Chapter 61 No matter who confesses their feelings to you, you are...
As soon as the engagement party ended, Tao Minmin wanted to invite her to play another game, but Su Yunruo had something on her mind and remembered that Tao Minmin's fiancé had initially approached her father, so she politely declined and drove away alone.
Traffic was congested in the city center, with frequent stops and starts. It took more than an hour for the road to become clear, and it was already close to 9:30.
She navigated to the island in the middle of the lake; she was a little tired today and wanted to go home and rest early. But as she drove around in circles, she realized she was already at the entrance of Lin Yuanzhou's residential complex.
From this vantage point, you can see Lin Yuanzhou's building. Count up seven windows, and that's Lin Yuanzhou's house.
People in S City have no nightlife. Under immense educational pressure, the only thing every household does after 7 p.m. is supervise their children's studies.
Bright patches of light are stacked on the exterior of the building.
The seventh window was different; the main light was off, the secondary light was dim, and in the faint light, a dark shadow stood.
Su Yunruo's heart skipped a beat, and for a moment she had the illusion that she was looking into his eyes.
You can't even see their faces.
He remained motionless.
Su Yunru guessed that he was too preoccupied with his troubles and was standing by the window looking at the scenery to clear his mind, perhaps unaware that she had already driven to the entrance of the community.
Should we give him a call?
Let's forget about it.
Even if she apologizes, it won't undo the negative effects of what people are saying.
She started the car, and before she could even turn on the turn signal, the world in her field of vision suddenly began to flicker.
rumble
Two thunderclaps sounded overhead.
Then a torrential downpour began, covering the windshield with a layer of sticky glue.
It's raining.
The rain came suddenly; the weather forecast hadn't predicted it.
Judging that the rain was too heavy to drive, Su Yunruo parked the car back on the safe side of the road, turned on some music, and listened to songs to pass the time.
Perhaps it was the soothing melody that made her thoughts wander, and she even remembered the song playing on Xiao Ou's phone.
The cheerful tune was almost fit for kindergarten children's morning exercises, and it didn't suit Lin Xingsen's appearance at all.
Su Yunruo rested her hand on the car window, curious about what Lin Xingsen, that little ice block, would look like when he sang this song, so she searched for the music video to amuse herself.
In the colorful scene, the other three children are happy, while Lin Xingsen pretends to sing with a fake smile, which is both awkward and funny.
In particular, the music video also included a storyline, and the planner probably didn't understand Lin Xingsen's personality at all, actually arranging him into a "comedic" character among the four people.
How could he agree to filming?
As the music video ended, the rain intensified and showed no signs of stopping. The car body, which was usually well-insulated, emitted a crackling sound like firecrackers.
Su Yunruo began to have a bad feeling.
S City rarely experiences such heavy rain. In the past, even when it rained heavily, it would stop in about ten minutes.
She reached for her phone to check the weather forecast when she suddenly heard two soft knocks.
The rainwater that clung to the car window slid down the glass, and no more splashed up. The situation outside the car window gradually became clear.
A person leaned down and looked at her through the car window.
The rain was so heavy that it swept away all the surrounding lights, blurring his face, but Su Yunruo recognized him at a glance.
Based solely on intuition.
She unconsciously rolled down the car window, and the sound of rain rushed in, louder than firecrackers in the car, more like the sound of drums, rushing from her ears to her brain and quickly taking over.
In the darkness, Lin Yuanzhou opened his mouth: "##@$..."
She tilted her head, her face full of confusion, her ears filled with a constant buzzing noise.
Lin Yuanzhou sighed, pressed his waist down even more, and stuck his head in through the window.
The sudden closeness made Su Yunruo's heart pound.
Holding my breath, I could feel the dampness emanating from Lin Yuanzhou's hair.
—It wasn't dampness, but the warmth that emanated from his breath as he spoke.
"The weather forecast says it might rain all night."
Amid the cacophony of rain, besides his increasingly clear voice, there was also the sound of his own heavy breathing.
"The road is already flooded, and the car might get submerged later. Come up with me."
Su Yunruo was stunned for a moment, "So big? I haven't heard of any typhoons before..."
"Extreme weather has become much more frequent in recent years."
