Chapter 53

Reading Tang Yi-Bai's ambiguous and suggestive text, Yun Duo's face flushed red. She could not help but imagine what he would look like saying this — he would definitely have a gentle expression on his face, brows calm and lips curved, head bowed as he looked into her eyes. His gaze, as warm and gentle as spring water, was enough to drown any woman.

He may be smiling, but his smile would probably have some teasing behind it, making you feel like pushing him away yet be unable to stop yourself from drawing closer to him.

Yun Duo cradled her phone in her hands, tucked snugly on the couch with her red face. She could not help but sigh long and loud. This time, she had really fallen too deep to pull herself out of it!

Mama Yun came over to sit beside her. She looked at her questioningly and asked, "Boyfriend?"

"No." Yun Duo put down her handphone. In the end, she did not reply to him. She really could not handle it and did not know how to respond.

"If it's not a boyfriend, then get out there and go on the blind dates I'm setting up for you," said Mama Yun.

Yun Duo could not help but wail, "Mum, can't you just let me have a few days of peace and quiet? I don't want to go on blind dates."

"But I want to see you with a boyfriend." That was her only entertainment.

Yun Duo gritted her teeth. "Mum, wait for the New Year and I'll bring a boyfriend back, okay? Will that do? I'm saying it upfront now, I don't want to go for anymore blind dates."

"You're stalling." Mama Yun exposed her true plan.

"It's true, really. I have someone I like. He's really nice. I'll show him to you once I've caught him, okay?"

Mama Yun looked at her daughter suspiciously, "Really? What kind of person is he? How nice is nice?"

"There, that's him." Yun Duo pointed at the television. The television was playing news on Tang Yi-Bai at that moment. The newscaster was tirelessly narrating Tang Yi-Bai's great achievement, and the video was the scene of Tang Yi-Bai being surrounded by media and fans at the airport upon his return to the country. Even though he had not responded to any questions then, just the images alone were already newsworthy — quite a number of TV stations were also using them.

Mama Yun counselled Yun Duo earnestly, "Child, it is good to have a goal, but you best not set your goals so high, otherwise you'll be disappointed."

Yun Duo sweatdropped. "Mum, I know."

Although Mama Yun disapproved of Yun Duo 'setting her goal too high', she did not continue forcing her to go on blind dates. As a mother, she could see clearly that her daughter did not have any intentions in that aspect right now, so she would not press her any further.

Yun Duo enjoyed several days of peace and quiet, when suddenly one day, she received a call from Lin Zi.

Lin Zi: "Yun Duo, I'm at City-N right now."

Yun Duo: "Lin Zi, why are you here?"

"To see you."

"..."

At Yun Duo's silence, Lin Zi probed carefully, "If it's inconvenient for you to meet me, then it's fine."

Yun Duo quickly shook her head, even though Lin Zi could not see it. She said, "No, no, that's not my meaning. I was just a little surprised... why did you come by without saying a word beforehand?"

"I suddenly felt like seeing you."

For an instant, Yun Duo was touched. After all, it felt pretty good being missed by someone. She straightened out her home a little and then left to find him. Lin Zi did not want her to come so far out to the airport, so the two of them agreed to meet up outside the Qixia Mountain Scenic Area. In any case, Yun Duo had promised Lin Zi before that she would take him round Qixia Mountain.

Although Yun Duo lived pretty close to Qixia Mountain, she was stuck in traffic on the road for a good long while, so the two of them arrived at the Scenic Area around the same time. Lin Zi first looked for a hotel to stash his luggage.

Yun Duo found that Lin Zi truly went wherever he wished and did whatever he wanted to do. He would leave at the drop of a hat without any reservations, extremely wilful.

It was also extremely enviable. After all, in life, people were often not in full control of themselves. Wouldn't anyone yearn to live as freely as he was?

Qixia Mountain was renowned as "Jinling's{金陵: Jinling is the old name for Nanjing, and it is still sometimes used instead of Nanjing.} Most Beautiful Mountain", and it was also a famous scenic spot to view maple trees. However, the maple leaves had yet to turn completely red right now, so Yun Duo felt a little regretful that she could not show Lin Zi the prettiest side of Qixia Mountain.

Despite that, Lin Zi seemed interested enough in the sights. There was plenty of forestry to see, the mountains were grand, birdsong filled the air, and the scene was like a painting. Although the maples were only dyed in a light sheen of colour, the mountain scenery was still extremely pleasing.

Honestly, it wasn't very important whether the scenery was nice or not, what was important was who you were watching it with.

Lin Zi had long been aware of this point. He wanted to sightsee with her — he wanted to see the sights all over the world with her.

He turned his head slightly to look at her lovely face. Due to the high humidity in the mountain air, her bangs were already wet and were now sticking messily to her forehead. As they had been climbing, her face was slightly flushed, like a healthy moisture-filled lotus blossom. Her dark eyes were lively and bright, and with a slight flick of her eyelids, she looked towards him. "What?"

