Seven years after my death, the male protagonist of the substitute novel was criticized

Chapter 116 Goodbye
"I remember the first time I saw you here. I was hiding behind a tree and observing, wondering who Duan Chengyu could be. I didn't know you at that time, but after looking around, you stood out in the whole restaurant. Then the next second, you turned around and looked at me."

Lin Lu sat opposite table number three, drank a sip of orange juice and started chatting.

Duan Chengyu closed the menu and handed it to the waiter, staring at her and saying, "It's a strange intuition. When I received your call and turned around, I subconsciously felt that it was you. Everyone else was in a hurry, and only you were standing under the flower tree, like a cat that couldn't find its home."

Bewildered, she meowed tentatively, wanting to know who her keeper was.

Lin Lu smiled silently.

It hasn’t been that long, but so much has happened. Looking back now, it really seems like a dream, and I don’t know where to start when I talk about it.

"How are you doing now?" It was Duan Chengyu who first spoke the words that opened the floodgates.

Lin Lu took another sip of orange juice and nodded, "It's good."

"Are you recovering well?"

"My mind is clear now. My brother is very good at taking care of me."

When a third person is involved in the conversation between two people, things become a little distorted.

Duan Chengyu paused and asked again: "You and him..."

"We are slowly returning to our past relationship," Lin Lu said frankly, "It can be considered as correcting the wrongs and returning to the path I should have taken."

"So am I a fork in the road that I encountered halfway?"

"No, it's a memory."

"Is it that more profound memory that made you choose to give up the memory related to me?"

Lin Lu didn't answer immediately. She supported her chin and shook the juice cup, trying to sort out the chaotic emotions in her head through her story.

"I can't explain it. But I have to admit that memory does have a significant impact on a person's choices. With one less memory or one more memory, the path you choose will be different. But I don't want to be controlled by memory. If one day technology becomes advanced and someone implants a memory of someone I originally hated into my brain, will I fall in love with him? It's scary to think about it."

The process of narration is like a silkworm spinning silk. The first two centimeters of silk are spit out, and the rest follow naturally, and together they are organized into an orderly line.

The more she spoke, the clearer it became, peeling back layer after layer of bias, guilt, and helplessness, revealing her deepest sincerity.

"So it's not just the memory that matters. I asked myself, who is the most important to me? No matter how touching the memory I have with someone, my brother and I are still inseparable."

As she spoke, she was a little dazed.

The ordered dishes arrived and the waiter placed them on the table one by one.

Duan Chengyu leaned back in his chair and looked at her across from him through the obstruction of the waiter's movements.

After all the dishes were served and the waiter left, he still maintained that posture, his eyes never leaving Lin Lu's face.

After a few seconds, he asked, "It's not good for me to confess your true feelings for Pei Yizhou in front of me, right?"

Lin Lu shook his head embarrassedly: "No, no, I just... I didn't think it through before this."

When she went out, she was only thinking about what to eat without Pei Yizhou at home.

But in the evening when no one is around, my thoughts are like smoke, blown by the wind and automatically drifting towards literature and art.

The story revolves around one theme from beginning to end, but too many things happened, too many words were said, too many hugs, and too many quarrels, all of which added layer upon layer of dirt to the true feelings and covered them up even deeper.

It always takes time to sort things out.

Seeing your own true heart is more difficult than seeing the true heart of others.

She let out a long breath, drank the rest of the orange juice, and prepared to get up.

"What happened to me tonight was purely an accident. I won't have dinner. I..."

Duan Chengyu interrupted her politeness and said, "Please accompany me for another meal. I have been waiting here every day, but I only waited for you today."

Lin Lu sat down again in silence. It seemed that they had not yet had the chance to finish a meal in peace.

Every time Duan Chengyu thought about it during this period, he felt it was a omen.

Being able to sit at the same table, without any disgust or discomfort, without any tension or panic, while talking and eating a favorite meal, can be considered a suitable way to live together.

But he and Lin Lu had never had such an experience before. When they sat together, either he had other thoughts in mind or Lin Lu was absent-minded. After a few meals, he didn't even know which dishes Lin Lu liked to eat.

You can only order the "dishes that girls like" introduced by the restaurant manager.

In his eyes, she was no different from ordinary women, so there was nothing wrong with Lin Lu excluding him as an ordinary man.

Sometimes he wondered if his feelings for Lin Lu were only a desire to conquer and possess her, and that these two desires of a man for a woman could not constitute love.

The food tasted good, but the two people who were eating there still couldn't finish the meal easily with the purpose of enjoying the delicious food. Their thoughts were as heavy as stones, suppressing their appetite.

Lin Lu only ate the two dishes in front of him, with his head lowered, and chewed so slowly that the dishes tasted terrible.

While eating, I suddenly heard Duan Chengyu say: "In half a month, I will go abroad and live permanently."

She raised her head and found that Duan Chengyu had been holding the chopsticks for a while without moving, just looking at her.

After swallowing the food, she asked, "Didn't you say your company is expanding into the domestic market?"

"Well, it wasn't smooth. I found a professional manager and we divided up the responsibilities. I am still in charge of the foreign market."

He kept looking at her as he spoke, his gaze heavy on Lin Lu.

"Then... I wish you all the best." Lin Lu wished sincerely.

Duan Chengyu smiled and asked her, "What about you? What are your plans for your future life?"

"I will continue to work at Ling's Group, gain some experience, and then see if there is anything else I want to do. If I have the chance, I will travel more."

"Sounds promising. What about the others?"

What else? What else could there be?

"Once my work is on track and I feel comfortable in life, I will consider getting married." Lin Lu continued to pick up food as usual and spoke as if chatting.

As for who to marry, there is no need to say more.

Duan Chengyu didn't have any other reaction. He nodded and said calmly, "Very good."

The meal was still not enjoyable. Half an hour later, only the surface of the delicious food had been touched.

Duan Chengyu noticed that she was eating slower and slower, so he put down his chopsticks and suggested finishing the meal.

"It's past eight o'clock. I asked you to have dinner with me, but I ended up wasting so much of your time. Let me take you home."

Lin Lu wanted to say no, but he had already taken the suit jacket from the back of the chair and gestured to her to leave first.

Outside Tanghu Mansion there is a winding river with gurgling water. The street lights on the greenway on the shore cast a narrow strip of light. They walked silently between the light and darkness.

Then before some words could even be formed, the destination was reached.

Duan Chengyu stopped, turned around and stared at Lin Lu.

They had nothing to say. They were destined not to become the source of water for the same section of the river, so it was best to block anyone from approaching.

"Goodbye, Lulu." He just said at last.

Lin Lu also said softly: "Goodbye."

(End of this chapter)