Misfortunes never come alone. In the afternoon meeting, Wen Ya was distracted and got harshly criticized by a supervisor who desperately wanted a son but had ended up with a third daughter. He scolded her relentlessly, making her so irritated that she almost wanted to resign on the spot.
Damn it, this life is impossible to endure!
Wen Ya crumpled a piece of paper into a ball, nearly pulling apart the long hair she had carefully styled that day.
“One after another, all of you are so damn…”
The paper ball dropped to the floor. Wen Ya met the gaze of Duan Ming’an, who had remained behind in the room. She swallowed the curse that had been about to come out and instead smiled politely.
“Why are you still here?”
Duan Ming’an coughed and slipped one hand into his pocket.
“I wanted to discuss the reproductive obsession that revealed itself so clearly during the meeting…” He smiled and raised his eyes. “Not interested?”
Of course she was interested.
Wen Ya brightened immediately and pressed her lips together in a smile.
This man truly was an exceptionally outstanding individual.
“Forget it, I also gave him the chance myself.”
Duan Ming’an liked the way she pretended not to care. He chuckled softly. “Alright then, let’s not analyze it. How about some food therapy instead? I’ll treat you to a big dinner tonight.”
Wen Ya looked into his gentle eyes, and the curve of her lips slowly faded.
Duan Ming’an waited a moment, then asked with a smile, “What’s wrong?”
His gaze shifted slightly.
Right, how could she possibly deserve such good fortune?
Wen Ya lifted the corners of her lips again and straightened her back.
“Tonight won’t work. I already made plans with Mr. Lin.”
Rain poured down in sheets. The windshield wipers cleared just enough of the street view to make it barely visible. Traffic and rushing water flowed side by side.
The neon lights that brightened the city early in the night were not affected at all.
“So, why is it this face again?”
In the rain, traffic moved at half speed. Lin Xuehe slowly followed the car ahead, inching forward. When the cars stopped again, he glanced at the lifeless figure in the passenger seat.
Wen Ya, looking as if her soul had been sucked out, leaned weakly against the window. “I can’t control myself…”
“Then stay alone.”
“Sigh…”
After a long sigh, Wen Ya turned back to him. “Mr. Lin, why didn’t you counsel me this time?”
Lin Xuehe slowly drove forward with the car ahead. “Because I’m busy.”
Busy with something that takes only a sentence to say?! Wen Ya’s heart sank as she slumped back again. Clearly it was just because he found her annoying.
Trash. Just like the big boss, these two brothers are both trash. Trash.
“I’m sorry.”
Her voice was weak, almost fading away.
Lin Xuehe glanced at her. Wen Ya gave up resisting and spoke in a defeated tone. “I shouldn’t have rushed you to pick me up while wearing such an unpleasant expression. I’m sorry that yesterday I said I wasn’t free, and today I ended up disrupting your original plans…”
“Actually I know my place, but I had no choice. All kinds of circumstances forced me to stop moving forward before sorting things out. In return, I will exhaust my life helping you renovate your house…”
“You already used the line about exhausting your life. Change it.”
“Huh?” Wen Ya did not expect him to respond there and was momentarily stunned. She stammered, “Th-then h-how should I repay you?”
Lin Xuehe did not hesitate.
“Your treat tonight.”
Wen Ya reflexively clutched her bag and swallowed. “W-what are we eating?”
Lin Xuehe narrowed his phoenix eyes. “Seafood.”
A road itself stretches endlessly, but the word destination brings countless long journeys to an end.
The car parked in a space beneath the curtain of rain. They had arrived.
Seeing that the seafood restaurant was not some cheap street stall, Wen Ya made one last desperate attempt and raised her hand.
“Mr. Lin, someone once said that rainy days and seafood don’t go well together.”
Lin Xuehe glanced sideways, his smile not reaching his eyes. “Who said that?”
His sharp focus caught her off guard. Wen Ya quietly lowered her hand.
“…Mr. Lu Xun.”
Lin Xuehe formally ignored her comment and got out of the car with an umbrella.
Wen Ya had no choice but to raise her little floral umbrella and follow behind him like a wronged young wife, her face full of resentment. That resentment reached its peak when he mercilessly ordered the dishes. In the end it overflowed, turning from invisible to visible.
Lin Xuehe lifted his eyes and met her blade like stare. “Reluctant to spend the money?”
Wen Ya clenched her fists and tried to appear generous. “That’s not it, Mr. Lin. It’s not reluctance, it’s an uncontrollable reaction.”
“Heh.”
Heh my ass.
Wen Ya raised a smile and corrected him. “Mr. Lin, the second syllable in ‘heh heh’ should be pronounced softly.”
Lin Xuehe nodded and asked sincerely, “Can’t you tell I’m mocking you?”
Crack.
Another one of Wen Ya’s white teeth metaphorically shattered. Her smile looked eerie. “Mr. Lin’s mockery is perfectly justified.”
She ground her teeth while Lin Xuehe seemed to be in a good mood. Finally he began to show some concern.
“Did your date fall through again?”
“Of course not. I rejected it.” Wen Ya immediately widened her eyes in protest. She had a date, she just refused it.
Lin Xuehe exposed the truth without mercy. “Is there a difference?”
