[Misplaced and Lost] (Part 7)

page views:1 Publication date:2023-03-24

The next

morning, I slept in until 9 a.m. When I got up, I found my mother was

gone . Only Zhao Huaiye was there, sitting in Aunt Chen's bedroom playing on the computer. I went over to check on him; he seemed

to be working. I asked him, "Where did my mom go?" He said that around 9 a.m.,

one of my mom's close friends called and asked her to go shopping. I asked him what the friend's last name was, and he said he didn't

know . Then he told me that breakfast was on the table. I figured he was probably working, so I didn't want to bother

him any further.

It's so boring being at home with a blockhead who only knows how to study and work. After breakfast, I

thought about calling Zhang Yan to chat, but then I suddenly thought it wasn't a good time. If Zhang Yan asked if I

had told my mom about us, and I said I hadn't, I thought she would definitely be unhappy. I'd better wait

until tell her about it. Then I can tell Zhang Yan the good news in the afternoon. For now, I'll go back to my room

and play some games online.

Around 11, my mom called and I answered. She told me

she was at Aunt Xiaofang's house, having lunch there. She also said Aunt Xiaofang wanted to meet me and invited me to come over.

Aunt Xiaofang is my mom's college classmate, a year younger than her, but she doesn't look as young

or as pretty as my mom, and her skin is darker. However, she dresses very fashionably, like a runway

model, a bit too trendy. From our perspective as ordinary people, it's not very

acceptable.

Aunt Xiaofang's real name is Liu Fang. She's an art teacher at a middle school. Because of her

excellent art skills, she's quite famous at her school. Her husband,

Zhang Jian, is a deputy director at the Cultural Bureau. He's of medium build, very kind, and speaks politely and without any airs. He's especially

good to me. I remember whenever I visited his home, he would bring out everything

I could eat or play with, just like he would treat his own child. However, I heard my mother tell my father

a long time ago Zhang Jian is henpecked. At home, Aunt Xiaofang always has the final say, and

Zhang Jian never dares to talk back or argue with her. Unfortunately, I've never seen it happen.

They also have a daughter. Because they had her relatively late in life, she's only in first

grade . Because they're both busy with work and not home during the day,

their daughter lives with her grandparents. The grandparents usually pick her up from school.

They only bring her home on weekends or holidays so the whole family can get together.

Then I said to my mom, "If I go over there now, what will happen to Zhao Huaiye? I can't just leave

him alone at my house. Although Zhao Huaiye is a nice and honest person, it

's still inconvenient to have a stranger at home. Besides, I can't just kick him out; that would be even more inappropriate." Seeing that my mom was

silent , I knew she couldn't think of any other solution, so I said to her, "Mom, I'll stay home. I can keep

Zhao Huaiye company, and someone will cook lunch for me. It's a win-win situation." My mom said, "That's the only way then. You can come see your Aunt Xiaofang

when ."

A surge of secret delight welled up inside me. Actually, I didn't like going to her house because I dreaded it. She'd use me

as a model for her sketches, and I'd been there seven times, and three of those times I couldn't escape it. She'd make me pose

in various ways, sometimes even providing props for me to hold. Once, she somehow got hold of an

ancient war fork and made me pose as if charging forward, making me look like a complete idiot,

standing there for over an hour. Another time, she even suggested I take off all my clothes for her nude portrait, but

my mom overheard and immediately refused.

Lunch, needless to say, was cooked by Zhao Huaiye. After experiencing his cooking skills last night, I

had no complaints. After lunch, I felt a little embarrassed and told him I'd wash the dishes, but he

disagreed, worried I wouldn't do a good job and my mom would be upset.

I waited at home for my mom, and around 4 pm, she called,

asking if Zhao Huaiye was home. I said yes. My mom told me to let him answer the phone, so I called Zhao Huaiye over and said it was my

mom calling, she might need to talk to you about something. After answering, Zhao Huaiye hurriedly packed his things to leave. I asked

him what it was about, and he said my mom was going to meet a client for business later and needed him to go to the company now

to bring her some documents.

I waited and waited until after 7 pm, but my mom and Zhao Huaiye still hadn't returned. So I called

my mom The call went through, and a pleasant ringtone played, but no one answered after a minute.

I dialed again, and after about half a minute, the music suddenly stopped. What

happened? I wondered. Then I dialed again, and this time the message was: "The number you

dialed is currently switched off. Please try again later...

" Damn it, what happened? The call went through clearly at first, so why was the phone suddenly switched off?