Yes, extreme weather has been occurring frequently these past few years, with news reports saying that some places even experienced hail in May or June.
She's having a bad night.
If I had known, I would have just driven back to the island in the middle of the lake; I wouldn't be stuck outside like this now.
Regretting her actions, she considered the safety of staying in the car. "I understand, step back a little, I'll open the car door."
As Lin Yuanzhou left, Su Yunruo breathed a barely perceptible sigh of relief.
I closed the car window, grabbed my phone and bag, opened the door, and moved the umbrella over her head.
The shoes touched the water before touching the ground, and the water almost reached the instep, seeping in from the edges of the shoes.
Fortunately, the umbrella overhead was large enough to keep her dry.
Snap—
After slamming the car door shut, Lin Yuanzhou reached out and tugged at Su Yunruo's arm.
Su Yunruo frowned slightly and subconsciously looked away.
His hand slipped and touched his sleeve. He said first, "Let's go this way, there's water over there."
Su Yunruo: "..."
The water on the road was all flowing into the low-lying areas, making it feel like wading through a river from the entrance of the residential area to the apartment building.
Once she stepped onto the stairs and out of the water, Su Yunruo breathed a sigh of relief.
She was definitely acting strangely today; she almost turned into an "ignorant person" who had to stay in her car and bother the firefighters.
Lin Yuanzhou closed the umbrella. "Xiao Lin isn't here tonight. Let's go upstairs."
Where did he go?
“He doesn’t have any work commitments lately, so I arranged for him to have tutoring at a teacher I know. It’s raining too hard tonight, so I let him sleep at the teacher’s house.”
"oh--"
Lin Yuanzhou entered the password to open the door of the apartment building, let Su Yunruo in, and then pressed the elevator button.
While waiting for the elevator, neither of them spoke, each lost in thought as they faced the wall.
Su Yunruo thought to herself, "He actually knew I lived downstairs, but he didn't ask me anything."
Isn't he curious?
bite--
The elevator arrived, and Lin Yuanzhou went in before Su Yunruo. It was then that she finally stood behind him.
Lin Yuanzhou should have gone out for a social engagement in the afternoon. He put on his expensive suit again, took off his coat, and his white shirt underneath was also ironed with sharp edges.
It turned out the umbrella wasn't very big; it couldn't cover two tall people.
She wasn't wet, but Lin Yuanzhou's shoulder and entire back were completely soaked. The fabric clung tightly to his skin, yet he didn't look disheveled; his muscles jutted out, and in the middle, there was a groove that disappeared into his trousers.
For a moment, she was in a daze, and instead of thinking "no one is good enough for me," she thought "I want to."
Perhaps it was because of the close proximity, perhaps it was due to some recent events, perhaps it was because Su's father pointed out that she had once groomed Lin Yuanzhou as a marriage partner... there were many, many side reasons.
Su Yunruo asked herself honestly, was the most direct reason that she couldn't resist the temptation?
I've never seen a perfectly proper person unintentionally exude sexiness, so I haven't developed any resistance to it yet.
Just like in college, she felt bored with everything because her threshold was too high, until she started skydiving. The thrill was something she had never experienced before, something new and beyond her threshold, which made her addicted for a long time. Later—which is now—she developed resistance, and skydiving became boring again.
As the elevator arrived, her thoughts returned to normal, and the increasingly unsettling thoughts that had been swirling in Su Yunruo's mind due to the silence vanished completely.
Compared to the last time I visited, Lin Yuanzhou's house was more spacious and cleaner, and there were no longer mountains of gifts piled up on the table, presumably because Lin Xingsen had been sidelined.
Lin Yuanzhou stopped in the corridor, opened the shoe cabinet, took out a pair of women's slippers, and tore open the packaging bag in front of her.
"Change your shoes."
Su Yunruo raised an eyebrow, "You prepared in advance, so you're so sure I'll come again?"
“I don’t know what your plans are, but I just think it’s better to be prepared.” He reached out and took her bag. “I was thinking that you should wear high heels and a dress to Tao Minmin’s engagement ceremony today. Wouldn’t it be more troublesome if you got soaked in the rain? I didn’t expect you to dress so simply.”
"I always keep a low profile, except when I'm walking the red carpet."
Lin Yuanzhou chuckled, "That's true."
