Chapter 30
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“Here, watermelon.”
Chen Lu was shocked by Lin Qinglu’s behavior. She reached out dazedly to take the watermelon slice her cousin handed her, only to find Lin Qinglu’s gaze immediately falling on that piece of watermelon.
How should I put it, if the watermelon had a “jio,” it might have been scared enough by that gaze to lift the tablecloth and hide underneath.
This reaction seems a bit off.
Chen Lu took a bite of the watermelon, calming herself down, and continued to persevere.
“Cousin, are you free mid-January? I want to go to Northern Europe, will you accompany me?”
Before Jian Yixin could speak, Lin Qinglu gracefully set down her utensils and said, “Unfortunately, your cousin will be attending my birthday party around that time.” She then turned to Mrs. Chen, “Pianxian promised to attend my birthday gathering; it will be live-streamed online, so Auntie can watch too.”
“That sounds nice. Pianxian is great in every way, but she doesn’t have many friends in China. Seeing her make such good friends with you, I feel relieved…”
Lin Qinglu could roughly tell that Song Pianxian hadn’t told her family about their relationship yet.
Well, they were still in the early stages, so it was too early to say. Lin Qinglu felt a small sense of satisfaction as if she were holding a little secret between them. She carefully concealed her thoughts and said dignifiedly:
“It’s my honor to know Pianxian.”
Chen Lu watched from the side, feeling a bit dumbfounded; suddenly, the watermelon in her hand didn’t taste sweet anymore.
Wait, Auntie, I suspect they’re not just good friends!
After the meal, the group arrived at the club’s parking lot. Mrs. Chen was going to have a beauty treatment with her old friends, and the driver from the Song family came to pick her up.
Before leaving, Mrs. Chen exchanged WeChat contacts with Lin Qinglu, repeatedly saying that they should go shopping together after Lin Qinglu finished shooting.
After Mrs. Chen left, Jian Yixin asked Chen Lu, “Are you going back to school? I’ll have the driver take you.”
Chen Lu’s alertness was at its highest now. Her first reaction was: that according to traditional social etiquette, everyone should send the guest home first.
To her cousin, between her and Lin Qinglu, she… was the outsider??
Chen Lu suffered a heart-wrenching blow from her cousin.
She nodded absentmindedly, and her cousin called the driver. At the last moment of leaving the battlefield, Chen Lu, with her last stubbornness, hugged her cousin.
“Goodbye, cousin.”
Wuwuwuwu, cousin is going to be taken away, being able to hug is a blessing.
After Chen Lu got into the car, Jian Yixin turned to Lin Qinglu:
“When are you going back—”
Her words were interrupted by Lin Qinglu’s actions.
Lin Qinglu leaned in.
The familiar cold fragrance swept over her like a tide and she was on the coast.
As Lin Qinglu’s arms embraced her, the cold fragrance wafted over her temples and hair.
She was enveloped, immersed in Lin Qinglu’s scent.
The supple arms around her waist, the gentle strands of hair lightly tickling her neck.
The breath brushed past her ear, warm and humid, and the plumpness of the clothing pressed against her.
Confinement, slight itchiness, fragrance, softness.
The chaotic and mingling sensations overwhelmed Jian Yixin in an instant.
Why were all the details magnified during the embrace with Lin Qinglu?
It was as if her senses were fitted with a magnifying glass, every little sensation amplified infinitely, then transmitted to her soul through a tiny horn, tickling her soul.
Her soul was shaken to numbness.
Especially compared to Chen Lu’s indifferent hug earlier.
The surrounding vehicles were neatly lined up, silent and cold.
Lin Qinglu’s heartbeat was chaotic, deafening, her blood boiling hot.
She didn’t let go; instead, she tightened her arms and pressed the person closer to her chest.
With half-closed eyelids, long lashes cast fan-shaped shadows, gently covering her amber-like eyes. Her voice was languid, with a hint of grievance:
“I want to hug too.”