Was my mom too busy to answer my calls, that's why she switched it off? In the afternoon, Zhao Huaiye said his mother had to talk business with a client.

What client could be so important that she couldn't even answer my call? I couldn't understand it.

I thought about it again, and that reason didn't hold water. I knew my mother's heart was more important than her

making money ; I understood that deeply. Could it be that the person who just hung up wasn't my mother?

Who else could access my mother's phone? Right, Zhao Huaiye should be with my mother now. Maybe I should call him

; perhaps I'd find out. But what bothered me even more was that I'd known Zhao Huaiye for so long,

yet I didn't know his phone number.

Then I remembered Zhao Huaiye's laptop. He hadn't taken it with him when he left; it should

still be in Aunt Chen's room. I thought there might be some of his contact information inside. Although

the chances were slim, I decided to try anyway. When I went over and turned on his computer, just as I was about to log in

, it asked for a password. Damn, it was encrypted. I tried his name first—incorrect. Then I tried...

I tried several passwords related to him, thinking they might be the correct ones, but they were all wrong.

In a fit of anger, I slammed the laptop shut. Afterwards, I turned on the TV and sat in the living room to watch

. But I wasn't really interested in watching TV; my mind was already with my mother. I was wondering why

her phone had suddenly switched off—was it out of battery again? What was she doing now? Was she having dinner with clients or on her

way home? It was so late; had something happened to her? Ugh, I'm such a jinx! How could anything

happen ? She's just coming home a little late; what's so strange about that? Besides, Zhao Huaiye is with her

. If anything happens, it'll be Zhao Huaiye first; he'll take all the bad luck away from her and protect her.

Actually, thinking about it carefully, what really bothered me wasn't that my mother was coming home so late, but that

phone call that was interrupted halfway through. I'll definitely ask her what happened when she gets home. I waited until after

9 p.m. when the door finally rang. I quickly got up and saw my mother open the door. She was wearing a plum-

colored short dress and pink high heels. The only downside was that she wasn't wearing

stockings, but her long, slender, and fair legs were still very alluring. Her cheeks were slightly

flushed , and her bright, clear eyes looked even more captivating under the light. I knew she had

been drinking again.

"Mom, why have you been drinking again? And coming home so late! Don't you know how worried I was?"

I said to her, annoyed.

"I'm sorry, son, I made you worry. I won't do it again. I'm tired, I need to go inside and rest."

My mother lowered her head slightly as she walked towards me, her eyes fixed on my chest, avoiding direct eye

contact , like a little girl who had done something wrong.

"Mom, I have something to tell you."

"Let's talk about it tomorrow. Mom's really tired. We'll talk about everything tomorrow." I thought Mom was

coming comfort me for waiting so long at home, worried about her safety and so anxious she hadn't even eaten yet. But Mom

didn't stop beside me; she walked right past me without turning her head, hurrying and looking very anxious

towards her room.

Just after Mom passed me, staring at her back, I noticed

a white patch the size of a palm on the buttocks of her short dress. The patch was irregularly shaped and quite light in color; you wouldn't notice

it unless you . I guessed it was rubbed off on the white wall. I figured Mom definitely didn't know,

otherwise, how could such a stain appear on such a pretty dress, especially in such a conspicuous place?

Just as Mom was about to reach her room, Zhao Huaiye returned, his cheeks flushed, and even his lips were

much redder than usual, as if he were wearing lipstick. Because I usually see Zhao Huaiye's lips are very pale,

I guessed it might be due to anemia. It seems this guy has been drinking too. Why did they come back one after the other?

Why didn't they come back together? I have so many questions in my head. Mom is tired and doesn't want to answer me, but Zhao Huaiye

is the answer to all my questions. I immediately went over and pulled him to sit on the sofa and talk to him. But

he also told me that he was dizzy and very tired, and wanted to go to his room to rest.

??? Don't even think about leaving until you get to the bottom of my questions, I thought to myself. Then I

told ask him a few questions, and after he answered them, he could go rest. Otherwise, he could sit here with me and watch

TV. Seeing that he couldn't get rid of me, Zhao Huaiye said, "Okay, go ahead and ask."

"Why are you and Mom so late?"

"We finished our business meeting, and the client insisted on treating us to dinner. We couldn't refuse."

"Where did you eat?"

"At Qiushui Renjia Leisure Club."

"What time did you finish eating, and then come straight back?"

"We finished eating around..."

"Go on."

"I don't remember exactly, but we sat there resting for a while after dinner, and then came back."

