Ling Yun suddenly snapped out of his reverie, realizing that others had seen him lost in thought, and couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. He took out a hundred yuan from his pocket and handed it to the driver, saying, "Thank you, driver, keep the change." He was about to push open the door and get out of the car.
The driver grabbed him and stuffed the hundred-yuan note back into his hand: "Young man, you're looking down on me. We taxi drivers earn our money through hard work, but we're honest and hard-earned. We won't refuse payment, nor will we ask for more. You're still a student, so you shouldn't use your parents' hard-earned money as tips. Keep this hundred yuan; consider it pocket money from your parents. Remember, study hard."
With that, the driver closed the car door, smiled and waved to Ling Yun, and the car quickly turned around and headed back onto the road.
Ling Yun gazed at the direction the taxi had gone, a warm feeling welling up inside her, clutching a hundred yuan note in her hand, without turning back for a long time.
Chapter 105 A Man Who Isn't Romantic Was a Wasted Youth
"Ling Yun!" Upon hearing the familiar voice beside him, Ling Yun turned around and saw Xia Zhen, dressed in a beige trench coat, walking towards him with delight.
After half a month apart, the young girl had her hair done again. Her long, straightened hair cascaded down her shoulders like a waterfall, with a neat fringe in the front. The fringe was then highlighted with a slightly dark purplish-brown coffee color, making her look both playful and charming. This added a touch of liveliness and beauty to the already elfin-like girl.
Xia Zhen was also a close friend who had gone through life and death with him, but this feeling was completely different from that towards Gu Xiaorou. Ling Yun might feel somewhat confused about Gu Xiaorou, but his feelings for Xia Zhen were very clear. He only considered the girl a friend; if Xia Zhen weren't two years older than him, Ling Yun would have treated her like a younger sister. Of course, Xia Zhen always presumptuously considered herself Ling Yun's older sister. But in reality, her maturity level was even lower than Ling Yun's.
"Where have you been for the past two weeks? I was so worried about you," Xia Zhen said softly, carefully looking at Ling Yun. She noticed his slightly thinner, ordinary face and his unfamiliar yet surprisingly harmonious new clothes. The creases and hem of his shirt were perfectly straight, clearly unironed and just bought from a store, with the labels still attached to the cuffs.
Looking at the boy she hadn't seen for over half a month, Xia Zhen's heart suddenly felt a little damp. Only then did she truly realize that she had been silently worrying about Ling Yun, this ordinary boy she regarded as a younger brother. For some reason, this feeling of worry was both sweet and sorrowful.
"Xia Zhen, is everything alright at school?" Ling Yun was naturally happy to see Xia Zhen. Xia Zhen was the closest person to him in the entire school. Of course, being able to be friends with a school beauty like her made Ling Yun feel a little proud.
“It’s nothing. I’ve already spoken to the department advisor and written you a leave slip. She didn’t say anything. It seems quite a few people have been taking leave lately. There’s a girl from the English department named Gu Xiaorou who seems to have taken a long leave as well,” Xia Zhen said.
Ling Yun's heart skipped a beat, and she suddenly realized why Gu Xiaorou had such a confident and mysterious smile. No wonder she had taken leave in advance. But how did she know she would be out for so long? Did this girl have some kind of premonition? Just as one mystery in Ling Yun's mind was solved, another question arose in the blink of an eye.
"You go back to your dorm first. I have an event to attend right now, so I don't have time during the day. Wait for me at Bingyan Cafe at 8 PM. I have a lot of things I want to ask you," Xia Zhen said as they walked into the campus.
"Bingyan Cafe?" Ling Yun suddenly remembered the powerful and mysterious sniper beauty, Su Bingyan. It seemed most of his classmates were hidden masters. He and Xia Zhen were obvious examples, Su Bingyan was a powerful and beautiful sniper who dominated the underworld, Chen Jiaxuan came from a mysterious martial arts family, Lin Naimei was even more unfathomable, Ling Yun still didn't know her background, and Gu Xiaorou possessed the Heavenly Eye…
Ling Yun suddenly felt like he was dreaming. Were these four beauties his classmates or his nemesis?
