Ji Yao: ...
Seeing the prolonged silence, Lin Qiong grew puzzled and asked, "Is there something wrong?"
"Yes," Ji Yao's voice hesitated a bit, "Are you free this afternoon?"
Without hesitation, Lin Qiong replied, "Yes."
Currently, he was a person with no car, no house, and no job, but he lived in a large mansion. Besides cooking and watering plants, he didn't have much to do in a day.
"That's great," Ji Yao's voice sounded excited, "I want to trouble you to accompany me to do something today."
Lin Qiong looked at the sunny weather outside and asked, "What is it?"
Ji Yao hesitated for a moment and said, "Blind date."
"?" Lin Qiong was confused, "Aren't you..."
Ji Yao let out a deep sigh, "My family is pressuring me, they found out about my reluctance to get married, and now they are forcing me to go on a blind date."
Lin Qiong nodded, "So, you gave in?"
Ji Yao: "...Mhm."
"If you find someone you like, give it a try and start dating," Lin Qiong said as he walked outside with the trash in his hand, "What time?"
Ji Yao quickly said, "2 o'clock in the afternoon, I'll send you the location later."
Lin Qiong nodded slightly. After hanging up the phone, he exited the house with the trash. Lin Qiong took a deep breath of the summer morning air. Ah! The taste of freedom.
Then, just around the corner, he saw an old man standing next to the trash can, dressed in brand-name clothes. The old man looked resentful as he stared at the trash can in front of him. The area around the trash can was messy, with foam and plastic debris scattered on the ground, indicating that it had been rummaged through a long time ago. The old man seemed to notice something and suddenly turned his head making eye contact with Lin Qiong.
Caught off guard, Lin Qiong made a gesture with his hand and said, "It wasn't me who rummaged through it."
He even shook the trash bag in his hand to indicate that he was there to dispose of the garbage.
After a nerve-wracking experience of dumping the trash, Lin Qiong returned home and let out a sigh of relief. After finishing lunch, Lin Qiong sat on the sofa and said to the nearby Fu Xingyun, "I'm going out for a while."
Fu Xingyun glanced at him with a cold tone, "You don't have to tell me whether you're going out or not."
Lin Qiong patted his belly and said, "Oh, okay."
Fu Xingyun asked, "Where are you going?"
Lin Qiong hesitated for a moment, then directly said, "I'm accompanying Ji Yao on a blind date."
Fu Xingyun looked at him with a slightly inquisitive gaze, "When did you become so close?" L
in Qiong counted the days and then, because he couldn't be bothered to think, vaguely replied, "Since the day we got married until now."
The summer breeze rustled through the lush green lawn, creating a soothing sound.
Fu Xingyun looked out of the French window and said, "I'm not interested in what you're doing."
Lin Qiong: ...You can pretend all you want.
Just as Lin Qiong was about to start up the conversation again, Fu Xingyun turned his wheelchair and headed for the elevator. Lin Qiong shrugged and continued to lounge on the sofa, feeling the time approaching one o'clock before returning to his room on the third floor.
With a swoosh, he opened the wardrobe and looked at the wide array of clothes inside. He couldn't decide which outfit to wear for accompanying someone on a blind date. He didn't want to appear too plain, but he also didn't want to come across as eccentric by dressing too flamboyantly. In the end, Lin Qiong selected three outfits from the wardrobe and began to agonize over his choice.
Being a former stage actor in his past life, Lin Qiong had a good sense of style when it came to clothing. Actually, any of the three outfits would do, but he couldn't make up his mind.
There was a light knock on the door, and Fu Xingyun glanced over, asking, "What's the matter?"
Lin Qiong opened the door and popped his head out of the gap. "I have something I want to trouble you with." The young man's eyes were filled with anticipation.
The words of refusal were about to come out of Fu Xingyun's mouth, but he swallowed them back and asked, "What is it?"
Lin Qiong walked out from behind the door with three outfits in hand. "Which one do you think I should wear?"
Fu Xingyun:...
"Lin Qiong."
Lin Qiong blinked his eyes. "What's wrong?"
Fu Xingyun took a deep breath. "It's Ji Yao who's going on a blind date, not you."
Lin Qiong replied, "I know."
Fu Xingyun fell silent for a moment. "None of these three outfits are quite suitable."
Lin Qiong voiced his confusion, "Why?"
Fu Xingyun glanced at the three outfits and said, "They're too elaborate." Then he continued, "You can just wear what you're wearing now. It looks good."
Lin Qiong looked down at his oversized T-shirt.
In the next moment, a deep voice came, "If you go like this, Ji Yao will think you're very close."
"Really?"
"Yes."
Lin Qiong picked up the clothes. "Then I'll wear this outfit."
After everything was ready, Lin Qiong came downstairs only to find Fu Xingyun sitting in the living room watching the news, which was unexpected.
He didn't ask when Fu Xingyun had come down. Instead, he put on his shoes at the entrance and then poked his head out, saying, "I'm heading out."
Fu Xingyun glanced at him but didn't say anything.
Lin Qiong, accustomed to this, patted his pockets and turned to leave the house.
After closing the door with a sound of a "click," he tidied his hair. Lin Qiong hailed a taxi and arrived at the location that Ji Yao had sent him on WeChat, a café located in the city center.
