Yang City, the summer of July.Everything began on one particular evening, at the corner of a cold, cheerless little cafe.
"What the h.e.l.l?"
Lin Wu sat before his laptop, staring at the comments of the book-review zone. He couldn"t help but feel his scalp turning numb.
One page, two pages, three pages, four pages...
There were a total of ten pages, and the contents of the posts were all the same.
[h.e.l.lo author, I"m your loyal reader. I value your book higher than anyone else, and I don"t wish for you to die, which would cause you to stop updating the books.
If you wish to live on, please do not leave your house tomorrow afternoon!
Remember, do not leave your house!!
Or you will die!!!
You really will die!!!]
The exclamation marks were like roaring at him. They revealed a certain hysteria, causing those who saw it to feel an indescribable sense of discomfort and horror.
These posts were sent out yesterday. The reader ID was "I have returned."
The strange thing was--
There were actually no replies by other readers with regards to these hundreds of posts?
(Is he urging or cursing me?)
Lin Wu furrowed his brows and proceeded to look at the fan value of this reader. It turned out that this reader... basically had never read his book before.
It must have been an alternate account of some crazy person, opened up just to disgust him.
"Crazy…"
Lin Wu didn"t continue to waste time. He directly entered the administration area of the book-review zone and deleted these hundreds of posts. In the end, he permanently banned the id "I have returned".
He was a self-employed author. If one was to put it in an uglier-sounding way, he was currently an unemployed person.
Naturally, he was still slightly better than a genuine unemployed person. During his free time, he would still go onto the net and write web novels. Although it was tough to provide daily updates, the results of his novel weren"t bad. The remuneration he made every month was enough for him to keep himself alive.
But because he hadn"t updated his novel for the past two days, Lin Wu also hadn"t bothered to look at the reviews.
Today, it was rare for him to subdue his laziness. He had used his superhuman determination and written two chapters. After posting them, he had swept into the book-review zone in pa.s.sing, but he hadn"t expected it to have degenerated so badly.
The number of these posts was simply too many. Although he could delete them in batches, he still took quite some time before clearing all of them.
"Hu, it can finally be considered clean."
Lin Wu glanced at the "clean" book-review zone and finally heaved a sigh of relief.
Comparatively, his other readers were just too adorable. Some of those who urged him to update his novel would do so politely.
[Author, did you see it? There are five recommendation votes. d.a.m.n, they are gone; there are only two remaining now. Oh man, they have disappeared now.]
[Everyone, don"t be so anxious. If the author doesn"t provide an update, he must have encountered something important in his personal life. We should all think positively. Who knows, he might have ended in a car accident and is now lying in a hospital?]
[Little author, if you don"t update. I"m going to pick you up by your ears and sever your arteries. Wouldn"t you look adorable if you can no longer move?]
Lin Wu could even feel his readers" resentment through his computer screen.
Luckily, it was a habit for him to miss out on updating daily. He had long since mastered the skill named Resentment Immunity. Not only was his state of heart not affected, but these words were also automatically filtered away by his eyes. As he was reading the comments of the readers, he simultaneously banned a few more haters.
After reading the reviews for a while, Lin Wu took his already cold cup of coffee and drank a sip. After that, he glanced at the bottom left corner of the computer screen.
18:55
"It"s almost 7 p.m."
Lin Wu involuntarily revealed a hint of antic.i.p.ation.
In just five more minutes, he would soon meet the first blind date of his life.
To a young man who recently graduated, it naturally was too early for him to go on blind dates at this age. But since it was his little aunt who had introduced the girl, he still had to give her some face. In addition, his little aunt recently dyed her hair red. She naturally needed more face.
Moreover, he had heard that the girl being introduced was a beauty. If not, he wouldn"t have agreed to this.
In any case, he was idling now. If he found her pleasing to the eye, it wouldn"t be too bad to chat with her.
"I"ll keep my laptop first."
Just as Lin Wu casually closed his laptop to stuff it inside his bag, which was at the bottom of the table, a melodious female voice suddenly rang out~
"Hi, are you Lin Wu?"
Lin Wu inclined his head and couldn"t help but start.
