Aside from the immense cherishing in her heart, the most important reason was that what Lin Shengmiao wanted was never just a simple romance, but rather the long rest of her life afterward, filled not only with flowers, paintings, and poetry, but also with the mundane details of daily life.
Miss Xu's remaining life is too precious. If it is bought out without sufficient sincerity and effort, she will feel wronged on behalf of the girl she loves.
This is Lin Shengmiao's concern, a concern unique to Xu Xingyan.
“Fine,” Xu Xingyan conceded defeat under her focused gaze, conceding the city.
"...Then I'll go upstairs first."
“Wait,” Lin Shengmiao called out to her, and said seriously, “You haven’t given me a hug yet.”
——Omg!
Xu Xingyan couldn't stand it and covered her face, thinking to herself, "Today's dose of driver Lin's sweetness level is too much."
She turned around and rushed into the warm embrace without hesitation, with a passion completely different from the winter night breeze.
...
Xu Xingyan moved out of her parents' house when she was a sophomore in college. This three-bedroom, one-living-room apartment, totaling about 100 square meters, was one of the inheritances left to her by her grandmother. It was in a good location, with comprehensive security and convenient transportation... It would inevitably feel a bit empty for a normal single girl to live in.
However, Xu Xingyan clearly cannot be considered a 'normal' girl.
While many children of wealthy families are being strictly disciplined by their parents and diligently learning various languages, cultivating their artistic tastes, and managing businesses, Luo Jing and Luo Bin are being thrown into the army to strengthen their bodies and painstakingly write reflections on various international news events every day to cultivate their political acumen.
Mr. Xu and Ms. Fang Yi... are currently indulging in unconditional pampering of their frail and sickly only daughter, letting her learn whatever she wants and play whatever she wants.
Under these circumstances, it's no surprise that Xu Xingyan developed the bad habit of only having a short attention span.
Later, Ms. Fang Yi realized that things were not going well, so she decisively used her mother's privilege to cut off other side stories and have Xu Xingyan specialize in traditional Chinese painting. This allowed Miss Xu to finally have a skill and avoid falling into the ranks of an ignorant and dissolute playboy.
The house has three rooms in total. The smallest one is the bedroom, the slightly larger one is used as an art studio, and there is a large cabinet that displays all of Miss Xu's 'masterpieces' from childhood to adulthood. The largest one is the study, which is filled with bookshelves, all of which are the 'profound' loving heart left to Miss Xu by her maternal grandfather.
On the living room walls, a guqin (a traditional Chinese stringed instrument), a violin, several simple wooden carvings, and a few whimsical ceramic ornaments are hung in a pleasingly irregular arrangement...
These are all traces of the brief love that Miss Xu experienced in those three minutes of youthful folly. Along with those bygone days, they are carefully collected and occasionally reminisced by Miss Xu. Coupled with a few potted green plants and flowers, she manages to create a lively and crowded atmosphere in the whole house.
...
As soon as Xu Xingyan entered the house, she changed into simple home clothes. When the house was renovated, underfloor heating was specially installed. It is turned on every winter and turned off after the cold snap in spring, which greatly improves the winter home experience.
In the kitchen, the packaged Chinese medicine was still warm in a thermos. Xu Xingyan turned on the projector in the living room and automatically played "The Love Manual," a show she had watched countless times. With the background music of those passionate and infatuated lovers, she slowly savored the dark Chinese medicine as if she were drinking red wine.
Even the bitterest medicine, if taken for a long time, will cause the tongue to automatically block out some of the taste buds. Sometimes, Xu Xingyan will even enjoy the bitter taste in her mouth, turning bitterness into sweetness and bitterness into pleasure.
"I believe this world isn't all so tragic and hopeless. Wait for me..."
The familiar lines drifted into the kitchen, and Xu Xingyan looked up.
Yaoqin was embraced by Zhu Chong, her eyes glistening with tears, filled with both apprehension about the future and love for him. Xu Xingyan knew she hadn't trusted the wrong person; she had waited for Zhu Chong, redeemed herself, and become her lover's bride. From then on, she would be free from suffering and cherished by someone...
Xu Xingyan smiled gently, finished her medicine in a few gulps, and suddenly felt inspired. She went into the art studio, mixed some paints, spread out the paper, and picked up her brush to paint...
