The next day, Lin Xiu went to the company as usual. Although he had promised Liu Yun that from now on they would only be strangers, things like this are never as simple as words make them out to be. After all, they worked in the same company and were neighbors, so running into each other was unavoidable.
At least, that’s what Lin Xiu thought.
But when he arrived at the company, he found that Liu Yun—who was always punctual—was not there today.
Seeing this, Lin Xiu couldn’t help but frown. He then went to Lin Jianguo’s office.
However, the old man wasn’t there either. Helpless, he had no choice but to ask Liu Yang, the assistant standing nearby.
“Brother Liu, where’s my grandpa?”
Liu Yang saw Lin Xiu and replied respectfully,
“Young Master Lin, the chairman went fishing with an old friend today. He won’t be coming to the company.”
Lin Xiu nodded, then asked again,
“Do you know where Liu Yun is?”
Liu Yang shook his head, indicating he wasn’t sure.
With no other option, Lin Xiu returned to the office he shared with Liu Yun, sat in her chair, and played on his phone for quite a while, yet there was still no sign of her.
At this point, a bad premonition flashed through Lin Xiu’s mind. He quickly called Lin Jianguo.
“Hello, Grandpa.”
On the other end came Lin Jianguo’s aged, leisurely voice.
“You little brat, you actually remembered to call me? Do you know you almost made my secretary run away in anger? How on earth are you so capable?”
Lin Xiu was stunned for a moment and hurriedly said,
“Grandpa, are you talking about Liu Yun? Then you…”
“Don’t worry. She came to me to resign and didn’t say why, but this old man could guess it had something to do with you. So I didn’t agree. I just told her to take some time off for now.”
At that point, there was a sudden commotion on Lin Jianguo’s side.
“Not talking anymore—not talking. I’ve got a bite!”
“Anyway, you little punk, figure out a way to get Secretary Liu back to work. Otherwise, from now on you’ll be on your own.”
With that, he hung up.
Lin Xiu stared blankly for a second, then sighed, feeling a headache coming on.
That woman actually wanted to resign… It seemed she really wanted to draw a clear line between them.
…
In truth, Liu Yun wasn’t just thinking of resigning—she had even considered moving house, all to avoid a certain someone.
In her eyes, the boy’s promises held zero credibility. If she truly wanted to maintain a “strangers” relationship with him, the only way was to solve the problem at the root.
But unfortunately, all these years she had poured her salary into this little home of hers. There was no way she would leave her own house empty just to go rent somewhere else. That would be ridiculous.
So in the end, she didn’t move. Instead, she completely shut herself inside her home.
So much had happened recently. Ever since she became a woman three months ago, a tight string had been stretched inside Liu Yun’s heart. Now that the string had snapped, she had thoroughly collapsed into decadence.
Hugging her Pikachu plush, she curled up on the sofa and gazed at the blindingly sunny sky outside the window. For once, a slightly resentful thought appeared in her mind.
“It’d be nice if it poured rain… perfect weather for staying in…”
Liu Yun murmured softly, then drifted off into a hazy sleep…
When she woke up again, it was to the sound of a startling clap of thunder.
Still half-asleep, she opened her eyes and saw that it really was pouring outside. Liu Yun was stunned for a moment but didn’t think much of it.
She went to the kitchen, rummaged through the fridge, and found nothing but some beer. Scratching her head, she decided to go out and buy some ingredients.
But just as she was about to open the door, she heard faint noises outside. Glancing at the door camera, she saw a certain someone standing right in front of her house!
To be precise, it wasn’t entirely accurate to say “in front of her house”—Lin Xiu and Liu Yun’s apartments were separated by just one wall, so technically he was standing at his own door.
But who stands at their own door for no reason? Was he trying to be a door god?
Liu Yun’s expression instantly turned cold. She gave up the idea of going out and ordered takeout instead.
Then another half month passed. During this time, Liu Yun stayed holed up at home.
When hungry, she ordered delivery. Occasionally she went downstairs to buy some ingredients. When tired, she simply fell asleep. Her life had become completely degenerate.
Yet even so, she couldn’t muster any interest in doing anything, and she especially didn’t want to run into a certain someone and let him mess with her already chaotic heart…
Fortunately, that person seemed to be keeping his word—at least he hadn’t come looking for trouble.
Then one day, Liu Yun cautiously opened her door, glanced at the neighboring apartment to make sure it was safe, and prepared to take out the trash. In the elevator, she happened to run into Grandma Chen from the floor above.
The old lady’s children weren’t around, so she kept a little cat and had always been quite kind to Liu Yun.
“Xiao Yun, how come I haven’t seen you much these days? Were you on a business trip?”
Hearing the concern, Liu Yun shook her head.
“No, I’ve been on leave recently. I’ve just been staying home.”
Grandma Chen nodded.
“I see. But are you feeling unwell? Your complexion doesn’t look good, and your hair… you haven’t had it trimmed.”
Liu Yun touched her hair and shook her head again.
“I’ll find time to get it cut. Thank you for worrying about me, Grandma Chen.”
“Sigh, Xiao Yun, you young people are always so busy, but you still have to take care of your health. Lately the weather has been so strange—rain, stop, rain, stop, and it never really clears up.”
Only then did Liu Yun realize that yes, it really had been like that. She nodded.
“It has been weird. By all logic it should’ve cleared up after so many days.”
By then the elevator had reached the first floor. The two parted ways there. Liu Yun threw out the trash and also stopped by the supermarket.
But just as she finished shopping and stepped into the elevator with her bags, she saw the person she least wanted to see.
Lin Xiu was equally surprised to see Liu Yun—he knew she had been avoiding him.
But more than surprise, what he felt right now was joy.
All these days he had desperately wanted to see her, yet he didn’t want to hurt or provoke her anymore, so he hadn’t taken any real action.
The first time they met in so long… happened to be in this situation.
But very quickly, Lin Xiu noticed something was wrong. Liu Yun looked much more haggard and thinner than before. Her already fair skin now seemed almost unnaturally pale.
Her short ear-length hair had grown out quite a bit, and paired with those eyes that had lost none of their charm, there was no doubt that right now Liu Yun carried an even softer, more feminine aura than before…
Yet this kind of fragile beauty was not what Lin Xiu wanted to see. Had this woman not been eating properly?
Unable to hold back, he spoke.
“How long are you planning to keep hiding from me?”
Liu Yun’s body trembled slightly at the sudden sound of his voice. Then, pretending to be calm, she replied coldly,
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
At that moment the elevator reached their floor. Liu Yun hurried out without looking at him once.
Lin Xiu followed, helpless.
“You said we should be strangers from now on, but is this how you treat a stranger? Not going to work, not leaving the house—are you treating me like some kind of plague?”
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