The Romance Extras Turned Out to Be a Yuri Story - Chapter 57

When Lin Xiangdong arrived, Lin Luoluo was squatting on the ground fiddling with the corpse of her cell phone. Mu Yunchun had already calmed down and said to Lin Luoluo, “I’ll replace your phone.”

Lin Luoluo’s eyes were slightly red, and she ignored him, trying to piece back together the phone that had split into two halves.

She pressed the power button for a long time, but nothing happened.

She bit her lower lip and turned her head to glare fiercely at Mu Yunchun.

“What’s going on?” Lin Xiangdong walked over.

“Bro,” Lin Luoluo was extremely aggrieved. She had kindly lent her phone to Mu Yunchun, only for him to drop and break it. It still contained her chat history with Zhang Qiu and some precious photos. Now the phone wouldn’t turn on, and she didn’t know if it could be repaired.

“The phone’s broken,” Lin Xiangdong noted, looking down.

“Mm,” Lin Luoluo’s voice was tearful.

“You go to class first. Brother will buy you a new phone and bring it over later,” Lin Xiangdong comforted her, successfully persuading Lin Luoluo to leave.

With his sister here, it wasn’t easy to talk to Mu Yunchun.

Lin Luoluo lowered her head in disappointment, clutching the phone’s corpse, and walked away.

“I’m sorry, I was the one who dropped the phone,” Mu Yunchun said in a low voice.

Lin Xiangdong patted his shoulder, “Still haven’t found the person?”

At the mention of this, Mu Yunchun’s face darkened, “No. I went to his house; his family moved overnight, and the house has been listed for sale.”

It seemed it was premeditated.

Lin Xiangdong didn’t know how to comfort Mu Yunchun.

The person who dared to run away with the money must have prepared a backup plan long ago. Cloud Technology was a bust, and now all investors were chasing after its CEO, Wang Junlei, but they had no leads. The court had already frozen the defendant’s assets, but his accounts were empty, and he had divorced his wife long ago. Investors who couldn’t recover their principal were already starting to carry things out of the Cloud Technology company office.

Lin Xiangdong said, “Sell the stock. Salvage what you can.”

Mu Yunchun’s eyes were bloodshot. He covered his face in agony and said, “I sold the stock a long time ago. I put all my money into this one investment.”

Lin Xiangdong’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected Mu Yunchun to be so reckless.

His father had always told him not to put all his eggs in one basket, or he’d lose everything. He couldn’t believe Mu Yunchun didn’t know that principle.

Mu Yunchun muttered, “I was blinded by greed. I thought I could make a huge sum this time and show my father my capabilities.”

“Hiding here isn’t a long-term solution. You have to face it sometime,” Lin Xiangdong patted his shoulder, hearing Mu Yunchun say expressionlessly, “My dad wants to send me abroad for further studies. He thinks I’m in the way if I stay here.”

Lin Xiangdong opened his mouth, unsure how to persuade Mu Yunchun.

In fact, going abroad might be a good thing, better than his friend trusting the wrong person this time and almost losing everything he had.

Fortunately, they had their family to fall back on. Those ordinary investors were likely to lose their entire life savings.

The two chatted for a couple more minutes. Mu Yunchun hadn’t slept for two days, and unable to stay awake any longer, he fell asleep on the sofa. Lin Xiangdong called an auntie to clean up, left a note for Mu Yunchun, and went out to buy Lin Luoluo a new phone and deliver it.

Lin Luoluo was still feeling down in class until Lin Xiangdong secretly slipped in and handed her the phone.

Lin Luoluo propped up her book and whispered, “Bro, do you think my old phone can still be fixed?”

Lin Xiangdong looked at the pile of shattered remains in Lin Luoluo’s bag and frowned, “Let’s find a repairman to try first.”

Lin Luoluo sighed. Lin Xiangdong was busy setting up the new phone for his sister. Lin Luoluo wasn’t in the mood to listen to the lecture either, so she fished around and asked Lin Xiangdong, “Why is Mu Yunchun at your place?”

