Chapter 24 Confession: Yes, brother, I have a boyfriend...
"So this is my sister's boyfriend."
When Zhou Ke received the message from Yan Yadong, he had just finished taking out the trash downstairs and had only stepped halfway into his home when he was completely bewildered by the message.
"???"
A moment later, they replied, "Didn't you see her WeChat Moments post today? There's a photo of the two of them together in it."
Moments on social media? Group photo?
Zhou Ke stared intently at the two sentences. He knew that Lin Yu had gone out to play with friends today and hadn't returned yet. Could it be that it wasn't a friend, but her boyfriend?
Thinking of this, Zhou Ke immediately exited the chat window with Yan Yadong and instead clicked on Lin Yu's Moments.
Upon clicking, I saw a photo with an oil painting background. Moving my gaze down, I saw a post on WeChat Moments that had just been published today. There was no caption, only four photos: three landscape photos and one photo of a man and a woman.
Upon witnessing this moment, Zhou Ke's pupils dilated slightly, and he even paused for a moment. The knuckles gripping his phone tightened involuntarily, and it took him a long time to finally tap the screen.
In the photo, the boy is walking in front, looking up at the camera and making a peace sign with his little face. Lin Yu is leaning against him, looking down at her phone and not looking directly at the camera. Although the pose is not very intimate, the boy's bright smile still makes Lin Yu's eyes light up.
He knew Lin Yu didn't like posting on WeChat Moments. The last time was when she was a freshman in college, on New Year's Eve. Zhou Ke went to Jiangcheng to find her, and the two walked along the river. As soon as midnight struck, the city began to set off fireworks, and the whole sky was filled with colorful lights. She took a picture of her brother's back under the fireworks and captioned it "Happy New Year."
As the saying goes, things are valued for their rarity; the less common something is, the more important it becomes. If it were just an ordinary male friend, she might not have bothered to post it on her social media.
Lost in thought, I heard a noise outside the door.
Zhou Ke slowly raised his head and saw his younger sister, who had just been in the photo, suddenly appear in front of him. She was wearing a light yellow floral dress, her long hair was tied up, revealing her slender neck and snow-white outer ear. He quietly looked at her, at his younger sister whom he had relied on and raised little by little, his younger sister who had already entered adolescence.
As the older brother, he learned just three minutes earlier that his sister might have a boyfriend.
Looking at her, Zhou Ke suddenly recalled that a year ago, when he went to Jiangcheng to see Lin Yu, he unexpectedly saw her walking with a boy. He didn't know what the other person was talking about, but she suddenly lowered her chin, smiled faintly, and her eyes were unusually gentle.
At that moment, he couldn't tell whether he was happy for his sister's potential romance or saddened that she would eventually leave him.
The weather in November wasn't particularly cold, and the sun was shining brightly in the azure sky, but Zhou Ke didn't feel particularly warm.
Before this, he never imagined that one day his sister would have to leave him because of love and someday in the future.
Zhou Ke didn't speak, but his grip on his phone tightened, and his gaze grew increasingly somber.
Lin Yu stood there, stunned. She didn't understand why her brother was looking at her like that as soon as she got back. Had she done something to upset him again?
Lin Yu blinked and slowly walked towards her brother, her fingernails subtly digging into the knuckles of her index finger. She looked at him with a blank expression and asked, "Brother, what's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Zhou Ke looked at her, his breathing quickening, his deep eyes filled with an indescribable emotion: "The friend you mentioned, is it a boy?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Yu's heart seemed to skip a beat for a moment, but she quickly recovered. She blinked innocently, "Yeah, is there... a problem?"
"It's nothing, just a bit of a surprise." Zhou Ke recalled the appearance of the boy in his sister's WeChat Moments, which was clearly different from the one he had seen at school when he went to Jiangcheng to find her.
Their eyes met across the distance, neither shifting their gaze even slightly, their gazes meeting directly in each other's.
You finally asked that question, didn't you?
