Chapter 18
The four of them were stuck in this stalemate.
The light flickered again and again, and the voltage finally stabilized.
"Sister?" Someone whispered the name softly. Lin Wan looked in the direction of the voice and saw it was He Jiayi.
Disbelief flashed in He Jiayi's eyes, and she gasped with her lips slightly parted.
"You are related by blood." Her voice was a little loud due to shock, and lacked the softness of her usual soft words.
He Jiayi stood up and pulled Jiang Nuo to walk out.
The scene became increasingly chaotic.
After the silent chaos, strangely enough, the four of them sat at the same table.
Jiang Nuo pushed Chen Yu aside and sat next to Lin Wan. The four of them looked at each other.
The waiter brought the appetizer bread, and the porcelain bowl made a crisp sound when it was placed on the wooden table. Lin Wan finally couldn't stand the strange silence anymore, so she took the initiative to shoulder the social burden and started talking.
"The weather seems to be particularly hot after the beginning of the dog days." Lin Wan talked about the weather.
He Jiayi sat upright, seemingly lost in thought. Jiang Nuo stared at a point in the sky, seemingly lost in thought. Only Chen Yu, with his eyes bent, took up her topic.
"Yeah, is that why Sister didn't go to the class reunion?"
"Not really, I just felt that the past was a little strange." Lin Wan said, supporting his chin with one hand, looking a little bored.
"Strange." Chen Yu repeated Lin Wan's words, his tone rising slightly.
Lin Wan nodded.
The glass seemed exceptionally thin, the water rippled within it, shimmering in the refraction of the light. Chen Yu fiddled with the rose in the glass with his fingers, his cold, white fingers distinctly knuckled.
"Sister, have you seen Brother Xu Su recently?" He suddenly asked this question without any reason.
Xu Su, it is indeed summer vacation now. Logically, he should have returned to Jiangcheng, but I seem to have not seen him at all this summer vacation.
They had been in touch on the phone before, but since when, Lin Wan felt that she had no reason to contact Xu Su.
Lin Wan clenched his fists and answered Chen Yu's question casually, "No. What happened to Brother Xu Su?"
Chen Yu's eyelashes trembled twice, and he leaned slightly towards Lin Wan. Just as he was about to answer, Jiang Nuo stood up.
"Sorry, I have to excuse myself." Jiang Nuo's words were unusually formal, yet stiff. Lin Wan watched her shuffle out of the restaurant, feeling a little worried. Without a second thought, she grabbed her bag and followed. However, He Jiayi, who was standing in front of her, got there first and grabbed Jiang Nuo's hand with a swift, decisive move.
"Nono, do you hate me so much?" He Jiayi's voice was trembling. Even though Lin Wan couldn't see her face clearly at the moment, he could imagine that He Jiayi must be in tears at this moment.
Lin Wan stopped where she was, feeling somewhat awkward. This was a matter between the two of them, and she wasn't sure if she would make the situation even more awkward if she rashly intervened.
She was neither standing nor sitting in her position.
"Does my liking for you disgust you so much?" He Jiayi's voice was very soft and calm, like the slight crackling sound of ice breaking.
Hearing this, Lin Wan froze in her tracks. She felt like she had misheard and even wanted to rewind. What she had just heard must have been a misunderstanding.
This "like" is not that "like". Just like what Lin Wan said to Chen Yu, it may just be a very simple emotion between friends, it must be like this.
Lin Wan quickly made up for it.
That's right, He Jiayi looks so petite, and Jiang Nuo. How is that possible?
In the dim light, Lin Wan looked at Jiang Nuo through a hazy space, hoping to detect her current emotions, such as anger, excitement, or even touching.
But none of them worked. The darkness seemed to be a competent curtain, perfectly blocking the way between her and Jiang Nuo.
Lin Wan was smiling and almost crying. She stood up desperately and wanted to stand between the two of them, but she saw He Jiayi hugging Jiang Nuo's waist tightly and looking at Jiang Nuo with her face raised.
This is normal, Lin Wan told himself, trying to calm himself down completely.
How is it possible that He Jiayi likes Jiang Nuo?
She convinced herself to separate the two. As they approached, the distance between them narrowed, and her pupils gradually adjusted to the darkness, but Lin Wan scrambled back into her seat as if fleeing.
Chen Yu looked at her questioningly. Lin Wan bit her lower lip and shook her head.
Thirty seconds later, she managed to regain her composure, pretending to casually take the straw from the juice at hand and continue the previous conversation with Chen Yu.
"Brother Xu Su, how have you been lately?" Her voice trembled. She bit the brightly colored straw repeatedly in her mouth, her plump lips stained with juice, a light sheen.
Lin Wan's little movements became more frequent. From time to time, she lifted her head by her ear and frequently looked towards the window behind Chen Yusheng.
Outside the window it was blue hour, and you could see tall buildings facing each other, with the last ray of bright white still on the horizon.
Lin Wan's heart was beating so fast that it almost jumped out of her chest. If she had known that something like this would happen today, she would definitely have gone to the school party to hide.