"Yeah, don't tell me you don't know where it is. You've dated Yang Yuqi, the beautiful Yang, there several times, haven't you?" Xia Zhen said in a strange tone, which sounded rather sour.
"How can you call it a date? Just once, and because of...something else." Ling Yun was suddenly startled and quickly changed his words. He almost let slip that he was talking about the ghost. Gu Xiaorou had altered Xia Zhen's memories, and Xia Zhen had already forgotten about the ghost. If he brought it up now and Xia Zhen pressed him for an explanation, he wouldn't be able to justify himself.
However, Xia Zhen clearly wasn't going to let him off the hook, and was instead pursuing another matter: "Why do we have to talk about this in a coffee shop alone? Can't we talk about it during break time or somewhere else?"
Ling Yun opened his mouth awkwardly, then suddenly found himself speechless. In a verbal battle involving women, he was no match for Xia Zhen. Besides, his affair with Yang Yuqi was utterly inexplicable.
Xia Zhen sneered, suddenly stood in front of him, crossed her arms, and said, "Don't want to explain? Ling Yun, you're a hot commodity now. Do you know why I wanted you to go to Bingyan Cafe?"
Ling Yun felt a chill run down his spine under her intense gaze and involuntarily took a step back: "Why?"
"Because Su Bingyan keeps asking me when you're going back to school and where you've been. She knows we're very close, so she comes to ask me. She seems to care about you a lot!" Xia Zhen said sharply, her expression a mix of anger and jealousy.
“Um…” Ling Yun wanted to remain silent again, but in the end she still stammered, “She probably wants to attract repeat customers.”
"Are you kidding me?" Xia Zhen retorted without any politeness. "Why doesn't she ask others to attract repeat customers? Okay, even if she is, what about Yang Yuqi? What about Chen Jiaxuan? Oh right, and Lin Naimei has also come to ask me these past two days... Hehe, Ling Yun, you're really something. There are only four beauties among the freshmen, and you've got them all. They all seem to care about you a lot."
"Chen Jiaxuan and Yang Yuqi also came to see me?" Ling Yun was somewhat surprised. It was plausible that Lin Naimei had come to ask him; after the incident with the Heavenly Eye, this exceptionally alluring girl knew his secrets about Gu Xiaorou and even the Heavenly Eye, so Ling Yun remained very wary of her. But Chen Jiaxuan and Yang Yuqi had only met him once. Although they knew each other, it wouldn't be so unusual for them to actively seek him out. Could something be wrong?
"Yeah." Xia Zhen sighed softly like a deflated balloon. "Why didn't you just stay on campus quietly? Why did you have to provoke these troublemakers? Do you know what's been going on about you among the freshmen these past few days since you disappeared?"
"What?" Ling Yun was stunned. When did he become such an influential figure? It seemed he really just wanted to study peacefully at school and be a quiet, ordinary homebody. But the tree may wish to be still, but the wind will not cease. He didn't intend to cause trouble, but trouble always seemed to find him.
"You charming young man, those four beauties haven't just come to me asking, they've taken turns going to your dorm to ask you too, it's almost caused a sensation among the boys," Xia Zhen said irritably. "A young man who isn't charming isn't a true young man, that's a good nickname, the boys are going crazy, saying why do you get all the good things all to yourself? They go through so much trouble, and can't even get a smile from a beautiful girl, they wish they could kill you."
"It's not that serious. I really have no relationship with any of them." Ling Yun was taken aback and hurriedly explained.
"What's the point of explaining to me!" Xia Zhen rolled her eyes at him. "Go hold a press conference and clarify to everyone that you have no relationship with the Four Beauties."
"Sigh..." Ling Yun lowered his head, never expecting things to turn out this way, which was completely unexpected.