"Where did you rest?"

"At the dining table. We sat there chatting with the client for a bit, and then got up and came back."

"That's it?"

"Yes."

"Oh...right, one more question. Around 7 o'clock, I called my mom, but the call was

disconnected halfway through. What happened?"

"This...I don't know."

"You were with my mom, you don't know?"

"Around 7 o'clock...around 7 o'clock, we were all in a private room. Maybe it was too loud,

and we didn't hear the phone ring."

"I'm asking why someone hung up on my phone?"

"I really don't know. Maybe Mr. Yu accidentally knocked it off."

"My mom didn't have her phone on her person. How could she knock it off while eating?"

I asked him, puzzled.

"Oh, right, I remember now.

When Mr. Feng from across the table came to toast Mr. Yu, he knocked over the chair where Mr. Yu had his bag, and Mr. Yu's bag fell to the ground. I think that might

be the reason." "

Really…?"

"I'm not sure either, but I think it might be…" If the bag knocked over and hit the phone, it could indeed

turn it off. Zhao Huaiye's answer was plausible. I hadn't

noticed anything wrong with his previous answers. Was I overreacting and overcomplicating things? At this moment,

I fell into deep thought…

"Chen Lin, do you have any questions? My head is very uncomfortable, I want to go inside and rest." After saying that, Zhao Huaiye

was about to leave.

"Wait a minute..." I grabbed his arm.

"Is there anything else?" Zhao Huaiye asked me.

I thought for a moment, but couldn't think of anything else to ask, so I said to him

, "Okay, go back to your room and get some rest."

"Okay!"

After Zhao Huaiye went inside, I realized that I was really hungry; my stomach was rumbling.

My mother called the police, so I ran to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, took out some cooked food and milk, sat

on the sofa, and ate while watching TV. TV these days is really boring. Even though there are over 100 channels,

almost nothing is watchable. Not only are new dramas uninteresting, but dozens of satellite channels also broadcast them in rotation, which is very

tedious. After eating, I turned off the TV and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. When I finished, it was already past 10 pm

, so I went back to my bedroom to sleep.

I don't know how long I slept, but I was suddenly woken up by the urge to pee. I looked up at the wall

clock ; it was already 1:50 am. I got up and went to the bathroom. After leaving the bedroom, I saw

the bathroom light was on. I thought Zhao Huaiye must be in there, since my mother's bedroom has an attached bathroom, so she

probably wouldn't come here.

When I got to the bathroom, I heard running water. Why was Zhao Huaiye taking a shower in the middle of the night instead of sleeping

? I knocked on the door and called out,

"Zhao Huaiye, are you in there?"

"Linlin, Mom's here." Oh, it was Mom.

"Mom, are you taking a shower in there?"

"Yes, the hot water in Mom's bedroom bathroom is out."

"Oh, then… Mom, how much longer are you going to shower?"

"Linlin, can you wait a bit? Mom wants to shower a little longer."

"Okay." Since that's the case, I guess I'll have to go to Mom's room to pee first.

When I got to Mom's room, I went straight to the bathroom, pulled down my shorts, and finished. On the sink,

I saw the plum-red dress Mom was wearing today. It

was the silk was smooth and felt wonderful to the touch, and there was a belt-like decoration around the waist,

which made it less plain. I quickly picked it up and looked at it closely. I noticed the white patch on her buttocks was

gone. I guess Mom must have cleaned it up after noticing it. Right next to it was a set of red

lace lingerie and underwear. Looking at that alluring lace lingerie set, I suddenly felt my heart race and

my mind wander. Then, without realizing it, I recalled that nightmare I had in the dorm room—the scene of having sex with

my mother in bed.

I shook my head violently to clear my head, then got out of the room. Once outside, I noticed

the bedside table drawer was open; my mother must have forgotten to close it while rushing to shower. I went to

close it, and saw several small items inside—all women's trinkets. There was a

very pretty agate necklace. Then I saw a box of emergency contraceptive pills. I knew what they were; they were birth control pills. Why was my mother still taking them when

she had sex with my father? I remembered overhearing her tell him that

the side effects were too severe and she wouldn't take them anymore. I took the box out, wanting to open it and see

what the pills looked like, but it was empty. It was just

an empty box

after all. I closed the drawer for my mother, left her room, and went to rest in my room next door.