From bottom to the top, a pair of straight and long legs first entered his vision. Her skin was extremely fair. Next, a large T-s.h.i.+rt of rice-white color covered up half of her denim shorts. The loose T-s.h.i.+rt was lined with slightly wider shoulders. The neckline faintly exposed a deep collarbone, followed by a white neck and a headful of slightly-curled ravenblack medium-short hair...
Lastly, his vision paused at the face that had light make-up on.
Her attractiveness index was very high. Even if she removed her makeup, her charm wouldn"t dwindle too much. If she walked on the streets, the rate of heads turning would absolutely be very high.
She wasn"t that old and looked slightly above twenty years old. But her demeanor and appearance didn"t seem like that of a young girl. It actually gave others a reserved feeling that she was someone who had witnessed many storms before.
Her family background wasn"t bad. Be it her dressing or the handbag she had, they were clearly not ordinary goods.
However, she had a silvery-grey ring on her fingers. From its appearance, it didn"t seem to be something expensive.
All in all, this girl was excellent. Among the girls Lin Wu knew, she could already be considered number one.
This...she shouldn"t be his blind date, right?
Lin Wu straightened his body and surveyed this tall beauty across him once again. He especially cast another glance at that pair of legs so beautiful that it must have received an award before.
"Hi, can I please enquire if you are Lin Wu?"
The tall beauty politely asked. Her voice was the standard "big sister" voice, without much emotion and very calm, in addition to a slight magnetic hint.
Her legs were so nice to listen to. Cough, no. Her voice was truly beautiful.
Lin Wu"s emotions flew around in confusion. Her legs were imprinted in his mind, and he asked despite knowing the answer. "Yes. I"m Lin Wu, you are?"
He felt a little disbelief in his heart. His little aunt was a professional at conning him, her nephew. How could she really introduce a beauty to him?
It must be fake, right?
"Hi, I"m Li Luyao. Doctor He introduced me to come here." Li Luyao was also surveying Lin Wu.
It was true!
Lin Wu felt that it was somewhat unbelievable. All of a sudden, he felt that his little aunt was quite adorable. Her inappropriate headful of red-hair also seemed to be more das.h.i.+ng.
(Red-hair rocks! The face-face fruit also rocks!)
"Please take a seat." Lin Wu coughed to clear his throat. He then asked, "What do you want to drink?"
"It"s fine." Li Luyao shook her head. She confidently sat across Lin Wu and spoke, "You should know my intentions in coming. I don"t really like to waste time, so let"s get right to the point."
"Eh, wait a little." Lin Wu involuntarily asked. "I want to ask why did Doctor He introduce you to come here?"
Doctor He was precisely his little aunt.
Given his little aunt"s innate character, it was already considered not bad if she didn"t con him. Why would she introduce a blind date with such good conditions to him?
Was there a misunderstanding?
Li Luyao felt somewhat puzzled as she stared at Lin Wu. She asked, "Didn"t Doctor He tell you that this is a blind date to evaluate a proposed marriage partner?"
"Oh, it"s really a blind date for a marriage partner." Lin wu nodded but felt even more puzzled.
Given Li Luyao"s conditions, even if all her pursuers were smashed into pulps of flesh, this cafe wouldn"t be able to contain them, right? Was there a need for her to go on a blind date?
Also, the prospective partner was a loser like him?
Although Lin Wu was slightly narcissistic, he still had some self-awareness. Even if he took the initiative to request this, it was impossible for his little aunt to introduce such a miss perfect to him, let alone the fact that his little aunt actually took the initiative for this case.
There was no free lunch in the world. There had to be a problem somewhere.
Lin Wu subconsciously became vigilant.
"Is there a problem?" Li Luyao involuntarily asked when she saw the strange expression on Lin Wu"s face.
"Nothing." Lin Wu shook his head. "Let"s get to the point then. Do you need me to declare my income and hobbies?"
"No need. I understand your situation. I"m very satisfied with you. As long as you are willing, this matter will be settled."
Li Luyao casually pushed the hair at her ear"s side back. After that, she turned her attention to Lin Wu. "Now, the ball is in your court. Are you satisfied with me?"
Lin Wu couldn"t help but be stunned.
One"s charm was justice. For a beauty that had both looks and demeanor, when someone like her asked if you were satisfied with her so directly, the majority of guys wouldn"t say no, right? They might lose their wit over l.u.s.t and directly agree to this.
