Chapter 181: Reminiscing (Part 2)

Almost the instant Luo Shaotian said those words—

Make a call?
Call Lin Yu?
Call… myself?!

“Gulp.”

Lin Yu swallowed hard, her heart pounding wildly in her chest, beating so fiercely it made her eardrums buzz.

Th-this guy… did he notice something?

No… no way!
My acting—maybe not Oscar-worthy, but fooling him should’ve been more than enough, right?!

Back then, I’d played the textbook-level “gold-digging girl” persona so perfectly—
I’d clearly tricked him until he was limping away mentally!

“Calm down… Lin Yu, calm down!
As long as I’m not embarrassed, then the one who’s embarrassed is him!”

She forcibly suppressed the panic about to burst out of her chest, even squeezing out a coquettish smile. She reached out and lightly tapped the tabletop with her finger.

“Aiya… uncle, what are you doing?”

She deliberately dragged out the ending, questioning him in a sweet, spoiled tone.

“Why are you suddenly so concerned about my boyfriend? Don’t tell me you’re… jealous?”

However, this “act cute and muddle through” trick—normally foolproof—
ran straight into a wall today.

Luo Shaotian didn’t take the bait. There wasn’t even the slightest ripple in his expression.

He simply looked at her quietly.

Those deep black eyes were like two bottomless ancient wells, staring straight at her—
as if they wanted to pierce through that adorable outer shell and look straight into the flustered soul beneath.

This silence was more unsettling than any outburst.

Lin Yu started to crack. Her gaze drifted uncontrollably, her fingers nervously twisting the hem of her skirt.

“N-no… why are you calling him over? He—he’s very busy, okay?”

“Busy?”

Luo Shaotian raised an eyebrow, his tone flat but sharp.

“What could he possibly be busy with? As far as I know, logistics staff move with the magical girls. Since you’re not on a mission right now, sitting here drinking tea, then as your partner, he should logically be on break as well.”

“I—I assigned him extra work!”
Lin Yu blurted it out without thinking.

“Oh? What kind of work?”

“Just… just…”

Her face flushed red. Finally, she clenched her teeth and pulled out the ultimate female trump card.

“I sent him to buy sanitary pads, okay?! My period’s here recently! My stomach hurts! Can’t I have him run an errand?!”

That was private enough. Embarrassing enough, right?

By normal straight-guy logic, hearing something like that should make him blush and dodge the topic, right?

Sure enough, Luo Shaotian fell silent.

Inside, Lin Yu let out a huge sigh of relief and silently gave herself a victory sign.

Looks like this round is safe…

“Since that’s the case, I won’t insist on him coming in person.”

Luo Shaotian nodded lightly.

Just as Lin Yu thought she’d escaped disaster and was about to lift her teacup to steady herself—

“Then you—”

Luo Shaotian added the second half of the sentence.

“—can video call him.”

“Pfft—!”

The mouthful of hot tea Lin Yu had just swallowed nearly sprayed out.

“Huh… h-huh?!”

She stared at him like he was a monster.

“V-video?!”

“Yes. Video.”

“Aiya… y-you—what is wrong with you today?!”

Lin Yu panicked. Completely panicked.

She sprang to her feet. The movement was too sudden—her knee slammed hard into the tea table. Pain shot through her, making her bare her teeth, but she didn’t even have time to care.

“First the company tricks me into coming here for a reunion, then you want me to call my boyfriend…”

“Are you done yet?!”

“I’ve told you a hundred times already! We’re deeply in love! I’m never going to consider you! Give it up already!”

She fired off her words like a machine gun, trying to drown out her overwhelming terror with volume and anger.

Yet in the face of her hysteria—

Luo Shaotian simply lifted his head slightly, his gaze still terrifyingly calm.

“Finished?”

“Eh?”

Lin Yu froze like a duck with its neck grabbed.

“Finished talking? Then call him.”

Luo Shaotian reached out and lightly tapped the screen of the black phone twice.

“H-here. Right here. Call him in front of me.”

……

Lin Yu was completely frozen.

She felt like a prisoner forced to the edge of a cliff—
behind her, a bottomless abyss;
in front of her, an executioner holding a gun.

Call?

How?!

Left hand calling the right hand?!

The air in the tea room seemed to solidify. Only the ticking of the wall clock—tick, tick—each sound hammering against Lin Yu’s skull.

Cold sweat burst out like a broken faucet, instantly soaking through her thin underwear, sticking wetly to her back.

One second.

Two seconds.

Ten seconds passed.

Lin Yu still stood there like a statue, unmoving.

“Heh…”

Watching her like this, Luo Shaotian let out a very soft, cold laugh.

There was no mockery in it—only a sense of as expected, mixed with a faint, barely perceptible… pain.

“Looks like you really can’t make the call.”

He slowly withdrew his phone.

