Chapter 71
That evening, Gu Lin stood by the window, staring out toward the front gate.
He had been waiting for a long time, but there was still no sign of Lin Zheng.
The snow outside was starting to fall even harder.
Gu Lin set the glass of hot water he was holding on the table, pulled out his phone, and dialed a number.
But, much like the phone’s owner, the line rang and rang with no answer.
Gu Lin lowered his phone, his brow furrowing slightly.
Before Lin Zheng had left that afternoon, he had clearly said he’d only be out for a little while. But now it was getting late, and he still wasn’t back.
Looking down from the window, he could see that the ground in the courtyard was already covered in a thick blanket of snow.
Gu Lin turned, went downstairs to the entryway, and was grabbing his coat to go out.
Just as he reached the door, his phone rang.
He glanced at the screen—it was Lin Zheng.
He answered. “Hello?”
“Gu Lin? You just called me. What’s up?”
Gu Lin stood in the entryway and said, “I hadn’t seen you come back for a while. I was worried.”
“Oh, hey, is that so? I’m fine.”
Gu Lin leaned back against the wall. “What were you doing? Why aren’t you back yet? Didn’t you say you’d only be a little while?”
“Didn’t I tell you? I went to see a friend. I know I said I’d only be out for a bit, but plans change, you know? My friend was just so insistent, wanted me to stay a little longer.”
“An insistent friend… Funny, I didn’t know you had such an insistent friend.”
“Hey, I have a social circle you can’t underestimate. It’s normal for you not to know everyone,” Lin Zheng’s voice was filled with a touch of pride.
Gu Lin’s lips slowly curved into a smile. “Oh? Is that so?”
“Of course.”
Gu Lin couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.
“Hey, don’t laugh. I’m being serious.”
“Alright, I get it. So when are you coming back? Now?”
“Umm…” Lin Zheng seemed to hesitate, then said, “Gu Lin, I might not be coming back tonight. My friend is just too enthusiastic and wants me to stay over. I feel bad refusing.”
Hearing this, the smile on Gu Lin’s face froze. “…What?”
“My friend. He said it’s been too long since he’s seen me, that he really misses me and wants me to stay the night with him.”
“Which friend? Where are they staying? Do they have enough rooms?”
“Don’t be like that. I’ll be back tomorrow.”
Gu Lin let out a breath. “I see. So, you’ll be back first thing in the morning?”
“Umm…”
“?” Gu Lin questioned, “What does ‘umm’ mean?”
“Anyway, I’ll let you know when I’m heading back tomorrow. The point is, we’ll see each other tomorrow. My friend is calling me, so I gotta go. Bye.”
With a click, the line went dead.
Gu Lin stood frozen, still holding the phone. “?”
Elsewhere, Lin Zheng, hugging a throw pillow, was sprawled on the sofa. He turned to look at the “enthusiastic and hospitable friend” behind him.
The friend was giving him a look of utter contempt.
Lin Zheng flashed a brilliant smile.
Yan Yang couldn’t believe it. All he did was agree to meet up with Lin Zheng to discuss their plans for Christmas Eve, and somehow he’d ended up bringing the guy home with him.
Yan Yang sighed. If Gu Lin found out that he was the so-called hospitable friend who was “insisting” Lin Zheng stay the night, Gu Lin would probably beat him to a pulp.
Yan Yang opened a can of beer, set it in front of Lin Zheng, and popped one open for himself. “I’m telling you, why are you staying here tonight instead of going back to Gu Lin’s? Are you trying to get me beaten up by him?”
Lin Zheng reached for the can. The cold metal turned his hand red, but he still lifted it and took a long drink before slowly explaining to Yan Yang, “Ever heard of ‘distance creates beauty’? Tomorrow is my date with Gu Lin. Think about it, we see each other every single day, we’re always together at work. Even if I suddenly suggest a date, it’s just us being together in a different setting. But if we have a little distance, it’s different. For two people who don’t usually get to be together, a sudden date where they can spend the entire day together from morning till night… think about how precious that one day would be. It might even become one of the most important days of their lives. That’s how it usually is for dates, let alone a day where I’m planning something big.”