"Remember, 8 PM, Bingyan Cafe. Su Bingyan and Yang Yuqi often go there, so you can meet them all and spare the four beauties from their lovesickness." The girl finally saw Ling Yun's gloomy face and couldn't help but feel happy. She added fuel to the fire with her sarcasm.
“Okay…” Ling Yun replied listlessly, and started walking towards the dormitory.
"Remember, eight o'clock tonight." Xia Zhen secretly chuckled as she loudly reminded him from behind.
……………
Reaching the door of his dormitory, Ling Yun turned the handle, intending to push the door open, but the door clicked shut, locking from the inside. Ling Yun exclaimed in surprise, puzzled. The dormitory door was usually unlocked; why was it locked today? He then gently knocked on the door.
A strange rustling sound of clothes being handled came from the dormitory. After a while, the door creaked open, and Lü Xing peeked out from behind it, his face still slightly flushed: "Who is it?" When he saw clearly, he was immediately surprised: "It's you, Ling Yun."
"Yeah? What's wrong?" Ling Yun replied curiously, then walked into the living room, and immediately his expression became quite interesting.
Chapter 106 Trap
Lu Xing immediately closed the door behind him. He was shirtless and wearing only a pair of large blue shorts, with a lot of the lining at the waist of the shorts turned out, obviously because he had just put them on in a hurry.
A disheveled girl sat casually on the living room sofa, her hair and clothes a mess. She looked quite attractive and had a good figure. However, her eyebrows were furrowed, and she wore a look of utter displeasure. She crossed her arms, her two slender white legs stretched out arrogantly on the coffee table, glaring angrily at Ling Yun.
Ling Yun immediately understood what was going on; it seemed he had interrupted their good time. No wonder the dormitory door was locked in broad daylight on a weekend. Looking into the bedroom, he saw that Qin Zhengwei and Fang Xiaoming were not inside, clearly making room for Lü Xing to indulge in his pleasures. It was just very unfortunate that he had returned suddenly, becoming an uninvited guest and disturbing their "refined enjoyment."
Lu Xing greeted Ling Yun awkwardly, "Ling Yun, when did you get back? We didn't know you had taken a long leave. We thought something had happened to you."
Ling Yun smiled slightly: "It seems I came back at the wrong time. Lü Xing, should I go out for a while and then come back in? You guys continue?"
Lu Xing was about to awkwardly say no, but the girl had already spoken up unhappily: "You have no manners at all. Don't you know you should apologize when you disturb others?! Didn't you see the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the doorknob? You have no class."
Ling Yun was taken aback by the words, wondering if this was still a dormitory. "Do not disturb"? How ridiculous! Did you two really think this was a hotel? However, this woman seemed to be Lü Xing's girlfriend. Although his relationship with his roommates was superficial, it was still outwardly harmonious, and Ling Yun felt awkward about directly reprimanding the stranger. So he looked up at Lü Xing.
Lu Xing was already anxious and wished he could cover the girl's mouth. He had already experienced Ling Yun's prowess firsthand, so he didn't care about his doubts and surprise and hurriedly said, "Xiao Qian, don't talk nonsense. He is my classmate Ling Yun, who also lives in this dormitory. He just took a long leave recently and hasn't come back. He didn't know... that you were here, otherwise he wouldn't have bothered you for no reason."
The woman named Xiaoqian sized Ling Yun up and down with an unfriendly look: "Didn't you say there were only three of you in your dorm? How come there's this sleazy guy here? He's so annoying. Tell him not to live here, otherwise I'll see him every time I come here..."
Ling Yun's expression changed. The woman had been very rude from the moment she entered. Out of consideration for their roommate, he had already given Lü Xing plenty of face, but she hadn't expected her to push her luck and openly attack him personally. Even with Ling Yun's good temper, he couldn't help but feel furious. He was about to unceremoniously tell this unknown woman to get out.