Why didn't you go to the scene today?
"I have a social engagement, so I can only offer my blessings over the phone." Lin Yuanzhou turned around. "Your pants are wet. There are some pajamas that Lin Xingsen hasn't worn yet at home. I'll get them for you to change into."
"He's so short—"
“He’s grown taller recently, now he’s only about this much shorter than you.” Lin Yuanzhou turned around and gestured with his hand to indicate a short distance, about seven or eight centimeters. “That’s why I bought him new pajamas.”
When he spoke, his gaze was slightly past Su Yunruo's eyes, probably at the top of her head.
It was so obvious that Su Yunruo unconsciously looked down at her chest, which was completely dry and had no inappropriate parts.
She didn't understand why he was secretly avoiding her.
"Okay, go get it."
Su Yunruo gave him a way out.
She added, "My pants are wet, but you're completely soaked. Change your clothes before you come out."
"good."
After changing his shoes, Lin Yuanzhou went to Lin Xingsen's room. Su Yunruo sat down on the sofa and sent a message to the housekeeper to let him know that she was staying with Lin Yuanzhou that night so he wouldn't worry if he couldn't find her.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a water stain on the floor where Lin Yuanzhou had walked. Not only were his clothes mostly wet, but his pants were also completely soaked.
The rain kept falling, pattering against the glass.
Su Yunruo nestled comfortably on the sofa. The time was 10:30, the time she usually lay in bed to rest. Her biological clock kicked in, and drowsiness crept into her eyes.
I suddenly woke up.
She almost fell asleep at the house of a "strange" man.
Yes, it's unfamiliar.
More than ten years ago, Lin Yuanzhou was defined as a "friend" and "partner" in her eyes, but they had only known each other for less than half a year at that time.
More than a decade later, they weren't even "friends" anymore. They hadn't spoken much, hadn't collaborated, and were just acquaintances—"strangers" who knew nothing about each other.
That's far too low a level of vigilance.
Su Yunruo sat up straight again, took out her phone to check the weather forecast, and saw that the expert said it would rain all night.
For safety reasons, it's best for her to stay here.
As for why she felt it was appropriate... if she delved any deeper, Su Yunruo almost laughed.
This completely overturned my previous judgment.
Does she really treat Lin Yuanzhou as a stranger?
From the bottom of her heart, she had absolute trust in Lin Yuanzhou.
They trusted him so much that they felt nothing would happen if someone stayed overnight at his house.
Why would you trust a single man you haven't seen in over ten years?
"Never mind," Su Yunruo patted her head, trying to shake off her drowsiness.
Even out of politeness, she shouldn't have fallen asleep on someone else's sofa.
She sat up and couldn't help but yawn.
Seeing the remote control on the coffee table, I reached for it and turned on the TV, intending to find some catchy dramas to stimulate my吐槽 (tu cao, a Chinese internet slang term for sarcastic or critical comments) and keep myself from falling asleep.
drop
The television is turned on.
Skip the start time and directly display the episodes that were airing earlier.
In the picture, two heads are close together.
The long-haired person had their head held by the short-haired person, who raised their neck, while the short-haired person lowered their head slightly and turned their face to one side.
Not only are their heads close together, but their mouths are too.
Before even clicking play, Su Yunruo felt a chill run down her spine, suddenly understanding what Tao Minmin felt every day on WeChat, complaining about how embarrassing it was to watch acquaintances act.
She never expected that Lin Yuanzhou, an IT guy who runs a company and is facing a crisis, would watch the idol drama she starred in with Fan Xingchen instead of reading financial news to broaden his knowledge.
The scene was cut to a moment when she was kissing Fan Xingchen.
It's refreshing.
I was scared.
Click—
The moment the door opened, Su Yunruo quickly turned off the TV.
The scene was so impactful that she suddenly realized Lin Yuanzhou was watching her idol drama at home with nothing to do. She was so embarrassed that she was flustered and put the remote back without any carelessness, making a noise.
"What's wrong?"
Lin Yuanzhou ran out of the room with his pajamas in his hand.
Su Yunruo shook her head: "It's nothing."