Lin Yu pursed her lips, her heart pounding faster in her chest. Her fingers, hanging by her sides, curled up from tension, digging into her palms. But she didn't feel much pain. After a long while, she raised her head, as if making a major decision. Her eyes curved into a smile, and she put on a happy pose, looking intently at Zhou Ke. She said calmly, "Yes, brother, I have a boyfriend."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ke froze, as if he couldn't believe what harsh words he had just heard. His brows furrowed abruptly, and a thick layer of malice slowly covered his usually gentle face. He couldn't help but chuckle, a faint sneer escaping from his nose: "What did you just say?"
He squinted, looking at them with hostility, his knuckles slowly clenching into a fist, his tone becoming stiff and strained: "Boyfriend."
Zhou Ke's face was tense, and his gaze suddenly turned stern and deep.
Lin Yu's heart clenched for a moment under his direct and sharp gaze, but remembering her plan, she couldn't give herself away, so she forced a nonchalant look and said, "Yes, I've been forgetting to tell you."
Zhou Ke gritted his teeth inwardly, adopted the posture of an elder brother, and asked, "When did you get together?"
Lin Yu gave a soft "hmm" and readily told Zhou Ke, "It's been half a year."
Her seemingly happy smile burned Zhou Ke's eyes. He nodded, remained silent for a moment, and squeezed out two words: "Very good."
After saying that, he asked, "Are you from the same school? Where are you from? How old are you?"
Lin Yu looked at him and replied one by one: "He is also from S University, from Lincheng, and a few months younger than me."
Lincheng, Zhou Ke thought to himself, then asked what he considered a very silly question: "Is it summer vacation now? What is he doing here?"
Lin Yu: "Of course they came to find me."
"So, you spent the whole day with him?" Zhou Ke looked carefully into her eyes, his voice lowering as he spoke.
Lin Yu nodded again.
Hongfa Temple is most famous for its prayers for marriage. In the past, it was very popular, with many parents coming to pray for their children's marriage. It's only in the last two years that the number of people has decreased.
So what was she asking for? Was she asking to be with him forever?
Thinking about this, the air pressure around him seemed to drop, and he felt an inexplicable aversion to the word.
Lin Yu carefully observed Zhou Ke's expression. From the moment she finished speaking until now, he had remained expressionless, showing no particular emotion other than a somewhat cold look. She couldn't figure out what her brother was thinking, but the prolonged silence made her heart pound with anxiety.
She pursed her lips, her clenched palms gradually sweating. She suddenly felt a little scared. Would her brother calm down for a moment and then wish her happiness forever?
The more she thought about it, the colder her expression became.
Before he could finish speaking, he was abruptly interrupted.
"What about your previous boyfriend? Did you break up with him?" This was the first time Zhou Ke, as the older brother, had taken the initiative to ask about his sister's romantic history. It was an eventful night, and he patiently inquired about his sister's dating history. Logically speaking, this was his sister's privacy, and even as her older brother, he had no right to be intrusive. But, for some reason, he blurted out the question without thinking.
"What about the one before?" Lin Yu was a little confused, and a genuine look of bewilderment appeared on her face.
What is my brother saying?
Zhou Ke's deep eyes fell on her eyes, his expression growing colder: "No? In the second semester of your freshman year, I went to your school to look for you and saw you walking together with a boy, chatting and laughing. You talked a lot, and in the end, you even went to a restaurant near the school for dinner together."
Lin Yu's brain suddenly went blank. In her freshman year, Zhou Ke came to the school to see her. He was a boy, chatting and laughing. She was familiar with each of them individually, but why did they become unfamiliar words when put together?
During her freshman year, she was indeed pursued by a senior from the same club. Even after she clearly told him that she had no intention of dating, he persisted. Helpless, Lin Yu had to tell him that she already had someone she liked. However, the senior was only slightly taken aback when he heard this, and then said that since the two of them were not together, he still had the right to pursue her. In this way, the senior pursued her for three whole months. During this period, he would stand downstairs in the dormitory before early morning classes to bring breakfast to everyone in the dormitory. When it rained, he would go to the coffee shop where Lin Yu worked part-time to pick her up and take her back to school.
