Linfengchun

Kapitel 121

"Why are you being so polite with me!"

Chang Sheng's gaze was sharp. Although he was smiling, his words were loaded with meaning: "You are the teacher's daughter, so I should be even more polite to you."

Sun Yihan's eye twitched, and her smile vanished: "Li Changsheng, what do you mean!"

Seeing her both embarrassed and angry, Changsheng felt a little guilty and his tone softened considerably: "Yihan, I consider you a friend, you know what I mean."

"Friends?" Sun Yihan sneered, her eyes reddening. "You know perfectly well that I like you, yet you say you consider me a friend?"

Although Changsheng felt it was inappropriate for them to argue about this on the side of the playground, he also wanted to make things clear with Sun Yihan as soon as possible, so he patiently said, "I like Shang Lin, you know that."

“I know, of course I know—you two grew up together, you were childhood sweethearts! But Li Changsheng, have you ever thought about whether your feelings for Qiu Shanglin are love or just a habitual dependence you don’t want to change?”

Li Changsheng was slightly taken aback by her words and instinctively retorted, "What nonsense are you talking about? Of course I like her!"

"You like family, and you like your lover too—what is it about her that you like? Do you like her as a woman, not just family?" Sun Yihan's questions were sharp and pointed, pressing forward relentlessly.

"You've only ever had her by your side, and you've taken it for granted that she's your true love. But have you ever considered that perhaps you're better suited to be family than lovers?"

Chang Sheng was baffled: "What nonsense are you talking about—who's family!" He did treat Qiu Shanglin like a younger sister when they were little, but he never thought of her as family.

From the day he realized he loved Qiu Shanglin, Li Changsheng understood that he loved her purely because she was a woman. Seeing her smile made his heart flutter; seeing her sad made him sad; if she was heartbroken, he felt an urge to take revenge on the entire world; and if Qiu Shanglin was happy, he felt as if he had won the whole world!

Shanglin is outstanding; she has worked hard since childhood and built a successful career at a young age. Changsheng is well aware of the scale of her success, but in his eyes, it's all superficial.

He liked Qiu Shanglin simply because of the person, and it had nothing to do with those other things.

Qiu Shanglin is a person; she can talk, laugh, get angry, and throw tantrums. When she's in a panic and can't find anything, she'll even take off her shoe and hit someone. When she stands with her hands on her hips and curses him and Qiu Xialin, she's no different from a shrew from the village. What he likes is the most authentic Qiu Shanglin, stripped of all her outward appearances, rather than the series of halos surrounding her.

Of course, Shanglin's excellence put considerable pressure on him. He knew that if he wanted to be on par with Shanglin in his career, he was still far behind, so he was working hard to catch up. Giving up painting and choosing the architecture industry was simply because he wanted to achieve something and prove to everyone that he was no longer the Li Changsheng who silently followed Qiu Shanglin in his childhood and was violent and ruthless because of his family environment.

Girls change a lot as they grow up, becoming more and more beautiful.

He still remembered the freckles on Shanglin's face when she was a child, but when he grew up, he stared blankly at her fair face; the same pair of eyes, which hadn't changed much, became incredibly captivating when she was angry as an adult.

Dad also reminded him that he and Qiu Shanglin were not a good match. No matter how much the Qiu family approved of their relationship, in the eyes of Li's parents, they would rather have an ordinary daughter-in-law than a woman as outstanding as Shanglin!

The mother constantly nags about her son marrying into a higher social class or marrying into a lower one, fearing that her daughter-in-law will give her a hard time after marriage.

Changsheng thought they were worrying about nothing. Shanglin was always afraid he wouldn't know how to respect his parents, constantly giving him instructions and nagging. Was she also worried that he would give the old folks a hard time in the future?

"I'll only say one thing," Sun Yihan said, tears streaming down her face. "You two aren't suitable for each other, and forcing yourselves to be together won't work either." With that, she turned and left.

