Lin Muci walked out of the hospital gates, unsure of where to go.
Her mother had gone with a lawyer to inventory the Lin family's current assets, stating she would have them notarized and transferred to her.
Although she intended to refuse, Ms. Lin was adamant!
She also mentioned that her maternal grandfather had agreed, and not a single cent would go to outsiders.
So, should she go home now? Lin Muci was a bit confused.
But she finally made up her mind.
A quarter of an hour later.
The teenager carrying a bag of potatoes saw Lin Muci. His eyes widened, and he stared foolishly at Lin Muci, then scratched his head and said.
"Little Ci, I..."
"I can fry you some french fries?"
"But I haven't prepared any side dishes..."
In the end, Lin Muci generously ordered takeout.
McDonald's Angus beef burgers. Zhou Yuan'an ate two in one go to feel satisfied, letting out a comfortable burp.
Lin Muci also ordered an extra bowl of beef and spinach porridge for his mother. The worried woman gave a wry smile and spoke softly to Lin Muci.
"It's difficult for you to come see me. My health is also a burden on you, my child. If it weren't for taking care of me, Xiao An could have gone to a basketball training camp. Someone spotted him and offered to cover all expenses, allowing him to play in overseas basketball leagues."
Cough, cough.
After talking for a while, she started to get breathless and coughed heavily.
Zhou Yuan'an earnestly shook his head.
"It's not your fault, Mom. I'm willing. And only where Mom is, is home."
Some things are just the way they are.
Zhou Yuan'an's mother's illness was indeed tricky. Although Lin Muci had encountered similar cases in her previous small worlds.
She still didn't have a hundred percent certainty of a cure. Unless her medical skills were upgraded.
She had previously asked Uncle Li to purchase a batch of rare medicinal herbs. Now that Uncle Li had delivered them, she nodded to Zhou Yuan'an, then went to the small kitchen to brew the medicine.
Zhou Yuan'an's mother watched her retreating back with affectionate eyes and sighed to her son.
"Such a good girl. Didn't you say earlier that she was bullied at school and you stood up for her?"
"Alas, it's a pity our family is too poor to be worthy of such a young lady."
"Your father disappeared after going to sea. Our family is destitute, and the burden is too heavy. We are not worthy of her."
Zhou Yuan'an scratched his head.
"Mom, she doesn't lack money. Her family seems to own a company. I used to think her family's conditions were not good, and she had a hard time like us, so I helped her. But in reality, her family's conditions are exceptionally good."
"I am indeed not worthy of her."
He chuckled sheepishly and scratched his head again.
"But she's still young, and I'm still young. Who knows about the future?"
His mother continued to sigh.
"Such a good girl, kind-hearted, beautiful, and with good family background. What kind of conditions would be worthy of her?
In my opinion, she needs a steady and good person, preferably a doctor, a police officer, or a formidable researcher.
She must not be deceived by those good-looking, but superficial, good-for-nothing pretty boys."
Zhou Yuan'an's head began to ache more upon hearing his mother's words.
"It seems..."
"That Xiao Ci likes that Ling Qianhe."
"He's exactly the type of boy who is most troublesome—good-looking and good at sweet-talking!"
Hmph.
He had to keep a close eye on Xiao Ci for her.
If that man was just a flowery, outwardly beautiful but inwardly rotten, philandering dog!
He couldn't let Xiao Ci be deceived!
Lin Muci had excellent hearing.
From the kitchen, she could faintly hear the conversation between Zhou Yuan'an and his mother.
After she finished brewing the medicine and completing the acupuncture for Zhou Yuan'an's mother, seeing her complexion improve, the young girl patiently squatted in front of her, holding her hand, and earnestly explained the precautions.
The lights outside were dim. When her phone rang, she was writing a new prescription for Zhou Yuan'an's mother, so she asked Zhou Yuan'an to answer it for her.
The teenager who had been fixing the light bulb jumped down from the stool and picked up the phone. His tone was initially cautious, but after listening for a couple of sentences, he immediately became fierce.
"What? Xiao Ci is busy. She's doing acupuncture and writing prescriptions for my mom. What, you want to pick her up? No need."
"Hey, what do you mean? I already said no. This is really interesting. I'm Xiao Ci's classmate. What's wrong with her coming to my place?"
"Why are you so bossy? Why should she listen to you!"
Lin Muci, hearing Zhou Yuan'an's tone was off, looked up and asked him.
"Who is it?"
Zhou Yuan'an pouted aggrievedly.
"It's... it's him. He said he's Ling Qianhe. Who knows if it's true or not."
Lin Muci finished the last stroke of her writing. She took the phone from Zhou Yuan'an. Ling Qianhe's cool voice came through the receiver.
"You're at your male classmate's house?"
He emphasized "male classmate."
Lin Muci's heart skipped a beat, and she feigned composure.
"Yes. What of it, is it not allowed?"
"Instructor Ling, why are you calling me? Hasn't the talent show ended? I don't have any scenes with the crew these days. Do we really need to have any contact?"
A slightly cold sneer seemed to come from the other end of the line.
"Oh? Is that what you think?"
"Sister Lan said you were busy with family matters. Is this what you call family matters? Meeting with a male classmate and rushing to curry favor? Lin Muci, you truly have great skill."
His words were unpleasant to hear.
"Who I see has nothing to do with you."
The Ling Qianhe on the other end seemed to take a deep breath, his voice cold.
"Lin Muci, you're always like this..."
He spoke enigmatically, but Lin Muci was completely confused.
"What am I like?"
"Why is Ling Qianhe acting wronged?"
"Why would he be so aggrieved?"
The man on the other end of the phone was silent for a while.
Just as Lin Muci was about to hang up, she heard him say.
"At the charity gala next month, I want to escort you. The red carpet is always a battlefield for female stars to vie for attention. If you don't want to be looked down upon, you'd best build a good relationship with the stylist responsible for the red carpet in advance and confirm your look and the jewelry you'll wear that day."
"I'll take you to meet Ying Qin."
"He is the most outstanding stylist."
"He won't embarrass you."
"Stylist Ying Qin?"
Lin Muci actually had her own ideas about styling, so she refused Ling Qianhe's olive branch.
"No need. I've already decided on the person walking the red carpet. You don't need to trouble yourself, Instructor Qianhe."
Ling Qianhe was silent for a moment.
"Who are you going with?"
Lin Muci straightforwardly stated Sister Lan's name.
Given Ling Qianhe's personality, after being rejected three times, despite his seemingly gentle demeanor, he was actually arrogant and sensitive. He should have hung up the phone directly. But this time, Ling Qianhe seemed to have taken a challenge.
"Where exactly are you? If it's inconvenient, I'll wait for you outside your house. My agent knows your address."
Lin Muci was very puzzled.
"Do you have something important to discuss?"
However, she felt a headache thinking about the stubborn Ling Qianhe.
"Alright, then you can come over."
She gave Zhou Yuan'an's address, but she was still very confused and uncertain.
Why did Ling Qianhe suddenly want to see her?
This was unlike his usual icy demeanor. Her heart skipped a beat, and she asked the system.
"Ling Qianhe's favorability hasn't changed, has it?"
The system was cheerful.
"No. His blackening value hasn't changed either."
Lin Muci was even more baffled. So what did Ling Qianhe want to do? Why was this young man so inexplicably strange?