The man in front of me had a fair and handsome face, and his overall demeanor was gentle and clean, making him very likable.
Lin Leyao listened to the man's words with surprise in her eyes.
The man quickly introduced himself: "My name is He Wenbo. I'm a young man who is still starting his own business. I'm here to ask if you attended Mingli International School for junior high school?"
Lin Leyao blinked and nodded, saying, "I studied at Mingli for a year."
Hearing Lin Leyao's reply, the young man smiled and breathed a sigh of relief: "Looks like I guessed right. I felt very familiar when I saw you. I was just scared that you would think I was a man who came to chat you up on purpose."
Hearing the man's worried words, Lin Leyao couldn't help but smile.
At first, she did think the man was trying to pick her up, but his reserved demeanor made him seem like the type of person who would actively approach women.
Seeing Lin Leyao's gentle attitude, the man's tense emotions gradually relaxed. He pointed to the sofa next to Lin Leyao and asked, "Do you mind if I sit for a while?"
"Please sit down."
The young man sat down and began to speak: "I didn't notice anything familiar about you when I saw you on TV before, but I recognized you immediately when I saw you in person today."
Lin Leyao smiled politely and replied, "Your memory is really good. If I may ask, were we junior high school classmates or...?"
“No,” the man immediately shook his head, “I’m your junior, Lin Zhipei and I are classmates.”
At this point, the man explained, "You must know Lin Zhipei, right? She's the daughter of the host of today's banquet. You're probably here to celebrate her birthday because she invited you."
Lin Leyao casually hummed in agreement, then asked with some curiosity, "I only stayed in Mingli for a year and didn't have many friends. How did you recognize me?"
The man laughed and joked, "I've always had a good memory. Maybe you've been good-looking since you were little, which makes you easier for people to remember."
The man, unaware of Lin Leyao's true identity, assumed she was Lin Zhipei's good friend and said, "You must have a very good relationship with Zhipei and Aunt Ji, right? They only invited you, a celebrity, to this birthday party."
Hearing the man's question, Lin Leyao smiled but remained silent.
Her demeanor was interpreted by the man as tacit agreement.
He Wenbo has a clean and refreshing appearance, speaks tactfully and generously, and does not cause embarrassment to others. During his conversation with Lin Leyao, Lin Leyao did not feel uncomfortable.
He Wenbo and Lin Leyao chatted about their junior high school days, and He Wenbo mentioned several things that happened to her during junior high, which surprised Lin Leyao.
"Some of the things you mentioned I've forgotten myself."
“I am Lin Zhipei’s class monitor. Lin Zhipei is very introverted. The teacher told me to take care of her in private. When she goes to find you in the upper grades after class, I will go with her. Because I have a good memory, I remember what you did when I saw you.”
Lin Leyao thought that when Lin Zhipei first went to the same school as her, the two of them didn't have a very good relationship. Lin Zhipei hadn't contacted her many times, yet this person was always by Lin Zhipei's side.
This isn't something you can do just because a teacher tells you to.
I hadn't been chatting with Ho Man-po for long when he mentioned Lam Chi-pui several times.
Lin Leyao sized him up for a moment, then asked directly, "Do you like Lin Zhipei?"
He Wenbo looked surprised. After a second, he chuckled and nodded in acknowledgment, "Was it really that obvious?"
“We’ve only exchanged a few words, and you’ve already mentioned Lin Zhipei several times.”
Upon hearing Lin Leyao's explanation, He Wenbo tilted his head and thought for a moment, then finally chuckled.
"I didn't expect you to see through me so soon after we met. She probably already sensed it by now."
He Wenbai's muttering reached Lin Leyao's ears clearly, but she pretended not to hear it and asked, "Have you told her you like her?"
He Wenbo nodded, then quickly shook his head.
"The confession was interrupted halfway through."
He Wenbo added, "I confessed to her on the day I graduated from high school, but Lin Zhipei had to leave halfway through."
He Wenbo had a faint smile on his face the whole time. Even when talking about such a regrettable thing, the smile on his face did not disappear, but Lin Leyao could still sense his helplessness, annoyance and sadness.
