Chapter 4
The first thing Lin Wan saw was the fragmented light in the coffee shop from Chen Yu's eyes.
In the dim light, Chen Yu looked incredibly soft, even his eyelashes were glowing.
He walked towards her, his sneakers making almost no sound on the worn tiles.
Lin Wan's heart tightened inexplicably. She reached out and pushed down her hair and looked at him.
"You're here after all." Chen Yu said casually, in a teasing tone, but there was inquiry in his eyes.
Is he worried that I will tell Lin Zhen about his extravagant spending?
I'm really overthinking it, Lin Wan thought almost sarcastically.
The distance between the two gradually shortened, and a small shadow fell on Lin Wan.
"Yeah." Lin Wan twirled the hair around her ears with her fingers and responded dryly.
"I didn't expect today is your birthday. I haven't wished you a happy birthday yet." After stomping the ground with his sneakers twice, Lin Wan finally managed to utter two words.
"It was organized by my friends. I didn't know about it before I came here." Chen Yu's eyes curved, revealing a soft smile, and he reached out to wipe away the water drops that were about to fall from Lin Wan's chin.
This action was too sudden and aggressive. Lin Wan took a step back in fright, his back once again resting against the cold tiles.
The warm fingers passed over the cheek, without any direct touch, only a subtle itch.
"Haha." Lin Wan didn't know what to say in response, so he could only laugh twice.
Just as she was about to leave, her cell phone vibrated twice. She quickly picked it up and saw that it was an extremely rude message from Jiang Nuo.
An extremely violent emoticon of a woman holding a kitchen knife - the implication is that as long as Lin Wan drives her away, she will definitely resort to some violent means.
Lin Wan lowered his head, staring at the blinking cursor in the chat box, lost in thought for a moment.
I'm groping in the dark here.
"Sister Xiaolin, is there something wrong?" A voice sounded beside his ear. Chen Yu leaned on the wall with one hand, lowered his head slightly and stared at Lin Wan.
Is he testing me again?
What should I say or write?
Lin Wan opened her mouth, thinking of several decent and worldly ways to respond. However, as soon as the words came out of her mouth, she gave up the hypocritical statement.
Lin Wan couldn't stand this kind of psychological game of guessing me and guessing you, so she decided to tell the truth.
"It's nothing serious, actually. My friend invited me to this party. Now I want to leave but I can't." She spread her hands, and as soon as she spoke the truth, her back straightened up, and she said everything that was on her mind.
It’s not a big deal anyway, Lin Wan thought.
"I didn't know it was your birthday this morning. I'm sorry for rejecting you." Lin Wan apologized sincerely.
"It's not a big deal." With a smiling tone, Chen Yu in front of him seemed to have seen something very interesting. He took a step back and looked Lin Wan up and down.
Lin Wan was almost physically uncomfortable from his gaze, so Chen Yu slowly added a sentence.
"Yeah, why would ordinary people wear school uniforms to a party?" He said quietly, then put his left hand in his pocket and walked two steps in front of the sink casually.
Lin Wan held his forehead and gently stroked his eyebrows with his index finger.
"Is your friend the girl with curly hair sitting on your right?" Chen Yu said.
Lin Wan was stunned for a moment. She didn't expect him to observe so carefully. She was a little unsure of his attitude, but she still chose to tell the truth: "It's her."
"Then you go first. I will treat your friends well." As if he had made some decision, Chen Yu tilted his head to look at Lin Wan, waved his hand and was about to leave.
Watching Chen Yu's back disappear around the corner, Lin Wan suddenly didn't want to leave anymore.
She bit her nails in front of the sink and planned to continue sending messages to Jiang Nuo, but Jiang Nuo's message came even faster.
[Da Nuo: No! You know Chen Yu! Why did he suddenly come to me and tell me that you wanted to leave? Can you let Lin Wan go first?]
[Da Nuo: Now a group of people are surrounding me—this feeling... is actually quite good.]
This reversal of tone made Lin Wan's heart go up and down, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Lin Wan tapped his chin and thought for a while, then typed quickly.
【Wanwanwanwan: He is my new little brother.】
She closed her eyes and sent it out in one go, feeling relieved - it turned out that one can't hide some things.
Jiang Nuo was obviously frightened by something and did not reply for a long time.
