Chapter 48. [Second Update] This person better not have anyone else...
When He Yan knocked on the door, Wen Xue was diligently preparing her lessons in her room.
She knew he had come to ask her to have dinner, so she put down her pen and closed her notebook. While calling out "Coming!" she opened the small refrigerator she had bought from the market. A blast of cold air hit her, and she happily took out the watermelon popsicles she had made.
Recently, she has become fond of making all kinds of iced drinks. For the sake of her health, she drinks very little, and most of it ends up in He Yan's stomach.
She noticed that he looked most relaxed when he was eating watermelon popsicles.
You must like it, right?
Wen Xue got up to open the door, but the smile in her eyes froze when she saw his furrowed brows. She handed him the popsicle and asked hesitantly, "What happened?"
"fine."
He Yan snapped out of his daze, shook his head, took the watermelon popsicle, and took a bite. The coolness seemed to dispel the stuffiness in his heart. He calmed his expression and said, "The car is washed. Let's go out to eat."
Are you really okay?
Wen Xue glanced at him in confusion, turned around, turned off the fan, picked up her sun hat and put it on, then followed him into the stairwell.
He Yan walked ahead, biting into an ice pop, and for the first time ever, he felt a sense of hesitation.
Throughout the journey, he kept recalling who had driven and who had ridden in the car. He counted again and again, and there couldn't have been more than five people.
Unfortunately, it's highly unlikely that these cufflinks were left behind by any of these individuals.
So why would it appear on the car?
There's only one possibility: someone he doesn't know got on the bus.
On the way back, he had already planned it out. He would skip those pointless probing questions and just ask her directly. But for some reason, the moment he opened the door and saw her, he just couldn't open his mouth.
The two went downstairs and ran into Wu Yuejiang, who was drenched in sweat, in the stairwell.
Wu Yuejiang watched He Yan eat the popsicle with a clear conscience, cursed under his breath, and snatched it away in a flash. Without any hesitation, he ate the rest in a few bites and still wanted more. He shamelessly asked Wen Xue, "Little sister, are there any more? Give your brother one too."
"have!"
Wen Xue smiled and said, "Wait here, I'll go get it."
She turned and ran uphill, her steps a little hurried, her sun hat fell off, and she quickly turned back and exclaimed in surprise.
He Yan bent down and picked it up, and only then was she relieved, and continued up to the third floor.
"It's so hot I'm melting..." Wu Yuejiang leaned against the wall, tugging at his collar, his breath hot as he spoke. "What's wrong? Who offended you?"
He then noticed that He Yan seemed somewhat displeased, his brows furrowed in a somber mood.
He Yan didn't answer the question, but casually fiddled with the strap of Wen Xue's sun hat with his fingers.
The old house wasn't well soundproofed, and soon, Wen Xue's footsteps could be heard. He Yan looked up at the sound, his gaze a mixture of emotions as he looked at her smiling face. He looked down and noticed a soft strand of hair tangled in her hat.
He tried to pick it out and throw it away, but it ended up getting tangled in his fingers.
"My sister has a conscience after all." Wu Yuejiang took the popsicle and eagerly took a few bites, then mumbled, "Hey, are you guys going out to eat—"
He Yan, who had been silent all along, interrupted him, "Why ask so many questions? Don't you have a dinner appointment?"
Wu Yuejiang looked bewildered, "I—"
"Okay, you go ahead with your work, just don't drink too much."
He Yan tossed his hat to Wen Xue. "Let's go."
Wen Xue caught it, gently patted off the dust, put it back on, and smiled at Wu Yuejiang as she passed by. After smiling, she quickly followed He Yan downstairs.
Wu Yuejiang: "?"
…
There are many affordable and delicious home-style restaurants nearby. Wenxue peeled the shrimp and carefully placed them in He Yan's bowl and plate.
Throughout the meal, he seemed completely distracted. To her surprise, he actually ate a slice of ginger without batting an eye. After she reminded him, he said, "It tastes good."
"What happened?" she asked anxiously, putting down her chopsticks.
