erious, it was just a joke." The office fell silent instantly. Zhou Ming was the most experienced lawyer in the M&A team besides Director Xiao, and he was very likely to be promoted to partner. Don't...That night, after Ting Lan finished washing up, Lin Zhiyao secretly led her out of the dormitory building with her. They escaped through a side door of the faculty apartments and made it to the snack street outside. Lin Zhiyao treated Ting Lan to supper.

"My teeth are so white now." Tinglan complained while eating.

"Just go back and brush it again," Lin Zhi'ao knew she hadn't eaten since coming back from tutoring, so she specially brought her out.

Lin Zhiyao was on a diet and wasn't eating, so she just watched Tinglan slowly eat. As she watched, she noticed something was wrong with her. She kept sniffing.

"Mmm, thank you," she said. She wasn't afraid of people being cruel to her; her heart had long since become impervious to harm. But she feared kindness, for even a little warmth would make her nose sting with tears. It had been so long since anyone had cared for her like this.

"Why are you crying over such a small matter" Lin Zhixiao hurriedly grabbed some paper and wiped it on her face.

That night, on the way back to school from the snack street, Tinglan opened up to her and told her everything.

Actually, she knew she had nightmares several times and woke up crying. Lin Zhiyan knew something was wrong, but he never asked her about it.

She spoke calmly, but Lin Zhixuan cried all the way back to her dormitory. When she reached the door, she hugged her and said, "Shushu, you worked hard."

Because they had shared a secret, their relationship deepened another step, becoming as close as sisters. That night, Lin Zhixuan simply squeezed onto her bed and slept with her.

The situation caused Tinglan to have a sleepless night, and the next day, on the weekend when she went to a cafe in the city center, she was feeling a bit drowsy.

To such an extent that when a familiar and surprising voice called her name, she jumped in fright. She looked up at the owner of the voice, tall, handsome, and radiating sunshine. It took her a while to react before she remembered it was Lu Kuò, her high school classmate.

"Tinglan, you don't even recognize me" Lu Kuo made a heartbroken hand gesture over his chest.

He was supposed to go to Qining this weekend, but he was dragged to Senzhou by his uncle Lu Shaohang, who was on a business trip in Beijing. Lu Shaohang made him visit the company. At that time, the Lu family was still full of hope for him and wanted to cultivate him as the successor.

Right now, Lu Shaohang was in a meeting. He snuck to the nearby coffee shop for some peace and quiet, and then he saw a familiar figure at the cash register. Without thinking twice, he excitedly rushed over to greet them.

Ting Lan just smiled and then asked him, "What would you like to drink"

A bit cold and impersonal.

But Lu Kuo has always been nonchalant, saying: "Recommend one to me."

Ting Lan then placed the menu in front of him, "They're all pretty good."

Lu Kuo casually pointed to one of them and ordered it, his mind entirely on listening to Lan. After ordering, he began asking again.

“Do you work at this cafe”

"Isn't it a long way from Sen Da"

"What time do you get off work I'll treat you to dinner."

Lu Kuò was genuinely happy to see her. He didn't care at all about being blocked by her or her cold attitude towards him. He remembered the three years of high school when he, she, and Chéng Chén were practically inseparable.

Tinglan gestured to the queue of customers waiting to order behind him and apologized.

Lu Kuò had to leave the ordering counter, but he didn't forget to say, "I'll wait for you to get off work and eat together."

Tinglan pretended not to hear, busy with work.

During that time, Lu Kuo saw that she hadn't left work. After being called to the company by his uncle, Lu Shaohing, he returned to the cafe and saw Ting Lan still standing at the bar, motionless, taking orders. Six hours had passed since he first laid eyes on her.

What kind of lousy job is this, with no time to rest at all

Lu Kuo took a picture of the cashier's counter from afar and sent it to Zhuo Yu'an.

"Guess who I saw"

At that time, Zhuo Yu'an had stayed up all night developing a product and was about to wash his face and go to school when he saw the photo sent by Lu Kuo. His heart skipped a beat.

The cafe was quite crowded, and Lu Kuai took the picture from such a distance. Ting Lan was wearing the cafe's uniform and wasn't particularly noticeable, but Zhuo Yu An spotted her at first glance in this photo.

He had lost a lot of weight, his arms under the sleeves were so thin they looked like they could break if bent. But his facial features were more three-dimensional and handsome. He thought he'd forgotten, but when he saw this photo, his heart ached.

But he didn't reply, putting his phone aside, not knowing what to say.

But Lu Kuo sent another message:

"It's Tinglan, she does part-time work here at this shop."

"Do you know how low the wages are I just asked some other employees, and apparently their part-time workers only make around ten or so dollars an hour. She stands there from noon until evening, making a maximum of eighty dollars a day. Is that even money It's too little."

Lu Kuo talked a lot, and Zhuo Yu'an finally reacted.

asked, "Has she experienced life"

Lu Kuo replied, "No way, I asked the other clerks and they said Tinglan has been here for almost a year. Before school started, she even took out an advance on her paycheck to pay tuition."

In fact, Lu Kuo has been running to Qining these two years, and most of the time it's during holidays. Occasionally, when he remembers Tinglan, he will ask Cheng Chen if Tinglan has returned to Qining Cheng Chen always says no.

But Cheng Chen never said what happened to Tinglan.

Lu Kuo was just guessing that something had happened to her family.

He never told Zhu Y uan about any of this. First, he was so busy in the foreign country every day that even if he had told him, what could have been done Second, Zhu Yu an had never mentioned Ting Lan to him in the past two years. Occasionally, when he brought it up, Zhu Yu an would just remain silent.

This time I happened to catch it, so I took a photo and sent it.

"She needs to borrow money for tuition" Zhuo Y uan was a little puzzled. As far as he knew, Tinglan's family should be well-off.

Lu Kuo replied, "If you really cared, you'd come back to see me. It's only a few hours away."

There's still no word from Zhuo Yu'an.

Lu Kuo waited for Lan at the coffee shop until 8 pm. Lan only finished handing over work to her night shift colleagues then.

Lu Kuo hurried over to greet her, wanting to invite her for a meal. He observed that Ting Lan had stood all afternoon, having only drunk some water in between and seemingly not eaten anything else.

Tinglan refused: "Thank you, but I probably can't today. I have to go back to school, and if I'm late, I won't be able to get in."

"Then just don't go back, it's the weekend tomorrow anyway. After dinner, I'll find a hotel near here and book a room for you."

He said opening a room was commonplace, but others found it suggestive. The staff member beside them kept stealing glances at Tinglan.

Listen to the sound...

"Sorry, I have to go back to school now. Goodbye."

After he finished speaking, he quickly walked to the nearby bus stop to wait for the bus.

Lu Kuai looked at her back, feeling a little puzzled. He thought to himself that he hadn't offended her in high school, right Why did she seem to regard him as a ferocious beast

The bus arrived, Tinglan found a spot and hurriedly sat down. She had been standing all afternoon, her feet were swollen and ached terribly.

Turning her head away from Lu Kuo, who was waving at her from the car window and motioning for her to call him, she did.

She didn't have any real objections to Lu Kuò. She just didn't want to be associated with anyone connected to Qī Níng. Her mother accompanied her to Sēn Zhōu hoping she could forget everything about Qī Níng and start a brand new life. And whether it turned out for better or worse, the choices were hers and her mother's, and they would bear the consequences.in.After all that back and forth, it was past 11 o'clock by the time she got home. The children were already asleep. Only Auntie Liu was still waiting for her. Seeing her return, she rushed to the kit...