After waiting for two minutes, Lin Wan felt that it was not a big deal to stand in the toilet all the time.
【Wanwanwanwan: Then I'll leave first, you continue playing. 】
She was exhausted, wanting to go home and rest while finishing her study plan for the day. She wasn't a natural, and her achievements came largely from persistence; she didn't dare slack off, and she never did.
Three minutes later, Lin Wan walked to the intersection and prepared to take a taxi.
Maybe he squeezed out time from social networking to read the messages, or maybe he finally took in the amount of information contained in Lin Wan's words, Jiang Nuo finally replied.
【Da Nuo: There is such a thing.】
Another thirty seconds passed.
【Da Nuo: Wherever you are, I'm coming out too. 】
Lin Wan was a little surprised and stopped at the intersection. The red light turned green and cars were speeding in front of her. She sent a location to Jiang Nuo.
Soon, Jiang Nuo rushed over, panting, even his delicate curly hair was messed up.
Her first words were: "Chen Yu is your father's illegitimate child? How shameless!"
Rage surged up, and the image of an urban beauty that Jiang Nuo had carefully created was destroyed. Her face flushed, and the limited edition bag was swung like a propeller in her hands.
Passersby looked sideways.
Lin Wan also stared at her closely, not out of disgust, but because she felt that Jiang Nuo was particularly close and beautiful.
On the busy street, Lin Wan looked at Jiang Nuo.
Jiang Nuo obviously noticed that Lin Wan was in a bad mood. She tucked her curly hair behind her ear and said with a look of sudden realization, "So that's why you were so restless just now. How dare an illegitimate child not let you attend his birthday party, and it's held in such a small place."
Jiang Nuo took Lin Wan's hand and said, "Come on, I'll take you to get revenge."
Seeing the events going in the completely wrong direction, Lin Wan pulled some thoughts out of his emotional state and pulled Jiang Nuo to his side: "He is not my father's illegitimate child, but an adopted child."
Jiang Nuo was clearly annoyed. She turned around and looked at Lin Wan, her long false eyelashes fluttering. "It's not Lin Wan. Are you stupid? Who would adopt a child that old?"
Jiang Nuo gently poked Lin Wan's forehead with his hand, feeling angry and helpless.
Are Chen Yu and Lin Zhen related?
This idea really shocked Lin Wan. With such a big age difference, it couldn't really be that - Lin Wan didn't dare to think about it.
After a long silence, she stuck to her previous thoughts.
"It's someone's birthday after all, so don't embarrass me." Lin Wan tried to act coquettishly, looking up at Jiang Nuo, who was not much taller than her.
Jiang Nuo, who was fully made up, was silent. After a while, he said helplessly, "Okay, as long as you are happy."
"You are so nice." Lin Wan said sincerely.
Since neither of them had eaten anything, they made another plan for dinner.
In the barbecue restaurant, the meat is shiny and oily, and steam is rising.
"But they all say that Chen Yu is extremely good at physics and is a top player in the physics competition. How is your father in physics?" Jiang Nuo tried to convince Lin Wan from a genetic perspective.
Lin Wan shook her head. According to what her mother had said before, Lin Zhen was terrible at science, but he was quite accomplished in liberal arts.
When Jiang Nuo saw her appearance, he felt worried while eating the vegetable salad in front of him.
The relationship between Chen Yu and Lin Zhen is a difficult problem, but it has nothing to do with me, Lin Wan thought as he took a taxi home.
Although her family assigned her a driver, she still couldn't adapt to such a respected life. On the contrary, she longed for the time when her mother was still alive and the family was not so wealthy.
Those days seemed to be forever surrounded by the warm breeze. Even if it was just a memory, it could make her feel incomparable happiness.
When I got home, as usual, no one was there and the lights in the whole villa were off.
Lin Wan opened the door and took a deep breath. He couldn't explain how he should feel, but he just followed his muscle memory and turned on the light switch at his side.
The lights came on, a cool white light, just like the incandescent lights in the hospital a few days ago.
Lin Wan carried his schoolbag and went to his mother's original studio as usual to sit for a while.
The studio was always being cleaned, perhaps at Lin Zhen's request, or perhaps just the responsibility of the housekeeper.
