Chương 65: Misunderstanding

Rewind to last night, after Lin Che dropped Luo Bingli off and returned home, a faint smile still on his face.

As soon as he opened the door, he saw Su Yuqing sprawled on the living room sofa in an exaggerated "spread-eagle" position.

She was still holding her phone, but her eyes were staring blankly at the ceiling, as if her soul had been completely ripped away by the arduous task of washing dishes.

"Oh, isn't this our Miss Su?" Lin Che couldn't help but tease as he changed his shoes.

"How did washing the dishes get you so tired? Looking at you, anyone who didn't know better would think you went to save the world."

Upon hearing his voice, Su Yuqing sat up as if she had been electrocuted, raising an eyebrow and her face filled with displeasure.

"Saving the world isn't as tiring as washing dishes! And you have the nerve to laugh at me? I did this to create an opportunity for you to get closer to Xiaoli!"

She grew angrier as she spoke, her voice accusing, "As a result, my mom treated me like a lazybones who made the guests do the work while I slacked off! Not only do I have to wash the dishes today, but for the next week I'll be being watched by my mom to help with housework! My life..."

As she spoke, she exaggeratedly fell back onto the sofa, raised her legs high, and then bounced back down on the sofa, looking utterly dejected.

Looking at her like this, Lin Che felt both amused and a little apologetic.

"Alright, alright, I know you're upset." Lin Che walked to the sofa and sat down, gently rubbing her head.

"Don't be sullen. Besides, you didn't do anything today, you just had a nice, comfortable meal of dumplings, didn't you?"

Su Yuqing wasn't really angry at first, but after hearing Lin Che's words, her eyes darted around and a sly smile appeared on her face.

"Hmm... what you're saying makes some sense..." She sat up and leaned closer to Lin Che, lowering her voice slightly, "But there's one condition for me to completely calm down."

Lin Che raised an eyebrow: "Oh? What is it?"

Su Yuqing didn't speak, but slowly stretched out her arms and wrapped them around his neck, leaning her body slightly forward and resting her weight on him.

She tilted her head back, her eyes crinkling into a smile: "How about I kiss you?"

Lin Che looked at her face so close to his, her eyes full of mischievous light. He knew she was just joking, teasing him in their special way.

He didn't blush or feel embarrassed like last time; he just smiled helplessly and gently flicked her forehead.

"Stop fooling around." He withdrew his arm, sat up straight, and said, "Let's get down to business. We chatted on the way back with Xiaoli."

He didn't describe Luo Bingli's emotional fluctuations in detail, but only briefly mentioned, "I made an excuse that I wanted to pick out a gift for you and asked her for her help. I asked her to go to the mall with me tomorrow."

Su Yuqing was flicked on the forehead and let out an exaggerated complaint, but her eyes immediately lit up when she heard Lin Che's words.

"A gift? Picking out a gift for me?" She instantly perked up, sitting up straighter, her eyes sparkling.

"What kind of gift? Is it a surprise?"

"We still don't know what it is," Lin Che said with a smile.

"We'll have to go tomorrow to find out."

"Okay..." Su Yuqing looked slightly disappointed, but quickly cheered up again.

"But using picking out a gift for me as an excuse? What a great idea!"

She paused, her tone filled with obvious regret, "It's a pity I also have plans to go shopping with friends tomorrow, otherwise I would definitely follow behind and keep an eye on things."

"What? Are you following me to spy on me?" Lin Che raised an eyebrow and asked in an exaggerated manner.

"Of course!" Su Yuqing nodded matter-of-factly, her eyes wide with a wary look.

"I need to keep an eye on you, so you don't try anything funny with Xiaoli!"

"Bang!"

Without hesitation, Lin Che delivered a sharp chop to her head.

"Ouch!" Su Yuqing covered her head and screamed, shrinking back, but her face still held a triumphant smile.

"I'm talking to you properly, stop thinking about all this nonsense." Lin Che gave her a helpless look.

"Hehehe~" Su Yuqing stuck out her tongue at him, then rubbed her head and continued speaking with a hint of curiosity in her tone.

"But Xiaoli actually agreed to go shopping with you? She's not usually the type to go out alone with people she doesn't know well."

"Yes, I hope this is a good start," Lin Che replied softly without saying much more.

The next day, at the entrance of the shopping mall.

Su Yuqing, dressed casually with a bright smile on her face, met up with her classmate Chu Yao and two other girls.

The four of them chattered excitedly about the shops they were going to visit later, creating a lively and enthusiastic atmosphere.

