Chapter 97: It’s Still in Time

The men surrounding the woman realized they had no chance, so they all tactfully dispersed.

Zhou Xuan stood alone nearby for a moment, unable to hold back any longer, and spoke up irritably, “Are you two done yet?”

Only then did the two in front of him separate their lips and tongues, each stepping back to put some distance between them.

Zhou Xuan glanced at the masked woman, then at You Chong, and for a moment, he didn’t even know where to start with his questions. Just then, the woman who had been kissing You Chong removed her mask, revealing her full face.

He stared at her for a couple of seconds, his expression gradually turning curious. “Lin Hexi has a sister?”

The woman laughed, but her voice was clear and bright, like a man’s: “Do you really not know if I have a sister?”

Zhou Xuan was stunned, and his mind finally caught up with the situation. He stared at Lin Hexi, utterly speechless, unable to form a complete sentence for a long time.

The latter shrugged innocently. “Don’t misunderstand, I don’t have any particular quirks. I only dressed like this because I lost a bet to Zhao Mingliu.”

Zhou Xuan’s lips twitched as he tried to say something, but You Chong interrupted him impatiently, “How long are you going to keep staring at him?”

He couldn’t help but click his tongue. “Alright, alright, I won’t look anymore, okay? But,” he raised a hand to stroke his chin, “even if I don’t look, dressed like this in a bar, other men will definitely want to.”

You Chong turned to Lin Hexi and asked, “Did you bring a jacket?”

“I did, it’s with Zhao Mingliu,” Lin Hexi replied casually as he sat down at the bar. “I’m not a woman. If they want to look, let them. You wear even less when you go swimming at the beach.”

You Chong didn’t say anything more. Lin Hexi instinctively glanced at his expression, but all he could see was the mask on You Chong’s face, so he didn’t give the matter any further thought.

Seeing Lin Hexi in the bar, You Chong only wanted to take him home. Zhou Xuan, however, chose not to leave with them, deciding to stay behind in the bar to continue looking for a target.

With that, Lin Hexi and You Chong left together.

Before leaving, he called Zhao Mingliu, asking him to bring his clothes over. While waiting for Zhao Mingliu to bring the clothes, Lin Hexi remembered that during his last visit, he had left the hotel room card under a bottle and hadn’t taken it with him. He went to ask the bartender if the card was still there.

The bartender, apparently expecting him to come back for the card, had kept it in the drawer. When Lin Hexi asked about it, the bartender wasn’t surprised, and he took out the room card from the drawer and returned it to him.

Watching the entire conversation between the two, You Chong suddenly spoke up thoughtfully, “Did you intentionally leave the room card here last time?”

Lin Hexi smiled without saying a word.

You Chong had already reached a conclusion in his mind and continued to press further along this line of thought: “Did you also get drunk on purpose?”

The smile on Lin Hexi’s face gradually deepened.

Seeing the hint in his smile, You Chong narrowed his eyes, his tone firm as he spoke, “That night, you weren’t drunk at all. You were testing me on purpose, weren’t you?”

Lin Hexi sighed, “As expected of the person I have my eye on.”

You Chong raised a hand, pinching his cheek, and lowered his voice, “You might be smug now, but tonight there’ll be a time when you’re the one crying.”

Completely unbothered by the threat, Lin Hexi suddenly brought up, “Speaking of which,” he looked genuinely puzzled, not seeming to be faking it, “when we were kissing just now, I felt like your kissing skills have gotten a lot worse than before.”

After saying this, he even glanced fearlessly toward You Chong’s lower half.

You Chong’s expression darkened instantly. He pinched Lin Hexi’s chin, lifting his face, his tone carrying a hint of gritted teeth. “What exactly are you implying?”

Lin Hexi shook his head with an innocent expression. “I’m not implying anything.”

You Chong decided not to argue with him further, as Zhao Mingliu arrived with the jacket.

Zhao Mingliu handed the jacket over to Lin Hexi, but the one who reached out to take it was You Chong, standing right next to Lin Hexi.

Zhao Mingliu quickly caught on, looking at the two of them with a face full of curiosity.

You Chong chose to ignore the inquisitive look in his eyes, while Lin Hexi simply didn’t notice it at all.

He was still lost in the conversation he had just had with You Chong, not yet fully back to reality.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t worried before—about how they would get along if they reconciled after missing over three years. He had even considered countless hypothetical scenarios in his mind. But now, he finally realized that compared to three years ago, You Chong had indeed changed a lot, yet, in many ways, he hadn’t changed at all.

You Chong’s tone and demeanor when speaking to him were just like they had been three years ago. It almost made Lin Hexi unable to distinguish whether he was still his past self from three years ago or the person he had become three years later.

After getting the jacket, the two of them said their goodbyes to Zhao Mingliu and left the bar.

The temperature outside was a bit cooler than indoors. As they stepped out, Lin Hexi reached out to take the jacket from You Chong to put it on, but You Chong was a step ahead. He draped the jacket over Lin Hexi’s shoulders, covering his back and the collarbones on his chest snugly.