Lin Wan pushed open the door and skillfully sat on the small stool that originally belonged to her, even though the height of the stool was no longer suitable for her height.
The easel was still there, with my mother's half-finished painting of an Icelandic landscape on it, not even covered with a cloth, as if she had just gone out to buy paint and would be back in a few minutes.
Lin Wan sat there, even his sitting posture was exactly the same as when he was a child.
——She was waiting, but she didn't know what she should be waiting for.
Did my father really cheat on me?
Mother Jiang Yuexing is a very romantic person. She is free and unrestrained and yearns for beauty, so she chose art instead of following the advice of her elders to become a doctor. This is also the beginning of her estrangement from her family.
As far as Lin Wan could remember, her mother had stopped interacting with her grandparents. Looking back, this was probably because Lin Zhen wasn't a suitable marriage partner in the traditional sense, being free and undisciplined and having no assets.
Lin Wan had some doubts about Jiang Yuexing's judgment. Half a year after this doubt arose, Jiang Yuexing cheated on her husband.
The fantasy of a happy family was shattered in an instant, and the floor was in a mess, a sight to behold.
The studio was still quiet and peaceful. It was completely dark outside, but no stars were visible.
She gently tugged at the flower necklace around her neck and muttered to herself in the empty studio, "You are a frivolous person. I don't want to be like you."
The stars outside the window moved aimlessly in a small circle.
Lin Wan woke up from her thoughts, raised her hand to check the time. It was seven o'clock. The reminiscence was over and it was time for her to go study.
Mathematics test papers, political recitation...
Lin Wan rubbed her brows and completed each task as planned. When she was sorting out the wrong questions, her phone rang.
Glancing at the time, it was already 10:23. Who could be calling at this hour? Lin Wan, somewhat annoyed by the interruption, answered the call without hesitation, hoping to get it over with quickly.
"Hey." Lin Wan's tone was quite aggressive, and she was obviously a little irritable.
There was no response from the other side for a long while, as if at a loss. After a long time, he slowly responded.
"Sister Xiaolin?"
Hmm? Lin Wan put the phone in front of him and tried to check the notes, but found it was an unfamiliar number. However, based on the address, Lin Wan quickly came to a conclusion.
"Chen Yu?" she asked.
"Yes." The person on the other side answered slowly, as if his mind was not clear and he was staggering.
"Have you been drinking?" Lin Wan realized that something was wrong with him and asked while writing a note on his cell phone number.
There was silence on the other side for a moment.
"Chen Yu?" Lin Wan called out again.
Three seconds later, someone responded from the other side, but the answer was somewhat irrelevant and seemed to be in complete chaos.
"I didn't expect Sister Xiaolin's voice to sound like this on the phone."
Chen Yu seemed to be just describing the novel feeling at the moment.
But then she imagined it was like a cat's claw scratching her lightly. Suddenly, Lin Wan remembered Chen Yu's fingertips brushing her chin in the afternoon.
Lin Wan quickly came back to his senses.
"Is there anything going on now?" She brought the call back to the main topic.
There was silence again on the other side. After a moment, accompanied by some noisy sounds - like clothes rubbing against a rough wall, his voice rang out again.
"I'm at the door and I don't have the key."
Lin Wan suddenly felt a headache and put down his pen: "Didn't Lin Zhen give you the key?"
Under the moonlight, Chen Yu leaned against the pillar in front of the door, holding the phone in his right hand, and one foot casually crushing the pebbles under his feet, but there was no trace of drunkenness in his eyes.
He paused, then casually put the key into his trouser pocket. His tone was still hazy from the drunkenness, and he replied confidently and softly, "I seem to have... forgotten it."
Chen Yu's brain, which had not yet been eroded by alcohol, tried his best to analyze what his action meant.
At the desk, Lin Wan held his forehead and sighed, holding the phone in one hand and pulling the chair back with the other, then stood up.
"I'll open the door for you. Don't move around, or you might fall." Her tone was full of undisguised concern. Although she didn't want to have too much interaction with Chen Yu, she would still lend a helping hand.
Chen Yu lowered his head and listened to the movement on the other end of the phone.
Lin Wan stood up, opened the door, and went downstairs...
She seemed to be just that kind of person, straightforward and decisive, fearless and with no regrets.
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