Lin Leyao looked at him indifferently, while He Wenbai began to talk about his own affairs as if they were old friends.
“I was in the same class as her in junior high and high school. I liked her for as many years as we were classmates. Lin Zhipei was very withdrawn at school. I was able to get close to her because of my position as class monitor. Even so, I never became her close friend until we graduated from high school. Because I liked her, I would pretend to take care of her at school because I was following the teacher's instructions. I would have my driver follow the car that picked her up and dropped her off, and accompany her to and from school. On weekends, I would wait at the intersections around her house to see if I could bump into her. At that time, she almost never went out during holidays. The only place she went to regularly was the sanatorium in the south of the city, which she would visit once a week.”
At this point, He Wenbo glanced at Lin Leyao and noticed that she wasn't particularly surprised by what he had said.
"I was very curious at the time about why she went to that sanatorium so frequently, but I was too embarrassed to ask her directly."
“She’s going to see her mother,” Lin Leyao said.
He Wenbai was taken aback, thinking he was hallucinating.
Lin Leyao repeated: "Her biological mother is recuperating in a sanatorium."
He Wenbai was unaware of this matter. He had always believed that Ji Rong was Lin Zhipei's biological mother. Upon hearing this news, he was stunned for a long time.
"You've liked her for so many years, and you still don't understand her?"
Lin Leyao asked casually, but He Wenbai felt a sense of irony in her words. After all, what she said was true. He had liked Lin Zhipei for so many years, yet he didn't even know this.
He Wenbo's face turned pale and then flushed with embarrassment. It took him a while to calm down before he continued speaking.
He explained, "I went abroad to study right after graduating from high school, and I've only been back in China for half a year. I've missed out on so much."
Lin Leyao nodded, and He Wenbo continued, "After I returned to China in the past six months, I went to that nursing home privately and saw Lin Zhipei at the entrance a few times. However, I noticed that she has been going to the nursing home much more frequently recently. Could it be that her mother's health is deteriorating?"
He didn't know before that the person living in the nursing home was Lin Zhipei's biological mother. Now that he knows, and recalling what he recently discovered, he can't help but feel a little worried for Lin Zhipei.
Hearing He Wenbai's words, Lin Leyao reacted for a moment and immediately replied, "No, I guess it's because she's going abroad to study for a master's degree, so she's visiting more often."
If Lin Zhipei's mother experiences any health problems, the family will receive the news immediately, and she will definitely know in advance.
However, through the information He Wenbo shared, she learned that Lin Zhipei was visiting the nursing home more often.
Lin Leyao had no opinion on this; it was only natural for her daughter to see her mother.
Lin Leyao didn't notice that He Wenbo, who was beside her, suddenly fell silent after she finished speaking.
He Wenbo only just learned that Lin Zhipei was going abroad to study. He had just returned and she was leaving again. Were they going to be separated again?
Seeing his absent-minded look, Lin Leyao reminded him, "Aren't you going to talk to Lin Zhipei now?"
Ji Rong was chatting with Xin Ying and her friends, while Lin Zhipei stood alone to the side, with no one around her.
He Wenbo thought for a long time before finally standing up: "Thank you for talking to me for so long. If you need my help in the future, you can contact me directly, and I will do my best to help you solve it."
After saying that, He Wenbo left the rest area to find Lin Zhipei.
Lin Leyao thought she would be bored at the birthday party, but she didn't expect to meet a boy who had a crush on Lin Zhipei for many years. After listening to his long story, she found it quite interesting.
After He Wenbo left, Lin Leyao looked at Xin Ying, who was being pulled away by Ji Rong to talk to her friend.
A group of wealthy women, along with their sons and daughters, surrounded Ji Rong and Xin Ying in a circle. Many of these young people were either interning at their family companies or starting their own businesses, and they all wanted to build a good relationship with Xin Ying.
Lin Leyao could spot Xin Ying's slender and upright figure in the middle of the crowd at a glance.
