Chapter 45: Three Encounters with Lin Huiyin

To dissipate the unpleasant odor, the bathroom window was half open, allowing a cool breeze to drift silently inside. A few strands of Lin Yu’s medium-length hair lifted in the wind, accentuating his scholarly aura. He looked calmly at Lin Huiyin, who seemed intent on devouring him alive, his expression devoid of joy or sorrow, his gaze unyielding yet not arrogant—no different from the way one might regard a stranger. In truth, if not for the incident that afternoon, they would have remained strangers; even now, at best, they were merely slightly more familiar strangers.

Yet, encountering each other under these circumstances was undeniably awkward. After all, she was a policewoman, albeit with a difficult personality, but zealous in her pursuit of justice. She might well decide to use force against him.

“Move aside, I want to leave!” After a brief standoff, Lin Yu spoke first, his tone calm but his body already preparing for a possible counterattack.

“I think you should be the one to get lost. This is the ladies’ room. You really have no shame, pervert.” Lin Huiyin retorted, her tone displeased.

Seeing that she remained unnervingly composed, with no immediate intention of physical confrontation, Lin Yu felt an inexplicable sense of relief. He didn’t insist on saving face, stepped back half a pace, and gave her a half-meter wide passage.

“She probably drank a bit too much.” Having roughly guessed Lin Huiyin’s character, Lin Yu smiled to himself as he brushed past her.

But just then, Lin Yu suddenly felt a rush of air at his back—clearly, Lin Huiyin was launching a sneak attack.

“I was too careless!” Shocked, Lin Yu tried to dodge aside.

But Lin Huiyin had trained in competitive kickboxing and clearly had some real skill. Lin Yu wasn’t quick enough; her kick landed squarely on his back, sending him stumbling forward in a most undignified fashion.

With her attack successful, Lin Huiyin let out a cold laugh and scoffed, “Serves you right, you pervert. You deserve it.”

Unable to restrain herself any longer, she darted towards a stall like a gust of wind.

Seeing her disappear into the stall, Lin Yu, who had feigned a fall, allowed a playful smile to linger on his lips. He stepped back into the bathroom and locked the door behind him.

He thought to himself, “Dare to ambush me? I’ll make sure you regret it.”

In that moment when he was ambushed, he had already thought of a way to deal with this unruly policewoman without breaking a sweat. It might be a little underhanded, but wasn’t her sneak attack just as dishonorable?

A man at twenty is unfinished; at thirty, complete; at forty, refined; at fifty, exquisite; at sixty, a specimen; at seventy, a relic. Though Lin Yu was only eighteen, his soul had lived twenty-eight years and held a vision ahead of its time. He acted with the composure of a thirty-year-old, yet retained the passion of youth.

So even though the brash policewoman was disagreeable, he wasn’t about to pour water over her while she was vulnerable—that would be too petty. Still, a little lesson was in order.

With that thought, the corners of his lips curled up. He locked the restroom door and approached the stall where Lin Huiyin was hiding.

But before he could put his plan into action, he heard heavy, muffled breathing from the neighboring stall. The sound alternated between suppressed and indulgent—clearly, something intimate was happening next door.

“All those Japanese films Old Six watched weren’t wasted after all! Looks like only Oldest and Fourth are still lagging behind,” Lin Yu murmured with a smile. Then he knocked on Lin Huiyin’s stall door and, lowering his voice, told a joke: “Pigsy went to Korea for a makeover and turned into a handsome guy. He went to a nightclub to find a girl. Afterwards, Pigsy asked the girl, ‘Do you know how ugly I used to be? I’m Pigsy!’ The girl gasped, ‘Second Brother, I’m Sandy!’”

His voice was just loud enough for Lin Huiyin to hear, but the couple next door would catch nothing.

It was a wicked move. No matter how spoiled or hot-tempered Lin Huiyin was, she was still a young woman in her twenties. Hearing Lin Yu’s joke, she fought hard not to laugh, but embarrassment and nerves made her incapable of continuing her business.

Her pride wounded, she mentally sentenced Lin Yu to death: “Just wait until I’m done. I’ll make him pay for this, that bastard!”

Clenching her teeth, she spat out, “Lin Yu, remember this. We’re not done here. As soon as I’m out, I’ll take you straight to the police station in cuffs.”

“Heh, you’re not done? Neither am I!” Lin Yu snorted and began to whistle.

That was even more infuriating, instantly reminding Lin Huiyin of her childhood, when her mother used to hold her as a baby.

Hot-tempered as she was, she sat on her haunches in the stall, fists clenched, her face flushed with shame and rage, looking ready for a fight to the death with Lin Yu.

She held out as long as she could before finally bursting out, “Lin Yu, you bastard, may you never die a decent death! One day, I’ll put a bullet through your head!”

Just then, another wicked idea popped into Lin Yu’s mind. He immediately began to sing the Cantonese version of “The Bund”: “Waves surge, waves flow, the river’s endless waters never rest. Washing away the world’s affairs, all mixed into the tides…”

Anyone familiar with music would know that Huang Zhan, famed as one of the Four Talents alongside Jin Yong, Ni Kuang, and Cai Lan—renowned for his wit and literary genius—had hit a wall while composing the lyrics for “The Bund.” TVB had approached him and Joseph Koo, but only seven days remained before the deadline. Joseph Koo needed time to perfect the melody, so the schedule was tight. Koo called Huang Zhan, who said, “No problem—just leave me half a day.” He meant it politely, but Koo took him at his word and used up the entire six and a half days.

Finally, at two in the morning, Koo called to say the composition was ready and the lyrics were needed by noon. Huang Zhan, exasperated, shouted over the phone, “Do you know what time it is? It’s two in the morning and recording is this afternoon—now you tell me the song is finished?” Under immense pressure, Huang Zhan ended up penning the lyrics while sitting on the toilet.

Now, Lin Yu sang “The Bund” to the brash policewoman, making his intention to tease her perfectly clear—nothing could be more exasperating.

Unfortunately for Lin Yu, Lin Huiyin was a true music lover and knew this story well.

“Lin Yu, you little brat…” Her face was now alternating between red and purple—she was about to explode from anger.

“Alright, enough teasing. Learn to look after yourself in the future. We don’t know each other well, so don’t bother me if we meet again. Remember that. Remember it well,” Lin Yu said calmly.