SHEEP

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

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This was Ruolin's first time dining at such a high-end place as the "Yuelai Grand Hotel," and the magnificent decor inside made her feel somewhat dazzled.

She had intended to deliberately arrive late to leave a bad impression on her blind date, but she had never been here before, was unfamiliar with the area, and was worried about traffic jams, so she left early instead.

Ruolin arrived at the hotel's private room number 6 at 5:30.

Looking at the spacious private room, Ruolin felt uneasy. She couldn't understand why two people on a blind date would need such a luxurious and spacious room. Did that man really have so much money he couldn't spend it all?

The attentive waiter came over and asked Ruolin what she wanted to order first.

She felt a little thirsty, so she ordered a pot of chrysanthemum tea.

Ruolin had never felt time pass so slowly. While waiting for someone, she took out the book recommended by her colleague, which was said to be most suitable for educated women, from her bag and started reading.

In fact, Ruolin's only blind date in history was thanks to her friend Xinyu.

Yesterday, she received a call from Xinyu as soon as she got home from get off work.

"Ruolin, there's free dinner tomorrow, are you coming?"

"Why did you suddenly decide to invite me to dinner? It can't be..." Ruolin thought to herself that Xinyu inviting her to dinner couldn't be anything good.

Sure enough, Xinyu said in a pleading tone, "This is extremely urgent! Ruolin, you must help me with this."

"What is it?" Ruolin was already used to Xinyu's impatient nature.

"I'd like to ask you to go on a blind date in my place..."

"What? A blind date?" Ruolin interrupted before Xinyu could finish speaking.

“Yes! I’m really fed up with blind dates. The man you’re meeting tomorrow is my last blind date. I wanted to turn him down, but this time he was introduced by my advisor, and how could I refuse her kindness? Besides, if I back out at the last minute, my advisor will lose face in front of that family. But I’ve already promised my students I’d accompany them on an outdoor sketching trip tomorrow afternoon, so I can’t go on the blind date. So, Ruolin… please go in my place, okay? Besides, I heard that the young man I’m meeting comes from a wealthy family, and the meeting place is the ‘Yuelai Grand Hotel.’ You can meet a handsome guy and have a delicious free dinner. Why not?” Xinyu persuaded Ruolin with both emotion and reason.

"Xinyu, as your friend, I feel truly honored!" Ruolin said, both amused and exasperated. "But speaking of which, why didn't you keep such a good man for yourself?"

"Don't even mention it! I've been having so many failed blind dates lately. They're all either old men or ugly men. I'm really desperate about blind dates; they're such a waste of time and energy..." Xinyu realized she'd said something inappropriate and quickly corrected herself, "Actually, I'm just tired of blind dates. The men I meet by chance in real life are much more to my liking. Ruolin, you absolutely can't just stand by and do nothing on this blind date; we're best friends!"

“Xinyu, you know my time is precious too. I finally get a weekend off, so I don’t have to waste time on the road, but you’re taking up my precious weekend time.”

It's no wonder Ruolin values time so much, because the city's traffic situation is not good, especially for commuters like Ruolin whose home and workplace are far apart.

She has to get up at seven o'clock every morning to be able to clock in at work at nine o'clock; and she doesn't get home until after eight o'clock every night. If there is a serious traffic jam, she doesn't get home until after nine o'clock.

How much time does a person have in their lifetime? Ruolin felt that she had wasted all her time on the road.

She had always wanted to change this situation, but she couldn't. Her monthly salary was so low, and she had to send money home every month to support her family, so she couldn't afford to rent a place close to her company.

"By the way, a colleague of mine lives not far from your workplace. He said he's moving soon, so his apartment will be available for you to move in. That way, you won't have to work so hard, and you'll have some free time."

"Even if someone makes a house available, I can't afford to rent it," Ruolin sighed.

“That colleague is very easy to talk to. I’ve already talked to him. If you want to stay, he can rent it to you for half the market price. It’s a nice one-bedroom apartment. You can rent it for only 800 yuan.”

"Really?" Ruolin could hardly believe her ears. Wasn't this like a pie falling from the sky?

"Yes. You can make up for all the time then. It will only take up a little of your time if you go to see that man for me tomorrow. One hour, at most you will sit with him for an hour, and it will be over after you have dinner."

"Okay. I promise you this time. But don't do it again!" Ruolin finally relented and agreed to Xinyu's request. After all, she and Xinyu had been good friends for four years during their university years, and Xinyu had gone to such lengths to help her find a suitable apartment, so it wasn't a big deal for her to do something for Xinyu.

"That's great, thank you so much, Ruolin. I'll treat you to dinner another day," Xinyu said gratefully.

Afterwards, Xinyu told Ruolin the name of the blind date, as well as the specific time and place of the blind date, and instructed Ruolin to try to embarrass herself a little during the blind date, so that the other party would not bother her after the blind date and would not cause unnecessary trouble.