“If you won’t call, then I will.”

With that, he gave Lin Yu no chance to react. His long fingers skillfully scrolled through the contacts, stopping at the name labeled “A-Yu.”

Then, without hesitation, he pressed dial.

The long ringing tone was infinitely amplified in the dead silence of the room.

Lin Yu’s pupils shrank violently. Her heart almost leapt out of her throat.

Don’t…
Please don’t…

I remember putting it on silent…
I did mute it, right?!

However, Murphy’s Law tells us: if you’re worried something might happen, it’s even more likely to happen.

The next second—

“Ding-ling-ling—!!!”

A cheerful electronic ringtone suddenly rang out from Lin Yu’s wrist!

It was the contract bracelet’s alert tone.

Ever since she got this communication device, her old phone had been sold off, so all calls—whether to Lin Yu’s main account or Lulu’s clone—came through this terminal.

“Buzz buzz buzz—”

The bracelet vibrated crazily on her wrist, so strongly her bones felt numb.

In that instant, Lin Yu felt like her soul had left her body.

“Oh?”

Luo Shaotian still held his phone steadily to his ear, but his gaze landed playfully on Lin Yu’s violently vibrating wrist.

“Your phone’s ringing.”

“I-it’s a spam call!”

Lin Yu made her final, desperate struggle.

Her face was deathly pale. Her lips trembled, her eyes filled with terror like a small beast driven into a corner.

“L-lately… insurance sales calls are everywhere! It’s so annoying!”

“Spam call? Then why don’t you hang up?”

Luo Shaotian didn’t raise his voice, but his gaze was sharp as a blade.

“If it’s a spam call, just hang up. Why let it keep ringing?”

“H-hang up…?”

Lin Yu felt like she was suffocating.

How could she hang up?!

He was dialing her right now—if she hung up, his phone would immediately show ‘The other party has rejected the call.’

How was that any different from blowing herself up on the spot?!

Then mute it?

Please—those detective eyes of Luo Shaotian’s were locked onto her every move. Reaching out to press the bracelet now would scream guilty conscience.

Then… ignore it?

Let it keep ringing?

That would be even worse.

Sooner or later, his call would auto-end, or the ringtone would stop.

And the silence that followed—the perfectly synchronized silence—would be even more terrifying than the ringing itself.

It was a dead end.

A complete dead end.

No retreat.
No excuses.
No loopholes to exploit.

“Ding-ling-ling—ding-ling-ling—”

The ringtone kept ringing tirelessly, like the devil’s laughter.

Lin Yu closed her eyes in despair.

Though she didn’t want to face it.
Though she wanted to run away forever…

Things had come to this.

She had to admit it.
She had to face that cruel reality—

The friend who had once shared life-and-death moments with her,
this sharp-instincted criminal police officer…

He had already guessed it.

And now—he had confirmed it.

“Hah…”

Lin Yu let out a long breath, as if exhaling all the disguises and pressure she’d carried for months.

Slowly, she raised her hand.

Right in front of Luo Shaotian—

She pressed the red hang-up button.

Beep.

The ringtone cut off abruptly.

Almost at the exact same moment—

From Luo Shaotian’s phone came the call-ended notification.

!!!

Luo Shaotian’s hand dropped weakly.
The black phone, still displaying “Call Ended,” felt as heavy as a thousand jin.

He had imagined this moment countless times.

Reason had long since given him the answer.

But when that utterly absurd truth actually detonated before his eyes like a nuclear bomb…

His mind still went blank.

So it really is you…

It really is…!!!

Before he could even say that name—

Lin Yu completely collapsed.

She snapped her head up. Her smooth, straight black hair flew into disarray with the violent movement, slapping against her face like a madwoman’s.

That porcelain-white face was now flushed tomato-red.

Shame.
Anger.
Despair.

She clenched her teeth, tears spinning in her eyes, like a rabbit pushed past its breaking point.

“So what if it’s me!!!”

“You figured out who I am! Confirmed your suspicions! Dug up all my secrets! Watched me perform like a clown right in front of you…”

“You happy now?! Satisfied?! Feeling accomplished, huh?!”

“Great Detective Sherlock?! Modern-day Li Changyu?! Want me to give you a medal?!”

“You win! You completely win! All right?! Happy now?!”

Her voice grew sharper and sharper, almost breaking into sobs.

She was done.

Really, completely done.

This feeling—like being stripped naked and paraded in public—was worse than killing her.

Since things were already like this, what was the point of pretending anymore?

Destroy it all!

Hurry up!

That’s right—you guessed absolutely right!

Lin Yu!
I am that Lin Yu!

Your best bro!
The old virgin who’s been single for over twenty years and never even held a girl’s hand!

The one who made you restless, drove you crazy, made you so horny you wanted to smash pots and sell iron just to spend three million to keep her—

The magical girl Lulu!!!

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