However, the coffee shop, according to the industry belief that coffee shops don't make profits, seemed to be under a kind of curse. Even though it was located in the city center, there weren't many customers inside at the moment.
Lin Qiong took a step inside, and the bell hanging above the door made a clear sound as the door opened and closed.
"Welcome!" a waiter approached him. "Are you alone, sir?"
Lin Qiong waved his hand and replied, "No, I'm meeting someone." As he looked up, he spotted Ji Yao sitting by the window.
Ji Yao had a good spot, with green plants next to the window. When Ji Yao saw Lin Qiong, he extended her arm and waved at him, saying, "Lin Qiong, over here." Lin Qiong walked towards her.
At that moment, Lin Qiong was wearing a white oversized T-shirt, with his hair neatly groomed. The sunlight shining on his hair made him look like a fresh-faced college student just stepping out of the school gate.
After taking a seat, Lin Qiong noticed that Ji Yao didn't comment on his attire. Instead, she spoke naturally as if they were old friends, "What would you like to drink?"
Lin Qiong replied, "Just water."
The two of them chatted casually while waiting for the blind date to arrive.
Lin Qiong took a sip of water and asked, "How many blind date candidates did your aunt find for you?"
Ji Yao held up three fingers and let out a sigh. "If it doesn't work out this time, there will be even more in the future. I envy you for not having this kind of trouble."
Lin Qiong extended his left hand, and the wedding ring sparkled in the sunlight, "I'm married."
Ji Yao: ...
"Take the seat on the side when the person arrives, and help me evaluate them," Ji Yao said, gesturing towards the side.
Lin Qiong nodded in agreement.
"The goal for today is to win someone's heart and avoid more blind dates," Ji Yao remarked.
When the blind date candidate messaged Ji Yao that they were close, Lin Qiong automatically picked up his glass of water and moved to the side position.
The first person to enter was a young man who appeared to be in his early twenties. Lin Qiong observed him intently without blinking.
Unexpectedly, Ji Yao didn't chat with the person for long before they stood up and left. Lin Qiong approached with confusion, "What happened? Weren't you getting along well?"
Ji Yao looked weary and replied, "He mentioned his mother in every three sentences. I thought he was looking for me to be his father."
Lin Qiong: "..."
"Let's see if the next one is better than the first one," Ji Yao said. Just as she finished speaking, the sound of the café door opening could be heard. Seeing a man entering the café, Lin Qiong quickly moved back to his previous position.
The man was wearing a suit, with meticulously styled hair and gold-rimmed glasses. However, his brow remained furrowed tightly as he walked into the café. Upon seeing Ji Yao, he approached and sat down, even wiping the table in front of him with a wet tissue.
Ji Yao greeted him, "Hello."
The man adjusted his glasses and replied, "Hello, Miss Ji. I'm here for the blind date with you today."
Ji Yao nodded in acknowledgment.
The man glanced at his watch and went straight to the point, "May I ask if Miss Ji has any specific requirements for a partner?"
Ji Yao thought for a moment and said, "Loyalty is enough."
However, just as she finished speaking, a message notification sounded from her phone.
Message from Lin Qiong: Loyalty is a basic expectation, not a condition!
Ji Yao quickly corrected herself, "Anyone is fine."
Lin Qiong: "..."
The man asked, "Are there no other requirements?"
Ji Yao shook her head, explaining that she didn't have any specific demands when it came to relationships.
The man coughed and said, "Since Miss Ji doesn't have many requirements, let me tell you about mine. Just like men have careers, I hope that after we get married, you can focus on being a homemaker. Of course, both of our families have substantial wealth, and I will also fulfill your material needs."
Ji Yao interrupted, "No, we're just on a blind date and have no intention of getting married."
However, it seemed like the man didn't hear her at all. He continued, "May I ask how old you are, Miss Ji?"
Ji Yao replied, "Thirty."
The man's furrowed brow tightened even more, and he said, "Then you have already missed the best time for childbirth. Ji Yao, I think you..."
Clang!
Before the man could finish his sentence, a loud noise came from the table. Lin Qiong slammed his fist on the table, making the glasses on the tabletop ring.
The man looked at the newcomer and asked, "Who are you?"
Lin Qiong replied with determination, "Just a bystander."
Ji Yao: ...
The man: ...
The man furrowed his brow and asked, "Mister, do you have any objections to us?"
Lin Qiong said, "I just have a question."
The man: ?
Lin Qiong looked at him and said, "Why does your family have such a short genetic expiration date?"
The man's eyes widened in astonishment.
He turned to Ji Yao and said, "It seems that this gentleman's sperm survival rate is not high. You two are destined to have no future."
The man angrily stood up, "You!"
Lin Qiong raised his proud head, his face displaying two words: So what?
In the end, this blind date ended in failure, with the third prospective partner not even showing up. Ji Yao and Lin Qiong stood by the roadside, sipping plum soda. "It seems that I can never adapt to a life with a man," Ji Yao said. "We are both wanderers, so why bother trying to reconnect?"
She tilted her head back and finished her soda. "Lin Qiong, let's make do with each other from now on."
Lin Qiong chuckled and said, "What nonsense are you talking about?" His laughter was clear, and his eyes seemed to radiate light. "You don't have a man, but I do."