The next morning—or rather, this morning—I got up before 7 a.m., thinking I'd be up

earlier than my mom. But when I came out, I found she was already up and had prepared breakfast for me:

some milk and bread. After I finished washing up in the bathroom, I asked her where Zhao Huaiye

was . She said he'd left at 6 a.m. I asked her

if she had to go to work early today, and why he left so early, and why she didn't give me a ride. But she remained silent,

not answering my question.

After breakfast, my mom drove me to school. On the way, she stared calmly ahead,

not saying a word to me. She was like a completely different person. Usually, at this time, she would say many caring and comforting things to me on the way to

school , making me feel warm inside.

Even when we were waiting at a red light, the light had already turned green, but my mom was still staring blankly

ahead. The cars behind us started honking; I guessed they'd stick their heads out and yell at us soon. I quickly

shook my mom's arm, and she finally came to her senses. I asked, "Mom, are you

alright

?" She just shook her head and didn't say anything. I thought maybe she hadn't slept well last night. When we got to the school gate, I was really worried about her condition. I was afraid she might have an accident

while driving, so I said to her, "How about I call Aunt Song and ask her to give you a ride on her way to work? It's on the same route." But my mom said no need, she was fine. I said, "Then you must call me when you get to the company to let me know you're safe." My mom nodded. But almost an hour passed from when I entered the school. During that hour, I was constantly worried about my mom, and she didn't call. I thought she should have arrived at the company by now, so I picked up my phone and called her… The call went through. I said, "Mom, where are you now?" She said she was at the company and asked why I was calling . Oh my god! I said, "Mom, when we were at the school gate, I told you to call me after you got to the company to let me know you were safe, don't you remember?" Mom said, "Oh dear, I forgot." I said, "Mom, are you sick? Should I take a day off now to come see you and go to the hospital for a checkup? If everything's okay, I'll feel much more at ease." Mom said, "Linlin, good son, I know you care about me, but I'm really fine, don't worry ." Mom insisted she was fine, so I had to hang up, but I was still very worried. There was nothing else I could do but hope she was alright. After class in the afternoon, I missed Zhang Yan, so I called her to ask her out. I already had an excuse in mind: if Zhang Yan didn't ask about that, that would be fine, I wouldn't say anything yet. If Zhang Yan insisted on asking if I had told my mom about , I would lie and say that I had, and my mom was very happy and had no objections to us. After Zhang Yan answered my call, I asked her: "Have you missed me these past few days?"

She said, "Mmm."

"I wanted to ask you out yesterday, but something came up at home, so I couldn't," I coaxed her.

"It's okay, I also happened to have something to do yesterday."

"Oh, that's a coincidence. Are you busy now?"

"I'm at work right now, I get off at 6:30."

"Then I'll wait for you at your workplace later?"

"Okay!"

Then I went back to my dorm to rest, and left the school at 6 pm. Li Zhanpeng saw me on the way

and insisted on dragging me to play basketball, but I thought basketball was too tiring, and I had to see Zhang Yan later, so I declined.

At 6 pm, I left the school, hailed a taxi at the gate, and

headed to the mobile phone service center where Zhang Yan worked. I arrived there soon after. As soon as I entered the service center, the female receptionist asked me: "Sir,

what kind of service do you need?" I said: "No problem, I'm just looking around."

Then I glanced around the lobby and saw several female employees sitting behind a large circular counter,

all dressed in black office lady uniforms. Zhang Yan was sitting among them,

explaining something carefully to a customer, so I didn't dare disturb her. I sat on a row of metal stools against the wall and waited for her.

After about 10 minutes, seeing that she still hadn't finished work, I went outside for some fresh air. After another

10 minutes, someone tapped me on the shoulder from behind. I turned around and saw Zhang Yan, now

dressed casually, standing behind me.

"Were you getting impatient?" she asked me.

I said, "No."

She said, "I saw you when you came. There are so many chairs inside, why didn't you sit down

and wait?"

I laughed and said, "If I kept watching you waiting inside, I'd get even more anxious."

Zhang Yan asked, "Where are we going now?"

I said, "You're off work, right?"

Zhang Yan said, "Of course, didn't you see I changed my clothes?"

I said, "It's already 7 o'clock, let's find a place to eat first, and chat while we eat."

We went to a buffet restaurant specializing in Chinese and Western barbecue. It was very popular, almost

packed in the evening. The waiter led us to a two-person table. At the very front of the restaurant,

there were various musical instruments, and a person dressed as a foreigner was sitting there playing the violin, but the

music was completely drowned out by the conversations of the diners.

