Chapter 140: He Had Been in Love with Her Since He Was Eighteen

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Zhou Jingheng had inherited all of his parents’ finest qualities.

Lin Xi had loved visiting the Zhou family since she was little.

Unfortunately, because of their work, Zhou Jingheng’s parents had not lived in the compound for very long.

The Zhou couple were both easygoing people, without a calculating bone in their bodies. They were government officials, yet carried no airs of authority.

Lin Ning and Aunt Qing got into the same car.

Aunt Qing asked about how Lin Ning had been doing lately.

“I’m doing very well. You don’t need to worry.”

“Are you still living in the compound?”

“No. I live alone near my company. I come back to the compound and stay for a couple of days on weekends.”

“I see.” Aunt Qing’s eyes brimmed with affection. She took Lin Ning’s hand and patted it gently. After a moment, she finally asked the question that mattered:

“Then… what about your love life? Any developments?”

Bai Xu was driving. Hearing that, he laughed and cut in, “Aunt Qing, do you really need to ask? Look at her. Does she seem like someone who would fall in love?”

Lin Xi: “…”

Aunt Qing clearly disagreed. “XiXi is wonderful. Surely there must be some boy she likes?”

This time Bai Xu said nothing, merely smiling as he watched the show.

He wanted to know how Lin Xi would answer as well.

Lin Xi hesitated. “For now, I want to focus on work. As for anything else… we can talk about it later. There’s no rush.”

At that, Bai Xu raised an eyebrow, the smile on his face deepening.

Aunt Qing nodded and soon changed the subject.

At noon, they had a simple meal at a restaurant. Bai Xu had something come up unexpectedly, so after taking Lin Xi and Aunt Qing to their destination, he left first.

“Uncle Zhou, Aunt Qing, there’s an urgent matter at my law firm. I really can’t stay,” Bai Xu explained as he got out of the car.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Go take care of your business.” Aunt Qing patted him on the shoulder. “We’ll have dinner together tonight. We’re going back to the compound afterward.”

When Bai Xu was not deliberately being troublesome, he looked perfectly normal. Without his glasses, his smile gave him a distinctly youthful air.

“Then I’ll make the arrangements tonight.”

Her Second Brother took the elders inside first, while Lin Xi found an excuse to speak with Bai Xu privately.

“You really have something to do?” Lin Xi could hardly be blamed for doubting him. Lately, his mind had clearly not been on work at all; he spent every day idling about.

“If not, then what?”

Sitting in the car, Bai Xu looked at the figure leaning down toward the window. “Whatever else I may be, I do have a respectable job.”

“Fine.” Lin Xi nodded. “Then go.”

Bai Xu put on his glasses, then called after her. “Hey.”

“What is it?” Lin Xi lowered her head again.

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Bai Xu held out a card to her.

“…” Lin Xi clicked her tongue. “That’s a little insulting, don’t you think?”

“I’m a year older than you, after all. How could I possibly let you pay?” Their uncle and aunt had come back, and as the younger generation, they naturally had to entertain them properly.

With their Third and Fourth Brothers away, the responsibility had quite reasonably fallen to Bai Xu.

“No need.” Lin Xi did not take the card. “It’s only one meal. Do I look like I’m short of money?”

“Let’s keep things separate.”

“Come on, pay the bill for me. Consider it a favor.”

Lin Xi pursed her lips, then took the card.

“The password is your birthday. Arrange everything else as you see fit.”

“Got it,” Lin Xi replied.

—

The lunch gathering was quiet. The Zhou couple were not particularly fond of making small talk while they ate.

After the meal, Lin Xi did not forget the important task Bai Xu had entrusted to her. She found an excuse to leave the table and pay the bill.

By the time Zhou Jingheng followed her out, Lin Xi had already swiped the card.

“I still didn’t make it in time.” Zhou Jingheng smiled helplessly. “How could I let you pay?”

As Lin Xi signed the receipt, she said, “It’s fine. I used Bai Xu’s card anyway.”

“Xiao Xu?”

“Yeah. He said he couldn’t join Uncle and Aunt for lunch, so he asked me to pay on his behalf. You know what he’s like, Second Brother. If I refused, he would probably keep pestering me until I gave in.”

“Just give him the chance. It’s not as if he lacks money.”

Lin Xi put the card away and tugged him back toward the private room. “Come on, come on. Don’t worry about it, Second Brother.”

Zhou Jingheng let her pull him along.

At the corner, with the private room just ahead, he suddenly called out to Lin Xi.

She stopped and looked back. “Hmm?”

“It seems we haven’t really had a proper talk since I came back.”

When Zhou Jingheng lowered his head to look at her, there was a smile in his eyes.

Lin Xi froze for a moment, then quickly understood.

Their eyes met. She seemed to have guessed what he wanted to discuss…

“Later,” Lin Xi said hesitantly. “Let’s take Uncle and Aunt back to the compound first. Then we can sit down and talk properly.”

This was not a good place for a conversation.

After all, it would not be right to keep the elders waiting too long.

“All right.” Zhou Jingheng was easy to reason with.

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When they returned to the Lin family home that afternoon, Uncle, Aunt, and their eldest aunt were sitting together, chatting. Lin Xi took the opportunity to lead Zhou Jingheng away.

“Want to go for a walk?” Zhou Jingheng suggested.

“Sure.”

Lin Xi did not refuse.

The moment they left the Lin residence, she could not help asking, “What did Second Brother want to ask me?”

“Before I came back from visiting our eldest brother that day, Qin Yu and I had a private conversation. You know about it, don’t you?”

“Mm. Fourth Brother told me. I think I already guessed what the two of you discussed.”

Zhou Jingheng smiled. “XiXi has always been very clever. Yes. It was exactly what you thought.”

Lin Xi lowered her head as she walked on his right. “We’re not what you think.”

After a pause, she added, “At least, not right now.”

“Qin Yu told me more or less the same thing.” Zhou Jingheng sounded somewhat wistful. “I never imagined it would be the two of you. I always thought that if you ever liked someone, it would probably be Bai Xu.”

“…It’s not him.” Lin Xi got a headache whenever she thought of Bai Xu.

“That was precisely why I misunderstood. I always thought you and Xiao Xu were like a pair of bickering lovers. You were forever at odds, but you were close in age and always had plenty to talk about.”

“To be honest, it never once occurred to me that it would be you and Qin Yu.”

“Long ago, our eldest brother even discussed this with me.”

“What?” Lin Xi stared at him in surprise.

“Back then, our eldest brother was convinced that you liked me, while I always thought you and Xiao Xu suited each other best. Between the two of us, we had even considered Cheng Si. The one possibility we never thought of was Qin Yu.”

Lin Xi: “…”

“Especially after hearing Qin Yu say that he had liked you for a very long time—it honestly felt like a dream.”

“He told you that?”

“Yes.” Zhou Jingheng realized something and gave a soft laugh. “He never told you?”

Lin Xi pressed her lips together and said nothing for a moment.

Zhou Jingheng did not urge her. After a while, she finally spoke slowly.

“He never said when it started.”

“He didn’t tell me the exact time either, but I’d guess it began when you were in your teens. At the very least, he already liked you before he went abroad to study.”

Lin Xi’s eyes widened. “Are you sure you mean before he went abroad? Not before I went abroad?”

If it had been before she went abroad, the timing would have made sense, and she would not have found it surprising at all.

But Qin Yu was another matter…

He had gone abroad for university. Even if he had been eighteen at the time, she would have only been in middle school.

[End of Chapter]