"Yuqing, I heard this store has some new arrivals recently, let's go check it out!" Chu Yao pointed to a clothing store not far away, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

"Okay!" Su Yuqing replied excitedly, preparing to follow Chu Yao into the store, her eyes fixed on the merchandise in the window, but—

"Yuqing, look over there," Chu Yao suddenly tugged at her arm, "Isn't that Lin Che? So he has a girlfriend?"

Su Yuqing's smile froze for a moment. She didn't immediately look in the direction Chu Yao was pointing, but instead said with a smile, "Hey? Lin Che? What's he doing here? Yao Yao, you must be mistaken."

As she said this, a strange sense of tension welled up inside her.

Pretending to turn her head casually, she looked in the direction Chu Yao was pointing, her gaze passing through the throng of people before finally settling on the inside of a gift shop.

There, two figures were embracing tightly. The boy was tall and straight, wearing a simple T-shirt and jeans. He was her brother, Lin Che.

His body was tightly wrapped around the girl in his arms, the posture as intimate as if he were embracing a lover.

And the girl next to him...

In an instant, all sounds faded away, as if the world had been muted, and Su Yuqing's smile froze completely.

"Huh?"

That petite figure in a light blue dress, burying her face in Lin Che's chest, with that short, ear-length hair... isn't that Xiao Li?

Xiao Li looks so beautiful today! She's even wearing a dress! And she's wearing light makeup! I've never seen her like that before!

She didn't understand why Xiao Li was dressed like that, why she was with Lin Che, or why she was being held so intimately in Lin Che's arms.

The scene before her eyes was like an invisible electric current that struck her instantly.

"Yuqing? Yuqing?" Chu Yao's voice pulled her back to reality from her shock.

"What's wrong? That girl over there... doesn't seem to be from our class, right?"

Su Yuqing snapped back to reality, forcing herself to look away. She tried to maintain the smile on her face, even though it seemed a little stiff at the moment.

"Oh, it's nothing, it's nothing," she waved her hand hastily, "It's just... there are too many people over there, it's making my eyes a little blurry."

She forced herself to act as if nothing was wrong, continued shopping with her friends, and responded to their conversation with a smile.

She dared not look in that direction again, dared not confirm whether what she had just seen was real, afraid that if she looked any longer, her inner pretense would instantly collapse.

However, the turmoil in her heart grew more and more intense, like a silent storm that almost overwhelmed her.

The scene I had just witnessed kept replaying in my mind—Xiao Li wearing a beautiful dress, being held tightly in A Che's arms…

Why did this happen? Didn't A-Che ask Xiao-Li to come and help her pick out a gift? Why did it turn out like this? Isn't Xiao-Li afraid of getting close to people she doesn't know well?

Why was she being held by A-Che, and... and it seemed like she wasn't resisting at all?

She tried to suppress these questions and the complex emotions surging in her heart, forcing herself to focus on her friend's topic, but no matter what her friend said, she couldn't listen to it.

The turmoil within her grew increasingly intense, like a silent storm threatening to engulf her. She could no longer concentrate, no longer pretend to be relaxed, and no longer stay there.

"Um... everyone, I suddenly have something to do, I have to go first." Su Yuqing made up a lame excuse, her tone tinged with anxiety.

"Huh? Leaving so soon?" Chu Yao seemed a little surprised.

"Aren't you going to have lunch with us?"

"No, I really have something urgent to attend to." Su Yuqing firmly refused, not bothering to explain further. She quickly left her friends and headed towards the gift shop that Lin Che and Luo Bingli had entered earlier.

She arrived at the shop entrance, looked inside, and found that they were no longer there.

"Where is he?" Su Yuqing asked anxiously. She took out her phone, found Lin Che's contact information, and the screen lit up. Her finger hovered over the dial button, and she hesitated.

Should I call? In what capacity should I ask? What should I ask? What did she see? Why are he and Xiao Li together? Why do they look so intimate?

No…no, she couldn't bring herself to ask, nor could she face the possible answer she might hear.

She withdrew her finger, took a deep breath, and tried to comfort herself. Since they had come out together to pick out a gift for their "sister," they must have already chosen one and would be going home soon, right?

She preferred to believe it was true, and preferred to go home and wait for Lin Che to explain it to her, rather than tear down that unbearable barrier between them now.

She put away her phone, turned around and quickly left the mall, heading towards home.

She silently told herself: It's okay, everything will be alright. They just went to pick out gifts and will be home soon.

She went home and waited for Lin Che, waiting for his explanation.

However, Lin Che did not return as quickly as she had imagined.

He finally returned home just before dinner time.