Confessing my feelings to you—isn't that obvious enough...?
Sunday finally arrived. After the school bell rang, Lin Shiren secretly glanced at Zhou Lin, stuffed his pen into his pencil case, and seeing that he didn't react, silently stuffed his exercise book into his schoolbag.
The score-boosting plan was followed for several days, covering topics such as the motion of charged particles in a combined field and circular orbit recoil motion...
In short, she really wants to die right now.
Sensing her furtive movements, Zhou Lin turned his head and suddenly asked, "You're not busy this afternoon, are you?"
Lin Shiren paused, his backpack zipper halfway up, and pursed his lips, "Um..."
Her afternoon plan was this: take a three-hour nap, have some chicken frame noodles for dinner (she'd been craving it for ages), and then go feed the stray cats in the neighborhood. But this arrangement seemed a bit unseemly, so she changed it up: "I want to stay home and read."
Zhou Lin looked calm and packed his bag at the same pace as her: "Then I'll find a study room."
Lin Shiren suspected he had hearing problems, and blinked his almond-shaped eyes: "The implication of 'I want to stay home and read' is—I have something to do!"
Zhou Lin raised an eyebrow: "It doesn't matter where you read the book, I can always help you answer your questions."
"But I'm really tired lately," she stammered for a while before finally getting to the point: "I want to play with the stray cats for a while..."
Zhou Lin clicked his tongue, picked up his backpack and stood up: "Okay, work and rest should be balanced. I'll find you a study room with a cat."
Lin Shiren: "..."
Is he the devil?
At dismissal time, the school gate was crowded with people, and the road began to be congested. The sounds of car horns, voices, and wind buzzed in our ears. A white Jaguar slowly cut in from the surging crowd.
The car window rolled down, and Tang Shi waved to them: "Get in the car."
Song Ci quickly took the passenger seat, gave Zhou Lin a knowing wink—a subtle hint only the two of them understood—and then said in a mocking tone, "I'm going to chat with my sister. You guys sit in the back."
It couldn't be any more fake.
Zhou Lin didn't look at him the whole time. He opened the car door and raised his chin at Lin Shiren. She pouted and got into the car reluctantly.
Song Ci fastened her seatbelt: "Sis, which one is the car's Bluetooth?"
Tang Shi swatted away his outstretched hand, as if annoyed by the noise: "Get lost, I don't want to listen to your wailing playlist."
Song Ci didn't insist any further. He turned to Lin Shiren and invited him, "Team leader, do you have time to play games this afternoon?"
He can't lead Zhou Lin anymore, so now he can only develop new team members, and one of them is a pretty girl. It's something to be proud of.
"I'm pretty bad at it." Lin Shiren was a little embarrassed; her five fingers would intermittently malfunction when she played games.
"I'm not afraid of you being bad at the game, I'm just afraid you won't come..."
Before she could finish speaking, Tang Shi forcibly turned Song Ci's head around: "Are you asking for trouble? It's one thing for you to be degenerate, but you dare to corrupt Renren too!"
"What do you mean by 'corrupting'? Playing games is a way to relieve stress, otherwise I would have become depressed long ago."
"You're kidding me. In third grade, you were crowned the class's best microphone. Later, the teacher paired you with a classmate who had a speech impediment, and you managed to learn sign language in three months! Someone like you, how could you possibly be depressed?"
Lin Shiren chuckled. People who are completely free from internal conflict cannot be alone. She actually admired Song Ci's mentality. Being carefree to the extreme is a kind of state of mind.
Song Ci's past was exposed, and she muttered something about how boring it was, as if she was sulking, and then fell silent.
The car returned to silence, and the scent of the car air freshener became even more pronounced in the warm air from the air conditioning vents. Lin Shiren propped his chin up and looked out the window, starting to feel sleepy again.
The street scene gradually blurred, time passed with the rolling of the wheels, she didn't know when she fell asleep, or when she arrived at her destination, no one woke her up, Tang Shi parked the car and tactfully pulled Song Ci away, even leaving the keys with Zhou Lin.