Yan Yang understood. What Lin Zheng meant was, he wanted to keep a little distance from Gu Lin before their date. Because if they didn’t see each other tonight, Gu Lin would keep thinking about him. Then, when they met tomorrow, Gu Lin’s pent-up longing would explode, and that night, sparks would fly…
Lin Zheng quickly cut in. “? What do you mean, sparks flying?! Well, well, Yan Yang, I knew your mind wasn’t so pure!”
Yan Yang said, “Keep pretending. You dare say you haven’t thought about what might happen after your confession tonight? Not even a little?”
Lin Zheng, his little secret exposed, looked away. “Well… it’s not like I haven’t thought about it…”
Yan Yang gave him a hearty slap on the back.
The smack was so hard Lin Zheng almost dropped his beer.
Just as he was about to curse him out, Yan Yang leaned in and asked with a grin, “Want to know how to lock down the person you like on the very first try?”
Lin Zheng’s expression smoothed out in a second. He leaned closer to Yan Yang, raised an eyebrow, and whispered, “Do tell.”
The two of them talked until the early hours of the morning.
The next day, Lin Zheng left the house, excited and right on schedule.
As if timed perfectly, he had just gotten into a car at ten o’clock when Gu Lin called, asking if he was on his way back.
Lin Zheng, sitting in the back seat and adjusting the tie he hadn’t had time to fix before leaving, said into the phone, “I’m a bit busy with something right now, can’t come home just yet.”
After hanging up, Lin Zheng’s eyes met the taxi driver’s in the rearview mirror. The driver gave him a look of deep disappointment and even shook his head.
Lin Zheng: “??”
When Lin Zheng got out of the car and paid the fare, the taxi driver told him earnestly, “Young man, be faithful to your wife. Don’t do this kind of thing again.”
With that, the car sped off with a roar, leaving behind a trail of exhaust.
Lin Zheng, left standing in place: “…”
Was I just mistaken for a scumbag cheating on his wife?
Gu Lin, one hand in his pocket, picked up the coffees and placed one in front of the person sitting opposite him.
Yan Yang looked at Gu Lin’s face, a storm brewing behind the calm facade, and asked with feigned innocence, “What’s wrong?”
Gu Lin sat down in his armchair, his tone unreadable. “He was out all night and still isn’t back.”
How could Yan Yang not know who Gu Lin was talking about? He said, “That’s normal. Everyone has a social life. Time flies when you’re with friends. It’s normal to want to stay a little longer.”
Hearing this, Gu Lin looked at Yan Yang and asked, “…How do you know he was out seeing friends?”
Yan Yang: “!”
Crap.
Yan Yang said calmly, “I ran into little chicken-coop head outside yesterday. He told me.”
“Yesterday?” Gu Lin thought for a moment, then asked, “Where did you run into him? Was it close to his friend’s house? Where does his friend live?”
“Calm down, calm down. I don’t know his friend’s address. Besides, if he’s meeting a friend, it wouldn’t be appropriate for you to just show up. Not appropriate, ah.”
“…You’re right. It really wouldn’t be appropriate right now.”
He wasn’t anything to Lin Zheng at the moment.
Gu Lin let out a breath and dialed a number.
When the call connected, he said to the person on the other end, “Assistant Shen, move tomorrow’s business trip to today. I’m leaving now.”
The moment Yan Yang heard Gu Lin was going on a business trip, he panicked. Today was Christmas Eve. Lin Zheng had planned to ask Gu Lin out tonight and confess.
If Gu Lin left now, was Lin Zheng supposed to confess to thin air?
Yan Yang quickly tried to stop him. “No, it’s a day off today. What business trip are you going on?”
Yan Yang pressed down on Gu Lin’s phone, reminding him, “You can go tomorrow, it’s not urgent. It’s Christmas Eve today.”
Logically, Christmas Eve was a great time for couples to go on a date.
Gu Lin, of course, knew it was Christmas Eve. He said, “So what if it’s Christmas Eve? Who knows when he’s coming back, or if we’ll even get to celebrate it.”
Yan Yang could tell Gu Lin was just saying that out of anger. Good grief, you little chicken-coop head, so much for ‘distance creates beauty.’ This is creating a rift!
Since he had promised Lin Zheng he would play wingman for this meticulously planned confession, Yan Yang naturally had to find a way to make Gu Lin stay.
“Gu Lin, I’m telling you, you can’t be like this. Little chicken-coop head was just out for one night. You have to be more generous, you can’t be so petty.”
