Xu Zhinan was confused by his accusation that was like a thief crying “stop thief,” but she had indeed almost looked down just now. With a flushed face, she held his gaze for a moment before getting annoyed. “You’re the one who’s perverted.”

He smiled lazily. “I’m brave enough to admit it. Are you?”

“…”

Xu Zhinan snorted and turned her head away, refusing to look at him. “I wasn’t.”

“Fine.” He nodded readily. “If you say you weren’t, then you weren’t.”

Xu Zhinan couldn’t stay any longer. “I’m going back now. My friend is waiting for me.”

“Wait,” Lin Qingye said. “Give it a moment.”

Xu Zhinan was stunned for a second before she realized what he meant by “give it a moment.” Not knowing what to say, she sat back down.

Lin Qingye chuckled softly beside her, sounding a bit mischievous.

She suddenly understood that Lin Qingye’s “moment” had nothing to do with her. She tossed back a “then you take your moment” and ran straight out of the ping pong room.

After running quite far, she remembered their conversation in the room, and her steps quickened even more, as if trying to leave those embarrassing words far behind.

She had just unconsciously glanced downward, and he had immediately made a lewd joke.

Though her relationship with Lin Qingye had grown closer these days, their interaction was completely different from before. Sometimes Xu Zhinan even felt that the current Lin Qingye didn’t seem like the same person as before.

And now, with that rogue and mischievous behavior, he had reverted to his previous self.

Xu Zhinan ran back to her classroom seat.

Zhao Qian asked, “Why did you take so long, and why are you running back?”

She shook her head and sat down next to Zhao Qian without saying much.

“Where did Lin Qingye go? I haven’t seen him for a while.”

Xu Zhinan pressed her lips together. “I don’t know.”

“Maybe he went back. He’s only been here a short while, but many people online already know about it.” Zhao Qian said, scrolling to the news article on her phone to show Xu Zhinan.

There were already many comments below.

Aaaaaaahhhhh!! I want to be my brother’s junior too!!!

This is like a scene from an idol drama! The series where the cold senior falls in love with me!!!

I’m so envious of the sisters at Ping University, wuwuwuwu!

Can I ask if Qingye’s brother is still at Pingchuan University now? If I rush over, is there still a chance to bump into him??

Let me go off-topic for a moment, the girl in photo P3 looks so pretty. Are random passersby already this gorgeous now? I don’t deserve to live in this world anymore?

Hahahahaha let me tell you as a Ping University student, the girl you mentioned isn’t a passerby. That’s the campus beauty queen of Ping University, already in her senior year, super gorgeous!!!

Wuwuwu this photo of Lin Qingye, I’m truly in love!!!

This brother’s photo gives off the vibe of a pure male college student!!

“…”

Pure male college student?

Xu Zhinan thought of the scene in the ping pong room earlier and couldn’t bear to read such comments anymore.

She returned the phone to Zhao Qian, and just then Lin Qingye sent her a message.

[Lin Qingye: Back already?]

[Xu Zhinan: Mm.]

[Lin Qingye: Want to have dinner together?]

Xu Zhinan sat under the shade of an umbrella, still able to hear several girls nearby discussing Lin Qingye. She pushed her face with the back of her hand and replied: Not eating.

She stayed at the sports field for a while longer, and when it was finally time to leave, the three roommates went to the cafeteria together for dinner.

Lin Qingye didn’t appear again, probably having gone home already.

After dinner, Xu Zhinan didn’t return to the dormitory but went to the tattoo shop instead, as she had an evening appointment with a customer.

After waiting about ten minutes at the shop, the customer arrived.

Xu Zhinan took out the finalized design from her bag, but realized she had also brought along the self-portrait their professor had asked them to draw in class.

The customer noticed it. “What’s this?”

She picked up the drawing, looked at it, then looked at Xu Zhinan and smiled. “Who asked you to design this?”

“This isn’t a tattoo design, just a school assignment. We were asked to draw ourselves as we see ourselves.”

“You’re still in school?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Can you manage both school and the shop? No wonder it’s so hard to book you. If my friend hadn’t kept recommending you, I might have gone to ‘Assassin’ for a tattoo instead.”

Xu Zhinan smiled. “I used to manage fine, but after winning that award, I’ve had so many customers that I can’t keep up with all the drawings by myself. Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“I don’t mind,” the customer waved dismissively, then asked, “Where do you study?”

