1 She's Not My Girlfriend

It was already nightfall when they stepped outside of the Empyrean Edifice. 

Xu Ai looked up at the sky and banged the thick pile of folders against her head. She stomped her feet and howled, "Oh crap!" 

Lin Shen, who was a few steps ahead of Xu Ai, turned around at the sound of her howl. A question came from the normally taciturn man, "What's wrong?"

Xu Ai glanced at Lin Shen with dismay. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it shut again. 

How was she supposed to say that she had missed the blind date which her mother arranged for her when she had reminded her dozens of times via international phone calls? 

How was she supposed to say that Sun Pinting was also bugging her and had threatened to post her baby pictures showing her bare butt all over the entire campus if she didn't listen to her mom's arrangement? 

She was only in her junior year of university; why did she have to go on blind dates?

Damn it… 

Would I be able to make it if I get a fast taxi right now?

She took out her phone from her pocket. The meeting room etiquette required everyone to be polite and quiet, thus she had to turn her phone off. She didn't expect the Ocean Blue Company to interfere with this bidding project when they were so close to success, putting an abrupt end to it. It also made her two hours late. 

If she were late for one hour, maybe her blind date would still be patiently waiting. 

If she was late for two hours and her blind date was still waiting, then it meant her blind date had real trouble finding a girlfriend… 

But if she were to catch a fast taxi right now, the fastest time she could get there would be one hour later, provided that there was no traffic jam. 

Who the heck had the patience to wait for three hours?

The arranged time was at seven o'clock, but it was already nine o'clock. One hour later, the clock would strike ten.

Whoever would still be waiting there for her must be either crazy or stupid, or maybe, genuinely enjoyed the feeling of being alone at that restaurant. 

She pondered as she turned on her phone. Dozens of messages showed up on the screen, and her face turned grim instantly.

Tomorrow… 

Can I not return to the campus tomorrow?

She covered her face with her phone, suddenly feeling no hope for tomorrow. Tomorrow felt even darker than the night right now. 

Lin Shen stood there and watched Xu Ai for a while before he finally turned around and moved in front of her. He reached out and grabbed the pile of folders from her hands. "There are ups and downs in life. It wasn't because we weren't good enough for this bidding project; it was because Ocean Blue is a subsidiary company under Su Yun. I wasn't surprised when they won the bid."

Xu Ai was stunned. Is he… comforting me?

"Come on, let's go! Let's take a taxi to go back!" Lin Shen turned around with the pile of folders and walked to the side of the road to catch a taxi.

Xu Ai followed behind him clumsily as her hands and feet were stiff. 

Standing on the side of the road, she still couldn't wrap her head around it. When did Lin Shen… learn how to comfort people? Or was I mistaken? He wasn't actually comforting me; he was simply making a conclusion about this bidding project. 

That must be it, he was only making a conclusion!

She patted her head with her hand. Just then, her phone started ringing. She looked down at the screen, and her face turned grim once again. 

Sun Pinting… 

This woman was even scarier than the devil right now~ 

She couldn't force herself to pick up the phone. Instead, she tossed her phone in her pocket and just let it kept on ringing.

Today was so weird. Normally, it was very easy to catch a taxi at this place, but apparently not today. The two of them waited for ten minutes, yet no taxi drove by. Xu Ai's phone kept on ringing again and again. Whoever was calling her seemed determined and wouldn't stop until she picked up the call. 

Lin Shen finally moved his gaze from the road to Xu Ai's pocket. He saw her with her head down, looking defeated and weary. He frowned and asked, "How come you're not picking up your phone?"

"Ah," Xu Ai answered while scratching her head, "it's Sun Pinting. She can't possibly bring me any good news by calling me at this ungodly hour. I'm ignoring her."

Lin Shen nodded his head. 

A taxi finally drove by. He waved at the car, and the driver pulled over to the side and let them in one after another.

After the driver asked them for their destination, he reminded Xu Ai nicely, "Miss, your phone is ringing!"

Xu Ai reached her hand into her pocket and clenched her teeth. Then, she finally pressed the power off button. 

Beijing's traffic was jammed as ever at any time. 

During their trip, the driver enjoyed listening to the stock market news from the radio and made his own commentaries from time to time.

Lin Shen was silent the entire time. 

Xu Ai had nothing to say either. 

Half an hour later, the taxi stopped at a restaurant near B University. Lin Shen paid the driver and stepped out of the taxi with Xu Ai. 

This restaurant was famous for its authentic Szechuan cuisine, which made them regular customers of this restaurant. The bidding meeting started at two in the afternoon and progressed into nine in the evening. They naturally had to eat something. 

The waiter asked Lin Shen if they wanted the usuals, to which Lin Shen nodded yes. Then, the waiter left and went to prepare their orders. 

Xu Ai didn't drink anything when they were in the meeting room since she was afraid that she might miss something crucial if she went to the bathroom too frequently. Once they got to the restaurant, she was feeling extremely thirsty and needed to quench it right away. She took the kettle on the table, poured two cups of water, and then finished them as fast as she could. 

When she finished her water, she realized one of the cups she used was Lin Shen's. She felt extremely embarrassed all of a sudden. 

Because they frequented this restaurant, they each stored their own cup here for the waiter to bring out whenever they came. 

And now… 

Dear Lord, just kill me already!

She shouldn't be this careless no matter how thirsty she was. She forgot the taboo… 

Lin Shen peered at her without saying anything. He called the waiter and asked for a cup from the restaurant. 

