Chapter 403: Chapter 323: Think Tank, How Do We Guard Against Someone Like Lin Lu?

Lin Lu had all the charms of summer in summer, and all the charms of winter in winter.

She layered up so many clothes in the winter, yet still managed to look beautiful.

Her collegiate style emphasized the youthful air about her, making her seem not so much a sophomore in college as a high school junior.

Young, and legally so.

Cheng Zhu could tell that Lin Lu had really put effort into her appearance today.

Usually, when they met, she would just apply some foundation, but today she had clearly gone for a full makeup look.

“Wow, you even turned on the seat heating!” Lin Lu felt the warmth of the passenger seat cushion.

“Yeah, you’re always cold, so I turned it on when you were coming downstairs,” Cheng Zhu said.

“Looks like driver Little Cheng is quite professional!” Lin Lu gave his service a five-star rating.

“Thank you, please fasten your seatbelt,” driver Little Cheng said.

Then, he saw the spectacular scene of Lin Lu fastening her seatbelt, which got tightly stuck.

Of course, it could have been even more spectacular if she hadn’t worn a large coat.

People could get a headache from 3D movies, but not from a 36D.

“What do you want to eat?” Cheng Zhu asked.

“I’ll send you the location,” Lin Lu took out her phone.

“You’ve already found a restaurant?”

“Yeah, I made reservations long ago. Otherwise, we might not have gotten a spot today,” Lin Lu answered matter-of-factly.

“So you had planned this out a while ago?” Cheng Zhu felt she was revealing too much.

“Right!”

Damn, she admitted it openly!

Tough to deal with!

…

…

Meanwhile, Shen Qingning had already finished lunch at home.

She had consumed too much alcohol last night, which left her feeling a bit unwell upon waking up today.

Shen Ming Lang had the housemaid cook congee in the morning.

When Shen Qingning got up for breakfast, he didn’t forget to scold her: “Why did you drink so much yesterday?”

Shen Qingning pursed her lips and remained silent.

The congee was obviously plain, yet for some reason, it tasted somewhat bitter.

She just wanted to drink more herself.

Because the more she drank, the more muddled her thoughts became.

Yesterday, when she heard Cheng Zhu sing “The Longest Movie,” that particular lyric had left her in turmoil.

Since then, she had been distracted.

Her mind kept replaying various past incidents.

She used to think Lin Lu lived a carefree and confused life, thinking of nothing but having fun each day, never pre-planning her actions in her mind.

Now, she was somewhat envious of Lin Lu’s temperament.

She just overthought things too much.

Shen Ming Lang didn’t notice his sister’s unusual demeanor and continued rambling:

“When you felt like you had too much, you should’ve told me. With me there, why would you drink that much?”

“And you were really strange yesterday; did I just discover that you’re so competitive at the dining table? I kept telling you to stop, and you kept drinking.”

“That’s not good.”

“At the dining table, you sometimes need to show some weakness.”

“Look at our cousin, he sat down and right away told me he wasn’t feeling well, probably couldn’t drink much, it’s all tricks!”

Of course, the cousin he was referring to wasn’t their actual cousin Jiang Wanzhou, but Cheng Zhu.

Shen Qingning glanced up at her brother upon hearing him mention Cheng Zhu.

“When did they leave last night?” Shen Qingning asked.

“After we left, they also gradually called for designated drivers,” Shen Ming Lang replied.

She nodded, not saying much else, except: “After lunch, take me to get the car.”

Her Land Rover was still parked at the KTV’s entrance.

“Okay,” Shen Ming Lang agreed.

Currently, they were on their way to the KTV.

When reaching the entrance, Shen Qingning’s gaze lingered slightly.

That was because she saw her own Land Rover parked next to Lin Lu’s.

Her car hadn’t been taken back either.

“Hmm, Lin Lu didn’t drive her car back either,” Shen Ming Lang noted, looking out the car window.

“She probably got a ride from our cousin then,” he guessed.

At this point, he looked at his sister, his face showing curiosity: “Ningning, could there be something between Lin Lu and our cousin? She couldn’t possibly have… uh, some kind of feelings for our cousin, could she?”

Shen Qingning: “…”

You really know who to ask.

“Did you figure that out yourself?” Shen Qingning didn’t answer directly, but instead asked him back.

“Yeah,” Shen Ming Lang nodded.

Shen Qingning: “…”

“Even someone as dense as him could sense it?” she thought to herself.

…

…

In the restaurant, Lin Lu and Cheng Zhu had just finished ordering their meal.

Since the restaurant had the heater on, it was quite warm, so Lin Lu took off her black coat and unwound her scarf.

“What are you planning to do after lunch?” Cheng Zhu asked with a smile.

He had learned by now that Lin Lu had arranged the whole day’s schedule.

“I’ll tell you after lunch,” she said.

“But, there’s something we need to do together now,” Lin Lu added.

“What?” Cheng Zhu asked.

“Pick a movie, buy tickets, and let’s go watch a movie tonight!” Lin Lu replied, “I’m afraid if we don’t buy them early, we won’t get good seats in the hall.”

Cheng Zhu nodded slightly: “Let me see, what movies are currently playing.”