“Not calling him Brother Mu anymore?”

“Hmph!” Lin Luoluo turned her head away in annoyance.

Lin Xiangdong said, “He recently had a failed investment and is under a lot of pressure at home. Just try to be understanding for now.”

“How much did he lose?” Lin Luoluo asked with interest.

“Twenty million,” Lin Xiangdong whispered.

“Huh?!” Lin Luoluo was stunned.

Although their crowd was wealthy, their families wouldn’t casually give out such large amounts for spending.

“Where did he get that much money?”

Lin Xiangdong glanced at the lecture podium. Everyone was drowsy during the afternoon class, and the teacher didn’t bother to supervise much, so he leaned in and said, “Part of it was his own money, and the other part was public funds he misappropriated. We’re like brothers, I couldn’t not help. I covered a bit for him. Don’t tell Mom and Dad when you go back.”

“With such a huge deficit, how much can you even help, Bro?” Lin Luoluo shook her head in disapproval.

Lin Xiangdong whispered, “I already asked Brother Mu, and he agreed.”

Lin Luoluo stared at Lin Xiangdong in astonishment, and after a moment, she said, “Bro, you’re the shrewdest one of us all.”

Lin Xiangdong rubbed his nose.

Actually, when Mu Yunchun was investing earlier, the elder Brother Mu had already approached him, asking him to keep an eye on his younger brother. He had also advised Mu Yunchun against investing in Cloud Technology, but he hadn’t expected his friend to be so bold as to misappropriate public funds just days after joining his family’s company. Now, he wouldn’t be allowed near the company again.

Although he helped his friend cover a few million, he didn’t lose out. He successfully secured a new energy project from the elder Brother Mu. If it succeeds, it will bring tens of millions in annual revenue to their company.

This is called using a small investment for a large gain.

His dad taught him that.

“Done.”

Not long after class, Lin Xiangdong finished setting up the new phone and handed it to Lin Luoluo. Lin Luoluo logged into her account only to be disappointed that all her photos and chat logs were gone.

She angrily told Lin Xiangdong, “I will never forgive Mu Yunchun!”

Lin Xiangdong took her old phone and said, “Let’s try to fix it first. If not, we’ll make him pay.”

“He can replace the phone, but can he replace what was inside it?” Lin Luoluo was genuinely upset.

After class, Lin Xiangdong took her to several shops and even made an overseas call to consult the phone manufacturer, all of whom said the corrupted data was likely unrecoverable.

Lin Luoluo hung her head, and Lin Xiangdong almost thought she was about to cry.

He comforted her, “Memories can be made again. Out with the old, in with the new, right? Or, if you want to go punch Mu Yunchun, I won’t object.”

Lin Luoluo sniffled and pitifully asked, “Can we go back to school? I don’t want to go home.”

“If not home, where are we going?”

“It’s the weekend tomorrow. I want to go see Zhang Qiu.”

Lin Xiangdong frowned, “It’s late. Won’t you bother her?”

Lin Luoluo lowered her head again, “I’m this sad, and you won’t even let me do this one thing? My phone, sniffle…”

She started fake crying, wailing so loudly that Lin Xiangdong got a headache.

However, since their parents weren’t home tonight, Lin Xiangdong helplessly relented, “Fine, fine, fine, but I’ll decide once I see Zhang Qiu. You’re coming home tomorrow, right?”

“I’m going shopping with Zhang Qiu tomorrow,” Lin Luoluo said cheerfully, instantly brightening up at the mention of Zhang Qiu.

Seeing that she wasn’t as sad anymore, Lin Xiangdong sighed, started the car, and drove back to the school.

Zhang Qiu had just gotten off work. She was a few subway stops away from the school when she received a message from Lin Luoluo saying she was waiting for her at school.

Lin Luoluo, who usually sent a message every so often while Zhang Qiu was at work, was unusually quiet today, which made Zhang Qiu feel uneasy. It wasn’t until just before she got off work that she received a tearful voice message from Lin Luoluo saying her phone was broken and all her data was lost.

