Why are you always thinking about dating me?

The dishes were served quickly, a total of eight dishes, all simple home-style dishes, nothing extravagant. Lin An glanced at them, and to be precise, these were all dishes he liked to eat.

Qin Xueming only glanced at him and didn't say anything more. The three of them ate in silence. Qin Xueming ate very slowly and would occasionally look at Lin An. Perhaps she had a lot to say, but in the end, she couldn't utter a single word.

Halfway through the meal, Qin Xueming suddenly put down her chopsticks, took out a tissue, and wiped her mouth.

"Actually, I thought you would bring Xiao Chacha or Su Yuejin, Lin An."

Lin An remained silent.

Luo Shuishui could certainly hear Qin Xueming's words, but she was surprised that she would choose to say such a thing. So what emotion should she show now? Anger or tolerance? Would Qin Xueming notice her weakness?

Luo Shuishui hates complicated things. If she were the older sister, she would be able to handle the current situation easily. But she is not. She is just Luo Shuishui. Her environment has been simple since she was a child. What she knows is only because she has read a lot of books. But she can't even find her own answer.

"You seem to know me quite well, Sister Xue." Lin An knew that there was no need to pretend anymore.

"I occasionally follow your news and know about Su Yuejin and Xiao Chacha... They all have ambiguous relationships with you, so Luo Shuishui can't possibly be your girlfriend."

"Why?" Lin An asked her about her logic.

"Because Luo Shuishui would never accept such a thing. Given her status, even if she were to date you, she should remain proud and untainted. However, you two must be good friends, otherwise she wouldn't have come to help you with this."

"Okay, okay...you guessed right." Lin An answered before Luo Shuishui could speak.

"So why didn't you call Su Yuejin or Xiao Chacha?" Qin Xueming asked with interest, resting her chin on her hand.

"Because they are not suitable. You can bully Su Yuejin and Xiao Chacha, but you won't bully Luo Shuishui."

How do you know I'll definitely bully them?

"Because this is the real you, the proudest one. Are you going to say that you just invited me to dinner and that I was just being presumptuous, thinking you had some romantic fantasies about me?"

Qin Xueming was taken aback again.

"But with your proud nature, even if we break up... I guess you won't understand where you went wrong, and that resentment will naturally vent out."

"You have a very different opinion of me." Qin Xueming smiled bitterly.

"No, you know, this isn't to say you're bad, but that's just who you are, just like you know me very well, Qin Xueming. If you didn't care, you wouldn't have asked me to dinner. After all, you've already made your choice, haven't you? You told me that once you've made a choice, you shouldn't regret it."

Lin An stared straight into her eyes.

"I have my reasons too." Her eyelashes trembled slightly.

"Of course, I understand, but that's no reason for you to leave without saying a word."

"You...didn't come to ask me on your own initiative, did you?" Qin Xueming's voice trembled slightly.

"Yes, it was my fault. Is that alright?" Lin An took a deep breath. "We shouldn't have argued. Now you understand, right? We chose different futures, so in the end we couldn't even be friends anymore. It's not because we resent each other, but because there's always a knot in our hearts that we can't untie."

"Why not?"

"Because you're an adult now, Qin Xueming, while I'm still just a child."

Lin An, of course, put down his chopsticks early on. In fact, he was already full. Luo Shuishui sat quietly to the side, watching him and Qin Xueming chat online. She found it quite interesting.

"What do you mean? I don't understand."

“Our circumstances are different now, and the people we face are different too. What are your plans for the future? Will you resume your studies, or continue managing your family business?”

Lin An sighed softly, "This is the difference between us now. I still live in an ivory tower, and I quite like this environment. I hate those battles of wits. But you have been forced to change. The innocence in your eyes is gone. You've grown up. You're an adult now, right?"

As Qin Xueming listened to his string of words, she slowly raised her head, her pink lips slightly parted, but her voice trembled.

"But I still love you... Lin An."

Lin An was not surprised at all.

"What is your love? Is it possession? Is it companionship? Is it alleviating loneliness? Is it mutual understanding? It's whatever it is... But I was really surprised to hear you say that. I thought you would try to hide more of what you love."

"Two years is enough time to change a person, and that's true for both of us. We're no longer lovers, we can't even be friends anymore, you understand, no matter what... it's all the same."

"It's time to say goodbye to the past, Qin Xueming."

"Your love is now just an illusion, a seemingly simple and beautiful memory, but those things have long since vanished."

"It's so annoying. You always have to say all this nonsense and go around in circles. Seriously, it's so annoying. You won't die without love. Everyone's the same. You say you still love me, so I'll answer you with what you used to say to me: you're out."

Lin An stood up and gently took Luo Shuishui's hand. "Let's go, Shuishui."

"Have you gone back?" Luo Shuishui obediently stood up, took Lin An's hand, and smiled gently.

Qin Xueming remained seated, bewildered and at a loss. Lin An hadn't given her any chance to reminisce about the past, nor had he angrily complained to her; she had no choice but to believe that what Lin An said was true.

It's just a memory from the past, what does it prove? The dream has long been shattered, it's gone forever. He's not a pawn that can be thrown away or picked up at will. He's the one she loves, so he would do this, it's all perfectly reasonable.

In fact, Qin Xueming had already figured it out long ago.

She was just deceiving herself, still fantasizing that he still had a little bit of vague love for her. That little bit of love would always be filled with affection and take root and sprout again when she returned to his side.

But now... there was nothing at all.