"Thud"
Not only did he not notice the noise from the remote control, but he also rushed too fast, leaving half of his body hanging on the coffee table. Now, unable to hold on any longer, he fell cleanly to the ground, splitting into two pieces – the battery cover came off.
Lin Yuanzhou's gaze lingered on the remote control for a moment before he silently turned his face away, unable to say anything to ease the awkward situation.
Su Yunruo didn't know what to say.
The atmosphere was silent.
Finally, the dampness on her pants forced Su Yunruo to speak up, "Do you have any food at your house? So many people were talking to me at the engagement party, I didn't get to eat much."
Lin Yuanzhou placed the clothes on the coffee table, and whether intentionally or unintentionally, it was right where the remote control had fallen.
"You change your clothes, I'll see what we can eat."
"Um."
Su Yunruo picked up her pajamas and paused next to Lin Yuanzhou, asking, "Which room?"
Lin Yuanzhou stepped aside to avoid bumping into her, walked forward and opened the innermost door, "If you don't mind, stay here. I've been tidying up all the things my fans sent me and putting them in Xiaolin's room these past few days. It's a mess there, and there's nowhere to sit in the study."
"Thanks."
Su Yunruo followed his words and went inside, hearing the door close softly.
Lin Yuanzhou's room had no smell and no color.
The wardrobe is white, the desk is white, and the laptop is black.
The bed was made of black, the color that most easily attracts dust, yet it was a pure, spotless black.
It's clear that they clean regularly.
It's November, but I'm still using a summer blanket. I don't know if I'm not cold or if I'm just completely oblivious.
Su Yunruo's mood turned somber.
Lin Yuanzhou, a young man, is taking care of a young child. Last time Ms. Zhang came, she mentioned that Lin Xingsen had been crying and asking for his mother. Lin Yuanzhou doesn't know how to calm down when he misses Aunt Lin.
How did he manage to live alone for the past ten years or so?
I didn't contact her during difficult times.
So what does she mean to him?
He knew perfectly well that she would help him if he just asked.
Su Yunruo held her pajamas in her hand. The soft material had a brand-new smell, as if she had never worn them before. Suddenly, she felt annoyed by the rain. It was so heavy that it forced her to stay here. She became increasingly curious about the reason why Lin Yuanzhou had rejected her in the first place.
She is a patient person, but her curiosity was repeatedly piqued, which made her increasingly annoyed.
Without even changing his clothes, he turned around, opened the door, and rushed to the kitchen door.
Lin Yuanzhou set up a pot, the water was boiling, and he was washing vegetables by the sink with his sleeves rolled up.
She opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything.
He turned his head when he heard the noise, and saw that she was stunned for a moment. "Don't your pajamas fit?"
Su Yunruo sighed, "I don't like sleeping in tight clothes."
Lin Yuanzhou turned off the tap and shook the water off his hands. "I'll get you a new set. I bought him an extra-large one a while ago."
She leaned against the doorframe, blocking his path, and slowly raised her voice, tilting her eyelids upward, "Isn't yours good enough?"
"..."
When boiling water on a gas stove, someone needs to watch it constantly, otherwise the water will boil over instantly.
Sizzle sizzle
The gushing water extinguished the flames on the stove.
Lin Yuanzhou's gaze drifted back to Su Yunruo's head. "I don't have any new ones. I'll go see if there are any others."
Why refuse?
"Um?"
"This inconsistent attitude is really annoying me."
"I……"
Lin Yuanzhou looked dejected.
With her head hanging down, she looked very pitiful.
Su Yunruo didn't know why she was being affected, and even went out of her way to explain, "What I mean is, I can't figure out what kind of relationship we have in your eyes."
"So even you have things you can't figure out."
"If I could sort things out, I wouldn't be here today."
"..." He remained silent for a long time, then smiled bitterly, "There's a little girl in my company who's a fan of yours."
"..."
"Her computer screen is always filled with your photos, every day a different one. Sometimes it's the same outfit from different angles, sometimes it's a different filter, and even the text on the pictures is a different confession. Every time I pass by, I find it very interesting."
Su Yunruo narrowed her eyes: "Interesting?"
“Because you don’t interact with your fans much, you often get criticized. Sometimes the criticism is so fierce that you don’t say anything, as if you don’t care at all, but she gets so angry that she cries and holds meetings while crying. We advised her to like someone else, but she refused and is still your fan.”