If Chen Lu could hug Song Pianxian, why couldn’t she?
She wanted to hug tighter, longer.
Song Pianxian wouldn’t push her away.
For some reason, Lin Qinglu was very sure of it.
Song Pianxian’s car hadn’t driven away yet. The windows were opaque, she couldn’t see inside, but she knew Chen Lu must be watching.
Lin Meow Meow tightly hugged her little Good Luck Butterfly, raising her eyelids slightly, and looking towards the rear window.
Partly a declaration, partly a warning.
Chen Lu hiding behind the car window trembled in fear.
Lin Qinglu’s gaze…
Where did the obedient and well-behaved youth who listened to her aunt just now go?
Where did the dignified and composed Lin Qinglu in front of her cousin go?
She hugged her cousin, fine, but why did she have to scare her like this?
—No, how could she hug her cousin like this?
Hugging for so long, it’s not normal at all.
Her cousin must push her away, she must.
But Chen Lu waited in the car for a while and still didn’t see the expected scene.
The driver asked her, “Miss, shall we go?”
Chen Lu’s eyes were dry from staring; she stomped her foot and withdrew her gaze. “Let’s go.”
She didn’t want to watch anymore, didn’t want to wait anymore; her heart was already broken and couldn’t be mended.
She opened her phone and saw a string of Weibo notifications, all from curious netizens asking her when she would come out to burst the bubble of Lin and Song’s romance.
Chen Lu was unwilling, but the Chen family’s teachings emphasized honesty and courage. As a member of the Chen family, Chen Lu could only grit her teeth and write with mixed emotions:
Beautiful LuLu: Lin and Song are the real deal.
“Burst the bubble live?”
“Hahahahahahaha”
“Is it really happening?? Please share some details, we need this traffic.”
“I believe the blogger really met Lin and Song, kneeling to Lin-Song, we’re true sisters from different parents.”
Chen Lu replied angrily, “Not kneeling! I’ll never kneel!”
She angrily uninstalled Weibo, only to download it again the next day when she woke up and was shocked to see her followers increase by twenty thousand, making her jump out of bed in surprise.
As she searched for the reason, she discovered that Lin Qinglu had reposted her all over the entertainment industry with a note:
“There’s a blogger here who didn’t want to kneel to Lin-Song but ended up doing so. Everyone, come admire her!”
“…”.
Chen Lu lay back stiffly and pulled the blanket over her face.
Regret, she regretted it very much now.
Jian Yixin watched as the car drove Chen Lu away.
On her shoulders, Lin Qinglu leaned heavily. Jian Yixin was held too tightly, without even space to move.
She was like a real butterfly, pressed against Lin Qinglu’s soft and plump body at the center of her butterfly bone.
The back was slender and fragile, the wings of the butterfly soft and drooping, the hem of the light gray coat drifting by her calves, showing an involuntary beauty.
As the person who had been holding her captive showed no intention of letting go for a long time, Jian Yixin had to call out:
“Qinglu?”
“Hug me.” Lin Qinglu muttered, her gaze stubborn and tinged with a thin layer of coldness where Jian Yixin couldn’t see, “Chen Lu hugged you just now, and you didn’t say anything to her.”
Jian Yixin was startled for a moment, then understood—was this implying that because she didn’t say anything to Chen Lu, she couldn’t say anything to her either?
She smiled helplessly, “LuLu hugged me briefly and then let go.”
“I’ll just hug you briefly too.” Lin Qinglu smirked.
“Until you let go, it’s all brief.”
In the slightly dim parking lot, the bright white parking lines extended from under their feet, spreading into the distance, while they stood still, their figures overlapping.
Laughter and conversation came from the nearby passage; others were coming down.
Jian Yixin raised her hand and gently patted Lin Qinglu’s straight back, her tone lighter than her actions:
“Others are coming, you’ll be seen.”
What would be seen? It would be seen as Lin and Song’s official endorsement; Lin Qinglu didn’t care at all.
