After Marrying The Wrong Person, I Can’t Leave

Chapter 16

Song Linchu could not say that his values were completely upright, but he could never stoop to being a third party.

He changed his shoes slowly and carefully, thinking about his words.

Tan Yue took off his coat and handed it to the butler, then walked towards the living room. Song Linchu followed him, pretending to look around curiously, and asked, “Gege, is the décor of this house based on your own preferences?”

Tan Yue placed the car key on the coffee table and replied with an “mm”.

“Oh…I thought it was the preference of the madam here.”

Tan Yue’s movements paused slightly. “Madam?”

“Yes, yes,” Song Linchu’s gaze was a bit evasive. “I just saw women’s shoes in the shoe cabinet. Aren’t they the madam’s?”

Tan Yue did not say anything and sat down on the sofa in the living room, his gaze deep and profound as he looked at him.

Song Linchu felt like a defendant waiting for a judge’s ruling, guilty or not, depending on the man’s words.

His hand hanging at his side couldn’t help but tense up nervously, and he didn’t even dare to look at Tan Yue.

After a while, he heard Tan Yue say, “Those belong to my niece.”

“Niece?

Was that Tang Mingqing’s sister?

The star that Song Linchu was carrying fell back to its original place with a loud bang.

He had heard Tang Mingqing mention this younger sister before. She had been spoiled since childhood and was willful and capricious, but his uncle liked her very much, and she was the one he doted on the most.

As for someone like Tang Yue, who always seemed cold and unfeeling, he couldn’t imagine what it would be like to dote on someone.

Song Linchu felt a twinge of envy when he imagined what it would be like to be doted on by such a straight steel man.

It was already late, and Tang Yue wasn’t feeling well. After drinking a cup of hot milk, he went upstairs to rest. After Butler Liu asked if Song Linchu needed a late-night snack and received a negative answer, he took him to the guest room on the third floor to rest.

The guest room was large, and it looked like no one had ever lived in it, but there was no trace of dust. Obviously, it was regularly cleaned.

The Tang family had prepared new clothes and pajamas for the guest room, and after taking a bath, Song Linchu lay on the soft bed and quickly fell asleep.

————–

The next morning.

Cheng Bin came to deliver some materials. As he walked through the entrance of the Tan residence, he couldn’t help but rub his eyes in disbelief when he saw Song Linchu, sitting face to face with Tan Yue and eating breakfast in the dining room.

Didn’t their master coldly cut off his relationship with Song Linchu when he found out about Song Linchu’s intentions towards him?

Why was he involved with him again?

Tan Yue was a decisive person, and even though he helped Song Linchu at the jewelry exhibition yesterday, Cheng Bin could tell that Tan Yue’s actions were minimal and he had no intention of giving him any further favors.

After all, Tan Yue hates being taken advantage of the most. The last person who tried to take advantage of him was already six feet under.

Tan Yue did not do anything to Song Linchu, which was the greatest forgiveness he could give him.

But what’s going on now?

There was still a tuft of unflattened hair on Song Linchu’s head, clearly indicating that he slept here last night!

Was this the same cold and indifferent Tan Yue that they knew, with this sudden change in behavior?

Cheng Bin’s mind was filled with question marks, like a galloping herd of wild horses. He had only missed one night, why can’t he understand the plot anymore?

Song Linchu didn’t notice Cheng Bin’s arrival. He was eating a boiled egg in his hand, and his phone on the table buzzed twice. It was a message from Zhou Kexin about the schedule for the final round of the campus singer competition, which will be held on December 31, New Year’s Eve.

As Song Linchu read the message, thought of something and looked at Tan Yue with bright, shining eyes.

“Gege, the final round of the singer competition is on the 31st. Do you want to come and watch it?”

Tan Yue was non-committal and said, “I’ll watch if I have time.”

“I wasn’t referring to the live broadcast,” Song Linchu pressed his advantage, “I mean, would you like to come and watch the event in person?”

Tan Yue raised his slightly hooded eyes and looked at Song Linchu.

Song Linchu continued his sales pitch, “Although it’s just a small competition between two schools, it’s a yearly grand event. Besides singing contests, there are also other performances that are no worse than some small TV stations’ New Year’s Eve parties.”

“Of course,” Song Linchu immediately gave himself a way out, “if you have a New Year’s Eve arrangement, it’s okay.”

