Chapter Forty: The Rarest Among Men

The landlady grew even more puzzled. "Then why did he spend the whole night alone in his car?"

Xiaoxiao thought she must have misheard and asked for confirmation, "What did you say? Who spent the whole night?"

"The one who came looking for you yesterday. You had just returned, and he arrived right after. He didn’t come up to look for you, just waited in the car all night and only left at dawn."

Whatever the landlady said after that faded into silence. All Xiaoxiao could picture was Lin Shuo sitting alone in his car, the rain streaming down the windows, pooling onto the ground, and darkness stretching endlessly just outside his reach. What could he have been feeling?

After that day, Lin Shuo seemed to have vanished into thin air. No phone calls, no visits to her place. The odd thing was, she had never deliberately paid attention to it before, but now, thinking back, it felt unnatural. She wondered if she had spoken too decisively that day, and Lin Shuo had taken the opportunity to leave quietly, just as she seemed to want.

During that time, she was once praised by Manager Huang at a meeting, helped Bai Yunchuan oversee an event—unsuccessfully—then got scolded by Manager Huang for it. She went shopping twice with Hua Mei, listening to her talk about the mundane details of married life. Most of the time, it was Hua Mei talking, while Xiaoxiao listened, absentmindedly poking at fresh lemon slices with her straw, nodding in agreement from time to time.

Once, Hua Mei brought up the "little sweethearts" Zeng Ziyu had known before marriage, gritting her teeth in frustration, raising her tiny fists and threatening to deal with each of them one by one. Seeing Hua Mei so indignant, Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but laugh behind her hand—men as devoted as Bai Yunchuan were rare indeed, almost extinct.

"If you won't help me figure something out, fine, but you dare laugh at me?" Hua Mei huffed, her cheeks flushing adorably. Xiaoxiao urged her to drink some water to calm down, but Hua Mei insisted she wouldn’t rest until Xiaoxiao offered some advice.

"We on the sidelines are only good for watching the drama. If we tried to give advice, we’d only make fools of ourselves." Seeing Hua Mei’s brows arch sharply, Xiaoxiao quickly added, "Before you got married, I already advised you—men like Zeng Ziyu, with his background, it’s impossible for them to have a squeaky clean past. The fact that he settled down and married you is already a miracle. You’ve got the status of the wife, which puts you above all those little sweethearts." Hearing this, Hua Mei’s expression softened considerably. Xiaoxiao asked gently, "So, do you feel a bit better now?"

"I guess I do," Hua Mei admitted, her anger somewhat diffused. "Forget it. You haven’t even sorted out your own problems—I won’t count on you."

"What do I have to be troubled about? Nonsense."

Hua Mei scoffed, "Keep pretending. I know everything."

Xiaoxiao grew wary. "What do you know?"

With a hint of gossip, Hua Mei said, "Ever since that night when you clashed with that little vixen around Lin Shuo, I could tell. No matter how much you act unconcerned, I know you."

So that’s what Hua Mei meant. Xiaoxiao relaxed, finding it amusing. Everyone had their own circumstances—until you’d been there yourself, no one had the right to claim they truly understood.

"If Ziyu ever dares betray me, I’ll make him suffer even more than those young girls," Hua Mei said, circling back to her grievances.

Curious, Xiaoxiao asked, "What happened with those young girls?"

Hua Mei perked up, eager to share. "Not long ago, something strange happened at the university district. A guy broke into a female student’s dorm at the Open University, took a girl hostage, and forced her to swallow a large quantity of unknown pills. In the end, the police had to intervene to rescue her. Turns out, the two had an online relationship. Later, the girl wanted out and even gave him some breakup money, but the guy took the money and still did all that. They were just dating, not married. Why not just break up and move on? Why make such a scene and end up in jail? I really don’t get it—isn’t it bizarre?"

Lonely Moments, Don’t Talk of Love 40_Chapter Forty: A Rare Man Among Men—Update Complete!