However, Lin Wu already felt there was a problem. Now that this girl took the initiative like this, he was even more vigilant. How was it possible for him to agree so easily?
He also didn"t understand why she came to the conclusion that she was very satisfied with him after understanding his situation.
"This…"
Lin Wu tactfully spoke, "I just got to know you, I have yet to understand you. It isn"t too good for me to give an evaluation now, right?"
"Oh, that"s true." Li Luyao nodded lightly. She then continued, "What do you want to know? Feel free to ask me questions. As long as I can answer them, I will answer them."
"Mn…"
This was the first time Lin Wu learned the procedures of a blind date. Now that she told him to ask her anything, he in fact, didn"t know what he should ask.
Could it be that he had to ask her height, weight, age, her three measurements, her love experience...etc?
En...this seemed to be developing in a strange direction.
Interrogation game.avi?
Lin Wu felt that he was about to become awkward. He gave another cough and spoke, "I"m also very satisfied with your conditions; there"s nothing for me to pick on. It"s just that...I have some suspicions."
"Go ahead and ask." Li Luyao nodded lightly.
"By coming for the blind date...are you for real?" Lin Wu asked her in a puzzled manner. "Are you sure you are not working together with my little aunt to prank me?"
Li Luyao glanced at him. She didn"t say anything but chose to directly take out her residence certificate and personal identification. She then pushed them toward Lin Wu and spoke with a serious look on her face, "If you are willing to, we can go and register our marriage today."
"..."
Lin Wu was completely stupefied. What was this?
No matter how fast others got into a marriage, they first had to have some feelings for each other as the foundation, right? He just got acquainted with her minutes ago, and she already wanted to register their marriage?
(Great beauty, please. You are not a dinosaur that cannot find a partner, do you really need to be in such a rush?)
"Wait a minute, let"s slow down. I can"t catch up with your rhythm."
Lin Wu felt a headache. He rubbed his temples and quickly chanted the ice-heart sutra to strengthen his will, all to prevent himself from being tempted by her beauty. Only after calming down did he speak, "We just got acquainted, and we aren"t even friends yet. Why are you in such a hurry to get married? Also, both of us are still young. We haven"t reached the standard marriageable age, right?"
Li Luyao fell silent before shaking her head. "I have my reasons for doing so, but it"s inconvenient for me to tell you about them now… Are you going to reject me? Could it be that you feel my conditions aren"t good enough?"
"That"s not the case."
As he spoke, Lin Wu pushed her residence certificate and personal identification back to her in pa.s.sing. "You are very beautiful. However, maybe because my personality is a little unreasonable, I would never have a relations.h.i.+p with someone if there"s no feelings in it. Let alone something as major as marriage."
Naturally, it was okay to test the waters a little, but the prerequisite was that the other party was free from diseases.
"Feelings?"
Li Luyao frowned slightly. After that, she looked at Lin Wu. "We will get married first before nurturing our relations.h.i.+p. Is that okay?"
"Why?" Lin Wu felt increasingly bewildered. "Can you really not tell me the reasons?"
Li Luyao lowered her head slightly, falling once more into silence.
Lin Wu thought that she was glancing down at her stomach. All of a sudden, a thought appeared in his mind like he was suddenly enlightened. "Oh, I understand."
Li Luyao inclined her head and looked at him. "What did you understand?"
"This...if the two of us got married. Would I become a father after July?" Lin Wu felt a little depressed.
Did he look like an honest person? She actually wanted him to answer for her unplanned pregnancy?
"What do you mean?"
Li Luyao started before she recovered. Black lines appeared on her forehead. "What nonsense are you talking about? I"m not pregnant, and I don"t have a boyfriend. If you are still worried, in the future after we get together and I give birth, you can check the child"s DNA at the hospital."
This could work too?
Lin Wu felt a little dumbfounded. He asked again, "Don"t tell me you are suffering from a terminal illness?"
"...No. I"m in good health."
Li Luyao shook her head, an expression of helplessness appearing on her charming face.
Initially, she thought that given her looks and backgrounds, if she took the initiative to make the first move, the current Lin Wu would definitely feel that he had obtained a treasure and would accept her proposal with wild joy. She didn"t expect him to actually use all sorts of excuses to reject her.