The underground parking garage was quiet. Lin Shiren's breathing was even. Her hair clip had fallen onto the seat at some point, the crystal stars sparkling. Zhou Lin picked it up and put it in his jacket pocket. He brushed the stray hairs from her forehead behind her ear, then took off his coat and covered her with it. After doing all this, he stared at her sleeping face in the dim light.
This is the second time Lin Shiren has fallen asleep in front of him without any defenses. Does he not have gender in her eyes?
Zhou Lin sighed.
After that, I sat in the car and waited for almost an hour. Then I heard the headlights of a car passing by the next parking space, followed by the crisp sound of high heels on the ground and conversation, which finally woke me up.
The moment Lin Shiren woke up, she felt numbness in her arm, and the pricking sensation gradually spread to her calves. It took her a full minute before she belatedly turned her attention to Zhou Lin.
Her voice was hoarse from just waking up: "Where am I?"
"PARKING LOT."
At that moment, I was wide awake.
Lin Shiren hugged his backpack to his chest in a defensive posture, his clear pupils widening sharply: "Why did you bring me to the parking lot?"
Unbeknownst to her, her appearance actually made her even more vulnerable to being bullied. Zhou Lin leaned closer, staring at her with malicious intent: "It's a dark and windy night, and we're alone together. What do you think I'm planning to do?"
He had been watching over this girl while she slept for so long, and when she woke up she misunderstood him. He didn't mind making the misunderstanding a fact.
With the handsome face looming large before him, Lin Shiren stiffened and shifted back, his face flushed red: "You're too close to me. Please maintain a normal social distance."
The smile in Zhou Lin's eyes deepened.
What is the normal social distance in centimeters?
The more she tried to back away, the closer he moved forward, his hand gripping the back of her neck with a mischievous expression: "Your face is so red, are you thinking about something inappropriate for children?"
He shouldn't have said anything, because as soon as he did, Lin Shiren immediately pictured the two of them kissing at the sports meet. She covered her mouth furtively and retorted, "Don't talk nonsense, I didn't think of anything."
"Some people are just dishonest."
“If you come any closer, I’ll use the stun gun.”
The two were struggling in the cramped space when, in the darkness, someone's elbow pressed the button on the car window, and damp air carrying a musty smell rushed in.
Lin Shiren seemed to be awakened by a gust of wind, realizing that her wrist was still on his shoulder. Her face flushed red, and she clenched her fist, feeling as if she had been frozen in place.
Her shyly tilted head and captivating eyes were particularly alluring. Zhou Lin stopped teasing her and simply whispered in her ear, "Are you getting off or not?"
Lin Shiren looked around: "Where is this?"
"My underground parking lot."
Her brow furrowed: "Weren't we going to the study room?"
Zhou Lin turned her face towards him and chuckled, "If you want to read books and feed the cat, my house is perfect for you."
Lin Shiren: "?"
A week later, when she stepped into Zhou Lin's house again, she felt less awkward and was more relaxed, taking in the whole house.
The house has a north-south facing layout and looks quite spacious. The modern-style decoration, coupled with the well-arranged greenery, gives it a tasteful feel. Schrödinger heard the noise, ran over from the balcony, circled around Zhou Lin's feet, and then stretched on the rug in front of the sofa.
Lin Shih-jen put his schoolbag on the ground, didn't even put on his slippers, and stepped directly onto the gleaming marble floor tiles, chasing after the kitten.
She held Schrödinger so tightly that she didn't want to do any problems. Zhou Lin let her have her way; as long as she was under his watchful eye, everything she did was enjoyable.
Zhou Lin went to the kitchen to wash the fruit. He had just put it on the coffee table when he saw her phone screen light up. He didn't mean to snoop on her privacy, but his eyesight was too good, and he could see the whole WeChat message in just one glance.
The WeChat message was from Shen Xuqing: "Are you home this afternoon? My dad bought some matsutake mushrooms from Yunnan and asked me to bring them to you."
Have their two families become this close?
Zhou Lin coldly withdrew his gaze, looking at the person who was still engrossed in playing with the kitten. Thinking of the playlist named after Shen Xuqing, he suddenly felt very annoyed: "You have WeChat."
