Lin Huai called Li Qianqian and narrated the entire situation to her. Upon hearing it, Li Qianqian asked, “So both of you are living together now?”
“Yes. Otherwise she would be homeless now. Are you jealous?”
“Nope.” Li Qianqian gently sighed and said, “I also take pity on her after hearing her story. Take good care of her as she is a pitiful young girl. I did not expect that there are people experiencing such unfortunate events in this world.
Lin Huai said, “Alright, I will. Anyway I did not head to your place last weekend so I would be free to go over and accompany you this weekend.”
“It’s fine. You should stay and take good care of her. Now is the time where she needs company and comfort the most. You just brought her away from the lion’s den, I’m sure she is in a fragile mental state right now.”
“Alright then, we shall see how it goes. Either way, I am not going back to college so I am free.”
“You’re not going back to college?”
“Yup.” Lin Huai narrated the situation between him and Thunder God to Li Qianqian as well. He then said, “Now he wants me to take a firm stance and support him. If I stay in college, the other two forces might continue to rope me in. On the other hand, if I leave college and remain by his side to work for him, I am then truly one of his henchmen. I can understand his intentions.”
“Thunder God… Sigh, he is a tough person to deal with so you have to be extra careful.”
Lin Huai said, “Don’t worry, I will. How about you? Did Wei Sihai give you any problems over the past few days?”
Since the day that Wei Sihai injured Li Qianqian, Lin Huai’s favorable impression towards him changed.
Li Qianqian said, “Nope, Chairman did not trouble me at all. Instead, he treats me rather well. He is a kind person, just that… That incident was just an accident.”
Lin Huai said, “Nonetheless, he was the one that turned a blind eye to Yulan College becoming the breeding ground for thugs in the underworld. Furthermore, he wounded you. These are facts and although I don’t know the reason behind it, or whatever his intentions are, his actions are not justifiable.”
Li Qianqian said, “Yup… Chairman has no idea what has happened to you. I am afraid if the day comes where he notices that you joined the Thunder Gang, he would expose your true identity.”
“I have thought about that as well. We shall see how it goes. Even if he exposes my true identity, I am not afraid.”
Li Qianqian said, “Either way, you have to be extra cautious.”
“Sure.”
“I am sure you have been exhausted over the past few days. I shall not keep you up any longer, rest early.”
“Yup, my Qianqian knows me well and cares about me. Then I shall hang up first, goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
Lin Huai hung up the phone and got into bed. He fell asleep quickly and had a great night’s sleep. On one hand, he was rather lethargic over the matters that happened the past few days and on the other, he had not slept alone for quite some time. Therefore, he had a sound sleep.
The next morning when Lin Huai got up, Li Liner had already gotten breakfast ready. Lin Huai stared at her who was in the kitchen that had just finished making breakfast. He bitterly smiled and said, “Why are you up so early?”
“Aren’t you going back to college today? I slept the whole day yesterday and even slept at night. Thus after waking up early this morning, I could not go back to sleep and I decided to just make breakfast for you. There is nothing much to do in the meantime, so I plan to head out and buy a soymilk machine. At the moment, is it okay for you to have noodles for breakfast?”
Lin Huai said, “What do you mean by that? I will like whatever you cooked. Hurry up and take a seat, I will serve the noodles.”
“No, it’s okay. Go and wash up first, I will serve the noodles for you.”
“Alright then.” Lin Huai turned around and went to the bathroom. He briefly washed up and then returned back to the kitchen. He sat down and tasted the noodles made by Lin Liner. His eyes lit up and he gasped, “This is delicious. This is the best noodles I have ever eaten.”
Li Liner blushed. Deep down she was delighted but embarrassed at the same time. She said, “It’s just noodles. Brother Huai, you are exaggerating again.”
“Haha, I meant what I said. You can make something simple and plain such as noodles to be so delicious, wouldn’t the other dishes you make be even tastier?”
Li Liner said, “That’s because my father passed away when we were young whereas my mother got addicted to gambling. Therefore, me and my sister had to cook everyday because we had no money to order food delivery anyway.”
Lin Huai’s heart ached and he sighed. “You poor thing.”
“Unfortunately, now that I get to live a simple and peaceful life, my sister could not. She did not even have the opportunity to enjoy a day of happiness in her life.”
Lin Huai comforted her and said, “Don’t be sad, heaven might be a beautiful place.”
Li Liner said, “I hope so. Brother Huai, eat up.”
“Alright.”
They sat together and Lin Huai very quickly devoured three bowls of noodles. He could not stop complimenting how delicious the noodles were while eating. Li Liner smiled upon seeing how Lin Huai enjoyed her cooking.
Lin Huai was also delighted to see Li Liner smile. He hoped that she could smile more often and the smile would remain on her face for a longer period of time.