He checked Alipay and found that the hot movies were Xu Ke’s “The Taking of Tiger Mountain,” Jiang Wen’s “One Step Away,” and the still-showing “That Year in a Rush.”

Cheng Zhu had actually seen all three movies already.

Thus, he let Lin Lu choose.

He thought Lin Lu would pick “That Year in a Rush,” a youth romance film, but to his surprise, she chose “The Taking of Tiger Mountain.”

“I didn’t expect you would pick this movie,” he said.

“I thought you might like this one a bit more,” she replied.

“What about you?”

“I’m fine with anything, and I quite like some of Xu Ke’s older films.”

“Such as?”

“Such as ‘Huang Feihong,’ ‘A Chinese Ghost Story,’ ‘Liangshan Bo and Zhu Yingtai’…” Lin Lu had actually seen quite a few.

However, “A Chinese Ghost Story” was not directed by Xu Ke; he was the producer.

“And this ‘The Taking of Tiger Mountain’ is a 3D movie. I saw in the promotions it’s the first domestic 3D war action film, should be quite thrilling, right?” Lin Lu added.

That made Cheng Zhu realize, it was only 2014 now, and at this time, 3D movies were still a good promotional gimmick.

Many people went to the cinema specifically to watch in 3D.

It’s just that later, many movies that didn’t really need 3D were made into 3D just to hype them up and hike the ticket prices. Once everyone got used to 3D, they no longer found it special, and it gradually ceased to be a selling point.

“Then… shall we buy tickets for 7:50 PM?” he asked.

“Sounds good.”

So, she watched as Cheng Zhu passed his phone to her, smiling at her: “You pick the seats.”

Lin Lu took the phone, initially not catching on, then looked at the back row’s couple seats and realized this guy was up to something again!

Last time they went to watch “Go Limpidly,” they didn’t sit in couple seats but bought tickets for the VIP hall, lying on couch chairs to watch.

“Already confessed, what’s there to fear.” Lin Lu whispered to herself, she bit the bullet, chose two seats in the last row, and then returned the phone to Cheng Zhu with an indignant face: “Here!”

“Hmm, sitting in the last row, huh?” He mentioned it aloud, then smiled at her again.

“Is that not allowed?” Lin Lu got irritated.

“Of course it’s allowed,” Cheng Zhu started making the payment.

“Done,” he put down his phone and informed Lin Lu.

Lin Lu looked at him, couldn’t help but retort: “Cheng Zhu, has anyone ever told you, you can be really annoying at times!”

“That’s actually not the first time I’ve heard that,” Cheng Zhu drifted into memories.

He couldn’t even recall how many people had pointed that out about him.

Only thing is, they said it like “Annoying~~~,” not “Annoying!”.

The restaurant was indeed very busy, making the serving efficiency a bit slow.

Up to now, not a single dish had arrived, only two free small fruit plates had been served.

The fruits were beautifully arranged on two small plates, serving as appetizers.

“You can eat some grapes; I think they help with sobriety,” Cheng Zhu mentioned.

He didn’t remember who told him grapes could relieve alcohol effects, nor did he know if it was scientifically true.

“Alcohol already wore off, no such exaggerated hangover, I felt like I didn’t drink much last night, I have a good tolerance,” Lin Lu burst into proud mode.

“You’re kidding, right? Someone was slightly slurring her words when she called me last night,” Cheng Zhu teased.

“You’re lying!” Lin Lu flared up.

I’m an amateur voice actor, and you dare say I slurred my words!

“Alright, alright, no slurring, no slurring,” Cheng Zhu picked up a kiwi with his fork.

Lin Lu, still miffed, ate two grapes and said, “But you’re right, I did get a bit tipsy yesterday, just a tiny buzz.”

She stretched out two fingers, making a small gap with them.

“When I’m not around, don’t drink so much,” he suddenly urged.

Hearing this, Lin Lu felt somewhat sweet inside.

Sometimes, it’s just the way words work.

“Don’t drink so much.” — Mind your own business!

“When I’m not around, don’t drink so much.” — Kind of sweet.

Of course, such words inherently carry a hint of flirtation.

“Alright, I must admit, inside the room I felt nothing, but I started feeling somewhat tipsy once out of the room, half-drunk, half-sober,” Lin Lu gave up boasting.

“Oh–, so all you told me yesterday were drunk words, huh?” Cheng Zhu immediately chimed in, his face breaking into a grin, teasing her: “Do you even remember what you said to me while drunk?”

This was also a little test on the part of this sly man.

“I said I caught snowflakes with my mouth.”

“And?”

“I claimed in the car that I could drink more, just bragging.”

“And?”

“And then halfway through the call when I got home, I started feeling dizzy.”

He kept asking, and she kept answering.

It must be said, Little Lu could sometimes be really naive.

After several repetitions, she slowly realized what Cheng Zhu was probing about; he was asking about the words they had spoken under the streetlight, the bold words she needed courage to utter.

“Just that? Seems like you don’t remember other drunken words,” Cheng Zhu remarked.

“No, Cheng Zhu,” Lin Lu lifted her head, looked into his eyes:

“That was said sober.”

….

(ps: First update, didn’t realize I was writing until 2 a.m., a bit of support please~)