian glanced at him and said, "I'm currently teaching physics at North City University."

Yesterday was too busy, and this morning was the same situation. He Xintong had a lot of questions he wanted to ask but didn't say them out loud.

What on earth did Lin Mian go through in these four years that allowed her to become a university teacher at the age of 19? Moreover, when Lin Mian was supposed to graduate last year, He Xintong went to Beicheng University to look for her, but she was nowhere to be seen.

Did she graduate?

There were too many doubts hidden in He Xintong's heart. Lin Mian, whom he was so familiar with before, was like a mystery to him, not to mention that there was a four-year gap between them.

He knew nothing during these four years. The only thing he could do was wait, wait for Lin Mian to tell him everything.

After breakfast, Lin Mei smiled and suggested, "I'm afraid I don't have much in common with you young people anymore. I'll go to work first. Guo'er, please treat Xiao Qi well."

"Don't worry, Mom. I will definitely take good care of your friends."

She said it so clearly that no matter how restless He Xintong's heart was, it calmed down at this moment.

But being calm was not enough. He Xintong called Li Yifan and asked him to postpone this morning's work to the afternoon. He wanted to keep an eye on this person to see what he was going to do.

He trusts Lin Mian, but that doesn't mean he trusts Qi Yuyang.

This man has a shrewd and calculating look on his face. It's obvious that he is not a good person. Moreover, his purpose is too strong. It was obviously him who took the initiative to win Lin Mei's favor!

He Xintong would never admit that he would get anxious when someone else did something he hadn't done.

The Lin family’s garden is not small, especially for the North City where every inch of land is valuable.

"By the way, how did you and my mother meet?"

Lin Mian was not polite at all. She directly took the kettle and handed it to the two of them. Both of them said that if they had nothing to do, they could come and help her with the housework.

She was also a little curious about how Qi Yuyang managed to become a close friend with Lin Mei, regardless of their age difference, since Lin Mei was not very close to him at the moment.

"secret"

Qi Yuyang blinked, and his blue irises were as clear as the sea, reflecting her figure.

Seeing that the atmosphere between the two of them was not right, He Xintong snorted coldly, "Pretending."

Qi Yuyang was not in a hurry despite being treated sarcastically. He stood up with a smile and looked at He Xintong.

"I'm not very good at Chinese. What does this mean? Does it describe your current state? I do remember a word called affectation, which I think is more suitable for you."

Faced with the other party's provocation, He Xintong was no longer angry. This person's level was higher than he expected, and he could no longer act on impulse.

He chuckled, "If you haven't learned Chinese well, then study hard before you speak. Don't mislead the students."

The two of them were at loggerheads, and there were tiny sparks crackling in the air.

Lin Mian did not stop them. She stopped watering, put the kettle aside, and looked at them with a smile. This seemed particularly interesting to her.

Her eyes sparkled, as if wet by rain, so bright that it made people inexplicably concerned.

The two of them stopped arguing and stopped to look at her.

"Why don't you continue?"

Even a fool could hear the regret in his tone.

Those places that were ignored by He Xintong finally came out from the corner.

Her personality has changed a lot.

But people don't remain unchanged. Even He Xintong himself cannot say that in these four years he will be exactly the same as the He Xintong in Lin Mian's memory.

He didn't know whether Lin Mian would accept his new self, so he tried hard to behave the same as before.

Whether it is his immature temper or impulsive behavior, he is trying hard to disguise it.

Because from the very beginning, the positions between them were unbalanced.

No matter what she is like, no matter how her personality changes, he will only love her more, but he cannot be sure whether her original emotional foundation will become weaker because of his changes.

"Xiao Mian has changed a lot now."

He Xintong stared at Qi Yuyang who was speaking with wide eyes. What was wrong with this guy? He called her "Xiao Mian"? This was also something he could call her!

Moreover, this statement sounded like he had known Lin Mian for a long time, but he had just met Lin Mian today, right?

"Don't call me that. This is the first time we meet today."

Good job!

Unlike He Xintong's excitement, Qi Yuyang was stunned.

As far as he knew, Lin Mian was not such a woman with changeable emotions. She was always gentle, persistent, brave, and incredibly dazzling.

But such coldness was not what Qi Yuyang had expected.

"Then what should I call you? Teacher Lin."

He read Teacher Lin's name for a long time, which made him feel a little nostalgic.

"That's a good name for you, Teacher Qi."

Although I responded to his words, it was very calm.

Qi Yuyang knew that Lin Mian disliked him, and if he continued to stay, Lin Mian would probably dislike him even more, so he resigned not long after.

Once the irrelevant people left, the thorns on He Xintong's body finally retracted, revealing his soft inner self.

Under the eaves, he stood straight in front of her, the sunlight shining on his face from the east, casting a boundary between light and dark.

One side of his tall nose was stained with warm light, while the other side was plunged into deep shadow, as if splitting him in half.

The shadow of silence continues to spread, but the shadow under the light is so close.

"I've thought about it and warned myself to just be a perfect listener when you want to talk. I'll always be waiting for you."