“Just across the street, Pingchuan University.”

“Ping University!” She suddenly became interested. “I saw on Weibo this morning that Lin Qingye visited the school today! Didn’t he just graduate from Ping University?”

Xu Zhinan paused in her tattoo preparation. “Mm,” she responded.

“Did you see him?”

“Yes, we had our sports meet today.” Xu Zhinan chuckled. “Are you his fan?”

“I knew him before he joined the show. Didn’t he use to sing at the bar next door? I even went there several times for him.”

Xu Zhinan finished her preparations and put on a mask and gloves. “Let’s go to the work bed. For the abdomen area, you’ll need to lie down.”

This customer’s design wasn’t large, but the details were very intricate, making it quite time-consuming.

It took two full hours to complete.

Xu Zhinan removed her gloves and threw them in the trash, only then noticing that Lin Qingye had sent her a message asking if there was anyone at the shop.

[Xu Zhinan: Just finished a tattoo. No one’s here now.]

After seeing the customer off, Lin Qingye arrived shortly after, still fully covered with mask and hat.

“Any more customers coming?”

“No.”

Lin Qingye pulled down the rolling door.

“Why did you come over?” Xu Zhinan continued tidying up the tattoo supplies from earlier.

Lin Qingye looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “Not angry anymore?”

“Huh?”

He chuckled softly. “Thought you were angry. Came to comfort you.”

“…”

Had he not mentioned it, Xu Zhinan would have forgotten all about the ping pong room incident from earlier.

The time they could spend together was quite limited. Lin Qingye was busy preparing his album and recording shows, while Xu Zhinan’s tattoo shop had become quite busy since she won the award.

In the past, whenever they were together, Lin Qingye would usually lead them straight to the point with little conversation.

They truly didn’t have many common topics, and their personalities were quite different. Xu Zhinan had always felt they weren’t from the same world, and she wasn’t wrong. Even now, they don’t have many common topics.

But something had changed from before.

Even with a few topics to discuss, being together no longer felt awkward—it felt comfortable.

“How are you planning to spend the National Day holiday?” Lin Qingye asked.

“Just staying at the shop. Several customers have already made appointments for tattoos during the holiday.”

“You’re so busy all the time. How’s your neck holding up?”

As he spoke, he raised his hand and placed it on the back of her neck, giving her a gentle massage.

With his touch, Xu Zhinan’s spine tensed up, but in the end, she didn’t move away, remaining stiff as she allowed him to knead her neck.

Working with her head down for two straight hours, and being busy before that, had indeed left her quite sore.

Lin Qingye pressed some kind of acupressure point, and a feeling of soreness gushed out like a spring. Xu Zhinan shrank her neck and let out a soft sound.

Lin Qingye’s fingertips paused, and he laughed. “Don’t tempt me.”

“…”

Since opening up at the ping pong room that afternoon, this guy had become increasingly shameless.

Xu Zhinan swatted his hand away and turned to the side.

“Don’t want a massage?” Lin Qingye raised his eyebrows and asked.

“No,” Xu Zhinan answered ruthlessly.

Lin Qingye touched her face with his index finger. “Angry again, huh?”

“What do you mean ‘again’?”

Xu Zhinan, like any ordinary girl, objected to accusations that included the word “again.”

“You were the one who started it.”

He laughed out loud, with a teasing, dragging tone, his voice stretching long, tender and entangling, almost like whining: “What did I do?”

Xu Zhinan glared at him unhappily, not knowing how to explain, so she just snorted and turned her head away, refusing to even look at him.

Lin Qingye naturally knew why she was angry. He wasn’t usually one to make suggestive jokes, but when it came to Xu Zhinan, he couldn’t help wanting to tease her.

“Getting angry over this.” He gently pinched her chin. “You didn’t use to have such a temper.”

That’s because I used to like you.

Xu Zhinan thought silently.

But as soon as this thought crossed her mind, she wondered, had she completely stopped liking Lin Qingye now?

Xu Zhinan was someone who understood herself well. If she truly no longer liked Lin Qingye at all, she wouldn’t give him any chance, and he wouldn’t be standing here now.

She had indeed secretly relaxed many restrictions for him.

But now she dared to get angry with Lin Qingye.

Because now the relationship between them had changed—it was no longer her silently looking up to him from afar.

