Chapter 46: Boss Wang of AAA Building Materials Wholesale is Using Cheng Yaojin

Lin Shu sneaked back to her room, grabbed a down jacket for Zhou Ya, and then handed Jin Junsheng's coat to Aunt Zhu, asking her to return it later.

The two of them headed to the cinema.

They watched the newly released 3D movie.

After the show ended, Zhou Ya asked, "Lin Shu... did you know I liked your brother?"

Lin Shu was practically losing her mind.

Was she that obvious?

Well, perhaps just a little bit earlier.

Lin Shu nodded, staring at the English subtitles continuously rolling across the big screen, feeling too frozen to move.

Zhou Ya said, "Actually, I knew there was no hope. Thank you for seeing it and never calling me out."

Since things had come to this.

Lin Shu sighed slightly and asked Zhou Ya what exactly she liked about Lin Zhou.

"Aside from having a good face and a little bit of family money, my brother is really..."

He loved to play around too much.

And he only liked those who also loved to play.

Constantly replacing the old flames with new ones.

If you asked if he truly cared deeply for anyone, it seemed there was no one. If you asked if he felt guilty toward anyone, there seemed to be no one either.

As a boyfriend, he was great for hanging out and having fun, but as a life partner, Lin Shu found it hard to imagine him ever being truly devoted.

Zhou Ya shouldn't be someone who only cared about looks.

She was able to see the vampire-like nature of the academic prodigy Ji Xingshen, and she could also perceive the kind essence beneath the delinquent Xie Buchun.

She was much better at reading people than Lin Shu.

Lin Shu was curious about what such a thoughtful person like Zhou Ya could possibly see in Lin Zhou.

The cinema lights came on.

Zhou Ya asked Lin Shu if she remembered the summer vacation right after the end of the first semester of eighth grade, when she had a big fight with her family.

Lin Shu nodded.

At that time, Lin Shu was attending a summer camp that Lin Shiheng had signed her up for—it was practically a devil training camp where she practiced rock climbing every day, hanging from a suspension bridge like a monkey. By the time it ended, her ethnicity seemed to have changed, turning her into a genuine African native...

Zhou Ya had called, saying she had argued with her family and was walking alone on the street in the middle of the night.

Lin Shu couldn't rush back, so she anxiously called her parents, asking them to go find Zhou Ya.

Zhou Ya nodded.

She said the first person who found her that night was Lin Zhou.

She had climbed over the railing and was sitting right by the edge of the bridge.

Lin Zhou grabbed one of her hands and dragged her back with a fierce expression.

Lin Shu looked at Zhou Ya in astonishment.

She didn't know about this!

Zhou Ya and her older brother actually had a secret history together!

Well, no wonder they had each other's phone numbers... Zhou Ya sitting alone by the bridge in the middle of the night—she wasn't thinking of ending her life, was she?

Lin Shu said nothing.

Yet her eyes said everything.

Zhou Ya hurriedly explained, "I just wanted some peace and quiet. Every time I sat by the roadside, people kept coming over to ask questions, and the park was too dark, plus there were drunkards..."

Zhou Ya said Lin Zhou didn't scold her; after pulling her back, he even told a terrible joke.

She said she wasn't having suicidal thoughts, just wanted to temporarily escape her suffocating home and find some quiet time alone.

Lin Zhou accompanied her from one end of the bridge to the other, walking along the riverside promenade, walking all the way until dawn.

Zhou Ya talked the entire time.

Lin Zhou listened the entire time.

By the end, her voice was hoarse from talking, and Lin Zhou treated her to breakfast.

"He added five spoonfuls of white sugar to his soy milk. I still remember it to this day."

A touching, radiant glow surfaced on Zhou Ya's face.

Lin Shu watched, mesmerized.

Back when she used to look at Ji Xingshen, she must have often been enveloped in that exact same glow.

Pity that it would never happen again.

Because she had loved the wrong person and paid a painful price, the nerve of romance would now jerk her violently awake at the slightest touch.

How could someone who had finally sobered up ever fall into the river of love a second time?

The cleaning lady asked them to lift their feet.

Only then did the two realize that the subtitles had finished rolling, the screen had gone dark, and it was time for them to leave.

Lin Shu asked, "...Just because of that?"