This is what I saw this morning.
The girl was playfully teasing a lazy orange cat, with vibrant red roses arranged behind her. The white walls around her, bathed in sunlight, exuded a sacred feeling reminiscent of an ancient Roman church, creating a scene of otherworldly beauty.
A cluster of shadows in the setting sun, two figures, you and your cat laugh as you watch the flowers.
...
An hour later, Xu Xingyan put down her pen, stretched her stiff neck, and thought about going to the living room to watch a movie to relax before washing up and going to bed.
Unexpectedly, when she turned on her phone, she saw several messages from her elderly father, who was in quarantine in a hotel.
[Dad: Honey, this video is quite interesting. Watch it when you have some free time tomorrow, and then analyze it in a what-why-how format.]
Below is a video link titled "A Brief Discussion on Currency Wars and the Digital Yuan".
Let's look at the video length again—
Two hours and twenty minutes!!!
Xu Xingyan: "..."
In an instant, all the beautiful scenes vanished into thin air, leaving only the bitter resentment of being assigned homework and having his rest days invaded by his own father at the age of twenty-seven.
She replied almost through gritted teeth: "Thanks, Dad, for saving me a movie ticket!"
With a ding-dong sound, two replies popped up.
[Dad: There's no need for thanks between us, father and daughter [pats head.jpg]]
[Dad: [Red envelope not claimed]]
Xu Xingyan stared at the screen for a long time, disdainfully looking at the sweet date, and sneered: "Heh."
--------------------
Author's Note:
Happy reading!
Chapter 18 Are you Zhang Ting's parent?
Nancheng No.1 High School.
"I heard from your teacher, Ms. Li, that you're now working as a translator at a big company, right...?"
A middle-aged, balding male teacher, holding a thermos, said with a smile, "Your class was truly full of talent. I remember a young man named Chen Shengxuan who was quite good. He opened a hot pot restaurant in the West District. Every time I went there to eat with friends, he would come over to greet us and bring us a fruit platter or something. There was also a young woman named Luo Jing, I heard she's a doctor at the First Hospital now..."
"Speaking of which, the students under Teacher Li's tutelage have always been quite good..."
"And Teacher Chen too, a few days ago a student even came to visit in a luxury car..."
The teachers in the office all chimed in with compliments, showering each other with compliments.
"Not at all..." Li Dandan, Lin Shengmiao's high school homeroom teacher, waved her hands repeatedly, smiling from ear to ear: "When I taught them, I didn't have much experience either. It was purely the students' own hard work and ambition that made them successful."
Lin Shengmiao sat upright with a polite smile, looking like a promising young elite, which made Teacher Li Dandan look good.
After a brief chat, the class bell rang. The teachers who had classes said goodbye and went off to teach, leaving only Li Dandan, Lin Shengmiao, and another female teacher who didn't have classes that day in the office.
"By the way, I still have your graduation photos, as well as photos taken before, which I only organized later," Li Dandan said with a smile. "A few years ago, your class had a reunion, and you were the only one who didn't come. Everyone else's photos were taken by them, but yours is still with me. It's not convenient to send it abroad."
As he spoke, he pulled an old envelope from the bottom drawer of his desk.
"Look, I've forgotten what I took pictures of..."
She poured out the photos and spread them on the table. Teacher Li pointed to one of them and laughed, "This is the sports meet, right? The setup looks a bit like the 1,000-meter race... I remember now, you were really good at sports back then. You always got a spot in the girls' long-distance race at the sports meet every year."
"Hey, isn't that little girl next to you Luo Jing's younger sister? She's the one a year below you. She used to come to our class all the time. She's so pretty, like a delicate little princess..."
Lin Shengmiao's spirits lifted, and he looked in the direction she was pointing. In the old photo, the girl was wearing a school uniform and standing by the track, looking joyful, innocent, and carefree.
His gaze softened immediately, and he smiled, "It's Xingyan, I remember she was standing in this spot back then."
Teacher Li glanced at it again and nodded. "If you say so, then it's probably true. I remember you and Luo Jing were the closest back then."
Lin Shengmiao: "..."
She couldn't quite understand why everyone thought she and Luo Jing had a good relationship. Back then, they clearly disliked each other intensely and would always start mocking each other whenever they met.