Xu Ai watched him as he poured himself a cup of water in the new cup and sipped at it slowly. She lowered her head and stared at the dining table as she cursed herself. Stupid idiot, can't believe you made such a careless mistake.

She pressed between her eyebrows with both hands and apologized, "I'm so sorry. I'll buy you a new one tomorrow!" 

Lin Shen stopped drinking his water briefly. "It's fine, I'll buy it myself."

Xu Ai wanted to reply, but the nonchalant expression on Lin Shen's face made it seem like he didn't really care, so she swallowed her words. 

Their orders were brought to their table after a short while. 

Xu Ai ate insipidly. 

"No appetite?" Lin Shen looked up at her. "It was just a cup, don't worry about it." 

"It's not that!" Xu Ai shook her head and tried to come up with a different reason. "Maybe my hunger is gone! Or maybe I drank too much water! Umm… didn't you say it's bad to eat too much at night? You don't want to be bloated."

Lin Shen nodded and didn't say more.

Xu Ai forced herself to eat a few more bites before putting down her chopsticks. 

She was in a terrible mood right now. She wasn't afraid of facing her mother's chiding, because she was out of the country. Out of sight, out of mind. She could potentially save the situation with Sun Pinting because tomorrow had yet to come. She still had one night, and that was enough time for her to apple-polish the little princess. But, the stupid, careless mistake she just committed had made all of the hopeless feelings of not seeing light again feel like it was no big deal in comparison. 

Lin Shen didn't like other people using his stuff, which she had known since the first day she met him. Fast forward to three years later, she made the mistake again.

Today was indeed not her day! 

Lin Shen didn't eat much either before putting his chopsticks down. 

They left the restaurant together. 

The restaurant was only a ten-minute walk from the dormitory. Although it was late at night, there were still quite a few people on the boulevard, either walking or resting; most of them were cute couples. 

Xu Ai walked behind Lin Shen, and she stared at his nonexistent footprints and walked step by step. 

She developed this habit ever since she met Lin Shen, a habit she had kept for three years now. 

There were two pros to her focusing on walking by looking at his footprints, the first being she didn't have to look at the lovey-dovey couples getting their public display of affection. And then, the second pro was that she didn't have to come up with topics to entertain her and Lin Shen just to get their minds off of the unbearable journey to the dorm. 

They walked towards the entrance to the dormitory like that.

Lin Shen stopped. 

He also kept this habit in the past three years. He kept her safe by escorting her to her dorm no matter how late it was. 

Xu Ai lifted her head and wanted to tell him good night as usual, but before she opened her mouth, she saw a person with a dark face storming out of the dormitory. Her eyes opened wide in shock, and she stepped back as if she just saw a ghost. "Ting-Ting? It's late, why... why are you here?"

"Why am I here?" Sun Pinting glowered at her with fierce eyes and pointed a finger at Lin Shen. "You didn't show up for your blind date, you stood him up, and you ignored my calls, just so that you could get a date with this guy?" She was furious. 

Xu Ai was mortified by Sun Pinting's accusations, and she especially didn't want Lin Shen to hear the words "blind date." She was so embarrassed that she wanted to dig a hole in the ground and bury herself. She didn't dare to look at Lin Shen's face, and instead, she ran towards Sun Pinting and dragged her towards the dormitory. "My gorgeous Ting-Ting, how dare I not pick up your call? My battery was dead! But now that you're here, I don't have to go and find you anymore. Come on, let's go inside, and I'll explain everything to you." 

"Battery's dead? Don't try to bullsh*t me! Xu Ai, how many times did your phone run out of batteries ever since we were little?" Sun Pinting slapped away Xu Ai's hand and didn't look at her further. She shifted her eyes to Lin Shen and sneered and said, "Yo, Erudite Scholar Lin, how come you escorted her back at this hour? What is your relationship to my Xu Ai?"

Xu Ai's expression turned gloomy as her body stiffened instantly, and she lifted her eyes to Lin Shen.

The light in front of the dormitory building was rather dim, and Lin Shen stood with his back turned towards the light so she couldn't really see the expression on his face. 

She felt her heartstrings tightening, so she instantly shouted, "Ting-Ting!"

"Shut up!" Sun Pinting rolled her eyes at Xu Ai and warned her, "One more word from you, and I'll ask someone to leak all of your photos! I'm not kidding!"

Xu Ai covered her forehead with her hand.

"So? Erudite Scholar Lin! As the best friend of this brainless woman, let me ask you this; what is the reason for her absence from the blind date that was scheduled tonight at seven, and why was she with you instead?" Sun Pinting glowered at Lin Shen aggressively.

Lin Shen looked at Sun Pinting before shifting his gaze to Xu Ai. "Blind date?"

Xu Ai's face turned ghastly. She thought maybe it wasn't her accidentally using his cup that was going to make her night worse, but rather this. She nodded her head under his gaze. She did, in fact, have a blind date. 

The light in Lin Shen's eyes flickered when she nodded. He suddenly smiled. "So that was it!"

These four words dancing in the night wind were ambiguous. She couldn't decipher his tone as joyous or cold. 

Xu Ai felt her blood flowing backward in her body as if she had been hit by some sorcery. 

Sun Pinting frowned and wanted to comment further. Just then, a couple walked by the dormitory, and the guy shouted, "Lin Shen!" He then looked at Xu Ai and paused. "You're escorting your girlfriend back again!" His tone was strange. 

Lin Shen suddenly turned away and glanced at the guy. "She is not my girlfriend!" His tone was cold and flat. Then, he left the dormitory without looking back.