Chapter 008 Jiang Xiaohan

Zhen Hao hailed a cab to take Lin Luyou back to A University.

They got out one stop early, deciding to treat the remaining distance as a walk together.

“Luyou, I’ve sent you our company’s campus recruitment information. The interview is scheduled...” Zhen Hao checked his phone again to be sure, “for October ninth. It’s right after the National Holiday. If you need help, I can go over things with you.”

“I told you, I don’t want to go.”

“Be good,” Zhen Hao replied, treating her resistance as nothing more than childish stubbornness.

At that moment, he was exactly like one of those zealous admissions officers at recruitment talks, trying every argument. He spoke of the grand trends of the financial industry, the relevance of her major, every angle he could think of.

“Haven’t you done well these past three years? Why are you resisting now? Look at the growth in finance—so many people are desperate to break in, and you have all the right qualifications. Why not take the next step? You’ve always said you liked working with data—what job could possibly suit you better?”

“Four years of finance studies, all those certifications—if you give up now, what was the point of all that effort?”

In truth, ever since he’d run into Jiang Xiaohan at the campus gate that afternoon, Zhen Hao had already realized that none of the résumés Lin Luyou submitted were for finance positions.

He’d planned to talk with her face-to-face that evening, hoping to change her “dangerous” ideas. But she was completely unmoved, and he found himself frustrated with her stubbornness.

“If you haven’t even tried, how can you be sure you’ll fail?” she replied.

To talk of failure or giving up—those words, she felt, should only come from herself. Lin Luyou couldn’t understand why everyone’s first reaction to her choices was to assume she was making a mistake, that she was bound to fail.

She looked up and saw the university’s name engraved on the stone ahead. Turning to Zhen Hao, she said, “Alright, I’m here.” Seeing that he wanted to say more, she added, “It’s late. You should get going, too.”

With that, she strode away without looking back.

Back in her dorm, Lin Luyou didn’t even have time to greet Jiang Xiaohan, who was busy packing, before she noticed a parcel on her desk. The sour taste from the earlier conversation at the campus gate vanished; she pounced on the package with delight.

“Let’s see what goodies are in here!”

Layer after layer of packaging—she had no idea how many there were. Once she finally got it open, all she found inside were selfie photos of Lin Luming, that annoying man. On the back of every photo, he’d scrawled a few lines—essentially warnings not to grow distant just from a little time apart, not to forget him, and so on.

Was this really a brother’s gift to his sister? It felt more like something a boyfriend would send.

Lin Luyou couldn’t help but suspect that her brother had mixed up the packages when giving them to Zhen Hao—handing what was meant for his girlfriend to his future sister-in-law by mistake.

Despite herself, Lin Luyou had to admit that even though Lin Luming had tanned considerably and his head was now shaved smooth, his looks and build were as impressive as ever.

She wondered, who would end up with a brother like hers? Or rather, which poor soul would have the misfortune of being won over by him?

“Xiaohan! I missed you so much!” After setting the photos aside, she finally went over to Jiang Xiaohan. “While you were gone, food tasted like nothing, and I couldn’t sleep at night…”

“Tch.” Jiang Xiaohan shot her a glance, turning away with a huff. “You come in with a face like stone, don’t even say hi. Then you open your package, get all happy, and lounge on your bed grinning like a fool—now you remember me? And you say you’ve lost your appetite and can’t sleep, but you’re about to turn into a piglet…”

Her tone and expression made it clear: I’m jealous, I’m upset, come and comfort me.

“Hey, hey, hey! No personal attacks!” Lin Luyou looked down at herself—her figure was just fine, thank you, the weight was only where it belonged.

“But thank you anyway, for bringing it all the way here for me.” She handed over a cup of water considerately. “A drink for the fairy.”

Jiang Xiaohan gave her a look that said, “Now that’s more like it,” but then frowned again.

“Who are you kidding? It’s not even that far from the campus gate to the dorms—no need for thanks over something so small.”

“Huh?”

“What do you mean, ‘huh’?” Jiang Xiaohan rolled her eyes. “That package was brought over by Zhen Hao. Turns out you weren’t here when he arrived. I happened to run into him, so he gave it to me. Didn’t he mention it to you?”

Lin Luyou shook her head.

“By the way, have you said yes to this guy yet?”