“Of course there is!” Wen Ya became animated. “There is a fundamental distinction between initiative and passivity. I actively rejected the date, so it can’t be called falling through.”
“Oh.” Lin Xuehe asked again, “Why did you reject it?”
A waiter rushed over carrying a huge plate of crayfish, placed it neatly between them, then rushed off again.
Wen Ya stared at the bright red crayfish, her worried expression returning. “Is your sudden concern based on the presence of crayfish?”
Lin Xuehe shook his head.
Wen Ya grew curious. “Then what is it?”
A slender pale hand slipped into a disposable glove. While calmly peeling the shell, Lin Xuehe replied, “I’m questioning whether your so called distinction between initiative and passivity is actually clear in practice.”
“If I rejected it, that must be initiative.” Wen Ya said firmly.
Lin Xuehe shook his head again. “Your reasoning is illogical. Rejection itself has two possibilities. One is active rejection, the other is passive rejection, meaning you had no choice but to refuse.”
After hearing that, Wen Ya thought about it herself and realized that unfortunately she belonged to the latter.
Lin Xuehe noticed her expression, and the plump shrimp in his hands was finally peeled clean.
“So specific situations require specific analysis.”
He dipped it in vinegar and ate it.
Even though his actions were full of everyday warmth, why did he still look so refined and picturesque overall? Wen Ya could not help but complain silently in her heart. What a waste of such heaven blessed good looks.
Along with the sigh came a strong urge to confide. Wen Ya spilled everything out like beans pouring from a jar, rattling on nonstop. She even included the past she had vaguely guessed between Qin Keke and Duan Ming’an.
“…That’s basically it.” Wen Ya gulped down some water to moisten her throat and looked at Lin Xuehe expectantly. “Mr. Lin, what do you think I should do…”
Her gaze froze on the mountain of shrimp shells piled up across the table. While she had been talking, Lin Xuehe had quietly finished another one. The last shell he placed on top stood at the peak, wobbling as if about to collapse.
The waiter rushed over again and delivered flower crabs and steamed mandarin fish.
Lin Xuehe removed his gloves and picked up his chopsticks.
“…about it.”
Wen Ya felt like she might faint from anger. Why did he have such a huge appetite today? He just could not stop eating!
Fortunately, Lin Xuehe only tasted the mandarin fish and then paused for the moment.
“If your friend wants to treat the past as if it never existed, then if you are willing, you can also treat it as if it never existed.”
Wen Ya rested her chin on her hand, deeply troubled. “But I don’t know if President Duan can treat the past as if it never existed.”
“Didn’t he also avoid mentioning it?”
“But Keke and I look almost exactly alike. Leaving aside whether Keke, who left back then after being hurt, still likes him, if he finds a new girlfriend and that person happens to be someone like me, how can we know whether he still likes Keke?”
Wen Ya covered her face. “It’s all because Keke and I are too similar…”
Lin Xuehe raised his eyebrows slightly and interrupted her. “When someone likes another person, would the appearance of someone with a similar personality really cause confusion?”
“W-wouldn’t it?”
“I am only saying that confusion does not exist. The situation you face has only two possibilities.”
“What two possibilities?”
“He still likes your friend, or he now likes you.”
Wen Ya deflated. “That’s the same as saying nothing.”
Lin Xuehe shook his head. “In other words, the situation you imagined, where he likes both you and your friend, does not exist.”
Precisely because they were similar, it was even less possible to like both at the same time. When a cup breaks and someone buys another one that looks similar, the thing they truly miss is the original cup.
“Maybe he just likes this type!” Wen Ya vaguely realized something in her heart, but she still struggled verbally. “Maybe it’s liking and liking more?”
“Then it is not liking and liking more. It is having liked before and liking now, which means he likes you now.”
Layer by layer, the reasoning returned to the starting point.
Lin Xuehe tapped the crab. “Do you still want me to keep counseling you?”
Wen Ya said gloomily, “I understand. You also think the two of them still like each other, right?”
“What I think does not matter. What you think is enough.”
He opened the crab, revealing the bright orange roe inside.
Lin Xuehe lowered his eyes and quietly, elegantly scooped it out.
“Fine, I give up.” Wen Ya raised both hands, her brows drooping. “I give up.”
“Mm.” Lin Xuehe nodded seriously, his gaze already fixed on the second crab as he continued scooping.
Damn this guy…
Wen Ya sighed. Not even a shred of sympathy.
Watching him carefully scrape the crab roe with meticulous focus, she suddenly felt relieved half a minute later. If he actually started offering genuine concern and warm comfort, that would be truly terrifying.
Half hearted indifference was better.
Putting her worries aside for the moment, Wen Ya reached out for a crab.
Eat first, eating is the most important thing.
Wow, so fresh. She squinted in satisfaction. Actually, life was still pretty wonderful.
Lin Xuehe looked up.
Wen Ya, biting on a crab leg, looked back at him in confusion.
He curved his lips into a smile so dazzling it could eclipse the sun and moon.
“So the phrase ‘falling through’ was correct after all, wasn’t it?”
“…”
Wen Ya expressionlessly spat out the crab leg.
Bah. What kind of lousy restaurant serves expired crab? It smells awful.