Wasn't she perfectly fine when she drove back?
What happened to make him look so unhappy?
"nothing."
He looked at her calmly, "It's nothing serious, just a small matter."
He Yan didn't like keeping things a secret. Under her increasingly uneasy gaze, he took a crumpled tissue out of his pocket and leaned over to place it beside her.
Wen Xue looked at him, puzzled. She unfolded the crumpled paper, picked up the cufflink, and noticed that it seemed more delicate between her fair fingers. She turned to him and asked, "What is this? A button?"
"Don't you recognize me?" he asked.
She shook her head blankly.
He Yan's stiff body relaxed slightly, but tensed up again the next second, his expression becoming even more serious. "Found it while washing the car. It was in the car. Think carefully, who else but me got in the car?"
Wen Xue was completely confused. "There's no one here."
As soon as she finished speaking, she remembered what had happened in the parking lot that afternoon.
He Yan's gaze never left her face, and naturally he didn't miss any subtle changes in her eyes. Without even giving her time to recall, he asked in a low voice, "Who is it?"
“Weiwei’s brother.” Wen Xue wasn’t really sure if the cufflink belonged to Lin Baizhou, but He Yan kept staring at her, so she couldn’t help but tell him what happened that afternoon. “…He helped me drive the car out, and it wasn’t scratched, but,” she paused, looked up at him, “I didn’t notice his cufflink.”
Looking back now, she only vaguely remembers that Lin Baizhou was wearing a white shirt.
That's all.
"And then?" he asked.
Wen Xue paused, tilting her head as she tried to recall something that was no longer clear in her memory. "He got off the bus, and I gave him a bottle of soda. What happened?"
He Yan seemed to remember something and asked her, "Didn't you say before that the child only had her mother and an aunt at home?"
“Her brother lives outside and rarely comes back.” This tutoring job is a two-way selection process. Fang Lirong insists on only hiring female college students to tutor her daughter because she is busy with work and only has a junior high school student and a nanny at home. No matter what the reason, she does not want to have young male students spend time alone with her daughter.
The fact that no men lived in the Fang family home permanently was also a very important factor in Wen Xue's willingness to give it a try.
He Yan's expression softened slightly. Seeing her looking at him nervously, he knew he had frightened her today. Even though he still wanted to ask for clarification, he held back. After picking up his chopsticks and eating the shrimp she had peeled, he said in a casual tone, "Ask him another day. If it is, give it back to him."
"What if it isn't?" Wen Xue pressed.
He Yan reassured her, "Ask first, then we'll talk."
Wen Xue also felt a wave of fear. She finally understood why he looked so serious. How terrifying! There were things in the car that she had never seen before, and she didn't even know whose they were. "No, I have to ask him right now."
After unlocking her phone, she discovered that she did not have any contact information for Lin Baizhou.
Or should she ask Weiwei?
But this is not suitable either. She knows that Weiwei and Lin Baizhou have a cold relationship. Should she ask Aunt Zhang or Fang Lirong?
Wen Xue was in a state of utter confusion, and He Yan could see it all. He regretted telling her about it. Didn't he know how timid she was? Yes, that was also why he had hesitated and felt agitated after discovering the cufflinks.
"Don't ask today," He Yan stopped her. "Put these cufflinks in your bag, you can ask him when you see him. It's not a big deal, don't worry."
Wen Xue wasn't afraid that the cufflinks belonged to Lin Baizhou; on the contrary, at this moment, she was afraid that they weren't his.
She had no appetite at all, "but—"
"No buts." He made the final decision, his assertiveness giving off a strange sense of reassurance. "I don't have much to do these next few days, I'll drive you around."
Wen Xue nodded and agreed, but her expression was terrible.
He Yan's gaze swept over the cufflinks on the crumpled tissue. He didn't need to think about it; he could guess the general idea. Only three or four days had passed since she last washed the car, and he was quite certain that only she and he had been in that car during those three or four days.
Now there's another person, so it can only be that this person left behind.