Qin Xueming sat there blankly, gently biting her lip, tears dripping from her eyes.

"I have no choice... Lin An... I have no choice..."

“At that time… I was so scared… I didn’t know what to do… I thought you would wait for me, I thought you would love me so much, you told me we would be together forever, so, so I made that choice…”

I thought that one day I could go back to you... and make you love me again...

"But, but, I was so stupid, Lin An... I was so stupid..."

Lin An looked at her, at her crying face. The once proud and confident girl now had tears streaming down her porcelain-like cheeks.

"I know, it's not your fault." Lin An sighed softly.

“I know there’s a reason for your choice. I know, after all, I’ve been used to it since I was a child. I’m not surprised at all that you made that choice. That’s why I didn’t say anything to try to keep you. I knew I couldn’t keep you… I couldn’t promise you a future, so I didn’t deserve to say anything to try to keep you.”

Lin An glanced out the window and noticed that it seemed to have started raining sometime earlier.

Raindrops fell on the windowpane, one by one.

"What can I do to keep you here? I don't know. I've thought about it over and over but have no answer. I can only watch myself sink little by little."

"That's it, Qin Xueming. Wasn't this meeting what you expected? What did you think I would do? Bring Su Yuejin or Xiao Chacha to show off my love with you? I don't want to prick you with a needle again, because I have never blamed you."

"But we... can't go back."

"Shui Shui and I are leaving now. Be careful on your way."

He looked at her tearful face, and after a few seconds, he suddenly whispered, "I'm sorry."

"Perhaps I should apologize. You thought I would wait for you, but I didn't. I could bear the loneliness of you leaving me alone, so I didn't wait for you, and that's a pity."

Lin An turned and walked out with Luo Shuishui, this time without the slightest hesitation.

Chapter 89 Seasoning the Atmosphere

Inside the elevator.

"You seem a little sad." Luo Shuishui gently poked his chest with her fingertip.

"Because in the normal script, I would exchange pleasantries with her, and then you would exchange a few more pleasantries with her, we would chat, reminisce about the past, and then laugh it off. That's the correct way."

"But the first thing that guy said when he walked in was, 'I've been living in a daze these past two years, but things are better now, tsk.'"

Although he was speaking casually, Luo Shuishui could see the confusion in Lin An's eyes, making it impossible for her to understand.

The elevator stopped on the first floor. The two people walked out of the restaurant. The neon lights in front of them were flashing. It started to rain. The rain was not light, but it was not to the point of a downpour.

"Let me take you home." Luo Shuishui released her grip on his hand.

"Hmm, you can go back first. I want to be alone. Don't ask who Jingjing is, it's too old a joke." Lin An muttered to himself. Luo Shuishui stood beside him, wearing only a black shirt. She couldn't stay in the rain with him, otherwise, if the shirt got wet, the outline of her body and the marks of her underwear would be easily seen.

Luo Shuishui knew that instead of asking what was wrong, it was better to just guess, whether she guessed right or wrong.

"Is it because of Qin Xueming? You... you still can't let go of her, can you?"

"It's not that I can't let go, it's just that I always feel sad when I think about her. Seeing her reminds me of those days. During the time she left me, I felt like the whole world was dark and gloomy. Actually, I could guess what she meant back then. If I waited for her, she would eventually come back to me... But I selfishly hated her. I hated her. I know she had to make that choice, but why couldn't she stay with me?"

"No one is at fault... right?"

"Yes, precisely because no one is at fault, I told her that there is a knot between us that no one can untie. And that we no longer have any lingering feelings for each other."

As Lin An was speaking, he suddenly punched the cement wall next to him.

It was a very childish move, and the skin on several knuckles of his hand was even broken as a result. He twitched the corner of his mouth, then casually shook his hand, "Ah, it's done! It's alive!"

"...Huh?"

"I need to calm myself down, otherwise I easily get caught in a mental loop. And believe it or not, this trick really works."

"Then call me next time, and I'll give you a punch in the stomach." Luo Shuishui took his hand in hers, carefully examining the scraped area, and frowned slightly.

"Yeah."

"What's so good about it?! You idiot." Luo Shuishui's tone seemed slightly reproachful as she pulled out a tissue from her small bag and wiped away the bloodstains. "Don't do this again next time."

Lin An looked down at her serious expression and was speechless.

"Anyway, I won't see her again in the future, so I'll just get over it gradually."

"Ah."

"If you still don't want to go home, shall I go with you for a little drink?" Luo Shuishui asked him softly.

"No, no, Shui Shui, you should go back and rest early. You've worked hard today."

"What's so hard about it?" Luo Shuishui muttered softly. She led Lin An to the car, then braved the light rain to get an umbrella from the car and handed it to Lin An.

"Go find Su Yuejin or Xiao Chacha. Maybe they can cheer you up. I can't give you anything, but they can."

She handed the umbrella to Lin An, looked up, and gazed into his slightly bewildered eyes.

Then she reached out and gently hugged him.

Two seconds, or three seconds.

Lin An nestled in a warm embrace. He slowly lowered his head, looking at her small face, which showed a slight hint of worry. The embrace was warm, and it was all she could give.

"Okay, I'm going home now."

She gently bit her lip, because she knew that this was the best choice for Lin An.

"Okay, be careful on the road, bye-bye."

"Thank you... Shui Shui."

Lin An opened his umbrella, watched her get into the car, watched her drive away, and even waved to the back of the car. He then opened his small women's umbrella, stood in the rain, and remained silent for several seconds.