“Don’t you enjoy football, Miss Lin? You don’t know the answer to such a simple question?”
Lin Yanyan suppressed her anger and answered patiently.
“Five times: 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, and 2002. Normal people don’t ask questions like that.”
Lin Huaiqing chuckled.
“I didn’t expect you to have actually done your homework.”
“You’ve asked me plenty of questions, Mr. Lin. It’s my turn now. What plans do you have for married life?”
Finally, they were getting to the point. Lin Huaiqing crossed his legs, ready to deliver the finishing blow.
“After we marry, naturally I’ll handle things outside while you look after the home. I hear you’re currently a department manager at your father’s company?”
“That’s right! My father made me start at the bottom. It took me only two years to become a department manager.”
Lin Huaiqing smiled and waved a hand, dismissing her professional achievements entirely.
“It’s your father’s company. Becoming a manager can hardly be difficult. Once we’re married, stop working. Stay home, look after the children, and be dutiful to my parents.”
“No, wait—”
“Sorry, I haven’t finished. Neither of us comes from an ordinary family, so money shouldn’t be an issue. We can split all daily expenses equally. My family can provide the house. Once we have children, we’ll hire a nanny. You can simply enjoy life at home.”
“Enough!”
Lin Yanyan finally lost her patience.
“Yes, I admit my family’s business is nothing compared with the Lin Group. But I’m still a wealthy family’s daughter! Am I marrying you just to wash your clothes, cook, and raise your children?!”
“If even that sounds tiring, we can hire two servants! You can spend your days drinking tea and reading. What more do you want?”
She nearly laughed in anger.
“Let me guess. We’ll split the nanny’s wages too?”
Lin Huaiqing snapped his fingers and smiled brightly.
“Congratulations! You guessed right!”
That was the last straw. She slammed a hand on the table, stood, and threw every drop of coffee in her cup into his face.
Although he had prepared himself mentally, the sudden splash of warm coffee still startled him.
Fortunately, it was not scalding, or his face might have been ruined.
Hands on her hips, Lin Yanyan berated him in a clear voice, drawing the attention of several diners.
“Your family is so rich. How did they manage to raise such an insufferable man? If you love splitting everything so much, why don’t you find a man to live with? Split things to your heart’s content!”
With that, she turned and strode away without looking back.
Lin Huaiqing remained in his seat, coffee dripping from his face and hair.
Several kilometers away, in his office in the central tower, Qin Fan listened to his personal assistant’s report and could not stop his lips from curving.
Knowing Lin Huaiqing had a blind date today, he had specifically sent someone to watch and report any developments immediately.
He had not expected Lin Huaiqing to sabotage the date himself. It suited him perfectly.
As the coffee-drenched Lin Huaiqing tried to get a server’s attention for tissues, another woman sat down opposite him.
Coffee stung his eyes, blurring his vision. Thinking Lin Yanyan had returned for another round, he was about to dodge.
Instead, the woman offered a clean tissue and gently wiped the coffee from his eyes.
Such tenderness from a woman made him go rigid. As his vision cleared, his eyes widened.
“Yu… Yuting?”
The original owner’s memories had merged so thoroughly with his own that they felt personally lived. He recognized the gentle young woman immediately: the unattainable love who had brightened his entire university life.
Lu Yuting smiled, her voice as gentle as a spring breeze.
“Huaiqing, after all these years, how are you still so silly?”
His first love had reappeared before him—and in such a way.
Even Lin Huaiqing could not tell whether this was a blessing from the goddess of fortune or a test of his reason devised by Satan.
After visiting the restroom to clean the coffee stains from his clothes as best he could, he returned to sit opposite Lu Yuting.
“Sorry you had to see that. That woman and I had a little misunderstanding…”
She smiled and shook her head.
“You don’t need to explain. I know. You must have accidentally picked up someone’s nipple cover again!”
At that, Lin Huaiqing flushed all the way to his ears.
The nipple-cover incident was how he and Yuting had first met.
It had been a scorching summer day during PE class. He had seen something fall out of the clothes of a girl ahead of him.
His only thought was to catch up and return it. The object was sticky and rather soft. He had absentmindedly squeezed it twice before running ahead to stop her.
Yuting had mistaken him for a pervert, stamped on his foot, and hurried away.
Young and inexperienced, he had not known what the object was or why she was so angry when he was merely returning it.
Only later did he learn that it was a nipple cover—a private item girls wore, which could fall off if it did not adhere properly.
Now Lu Yuting was teasing him about it again. In an instant, he seemed to return to the summer of their first meeting, to those innocent years.
He had reminded himself countless times that it was the original owner who had loved Lu Yuting, not him.
Yet after so many years, this body’s heart still raced for her.
Collecting his thoughts, Lin Huaiqing regained his composure.
“Miss Lu, didn’t you go abroad with Qin Fan after graduation? Why have you come back?”
She did not answer. Instead, her expression suddenly turned odd, and she kept glancing toward a corner.
Then she leaned close and whispered, “Huaiqing, don’t say anything! Someone’s watching us.”
“???”
“Look over there in the corner. That man keeps looking this way. He’s even wearing sunglasses indoors.”
Following her directions, Lin Huaiqing spotted a man dressed in black who seemed to have been observing them for some time.
When Lin Huaiqing turned, the man hurriedly looked away—but too late to avoid being caught.
“You’re right! Could he be a corporate spy? But why would anyone spy on me?”
Struck by an idea, Lu Yuting grabbed his hand.
“Huaiqing, I’ll count to three. Then we run and lose him.”
“What?! That’s not a good idea. I haven’t paid! Besides, he’s the one watching us. Why should we run?”
“Three, two, one! Go!”
Without waiting for his agreement, Lu Yuting sprang up, seized his hand, and pulled him out of the restaurant at a flat sprint.
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