She was so lost in her own thoughts that her reaction to the outside world became extremely slow. So when she saw Chen Yu talking, she didn't hear what he said.
It wasn't until she subconsciously said "hmm" to express her affirmation that she realized what he said.
He said, "They were kissing."
The light above his head flickered again, and Lin Wan really decided that it was time to change the light bulbs in this western restaurant. The replaced bulbs could be sold to the haunted house for a profit.
Chen Yu's expression flickered, but the smile on his lips remained gentle.
"No!" Lin Wan's reaction was very strong. She didn't see anything, kissing. Then she realized what Chen Yu meant in an instant.
"Brother Xu Su, it seems like you have a girlfriend." Chen Yu added.
Lin Wan's eyelids trembled violently twice, and she responded briefly.
"Ah. That's it."
There was a new message on the phone screen. Lin Wan subconsciously clicked it. It was from Jiang Nuo, telling Lin Wan that he was leaving first.
Instinctively, Lin Wan replied with an "OK", then put down his phone and stared blankly at the food in front of him. Under the light, even the vegetable salad looked delicious, with tender green lettuce and bright red cherry tomatoes.
Lin Wan's appetite disappeared completely.
Chen Yu had no reason to deceive himself about this matter, and his eyes would not be wrong. Lin Wan had always believed that everything was running on the right track, but today, he suddenly looked up and finally realized that things had already gone off track.
She tried to hide her confusion, smiled at Chen Yu, and reached out to take the drink in front of her. However, because of her shaking hands, the drink spilled all over herself.
So, Lin Wan stood up and tried to tidy up, but the cup fell to the ground and he couldn't find it.
——Things are all messed up.
It was not until he was wearing Chen Yu's coat and sitting in the taxi on the way back that Lin Wan managed to regain his sanity.
Chen Yu said he was a little tired and rested his head on the crook of Lin Wan's neck. His soft hair felt a little itchy against her skin. But Lin Wan didn't move. She really needed to relax.
This pause lasted for several days. While Lin Wan was still curled up on the sofa in her room, pondering the relationship between Jiang Nuo and He Jiayi, and mourning her own stillborn love, there was a knock on the door.
Even though Jiang Nuo repeatedly explained to her and swore that love would never affect her and Lin Wan's friendship, Lin Wan still found it hard to accept. At heart, she was a traditional person. She respected all their choices, but it was hard for her to agree with them from the bottom of her heart.
I believe Jiang Nuo must have gone through a very long and difficult psychological struggle to take this step. As a friend, I should support her.
Lin Wan covered her face and screamed silently. She found it difficult to face such a world.
There were two more knocks on the door. Lin Wan, sitting on the sofa, found it difficult to move. She straightened her nightgown, which had been slightly turned up, and said, "Come in."
It’s Chen Yu.
His gaze paused for a second on Lin Wan's slender, white legs, then he quickly looked away and reminded Lin Wan in a steady voice, "Uncle Lin said we're leaving tomorrow and asked us to pack our luggage."
Chen Yu was wearing black pajamas, his skin incredibly pale under the light. He had probably just showered, his hair was damp and his skin was shiny.
Chen Yu didn't come in.
Lin Wan responded weakly, not wanting to move at all. She knew she couldn't continue to be immersed in this strange state, and she needed to quickly recover.
Lin Wan tried to stand up, but then let himself fall back onto the sofa—he still didn't want to move.
In an instant, the door of the room was closed from the outside, bringing up a gust of wind.
Lin Wan paused as he picked up his phone, feeling baffled.
Yesterday she sent a message to Brother Xu Su, telling him that she had received an admission letter from a British university. According to her previous personality, she should have sent it to Xu Su as soon as she received it.
But strangely, she hesitated at the time, and this hesitation made her lose the best opportunity to tell Xu Su. Therefore, she was hesitant to speak out later, thinking that her behavior must have been too abrupt.
The significance of sending the message now is to end this unrequited love, Lin Wan thought with his eyes lowered, and his knees curled up in front of her again, which was a very insecure posture.
Xu Su hasn't replied yet.
Lin Wan followed Chen Yu to the beach.
The main purpose of this interview, or more accurately, the program, is to publicize the Lin family's act of adopting orphans through media means and to promote the Lin family's corporate image in a positive way.
The Lin family started out as a wooden furniture manufacturer and has extremely high requirements for the company's reputation as well as its popularity and trust among the public.
Such a program, while promoting the corporate image, also introduces the new adopted son to the public, killing two birds with one stone. It is a sure-win business.
As he would be staying in Rukawa for two weeks, Lin Wan didn't bring much luggage. He symbolically took two formal suits, three sets of sportswear, and a toiletry bag and set off.
It wasn't until Lin Wan settled into her room that she realized she hadn't brought any pajamas.
By this time the sky was completely dark, and the vast sea seemed particularly deep. The waves rushed onto the beach, carrying crystal sand into the depths.
Lin Wan covered her face with her hands, feeling embarrassed by her own stupidity.
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