Tan Yue swallowed the food in his mouth and, under Song Linchu’s hopeful gaze, said, “I can’t go.”

The light in Song Linchu’s eyes dimmed instantly.

At first, Tan Yue didn’t want to explain much, but when he saw Song Linchu’s crestfallen expression and even the tuft of energetic hair on his head drooping with it, he hesitated and added two words, “I have a business trip.”

“Oh, I see,” Song Linchu perked up like a waterlogged baby cabbage, “Then please cheer for me in the live stream room, I’ll show you the prize!”

Tan Yue looked at the confident young man and agreed with a nod.

After finishing breakfast, Song Linchu went back to school for classes.

When he arrived at the school, the first class had already ended.

Unfortunately, Tan Yue’s house was too far away from his school. Previously, he was a straight-A student who hardly ever took leave unless it was absolutely necessary, but it seemed like he had taken more leave since he met Tan Yue than he did during his entire time in college.

At noon, the school issued a notice that water would be cut off from 8 p.m. that night until 8 a.m. the following day, and everyone was advised to store water.

Every night, Song Linchu would take a shower or soak his feet in hot water before going to bed, otherwise his feet would feel like ice and he couldn’t warm them up no matter what he did. He heard about the water cut-off and filled up his hot water kettle with water, intending to soak his feet at night. However, when he went to get it later, he found that the water from the kettle was ice-cold.

Li Chang took a cup and approached him, hoping to get some hot water to brush his teeth, but he was surprised to find that the water was cold. “What happened? Is your kettle broken?” he asked.

Song Linchu frowned and replied, “It was still hot when I got back in the evening to take a shower.”

After receiving the notice at noon, Song Linchu was worried that if he couldn’t come back before 8 p.m., he wouldn’t be able to take a shower, so he filled up the kettle and made sure the water was hot before he left. However, in just a few hours, the water had turned cold.

Li Chang couldn’t help but glance over at Su Zhan, who was lying on his bed playing with his phone. He was the only one in the dorm that night, and given his character, he might have done something like this.

However, Li Chang only suspected it and didn’t want to jump to conclusions, in case the kettle really was broken, which would be embarrassing for Su Zhan.

But when he looked at Su Zhan, Su Zhan happened to look at him too, and upon seeing the suspicion in his eyes, Su Zhan exploded. “What’s with that look? You think it’s me, don’t you! With that crappy kettle, I wouldn’t touch it even if you paid me!”

Li Chang couldn’t tolerate such talk and was about to say something when Song Linchu pulled him back. Song Linchu didn’t want to argue with Su Zhan over something like this and decided to test the kettle tomorrow to see if it was really broken. However, Su Zhan was not willing to let it go and sarcastically said, “Ha, it’s hilarious. You’re so poor that you bought a shoddy product, and now you want to blame your roommate for it. Do you also want to scam me into paying for a replacement?”

Li Chang couldn’t bear it anymore and sneered, “Young Master Su, who do you think you are to look down on people? Is your father a wealthy and influential tycoon?”

Su Zhan had no shame at all, even very proud: “My father is not a tycoon, but who says I can’t have a rich boyfriend? Look, this phone is a Christmas gift from him.”

As he spoke, he showed off his latest iPhone to them.

“Sigh, it’s so annoying. I spent more than 6,000 on my phone and only used it for half a year. I don’t want to throw it away.”

Li Chang was so disgusted that he could barely restrain himself from punching Su Zhan in the face. How could there be such a person!

He sneered, “Then you better keep him close. Infidelity happens either zero times or infinite times. Don’t let someone else seduce him away from you.”

“Hmph, what a joke. Do you think I’m like some people who can’t even hold onto a man’s heart?”

“Well, that’s not necessarily true,” said Song Linchu with a smile. “Tan Mingqing is essentially a heavy face control. Can you keep him interested for a moment or for a lifetime?”

Su Zhan’s face changed slightly.

This hit him where it hurts because lately, Tan Mingqing’s attitude towards him wasn’t as enthusiastic as before. Even when he dressed up in sexy women’s clothing, Tan Mingqing only found him momentarily interesting but not as obsessed as before.

Moreover, a few days ago when Tan Mingqing came to deliver breakfast to him downstairs, he came down only wearing pajamas and cotton slippers because he didn’t have any classes in the morning. Tan Mingqing exaggeratedly didn’t recognize him and even called him plain-looking, which infuriated him.