This was something Xu Zhinan could understand.

Seeing her not speaking, Lin Qingye thought he had truly made her angry. He bent down to look into her eyes and softened his voice. “Upset?”

Xu Zhinan pressed her lips together and looked at him.

They were very close. His eyes weren’t pure black; under the light, they looked almost deep brown.

He touched her ear. “I’m sorry. Don’t be angry, okay?”

His voice was indeed pleasant to hear. Listening to it so close made her eardrum tingle, and the ear he touched began to burn.

Xu Zhinan pushed gently against his shoulder, making him stand straight again, finally increasing the distance between them. She turned her head to the side. “I’m not angry.”

Lin Qingye smiled and shifted his gaze to her desk, spotting the drawing paper lying there.

He flipped the paper over and saw Xu Zhinan’s portrait.

He could recognize her at first glance—beautiful and bright, with a gentle smile. The eyes were particularly well-drawn, glistening as if smiling at him through the paper.

“Why did you draw this?”

“School assignment.”

“I thought it was a tattoo design you made.”

Xu Zhinan: “But who would want to tattoo a drawing like this?”

Lin Qingye smiled. “It looks good, doesn’t it?”

“Why would anyone tattoo my portrait on themselves? That would be too strange.”

“Then you can give this drawing to me. My back still has a large space, with just a name there now. It looks odd.” Lin Qingye said casually.

Xu Zhinan paused, glancing at him, unsure if he was joking or serious.

“A piece this big would be painful to tattoo. You already thought just the name was painful.”

Lin Qingye clicked his tongue, seemingly dissatisfied with her mentioning the name tattoo.

For some reason, Xu Zhinan remembered how his eyes had reddened after getting “Ah Nan” tattooed, and looking at his current expression, she couldn’t help but laugh.

Lin Qingye watched the young woman for a moment, waiting for her to finish laughing before raising his hand to tap her forehead twice with his index finger. “Heartless.”

The topic of tattooing her portrait quickly passed, and Lin Qingye didn’t bring it up again, probably just a casual comment.

The next evening, the sports meet ended, and the National Day holiday officially began.

The school’s earliest small-scale autumn recruitment fair also started. Xu Zhinan didn’t worry about finding a job, planning to focus on running her tattoo shop, which was already showing some success.

At noon, she returned from the tattoo shop, had lunch with Zhao Qian in the cafeteria, and then accompanied her to the recruitment fair.

For the Art and Design major, finding work in a big city like Yan City wasn’t difficult—many companies needed designers. As soon as they reached the entrance of the recruitment fair, they were handed numerous flyers.

Xu Zhinan had made many friends during her four years at university. Zhao Qian went to look around as soon as they entered, while Xu Zhinan stood to the side chatting with other classmates who were also attending the fair.

Zhao Qian had prepared her resume in advance and was very efficient, quickly submitting it to several companies before finishing.

“Why are you so fast?”

“Just submitting randomly.” Zhao Qian had always been like this, not one to plan her goals meticulously. “This is just the first recruitment fair anyway, and these aren’t the best companies. I’m just getting some experience first.”

Xu Zhinan: “I saw some of my junior friends from my third year also coming.”

“That’s too intense, preparing for interviews in their junior year?” Zhao Qian paused, then added, “But compared to you, they’re not early at all. Didn’t you start learning tattoos in high school?”

“Yes, I started learning from my master then.”

“Looking at you, it really is better to start preparing early. Now you have no worries for graduation season. You’re definitely at the top of the salary pyramid among graduating students, probably in the entrepreneurship category.”

Xu Zhinan smiled. “It’s not that dramatic.”

“If I can’t find a job, maybe I’ll just come work for you.” Zhao Qian said, “By the way, you’re so busy now. Haven’t you thought about hiring someone?”

“I’ve been thinking about it recently, but resident tattoo artists are hard to find. Usually, you have to train apprentices yourself, which takes a long time, and you also have to see if they have talent in this area.”

Zhao Qian sighed. “Every industry has its own troubles. I see that Yue Yue is preparing for graduate school and looks so exhausted she has no energy left.”

Originally, Xu Zhinan thought the recruitment fair would take up the entire afternoon, so she hadn’t scheduled any clients. Now that it ended early, she planned to go to the shop to finish drawing the remaining design.