Hearing Lin Luoluo’s despondent voice, Zhang Qiu didn’t know how to comfort her.

Getting off the subway, she happened to see someone selling flowers near the exit. After a moment of hesitation, she bought a small bouquet of roses.

Zhang Qiu rarely cared for flowers because she was a pragmatist and felt flowers couldn’t be eaten or worn, so what was the use of just looking at them? But now she felt this was the only thing that could cheer Lin Luoluo up.

Clutching the small bouquet, she saw Lin Luoluo downstairs by the girls’ dormitory, along with her mood-killing brother, Lin Xiangdong.

“Sister!” Lin Luoluo waved.

Zhang Qiu subconsciously hid the flowers behind her back, sneaking around like someone who had just fallen in love and was afraid of being discovered and separated by the other person’s parents.

“Zhang Qiu,” Lin Xiangdong stood beside Lin Luoluo. Lin Luoluo ran toward Zhang Qiu while he walked slowly behind.

Zhang Qiu awkwardly kept her hands behind her back. Since she was carrying something in her other hand, it was quite obvious. Lin Luoluo ran up close and asked curiously, “Sister, what are you hiding?”

Zhang Qiu blinked nervously. Seeing Lin Luoluo’s big eyes looking curiously behind her, and attempting to walk around to see, she slowly brought the flowers out.

“I saw someone selling them at the subway station.”

“Are they for me?” Lin Luoluo was filled with surprise, her face instantly lighting up.

“Dream on! Why can’t they be for me?” Lin Xiangdong deliberately teased her.

Lin Luoluo frowned and turned to argue with her brother, “You’re thinking too much! Sister bought them for me!”

She then looked at Zhang Qiu with anticipation.

Zhang Qiu’s heart raced and her cheeks flushed. It was her first time giving a gift to the person she liked in front of someone else, and she didn’t dare to be too expressive. Finally, she presented the flowers plainly and awkwardly said, “I saw you were unhappy today, so I wanted to give you flowers to cheer you up.”

Lin Luoluo was even happier to hear Zhang Qiu speak and blushingly accepted them.

The two stared at each other for a long time, both a little shy, while only Lin Xiangdong played the clown, saying, “So they weren’t for me, huh? I’m the chauffeur—doesn’t that count for something? Wouldn’t a thank-you gift be appropriate?”

He then pulled one rose from the small bouquet and said, “This is my payment. Brother will treat you both to a late-night snack.”

Lin Luoluo glared, wanting to hit him, but Lin Xiangdong was quick and had long legs. She chased him until she was out of breath and finally stopped, leaning on Zhang Qiu’s shoulder, panting.

“Stinky brother,” she mumbled bonelessly, resting her chin on Zhang Qiu’s shoulder. Zhang Qiu wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her from sliding down.

“That’s all it takes to tire you out?” Lin Xiangdong walked back, standing opposite her to mock, “Short legs.”

Lin Luoluo glared again, knowing she couldn’t catch Lin Xiangdong, and raised her little fist as a threat.

Zhang Qiu smiled helplessly, circled her arm around Lin Luoluo’s waist, and said, “I’m going to put my things down. Wait for me downstairs.”

“Mhm,” Lin Luoluo reluctantly stepped away. Zhang Qiu held her firmly until she was stable before going upstairs.

After Zhang Qiu left, Lin Luoluo held up the flowers and gently inhaled the rose fragrance. She couldn’t help but smile, muttering, “It smells so good.”

“Are you an idiot? That’s perfume the seller sprayed on it. Roses from a flower shop don’t have a scent,” Lin Xiangdong sniffed disdainfully, pulled the flower away, snapped off the end of the stem, and tucked it into his jacket’s chest pocket. He shook his head at Lin Luoluo, “With all the high-end perfumes at home, can’t you tell the difference from this cheap synthetic fragrance?”

A mood-killer!

Lin Luoluo was so angry her teeth hurt.

She didn’t think the rose smelled good because it was a rose; it smelled good because Zhang Qiu had given it to her!

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