Ruolin kept in mind Xinyu's wise advice to "avoid embarrassing yourself on a blind date." Before the blind date, she carefully opened her suitcase to choose clothes and finally selected a light green dress with lace trim.

Xinyu remembered that when she wore this dress before, she described her as "a big cabbage." Since then, the dress had been discarded and had been gathering dust in a box. This time, it finally came in handy.

Okay, cabbage it is then, hopefully it will scare away that ugly guy I'm going on a blind date with.

Ruolin thought the blind date was not good-looking simply because she assumed that Xinyu's reason for not going must be that the person was unattractive, which was why she had entrusted such a difficult task to her.

Before leaving, Ruolin looked at herself in the mirror: she hadn't put on any makeup, and the green dress made her look a bit dowdy.

Never mind, let's just go! Unless the other party is a "cabbage worm," why would they make things difficult for "a big cabbage"?

When Han Haoxuan walked into the "Yuelai Hotel", he immediately attracted the attention of many women.

His upright and proud figure, set against a finely crafted and exceptionally high-quality black shirt, made him appear even more noble and extraordinary.

His expression was slightly indifferent, but his features were breathtakingly handsome.

"Sir, do you have a reservation?" A beautiful hostess came over to greet him warmly.

"Room number 6," Han Haoxuan replied calmly.

To be honest, he was already fed up with blind dates, but he had no choice but to go to them to save face for his parents.

However, every time he went on a blind date, he always managed to infuriate the other person at the dinner table. And he was always the one gloating over her misfortune.

He hates blind dates. He feels that blind dates are like forcibly putting two completely unrelated people together, like inspecting goods, and labeling each other with pre-existing conditions such as family background and occupation.

However, he is a free spirit who doesn't care about these external conditions, but cares about the person himself.

He doesn't actually have high requirements. As long as the other person is pleasing to the eye, they can get along well, and she shows her true self in front of him, that's enough.

But why do the women he meets always pretend to be someone else in front of him?

One woman, because he had studied in the US, tried to speak to him in English, but her English was so bad that he didn't reply at all and eventually fell asleep listening to her. Another woman, because he majored in business administration in college, boasted about her rudimentary knowledge in the field and launched into a long-winded lecture on professional matters. He simply told her, "Sorry, I don't need you to pretend to be knowledgeable in front of me. I like big-breasted, beautiful women," which infuriated the woman, who immediately stormed off. Yet another woman, upon seeing him, immediately expressed her admiration for him. He coldly replied, "If you're a fangirl, then I'm probably not right for you. I'm not as saintly as you make me out to be. I have many flaws too; for example, I pick my nose, and my feet sweat and smell if I walk too much." The woman immediately spat out the food she had just eaten…

Such blind date situations are constantly emerging.

Han Haoxuan was thoroughly fed up with blind dates, but his parents continued to tirelessly search for women from wealthy families with good careers for him. After all, he would be thirty in two years, and how could his parents not be anxious?

Chapter Two

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As Han Haoxuan approached the door of VIP room number 6, he immediately spotted a girl in a green dress sitting inside.

The girl was looking down at her book, seemingly unaware of his arrival.

What is she up to now? Is she pretending to be knowledgeable? Han Haoxuan sneered inwardly.

Han Haoxuan coughed softly, and only then did the girl look up at him.

Seeing the girl staring at him for a long time, he assumed she was like other girls, amazed by his appearance. But to his surprise, the girl said, "What are you standing there for? Shouldn't you apologize for being late?"

Han Haoxuan was completely taken aback when the first thing the other person said was to ask him to apologize. He was always late for blind dates, and none of his previous blind dates had ever blamed him for it, let alone made him apologize.

"Really? Am I late? I'm actually pretty early today." Han Haoxuan raised his hand to look at his watch. It was 6:35. He was only five minutes late, and he had already broken his record for being late for a blind date.

"How can you be so punctual? You're five minutes late and you say you arrived early?" Ruolin said bluntly. She knew that if she was even one minute late for work, she would be fined twenty yuan.

Han Haoxuan's mouth almost formed an "O" shape. This was the first time he had ever met this girl, but she was quite interesting.

It's really strange that he found blind dates interesting for the first time!

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting." Han Haoxuan was somewhat surprised when he said "I'm sorry." When had someone as proud as him ever apologized to anyone?

“That’s right, I’ve been waiting here for over an hour,” Ruolin said matter-of-factly.

The man in front of her didn't disgust Ruolin at all; on the contrary, he was quite handsome. Tall, with striking features, and impeccably dressed. Such a clean and handsome man was a complete surprise to her. She thought to herself that if she had the chance to take a picture of him today and show it to Xinyu, Xinyu would definitely regret it terribly. Xinyu was a typical "handsome guy addict," her eyes turning into hearts whenever she saw a handsome man.

