The man lifted his eyes to look at her. His gaze was deep, and Lin Yixun couldn’t tell if it was just her imagination, but it felt like he could see right through her.
Just as Lin Yixun started to feel a chill down her spine, the man stood up, "Since he’s not coming back anytime soon, I won’t wait for him. Please pass on a message for me: Mom is sick and really wants to see him."
"Alright, I will relay your message to Mr. Ouyang."
After Ouyang Hao left, Lin Yixun called Ouyang Hao again and delivered his brother’s words to him.
The Empress Dowager is sick?
Ouyang Hao raised an eyebrow. Could she be faking it? After all, this wasn’t the first time. Nevertheless, Ouyang Hao decided to take a trip back to Beijing. The commercial here was already finished filming, and he didn’t have much else to do these days.
Before leaving, Ouyang Hao felt a bit uneasy. He pulled Lin Yixun close and commanded, "While I’m away, stay away from other men. There are a lot of rogues pretending to be gentlemen out there. You’re so naive, without me to protect you, you’d definitely be fooled."
Lin Yixun rolled her eyes. Did he think she was stupid? Was she really that naive? Besides, who was the rogue pretending to be a gentleman? Xing Yi? In her view, Xing Yi was much better than him.
She muttered in her heart a million times over but didn’t show it. She nodded firmly.
"That’s more like it." Ouyang Hao reached out and gently tapped her nose. Realizing that the gesture seemed a bit too intimate, he cleared his throat awkwardly, "You’ll be fine if you listen to me. I’m off!"
With that, Ouyang Hao dragged his suitcase and walked towards the security check area.
During the days Ouyang Hao was away, Xing Yi came to pick her up from work every day. At first, Lin Yixun kept declining, but seeing Xing Yi’s persistence, she eventually stopped refusing.
Just like other dating couples, they spent most of their time together having meals, and occasionally they would watch a movie. Since they were both alumni of A University, they interacted quite naturally, and gradually became more familiar with each other.
But Lin Yixun knew very well that familiarity was a long way from liking. Her heart was so scarred that it was difficult to feel anything for another person again.
She didn’t want to drag things on with Xing Yi without clarity. It would be disrespectful to him, and to herself as well.
One day, as they walked out of the cinema, Lin Yixun hesitated for a long time before finally mustering up the courage to speak.
"Um... Senior, maybe we should just stop?"
The man suddenly halted and turned to look at her. For a moment, Lin Yixun thought he was going to be angry, but then he curved his lips into a smile, "What do you mean by stop?"
Lin Yixun’s eyelashes trembled, and she opened her mouth, "Senior, I might not be able to like you."
"Oh, so it’s because of that." The smile on the man’s face deepened, "Actually, many couples who meet through matchmaking don’t initially like each other, but many of them still end up together. Yixun, love is like boiling water, given enough time, it can come to a boil."
"But what if this pot of water never boils?"
The man looked at her deeply, "There’s no rush. We have a lifetime. If one year doesn’t make it boil, then ten years. If ten years aren’t enough, then twenty. It will eventually come to a boil."
"But Senior, life is too short. How many ten years do we have? You’re so excellent, lots of girls will like you. Why waste your time on me?"
"It’s not a matter of wasting time. It’s about willingness, and I’m willing to wait for you."