My Idol Turns Out To Be My Ex-Girlfriend - Chapter 46

Lin Sanyuan squatted by the toilet and retched twice. Having eaten nothing all morning, she had nothing to bring up, so she simply pulled out a tissue and wiped her mouth.

“Stop making a scene,” she muttered.

Lin Shengsheng replied, “I think you should make a scene. Mom only dares to bring people home so brazenly because she knows you have no temper. If you flipped the table at lunch today, she’d be too embarrassed to do it again. She cares about her reputation.”

Lin Sanyuan looked at her brother. “Are you sure about that?”

Lin Shengsheng paused, his shoulders slumping. “Okay, I’m not sure.” In fact, she might do something even crazier. In their impoverished, remote hometown, bad habits were everywhere, and the culture was both feudal and rigid. If pushed too far, it wasn’t impossible for her to arrange a marriage based on nothing but a parent’s whim.

Lin Shengsheng added, “Sis, just hold on for a few more years. Once I graduate and find a job, I’ll find you a high quality, elite man. These guys Mom introduces are all trash.”

Lin Sanyuan shook her head in silence.

“Oh, right,” Lin Shengsheng remembered. “You said you don’t want to get married. That’s fine too. If you don’t want to, then don’t. When you’re old, I’ll take care of you.”

Lin Sanyuan frowned. “It’s fine to say that to me, but don’t say it in front of Mom.” She was very sensitive about such topics.

Lin Shengsheng let out a scoff, his youthful face full of defiance. “What era is this? Why are we still sticking to these old traditions? I know what Mom is thinking, but she doesn’t consider the facts. If you get married, can our family even touch the dowry money? If I have to get a wife at the cost of my sister’s marriage, I’d rather beat that wife to death.”

Lin Sanyuan gave a dry laugh. “Beating a woman, wow, you’re really something.”

“Damn it, that’s not what I meant! That’s not the point!” Lin Shengsheng sighed, looking heavy hearted. “I know that you contributed money for the house Mom bought for me.”

Lin Sanyuan stood up to wash her hands. “It wasn’t much, just a few tens of thousands.”

Lin Shengsheng frowned. “A few tens of thousands is a lot. You were only nineteen then. Dad had broken his leg and wasn’t working. Mom didn’t tell me, but I knew. My tuition and living expenses all came from you. Even that latest model phone for my birthday, you bought it without hesitation. I don’t want to be a parasite. I’m a man, I should be the one responsible for supporting the family.”

“Just focus on your studies for now.”

“I am studying hard!” Lin Shengsheng’s voice rose. “I got into a good university, and I’m going to grad school. After I graduate, I’ll work hard. You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll save money just like you do. The family already bought me a house, so once I earn enough, I’ll buy one for you. Didn’t you always want to raise dogs and cats? You can have as many as you want then.”

As he spoke, the young man’s eyes turned red. “So, please just hold on a little longer? Until I grow up a bit more.”

Lin Sanyuan felt a sharp pang of emotion, her eyes growing moist. She forced a smile and said, “You make it sound like such a huge deal.”

Lin Shengsheng pouted. “If my sister is unhappy, then it is a huge deal. Sis, even though I’m away at school, I still know what people say back home. Guo Chaoyang’s cousin said you’re a ‘brother helper’ and that our family favors boys over girls.”

Lin Sanyuan felt no real ripple of emotion at those words. “Let them talk. Their family is the same way.”

Lin Shengsheng gave a determined look. “It doesn’t matter. When I graduate and make the big bucks, I’ll make sure everyone in this gossipy town knows that our family has a ‘sister helper.’ You can just enjoy life with me from then on.”

Lin Sanyuan was finally amused by him.

Lin Shengsheng looked at her cautiously. “Sis, do you feel a bit better now?”

“If you buy me a milk tea this afternoon, I’ll feel even better.”

Seeing that she could joke again, Lin Shengsheng felt relieved. He thought for a moment, turned back to close the bathroom door, and asked in a sneaky whisper, “Sis, do you actually have someone you like?”

Lin Sanyuan froze. “Why would you ask that?”

Lin Shengsheng smiled knowingly. She hadn’t denied it.

“Well,” he coughed, “you seem different this year. Before, when Mom arranged blind dates, you’d be resistant inside but you’d still go along with it on the surface. You’d just use little tricks to make them dislike you so the date would fail. But today, the moment you got back, your reaction was strange. You’ve never dared to tell Mom to her face that you’re never getting married.”

Clearly, something was up.

Lin Sanyuan denied it. “I don’t.”

Lin Shengsheng didn’t believe her. “You didn’t fall for some ‘bad boy’ with no car, no house, no job, and no savings, did you?” Otherwise, if she liked someone who met the basic requirements, their mother wouldn’t exactly be breaking them apart. It would have to be someone so unconventional that their mother would never approve.

Lin Sanyuan looked at him coldly. “I’m a woman, not a fool.”