After sitting down and eating for a while, I noticed that our drinks were almost empty, so I picked up Zhang Yan's and my

cups to refill them. I even asked her what she wanted to drink, and she said grape juice.

When I stood up to take her cup , I slipped and it tipped over, spilling some of the remaining drink onto the table.

The spilled drink then ran down the table. Seeing this, Zhang Yan, worried about getting the drink on her legs,

immediately moved her legs away.

"Look how careless you are! You almost spilled it on me..." Zhang Yan shouted at me, raising her voice

. Her loud voice attracted the attention of some other diners and servers

. Then, a waitress came over and said, "Sir, is there anything I can help you with?"

I said it was fine. By then, I was already wiping it up with napkins. Actually, there was only

a little drink left in her cup, so the spilled amount was minimal, and it was cleaned up with just a few napkins

.

After that, the atmosphere between Zhang Yan and me became a little awkward. We seemed to have gone back to when we first met

, speaking very politely but not very much, which made me feel a little nervous.

This was the first time Zhang Yan had yelled at me since we started dating. I was very upset. I didn't know

why she yelled at me, because I felt that the matter was trivial. As for why I didn't argue with her,

I felt it was unnecessary. From the moment I waited for Zhang Yan to leave her company after work until now, she hadn't

smiled or said much, and her expression had been very worried. I thought she must be in a bad mood today.

Why was she in a bad mood? I thought about it for a moment and suddenly realized. I was so stupid. It must be because I hadn't

brought that matter with her. How could a girl like her bring it up on her own? So it's understandable that she felt

uncomfortable and blamed me.

I walked Zhang Yan all the way to her building. As we were about to say goodbye, Zhang Yan turned around and hugged me. She stood on

tiptoe and offered her fragrant lips to me. Her tongue slipped into my mouth and intertwined with mine.

Our lips were pressed tightly together, our tongues passionately enjoying each other's

nectar , continuing our kiss gently and romantically.

Then, I placed one hand on Zhang Yan's thigh, caressing her smooth skin a few times before

slowly moving upwards, heading towards the most mysterious place between her legs. Just as I was about to reach her paradise,

Zhang Yan grabbed my hand and pulled it behind her back. I don't know how long we kissed before we

slowly , but our bodies remained tightly embraced. I could clearly feel Zhang Yan's

breasts pressing firmly against my chest. Our faces were also pressed together sideways.

"I'm sorry, I was too harsh today. You're not angry with me, are you?" Zhang Yan said.

"Of course not."

"Whether you understand or not, I really don't want to hurt you... I don't want to..."

"It's all my fault. I should have told you about that when we met."

"What about?" Zhang Yan asked.

"It's about us. I told my mom, and she doesn't object to us dating. She even said she'd like to meet you if she has

the chance ."

"Oh, that's what it is..." Zhang Yan's depressed expression didn't change.

What's wrong? I've already told her my parents don't object, so why does she still have this expression? Could it be that there's another reason she's in a bad

mood ? I thought about it some more. Could it be

that Zhang Yan is unhappy about her work? Zhang Yan's job involves dealing with hundreds of different customers every day. Some

customers are very easy to talk to, but others are not only rude but also verbally abusive. Could it be that she's upset about work?

She had been wronged.

So I asked her, "How's work been lately?"

"Yeah, pretty good."

"Haven't you been wronged at all? If you've been wronged at work, just quit, and we'll find another job." "

No."

"Then why…

?" "It's late, I have to go upstairs," Zhang Yan said preemptively, then broke free from my embrace. Clearly,

she didn't want to answer my question; she knew what I was about to ask, but before I could even ask,

she cut me off.

"Okay then, go upstairs and get some rest," I said helplessly.

"Okay!

" Watching Zhang Yan turn and go upstairs, slowly disappearing from my sight, I felt an indescribable

sadness . I vaguely sensed that Zhang Yan was hiding some untold suffering, but

couldn't she even tell me, her devoted boyfriend? I stood there silently until

I heard the door on the third floor open and then slam shut. After a long while, I quietly left and

returned to school.

When I got to my dorm, I found that my roommates had already finished their self-study classes and returned. Li Zhanpeng and Cao Le were

online , and Wang Yifei was lying in bed reading. Li Zhanpeng saw me and asked where I had been that afternoon, since he hadn't seen

me all afternoon. I lied and said an old classmate had called to invite me to dinner. Li Zhanpeng believed me completely and

didn't ask any more questions.

