Gu Bin didn’t give her a chance to argue, speaking first: “Ask whatever you want when we get there. It’s not convenient in the car.”
“Hmph.”
Lin Xiyu choked back her words, forced to swallow her indignation.
“Heh.”
The more Gu Bin looked at her aggrieved expression, the more amused he felt. Unable to resist, he reached out and patted her head again.
“Stop that.”
Already irritated, Lin Xiyu complained grumpily: “If you keep patting, you’ll really make me dumb.”
“Tch.”
Gu Bin chuckled deliberately, teasing her: “As if you were all that clever to begin with. If you really turn dumb, don’t go blaming me.”
“Who would blame you?”
Lin Xiyu flared up in embarrassment and anger.
“Actually, you can blame me if you want.”
Gu Bin continued with a scheming tone: “I wouldn’t mind raising a silly, cute little lamb.”
“You’re the silly one! You’re the lamb! Who wants you to raise them?!”
Lin Xiyu completely bristled up, swinging her fist to punch him hard.
The blow landed squarely on his chest with a heavy thud.
“Ouch.”
Gu Bin groaned in feigned pain, clutching his chest as he lowered his head.
“Does it hurt that much?”
Lin Xiyu’s hand trembled slightly, feeling a bit guilty: “You asked for it! I didn’t hit that hard. You’re way too fragile.”
“Why don’t you let me punch you and see…”
Gu Bin laughed in exasperation: “…if it hurts or not?”
“Go ahead.”
Lin Xiyu straightened her slender waist, stubbornly refusing to back down: “It’s just a punch. What’s the big deal? Hit me if you want. I’ll let you…”
“You said it yourself?”
Unable to tolerate her smug little act, Gu Bin wanted to deflate her arrogance.
He subconsciously curled his fingers and made a symbolic motion to tap her chest.
The taxi suddenly swayed for some reason. Caught off guard, Lin Xiyu stumbled forward. Gu Bin couldn’t avoid her in time, and the back of his hand brushed against the softness of the girl’s chest. He recoiled as if burned.
“Ah…!”
Lin Xiyu was also stunned, a sharp cry escaping her lips.
Through the rearview mirror, Gu Bin caught the taxi driver’s teasing gaze. His handsome face instantly turned as red as a boiled crab.
With the unspoken, intimate incident during the return journey, neither of them spoke after getting out of the taxi. When their eyes occasionally met, they would nervously look away.
Gu Bin escorted her home and prepared to leave on his bike.
Entering Lin Xiyu’s courtyard, he discovered that the mountain bike parked outside the noodle workshop window had vanished without a trace.
“Where’s your bike? Why is it gone? Could it have been stolen?”
Lin Xiyu thought of the absurdly high, jaw-dropping price of his mountain bike and panicked, her voice trembling.
“I’ll make a phone call.”
Gu Bin remained calmer than her. Standing in the pathway, he glanced toward the phone booth through the gate and made a decision: “Ask Uncle Wang who came to buy noodles while we were away.”
“Was it stolen by a noodle customer?”
Lin Xiyu couldn’t help feeling a surge of dread, unable to imagine such a thing happening in her own yard.
“Never mind, don’t ask.”
Seeing her overly frightened, her face pale, Gu Bin set aside propriety and firmly gripped her shoulders, comforting her instead: “I’ll call the police. They’ll be here soon. Let them handle eliminating suspects and catching the thief.”
“I’m not afraid, I just feel that the people who often come to Uncle Wang’s house to buy noodles are all neighbors.”
Lin Xiyu felt conflicted: “We see each other all the time, we’re all very familiar with one another. Deep down, I really don’t want to believe it was any of them who did it…”