Chapter 45 Feeling BlueIt was Chen Qudong who called. He asked immediately after Lin Qing picked up, “Do you have some time tomorrow? Have a dinner with me.”
“Huh?” Lin Qing was a little surprised.
Chen Qudong laughed over the phone. “I haven"t seen you for a long time. Can"t we have a meal together?”
Although this excuse was reasonable, Lin Qing still felt it was unusual.
“Senior…” she hesitated for a moment, but she still asked, “Do you have anything that requires help from me?”
Chen Qudong pretended to be angry, “Can"t I have a meal with you without any reason?”
Lin Qing thought for a moment. He made a sense.
Therefore, she took it as a normal thing and made an appointment with Chen Qudong with detailed time and place.
“At half past six tomorrow in the evening, Quanshun Hotel.” Lin Qing repeated and noted it down using a schedule management app on her phone.
Lu Xiao was eating noodles as she listened to Lin Qing"s conversation on the phone. After Lin Qing hung up, Lu Xiao pointed at the phone in Lin Qing"s hand with her mouth and asked, “Who was it? Who wanted to treat you to a dinner?”
“Well, it"s a senior alumnus.” As Lin Qing spoke, she put away her phone and picked up the chopsticks.
Somehow, when she spoke to Chen Qudong, Lin Qing no longer felt the crush on him in her heart as before. Even the fast and throbbing heartbeat disappeared.
Perhaps it was because she didn"t see him face-to-face, or because she was so hungry that all her attention was attracted by noodles.
Despite this explanation, another answer came to her.
She thought of someone else. She suddenly realized that, for a moment, she was hoping it was him who made the call.
Mu Li. What was he doing now?
Sharp-sighted Lu Xiao saw through Lin Qing"s mind in a flash. She put down the noodles that she had just raised to her lips and smiled meaningfully. “Hey, are you very disappointed because it wasn"t Mu Li calling?”
Lin Qing picked up a few noodles with the chopsticks and was somewhat absent-minded. “Hmm, yes, I"m a little disappointed.”
Lu Xiao"s movement suddenly stopped.
She used to feel that Lin Qing did not have much affection for Mu Li. Because when they chatted, Lin Qing would never take the initiative to mention Mu Li, nor did she act emotionally the way people who were in love would do.
But at this moment…
“Do you really love Mu Li?” Lu Xiao asked in surprise.
However, Lin Qing froze when she heard this.
It was a question that she didn"t know how to answer.
However, Lu Xiao had already drawn a conclusion from Lin Qing"s reaction—
Lin Qing really loved Mu Li.
Lu Xiao comforted herself with relief. This was good. In this way, she would no longer feel unfair.
Before returning home from the dinner, Lin Qing made a call back home.
The phone kept beeping but no one answered.
Lin Qing felt like her heart was sinking downward. And she didn"t call again while she was on the bus.
It was still early. Lin Qing got off the bus one stop in advance and went to the nearby supermarket to do some shopping. She returned home with a medium-sized shopping bag in her hand, which contained a few boxes of snacks and half a dozen lemons.
The refrigerator at home was still stuffed, but the jar of lemon tea that she made some time ago had become much empty.
Lin Qing opened the door. It was pitch-dark in the room.
She habitually called, “Mu Li?”
Before her voice disappeared in the dark, Lin Qing curved the corners of her lips self-mockingly. Then she took a deep breath and fumbled for the light switch on the wall.
“You"re back,” a voice that she couldn"t be more familiar with sounded in the darkness. It was light and soft, yet it was enough to soothe all her disappointment.
Lin Qing forgot to turn on the light. She only stood still at the entrance and said in the darkness, “Mu Li…is that you?”
This question made Mu Li laugh. His eyes had been accustomed to the darkness and he could see Lin Qing clearly. So he stood up and walked over to her, rubbing her hair.
“Are you feeling a little scared because the light is off?” His gentle voice made Lin Qing"s heart slightly tremble.
No, she was not scared.
Compared to the darkness, she was more scared of the disappointment of not seeing Mu Li.
However, she never uttered this sentence to him.
Mu Li held her hand and turned on the light in the living room.
He explained while turning on the light, “There was still daylight when I came back, and I fell asleep on the sofa.”
So that"s what it was, and that"s why he didn"t answer the call…
Lin Qing shook her head with her mouth closed. “I thought you suddenly disappeared again.”
Suddenly disappeared?
Mu Li thought for a moment. She was probably referring to that incident in which he was called back to the army suddenly.
“Haven"t I promised you? I would definitely tell you if something like that happens again in the future.” As he spoke, he gently stroked Lin Qing"s cheek.
Her face was a little cold.
Only then did Mu Li realize that she didn"t look very well. She was in a trance, and her thin lips were paler than usual.
Was it because of her illness the day before?
Mu Li was worried. He reached out and touched Lin Qing"s forehead.
Her forehead was also a little cold.
“I"m fine.” Lin Qing tried to dispel Mu Li"s worries and lifted and shook the shopping bag in her hand, looking relaxed. “I bought lemons. How about I make you lemon tea?”
After saying that, she broke free from Mu Li"s palm and went into the kitchen.
Mu Li felt that she was really not herself these days.
Seeing that Lin Qing was busy in the kitchen, Mu Li approached and hugged her from behind. His strong arms were placed around her waist, and she felt her heartbeat missed a beat.
Lin Qing forced a smile. “Mu Li, I can"t move this way.”
Mu Li put his chin on her head and said, “Then take a rest.”
“But…” Lin Qing intended to say something more, but was held tighter around the waist.
Mu Li, he…
Lin Qing could no longer figure out what Mu Li was thinking.