But I noticed Cao Le kept smiling at me, a sly smile that clearly showed he didn't believe me, because this guy had been

suspiciously looking for a girlfriend lately. Then I casually turned on my computer, logged into QQ, and found a stranger

had added me. I habitually clicked "accept," then looked at the profile—nothing was written—and

closed it. I then opened League of Legends and played until about 10 pm before going to bed.

About three days later, after class that afternoon, Cao Le and a few friends asked me to

play pool . Coincidentally, some classmates were playing a full-court basketball game against another class, so I didn't go with them

to pool. I stayed at school and played against another class with the other students. We played for about an hour,

losing from start to finish. Plus, there were many pretty girls watching, and the opposing team members were all laughing

their heads off.

I was in a bad mood. After the game, I went back to my dorm alone, then habitually turned on my computer and

logged into QQ. After logging in, I noticed the penguin icon in the lower right corner was flashing. I clicked it, and a chat

window popped up. Several images were loading in the chat, sent around midnight the previous

night , which was early this morning, when I was already asleep. About ten seconds later,

all the images appeared. It turned out he had sent photos, and

I immediately recognized one of the people in the photos – it was my mother.

In the photos, Mom is wearing a plum-colored short dress, flesh-colored stockings, and

red high heels. This outfit... right, isn't this

the same outfit Mom wore when she came home around 9 pm on Sunday? The only difference is that Mom's legs were bare when she came home that day,

but in these photos, she's wearing flesh-colored stockings.

The photos also include another person. Three of the photos show this person helping my mother to the

elevator . The remaining photos show this person helping her out of the elevator, down the corridor

, into her room (room number 5066), and closing the door. Throughout these photos, my mother's head is down, her neck is

tilted , and she walks unsteadily, indicating she was definitely drunk. The person supporting her

has one arm tightly around her waist and the other hand gripping her arm, pressed close to her body

. However, this person is completely obscured by a mosaic, making their face impossible to see. However,

their height can be roughly determined. My mother was wearing high heels and is approximately 175cm tall, but they only reached

this person's eyebrows, suggesting they are over 180cm tall.

My mother was being monitored. The method used in this photoshoot is exactly the same as the one used by the person who added me on QQ last time.

Although the QQ number is different, both are newly registered. I'm almost certain it was one person who did it

. Obviously, the purpose of this person sending these photos is simply to tell me that my mother has

an unusual relationship with this person. But if they wanted to tell me, why blur him out?

Couldn't they just let me see who it is? I just can't understand this.

Then I recalled what happened that night. When I asked Zhao Huaiye, he told me that

after having dinner with clients, he rested at his seat for a while before driving back, and they didn't go

anywhere . Damn it, he's clearly lying. These photos are the best evidence. And Zhao Huaiye's height—

could it be that Zhao Huaiye was the one who helped my mother into room 5066?

Thinking along these few clues, the more I thought about it, the more frightened I became. Zhao Huaiye is only 22 years old,

a young man just entering society, while my mother is already 40. Although she looks young, they are from two

completely different generations. How could anything else happen between them? It's too unrealistic…

However, I thought again, the purpose of this person sending these photos was to make me believe that my mother and Zhao Huaiye

had some kind of special relationship. Why would this person do this? What benefit would they get from it? Did

my mother offend someone in her business dealings, and that person was trying to harm her?

Actually, thinking about it carefully, even if the person in the photo really was Zhao Huaiye, it might not be

as bad as I imagined. After all, those photos were just meant to tell me that there might be some kind of

relationship. Since this person who took these photos could keep following my mother, why didn't they take some more

telling photos? Instead, they sent me these photos that leave me guessing. What does it mean

? All these questions are just my guesses. I think it's better

to find the person who sent me these photos first, and then everything will be clear. But how do I find them? This person is acting mysteriously,

sending me photos with a newly registered QQ account, and then immediately deleting me from their contacts, not even giving me a chance to speak to them.

Yes, he's clearly afraid I'll notice something. He's done it so meticulously that finding him will be

very difficult for me. This person who could take these photos must be someone close to both Mom and Zhao Huaiye

. Someone close to both Mom and Zhao Huaiye, capable of doing something like this—could this person work at Mom's

company?

"Chen Lin!

" "Damn it… what are you doing?" Just as I was racking my brains, concentrating on this matter, Cao

Le slapped me hard on the shoulder and shouted at me.

"I've seen you sitting there staring at the computer for ages, what are you thinking about?"

"Nothing."

"Why are you so focused on nothing? Liu Mi just came into our dorm and took your tennis racket that was hanging on the wall, and

you didn't even notice."