Song Linchu ignored Su Zhan and lay down on his bed. They didn’t have any electric heating pads or anything like that in their dormitory, so he couldn’t soak his feet. He could only lie down with cold feet.

He covered his feet with his hands and shivered. His feet were like ice cubes. He didn’t know why, but no matter how warm the rest of his body was, only his feet were cold.

Song Linchu put another pair of socks over his feet and then lay down.

He missed the bed in Tan Yue’s guest room. It was too soft and comfortable, and it even had underfloor heating. All he needed was a thin blanket, and he wouldn’t feel cold at all.

He had no classes during the first two periods tomorrow so he slept in.

Song Linchu was awakened by the buzzing vibration of his phone. He groggily reached under his pillow and found the phone, feeling the heaviness of his eyelids. He struggled for a while before opening one eye and seeing the person who messaged him, and he was immediately fully awake.

Tan Yue: [(picture)]

Tan Yue: [Yours?]

Tan Yue had sent him a scarf that had accidentally been left at his house yesterday.

Song Linchu raised his hand to reply to Tan Yue, but as he moved, he realized that his body was sore and his nose was congested. This was a sign of a cold.

His feet were still cold, and so were his socks, which he figured were the cause the cold.

He struggled with his sore eyelids, and replied to Tan Yue’s message.

Little Songlin: [Yes, gege, please ask Cheng assistant to call a local express delivery and have it delivered to the school. You have the address!]

Tan Yue: [(picture)]

Song Linchu clicked on the picture and almost jumped out of bed.

Tan Yue sent him a picture of their school gate!

Could it be that he came in person?

Song Linchu tried to contain his excitement and was about to type a reply when Tan Yue sent him another message.

Tan Yue: [Which building?]

Little Songlin: [???]

Little Songlin: [Can your car come in?]

Tan Yue: [Yes.]

Song Linchu cursed in his heart. Their school did not allow social vehicles to enter. Last time, when Li Chang had stomach ache and he took him to the hospital, they took a Didi back. Song Linchu had to argue with the security guard for a long time to let the car drop them off at the bottom of their dormitory building. If it weren’t for Li Chang’s weak condition, they wouldn’t have been allowed.

Damn the rich!

Song Linchu quickly put on his clothes, went downstairs, and Tan Yue’s car happened to reach the door of their dormitory.

It was a coincidence that Tan Yue’s car today was relatively low-key. However, it was still a top-class luxury car. Fortunately, most of the students had gone to class, so there were not many people coming in and out of the dormitory gate. Otherwise, it would definitely attract attention.

Tan Yue remained seated in the backseat, not getting out of the car but only rolling down the window and handing a bag over to Song Linchu.

“Thank you, gege,” Song Linchu said, beaming as he took the bag.

Tan Yue withdrew his hand and asked, “What’s wrong with your voice?”

“Just a bit of a cold,” Song Linchu rubbed his nose and said, “You could have had someone else deliver it. You didn’t have to come personally.”

It wasn’t that Song Linchu was taking advantage of him and acting coy. It was just that Tan Yue was a terminally ill patient!

It would have been impolite to make him deliver it.

However, Tan Yue had actually come to deliver it in person, and Song Linchu couldn’t help but feel a little happy when he thought about it.

People are just such contradictory creatures.

Tan Yue gave him a faint glance and said, “I was on my way to the city hall.”

Song Linchu: “….”

The city hall was about a ten-minute drive from their school, so it was quite convenient.

But you don’t have to say that out loud!

Song Linchu’s moves heart was broken and he said, “Oh,” “Well, gege, go do your thing, and don’t let me keep you.”

“Mm,” Tan Yue paused for a moment, then added, “Remember to take your medicine.”

Song Linchu obediently nodded his head, holding the scarf and the bag. “Okay!”

Tan Yue didn’t stay long, signaling to the driver to roll up the window and drive away from the school. As the car passed through a red light intersection, Tan Yue’s phone suddenly rang.

Tan Yue opened his eyes, took out his phone, and saw one word on the caller ID: Uncle.

As soon as he answered, he heard a man’s anxious voice on the other end of the line. “Ah Yue, your grandfather just fell down and hit his head. The situation looks a bit serious.”

Tan Yue’s hand holding the phone tightened suddenly.