Changsheng watched her departing figure, pondering her words, his mind a jumbled mess.

Behind the tall scoreboard stood a figure. After a long while, he turned and walked away.

Seeing that Sun Yihan had walked away, Changsheng's friend came over and patted him on the shoulder, saying with great sympathy, "Buddy, Qiu Shanglin is coming to see you."

He was startled: "Where?"

He pouted, a hint of regret mixed with a touch of schadenfreude: "I saw you talking to that beautiful woman and stormed off in a huff."

Changsheng glared and exclaimed, "It's over!" before hurriedly walking away.

Several of his friends who played basketball with him gathered around, watching Li Changsheng run away in a hurry, wondering, "What happened to him?"

The one who tipped them off earlier gloated: "They got caught playing both sides!"

Someone gasped, "Oh no, oh no, he's really in trouble!"

Back in the dorm, Fu Lele and Lao Wu were putting on makeup for each other. Seeing Shang Lin return so quickly, they asked in surprise, "Didn't you go to spend New Year's Day with your sweetheart?"

Shang Lin wasn't in a good mood, but he couldn't be cold to innocent people, so he forced a smile and said, "Well, something's up."

When the eldest son came back from washing his face in the bathroom, he almost bumped into her as he entered the room. He exclaimed, "Oh, right, I just got a package for you!" He took the package off the bed and handed it to her.

Shanglin sat on the bed and tore open the package. Several people curiously gathered around: "What? Is there anything delicious?"

The eldest exclaimed, "Wow, what a beautiful dress!"

Inside were two art books and a long dress. She flipped through the art books, while the others unceremoniously held up the dress against themselves, praising it with admiration.

"Absolutely a classic!"

"Third brother, stop gesturing like that! With your figure, you'd burst your clothes!"

"Ha, you're right—Lele, stop drooling, you're as thin as a rib, you can't fill out!"

"You have a great figure, so show me what you're wearing!"

"Hehe, it's a pity I'm too tall—I'd need a piece to cover the bottom of my skirt!"

"If the boss wore this, I guarantee a 100% head-turning rate—a super short skirt, barely covering his butt, revealing every time he walks. Hey, what color underwear are you wearing today, boss?"

The women teased each other and burst into laughter.

Just then, Xiao Shang poked his head in and said, "I can hear you laughing so loudly in the hallway. What's so funny?"

Her eyes lit up when she saw the dress, and she burst through the door to snatch it, exclaiming dramatically, "Wow! Mocha Cat's new spring collection—I saw it while shopping yesterday, and even after the discount, it was still priced at over two thousand! I just touched it, and the sales assistant gave me a really hard look!"

He compared the items on his body, asking, "Who went all out?"

Upon hearing this, Fu Lele picked up a catalog and began flipping through it, attracting a crowd of onlookers. Xiao Shang, with her sharp eyes, immediately recognized it as a promotional catalog for the Mocha Cat mid-range women's clothing Breeze series' spring new arrivals:

"Shanglin, where did you get this?"

I couldn't put it down and flipped through it from side to side.

Shang Lin smiled and said, "A friend of hers is an employee of her company, and she sent it to me."

Xiao Shang exclaimed, "Cool!"

Fu Lele held the clothes up and down for a while, then suddenly remembered something and said excitedly, "Hey, if you're not having a candlelight dinner with your sweetheart tonight, why don't you go to the dance party? Give us some courage too—all six of us girls in the dorm will make a grand entrance and give them a real eye-opener!"

Xiao Shang teased, "Who does Fu want to impress?" He winked at the others, "I heard that last night someone saw the student council president, Zhou Ji, walking hand in hand with a beautiful woman who looks like she's surnamed Fu in the woods. Could it be our dorm girl?"

The fifth brother pursed his lips, looking mischievous, and feigned hesitation: "No way, doesn't Chairman Zhou like our Shanglin?"