His voice was low and intermittent, and he seemed to not know how to start.

"But I can't ignore the changes in you. I'm a little scared, afraid that you will hate me now. You said you didn't want to be the last person to know, but I don't even have the chance to talk to you. I want to tell you what happened in the past four years. Are you willing to tell me what happened in the past four years? Are you willing to tell me where you have been in the past four years?"

Pain can be expressed through sound, which Lin Mian cannot ignore.

But there were some things she couldn't say now, even though she knew all too well how much he was suffering.

"I want to give you something, I've been preparing it for a long time."

After a long time, Lin Mian grabbed He Xintong's hand and ran.

In the sunlight, the hand holding his was not soft, but hard. Even the softest fingertips had little flesh. It felt more like touching bones through that thin layer of flesh.

The previous touches had made his heart beat rapidly, a fact he hadn't noticed in his trance.

What exactly did she go through?

His heart was in turmoil, and the tiny pains overwhelmed him. The waves hit over his head, and he closed his eyes in the waves.

"Look, do you like it?"

When he came to his senses, He Xintong saw a cylindrical bottle placed on Lin Mian's palm, with a slightly yellowish and turbid fluid flowing in it.

He opened the lid and the fragrance spread, like the smell of a quilt that had become fluffy and soft after being exposed to the sun, or like the faint smell that remained on the skin after just taking a shower.

"This is?"

Lin Mian smiled softly and pointed his index finger at the brown "cold water" label on the bottle.

"I think it suits you very well. I made this scent with you in mind."

This sentence made He Xintong subconsciously hold the bottle tightly, pressing his thumb tightly on the bottle cap, unwilling to let the fragrance flow into the air.

Suddenly, he thought of the rich yet not cloying scent of gardenia he smelled last night.

"Did you make perfume for Auntie too?"

Lin Mian nodded. She had very few entertainment activities in the past four years, and making perfume was one of the few things she could do.

It's called entertainment, but it also requires thinking. She thought about these people over and over again before she could come up with the scent that she thought was most suitable for them.

So, is this because she has him in her heart?

He Xintong never thought that one day he would receive such a gift from Lin Mian, a gift specially made for him, and it was the same gift he gave to her mother.

Like a little bear holding a honey pot, He Xintong's eyes were wide open, and he almost buried his face in his hands.

Seeing his reaction, Lin Mian knew that He Xintong loved this gift very much. Thinking of Lin Mei's eagerness to spray the perfume on herself after receiving it, Lin Mian frowned, "Aren't you going to spray it? It's not an aromatherapy."

The more you spray this stuff, the less it becomes!

Although he was reluctant, seeing the expectant look in Lin Mian's eyes when he looked at him, He Xintong subconsciously opened the lid again and sprayed it on his wrist.

"Just a spray?"

"I'm not a butterfly, I can smell the fragrance instantly."

This guy is really stubborn, not much different from before.

Thinking of He Xintong who looked reliable and mature standing on the stage yesterday, Lin Mian couldn't help laughing for a long time. In He Xintong's puzzled look, she snatched the perfume bottle from his hand.

"Don't be reluctant, there are many more like this."

In He Xintong's sight, Lin Mian opened the suitcase placed aside.

The suitcase was filled with perfume bottles of various shapes, densely packed and wrapped in foam bags.

There were so many bottles of perfume, and even with the bottle caps covered, a rich fragrance still wafted towards He Xintong the moment the suitcase was opened.

“This, this.”

He could hardly close his mouth. The bottle of perfume Lin Mian gave him looked as small as a newly sprouted seed in front of these perfumes.

So she was going to send so many people?

Yes, in these four years, he was definitely not the only one she was thinking about, so it was normal for her to have so many thoughts.

He Xintong smiled, "It's so hard, doing so much. Xiaomian has so many friends."

Looking at the smile on He Xintong's face that was uglier than crying, Lin Mian frowned slightly.

"What are you talking about? To be precise, all of this can be considered as done for you."

"It's just that after I saw your speech yesterday, I felt that this scent was the most suitable for you. Those ones don't suit you now. Four years is not a short time. Although we haven't met, I always imagine what changes will happen to you and what kind of perfume you should wear, so I accidentally made too much."

The understatement of "accidentally doing too much" becomes heavy in the face of so many perfumes.

It is almost impossible to grasp whether the key point is "Lin Mian watched his speech yesterday" or "Lin Mian has been thinking about him for four years." In front of these perfumes that belong to him, language becomes pale at this moment.

He Xintong hugged Lin Mian tightly, his head resting on her neck.

Really, are you so moved by this?

Lin Mian was about to make a joke when he felt the wetness on his neck.

She was stunned. In the silent crying, she slowly raised her hand and stroked He Xintong's head, gently stroking his hair again and again.

In silent comfort, countless waves surrounded them. What she touched with her hands was not only his skin, but also the sad soul that was crying.

It turns out that four years is really a long time.

Lin Mian gently kissed He Xintong's ear.