Chapter 418: 418: If interested, come and find me
After Lin Lan dropped him off at the school gate, Luo Ziling got out of the car. Lin Lan didn’t linger at all, stepping on the gas and speeding away until the car was out of sight in the blink of an eye.
Luo Ziling, who was feeling slightly better, quickly disappeared from the other students’ view as soon as he walked into the school.
After the welcome party, Luo Ziling knew his reputation had grown even louder, and so he kept an even lower profile.
The words that Lin Lan had said to him in the car were indeed quite stirring.
Lin Lan had taken the initiative to tell him that the most likely mastermind behind the recent assassination attempt was Mr. Ling, Ling Haining, of the Ling Family.
Although he had expected it, hearing this conclusion from Lin Lan still shocked Luo Ziling.
However, he didn’t say much in front of Lin Lan, just thanked her and refrained from any further conversation.
Lin Lan didn’t say much either.
But on the way back, the awkwardness they had felt on the way there was gone.
Luo Ziling even made a comment, promising that the next time she picked him up, he would treat Lin Lan to wontons and soup dumplings.
But Lin Lan just scoffed with disdain and responded, “No need.”
She hadn’t completely gotten over the way Luo Ziling had played her that morning.
When Luo Ziling returned to his dormitory, he found it deserted, with the other three guys nowhere to be seen.
With no one to question him, Luo Ziling breathed a sigh of relief.
After tidying up a bit, Luo Ziling took a shower and then lay on his bed, fiddling with his phone.
There were quite a few messages on WeChat, but he didn’t see any from Yang Qingyin, and couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed.
After some thought, he sent Yang Qingyin a message, “Little Yang, are you back at school yet?”
He didn’t expect Yang Qingyin to reply immediately, so he started looking through other people’s messages.
Seeing that Ouyang Feifei had sent him a message asking when he was free so she could come pick him up for treatment and to discuss some other matters, Luo Ziling was about to reply to Ouyang Feifei’s message when he received a reply from Yang Qingyin.
“I’m at the Summer Palace, if you’re interested, come find me.”
Seeing this message, Luo Ziling forgot to reply to Ouyang Feifei’s message, sprung out of bed, rushed to the mirror, and after carefully sorting himself out, he set off in a hurry.
As he was heading out, he also casually put on a fleece-lined jacket;
When he finally reached the entrance to the Summer Palace after running all the way, Luo Ziling realized he had forgotten to ask Yang Qingyin exactly where she was in the Summer Palace.
While buying a ticket, he messaged Yang Qingyin, asking for her location and telling her he was at the entrance ready to buy a ticket and come in, but he received no response.
After entering the palace and wandering aimlessly for a while without seeing Yang Qingyin, Luo Ziling took out his phone to call her, but to his surprise, he got a message that the phone was turned off.
Luo Ziling’s first reaction was that Yang Qingyin was deliberately playing tricks on him, that she wasn’t in the Summer Palace at all, just luring him in to tease him. But he immediately dismissed this possibility, as Yang Qingyin was not the type to do such a pointless thing.
She was definitely waiting for him somewhere, turning off her phone just to test him, to see if he could find her without being able to contact her.
Upon realizing this, Luo Ziling didn’t rush to look for Yang Qingyin, but instead earnestly recalled the last time they visited the Summer Palace together.
The entire process of entering the park replayed in his mind like a movie, and finally, he settled on a few places.
He raced to the first place that came to mind, a high ground from where one could see the panoramic view of the Summer Palace, where the two of them had sat and eaten together. But Yang Qingyin was nowhere to be seen.
Luo Ziling gave it some more thought and finally decided to take a gamble, skipping the search in other places she might be and heading straight to the “Gengzhitu Scenic Area.”
From the high ground offering a comprehensive view of the Summer Palace to the “Gengzhitu” Scenic Area, there was at least a three-kilometer distance, which Luo Ziling covered in less than ten minutes.
The path was uneven, with ups and downs, and he also had to dodge the many visitors. As he ran, Luo Ziling kept an eye out for Yang Qingyin among the passersby, his speed pushed to the limit to complete over three kilometers so quickly.
After running into the Gengzhitu Scenic Area, breathless, Luo Ziling felt his heartbeat quicken significantly.
The intense exercise, coupled with his emotional excitement, made him feel as though his heart would leap out of his throat.
The Gengzhitu Scenic Area was expansive, with many separate courtyards, making it not easy to find Yang Qingyin even if she was waiting for him there.
Luo Ziling stood at the entrance of the Gengzhitu Scenic Area and carefully read the introduction to the area, finally deciding to go to Shuicun House first.
After quickly running into the Shuicun House, which wasn’t crowded with tourists, Luo Ziling was surprised to see among the few visitors a woman dressed in a green sweater, jeans, and sneakers, with her hands behind her back, slowly reading the text on the displays.
He suppressed the excitement in his heart, tiptoed over, and then covered the woman’s eyes with his hands when she wasn’t looking.
The woman was clearly startled, but only trembled slightly without making any dramatic reactions.
She stood still without moving a muscle.
“Guess who I am?” Luo Ziling, suppressing the excitement inside, whispered the question into her ear.
“A very annoying guy,” Yang Qingyin replied with a slightly trembling voice and then grabbed Luo Ziling’s hand that was covering her eyes before turning around.
Their eyes met, and Luo Ziling was greeted by Yang Qingyin’s face, still stunningly beautiful.
He couldn’t help but grin and pinch Yang Qingyin’s elegant nose, “How can you talk about me like that? Am I really that annoying?”
“The most annoying person in the world, bar none,” Yang Qingyin snorted discontentedly, wrinkled her nose, and knocked Luo Ziling’s hand away, “Look at this, you even dare to tease me in front of so many people.”
Luo Ziling looked around and indeed saw that the few tourists were all looking their way.
“You’re beautiful, so they’re looking at you. Even before I came in, you were already the center of attention. With this handsome guy joining in, we’re even more eye-catching,” Luo Ziling laughed playfully, shamelessly boasting about himself, “Shall we stand together and give them a free show?”
“I can’t be bothered with you,” Yang Qingyin blushed and glared at Luo Ziling before turning to leave.
But she was quickly caught by Luo Ziling’s hand.
After catching Yang Qingyin’s hand, Luo Ziling smiled and said, “It wasn’t easy to find you, you should at least wait for me. We didn’t really explore this scenic area last time; let’s have a good look around today.”
Yang Qingyin struggled a bit, unable to break free, so she let Luo Ziling lead her by the hand.
Seeing Yang Qingyin allowing him to take her hand, the once apprehensive Luo Ziling relaxed a little.