“I have something urgent to attend to, so I’ll head off first.”
“My family has a scar-removing ointment. Tomorrow, since it’s Monday, I’ll ask my brother to bring it to you.”
After having a few bites of dessert, Lin Ruo apologized as she stood up, waved to Zi Yan, and left.
This was the plan the siblings had agreed upon earlier while ordering in the mezzanine.
Rewind ten minutes—
“Squeak… squeak…”
The brother and sister climbed the stairs, the wooden steps creaking under their feet.
“What would you two like to order?” the waiter handed over the menu.
Lin Ruo smiled and took the menu, casually ordering three cups of milk tea and some sweets that girls usually love.
Then she looked at Lin Hua, who was standing awkwardly nearby, and said, “Big brother, how about we make a deal?”
Lin Hua was feeling frustrated at having lost face in front of a beauty just moments ago. Hearing Lin Ruo’s words, he suddenly lifted his head and looked at her.
Lin Ruo held the menu with one hand, still smiling gently. Her eyes were dark but bright, like stars in the night sky.
Lin Hua hesitated for a moment and asked, “What kind of deal?”
No matter what it was, knowing his sister’s personality, it was probably another sneaky scheme to trick him.
After all, having lived with Lin Ruo for fourteen years, Lin Hua had some intuition about her.
Lin Ruo gave him a sidelong glance, casually placing the menu on the nearby table, and said with a smirk, “Do you really have to doubt me so much? We’re siblings, and if I were to trick anyone, it wouldn’t be you.”
Oh, really?
Lin Hua sneered inwardly.
Not trick me? Then who was the person who just swindled four hundred yuan from me to get Custom Clothing made?
Lin Ruo shook her head, supporting herself on the table with both hands, “Zheng Zi Yan, the super popular transfer student who came to Haizhou No. 3 Middle School two months ago.”
“Big brother, it’s only natural that you’d like her.”
Lin Hua: “Then why did you use a love letter to threaten me?”
“That’s a separate matter, two things are two things,” Lin Ruo tapped the table rhythmically with her fingers. “Anyway, if you go after Zi Yan, I won’t oppose it, nor will I tell Mother.”
“Of course, if you expose yourself, that’s not my problem.” Lin Ruo shrugged.
Lin Hua: “…”
“Also, there’s one more thing you need to promise me in our agreement.” Lin Ruo said.
Lin Hua asked, “What’s that?”
Lin Ruo smiled, “That’s a secret for now, but it won’t be something you can’t handle.”
“How about this: later, I’ll make an excuse to leave, and then it’ll be just you and Zheng Zi Yan at the table. Doesn’t that sound like a date?”
“Whether you can seize the chance to deepen the impression you leave on her depends entirely on you, silly big brother.”
So, caught between being blackmailed by his sister and the chance to have a date with Zi Yan, Lin Hua couldn’t resist the temptation and chose the latter.
If it weren’t for this unexpected opportunity, he really didn’t know when he would be able to invite Zi Yan out for milk tea.
After all, it’s been more than a month since he wrote the love letter, but he still hadn’t given it to her.
Lin Hua: “…”
He knew it wasn’t dignified to keep staring at her.
But after his sister left according to the script, Lin Hua looked at Zi Yan for a long while and couldn’t come up with a good topic to strike up a conversation.
After much thought, Lin Hua finally said an apology.
Zi Yan sipped her red bean milk tea through the thick straw, expression calm, and said, “It’s okay.”
Zi Yan’s indifferent attitude left Lin Hua unable to find any fault.
His eyes scanned the area next to Zi Yan and suddenly landed on the roll of milky-white wool fabric. He asked, “Zi Yan, what are you planning to make with those fabrics?”
How should he address Zheng Zi Yan?
Using her full name felt too formal and distant. But calling her just “Zi Yan,” like Wei Lai did, seemed too familiar for where they were now. He thought that might backfire.
“Zi Yan, then,” he settled.
“That’s…” Lin Hua’s question piqued Zi Yan’s interest slightly, “I’m buying fabric to make a coat for myself.”
“A coat? You’re making it yourself?” Lin Hua was stunned.
Right, he vaguely remembered.
During the Autumn Sports Meet, when he and his friends played Black King, he overheard Zi Yan chatting with Wei Lai about clothing design.
But he was too engrossed in the game to pay much attention.
“Yeah, making it myself,” Zi Yan said.
Lin Hua: “…”
He picked up the iced milk tea he had ordered for himself and took a sip. The coldness spread from his mouth deep into his lungs.
He forced himself to stay calm.
Besides his sister Lin Ruo and Mother, Lin Hua, the prodigy, was just as inexperienced as anyone else when it came to girls. Not to mention dating, even having a simple conversation could overload his brain.
Of course, this only applied if the person he was talking to was a beauty.
And at this moment, the person sitting lazily in front of him with legs crossed—
Her otherworldly appearance, indescribably beautiful even with all the praise in the world, was undoubtedly that of a beauty.
Lin Hua swallowed and asked, “Zi Yan, you know how to make clothes, right?”
“Huh?” Zi Yan’s interest was piqued. “How did you know?”
Lin Hua smiled, “I was close by during the Sports Meet. Hearing your conversation with Wei Lai was pretty normal, right?”
So that was it.
Zi Yan nodded and said “Oh.”
Though she recalled that day Lin Hua and the others were so caught up in the game that he still managed to overhear their conversation…
Was he some kind of eavesdropper?
Zi Yan thought silently.
Lin Hua praised her, “It’s really impressive that you can make your own clothes.”
“But I remember the clothing store has a Custom Clothing service. Why bother making clothes yourself?”
And the store’s professional service would surely be better than what you could do on your own, right?
Lin Hua almost blurted this out but caught himself just in time.
“Why?” Zi Yan thought for a moment and asked, “I heard from the Chinese teacher that your father is the Chief Editor of Haizhou Daily?”
“Yeah,” Lin Hua nodded.
“So if you can just ask your father to get good articles, why do you write them yourself?” Zi Yan countered.
“You’re twisting—!”
These two were really interesting people.
Talking about making clothes, Zi Yan momentarily forgot her irritation toward Lin Hua; talking about writing articles, Lin Hua disregarded the need to be considerate of a beauty’s feelings.
Zi Yan said calmly, “I know that’s a sophism, but with this analogy, you should understand the feeling, right?”
“Just like you use elegant or sharp words to showcase the experiences in your head, it’s something uniquely yours.”
“I design the patterns, buy the fabric, then personally cut and sew it into a garment that fits me perfectly. That’s also something uniquely mine, something no one can take away.”
“You can understand that sense of accomplishment and joy, right?”