Unexpectedly, as soon as she left the south gate of the school, she ran into Ji Yan and Shi Si.

The last time she had met Ji Yan was during the summer break when she got sick and went to the hospital, and she hadn’t seen Shi Si since he parted ways with Lin Qingye.

The two were sitting in a brand-new car, with Shi Si in the driver’s seat and Ji Yan in the passenger seat.

The window rolled down. “Pride of Pingchuan!” Ji Yan shouted.

Xu Zhinan was startled by this title. Other students nearby looked over at the sound, glanced at Xu Zhinan, and whispered with laughter.

She jogged to the car and bent down. “What’s up?”

“Are you free later?”

“Yes.”

“Then come with us. We’re about to visit the captain.”

“Ah.” Xu Zhinan, being slow to warm up to people, waved her hand in refusal. “I’ll pass. You two go ahead.”

“Come on,” Shi Si also spoke up.

He truly hadn’t taken Xu Zhinan seriously before, thinking she was just another of his captain’s fleeting girlfriends. But now the tables had turned, as had their status, and he couldn’t afford to be dismissive.

He added, “The captain will definitely be happy to see you!”

“…”

Xu Zhinan wasn’t good at refusing people, especially those she wasn’t familiar with.

Seeing her hesitation, Ji Yan got out of the car directly and pulled her into the backseat.

“This is Shi Si’s car that he just picked up today. You’re getting to ride in it while it’s still brand new,” Ji Yan said with a laugh.

“Just picked up today?” Xu Zhinan was truly a bit awkward, so she followed along with a formal, official congratulation. “Congratulations.”

Shi Si: “…”

He really couldn’t imagine what it was like for the captain to pursue this “Pride of Pingchuan.”

They drove to the underground parking lot of the Mingqi Apartments.

Ji Yan sent Lin Qingye a voice message: “Captain, Shi Si and I are downstairs, and we’ve brought you a surprise.”

She said the latter half of the “surprise” quite mysteriously, but unfortunately, it didn’t catch Lin Qingye’s attention at all. He completely ignored it and responded simply: “Okay.”

One word, and that was it.

Ji Yan clicked her tongue a few times.

Taking the elevator up, the doorbell rang, and Lin Qingye quickly came to open the door.

He had just shaved his head, making the sides neat and emphasizing his angular face. His sharp features were more prominent, and he wore casual home clothes with slippers.

His face showed no particular expression until he saw Xu Zhinan standing behind the other two.

His gaze paused, and his expression visibly softened. “Why did you come?”

Completely ignored, Shi Si and Ji Yan: “………………”

Xu Zhinan: “Met them on the road, so I came along.”

Today, Ji Yan and Shi Si hadn’t come to chat casually. Lin Qingye had a band-style song on his new album that needed everyone to try playing together.

Not long after, Guan Chi also arrived, and seeing Xu Zhinan sitting on the sofa, he was equally surprised. But then he broke into a smile and greeted her: “Sister-in-law is here too.”

Xu Zhinan froze, wanting to explain, but Guan Chi had already quickly turned to talk with Ji Yan and the others.

The three gathered together, speaking quite softly, but Xu Zhinan could still hear clearly.

Shi Si nudged Guan Chi with his elbow, teasing, “Nice assist, directly confirming the title. Next time we need to make the captain treat us to a good meal.”

Xu Zhinan: “…”

Lin Qingye smiled lazily and walked over to her side. “We’re going to practice the song first. Can you wait a bit?”

“Mm.”

He raised his hand and ruffled his hair, saying softly, “Good girl.”

The three others collectively shuddered but pretended not to see Lin Qingye’s change in character.

Lin Qingye’s apartment was very spacious, with a huge floor-to-ceiling window at the front of the living room. There wasn’t much furniture, making it appear even more open.

Xu Zhinan had been here a few times before, but had only been to the bedroom and living room. This time, she saw the room on the other side of the living room for the first time.

It had many instruments, with various guitars of different materials and instruments she had never seen before hanging on the wall.

In the center, a drum set was placed on the carpet, with an electronic keyboard and piano nearby.

The room had also been specially soundproofed.

Lin Qingye distributed the previously written sheet music to them. The three band members took their usual roles: Guan Chi on drums, Ji Yan on bass, and Shi Si on keyboard.

This time, since it was just for background music without vocals, they switched to dual drummers, with Lin Qingye joining Guan Chi.