"He took my tennis racket, why didn't you stop him?"

"You were all alone in the dorm, how could I stop him? Li Zhanpeng and I just got back. We

ran into him in the hallway, and he said you looked like you were dazed, sitting in front of the computer, and you didn't answer when he called you."

"I didn't see him. That guy's like a thief, always stealing other people's things without them noticing."

"What are you thinking about? Tell me, are you thinking about girls? Haha… Are you thinking about Gu Jiayi again

? Should I go find someone to talk to her for you?"

"No need, you can keep it."

"By the way, do you remember that online friend we met before?"

"Which one?

" "Is it that girl we met at the bar last October, the one named Yan, I think it was Li Yan?"

"Zhang Yan."

"Yes, yes, yes, that's her. Damn, you remember her even better than I do."

"Why did you bring her up?" I asked him, puzzled.

"Just now, when Li Zhanpeng and I came back from playing pool, we ran into her on the street. She

was , probably her boyfriend."

"Bullshit."

"Damn, you don't believe me."

"Of course I don't believe you."

"If you don't believe me, ask Li Zhanpeng. See if I'm lying. Just now, when Li Zhanpeng and I came back,

we saw her and her boyfriend arguing near the Lotus Bridge. We were too far away to hear

what they were arguing about. After arguing for a while, the guy turned around and left. Li Yan… no, Zhang Yan

stood there staring at his back, motionless, looking like she was about to cry. Sigh, probably a lovers' quarrel."

After Cao Le finished speaking, I looked at Li Zhanpeng. Li Zhanpeng nodded at me and said, "It's hard to say

if he's her boyfriend, but judging from the way they were talking, they should be acquaintances."

It seems what they saw was true. Li Zhanpeng isn't like Cao Le who loves to brag; he generally wouldn't

lie to me.

Zhang Yan really did have a fight with a guy outside. Who is this guy they're talking about? What's

their relationship ? Why were they getting into a physical altercation? I have absolutely no idea, and Zhang Yan has never

mentioned him to me before.

And what's more, this guy even made Zhang Yan cry? Thinking about this, a nameless anger

welled up . No matter who that guy is, it's unacceptable for him to bully my girlfriend. At that moment, I

decided to call Zhang Yan and ask her what happened, whether she was being bullied outside. Obviously,

making this call from the dorm wasn't appropriate, so I got up and left the dorm. When I got to the dorm building, I dialed Zhang Yan's

number

. "Hello, Xiao Yan, this is Chen Lin," I said.

"Chen Lin, hello, what's up?" Zhang Yan's voice

sounded the same as when we usually talked on the phone, but she was clearly being bullied outside. Was she just pretending to be upset

?

"Nothing, I just missed you and wanted to talk to you."

"Mmm!"

"By the way, where are you now?"

"I'm at home right now," Zhang Yan said.

"Didn't you go to work this afternoon?"

"I took the afternoon off."

Suddenly, I didn't know what to say next. How should I ask her? Should I directly ask her if she was just

seen arguing with a guy at the Lotus Bridge? That obviously wouldn't work. What if she asked me how I knew,

and I told her my classmate saw it and told me? Would she believe me? She might even think I was

spying on her. If Zhang Yan wanted me to know about this, she would definitely tell me. If she didn't want me

to know, then I…

"Chen Lin, what's wrong? Why aren't you saying anything?"

"Oh, nothing. I was planning to ask you out this afternoon, but I thought you were at work,

so I didn't call."

"No, I felt a little tired today and slept in bed all afternoon."

"You didn't go out at all?" I asked hurriedly.

Zhang Yan paused for a moment, then continued:

"I went out after my afternoon nap to take care of some things."

"What was it?" I asked eagerly.

Zhang Yan fell silent again, then I continued:

"Oh, it's okay, I was just asking. If you feel tired, rest more, and remember to drink plenty of water.

By the way, have you had dinner yet? Are you hungry? Should I buy some food and bring it over?"

"No need, I'll just go downstairs and grab something nearby..."

"Oh!" "

Chen Lin..."

"What's wrong?"

"Thank you for being so good to me."

"What are you thanking me for? Why are you always so polite? If you say thank you to me again, I'll

really get angry. You're my girlfriend, if I'm not good to you, who am I good to?"

After hanging up, I felt heavy-hearted and uneasy. I still hadn't figured out what was going on in my mother's photo.

Chu, now there's this whole Zhang Yan and that man thing going on. What's their relationship? I'm

completely baffled.