The eldest brother added fuel to the fire: "What? You're all talking nonsense—Lele and Zhou Ji are from the same hometown. Zhou Ji's pure young heart was rejected by Shanglin before he could even give it away. Our Lele kindly comforted him... Well, to be a good young person of the new era, learn from Lei Feng... Hey youngest, next time there are outstanding guys pursuing you, remember to save a few for us..."

While speaking, she playfully sang: "Learn from Lei Feng, a good example..."

Fu Lele was both embarrassed and angry: "Shanglin, look at them...it's all your fault..."

Shang Lin, being twisted by her, was speechless: "I didn't say a single word..."

The dress that arrived was white with a floral pattern. She called to clarify and found out that the head office had only instructed the clerk to send her the catalog, while the dress was to be sent to someone else. The clerk hadn't noticed and had packed it all together with the dress and sent it to Shanglin. Coincidentally, Shanglin could fit into it, so she simply wore it to the dance with them to relax.

The department's dance was a buffet, with two long tables laden with food and fruit for everyone to help themselves. Students strolled around, chatting and laughing in small groups. The group of six attracted attention as soon as they entered, drawing many glances.

Six girls, demure yet proud, linked arms like queens. The admiring and envious glances of others brought Shang Lin a long-lost sense of pride and a touch of feminine vanity. She couldn't help but laugh at herself inwardly, realizing that no matter what, she was just a little woman.

Zhou Ji ran over, smiling, and said, "Welcome, welcome! I was just worried that your dorm wouldn't come; the dance would be missing six dazzling lights!" But his gaze was fixed on Fu Lele. The third sister and her friends, being mischievous, deliberately held onto Lele, blocking Zhou Ji's view.

"President Zhou, are you welcoming all of us, or just one of us?"

Zhou Ji's joy was written all over his face, made no attempt to hide it, and he stared intently at Fu Lele: "All of it, all of it!"

The third sister and her friends exchanged knowing glances: "I don't think so!"

Zhou Ji chuckled and changed the subject: "The ball was quite interesting, wasn't it?"

The third brother was about to say something sarcastic when Fu Lele interrupted, "Yeah, that's great. I never expected our school to be so open-minded!"

Zhou Ji was satisfied, but shyly and quickly said, "I'll come find you when the dance starts!"

Afraid they would tease her again, she quickly slipped away. Fu Lele blushed, happily enjoying the teasing from her friends.

Just as things were getting lively, a commotion arose at the entrance. The crowd initially held back, but then could no longer contain their excitement, and gradually, soft screams and cheers from girls could be heard. The eldest boy, who was tall, stood on a stool and craned his neck to look, exclaiming, "Fan Chen, Fan Chen is here!"

Everyone was stunned: "Fan Chen?"

They couldn't believe their ears and questioned, "How could he possibly attend the school dance?"

Fan Chen maintained an extremely low profile at school. He didn't live on campus, only appearing during class time and leaving immediately afterward, never lingering. He would accept autographs and photos from enthusiastic fans, but rarely spoke, maintaining a polite distance from his classmates. He would only respond to questions if someone initiated it; someone like Shang Lin, who also came and went in a hurry, hadn't even uttered a single word throughout the entire semester.

This does not mean they have no connection.

Of course, this doesn't mean we had a personal conversation.

Mocha menswear line was looking for a new spokesperson, and after recommending many, they couldn't decide. Finally, a major distributor recommended Fan Chen. Shanglin carefully reviewed his profile and found him indeed very talented. The company had also contacted his agent, who was also willing to be the spokesperson. Although nothing was finalized, most opinions leaned towards Fan Chen, and Shanglin was still considering it.

Upon hearing that Fan Chen had arrived, Shang Lin was taken aback.

That's good. Being able to observe him up close without any defenses will allow me to see his true state in daily life.

Thinking this, Shang Lin didn't squeeze in next to Fan Chen with the others. Instead, he quietly slipped away from the crowd and found a corner with a good view, intending to observe secretly.