“Who’s being petty?” Gu Lin said. “Move.”
“No, I can’t let you.”
“Are you moving or not?”
“No, I can’t.”
“Yan Yang, I’m very busy right now.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I think you probably have other things you need to be doing right now. Get out of the way.”
Yan Yang looked at Gu Lin’s scowling face, a picture of grim determination. He got angry too and couldn’t help but blurt out, “Hey, don’t take your anger out on little chicken-coop head for no reason. Do you even know what he’s been doing for you?”
Gu Lin looked at him, his voice devoid of emotion. “I don’t know, and I don’t want to know. Move.”
Yan Yang was fuming now. “Damn it, all his hard work was for nothing. He’s been preparing for days, even last night and today, he’s been getting everything ready for your surprise confession tonight!”
Hearing this, Gu Lin froze. Then, a cunning and dangerous smile spread across his previously impassive eyes. “So this is what you two have been up to behind my back?”
Yan Yang paused, and several seconds later, he finally reacted. “I… Gu Lin… you bastard, you were setting me up?”
A few seconds later, Gu Lin said, “Move.”
Yan Yang was dumbfounded. “You know and you’re still leaving?”
Gu Lin held up his coffee cup. “It’s empty. I’m going to put the cup away.”
Yan Yang: “…………”
So all this time he was just going to put a cup away?
Then the phone call…
After Gu Lin walked past, Yan Yang picked up his phone. The call history was completely empty of any outgoing calls to Assistant Shen.
You bastard, Gu Lin!
Yan Yang turned his head and saw Gu Lin, who was getting coffee, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter. He couldn’t help but roar, “Stop being so happy by yourself! It’s creepy!”
Yan Yang was on the verge of tears. It’s over, little chicken-coop head. I didn’t mean to sell you out, I swear. I’m sorry. I was just trying to help you guys. I’m sure you’ll forgive your big bro.
After double-checking every detail of the plan, which was already evening, a tired Lin Zheng sat down in the park. He took a deep breath of the cool air, pulled out his phone, and called Gu Lin.
The moment the call connected, a familiar, pleasant voice came through.
“Hello?”
“It’s me.”
“Mm.”
Lin Zheng asked, feigning ignorance, “Do you have any plans tonight?”
In reality, Lin Zheng had looked into Gu Lin’s schedule a week ago. Gu Lin had nothing planned for today.
“Hard to say. I might have to take care of something.”
“Ah?!” Lin Zheng’s voice was filled with surprise.
“But, if you need me for something too, you take priority.”
Though it was a simple sentence, Lin Zheng felt an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.
“I do have something today, and it’s related to you.”
“May I be a little curious? What is it?”
“You’ll know when you get here.”
“Alright.”
“Tonight at nine, I’ll be waiting for you by the small fountain outside the movie theater we went to before.” Lin Zheng looked at the gift box in his hands, took a deep breath, and said, “I’ll wait for you. I’ll keep waiting until you come.”
The other end of the line was silent for a few seconds before he finally said, “…Wait for me, little rabbit. I’ll definitely come find you.”
After hanging up, Lin Zheng raised a hand to cover his flushed, hot face.
Soon.
He and Gu Lin would soon be together, officially.
Night fell faster than usual. Lin Zheng was already waiting by the small fountain long before nine o’clock.
Couples walked by hand-in-hand. In the distance, shop windows were filled with Christmas trees and Santas, and the cheerful sound of Christmas carols could be heard.
The weather was freezing. Lin Zheng blew on his reddened hands to warm them up.
As time ticked by, his heart pounded like it was dancing inside his chest.
Eight-thirty, eight-forty, eight-fifty, eight fifty-five…
Only five minutes left.
Tick, tock, tick, tock…
The hands of the clock turned.
Just as the hour and minute hands formed a perfect ninety-degree angle, the sound of clear footsteps came from behind him.
Lin Zheng, clutching the gift in his hands, turned around with anticipation. “Gu…”
But the name died on his lips. He looked at the somewhat defiant face that had appeared before him and said in surprise, “Zhao Yi?”
He smiled at Zhao Yi. “Long time no see. When did you get back?”
Snowflakes fell on Zhao Yi’s thick, dark hair.
Zhao Yi didn’t answer, his eyes fixed on the person in front of him.
“Brother Lin Zheng, do you want to go back to your original world?”
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