Zhou Ya retorted irritably, "Do you have any idea what the gold standard is for a guy to listen to a kid vent for five hours in the middle of the night without a single complaint or accusation?"

"He was only four years older than me, just a high school student back then, and it had zero to do with him, yet he was much more willing to listen to me speak than my own parents!"

Zhou Ya was furious.

She couldn't believe Lin Shu lacked such taste that she failed to appreciate Lin Zhou's good points.

Lin Shu remarked, "...My brother can indeed be very mature sometimes."

In her past life, when the family business was acquired, he had remained very calm, silently cooperating from beginning to end.

On the other hand, Lin Shu had cried until she completely broke down.

Eventually, Lin Zhou traveled far away to build a new career for himself, though he practically lost touch with her.

They used to bicker every day, their bond growing closer through every argument.

She never expected that when they eventually drifted apart in the future, it would happen without even a single argument.

Zhou Ya said, "...Um, don't tell your brother about this."

Lin Shu held her best friend's hand and promised, "I won't."

...

When Lin Shu returned home, she brought along a chocolate cake that Lin Zhou loved.

Though Lin Zhou claimed the doctor told him to watch his diet, his hands never stopped tearing open the packaging.

Old Xu and Jin Junsheng had eaten dinner and left; hanging out and playing video games with Lin Zhou during the day was one thing, but they certainly weren't going to sit around as three grown men at night like a trio of old bachelors.

Lin Shu probed indirectly, asking Lin Zhou what he thought of Zhou Ya.

Lin Zhou paused for a moment before saying, "Your friend lives a very tiring life and should try to be happier. Of course, given her family environment, being happy isn't easy. You two should look out for each other—cherish the friends you've had since childhood."

Oh, wow.

Her brother could actually speak like a decent human being.

Lin Shu hugged her older brother's neck and rubbed against him affectionately.

Lin Zhou asked what she was being so clingy for, adding that he had no money to spare—not a single cent. All his money, including what he borrowed from her, had gone into modifying his motorcycle.

"Ah!"

Lin Shu gave her brother a fierce chokehold.

So that was it!

In her past life, she had financially supported Ji Xingshen by taking money from Lin Zhou; in this life, instead of playing the fool, she lent her money to her brother to collect interest, only to accidentally and ironically fund his motorcycle modifications.

Well, look at that.

The faster the speed, the sooner the crash!

And now his leg was broken.

Lin Shu gnashed her teeth and said, "Lin Zhou, if I had known you were going to use my money to modify a motorcycle, I would have let it rot in the bank before ever giving it to you!"

(›´ω`‹)

Lin Shu angrily pounded the bed.

Lin Zhou tugged at her clothes.

Lin Shu continued to stomp her feet.

Lin Zhou laughed and offered, "How about I buy you some clothes with my New Year's money?"

"Just clothes?!"

"A full set of clothes plus a pair of shoes."

"...Well, that's more like it."

Lin Shu's voice softened as she frowned and said, "Brother, games are fine, but don't play with your life. I only have one older brother; if I had two, I wouldn't even bother trying to talk sense into you."

"Got it."

Lin Zhou asked if she wanted to play a video game.

Lin Shu opened her phone, sat cross-legged side by side with her brother on the bed, and started a sibling duo queue.

In the game, Cheng Yaojin with his dual axes and Sun Shangxiang with her machine gun displayed an astonishingly tacit cooperation.

Anyone watching would have assumed they were a couple, taking the male player for Cheng Yaojin and the female for Sun Shangxiang.

In reality...

"Brother, don't be a coward, I'll tank! Deal damage, jump to the side and blast them!"

"Come get me, all of you! I've got a thorn mail on, don't chase my brother!"

"You dare kill my brother?! Marco Polo, you just wait, I'm going to turn you into a double-gun-wielding ancient eunuch!"

...

Meanwhile.

Trapped at home during winter break with nothing to do, a certain someone named Xie had just finished chest workouts using equipment. Feeling empty, lonely, and a tiny bit chilly, he opened up a video game he hadn't logged into in ages.

Several names were glowing in his friends list.

He immediately spotted [Ranked Match - AAA Building Materials Wholesale King is currently playing Cheng Yaojin].

You've got to be kidding me.

Why on earth was she playing Cheng Yaojin?