Chapter 97: The First and Last Time

How could Liying possibly agree to stay away from Chen Lin?

Chen Lin said in a harsh tone, “If you don’t want to get hurt in the future, stay away from me. That would be better for you.”

What Liying cared about more than physical pain was whether Chen Lin cared about her.

Not having his attention was something she didn’t want to happen.

A little injury would get Chen Lin to notice her.

Then, wouldn’t a little more injury make him care even more?

If she got hurt badly enough, would Chen Lin come to like her?

Liying didn’t know why she had these thoughts, but she felt the idea might work.

Of course it was a dangerous thought, and she knew it clearly.

But what she wanted was simple. Really very simple. Just to get Chen Lin’s concern and love. She hadn’t lost her mind, and her intelligence hadn’t dropped because of it.

Because she still had her reason, after weighing the pros and cons, she thought this plan was workable.

After all, physical wounds would heal eventually.

But if she couldn’t have Chen Lin, she had no idea how to fill the void in her heart.

She had finally, as if by a gift from heaven, met the person she liked most. How could she let him slip away so easily?

“Actually, someone has been bothering me recently…” Liying said to Chen Lin.

Liying lied instinctually. She wanted Chen Lin to pay more attention to her.

“So? What does that have to do with me?” He said it as if it were the most natural thing.

“…So… could you protect me?”

Chen Lin found the request absurd. Him protect Liying? How could he agree to that?

“Go find someone else,” he said impatiently. He had no desire to protect her.

“I don’t have anyone else I can trust besides you,” Liying said, looking at him with pleading eyes.

“That has nothing to do with me.” Chen Lin didn’t want to have any more involvement with her and turned to leave.

Chen Lin remembered that when they first met, due to a misunderstanding, Liying had thrown him over her shoulder several times.

He figured she could handle ordinary threats on her own.

Watching Chen Lin walk away, Liying didn’t follow. She asked in a weak voice, “Really? It doesn’t matter?”

Chen Lin didn’t even turn his head. “Of course it doesn’t matter…”

“…I see… I hope you won’t regret today’s decision…” Liying said gloomily. She didn’t keep pestering him. Instead, she dragged her tired, forlorn silhouette and walked off in the opposite direction.

Even though Chen Lin had kept walking without looking back, he was actually keeping an eye on what was behind him. He was afraid his words might bring some unforeseeable danger.

Now he had confirmed that Liying wasn’t planning to give up on him easily. By his experience, that made her very likely to do something dangerous to him.

Maybe she would stab some weapon into his unguarded back.

But what Chen Lin had imagined didn’t happen. Not only did Liying not chase after him or cling to him, she turned and left instead.

Chen Lin had already prepared a plan for how to fend her off, but now it was completely useless.

Because Liying didn’t need to be driven away. She had left on her own, which was completely outside his expectations.

But this situation didn’t ease Chen Lin’s mind or make him happy. Instead, he felt a vague sense of unease.

Chen Lin stopped and looked in Liying’s direction. Her figure now looked so fragile, like the day he had easily pushed her down.

If Liying was attacked by the ‘harasser’ she mentioned, would she really be okay in that state?

Chen Lin shook his head. What did this have to do with him? He shouldn’t worry about Liying. He should just take care of his own business. He could barely take care of himself, so he had no spare energy to care about others.

Besides, there was no proof that Liying’s words were true.

Chen Lin hesitated for a moment, then finally decided to go home immediately.

He couldn’t have any more ties with Liying. Let it all end here.

After getting home, Chen Lin felt heavy-hearted and had no appetite. But since it was mealtime, he made himself a cup of instant noodles.

Boiling water rushed into the cup, and soon it covered the noodle block.

Just as the water was about to overflow, Chen Lin reacted and stopped pouring just in time.

After putting down the kettle, he closed the lid.

Standing nearby, he didn’t wait impatiently for the noodles to cook. He was lost in thought.

When he snapped back to reality and realized he was making instant noodles, the noodles in the cup had already clumped into a sticky mass.

Having no appetite anyway, Chen Lin took a bite. It tasted like chewing wax.

His taste buds couldn’t pick up the seasoning aroma. All he could taste was the cheap artificial beef flavor.

The sorrowful look in Liying’s eyes before she left refused to leave Chen Lin’s mind. He couldn’t help but be concerned about her.

Chen Lin told himself that this wasn’t liking Liying. It was just simple concern.

It was all because Liying had told him strange things, saying she was being harassed by a stranger. How could he not be concerned after hearing that?

Speaking of which, her fragile state now was partly his fault.

If something irreversible happened to Liying because of him, Chen Lin felt he would absolutely be guilt-ridden.

Chen Lin put down the cup of instant noodles. This wouldn’t do. Now all he could think about was Liying.

He was really worried about her now.

This is the first time, and the last time.

At least this once, considering that Liying had asked him for the first time and had no one else to trust, he would help her solve the problem of her harasser.

It wasn’t because he had gone soft. He just didn’t want to do something that would betray his own character.

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