Lin Zi shook his head and smiled. "Nothing. I just suddenly think you're very pretty."

"Cough." No woman would object to hearing such things, and Yun Duo was no exception. Bashfully, she touched her face. "Really?" The first thought through her mind was whether she was a match for Tang Yi-Bai's beauty...

She was truly beyond help. ╮(╯ _╰ )╭

The two of them stopped by Mingjing Lake to watch the scenery. Yun Duo told Lin Zi stories about her childhood.

She had been in second grade back then, and because she had attended school earlier than her peers, she was the youngest in her class. She had not been very well-developed as a child, short in stature. Heaven knows how she managed to grow up till her current height of 1.67 metres. In any case, back then, she was the smallest and the weakest in her class.

In the autumn of second grade, her class teacher organised a field trip, and the destination was Qixia Mountain. When school children were let loose in the outdoors, they naturally ran wild to play. Back then, Yun Duo knew nothing of discipline or safety, running about chasing butterflies with two friends. As they ran about, they accidentally became separated from the class and could not find their teacher. The three children wandered around and somehow made their way to Mingjing Lake.

She had been so foolish back then, not knowing to be afraid even as she stood close to the side of the lake. As they played, she had slipped and fallen into the water.

Only after falling into the water did she remember to be afraid. The fear that came then was instinctual — the entire world turned upside down and was in disarray, the ice-cold water of the lake wrapped around her like a venomous snake and it even surged madly into her mouth and nose. She had been in so much pain choking on water. She had struggled desperately, but to no avail. In the end, her world had turned completely dark — at that moment, she thought she would die.

Terror engulfed her, swallowing her whole.

She seemed to hear her two friends crying on the shore. Back then, those two children had been completely lost in their panic, only remembering to call for help after crying for a while.

In the cold darkness, Yun Duo felt someone lifting her body up.

Later, based on the memories of her friends, she could confirm that the actions of the person who had saved her back then were very scientific. He had approached her from behind and hooked his arms under her armpits to press his forearms against her chest. Then, he had first pulled her out of the water before dragging her towards the shore by swimming backwards.

His arms had been very narrow and short, and his body had been small. He had still been a child.

Yet, he had been as calm and composed as an adult. When he had dragged her close to the shore, because the shore of the lake was too high, he was not sure if he could safely get her onto the shore so he cried out loudly from inside the lake, "Is anyone there? Help!"

The friend who had stayed behind immediately wanted to come and help, but that boy said, "You're too small. Go get an adult."

"Okay!" The girl was very obedient.

At this time, the other friend who had run to look for the teacher returned, bringing along with her two adult tourists she had encountered along the way. The kind tourists helped the children in the water back onto the shore and even administered first aid. After ensuring that Yun Duo's condition was not life-threatening, they then helped the children find their teacher.

All this was told to her by her classmates. She had been unconscious the whole time, only waking up at the hospital. Her parents had been greatly shocked, and after learning that Yun Duo had been rescued by a little hero, they asked the teacher for the young hero's name, hoping to thank him personally. They were even thinking of making a pennant or something like that for him to better acknowledge the heroic deeds of the little boy.

But the teacher did not know.

Back then, the scene had been so chaotic. The boy who had saved Yun Duo had left in the chaos before anyone could ask his name.

All they knew was that the boy was young, seeming to be around first or second grade. He was also very good-looking, the type of good-looking which made people feel like abducting him home to take care of him.

This became an unresolved issue for Yun Duo's family. All these years, they had always hoped to find this saviour to properly recognise him and thank him in person.

But this city was so large — it was really too difficult to find a child with hardly any clues. Moreover, a child's appearance would change as they grew older, so it would only become increasingly harder to find him.

Thus, after so many years, Yun Duo's family had still been unable to find her saviour.

Another consequence of this incident was that Yun Duo developed hydrophobia. As soon as she set eyes on a large surface area of water, she would become dizzy, and feel panicked and frightened. This was a psychological illness, one that she had never been able to overcome.

After telling Lin Zi all this, Yun Duo asked, "Now do you believe that I'm really afraid of water?"

Lin Zi nodded. "I too want to thank that person."

"Hm?"

Lin Zi looked at her. "Because of him, I'm able to meet you. Otherwise, you'd have long been reincarnated into another life."

Yun Duo giggled and waved her hand, "Then when I find him, I'll give you a chance to treat him to a big meal."

"Okay." Lin Zi nodded. He looked out at the tranquil surface of the lake and called out to her softly, "Yun Duo."

"Hm?" Yun Duo turned her head to look at him. His expression was peaceful and his eyes were deep.

He said, "I want to bring you to meet my sister."

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Previous: Chapter 52
Next: Chapter 54

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