After breakfast, Lin Huai knew that Li Liner had no money thus he gave her an ATM card. He also informed her about the password and said, “There are two hundred thousand in the card and you can withdraw anytime you want. You can buy whatever you want and decorate the house as you wish. There is no need to be frugal.”
Li Liner was shocked as in her mind Lin Huai was just a mere student. The students from Yulan College were practically from poor families. Not only can Lin Huai afford to rent such a huge apartment, he even has a card with two hundred thousand saved. How does he have so much money?
Li Liner quickly pushed the card back to Lin Huai and said, “Brother Huai, I-I can’t accept this. That is too much money. I think it’s better for you to give me a couple of hundred and then I will go out and look for a job later. I can’t be constantly spending your money in the future.”
Lin Huai smiled and said, “Look for a job? Why do you need to do that? Making delicious food for me at home is considered your job.”
Li Liner shook her head and said, “I can’t rely on you all the time. You helped me a lot already.”
Lin Huai sighed and said, “Fine, if you wish to look for a job, I will not stop you. Everyone has different personal values of life.”
“Yup.” Li Liner smiled as Lin Huai did not stop her from looking for a job.
Lin Huai saw the change in her expression and deep down he was happy as well. As a matter of fact, other than having her own personal value of life, being busier might also help her get out of her misery and anguish sooner.
Lin Huai said, “Then I shall head to college first. Keep the ATM card and don’t be so courteous with me. I trust you because I treat you as my family member.”
Li Liner hesitated but eventually accepted the card. However, she solemnly said, “Brother Huai, don’t worry. I won’t spend the money lavishly.”
Lin Huai smiled and said, “I know. You are a sensible young lady.”
Lin Huai waved his arm and walked out of the apartment. He then flagged a cab and returned to college.
When he returned to his classroom, all of his classmates stared at him. Wu Mengjie laughed and asked, “Brother Huai, why didn’t you come to class yesterday and the day before that? All of us thought that you were embarrassed!”
“What is there to be embarrassed about?” Lin Huai was confused. Only after he saw Wei Qimian leaning over the table shyly did he realize that he had confessed to her before this. Oh right, I just confessed and yet I did not come to class on Monday. I also did not provide any explanation, no wonder people would overthink.
He guessed that Wei Qimian must have been shy and bashful after being confessed to. That was why she was too embarrassed to give him a call and ask about his absence.
Lin Huai laughed loudly and said, “It’s not like that. Something serious happened back at home, which is why I wasn’t here. What is there to be shy about? I am just happy that I finally have a girlfriend.”
Lin Huai returned back to his seat and teased Wei Qimian. “Mianmian, why are you leaning over the table? Are you tired? Oh my, why are you pinching me?”
Wei Qimian’s face was flushed. She lifted her head up and groaned. “You are so mischievous.”
Lin Huai bitterly smiled and said, “How am I mischievous?”
Wei Qimian snorted and whispered, “I thought you had no plans to return back to college after enjoying the process of successfully courting me.”
Wei Qimian knew Lin Huai’s actual identity. Thus, it was nothing out of the ordinary if Lin Huai did not return back to college.
Lin Huai smiled and said, “Then why didn’t you give me a call?”
Wei Qimian pouted her lips and snorted, “If you really value me as a girlfriend, you would have called me. Why is there a need for me to call you?”
Lin Huai smiled and said, “Alright, my bad. Something did happen back home.”
Wei Qimian asked concerningly, “What is it? Did something happen to your mother?”
Wei Qimian knew that Lin Huai did not have a father and the only person he had back home was his mother. Thus, she naturally thought that something happened to his mother such as her falling sick.
Lin Huai shook his head and said, “That’s not the case. It’s rather complicated. Let me find time and fill you in.”
“Alright then.” Lin Huai chose not to talk about it and Wei Qimian did not continue questioning him as well. Either way she was delighted that Lin Huai had returned.
Lin Huai whispered, “However from tomorrow onwards, I might not come back to college often. I might just drop by once in a while.”
“What?” Wei Qimian was stunned. However, she quickly regained control of her emotions and agonizingly said, “Oh okay, you don’t belong here anyway.”
“Haha, my dear, don’t overthink too much. It wasn’t easy to convince you to be my girlfriend so how could I possibly leave just like that? That would be irresponsible. There are other reasons behind this decision.” Lin Huai whispered, “Thunder God asked me to work for him.”
Wei Qimian frowned and with a worried look, she asked, “You are planning to work for him?”
Lin Huai smiled and said, “Haven’t I talked to you about this before?”
Wei Qimian understood what Lin Huai meant. There were too many people around them and it was not a suitable place to discuss such topics. Therefore, she kept quiet but it was unavoidable that she was worried about him.
Lin Huai smiled and said, “ I am guessing you understand why I made such a decision.”
“Alright. Let’s head outside and talk about it after class.”
“Sure thing.”