Teacher Li then asked, "Do you have anything else to do today?"
Lin Shengmiao shook her head: "No."
"That's perfect!" Teacher Li slapped her thigh. "I'm teaching another senior class. As a senior student, you can go over and give them a few words and share your experience."
Lin Shengmiao was well-prepared for this inevitable back-to-school routine and smiled, saying, "Okay."
...
After guiding the new batch of confused students, Lin Shengmiao waved goodbye to the reluctant Teacher Li and walked out of the high school gate. Before she even crossed the road, she received a phone call: "Are you Zhang Ting's parent? I'm her homeroom teacher. I need you to come to the school."
"..." Lin Shengmiao held her phone, glanced at the gate of Nancheng Junior High School not far away, and suddenly felt that she should have checked the almanac before leaving home.
She quickly composed herself and asked, "Hello teacher, what happened to Zhang Ting?"
"She's fine..." The woman's voice on the other end of the phone was somewhat vague. "She just had a conflict with another classmate. The situation is complicated and can't be explained clearly over the phone. It's best to talk in person. The other party's parents will be here soon."
"Oh, I see," Lin Shengmiao raised an eyebrow slightly, and as he approached the junior high school's security room, he said politely, "May I ask which floor your office is on, teacher? I'll be there in about five minutes."
In the teachers' office of the first grade group.
Lin Shengmiao followed the door number and went there. Before she got close, she heard a boy crying. She paused, then quickly knocked on the office door as if nothing had happened.
The door wasn't closed properly and opened with a push, so Lin Shengmiao immediately saw the slightly chubby boy sobbing as if he had suffered a great injustice, the young female teacher constantly handing him tissues to comfort him, and... Zhang Ting, who was being punished by standing in the corner and hadn't yet retracted her eye roll.
—Okay, at least I didn't lose out.
She quickly put on a serious face, preparing to deal with the victims and their families.
"Hello teacher, I am Zhang Ting's older sister."
"You're here. So, we were going to invite Zhang Ting's parents over, but we heard they're both out of town on business, so..." The female teacher paused, then coughed lightly, and said seriously, "It's like this..."
"Teacher, what is your surname?" Lin Shengmiao interrupted her seemingly long-winded complaint and asked with a smile.
"Huh?" The female teacher was taken aback. "Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My surname is Yao, female Yao."
“Teacher Yao, look, the boy’s parents haven’t arrived yet. If you tell me now, I’ll have to repeat myself later, which is too much trouble. Why don’t we wait until the other parent arrives and talk about it together? By then, the boy should be calmer. We can hear both of their stories and have a proper discussion, don’t you think?”
Teacher Yao was taken aback, but found it quite reasonable. She nodded and was about to go back to comfort the boy when Lin Shengmiao glanced at his watch and asked, "By the way, you said on the phone that the other parent is almost here. How much longer?"
It is said that returning home in glory is like wearing fine clothes at night. Before leaving home this morning, Lin Shengmiao made a point of dressing up, presenting herself as a social elite. The watch on her wrist was one she bought while working abroad to make a good impression. Its price was painful. In this situation, it would be easy to make people think that she is a parent with a lot of work to do and who has only managed to find time to go out.
Seeing this, Teacher Yao momentarily forgot that the other party had arrived at the scene in less than five minutes, and reassured them, "They're on their way, they'll be there in half an hour at most."
"Half an hour," Lin Shengmiao sighed, pulled up a chair and sat down. "Okay."
Teacher Yao hesitated for a moment, then went over and poured her a glass of water, along with a black tea bag.
Lin Shengmiao sat upright, holding a paper cup, and waved to Zhang Ting, who had been stealing glances at her. She didn't ask what Zhang Ting had been doing or whether her parents knew she had been sent on a business trip. Instead, she asked, "Have you had lunch yet?"
Zhang Ting answered skillfully, "I wasn't very full."
Lin Shengmiao smiled and took out two chocolates from her bag. "Here, have some."
Less than half an hour, at most twenty minutes.
The office door was pushed open forcefully, and a middle-aged woman dressed in wealthy clothes and with a poignant demeanor rushed in, looking at the young boy with red and swollen eyes with concern.
"What's wrong, baby? Let Mommy see where you're hurt."