Lin Hexi lifted his gaze to look at You Chong’s face. With the mask now gone, he could clearly see the displeasure still lingering on You Chong’s face from the other men staring at him earlier.

He couldn’t help but laugh, slipping his arms through the sleeves and putting on the jacket properly. Then, he asked, playing along, “Is this better now?”

You Chong glanced down at his still-exposed legs.

Lin Hexi shrugged helplessly. “There’s really nothing I can do about that.”

You Chong chuckled softly, saying nothing more, and casually draped an arm around Lin Hexi’s shoulders, guiding him toward where they had parked.

When they reached a secluded spot, You Chong suddenly stopped, looking at him with an unreadable expression.

Noticing the shift in his demeanor, Lin Hexi asked in a surprised tone, “You don’t expect me to buy a pair of pants and change into them right here, do you?”

You Chong shook his head. “No.”

Lin Hexi asked, “Then what is it?”

An odd expression suddenly appeared on You Chong’s face, and his brows furrowed tightly without him realizing it.

After a few seconds of silence, he asked, a hint of doubt in his voice, “Did I really get worse?”

Lin Hexi froze for a moment, and once he processed the question, he laughed so hard that his shoulders shook slightly.

Realizing that he was joking, You Chong reached out, pulling Lin Hexi closer into the crook of his arm. “It doesn’t matter if my kissing skills got worse, as long as my skills in bed haven’t,” he said with a slow chuckle. “Once we get back, I’ll let you experience for yourself whether I’ve gotten worse in that area.”

Lin Hexi wisely chose to remain silent.

After they got into the car, You Chong didn’t start the engine right away. Instead, he asked, “Tell me, what did you mean by what you said back in the bar?”

“It’s exactly what I said.” Lin Hexi turned his head to look at him. “I didn’t break up with a boyfriend abroad because I never dated him. The fake relationship was just for show, meant to fool your father’s people and deceive his eyes.”

After explaining how You Yueteng approached him back then and the events that led to his departure abroad just over ten days later, Lin Hexi said to him, “During the days when You Yueteng lied to you, saying I had already gone abroad, I was actually being kept at the Lin family’s house the whole time. Even Lin Tong didn’t know about it.”

Emotions surged in You Chong’s eyes, and he suppressed the urge to jump over from the driver’s seat and embrace him. He then shared what had happened to him over the past three years, and finally mentioned You Yueteng, “Last year, he fell down the stairs and hasn’t been in good health since. Now, all the matters of the You family have been handed over to me.”

When he spoke of You Yueteng, You Chong no longer referred to him as “Father,” instead using “he” to replace it.

Lin Hexi nodded, a faint trace of melancholy on his face. After a moment, as if recalling something, he spoke up, “That day when they took me from school, they were the ones who packed up my belongings left at home. When they entered, they locked Fantuan and Shousi out on the balcony.”

“Locked on the balcony?” Recalling those days, a coldness appeared between You Chong’s brows. “When I couldn’t reach you through calls or WeChat, and I went home, they were both there, safe and sound. Their food bowls were filled to the brim with dog food and cat food.”

Realizing something from his words, Lin Hexi’s expression turned stunned.

“I couldn’t contact you because they took my phone and SIM card,” Lin Hexi explained.

You Chong was silent for a moment before asking, “Why didn’t you call me?”

Instead of answering right away, Lin Hexi asked, “Was your father’s assistant around you at that time?”

You Chong replied, “During the time when I had just taken over the company affairs, he had his assistant come to help me out.”

Lin Hexi nodded knowingly. “Your phone blocked all international calls,” he said with a light laugh, “I thought you just didn’t want to answer my calls.”

Looking back on the whole situation, it could only be described as a series of misunderstandings orchestrated by human intervention. In the beginning, You Yueteng’s manipulations were the primary cause, but later on, both of them, caught in the eye of the storm, made misjudgments in their attempts to understand the problem.

Reflecting on their short year of dating, they had never experienced any arguments or cold wars during their time in love. But when a real crisis finally came, it completely blindsided them, leaving them unprepared.

Three years later, both of them had matured far more than they had been when they were still in school. Yet, no amount of self-blame could change what had already happened.

You Chong furrowed his brows, but in the end, he couldn’t hold back. He reached out from the driver’s seat and pulled Lin Hexi into his embrace.

Lin Hexi raised his chin, resting it on You Chong’s shoulder. Just when he thought You Chong was still quietly processing the information he had shared, he suddenly heard You Chong’s voice right by his ear.

You Chong’s voice sounded different than usual, a bit husky, his pace slow, but he only said four words: “I regret it deeply.”

What You Chong regretted might be difficult to explain in a few words, but Lin Hexi understood it clearly. The things You Chong regretted were the same things Lin Hexi regretted as well.

However, he turned his face toward You Chong, “So do I. But,” he said as he lifted his arms and hugged the person in front of him tightly, “more than that, I feel grateful.”

You Chong didn’t respond further; he silently pressed a kiss to Lin Hexi’s cheek.

He, too, felt grateful.

More important than regret was the relief that, fortunately, there was still time.