Lin Shengsheng laughed loudly.

“Alright, I’m going to wash my hair. Go downstairs and eat. Mom made dumplings.”

After being kicked out of the bathroom, Lin Shengsheng didn’t go to the kitchen. He paced in place for a moment, snapped his fingers as an idea struck him, and slipped into Lin Sanyuan’s room. He found her phone under her pillow. He knew she didn’t like setting a passcode, so he slid the screen up easily.

Out of basic respect, he didn’t check her chat logs. Instead, he opened her WeChat Moments. Seeing that she only posted once every two years, he felt a bit of a headache. He sighed several times and then posted a text only status:

Being forced into another blind date by my family, we had a huge fight. [Crying face] [Sad face] If only you could come to my side, baby, and buy me a milk tea to comfort me.

He blocked his parents and all the nosy relatives from seeing it.

Lin Shengsheng waited expectantly for a long time, but not a single person liked the post. He cursed under his breath. Was his sister’s “fish pond” really this dry? Not even one bite? That “bad boy” she liked must be useless! Or was the post he wrote just too cringy?

Dejected, Lin Shengsheng deleted the post.

After washing her hair, Lin Sanyuan put on the clothes her mother had prepared and tied her hair into a high ponytail. By noon, the boy her mother had mentioned arrived with fruit and milk. After lunch, the boy suggested going for a stroll in town.

Lin Shengsheng yelled, “Take me too! I want to go!”

His mother gave him a fierce glare. “You stay home and do your homework!”

With Lin Shengsheng’s protest ignored, Lin Sanyuan counted the minutes as she sat in the boy’s new sedan. The scent of car air freshener mixed with the smell of new leather made her already dull headache even harder to bear. She hadn’t listened to her mother and hadn’t put on any makeup. Her motion sickness left her lips pale and her face looking exhausted. As the car drove forward, her soul seemed to be drifting somewhere behind it.

She felt drained after getting out of the car. Since the boy was also from Nanzhen, and the place was small, they naturally ran into acquaintances on the street. People immediately gave them suggestive looks and suggested playing pool together.

Lin Sanyuan hated those looks. She stayed in the pool hall for a while, but the secondhand smoke made her head ache, so she stepped out. She sat alone on a public bench by the entrance, staring into space.

Perhaps because she had been so introverted and gloomy throughout the trip, she had successfully made her new date feel bored. By the time she wandered off, he was already playing enthusiastically with his friends, including a female former classmate. Although neither of them did anything overt, Lin Sanyuan could smell the strange scent of an old flame reigniting.

To anyone else, this might have been embarrassing, but Lin Sanyuan felt a sigh of relief, as if she were barely surviving.

The town during the New Year was at its most boisterous. There was noise everywhere, crowds of people, bright lights, and festive music blaring from malls. Sitting alone in the corridor, Lin Sanyuan felt like a passerby, or perhaps a guest returning home. She turned to look at her own reflection in the glass, feeling as though she were looking at the ruins of her future.

Suddenly, she had a reckless impulse. She wanted to try smoking to see what it felt like.

The thought of “turning bad” lasted only a moment before it was interrupted by a warm sensation against her cheek. Lin Sanyuan flinched, her shoulders trembling slightly. She slowly looked up, her eyes filled with confusion and daze.

The surrounding noise seemed to fall silent. Tang Hengzhi stood with her back to the lights, her long black hair swaying slightly against her cheeks. Under the soft glow of the streetlights, her features held a cold, ethereal beauty. She was holding a cup of hot milk tea against Lin Sanyuan’s cheek, her bright eyes filled with unreadable emotions.

“What are you thinking about? You’re so lost in thought.”

The moment Lin Sanyuan saw her, she felt like she had stepped into thin air, sinking endlessly into a vast, deep sea. There was no escape.

She thought to herself, how could someone look like this? When Tang Hengzhi arrived, she was surrounded by vibrant light. It created an illusion, as if Lin Sanyuan had finally been found.

Seeing that Lin Sanyuan didn’t speak, Tang Hengzhi frowned slightly. She pulled the milk tea back and replaced it with her palm against Lin Sanyuan’s cheek. “Are you unwell? You look very pale.”

Lin Sanyuan’s fingers curled against her lap. Her mind was a mess as she asked, “What are you doing here?”

Tang Hengzhi’s eyes remained calm as she raised an eyebrow, her gaze reflecting the city lights as if she were confirming something. After a long silence, she tilted her head slightly, hiding the strange emotion in her eyes, and said calmly, “I came to buy some New Year goods.”

Lin Sanyuan looked puzzled. “There are only two days left until the New Year. You’re only buying them now?”

And in a small, remote county like this? It was hard to believe this was a coincidence. But there was no way Tang Hengzhi could have tracked her down so accurately.

Tang Hengzhi brushed her finger against the milk tea cup, her expression serene. “He Wenyu said she wanted to eat Lantern Ciba.”

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