Right, all sorts of recent signs showed that she had fallen in love with Mu Li.
But…
What about Mu Li?
Lin Qing could not figure it out.
She didn"t want to bother thinking about it either.
It seemed as long as there was no answer, she would not need to face reality.
“Lin Qing!” a short and anxious voice sounded in Lin Qing"s ears. She came back to her senses.
Mu Li had let go of her when she was in a trance, and he turned her body to make her face him.
Lin Qing sensed that something was wrong, so she looked down and saw that—
One of her fingers was bleeding.
She was probably lost in thought and forgot that she was still cutting lemons, so she directly cut her finger.
The cut was near the pad of her index finger, which bled out profusely in an instant, staining half her hand with blood.
Mu Li frowned heavily. He didn"t know what Lin Qing was thinking so attentively that she didn"t even notice she was cut.
After treating Lin Qing"s wound, Mu Li asked in a deep voice, “What was on your mind?”
Lin Qing didn"t want to talk about it and said blandly in a low voice, “Nothing. Perhaps I"m a little tired because of working overtime.”
Mu Li grabbed Lin Qing"s chin and forced her to look at him. “Who were you thinking about?”
Lin Qing was really unwilling to answer that. She turned her head away indifferently. “I wasn"t thinking about anyone.”
Mu Li"s eyes dimmed for a moment. Then, he let go of Lin Qing so that she could stay away from him. His voice was somewhat cold and icy, “Don"t make the lemon tea before your wound is healed.”
Lin Qing frowned and said stubbornly, “But, I want to finish it today.”
As she spoke, she went straight back to the kitchen. After cleaning up the kitchen table, she started to make the lemon tea again.
This jar of lemon tea took her much longer than usual.
Mu Li leaned against the sofa and looked very indifferent.
Who exactly was Lin Qing thinking about in her heart? What was on her mind?
Then, Lin Qing"s phone rang on the tea table. Mu Li glanced at it and saw it was a call from someone called Lu Xiao.
He didn"t intend to answer the phone, but Lin Qing didn"t respond to him when he called to her.
After a while, that person called again. Mu Li thought that there might be something urgent, so he picked up the phone and answered the call.
Before he could say anything, the person over the phone began to talk on and on in a flow of eloquence, “I suddenly thought of one thing. About your plan to meet the senior alumnus tomorrow, remember, don"t take the initiative to talk about it with him! Men will also be extremely jealous. If something happens after he knows about your going out, it would be awful!”
Lu Xiao was kind of excited on the phone, and she sounded quite exaggerated than usual.
Mu Li listened to this completely strange high-pitching woman speaking on the phone. Then he said coldly, “I will tell her about that.”
Hearing Mu Li"s voice, the other end of the phone immediately fell into silence. “Well, sorry, I seem to have dialed the wrong number…”
Lu Xiao smiled apologetically and awkwardly and hung up the phone decisively.
Lying on the bed, she stroked her chest with lingering fear. “Oh my G.o.d… Is anything bad going to happen?”
If she had known this earlier, she would not try to be kind and call Lin Qing to remind her.
Mu Li stared at Lin Qing"s phone for a long time, then he looked at Lin Qing who was still in the kitchen. When he glanced at her phone again, he saw her schedule plan.
He opened it, which read—
Senior alumnus, at 6:30 p.m., Quanshun Hotel.
The woman who called Lu Xiao did not dial the wrong number.
Mu Li had hoped that it was a mistake. Even though he didn"t understand why he would think so.
But now, there was no need anymore.
He put down Lin Qing"s phone silently. A few minutes later, Lin Qing came out of the kitchen, perhaps she had finished making the lemon tea.
Mu Li suddenly thought of what Lin Qing once said—
“Senior alumnus likes lemon tea very much.”
So, that was it.
Mu Li curled up the corner of his lips into a mocking smile. He picked up Lin Qing"s phone and threw it into her arms, then he walked towards the stairs while she had no clue what was going on.
After walking a few steps away, he said, “Someone called you.”
“Who was it?” Lin Qing turned to look at him, but only saw Mu Li"s back.
Mu Li did not answer her.
Watching Mu Li going upstairs, she felt that his back was a little lonely.
He would be in a good mood when he drank the newly made lemon tea tomorrow. Lin Qing thought to herself like this. She didn"t pay attention to the phone call that Mu Li mentioned.
The next morning, Lin Qing went to work as usual. Mu Li woke up a little late. When he woke up, Lin Qing had just left the house.
He casually made some breakfast for himself. When he opened the refrigerator to make a cup of lemon tea as he used to, he saw the full packed jar of lemon tea on the top layer. It was the new one made by Lin Qing.
There was a note stuck on the jar with beautiful and slender handwriting. “This one tastes different from the last one.”
Mu Li tore the note off rudely. He took out the jar and poured some of its content.
It tasted good. He was very satisfied.
When he was about to sit down at the dining table, he heard someone was unlocking the door. A few seconds later, Lin Qing appeared at the door.
“Well…” Lin Qing stood at the entrance with a leather bag, sticking out her tongue at Mu Li. “Can you give me a ride?”
Lin Qing noticed that Mu Li was holding a gla.s.s of lemon tea in his hand, and she smiled happily.
She was dressed up in a very refreshing style today. She wore a pair of pale pink shoes, a knee-length cinched frock, and she had her long hair tied behind her head. She was charming like a young lady, bearing at the same time a bit of innocence of a young girl.
She was…very pretty today.
Mu Li narrowed his eyes. A trace of danger flashed across his eyes.
“Where are you going dressed like this?”
Lin Qing looked down at herself, confused, “I"m going to work.”