Chapter 175: Let Me Introduce You, My Girlfriend
The sky was clear and bright, the sun like a blazing candle flame, yet it couldn’t reveal Jin Yan Ting’s expression.
Lian Li’s back instantly stiffened; she never expected to be discovered in such a situation.
And from a hundred meters away, a sound rang out:
“Click!”
Xue Shufan held a Polaroid camera, pressed the button, and a couple under the tree and a man inside the car all appeared clearly in the photograph.
She flicked the photograph with her fingertip, satisfied.
Ding, a world-famous photo.
A monsoon wind blew, rustling the dense green leaves of the Chinese parasol tree, but the carriage was filled with an endless deathly silence.
Assistant He in the driver’s seat looked out the car window with trembling pupils, never expecting to see such a scene upon returning!
Just as the car was about to leave the school gate, the sound of a propeller spinning suddenly came from above. Looking up, it was a helicopter.
Jin Yan Ting watched for a few seconds, then spat out two words expressionlessly: Turn around.
Assistant He glanced at the rearview mirror. Jin Yan Ting in the back seat had an unreadable expression; he seemed no different than usual, yet his eyes were dark and desolate.
He found it incredibly unbelievable. When did Miss Lian and the Second Young Master get together? Did they know each other? Were they close?
The stiff silence didn’t last long.
Jin Yan Ting’s gaze fell on Lian Li, whose mind was blank, then slowly moved to his own younger brother, Jin Shi Yue.
He raised the corner of his lips and smiled faintly, the smile not reaching his eyes, making him seem even colder: “The Old Madam was still thinking of introducing you to girls yesterday. I didn’t expect such a big surprise today.”
In the June sky, Lian Li felt a chill creep over her, and the blood flow in her body seemed to slow down.
Jin Shi Yue held Lian Li’s cold fingers, his large palm completely enveloping hers. He squeezed gently, signaling her not to worry.
“Isn’t it a surprise?” Jin Shi Yue’s lips curved into a casual arc, and he said calmly and at ease, “Let me introduce you, my girlfriend Lian Li.”
Jin Yan Ting’s gaze fixed directly on Lian Li, his smile as gentle as usual: “Xiao Li, why were you hiding this from me.”
Meeting Jin Yan Ting’s gaze, Lian Li opened her mouth, unsure what to say.
Clearly, she didn’t think speaking at this moment was the right choice.
“It’s my fault for not letting her tell you in time,” Jin Shi Yue interjected, his voice casual. “Hiding it was the only way to give you a surprise.”
The summer heat was intense, and Lian Li and Jin Shi Yue’s relationship erupted before Jin Yan Ting like a volcano, its scorching lava instantly pouring over him.
The wind that blew, however, inexplicably carried sharp shards of ice, piercing his blood and bones, a dense, throbbing pain.
Jin Yan Ting kept his attention on Lian Li; she was clearly very uncomfortable, a reaction that was strange for her.
If Jin Yan Ting in the car noticed, Jin Shi Yue naturally knew as well.
Jin Shi Yue held Lian Li’s hand, rubbing it reassuringly, and said to her, “Xue Shufan is over there. Stay with her for a while, and I’ll find you later.”
His tone was unusually gentle, and the vague unease in Lian Li’s heart lessened slightly.
She turned her head to look. Xue Shufan raised her Polaroid camera and waved at her, calling out, “Junior Sister!”
Jin Shi Yue and Jin Yan Ting went to the coffee shop to talk. After Assistant He had the place cleared, only a pair of brothers remained in the artistic coffee shop.
Lian Li and Xue Shufan walked around. Xue Shufan took photos of Lian Li with the Polaroid camera, but Lian Li was too distracted. Eventually, the Senior Sister and Junior Sister went to a cultural and creative store near the coffee shop.
Xue Shufan bought two cups of milk tea and told Lian Li to relax: “They are brothers, after all. They share the same blood; they won’t turn against each other.”
Lian Li propped her chin on her hand, her expression listless: “I know.”
The brotherhood between Jin Shi Yue and Jin Yan Ting was deep; it wasn’t something others could easily interfere with, which was why she hadn’t proactively approached Jin Yan Ting for a talk, unlike when Lu Hansheng found out.
In terms of closeness, a girlfriend of a few months and a foster sister of ten years couldn’t compare to nearly thirty years of brotherhood.
Sunlight streamed through the glass display window, landing on a corner of the table. Golden light shone, and Lian Li, lowering her eyelashes, said, “Do you know why a monk scolds a Taoist priest?”
Xue Shufan spread the Polaroid photos on the table and replied without looking up, “Because they’re meddling.”
“That’s how I feel right now,” Lian Li said.
Xue Shufan looked up: “Regretting dating the Second Young Master?”
“Not at all.”
Xue Shufan mused, “Junior Sister, what are your thoughts on the Second Young Master?”
Lian Li blinked in confusion: “Hmm?”
“Don’t you think you’re quite special to him?” Xue Shufan listed examples one by one. “One, you have good drinking behavior, but you slept with him when you were drunk; two, you’re skilled at rejecting people, yet you hardly rejected him; three, when he was sick, you let him stay at your place, even though you could have just called an ambulance; four, you mind other women around him, but you’re not like that with Jin Yan Ting; five, you care about him more than you care about me, you even bought him slippers but not me; six…”
“Wait,” Lian Li smiled. “Didn’t I get a pair of shoes for you?”
The Junior Sister finally smiled. Xue Shufan said, “You care about him more than you care about me. That much is undeniable, right?”
After a moment, she added, “Actually, it’s not that you care about the Second Young Master more than me.”
Friendship and love each had their own merits and couldn’t be compared.
Xue Shufan read a line from “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker: “No matter if the sky falls, she would live her life and be the person she truly wanted to be.”
She felt her Junior Sister perfectly embodied this sentence.
Lian Li wasn’t worried about falling into a public outcry; she simply didn’t want to do anything that would harm the Jin Family.
The Jin Family had shown immense kindness to her and her father.
“At first, I thought Jin Shi Yue’s color was black, then a touch of red was added, then white, purple… other colors,” Lian Li said softly. “But a while ago, I realized it wasn’t any of those.”
“Jin Shi Yue is transparent to me.”
Transparent, yet unfathomable.
Unfathomable, yet omnipresent.
“Then you became interested in him earlier than I estimated,” Xue Shufan mused for a moment. “Since I’ve known you, your heart has only been set on your studies and your mother. I haven’t seen you interested in anyone. Even with Jin Yan Ting, you were just agonizing over whether he truly liked you.”
Lian Li’s emotions were complex, and she remained silent for a long time.
“I took quite a few photos of you with my camera this morning, but unfortunately, the battery died. I’ll send them to you once I sort them out,” Xue Shufan said, changing the subject quickly as she chatted with her Junior Sister. “Although Senior Sister doesn’t understand romantic relationships, Senior Sister understands you.”
Lian Li curved her lips into a faint smile, remaining silent.
A beam of light slanted in from outside the window, falling onto her palm. She cupped a handful of light, and it danced in her eyes.
She didn’t know what Jin Shi Yue and Jin Yan Ting were talking about, or how it was going.
Did it concern her? Or were they just discussing business, with no relation to her? Or perhaps…
Sitting and waiting for death was not her style.
Lian Li clapped her hand on the table and suddenly stood up.
“Junior Sister,” Xue Shufan asked, “where are you going?”
Lian Li said, “To find those two!”