The two most important women in my life are both experiencing things that are

perplexing a jumbled mess; I can't think straight,

and I don't want to think about it anymore. I'm forcing myself not to think about it, trying to clear my head. Once I'm clear-headed,

I'll calm down and sort out the whole situation before seeking a solution.

I stood there alone, trying to ease my heavy heart. After a while, when I felt a bit

calmer, just as I was about to go upstairs, Li Zhanpeng and the others came down, carrying lunchboxes. They must be

heading to the cafeteria.

Li Zhanpeng saw me and said, "Hey, Chen Lin, what are you doing here? I would have taken your lunchbox with me if I'd known you were here

." I said, "It's okay, you guys go to the cafeteria first, I'll be right there." Then I went back to my dorm.

On the way back, I kept reassuring myself that maybe I was just overthinking things, and that things

weren't as bad as I imagined.

As I walked out of the dorm again with my lunchbox, my phone rang. It was Zhang Yan calling.

"Zhang Yan..."

"Chen Lin, there's something I forgot to tell you."

"What is it?"

"This afternoon, after I woke up from my nap, I ran into a fellow villager at the Lotus Bridge. He just

came from our hometown and told me about my family. He also said my father's health hasn't been

good lately, so I think I might have to go home for a few days to see him."

"Oh, is that so... Is Uncle's health serious? Is he alright

?" "Not serious, just a little weak." "

That's good. Remember to be careful on your way back."

"Okay!"

"Then... you should rest."

"I'll hang up now..."

"By the way, Xiao Yan, there's something else I wanted to tell you..."

"What is it?

" "After you come back, I'd like to invite you to my house. What do you say?"

"To your house?"

"Yes, I want to take you to meet my mom. My mom is very kind; she'll definitely like you.

" "I'll listen to you, you decide."

"Okay! Goodbye."

It turned out the guy Li Zhanpeng and the others saw was Zhang Yan's fellow villager. Hearing Zhang Yan tell me this, my

disappointment lessened considerably. But why didn't Zhang Yan tell me directly when we first called? Did

she simply not want me to know about her family? Regardless, the fact that Zhang Yan took the initiative to

call me shows she cares about me, that she has me in her heart, and that alone is something to be happy about.

When we got to the cafeteria, Li Zhanpeng and the others had almost finished eating. I was just getting my food when Li Zhanpeng asked

why I suddenly went downstairs. I said I went downstairs to see someone.

"Probably went downstairs to call his girlfriend. This guy's been acting all mysterious lately, I wonder

which class he's having a secret affair with, and he doesn't want us to know," Cao Le said with a chuckle.

"Girlfriend? Chen Lin, you have a girlfriend?" Li Zhanpeng asked me.

"No way, you believe Cao Le?" I said.

"The other day I told Chen Lin that his dream girl, Gu Jiayi, is single, and encouraged him to pursue her.

But he was completely unmoved, showing absolutely no reaction. Thinking back to when we first arrived, Chen Lin

looked at everyone like they owed him money when he first heard Gu Jiayi had a boyfriend.

Doesn't that prove anything?" Cao Le said.

"Shut up, you jerk, you're overthinking things," I said.

Then Cao Le started rambling on and on, making up all sorts of nonsense and pinning it on me.

He even dragged me into a relationship with a girl from a certain class I didn't even know, saying we were definitely having an affair.

I just ate my food and didn't argue. The more you argue with this idiot, the more he'll engage.

He'll never figure it out no matter how hard he tries, so I just ignored him.

After dinner, I suddenly realized I'd forgotten to ask Zhang Yan when she was leaving, so I asked her on WeChat.

She told me she was leaving the next morning. Then I asked if she'd bought her train ticket. She said she'd go buy it in a bit.

After finishing my evening study session and returning to my dorm, it was already past 9 PM. I figured Zhang Yan should have

bought the ticket by now. To put my mind at ease, and not wanting her to think I was being a nuisance, I asked her again on WeChat.

Zhang Yan told me she had, and her train was at 8:30 AM the next morning. Then I continued to ask her

if she'd asked for leave from work, if she'd packed everything she needed for her trip home, and reminded her to get up early the next morning and not to oversleep,

and so on… Basically, I asked

her everything I could think of, and Zhang Yan patiently answered all my questions until I couldn't think of anything else to ask. Only then was I relieved.

After hanging up, I thought to myself that Zhang Yan must have been thinking I was being a nuisance, but it didn't matter;

I didn't care.

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