"Oh? So you're really looking forward to my arrival, Miss Chen Xinyu?" Han Haoxuan said, glancing at the slip of paper in his hand, which contained the name and contact information of his blind date for the day.

"I'm not..." Ruolin almost blurted out "I'm not Chen Xinyu," but then suddenly remembered that she was there on Xinyu's behalf for the blind date, and immediately swallowed the rest of her words. Honestly, why did Xinyu specifically ask me to stand in for her on a blind date? I have absolutely no experience with blind dates! And my acting skills aren't up to par either.

Han Haoxuan pulled up a chair and sat down. A waiter came over and asked, "May I order now?"

"I'm hungry. I've been waiting for you all this time. Hurry up and order." Ruolin didn't know what to say next; all she knew was that her stomach was rumbling. She'd only eaten two steamed buns all day trying to get this dinner, and now her stomach was protesting.

"Order whatever you like," Han Haoxuan said, pushing the menu in front of Ruolin.

Seeing the exorbitant prices on the menu, Ruolin didn't know where to begin. But then she thought, it's not like she's the one paying in the end, so why worry so much? She simply ignored the prices and ordered two dishes that suited her taste: braised shiitake mushrooms with kale and pickled fish.

"She's quite good at saving money for others, hmm, perfect for being a virtuous wife and loving mother," Han Haoxuan chuckled. This was the first time he'd seen a girl like this on a blind date—coming to such a high-class restaurant yet ordering such home-style dishes; it was truly unusual. His previous blind dates always seemed to order the most expensive dishes.

"It's not about saving you money, it's because I like these two dishes," Ruolin retorted.

"Salt and pepper prawns, spicy crab." Han Haoxuan ordered these two dishes and closed the menu.

When the food arrived, Ruolin felt that time was passing particularly slowly. Since she had nothing to say to the man opposite her, she took out the book she had been reading earlier and started reading again.

Actually, the book's content wasn't that appealing to her, but she didn't want to give Han Haoxuan a chance to talk to her, otherwise she might accidentally say something wrong and be in big trouble.

"What book are you reading so engrossed in?" Han Haoxuan walked up to Ruolin and leaned closer to her. He was very curious; what book could be so captivating that it outweighed his own interest?

This woman was truly extraordinary; she completely disregarded him. Other women would seize every second they spent with him, racking their brains to find all sorts of topics to talk about. She, on the other hand, treated him as if he didn't exist, ignoring the handsome man beside her and engrossed in reading. He felt somewhat resentful that he was being treated this way on a blind date.

Completely unprepared for his approach, Ruolin was startled. When she looked up, her lips actually touched his. Although it was just a fleeting touch, the soft sensation made her flustered, and the copy of Walden she was holding quickly slipped to the ground.

Han Haoxuan pretended nothing had happened, bent down to pick up the book from the ground for her, glanced at the cover, and then handed it to Ruolin: "Here you go." Then he sat back down in his seat.

Ruolin's face was burning hot; she didn't dare look Han Haoxuan in the eye. What had just happened?

But she quickly composed herself, picked up the book again, and pretended that nothing had happened.

Grand hotels naturally have their advantages; the dishes were served quickly.

During this time, Han Haoxuan stared intently at Ruolin, whose face was flushed red, and chuckled inwardly. It was just an accidental touch of her lips, was it really necessary to blush like this?

Ruolin sat upright, head bowed, silent. She wondered why she could still feel the man's burning gaze even with her head down. Could it be that he had taken a liking to her? No, dressed like this, he would never be interested.

"This book is excellent. Beyond depicting a specific life scenario, it explores a state of being and a person's mindset. After reading it, your mind will find peace," Han Haoxuan said slowly and deliberately. He was clearly expressing his opinion on the book he had just read.

"Really? I'm just curious why everyone says this book is good, even though I've been reading it for a long time and I still don't see what's so good about it," Ruolin said calmly.

"You'll see the secret after watching it a few more times." Han Haoxuan thought she would agree, but she didn't give him any face at all, which made him a little embarrassed, but the expression was fleeting.

"They all say this book is best suited for intellectuals, but I guess I'm not knowledgeable enough," Ruolin began to mock herself. In reality, she was clearly going against him.

That way, he won't be interested in her, right?

"If you can't be considered an intellectual, then probably no one can be. You're a university professor who imparts knowledge and teaches people, after all!"

Ruolin gave a dry laugh but didn't reply.

“However, you don’t look like a university professor,” Han Haoxuan broke the silence first.

"Why?" Ruolin asked, puzzled. Had she given herself away?

“University professors lecture to so many students every day and don’t get stage fright, but you’re very shy. Besides, university professors are usually very eloquent and good at finding topics to talk about, but you don’t say a word to me.”