This person should ideally not have any ulterior motives.
-
For several days in a row, Wen Xue did not run into Lin Baizhou at the Fang family home. After being disappointed many times, she gradually became immune to the matter and was not as afraid as she was when she first found out. He Yan also breathed a barely perceptible sigh of relief.
He analyzed that if the cufflink was intentionally left behind, there would be no way the other party would have remained silent for several days.
It looks like it was lost by accident.
That afternoon, He Yan had an appointment with a friend. After dropping Wen Xue off at Fang's apartment building, he gave her the car keys and told her to go home early after class. He then walked outside the complex and hailed a taxi to keep his appointment.
Wen Xue took the elevator upstairs and rang the doorbell as usual.
Unexpectedly, the person who opened the door for her was neither Aunt Zhang nor Weiwei, but Lin Baizhou, who was dressed casually.
He was probably handling official business; a pair of rimless glasses perched on his high-bridged nose, and he said in a gentle voice, "Teacher Wen is here."
Upon seeing him, she immediately remembered the matter that had been bothering her for several days. Without even changing her slippers, she hurriedly found the cufflink and opened her palm to him, saying, "Is this cufflink yours? I found it while washing the car a couple of days ago. I don't have your number, and I've never run into you before."
Lin Baizhou paused, reached out, and hesitated for a few seconds when his fingertips touched her palm. Then he picked it up, glanced at it, and nodded: "It's mine. I didn't notice the button was off."
Wenxue completely relaxed.
She breathed a sigh of relief, a smile playing on her lips. "That's good, that's good."
"What's wrong?" he asked with a smile, putting away his cufflinks.
“We weren’t sure who left it behind,” Wen Xue said casually as she changed her shoes, “but we were a little worried.”
Lin Baizhou hesitated for a moment and said, "I'm sorry for the trouble."
"No, no." She waved her hand. "Anyway, it's fine as long as it's returned to its rightful owner. Weiwei is still waiting for me, I'll go find her first."
"Um."
Wen Xue walked briskly towards Fang Lingwei's room. Before class started, she took out her phone and sent a message to He Yan: 【It's his [spinning][spinning]】
Two hours passed in the blink of an eye.
Wen Xue waved goodbye to Aunt Zhang, who was busy in the kitchen. Her happy mood lasted until she left the Fang family home. Unexpectedly, she saw Lin Baizhou in the elevator. She smiled at him and greeted him in a friendly manner.
"You didn't press the elevator button," she reminded him.
Lin Baizhou pinched the bridge of his nose and chuckled, "I forgot."
The two entered the elevator car, which descended. Wen Xue turned on her phone; her chat with He Yan was still showing the message she had sent. She figured he was probably busy and hadn't seen it. Regardless, it was good news.
After that, he could focus on his work without having to pick her up or drop her off.
She put her phone away, and suddenly, a slender hand reached out and entered her line of sight. She looked over and met Lin Baizhou's gentle eyes. He was holding a business card in his hand. "My phone number is on it. If you can't find my mom if anything happens at home, you can call me."
He is very sensible.
He didn't ask to exchange contact information, but simply gave her a business card, which was also a response to her statement that "I don't have your number."
When the elevator arrived at the first floor, Wen Xue took it and smiled, "Okay."
He held the elevator door open for her, and she stepped out first, thanking him again. She casually put the business card into her bag and walked out of the building, keeping her distance from him.
Before she had even fully stepped out of the building, Wen Xue looked up and caught sight of a familiar, tall figure not far away. After a moment of stunned silence, she was filled with joy. Wasn't her appointment with her friend supposed to last until very late?
She forgot about Lin Baizhou behind her and ran straight towards He Yan.
Standing in the shadows of the trees, He Yan kept looking towards the stairwell. He saw Wen Xue earlier and couldn't help but smile when he saw her running towards him. He lifted his leg to stride over, but then noticed a tall and slender man following behind her. He shifted his gaze and glanced over casually, his expression changing slightly. Almost instantly, his eyes turned cold and sharp.
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