To be fair, the other party was indeed very considerate and had not done anything out of line in the past three months. Even her good roommates in the same dormitory couldn't help but urge her to accept, but Lin Yu still refused his offer without any hesitation.
She suddenly remembered that the day they ate was her birthday. On that day, she told him for the last time, seriously, that he shouldn't do such a futile thing, that it was impossible for them to be together. Of course, it wasn't his fault; he was a good person, excellent in every way.
She realized that the problem lay with her; she had walked into a dead end with no way out.
Hearing her words, the senior's smile slowly faded. Seeing that he had failed to win her heart, he knew that he might have caused her some trouble during this time. So he said that he would not come to see her again, but today was her birthday and he hoped that he could have a meal with her.
Lin Yu agreed. That day, the two chatted for a long time, from the recent debate competition to their hobbies, but they tacitly avoided talking about their relationship.
They were like best friends who could talk about anything. But after that day, the senior never showed up in front of her again. If they happened to meet, he would just nod slightly as a greeting.
With her thoughts returning to normal, Lin Yu slowly raised her eyes and looked directly into her brother's scrutinizing gaze. "Brother, you've misunderstood. I have nothing to do with him. He's just a senior of mine."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Ke paused slightly. The worries that had troubled him for two years, which made him realize for the first time that his sister would eventually fall in love and get married, were finally explained at this moment. However, he was not as happy as he had expected.
Even if there isn't that one, there will be this one, right?
It felt like giving him a sweet date, only to then slap him hard across the face.
What's this?
Zhou Ke tugged at the corners of his lips, lowered his eyelids, and remained calm, only his long, fine eyelashes concealing the turbulent emotions surging in his eyes.
Seeing that Zhou Ke had fallen silent again, Lin Yu took the initiative to step forward and walk up to him, "Brother, why aren't you saying anything?"
Zhou Ke moved his eyelids, and the expression in his eyes slowly returned to normal. He lowered his eyes, and his gaze fell on her slender calves. Several small red spots had appeared on her fair skin. "What happened to your legs?"
Following his words, Lin Yu looked down at her calves and then said casually, "It's nothing. I just... got bitten by mosquitoes when I came down the mountain today."
She is prone to mosquito bites, especially in summer when she goes to places with lots of bushes and forests. Therefore, she always keeps mosquito repellent at home, but she forgot to bring it with her when she went out.
Zhou Ke: "Does it itch?"
He shouldn't have said anything, since several hours had passed. But her brother's question seemed to have made that spot on her skin start to itch again. She nodded, her voice carrying a hint of coquettishness that she herself didn't realize: "A little."
His sister's voice was soft and gentle, touching his heart and stirring up the emotions he had managed to suppress. Zhou Ke sighed silently and reminded her, "There's still some ointment at home. Remember to apply it before bed."
"good."
At this moment, Lin Yu couldn't quite define her own feelings. She longed for her brother's usual care, yet she also hoped that he would be angry with her because of her boyfriend and stop paying attention to her.
Before returning to her room, Lin Yu suddenly turned to Zhou Ke, smiling, and said, "By the way, brother, I'm planning to invite him over for dinner in a few days. Will you be home then?"
"Let's eat." Zhou Ke stared at her with a deep gaze. "You need to bring him home."
“Yes, right.” Lin Yu smiled. “Shouldn’t I introduce my boyfriend to my brother? Don’t you want to know what kind of person he is?”
This successfully convinced Zhou Ke. His sister had a boy she liked, and as her brother, how could he not see him?
Seeing that Zhou Ke did not refuse, Lin Yu remained silent for a long time before a rare smile appeared on his face again, but it seemed as if an invisible knife was hidden beneath that smile.
She said, "Brother, I'm in a relationship. You should be very happy for me."
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