Yan Yuan’s brow relaxed, and the corners of his lips curved upward.
Linlin went to school on weekdays, and whenever she had time on the weekends, she would go out with him.
Yan Yuan had a great many complicated matters to deal with now, but he did his best not to let them disturb her.
If he wanted to stay with her, he had to become capable enough to give her a secure future.
It was rare for him to relax, and he slept all the way until the early hours of the next morning.
When he suddenly woke, the fatigue he had accumulated seemed to have been released in his dreams. His whole body felt languid and lazy.
He spent several seconds adjusting to the darkness before gradually making out the scene before him.
The moment he saw it clearly, he could not help smiling.
Linlin was right there in his arms. Her long hair was tousled, her cheeks flushed, and her sleeping face looked sweet and innocent. Her small lips were slightly parted, and faint breaths slipped between her pink lips and teeth.
Yan Yuan smiled, then leaned over and kissed her forehead.
He had only just woken and was not fully conscious yet. His actions were purely instinctive.
When he moved, Linlin naturally woke as well. She rubbed her face against his chest and murmured, asking what time it was.
Yan Yuan raised his arm and squinted at his watch. “A little after five. Do you want to sleep a while longer?”
His voice was hoarse with sleep, smooth and languid.
“No, I’m getting up.” Linlin felt a tingling softness around her ears. Bracing herself against his abdomen, she sat up.
Yan Yuan looked down at her with a smile, then got out of bed and opened the curtains.
Outside, the first faint light of dawn had begun to appear. It was soft, not at all harsh.
“What are you looking at?” Linlin asked, curious when she saw Yan Yuan standing by the window.
Yan Yuan turned around. “The owner of the building next door still hasn’t come back. I was wondering if there’s any way to buy it.”
The city currently operated under a system of public-housing allocation. But for privately owned homes passed down through generations, the buyer and seller could submit an application to the housing administration office. Once it was approved, the property could still be transferred.
The building next door had a layout similar to this little Western-style house.
Since Yan Yuan had already decided to resign, he would no longer receive the benefits of housing allocated by the state.
The little house was very close to Linlin’s school, and even after she started working in the future, it would still be convenient for her to come and go.
That was why Yan Yuan had set his sights on it.
Even though he was short of money at the moment, and even though the owner had not yet returned.
Linlin sat on the sofa. “You want to buy a house?”
Yan Yuan walked over and wrapped his arms around her from behind, a deep smile in his voice. “Yes. I want to buy it for you. What do you think?”
Linlin’s eyes widened. She did not quite understand what he meant.
Yan Yuan let out a muffled laugh and kissed the side of her neck. “I mean, if I get the chance, I’ll buy the house next door and put it in your name.”
“Why?” Linlin turned around and met his eyes.
Yan Yuan cupped her face and kissed her eyes. Linlin instinctively closed them and tightened her grip on his clothes. So close, she could smell the clean, refreshing scent that clung to him and see his sexy Adam’s apple rolling in his throat.
“That way, you can be neighbors with Jiang Chengzhou in the future. And if your parents and Li Li come to visit, it’ll be more convenient for them too.”
“Yan Yuan, you’re too good to me. But I have nothing to give you,” Linlin said glumly. She lightly thumped his chest with her fingers, but before her slender, soft hand could fall away, he caught it.
It was not yet fully light outside, and the room remained unlit. Even in the dim, hazy shadows, Linlin could see his expression clearly.
“Don’t think you owe me anything. I’m the one who wants to give this to you. You never asked for it. Do you understand? Besides, as long as you want something and I have it to give, I’ll do so willingly.”
Yan Yuan paused, then continued, “Actually, none of this is as important to me as you are. So don’t feel guilty or uneasy.”
The corners of his mouth curved up as he said softly, “As long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters.”
Linlin put her arms around his neck. “Yan Yuan, do you love me?”
“I do.” Yan Yuan’s gaze burned with intensity.
Linlin smiled, her eyes curving into crescents. She tapped him lightly on the chest with one finger. “You have to love yourself too.”
Yan Yuan affectionately rubbed his cheek against hers. “All right.”
Linlin was dissatisfied and pushed him away. “Be serious. Stop fooling around.”
Yan Yuan smiled helplessly. “All right. I’ll listen to Lady Linlin’s instructions.”
Linlin held his face in both hands. “Do you know how to love yourself?”
Yan Yuan smiled and shook his head.
Looking at him, Linlin said slowly, word by word, “You have to love yourself the way you love me.”
Yan Yuan froze. The faint smile in his eyes vanished in an instant, and his nose suddenly stung.
Linlin looked into his eyes. “Do you understand now?”
Yan Yuan pulled her into his arms and sighed. “I understand.”
It was still early, so the two of them remained nestled together on the sofa for a while before separating to wash up.
Yan Yuan made egg noodles for breakfast, while Linlin helped him prepare the ingredients.
With Jiang Chengzhou away, Yan Yuan felt that he was being a little selfish.
He liked having Linlin all to himself like this.
Especially when she looked at him with complete focus, her eyes holding only him. The heart-fluttering satisfaction it gave him was impossible to describe, as though even his soul were leaping and dancing with joy.
After breakfast, Linlin took out her wallet again and pressed it into Yan Yuan’s hand. Before he could say anything, she smiled brightly and said, “So you can start earning money and buy the house sooner, take this and use it for now… It isn’t much, especially compared with four thousand.”
Linlin had already learned last night that Yan Yuan would not accept his mother’s investment.
But surely he could accept her money this time.
Yan Yuan laughed and sighed at the same time. He opened his arms, and Linlin immediately threw herself into them. She even slipped the wallet into his trouser pocket before tilting her head back to look at him.
“I’m forcing this on you. If you don’t take it, I’ll be angry.”
In that instant, all the severity in Yan Yuan’s eyes melted away. He did not refuse again. He only held her tighter and let out a low sigh.
“All right. We’ll call it your investment. I’ll pay you dividends later, okay?”
“Okay!”
Yan Yuan wished he could cling to her every second of every day, but Linlin felt that the way they were together now was quite good.
On weekdays, he worked while she studied. On weekends, they went out and had fun.
Although she loved acting spoiled, her family still treated her like a child. In truth, she had already grown up.
Over the past two years, as policies had loosened, she had read many acclaimed foreign classics.
For instance, Jane Eyre’s vision of love based on independence and spiritual equality; or the love in Wuthering Heights, which rose above worldly conventions, morality, and even life and death…
Many young people around her were fascinated by the kind of love in Wuthering Heights—a love that defied every social standard and carried the destructive force of a storm sweeping everything away.
Linlin had been shaken when she first read it too, but she soon regained her clarity.
She did not approve of love that was too obsessive and fanatical, too extreme.
A love that burns too fiercely cannot last…
Linlin understood how intensely Yan Yuan loved her. When you were loved so deeply, you felt happy.
Ever since they had begun dating, it was as though a defensive wall she had maintained for a long time had collapsed. Yan Yuan’s feelings came surging through like a breached dam, instantly transforming into an endless sea.
