In the afternoon, with nothing else to do at home, Lin Yifan suddenly received a phone call from an unknown number without any contact name saved.
Driven by curiosity, he slid to answer and discovered it was Xiaolian, the bartender from the bar.
Xiaolian said on the phone that she wanted to meet him for a meal; Lin Yifan felt that this young woman was definitely up to something, so he did not agree.
However, Xiaolian insisted on the other end of the phone that she had something very important to tell him face to face, and if he didn't come, she might die; reluctantly, he had to go to meet her.
That evening, he arrived at the restaurant Xiaolian had chosen for the meeting; Lin Yifan sat down and then anxiously asked, "What can't be said over the phone that you must tell me in person?"
"Can't I invite you out if there's nothing wrong?" Xiaolian retorted.
That night, she dressed up beautifully, wore cute clothes, and even put on bold lipstick, all for this confession.
"Geez! Miss! I'm really busy, can you please not play with me ?" Lin Yifan pleaded.
He had been worried that something had happened to Xiaolian, which was why he had agreed to meet; for this, he even had to postpone his dinner time with Su Qingqing; now to hear that it was nothing, truly made him feel like he had worried for nothing.
"Don't you like me at all? Don't you have any feelings for me?" Xiaolian challenged.
Seeing Lin Yifan's impatient expression, she felt a pang of pain, this was not the reaction she wanted.
"Sorry, but no." Lin Yifan answered seriously and mercilessly, without sparing any feelings.
With these kinds of questions, straightforward and clear responses were necessary—no meant no, yes meant yes, never beating around the bush.
"Then why do you keep saving me? You might as well let me get raped." Xiaolian suddenly became sorrowful.
That merciless word absolutely crushed her defenses; if it weren't for her family needing her at home, she would have already jumped off a building.
"What are you saying? I saved you because I don't want bad people to hurt you; if you want to harm yourself because of my rejection, then go! Do it now! I will not care about you anymore!" Lin Yifan's fingers were literally trembling with anger, feeling this was utterly unreasonable.
"Why don't you want bad people to hurt me? You do like me, don't you? You have feelings for me, right?" Xiaolian latched onto that point, questioning repeatedly.
"Like nothing! I am worried about you, that's why I don't want bad people to hurt you," Lin Yifan said irritably.
"Isn't being worried the same as liking? If you didn't like me, why would you worry?" Xiaolian questioned.
She was relentless, as if possessed, clinging to what she believed were signs of Lin Yifan's affection for her.
"Goodness! If I were your brother, I'd give you a couple of slaps to wake you up," Lin Yifan was totally exasperated by Xiaolian.
Caring and liking are not the same, mixing them up was simply absurd.
"Don't mention the word 'brother' to me, it's annoying; plus, I don't have a brother, and I don't need one," Xiaolian suddenly became angry, seemingly very sensitive to the word 'brother'.
"No brother, then why do you hate the word 'brother' so much?" Lin Yifan challenged.
He felt that Xiaolian definitely had a brother, and that she hated her brother deeply.
"I just hate it! I hate that irresponsible brother who abandoned our family! So don't mention that word to me!" Xiaolian shouted, filled with immense resentment.
Staring into her eyes full of hatred, Lin Yifan suddenly felt a sense of guilt. Just as he was about to say something, a call came through. With no choice, he had to answer the call first.
It was Su Qingqing calling, and he guessed she must be anxious and wanting to know how much longer he would be; so, he slid to answer.
"Hey! Yifan! Are you done yet?" Su Qingqing's sweet voice came through the phone.
Although the sound of the phone was very low, it was heard by Xiaolian, who was sitting opposite, about fifty centimeters away.
Before Lin Yifan could reply, Xiaolian suddenly grabbed his right hand holding the phone, and then asked anxiously and fearfully, "Are you Lin Yifan?"
"Yes! What's the problem?" Lin Yifan answered.
Looking at Xiaolian, whose eyes were wide and face was full of shock, he felt somewhat scared, not knowing what she intended to do.
"Are you from Lin Family Village in Qingshi Town, Lishan City?" Xiaolian continued to ask anxiously and fearfully.
"Yes! How did you know?" Lin Yifan asked.
He was surprised and curious; since he had never disclosed his detailed home address to anyone, logically, no one in Guiyuan City should know his detailed home address. How did Xiaolian know?
However, Xiaolian did not answer his question; instead, she suddenly screamed, "Ah!!!"
Then, with a forceful push, she knocked all the dishes on the table to the floor; subsequently, she dashed out as if she had gone mad.
"Hey! Xiaolian! Where are you going?" Lin Yifan asked worriedly.
But Xiaolian did not answer him and continued to dash out madly.
"Yifan! What happened? What's going on?" On the phone, Su Qingqing asked worriedly.
Just now, she had only heard a woman asking Lin Yifan, then suddenly there was a sharp scream that almost burst her eardrums.
"Qingqing! I can't talk now, I'll call you back later." Lin Yifan hung up hurriedly and immediately chased after her.
The next moment, a shout came from behind him, "Hey! Sir! You haven't paid yet!"
As Lin Yifan walked, he pulled out a few hundred dollars from his wallet and tossed it behind him; then, without looking back, he sprinted out, eager to catch up with the frenzied Xiaolian.
Xiaolian's behavior was what he feared most as it could easily lead to despair and potentially trigger a suicide.
Although he wasn't very close to Xiaolian, he felt she must know him, or else she wouldn't have mentioned his home address. Thus, he was even less willing to see an acquaintance come to harm because of him.
After chasing out of the restaurant, Lin Yifan looked around and found no trace of Xiaolian. It was as if she had evaporated from the face of the Earth, just disappeared into thin air.
"Xiaolian! Where are you?"
"Xiaolian! Come out, we can discuss this!"
"Xiaolian! I'm not angry with you anymore, can you come out please?"
Lin Yifan walked, shouting loudly at the surroundings, trying to coax Xiaolian out.
But after saying and asking so much, only silence responded from all around.
"Damn it! Where can she go?" Lin Yifan kept scouting around, making himself dizzy.
Afterwards, he drove away, then searched along the sides of the road to see if he could find her.