"You're pretty good to your employees if you can tolerate them bringing their personal emotions to work."
Aren't you curious about her?
"..." It sounds a bit heartless, but Su Yunruo wasn't curious. All she wanted to do now was figure out what her relationship with Lin Yuanzhou really was.
Lin Yuanzhou sighed helplessly, "You really don't need to respond to her likes, after all, you haven't asked anything of your fans from beginning to end."
Su Yunruo countered with, "So what?"
"I guess I'm one of your many fans."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Su Yunruo tilted her head, looking at Lin Yuanzhou's chin from a different angle. "Are you accusing me of treating you like a fan? Being indifferent and having a cold relationship with you?"
"no."
Lin Yuanzhou turned around and started firing again, "You're so troubled and angry because you don't know how to respond to me."
"..."
"I'm glad that at least I can still annoy you."
"..."
"But you don't have to respond. Everything I do is voluntary. It's my problem if I'm not as good as Fan Xingchen. I tried and failed, and you don't need to force yourself to comfort me."
—There was no attempt to appease them.
This can be confirmed regarding Su Yunruo.
Moreover, she couldn't connect the two people at all, so why would Lin Yuanzhou be compared to Fan Xingchen?
"I……"
He interrupted her, "Ever since you came to my house last time, I've stood in front of the French windows every day wondering if you'd suddenly come over. I'm so surprised and delighted that you came today. I thought you wouldn't contact me again after you explained things to your father."
Lin Yuanzhou kept his head down. Even though he didn't need to bend down to turn on the stove, he deliberately bent over, his eyes level with the gas stove. He tried turning the switch several times but failed to turn on the stove, but he persisted.
Add some unnecessary steps to delay the time it takes to turn around and face her.
"So you like me that much?"
Snap
Ignition failed again.
Lin Yuanzhou's shoulders twitched, his head drooped even lower, and he gave a self-deprecating laugh, "You're only just realizing this?"
"I thought it was just a normal liking, like Fan Xingchen and the others. Maybe it had reached the level of lovers, but it hadn't gone any deeper."
rumble
The rain intensified, accompanied by thunder.
The lights above suddenly went out, and everything was plunged into darkness.
Su Yunruo turned her head to look out the window. It was pitch black. It seemed that not only Lin Yuanzhou's house was experiencing electrical problems, but the entire community's power supply was out of order.
"With such heavy rain, the electrician probably won't have time to fix it. The power might not be back on until tomorrow."
As he was about to go back to the sofa to find his phone, he heard Lin Yuanzhou chuckle behind him.
"What are you laughing at?"
"The thing I was afraid of more than ten years ago has finally happened."
Su Yunruo didn't understand, "Afraid of a power outage?"
The slippers made a sound on the floor, and she sensed Lin Yuanzhou approaching.
"Do you always have this cold attitude no matter who confesses their feelings to you?"
"..."
It cannot be denied.
Su Yunruo's emotions were indeed not greatly affected.
I had already noticed it, and it was within my expectations, so I didn't think it would have any impact.
No one would care about a mouse's affection.
Her bad habits became increasingly obvious, blatantly proclaiming that she thought herself different, but was merely pretending to be better than others. In reality, she never truly respected anyone else.
Lin Yuanzhou suddenly reached out and took her hand, his rough fingertips brushing against the back of her hand, the sensation was obvious.
Su Yunruo instinctively tried to pull her hand away, but he stepped forward from behind her, his tall figure blocking the faint light streaming in from the window, plunging Su Yunruo's vision into complete darkness.
Lin Yuanzhou placed his hand underneath and lifted her hand up.
Their fingers and palms were a size larger and colder than hers, drawing heat away from her hands.
But soon her palms warmed up—her thumb touched her protruding jawbone, and her little finger was tickled by the tip of her nose.
Even though Su Yunruo couldn't see anything, she could imagine Lin Yuanzhou lovingly kissing her palm.
thump
thump
My heart is pounding.
This situation crossed her threshold.
The warm breath heated each of her fingers, causing them to curl up limply, their fingertips inevitably touching her trembling eyelids.
The eyelashes brushed against it, leaving a damp feeling.
"Have pity on me..."
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