Wasn"t this being way too vigilant?
"In that case, why do you want to marry me?" Lin Wu stared at Li Luyao with suspicion. "Do you just want to marry, or do you especially come and find me to be your marriage partner?"
If it was the former, it meant that she must have a reason as to why she had to marry. If that was the case, she could just randomly find anyone.
If it was the latter, things would be even stranger. Right from the start, he wasn"t acquainted with this Li Luyao at all. This was the first time they met, so why did she especially want to marry him?
"I…"
Li Luyao hesitated. She bit her lips and then said, "I only want to marry you."
"Oh, so you specially have me in mind?" Lin Wu suddenly understood. He couldn"t help but survey Li Luyao as he remarked, "Are you the one who took the initiative to look for my little aunt so she could introduce you to me?"
Li Luyao sighed. She then nodded, "Yes, but I have no ill intentions. If you are unhappy with me after our marriage, you can divorce me anytime. All my a.s.sets will belong to you, and I can also guarantee that I will leave our marriage with no possessions. You should be able to rest your heart at ease now, right?"
"..."
Lin Wu was left speechless. He also grew curious. Why exactly was Li Luyao willing to go so far?
He could marry a beauty just like that. Moreover, her family background was excellent, and even in divorce, she was willing to give him her a.s.sets. Such conditions were truly too tempting.
However...the greater the temptation, the greater the danger hiding behind.
He knew even without thinking that for such a great beauty like Li Luyao, since she was willing to marry someone like him so low below her station, there definitely had to be some deeper reasons behind it. Maybe, she was forced to do so?
"One who is unaccountably solicitous is sure to be hiding evil intentions."
So~
"Although I really feel like promising you, I"m terrified."
Lin Wu forcefully pinched his leg, wanting to make himself more awake. He then apologetically continued, "I"m sorry. In this situation where I don"t understand the truth, I can only let your good intentions down."
Li Luyao was dumbfounded. Her gaze turned anxious as she urgently spoke, "I swear that I won"t harm you. I can also guarantee that I will remain loyal to you throughout our marriage. In addition, I never had a boyfriend before. You can totally rest a.s.sured."
"Never had a boyfriend before?"
Lin Wu glanced at the silver-grey ring on the middle finger of her right hand. "If I didn"t remember wrongly, by wearing a ring in this manner, it means that you are already engaged, right?"
Li Luyao glanced at the ring on her finger as she furrowed her brows. "No, it"s not the case. This ring is...is…"
She hesitated while speaking halfway, her expression turning into one of difficulty. It was like she had something she wanted to say but didn"t dare to. In fact, there even seemed to be a hint of some fear, which she was doing her best to control.
"What is it?" Lin Wu stared at her.
Li Luyao gritted her teeth, but she still managed to speak. "This ring is our wedding ring."
"Ah?"
Lin Wu had a strange look on his face. "You are saying that in order to get married to me, you went to buy a wedding ring beforehand and wore it in advance?"
Wasn"t this reason too fake? He naturally wouldn"t believe it completely.
"No…"
Li Luyao"s expression turned complicated as she shook her head. She fell silent again before helplessly sighing and continuing in a low voice. "This ring...was something you put on for me."
"I?" Lin Wu was dumbstruck. "This is the first time the two of us met, right?"
"This is indeed the first time you met me." Li Luyao seemed to have made up her mind. She bit her lips and continued in a soft voice, "Rather, this is the first time, the current you met me."
"What do you mean…?" Lin Wu was clueless.
Li Luyao didn"t directly reply. She glanced at the surroundings instead. The atmosphere of this cafe was very quiet; there weren"t a lot of customers. And since they were at the cafe"s corner, there would naturally not be anyone paying attention to them.
She slowly stood up and s.h.i.+fted her chair to Lin Wu"s side. After that, she leaned forward as her lips, which had lip balm on, almost pressed into his ear.
The two of them were now very close. Lin Wu could even sense her gentle breath and the slight fragrance that emitted from her body.
He only heard Li Luyao lowering her voice and speaking in a breathy manner, "Let me ask you a question first. Do you believe in reincarnation?"