“Let go first, okay?”
But speaking like this to herself, Lin Qinglu couldn’t resist at all.
When the same sentence was spoken from her, it carried her scent, as if even the little tail at the end of the sentence was softer and warmer than others, gently brushing over her heart.
Restlessness and dissatisfaction were smoothed out, and Lin Qinglu had no choice but to obey.
She accepted it willingly.
Liu Lele picked up Lin Qinglu and took her back to the set, where Luo Chun and Ji Liu had already prepared barbecue skewers and were waiting for her to report on the situation.
“Is the brand still satisfied with you?”
“Is your sister’s marriage to a wealthy family going smoothly?”
Lin Qinglu sat down in the chair, casually covering herself with her cozy little coat, and absentmindedly adjusting the fuzzy brim of her hat.
“I’ve exchanged private WeChat with Aunt Chen.”
“Wow, that’s great.” Luo Chun’s eyes lit up.
Without saying a word, Ji Liu buried herself in her phone: “Where are my middle-aged and elderly emojis? Sisters are here to support you.”
“Thank you.” Lin Qinglu lazily replied.
“No problem, sister. When you get married, for every emoji, there will be a check of ten million yuan.” Ji Liu said, then sighed sadly, “At your current pace, before the confession, I don’t know when I’ll get paid.”
“It’s coming soon.”
“Huh?”
“Sister Ning has finally come to her senses?”
Lin Qinglu didn’t respond.
Thinking of Chen Lu’s actions, she suddenly exerted force and plucked a tuft of fuzz from her coat, then snapped out of it and felt a pang of regret.
It’s all Chen Lu’s fault.
When she became Chen Lu’s sister-in-law, she would send her away with money:
Take this red envelope and leave me and your sister!
Under the complex gazes of the three, Lin Qinglu, lost in thought, revealed a haughty expression.
Surprisingly, with Lin’s face there, no matter what expression she wore, she looked extremely beautiful, like a domineering and vicious female antagonist, both hateful and adorable.
Lin placed the tuft of fuzz on the table and took a picture to send to Ms. Song:
“The fuzz fell off.”
Ms. Song, upon receiving the WeChat, stared at the image for a long time but didn’t understand what fuzz it was.
Did someone’s cat shed its fur?
But Ms. Song knew that if she didn’t reply, although she didn’t know if other cats were shedding, Lin’s cat would probably be distressed.
After thinking for two minutes, she scrolled through the chat history, selected a cat head emoji from Lin’s previous messages, saved it, and sent it over.
“Don’t be childish, can you be more mature in front of someone you like, Little Elementary Chicken?”
“Why would you send this kind of thing? Ms. Song always has such a busy schedule, will she be bothered with you?” Ji Liu’s expression was indescribable, speaking with conviction, “She wouldn’t even think about you.”
“Is it childish?” Lin Qinglu’s cold and elegant face showed pure confusion, “Is it childish to send her something I thought she might like?”
Ji Liu was at a loss for words.
“And besides, this is a gift she gave me. When something like losing the fur happens, I should at least inform her.”
Ji Liu, resembling an old man on the subway staring at her phone, made an expression:
“Please don’t use the tone of ‘this is our child, if the child fails math, you should tell the child’s mom’ to talk about a Canadian goose.”
“In any case, Ms. Song won’t reply to you.” Ji Liu pointed at the conversation box on Lin Qinglu’s phone, “Look, it’s been five minutes since the messages were sent, has Ms. Song replied to you—”
Ji Liu trailed off as she glanced at the conversation box.
With just one glance, she saw Ms. Song, who usually communicated succinctly with only punctuation marks, sending Lin Qinglu an emoticon of a cat with grape-like eyes looking around.
The cat’s head happened to be right under her fingertips, shamelessly acting cute.
“…”
“Damn.” Ji Liu said expressionlessly.
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Translator: Glariosa
Editor: Ruu
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