He sat at the drum set, struck out an intro rhythm with the drumsticks, and everyone joined in.

Since their last performance at the bar, Xu Zhinan hadn’t seen the four of them play instruments together for a long time.

The drumbeats fell like a sudden rainstorm.

Lin Qingye playing the drums was very eye-catching. He had previously played drums and sang in an episode of “I Come for Music,” and when it aired that evening, it immediately trended, causing everyone to turn into screaming fans.

With one piece of music, they became proficient after only five or six practices.

Having worked together for so many years, they had that basic chemistry.

After a pause, they offered suggestions, made some detailed modifications, and practiced two more times before finalizing it.

“I’ll call you when it’s time to record,” Lin Qingye said.

“Sure.”

Everyone agreed, and since Xu Zhinan was there, they didn’t want to be third wheels, so they quickly left together.

Lin Qingye closed the door, leaving only him and Xu Zhinan in the apartment.

“Hungry?”

It was already dinner time.

“Not really.”

Lin Qingye took out his phone, opened the delivery app for a restaurant they frequented, and handed it to her. “You order first. The password is your birthday. I’m going to take a shower.”

Xu Zhinan paused, but by the time she looked at him, he had already turned and entered the bathroom.

Playing the drums took a lot of energy, and he had played so many times just now. His hair was wet with sweat, and his clothes were soaked, vaguely revealing his muscle lines.

Xu Zhinan held his phone.

He had already opened the delivery page for her. The pictures looked very exquisite and appetizing, but the prices were astonishingly high.

The sound of water came from the bathroom, droplets hitting the tiles, which seemed to echo in Xu Zhinan’s heart.

She browsed for quite a while, ordered four dishes, and checked out. A payment password prompt appeared.

Six digits.

Xu Zhinan added the last two digits of her birth year and entered them. Payment successful.

Her fingertips paused, and her dark eyelashes fluttered slightly.

Just as she was about to put the phone down, it suddenly vibrated. Xu Zhinan instinctively looked down.

The contact name was Lin Guancheng. She quickly realized this must be Lin Qingye’s father.

[Lin Guancheng: Are you free now?]

She didn’t look further, turned off the screen, and placed the phone aside, sitting upright on the sofa.

Shortly after, Lin Qingye came out. He had also washed his hair, with a towel covering his head. It wasn’t completely dry, and water droplets slid down his neck, leaving a damp patch.

At the same time, the doorbell rang.

“Did you order the food?” Lin Qingye asked, turning his head.

“Mm.”

“That was fast.”

He tossed the towel onto the coffee table and went to open the door, then the entryway fell silent.

After a moment, a male voice at the door said, “I sent you a message. Why didn’t you reply?”

It sounded familiar, as if she had heard it before. Xu Zhinan belatedly realized that the person at the door wasn’t the delivery driver but Lin Qingye’s father, Lin Guancheng.

She immediately tensed up, not knowing how to explain why she was in his son’s apartment or how to introduce herself.

Lin Qingye’s tone remained calm. “Didn’t see it. What’s up?”

“Nothing urgent. It’s the National Day holiday, so I came to check on you.”

Lin Qingye gave a self-mocking laugh.

Lin Guancheng: “Let me in first.”

Xu Zhinan instantly went on high alert. Lin Qingye had already let Lin Guancheng in, but he didn’t intend to explain much to his father. With a composed expression, he walked to Xu Zhinan’s side and looked at the drawing board she had taken out earlier, which still had a half-finished design.

“Is this what you’re drawing?” Lin Qingye asked.

“Mm.”

“Go draw in the bedroom for now. We’ll eat together when the delivery arrives.”

He bent down to pick up the drawing board and her bag, then walked toward the bedroom.

Xu Zhinan followed, giving only a slight nod to Lin Guancheng as she passed by.

Lin Qingye placed her things on the bedroom table, poured herself a glass of water, closed the bedroom door, and went back out.

Lin Guancheng sat on the sofa. Seeing him come out, he gestured toward the room. “Girlfriend? She was at the police station that time too, right?”

“What did you want to see me about?”

“It’s the holiday. Take some time to come home for a meal, or bring your girlfriend too. Let everyone get to know each other.”

“Get to know who?” Lin Qingye laughed coldly. “After all these years, aren’t you tired of trying to reconcile my relationship with her?”