Lin Leyao stared blankly at Xin Ying's back, when she saw Xin Ying, who had been facing away from her, suddenly turn around and catch her gaze precisely.
Lin Leyao paused for a moment, then saw Xin Ying glance at her before looking away and continuing her conversation with the people around her.
Lin Leyao wasn't sure if Xin Ying had been looking at her just now. She was a little curious about how Xin Ying had sensed that she was being looked at and had been able to capture her gaze so accurately.
Xin Ying looked away, but Lin Leyao's gaze remained fixed on her.
Xin Ying has always preferred wearing suits. She's rather slender, and the dark blue suit and loose trousers accentuate her long, straight figure. Surrounded by people, she exudes a composed air, tilting her head to listen to those around her. Her slender neck, with its smooth, elegant lines, is revealed, drawing everyone's attention.
Lin Leyao was staring at her in a daze when a little girl walked over from a distance: "Hello, Sister Leyao, can I take a picture with you?"
When Lin Leyao came to her senses, she saw a girl of about twelve or thirteen years old, wearing a cute white dress, looking at her with her round eyes.
Lin Leyao smiled and agreed, "Okay."
The little girl's face immediately lit up with a happy smile. She took out her phone from the pearl sachet she was carrying and took a selfie with Lin Leyao.
After taking a photo together, the little girl held her hand and talked to her for a long time. Suddenly, Lin Leyao felt a gaze. She looked in the direction she felt and saw a young woman staring straight at her with an unfriendly expression.
No, he was looking at the little girl in front of him.
Lin Leyao pinched the little girl's cheek and asked, "Is that your mother?"
The girl turned around, her expression changed, and she exclaimed, "Ah! Yes, sister, I'm leaving now!"
As she spoke, the girl quickly ran towards the woman whose face looked unwell.
Lin Leyao felt something was off. She glanced at the woman a few more times and suddenly realized that the lady who had fallen and overturned the champagne car earlier seemed to be her.
It seems the lady was unharmed and even changed into another dress to continue attending the banquet.
Thinking about what she had just experienced, Lin Leyao could understand why she looked unhappy.
--------------------
Author's Note:
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 23:59:27 on May 1, 2022 and 01:30:59 on May 3, 2022!
Thank you to the little angel who threw the landmine: 55157345 (1 landmine);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 98
Ji Rong was the busiest person at this birthday party.
After the birthday banquet officially began, Ji Rong led Lin Shujun and Lin Zhipeng among the guests, exchanging toasts and chatting freely.
Many people subtly inquired about Xin Ying from Ji Rong, as everyone was curious about the relationship between Ji Rong and Xin Ying.
Ji Rong dismissed these curious people with a few words. These people were somewhat unhappy that Ji Rong was playing games with them, but they couldn't do anything if the other party was unwilling to talk.
Ji Rong was chatting happily, and she kept glancing at Lin Leyao in the rest area.
Lin Leyao's true identity has been a secret for many years. After her husband passed away, he took Lin Leyao home with him. Although her father has always been unkind to her because of her elopement years ago, he is particularly fond of Lin Leyao.
As soon as Lin Leyao returned home, her father kept her by his side. Later, she remarried Lin Shujun, and they moved away with Lin Zhipei. Lin Leyao was left to grow up with her father.
Her father talked to her, saying that times have changed. He said that decades ago he worked hard to earn money in order to change his life and that of his whole family. He worked hard and succeeded. His wife and daughter now live a life free from worries about food and clothing.
He works so hard so that his descendants won't have to worry about making a living. Ji Rong is now enjoying the fruits of his labor, while Lin Leyao should have been born with a silver spoon in her mouth and spoiled from birth. However, because she eloped with her ex-husband, her child went through a difficult period.
The father said that the only thing Le Yao needs to pursue in her life now is happiness, and he can give her everything else.
After Ji Rong brought Lin Leyao back to the Ji family, the only time she argued with her father was about Lin Leyao. Their parenting styles were completely different, and their expectations of Lin Leyao were also different.
Lin Leyao applied to the film academy, which Ji Rong strongly opposed at the time, but Ji Hongchen fully supported her.