"Oh, I'll see in a bit."
Lin Shiren didn't pay attention to his emotions. Schrödinger had finally managed to eat her cat treat, and she crawled on her knees to chase after him.
Perhaps because she hadn't replied to the message yet, or perhaps because the other party was a little anxious, a few minutes later, the phone rang, and Zhou Lin "kindly" brought it to her.
"The phone is ringing."
Before she could even process his sarcastic tone, her attention was drawn to Shen Xuqing's name on the screen. Under that burning gaze, she forced herself to swipe the screen open.
Shen Xuqing's first words were: "Lin Shiren, I'm downstairs at your house right now."
While answering the phone, Lin Shiren glanced at Zhou Lin's gloomy expression and, for some reason, suddenly felt a little unsure of himself: "I'm not home. Is there something you need?"
“This is the perfect season for matsutake mushrooms. My dad asked someone to buy some from Yunnan so you and your mom can have some nourishing food.”
"It's nothing, no need to go to such lengths."
"Don't say that. The gifts aren't expensive; they're just a small token of my family's appreciation. It's a small gift but carries great meaning, so please accept them."
Lin Shiren didn't want to discuss too many details with Zhou Lin, so he pressed his forehead and said, "Okay, I'll send you a message when I get home."
"good."
After the call ended, the scene suddenly fell into an awkward silence.
Zhou Lin was unusually quiet at the time. The two of them talked intimately and freely, which was constantly stimulating his nerves, and a fire was burning in his chest.
Lin Shih-ren also felt the air pressure around her drop. Schrödinger meowed and ran away. She scrambled to her feet, glanced at the time, and said casually, "Well, it's getting late, I should go home."
Zhou Lin, sitting on the sofa, laughed, his voice low and cold: "So eager to go home?"
Why did he suddenly get angry?
Was it because she was playing with the cat and didn't take his score-boosting plan seriously? Or was it because she went home without studying and her attitude was really not right?
For some reason, even though she was the one looking down on others, she felt an imposing aura emanating from her.
Lin Shiren half-understood: "You seem to be in a bad mood, and I really can't concentrate on studying today either..."
This isn't a problem with her studies at all; it's that she wanted to abandon Shen Xuqing as soon as she heard him waiting downstairs.
Zhou Lin closed his eyes to calm down for a moment, then opened them again and spoke very softly: "Why did Shen Xuqing send you something?"
Lin Shiren blinked, trying to remind him with her eyes that this was her private matter, and why was she being interrogated like a criminal?
Zhou Lin's expression didn't soften at all, and his tone remained indifferent: "It seems like you two have a lot of secrets?"
Lin Shiren couldn't keep up with his train of thought at all, and felt her mouth getting increasingly dry. She swallowed hard and said, "No, someone in his family is sick, and he asked my mother for help..."
"Didn't he already treat you to dinner last time? How many times does he have to thank you?"
Very well, this fabricated question successfully embarrassed Lin Shih-jen.
She secretly clenched her fingers: "Then he's probably just more polite..."
That's right, I'm being sarcastic!
Logically speaking, Zhou Lin, being such a smart person, should have been able to understand her unspoken meaning. He should have apologized for overstepping his bounds and then let the matter drop completely.
But he insisted, "I've helped you many times, why haven't I seen you be so polite then?"
After saying that, he even lifted his eyelids, looking like he was waiting for what was to come, hoping to get what he was owed.
Lin Shiren was taken aback.
So that's where they were waiting.
She took a deep breath and forced a smile: "What do you want to eat? It's my treat. What kind of gift do you like? I'll buy it for you."
"Lin Shiren".
Zhou Lin called her name softly, each word ringing out in the quiet air.
He slowly stood up, took a step toward her with a deep gaze, his black T-shirt covering his lean body, his wispy hair trembling slightly, and his facial features glowing softly.
Was I not obvious enough?
He pulled Lin Shiren in front of him without using any force, stared at her face, and his deep, magnetic voice, filled with emotion, made every pore of her body tremble.
"Isn't it obvious enough that I like you?"
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Author's note: (#^.^#) Hehe
50 red envelopes
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