Lin Guancheng looked at him and was momentarily speechless.

His son was just like this—straightforward, leaving no face for anyone, immediately exposing his intentions.

Lin Guancheng sighed. “She’s still your mother. She carried you for ten months and gave birth to you.”

“She’s Shiheng’s mother, not mine.”

“Hey, you—” Lin Guancheng was momentarily at a loss for words.

Lin Qingye looked at him with amusement. “Aren’t you also in self-denial? Your son is not her son. Shiheng is.”

Lin Guancheng’s expression darkened, and he exploded in anger. “Lin Qingye! Watch what you’re saying!”

He didn’t react, just pushing the cigarette pack with his index finger, opening and closing it, trying to resist his cigarette craving.

The atmosphere was silent yet tense, with undercurrents flowing. Eventually, Lin Guancheng was the first to soften.

“Qingye, go back and have a good talk with your mother. What grudge between mother and son could last so many years? Your mother has a hard temperament; she’s stubborn with you, with herself, and it was also because of the accident with Shiheng. If you give her an opening to vent, things will get better.”

Lin Qingye said nothing, just lit a cigarette and put it in his mouth.

In the end, he couldn’t resist the craving.

With nothing more to say, Lin Guancheng could only stand up, drop a “think about it,” and leave.

Alone, he leaned against the sofa and finished his cigarette. Only then did the food delivery arrive.

Lin Qingye brought it in and went to the bedroom to call Xu Zhinan. She had finished drawing her design but still hadn’t come out, obediently staying in the bedroom.

“Dinner’s ready.” He leaned against the doorframe, calling her.

After dinner, Lin Qingye lit another cigarette.

Xu Zhinan looked at him. “Didn’t you say you were going to quit smoking?”

He paused, chuckled, and quickly stubbed it out in the ashtray. “I forgot.”

He turned on the TV, which was showing a rerun of the previous episode of “I Come for Music.”

After Lin Guancheng’s visit, the atmosphere in the room had completely changed. Xu Zhinan stared at the TV screen, hands on her thighs, back straight.

After a while, Lin Qingye raised his hand and pulled her shoulder back.

Xu Zhinan practically fell into his arms.

She smelled the lingering tobacco on him.

She couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong?”

Though she had been in the bedroom, she hadn’t been completely deaf to what was said. She had caught snippets here and there, but still couldn’t piece together a complete story in her mind.

He didn’t answer.

Xu Zhinan could sense his aversion to discussing his family situation, so she didn’t press further.

She tried to sit up straight again, but as soon as she straightened her back, he pulled her back, this time more forcefully, holding her waist close and pressing her into the sofa.

His arm wrapped around her waist. In her struggle, Xu Zhinan arched her chest, but he lowered his head and pressed against her neck.

Xu Zhinan immediately deflated like a punctured balloon, drawing back her chest.

He was pressing her uncomfortably; her chest felt heavy. She frowned slightly and called his name. “Lin Qingye.”

He remained unmoved, his freshly shaved hair prickly against her neck.

Suddenly, Xu Zhinan’s entire body stiffened, and the words she was about to say got stuck in her throat.

Her neck became wet, accompanied by a scalding touch.

Lin Qingye had licked her neck. After two seconds, he extended his tongue again, but this time he didn’t just lick—he bit a small piece of her delicate skin, grinding it slightly with his teeth.

He suddenly cursed in a hoarse voice. “Did you put something on?”

“No.”

Xu Zhinan didn’t know why she didn’t push him away, but instead answered his question.

So Lin Qingye licked her again, his lips wrapping around her neck intimately, making it burn.

He seemed genuinely curious. He straightened up a bit, scraped at her collarbone with his fingernail, looked for a while, then lay back down with his eyes half-closed.

“Why is it sweet?”

Xu Zhinan no longer indulged him. Frowning, she pushed hard. “Let go of me now.”

“No.”

“Lin Qingye!”

“I won’t let go.” His refusal was direct, like a child throwing a tantrum after losing a game.

The TV was still on, and simultaneously the host said: “Next, let’s welcome our next performing singer—Lin Qingye!”

Amid thunderous applause, Lin Qingye buried his face deeper into her neck and suddenly said in a muffled voice against her chest: “She was never good to me. Why should I apologize to her?”

His tone was stubborn and painful, as if fighting with himself.