novelraw Chapter 164 Bystander
Chapter 164 Bystander
Gu Yanshen gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white.
Lu Xiran stood there, the bouquet almost completely engulfing her. He wanted to get out of the car, to walk over, to pull her into the car, to ask her—you only said you loved me, so why did you accept flowers from someone else? He wanted to tell her that he was insanely jealous, so jealous that he wanted to throw that bouquet into the river whenever he saw it.
But he didn't move.
He was the one who pushed her away. His words and actions had left her utterly devastated. He had repeatedly told her, "You're not important, your love is a burden, leave." He had no right to stop her from accepting others.
Gu Yanshen stepped on the gas and drove past her.
She grew farther and farther away, smaller and smaller, until she disappeared from the rearview mirror. His hands on the steering wheel trembled—she had come, he had seen her, but he hadn't said a word.
Lu Xiran stood there, watching the car disappear into the night.
She lowered her head, looking at the bouquet of flowers in her arms. She sighed and turned back.
When she got home, she put the flowers on the coffee table, picked up her phone, and opened Gu Yanshen's chat window.
No new information. He knew, and he came, but he didn't say anything.
She typed a line, then deleted it. She typed another line, then deleted it again.
In the chat box, the message "The other party is typing" flashed briefly, then disappeared. She stared at the screen, waiting for one minute, two minutes, five minutes.
There was nothing there.
Perhaps it's just my imagination.
She tossed her phone onto the sofa and turned on the hairdryer. Halfway through drying her hair, she turned it off and picked up her phone again. The chat window was blank; there was nothing there. It was as if that brief flash had just been her imagination.
She scrolled through her WeChat Moments. The screen was filled with pictures of tonight's fireworks, and Xin Mubai's name. Some said he was extravagant, some said he was romantic, some said he was serious this time. He saw it too, didn't he? But he said nothing. He tacitly accepted it. He decided to move on.
Lu Xiran turned off her phone and the lights, then buried herself in the blankets.
In the darkness, she stared at the ceiling with her eyes open. Outside the window, she could hear cars driving by, the wind rustling through the leaves, and her own heartbeat.
She didn't cry.
I just felt like there was something missing in my chest, like there was a void there.
At six o'clock sharp the next day, the dark blue sports car appeared on time. Xin Mubai leaned against the car door, having changed into a light gray thin sweater. His hair wasn't as deliberately styled as yesterday, and it actually looked better. He was holding a cup of milk tea, which he handed to her when she came out.
"Less sugar, no ice." He opened the car door. "I saw your WeChat Moments."
Lu Xiran was stunned.
Did she post a picture of milk tea? If so, it was probably from three years ago.
"Don't be touched," he said, getting into the driver's seat and fastening his seatbelt. "I wanted to take advantage of the fact that you're still in the country to try a newly opened Thai restaurant. Otherwise, it's too much of a waste for one person to eat alone."
When they arrived at the restaurant, they discovered that he had booked the entire floor-to-ceiling window area.
The setting sun shone through the river, bathing the entire table in gold. Dishes were served one by one, all of which were her favorites—tom yum soup with less spice, curry crab rice served separately, and mango sticky rice with extra coconut milk.
He pushed the peeled crab meat towards me, saying, "Can you taste it and tell me if it's good?"
Lu Xiran looked at him, not knowing what to say, so she lowered her head and continued eating.
At the end of the meal, Xin Mubai took out his phone and took a picture of the empty plates on the table.
"what?"
"Post it on WeChat Moments." He typed with his head down. "The caption will be: This restaurant is great, I'd like to come again tomorrow."
"Xin Mubai—"
"Just kidding." He put away his phone, stood up, and said, "Let's go get some late-night snacks."
That night, he actually posted it on his WeChat Moments. It wasn't an empty plate, but a picture of the sunset over the river, with only two words in the caption: Beautiful.
Jin Qiqi asked in the comments section: With whom?
He replied: "And the person who wants her to be your cousin-in-law."
On the third day, after dinner, Xin Mubai and Lu Xiran passed by an escape room. He stopped and tilted his head to look at the sign.
"Want to play or not?"
Lu Xiran shook her head: "I've never played it."
"Then let's give it a try." He had already walked to the front desk.
"Is this a horror theme?" he asked the boss.
"It's slightly scary, mainly because of the plot and mystery."
"How severe is 'mild phobia'? Is she afraid of the dark, like someone suddenly jumping out?"
"There's an NPC chase sequence, but you won't actually encounter any people—"
"Can we cancel?" Xin Mubai asked earnestly. "I'll pay extra."
Lu Xiran, standing behind him, couldn't help but laugh out loud. He turned around, looking a little embarrassed, which was unusual for him.
"I was just asking. You're afraid of the dark, what if you get scared..."
"I'm fine."
"Okay," he told his boss, "the same as always. But if she makes a sound, I'll complain."
Lu Xiran was both amused and exasperated: "Are you being unreasonable?"
"I won't talk about it." He said matter-of-factly, "What logic do you need when you're pursuing someone?"
Once inside the secret room, he was even more nervous than she was. In the darkness, an NPC suddenly rushed out from around the corner. Before Lu Xiran could react, Xin Mubai was already in front of her, his entire body tense.
"Don't be afraid." His voice was a little tense. "He's just a staff member."
"I'm not afraid."
"Then why did you pull my clothes?"
Lu Xiran looked down and realized that her hand had somehow grabbed the hem of his clothes. She quickly let go, but Xin Mubai chuckled and stuffed the hem back into her hand.
"Please hold on. I'm scared."
That night, his WeChat Moments post was a photo of the escape room's exit, captioned: "Finally out. Next time, I won't choose one with NPCs."
Someone in the comments asked: Is there a next time?
He replied: "I'll try to have it every day."
On the fourth day, he took her to do DIY baking.
"Can you cook?" Lu Xiran looked at the table full of flour and utensils, expressing her doubt.
"No," Xin Mubai said calmly, tying on her apron. "But I can learn."
Then he sprinkled flour on the table, eggshells fell into the bowl, and the butter wouldn't whip up no matter what he did. Lu Xiran, watching from the side, was both annoyed and amused, and couldn't help but reach out to help him.
"Move a little to the left, yes, slowly—"
"Don't move," he suddenly said.
"what?"
"You have flour on your face."
He reached out and gently wiped the powder off the tip of her nose. The movement was so natural, as if he had done it many times before. But his ears turned red.
Lu Xiran was stunned for a moment and took half a step back.
Xin Mubai acted as if nothing had happened and continued to work against the flour. "If these cookies turn out decent, I'll treat you to them for a year. If not—" he thought for a moment, "I'll sign up for a class."
When the cookies came out of the oven, they were crooked and the patterns were blurry, but they tasted surprisingly good. Xin Mubai picked out one that was somewhat presentable and put it in a small box.
"This is for you."
Lu Xiran took the box.
"This—" he paused, "you can throw this away. But I want you to remember that someone clumsily baked cookies for you."
That night, his WeChat Moments post was a crooked photo of a cookie. The caption read: "A natural talent, succeeded on the first try."
Jin Qiqi commented: Ranran did that for you, right?
He replied: "I see through it, but I won't say it."